The Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) has issued the Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (Terms and Conditions for Green Energy Open Access) Regulations, 2024, to include rules for banking and other open access charges applicable for green energy open access consumers.

The regulations will apply to power generated through the open access model from green energy sources, including the energy from non-fossil fuel-based municipal solid waste-to-energy projects for the use of intra-state transmission and distribution systems.

The green energy open access consumers will be classified into the following categories:

• Long-term green energy open access: Consumers will have the right to use the intrastate transmission system or the distribution system for a period exceeding 12 years but not exceeding 25 years.
• Medium-term green energy open access: Consumers will have the right to use an intrastate transmission system or distribution system for a period exceeding three months but not exceeding three years.
• Short-term green energy open access: Consumers can procure power through open access for one month at a time.

Application procedure

All applicants seeking green energy open access must submit an undertaking of not having entered into a power purchase agreement (PPA) or any other bilateral agreement with more than one entity for the capacity for which green energy open access is sought.

A drawee entity, which could be a consumer or a distribution company (DISCOM), can enter into PPAs or bilateral agreements with multiple parties as long as it is within the total capacity that has been granted or is being sought under green energy open access.

Eligibility Criteria

Consumers with total contracted demand or sanctioned load of 100 kW or above can avail of green energy open access. This applies to consumers with single or multiple connections that add up to 100 kW or more within the same electricity division.

Captive consumers can use green energy open access without any load limitations.

Consumers must commit to a minimum of up to 12 time blocks during which they cannot change the amount of power they use through green energy open access. This rule helps prevent sudden, large variations in electricity demand that the DISCOM must meet.

Any entity that has installed a captive generating project will have the right to open access.

Consumers who have rooftop solar projects up to 1 MW in their premises under net-metering for captive use will be exempted from providing the details of equity holding and energy consumption to fulfill the criteria for captive generating projects with the DISCOM.

Allotment Priority

DISCOMs will have higher priority over other green energy open consumers.

Green energy open access consumers will have a preference over normal open access consumers.

Long-term green energy open access consumers will have a preference over medium-term and short-term green energy open access consumers.

A long-term green energy open access consumer who hasn’t utilized their access rights for a minimum of 12 years will be required to pay 66% of the estimated transmission and/or wheeling charges (net present value) for relinquishing the unused transmission or distribution capacity for the period less than 12 years of access rights.

Curtailment policy

In case there is a need to reduce the electricity supply due to issues with the transmission system or any other reason, the following order will be followed:

• The short-term open access consumer will be curtailed first, followed by short-term green energy open access consumers.
• Next, the short-term open access consumer will be curtailed first, followed by short-term green energy open access consumers.
• Next, the long-term open access consumer, followed by long-term green energy open access consumer, will be curtailed.

Green energy users within each category will share the reduction equally based on their usage.

DISCOMs will be the last to have their supply reduced.

Procedure for Grant of Green Energy Open Access

Applicants must pay a non-refundable processing fee of ₹50,000 (~$603) for the long-term, ₹25,000 (~$301) for the medium-term and ₹5,000 (~$60) for the short-term green energy open access to the state nodal agency.

When applying for long-term or medium-term green energy open access, applicants must provide a bank guarantee of ₹50,000  (~$603) for capacity less than 1 MW and ₹100,000 (~$1,206)/ MW for capacities of 1 MW and above. This bank guarantee must be kept valid until the agreement for electricity transmission and wheeling is signed.

The state nodal agency will refund the bank guarantee within 25 working days in the following situations:

• after the open access consumer submits the signed agreement to the state nodal agency if open access is deemed approved
• if the application for open access is rejected because there isn’t enough capacity in the network
• if the application is rejected due to any mistakes or missing information

If the application is rejected because of mistakes or missing information, the applicant needs to fix them and apply afresh through the central nodal portal.

Day-ahead Open Access Transactions

For the applications received by the state nodal agency before 13:00 hours of the day immediately preceding the day of scheduling for day-ahead green energy open access transaction, the state nodal agency will check for congestion in the system and grant approval no later than 15:00 hours.

