Dehradun: In the new tariff order, Uttarakhand Electricity Regulatory Commission has imposed a limit of five percent on UPCL for short term purchase of electricity from the market. Restricting purchase of more electricity than this may prove costly for UPCL. The corporation is now looking for a way out of this problem.
UPCL will supply 1804.6 crore units of electricity this year. Every year, usually 80 percent of electricity is provided from state, central pool, long term, short term tenders. The remaining 20 percent electricity is of short term duration which is supplied from Indian Energy Exchange or short term tender.
The Regulatory Commission has reduced this 20 percent to five percent i.e. about 90 crore units. The availability of the remaining 15 percent i.e. about 270 crore units of electricity can now become a problem for UPCL.
How much electricity was purchased in short term in which year
Year Electricity in crore units
2022-23 272.26
2023-24 360.56
2024-25 230.39 (till December 24)
UPCL had expressed the need of 261 crores this year
Year Electricity in crore units
2025-26 261.29
2026-27 308.29
2027-28 372.53
Tourist places can be adjacent to hotels and guest houses, GMVN is making special preparations
Tenders again and again, companies do not trust
The Regulatory Commission has clarified that this electricity should be taken from a long term PPA of 25 years or a short term tender of 10 years. UPCL’s Project Director Ajay Kumar Agarwal has told in the public hearing that tenders were issued nine times for long-term purchase, but no company was ready to come. UPCL is not getting companies even for short term. In the recent past, only one 200 MW solar power project’s PPA has been done, which is for THD’s PSP project.
