A Bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud issued notice to the ministries of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and Power (MoP), Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and others on a petition by Acme Solar challenging the SC-appointed committee’s decision that held that the laying of underground 400 kV transmission line by the solar power company in Rajasthan was not feasible.
While laying of overhead transmission lines through the habitat of the critically endangered Great Indian Bustard (GIB) had alarmed environmentalists, the solar power developer argued that the projects and the overhead transmission line had already been conceptualised and were under construction much before passing of the apex court‘s order in 2021.
By not ratifying Acme’s request for overhead transmission line despite holding it as technically challenging to underground, the committee has not only acted contrary to the SC’s April 19, 2021 order but has also restricted/stopped the generation and transmission of 1200 MW renewable power from its projects, senior counsel AM Singhvi and Mukul Rohatgi argued. This is contrary to the balanced approach of sustainable development adopted by the SC, they added.
The committee in May and July had concluded that undergrounding of the 400 kV transmission line of Acme Solar was not feasible and had decided not to ratify the company’s request for overhead lines since the line was under the Prioritized GIB area. As a result, SECI had refused to allow charging and commissioning of the company’s 400 kV overhead transmission line with bird divertors and the 4×300 MW solar projects.
According to Acme, the Prioritized GIB area does not find mention in the SC 2021 order and its projects and the transmission line fall in the potential area. The committee had approved all overhead lines in the potential area, irrespective of the voltage level, it added. Acme Solar Holding, a solar power developer, was awarded 1200 MW solar power projects by SECI in accordance with the tariff-based competitive bidding held in 2018. Thereafter, Acme Solar secured approvals for construction of overhead transmission lines for evacuation of power from its projects. Pursuant to the awarding of the contract, Acme had awarded engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts for supply and services in August 2020 for Rs 5454.6 crore and began construction of the Project infrastructure.However, the SC in April 2021 had demarcated priority and potential habitat areas of the Great Indian Bustard (GIB), and held that undergrounding of transmission lines might not be feasible in certain areas and, therefore, bird diverters would be installed for such lines.
The SC had also directed that overhead transmission lines in the Priority and Potential GIB habitat areas be laid underground, subject to feasibility, undergrounding of high voltage transmission lines requires technical evaluation on a case-to-case basis. For this, the apex court had formed a committee to assess the technical feasibility.
