RM August Issue 2021 by Icon Media Group

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RENEWABLE MIR ROR

Dear Readers! Editor Anjali

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India added 601 megawatt (MW) of commercial and industrial (C&I) renewable power generation capacity in the first quarter (Q1) of 2021 to reach 17,817 MW by 31 March 2021, according to a recent report by renewable energy consultancy, Bridge to India. This was up 20 per cent quarter-on-quarter. The total C&I renewable capacity is estimated to have reached 17,817 MW, said the firm in its quarterly report titled ‘India Corporate Renewable Brief’. “Installation activity picked up slightly in Q1 in response to easing COVID-related restrictions and increasing power demand. But activity is again expected to have slowed down in Q2 due to lockdowns across most states,” it added. The report said that C&I renewable power penetration was the highest in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu at 25 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively and added that growth was picking up in states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. “We expect up to 700 MW capacity addition in Gujarat and Karnataka in the coming year,” it added. Stay Home, Stay Safe... Happy Reading… Please give us your feedback at editor@renewablemirror.com For more details check out our Website www.renewablemirror. com & you can also visit our facebook page www.facebook.in/ renewablemirror

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All rights reserved by all events are made to ensure that the information published is correct; Renewable Mirror holds no responsibility any unlikely errors that might occur. Printed, published and owned by Usha, Published from 13/455, Block No. 13, Trilok Puri, Delhi-110091 and printed at, IG Printers Pvt. Ltd., 104-DSIDC, Complex, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase I, New Delhi -110020 Editor : Anjali

Editor

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RENEWABLE MIR ROR

Cover Story

Press Release Ginlong Solis 08,10 Andritz 08 Sofar Solar 09 Hitachi ABB 11

Solar Energy is an important source of energy Currently fulfills about 0.5% of earth’s energy needs

State Overview

Guest Article Growatt Oorjan

Ad Index

Event Diary

Tamil Nadu

Special Focus: Green Energy India has a huge potential to move into a fully renewable electricity system by 2050

Special Theme: Smart Cities 58 60

Smart cities can become a model for a property and ultra-modern way

Special Feature: Solar & Storage

The solar industry is trying to overcome the safeguard duty

CSAD/SQ/0120

w w w . s o l a r q u a r t e r . c o m

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Solar Quarter • January 2020

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RENEWABLE MIR ROR

Press Release

Solis Delivers Carbon Reduction and Energy Cost Stability for Large UK Manufacturer

Press Release

2MW Solis solar PV system unlocks over £80,000 annual electricity costs savings Ginlong Technologies Co.,Ltd. (Solis) (Stock Code: 300763.SZ), a global leader in photovoltaic string inverter manufacturing has worked alongside UK renewable energy company Engenera to install a rooftop solar power system for plastics manufacturer, Faerch Plast. At 2MW, utilizing Solis 110kW inverters and with over 4000 modules this is a substantial large scale rooftop installation. Faerch Senior Management said “We are delighted with executing the next step in our renewables and carbon reduction journey. Energy and environmental management are at the heart of everything we do and we are committed to improving our production processes to minimise any negative effects on our surroundings. We are, therefore, delighted to have achieved our goal of using 100% renewable energy throughout the entire Group.” Key points held Solis in higher regard than other brands during the benchmarking process. As this was a PPA project, financial stability of the parent company was a critical factor. With over 15 years of experience and zero bank debt, Ginlong Technologies ticked this box easily. Other points that led to Solis inverters being chosen were product reliability, grid connectivity and design flexibility offered by multiple MPPT’s.

ANDRITZ to completely rehabilitate Kopili hydropower plant, India

International technology group ANDRITZ has received an order from Central Government owned utility, North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd. (NEEPCO Ltd.) for the complete rehabilitation of the electro-mechanical equipment of the 200 MW Kopili hydropower plant located on the Kopili River in Dima Hasao district of Assam, India. The project is expected to be finished till third quarter 2023. ANDRITZ’s scope of supply includes detailed design and engineering, manufacture, transportation to the project site, supervision of the assembly, erection, testing as well as commissioning of the entire electro-mechanical equipment to be installed in the powerhouse of Kopili hydroelectric plant. Also included is the training of NEEPCO's 8

Designed for improved efficiency, increased yield and worry-free operation and maintenance, the Solis 110kW inverter is the ideal solution for this type of installation. Sandy Woodward, Solis Regional Director for Europe said, “Designed specifically for commercial rooftop applications, the 110kW integrates our fifth-generation technology and best-inclass components to deliver an industry leading efficiency and performance. Working together with our commercial customers we can ensure that the maximum energy yield and ROI is realised.” The launch of the new SolisCloud intelligent monitoring platform means that all installations can be tracked and partly maintained online with remote firmware updates also reducing many costly trips to site. Solis is ranked among the top 6 manufacturers in global string inverter market share. • No.1 in China for residential • No.2 Globally for single-phase • No. 3 Globally for three-phase Source: Wood Mackenzie; string inverter market share by shipments (WMac) RM

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personnel in design, engineering, operation, and maintenance of the plant. The rehabilitation works will be executed by the India hydro subsidiary of ANDRITZ with its state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Mandideep (near Bhopal) and Prithla (near Faridabad). This contract will be the second contract from NEEPCO to ANDRITZ, the first being the supply of the complete electro-mechanical equipment for the greenfield hydropower project Pare HEP (110 MW), which was awarded in 2011. The award of this contract further strengthens ANDRITZ’s leading position on the Indian hydropower market. RM ||www.renewablemirror.com||

Sofar is growing faster as a inverter company

India implementing its climate pledges well before time, says Javadekar

Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday said India is leading from the front and implementing all its climate pledges well before time. Speaking at the inaugural session of the World Sustainable Summit, held virtually and inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Javadekar said India has reduced emission intensity and increased forest cover under the leadership of its prime minister. Four international reports say that India, under Modi, is leading

from the front and implementing all its pledges well before time. We have reduced emission intensity, increased forest cover and given a new target for restoration of degraded land and 450-gigawatt target of renewable energy will be achieved. This is our country's ethos, he said. He said Modi brought on the international table for the first time the issues of lifestyle and climate justice. I presented his wonderful book titled 'Convenient Action'. World is talking about inconvenient truth, but the answer is convenient action. I gifted this book to all dignitaries in Paris," Javadekar said. "In the same conference, PM launched international solar alliance, coalition of disaster resilient infrastructure and mission innovation. These three initiatives were also picked up very well throughout the world. India is implementing its pledges, he said. The three-day Summit convened on the theme 'Redefining Our Common Future: A Safe and Secure Environment for All'. RM

Press Release

Sofar, a leading and fast growing solar string inverter company appoints Power n Sun as their strategic global partner to work together especially for residential, commercial and industrial sector with their string inverters up to 255 kw, Hybrid and storage inverters, Lithium iron battery power packs. Power n Sun is a solar solutions, supplies and system company across continents having head office in Dubai are largest value added distributors of Middle east. Jointly they are also pledged to train at least 500 solar aspirants and installers per year as their contribution to speed up the solarization in the region. RM

India’s Ajay Mathur to take over as ISA chief Ajay Mathur, who heads the New Delhi-based The Energy and Research Institute, is set to become the next director general of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), with Mauritius withdrawing from the race. ISA, co-founded by India and France, is the first treaty-based international government organization to be based in India. The alliance has become a significant public policy tool for India and is considered a counter to China’s ambitious One Belt One Road initiative. A special virtual assembly of ISA is scheduled where Mathur’s name is slated to be approved and announced, with him taking charge from 15 March, said one of the two people cited above ||www.renewablemirror.com||

requesting anonymity. Mathur will replace Upendra Tripathy, a former secretary in India’s ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE). India through MNRE proposing Mathur’s candidature. The directorgeneral has a four-year term, which can be renewed for an additional term. “With Mauritius’ withdrawal, Ajay Mathur is the only person remaining for the top post. He is the right candidate for the job, given his exhaustive experience on the global stage and the technical expertise he possesses," said one of the two people mentioned above requesting anonymity. RM

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RENEWABLE MIR ROR

Press Release

Solis Seminar, Episode 27 : How does a single-phase inverter connect to split-phase grid ? Background

Press Release

In some special countries and regions, the grid structure involves split-phase grid, but if there is no split-phase inverter when installing PV system, can the conventional single-phase inverter be connected to the grid?What problems should we pay attention to?We will share them with you in this Solis seminar.

Wiring topology

About 120V/240V Split Phase

120/240 Vac split phase is a type of single-phase three-wire mid-point neutral power distribution system commonly found in America with a standard phase-neutral voltage of 120 Vac for residential and light commercial applications. The phase to phase( Live to Live) voltage is 240Vac for heavy industrial loads such as compressors, fridge, and pumps. Because of the 120-0-120 voltage configuration, it is also sometimes referred to as dual-phase, 2 phase / two-phase or even mistakenly, single-phase 220Vac.

Figure 2 wiring topology

As shown in Figure 2, we only need to connect the Line and Neutral wire of the inverter with the two Lines of the Split Phase grid, and then the PE wire of the inverter is connected with the Neutral of it.

About Setting

This wiring method does not need any special setting of the inverter, only need to set the local grid standard. Main Menu→Advanced Settings→Password 0010→Select Standard→Select Standard Code→Save & Send;

How to use a traditional single-phase inverter in a split- NOTE: In this system,when using the zero injection function, please pay phase grid system? Usually, customers in some regions will mistake 120/240VAC for single-phase 220VAC grid.Therefore, the PV grid-connected

inverter purchased is single-phase inverter (L+N), which will cause trouble in the installation process, but do not worry about it.The L+N structure single-phase inverter can still be used in 120V/240V split phase power grid.

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attention to the CT line entry method, which is different from the conventional thread method. We need to loop the L2 cable on the CT, which shown in Figure 3

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Summary

Figure 3 The wiring topology of zero - injection function in split phase grid

Single-phase inverter can be connected to the split phase power grid. Of course, this is an emergency solution under abnormal circumstances. For the split phase power grid, the best suggestion is to use the grid-tied inverter of Solis US version. Solis is one of the world's largest and most experienced string inverter manufacturers with a global network of service teams. If you have any other questions, you can contact Solis support engineers or go to www.solisinverters.com/aftersales.html

Hitachi ABB Power Grids commissions groundbreaking UHVDC project in India Raigarh-Pugalur link is accelerating the Country’s clean energy transition by contrib-uting to a resilient and reliable electricity network

Hitachi ABB Power Grids in India (listed on Indian stock exchanges as “ABB Power Products and Systems India Limited”) has successfully commissioned one of India’s longest ultra-high voltage direct current (UHVDC) transmission links for Power Grid Corporation of India Limited. The +/-800 kilovolt (kV), 6,000-megawatt (MW) link has the capacity to meet the elec-tricity needs of more than 80 million people and stretches 1,800-kilometers to connect Raigarh in Central India to Pugalur in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Reliable power can now be transmitted in either direction depending on demand, with exceptionally low power losses and minimal environmental footprint. The link supports the Indian government’s mission and the UN Sustainable Development Goal No. 7 of increasing access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all. Hitachi ABB Power Grids worked with the customer, government agencies, local au-thorities and suppliers to deliver the link during the COVID-19 pandemic. Responsible project execution with health and safety at the forefront were key to this achievement. “We strive to be a socially responsible business. Supporting society and protecting our people is at the center of our operations,” said N Venu, Managing Director and CEO, Hitachi ABB Power Grids in India. “With the commissioning of this groundbreaking UHVDC link, we have kept our promise to enable more clean and reliable power for millions of people, helping to build a future where electricity will be the backbone of the entire energy system. ||www.renewablemirror.com||

