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Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Brief overview of REC mechanism part_2

5.    Major concerns

Before commissioning the REC mechanism in India, CERC had to make sufficient changes in its regulation without disturbing electricity act 2003.

·         Absence of Legal and Regulatory Framework to Facilitate Purchase of RE from Outside the State
Existing RPO regulations was recognize procurement of renewable energy generated in the State by Obligated Entities for fulfillment of RPO. Procurement of renewable energy generated outside the State had not been recognized by any SERC for the purpose of RPO compliance

·         Percentage specification for only short term period
Short term targets do not create long term market for technologies and products. To provide certainty of market to RE Project developers and equipment manufacturers, it is necessary to demonstrate long term perspective with challenging targets.

·         Weaker Enforcement Methodology
In order to ensure strict compliance with the RPO regulation, it was essential to put an efficient enforcement mechanism in place. However, only few States have included specific provisions for shortfall in RE procurement by Obligated Entities. It has been proved that enforcement mechanism acts as a deterrent and thereby incentivizes the Obligated Entities to proactively seek contracts for procurement of renewable energy. However, due to weak enforcement methodology the objective of promotion of renewable energy through RPO regulation may not have been achieved.

Enforcement of RPO in other countries
The success of REC mechanism is critically dependent on introduction of appropriate mechanism for enforcement.

Australia
If a liable entity does not have enough certificates to surrender then it has to pay renewable energy shortfall charge. Liable entities are required to discharge their liability by surrendering RECs to the Regulator or pay a shortfall charge, which is significantly higher than the average price of REC.

U.K
Buy-out and penalty fund is paid back to liable parties on a pro-rata basis of their surrendered ROCs.

6.    Objectives of REC mechanism

·         Effective implementation of RPO mechanism
·         Increased flexibility for participants
·         Overcome geographical constraints
·         Reduced transaction costs for RE transactions
·         Enforcement of penalty mechanism
                                                                                                   ,,,,,,,,,, to be countinued

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