Gross Metering : a Cooperative Concept ?
Context :
Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission allows virtual net metering for renewable power consumers
( Indian Express - 12 May 2022 )
Extract :
With increased demand for group net metering and virtual net metering for use of renewable energy, the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) has amended its regulations to allow generation of more than 500 KW power from renewable sources.
The amended provisions will not only,
# allow individuals or groups to generate energy from renewable sources - solar energy emerging as
the most sustainable source –
# but also enable the power producers to export or transfer the surplus to the grid and earn credit.
The process of transferring such energy is known as net metering.
Amending its 2016 order, the OERC said the new order will be known as,
# net metering
# bi-directional metering
# gross metering
# group net metering
# virtual net metering
- and their connectivity with respect to solar photovoltaic projects.
Gross metering is a mechanism where,
# the total energy generated from grid interactive solar photovoltaic system of a prosumer and
# the total energy consumed by the generator
- are accounted separately through appropriate metering arrangements.
The total energy consumed by the prosumer is accounted at the applicable retail tariff and total solar power generated is accounted for at a tariff determined by the Commission.
The prosumer is,
# a consumer of electricity in the area of supply of the distribution licensee,
# who uses a self-owned or third party-owned solar power system installed on his/her premises,
# to offset part or all of the electricity requirements and also inject electricity into the grid.
Under group net metering,
# surplus energy generated from a renewable energy system and exported to the grid are regulated in multiple electricity service connections of the same user located within the same area of supply.
On the other hand, virtual net metering (VNM) is an arrangement in which,
# the total energy generated from a renewable energy system is exported to the grid from the renewable
gross meter and the power exported is regulated in multiple electricity service connections of engaging
customers located in the same distribution area of supply.
Ø Why Gross Metering is problem for Sellers ? …………… ( Business Line / 09 Jan 2022 )
Extract :
India’s rooftop solar capacity is about 6,000 MW, considerably lower than the target of 40,000 MW that the government seeks to achieve by March 2022. To mainly give a fillip to rooftop installations, last month it notified the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020.
The Rules recognise ‘prosumers’ — a class of consumers who also generate and sell electricity to the grid.
One of the key measures in the Rules is that consumers may put up a solar plant on their premises, rooftop or otherwise, and directly sell the electricity generated to the utility (electricity distribution company or discom). Because few would want to put up a solar plant on their lawns or compounds, these rules largely aim at promoting rooftop solar capacity.
In a system called ‘gross metering’, what prosumers buy from the grid and what is put into the grid are two separate streams.
The minimum capacity of the solar plant for gross metering should be 10 kW, and the upper limit for the capacity would be fixed by what the respective state electricity regulator would permit.
The regulator would also fix the tariff for the sale of electricity from the prosumer.
Experts, however, point out that this ‘gross metering’, though well-intended, has one major problem. If you have a rooftop solar plant and wish to sell power to the discom, you have to build the infrastructure needed to evacuate the power. You need to put separate cables all the way from the solar inverter to the gross meter, which has to be installed separately.
“The cost of this additional infrastructure will in most cases be much higher than the cost of the solar PV systems themselves,” says Toine van Megen, Co-Founder, Auroville Consulting, which advises utilities on solar energy. This will be particularly problematic in multi-storey buildings, where the cabling would be longer than that in individual units.
Discoms have never liked rooftop solar plants principally because of two reasons.
One, the plants reduce the demand for power from (typically) well-paying consumers.
Two, the (surplus) electricity supplied to the utility by the rooftop plants is valued at the same price as the consumer pays — even though solar plants produce power at a much cheaper rate.
As such, the discoms have always tried to spook consumer plans to go rooftop, which is the singular reason why rooftop solar hasn’t taken off, despite the government heavily subsidising the installations.
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy pays 40 per cent of the cost of the plant that is up to 3 kW and 20 per cent for capacities between 3 kW and 10 kW.
But discoms have been imposing their own conditions or holding back approvals to protect their clientèle.
And now comes gross metering.
Apparently, the authors of the Rules thought gross metering was simpler and perhaps better paying. But in practice it may not be so simple. After all, nobody puts up a rooftop solar plant aiming to sell power — the idea is for self-consumption; only the surplus is sold. Gross metering tends to look at it as a separate business.