During the entire project, the health and safety of our custom-ers, employees and partners remained our top priority.” The link strengthens grid resilience and stabilizes the power infrastructure by combin-ing traditional and renewable power generation. It enables further development and integration of sustainable energy, supporting the government’s goal of reaching 450 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy by 2030. Using HVDC helps to conserve the environment by only occupying about one-third of the land compared to a traditional AC link. In this case, that amounts to a saving of approximately 130 square kilometers – equal to a quarter of the area of Mumbai. The consortium of Hitachi ABB Power Grids and state-owned engineering and manufacturing firm BHEL won the order in 2016 from Power Grid Corporation of India Limited. Hitachi ABB Power Grids has been responsible for delivering the UHVDC converter stations, including design, engineering, construction, installation, and com-missioning, as well as major equipment, including 800 kV converter transformers, converter valves, high-voltage products and control and protection technology. Hitachi ABB Power Grids is the global market leader in HVDC technology. The com-pany has an impressive HVDC track record in India, where it introduced the technolo-gy with the Vindhyachal project in 1989. Raigarh-Pugalur is the company’s sixth HVDC project in India and the second UHVDC installation, following the multi-terminal North-East Agra link. RM || August 2021 ||

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News

News of the month

India's top carmaker sees hydrogen as 'interesting alternative’

The use of hydrogen power for mobility is an "interesting alternative" for India, especially as it would reduce dependence on lithium imports, the chairman of Maruti Suzuki, India's top-selling carmaker. Demand for lithium for batteries is soaring as governments across the world push automakers to meet stringent targets for cutting carbon emissions, partly by phasing out internal combustion engines.

In India, however, the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) by carmakers has been slow due to the high cost of batteries, as well as insufficient charging infrastructure. India also does not have lithium reserves, the majority of which are controlled by China globally. This makes EVs a hard sell in a country like India where per capita income is around $2,000, or about 5% of that in Europe and Japan, and 95% of cars sold are priced below $20,000, Maruti Chairman R.C. Bhargava told shareholders in the company's annual report. "We need to recognise that our strategy for moving towards net zero emission has to be consistent with the economic and infrastructure conditions prevailing in the country," Bhargava said. To reduce fuel consumption and emissions, Maruti is pushing sales of cars that operate on compressed natural gas (CNG), and is also investing in hybrid technology, he said, adding that "the use of hydrogen is also an interesting alternative". RM

Solar power pumps ensure daily irrigation for 86,000 farmers in Maharashtra To achieve the aim of installing one lakh solar agricultural pumps, an impetus has been given to the Chief Minister’s Solar Agricultural Pump Scheme to provide day-time power supply to farmers for irrigation. According to a press release by MSEDCL, a total of 85,963 farmers in the state have been given 3, 5 and 7.5 horse power solar agricultural pumps. “All these farmers have been provided uninterrupted power supply during the day and have also been freed from electricity bills,” the release stated. Stating that state energy minister Nitin Raut has given a big impetus to the new connection of agricultural pumps through the policy of independent agricultural pump connection, the release added that chairman and managing director of MSEDCL Vijay Singhal conducted a review meeting, during which he instructed the authorities to “take special efforts”. Officials informed that priority is being given to farmers in remote and tribal areas. “Only 10% of the basic price of solar agricultural pump is paid by the farmers in the general category, and 5% of

the basic price by the farmers belonging to the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe,” they added. So far, around 2.4 lakh applications have been received from the state.” This includes 46,700 from Aurangabad regional office, 20,199 from Nagpur, 13,091 from Konkan and 5, 973 from Pune. Over a lakh applications were rejected due to various reasons such as incomplete documents, solar pump connections found during inspection of place, non-availability of water supply, lack of water resource etc,” the release stated, adding that as the warranty period of installed solar pumps and panels is five and ten years respectively, the cost of maintenance for farmers is zero. RM

SSE, Total Energies to offer companies shorter renewable power contracts from Seagreen SSE and Total Energies will later this year launch tenders offering corporate customers power from their Seagreen offshore wind project for five-year terms, around half the length of most renewable power purchase agreements. Renewable power purchase agreements (PPAs) are an increasingly common way for large companies to secure clean energy and meet their climate targets, but typically have durations of 10 years or more. "We are innovating the offshore corporate PPA model to help energy-intensive businesses to hit net-zero targets with ease and 12

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speed," said Damien McSweeney, finance director for Seagreen Wind Energy. Seagreen Wind Energy is the joint venture owned 51% by Total Energies and 49% by SSE to develop the wind project off the coast of Scotland. Once fully operational in 2023 the 3 billion pound ($4.2 billion) Seagreen project will be able to generate enough electricity to power around 1.6 million homes, the companies said. Tenders to purchase the power will be released later this year. RM ||www.renewablemirror.com||

US special envoy lauds PM Modi's efforts on climate change

US Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry on Thursday lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to address climate issues in the world. "PM Modi's announcement of a target of 450 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy by 2030 is a strong terrific example of how to power a growing economy with clean energy and it's going to be one of the most important contributions in the world because India today is already the third-largest emitter in the world," he said during the World Sustainable Development Summit 2021. Kerry mentioned that India has been a wonderful partner in advancing global ambitions from the negotiations in Paris to the current efforts leading to the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow. Underscoring that Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a very important contribution to the dialogue, the special envoy maintained that India is a world leader in the deployment of renewable energy and the leadership of the International Solar Alliance was

very critical for India and other growing economies of the world. The 20th edition of The Energy and Resources Institute's (TERI) flagship event, the World Sustainable Development Summit, took place online on February 10 and brought together a wide number of governments, business leaders, academicians, climate scientists, youth, and the civil society in the fight against climate change. The theme of the Summit is 'Redefining our common future: Safe and secure environment for all'. RM

While promoting clean energy, India has been cutting subsidies for the sector The government’s push for renewable energy has been one of its main defence against criticism for using fossil fuels. However, government subsidies to the renewable sector have fallen by nearly 45% since their peak in (financial year) 2017, according to a latest study, which states that support for the sector needs a revival. The study, “Mapping India’s Energy Subsidies 2021: Time for renewed support to clean energy”, by the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water found that subsidies to renewable energy fell from Rs 15,470 crore in the fiscal year 2017 to Rs 8,577 crore in the fiscal year 2020. It argued that to ensure India’s clean energy transition is smooth it is crucial that the financial support for the renewable energy sector continues. It explained that the renewable energy subsidies are at a standstill due to a combination of factors including grid-scale solar and wind achieving market parity, lower deployment levels, and subsidy schemes nearing the end of their allocation period.

The report said India’s public sector units make massive annual investments in the energy sector as it is noted that over the last six years from the fiscal year 2014 to the fiscal year 2020, the seven energy-related units invested Rs. 2.5 lakh crore in 183 projects. “Overall, this is still heavily skewed toward fossil fuels, which were the focus of 11 times more investment than clean energy in the fiscal year 2020. An assessment of these seven PSUs found relatively low ambition on clean energy and no planning on how to manage the stranded asset risk of fossil-intensive asset portfolios,” said the study. RM

Premier Energies to set up Rs 483 crore solar cell facility in Hyderabad

Premier Energies, a city-based leading Solar PV Cells and Module manufacturing company, is setting up a new state-of-the-art facility at E -City here at an investment of Rs 483 crore. The Greenfield Project, spread across 25 acres, is slated to triple Premier Energys current capacity. The plant will produce 1.5 GW of solar cells and modules against the current capacity of 500 MW, a company press release said. It is expected to be commissioned in the next two months. Besides working towards reaching their stated objective of cleaner air and a greener world, the new venture will position the company amongst the top five solar manufacturing companies in India. ||www.renewablemirror.com||

Chiranjeev Saluja, Founder and Managing Director, Premier Energies said, "With the expanded capacity, we aim to work towards Indias commitment of addressing climate change. Our commitment is to fulfill our goals of a greener decade while contributing to the Indian power sector. With increased adoption of automation and robotics, our new factory will be at par with some of the leading manufacturing companies in Asia, Europe, and USA, producing world-class products." Premier Energies, an independent power producer owns /operates more than 250 MW solar power plants across the country. RM || August 2021 ||

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News

Discoms resist move to raise reliance on renewable energy

News of the month

Power distribution companies (discoms) are against any attempt to increase power generation from renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power plants. This is significant in the wake of the Centre’s efforts to add energy generation from renewable energy as it is being considered as clean energy. AP, which is considered one of the green energy

resourceful states in the country, is facing a peculiar situation where energy generation from non-conventional power plants had already surpassed conventional thermal and hydel power plants. The power utilities are jittery over the targets to increase generation from renewable energy sources as they fear that it would lead to severe fluctuations in grid maintenance. The state has an installed capacity of 7,500 MW of renewable energy and the state government is planning to add about 10,000 MW solar power to completely meet agriculture sector power needs in the next three years. In a recent directive, the Centre asked the state government to ensure addition of another 9,000 MW from renewable energy plants in next four years which is likely to take the capacity of the non-conventional plants to about 25,000 MW. This level of generation from variable power generation sources, according to discoms, is likely to create severe fluctuations at grid level. RM

Power engineers find new method to desalinate water using solar energy Ural Federal University (UrFU) power engineers recently developed a new desalination technology that will reduce the cost of desalination and quadruple the volume of production. The results of the research are published in the journal Case Studies in Thermal Engineering. Today one of the most popular and simple ways of desalination is the distillation of the water with help of solar energy. UrFU scientists, together with colleagues from Iraq, have developed a hybrid technology to increase the efficiency of evaporation inside a solar distiller by means of a rotating hollow cylinder and a solar collector. "We created a desalination technology by using a rotating hollow cylinder inside the solar distiller to accelerate water evaporation in the vessel by forming a thin film of water on the outer and inner surface of the cylinder, which is constantly renewed with each turn. To increase the temperature of water under the cylinder we use a solar collector," said the head of the department Nuclear power plants and renewable energy sources UrFU Sergei Shcheklein.

