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Business Standard
13 hours ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Solar Federation seeks extension of inter-state transmission fee waiver
The National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI) has urged the government to protect the viability of numerous renewable energy projects facing risks from delays beyond the control of developers, according to a person familiar with the matter. In the letter to the advisor to the Prime Minister's Office, the federation urged that the Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) charges waiver be extended to projects getting commissioned by June 2026 and meeting a specific criterion relating to connectivity application status, financial closure, land acquisition beyond the 50 per cent threshold, and if orders for equipment have been made. The federation, representing a broad spectrum of stakeholders across the solar value chain, stated that while the ISTS waiver, originally announced by the Ministry of Power (MoP), has played a "pivotal role in making renewable power more competitive", its delayed implementation by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) in February 2023 left many developers in a limbo. ISTS charges are the fees levied for using the transmission infrastructure to move electricity between states. They are imposed to cover the costs relating to building and maintaining transmission lines and other infrastructure required for interstate electricity transfer. According to an energy expert, industry estimates state that renewable energy projects of nearly Rs 5 lakh crore would be impacted if the waiver of ISTS charges is not extended. "Several RE developers made early investments, securing land, achieving financial closure, and signing definitive agreements based on the original MoP notification," the federation said. However, due to aspects like the nearly two-year lag in CERC's ratification and other uncontrollable factors, these developers are now at risk of missing the commissioning deadline of June 30, 2025, making them ineligible for the waiver. The federation flagged multiple aspects, including prolonged approvals under Section 68(1) of the Electricity Act due to an ongoing Supreme Court case on Great Indian Bustard conservation, delay in transmission planning and connectivity effectiveness, and delayed commissioning of critical transmission infrastructure. "Several developers applied for ISTS connectivity well before June 2023, in line with the ISTS waiver policy timelines. However, the effectiveness dates for granted connectivity are being issued much later, often in 2026 or 2027, due to delays in transmission system planning and execution," the federation said. The federation has proposed a milestone-based eligibility framework for the waiver. It has recommended that projects that had applied for transmission connectivity on or before June 30, 2023, achieved financial closure, acquired at least 50 per cent of the land required for their development, and placed orders for wind turbine generators and/or inverters must be considered for the purpose of availing the ISTS waiver. It argued that the approach is consistent with CERC's regulations and recent Ministry of Power notifications granting waiver flexibility to pumped storage and battery storage projects. "The proposed eligibility criteria will ensure that only serious and committed renewable energy developers, who had factored the ISTS waiver into their project design and commercial commitments, benefit from this extension," the federation said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Time of India
14 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Solar body urges govt to extend transmission fee waiver for delayed projects
The National Solar Energy Federation of India ( NSEFI ) has urged the government to protect the viability of numerous renewable energy projects facing risks from delays beyond the control of developers, according to a person familiar with the matter. In the letter to the advisor to the Prime Minister's Office, the federation urged that the Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) charges waiver be extended to projects getting commissioned by June 2026 and meeting a specific criterion relating to connectivity application status, financial closure, land acquisition beyond the 50 per cent threshold, and if orders for equipment have been made. The federation, representing a broad spectrum of stakeholders across the solar value chain, stated that while the ISTS waiver, originally announced by the Ministry of Power (MoP), has played a "pivotal role in making renewable power more competitive", its delayed implementation by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) in February 2023 left many developers in a limbo. Also Read: NTPC Group starts Nokh Solar PV Project, total capacity reaches 80,708 MW ISTS charges are the fees levied for using the transmission infrastructure to move electricity between states. They are imposed to cover the costs relating to building and maintaining transmission lines and other infrastructure required for interstate electricity transfer. According to an energy expert, industry estimates state that renewable energy projects of nearly Rs 5 lakh crore would be impacted if the waiver of ISTS charges is not extended. "Several RE developers made early investments, securing land, achieving financial closure, and signing definitive agreements based on the original MoP notification," the federation said. However, due to aspects like the nearly two-year lag in CERC's ratification and other uncontrollable factors, these developers are now at risk of missing the commissioning deadline of June 30, 2025, making them ineligible for the waiver. The federation flagged multiple aspects, including prolonged approvals under Section 68(1) of the Electricity Act due to an ongoing Supreme Court case on Great Indian Bustard conservation, delay in transmission planning and connectivity effectiveness, and delayed commissioning of critical transmission infrastructure. "Several developers applied for ISTS connectivity well before June 2023, in line with the ISTS waiver policy timelines. However, the effectiveness dates for granted connectivity are being issued much later, often in 2026 or 2027, due to delays in transmission system planning and execution," the federation said. The federation has proposed a milestone-based eligibility framework for the waiver. It has recommended that projects that had applied for transmission connectivity on or before June 30, 2023, achieved financial closure, acquired at least 50 per cent of the land required for their development, and placed orders for wind turbine generators and/or inverters must be considered for the purpose of availing the ISTS waiver. It argued that the approach is consistent with CERC's regulations and recent Ministry of Power notifications granting waiver flexibility to pumped storage and battery storage projects. "The proposed eligibility criteria will ensure that only serious and committed renewable energy developers, who had factored the ISTS waiver into their project design and commercial commitments, benefit from this extension," the federation said.
