The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued draft guidelines and model PPA for implementation of off-grid solar power plants under RESCO model.
The ministry has asked the industry stakeholders to provide their suggestions and comments on the draft guidelines and model PPA latest by May 25, 2020.
This refers to Ministry’s Order issued on 24 April 2020 for the extension of Off-grid and Decentralized Solar PV Applications Programme –Phase III till 31.03.2021. In the said Order, it was mentioned that under the extended Scheme, off-grid solar power packs will be installed only under RESCO mode for which Ministry will be issuing separate Guidelines
As per the Guidelines for Off-grid and Decentralized Solar PV Applications Programme PhaseIII dated 07.08.2018, off-grid solar power plants up to 25 kWp capacity can be installed in areas where grid power has not reached or is not reliable. Such plants are mainly aimed at providing electricity to schools, hostels, panchayats, police stations and other public service institutions.
As the intended beneficiaries for off-grid solar power plants are public service institutions, there could be difficulty in arranging the beneficiary share in an upfront manner. Further, after guarantee period is over, continuing of O&M of plant an issue due to fund and technical constraints of the beneficiary. In order to effectively ultilise the costly assets of solar PV system it is has been decided that such system should be operated through RESCO mode and the guidelines will provide implementation framework for operation of off-grid solar PV systems through RESCO mode.
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