JUDGMENT

PER HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE RAMESH RANGANATHAN, CHAIRPERSON I.INTRODUCTION:

Greenhouse gas emissions, caused by the burning of fossil fuels, are largely responsible for rising temperatures as they produce nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide, and carbon dioxide, all of which contribute to air and water pollution, causing irreparable damage to the environment. Renewable energy, commonly referred to as green energy, is generated through processes that cause far less pollution to the environment. The contribution of electricity, generated from renewable sources of energy, to climate change is minimal as such generation involves a far lower risk of fossil fuel and greenhouse gas emissions.

The Appellant owns and operates a 323 MW captive generating plant, of which 258 MW is captive co-generation (based on waste heat recovery, blast furnace gas, TRI & DRT), and the remaining 65 MW is a coal-based captive generating plant. They invoked the jurisdiction of the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (“OERC” for short), under Regulations 16, 17 and 20 of the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (Procurement of Energy from Renewable Sources and its Compliance) Regulations, 2021, seeking a