The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has ordered the national load despatch centre (NLDC) to issue renewable energy certificates (RECs) for a small hydro project of capacity 10 MW and another cogeneration project.

Gokak Power & Energy Limited had petitioned the CERC asserting that it is entitled to revalidation of accreditation and registration of REC for its 10 MW small hydro project with effect from April 2016 to June 2017.

Gokak Power & Energy Limited owns and operates a 10.8 MW small hydro project that received accreditation on May 28, 2013, and was registered as an eligible entity for REC mechanism for 10 MW on August 8, 2013.

After the fourth amendment in the REC Regulations, it remained eligible for REC for only 4.5 MW of its capacity unit. As per the direction of the state load despatch centre (SLDC), the generator applied to it for a separate availability-based tariff (ABT) meter.

The CERC observed that the final approval was accorded by SLDC only in July 2017. The generator has complied with all the directions that were issued to it by various authorities, and the delay that occurred due to the late installation of ABT meter cannot be attributed to it. Therefore, it is eligible for RECs for the period between April 2016 and June 2017.

In its order, the CERC stated that since there are no premise or energy injection reports for the period under consideration, the concerned agencies must issue the RECs on pro-rata (proportionate) basis since the generator has made available the total generation from 10 MW of renewable energy for the period between April 2016 and June 2017.

DCM Shriram Limited had petitioned the CERC requesting it to direct the NLDC to issue 5,127 RECs for the energy generated and supplied from its bagasse-based co-generation plant at Hariawan (Uttar Pradesh) in January 2016.

The CERC observed that the generator had duly sent the application for the issuance of 5,127 RECs for January 2016 for its Hariawan project before the due date and the physical copy was also submitted on May 28, 2016; which was before the expiry of six months.

The CERC further noted that the NLDC has accepted that the RECs were denied on account of procedural and technical issues, which is beyond NLDC’s power and that could be done only by the CERC.

The CERC has condoned the delay in issuing the RECs to DCM Shriram Limited and ordered NLDC to issue RECs for the generation in January 2016 for the Hariawan project subject to the review of the application in line with the energy injection report.

In March 2018, the central commission had issued model guidelines for the accreditation of renewable energy projects or distribution licensees (DISCOM) by state agencies under the REC mechanism. The new procedure is designed to provide the entities with guidance on how to implement the REC mechanism.

The same month, it also created a set of procedures for issuance of RECs to entities. In January 2019, Mercom reported that CERC was seeking consultants to study the regulatory impact of the REC mechanism.