Govt allows thermal power firms to meet PPA commitments via renewables supply
The Union ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) on Tuesday issued guidelines to allow thermal generation companies to supply power to customers from their renewable energy projects under the existing power purchase agreements (PPAs) for coal-based electricity.
Thermal power plants can set up renewable energy generation capacity either by themselves, or through developers, and the gains from the bundling of renewable energy with thermal will be shared between generators and state-run power distribution companies (discoms) on a 50:50 basis, the government said.
Calling it a “very significant step towards achieving the goal of 500 giga-watt (GW) of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030,” the statement added that “the distribution companies will be able to count the renewable energy supplied under the scheme towards their renewable purchase obligation and this will be without the financial burden of separate PPA”.
