Clean Energy sector of India – Newsletter

1. Green Hydrogen

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India ("MNRE") on August 4, 2025 issued revised scheme guidelines for implementation of pilot projects on the production and use of green hydrogen using innovative methods and pathways, in residential, commercial, localized community and decentralized applications, as well as in new sectors not covered under existing schemes of the National Green Hydrogen Mission ("Revised GH Scheme"), superseding the earlier version notified on November 8, 2024. The Revised GH Scheme inter alia seeks to support innovative models and technologies for green hydrogen production, including floating solar-based, biomass-based and wastewater-based hydrogen production, and to promote the use of green hydrogen and its derivatives as fuel for decentralized applications such as cooking, heating, off-grid electricity generation and offroad vehicles.

2. Wind and Solar Power

Wind

  1. RLMM to ALMM

    On July 31, 2025, MNRE issued an amendment to the procedure for inclusion/updating of wind turbine models in the Revised List of Models and Manufacturers ("RLMM") of wind turbines and renaming it the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers ("ALMM") (Wind). This amendment is applicable to all wind turbine models, including existing models already listed in the RLMM as well as new models to be submitted for enlistment.

    Some of the key features of the amendment are:

    • In addition to existing requirements, manufacturers would be required to disclose vendors/sources for blades, towers, generators, gearboxes and special bearings (main, pitch and yaw bearings);
    • Type certificates would mandatorily include facilities for blades, towers, gearboxes, generators and special bearings;
    • A separate ALMM (Wind Turbine Components) would be issued following inspection, with components required to be sourced only from such facilities which are included in the ALMM (Wind Turbine Component);
    • The amendment introduces new requirements to strengthen the cybersecurity ecosystem;
    • Certain categories are exempted from the new requirements: (i) projects already bid out before July 31, 2025 (subject to commissioning within 3 years of issuance of this amendment2); (ii) projects to be commissioned within 18 months under captive/ open access/ commercial and industrial/ third-party sale modes; and (iii) new manufacturers/models (limited to 800 MW for 2 years from the date of enlistment in ALMM (Wind)), subject to quarterly progress reporting and monitoring through a component sourcing portal; and
    • Imports required for manufacturing of wind turbines are required to comply with the forthcoming Renewable Energy Equipment Import Monitoring System3.
  2. On August 6, 2025, MNRE issued a clarification on the revised guidelines for installation of prototype wind turbine models notified on June 12, 2025. It has been clarified that the National Institute of Wind Energy may issue a revised recommendation letter for grid guidelines, subject to the condition that the original recommendation letter must have been issued after October 25, 2022 (the date of issuance of the IECRE type-certification scheme, Edition 3.0), and the type-certification includes variants or alternative configurations of the same wind turbine type.
  3. Offshore Wind

    On August 12, 2025, Solar Energy Corporation of India cancelled the request for selection issued on February 2, 2024 for allocation of sea-bed lease rights to develop 4,000 MW of offshore wind power projects.

  4. Solar

  5. MNRE pursuant to its latest order of August 13, 2025 added 24 new module manufacturers to the List-I (Manufacturers and Models of Solar PV Modules) of ALMM Order, 2019, updated as on August 13, 2025, increasing the number of manufacturers to 173.
  6. On July 28, 2025, MNRE issued an amendment to its earlier office memorandum dated December 9, 2024, regarding implementation of ALMM for solar photovoltaic ("PV') cells ("ALMM Amendment"). Some of the key features of the ALMM Amendment are:
    • In view of the expected substantial increase in domestic solar PV cell manufacturing capacity, MNRE has decided to operationalise ALMM List-Il for solar PV cells with effect from June 1, 2026;
    • All projects mandated to use ALMM-listed solar PV modules (List-I) would also be required to source solar PV cells from ALMM List-Il; and
    • Projects where the last date of bid submission falls on or before the cut-off date (defined as 1 month after publication of ALMM List-Il) would be exempt from mandatory use of ALMM-listed cells, regardless of their commissioning date.

    Subsequently, on August 12, 2025, MNRE issued a clarification on the applicability of the ALMM Amendment to Government projects. It clarified that Government projects where last date of bid submission was on or before August 31, 2025 under net metering, behind-the-meter or open access mechanisms would be exempt from the requirement to use cells from ALMM List-Il (albeit, the requirement to source PV modules from ALMM List-I would continue). However, Government projects falling under any scheme, programme or initiative mandating use of domestically manufactured solar PV cells and modules would continue to be subject to domestic content requirements without relaxation.

