Electricity Licensing and Registration
Licensing and Registration
Pursuant to Section 8 of the Electricity Act, Cap 131, any person intending to undertake generation, transmission, distribution, supply, system operation, cross-border trade in electricity, physical and financial trade in electricity and electrical installation activities shall be required to apply to the Authority for a licence unless that person has been exempted by the Authority or that activity is exempted under sub section (3) or (4) of section 18 of the Act. Section 5 of the Act mandates the Authority to award licences to entities undertaking or seeking to undertake a licenced activity.
Section 37 of the Electricity (Development of Small Power Projects) Rules 2020, Government Notice No. 491, published on 3rd July 2020 requires Small Power Producers, Small Power Distributors or Very Small Power Producers not to commence commercial operation unless the project has been licensed or registered by the Authority, as appropriate. The licence is issued for electricity activities above 1 MW and registration is for electricity activities below 1 MW.