In a recent order, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) grants transmission license to Khavada-Bhuj Transmission Limited to establish transmission lines for evacuation of 3GW renewable energy (RE) injection at Khavada pooling station under Phase-I on build , own, operate and maintain (BOOM) basis.
As bid process coordinator (BPC), PFC Consulting Limited (PFCCL) conducted competitive bidding for the proposed transmission line for evacuation of 3GW RE injection at Khavada pooling station. The scope of work of the bid document is given below.
| Sl No | Name Of The Transmission Element | Scheduled Commissioning Date (SCOD) in months from effective date |
| 1 | Establishment of 3X1500MVA 765/400kV Khavada (GIS) with 1X330MVAR 765kV bus reactor and 1X125MVAR 420kV bus rector. • 765/400 kV, 1500 MVA ICT – 3 Nos. • 765 kV ICT bays – 3 Nos. • 400 kV ICT bays – 3 Nos. • 330 MVAR 765 kV bus reactor -1 No. • 125 MVAR 420 kV bus reactor -1 No. • 765 kV reactor bay – 1 Nos. • 765 kV line bay – 2 Nos. • 400 kV reactor bay – 1 No. • 400 kV line bay – 3 Nos. • 500 MVA, 765/400 kV Spare ICT – 1 No. • 110 MVAR, 765 kV, 1-ph reactor (spare unit) – 1 No. Future Scope: Space for • 765/400 kV, ICT along with bays – 5 Nos. • 400/220 kV, ICT along with bays- 4 Nos 765 kV Line bays along with switchable line reactor- 6 Nos. • 400 kV Line bays – 9 Nos. • 220 kV Line bays – 8 Nos. • 765 kV reactor along with bays – 2 Nos. • 400 kV reactor along with bays – 1 No. • 765 kV bus sectionalizer- 1 No. • 400 kV bus sectionalizer- 1 No. | 24 months |
| 2 | Khavda PS (GIS) – Bhuj PS 765 kV D/c line | |
| 3 | 2 nos. of line bays each at Bhuj PS for termination of Khavda PS (GIS) – Bhuj PS 765 kV D/c line • 765 kV AIS line bays – 2 Nos. |
Stage-I connectivity for 5000 MW and Stage-II Connectivity for 3500 MW at
proposed Khavda PS at 400 kV level. Accordingly, 3 nos of 400 k V GIS line
bay for termination of the dedicated lines from AGEFL`s Solar PV project has
been included under the scope of works of Khavda P.S. Further, 1000MW LTA
application has been received from AGEFL and the same is under process.
Based on the competitive bidding process, PFCCL proposed to grant transmission license to Khavda-Bhuj Transmission Ltd with lowest bidded transmission charges of Rs.1000.83 million per annum. Subsequently, commission asked the petitioner to file an affidavit subject to the execution of the transmission system shall not be delayed due to expected time taken in obtaining statutory clearances required as per RfP and the transmission service agreement (TSA).
In response, the petitioner committed to the quality control and workmanship of the project as per the TSA. The provision of quality control to be taken care of are listed below.
1. The TSP at its own cost and expense, shall be responsible for designing, constructing, erecting, completing and commissioning each element of the Project by Scheduled COD in accordance with the various regulations of the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).
2. The TSP shall ensure that the Project is designed, built and completed in a good workmanlike manner using sound engineering and construction practices and using only materials and equipment that are new and of international utility grade quality such that the useful life of the Project will be till the expiry date.
3. The design, construction and testing of all equipment, facilities, components and systems of the project shall be in accordance with Indian Standards and codes issued by Bureau of India Standards (BIS).
4. As the inspection of the quality control of the project will be conducted by two external agencies named CEA & lead LTTC, the project have to be constructed by following the below quality standards and utility practices.
a. At the procurement stage, the Qualification Requirement for short listings of a supplier/contractor is done on the basis of the technical specifications as mentioned in the TSA. The purchase order/contract mentions the technical standard and the testing requirements. Material dispatch is allowed after the conformance report is validated.
b. For tower material, a Manufacturing Quality Plan (MQP) in line with the applicable technical standards and the one followed by CTU is followed.
c. For ensuring construction quality, a Field Quality Plan (in line with the standards mentioned in TSA and that followed by CTU) is specified to the contractors in advance. The conformance report to the said document is also maintained at site.
d. The construction and material supply quality is also validated with respect to the TSA by the Lenders Independent Engineer during its quarterly construction review.
