Goa Releases Solar Policy Draft

• State of Goa in India has released draft version of its Solar Policy 2017
• It is inviting comments until July 14, 2017
• Government has not defined any specific targets under the policy
• Policy once made official will remain in effect for a period of 7 years

Goa has come out with a draft solar energy policy. Titled Solar Policy 2017, it will come into effect from the date of publication in the official gazette and remain valid for a period of up to seven years.

The government has not mentioned any specific state target in the policy, it only says in the document that "the solar capacity to be approved for each year … will be separately notified by the Government at the time of bidding."

The Policy primarily defines who is eligible for subsidies and what are the boundary conditions. It divides solar power generators into prosumers (small and large) and producers:

• Rooftop and small scale solar power plants set up by small prosumers will qualify for gross metering up to 100 kW or the connected load, whichever is lower. They can also opt for net metering.
• For solar power plants up to 100 kW size, for small prosumers can get grant of 50% of the capital cost as interest free loan. In addition, state government shall provide a subsidy of 30% capital cost or the benchmark cost provided by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
• Large prosumers, including residential, commercial, institutional or industrial consumers, will only be eligible for net metering only for up to a maximum load of 2,000 kW.
• Producer is defined as an entity that intends to set up solar power plant with a capacity of more than 100 kW, and intends to sell all the generating power to the distribution licensee. It can be a rooftop or ground based plant whose tariff will be determined by reverse bidding. They will have to choose from four sizes of installation, 100 kW to 1 MW; 1 to 5 MW, 5 to 10 MW and 10 MW and above.

Land procurement will be the responsibility of the developer. All projects above 1 MW capacity will have 12 months to finish the project. Delay may result into penalty.

"The challenge before the State Government is not only to meet the ever growing demand for power but also to progressively increase the share of Renewable Sources in the energy – mix so as to achieve overall energy security and also to meet the Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) as per the target fixed by appropriate authorities from time to time," reads the policy.

Comments are invited by the Goa Energy Development Agency (GEDA)  on the draft energy policy by 5.45 PM IST on July 14, 2017. The Solar Policy-2017 can be viewed on the website of Goa government.

Recently, the state of Uttar Pradesh too rolled out its draft solar energy policy (see Uttar Pradesh Aiming For Over 10 GW Solar).