As part of the experiment, the rotation speed of the cylinder inside the solar distiller was 0.5 rpm. This intensity and time are enough to evaporate a thin film of water from the surface of the cylinder. Experimental tests were held in Ekaterinburg, Russia for several months (June-October, 2019) and showed high efficiency and reliability of the developed device. In addition, the researchers noted that the relatively high intensity of solar radiation and low ambient air temperature also contributed to the performance of water distillation. RM

CI NMF inks $200 mn investment pact with Amp energy for renewables

Copenhagen Infrastructure New Markets Fund (CI NMF) has inked a pact with Amp Energy India Private Ltd for joint equity investment of over USD 200 million (around Rs 1,500 crore) in renewables. Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), among the largest renewable energy focused fund managers globally, has signed an investment agreement through its Copenhagen Infrastructure New Markets Fund I (CI NMF) with Amp Energy India Private Limited, a statement said. The agreement enables joint equity investments in excess of USD 200 million in renewable energy projects in India, with the potential for future expansion. Amp India and CI NMF have targeted an initial 1.7 GWp portfolio of renewable energy projects, delivering clean and green energy 14

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to C&I and utility customers. This transaction is CI NMF's first investment in the Indian renewable energy market and its largest commitment since establishment in 2019. Pinaki Bhattacharyya, co-founder, MD and CEO of Amp India, said CIP is the world's leading renewable energy focused infrastructure fund manager and their significant domain expertise is a strong value addition, in addition to being a capital partner. "Both will be critical to success as we diversify our portfolio to include solar, wind and hybrid in moving towards providing dispatchable clean energy to our C&I and Utility customers. This is a key milestone as we march towards our goal of creating the first truly balanced and complete renewable power producer with a 5 GWp target," Bhattacharya added. RM ||www.renewablemirror.com||

Sight of co-workers being swept away still haunts labourers

The horrific sight of friends and co-workers being swept away by waves of a raging river continues to haunt labourers, mainly from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, who were working on the barrage of the Tapovan-Vishnugad hydro-power project of NTPC when the flash floods ravaged the area on Sunday morning. Some of them escaped death by a whisker but helplessly watched their friends

disappear into the river. “I heard a massive sound around 10:30 am. It was as if a mountain had collapsed. When I looked up, I saw the river water cascading towards us. I shouted to my other friends and we used ropes to climb on to the nearby hills. The debris came just minutes later and swept away the entire barrage and with it, over two dozen workers, many of whom were from our area,” Krishna Rai, a native of Lakhimpur Kheri, recalled. A group of around 60 men – 35 from Bihar’s Chhapra district and the rest from Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri - was working on the barrage when the water came speeding down the Dhauliganga river. While the group working on the upper part of the barrage saw the floods and used ropes to climb up to higher grounds, they could see at least 30 of their friends – working in the lower part – shouting for help as the water came dangerously near, but they could do nothing about it. RM

India is actually a red-hot investment opportunity for its clean energy transition: John Kerry

India is actually a red-hot investment opportunity for its clean energy transition, top US official John Kerry said on Thursday as he praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his commitment to addressing the challenge posed by climate change which the Biden Administration believes poses an existential threat to humanity. Kerry, the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, said he intends to work "very, very closely with" with Indian leadership including Prime Minister Modi and External Minister S Jaishankar. "We believe India can be one of the most critical transitional countries in this entire endeavour. I am confident that just as we have worked very closely on any number of issues in these last years, our two nations -- the world's two biggest democracies -- have a great deal to gain from joining hands in our global leadership and confronting the climate crisis to meet this moment," he said. "India is actually a red-hot investment opportunity for its clean energy transition," Kerry, the first official on climate to be inside

the US National Security Council, said in his address to the World Sustainable Development Summit 2021. Looking forward to visiting India soon, Kerry said that the prime minister has made a very important contribution to this dialogue. Needless to say, India is deeply committed to this challenge and it has been for a considerable number of years, he said. RM

SEC clears `1.18 lakh crore investments in renewable energy Opening doors to investment of Rs 1.18 lakh crore in Rajasthan, the State Empowered Committee (SEC) under the Rajasthan Enterprises Single Window Enabling and Clearance Act, 2011 recommended six projects for consideration of special package under the Rajasthan Investment Promotion Scheme. The recommendations were made in the 33rd meeting of the SEC held under chairmanship of Chief Secretary. The proposals are from varied sectors such as energy, textile and manufacturing, assuring to generate more than 30,000 job opportunities in the state. Earlier, a board of investment under chairmanship of the Chief Minister has been constituted under the provisions of Rajasthan ||www.renewablemirror.com||

Enterprises Single Window Enabling and Clearance (Amendment) Act, 2020. It was the first SEC meeting since the constitution of the board of investment. These proposals shall now be submitted for final decision before the newly constituted board under chairmanship of the CM. The investors have expressed confidence in the investment opportunities in the state and policies of the state government under the leadership of CM Ashok Gehlot. The proposals recommended in the 33rd SEC meeting also present possibilities for emergence of new opportunities and more sustainable development in the state and also mark a point that renewable energy is one of the booming sectors in Rajasthan. RM || August 2021 ||

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News

News of the month

Road to fighting climate change is through climate justice: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the road to fighting climate change is through climate justice and called for giving developing countries enough space to grow. Speaking at an event Modi said two things will define how the progress journey of humanity will unfold in the times to come -- "health of our people and health of our planet, both of which are interlinked". "The road to fighting climate change is through climate justice.

At the root of climate justice is the principle of being largehearted. Climate justice is also about thinking about the bigger and long-term picture," he said. The remarks come amid a continuing tug of war between developed and developing countries on who needs to do more to save the environment by reducing emissions. Noting that the sad reality is that environmental changes and natural disasters impact the poor the most, Modi said climate justice is inspired by a vision of trusteeship where growth comes with greater compassion for the poorest. "Climate justice also means giving the developing countries enough space to grow. When each and every one of us understand our individual and collective duties, climate justice will be achieved," he said. Asserting that India's intent is supported by concrete action, Modi said the country, powered by spirited public efforts, is on track to exceed its commitments and targets set at the Paris Climate Change Conference in 2015. RM

Hanging solar fences effectively tackling man-elephant conflict in Assam

The Assam forest department's hanging solar-powered electric fences have turned out to be an effective tool in keeping wild pachyderms at bay, thus addressing the problem of man-elephant conflict in some forest fringe areas, an official said on Monday. Steel wires are hung in a row from a three-metre high horizontal overhead wire supported by posts on both ends. The wires are connected to a solar power system and elephants receive a mild shock if they try crossing through the hanging wires. Such a fence has been installed on the fringe of Rani Reserve Forest near Guwahati and "it has helped overcome the problem of elephants destroying human settlements and paddy fields," Range Officer Manoranjan Barman said.

The two km-long solar-powered fence from Nalapara to Belguri and from Mahindri to Silkhuta, built at Rs 8 lakh in Rani forest area in July last year. Dinesh Nath, a farmer from Moirapur village of greater Rani area, said the solar fence has been able to ward off depredations by pachyderms in human settlements and helped save their paddy fields from being mowed down. Forest officials said that the solution, besides being cost-effective when compared to conventional fences, has an advantage that if at all an elephant breached the fence and entered human habitations, it could be driven back to the forests by temporarily switching off the current flowing through the fence. RM

Shell says to invest $5-6 billion annually in green energy

Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell will invest up to $6 billion (4.9 billion euros) per year in green energy after its oil output peaked in 2019, the group said Thursday. The energy major outlined extra cash for biofuels, electric car charging and renewables and said the group's crude oil production was gradually declining. "Shell today set out its strategy to accelerate its transformation into a provider of net-zero emissions energy products and services," it said in a statement. The company "confirmed its expectation that total carbon emissions for the company peaked in 2018, and oil production peaked in 2019". Energy companies worldwide are accelerating plans to transition 16

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into greener energy, which demands big investments at a time when the oil majors are looking to make sizeable savings. "Our accelerated strategy will drive down carbon emissions and will deliver value for our shareholders, our customers and wider society," Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden said. "We must give our customers the products and services they want and need -- products that have the lowest environmental impact. "At the same time, we will use our established strengths to build on our competitive portfolio as we make the transition to be a net-zero emissions business in step with society," van Beurden added. The update came one week after Shell posted huge annual losses as the coronavirus pandemic slashed energy demand and prices in 2020. RM ||www.renewablemirror.com||

Renewable energy capacity addition at five-year low in 2020: Report

India added a total solar and wind power capacity of only 4,908 megawatt (MW) in 2020, the lowest in past five years, according to a recent report by Bridge to India. It added that the capacity addition for utility-scale solar and wind was 2,620 MW and 1,309 MW, down 60 per cent and 40 per cent year-on-year, respectively. “Rooftop solar installations were down at 979 MW, 36 per cent below previous year installations. While the total renewable sector capacity including small hydro and biomass reached 94,181 MW,” the report said.

According to the report, COVID-19 induced operational and financial challenges were the main reasons for stalling project development and construction activity. It said that despite lifting of lockdown restrictions in May, equipment and labour shortages, delays in governmental approvals, financial closures and restrictive working practices continued to affect the progress. “Persistent delays in land acquisition and transmission connectivity besides increase in solar modules prices as well as metal costs in the past few months, and delayed shipments from China have also contributed to the slowdown,” it added. According to Vinay Rustagi, managing director, Bridge of India, 2020 was a one-off year. “While we should not read too much in these low numbers, other markets with similar challenges have done much better. We estimate total capacity addition of about 29 GW in the next two years taking total capacity by end of 2022 to 123 GW,” said Rustagi. RM

Crisil assigns provisional 'AAA/Stable' rating to Virescent Renewable Energy Trust CRISIL has assigned a provisional 'AAA/Stable' rating for the bank loan facilities of Virescent Renewable Energy Trust (VRET). The 'AAA/Stable' rating is the highest provisional rating that CRISIL assigns. "VRET, the InvIT proposed to be launched by KKR-backed Indian renewable energy platform Virescent Infrastructure, has received a 'AAA/Stable' provisional rating for its bank loan facilities from CRISIL, an S&P company," a Virescent Infrastructure statement said. The proposed Virescent Infra investment trust (InvIT) is awaiting final approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India. VRET is the first renewable energy InvIT in India to have been assigned a provisional AAA rating from CRISIL, and among the few domestic infrastructure companies which have been assigned an AAA rating, it said.

The AAA rating reflects Virescent's healthy revenue visibility due to long-term power purchase agreements at pre-determined tariffs, in addition to its track record of enhanced generation capabilities, healthy financial risk profile, and its expectation of low leverage, it added. Virescent's low leverage has resulted in a healthy debt service coverage ratio over its entire debt tenure, supported by adequate liquidity. VRET's initial portfolio will comprise nine solar energy projects, with an aggregated capacity of approximately 400 MWp. The assets are located in (and service) Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan. VRET aims to achieve approximately 1.5 GW of assets in the initial phase of its growth over the next two to three years. RM

Shell says to invest $5-6 billion annually in green energy

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At a time when the government of India is trying to decide on whether or not the Indian solar cells and modules manufacturers deserve protection by way of anti-dumping duty, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has said that the cell/module manufacturing capacity in the country is “obsolete”. 18

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Solar Energy is an important source of energy Currently fulfills about 0.5% of earth’s energy needs

India is considering a new tender to develop solar power equipment manufacturing that doesn’t include a requirement to also generate electricity, a move aimed at sparking investor interest, according to people with knowledge of the plan. In addition to separating manufacturing of solar cells and modules from generation, the government may also offer some form of financial aid, said the people, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. There has been little interest from solar equipment makers in the previous manufacturing tenders, a hurdle to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious plans of building 100 gigawatts of solar power capacity by 2022. India has been struggling to spur its nascent domestic manufacturing industry, which the government estimates can currently only meet just 15 per cent of the country’s annual needs. The South Asian nation has been seeking to boost its capabilities through both manufacturing tenders as well as a safeguard duty on cheaper Chinese imports. A tender issued in May 2018 was downsized and delayed multiple times, before being scrapped due to poor investor interest. It was replaced by a smaller version in January, for which the bidding deadline ||www.renewablemirror.com||

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has been extended three times. The latest deadline, May 14, is expected to be extended again, the people said. Anand Kumar, secretary at the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, declined to comment on either the extension of the deadline or the possible new tender. India’s efforts to develop its own solar equipment industry will be challenged by both domestic policies and overseas competition, according to Bloomberg NEF analyst Rohit Gadre. “A delinked manufacturing tender will not work unless it provides an assured long-term demand for domestic modules,” Gadre said. As well, “Indian photovoltaic module production will not be able to compete globally on its own as China has already built economies of scale and a strong supply chain.” Solar PV Modules: Challenges and Market Scenario Solar Energy is an important source of energy Currently Solar Energy fulfills about 0.5% of earth’s energy needs, however, as per several reports; Solar Energy is on the way to become one of the largest sources of energy. It is expected to supply 16% of energy requirements by 2050. India alone has set up a target of 100 GW solar by 2022. Out of which, 40 GW is to come from rooftop solar. Nonetheless, this journey doesn’t seem easy. There are obstacles at every step. One of the biggest markets for solar energy is the distributed rooftop segment. This is a game-changer segment. Advantages of rooftop solar PV plant are multifold. It aids DISCOMs by reducing the peak demand during daytime and leads to decreased transmission and distribution losses as the power is consumed at the point of generation, it reduces land and interconnection costs, it has minimum government intervention as there is less involvement of government infrastructure, it can also be set up in remote places, and it also produces considerable savings for the consumer over its lifetime because of the increasing costs of grid electricity. All the other energy solutions, wind energy, thermal energy, utility scale solar, nuclear and hydro and many others, require huge setups and investments. Then, these also require deeper and troubling government intervention. Hence, solar rooftop segment presents a huge opportunity for countries like India.