3. Electricity Rules, Regulations and Orders

  1. The Energy Department, Government of Bihar on July 10, 2025 notified the Bihar New and Renewable Energy Policy 2025 ("Policy"), which supersedes the Bihar New and Renewable Energy Policy, 2017. The Policy aims to add 23-968 GW of renewable energy capacity and 6.1 GWh of storage by financial year 2029-30, covering solar, wind, hydro, bioenergy, waste-to-energy, green hydrogen, geothermal, hybrid projects, and storage technologies. It provides incentives such as exemptions on electricity duty, state goods and service tax, transmission and wheeling charges, and land conversion fees, as well as reimbursement of stamp duty, deemed industry status, and a single-window clearance mechanism.
  2. On August 1, 2025, the Ministry of Power, Government of India ("MoP") withdrew its earlier notification dated February 14, 2024, which had introduced the Uniform Renewable Energy Tariff ("URET") mechanism and established the 'Solar Power Central Pool' and 'Solar-Wind Hybrid Central Pool' for a period of 3 years. The decision follows concerns raised by renewable energy implementing agencies and developers that procurers were reluctant to sign power sale agreements ("PSA") due to tariff uncertainty. Importantly, bids already received and letters of award issued under the URET framework would remain valid and may proceed to PSA or power purchase agreement execution on a standalone basis.
  3. On August 5, 2025, MOP issued a revised draft of the notification on renewable consumption obligation ("RCO") under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001 ("ECA"), inviting stakeholder comments by August 19, 2025. The main amendments proposed are with respect to the RCO targets, date from which such obligations would apply, fungibility of renewable energy sources, inclusion of virtual power purchase agreements to comply with RCO, etc.
  4. On August 31, 2025, the CERC issued the Connectivity and General Network Access to the inter-State Transmission System (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2025 ("GNA Amendment"). Some of the key features of the GNA Amendment include:
    • New definitions and concepts are introduced such as 'Cluster of ISTS substations', 'Connectivity Grantee', 'Solar hours' and 'Non-solar hours';
    • Connectivity rules have been rationalized, permitting inclusion of additional capacity or change of source within the granted quantum under prescribed timelines; requiring renewable stations with storage to specify maximum injection and drawal upfront; mandating standalone energy storage systems to apply for the higher of injection or drawal quantum; and allowing renewable power park developers authorised for more than 500 MW to seek phased connectivity (with at least 300 MW in the first phase);
    • A framework distinguishing solar and non-solar hour access has been included, with benefits for wind projects whose generation patterns are concentrated in nonsolar hours;
    • The framework for connectivity bank guarantees has been revised. Under the amended framework, a three-part structure has been clarified: (i) Conn-BGI of INR 50 lakh is now mandatory upfront upon in-principle grant of connectivity; (ii) Conn-BG2 is required to cover the estimated cost of associate transmission system and terminal bays (shared proportionately among applicants where applicable); and (iii) Conn-BG3 continues at INR 2 lakh/MW for augmentation or use of existing inter-State transmission system ("ISTS"). The GNA Amendment provides detailed conditions for forfeiture and refund, and makes it explicit that failure to furnish the prescribed bank guarantees within 1 month would result in closure of the application and forfeiture of the application fee;
    • The land and financial closure compliance framework has been amended to inter alia clarify the timing for submission of land documents where sub-station coordinates are delayed, permission for conversion between letter of award/ PPAbased connectivity and land/ financial closure-based connectivity;
    • Change in control restriction has been included for the connectivity grantee until COD unless specifically approved by the Central Transmission Utility; and
    • Capacity at ISTS sub-stations that falls vacant due to withdrawal or revocation may now be reallocated within the same cluster of substations, based on the priority of applications received.

4. Environmental Initiatives

  1. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India ("MOEFCC") on July 11, 2025 issued the Environment (Protection) Fourth Amendment Rules, 2025 ("EPF Amendment"), revising compliance requirements for sulphur dioxide emission standards for coal and lignite-based thermal power plants ("TPPs"). This amendment impacts the timelines etc. for setting up flue gas desulphurisation systems by TPPs.
  2. On July 14, 2025, MoEFCC issued the following:
    • A revised list of activities eligible under the Article 6.2 cooperative approaches mechanism of the Paris Agreement. These include mitigation, alternate materials and removal activities, such as renewable energy with storage (only the storage component), solar thermal power, offshore wind, green hydrogen, compressed biogas, emerging mobility technologies like fuel cells, sustainable aviation fuel, highend technology for energy efficiency, tidal energy, ocean thermal energy, ocean salt gradient energy, ocean wave energy and ocean current energy, high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission tied to renewable projects, green ammonia, and carbon capture, utilisation and storage; and
    • A list of 14 activity types that are eligible under the Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement for trading carbon credits. These mirror many of the activities under Article 6.2 and are intended to facilitate issuance of carbon credits under the United Nations-supervised mechanism.
  3. On July 24, 2025, MoEFCC issued the Environment Protection (Management of Contaminated Sites) Rules, 2025 ("Contaminated Sites Rules") to establish a comprehensive framework for the identification, assessment and remediation of sites which are contaminated with hazardous substances, with the objective of safeguarding human health and the environment.
  4. On August 4, 2025, MOP issued the draft Energy Conservation (Compliance Enforcement) Rules, 2025 ("Draft Compliance Enforcement Rules"), for stakeholder comments. The Draft Compliance Enforcement Rules grant the Bureau of Energy Efficiency the authority to detect, verify, assess, and represent non-compliance with energy norms and standards prescribed by the Central Government.