In a bid to relieve the state of power crisis, the state government on Wednesday announced its Solar Energy Policy-2012 and invited developers to invest in solar power plants while announcing several incentives for them.
The sops will be extended to solar power developers who commission their plants by June 2014 and the incentives will be in force for a period of seven years from the date of implementation of their projects. There will be no wheeling and transmission charges from the projects to the desired locations for captive use or sale to a third party within the state through a 33 KV system subject to industries keeping within its contracted demand. However, wheeling and transmission charges for wheeling of power for sale outside the state will be as per APERC regulations.
Cross-subsidy surcharge shall not be applicable for Open Access obtained for third party sale within the state subject to the industries maintaining their demand within its contracted demand with the Discoms. It is not applicable for captive use. All solar projects will be exempted from electricity duty for captive consumption and third-party sale within the state.
VAT for inputs required for the projects will be refunded by commercial taxes department. The industries department will provide incentive in terms of refund of stamp duty and registration charges for land purchased for setting up of the projects. All projects developed with the above incentives will also be eligible for REC benefits. Power generated from a project shall be injected at an appropriate voltage to the nearest sub-station of the AP Transco.
Land acquisition: The state government made it clear that no fossil fuel like coal, gas, lignite, naphtha and wood shall be allowed to be used in a solar power plant.
The New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation of AP Ltd (NEDCAP) will act as a nodal agency and implement the policy. A high-level committee headed by the principal secretary (energy) will monitor the progress of executon of solar power projects under the new policy.
AP's advantage: Andhra Pradesh is one of the most suitable locations in the country for installing solar power projects as, on an average, it gets about 300 sunny days in a year with solar insolation of 5.5 to 6 KWh/m². Also, well-networked power grid will facilitate projects with easy connectivity.
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