The electricity you buy will soon have a mix of power produced from solar energy sources. Starting October, NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam, the trading arm of NTPC, has commenced bundled power supply — combining energy produced from solar photovoltaic with those produced from conventional thermal sources.
This is to make solar power affordable for the buying utilities, which have to meet their renewable purchase obligations. However, it remains to be seen whether they will subsidise the consumer and to what extent.
Supply of bundled power has commenced to the distribution companies of the buying States — Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Punjab.
A senior official told
Out of 13 solar photovoltaic projects under the scheme of the Mission (Phase – I), nine projects met the commissioning deadlines, the official said. One more project was partially commissioned, taking the capacity of projects commissioned to 41 MW in October, he said.
Under the migration scheme, solar photovoltaic developers were expected to commission their projects for generating 54 MW of power.
The trading arm of NTPC has commenced buying solar power generated from them, which has been grid connected and commissioned. The Ministry of Power has also allocated the equivalent conventional power capacity to NTPC Vidyut Vyapar from NTPC stations.
The developers not able to meet the deadline of commissioning may face notices from the trading arm, the official said. The official, however, declined to disclose the details of the projects.
Under the migration scheme, NTPC Vidyut Vyapar had inked power purchase agreements with 16 solar project developers (both thermal and photovoltaic) for 84 MW. Of this, solar power produced from photovoltaic projects is expected to be 54 MW and thermal 30 MW.