The Ministry of Power (MoP) is considering notification of renewable generation obligation in accordance with Tariff Policy 2016, to enhance the generation and utilisation of renewable energy in the country. Under the Tariff Policy notified in January 2016, the date is proposed to be specified as April 1, 2024; and the capacity of renewable energy to be established/ procured/ supplied by new coal/lignite based thermal generating station is proposed to be minimum 25 per cent of the capacity of thermal generating station being established.
Accordingly, in order to promote renewable energy/ sources, any generating company proposing to establish a coal/lignite based thermal generation station after April 1, 2024 will be required to establish minimum 25 per cent renewable energy generating capacity or procure and supply renewable energy/ equivalent to such capacity. The renewable energy/ produced by each generator may be bundled with its thermal generation for the purpose of sale. In case an obligated entity procures this renewable power, then the State Electricity Regulatory Commissions will consider the obligated entity to have met the renewable purchase obligation (RPO) to extent of power bought from such renewable energy generation stations. The ministry has sought comments, if any, within 21 days from the date of issuance of this letter.
In November 2022, the MoP issued an amendment in the revised consolidated guidelines and standards for charging infrastructure of electric vehicles (EV) issued by the MoP in January 2022. According to the amendment, the public charging stations will have a feature of prepaid collection of service charges with the time of the day rates and discount for solar hours.
Also, a committee under the Central Electricity Authority will periodically recommend to the state government about the ceiling limit of service charges to be levied. This committee shall also recommend time-of-the-day rate for service charges as well as the discount to be given for charging during the solar hours.
In September 2022, the MoP announced amendments in the guidelines for tariff based competitive bidding process to procure round-the-clock (RTC) power from grid-connected renewable energy projects. These guidelines were initially launched in July 2020 under Section 63 of the Electricity Act of 2003. According to the current amendment, renewable energy producers can merge storage for achieving required minimum annual availability of 90 per cent and maintain at least 90 per cent monthly availability for at least eleven months out of the year. However, renewable energy must account for at least 51 per cent of annual energy consumption.
