Solar Power: Net Metering in Maharashtra
Due to rapid industrialization and
urbanization,electricity demand in the country has increased rapidly.While nearly
one-third of the population lacks access to electricity, many others have to endure routine
power cuts. Production of coal which provides about quarter of the country’s electricity
has not been able to keep pace with demand. Even when coal is available,
discoms are reluctant to buy power from gen cos as they are not confident about
recovering their costs. Cost of coal itself is variable and expected to
increase. Renewable energy is expected to play an important role in bridging
this supply-demand gap.
Solar energy is fastest growing power source
in the country. The Central Government has set an ambitious target of 100,000
MW installed capacity for solar energy by 2022. About 40,000 MW is targeted
from on-site (e.g rooftop, parking
lot, vacant land) solar power plants at the consumer’s premises.Out of this, MNRE
has been proposed highest capacity target of 4,700 MW for Maharashtra.
Solar is an in firm source of energy.Generation
from solar power plant varies with various factors such as solar irradiation,
cloud cover, temperature etc. At the same time, there may be unavailability of load
at the consumer’s facility due to factors such as lunch time, shift change,
holidays etc. To match constantly varying generation and consumption, facility
of energy storage is required at the consumer’s premises. However current cost
of batteries makes it financially unviable.
To address this challenge and to promote
solar energy installations, various solutions have been used across the world. Net
metering is a one of the solutions to this technical challenge. It is an arrangement where
energy is injected into the grid at the time when there is no load demand at the
consumer’s end. This energy can be consumed at a later point of time during
availability of load.
Net Metering was first introduced in USA to promote
onsite renewable energy installations in 1980.Today almost all states in USA have
made rules mandating utilities to provide Net Metering facility to consumers.
Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory
Commission (MERC) released Net Metering Regulations on 10th
September 2015. Salient features of the regulations are as follows:
- Ownership – Can be owned by the consumer or third party
- Capacity Limits – Lower of Contract Demand/ Sanctioned Load or 1 MW
- Term of the Agreement – Twenty years
- Energy Accounting – Adjustment in respective Time-of-Day (To D) slots. Excess energy left un adjusted at the end of the month will be adjusted during night time and then carried forward to next month MSEDCL will publish final application form and net metering agreement on the basis of model documents released by MERC.
rooftop solar |
A consumer interested in
setting up a rooftop solar Net Metering system will submit the application form to
MSEDCL along with technical details of the system.Before solar power systemstarts generating electricity, MSEDCL and Consumer will enter into a Net
Metering connection agreement.The accounting of electricity exported and imported by the Consumer
shall become effective from the date of connectivity of the rooftop Solar PV
System with the distribution network.
Despite announcement of net metering regulations in
all leading solar states including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Delhi,net
metering is yet to pick up. In order to make net metering successful in
Maharashtra, technical standards and operational procedures need to be clearly
defined.Long term support from State Government in terms of policy clarity and
stability will make Maharashtra a leader in distributed generation.
About the Author :
Ashish
Tikhe is Manager – Policy and Regulations at Sunshot Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Sunshot
Technologies is a leading On-Site Solar Power company. It provides customised
solar power solutions to industrial and commercial consumers in the country.