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Despite the obvious advantages, rooftop Solar has not really taken off. In India, Rooftop solar has maintained a 10-12% share of overall solar capacity1. This is much lower than other key markets such as US, Germany, China, Spain and Australia. Please refer figure 1 for a better understanding. Currently, India’s focus is to build more capacity and raise awareness about the technology in the market. At this stage, few topics which require attention are mentioned below. In our country the prime factor for the slowdown of Solar Photovoltaics (PV) sector in last year was the implementation of safeguard duty on imported panels. While imposition of this duty was aimed at incentivizing domestic manufacturing, it led to an increase in tariffs, resulting in the cancellation of many solar auctions and their retendering. This slowdown might be temporary, since long-term trends like falling cost of photovoltaic (PV) modules do remain in place. The growth in India’s solar capacity has been driven mainly by imported PV modules that enjoy nearly 90% share, as their costs are up to 30% lower. The safeguard duty was pegged by the government at 70% on foreign modules, but was introduced at 25% owing to pressure from energy companies. The industry is facing many other challenges which are creating a hindrance in industry’s growth. Challenges for the PV industry in India Cost and T&D Losses: Solar PV is some years away from true cost competitiveness and from being able to compete on the same scale as other energy generation technologies. Adding to the cost are T&D losses that at approximately 40 percent make generation through solar energy sources highly unfeasible. However, the government is supporting R&D activities by establishing research centers and funding such initiatives. The government has tied up with world-renowned universities to bring down the installation cost of solar power sources and is focusing on upgradation of substations and T&D lines to reduce T&D losses. Regulatory And Policy Aspects: The major concern of any project developer or EPC player is usually from regulatory and policy aspects. For example, net metering policy in India is more

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than 2 years old now. However, implementation on the ground is still not smooth. At state level, the electricity distribution companies are not willing to sacrifice their premium high tariff paying customers. Such policy level inconsistencies are a big deterrent to the ambitious plans of the govt. to meet their solar targets. Fluctuation in PV material price: There is fluctuation of PV material price in the market. A movement in price of Solar PV modules, which forms a major component of the installation cost, has the major impact. At Insolergy, we have seen residential solar market in India responding very fast to such fluctuations. These aspects are likely to impact many solar projects in the country. But we believe that customization and offering value-added services with innovative solutions is the only way to succeed. India’s PV module manufacturing sector needs serious attention: India’s manufacturing sector is set to take a giant leap forward, with the govt. announcing a slew of measures to boost domestic manufacturing in recent past. As a result, various CoS are gearing up to expand their production facilities in India. However, Indian manufacturers continue to face a stiff competition with Chinese & other global manufacturers leading them to operate insufficiently. There could be various reasons

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ranging from the govt.’s existing domestic insufficient content policy to fewer types of subsidies or the interest rates on raw material thus making them to be inadequate in promoting the domestic PV module manufacturing industry. However, the challenges in the current policy regime & steps India might take to better position itself to become a global leader in the PV module manufacturing needs a strong overhaul. Solar power is the strategic need for the country as it can potentially save USD 20 bn in fossil fuel imports annually by 2030 & domestic manufacturing can save USD 42 bn in equipment imports by 2030. “In the absence of manufacturing, India will need to import $42 bn of solar equipment by 2030, corresponding to 100 GW of installed capacity,” warns a report by KPMG, an advisory firm. The report further highlighted that solar manufacturing can also create direct employment for more than 50,000 people in the next five years assuming local manufacturing captures 50% domestic market share & 10% global market share. Inventory Management & Capacity Utilization: Indian module manufacturers are operating at very low capacity utilization; however the capacity is currently sufficient to cater to the demand. The major reason for this is lack of demand for domestic PV modules & unavailability & limited access to raw material. Therefore, to at least keep their plants ||www.renewablemirror.com||

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w w w. r e n e w a b l e m i r r o r. c o m

running, raw materials are stored in the warehouse. Also, the finished modules need to be kept in the warehouse because of intermittent demand in the market. Therefore, higher inventory levels for raw materials & finished modules increase the operating cost & puts upward pressure on manufacturing costs. More long term contracts with manufacturers could assist in this regard, allowing firms to procure raw material just in time to meet demand. Access to working capital is important for Indian CoS to compete against the firms from China/ South East Asia, who offer better terms. Inferior Technology and Quality: The efficiency and quality of solar panels produced by the Indian players is not able to compete with its global counterparts. This is because of the lack of technical expertise and intellectual property with Indian players. An earlier ban of silicon wafer fabrication, which was removed in 2013, is one of the examples of setback which the Indian panel manufacturers have had to face in the past. This ban has considerably set back the developments in the Indian semi-conductor industry. Another major issue is of dust in our environment. India being a highly populous developing country literally lives in a dust storm. And, as a matter of fact, even a single grain of sand can affect the performance of a solar PV cell/module. These challenges have had an overtly deep impact on the abilities

of Indian Solar Panel Manufacturers. Market Scenario of Solar PV and Future of Industry The global Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Panels Market was valued at $118,704 million in 2016, which is expected to reach $307,204 million by 2023, registering a CAGR of 15.0% from 2017 to 2023. The key components of PV power system are various types of photovoltaic cells (also known as solar cells). These components are interconnected and encapsulated to form a photovoltaic module, the mounting structure of modules which is manufactured for the grid connected and off-grid systems. Moreover, solar energy is renewable and helps countries to meet their policy goals for secure, reliable, and affordable energy and provides electricity access with reduced price volatility and the promotion of social and economic development. Therefore, decrease in price of solar energy has further led to the demand for production of solar power which in turn proves to be a cost-effective solution. The solar photovoltaic (PV) panels market is segmented based on technology, grid-type, end use, and geography. Based on technology, it is classified into thin-film, crystalline, and others (organic and concentrator photovoltaics). Crystalline silicon solar photovoltaic (PV) is further segmented into mono and multi crystalline. Based on grid type, it is bifurcated into grid connected and off-grid. Grid connected is further segmented into centralized and decentralized. By end use, it is categorized into residential, commercial, and utility scale. Based on geography, it is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. Recently, India achieved the third rank globally for solar installation capacity. Mercom India, a clean energy research organsation, has reported that the installed solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity has reached over 28 GW as of December 2018. However, this accounts for only about 5.5 per cent of the total global cumulative installations. India may have emerged as the third largest market for solar, but a comparison at the global front suggests that India has a long way to go in order to become a solar super power. India added 8.3 GW of solar capacity. It has observed a 13 per cent dip from the previous year, when the solar PV installation addition was 9.6 GW. The total installations globally accounted 104 GW for FY 2018, during which China and the US added 44.3 GW and 10.6 GW respectively. Surveys suggest that global PV solar installations will see nearly 18% rise in 2019, finally reaching and may be surpassing 100 GW capacity addition. Although, at the end of 2019, we would still be far from ‘0’ emission future, rising PV installation growth and emergence of new markets within developing countries will get us closer to that goal. China is predicted to lead the installation growth in the present year, but its market share will fall from 55% to 19% by 2023. Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa will scale

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rapidly and several new markets like Egypt, Span, Argentina, Vietnam will also see boost and may account for nearly 7% of global PV installation growth in 2019. The government has also introduced a number of incentives and specific policies to make solar more attractive to overseas investors, including national and state solar auctions, increased investment in the grid and various favourable tax adjustments. As a result, the country has made global headlines for the record low prices being realised in its latest solar auctions. India revises solar manufacturing tender specs to attract investors More than a year and 10 extensions later, the Union government has revised the tender specifications for the first solar manufacturing-linked power plant project in the country. Hoping to attract more investor interest, the tariff cap has been set at Rs 2.75/unit. Solar Energy Corporation India (SECI) on Tuesday issued a request for a selection (RfS) notice for selecting solar power developers. This will be for setting up 6 GW (per annum) of solar power plants linked to 2 GW of solar manufacturing plant. A bidder can quote any capacity up to 1.5 GW of solar power projects linked to 0.5 GW of solar manufacturing capacity, corresponding to one project. A total of four such projects have been put up for bidding. A company can bid for one or all four. In an interesting amendment introduced in the new RfS, SECI has allowed using imported solar modules at the power plant and not necessarily the ones manufactured at the linked unit set up by the company. Earlier, this was mandatory. “The solar power developers or SPDs would be allowed to set up a solar power plant parallelly with a manufacturing facility, that is, the mandatory requirement of using self-produced modules in the plants under this scheme will not be there. This can be set up either through imported modules or through modules made by the manufacturing unit being set up by the bidder or through any other domestic module,” said the RfS document reviewed by Business Standard. Another addition in the tender is regarding manufacturing, wherein the companies can submit a bid for setting up manufacturing units for ingots and wafers as well as solar cells and modules. Ingots and wafers are key components in the making of solar cells. The module is a collection of solar cells and panels are the single power producing unit. The tender, however, has not included the long-awaited demand of the industry to include the existing solar manufacturing units.

