This article details about the policy support requirement in aid of Renewable Energy Development for more utilization to bring down the cost and eventually lead the transition to replace Conventional Sources supplying electricity.

1. Authored by Ashok Kumar Rajput
(Central Electricity Authority),
Assisted by
Sheetal Jain (Central Electricity Authority),
and Subrata Mukhopadhyay, LSIEEE
(Netaji Subhas University of Technology)
New Delhi, India
22PESGM3738 Policy Support in Power
Sector - Added Role of Renewable Energy

2. POWER SECTOR –PRESENT SCENARIO
Sl. No. Sources of Power Generation Installed capacity as on 31-May-2022
(MW) Percentage of total (%)
1. Thermal 236088.42 58.60
2 Nuclear 6780.00 1.68
3. Hydro 46722.52 11.59
4. RES (MNRE) 113226.47 28.10
TOTAL 402817.40

3. TARGETS SET FOR POWER SECTOR
During the COP26 the Honorable Prime Minister of India announced the
Panchamrit as our contribution to global community to deal with the climate
change challenge.
• First- India will reach its non-fossil fuel based capacity to 500 GW by 2030;
• Second- India will meet 50 percent of its energy requirements from renewable
energy by 2030;
• Third- India will reduce the total projected carbon emissions by one billion
tones from now onwards till 2030;
• Fourth- By 2030, India will reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by less
than 45 percent;
• Fifth- By the year 2070, India will achieve the target of Net Zero.

4. POWER SECTOR -PROJECTIONS
Electricity demand as assessed by the 19th Electric Power
Survey (EPS) Report, Central Electricity Authority (CEA)
Year Electrical Energy
Requirement (BU) Ex Bus
Peak
Peak Electricity Demand
(GW)
2021-22 1566 225.751
2026-27 2047 298.774
2029-30 2325 339.973
As per Optimal generation mix report of CEA, the CO2 emissions from
the power sector during the year 2029-30 is likely to be 1287 MT. The
average emission factor is likely to reduce to 0.511 kgCO2/kWh by the
year 2029-30 from 0.705 kg/kWh in the year 2017-18.

5. INSTALLED CAPACITY BY 2029-30
As per Optimal generation mix report of CEA
Sl. No. Sources of Power
Generation
Installed Capacity Corresponding to 2030
(in 2030)
(MW) Percentage of total (%)
1. Thermal 291991 35.72
2. Nuclear 18980 2.32
3. Hydro 71128 8.70
4. RES 435155 53.24
Total 817254
5. Battery Storage 27,000 MW/ 108,000 MWh

6. ROLE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY (RE)
The country will have a rapid and global transition to RE technologies
and RE will play a central role in achieving the goals of Energy
Transition as the benefits of RE are very diverse such as:
 Greenhouse gases reduction;
 Improving energy self-sufficiency;
 Curbing capital outflows associated with fossil fuel procurement;
 Strengthening the international competitiveness of industry;
 Creation of employment;
 Revitalization of the economy;
 Securing energy for emergencies.

7. DEFINITION OF RE SOURCES
The definition of RE sources as per Central Electricity Regulatory
Commission Renewable Energy Tariff Regulations, 2020:
‘Renewable energy source’ means renewable source of
energy such as water, wind, sunlight, biomass, bagasse,
municipal solid waste and other such sources as
approved by the MNRE;

8. POLICY SUPPORT & ENABLERS FOR RE
 Waiver of Inter-State Transmission Charges on Transmission of the
Electricity generated from Solar and Wind Sources of Energy;
 Must Run Status: Ministry of Power (MoP) has notified “Electricity
(Promotion of Generation of Electricity from Must-Run Power Plant)
Rules, 2021”.
 Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO)/ Hydro Purchase Obligation
(HPO)- MoP vide order dated January 29, 2021 has specified trajectory for
RPO and HPO up to 2021-22 and 2029-30 respectively. Further, matter of
RPO after 2021-22 is under finalization.
 Green Term Ahead Market (GTAM) – GTAM contracts will allow additional
avenues to the RE generators for sale of renewable energy; enable Obligated
entities to procure renewable power at competitive prices to meet their
Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPO);

