Maharashtra Forms new Committee to Frame Solar Power Policy

The Maharashtra energy minister Nitin Raut has said that the state energy department has set up a new committee to frame Maharashtra’s new Solar Power Policy

The Maharashtra energy minister Nitin Raut has announced that the state energy department has set up a new committee to frame the state’s new Solar Power Policy. The high-power panel is headed by the Principal Secretary of the Energy Department – Asim Gupta.

The committee will frame a comprehensive solar power policy with an aim to reduce dependence on thermal power and clear solar projects speedily through a single-window system, the minister said.

A separate company would be established for providing land for solar power projects with the creation of land bank, Raut said.

Chairpersons and Managing Directors of state power utilities Mahavitaran, Mahapareshan and Mahanirmiti and Director General of Maharashtra Energy Development Agency (MEDA) are members of the committee while deputy secretary/ joint secretary from the Energy Department will act as the member secretary, the minister confirmed.

Recently, Raut had also stated that the state government will give single-window clearance to renewable energy projects in a bid to move towards cleaner sources of energy.

During a virtual meeting of the Indo-French Chamber of Commerce, Raut had said the state government plans to implement solar power projects to reduce the dependency on thermal power. Infertile land and plots of state-owned power companies will be made available for solar power projects, while uncultivated government land will also be used under green energy programmes, he had said.

The state government will study solar power projects in Rajasthan and Gujarat while framing its solar power policy, he added. Earlier, Raut had asked Mahagenco to implement mega solar power projects in the state to reduce its dependency on conventional energy.

In April, in its Generic Renewable Energy Tariff order for FY 2020-21 under MERC (Renewable Energy Tariff) Regulations, 2019 act, MERC (Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission) has declared that projects shall invariably be determined through a transparent process of competitive bidding in accordance with the Guidelines issued by the Central Government under Section 63 of the Electricity Act.

Thus, for all the RE Technologies below, the Commission will not be determining the Generic Tariff and will only adopt the tariff discovered through a transparent competitive bidding process as has been specified in the RE tariff Regulations, 2019. Thus entering into a new era of market-determined mechanism.

Renewable energy categories covered under the new act include:

(a) Wind Energy Power Projects;
(b) Solar PV Power Projects;
(c) Non-Fossil Fuel-based Co-Generation;
(d) Biomass-based Projects;
(e) Hybrid RE Power Projects.