"The quantum of solar rooftop electricity generated and consumed by consumer, who is not defined as an obligated entity under the RPO Regulations, as well as the quantum of surplus solar power exported to the distribution utility's network, be allowed to qualify as deemed solar RPO for the distribution licensee," Sangramjit Nayak, additional secretary with Energy Department said in a letter to Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC).
In October 2012, the state government had decided to set up solar lighting systems on rooftop of all government establishments, including offices, agencies, directorates and state PSUs situated in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, in order to trim power bills.
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To implement the project, the government had created Gedcol, a subsidiary of Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC). In its recent application, the green power agency urged the OERC to be treated as a provider of RPO power as the status is currently enjoyed by Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA).
According to the National Tariff Policy, each state's electricity regulatory commission specifies a certain amount of renewable energy purchase by the state in a time-bound manner. Though state-run Gridco meets its RPO target due to abundant availability of hydro power, it has been consistently falling behind the target of purchasing solar power.
For the current fiscal, Gridco is scheduled to buy at least 68 MU (million unit) solar power, which has been calculated on the basis of 0.25 per cent of total estimated electricity buying requirement of the bulk supplier in the year.
However, Gridco projects to buy 105 MU solar power this year citing large availability from solar rooftop projects. In its estimate for current fiscal, the power trader expects to buy around 63 MU power from various rooftop solar units executed by Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA) and 42 MU from NTPC solar power projects.
Last year, it could not meet its mandatory purchase target of 45 million unit solar energy.