Untitled

Rajasthan’s maintenance request sparks operational caution in India’s solar-heavy north

A maintenance request that should have been routine has become a flashpoint for India’s renewable transmission planners. Rajasthan’s proposal to take both circuits of the 400 kV Bhadla–Bikaner line offline at once has raised eyebrows across the northern grid — particularly at the Northern Regional Load Despatch Centre (NRLDC).

With this corridor already running close to its limits, system operators fear power oscillations, renewable curtailment, and a loss of redundancy in one of India’s most solar-heavy regions.

A Routine Request, a Bigger Risk

According to the 236th OCC agenda, NRLDC flagged serious operational risks if both circuits were shut simultaneously. This 400 kV corridor forms the backbone of power evacuation from the Bhadla, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, and Fatehgarh solar clusters — the very heart of India’s renewable generation zone.

In such a high-RE environment, even temporary changes in line topology can ripple through the entire northern grid.

A Corridor Running Too Hot

The northern grid’s evacuation network has been showing visible stress for months. The OCC minutes reference several overloaded corridors — Ballia–Sohawal, Sohawal ICT, and Bhiwani–Moga — with high loading, N-1 non-compliance, and limited transfer margins.

These bottlenecks highlight a critical reality: renewable generation in Rajasthan is expanding faster than the transmission reinforcements needed to carry it.

Against this backdrop, a double-circuit shutdown isn’t a small ask — it’s a structural risk.

NRLDC Steps In with Caution

NRLDC has refrained from granting immediate approval and instead called for a joint load-flow and stability study involving Rajasthan, NLDC, and Powergrid.

The reasoning is straightforward: shutting down both circuits at once would leave no redundancy, forcing renewable curtailment and rerouting through already-stressed corridors.

As solar penetration deepens, the margin for operational flexibility is shrinking.

A Recurring Theme in OCC Discussions

This issue isn’t isolated. The same high-load corridors — Ballia–Sohawal, Sohawal ICT, Bhiwani–Moga, and now Bhadla–Bikaner — keep reappearing in OCC deliberations month after month.

It signals a broader trend: India’s northern RE corridors are carrying more power than they were designed for, and routine maintenance has turned into a high-stakes balancing act.

The Bigger Picture

What Rajasthan sees as routine rectification, NRLDC interprets as a red flag. This widening gap between state-level maintenance norms and regional grid constraints shows how renewable expansion is testing the system’s stability.

A few years ago, a shutdown like this might have been processed quickly. Today, it requires multi-agency simulation and risk assessment before a single breaker is opened.

A Warning for the Future

The Bhadla–Bikaner shutdown request is more than an operational hiccup — it’s a signal that India’s renewable build-out has outpaced grid preparedness.

When maintenance requests begin to unsettle operators, it’s clear the buffer capacity is thinning. For now, caution has prevailed. But the message is clear: the northern solar corridors are running hot, and the supporting steel must catch up to the ambition of the sun.

South India’s power story has entered a new phase — and this one’s all about the wires.

After years of racing to install renewables, the region’s next challenge isn’t generation — it’s transmission. The system that must carry this surge of green power is showing signs of strain.

Every southern state — Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala — has lined up massive generation and storage plans through 2030. But the corridors that link them are hitting real-world bottlenecks: permitting delays, land acquisition disputes, and compensation hurdles.

The Policy Signal: Build Transmission Alongside Generation

At the May 2025 Conference of Power Ministers, the Ministry of Power made its stance clear —

“No generation without transmission planning.”

States were told to align their Intra-State Transmission (InSTS) plans with Resource Adequacy (RA) studies up to 2035.

The goal? Prevent stranded capacity.

New Right-of-Way (RoW) guidelines, notified on 21 March 2025, were designed to fix land valuation and compensation disputes through market-linked rates. But progress has been uneven — many states still rely on slow, district-level systems that delay clearances for months.

The Stress Points on the Ground

Transmission corridors have quietly become the biggest constraint in South India’s power economy:

Telangana: Facing RoW disputes on Bidar–Maheshwaram and Kurnool–Maheshwaram routes, both critical to its new 765 kV backbone.

Andhra Pradesh: Hurdles continue on Ananthapuram–Cuddapah–Kurnool lines.

Karnataka: The north–south link (Narendra–Pune–Gadag–Kasargode) is caught in overlapping forest and compensation clearances.

While generation moves swiftly from coal to renewables and storage, the transmission layer still carries old inertia.

The Raigarh–Pugalur–Thrissur HVDC line, one of India’s most expensive transmission assets, has become a test case. Several states have withheld tariff payments pending legal review — exposing the fragile financial compact that underpins grid expansion.

The Financing Bottleneck

Money remains the weakest link.

