The Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) has fixed ₹3.15 per unit as the rate payable to solar prosumers for settling the net surplus energy with them for the settlement period ending on March 31, 2024. The rate, Average Pooled Power Purchase Cost (APPC), is payable by the licensee, in this case the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB).
The commission fixed the APPC for the ‘settlement period’ ending on March 31, 2024, while passing orders on the truing-up of the accounts of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) on Monday.
The rate has been hiked to ₹3.15 per unit from ₹2.69 per unit in the previous settlement period from October 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023. ‘Prosumers’ are electricity consumers who also produce electricity from solar and other renewable energy sources and sell it to the grid. As per the KSERC (Renewable Energy and Net Metering) Regulations, 2020, “the net surplus banked energy available at the credit of the prosumer/captive consumer at the end of the settlement period shall be settled at the Average Pooled Power Purchase Cost (APPC) of the licensee (in this case, the KSEB) approved by the commission from time to time.”
The commission has also directed the KSEB to apprise it about “the impact of large-scale penetration of roof top solar installation in the State.” The details sought include the quantum roof top solar capacity likely to be added up to 2026-27. The commission’s order noted that the total installed capacity of the solar prosumers as on March 31, 2023, was 504.70 megawatts (MW). In 2022-23, prosumers and captive consumers generated a total of 620.73 million units (mu).