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“As this scheme calls for setting up solar manufacturing plants in India, commissioned manufacturing plants cannot be considered under this RfS. However, expansion of the existing manufacturing facilities can be done anywhere in India,” said the RfS. After several extensions, the Central government, in January, decided to cancel the lone bid that came for setting up solar panel manufacturing along with a solar power plant. The single bid came from Azure Power in tie-up with Waaree Energies. The government re-issued the tender in March and it was also extended again. The latest global tender closes in August 2019. Indian solar cells and modules manufacture 'obsolete', says MNRE At a time when the government of India is trying to decide on whether or not the Indian solar cells and modules manufacturers deserve protection by way of anti-dumping duty, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has said that the cell/module manufacturing capacity in the country is “obsolete”. In a ‘concept note’ for supporting solar manufacture in India, the Ministry speaks of a “direct financial support” of Rs 11,000 crore and a ‘technology upgradation fund’, for solar manufacture. The Ministry notes that the country has installed capacity for producing 3.1 GW of cells and 8.8 GW of modules (cells are used to make modules). However, “even this capacity is not being fully exploited because of obsolete technology,” the concept note says. Only 1.5 GW of cell manufacture and 3 GW of module manufacture are used. It adds that the existing capacity is mainly of the conventional technology of multi-crystalline Al-BSF (Aluminium-Back Surface Field) solar cells, which have efficiency limitations and that very few players have ventured into the superior PERC (Passivated Emitter Rear Cell) technology. PER cells, which have a light reflecting layer on the rear, are more efficient and cost-effective. The Ministry has said it would bring in a ‘Technology Upgradation Fund’, borrowing the concept from a scheme of the same name for textile industry. The TUF could be an interest subvention scheme (as it is for the textile industry) or capital subsidy for technology up gradation projects. Apart from providing financial incentives for solar manufacture, the Ministry also proposes to “revive” the ‘domestic content requirement (DCR)’ scheme, which reserved a slice of the market for locally made cells and modules. The scheme was adjudged violative of global trade rules by the World Trade Organisation. Today, 1,436 MW of solar projects have been commissioned under the DCR and another 1,000 MW are under construction, but there won’t be any more. However, ||www.renewablemirror.com||

the government proposes to get central government-owned companies to set up 12,000 MW of projects using local-made products. The concept note also speaks of capital subsidies to those who set up solar manufacturing capacities, with subsidies indexed to the levels of value addition. Conversely, they could also set up solar power plants to supply the electricity needed for the manufacture, with facilities to bank the power with the grid for later withdrawal. Manufacture of solar panels (also called modules) start with polysilicon, which is made from silicon. Polysilicon is made into ingots, which are cut into wafers. Cells are made with wafers and a string of cells is a module. Today, only modules and cells are made in India, with imported material. At present, the only incentives available for manufacturing these is the Modified-Special Incentive Package Scheme, which is available to all electronic goods manufacturers and implemented by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, but there have been few takers for the scheme. However, a few companies have expressed desire to set up manufacturing facilities in India—notably, Trina Solar and Longi, both of China. “If these incentives are seriously implemented and there is clear market visibility of the next five years, then more manufacturers may decide to establish manufacturing units in India,” says Mercom, a renewable energy consultancy. India needs a solar manufacturing strategy India has made significant progress in creating capacity for solar energy generation in the last few years. The Prime Minister’s emphasis since 2014 has given a new fillip to solar power installation. The unit costs of solar power have fallen, and solar energy has become increasingly competitive with alternative sources of energy. India expanded its solar generation capacity eight times from 2,650 MW on May 26, 2014 to over 20 GW on January 31, 2018, and 28.18 GW on March 31, 2019. The government had an initial target of 20

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GW of solar capacity by 2022, which was achieved four years ahead of schedule. In 2015, the target was raised to 100 GW of solar capacity by 2022. Relying on imports This rapid progress should have been made earlier, however. India is energy deficient, yet blessed with plenty of sunlight for most of the year. It should have taken a lead in solar panel manufacture to generate solar energy long ago. Despite the new policy focus on solar plant installation, India is still not a solar panel manufacturer. Just as India has had no overall industrial policy since economic reforms began, there is no real plan in place to ensure solar panel manufacture. The share of all manufacturing in GDP was 16% in 1991; it remained the same in 2017. The solar power potential offers a manufacturing opportunity. The government is a near monopsonistic buyer. India is regarded by the global solar industry as one of the most promising markets, but low-cost Chinese imports have undercut its ambitions to develop its own solar technology suppliers. Imports, mostly from China, accounted for 90% of 2017 sales, up from 86% in 2014. Substituting for imports requires human capabilities, technological capabilities and capital in the form of finance. On the first two capabilities, the supply chain of solar photovoltaic panel manufacturing is as follows: silicon production from silicates (sand); production of solar grade silicon ingots; solar wafer manufacturing; and PV module assembly. The capital expenditure and technical know-how needed for these processes decreases from the first item to the last, i.e. silicon production is more capital-intensive than module assembly. Most Indian companies are engaged in only module assembly or wafer manufacturing and module assembly. No Indian company is involved in silicon production, although a few are making strides towards it. According to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (2018), India has an annual solar cell manufacturing capacity of about 3 GW while the average annual demand is 20 GW. The shortfall is met by

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imports of solar panels. So we may not see domestic players, in the short term at least, replacing imported ones. While the safeguard duty now puts locally made panels on par with imported ones in terms of cost, the domestic sector needs to do a lot more to be effective. For instance, it will have to go down the supply chain and make the input components locally instead of importing them and putting the modules together here. Public procurement is the way forward. The government is still free to call out bids for solar power plants with the requirement that these be made fully in India. This will not violate any World Trade Organization commitment. However, no bids will be received as manufacturing facilities for these do not exist in the country. But as Ajay Shankar, former Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, argues, if the bids were large enough with supplies spread over years, which gives enough time for a green field investment to be made for manufacturing in India, then bidders will emerge and local manufacturing can begin. Lessons from China China’s cost advantage derives from capabilities on three fronts. The first is core competence. The six largest Chinese manufacturers had core technical competence in semiconductors before they turned to manufacturing solar cells at the turn of the century. It takes time for companies to learn and put in action new technologies. When the solar industry in China began to grow, Chinese companies already possessed the know-how. Experts suggest that the human and technical learning curve could be five to 10 years. Indian companies had no learning background in semiconductors when the solar industry in India began to grow from 2011. State governments need to support semiconductor production as part of a determined industrial policy to develop this capacity for the future. The second source of cost advantage for China comes from government policy. The Chinese government has subsidised land acquisition, raw material, labour and export, among others. None of this is matched by the Indian government. Perhaps even more important is commitment by the government to

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procure over the long run — without that the investment in building up the design and manufacturing for each of the four stages of production of solar power equipment would come to nought. The third is the cost of capital. The cost of debt in India (11%) is highest in the Asia-Pacific region, while in China it is about 5%. Fifteen years ago, the Chinese could also have remained dependent upon imports from Korea or Germany; they did not. Remaining dependent on imports only leads to short-term benefits for India. A continuation of the current approach means India’s energy sector will be in the same condition as its defence industry, where enormous amounts of money have been spent procuring weaponry — so much so that India has been the world’s second largest importer of defence equipment for years. In the solar panel manufacturing sector, the Indian government allows 100% foreign investment as equity and it qualifies for automatic approval. The government is also encouraging foreign investors to set up renewable energy-based power generation projects on build-own-operate basis. But the Chinese government is clearly adopting an aggressive stance while the demand for solar power in India continues to grow, as does the government’s commitment to renewables. In 2018, China cut financial support to developers and halted approval for new solar projects. As a result, Chinese producers will cut prices to sustain their manufacturing plant capacity utilisation by sustaining exports to India. In other words, the Chinese strategy is to undercut any planned effort by India to develop the entire supply chain capacity within India so that dependence on imports from China continues. As a counter, India needs a solar manufacturing strategy, perhaps like the Automotive Mission Plan (2006-2016), which is credited with making India one of the largest manufacturers of two-wheelers, three-wheelers, four-wheelers and lorries in the world. This would also be a jobs-generating strategy for an increasingly better educated youth, both rural and urban. RM

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RENEWABLE MIR ROR

State Overview: Tamil Nadu

(As on 30.06.2021)

INSTALLED CAPACITY (IN MW) OF POWER UTILITIES IN THE STATES/UTS LOCATED IN Southern REGION INCLUDING ALLOCATED SHARES IN JOINT & CENTRAL SECTOR UTILITIES

State

Tamil Nadu

Ownership/ Sector State Private Central Sub-Total

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Modewise Breakup Thermal Coal Lignite Gas 4320.00 0.00 524.08 4487.67 250.00 503.10 3025.32 1517.30 0.00 11832.99 1767.30 1027.18 || August 2021 ||

Diesel 0.00 211.70 0.00 211.70

Total 4844.08 5452.47 4542.62 14839.17

Nuclear

Hydro

0.00 0.00 1448.00 1448.00

2178.20 0.00 0.00 2178.20

RES (MNRE) 122.70 14974.20 231.90 15328.80

Grand Total 7144.98 20426.67 6222.52 33794.17

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There is associate ever increasing demand for energy in spite of the inflation of oil fuel / depletion of fossil fuels. Energy demand, especially electricity production has resulted in creation of fuel primarily based power plants that allow out substantial inexperienced house gas / carbon emission into the atmosphere inflicting global climate change and heating.

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The Government of state is committed to mitigate the global climate change effects by delivery out policies causative to market renewable energy generation within the State. The govt. intends to create renewable energy a people’s movement a bit like rain water gathering. The state is endued with numerous styles of renewable energy sources viz., Wind, Solar, Biomass, Biogas, tiny Hydro, etc. Municipal and

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F ocus: State

Overview

Industrial wastes may even be helpful sources of energy whereas making certain safe disposal. Renewable Energy (RE) sources give a viable possibility for on/ off grid electrification & wide industrial applications.

Tamil Nadu

Establishment of TEDA

The Government of state complete the importance and want for renewable energy, and started a separate Agency, as registered society, referred to as the state Energy Development Agency (TEDA) as early as 1985,as per G.O.Ms. No.163, P. & D. (EC) Department, dated 29.11.1984 with the subsequent specific objectives:To promote the employment of latest and renewable sources of energy (NRSE) and to implement comes so. To promote energy conservation activities. To encourage analysis and development on renewable sources of energy. Despite Tamil Nadu (TN) slipping temporarily to the third position in terms of India’s commissioned solar infra. & its wind farms reaching their end of life, the state could account for 67% of the total installed capacity & 56% of generation from zero-emission technologies, says a report by the Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis (IEEFA). In its latest study on nine of the top-15 countries & power markets globally in terms of wind & solar power, TN was ranked 9th. Ahead of it on the list were Denmark, South Australia, Uruguay, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Texas & California. In another report on TN's energy model, the institute has warned against the state’s efforts to build 22,500 MW of coal-fired power plants despite its favorable investment advantages & lower wind & solar tariff costs. With a 14.3% share of India’s total wind & solar power generation in 2016-17, TN is the top state in terms of variable renewables market share& installed renewable energy capacity. Of the 97 TWh produced in the year, the state accounted for 13.9 tetra watt hours. In terms of installed capacity, of the 30 GW across TN as of Mar’17, variable wind & solar power accounted for 9.6 GW, or 32%. Firm hydroelectricity added another 2.2 GW or 7%, nuclear 8% & biomass & run of river 3%. As such, zero-emission capacity is 50% of TN’s total, according to the institute’s report, ‘Power Industry Transition, Hear & Now’. "With much of TN’s renewable energy coming from end-of-life wind farms installed 15-25 years ago, the average utilization rates are a low 18%, making the contribution of variable renewables to the total generation even more impressive," it added. The state was set to announce a 1-GW offshore wind tender in 2018 for commissioning in 2024-25 which would provide further system diversification in the medium term, it added. The state also has India's largest pumped hydro storage project of 500 MW underway at Kundah and with renewable energy deployments across the state likely to grow by 10-20% annually over the coming decade, this facility would provide the much-needed extra capacity to manage peak demand requirements, it added. A proposed interstate green power corridor would help the state, with more than 2,000 MW currently under construction, to supply zero-emission power to other states. In another report, 'Electricity Sector Transformation in India - A Case Study of TN', published earlier this month, the institute forecast that 67% of the installed capacity & 56% of the generation in TN would be derived from

