Renewable Energy Policy

Published by the Power Division of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, the Renewable Energy Policy (REP) has numerous objectives to promote renewable energy and includes the target of developing renewable energy resources to meet 5% of the total power demand by 2015 and 10% by 2020.
 
The REP notes that a Sustainable Energy Development Agency (SEDA) will be established under the 1994 Companies Act to act as a focal point for sustainable energy development and promotion. SEDA will create market opportunities and start-up business models for sustainable energy technologies, such as energy services companies and rural energy providers' and provide financial support in the research and development of renewable energy technology'.
 
 The REP further outlines three core provisions:
 -Renewable energy project(s): the sale of electricity from plants requires a power generation licence from The Energy and Mineral Resources Division (BERC) if the capacity is 5 MW or more.
 - The government and the Sustainable Energy Development Agency (SEDA), in consultation with BERC, will create a regulatory framework encouraging generation of electricity from renewable energy sources.
 - BERC shall approve the energy tariff in consultation with the government and SEDA as per the provision of the BERC Act 2003 if the capacity of renewable energy project(s) is 5MW or more. Electricity distributors may offer 'green energy' tariffs, which provide consumers an opportunity to co-finance through their electricity bills the development of new renewable energy sources.