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Uttar Pradesh deals a blow to rooftop solar

Uttar Pradesh deals a blow to rooftop solar


22 February 2019 | Arti Mishra Saran

Uttar Pradesh deals a blow to rooftop solar

In January 2019, Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) issued new Rooftop Solar PV Grid Interactive Systems Gross / Net Metering (RSVP) Regulations, 2019. These regulations supersede RSVP Regulations, 2015. Key features of the policy are as follows:

  1. Cancellation of net metering for commercial, industrial, institutional and government consumers;
  2. System capacity to not exceed 100% of contract demand and be within 1 kWp – 2 MWp;
  3. Surplus power generation under net metering compensated at INR 2.00/ kWh, far below APPC (average power purchase cost);
  4. Power injected under gross metering arrangement to be compensated at weighted average tariff of large-scale solar projects as discovered in competitive bidding in the latest financial year plus an incentive of 25%;
  5. Maximum aggregate capacity at local distribution transformer is increased by 3 times and set as 75%;
  6. DISCOMs to publicly provide information regarding available capacity of distribution transformers;

Cancellation of net metering for C&I consumers is a major policy setback and it would seriously affect growth of rooftop solar in Uttar Pradesh. It is not clear if already installed systems (223 MW capacity) will be grandfathered under the old regulations. If not, all these systems as well as systems under installation would become unviable overnight. C&I and public sector consumers account for an estimated 98% share of total installed rooftop solar capacity in the state.

C&I consumers save INR 8-12/ kWh payable for grid power by adopting rooftop solar. But under gross metering, net realisation would come down by more than half to about INR 4.00/ kWh – equivalent to weighted average tariff for large-scale solar project auctions in FY 2018 (INR 3.20/ kWh) plus 25% incentive. Not only is this tariff too low, timely payment from DISCOM is far from assured as state DISCOMs remain amongst the weakest in the country.

We understand that various market participants are lobbying for policy reversal but that appears unlikely. Tamil Nadu has already implemented such a change in somewhat ad hoc manner, while Maharashtra has also tried unsuccessfully to back track on net metering. The message is loud and clear – the DISCOMs are going to fight against free net metering (or indeed any form of net metering). In our opinion, policy volatility is one of the biggest risks facing this market. The industry needs long-term policy visibility and grandfathering of existing investments. Any changes should be introduced after due consultation and phased in to avoid drastic shocks.


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