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zero-emission technologies. At present, it is 42% of total installed power generation capacity & 18% of generation, making it one of the top states globally, behind only a few provinces in China & Texas in the US.“IEEFA bases its forecast on a clear tipping point achieved in 2017: New renewable investments are being underwritten at tariffs of Rs 2.43-3.00/kWh, below the average tariff paid to NTPC, India’s largely central government-owned power generator, for thermal power in 2016-17 of Rs3.20/kWh,” said Tim Buckley, IEEFA’s director of energy finance studies, Australasia & lead author of the report. While it has temporarily slipped to the third position in terms of commissioned solar infra. In the country, the very successful 1.5-GW solar tender of July 2017 will see the state vying for leadership again by the end of 2018-19, it added. Estimates are that the total installed capacity in TN is forecast to expand to 55 GW by 2026-27. The wind tender outcome has come down to a record low of Rs 2.43 per kWh, down eight% on the previous record low & 50% on pre-2016 wind tariff norms, along with the lower solar tariff prevailing in the past two years, could act as an accelerant to the sector in the state. The study has cautioned against the state’s efforts to build 22,500 MW of coal-fired power plants in spite of its favorable investment & lower tariff for wind &solar. Assuming the state completes all plants with a capacity of 4.5 GW under construction & half of the new 5-GW coal-fired power plants permitted, the high priced coal-fired power plant capacity utilization will collapse to an unsustainable 45% average by 2026-27, it said. The total coal capacity will reach 16.6 GW even after allowing the closure of all the 3.75 GW of beyond end-of-life

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coal power plants. The state will have a 5.6% compound annual growth rate in electricity demand over this period."The addition of 10.3 GW of new utility-scale solar by 2026-27 looks entirely commercially feasible after the 1.5 GW solar auction of July 2017 at just Rs 3.47 per kWh. Combined with 1.5 GW of rooftop capacity, solar is forecast to provide one-third of all new generation needs this decade. Onshore & offshore wind capacity additions will provide an estimated 41% of the production uplift needed. Bringing online the 1 GW Unit 3 of Kudankulam nuclear would provide 19% of new supply needs, with biomass & run-of-river hydro the balance. Total installed capacity expands to a forecast 55 GW by 2026-27& coal-fired generation is reduced from 69% to just 42% market share in TN," it said. IEEFA holds enormous confidence that India is increasingly embracing an accelerating electricity sector transformation, moving up alongside China as a new world leader in this, the Asian Century. The merits of energy transition are multiple: lowering dependence on fossil fuel imports; improving India’s energy security; reducing India’s increasingly chronic air & water pollution pressures; accelerating domestic & foreign investment into India’s renewable & grid infra.; bringing much needed high quality employment growth; baking in a deflationary trajectory for energy prices for the first time in many decades; & building on the “Make in India” vision that will drive the value-added manufacturing & exports needed to sustainably grow the economy at the 7% annual target. This report provides an analysis of the state of TN’s electricity system &the likely investment pathway over the coming decade to 2026/27. IEEFA has modelled expected electricity demand & supply for TN, mapping a deflationary trajectory for wholesale electricity

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costs that also builds in a steady diversification away from the state’s current over-reliance on increasingly imported fossil fuels. Reducing losses from India’s distribution companies (Discoms) is critical for the transformation & long-term health of India’s electricity sector. The TN Generation & Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) was slow to buy-in to the central government’s utility reform program, Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY), but the progress made in the last two years has been staggering & will serve TN well in the coming decade. Progress is evident across several key parameters: a sustained reduction in the unmet power deficit; a material reduction in the average cost of supply (ACS) of electricity (thanks to ever lower solar & wind tariffs); higher average revenue received (ARR), some reduction of aggregate technical & commercial (AT&C) grid losses, particularly the ft & corruption; the benefits of refinancing & restructuring off-balance TANGEDCO debts; most recently now exporting renewable energy to other states at a premium to its acquisition cost (Rs5-6/kWh vs Rs3-4/kWh cost).TANGEDCO reported a record unfunded loss of Rs13,985Cr. (US$2.1bn) in 2013/14 & the ongoing financial distress has been a major constraint on electricity sector progress in TN. One benefit of TANGEDCO’s improving performance is that renewable energy costs will continue to decline as the bankability of the company’s PPAs continues to improve. IEEFA’s confidence in the sustained nature of the electricity sector transformation in TN can be traced to two interconnected developments: the significant reform progress at TANGEDCO & the fact that TN is the leading state in India in terms of renewable penetration, driving ongoing wholesale electricity price deflation. TN is home to NLC India Ltd (NLCIL), the integrated lignite mining & pithead power Generation Company that is the largest electricity generator in the state, generating power at around Rs4/ kWh. However, as TN’s electricity demand continues to grow at 5-6%annually, the state has put in place what IEEFA believes are entirely unrealistic plans to treble thermal power capacity. This would rapidly build a reliance on imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) & thermal coal sourced largely from either Indonesia or central-eastern India, the later requiring coal transportation of over 1,650 kilometres. These new thermal power proposals all come at a prohibitive cost of electricity (Rs5-6/kWh). This looks increasingly ridiculous given TN’s leading renewable energy capacity of 10.6 GW & scope totreble renewable infra. in the coming decade at costs of Rs 2-4/kWh.TN has a total proposed coal-fired power plant pipeline of 22.5 GW, a staggering increase from the 13.4 GW of existing coal-fired capacity as of March 2017. IEEFA would highlight that collapsing utilisation rates are making even the existing coal plants less competitive with each passing year (the utilisation rate of TN’s coal fleet in 2016/17 was an estimated 61.7%, a 10-year low). Add in the high cost of transporting thermal coal to TN, plus falling renewable energy tariffs & TN’s coal-fired PPAs of Rs4.91-5.23/kWh are increasingly uncompetitive & unjustifiable. Building yet more expensive, non-pithead coal fired power capacity is entirely unviable & involves trying to get the already distressed financial & distribution sectors to fund stranded assets in the making, whilst expanding already problematic issues of water stress, flyash disposal & site rehabilitation.

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RENEWABLE MIR ROR

F ocus: State

Tamil Nadu

Overview

NLCIL’s decision in October 2017 to cancel its long proposed 3.96 GW coal-fired power plant at Sirkazhi village is a clear confirmation of these ongoing changes. NLCIL justified the cancellation by stating the import coal plant required a tariff of more than Rs5.50/kWh, significantly above both the prevailing renewables rate (Rs 2-4/ kWh) & that of pithead lignite power generation (Rs3-4/kWh). This is a sensible start to the rationalization process, but IEEFA forecasts many more cancellations will follow. This should start with cancelling the decade-long plan for the Cheyyur Ultra Mega Power Plant (UMPP), a clear stranded asset proposal &3.75 GW of end-of-life coal plant closures by 2026/27. Managing an increasing proportion of variable renewable energy capacity is an issue that must be addressed by stronger grid integration planning. TANGEDCO’s proposed 500 MW Kundah Pumped Storage Hydroelectric facility & the central government’s Interstate Green Power Corridor are key upgrades important to help facilitate this transition. TN Electricity Market As of March 2017, the total on-grid installed capacity of TN was 30.1 GW, 9% of the total installed in India. Just like the rest of India, the state is heavily dependent on coal-fired generation for its power needs (45% of capacity, 69% of generation in 2016/17). The installed thermal capacity in TN grew at average 10% annually since 2011. At the same time &a key reason for this report, TN is the leader in India in terms of overall installed renewable energy capacity & generation, especially wind energy. TN’s peak power supply deficit has constantly declined & FY2016/17 was the first year when it reported a zero peak power supply deficit. At 15.15 terawatt-hours (TWh) generated from 10.6 GW of capacity, TN represented almost one fifth (18.5%) of India’s total renewable energy generation in 2016/17. TN is also a leader in India with respect to house hold-level electrification, reported in the 2011census at 93%, materially above the Indian average at the time of 67%. Of TN’s 15.15 TWh of renewable energy production in 2016/17, 78.8% was generated by on shore wind, 12.5% from solar & 8.1% from biogas power. With ongoing production issues at the Kudan kulam nuclear facility & significant coal availability limits due to the distance from the northeast Indian coal fields, renewable & hydro have both provided important grid diversification & peak demand support in 2017. Structure of TN’s Electricity Board In 2010 the TN Electricity Board (TNEB) was restructured into the TNEB Ltd as a holding company, plus two wholly-owned subsidiaries; TN Generation & Distribution Corp.(TANGEDCO); & TN Transmission Corp. (TANTRANSCO), This was consistent with The Electricity Act 2003, which stipulated the unbundling of state electricity boards.6As of March 2017, TANGEDCO owns & operates 2.2 GW of hydroelectricity capacity, plus4.3 GW of coal-fired power&0.5 GW of gas power; it also has contracts for 6.0 GW of central government-owned thermal power generation & 5.6 GW of privately owned thermal power plants. As of March 2017, the distribution company has contracts for 10.6 GW of renewable energy capacities (7.9 GW wind, 1.7 GW solar, 0.2 GW of biomass & 0.7 GW from biomass co-generation plants).

Interstate Green Power Corridor 32

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The development of India’s interstate green power corridor should prove beneficial to TANGEDCO &renewable energy developers in TN (where 2,000 MW is currently being built) & elsewhere across the country. Union Coal Minister Piyush Goyal told the LokSabha (India’s lower House of Parliament) that work on the Rs1, 369 Cr. corridor had started & that it should be operational by May 2019. In the light of many states falling short of meeting their renewable power obligation targets, TN's surplus renewable power generation could be in high demand in the national market, particularly if the central government is able to better enforce the country’s renewable purchase obligation (RPO). India’s RPO refers to the obligation of certain entities either to buy electricity generated by specified green sources, or in lieu of that, buy renewable energy certificates (RECs) from the market. In TN, the green corridor starts from Tuticor in district & ends in Kancheepuram district. The interstate transmission network scheme is being implemented by the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL). About 30% (Rs3,410 Cr.) of the cost will be in the form of equity&70% will be concessional loans (Rs5,203 Cr. from German-based KfW&Rs2,756 Cr. from the Asian Development Bank).7 To incentivize optimal siting of renewable energy infra. Projects in areas with the best wind & solar resources, the central government in Dec’17 extended its waiver of interstate transmission system charges & losses for 25 years for all new renewable energy projects commissioned by Mar’19.This is a very positive policy support for renewables with a clear end-date. Along with investment in distributed battery storage, demand response management technologies, better diversification of electricity generation capacity across a range of fuel types, solar thermal power & pumped hydro storage (e.g. 500 MW at Kundah), interstate grid connectivity will each play a key enabling role to accommodate progressively higher market share of variable renewable energy sources.

Onshore Wind Power Generation

Under current GoI’s energy market vision, in 2015 India set a target to reach 60 GW of wind by 2022, up from 32 GW in March 2017. This implies national installs of 6 GW annually, a more than doubling of average installation rates over 2010-2017. In November 2017 Power Minister R.K. Singh announced plans to accelerate India’s renewables investment program, with 20 GW of solar&10 GW of wind to be added annually.52 The record low renewable energy tariffs delivered over 2017 (down 50% since the start of 2016) set the economic framework to accelerate India’s electricity sector transformation toward a more diverse, lower emissions system. With renewable costs continuing to fall, investing US$200-300bn in new generation capacity this coming decade could deliver sustained electricity system deflation. December 2020 saw Gujarat award a 500 MW wind tender at a new record low of just Rs 2.43/kWh (US$38/MWh), 53 8% lower than the previous record low for wind set in May 2017, And 50% below the Rs4.50-5.00/kWh subsidized tariffs awarded pre-2017.Extreme electricity sector deflation has caused near-term turmoil in India’s wind sector, forcing a drive to introduce the latest technology & adopt the most-efficient corporate structures & procurement processes in order to restore sustainable profit margins. Industry leaders like Suzlon Energy are confident this adjustment process

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can be managed medium term & install activity is likely to treble to 10 GW p.a. in line with the GoI’s policy ambition. Overall, TN has 7.9 GW of installed wind capacity as of March 2017. The National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE) estimates that TN’s wind power potential is 34 GW at 100meters, with significantly more available as 120-metre-tall turbines of Europe are introduced.

