Rajasthan announces new draft solar policy 2019

Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission along with Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Limited announced the draft new solar policy 2019. The summary of the draft policy is as below:

• A target of 25 GW out of the total 100 GW capacity Grid Connected Solar power projects in the country up to 2021-2022.
• To fulfill the Renewable Purchase Obligation of state Distribution Companies as determined by RERC.
• To promote Open Acess allowing the sale of power to other parties other than Discoms in and outside Rajasthan and allowing captive consumption within the state.

Various options of solar energy capacity:

• Small decentralized Grid-connected solar power projects at load centers
• Rooftop solar with Net Metering
• Solar projects with battery storage
• Charging stations by solar energy
• Development of solar parks

Registration details:

• Developers are required to pay a registration fee ranging from INR 50,000 to INR 3,00,000 depending on the size of the projects. Further, the developers are supposed to contribute to a local area development fund of approximately INR 25,000/MW.

Each Solar Power Producer will deposit processing fee with RREC as under: 

• For Project <=10 MW capacity:  Rs 50,000/- per MW
• For Projects > 10 MW and <= 50 MW capacity: Rs 5 lac per project
• For Projects > 50 MW and <= 100 MW capacity: Rs 10 lac per project 
• For Projects> 100 MW capacity: Rs 30 lac per project.

Land allotment:
Technology Maximum land which can be Allotted 

•  SPV on Crystalline Technology: 2.0Hect./MW 
• SPV on Crystalline Technology with a tracker: 3.0Hect./MW 
• SPV on Thin Film/Amorphous Technology with or without tracker: 3.5 Hect./MW  
• Solar Thermal (CSP)- Parabolic Trough / Tower/Other Technology with and without storage a) Up to PLF of 21%: 3.5 Hect./MW,  b) For every 1% increase in PLF: 0.15 Hect./MW additional land will be allotted

Incentives:
The policy provides banking of power as per the state regulations. Similarly, wheeling, transmission charges, and electricity duty are also be governed by RERC regulations.
In other things, RREC has not allowed new applications for registration of solar power projects under the REC scheme. Only the power generated form projects commissioned on or before March 31, 2019, will be purchased by discoms of Rajasthan. 
The comments and suggestions are accepted until 20th September 2019. The state has also announced draft wind & wind-solar hybrid solar policy 2019. Rajasthan wishes to become a leader in renewable energy installation in India and curb conventional energy usage in the coming years.