However, lenders and power companies have said that most projects have not placed orders for the equipment and hence it was not possible for them to complete retrofitting these equipment by 2022.
Some financial institutions have sought the government’s intervention in advancing the deadlines by two years. While state-run power generating companies and PSUs including NTPC have placed orders for the equipment, private companies are yet to catch up. Private companies have said lenders were not comfortable in lending to the stressed power sector without clarity on tariff hike. CERC had in 2018 issued an advisory to power companies that investments made in equipment to meet environmental norms will be passed on to consumer tariffs.
In an order in the case of Reliance Power’s Sasan Power Ltd, CERC approved provisional capital costs related to installation of Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) system, which experts said is likely to provide comfort to financial institutions. “However, we recognise that certainty of stream of cash flow in form of tariff is likely to give further comfort to these financial institutions and that it is also equally important for the procurers as well as sellers to know the tariff implications on account of installation of FGD system,” the regulator said its order issued on Thursday. The regulator will soon float a discussion paper on compensation mechanism and tariff implications of installing emission control gears.
A senior executive with a lending institution welcomed the order and said it would give confidence to lenders for funding FGD as the tariff impact will be known upfront. He, however, said that the implementation of the emission control gears should be delayed at least by two years as some power plants do not have adequate power purchase agreements. “The entire investment in FGD cannot be compensated by tariff increases for part PPA,” he said. Lack of demand and PPAs has been a worry for the power sector and according to experts, the situation is not likely to change in near future.