Wind: TN is a Global Leader

As of March 2020, TN has 7.85 GW of wind operational. This makes TN one of the largest states in the world in terms of operational wind farms. The province of Inner Mongolia in China is reported to have 25.57 GW at the start of 2017, with Xinjiang province second at 17.76 GW.55 In America, Texas has 21.45 GW as of September 2017.56 In Australia the smaller state of South Australia with a population of just 1.7 million has 1.78 GW of operational wind farms, representing almost 40% installed capacity, making it possibly the highest amount of installed capacity per capita in the world. SembCorp in April 2017 won a bid to build a 250 MW wind farm in TN, with PTC India taking the full off take under a 25-year PPA. Commissioning is required by March 2019 & the full investment is Rs19bn. 57 Adding in potentially 900 MW from the August 2017 tender puts the state on track to reach at least 9 GW by the end 2018/19.August 2017 saw the finalization of a 500 MW wind tender by TANGEDCO at a near TN state record low tariff of Rs3.42/kWh, 1% lower than the central government’s then record low tariff award of Rs3.46/kWh in May 2017. ReGen Power Tech Company bid for 200 MW, Leap Energy250 MW&NLC 500 MW of capacity, such that TANGEDCO is seeking TNERC permission to expand the auction from 500 MW to 900 MW to leverage these record low price offers. IEEFA models a near doubling, to 15.0 GW, of operational wind by 2026/27 across TN. New Australian onshore wind farms being planned in 2020 have capacity utilization rates of 45-50%, more than double that of the average Indian wind farm. With much of the Indian wind farm fleet approaching 20 years of age, the scope over the coming decade for repowering is significant. Replacing near end-of-life 200-500 kW turbines with higher towers & new models incorporating the latest 2-3 MW technology provides a scope for up to a tenfold increase in wind capacity & potentially twentyfold increase in generation (raising capacity utilization rates from 15-20% to internationally comparable 30-35% rates) from existing projects whilst halving the number of towers required. A 2015 report by the Indo-German Energy Forum estimated that by 2025 TN would have 4 GW of wind capacity due for repowering, suggesting 40 GW of potential new capacity (36 GW net of closure & replacements).59 The "Policy for Repowering of the Wind Power Projects" announced in August 2016 provides financial & taxation benefits for repowering of any wind turbine of 1MW or below.

Offshore Wind – A Decade Away

Offshore wind costs are plummeting in Europe & this new technology is extremely promising, albeit roughly a decade behind the development curves of solar & onshore wind. IEEFA

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expects offshore wind to emerge as a cost-competitive source of electricity generation system diversification for TN by 2025. Providing grid diversification is a key advantage of offshore wind, as are its absence of land requirements & its proximity to heavily populated coastal cities, particularly in TN given its prohibitive distance from India’s thermal coal deposits. Northern Europe accounts for 90% of global offshore wind developments to date, but with Taiwan, 62 South Korea, 63 China, Japan & the U.S. all investing now in the next phase of growth, further technology & scale advantages are expected to combine with significant “learning by doing” effects to drive cost deflation, 64 a trend that will be assisted by utilization rates of more than 50%, double Indian onshore wind rates. In the first half of 2017, China completed 2,066 MW of offshore wind projects, on track to meet its target of 10 GW of offshore wind under construction by 2020. IEEFA expects India’s 3,100 km coastline will provide significant opportunity for further domestic electricity generation diversification as this technology becomes more cost competitive &the long coastline of TN has some ideal sites.66 While trial deployments are being studied, commercial scale remains some time off.67While it is uncertain as to when Indian deployments might begin, costs continue to fall much faster than markets forecast. In September 2017, the U.K. government awarded three offshore wind projects totaling 3.2 GW through contracts for difference (CfD) with strike prices going as low as £57.50/MWh for projects scheduled for commissioning in 2022/23.Following approval by the Union cabinet in October 2015, development planning for India’s offshore wind industry has been coordinated by the FOWIND consortium, a collaboration & knowledge-sharing initiative with the EU, led by the Global Wind Energy Council.69 An October 2017 report provided a grid integration study for offshore wind farm development in TN & Gujarat, with a target of connecting 500 MW in each by 2025.In our TN state electricity model (refer Section 10), IEEFA assumes “just” 1 GW (US$3-4bn) of investment in offshore wind will be successfully commissioned by 2026/27, providing gleaning by doing to facilitate a tenfold expansion in offshore wind across India in the following decade likely to cost half the price of the first 1 GW. India Power Minister R.K. Singh surprised the market in December 2017 with the announced intention to tender for 5 GW of offshore wind as early as 2018.70 This statement was in the context of accelerating deployments of renewable energy to raise India’s zero-emissions generation capacity target of 175 GW by 2022 to in-excess of 200 GW. While we applaud this clear & ambitious policy signal, IEEFA would caution against undue haste in the implementation timetable. Clearly TN & Gujarat have been identified as the two key coastal markets with the best offshore wind resources. The very low price of onshore wind & solar are immediately cost competitive alternative. Secondly, a pre requisite for offshore wind is the need to build a whole new supplies chain& infra. system. Calling for a tender in 2018 with a 6-8 year progressive delivery timeframe (backed by cash deposits by winning proponents to ensure delivery) would provide the long-term security to achieve aggressive international bidding interest (particularly if a US$ financial

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RENEWABLE MIR ROR

F ocus: State

Tamil Nadu

Overview

hedge of the tariff can be facilitated). This should provide the necessary incentives to kick-start a major new industry in TN, one with excellent long-term growth opportunities. Solar Infra. India has set an ambitious target of 100 GW of solar energy by 2022, & while installations to date are behind schedule, IEEFA forecasts 2017/18 could almost reach 10 GW of new solar additions, marking the third consecutive year of near doubling in installs, showing momentum continues to build rapidly, underpinning the Indian electricity sector transformation. November 2017 saw Power Minister R.K. Singh announce an ambitious target to accelerate solar installs to 20 GW annually through a reoccurring tendering program aiming for 30 GW in both 2018/19 & 2019/20. If achieved, this would provide the planning & procurement framework to build investor certainty & expand manufacturing & EPC capacity to take advantage of record low, deflationary solar tariffs.71As of June 2017 TN is no longer the top state in terms of installed solar capacity. Government data shows that TN, with an installed capacity of 1,697 MW, has fallen into third position behind Andhra Pradesh (2,010 MW) & Rajasthan (1,961 MW).72Only 630 MW of solar power were installed in TN in 2016-17 against 919 MW in 2015-16. In the same period, Andhra Pradesh added 1,294 MW, Karnataka 882 MW & Telangana759 MW. Across the country, 5,525 MW of solar energy were added in 2016-17, an increase of 66% over 2015-16.A key constraint holding back the development of solar in TN has been TNERC’s rejection of the tender process used in other states in recent years in favor of retaining the power purchase agreement (PPA) model. This has seen TN signing PPAs at well above rates evident in other states in the last 2-3 years. In 2015 TN signed PPAs at Rs7.01/kWh, 35-40% above the price struck on similar deals at similar times in Rajasthan & Madhya Pradesh.73 Tariffs for solar projects in 2016 were struck at Rs5/kWh, but with TN’s move to reverse auctions, July2017 saw a record low (for TN) tariff of Rs3.47/kWh struck on 1.5 GW of new solar. This should see TN’s total installed solar base double by end 2018/19. Given the zero pollution & zero emissions nature of solar, plus the availability of large scale, immediately low cost tariffs with baked-in long term deflationary benefits, IEEFA forecasts that TN will see total solar installs increase six fold by 2027 to 12 GW of utility scale plus 1.5GW across the residential & C&I sectors. This is lower than reported targets for TN to set up 25 solar parks, each with a capacity of 500 MW & above, & reach more 20 GW of solar power installed capacity. However, TANGEDCO needs to continue to resolve its financial distress (refer Section 9) & provide stronger regulatory credibility & discipline if it is to continue to benefit from the accelerating energy sector transformation that low cost renewable provide. The latest two auctions treble solar projects under development across TN to 2.3 GW. In July 2017 TANGEDCO announced the results of a second 1.5 GW solar tender at a new record low tariff for TN of Rs3.47/kWh after receiving bids totaling 3.7 GW. All bidders were required to accept the lowest bid outcome of the tender, but in contrast to the previous tender, the project completion deadline was doubled to 24 months. In August 2017TANGEDCO was reported as ready to issue the 16 successful solar bidder’s letters of allocation such

RENEWABLE MIR ROR

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that the project developers can start land acquisition & arrange finance. The first February 2017 tender for a 500 MW solar auction received a tepid response due to stringent conditions such as a project completion deadline of 12 months. Bids were received for 292 MW from 20 entities. The biggest bidder was Rays Power Infra Pvt, which sought & won 100 MW at Rs 4.40 per unit. The project size eventually went down to 224 MW with 16bidders. In June, TANGEDCO obtained regulatory approval for a uniform rate of Rs 4.40/kWh for 25 years. However, in August 2017 TANGEDCO announced it wanted to reduce the PPA pricing from the agreed Rs4.40 to just Rs3.47/kWh to match the excellent result of the 1.5 GW tender, refusing to sign the award documents & alternatively offering to cancel the agreements. This was reported to be in direct contradiction of the TN Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (TNERC) order of 13 June 2017 directing it to sign all PPAs within the month.

