The Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) has adopted the Green Energy Open Access (GEOA), Charges, and Banking Regulations, 2024. The regulations pertain to allowing open access for power produced from renewable energy sources for use within the state through intra-state transmission systems (InSTS) and/or the distribution networks of licensed entities.
Long-term GEOA will be allowed in accordance with the transmission planning criteria and distribution planning code specified in the state grid code. Short-term and medium-term open access will be approved if the request can be met by using inherent design margins, available margins from power flow variations, or the extra capacity in the transmission or distribution systems built for potential future growth in load. The duration of the consumer’s usage of the InSTS and/or distribution system determines the category of consumers (long-term – 5 years or more, medium-term – more than one year but less than five years, short-term – for maximum one year) requesting open access. Furthermore, GEOA is available to all consumers and generators for their own use or for selling to others. However, according to the current rules, power purchase agreements cannot be changed to give open access rights to generators if they owe more than two months’ worth of payments to the distribution or transmission licensee. Entities or generators that are restored through the National Company Law Tribunal resolution process or through other legal means will also qualify for open access.
Furthermore, GEOA consumers are obligated to pay transmission charges and wheeling charges as defined and set by the commission in the multi-year tariff orders for the appropriate period. GEOA consumers are required to pay the cross-subsidy surcharge as specified and determined by the commission in the retail supply tariff order. The standby charges will be set at 120 per cent of the standard tariff (for both demand and energy) of the consumer category, with no penalties for exceeding the contracted maximum demand if no notice has been given by the relevant parties. Load curtailment does not apply if GEOA consumers decide against a standby arrangement with the distribution companies. Generators using GEOA must pay for reactive energy according to the terms specified in the state grid code issued by the commission.
Customers using GEOA will receive a banking facility, subject to the following requirements: every calendar month is regarded as one billing cycle for the purposes of banking, which will operate on a monthly billing cycle basis. The use of stored energy must occur during the same billing cycle. Unused energy will be reimbursed at 75 per cent of the most recent Solar Energy Corporation of India tender rate for the relevant clean energy source at the conclusion of the billing cycle, as announced by APERC on an annual basis. The associated renewable purchase obligation for the unused banked energy will be advantageous to the distribution licensee. Banking charges will amount to 8 per cent of the energy stored at consumer’s end. Consumers of GEOA are allowed to bank up to 30 per cent of their monthly power usage from green energy sources through a banking cycle. Throughout the billing period, banking and withdrawal are allowed. The state load dispatch center will oversee the energy accounting for all banking transactions. Furthermore, the distribution licensee will provide a green certificate each year to consumers who have purchased green energy from them.
