New tariff, rules put off roof-top solar plant fans

The sunshine is missing from the grid-connected solar rooftop plant scheme of the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom). Over two months after the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) brought a downward revision of the tariffs to be paid for electricity generated by roof-top plants, the power utility has not struck a single Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with potential investors.

KERC, in May, had fixed the tariffs for solar plants of 1 to 10 kW capacity at Rs. 7.08 per unit (without capital subsidy) and Rs. 6.03 per unit (with capital subsidy), a reduction from Rs. 9.56 per unit and Rs. 7.20, respectively. This, along with a cap on the capacity of the plant to be installed to be in tandem with the sanctioned load of the property, has resulted in interested parties limiting themselves to enquiries for now.

Bescom officials said the utility would get between 10 and 15 applications everyday, which has reduced to a trickle in recent times.

“But ever since there has been a policy change, we get around two to three applications per day. Many of them want to wait and see how the changes will affect them. Bescom hasn’t signed a single PPA in the last two months,” said an official. Read More…