Green Open Access Rules 2022 Update Helps Translate Intent Into Action

Yesterday, the government took another step forward to accelerate India's renewable energy programmes with the notification of the Green Open Access Rules 2022. And this announcement has come as welcome news for India's renewable energy sector. 

"Every consumer becomes a stakeholder to contribute in achieving India's commitment of 500 GW of Non-fossil fuel by 2030," the Ministry of Power (MoP) stated in its notification of the Electricity (Promoting Renewable Energy Through Green Energy Open Access) Rules, 2022. The draft rules were laid down in August 2021.

Saying that open access makes it possible for industries interested in going green, R K Singh, Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister, has urged industry and industry associations to translate their green intent into action. The minister emphasized that the rules have removed obstructions affecting renewable energy availability.

These rules address the issues that have hindered the growth of open access in India for a long time. It aims to streamline the overall approval process for granting open access, providing timely approval, bringing uniformity to the application procedure, and improving cash flow predictability for renewable power producers. The end goal is to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and green energy for all.

STIMULATING GROWTH 

Stating that consumers can demand green power supply from discoms, the rules allow consumers open access to green power, including small consumers, by reducing the limit of open access transactions from 1 MW to 100 kW. Lowering this limit is likely to spur demand in the market as more consumers shift to green energy.

The rules bring in transparency to the approval process of the open-access application. Approvals will be granted in 15 days through a national portal run by a central nodal agency. Delays in approval would be considered approvals subject to technical requirements fulfilment. Consumers opting for this energy source will get green certificates, and there may be a rating of such consumers based on their consumption by state commissions.

Referring to tariffs, the rules state: "The tariff for the green energy shall be determined separately by the appropriate commission, which shall comprise of 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." 

STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

The rule provides certainty on open access charges, including transmission charges, wheeling charges, cross-subsidy surcharge, and standby charges, to be levied on consumers of green energy.

If the open access consumer gets power produced from a waste-to-energy plant, the cross-subsidy surcharge and additional surcharge will be waived off. Companies producing green hydrogen and green ammonia from green energy will be exempted from paying cross-subsidy and other surcharges, which will 

The industry's positive response to the rules is best captured in Kushagra Nandan's statement. The Co-Founder and Managing Director of SunSource Energy stated, "We feel that the Green Access Rules 2022 will benefit the renewable energy business in the country. Now the focus should be on actual implementation and acceptance by the states."

With open access, small electricity consumers now have the option to purchase green energy from a source of their choice, a move that will motivate more of them to shift to green energy gradually. By putting the power in the consumer's hands, the government has taken a step toward increasing the purchase of renewable energy in the country and walking the green energy talk.