Order in Petition No.45/TT/2020 Page 3 The present petition has been filed by Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the Petitioner) for truing-up of the transmission tariff of Asset-I: LILO of one circuit of 400 kV D/C Vapi-Navi Mumbai Transmission Line along with 400/220 kV GIS Kala Sub-station (NEW) in UT DNH 315 MVA 400/220 kV ICT-I & ICT-II and 80 MVAR, 420 kV Bus Reactor and Asset-II: LILO of 2nd Ckt. of
400 kV D/C Vapi-Navi Mumbai Transmission Line (i.e. Ckt.-3&4 of LILO) alongwith associated bays at Kala Sub-station (hereinafter referred to as transmission assets) under Transmission system for establishment of 400/220 kV GIS sub-station at Kala in UT of DNH in Western Region (hereinafter referred to as the transmission project) of the 2014-19 tariff period under Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Terms and Conditions of Tariff) Regulations, 2014 (hereinafter referred to as the 2014 Tariff Regulations) and determination of tariff of the 2019-24 tariff period under Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Terms and Conditions of Tariff) Regulations, 2019 (hereinafter referred to as the 2019 Tariff Regulations).
2. The Investment Approval (IA) and expenditure sanction for the transmission project was accorded by the Board of Directors of the Petitioner vide Memorandum No. C/CP/Kala-GIS dated 13.7.2011 with an estimated cost of `18193 lakh including IDC of `590 lakh based on 1st Quarter, 2011 price level. The Board of Directors of the Petitioner have accorded approval for Revised Cost Estimates (RCE) of the transmission project vide Memorandum No. C/CP/RCE-Kala dated 21.5.2015 with an estimated cost of `20071 lakh including IDC of `518 lakh based on December 2014 price level.
3. The scope of work covered under the transmission project is as follows: Order in Petition No.45/TT/2020 Page 4 Transmission Line:
(i) LILO of 400 kV D/C Vapi-Navi Mumbai Transmission Line at Kala Sub- station (multi-circuit tower)-9 km Sub-station:
(i) Establishment of 2x315 MVA, 400/220 kV GIS Sub-station at Kala in UT of D&NH.
4. The Commission vide order dated 29.4.2016 in Petition No. 110/TT/2014, taking into consideration the submissions made by the Petitioner, approved the COD of the LILO of one circuit of 400 kV D/C Vapi-Navi Mumbai transmission line along with 400/220 kV GIS Kala Sub-station (NEW) in UT DNH 315 MVA 400/220 kV ICT- I & ICT-II and 80 MVAR, 420 kV Bus Reactor as 1.4.2014 under proviso (ii) of Regulation 4(3) of the 2014 Tariff Regulations, as the associated downstream transmission system under the scope of Electricity Department, D&NH was not ready. The Commission approved the tariff for the 2014-19 tariff period under the 2014 Tariff Regulations and had held that the transmission charges for the above said asset will be borne by Electricity Department, D&NH till the assets under its scope were not put into commercial operation. Further, the Commission directed the Petitioner to submit the WRLDC certificate in support of trial run operation of the asset. The relevant portions of the order dated 29.4.2016 are as follows:
13. .Accordingly, we hold that the petitioner is entitled for approval of COD as 1.4.2014 without commissioning of downstream system under Regulation 4 (3) (ii) of the Tariff Regulations 2014.
14. Hence, we direct the petitioner to submit the RLDC certificate in support of trial run operation as and when downstream system is commissioned at the time of true up.
5. The Petitioner, in the instant petition, has divided the assets into two parts - Asset-I: LILO of one circuit of 400 kV D/C Vapi-Navi Mumbai Transmission Line along with 400/220 kV GIS Kala Sub-station (NEW) in UT DNH 315 MVA 400/220 kV Order in Petition No.45/TT/2020 Page 5 ICT-I & ICT-II and 80 MVAR, 420 kV Bus Reactor and Asset-II: LILO of 2nd Ckt of
400 kV D/C Vapi-Navi Mumbai Transmission Line (i.e. Ckt - 3 & 4 of LILO) along with associated bays at Kala Sub-station; has claimed the COD of the Asset-I and II as 1.4.2014 and 1.3.2015, respectively and has claimed the tariff for the Asset-I and Asset-II.
6. The Petitioner has submitted that only loop in portion of 400 kV D/C Vapi-Navi Mumbai Transmission line at Kala Sub-station (multi-circuit tower)-9 km was ready on 1.4.2014 and that the loop out portion was completed on 1.3.2015.
7. It is observed that the nomenclature of the assets mentioned in petition and submissions of the Petitioner do not match with the details given in the Investment Approval. Further, the Petitioner on its own has submitted that LILO of 400 kV D/C Vapi-Navi Mumbai Transmission Line at Kala Sub-station was partially completed and that the scope of work as approved in the Investment Approval has not been completed. The Petitioner has completed loop in portion of the 400 kV D/C Vapi-Navi Mumbai Transmission line at Kala Sub-station on 1.4.2014 and has submitted that it has not been able to complete the loop out portion of the line due to RoW problems at 400 kV Kala-Navsari 400 kV D/C line.
8. This fact was not brought to notice of the Commission when order dated 29.4.2016 in Petition No.110/TT/2014 was issued. In view of non-completion of the complete LILO arrangement at Kala sub-station on 1.4.2014, the requirement of proviso (ii) of Regulation 4(3) of the 2014 Tariff Regulations is not fulfilled. Therefore, grant of tariff as well as declaration of COD of the asset was based on wrong Order in Petition No.45/TT/2020 Page 6 declaration and claim of the Petitioner. Hence, the tariff granted by the Commission for the transmission assets vide order dated 29.4.2016 in Petition No. 110/TT/2014 stands withdrawn and the tariff already recovered by the Petitioner shall be adjusted as provided under Regulation 7(7) of the 2014 Tariff Regulations.
9. The Petitioner is directed to file fresh petition within four weeks from the date of issue of this order, with proper nomenclature of the assets and other relevant facts and approvals necessary for the determination of tariff. The Petitioner is also directed to clarify whether the instant scheme is regional strengthening scheme or exclusively made for Electricity Department, D&NH.
10. The Petitioner is also directed to submit the status of the associated 220 kV downstream transmission lines of the instant transmission assets i.e., 220 kV D/C Kala-Khadoli and 220 kV Kala-Kharadpada line which is stated to be under the scope of Electricity Department, D&NH.
11. This order disposes of Petition No.45/TT/2020. sd/- sd/- sd/- (Arun Goyal) (I. S. Jha) (P. K. Pujari) Member Member Chairperson CERC website S. No. 135/2021