Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) has issued a consultative paper for determining tariff of solar projects and invited comments by 31st Aug 2013.
The commission came out with a proposed tariff structure to provide guidance to those opting for solar power in line with the TN Solar power policy 2012 which envisages setting up of 3000-megawatt (MW) solar plants by 2015.
Fixing of solar power tariff would make easier the proposal to set up power projects in the state as the project developers need not go through tendering process.
Stating that the capital costs of Solar generators are consistently falling down, TNERC has proposed to adopt a capital cost of Rs 7 crore per mega watt for SPV and Rs 11.50 crore per MW for solar thermal projects.
The consultative paper has proposed a separate tariff structure for the following categories of solar projects for a period of 25 years.
- Solar Thermal Projects: Rs. 8.34 per unit
- solar photovoltaic (SPV): Rs. 5.78 per unit
- Kilowatt scale rooftop solar power projects: Rs. 8.15 per unit
The parameters assumed while deriving the above stated tariffs are:
| Tariff Components | Solar Photovoltaic | Solar Thermal | kW scale system |
| Capital cost | Rs. 7 Crores | Rs. 11.5 Crores | Rs. 1 lakh |
| Auxiliary Consumption | Nil | 6% | Nil |
| CUF | 19% | 23% | 19% |
| Operation and Maintenance expenses | 1.1% of the capital cost with 5.72% escalation after 1st year | 1.1% of the capital cost with 5.72% escalation after 1st year | 1.1% of the capital cost with 5.72% escalation after 1st year |
| Life of plant and machinery | 25 years | 25 years | 25 years |
| Term of Loan | 10 years +1 yr Moratorium | 10 years +1 yr Moratorium | 10 years +1 yr Moratorium |
| Interest on loan | 12% | 12% | 12% |
| Working Capital components | One month O&M cost and one month receivables | One month O&M cost and one month receivables | Nil |
| Interest on working capital | 12.5% | 12.5% | Nil |
| Return on equity | 20% pre tax | 20% pre tax | 20% pre tax |
| Debt-equity ratio | 70:30 | 70:30 | 70:30 |
| Depreciation rate | 3.6% | 3.6% | 3.6% |
Apart from the tariff, the TNERC has directed TANGEDCO to provide detailed procedures covering the following issues related to Net metering , LT connectivity and Renewable Energy Certificates for the approval of the Commission:
- Net metering:
a) Standards and location of meters
b) Tariff for excess generation/lapsed units
c) Period of power credit
d) Any other related issue - LT connectivity
a) make and standards for inverters,
b) harmonics standards,
c) synchronization to the grid,
d) safety/protection norms,
e) norms for generator capacity versus connecting voltage etc., - Renewable Energy Certificate to be issued to solar generators under the Policy
a) Accreditation
b) Issuance
c) Trading
The complete consultative paper is embedded below:
