MNRE Clarifies That No NOC Is Required Where ESS Is Charged Using Non-RE Power And Sold Through Merchant/third-party Sale Mode.

MNRE clarifies that no NOC is required where ESS is charged using non-RE power and sold through merchant/third-party sale mode.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (“MNRE”) vide office memorandum dated 11.04.2026¹, has issued a clarification stating that No-Objection Certificate (“NOC”) is not required in certain cases under the Firm and Dispatchable Renewable Energy (“FDRE”) Standard Bidding Guidelines (“FDRE Bidding Guidelines”).

MNRE, upon examining the relevant provisions of the FDRE Bidding Guidelines noted as follows:

1. Energy Storage System (“ESS”) is a storage component and not a Renewable Energy (“RE”) generating source.
2. Power discharged from ESS does not qualify as RE power where such ESS is charged using non-RE sources and is therefore ineligible for supply under the FDRE Power Purchase Agreement (“PPA”) framework as renewable power.
3. The Right of First Refusal (“ROFR”) available to the end procurer (and, in the event of refusal by the end procurer, to the intermediary procurer) is limited to RE power injected into the grid from an RE power generating component and cannot be extended to include power discharged from ESS where such ESS has been charged using a source other than RE power.
4. In cases where the BESS is commissioned prior to the commissioning of the corresponding RE components, and the RE developer charges the BESS through the grid, the power discharged therefrom would not qualify as RE power and would consequently be ineligible for supply under the PPA, leaving the RE developer with the only option of selling such power through merchant / third-party sale.
5. The requirement of ROFR or NOC from the intermediary procurer / end procurer / buying entity, as contemplated under FDRE PPAs, would be triggered only upon commissioning of at least one RE generating component.

MNRE clarified that under existing or future bids / PPAs governed by the FDRE Bidding Guidelines, no NOC from the intermediary procurer / buying entity / end procurer would be required where ESS is charged using power other than RE power and such power is sold through merchant / third-party sale mode, provided that the corresponding RE source has not been commissioned.

Footnotes

^{1 MNRE's OM regarding Non-Requirement of NOC in existing or future bids/PPAs under FDRE}

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