The Government of Meghalaya has issued the Meghalaya Power Policy 2024, which seeks to foster a sustainable, inclusive, and efficient energy environment in the state.

The policy addresses power generation, transmission, and distribution challenges while promoting renewable energy and ensuring sustainable development.

The Meghalaya Power Policy 2024 aims to:

• Establish a state power trading company to oversee power purchase agreements, short-term transactions, and renewable energy procurement.
• Advance renewable energy adoption across hydro, solar, wind, and pumped storage systems.
• Minimize Aggregate Technical and Commercial losses in the power distribution network.

Solar Energy Expansion
Targeting a minimum 100 MW solar capacity by 2030, projects are classified into:

Developers will benefit from land lease incentives, two-year transmission charge waivers, and exemptions from cross-subsidy surcharges

Exemptions for Solar Projects

• Land allocated for solar power projects will be considered converted to non-agricultural land by default.
• A 100% waiver of transmission and wheeling charges will be granted for the first two years of commercial operation, with a 25% annual increase in charges thereafter. Full transmission and wheeling charges will apply from the 7th year of commercial operation.
• Cross-subsidy surcharge and additional surcharge will be fully exempted.

Wind Energy Development
To utilize up to 82 MW of wind energy potential at 80 meters height by 2030, wind projects will follow a similar structure as solar projects, with incentives like land lease concessions and waived transmission charges

Exemptions for Wind Projects

• A 100%) waiver of transmission and wheeling charges will be provided for the first two years of commercial operation. These charges will increase by 25% annually thereafter, with full charges applicable from the 7th year of commercial operation.
• Cross-subsidy surcharge and additional surcharge will be fully exempted.

Electricity duty will be waived for captive consumption, sales to distribution licensees, and third-party sales for all wind power projects established within the state.

Additionally, electricity duty exemptions will apply to new manufacturing facilities and ancillaries associated with wind power projects.

Pumped Storage Hydro Projects
The policy supports closed-loop and generation-based pumped storage projects to address peak demand. These may be developed by CPSUs, State PSUs, or private entities via joint ventures or competitive bidding.

Hydro Power Development
With a hydro potential of nearly 3,000 MW—of which only 13% (378 MW) has been utilized—the policy categorizes projects as follows:

Developers must pay an upfront premium, provide at least 12% free power to the state, and allocate an additional 1% to a Local Area Development Fund. Projects will operate on a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) model for 40 years before reverting to the state.

Transmission Infrastructure

The policy prioritizes a robust and reliable transmission network:

• Creation of a State Transmission Utility distinct from Meghalaya Power Transmission Corporation.
• Development of a comprehensive transmission master plan with redundancy for enhanced system security.
• Private investment in projects over ₹50 crore through Tariff-Based Competitive Bidding

Distribution Sector Reforms

To lower the current AT&C losses of 27.76%, the policy focuses on:

• Replacing conventional meters with smart meters under government schemes.
• Enhancing High Tension to Low Tension ratios in urban areas.
• Adopting demand-side management measures like Time-of-Day metering.
• Expanding EV charging infrastructure in alignment with the Electric Vehicle Policy 2021.

RPO Commitments

Meghalaya pledges to meet Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPOs) set by the Ministry of Power, with progressively increasing targets for wind, hydro, distributed renewable energy, and other green sources through

The DISCOM will explore options for decentralized energy generation in rural areas to provide reliable, high-quality, round-the-clock power supply.

To encourage energy production from non-conventional sources, the Meghalaya government will establish a dedicated fund to support research and development in emerging technologies such as green hydrogen, battery energy storage systems, and biomass power plants.

The government will promote public-private partnerships to develop solar-based EV charging stations and battery energy storage systems in Meghalaya.

Expert consultants will be appointed to assess the feasibility of harnessing green hydrogen potential and to create a roadmap for its development in the state.

Financial Incentives

A State-Level Committee, chaired by the Minister for Power, will oversee approvals, land acquisition, and project progress. Financial incentives include:

• Up to 7.5% of capital costs for small hydro project
• Waivers on electricity duty for renewable energy projects.

Meghalaya State Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (Terms and Conditions of Green Energy Open Access) Regulations, 2023, allowed consumers with a minimum contracted demand or sanctioned load of 100 kW to access Green Energy Open Access.

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