Indian Energy Exchange : IEX Bulletin

JUNE 2023, ISSUE 41

IEX BULLETIN

and additionally few units commissioned before January 2016 in Renewable Energy (RE) rich states.

• 2nd Phase (July 2026 - Jun 2028): Includes units commissioned between January 2011 and December 2015 and additionally few units under 1st phase and 3rd phase shall be accommodated in this phase considering Renewable Energy concentration.
• 3rd Phase (July 2028 - Dec 2029): Includes units commissioned between January 2001 and December 2010.
• 4th Phase (Jan 2030 - Dec 2030): Includes remaining units commissioned up to December 2000.

Draft Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission Issues Terms and Conditions for Open Access (5th Amendment) Regulations, 2023

On 5th May 2023, the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission issued amendments to the terms and conditions for Open Access Regulations, 2023. According to the amendments:

• Short-term/Medium-termOA allowed, if request can be accommodated by utilizing:
• • Inherent design margins;
  • Margins available due to variation in power flows; and
  • Margins available due to in-built spare transmission system capacity and distribution system capacity created to cater to future load growth
• Priority for allowing open access:
• • Distribution licensee for long term
  • Other open access customers for long term
  • Distribution licensee for medium term
  • Other open access customers for medium term
  • Distribution licensee for short term
  • Other open access customers for short-term
  • GEOA consumers shall have preference over normal OA consumers
  • Amended procedure for grant of OA other than Day Ahead Transactions
  • In case of outages of generators supplying to a OA consumer, standby arrangements to be provided by licensee on payment of 125% of energy charges.

2

MoP Issues Letter to SERCs/JERC for Determination of Green Tariff Under Green Energy Open Access Rules, 2022

On 13th May 2023, the Ministry of Power (MoP) issued a letter to the State Electricity Regulation Commissions and the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) on determination of Green Tari under the Green Energy Open Access Rules (GEOA) , 2022. According to the letter:

• In no case Green Tari should be higher than Average Power Purchase Cost (APCC) of RE + Surcharge @ 20% of ACoS + (say) a reasonable margin of 25 paisa.
• SERCs which have not notified GEOA regulations need to notify the regulations in a time bound manner. Section 181 of the Act mandates that Regulations by SERCs shall be in consistent with the Act and Rules.
• SERCs to take appropriate action for determination of Green Tari, implement GEOA Rules & align OA Regulations as per notified Rules.

MoP Issues 2nd Amendment to the Green Energy Open Access Rules 2022

On 23rd May 2023, Ministry of Power (MoP) issued amendment to the Green Energy Open Access Rules, 2022. According to the amendment:

• Definition of "entity" in 2 (b)- means any consumer who has contracted demand or sanctioned load of Hundred kW or more either through single connection or through multiple connections aggregating Hundred kW or more located in same electricity division of a distribution licensee, except for captive consumers: Provided that in case of captive consumers, there shall not be any load limitation;
• Substitute first provision of Rule 5(2)-
  "Provided that only consumers who have contracted demand or sanctioned load of Hundred kW or more, either through single connection or through multiple connections aggregating Hundred kW or more located in same electricity division of a distribution licensee, shall be eligible to take power through Green Energy Open Access and there shall be no limit of supply of power for the captive consumers taking power under Green Energy Open Access:"
• Substitute fourth provision of Rule 9(2)-
  "Provided also that additional surcharge shall not be applicable in case electricity produced from oshore wind projects, which are commissioned up to December, 2032 and supplied to the Open Access Consumers."

