The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has issued draft amendments to the Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) Regulations.

The amendment proposes clearer eligibility criteria for captive projects, establishes a new timetable for REC applications by power distribution companies (DISCOM) and open-access consumers, updates the methodology for certificate multipliers, and addresses RECs under virtual power purchase agreements (VPPA).

Stakeholders can submit their comments and suggestions by October 23, 2025.

Regarding eligibility, the draft clarifies that projects set up for self-consumption but not meeting the captive consumption criteria can still receive RECs, provided their tariff is not determined under Section 62 or adopted under Section 63 of the Electricity Act, and their electricity is not sold to an obligated entity for meeting renewable purchase obligation (RPO) requirements. The projects must also not have availed any waiver or concessional transmission or wheeling charges.

The filing window for DISCOMs and open access consumers will change. Instead of three months after the financial year ends, eligible entities must apply within three months of the state commission certifying that they bought renewable power beyond their obligation. Certificates will not be issued if that window is missed.

Multipliers stay the same for projects commissioned from December 5, 2022, up to the amendment’s effective date: 1x for onshore wind and solar, 1.5x for hydro, 2x for municipal solid waste plants and non-fossil cogeneration, and 2.5x for biomass and biofuel.

For projects commissioned after the amendment takes effect, CERC proposes a scoring model that weighs the tariff range at 40%, technology maturity at 30%, and capacity credit or peak support at 30%.

Under the proposed table, offshore wind would be 3.5x, pumped hydro and four-hour battery storage 3x, large hydro, biomass or biofuel, MSW and non-fossil cogeneration at 2.5x, small hydro 2x, hybrid renewable 1.5x, and onshore wind and solar will remain the same.

Once assigned, a project will keep its multiplier for 15 years from commissioning, after which issuance will return to one REC per MWh. For technologies not mentioned above, the Commission may set multipliers on a case-by-case basis, applying the same principles.

A new provision, Regulation 14A, will cover VPPAs. RECs issued to a generator under a VPPA must be transferred to the consumer or a designated consumer and may be used for RPO or renewable consumption obligation (RCO) compliance. The draft stipulates that certificates, once transferred, must be extinguished for trading purposes, with any surplus carried forward for future compliance but are not tradable.

The National Load Despatch Centre (NLDC) will extinguish the certificates after they are used for RPO/RCO compliance and update its records. Generators must notify the NLDC when entering a VPPA.

CERC stated that these changes address requests to resolve filing bottlenecks, clarify the treatment of self-consumption for non-captive projects, review multipliers after three years, provide case-by-case treatment for uncovered technologies, and establish a clear path for VPPAs tied to RCO compliance.

CERC issued the ‘Terms and Conditions for Renewable Energy Certificates for Renewable Energy Generation Regulations’ in May 2022.

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