The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has amended the 2008 regulations for interstate open access transmission of power. The new regulations will be known as the CERC (Open Access in Interstate Transmission) (Fifth Amendment) Regulations, 2018.
The key amendments are:
- A National Open Access Registry (NOAR) will be set up as a centralised electronic platform which will be owned and operated by the National Load Dispatch Center (NLDC).
- The Power System Operation Corporation (POSOCO) has been given the responsibility to issue a detailed procedure to operationalise open access through the NOAR.
- Information regarding approvals, rejections, revisions, curtailment, and payment schedules will be made available through the NOAR to the respective market participants through email or SMS.
- The short-term open access applications for bilateral transactions will be processed by the Regional Load Dispatch Center (RLDC) and NOAR undertake the collective transactions through power exchanges by NLDC.
- Short-term open access customers will have to provide a declaration stating they have no other contract for sale or purchase of power for which standing clearance has been applied.
- The applications for advance scheduling in case of a bilateral transaction would be required to be submitted to the nodal agency through NOAR up to the fourth month.
- The power exchange will make an application to the nodal agency through the NOAR for scheduling of the collective transactions discovered on its platform. The nodal agency will then approve or advise the power exchange to revise the applications based on the transmission corridor availability.
- All charges payable under these regulations will be paid online through the NOAR’s payment gateway.
- In case of default in payment exceeding 90 days, the NLDC or RLDC will be allowed to deny short-term open access to the defaulting entity without approaching the CERC.