Amendment to the Guidelines for Tariff Based Competitive Bidding Process for Procurement of Power from Grid Connected Wind Solar Hybrid Projects

REGD. No. D. L.-33004/99 The Gazette of India CG-DL-E-14022025-261007 EXTRAORDINARY PART I—Section 1 PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY No. 47] NEW DELHI, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2025/MAGHA 23, 1946 MINISTRY OF POWER RESOLUTION New Delhi, the 12th February, 2025 Amendment to the Guidelines for Tariff Based Competitive Bidding Process for Procurement of Power from Grid Connected Wind Solar Hybrid Projects. No. 48-19/2/2024-NRE—The Guidelines for Tariff Based Competitive Bidding Process for Procurement of Power from Grid Connected Solar PV Power Projects have been notified vide Resolution No. 27/03/2023-RCM published in the Gazette of India (Extraordinary) (Part1 - Section 1) on 21st August, 2023. Subsequently, the said Guidelines were further amended vide resolution No. 48-19/2/2023-NREdated 17thNovember, 2023 and resolution No. 48-19/2/2024-NRE dated 2nd February, 2024 respectively. 2. The Central Government hereby notifies the following amendment in the said guidelines dated 21 st August, 2023 amended on 17th November, 2023 and 2nd February, 2024 :- i. A new clauses 5.3 has been added after Clause 5.2 of the existing guidelines: "5.3 In case of location specific bids, the procurer may specify the sub-station(s) in Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS)/ Intra-State Transmission System (InSTS), where the developers will connect the Wind Solar hybrid Power Project." ii. Clause 7.4 of the existing guidelines has been modified as under: "Change in Law: The provisions for Change in law shall be in accordance with the Electricity (Timely Recovery of Costs due to Change in Law) Rules, 2021 and amendments thereof issued from time to time. Further, the term Change in Law (“CIL”) shall refer to the occurrence of any event related to the project from seven (7) days prior to the last date of Bid Submission” iii. Section 7.7 (b) of the Guidelines has been modified as under: "In the event the Generator fails to maintain energy supply corresponding to the minimum CUF as declared in the PPA for 2(two) consecutive years excluding the first Contract year ending on 31st March immediately after Project CoD, the Generator shall be in default. The Generator's yearly minimum CUF obligation shall get reduced to the average of actual CUF for the 2 default years and the Generator shall be obligated to pay to the Procurer lump-sum damages equivalent to 24 (twenty-four) months or balance PPA period whichever is less, of the tariff, for the reduction in yearly minimum CUF obligation. Provided that in case the Generator fails to pay the lump sum damages then, such failure of the Generator may be treated as an event of default and the PPA may be terminated. In the event of termination of PPA, the Generator shall be liable to pay to the Procurer, damages, equivalent to 24 (twenty-four) months, or balance PPA period whichever is less, of tariff for its contracted capacity with the stipulated minimum CUF." iv. Clause 9.2.1 of the existing guidelines has been modified as under: "9.2.1. Technical Criteria: i. The Government would like to encourage competition by way increased participation. However, in order to ensure proper implementation of the Projects, the Procurer may choose to specify Technical Criteria.Such criteria should be set after an assessment of the number of project developers that are expected to meet the criteria so that an adequate level of competition is achieved. ii. The developer shall install and maintain GPS enabled Automatic Weather Station (AWS) as per the technical specifications and standards specified by relevant Central Government agency. Availability of the data from such AWS shall be ensured as specified by the appropriate Load Dispatch Centre and other Central government agencies in accordance with the provisions of Indian Electricity Grid Code and instructions from the appropriate Load Dispatch Centre from time to time. iii. The technical criteria shall include provisions to ensure that the developer complies with applicable cybersecurity regulations, directives, and guidelines issued by the Central Government Authorities dealing with cybersecurity." v. New clause 11.2 has been inserted and note after clause 11.1 has been as under: "11.2 In normal circumstances, the signing of the PPA and PSA (if applicable) should be completed within 30 (thirty) days from the issuance of the LoA. This period may be extended up to 12 months from the LoA date, beyond which the LoA will be cancelled. Note: It is clarified that if the Procurer gives extended time, subject to adherence to 11.2, for any of the events in the bidding process, on account of delay in achieving the activities required to be completed before the event, such extension of time shall not in any way be construed as deviation from these Guidelines" vi. Section 12.4 of the Guidelines has been modified as under: "Subject to provisions of the Act, the distribution licensee or the Intermediary Procurer, as the case may be, shall approach the Appropriate Commission for adoption of tariffs by the Appropriate Commission in terms of Section 63 of the Act within 30(Thirty) days of the discovery of the tariffsafter the transparent competitive bidding process conducted in accordance with these Guidelines." vii. New instrument for establishment of Earnest Money deposit has been added after clause 13.1(a) "13.1(al) Insurance Surety Bonds which would be paid unconditionally similar to a Bank Guarantee OR Any other instrument approved in General Financial Rules as amended from time to time by Central Government. OR" viii. New instrument for establishment of Performance Bank Guarantee has been added after clause 13.2(a) "13.2(a1) Insurance Surety Bonds which would be paid unconditionally similar to a Bank Guarantee OR Any other instrument approved in General Financial Rules as amended from time to timeby Central Government. OR" ix. Clause13.3 of the Guidelines has been modified as under: "In addition to the other remedies, this PBG (or alternatives provided thereto as per these Guidelines) can be encashed to recover any damages/dues of the generator in terms of the PPA. It is hereby clarified that the damages/dues recovered by the Intermediary Procurer by encashing the PBG, upon the default of the generator under the PPA, shall be credited to the Payment Security Fund to be maintained by the Intermediary Procurer under clause 7.3 of these Guidelines. PBG (or alternatives provided thereto as per these Guidelines) shall be returned to the generator within 45 days of the actual commencement of supply date of the project. In case of commencement of supply of power from part capacity of the project, PBG corresponding to such part capacity should be released within 45 days of the actual commencement of supply date.” x. Clause 19 of the existing guidelines has been modified as under: "In case it becomes imperative for the Procurer/intermediate procurer to deviate from these Guidelines and/or the SBDs, the same shall be subject to approval by the Appropriate Commission before the initiation of bidding process itself. The Appropriate Commission shall approve or require modification to the bid documents within a reasonable time not exceeding 60 (sixty) days. Provided that if, for a bid, the deviations are already approved by the Appropriate Government prior to notification of these amendments, fresh approval by the Appropriate Commission shall not be required for that bid." HEMANT KUMAR PANDEY, Chief Engineer(R&R)