Incentives for Green power at reasonable rates for common consumers

The Ministry of Power has issued ‘Green Energy Open Access’ Rules in order to accelerate ambitious renewable energy programs.

The Electricity (Promoting Renewable Energy Through Green Energy Open Access) Rules, 2022, have been notified by the Ministry of Power in order to further accelerate our ambitious renewable energy programmes and ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and green energy for all. The reduction of the Open Access Transaction limit from 1 MW to 100 kW, as well as the appropriate provisions for cross-subsidy surcharge, additional surcharge, and standby charge, will encourage common consumers to obtain green power at affordable rates. Furthermore, because the rules address other issues that have hampered the growth of open access, the average consumer can now easily access renewable energy power.

These rules are notified to promote the generation, purchase, and consumption of green energy, including energy from waste-to-energy plants.

Green Open Access is available to all consumers, and the transaction limit for green energy has been reduced from 1 MW to 100 kW. This will also allow small consumers to purchase renewable energy through open access.

With this, consumers have the right to demand green power from DISCOMs. DISCOMs would be required to procure and supply green power to qualified customers.
These rules will simplify the overall approval process for granting open access even more. Time-bound processing by bringing uniformity and transparency to the application, as well as approval of open access through a national portal, has been mandated. Green Open Access approval must be granted within 15 days or it will be deemed granted.

Power Minister R K Singh mentioned a few more additions while explaining the other key features. Some of the most notable aspects of this open access are:

• It aallowsllow commercial and industrial consumers to purchase green power on a voluntary basis.
• Provide certainty on open access charges to be levied on Green Energy Open Access consumers, which include transmission charges, wheeling charges, cross-subsidy surcharges, and standby charges. Consumers are encouraged to go green by limiting cross-subsidy surcharge increases and eliminating additional surcharges. A uniform Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) shall be imposed on all obligated entities in a distribution licensee’s area.
• Green Hydrogen/Green Ammonia has also been included to fulfil its RPO, and consumers will be given Green Certificates if they use green power.
The Appropriate Commission determines the tariff under the Electricity Act of 2003. As a result, the tariff for green energy will be determined by the Appropriate Commission and will include the average pooled power purchase cost of renewable energy, cross-subsidy charges, if any, and service charges covering the distribution licensee’s prudent cost of providing green energy to consumers. The Ministry of Power notified Power System Operation Corporation (POSOCO) as the Central Nodal Agency to set up and operate a single window green energy open access system for renewable energy under these Rules in a notification dated July 8, 2022. The National Portal will serve customers from across the country.