The Ministry of Power has notified the Green Open Access Rules, 2022, in order to further expedite ambitious renewable energy programmes with the ultimate objective of ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and green energy for all.
- The purpose of these guidelines is to encourage the generation, purchase, and consumption of green energy, including waste-to-energy energy plants.
Significance:
i.The notified rules allow for a more simplified procedure for open access to green power.
ii.It will speed up the approval of Green Open Access (OA), Uniform Banking, voluntary purchases of renewable energy (RE) by commercial and industrial consumers, and the applicability of OA charges, etc.,
iii. Green power can be purchased by commercial and industrial consumers on a voluntary basis.
- Under Green OA, captive consumers have no limitations on taking power.
- Customers can request a green energy supply from their Distribution Company (Discom).
Salient Features of The Green Open Access Rules 2022:
i.Any consumer has access to open access, and the open access transaction limit for green energy has been reduced from 1 MW to 100 kW (kilowatt) to allow small consumers to purchase renewable energy through open access.
ii.It will provide Green Energy Open Access Consumers insight on Open Access Charges, which include transmission, wheeling, a cross-subsidy surcharge, and standby charges.
iii. It provides for transparency in the approval process of the open access application, which will be accessible through a national portal.
iv.The Appropriate Commission will determine the tariff for green energy separately.
v.The rules would make it easier for RE companies to estimate their cash flows by streamlining the complete approval process for providing Open Access, including quick approval.
vi.It mandates the banking of surplus green energy with the distribution licensee.
vii. All obligated entities in a distribution licensee’s area are subject to a uniform renewable purchase obligation (RPO). In order to meet its RPO, it has also included Green Hydrogen and Green Ammonia.
viii. If consumers use green power, they will receive green certifications.
xi.The cross-subsidy surcharge and additional surcharge are not applicable when green energy is used to make green hydrogen and green ammonia.
Solar Open Access Additions Grow 22% In Jan-Mar; Cumulative Capacity Hits 5.7-GW Mark: Mercom India Report
According to Mercom India Research’s newly released report “Mercom India Solar Open Access Market Report Q1 2022”, India added 513 MW (megawatt) of new open access solar capacity in the first quarter (Q1) (January – March) of the calendar year (CY) 2022.
- In comparison to 324 MW installed in Q4 2021, it has increased by 58 % quarter-over-quarter (QoQ). Year-over-year (YoY) installations grew by 22% from 422 MW in the first quarter of 2021.
- The cumulative installed solar capacity in the open access market was about 5.7 GW by the end of March 2022.
The top five states in terms of open access installations accounted for 73% of all open access installations in the country. They accounted for 86 % of the quarter’s total installations.
At the end of Q1 2022, India has a development pipeline of 2 GW (gigawatt) of open access solar projects.
- In Q1, Karnataka was the largest market, accounting for 30% of all open access installations. The state was responsible for 37% of the total installations.
- In Q1 2022, Maharashtra was the second-largest market, with a phenomenal 131 % QoQ increase in solar open access installations over Q4 2021. It has beaten out Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh for this spot.
- Gujarat accounted for 12.7% of the market, making it the third-largest market.
About Ministry of Power:
Union Minister – Raj Kumar Singh (Arrah Constituency, Bihar)
Minister of State (MoS) – Krishan Pal (Faridabad Constituency, Haryana)
