How do RECs work under the CERC REC Regulations 2022?

The 2022 regulations were published in the Gazette of India on 24 May 2022 and came into force on 5 December 2022, replacing the earlier 2010 framework (CERC, Current Regulations index and implementation notification, 2022).

Who can get RECs?

The regulations list four kinds of eligible entities (Regulation 4):

1. Renewable energy generating stations, if their tariff has not been fixed or adopted by a regulator under Section 62 or 63 of the Electricity Act for that capacity, the power is not sold to meet someone else's RPO, and they have not taken waivers or concessions on transmission or wheeling charges.
2. Captive renewable plants meeting the same conditions. Certificates for their own consumption cannot be sold.
3. Distribution companies that buy more renewable power than their RPO.
4. Open access consumers that buy more renewable power than their RPO.

Key rules

• The Central Agency is the National Load Despatch Centre, run by Grid-India. It registers entities, issues certificates and keeps the REC registry (Regulation 3).
• Generators must apply within six months of the generation (Regulation 10).
• Certificates are traded on power exchanges or through licensed electricity traders (Regulation 11).
• The price is discovered on the exchanges or agreed with traders. CERC can give directions if it sees unusual price or volume movements (Regulation 13).
• Certificates remain valid until they are redeemed (Regulation 14). When used for RPO compliance they are extinguished from the registry.

What changed in 2026?

CERC's First Amendment Regulations, 2026, dated 24 March 2026 and listed with a Gazette date of 1 April 2026, made several changes (CERC, 2026):

• New definitions for renewable consumption obligation (RCO), designated consumer and virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA).
• Multipliers for plants commissioned between 5 December 2022 and the amendment: onshore wind and solar 1, hydro 1.5, municipal solid waste and non-fossil cogeneration 2, biomass and biofuel 2.5. Plants commissioned after the amendment get multipliers from a new scoring formula (for example, solar and wind 1.0).
• A multiplier lasts 15 years from commissioning, after which one certificate is issued per MWh.
• VPPAs: RECs from a plant under a virtual PPA are transferred to the buyer, can be used only for its RPO or RCO, and cannot be resold on exchanges.
• Discoms and open access consumers now apply within three months of their State Commission's certification of excess renewable purchase.

Illustrative example

These numbers are invented to show the arithmetic only. A wind plant that meets the eligibility rules injects 10,000 MWh into the grid in a year. With a multiplier of 1, it can apply for 10,000 RECs. A biomass plant commissioned in 2024 that injects 10,000 MWh would, with the 2.5 multiplier, receive 25,000 RECs, which is why a REC does not always equal exactly 1 MWh of energy.