A low purchase rate will eventually benefit over 2.6 crore residential, commercial and industrial consumers whose electricity bills could drop in the near future.
MUMBAI: Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) has got a record low rate of Rs 2.42 per unit for purchasing electricity from renewable energy sources for consumers across the state. A low purchase rate will eventually benefit over 2.6 crore residential, commercial and industrial consumers whose electricity bills could drop in the near future, officials said.
The state is all set to go green by switching to a target of 17,360 megawatts (MW) from solar projects in five years. On Wednesday, MSEDCL announced that it floated tenders and invited bids for 500 MW solar energy recently wherein it got this lowest bid of Rs 2.42 per unit. It got another lower bid of Rs 2.62 per unit for tenders floated for procuring 500 MW wind-solar hybrid energy.
This is lower than the average thermal energy purchase rate of Rs 4 per unit, an official said. It was also lower than MSEDCL’s renewable energy purchase rate, which was Rs 2.90, in December 2019.
“We got an overwhelming response and the bidders are also willing to provide a total 4,615 MW power to MSEDCL, which includes 3,165 MW solar and 1,450 MW wind-solar,” an official said. Of this, 1,000 MW could be procured in a year.
Energy minister Nitin Raut said that the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) had set a target for the state to meet 25% of its demand from renewable sources in the next five years. Raut’s department had announced in the recent past that there will be no new thermal generation units in Maharashtra.
In the past, MSEDCL would buy renewable energy at a high cost; it was Rs 2.74 per unit in 2018 and Rs 2.90 in 2019. “As a result, the financial burden impacted our consumers. With the consent of the state government, we decided to conduct a competitive tender process in May this year,” stated MSEDCL managing director Vijay Singhal.
Raut said that solar and wind power are now becoming commercially viable. “Solar power will be much cheaper than thermal power, benefiting industries and agriculture (for daytime generation for farmers) across the state,” said Raut. By 2030, there are plans to produce 30% of power from solar only.
The MSEDCL will shortly approach MERC and apprise it about the final bids on solar power before signing agreements with power suppliers.
Source: TNN
