The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has ruled that a 160 MW blended wind-solar project of Vena Energy Vidyuth Private Limited (VEVPL) in Karnataka, which is 81% wind and 19% solar, cannot be treated as a wind-resource generating station for deviation charges under the CERC Deviation Settlement Mechanism (DSM) Regulations, 2024. In its order dated 2 November 2026 in Petition No. 979/MP/2025, the Commission rejected the developer’s prayers and disposed of the petition.
The project and the petition
The order, issued by a bench of Chairperson Jishnu Barua and Members Ramesh Babu V., Harish Dudani and Ravinder Singh Dhillon, describes the project as a 160 MW blended wind power project at Jumalapura and Hanchinhal villages in Kushtagi Taluk, Koppal District, Karnataka. It has an AC capacity of 129.6 MW of wind (81%) and 30.4 MW of solar (19%). The project was commissioned on 29 October 2024 under a Power Purchase Agreement dated 3 May 2021 with the Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI), which in turn signed a Power Sale Agreement dated 5 March 2021 with Madhya Pradesh Power Management Company Limited for the power.
Vena Energy asked the Commission to hold that the project should be considered a generating station based on wind resource under Regulation 8(4) of the DSM Regulations, 2024. As alternatives, it asked the Commission to use its power to relax Regulation 8(4) under Regulation 11, and its power to remove difficulty under Regulation 12.
Why Vena Energy said wind treatment was fair
The project was developed under the 2020 Blended Wind Guidelines, which require at least 80% wind capacity and allow solar of up to 20% of contracted capacity. It was won in the SECI Tranche-IX auction for 2,500 MW of blended wind projects, in which Vena Energy was awarded 160 MW at ₹2.99 per kWh and JSW Solar 810 MW at ₹3.00 per kWh. The developer said it bid its tariff on the regulatory treatment of wind projects, under which the earlier DSM Regulations of 2014 allowed a single deviation band of 15%.
The developer said it had to describe the project as a “hybrid” in its connectivity applications only because there was no option for blended wind projects.
On the money, the developer submitted that from commissioning to September 2025 the project earned total revenue of about ₹89.56 crore. It calculated deviation liability at about ₹0.66 crore (0.7% of revenue) under the 2014 rules, about ₹4.73 crore (5.3%) under the 2024 rules as a solar or hybrid station, and about ₹2.68 crore (3.0%) if treated as a wind station. These are the petitioner’s figures, not findings of the Commission.
What the respondents said
The Southern Regional Power Committee (SRPC) said the DSM Regulations, 2024 do not refer to blended wind projects, that the regulations define a hybrid project as one with two or more renewable sources without any percentage split, and that the Connectivity Agreement itself lists the project as a hybrid generating station. The Southern Regional Load Despatch Centre (SRLDC) said a station with wind and solar assets connected through a single injection point must be treated as a hybrid, that it only implements the settlement mechanism, and that bidding guidelines cannot override regulations framed by the Commission.
The Commission’s reasoning
The Commission framed the only issue as whether the 160 MW project, connected at the Gadag Pooling Station through a common injection point, can be treated as a wind-resource station by relaxing or removing difficulty under Regulations 11 and 12. It noted that the project meets the 2020 Blended Wind Guidelines, but held that this does not by itself decide its DSM treatment.
It also held that the 33% criterion in the hybrid guidelines and the CERC renewable tariff regulations cannot decide the DSM category. It pointed out that the DSM Regulations, 2024 were notified on 15 August 2024, before the project’s commercial operation on 29 October 2024, so the developer could have sought clarification earlier, and that the regulations do not distinguish hybrid projects by rated capacity.
The Commission also noted that JSW Solar developed its entire 810 MW as pure wind, which showed the developer had the flexibility to build wind-only. Accepting the petition would, it said, need a new threshold between predominantly wind-based blended projects and hybrids, which would amount to amending the regulations, and the powers to relax and remove difficulty cannot create a new category of generating station.
The deviation bands at stake
Regulation 8(4) sets two sets of volume limits. Until 31 March 2026, solar or hybrid stations had a first band up to 10% deviation and a second band up to 15%, against 15% and 20% for wind. From 1 April 2026, the bands narrow to 5% and 10% for solar or hybrid, and 10% and 15% for wind. Under-injection beyond the second band is charged at 200% of the contract rate.
What it means for India’s clean-energy sector
The order shows the Commission applying the 2024 DSM categories as written. Developers of mixed wind-solar projects at a single injection point should expect hybrid treatment, whatever their wind share, and should plan scheduling and forecasting for the tighter bands that apply from 1 April 2026. The ruling also shows that bid guidelines and PPAs do not by themselves change how a project is classified for deviation settlement.
Official references
- Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, Order dated 2 November 2026 in Petition No. 979/MP/2025 (Vena Energy Vidyuth Private Limited v. SRPC and others), CERC website S. No. 549/2026 – cercind.gov.in
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