The Hindu Business Line : TN panel drafts norms on power purchase

Chennai, Aug. 6 The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) has come out with a draft regulation governing power purchase from renewable sources of energy.

The draft notification, Regulation on Power Procurement from Renewable Sources of Energy 2007, outlines the factors and methodologies that would govern the future tariff orders for non-conventional energy sources. The TNERC has sought public opinion and suggestions on the draft, which is available in full on its Web site, http://tnerc.nic.in.

The regulations envisaged under the Electricity Act 2003, cover renewable sources of energy including mini-hydel, wind, solar, biomass, bagasse-based cogeneration, and urban and municipal waste. The tariffs for all these sources of power have been announced and are due for revision in 2009. The draft regulations pave the way and give a structure to the orders as and when they are revised, officials said.

Renewable sources

The regulations also take into account the specific nature of the various sources of renewable energy, especially wind energy, which is the largest source of non-conventional energy in Tamil Nadu. It tries to accommodate their requirements in banking provisions and tariff determination.

To promote non-conventional energy, the regulation seeks to instil confidence among the investors and financial institutions in non-conventional energy by providing for a suitable agreement period and control period for purchase of power and ensuring bankable payment security in favour of the generator.

‘Seasonal and infirm’

For wind energy, which the regulations describe as ‘seasonal and infirm’ the commission would provide suitable banking provisions by a specific order, the draft says.

The commission has also said that at least 10 per cent of the total power purchase by a distributor has to be from non-conventional sources. The distributor would also have to furnish the details of such power purchase in the annual revenue requirement filing.