Cabinet approves state solar policy

Producers will not need TCP, local body NOCs to set up solar farms

The Goan Network | DECEMBER 07, 2017, 01:13 AM IST

PANAJI: The State Cabinet which met on Wednesday, approved the Goa State Solar Policy which will enable private producers to set up solar farms within the state and sell power to the government, while also enabling domestic and commercial establishments to offset their power costs by setting up solar installations within their premises.
Announcing the decision, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said that it was part of the move to secure a production of 150 MW of power by 2022 as set by the central government.
According to the policy, the government would classify the solar power producers into ‘small prosumers'; large prosumers and producers.
Small prosumers would be domestic and commercial low tension consumers with a connected load of up to 100kW that decide to produce solar power. These prosumers would be allowed to sell the power they generate to the government as per the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) approved solar tariff rates for that year and their electricity bill will be adjusted according to gross units consumed. The solar power plant can be installed on rooftop or ground-based within the same premises.
The second category of prosumers would be high tension consumers with a connected load above 100kW. These can include residential, commercial, institutional, or industrial consumers. The feed-in tariff will be as per JERC approved solar tariff rates for that year
for the surplus energy exported as per the net metering mechanism of JERC.
The third category will be solar power producers who have the capacity to set up solar farms solely for the purpose of selling power to the government as and when the government floats tenders seeking to buy power.
Producers are allowed to participate in reverse bidding for four sizes of installation -- 100kW to 1MW; 1MW to 5MW; 5MW to 10MW and 10MW and above. The producer will be selected
through a reverse bidding process on the basis of the maximum discount offered on the levelised tariff fixed by the JERC for the solar power plant for that year.
The Goa Electricity Department will enter into a power purchase Agreement (PPA) with all intending producers subject to availability of infrastructure for evacuation of power.
The lowest bidder in each slab shall have the right to go for PPA for the whole capacity allocated to that slab. In case they desire to restrict to only their quoted capacity in the bid, then other bidders in that slab will be given the option to match the L1 rate and also supply power to the government.
The government will also permit independent power producers to sell the power they generate to third-party consumers who are not the Goa Electricity Department through their own power purchase agreements.
The government has offered several land concessions to power producers allowing them to set up their power installations without changing the land use or a NOC from the Town and Country Planning Department and without a permission from the local body be it village panchayats of the municipal councils.
The producers will also be allowed to set up on the Comunidade land with the requisite NOCs as detailed in the policy.

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PRODUCERS CLASSIFIED

1)
SMALL PROSUMER
* Would be domestic and commercial low tension consumers with a connected load of up to 100kW that decide to produce solar power
2)
LARGE PROSUMER
* Would be high tension consumers with a connected load above 100kW. These can include residential, commercial, institutional, or industrial consumers3)
PRODUCERS
* Would be allowed to participate in reverse bidding for four sizes of installation -- 100kW to 1MW; 1MW to 5MW; 5MW to 10MW and 10MW and above 

 

 

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