Rules For Green Energy Access Notified, Focus On Speed and Uniformity

The Ministry of Power at the centre has notified the Electricity (Promoting Renewable Energy Through Green Energy Open Access) Rules, 2022 for purchase and consumption of green energy including the energy from Waste-to-Energy plants. 

The rules are expected to streamline and enable the uptake of more green energy by firms, with a cut off of a minimum of 100 kW of contracted demand or sanctioned load. Green energy for Captive consumption has no limits. There is a focus on time bound approvals (15 days) for applications, with other key highlights as listed below:

Highlights:

• There must be a uniform renewable purchase obligation on all obligated entities in area of a distribution licensee.
• Any entity, whether obligated or not may elect to generate, purchase and consume renewable energy as per their requirements .
  
  • A Central Nodal Agency shall be notified by the Central Government to set up and operate a single window green energy open access system for renewable energy. 
  • The Central Nodal Agency shall prepare, within a period of sixty days of commencement of these rules, a common application format for the Green Energy Open Access in consultation with the Forum of Regulators and applications for the Green Energy Open Access shall be made in this format.
  • Short-term and medium-term open access will be allowed if sufficient spare capacity is available in the transmission system without any augmentation. In contrast, the transmission system may be augmented if required for long-term open access.

Nodal agency

The appropriate commission will notify the appropriate load despatch center as the nodal agency for grant of green energy open access for the short term, and the state or central transmission utility as the nodal agency for grant of green energy open access for medium and long term.

Banking of Energy

Banking will be permitted at least every month on payment of charges to compensate additional costs to the distribution licensee, and the appropriate commission will determine the applicable charges.

Green energy open access consumers will be allowed to bank upto 30% of the total monthly electricity consumption from the distribution licensee.

Charges

• The charges to be levied on Green Energy Open Access consumers shall be as follows:-
  (a) Transmission charges;
  (b) Wheeling charges;
  (c) Cross subsidy Surcharge;
  (d) Standby charges wherever applicable; and
  (e) No other charges except the charges above, shall be levied.
• The distribution licensee shall give green certificate on yearly basis to the consumers for the green energy supplied by the licensee to consumer on his request beyond the renewable purchase obligation of the consumers.