ISTS Waiver

To promote the development of renewables in RE-rich states and encourage inter-state procurement of renewables, the central government allowed waiver of ISTS charges and losses for solar and wind projects in 2016. Through various subsequent orders, the Ministry of Power (MoP) extended the deadline of ISTS waiver for some solar and wind project categories commissioned till 30th June, 2025. Recently, the ambit of the waiver has been widened for green hydrogen, large hydro plants, pumped storage hydro (PSH) and battery storage (BESS). We have tracked the several amendments and evolution of the ISTS waiver framework since 2016 below.

MoP Order Sept 2016

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Date of Notification
30th September, 2016
Wind
1. No ISTS charges and losses will be levied on transmission of electricity through ISTS system for sale by such projects commissioned till 31st March, 2019.
2. Above Waiver will be available for a period of 25 years from date of commissioning of such projects.
3. This waiver is available only for projects entering into PPAs for sale of electricity to DISCOMs for compliance of their RPO.
4. Waiver is allowed only to projects that are awarded under competitive bidding process.
Solar
1. No ISTS charges and losses will be charged for use of ISTS network by such projects commissioned till 31st June, 2017 as per CERC (Sharing of ISTS Charges and Losses) (3rd Amendment) Regulations, 2015.
2. Above Waiver will be available for a period of 25 years from date of commissioning of such projects.
3. Waiver is allowed only to projects that are awarded under competitive bidding process.