Megen says the solution is ‘net feed-in metering’, where in a bidirectional meter electricity flows both ways. Unlike in net metering, there is no net-off, but payment is made separately for what the prosumer sells. This way, you avoid building the evacuation infrastructure.
Experts believe policies should favour prosumers rather than discoms.
Discoms, beware, for battery costs are falling rapidly. With technologies such as solid electrolytes and metal cathodes, energy densities are bound to go up, bringing down storage costs.
Rooftop owners could just buy storage for parking any surplus energy and island themselves — goodbye to discoms. For the discoms, there could be no surer way to disaster.
MY TAKE :
------------------------------
[ A ] Congratulations , Shri R K Singhji …………………………………………[ 19 Nov 2020 ]
Extract :
Ø This set-up will require NATIONAL SOLAR EXCHANGE in which ALL discoms will be mandated to become
Members
------------------------------
[ B ] Market-based Model for Renewable Energy ………………………[ 09 June 2021 ]
Extract :
# Introduce “ Co-operative Farming of Solar Power / CFSP “ { call it a kind of “ Contract Farming “ }
Incorporate this into just released FARM LAWS to encourage setting- up of :
“ Solar Power Farmer Cooperative Society “ along the lines of Dairy Farmers’ AMUL
Milk Cooperative Society Cooperative Society
# Solar Farm company can “ Sell “ ownership rights of solar panels to individuals in modules
of 1000 sq ft, (costing Rs 4- 6 lakh per module )
These rights can be sold / transferred to any buyer, only with prior permission of the Solar
Farm Company Concerned
# My nearest DISCOM will supply me those 10 KW, free of cost ( ie: deduct from my monthly usage )
Any excess over my actual consumption, to be credited to my account
----------------------------
[ C ] Not Good Enough ! ………………………………………………[ 02 Dec 2017 ]
Extract :
Ø Anyone can generate and SELL electricity, anytime and to anyone and at any price
------------------------------
[ D ] Congratulations , Shri Saurabh Patelji ……………………….[ 31 Dec 2020 ]
Extract :
Para # 4 :
Ø Consumers other than Residentials can set up Solar Projects on their Roof / Premises or can
give their roof / premises on lease to third party for generation & consumption of power within
or OUTSIDE the premises
Para # 6 :
Ø A group of consumers can set up solar projects for self-consumption as
a COLLECTIVE OWNERSHIP PROJECT and consume the generated solar energy IN THE RATIO of
OWNERSHIP
------------------------------
[ E ] No Godfather for Rooftop Solar ? …………………………….[ 01 June 2021 ]
Extract :
Dear Shri R K Singhji ( Minister for Power ) :
Ø It is high time we stop limiting our SOLAR VISION HORIZON like a “ Frog in the Well “
Ø It is time to remember that the nomenclature : Roof Top Solar “ , somehow
ties us down to the words ROOF TOP , which is only just one of the locations
which can be used to harness Solar Energy
Ø Solar Energy can also be harvested at other locations on Earth, such as
FARMS , DESERTS, LAKES, MOUNTAIN TOPS, HIGHWAYS , TRAIN TRACKS,
etc., or even through solar panels farms in SPACE ( low earth orbits ? ),
beaming electricity down to Earth-based receivers ( using micro-waves ? )
Ø We must break loose from the narrowly defined, Roof-Top Solar / Land-
based Solar and latch on to the all-encompassing concept of :
SOLAR ENERGY TRADING INFRAST
Dear Shri Amitbhai Shah ,
You are the Minister for Cooperatives
Against our target of 40 GW of Rooftop Solar by March 2022, as of today ( mid May 2022 ), we have managed to achieve, a meagre 6 GW !
To fulfil the commitment made by our PM , Shri Modiji at COP26, there is only ONE WAY – Sardar Patel Way !
Please , implement my suggestion to turn this entire system ( of generation–distribution–sale of Solar Power ) into a :
CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT
I urge you to REPLICATE the MIRACLE called AMUL
With regards,
Hemen Parekh / hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 17 May 2022
Related Readings :
MY 163 BLOG'S ON SOLAR POWER …………………………………………… [ as of 10 Mar 2022 ]
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