The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has issued a procedure for the registration of renewable energy projects and distribution licensees (DISCOMs) by the agency.

This procedure is designed to improve the implementation of CERC’s Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) Regulations.

The new procedure will apply to all grid-connected renewable energy projects implemented by generating companies based on the generation sources. The projects must have received an accreditation certificate from their respective state electricity regulatory commission (SERC).

The central agency will register any renewable energy generation projects by a generating company three months before the proposed date of commercial operation. For existing renewable energy generation projects, the central agency will undertake the registration after it receives the commissioning certificate issued by the concerned state authorities.

The registration granted by the central agency to the generating company as an eligible entity will remain valid for five years.

Each generating company or DISCOM must apply to be registered as an eligible entity for receiving renewable energy certificates. They will also be required to coordinate with the central agency and submit the information to enable the central agency to comply with the requirements for registration within the prescribed timeframe.

The central agency will comply with the directions issued by CERC, scrutinize and verify the documents submitted by the renewable energy generator and DISCOM, and confirm their registration as eligible entities.

If an application is rejected, the central agency will indicate the reasons for rejection in a timely manner. The central agency must inform the concerned state agency, state load dispatch center (SLDC), and power exchanges of the successful registration of any entity.

CERC has also issued “Model Guidelines for Accreditation of a Renewable Energy Generation Project or Distribution Licensee,” for the state agencies under the REC mechanism.

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