Draft RPO regulation with separate targets for wind power procurement released

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) has released a draft Renewable Energy Purchase Obligation Regulations, 2023 aligning with the Union Ministry of Power's regulations after incorporating wind energy into the RPO and re-categorising solar energy as 'Other RPO.'

According to the draft regulation, the RPO for wind energy will be fulfilled from projects commissioned after March 31, 2022. The RPO may also be satisfied by the excess wind energy consumed beyond 7 per cent of total energy consumption from projects commissioned before March 31, 2022.

A separate category for wind RPO is expected to boost wind installations and reduce the cost of power generated from these projects.

The regulator said that the hydropower purchase obligation (HPO) could only be satisfied by energy produced from large hydro projects, including pumped hydro projects, commissioned after March 8, 2019.

The other RPO including solar power and biomass obligation can also be met from excess energy consumed from eligible projects, including large hydro, pumped storage, and small hydro projects commissioned after March 8, 2019.

As per the draft, the total RPO for 2023-24 is 27.08 per cent and it increases gradually to 43.33 per cent in 2029-30.

If the target for the 'Other RPO' category is not met in a year, the shortfall can be fulfilled by using excess energy generated from wind projects commissioned after March 31, 2022, or from eligible large hydro projects, pumped storage projects, and small hydro projects commissioned after March 8, 2019, beyond the target set for HPO for that year.

If the target for the 'Wind RPO' category is not met, then the remaining shortfall can be met with excess energy consumed from hydropower projects, which is more than HPO for that year, and vice versa. The RPO would be applicable till March 31, 2030.