The Government of India has revised its National Tariff Policy, which has given some relief to solar and wind power projects. Under the new rules, inter-state transmission charges as well as losses for clean power transmitted through wind and solar power projects have been waived.
The changes come as part of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission's "Sharing of Inter-State Transmission Charges & Losses (Third Amendment)" Regulations 2015.
Indian business daily Business Standard reported that the new order will apply to those solar power projects that have been commissioned until March 31, 2017, while the cut-off date for wind power projects is set at March 31, 2019. It will be applicable for the next 25 years from the date of commissioning, however, it is only for those projects that have been awarded through competitive bidding.
This comes as good news for solar power project developers who have time and again complained about power distribution companies (discoms) curtailing solar power generation. While the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has stood firmly with solar power developers, some discoms are reported to be still indulging in it (see MNRE Backing Solar).
A majority of large scale projects in the solar space in India have come up or will come up through competitive bidding. India has 14 GW of solar power projects in various stages of development that has been auctioned, with another 7 GW set to be auctioned. As of September 30, 2016, it has achieved cumulative installed PV capacity of 8,643 MW (see India Crosses 8.6 GW PV).
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