Mint
15 hours ago
- Business
- Mint
Solar Federation urges govt to extend transmission charge waiver
New Delhi, Jun 9 (PTI) The National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI) has urged the government to protect the viability of numerous renewable energy projects facing risks from delays beyond the control of developers, according to a person familiar with the matter. In the letter to the advisor to the Prime Minister's Office, the federation urged that the Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) charges waiver be extended to projects getting commissioned by June 2026 and meeting a specific criterion relating to connectivity application status, financial closure, land acquisition beyond the 50 per cent threshold, and if orders for equipment have been made. The federation, representing a broad spectrum of stakeholders across the solar value chain, stated that while the ISTS waiver, originally announced by the Ministry of Power (MoP), has played a "pivotal role in making renewable power more competitive", its delayed implementation by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) in February 2023 left many developers in a limbo. ISTS charges are the fees levied for using the transmission infrastructure to move electricity between states. They are imposed to cover the costs relating to building and maintaining transmission lines and other infrastructure required for interstate electricity transfer. According to an energy expert, industry estimates state that renewable energy projects of nearly ₹ 5 lakh crore would be impacted if the waiver of ISTS charges is not extended. "Several RE developers made early investments, securing land, achieving financial closure, and signing definitive agreements based on the original MoP notification," the federation said. However, due to aspects like the nearly two-year lag in CERC's ratification and other uncontrollable factors, these developers are now at risk of missing the commissioning deadline of June 30, 2025, making them ineligible for the waiver. The federation flagged multiple aspects, including prolonged approvals under Section 68(1) of the Electricity Act due to an ongoing Supreme Court case on Great Indian Bustard conservation, delay in transmission planning and connectivity effectiveness, and delayed commissioning of critical transmission infrastructure. "Several developers applied for ISTS connectivity well before June 2023, in line with the ISTS waiver policy timelines. However, the effectiveness dates for granted connectivity are being issued much later, often in 2026 or 2027, due to delays in transmission system planning and execution," the federation said. The federation has proposed a milestone-based eligibility framework for the waiver. It has recommended that projects that had applied for transmission connectivity on or before June 30, 2023, achieved financial closure, acquired at least 50 per cent of the land required for their development, and placed orders for wind turbine generators and/or inverters must be considered for the purpose of availing the ISTS waiver. It argued that the approach is consistent with CERC's regulations and recent Ministry of Power notifications granting waiver flexibility to pumped storage and battery storage projects. "The proposed eligibility criteria will ensure that only serious and committed renewable energy developers, who had factored the ISTS waiver into their project design and commercial commitments, benefit from this extension," the federation said.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Standalone solar plant subject to 2,735 compliance tasks, 83 clauses carry imprisonment: Report
New Delhi: A standalone solar energy producing plant in Maharashtra, with a corporate office in Haryana, must comply with 799 unique obligations, resulting in 2,735 total annual compliance tasks, according to a report released by TeamLease RegTech. Of the total obligations applicable to the corporate office, 83 carry imprisonment clauses, the report titled Decoding Compliance Management for Renewable Energy Sector stated. The report highlights that these obligations span central, state and municipal levels, and are distributed across seven categories of law and three tiers of legislation. "The corporate office must adhere to 514 compliances, of which 83 carry imprisonment clauses, often for procedural lapses," the report said. The compliance load is broken down into 646 obligations from central legislation, 151 from the state level, and two from municipal regulations. The manufacturing plant component alone requires 51 approvals, permissions and registrations, and must comply with 285 legal mandates. These obligations arise across categories including safety, employee welfare and statutory audits. The regulatory framework involves multiple agencies including the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs), and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE). Obligations include adherence to Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPOs), Energy Conservation Act, tariff policies, environmental