India considering Net Metering Concept

MNRE has recently held a Consultation Meeting on net metering for solar projects. This meeting was held in New Delhi on 20th December, 2011 and inaugurated by Hon’ble Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Dr. Farooq Abdullah.

The meeting was attended by Senior officials from the State Departments of Energy/ Power, State Electricity Regulatory Commissions, State DISCOMs and State Nodal Agencies for Renewable Energy with the agenda of understanding the concept based on Indian and European experience.

Energetica India has not yet learned the results of the meeting. But the Indian renewable energy industry and especially the solar sector will be quite happy to know that the government is considering net metering for India.

Net metering is an electricity policy for consumers who own (generally small) renewable energy facilities (such as wind, solar power or home fuel cells) . "Net", in this context, is used in the sense of meaning "what remains after deductions" — in this case, the deduction of any energy outflows from metered energy inflows. Under net metering, a system owner receives retail credit for at least a portion of the electricity they generate.