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Open Access & Group Captive

Corporate PPAs for long-term low-cost clean energy; group captive structuring for tariff savings.

What this is

Buying renewable power from a generator somewhere else and having it delivered across the grid to your meter. It suits consumers whose demand is larger than their roof, which is most industrial ones.

There are two structures, and the difference between them is ownership. Under open access you contract for power under a long-term agreement and pay the applicable wheeling and surcharge components. Under group captive you take an equity stake in the generating company itself, which changes what you are liable for.

Where it fits

  • Consumers whose load exceeds what their own site can generate
  • Industrial and commercial connections paying a high cross-subsidy component
  • Buyers who want a long-horizon tariff rather than exposure to annual revisions
  • Groups of consumers who can aggregate demand across sites

What the work involves

  1. Tariff and consumption analysis, to establish whether either structure is worth pursuing
  2. Structure selection — open access contract or group captive shareholding
  3. Power purchase agreement, term and escalation
  4. State approvals, nodal-agency applications and connectivity
  5. Banking, scheduling and energy accounting arrangements
  6. Metering, reconciliation and ongoing compliance

Worth knowing

Group captive turns on two numbers

A plant qualifies as captive where the consuming users together hold at least 26% of its ownership and collectively consume at least 51% of what it generates. Qualifying is what exempts them from the cross-subsidy surcharge and the additional surcharge, which is usually where the saving comes from. The Electricity (Amendment) Rules, 2026 kept both thresholds but capped each user’s qualifying consumption at their proportionate ownership share — so a structure that worked before may need revisiting.

Electricity (Amendment) Rules, 2026, notified 13 March 2026; proportionate-consumption provisions effective 1 April 2026. Checked August 2026 — confirm current position before structuring.

The open access threshold is not the same everywhere

The Green Energy Open Access Rules, 2022 lowered the minimum connected load for renewable open access from 1 MW to 100 kW nationally, and most states have adopted it. Karnataka is among those that have not, so the threshold that applies to a Bengaluru site is the state’s rather than the central one. Approval timelines, banking allowances and surcharges likewise vary by state.

Green Energy Open Access Rules, 2022; state adoption varies. Checked August 2026 — verify the current state position before applying.

How every project runs

One accountable team from the first site visit to the maintenance years afterwards. Nothing is handed to a subcontractor at the seams.

  1. 01

    Plan

    • Energy Assessment
    • Detailed Engineering
    • Structural Design
  2. 02

    Build

    • Procurement
    • Construction & QA
  3. 03

    Energise & sustain

    • Grid Connectivity
    • Commissioning
    • Long-Term O&M

Where we have done this

All projects

  • 2 MWp

    IFP Industrial Facility

    Tumakuru, Karnataka

  • 2 MWp

    Haldyn Glass Limited

    Vadodara, Gujarat

  • 1 MWp

    Bank of Baroda

    Bengaluru, Karnataka

  • 900 kWp

    DITI Resources Pvt. Ltd.

    Tamil Nadu

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