clearances, and grid integration standards in accordance with Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) norms. Compliance challenges identified in the report include fragmentation across jurisdictions, overlapping mandates from different authorities, inconsistent policy implementation, and delays in land acquisition and environmental clearances. The continued reliance on manual, paper-based compliance systems also increases the risk of non-compliance, it said. The 799 obligations are spread across categories such as labour (244), secretarial (238), industry-specific (106), finance and taxation (84), environment health and safety (EHS) (58), commercial (38), and general (31). In terms of frequency, these include 58 monthly, 94 quarterly, 45 half-yearly and 114 annual compliances. The remaining 88 are event-based or one-time obligations. "The regulatory landscape circumscribes various standards, authorities and compliance requirements," the report noted. It further explained that the complexity is increased by the concurrent jurisdiction of central and state governments in areas like labour and electricity. The report detailed that approvals required to establish and operate the plant cover stages such as setting up (10), pre-commissioning (7), post-commissioning (4), and ongoing operations (30), totalling 51 approvals. These are governed under at least 31 Acts and Rules. Imprisonment clauses linked to compliance requirements are most prevalent under labour laws, accounting for 77.1 per cent, followed by secretarial (12 per cent), finance and taxation (8.4 per cent), and EHS (2.4 per cent). In terms of legislative origin, 66.3 per cent of these clauses stem from central laws, while 33.7 per cent are from state laws. The report further highlighted that the compliance types include returns, registers and records, payments, certificates and licenses, notices and correspondence, inspections, safety and welfare, audit and accounts, and others. The company under consideration has 100 or fewer employees and employs more than 20 contract labourers in the factory. It uses diesel generators, fire extinguishers, and consumes batteries at both manufacturing and corporate locations. It also generates e-waste, battery waste, and solid waste, with operations based on zero liquid discharge. The report recommends that renewable energy companies adopt a centralised and automated compliance strategy to manage obligations more efficiently.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
CERC pushes virtual PPAs to help industries meet renewable targets without transmission hurdles
New Delhi: The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission ( CERC ) has floated draft guidelines for virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs), proposing a regulatory framework to enable enterprises and Designated Consumers to meet their long-term Renewable Energy Consumption Obligations (RCO) under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001. The draft defines VPPAs as non-transferable specific delivery (NTSD) over-the-counter (OTC) financial contracts between a consumer and a renewable energy (RE) generator. The draft defines VPPAs as non-transferable specific delivery (NTSD) over-the-counter (OTC) financial contracts between a consumer and a renewable energy (RE) generator. Under the structure, consumers pay a fixed pre-agreed VPPA price while the RE generator sells power on the exchange. The difference between the VPPA price and the realised market price is settled bilaterally between the two parties, without physical delivery of electricity. The Ministry of Power, through a communication dated March 3, 2025, directed CERC to develop a regulatory mechanism for such contracts to facilitate RCO compliance. In support, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), in a letter dated January 31, 2025, clarified that VPPAs are non-tradable OTC contracts and thus do not fall under the purview of the Securities Contracts Regulation Act, 1956. The guidelines provide that RE generators entering VPPAs must register under the REC Regulations, 2022. Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) generated through such contracts must be transferred to the consumer and extinguished as per REC Registry procedures. These RECs cannot be traded. "The RE generator shall sell electricity through power exchange or any other mode authorised under the Electricity Act 2003, and the difference between the VPPA price and the market price shall be settled bilaterally between the contracting parties as per mutually agreed terms," the draft states. Consumers may execute VPPAs directly, through registered traders, or via OTC platforms recognised by CERC. Disputes related to these contracts will be resolved in accordance with the agreed terms in the bilateral agreement. The Commission has sought stakeholder feedback on the proposed guidelines before finalising the framework. The move is expected to support India's target of achieving 500 GW of installed capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030.
