The Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission (RERC) has approved the detailed procedure for granting green energy open access (GEOA) in the state in line with the RERC (Terms and Conditions for Green Energy Open Access) Regulations, 2025.

RERC had issued the Green Energy Open Access (GEOA) Regulations, 2025, in July 2025, to promote the use of renewable energy through open access.

Under these regulations, Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (RVPNL) prepared a detailed procedure for processing applications for green energy open access.

Applicability

The procedures will apply to the registration and applications for long, medium, and short-term green energy open access for using intra-state transmission and distribution systems of the state’s licensees, received by the state transmission utility (STU) or the state load dispatch center (SLDC).

These will also apply to the registration and applications for the grant of GEOA by availing general network access (GNA) or temporary general network access (TGNA).

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants for GEOA must have a valid grid connectivity approval from the STU or the distribution company (DISCOM) for injection and drawal points before commencing power supply. Conditional open access for newer projects can be granted based on feasibility approvals for connectivity. These approvals will be subject to achieving physical connectivity before the power flow.

Consumers with a contract demand or sanctioned load of at least 100 kW are eligible for GEOA. Captive consumers have no minimum load requirement. Further, captive renewable energy projects can be set up to meet up to 200% of the contract demand, subject to compliance with applicable GEOA regulations and technical requirements.

The Commission also directed the procedures to ensure a unified mechanism for applications or fee issues for multi-connection consumers.

The Commission stated that terms not defined in the procedures will be governed by the Electricity Act, 2003, the GEOA Rules, 2022, and the RERC Regulations, 2025, for legal precision and uniform interpretation.

Transparency Requirements

Information on approvals, rejections, revisions, and curtailments must be made available through a web-based portal for green energy open access.

Transactions already scheduled must be curtailed in a manner that would relieve transmission constraints or enhance grid security.

In cases of curtailment or cancellation of transactions, short-term transactions will be cancelled first, followed by medium and long-term transactions. Short-term open access bilateral transactions will be curtailed first, followed by collective transactions. Open access to DISCOMs will be curtailed last.

Open access for intrastate transactions will be curtailed before interstate transactions.

SLDC, STU, DISCOM Roles

SLDCs will be the nodal agency for registering the intra-state entities intending to avail interstate or intrastate GEOA. They will provide standing clearance or concurrence for the intrastate entities to avail short-term GEOA on interstate networks in conjunction with intrastate networks.

Additionally, SLDCs will process bilateral short-term GEOA applications at the intrastate level. They will also update all the information on application processing and registration on the GEOA portal.

STUs will be the nodal agencies for processing bilateral long- and medium-term intrastate-level GEOA applications. The Central Nodal Agency will exchange registration and application information with the STU for registered participants via the green open access registry (GOAR) portal.

While processing the applications, STUs will collect additional information on the application for grid-connected intra-state entities intending to avail of intra-state GEOA under long and medium-term open access. These applications will be processed in line with existing rules and the state electricity regulatory commission regulations.

STUs will furnish any information sought by the Central Transmission Utility for processing interstate GNA of an intra-state entity.

DISCOMs will facilitate non-discriminatory open access to embedded entities per the RERC (Terms and Conditions for Green Energy Open Access) Regulations, 2025. They will examine the technical feasibility of open access and ensure compliance with the eligibility criteria. They will also ensure compliance with the eligibility criteria for applying for GEO under the relevant procedures before the NOC is issued.

DISCOM NOC

RERC also decided that registration as a captive project and an undertaking to consume 51% of the energy is sufficient at the pre-no-objection certificate (NOC) stage for an NOC from the DISCOMs. It directed that DISCOM approval for NOC will be deemed accepted if no response to the application is received within seven days. The Commission accepted the suggestion to place the consumers connected at voltage levels up to 33 kV under the DISCOMs’ purview.

Long, Medium-Term Open Access

The STU will process the long- or medium-term GEOA applications in coordination with the SLDC and the DISCOMs. They must approve or reject the applications within 15 days.

Energy Banking

The Commission modified the procedure to clarify that energy banking will be allowed for captive consumption within the state, with a 30% monthly consumption ceiling for projects with contract demand over 100% and up to 200%, on a billing cycle basis, with pro-rata treatment.

Interstate Transactions

The Commission added a provision for cases in which a GEOA transaction involves intrastate transmission/distribution systems that are incidental to interstate transmission. The provision states that for transactions involving interstate transmission (where the state network is incidental to it), the procedure will also apply to registration and applications for GEOA using general network access or temporary-general network access.

NOAR Interoperability

The Commission allowed the stakeholders’ suggestion that applicants registered with the National Open Access Registry (NOAR) must not be required to register with the GOAR or state portals. It added a provision stating that for interstate open access consumers already registered on NOAR, the nodal agency must ensure interoperability between NOAR, the GOAR, and the state portal. It added that data already available on NOAR/GOAR will be treated as valid for the State portal.

Conditional Open Access Approval

RERC granted conditional open access approval based on feasibility approval and a notarized undertaking regarding the expected commercial operation date (COD). The open access will only become operational after the final COD certificate is submitted.

CSS and Security Deposit

The Commission directed that the cross-subsidy surcharge or additional security deposit for captive users must not be included in the three-month advance security, provided that if the captive criteria are not met at the end of the financial year, the consumer must top up the deposit to include the surcharge or deposit with interest within 30 days.

Application Cancellation

Applications of consumers violating the RERC regulations or the STU projects, or not paying the applicable charges, will be cancelled. The STU can stop open access after giving a 15-days’ notice and still receive its dues. SLDCs can refuse scheduling and ask for disconnection, and DISCOMs can request disconnection for non-payment of charges.

Access can be restored after the 15-day notice period, upon payment of dues, with a fee of ₹25,000 (~$277.73). Continued default will result in permanent cancellation of the open access request and deemed relinquishment with relinquishment charges.

Recently, RERC approved tariffs ranging from ₹216,000 (~$2,514.36) to ₹219,000 (~$2,469.37)/MW/month for NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam’s 500 MW/1,000 MWh standalone battery energy storage systems in Rajasthan.

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