SolarQuarter Policy Debrief_September

INDIA: STATE & CENTRAL MONTHLY HIGHLIGHT

SOLAR

POLICY DEBRIEF INDIA: STATE & CENTRAL MONTHLY HIGHLIGHT SEPTEMBER 2020

SOLAR POLICY DEBRIEF : CENTRAL UNION POWER MINISTER LAUNCHES GREEN TERM AHEAD MARKET As a first step towards Greening the Indian short term power Market, R. K. Singh, the Minister of State (IC) Power and New & Renewable Energy & Minister of State (Skill Development and Entrepreneurship), launched pan-India Green Term Ahead Market (GTAM) in electricity through video conference in New Delhi on 1st September 2020. While speaking after the launch Singh said, “The introduction of GTAM platform would lessen the burden on RE-rich States and incentivize them to develop RE capacity beyond their own RPO. This would promote RE merchant capacity addition and help in achieving RE capacity addition targets of the country.”

He further added that GTAM platform will lead to an increase in the number of participants in the renewable energy sector. It will benefit buyers of RE through competitive prices and transparent and flexible procurement. It will also benefit RE sellers by providing access to the pan- India market.Key features of GTAM are Transactions through GTAM will be bilateral in nature with clear identification of corresponding buyers and sellers, there will not be any difficulty in accounting for RPO, GTAM contracts will be segregated into Solar RPO & Non-Solar RPO as RPO targets are also segregated and Green Intraday Contract & Day Ahead Contingency Contract – Bidding will take place on a 15minute time-block wise MW basis.

MNRE GRANTS BCD EXEMPTION FOR IMPORTED SOLAR CAPITAL GOODS The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) has recently accepted a request to provide a list of capital goods and machinery required for inclusion in list 19 for exemption from payment of BCD.Department of Revenue has earlier exempted certain capital goods from payment of Basic Customs Duty (BCD) when imported into India which includes capital goods required for manufacturing of Solar PV Cells and Modules. The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy consulted with the Ministry of Finance and Department of Heavy Industry regarding the same. The Ministry has decided that In order to expedite such updation priority will be given to high-value capital goods.For further necessary action the ministry ordered Solar PV Manufacturers and Solar PV Manufacturer Associations to provide a list of high-value machinery/capital goods required for the manufacturing of Solar PV Modules from Cells, Solar PV Cells from Wafers and Thin Film PV Modules by 09.10.2020.

MNRE INVITES EXPERTS FOR EVALUATION OF OFF-GRID AND DECENTRALISED SOLAR PV APPLICATIONS PROGRAMME PHASE-III R K Singh, the Minister for New & Renewable Energy and Power has approved a proposal for acceptance of Letter of Undertaking issued by IREDA, PFC & REC in lieu of Bank Guarantees for Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) by SECI, NTPC and NHPC in the case of tenders/biddings for developing Renewable Energy(RE) projects in the country.In a letter written to SECI, NTPC, NHPC, the the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy has conveyed that SECI, NTPC, NHPC or any other implementing agency on behalf of MNRE (henceforth implementing agencies) may accept Earnest Money Deposit (EMD), in the form of Bank Guarantee(s) or ‘Payment on Order instrument’.The communication further mentions, “the above decisions may be treated as amendments to the respective Standard Bidding Guidelines (SBG) (solar/ wind) and notified accordingly.” The three non-banking financial institutions – IREDA or PFC or REC may issue such Letter(s) of Undertaking/ ‘Payment on Order instrument’ to pay as per their policy, on merits and after due diligence.R K Singh Minister of New & Renewable Energy and Power said, “This decision of the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy will go a long way in ensuring Ease of Doing Business in the RE sector as the developers will now have one more option in fulfilling the tender requirement.”

MNRE SEEKS SUGGESTIONS ON FINDINGS OF THIRD-PARTY EVALUATION OF OFFGRID & DECENTRALIZED CST SCHEME The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) issued a request for comments of stakeholders on findings of third-party evaluation of the ‘OffGrid and Decentralized Concentrated Solar Thermal (CST) Scheme’ and also on performance based financial support scheme.The third party evaluation of ‘Off-Grid and Decentralized Concentrated Solar Thermal (CST) Scheme’ of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy was conducted by Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute (GERMI). In the report GERMI has presented its findings and also suggested providing performance based financial support to CST projects instead of capital subsidy earlier being provided by MNRE.Ministry also requested all concerned stakeholders to provide their comments /suggestions/ views on the same.

