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APPELLATE TRIBUNAL FOR ELECTRICITY AT NEW DELHI

(APPELLATE JURISDICTION)

APPEAL NO. 292 OF 2022 &

IA NO. 1010 OF 2022

Dated: 24^th February, 2023

Present:

Hon’ble Mr. Justice Ramesh Ranganathan, Chairperson

Hon’ble Mr. Sandesh Kumar Sharma, Technical Member

In the matter of:

1.

Inox Green Energy Services Ltd.

Inox Towers, Plot No. 17

Sector-16 A, Film City

Noida – 201301.

2.

Haroda Wind Energy Pvt. Ltd.,

301, ABS Tower

Old Padra Road

Vadodara,

Gujarat – 390007.

3.

Khatiyu Wind Energy Pvt. Ltd.,

301, ABS Tower

Old Padra Road

Vadodara,

Gujarat – 390007.

4.

Ravapar Wind Energy Pvt. Ltd.,

301, ABS Tower

Old Padra Road

Vadodara,

Gujarat – 390007.

5.

Vigodi Wind Energy Pvt. Ltd.,

301, ABS Tower

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Old Padra Road

Vadodara,

Gujarat – 390007

.…

Appellant(s)

Versus

1.

Central Electricity Regulatory Commission

3^rd & 4^th Floor, Chanderlok Building,

36, Janpath,

New Delhi – 110001

2.

Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited

6^th Floor, Plate – B, NBCC Office Block,

Tower – 2, East Kidwai Nagar,

New Delhi – 110023

3.

Haryana Power Purchase Centre

Shakti Bhawan, Sector – 6,

Panchkula, Haryana – 134 109

4.

Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited

Shakti Bhawan, 14 Ashok Marg,

Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh – 226001

...

Respondent(s)

Counsel for the Appellant(s)

:

Mr. Gopal Jain, Sr. Adv.

Mr. Naveen Chawla

Mr. Rishabh Kumar Thakur

Mr. Mayank Bughania

Counsel for the Respondent(s)

:

Mr. M. G. Ramachandran, Sr. Adv.

Ms. Anushree Bardhan

Ms. Srishti Khindaria

Mr. Aneesh Bajaj

Ms. Surbhi Kapoor

Ms. Tanya Sareen for R-2

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O R D E R

PER HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE RAMESH RANGANATHAN, CHAIRPERSON

1.

This Appeal is preferred against the Order passed by the Central

Electricity Regulatory Commission (for short “CERC”) in IA No. 23 of 2022 in

95/MP/2022 dated 29.06.2022. The Appellant herein filed an IA before the

CERC seeking interim directions restraining the Respondents from taking

coercive action against them. They filed IA No. 23 of 2022 thereafter to

restrain the Respondents from encashing the Bank Guarantee, furnished by

them, till final adjudication of the Petition by the CERC.

2.

The 2^nd Respondent–Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (for

short “SECI”) invited proposals on 31.05.2017 for setting up Grid connected

wind power projects, on “build own operate” basis, for an aggregate capacity

of 1000 MW. The Appellant was issued a letter of award for setting up a 250

MW wind power project on 03.11.2017. A Power Purchase Agreement (for

short “PPA”) was entered into on 21.07.2017, and the Haryana Electricity

Regulatory Commission (for short “Commission”) on 24.11.2017 adopted the

tariff while disposing of the earlier Petition. The 2^nd Respondent entered into

a Power Sale Agreement (for short “PSA”) with the 3^rd Respondent–Haryana

Power Purchase Centre (for short “HPPC”) and the 4^th Respondent – Uttar

Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (for short “UPPCL”) in respect of the

power generated from this project. On 03.12.2019, the Commission adopted

the tariff qua the Appellant, while disposing of the Petition filed by the 2^nd

Respondent. In the Petition presently pending before the CERC, the

Appellant herein had sought a declaration that execution of the project,

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awarded to them, had become commercially and physically impossible on

account of force majeure events, and should therefore be terminated.

3.

After noting the rival contentions, the CERC, in the Order under appeal,

held that, as per the PPA dated 27.12.2027, the SCOD of the project was

03.05.2019; on the Appellant’s request, the SCOD was extended by SECI on

two occasions, the first up to 28.01.2021 and thereafter up to 28.06.2021; the

total extension of time granted for SCOD was 787 days; and SECI had

informed the Appellant on 13.08.2021 that, since the projec