State utilities are deep in debt, leaving little space to fund new high-voltage corridors. The ₹1.5 lakh crore, 50-year interest-free loan window and recent pushes for InvIT and TBCB models have helped, but uptake remains slow.

Listing of state transmission utilities, encouraged by the Power Ministry, is politically sensitive and largely stalled.

The Road Ahead: Catching Up

The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has directed each southern state to submit a costed InSTS plan till FY2035 by March 2026 — including corridors for Pumped Storage Projects (PSP) and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS).

The message is clear: Without synchronized commissioning of lines, storage and renewable assets could remain stranded.

In simple terms — the southern grid is no longer constrained by ambition. It’s constrained by steel, land, and balance sheets.

Snapshot: Connectivity Applications (ISTS – CTUIL)

DeveloperSubstationQuantum (MW)Start DateGreenko AP01 IREP Pvt LtdKurnool New SS565 + 26016 Jul 2024Greenko KA01 IREP Pvt LtdGadag-II PS640 + 24015 Dec 2025 / 16 Feb 2026Adani Renewable Energy 42 LtdKurnool-III PS600 + 125030 Jun 2026 / 31 Dec 2027

These connectivity approvals show how renewable ambition is racing ahead of transmission readiness.

What It Means

For developers: corridor delays threaten timelines and financing.

For states: stranded capacity could derail renewable targets.

For the Centre: the test is whether policy intent can translate into on-ground execution.

The Bottom Line

South India’s clean-energy future depends on what happens between the generation plants and the grid. The next five years will decide whether the region achieves true grid stability — or stays stuck in regulatory and financial gridlock.

The transition is no longer about ambition — it’s about execution.

By EnergyLineIndia | November 2025

The Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) has issued a major update to its Rooftop Solar Net and Gross Metering Regulations (2019) — officially removing the 90% generation credit cap that limited prosumers from realizing full solar benefits.

This comes through the Second Amendment Order (30 October 2025, Case No. HERC/PRO-50/2025) and marks a major alignment with MNRE and CEA guidelines.

Why This Matters

That 90% cap was long seen as a drag on rooftop growth. It prevented consumers from fully offsetting generation against their consumption — discouraging optimal system design.

Now, with the cap gone, consumers can claim 100% of their generation. It’s a small technical reform with major investment implications.

New Settlement Cycle: October–September

HERC has also shifted the settlement year from April–March to October–September — aligning with the real-world solar generation curve.

This ensures the high-yield summer months get balanced across the low-generation winter months before reconciliation.

It’s a data-driven, technical fix that improves fairness and financial predictability for solar consumers.

Surplus Power Buyback Simplified

At the end of each cycle, any surplus energy will now be compensated at 90% of the Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) applicable to PM-KUSUM projects.

Payments will be credited by DISCOMs within two billing cycles. This removes ambiguity around APPC-based or SECI-linked rates that had caused confusion in earlier years.

Annual Reset for Energy Credits

Prosumers’ energy credit ledgers will now reset every October 1. That means no indefinite carry-forward — but greater transparency and auditable accounting.

Exit & Billing Clarifications

If a prosumer exits mid-year, accumulated energy will still be compensated at 90% of FiT up to the exit date.

The Commission also moved from Minimum Monthly Charges (MMC) to a fixed-charge model, aligning with the FY 2025–26 tariff order.

Broader Context: From Restriction to Reform

HERC’s amendment focuses on three things:

Encouraging rooftop investment through simpler rules

Aligning state norms with national policy

Maintaining DISCOM balance through FiT-based compensation

With this, Haryana joins Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra, all of which have already removed rooftop generation caps.

This decision reinforces India’s rooftop-solar mission — and signals that Haryana is ready for scale-up under the 40 GW national target.

Bottom Line

The removal of the 90% credit cap, better-aligned settlement periods, and clearer surplus payout rules make Haryana’s rooftop-solar regime far more investor-friendly.

By EnergyLineIndia | Reported by [Your Name]

October’s Regional Energy Account (REA) for India’s North Eastern Region marks a strong month for hydropower reliability. Loktak, Khandong, Kopili, and Doyang all delivered between 98–100% availability, signaling high operational consistency.

Yet, when it comes to flexibility and frequency response, the data tells a more complex story. The region’s hydro fleet is available — but not always agile.

