The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has passed a suo motu order introducing a mechanism for the treatment of connectivity granted under the General Network Access (GNA) Regulations for renewable energy projects where a power purchase agreement (PPA) has not been signed within 12 months from the date of issuance of the letter of award (LoA).
Under the order, eligible developers will be allowed to choose one of four options within the prescribed timeline. The first option allows developers to exit the LoA route while retaining connectivity, subject to obtaining a no objection certificate (NOC) from the concerned renewable energy implementing agency, furnishing a performance bank guarantee of Rs 0.8 million per MW and committing to a revised scheduled commercial operation date (SCOD) within 24 months. The second option permits replacement of the original LoA with a PPA secured under another LoA, with the revised SCOD capped at 30 months from the date of conversion. The third option enables developers to voluntarily surrender full or partial connectivity, after which the Central Transmission Utility of India Limited will reallocate the released transmission capacity. Under the fourth option, developers may continue under the existing GNA Regulations. Projects that do not exercise any option within the stipulated timeline will automatically remain under the existing regulatory framework.