Context: Recently, the Power Minister has proposed a renewable purchase obligation (RPO) mechanism for round the clock (RTC) renewable energy, which will promote storage of electricity in the country. 
Key Points

• Renewable energy is economically viable today. But the price of storage is high. 
• We should bring down storage prices by increasing demand and putting up more manufacturing facilities. 
• By making the RPO mandatory for RTC renewable energy, it would encourage investments in renewable electricity storage projects. 
• Renewable Purchase Obligation refers to the obligation imposed by law on some entities to either buy electricity generated by specified ‘green’ sources, or buy, in lieu of that, ‘renewable energy certificates (RECs)’ from the market. 
• The ‘obligated entities’ are mostly electricity distribution companies and large consumers of power. 
• RECs are issued to companies that produce green power, who opt not to sell it at a preferable tariff to distribution companies.
• AREAS as a mission should take activities like launching communication plan including hoardings, radio/tv spots encouraging the consumption of electricity through renewables.  

Round-the-clock (RTC) power draft policy

• The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has proposed a draft policy for the supply of round-the-clock (RTC) power to distributors through a mix of renewable energy and electricity generated in coal-based plants.
• The main objective of the scheme is to provide RTC power to the discoms through bundling of RE power with thermal power and to scale up renewable capacity additions. 
• It will also facilitate fulfilment of renewable purchase obligation (RPO) requirement of the obligated entities
• Addressing the issues of intermittency, limited hours of supply and low capacity utilisation of transmission infrastructure, the draft policy provides for reverse bundling, wherein high-cost thermal power is being allowed to be bundled with cheaper renewable energy.
• Accordingly, a power generating firm will have to supply electricity such that at least 51 per cent of the annual energy supplied corresponds to renewable energy and the balance is drawn from thermal sources.
• The generator will supply RE power complemented with thermal power, in RTC manner, keeping at least 80 per cent availability on an annual basis..

About AREAS

• Association of Renewable Energy Agencies of the States (AREAS) is formed on the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) initiative.
• MNRE is the nodal agency at the central level for promotion of grid-connected and off-grid renewable energy in the country.
• The AREAS got registered under Society Registration Act 1860 on 27 August 2014.
• Union Minister for New & Renewable Energy is the Patron of the Association.
• The Secretary of MNRE is the ex-officio President of the Association.
• All SNAs (State Nodal Agencies) are the members of the Association.
• AREAS has been formed to interact and learn from each other’s experiences and share their best practices and knowledge regarding technologies and schemes/programmes.

Renewable Energy Initiatives in India

• The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is the nodal Ministry of the Government of India for all matters relating to new and renewable energy.
• New and Renewable Energy sources include solar energy, geothermal energy, wind power, hydropower, biomass, etc.
• In September 2019, at the United Nations Climate Action Summit, India announced increasing the renewable energy target to 450 GW by 2030 from 175 GW by 2022.
• In its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC), India has pledged to increase the share of non-fossil fuels-based electricity to 40% by 2030.
• The Green Energy Corridor Project aims at synchronizing electricity produced from renewable sources, such as solar and wind, with conventional power stations in the grid.
• Recently, Indian Railways has contacted solar power developers to meet the net zero carbon emission target by 2030.