CERC Issues Regulations For Power Market
The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has recently issued the Draft Power Market Regulations, 2020. These regulations shall be applied to Power Exchange, Market Participants and OTC Market.These regulations shall also be applied to contracts transacted on the Power Exchange, contracts relating to Renewable Energy Certificates, contracts relating to Energy Saving Certificates, contracts in the OTC Market. and any other contracts, as may be approved by the Commission.The main feature of this regulations are introduction of forward contracts on Power Exchanges with mandatory physical delivery, introduction of OTC platforms to allow technology driven price dissemination for the buyers and sellers in the OTC Market, enabling provisions for Market Coupling among the Power Exchanges and minimum market share requirement for Power Exchanges has been removed.
The Vision For a Truly AatmaNirbhar Bharat is Zero-Dependence on Fossil Fuel Imports : R. K. Singh
R. K. Singh, Minister of State (I/C) for Power and New & Renewable Energy and Skill Development recently addressed at the Valedictory Session of the CII Digital Conference on Aatmanirbhar Bharat on Renewable Energy Manufacturing. “Once renewable energy and balancing power become cost-effective, thermal electricity and fossil fuel will both become a thing of the past in India’s energy mix. India is constantly thinking innovation in bringing out bids. It came out with a bid on Renewable Energy & storage. The Government is also exploring other bid options such as – round-the clock grid energy, balance by thermal, balance by hydro etc. The end objective is to increase demand for storage and bring down prices.”This would require storage to be viable, pumped hydro to take off, in-house manufacturing to jump start, battery to become cheap.”, he stated.“Hydrogen may be the next big thing for transportation, alongside batteries to understand which is more economically viable. A city-wise segregated approach for launch of hydrogen and batteries will be undertaken to measure the practical cost-effectiveness of these options. Only condition and would be the per km cost. The per km cost of transport on conventional methods.”, the Minister enunciated.
Andhra Pradesh Announces Export Policy To Facilitate 120 GW Renewable Energy Projects
The Government of Andhra Pradesh recently announced Andhra Pradesh Renewable Energy Export Policy, 2020 to facilitate 120 GW renewable energy projects. Andhra Pradesh has already achieved the Renewable Power Purchase Obligation (RPO) notified by the State Commission and also the Ministry of Power, Government of India, the government stated. Various Government of India schemes such as Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Power Parks (UMREPPs) provided incentives for renewable energy projects. The main objectives of this policy is to facilitate lease of 5 lakh acres of potential land in the state of Andhra Pradesh to renewable energy export project developers, To attract private investments to the State and improve local economy, To promote setting up of renewable energy equipment manufacturing facilities in the State and To generate additional revenue to the State Government.
GOI Plans to Impose 20% Basic Customs Duty on Solar Components : Anurag Thakur
“PM Modi has given us a clarion call when he gave us the vision of Atma Nirbhar Bharat. It does not mean closing down the economy, rather it means strengthening our manufacturing and strengthening manufacturing-based exports.” Anurag Thakur, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Government of India said at the Digital Conference & Exhibition on AatmaNirbhar Bharat – Renewable Energy Manufacturing organized by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). He added that geopolitical issues make the cost of fossil fuels unstable and India needs to hedge these costs while staying committed to the global climate change commitments. He expressed his concern that crude oil imports alone account for 20% of the India merchandise imports. “India’s fiscal deficit is huge. Strengthening domestic manufacturing and shift to renewable energy is a fiscal necessity.” In 2019, India was ranked as the 4th most attractive market in terms of renewable energy.
Government To Set Up Three Solar Parks in Punjab: Manish Tewari
The Punjab government will set up three solar parks in Anandpur Sahib parliamentary constituency, Congress MP Manish Tewari said. The state government has asked the deputy commissioners of Mohali and Rupnagar to identify the land for the purpose of setting up sp;ar park at Anandpur Sahib, MP said. Tewari said he had taken up the matter with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and had received a communication from the state government that the process will be taken up further after identifying the land. The Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) will take up the matter with the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), the former Union minister further said. The projects, when they fructify, would be a game-changer for the region and have the potential of attracting over Rs 10,000 crores of private investment as renewables are the future, he concluded.
