Open Access Solar in Telangana (2026): Who Qualifies and What It Saves

Quick answer: In Telangana, a business with a contracted demand or sanctioned load of 100 kW or more (or several connections in the same DISCOM division that add up to 100 kW) can buy solar power from an off-site plant through green energy open access. Captive users have no minimum. Approvals run on a 12 working day clock with deemed approval, surplus solar can be banked monthly at an 8% charge, and the saving depends on the gap between your daytime grid tariff and the landed cost of open access power after surcharges, wheeling, losses and banking.

Many factories and campuses in Telangana run out of roof long before they run out of load. Open access solves that: the solar plant sits elsewhere in the state and its power travels through the TGTRANSCO and DISCOM network to your meter. Here is who qualifies in 2026, what each charge is, and how to check the saving.

What open access means

You keep your DISCOM connection but buy part of your energy from a solar plant elsewhere. Your bill credits that energy, and you pay network charges for using the wires. The plant can be your own (captive), shared with other users (group captive), or a developer's plant selling to you under a power purchase agreement (PPA).

The rules that apply in 2026

Rule	What it does
Green Energy Open Access Rules, 2022 (Ministry of Power, notified 6 June 2022)	Cut the open access threshold for green power from 1 MW to 100 kW, with no minimum for captive users, and set a national 15 day approval target
TGERC Terms and Conditions of Open Access Regulation, 2024 (Regulation No. 1 of 2024, dated 15 March 2024)	Telangana's framework: eligibility, approval timeline, banking, surcharges and scheduling
First Amendment, Regulation No. 2 of 2026 (finalised 24 January 2026)	RECs for unutilised banked energy now go to the generating plant, not the consumer; power injected before the wheeling agreement is signed is treated as inadvertent and not paid for
TGERC retail tariff order, FY 2026-27 (effective 1 April 2026)	Sets the cross subsidy surcharge and the new time of day structure
TGERC additional surcharge order, H1 FY 2026-27	Rs 0.13 per kWh for 1 April to 30 September 2026 (the DISCOMs had asked for Rs 0.59)

Who qualifies

• Green energy open access consumers: contracted demand or sanctioned load of 100 kW or more. Multiple connections can be added together if they sit in the same electricity division of the same DISCOM (TGERC Regulation 1 of 2024, clause 9.2).
• Captive users: no minimum load. Under the Electricity Rules, 2005, a captive plant's users must together hold at least 26% of the ownership and consume at least 51% of its generation. Group captive works the same way across several users.
• Third party buyers: any eligible consumer can buy from a developer's plant under a PPA, subject to the same 100 kW threshold.

The 100 kW test is on your connection, not the plant, which is sized to the share of energy you want to replace.

How long approval takes

Applications go through the central single window and reach Telangana's State Nodal Agency. The TGERC clock runs in working days from that "zero date":

Step	Deadline
Acceptance of the application	3 working days
Forwarded to TGTRANSCO / DISCOM	5 working days
Network concurrence (silence counts as deemed concurrence)	10 working days
Grant or refusal (silence counts as deemed grant, subject to system availability)	12 working days
Applicant submits the agreement	20 working days
Agreement signed by TGTRANSCO / DISCOM	25 working days

The fee is Rs 5,000 for long and medium term green energy open access, plus a bank guarantee of Rs 5,000 per MW, and Rs 1,000 for short term.

The charges that decide the saving

Charge	Position in 2026
Cross subsidy surcharge (CSS)	TGSPDCL HT-I industry: Rs 1.98 per kWh at 11 kV, Rs 1.73 at 33 kV, Rs 1.62 at 132 kV for FY 2026-27. Not levied on captive use. For green energy open access, any rise is capped at 50% over 12 years from the year access was granted
Additional surcharge	Rs 0.13 per kWh for April to September 2026; TGERC resets it every six months by separate order. Not levied on green energy open access consumers who pay fixed or demand charges, or on power from your own captive plant
Banking	Monthly settlement, banking charge 8% in kind; unused banked energy lapses at month end with no carry forward
Wheeling, transmission and losses	As set in the TGERC tariff orders for your voltage level; levied only once on banked energy
Standby charges	Not levied if you give the DISCOM at least 24 hours' notice
Scheduling	Solar plants up to 5 MW do not need to give a day-ahead wheeling schedule

CSS is usually the largest item for a third party buyer, which is why larger users favour captive and group captive structures: they avoid it when the ownership and consumption tests are met. Open access plants also fall under ALMM; see our ALMM List-II guide.

How to estimate what it saves

1. Find your real daytime rate. From 1 April 2026 Telangana gives a solar hour rebate of Rs 0.50 per unit from 10:00 to 18:00 and charges Rs 1.50 extra in the 6 to 10 am and 6 to 10 pm peaks. Solar generates mostly in the rebate window, so compare against your discounted daytime rate, not your average bill rate.
2. Build the landed cost. Add the plant tariff (or your own cost of generation), CSS if it applies, additional surcharge if it applies, wheeling and transmission charges, losses, and the 8% banking charge on whatever you bank.
3. Check the monthly match. Because banked energy lapses each month, size the plant so that its generation in the best months does not overshoot your consumption. Surplus beyond that is lost.
4. Stress test the future. Model CSS at up to 50% higher in later years, and the additional surcharge moving each half year.

If the gap between steps 1 and 2 is thin, the project may not survive a tariff revision. If it is wide and your load runs through the day, open access can carry a large share of your energy at a steadier cost.

Rooftop first, open access second

Power generated on your own roof avoids almost every charge in the table above. Under the TGERC Rooftop Solar PV Grid Interactive Systems Regulation, 2025, net metering is allowed up to 500 kWp, industrial and commercial systems can go up to 80% of sanctioned load, and net and gross metered systems are exempt from banking, wheeling, cross subsidy and additional surcharges. Behind-the-meter plants such as the 3 MW Kajaria Ceramics installation at Srikalahasti follow the same logic. So the usual order is: fill the roof first, then use open access for the energy the roof cannot supply. Our TGSPDCL net metering guide covers the rooftop side, and CAPEX vs OPEX vs PPA explains how to pay for either.

Frequently asked questions

My factory has two connections of 60 kW each. Do I qualify?

Yes, if both are in the same electricity division of the same DISCOM. TGERC lets you add them to reach the 100 kW threshold.

Do captive users pay cross subsidy surcharge?

No, provided the plant meets the captive tests in the Electricity Rules, 2005 (at least 26% ownership and 51% consumption by the captive users). If those tests fail in a year, the surcharge can become payable, so they need to be tracked.

What happens to banked solar I do not use?

It lapses at the end of the calendar month. Since the January 2026 amendment, the renewable energy certificates for that unused energy go to the generating plant, not to you.

Open access charges and rules can be revised by TGERC and the Ministry of Power; this guide is current as of October 2026. Confirm the figures for your voltage level and DISCOM before you sign a PPA.

Talk it through with Greentek

Greentek's team in Secunderabad has worked on solar for businesses since 1997. If you want a second opinion on whether rooftop, open access or a mix suits your load, share a year of bills and we will walk you through the numbers.