RERC Notifies Draft Green Energy Open Access Regulations 2024

Rajasthan’s Electricity Regulatory Commission (RERC) recently released a draft notification for the Green Energy Open Access (GEOA) regulations for 2024. The commission is inviting suggestions on the draft until October 18th.

In this draft, the RERC outlines the criteria for accessing green energy through open access, which will be available upon payment of specific charges. The policy allows consumers to use renewable energy (RE) under open access, following existing agreements or government policies, for the duration specified in those agreements or policies. In terms of priority, the draft gives the highest preference to distribution licensees, followed by medium-term GEOA consumers, and then short-term consumers, depending on the availability of spare transmission or distribution system capacity.

The draft grants short-term and medium-term open access to those who can utilize the available margins due to inherent design variations in the power flow. This is meant to accommodate future load growth by reserving some transmission or distribution capacity. The regulation also holds distribution licensees responsible for ensuring a certain percentage of their supply comes from green energy sources.

Non-Utilization of Open Access by Consumers

According to the draft, “If a short-term open access consumer is unable to use the allocated capacity for more than four hours—whether fully or partially—the regulation requires them to notify the respective State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC), along with an explanation. In such cases, the consumer must surrender the capacity they cannot use.”

Additionally, the draft stated, the short-term open-access consumers must still bear the full transmission and/or wheeling charges based on the initially reserved capacity and the period for which it was reserved. Afterward, any remaining capacity will first be made available to medium-term open-access consumers, followed by long-term consumers, with similar priority given to non-GEOA consumers before GEOA consumers.

Metering Requirements

Green Energy Open Access consumers are required to install ABT-compliant Special Energy Meters (SMEs) or other meters capable of recording energy usage in 15-minute intervals. These must be installed at the generator end, interface points, and consumption locations, in compliance with the Central Electricity Authority (Installation and Operation of Meters) Regulations, 2006, as amended. The metering point and interconnection for grid connectivity should be at the nearest transmission or distribution licensee substation.

All meters must be well-maintained and open for inspection by authorized personnel from the State Transmission Utility, Distribution Licensee, or State Load Dispatch Centre. All Green Energy Open Access consumers must comply with CEA metering standards.

Saving Clauses

The provisions of the RERC (Terms and Conditions for Tariff Determination from Renewable Energy Sources) Regulations, 2020, and the RERC (Open Access) Regulations, 2016, will continue to apply as long as they are consistent with the new regulations or where not specifically covered by these 2024 regulations.