The Power Trading Corporation (PTC) proposes to have a uniform power purchase agreement (PPA) tenure for both coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) bids for the 2,000 mw Pipavav mega power project.
The PTC, which is the principal agency for the mega power projects, is currently working on the price bids for the Pipavav project and is likely to announce a 25-year PPA for both coal and LNG bids.
Sources said the corporation, along with the Union power ministry, recently appointed Crisil as their consultants for formulating the price bids, after their foreign consultants were removed.
The tenure of the PPA is crucial for the companies to decide which will be the appropriate fuel to quote while bidding for the power project.
Further, the government would limit the forex pass through on to the power tariff, sources said. They said part of the foreign exchange risk would have to borne by the promoter of the project.
The price bid parameters will allow bidders to choose either coal or LNG as their fuel for power generation while making their offers.
The PTC has already shortlised 13 bidders for the project, and have specified that each of the bidders will be required to quote their bids on a single fuel.
Earlier, under the pre-qualification bid conditions, companies were allowed to bid for the project on both imported coal and LNG.
Sources said during the qualification of the price bids, an adequate weightage factor would be taken into account to enable comparisons between a coal-based and LNG-based power project.
Out of the 13 companies that had been pre-qualified by the government, around eight, including Reliance, Tatas, BSES and CEPA, had bid for the project with both coal and LNG as fuel.
These companies will now have to bid on the basis of either coal or LNG, whichever they perceive to be the most economical, based on the price bids.
Earlier, at the prequalification stage, the government, without specifying the tenure of the PPAs, had indicated that it would shortlist three companies that had bid with only coal as fuel, three with only LNG as fuel, and four that had bid with both LNG and coal as fuel.
The Change-Over
Erlier......
* Under the pre-qualification bid conditions, companies were allowed to bid for the project on both imported coal and LNG
* Eight of the 13 companies that had been pre-qualified by the government had bid with both coal and LNG as fuel.
* At the prequalification stage, the government, without specifying the tenure of the PPAs, had indicated that it would shortlist three companies that had bid with only coal as fuel, three with only LNG as fuel, and four that had bid with both LNG and coal as fuel
Now....
* Bidders will have to choose either coal or LNG as fuel while making their offers
* During the qualification of the price bids, an adequate weightage factor will be taken into account to enable comparisons between coal based and LNG-based power projects.
