Draft Guidelines For Virtual Power Purchase Agreements – The India VPPA Story

Introduction

India's clean energy sector has witnessed significant growth in recent times with steady progress towards the target of achieving 500GW of non-fossil fuel-based capacity by 2030 (committed as part of India's Panchamrit goals introduced at the COP26 in Glasgow, United Kingdom). In the last financial year (2024-25), India has achieved a record renewable energy capacity addition of 29.52GW, taking the total installed renewable energy capacity to 220.10GW as of March 31, 2025.¹

One of the key growth drivers for India's clean energy sector has been commercial and industrial consumers intending to decarbonize their energy consumption or the associated supply chain, thereby furthering renewable energy adoption. In this context, various models have emerged such as energy-as-a-service, round-the-clock power delivery, peer-to-peer transactions, etc. which also factor the diurnal nature of renewable energy.