Mumbai: In a further step to realise its commitment to achieve its power requirement from renewable energy sources, the Ministry of Power on Friday issued an order for the waiver of Inter-State Transmission system (ISTS) charges on transmission of electricity generated from new hydro-power projects. The said waiver is already available to solar and wind power projects.
In order to remove this discrepancy and to provide a level playing field to hydro projects, Ministry of Power in Government of India has now decided to extend the waiver of ISTS Charges on the transmission of power from new hydro power projects, for which construction work is awarded and PPA is signed on or before June 30, 2025.
ISTS charges shall be levied for transmission of power from Hydro Power Projects where construction work is awarded and PPA is signed after 30.06.2025 as per the following trajectory: for projects with award of construction work and signing of power purchase agreement (PPA) between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 206, 25% of applicable ISTS charges, for July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2027 50% of applicable ISTS charges, for July 1, 2027 to June 30, 2028 75% of applicable ISTS charges and from July 1, 2028 100% of applicable ISTS charges.
The waiver/or concessional charges as shown in table above shall be applicable for a period of 18 years from the date of commissioning of the hydro power plants. The waiver shall be allowed for Inter-state transmission charges only and not losses. The waiver would be made applicable from prospective date.
According to the power ministry, this step is expected to provide a boost to the hydro sector, which will also help improve India’s water security and bring development benefits to hilly states namely North Eastern States, Uttrakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh etc. where most of the hydro potential is located.
The Centre has set an ambitious plan to have 500 GW of generation capacity from non-fossil energy based sources by 2030. Hydro power projects, being clean, green and sustainable will be of paramount importance in clean energy transition journey. They are also essential for the integration of solar and wind power, which are intermittent in nature.
In acknowledgement of the aforesaid inherent qualities of hydro-power, Government of India declared hydro power projects as the renewable source of power in March, 2019, However, waiver of inter-state transmission charges, provided to solar and wind projects had not been extended to hydro power projects.
