KSERC (Kerala) Proposes New Renewable Energy Regulation

The Kerala Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) in its notification dated 31st March 2015, has notified draft for the new Renewable Energy Regulation 2015. The comments and suggestion on the said draft can be submitted within one from the notification of this draft. The main highlights of the proposed draft is given in the points below:

Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO): Every obligated entity will have RPO obligation of 4.5% of total energy consumption for FY 15-16, with an annual increase of 0.5% per year, until it reaches a maximum of 10%. Out of the total RPO obligation 10% should be compiled from solar energy sources while 90% of the obligation can be met by non-solar energy sources.

Determination of Tariff for RE sources of Energy: The commission has also proposed tariff’s for renewable energy sources. The details of the tariff’s is proposed in the table below:

A graph on the comparison between CERC RE tariff and KSERC (Kerala) RE Tariff is given below:

The proposed tariff of the RE sources is higher for FY 15-16 compared FY 14-15 for all energy sources except for solar energy. The solar energy prices has experienced steep reductions in recent times. This is due to the fact that capital cost for Solar has been reducing over the years, and is expected to have parity with coal by 2017-18.

Apart from this the regulation also gives direction about the REC mechanism, CDM benefits, benefits available under GBI scheme and also providing mandatory open access facilities.

Further details can be found here here.