States to meet 25% of energy needs from RE sources

States would need to meet a quarter of their energy demand from renewable energy (RE) sources under the new Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) mandate and increase it to 43% by end of this decade. The new set of targets includes solar, wind, hydro, and also energy storage for the first time for states to mandatorily purchase. The stringent targets come in the wake of India committing an ambitious 500 gigawatt (GW) of RE by 2030 at the Glasgow COP26 climate summit last year. Also, the draft Electricity Bill 2021, likely to be placed in the Parliament during this monsoon session, has also proposed penal provisions for states which fail to meet their RPO targets. Under the current set of targets for 2023-2030, the total RPO range is 24.61 to 43.33%. In this, the wind RPO is in the range of 0.81-6.94%, hydro RPO, introduced two years back, 0.35-2.82% and other RPO, which will majorly comprise solar power, the range is 23.44-33.57%. For energy storage, which has been introduced for the first time, the targets are in the range of 1-4% during this decade. This would be met through solar and wind power projects with energy storage. States would now need to design and provide a trajectory for meeting the RPO targets in the range stipulated by the Centre. The states which are deficit in RE generation can purchase RE certificates from surplus states or through power trading platforms. The price of RECs is issued by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) annually.