SOLAR POLICY DEBRIEF-INDIA: STATE & CENTRAL MONTHLY HIGHLIGHT

SEPTEMBER 2020

SOLAR POLICY DEBRIEF : CENTRAL GREEN MARKET HAS POSITIONED INDIA AMID NATIONS WITH DEVELOPED POWER MARKETS: RK SINGH R.K. Singh, Minister of State Independent Charge for Power and New & Renewable Energy and Minister of State-Independent Charge for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship launched the green markets. The event saw presence from several eminent dignitaries including Sanjeev Nandan Sahai, Secretary, Ministry of Power; Sanjay Malhotra, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Power; Ghanshyam Prasad, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Power besides others from MNRE, CERC, NLDC, State distribution utilities and IEX.Addressing the participants at the occasion, the Minister in his keynote remarks mentioned, “The commencement of green markets has positioned India in the league of countries with developed electricity markets. The markets are aligned with the Honorable Prime Minister’s vision to build India as a sustainable Energy Economy. Going forward, we expect introduction of several new and innovative market products to deepen the green markets as well as work on integration of storage and other new technologies towards assuring round the clock and firm renewable energy. ”The Ministry of Power and Ministry of Renewable Energy will continue to focus on strengthening our energy market given the advantages like competitive prices, transparency, flexibility, and payment security that it offers. “the distribution companies are also moving towards the short-term market and do not want to be tied down under long-term contracts.” added the Minister.

MNRE INVITES EXPERTS FOR EVALUATION OF OFF-GRID AND DECENTRALISED SOLAR PV APPLICATIONS PROGRAMME PHASE-III The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) issued Invitation for Expression of Interest (EOI) to engage reputed consultants/experts for undertaking evaluation of Off-grid and Decentralised Solar PV Applications Programme Phase-III. Reputed consultants/ consulting firms should submit an Expression of Interest to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy by 1800 hours on 14.10.2020. For any clarification bidders can contact at shobhit.srivastava@nic.in. Reputed consultants or consulting organizations having an experience of at least 5 years in conducting similar assignments and an annual turnover of at least Rs. 1.50 Crore per year during the last three years are only eligible to participate.

MNRE APPROVES PROPOSAL FOR ACCEPTANCE OF LETTER OF UNDERTAKING ISSUED BY IREDA, PFC & REC IN LIEU OF BANK GUARANTEES FOR EMD R K Singh, the Minister for New & Renewable Energy and Power has approved a proposal for acceptance of Letter of Undertaking issued by IREDA, PFC & REC in lieu of Bank Guarantees for Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) by SECI, NTPC and NHPC in the case of tenders/biddings for developing Renewable Energy(RE) projects in the country.In a letter written to SECI, NTPC, NHPC, the the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy has conveyed that SECI, NTPC, NHPC or any other implementing agency on behalf of MNRE (henceforth implementing agencies) may accept Earnest Money Deposit (EMD), in the form of Bank Guarantee(s) or ‘Payment on Order instrument’.The communication further mentions, “the above decisions may be treated as amendments to the respective Standard Bidding Guidelines (SBG) (solar/ wind) and notified accordingly.” The three non-banking financial institutions – IREDA or PFC or REC may issue such Letter(s) of Undertaking/ ‘Payment on Order instrument’ to pay as per their policy, on merits and after due diligence.R K Singh Minister of New & Renewable Energy and Power said, “This decision of the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy will go a long way in ensuring Ease of Doing Business in the RE sector as the developers will now have one more option in fulfilling the tender requirement.”

MNRE SEEKS SUGGESTIONS ON STANDALONE SOLAR PUMPS The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) seeked comments/ suggestions on implementation of Component-B of PM-KUSUM ie. Scheme for installation of standalone solar pumps — reg.MNRE Invited Comments/suggestions from all stakeholders on issues like eligibility for participation in the tender, technical and financial requirements, numbers of vendors to be empaneled for each category, cluster wise bidding, minimum capacity allocated to L1, provisions for MSME, contract performance guarantee requirement, specifications, etc.During the implementation of the 1 year target, the Ministry has received certain feedback on issues being faced by the vendors/implementing agencies/beneficiaries, which are being examined for suitably incorporating in the implementation process for the current year target.

SOLAR POLICY DEBRIEF-INDIA: STATE & CENTRAL MONTHLY HIGHLIGHT

SEPTEMBER 2020

SOLAR POLICY DEBRIEF : STATE POLICY UPDATES

GUJARAT ISSUES NEW LAND POLICY The state government of Gujarat has issued amendments to its wasteland allotment policy for wind, solar, and hybrid power projects.Amendments state that the renewable power project developers selected by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) will have to commit to install 50% of the total generation capacity in 3 years and 100% in 5 years. The amendments also mention that the land lease tenure will be 40 years for the renewable energy parks.

