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ACME Solar’s Rajasthan Projects Back On Track, After Withdrawal OF Termination Notice
MNRE Extends Commissioning Date of RE Projects Due to Covid-19
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CME Solar, which had filed for termination of some of its solar projects in Rajasthan, has withdrawn the termination notice, following an amicable settlement of the issue with SECI (Solar energy Corporation of India). This was informed by the firm at the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), where it had filed the plea for termination. The plea had created a flutter, thanks to the high visibility of these projects as the lowest solar bids when they were won in 2018, at Rs 2.44 per unit. Ever since, however, the developer had to contend with a rash of issues, from SGD, to land related issues and of course covid, Finally, the threat of encashment of bank guarantees due to delays forced it to demand termination and return of its deposits. The possible game changer here for ACME has been its deal with Scatec Solar, which has agreed to partner it in funding and establishing these projects. The plea had been filed by ACME Deoghar Solar Power Pvt. Ltd. and ACME Dhaulpur Powertech Pvt. Ltd., special purpose vehicles incorporated by ACME Solar that were/are developing 600 MW (300×2 MW) Solar Power Projects at Tehsil Pokhran in the State of Rajasthan. In what seems to be a happy ending eventually for ACME, one has to wonder how much of the new flexibility is due to the recent fund raising by the firm. The firm has announced three funding deals, from Scatec Solar, to UNOPS3i to Brookfield of course.
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SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL J U LY 2 02 1 SAURENERGY .C O M
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he Ministry of New and Renewable Resources (MNRE) has extended the date of commissioning for those projects affected by Covid disruptions, again.. MNRE has issued a memorandum to allow the time extension in the scheduled commissioning date (SCD) of RE projects considering disruption due to the second surge of COVID-19 and associated lockdown. The ministry notifies that while there are no Central Government instructions for a countrywide lockdown, since the beginning of April 2021 several States/UTs have taken various measures like night curfew, imposition of section 144, weekend lockdown, etc which may have affected RE projects. As a measure of relief to RE projects, it has been decided that RE projects, being implemented through Implementing Agencies designated by the MNRE or under various schemes of the MNRE, having their Scheduled Commissioning Date (SCD) on or after 1st April 2021, will be eligible to claim time-extension for completion of their project activities. The total time
extension on account of the second wave of COVID-19 shall be restricted to six months, including the five months blanket time extension already granted by MNRE. No further time extension shall be considered on this account. RE projects can apply to the concerned implementing agency for claiming time extension in project commissioning. Provided such time extensions are not going to be used as a ground for claiming termination of Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) or for claiming any increase in the project cost including Interest During Construction (IDC) or upward revision of the tariff. Although, the actual quantum of timeextension shall be decided in due course depending on the COVID-19 related developments that take place in the coming weeks. On receiving the application for a time extension, the implementing agency shall not initiate any coercive action on the project for the recovery of penalty on delayed commissioning, till the timeextension request is decided upon. The most common tactic adopted has been encashment of bank guarantees till now.