9. POLICY SUPPORT & ENABLERS FOR RE
 Green Day Ahead Market (GDAM) – GDAM facilitates a marketplace
for trading of RE Power on a day-ahead basis for accomplishment of
green targets as well as support integration of Green energy in a most
efficient, competitive and transparent manner;
 Policy Support and Financial Assistance to RE Projects -
Extending various policy support and financial assistance (Capital
Subsidy, viability Gap Funding - VGF) through various schemes for
establishment of Solar park, Roof-top solar, solar pump, Wind Power,
Biomass Energy, Waste to Energy, etc.;
 Draft Electricity (Promoting renewable energy through Green
Energy Open Access) Rules, 2021

10. POLICY SUPPORT & ENABLERS FOR RE
 Exemption from Unscheduled Injection/Deviation charges- CERC
has given various relaxation to Deviation Charges for RE Plants in
Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Deviation Settlement
Mechanism and related matters) Regulations, 2019 and its
amendments;
 Green Hydrogen Policy: GOI has framed Green Hydrogen Policy vide
notification dated February 17, 2022;
 Development of Renewable Energy Management Centers (REMCs);
 Development of Green Energy Corridor;

11. POLICY SUPPORT & ENABLERS FOR RE
 Waste to Energy (WtE) - MoP/MNRE has also enabled policy and
financial assistance provisions to promote Waste to Energy (WtE)
including Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) to energy. Similarly, various
steps have also been taken to promote electricity generation and other
forms of energy production through utilization of Biomass. Under WtE
program, MNRE has sanctioned Capital Financial Assistance (CFA) to
MSW power projects;
 MoP vide notification dated April 12, 2022 notified fresh Scheme
for Flexibility in Generation and Scheduling of Thermal/Hydro
Power Stations through bundling with Renewable Energy and
Storage Power.

12. POLICY SUPPORT & ENABLERS FOR RE
 Revised Policy for Biomass Utilization for Power Generation
through Co-firing in Coal based Power Plants – In order to promote
use of biomass pellets in coal based thermal power plants and reduce
use of coal to an extent, MoP has issued “Revised Policy for Biomass
Utilization for Power Generation through Co-firing in Coal based
Power Plants” on October 8, 2021;
 MoP has issued trajectory for replacement of Thermal Energy with
about 58,000 MU (30,000 MW) for Renewable Energy by 2025-26 vide
its notification dated May 26, 2022;
 MoP and MNRE have issued an Expression of Interest (EoI) for setting
up of manufacturing zone for power and renewable energy (RE) sector
equipment.

13. CHALLENGES WITH RE and SOLUTIONS THEREOF
Generation from RE sources is variable and intermittent in nature and these
are also seasonal generations. In order to firm up the energy generated from
RES, there has to be presence of good energy storage element. Battery Energy
Storage System (BESS) and Pump Storage Hydro Projects (PSHP) are examples
of prevalent energy storage devices.
 MoP vide its notification dated March 11, 2022 issued “Guidelines for
Procurement and Utilization of Battery Energy Storage Systems as part of
Generation, Transmission and Distribution assets, along with Ancillary
Services”.
 Department of Heavy Industry (DHI) has brought out a Production Linked
Incentive (PLI) Scheme viz: 'National Program on Advanced Chemistry Cell
(ACC) Battery Storage’ for achieving manufacturing capacity of fifty (50) Giga
Watt Hour (GWh) of ACC and 5 GWh of "Niche" ACC with an outlay of
Rs.18,100 crore.

14. CHALLENGES WITH RE & SOLUTIONS THEREOF
 To bring down the overall cost of power purchase and meet the RTC
requirements for DISCOM, MNRE has announced guidelines for a
tariff-based competitive bidding process for the procurement of RTC
power from grid-connected renewable energy (RE) power
projects, complemented with power from any other source
or storage.
 4,000 MWh of storage as ancillary has been announced by the
Hon’ble Minister of Power and NRE, so, four Regional Load Dispatch
Centers will have 1000 MWh of storage each that will act as an
instant intervention mechanism, as and when there is any
sharp fluctuation because of renewables.

15. THANKS !!