Green Energy Open Access to act as an enabler for Rajasthan's renewable energy ventures

With an aim to promote generation, purchase and consumption of green energy, the central govt earlier this week, modified Electricity (Promoting Renewable Energy Through Green Energy Open Access) Rules, 2022. This move will particularly benefit Rajasthan the most, as it tops the list of the states generating solar energy. The move will open several new avenues that will boost sales and consumption of solar energy across the state.

As per the modifications, the limit of Open Access Transaction that has been reduced from 1 MW to 100 KW will enable small consumers in the state to purchase renewable power through open access. This will in turn widen the consumer base, increasing the demand and ensuring supply.

Additionally, any kind of limit on contract demand were also removed, allowing consumers to source energy as per the requirements. More importantly, buyers will also not be charged any surcharge if fixed charges are already paid on the normal bill.

With the new law in place, cross-border subsidy surcharge and additional surcharge shall not be applicable if green energy is utilized for the production of green hydrogen and green ammonia. Additionally, these subsidy charges are also capped at 50% within for a commissioning period of 12 years.

As the demand for renewable energy increases, the need of a transparent and supportive purchasing policy is becomes important too. In order to achieve this, the modification in the policy also ensures minimum banking facilities for a period of 30 days and also limits the settlement block to 12 in a day.

The state aims to benefit the most from these modifications, given the geographical and generational advantages it enjoys. In order to excel in this sphere, state electricity regulatory commissions will be tasked to make the rules based on the guidelines which will be implemented in the state.