Tamil Nadu power regulator tweaks solar roadmap.

The Tamil Nadu State Electricity Regulatory Commission, the state's power regulator, has come up with a reworked solar power roadmap, one that puts the onus on the state utility to meet mandatory targets, after the original plan that put that burden on high-tension customers was set aside a few weeks back by an appeals body.

The immediate response to this reworked plan has been enthusiastic.

The original plan, which was to help power-starved Tamil Nadu meet an ambitious target of 3 gigawatt of solar power in three years, required big power consumers to meet a portion of their energy requirements (3% in 2013 and 6% from 2014 onward) through solar power.


This was in addition to their renewable energy purchase obligation - wherein 9% of the energy requirements of entities such as Tangedco, the state power utility, as well as of captive and open access customers had to be through renewable energy means. This involved a small bit of solar as well.

This proposal was, however, successfully challenged by the Tamil Nadu Spinning Mills Association and Tamil Nadu Electricity Consumers' Association before the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity.

ET