The applicant will have to pay a fee of ₹5,000 (~$60) for each transaction to the state nodal agency.

Banking

The permitted quantum of banked energy by the green energy open access consumers will be at least 30% of the total monthly consumption of electricity from the DISCOM by the consumers.

Banking charges of ₹1.50 (~$0.018)/ kWh will be effective up to September 30, 2024. Banking charges starting from October 1, 2024, and onwards will be notified separately.

The credit for banked energy will not be permitted to be carried forward to subsequent billing cycles and will be adjusted during the same billing cycle.

Transmission Charges

Green energy open access consumers will have to pay transmission charges for the use of interstate transmission system (ISTS) as determined by the Commission from time to time.

Intrastate transmission charges for long-term, medium-term, and short-term open access will be determined as per the prevailing provisions of the GERC multiyear tariff regulations.

Wheeling Charges

Wheeling charges payable to DISCOMs by the green energy open access consumer will be determined by the Commission in the tariff orders.

In addition to wheeling charges, the wheeling loss will apply to consumers or generators on a case-by-case basis, as determined by the Commission.

Cross-Subsidy Surcharge

The green energy open access consumer will be required to pay a cross-subsidy surcharge as provided in the relevant tariff order. The cross-subsidy surcharge will be payable on a billing cycle basis, calculated according to the actual energy consumed during the billing period.

The cross-subsidy surcharge for consumers purchasing green energy will not be increased during 12 years from the date of the commercial operation of the generating project using renewable energy sources by more than 50% of the surcharge determined for the year in which open access is granted.

If power generated from a municipal solid waste-to-energy project is supplied to an open access consumer, the cross-subsidy surcharge will not be applicable.

The surcharge will not exceed 20% of the average cost of supply.

Additional Surcharge

Additional surcharge levied on green energy open access consumers will not be more than the per unit cost of power purchase of the DISCOM concerned.

Additional surcharge will not be applicable to the green energy open access consumer to the extent of contract demand being maintained with the DISCOM.

If power generated from a municipal solid waste-to-energy project is supplied to an open access consumer, an additional surcharge will not apply.

Additional surcharge will not apply in case of electricity generated from offshore wind projects commissioned up to December 2032 and supplied to open access consumers.

Standby Charges  

If a green energy open access consumer cannot obtain power from the agreed-upon generating sources, a standby arrangement will be made available to the consumer by the DISCOM.

The DISCOM will have the right to collect standby charges, amounting to 10% of the energy charges applicable to the consumer’s tariff category. These charges will align with the prevailing rate schedule specified in the relevant tariff order.

Scheduling Charges

The green energy open access consumers must pay ₹2,000 (~$24)/ day basis scheduling charges to the SLDC or as decided by the Commission.

Transaction and Meter reading Charges

Green energy open access consumers must pay a monthly fee of ₹3,000 (~$36) for transaction management to the State Nodal Agency and ₹1,000 (~$12) for meter reading to the relevant licensee(s).

Energy Accounting

For green energy open access carried out under interstate transactions, energy accounting will follow the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission regulations.

However, if a generator is connected to the state grid and sells power outside the state, the energy accounting for settling deviations will be determined based on either the reference charge rate or the normal rate of charges for deviation, whichever is greater.

The generator will be required to pay the deviation charges for intrastate transactions according to the regulations outlined in the Forecasting and Scheduling and Related Matters for Solar and Wind Generation Sources Regulations of 2019.

However, green energy projects (other than solar, wind, and wind-solar hybrid) commissioned under the respective tariff orders approved by the Commission and currently operational will be governed by the provisions stated in the relevant orders issued by the Commission.

Reactive Energy Charge

Reactive energy charges will be per the provisions stipulated in the tariff orders. If the green energy open access consumer procures power from a DISCOM and simultaneously wheels the power from a green energy supplier, the reactive energy charge will be as per the applicable tariff orders for the relevant class of consumers.

Recently, the Ministry of Power instructed state electricity regulatory commissions to comply with the Electricity (Promoting Renewable Energy Through Green Energy Open Access) Rules and align their states’ Open Access Regulations with the notified rules and all the amendments.

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