NEW DELHI: India’s power regulator is considering auctioning transmission connectivity that has been lying idle because renewable energy developers failed to sign power purchase agreements, according to a staff paper uploaded on the website.
The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission said about 31.8 gigawatts of grid access was granted to projects based on letters of award.
However, the connectivity remains unused as power purchase agreements have not been executed, blocking transmission capacity and slowing clean energy rollout.
Nearly 50 GW of clean energy projects are without buyers due to lack of demand from state power utilities.
Developers often start work only after the purchase agreements are signed, leaving transmission systems underutilised while other ready-to-build projects cannot secure connectivity, the paper said.
The new proposals include giving developers with delayed purchase agreements more than 12 months old a choice to convert to a land-based route with strict timelines.
Other proposals include performance guarantees, swap letters of award for power purchase agreements from other projects, or exit and surrender connectivity, which would then be auctioned to bidders committing to fast-track commissioning.
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Future applications may require power purchase agreements instead of just letters of award or be processed only through auctions, the paper suggested, citing connectivity as a “scarce resource” that should go to committed players.
Stakeholders have been asked to comment on the proposals.
India aims to add 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030, but delays in project execution and transmission bottlenecks have emerged as key challenges.
The country’s transmission network, spanning about 495,000 circuit kilometres, is lagging the growth in generation capacity.
Reuters reported in September that India had cancelled grid access for nearly 17 GW of delayed clean energy projects to prioritise connections for those that are operational or nearing completion.
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