BHUBANESWAR: Even as the state government has chalked out an ambitious plan to enhance its renewable energy capacity to 10,000 MW by 2030, it is struggling to meet its renewable purchase obligation (RPO) as mandated by the Ministry of Power.
As per the RPO trajectory for the state, the ministry has recommended 27 per cent of the total power purchased for 2023-24 should be from renewable sources. The RPO targets specified in the Odisha Renewable Energy Policy, 2022 is 25 per cent. However, Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) has approved 16 per cent RPO to Gridco for the current financial year against its proposal of 10.4 per cent.
Gridco, the bulk power trading utility, has been designated as nodal agency for implementation of RE Policy in the state but it has failed to consider the provisions of the policy while projecting procurement of energy from renewable sources.
Realising the difficulties faced by Gridco in sourcing renewable power, OERC has approved RPO at the rate of 16 per cent consisting of 8.75 per cent solar, 0.66 per cent hydro purchase obligation (HPO) and 6.59 per cent (non-solar) of the total energy requirement of 36,358 million unit (MU) for the state.The state trading utility will procure 2,160 MU of solar energy and 1,623.78 MU non-solar energy including 1,060.43 MU wind energy and 80 MU bio-mass energy from different sources.
At 16 per cent RPO target, Gridco had to purchase 5,828 MU but it will now buy 3,784 MU. Sources in Gridco said the Odisha Renewable Energy Policy, 2022 was notified on November 30, 2022 the basis on which the company filed its applications for annual revenue requirement and bulk supply tariff. The company did not have time to prepare an action plan for implementation of new RE policy. Despite challenges before Gridco, it is procuring power from different RE sources through competitive bidding route for RPO compliance.
This apart, the company has long term tied up capacities through PPAs with various RE developers inside and outside the states to meet the RPO targets. Gridco has entered into a long-term agreement with NTPC to procure 200 MW of solar power from the national thermal power major 25 years beginning 2024-25.