India’s Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has recently published a draft regulation for renewable energy certificates, in which the commission proposes that renewable generators, captive power projects, distribution companies (DISCOMs), and open access consumers be entitled with the issuance of renewable energy certificates.
To be qualified for issuance, renewable energy projects and captive power plants must not have adopted the tariff under section 62 or section 63 of the Electricity Act – a price determined by Appropriate Commission – and the electricity generated must not be sold through electricity traders or power exchanges. Furthermore, the power plants must not have availed any exemptions, reduced fees, or facility of banking of electricity.
Besides, DISCOMs and open access customers who purchase renewable energy more than the RPO level will also be eligible.
Eligible entities must go through two steps to get these certificates, which includes accreditation from state and regional agencies, certificate registration, and certificate issuing and exchange. For entities connected to the intra-state transmission system, the accreditation will be granted by the Regional Load Despatch Centre.
The entities can next apply to the National Load Despatch Centre, the central agency for the regulations, for certificate registration.
Within six months of the corresponding generation with the central agency, registered entities can apply for certificates. The entities granted registration for certificates will be eligible for issuance of certificates for the validity period of their registration.
Each certificate issued in accordance with these regulations will represent one Megawatt hour (MWh) of electricity generated from renewable energy sources and injected or presumed to be injected into the system.
According to the government notice, stakeholders can submit comments and objections to the CERC before March 15. Within three months of notification of these regulations, the National Load Despatch Centre shall provide a full protocol following stakeholder consultation.
