CERC Uses ‘Power To Relax’ Provision To Give Relief To RE Generator

CERC Uses 'Power To Relax' Provision To Give Relief To RE Generator

The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), in its latest judgement, provided relief to a renewable energy generator using the provision of ‘power to relax.’ The provision is a part of the Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) Regulations. 

The order came to the fore after the petitioner–Siddhayu Ayurvedic Research Foundation Private Limited (SARFPL), sought the issuance of RECs on account of the green power it generated from its wind power plant of 12.85 MW in Maharashtra.

It told the Commission that it could not claim RECs from September 2021 to February 2022 due to unavoidable reasons. Meanwhile, the Maharashtra State Load Despatch Centre (MSLDC) rejected the claim, citing a delay in filing the application for REC issuance. 

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The CERC, in its order, said that renewable energy generators are entitled to REC certificates as per the mandate of REC Regulations. In this case, the CERC said that issuing RECs for the generator would not prejudice any of the stakeholders, including the respondents in the case. The CERC, while condoning the delay, used its special ‘power to relax’ provision, granting the RE generator relief in the delayed submission of the REC certificate application. 

“The main objective of the REC Regulations, 2010 is to promote the generation of renewable energy. Therefore, we are inclined to exercise the “Power to relax” under Regulation 15 of the REC Regulations, 2010 and under Regulation 18 of REC Regulations, 2022, in order to achieve the object of the regulations. Accordingly, we hereby relax Regulation 7(2) of the REC Regulations, 2010 read with paragraph 4.1 (h) of the REC Procedures to enable the issuance of RECs to the Petitioner. As already decided above, the delay in the application for issuance of RECs is procedural in nature due to the reasons stated by the Petitioner, and condoning the delay causes no harm to any of the stakeholders, including the Respondents,” the order said. 

“Hence, the Commission condones the delay and relaxes the time limit for this case. Further, MSEDCL is directed to issue EIR for the months of November 2021 in the pending applications before it, and the NLDC is directed to issue the RECs for the months of September 2021 to February 2022 after due verification and satisfying that a project meets all conditions and the Petitioner has submitted all required documents for issuance of RECs,” it added. 

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