Power regulator hikes renewable energy target for Delhi discoms

Under the revised draft order, the renewable purchase obligation discoms need to meet for this financial year (2017-18) will be 14.25% out of which at least 4.75% must be solar-generated electricity.

By the year 2020, distribution companies in Delhi will have to procure almost 20% of their electricity through renewable energy.

Under the revised draft order, the renewable purchase obligation discoms need to meet for this financial year (2017-18) will be 14.25% out of which at least 4.75% must be solar-generated electricity. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

After releasing the draft regulations last month, the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) will once again revise its ‘renewable purchase obligation (RPO) and renewable energy certificate framework implementation regulations, 2017’.

Accordingly, the commission will increase the share of green energy to be procured by discoms from the proposed 17% to 19.75% in the year 2019-20.

“The commission will revise the RPOs issued in the draft order last month as it was not in conformity with the targets mandated by the ministry of renewable energy. The new draft order will be issued soon,” a source in the commission said.

Under the revised draft order, the renewable purchase obligation discoms need to meet for this financial year (2017-18) will be 14.25% out of which at least 4.75% must be solar-generated electricity.

In the business plan issued last month, the DERC had proposed an RPO of 11.5% in which 2.75% was to be solar based.

But officials of power utilities said the target of three years was too high. “Achieving an RPO of 4.75% till March, 2018 would need solar generation of about 1,000 MW for all the three discoms combined. Given the space constraints, achieving the target looks difficult,” a discom official said.

The power regulator will also make it compulsory for discoms to buy 100% electricity being generated from the waste-to-energy plants set up in the Capital. Currently, Delhi has four such plants.

“The distribution licensees shall compulsorily procure 100% power produced from all the waste-to-energy plants in the state, in the ratio of their procurement of power from all sources including their own as approved by the commission from time to time, which shall qualify towards compliance of renewable purchase obligation (RPO) for the distribution licensee,” read the draft regulations for which comments from public were sought.

The commission had in October 2012 had notified regulations making RPO compulsory for all discoms in the city. RPOs make it mandatory for all discoms to purchase some percentage of electricity through renewable sources of energy.

In 2016-17, the discoms had to get 9% of their total electricity from renewables and in 2015-16 it was 7.6%.

But since 2012, the power regulator had only been carrying it forward to the next financial year as discoms had repeatedly failed to meet the RPOs.

As a result, by the year 2015, the defaulting amount has risen up to almost 15 per cent of the total electricity procured by the companies.