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MERC Approves MSEDCL-NTPC PSA for 300 MW Wind-Solar Hybrid Power at Rs3.36/kWh

The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) has approved a power sale agreement (PSA) between Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) and NTPC for the procurement of 300 MW of wind-solar hybrid power at a tariff of Rs3.36/kWh. This capacity will add to the 480 MW earlier approved by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), taking the total approved procurement under this initiative to 780 MW.

The agreement stems from NTPC’s 2023 tender for 1,500 MW of interstate transmission system-connected wind-solar hybrid projects, where tariffs of Rs3.35–Rs3.36/kWh were discovered. MSEDCL had earlier signed a 25-year PSA with NTPC for 480 MW from Sprng Vayu Vidyut and Juniper Green Beta at similar tariffs. The additional 300 MW comes from ACME Renewtech.

MSEDCL highlighted its renewable purchase obligation (RPO) shortfall of 37,154 million units and justified that the discovered tariff was lower than its average power purchase cost (Rs4.88/kWh) and other recent tender tariffs (Rs3.41–Rs3.49/kWh). Even after including transmission losses and NTPC’s trading margin, the landed tariff remained cost-competitive at Rs3.51–Rs3.52/kWh.

While approving the deal, MERC cautioned MSEDCL to carefully manage transmission risks and secure necessary approvals from the state transmission utility and state load despatch centre to ensure smooth power delivery. Recently, MERC also cleared MSEDCL’s proposal to procure 500 MW of pumped hydro storage from Torrent Power, strengthening Maharashtra’s renewable and storage portfolio.