3

CERC Issues the Indian Electricity Grid Code (IEGC) Regulations, 2023

On 29th May 2023, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) issued the Indian Electricity Grid Code (IEGC) Regulations, 2023. The main chapters of the regulations are as follows:

• Resource planning Code - Integrated resource planning including demand forecasting, generation Resource Adequacy (RA) planning and transmission RA assessment, required for secure grid operation.
• Connection Code - Covers the technical and design criteria for connectivity, procedure and requirements for physical connection and integration of grid elements.
• Protection Code - Covers the protection protocol, settings, and audit plan of electrical systems.
• Commissioning & Commercial Operation Code - Aspects related to (i) drawl/injection of startup power, (ii) trial run operation (iii) documents & tests to be furnished before declaration of COD, (iv) requirements for declaration of COD.
• Operating Code - Covers aspects related to operation to be followed by concerned entities, to ensure integrity, stability & resilience of grid & achieve economy and eciency in operation of power system.
• Scheduling and Dispatch Code - Deals with the procedure for scheduling injection and drawl of power by the regional entities and the modalities for exchange of information, including scheduling for intra-state and cross-border entities transacting power through the ISTS.
• Cyber Security: All users, NLDC, RLDCs, SLDCs, CTU and STUs, PXs, QCAs, SNAs, to have cyber security framework as per IT Act, 2000; respective CEA Regulations & Guidelines.
• Monitoring and Compliance Code: Deals with monitoring of compliance of IEGC regulations.
• Treatment of IEGC Regulation Under Change in Law: Regulations shall not be treated under 'Change in law' in any of the agreements entered into by any of the Users covered under these regulations.
• Key provisions of Scheduling and Dispatch Code:
• • RLDC to be provided with details of GNA, connectivity, all power procurement contracts (except collective) by respective seller/buyer before commencement of scheduling of power under GNA/TGNA;
  • Regional WS genco connected at one ISTS s/s or multiple s/s within a state can be aggregated through a QCA to facilitate scheduling.
  • Minimum turn down level of thermal units shall be 55% or as per CEA regulations, whichever is lower.
• Security Constrained Unit Commitment (SCUC) -
• • Objective: To commit a generating station, for reserves maximisation in the interest of grid security, without altering entitlements & schedule of buyers of the said generating station in day ahead time horizon.
  • It shall supplement procurement of reserves under ancillary regulations.
  • May be undertaken by NLDC for regional genco u/s 62 of Act.
  • SCUC may be done three days in advance under certain circumstances:

4

• Unit Shut Down (USD): If Genco, opts to go under USD, it can fulfil its obligation by arranging supply either
  (a) by entering into a contract(s) under PMR; or (b) by arranging supply from any other generating station owned by such generating company; or (c) through SCED.
• Scheduling from Alternate Source: Genco may supply power from alternate source in case of (i) USD or (ii) forced outage or (iii) a genco other than REGS replacing its scheduled generation by REGS.
• Defined Procedure for Scheduling and Dispatch for Inter-state Transactions
• Regulations shall come into force from such date as notified by the CERC

CERC Issues Order on Expanding Scope of Stations Available for Use for Ancillary Services Under the TRAS Mechanism

On 31st May 2023, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) issued an order expanding the scope of stations available for use for Ancillary Services under the TRAS Mechanism. The order stated the following:

• On 18.05.2023 peak demand touched 221.076 GW at the national level and is expected to be around 230 GW during this year.
• On Grid-India's request, CERC, vide Order dated 23.04.2023 expanded the scope of operation of the CERC (AS Operations), Regulations, 2015 to include resources other than the generating stations regulated by the Commission.
• Grid-Indiahas now requested the extension of similar order for TRAS/ SRAS implemented under AS Regulations 2022.
• As per the AS Regulations, 2022, during the shortfall, only the generating stations whose taris are determined by the Commission u/s 62 of the Act are available with the Nodal Agency for use as SRAS and TRAS.
• The Commission in the present order, directs as under:
• • In case of shortfall conditions, in addition to the generating stations whose taris are determined by the Commission u/s 62,
• The Regional generating stations other than those whose taris are determined by the Commission u/s 62,
• The State generating stations whose taris are determined or adopted by the State Commission and
• The generating stations mandated by Central Government whose taris are discovered through a competitive bidding process, shall be eligible to make themselves available for use by Nodal Agency by declaring their compensation charge in advance to the Nodal Agency.
• • Nodal Agency shall prepare the merit order stack of all generating stations available under shortfall conditions for economic dispatch of Ancillary Services. The payment etc. will be as per the AS Reg. 2022

5