The ministry of power on June 7 released the Green Open Access Rules, 2022 for accelerating the plan to provide access to renewable energy, a move aimed at ensuring affordable, reliable, sustainable and green energy for all.
The rules address various aspects of accessing green energy such as purchase and consumption, including from waste-to-energy plants, and the ways in which the government will promote its generation.
A simplified procedure mentioned in the new rules would ensure smoother and faster enabling of Green Power Open Access for voluntary purchase of renewable power by commercial and industrial consumers, the ministry said in a release on June 6.
Captive consumers would be allowed to take power under Green Open Access with no minimum limitation. Discom consumers can also demand green power, the release stated.
Green Open Access is available to any consumer, and the Open Access Transaction limit for green energy has been dropped from 1 MW to 100 kW to allow small users to acquire renewable energy through open access.
To incentivise consumers to go green and also address the issues that have hindered the growth of open access in India, a cap will be put on increasing of cross-subsidy surcharge as well as the removal of additional surcharge, the release said.
To make the application process transparent, approval will be granted in 15 days or else it will be deemed to have been approved, subject to the fulfillment of technical requirements. The application process will be done through a national portal, the ministry said.
The tariff shall be determined separately by the appropriate commission, which shall comprise the average pooled power purchase cost of the renewable energy, cross-subsidy charges if any, and service charges covering the prudent cost of the distribution licensee for providing the green energy to the consumers.
The rules aim to streamline the overall approval process for granting open access, including timely approval, to improve the predictability of cash flows for renewable power producers. They also aim to bring uniformity to the application procedure.
Cross-subsidy surcharge and additional surcharge shall not be applicable if green energy is utilised for the production of green hydrogen and green ammonia, the release stated.
Consumers who opt for green power will be given green certificates, the release said.
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