How can an industrial consumer in India buy renewable power through green energy open access?

What open access means here

A factory normally buys its electricity from the distribution company that serves its area, at the tariff that company charges. Open access lets it buy energy from someone else, a generator or a trader, while still using the transmission and distribution network to have that energy delivered. Green energy open access is the version of this for renewable power.

The national framework is the Electricity (Promoting Renewable Energy Through Green Energy Open Access) Rules, 2022, notified by the Ministry of Power on 6 June 2022 and amended in 2023. The working detail is in a procedure written by the Central Nodal Agency under clause 7.1 of those rules. The Ministry designated POSOCO, the grid operator now called Grid Controller of India, as the Central Nodal Agency by a gazette notification dated 8 July 2022. The procedure quoted below is its second revision, dated 17 May 2023.

The rules apply to all renewable sources that the Government of India notifies. The procedure adds that they also cover any mechanism that uses green energy to replace fossil fuels, including making green hydrogen or green ammonia.

Who is eligible

The procedure sets two tests:

• Any consumer with a contracted demand or sanctioned load of 100 kW or more is eligible.
• Captive consumers have no load limit. A consumer that owns a share of the generating plant it draws from can use green open access at any size.

The order of steps

The sequence is fixed, and each step depends on the one before it.

1. Connectivity first. Any new entity has to obtain connectivity to the grid, inter-state or intra-state, before it can register. Connectivity to the inter-state system is governed by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission’s 2022 regulations on connectivity and general network access. Connectivity within a state is governed by that state’s regulations.

2. Register on the portal. The Green Energy Open Access portal is the single window for registering and applying. A state-level entity is registered by its State Load Despatch Centre, which the procedure gives five working days for a new application, and then by the Regional Load Despatch Centre, which has two more. A registration is valid for three years, and renewal should start at least a month before it lapses. If the nodal agency points out a deficiency, the applicant has two working days to fix it or the request is disposed of.

3. Apply for open access. Only a registered entity can apply. The nodal agency shall approve the application within fifteen days of the date of application, failing which it is deemed approved, subject to the commission’s technical requirements. Applications are processed first in, first out.

Two further rules matter for planning. Short-term and medium-term open access are allowed only if there is spare capacity in the transmission system without augmentation, while for long-term access the system may be augmented if required. And open access for non-fossil sources gets priority over open access for fossil sources. No application can be refused without giving the applicant a hearing, and a refusal must be a speaking order that gives its reasons.

Which agency does what

The procedure names the nodal agencies until the commissions designate their own:

• Central Transmission Utility: long-term and medium-term access at inter-state level.
• State Transmission Utility: long-term and medium-term access within a state.
• Regional Load Despatch Centre: short-term access at inter-state level, in the region where power is drawn.
• State Load Despatch Centre: short-term access within a state.

The distribution company processes clearances for consumers connected to its network and sends them to the state nodal agency.

What it costs

The procedure lists the charges a green open access consumer pays:

• transmission charges
• wheeling charges, for using the distribution network
• cross subsidy surcharge
• standby charges, where applicable
• banking charges
• other fees, such as load despatch centre fees, scheduling charges and deviation settlement charges

It does not set any of the amounts. They come from the rules and from the regulations of the Central and State Electricity Regulatory Commissions. Whether green open access is cheaper than the distribution company’s tariff for a given site depends on those state figures, so that comparison has to be made state by state and recalculated when the commission revises its orders.

Banking

Solar and wind produce power when the weather allows, and a factory consumes on its own schedule. Energy banking bridges the gap. The procedure says banking shall be permitted at least on a monthly basis, on payment of charges that the appropriate commission fixes, and that the quantity a consumer may bank shall be at least thirty percent of its total monthly consumption from the distribution licensee. The rest of the banking terms follow the state and central commission regulations.

What has moved since

The procedure itself notes that the older long-term and medium-term open access process is being replaced by general network access under the Central Commission’s 2022 regulations, and the short-term process by temporary general network access. The connectivity agreement and access to the network are now two separate grants under those regulations.

Because the state regulations carry most of the commercial detail and have been revised since 2022, anyone planning a supply contract should read the current green energy open access regulations of their own state commission alongside the national procedure. Related terms: open access, wheeling, renewable purchase obligation.

Related questions

Is green energy open access the same in every state?

The national rules and the Central Nodal Agency's procedure set the frame: eligibility, the portal, the approval timeline and the list of charges. Each State Electricity Regulatory Commission then makes its own green energy open access regulations, which set the actual charges, the banking terms and the processing for intra-state supply. Two factories in two states can therefore face different costs for the same contract.

How long does approval take?

The procedure says the nodal agency shall approve an application within fifteen days of the date of application, failing which it is deemed approved, subject to the technical requirements of the appropriate commission. Registration on the portal, which has to come first, has its own timelines, and grid connectivity has to be in place before registration.

Can green open access power be used to make green hydrogen?

Yes. The procedure says the rules include any mechanism that uses green energy to replace fossil fuels, including the production of green hydrogen or green ammonia, citing clause G of sub-rule (2) of rule 4 of the rules.

Does open access mean the distribution company is no longer involved?

No. The distribution licensee still processes clearances for consumers embedded in its network, earns wheeling and other charges set by the commission, and holds banked energy. Open access changes who the consumer buys the energy from, not who owns the wires.