The Centre is willing to buy electricity from wind power producers but it will have to be at competitively bid tariffs, said Piyush Goyal, Minister for Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy.
Speaking at the launch of the Indian Wind Energy Alliance, Goyal was commenting on the industry body's suggestion for increasing demand for wind power to meet the Government's target of setting up 10,000 MW of wind power capacity every year.
IWEA had recommended that a central body should purchase power at tariffs regulated by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission. Currently, all the wind power generated in the country is sold to State governments.
"I am open to the idea of central procurement, but it will have to be on a competitive bid basis," said Goyal.
The Minister added that changes in the Electricity Act, 2003, and the Tariff Policy will strengthen the penalty mechanism for renewable purchase obligation. "The changes will also introduce a renewable power generation obligation wherein generators seeking to set up power plants will have to dedicate 10 per cent of their capacity to renewable sources," Goyal added.