Ministry Urges States to Support Transformation Policy for a Robust Renewable Energy Sector
The power sector, which has come a long way, having sufficient power for all, will need cooperation from states and political will to make it the true growth engine of the economy, Piyush Goyal, Minister for Commerce and Industry and Railways said at the Inaugural Ministerial Plenary of a virtual conference and exhibition of Atma Nirbhar Bharat – Opportunities in Renewable Energy Manufacturing which was organised by CII . There are huge opportunities in this sector but it needs all stakeholders to converge and come on board he added. “India has invested deeply into the transmission sector. Dependency on fossil fuel cannot be the way forward and it is not viable, it will only provide the peak and balancing load.There is traction for clean energy in the country and we now need two major initiatives, one bringing in manufacturing in the sector, right down to the fab including use of indigenous raw material and second states need to support centre on the various transformational policy changes”, he added.
MNRE Releases Benchmark Costs for Grid-connected Rooftop Solar for 2020-21
The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) has recently released benchmark costs for Grid-connected Rooftop Solar Photo-voltaic systems for the financial year 2020-21. The benchmark costs are inclusive of total system cost including Photo-Voltaic solar modules, inverters, balance of systems including cables, Switches/Circuit Breakers /Connectors/ Junction Boxes, mounting structure, earthing, Lightning arrester, cost of meters (if any other than net meter), local connectivity cost, cost of civil works, foundations etc. and its installation, commissioning, transportation, insurance, capital cost of online monitoring, comprehensive maintenance charges for five years, applicable fees and taxes etc.The benchmark cost for year 2020-21 will be applicable for all LoAs after 31.07.2020.
MNRE Drafts Guidelines for Implementation of Off-grid Solar Power Plants in RESCO Mode
The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) has recently issued guidelines for Implementation of Off-grid Solar Power Packs/Plants under RESCO Mode. Guidelines for Implementation of Off-Grid Solar Power Plants in RESCO model under the MNRE Programme. Under the Phase III of Off-grid and Decentralized Solar PV Applications Programme of the MNRE, off-grid solar power plants of individual size up to 25 kWp can be installed in areas where grid power has not reached or is not reliable.Under the RESCO model the vendor will install and operate the solar power plant of capacity up to 10 kWp for at least 10 years and solar PV plants of capacity above 10 kWp for at least 15 years. Solar power plants will be installed by the RESCO on BOOT basis.
CERC Orders NLDC To Issue RECs To Simbhaoli Power
The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) recently passed an order for recognition and issuance of Renewable Energy Certificate for Renewable Energy Generation of Simbhaoli Power Pvt Ltd. Simbhaoli Power Pvt Ltd , a renewable energy generator has filed the Petition under Conduct of Business Regulations andTerms and Conditions for recognition and issuance of Renewable Energy Certificate for Renewable Energy Generation against National Load Despatch Centre (NLDC). Commission orders that Simbhaoli Power RECs for the period of March 2019 should be issued and orders NLDC to process the case of Simbhaoli Power for issuance of RECs for the month of March 2019 after due verification.
MNRE Announces Members Of Dispute Resolution Committee
Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) announced the name of the members of the Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC). The DRC committee is formed to resolve disputes between solar or wind power developers and Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) or National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC). Consequent to the appointment of A.K. Dubey as Administrative Member of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), the composition of the Dispute Resolution Committee has been changed and the new list of members are P. K. Basu, (former Agriculture Secretary), Rakesh Kacker (former Food Processing Industries Secretary) and M.F. Farooqui (former DOT Secretary/ Heavy Industry Secretary). This committee will take decisions of dispute which are beyond contractual agreements.
SECI’s 1.07 GW Solar PV Tender in Rajasthan With Improved Flexibility to Get Good Response
The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) tender of 1.07 GW grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) power projects in Rajasthan provides a free-hand to the developers to choose the project site anywhere in the state which is likely to provide flexibility to the developers in selecting the desired sites for the projects and speed-up the development process, says GlobalData, a data and analytics company.Ankit Mathur, Practice Head at GlobalData, comments: “Solar PV has been enjoying the preferential status in order to secure energy security and transit towards greener power generation promoting decarbonisation. Solar PV and Wind together form more than 83% of the installed renewable power capacity and their share in the renewable capacity mix is likely to reach over 90% by 2030. Indian state of Rajasthan has been blessed with vast solar PV resources and has been considered as the top state harnessing and deploying the solar PV technology. The state clearly stated its vision for inclusion of solar PV in the state generation mix by achieving a target of 30 GW of solar PV capacity by 2025.”
