However, more important is ease of access to the grid and the cost of that access in each state.
Khurana said: “States which have waived off some of these charges and have an easier process to get open access approval are the ones that you want to focus on initially, because that makes sense from an ease of doing business perspective but also economic perspective.”
He listed Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka as states where some charges have been waived off.
According the report, Maharashtra’s commercial power tariffs are particularly high compared to potential renewable energy tariffs. Khurana said every geography has its unique power costs. Hilly states tend to have cheap power due to an abundance of hydroelectricity, Eastern states have a lot of thermal plants so they also have slightly cheaper power, while Maharashtra has had higher costs of procurement since its utility, Mahagenco, is one of the only Indian utilities making a profit off its power sold.
Choosing the right developer for C&I projects is also important as in the past there have been cases of parties negotiating contracts, only for the developer to be unable to raise finance and the projects could not go through, added Khurana.
The report also looks at regulations like net metering, open access, PPA parameters, operational challenges as well as projected costs of solar systems in the future: |