India’s energy ministry has asked the power regulator to favor solar generation over thermal power in response to curtailment in the state of Tamil Nadu.
Tarun Kapoor, joint secretary of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) opined that curtailment of solar power has only been occurring in Tamil Nadu and it is expected to be a short-term issue.
Nevertheless, in a letter to the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), which advises on regional transmission, Kapoor wrote that some solar PV project developers have been asked to back down by various load dispatch centers.
Kapoor stated that solar power projects have must run status as there is no fuel cost and if any backing down is to be done, thermal projects should be asked to back down so that some fuel is saved.
At present, thermal projects in India are given two-part tariffs. One fixed tariff is paid even if the thermal plant is not generating energy. However, when the thermal plant is generating power, it is paid a variable tariff on top of the fixed tariff.
Kapoor pointed out that solar projects only have a single tariff and they do not get the benefit of a fixed tariff to fall back on if their energy production is curtailed.
Furthermore, some PV developers have now started lobbying for a two-part tariff, but Kapoor said this would be difficult as much of the cost of solar is fixed cost and is not subject to fuel price fluctuations.
Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayaraman Jayalalithaa recently wrote a letter to Indian prime minister Narendra Modi calling for a hasty build of the green energy corridor transmission systems to help the state deal with curtailment of wind energy.
By Baishakhi Dutta
