In the bazaar of clean power, a scramble for green certificates

₹10-20 per megawatt-hour to ₹40-50, they remain below the ₹60-70 levels seen a year ago, said Aditya Malpani, senior director and regional business development head for west at Ampin Energy Transition, a renewable energy company that also trades I-RECs.Prices of RECs have remained steady around ₹350, as abundant supply has prevented a price increase despite high demand from industries and utilities looking to meet their renewable consumption obligations (RCOs) for FY26.“This increase happens generally at this time of year because corporates want to meet the 31 March target of sustainability,” Malpani said. “Both RECs and IRECs see an increase in demand at this point.”RECs are domestic instruments issued by the National Load Despatch Centre, typically used by state discoms and industrial power users to meet RCO targets.

These entities need to increase their renewable energy consumption from about 30% of total in FY25 to 43.33% by FY30. RECs are costlier since they are purchased to meet the mandate, while purchase of globally recognized I-RECs are voluntary.“Core industrial sectors such as chemicals, which are responsible for more than 50% of the industrial power demand, have not really caught up on their renewable power purchase obligations.

They have to now meet their obligations by purchasing RECs,” Kartikeya Sharma, co-founder and chief business officer at independent power producer Sunsure, said at an industry event on Thursday.“Over the last two quarters, in fact, I am actually surprised by the number of inquiries for (RECs),” he said.Meanwhile, India's renewable power capacity has shot up over the past decade, spewing out a flood of renewable certificates. Capacity more than tripled in a decade, rising from 76 GW