TAMIL NADU ISSUES ELECTRONICS HARDWARE MANUFACTURING POLICY 2020; AIMS TO INCREASE ELECTRONIC OUTPUT Tamil Nadu has prepared ‘Electronics Hardware Manufacturing Policy 2020’. The main aim of policy is to increase the state’s electronic output to $100 billion and also aims to contribute 25% of India’s total electronics exports to the world by 2025.The state is trying to improve the level of value addition mainly in areas of solar photovoltaic cells, mobile handsets, LED products, and automotive electronics.The incentives for mega projects will be approved by the industries department, and the structured package will be approved as per the recommendation of the Inter-Departmental Committee (IDC).

REGULATORY UPDATES

CHHATTISGARH AMENDS RPO REGULATION Chhattisgarh State Electricity Regulatory Commission (CSERC), in an announcement, amends the RPO target for Captive generating plants(CGPs) under CSERC(Renewable Purchase Obligation and REC Framework Implementation) (First Amendment) Regulations, 2020.Some important regulation are as Captive users, consuming electricity from captive generating plants (CGP), commissioned before 1st April 2016, shall have RPO target applicable for FY 2015-16, which is 1% solar and 6.25% non-solar, CGPs commissioned after lst April 2016 onward, the RPO levels as specified in these Regulations or MoP trajectory, whichever is higher, for the year of commissioning of the CGPs shall be applicable. In case of any augmentation in the capacity of the CGPs, the RPO for augmented capacity shall be the RPO applicable as specified in these Regulations for the year in which the CGPs have been augmented.

GERC INVITES COMMENTS ON DISCUSSION PAPER FOR DETERMINING WIND-SOLAR HYBRID TARIFFS The Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) had invited comments from stakeholders on its discussion paper for starting the regulatory process for determining tariffs for wind-solar hybrid projects.GERC proposed that power from wind-solar hybrid projects should be used to meet solar and non-solar renewable purchase obligations (RPOs). The Commission also ordered that the ratio of wind and solar power must be decided based on the availability of resources at the project location.

TAMIL NADU INCREASES ELECTRICITY DEMAND LIMIT TO 150 KW The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) issued notice regarding amendments to the state’s electricity supply and distribution code.Some amendments are that the electricity demand limit has been increased to 150 kW . The distribution licensee will bear the cost of the distribution transformer and accessories whereas the cost of the HT and LT lines and cables to be erected in the consumer’s premises must be bear by the applicant.

SOLAR POLICY DEBRIEF-INDIA: STATE & CENTRAL MONTHLY HIGHLIGHT

SEPTEMBER 2020

About The Event Solar Quarter Policy Debrief is a dedicated business leadership & dedicated segment of ExpertTalk focussed on latest policy drafts, amendments & announcements by the Central & State Government in Renewable Energy Sector. In this series we bring to you the latest news, analysis on some of the most important sector announcements by bringing in a pool of experts from both the Private & Public sector to keep you informed and stay updated with expert insights. In this ExpertTalk series our Experts will take a deeper look at these policies and translate them into actual Corporate Strategy and Roadmap for Businesses, this wisdom certainly comes across as a handy resource for future Business Planning. In this series you will get to interact One to One with Policy Makers, Advisors, Industry Experts and All Other Stakeholders who have been instrumental in Policy Making.

This monthly edition of ExpertTalk brings to you key features of sector policy with crisp & precise insights designed for business leaders & corporates to offer insights, not information. Join us to take a closer look to find out what this means for businesses and corporates. Some of the highlights in this month include This Expert Talk will allow all stakeholders to create a sustainable business model, prioritize efforts and get the right business strategy in RE Space.Our experts will set out the current state-of-play and answer your questions in real time.

This series is your chance to get one-to-one insights from Experts regarding Key Features, RoadMap and Right Strategy. Join this Exclusive Stakeholders Meet alongside RE experts, policymakers, public and private RE companies, manufacturers and service providers to decode Solar Policy Updates. A Must Attend for all investors & stakeholders looking to track policy and market developments in the Renewable Energy space.

Join Our Expert Meeting Room, Share opinion on What Matters & Interact Personally with our Experts, A Closed Door Discussion For Upto 50 Participants Only.

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