Commission’s Analysis & Decision :
In the above context, the commission ordered the following inspection practices in view of the quality control of the project.
1.The petitioner shall provide monthly progress report along with expected competition date of individual element of the project to CEA & CTUIL.
2. The commission recommended random inspection of the project by CEA & CTUIL every three months to ensure the timely execution of the project as well as quality control of equipment and workmanship.
Further after analyzing all submission of petitioner’s commitment on timely execution of the project considering expected time taken in obtaining statutory clearances, the commission granted transmission license to the Khavda-Bhuj transmission ltd to establish “Transmission scheme for evacuation of 3GW RE injection at Khavada P.S under Ph-I” on BOOM model.
The conditions for the grant of transmission license to the petitioner is given below. The conditions will remain in force through the period of license.
a. The transmission license shall, unless revoked earlier, remain in force for a period of 25 years from the date of issue.
b. The transmission licensee shall comply with the provisions of the Transmission License Regulations or any subsequent enactment thereof and the terms and condition of the TSA during the period of subsistence of the license.
c. Since the expiry date as per the TSA is 35 years from the scheduled COD of the Project, the licensee may make an application, two years before the expiry of initial license period, for grant of license for another term in accordance of the Transmission License Regulations which shall be considered by the Commission.
d. The licensee shall not enter into any contract for or otherwise engage in the business of trading in electricity during the period of subsistence of the transmission license.
e. The licensee shall have the liability to pay the license fee in accordance with the provisions of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Payment of Fees) Regulations, 2012, as amended from time to time. Delay in payment or non-payment of license fee or a part thereof for a period exceeding sixty days shall be considered as breach of the terms and conditions of the license.
f. The licensee shall comply with the directions of the National Load Despatch Centre or the Regional Load Despatch Centre , from time to time for maintaining the availability of the transmission system.
g. The licensee shall remain bound by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Standard of Performance of inter-State transmission licensees) Regulations, 2012 or subsequent enactment thereof.
h. The licensee shall provide non-discriminatory open access to its Transmission System for use by any other licensee, including a distribution licensee or an electricity trader, or generating company or any other person in accordance with the Act; the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Open Access in inter-State Transmission) Regulations, 2008; the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Grant of Connectivity, Long-term Access and Medium-term Open Access in inter-State Transmission and related matters) Regulations, 2009; the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Indian Electricity Grid Code) Regulations, 2010, as amended from time to time or any subsequent re-enactments thereof.
i. The licensee shall not undertake any other business for optimum utilization of the Transmission System without prior intimation to the Commission and shall comply with the provisions of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Sharing of Revenue Derived from Utilization of Transmission Assets for other business) Regulations, 2020.
j. The licensee shall remain bound by provisions of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Sharing of inter-State Transmission Charges and Losses) Regulations, 2020 as amended from time to time.
k. The licensee shall remain bound by the provisions of the Act, the rules and regulations framed thereunder, in particular the Transmission License Regulations, the Grid Code, the Standards specified by the Central Electricity Authority, orders and directions of the Commission.
l. The licensee shall ensure execution of the Project within timeline specified in the clauses of the TSA and as per the Technical Standards and Grid Standards of CEA and of the TSA.
m. The licensee shall coordinate with the licensee (including deemed licensee) executing the upstream or downstream transmission projects and the Central Electricity Authority and CTUIL for ensuring smooth execution of the Project in a matching timeline.
n. The licensee shall submit all such report or information as may be required under Transmission License Regulations, Standard of Performance Regulations, Transmission Service Agreement or any other regulation of the Commission or as per the directions of the Commission as may be issued from time to time.
Central Electricity Authority (CEA) shall monitor the execution of the Project and bring to the notice of the Commission any lapse on the part of the licensee.
 grants transmission license to Khavada-Bhuj Transmission Limited to establish transmission lines for evacuation of 3GW renewable energy (RE) injection at Khavada pooling station under Phase-I on build , own, operate and maintain (BOOM) basis.){kind=link}