The Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) hosted a panel discussion titled “India’s Ambitious Green Transition: Are Electricity Markets Ready?” on Wednesday, August 28, 2024. The discussion featured Sushanta K. Chatterjee, Chief of Regulatory Affairs at the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, New Delhi; Sushil Kumar Soonee, Founder CEO (retired) of POSOCO (now Grid India); and Kaveri K. Iychettira, Assistant Professor at the School of Public Policy, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. The discussion was chaired by Rahul Tongia, Senior Fellow at CSEP, and moderated by Rajasekhar Devaguptapu, Fellow at CSEP. 

The event was live streamed on Zoom and CSEP’s YouTube channel. 

About the event

Over the last decade, India’s energy trajectory has involved a significant planned increase in renewable energy (RE), which already constitutes about one-third of the installed capacity in the electricity grid. However, the variable and uncertain nature of most RE poses challenges for system operation and planning. This raises important questions about how RE should be incentivised, priced, controlled, and regulated, and whether current markets and regulatory frameworks are fit for purpose. 

In this context, a panel of experts from policy, grid operations, and academia will explore the challenges of the RE transition, the current market structure and regulations, and their readiness to accommodate large capacities of RE. The discussion will also cover forecasting and planning, flexibility requirements, the development of ancillary services to enhance grid reliability, and the capacity of stakeholders. 

Panelists

• Sushanta K. Chatterjee 

Sushanta K. Chatterjee is the Chief of Regulatory Affairs at the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC). Dr. Chatterjee has extensive experience in power sector reforms, particularly in regulatory reforms since their inception in 1998. A Fulbright Scholar, he has been a post-doctoral research fellow at Harvard Kennedy School and holds a PhD in Management, an MBA in Finance, and a master’s in economics. 

Dr. Chatterjee has co-authored several influential publications, including The Electricity Sector in India: Policy and Regulation (Oxford University Press, 2012), and has played a pioneering role in introducing significant reforms such as the Electricity Act, 2003, and the Renewable Energy Certificate mechanism. He is also a regular guest faculty at various institutions and has been nominated as the first President of the Indian Association of Energy Economics. 

• Sushil Kumar Soonee

Sushil Kumar Soonee is a former founder CEO of POSOCO (now Grid India). Mr. Soonee brings four decades of experience in power system operation and has been instrumental in integrating regional grids to and form the National Grid and the SAARC Grid. His expertise encompasses power system operation, planning, commercial aspects, and the integration of renewable energy. 

He has represented India in various CIGRE Committees and holds multiple prestigious fellowships and distinctions, including Life Fellow of the Institution of Engineers (India), Fellow IEEE, and Distinguished Alumnus of IIT Kharagpur. 

• Kaveri K. Iychettira

Kaveri K. Iychettira’s research focuses on energy transitions and climate change under conditions of deep uncertainty. Her work employs complex socio-technical systems analysis and economics. Before joining IIT Delhi’s School of Public Policy, she was a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard Kennedy School and has a PhD from Delft University of Technology, where she studied renewable support schemes in Europe and their long-term impacts. She is also an Associate with Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center and a Fellow at the Initiative for Sustainable Energy Policy at SAIS, Johns Hopkins University. 

Chair