
Government-owned Power Financing Institutions Reduce Lending Rates
State-owned non-banking financial firms, Power Finance Corporation (PFC), and REC will reduce lending rates by up to 2% points from April 1, 2021. According to the PTI, the PFC said, ...

DISCOMs’ Outstanding Payments to Renewable Generators Cross ₹123 Billion in February
Distribution companies (DISCOMs) owed ₹123.45 billion (~$1.68 billion) to renewable energy generators (excluding disputed amounts) in overdue payments across 206 pending invoices at the end of February 2021, according to ...

Solar Project Development in India: A Long Road Towards an Ambitious Target
India's cumulative installations breached the 40 GW mark, according to Mercom India Research. The total installations comprised 34.9 MW of utility-scale solar installations, and the rooftop segment accounted for 5.1 ...

Contract Performance Guarantee for Power Transmission Projects Reduced by Over 60%
The Ministry of Power has reduced the contract performance guarantee for tariff-based competitive bidding transmission projects by more than 60%. The contract performance guarantee will now be charged at the ...

Ministry Asks States to Relax Performance and Bid Security for Power Project Bids
The Ministry of Power has directed the state governments and the governments of union territories (UT) to relax performance security, earnest money deposits requirements for power project bids. It has ...

Letter of Credit Order Ignored, Andhra DISCOMs Allowed to Buy Power from Spot Market
The Andhra Pradesh High Court, in a recent order, has allowed the distribution companies (DISCOMs) of the state to operate through power exchanges and to secure power through open access ...

Power Ministry Favors Tariff-Based Competitive Bidding for Intrastate Transmission
In a recent notification, the Ministry of Power (MoP) said that as the intrastate transmission systems have a major share in the country, the adoption of tariff-based competitive bidding to ...

Month in a Minute: Top Headlines from Indian Renewable Sector in February 2021
Here is a recap of some of the most important headlines from February 2021: Total Eren and EDF Renewables announced that EDEN Renewables India has successfully secured financial closure for ...

DISCOM Dues to Renewable Generators Edged Up to ₹122 Billion in January 2021
Distribution companies (DISCOMs) owed ₹122.49 billion (~$1.65 billion) to renewable energy generators (excluding disputed amounts) in overdue payments across 384 pending invoices at the end of January 2021, according to ...

Ministry of Power Issues New Rules for Late Payment Surcharge Payable by DISCOMs
The Ministry of Power has issued new regulations regarding the late payment surcharge, which will be applicable for power purchase agreements (PPAs) and transmission service agreements in which the tariffs ...

Torrent Power to Acquire 51% Stake in Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu DISCOMs
Torrent Power has emerged as the highest bidder for the acquisition of the power distribution company (DISCOM) in the union territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, according ...

Energy Storage Systems Must Be Charged Using Renewables: Round-the-Clock Power Bid
The Ministry of Power (MoP) has amended the guidelines for the tariff-based competitive bidding process for the procurement of round-the-clock (RTC) power from grid-connected renewable power projects, complemented with power ...

NTPC’s 520 MW Hydropower Project Damaged in Glacier Burst and Floods
A glacial lake burst led to a rise in water levels in the river Rishiganga in Uttarakhand, damaging part of NTPC's 520 MW Tapovan Vishnugad hydropower project which was under ...

CERC Rejects Petition to Exempt Projects in Solar Parks from ISTS Charges
The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has rejected a petition to declare an inter-state transmission system (ISTS) transmission network connecting the solar park with the national grid as a ‘project ...

DISCOMs Now Have Hydropower Purchase Obligation in Their RPO Targets
The Ministry of Power (MoP) has issued a notification specifying renewable purchase obligation (RPO) targets, including large hydropower projects commissioned after March 08, 2019. On March 08, 2019, the government ...

Ministry of Power Suggests Changes to CERC Regulations Regarding Transmission Charges
The Ministry of Power has issued directions to the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) regarding sharing transmission charges under 'force majeure' conditions. The ministry noted that the Central Transmission Utility ...

SC Allows CERC to Pronounce Orders in Reserved Matters Until New Member of Law Joins
In a new development regarding the appointment of Member (Law) at the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), the supreme court has allowed pronouncement of judgments in some reserved matters until ...

Here is the Solar Industry Wishlist for Budget 2021
Riddled with a pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns, 2020 was a year everyone wants to forget. The year was also adverse for the solar industry, which saw manufacturing and installations ...

ISTS Charges Waiver for Solar, Wind Projects Beyond Deadline Being Considered
The Ministry of Power has announced that it will not deprive renewable power projects of a waiver on inter-state transmission system (ISTS) charges and losses if they are commissioned after ...

Ministry of Power to Review Net Metering Restriction for Rooftop Solar Systems Over 10 kW
The Ministry of Power (MoP) has assured stakeholders from the rooftop solar segment that the government will review its stance on gross metering for installations over 10 kW capacity. Representations ...

Tamil Nadu DISCOM Demanding Heavy Discounts on Pending Dues: Power Producers
The Association of Power Producers (APP) has complained that Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) is forcing them to accept heavy discounts on dues payable. In a letter to ...

Government Proposes Option for DISCOMs to Exit PPA After Their Tenure
The Ministry of Power (MoP) has issued draft proposals enabling the distribution companies (DISCOMs) to either continue or exit from the power purchase agreements (PPAs) after the completion of the ...

Cabinet Approves ₹67 Billion Plan for Power Infrastructure of North Eastern States
The cabinet committee on economic affairs has approved the Revised Cost Estimate (RCE) for the North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP) with an estimated cost of ₹67 billion ...

CERC Gets New Member of Law, Set to Resume Operations
After four months of the shutdown, normalcy returns to the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) with the Ministry of Power (MoP) finally appointing a member of law in the Commission ...

Curtailment of Solar and Wind for Commercial Reasons Continues to be a Threat
Renewable power generation, especially solar power, has seen phenomenal growth since the inception of the National Solar Mission and has accounted for most new capacity additions over the past three ...