The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has issued guidelines for the authorization of a Chartered Electrical Safety Engineers (CESE).

The decision was made after deliberations during the second meeting held by the standing committee on electrical safety in Raipur, in the state of Chhattisgarh. The authorization of a CESE is expected to help expedite procedures to get charging approvals from the Chief Electrical Inspector (CEI), which has been a cumbersome process for wind and solar energy projects in the past.

The CESE is required to assist the consumer, supplier or the owner with self-certification of their respective electrical installations.

According to the guidelines, the following duties shall be assigned to the CESE:

• Carry out recommended tests as per relevant standard and regulations
• Create and maintain documented records of tested electrical equipment
• The owner is mandated to carry out recommendations given by the CESE. In case the owner of fails to meet these recommendations, the CESE is required to inform the CEI within a period of fifteen days from the expiry of prescribed report
• In case the CESE finds the installation to be dangerous for the use of electricity, it is required to bring it to the notice of the CEI within forty-eight hours of testing

The fee charged by the CESE will vary from ₹3,000 to ₹5,000 (~$43-71) based on the frequency of tests conducted. Government bodies dealing with matters of inspection of electrical installations are expected to upload the names of the CESE on their respective websites within fifteen days of publishing the guidelines.

The authorization of the CESE will initially be for a period of three years, which can be further extended by two years based on performance.

In June 2018, CERC had issued a draft amendment to technical standard regulations that apply to generation resources like rooftop solar and charging stations that are seeking to connect to the grid in 2018 and have a voltage below 33kV in an effort to maintain grid stability.

Recently, the CEA also came up with a plan to develop India’s transmission system to accommodate wind energy aggregating 4,950 MW. The transmission system will be augmented in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu to accommodate wind energy capacity tendered by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).