Haryana Imposes Charges and Caps on Renewable Energy Banking

The Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) has issued regulations for establishing tariffs from renewables, renewable purchase obligation (RPO), and renewable energy certificate (REC) for the financial year (FY) 2021-22 to FY 2024-25. These regulations will apply to grid-connected renewable projects of up to 2 MW capacity where the tariff is determined by the Commission.

The Commission will determine the indicative tariff for these projects based on petitions at least six months in advance at the beginning of each year of the control period.

Renewable Energy Purchase Obligation (RPO)

The Commission believes that it may be difficult for the DISCOMs to comply with the RPO level specified by the Ministry of Power (MoP). It is already difficult for obligated entities to comply with the existing RPO obligation, especially with the limited renewable energy sources in the state, surplus power scenario, and system constraints in absorbing intermittent renewable energy.

Accordingly, RPO for the FY 2021-22 has been kept as per the earlier 2017 – 8% regulations for solar and 3% for non-solar. The same has been increased to 9% and 10% for FY 2022-23 and FY 2023-24, respectively, for solar, while the cap is 5% and 6% for FY 2022-23 and FY 2023-24, respectively for non-solar.

Further, the RPO level for subsequent years will be determined at a later stage, after monitoring the position of RPO compliance by the obligated entities and availability of renewable power and trading in REC up to FY 2023-24.