Guwahati: The North Eastern Tea Association (NETA) has welcomed the Assam Integrated Clean Energy Policy 2025, recently approved by the Assam Cabinet.
The approval of the policy is a significant step towards promoting renewable energy and its seamless integration with the state’s power grid.
“We are extremely happy with this new policy. The tea industry can reap benefits from this policy. We are grateful to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for specific inclusion of tea category in the policy,” said Bidyananda Barkakoty, Adviser, North Eastern Tea Association (NETA).
NETA had organised a seminar on “Prospects for implementation of solar power projects in tea industries of Assam” in Guwahati on February 26, 2022, which included the presence of the APDCL Managing Director.
NETA requested the State Government to transition to an annual billing cycle. This request has been successfully incorporated into the new policy.
The “Assam Integrated Clean Energy Policy – 2025” includes specific policy incentives for Tea, Coffee, and Rubber consumers of APDCL, as follows:
The maximum capacity of Grid Connected Rooftop Solar Power Plant at a Single location for Tea, Coffee, Rubber consumer shall be limited to 1000 kW at AC side.
The Energy banking shall be permitted on a yearly basis for all the consumers of Tea Coffee Rubber category (Tariff Category HT VI Tea, Coffee and Rubber).
Banking means a facility through which the unutilized portion of energy (underutilization by the consumer or excess generation over and above the schedule by the generator) from any of the Green Energy Sources during a billing month is kept in a separate account and such energy accrued shall be treated in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Green Open Access Regulations to be notified by Assam Electricity Regulatory Commission after gazette notification of this policy document.
NETA stated, “Unlike other industries, the tea industry is seasonal in nature. There is no production during the period from December to February and negligible production in March. Therefore the solar power generated during four off-season months (December to March) remained completely unproductive for the tea industry.”
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“In fact, before this policy, there was no provision whereby the excess unconsumed energy generated and injected into the grid could be carried forward and adjusted during succeeding producing months. However, this problem of the tea industry got resolved in this new policy,” it said.
“It won’t be long before every tea factory in Assam is powered entirely by solar energy,” Barkakoty said.
