Indian Railways, as a bulk consumer of electricity, was paying tariff as determined by State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC), which has been replaced with tariff determined through competitive bidding / MoP allocation. REMC Ltd has assisted Indian Railways in obtaining the status of Deemed Licensee as per Section 14 of Electricity Act 2003 read in conjunction with the Railway Act 1989 and ensuring flow of economical power under open access, thereby reducing the electricity bills of Indian Railways which have resulted into huge cost savings to IR.
Power Procurement
Major projects:
- Economical Power Procurement under open access based on MoP/ CERC Guidelines.
- Facilitating open access by coordination with CTU, RLDCs and State Entities.
- Assisting Zonal Railways (ZRs) in Scheduling & Forecasting.
- Power Allocation by MOP.
- Procurement of energy through collective transaction through Energy Exchange.
- Providing assistance to ZRs in compliance to their Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO).
Status of Deemed Licensee:
REMC Ltd’s continuous efforts in past several years have already fielded open access in 13 entities (including DVC control area and UP-ISTS) for procurement of power under the ambit of Deemed Licensee status of Indian Railways. Similar efforts are being made by your company for the 7 major remaining states of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Kerala & Telangana through regulatory intervention as stiff resistance is being faced by Indian Railways in issuance of No Objection Certificate (NOC) and recognition of Railways’ status as ‘Deemed Licensee’ in these states.
Procurement of power under Open Access:
REMC Ltd has successfully facilitated the power procurement about 1701 MW in the open access states at the start of FY 2021-22 & FY 2022-2023 in 13 states / entities (Rajasthan, UP (ISTS), Maharashtra, Gujarat, MP, Karnataka, Jharkhand, DVC command area, Haryana, Delhi, Bihar and Punjab including DVC control Area & UP ISTS). Subsequently, on account of less train operations due to the impact of COVID -19 pandemic, the traction power requirement has been reduced to about 1270 MW during the FY 2021-22 & FY 2022-2023. The same has now recovered and the current power requirement is of the order of 1600 MW & 1980 MW respectively in open access states.
Compliance to Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO):
One of the regulatory requirements for Railways as deemed licensee is compliance to Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPO). REMC Ltd has assisted Railways in purchasing green power Energy Exchange. In financial year 2021-2022 & 2022-2023, Railways have purchased about 19 MU'S & 1256 MU'S respectively.
Procurement through Energy Exchange:
Indian Railways has also initiated procurement of energy through collective transaction by bidding of power through trader on energy exchange. Procurement of power through IEX (energy exchange) has also commenced in the state of U.P-STU, UP-ISTU, Delhi, Haryana, M.P., Jharkhand, karnataka, Gujarat and Rajasthan to meet the peak power requirement of Indian Railways and as an arrangement for back - up power in case of failure of open access generators. Tri-Partite agreements have been executed between Nodal Railway, REMC Ltd & Trader Member. REMC LTD is regularly advising Railways on bidding guidelines. In current financial year 2020-2021, 2021-2022 & 2022-2023 Railways have purchased about 395, 2113 & 5378 MU's respectively of Energy through Exchange.
Energy management of BRBCL plant:
REMC Ltd is coordinating the energy management by scheduling power from Nabinagar thermal power plant of BRBCL on daily basis with four units of 250 MW each in operation, surplus power from Railway’s allocation is being diverted to beneficiary ZRs requiring additional power under un requisitioned surplus (URS). In addition to above, REMC Ltd is also assisting ZR in sale of excess power through power exchange thereby ensuring that units generated are utilized to the largest extent.
Coordination with state authority:
REMC Ltd has been providing single window service to ZRs for interaction with state & central utilities in obtaining NOC andhas also coordinated with CTU & RLDCs for revision and operationalization of Long-Term Open Access (LTA) for BRBCL power. REMC Ltd has also coordinated with Power System Operation Corporation Ltd (POSOCO) on transaction of URS power.
