The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has revised its National Wind-Solar Hybrid Policy to state that the renewable purchase obligation (RPO) contribution of obligated entities that consume energy from hybrid wind-solar sources must be relatively proportional to the power contributed by each source.

The calculation will be based on the declared capacities of each source in the power purchase agreement (PPA), according to the MNRE’s notice.

However, it has stated that the entities would be allowed to choose the proportion of each source. This would be based on the actual ratios of each source’s installed capacity instead of the capacity indicated in the PPA if the actual installed capacity of each source is different from what was declared in the PPA during the implementation of the new regulation.

In May 2018, the MNRE had announced the wind-solar hybrid policy which is aimed at providing a framework for the expansion of grid-connected wind-solar photovoltaic hybrid systems in the country. The policy allowed for the power produced from hybrid projects to be used to meet solar and non-solar RPO targets in proportion to the rated capacity of solar and wind power in the respective hybrid projects.

The policy was implemented to create a framework based on which large-scale wind-solar hybrid projects could be promoted. It also aimed to help increase the efficiency of existing transmission infrastructure and in general, make the grid more stable while incentivizing technological development in the field of hybrid wind-solar power generation.

Recently, the ministry issued its draft guidelines for the tariff-based competitive bidding process for the procurement of power from grid-connected wind-solar hybrid projects. The guidelines aim to provide a framework for a bidding process for the procurement of hybrid wind-solar projects.

A few months ago, the ministry also announced that the President approved the proposed program to set up 2.5 GW of the inter-state transmission system (ISTS)-connected wind and solar hybrid projects across the country on build own operate (BOO) basis. The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has been appointed as the nodal agency for the implementation of this program.

Earlier, Mercom reported that the MNRE amended the policy to remove the word ‘battery’ from the relevant clauses in order to broaden the definition of the term “storage” and facilitate the growth of the sector by broadening the term to include other forms of storage such as pumped hydro, compressed air, and flywheel and not just battery storage.

Image credit: Nenad Kajić / Veneko.hr [CC BY-SA 4.0]