⚙️ Plant-wise Availability (September → October)

(Source: NERPC Regional Energy Account tables) PlantSeptember PAFMOctober PAFMNoteLoktak~96%100%Availability improved by ~4 pointsKhandong + Khandong-II~92–95%~99.98%Very strong improvementKopili + Kopili-II~93%~96–98%Recovery and normalizationDoyang~99%~100.5%Slight over-achievement due to inflow + dispatch alignment

“Loktak: 96% (Sept) → 100% (Oct); Khandong: 92–95% → 99.98%; Kopili: ~93% → 96–98%; Doyang ~99% → 100.5%.” — NERPC Regional Energy Account comparison block

🌊 Why Availability Rose

Three operational factors explain the jump in reliability, backed by NERPC meeting notes:

1️⃣ Better Monsoon Inflows Reservoir levels at Loktak and Doyang rose through late September and early October, improving generation stability.

2️⃣ Minimal Maintenance Outages Kopili and Khandong had no major shutdowns in October. Minor transformer bay and runner inspections from September did not recur.

3️⃣ Full Scheduling Discipline Unrequisitioned energy stayed at zero both months — every unit generated was fully absorbed.

“Unrequisitioned Energy → Always 0 → Still 0.”

⚡ Frequency-Response Disconnect

The REA’s good news on reliability meets a contrasting signal in frequency-response performance (FRP):

Kopili: FRP = 1.00 (perfect)

Khandong: FRP = ~0.00–0.09 (weak)

This means high availability doesn’t necessarily translate to strong grid regulation. Plants were online — but not all could ramp up or down dynamically when the system needed it.

🔍 System Interpretation

High availability ≠ high flexibility.

October marked a shift from monsoon-response mode to near-steady-state operations:

Loktak and Doyang are now running as near-baseload hydros.

Khandong and Kopili, despite improved uptime, still need frequency tuning and relay coordination to perform in grid-balancing roles.

This isn’t a capacity issue — it’s a dispatch reliability story.

🧭 Implications for NER’s Grid Strategy

The lesson for operators, developers, and planners is straightforward:

Synchronize SCADA systems and protection schemes to improve ramping capability.

Make frequency performance a measurable part of dispatch incentives.

Continue reservoir and scheduling discipline to sustain high uptime and operational agility.

🧩 Bottom Line

October’s REA proves that the NER hydro fleet is reliable. What remains is ensuring it’s responsive.

By EnergyLineIndia.com | Sector: Power & Energy Infrastructure | May 27, 2025

After years of policy groundwork, the Eastern Grid is finally shifting gears — from drafting frameworks to delivering field execution. What was once a maze of guidelines, committees, and feasibility notes is now becoming a functioning digital ecosystem, powered by real-time monitoring, MPLS rollout, and cyber audit compliance.

With UNMS-based availability tracking, monthly outage planning, and cyber-security protocols going live, the Eastern region’s communication backbone — its network of control rooms, substations, and telemetry links — is now the silent engine of India’s next grid revolution.

From Framework to Field

The 17th TeST (Telecommunication and System Telemetry) meeting of the Eastern Regional Power Committee (ERPC), held on 27 May 2025, confirmed what industry watchers have been anticipating: the region has officially moved from policy drafting to execution.

The Unified Network Management System (UNMS) is now live, enabling communication link availability tracking across utilities. Outage planning for telecom systems — long overdue since the 2017 CERC Communication Regulations — is finally being treated with the same rigour as transmission shutdowns.

States have been asked to nominate nodal officers for a new Network Monitoring Team (NMT) to validate link performance and compliance.

Accountability in the Cloud

The Eastern Grid’s digital backbone is now continuously auditable. Every data link failure, fiber cut, or outage leaves a digital trace — making it possible for ERPC and ERLDC to correlate grid reliability with communication uptime.

POWERGRID will label each communication channel with unique alphanumeric codes to identify ownership and accountability. In essence, telecom reliability is now part of grid discipline.

MPLS and the Future Network

The next-generation MPLS-based communication architecture is gaining traction. The Joint Committee report, led by CTU, has been finalized and awaits NPC approval.

A phased rollout plan proposes a dual network — where legacy SDH systems run in parallel with MPLS until complete migration. The first regional workshop on MPLS implementation is planned for SLDCs, ISGS, and IPPs in the Eastern region.

Cyber Security Takes Centre Stage

Cyber security is no longer a discussion point; it’s an implementation track. Under the CEA’s Cyber Security Framework, third-party audits will commence across utilities, followed by the creation of Security Operations Centres (SOCs) at each SLDC.

The focus has shifted from “where to install” to “how to monitor and maintain.” The grid’s digital defences have entered an enforceable compliance phase, where resilience is measurable and monitored.

The Last Mile and the Long View

Challenges remain — Sikkim’s last-mile connectivity, non-reporting PMUs, and SCADA–SEM data mismatches — but the narrative has changed. The conversation is no longer about feasibility; it’s about monitoring, accountability, and uptime.

For a sector once defined by relay rooms and hardwired systems, this represents a quiet revolution — a software-led transformation where data reliability is as vital as physical infrastructure.