Poor Discom Discipline has Lowered Investor Interest in TN

Regulatory risk in TN is clear. In August 2017 TANGEDCO notified the winners of the February2017 tender auction that it would not sign the PPAs & was seeking a retrospective tariff reduction from the winning bid of Rs4.40/kWh to just Rs3.47/kWh, the rate tendered in the subsequent solar auction. In this instance, the distribution company is directly flouting the TN Electricity Regulatory Commission’s order of June 2017 directing it to sign all PPAs related to the first auction & submit them within a month. Risks of payment delays by TANGEDCO also increase the cost of solar in TN. Unlike Andhra Pradesh, which acquires land for solar parks, TN leaves developers the land acquisition responsibility, which takes time & increases capital risks for developers. The solar radiation in TN is lower than in the best locations of Rajasthan. The lack of contractual protection from curtailment risks by TANGEDCO also increases the cost of solar in TN, particularly for higher priced PPAs (be they solar or coal related).In July 2017 TNERC rejected petitions from three Adani subsidiaries regarding implementation of must-run status of solar projects in TN. Adani Green Energy (TN) had petitioned against TANGEDCO, TN State Load Dispatch Centre (TNSLDC), TN Transmission Corporation Limited (TANTRANSCO)&the MNRE in relation to curtailment of power from Adani solar projects. TNERC rejected the petition as it found that the issue of “MUST RUN” status requires formal adjudication & not exercise of regulatory jurisdiction. TNERC has directed the petitioners to file the petition as a dispute resolution petition (DRP) to take the matter forward. The Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) directed the TNERC chair person to hear Adani Group's plea regarding the solar power curtailment issues. Rooftop Solar Given the forecast doubling of electricity demand in India over the coming decade, plus significant land use constraints/conflicts & unsustainably high AT&C grid losses, distributed rooftop solar is a rapidly deployable, cost-effective solution that will play an increasingly material role in India’s electricity sector transformation. India’s national rooftop solar installation rate grew 81% year-on-year in 2016/17 to 678 MW, taking the total cumulative ||www.renewablemirror.com||

installed base to 1.4 GW.80 The development of cost-effective net metering government policies & an easing of approval processes are both key to maintaining strong growth. The rapid development of ever-lower cost, behind-the-meter integrated lithium-ion battery storage systems will also accelerate rooftop solar deployments. With a national rooftop solar target of 40 GW by 2022, installation rates need to double in both 2017/18&again in subsequent years. The current installation rate& policy short comings suggest India is not on target for rooftop solar, with more conservative forecasts of 10-15 GW, 60-75% short of the target. But putting this in the positive, it still would represent up to a tenfold increase on current capacity in just five years. Heavy Discom subsidies of residential & agricultural tariffs (Rs2-4&Rs0-2/kWh respectively) across India limit the cost-effectiveness of rooftop solar & solar irrigation pumps in these subsectors, absent the politically difficult task of tariff reform. However, the reverse also applies. The cross-subsidies of retail electricity prices make rooftop solar applications immediately cost effective in the C&I subsector (given tariffs of Rs6-8/kWh). With the excellent 1 GW Indian Railways solar target providing an immediate uplift in activity to encourage capacity & skills building, IEEFA expects rapid growth to be maintained.TN is the leading state in India with respect to rooftop solar. As of March 2017, installs totaled 163 MW, 12% of India’s total. If TN can maintain its sector leadership, this would imply 1-2 GW of rooftop solar is a conservative target by 2026/27, requiring 100-200 MW annually over the coming decade. While a significant step-up on current deployments, it is worth putting this forecast in an international context. Australia’s population is one-third of TN’s 72 million, but Australian rooftop solar installations have run at an average of 1 GW annually over the last six years. One third of the population & ten times the installation rate. China installed some 36 GW of mostly C&I rooftop solar in 2017 alone. India’s ambitious plan of 40 GW of rooftop solar currently has issues of quality deficits in terms of operations & maintenance of the program as admitted by MNRE secretary Anand Kumar. He has recently mentioned that a new scheme is in development—SRISTI (Sustainable Rooftop Implementation for Solar Transfiguration of India), which will aim to address the clashes between the interests of Discoms & high-end consumers. As mentioned above, consumer tariff subsidies are a major impediment to rooftop solar growth. A second impediment appears to be TANGEDCO, which in July 2017 proposed to buy surplus rooftop solar generation at just 50% of the retail tariff, while also proposing new solar capacity limits. The company clearly needs to give consideration of social equality & grid investment cost recovery. However, with the need to also encourage rapid investment in new generation capacity to match forecasted electricity demand growth, this policy proposal will prove counter-productive; stalling residential rooftop installations (a heavily subsidized sector)&encouraging rooftop solar + storage in the most profitable C&I sector. TANGEDCO should learn from international experiences; Discoms can play a key role in facilitating cost-effective electricity sector transformation, but they can’t stop an in evitable technology change. New technology applied systematically & in the most logical sizes & locations can best manage & enhance system development & stability. ||www.renewablemirror.com||

Conclusion

Tamil Nadu sees highest new wind-generation capability addition in FY19 The addition of latest capability within the wind sector by Tamil Nadu in 2018-19 has been the very best among states in Asian country. As on Nov thirty, 2018, nearly half the 871.85 Mw extra capabilities were added in Tamil Nadu throughout the present fiscal year. Besides, bids for fixing of wind generation comes of associate mixture 8389.90 Mw capability were finalised with a serious portion of its springing up in Tamil Nadu, wherever costs are higher. Minister of State (I/C) for brand spanking new and Renewable Energy and Power R K Singh, in a very written reply within the Lok Sabha on weekday, aforesaid that in 2018-19 that total wind energy capability added was 871.85 Mw, of that 427.80 Mw was added in Tamil Nadu. This was followed by Gujarat with 239.25 Mw, 107.40 Mw in state, 27.30 Mw in Telangana. With the new extra capability, the additive capability within the country currently stands at 35016.85 Mw, compared with 34,145 Mw, in 2019-20. Karnataka, that was one in all the leading states in wind energy, saw a capability addition of solely 60.90 Mw as against 857 Mw last year. The wind generation comes within the country ar put in on the idea of economic viability through a tariff-based competitive bidding method. As of date, the bids for fixing of wind generation comes with 8389.90 Mw capability are finalised through solar power Corporation of Asian country Ltd (SECI) and also the National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd. (NTPC). These embrace 1049.90 Mw at Tirunelveli (Tamil Nadu) and, Bhuj and Bachu (Gujarat). Of this, 425.9 Mw was commissioned and money closure was achieved for 624 Mw. the facility tariff would be Rs three.46 per unit. Another one thousand Mw at Thoothukudi (Tamil Nadu) and Bhuj and Bachau (Gujarat) are scheduled to be commissioned in might 2020. As a part of SECI share IV, nearly 2000 Mw is scheduled to be commissioned by Feb 2020 at Tirunelveli and Palakkad in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. The value fastened is Rs a pair of.51-2.52. Under SECI's share V, 1190 Mw are going to be added at Bhuj (Gujarat) and Hiyur (Karnataka) and can endure stream by Gregorian calendar month 2020. The facility tariff has been fastened at Rs a pair of.76-2.77 a unit. NTPC can add 1150 Mw throughout identical amount in state, Maharastra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and state. The facility value has been fastened at Rs a pair of.77-2.83 a unit. Besides, bids of five hundred Mw every are finalised by the states of Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and geographical region. The government has set a target of putting in sixty GW of wind generation capability by 2022, against that thirty five Gw capability has already been put in. RM

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RENEWABLE MIR ROR

Green Energy

Special Focus

India has a huge potential to move into a fully renewable electricity system by 2050

This fact is not hidden from anyone that India is the world's fourth-largest carbon emitter with its population of 1.3 billion people with power sector contributing majorly to the same. But in the recent years, India has made significant strides in the renewable energy space. The Climate Change concern across the Globe has further propelled the Government and Decision Makers to develop a detailed blue print for clean and sustainable power for all. As part of the initial commitments to the Paris Climate Accord, India plans to reduce its carbon emission intensity - emission per unit of GDP - by 33-35% from 2005 levels over 15 years. It is working towards producing 40% of its installed electricity capacity by 2030 from non-fossil fuels. This would lead to a significant shift from coal-based power generation to renewable energy sources. To achieve these challenging statistics, it has to produce 100 gigawatt from solar, 60 gigawatt from wind, 10 gigawatt from biomass and 5 gigawatt from small hydropower by 2022. And this seems quite an uphill task as the renewable energy development in India is still in its nascent stage. As per the Ministry of Power, Govt. of India, India's energy mix is evolving slowly with fossil fuels meeting 82% of demand; Coal remaining the dominant fuel with a 57.9% share of total production in 2018. However, there is also a silver lining behind the dark cloud, with the share of coal in the energy mix projected to fall to 50% by 2040, while the share of renewables rises significantly. Renewables will overtake gas and then oil by 2020 as the second largest source of energy production. As per the International Energy Agency's (IEA) Renewables || August 2021 ||

Green Energy

Special Focus

Report, Solar and Wind represent 90% of the country's capacity growth, which is the result of auctions for contracts to develop power-generation capacity that have yielded some of the world's lowest prices for both technologies. The country, which presently has low conventional energy resources in comparison to the energy needs of the huge population and the swiftly growing economy, can foster the enormous potential of solar energy. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi India is committed towards the development of renewable energy infrastructure. The 175 GW target for 2022 and the formation of ISA led by India and France is another example of the same. Apart from solar, the country is also exploring hydro power potential in the north-eastern states which are an abode to the hydro power opportunities. Besides the above, change in the energy mix will also ride upon innovative technologies, growing energy demand, strong wind and solar resources, policy support, and growing investments et al and will ensure smart, reliable, clean and affordable energy to over a billion people with an energy consumption growth of 4.2% p.a., faster than all major economies in the world, overtaking China as the largest growth market for renewable energy by the late 2020s. Another research by University of Technology (LUT) in Finland expounds that India has a huge potential to move into a fully renewable electricity system by 2050, owing to an abundance of renewable resources. If only we can optimally leverage sophisticated technologies to harness proactive collaboration with the industry, academia and energy innovation ecosystem, the region can move straight to affordable renewable systems.

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Such renewable energy systems can work mainly on clean energy, solar energy, wind energy and other new age storage solutions. Solar photovoltaic is the most economical electricity source and batteries satisfy the night-time electricity demand. In addition to covering India's electricity demand for power, such system simulation can also cover for seawater desalination and synthetic natural gas beyond other measures. With the right investments in such green technologies, India is well positioned to achieve all this. This is significant given India's burgeoning electricity demand and the persistent supply demand gap along with the summer shortages and outages, the pursuit towards cleaner energy sources will have a crucial role in enabling the country's transition to a fully sustainable energy system. Ensuring those projects secure the necessary financing to enable that development, however, remains a challenge, with a large proportion of Southeast Asian projects considered unbendable. The bankability of renewable energy projects has always been an issue owing to off takers' inability to absorb power and pay for it. Amongst the various developments that have taken place in the solar and wind power segments this year, the ones that would have a long-term impact on the power sector include bidding in the wind segment, which would mean that utilities would not scout for wind sites and choose wind turbine suppliers through competitive measures. Another vital strand is the government would tender 20,000 MW of solar capacity, which would perhaps be the largest block of capacity to be auctioned in a single tranche for the first time globally. The government's strong resolve to heightened quality standards for imported solar photovoltaic ||www.renewablemirror.com||

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(PV) modules, enforced through inspections will further help procurers get over 25 years of module life. This reflects a national commitment to green energy and shows how the country is fast transitioning towards a renewable-focused economy expediting renewable capacity build-up and removing the difficulties being encountered by developers and manufacturers. The future looks bright as nearly 293 global and domestic companies have committed to generate 266 GW of solar, wind, mini hydel and biomass-based power in India over the next decade. The initiative would entail an investment of $310 billion-$350 billion. For instance, the International Finance Corporation, the investment arm of the World Bank Group, is planning to invest about $6 billion by 2022 in several sustainable and renewable energy programmes in India. The Indian power sector has an investment potential of Rs 15 trillion over the next four to five years, which indicates immense opportunities in power generation, distribution, transmission and equipment. While there is plenty of capital chasing the opportunities in the renewable sector, there are several risks that need to be kept in view, including counterparty risks both in terms of developers and procurers. The good news is renewable energy storage system market in India is expected to witness robust growth, over the next decade, once the cost of storage declines, which is likely to happen because of the sheer volume growth through the electric vehicle route. However, the success will only be possible when the FAME 2 will meet its desired objectives. To draw a parallel with other countries, in December TESLA's 100MW Hornsdale Power Reserve battery system in South

Australia delivered 100 MW into the national electricity grid in 140 milliseconds, instantly powering 1,70,000 homes when the Loy Yang coal power plant suddenly went offline. This testifies, why energy storage has become a complementary solution for renewable energy, which is seasonal and intermittent for ensuring 24×7, robust supply of energy. The thrust on solar and wind projects has increased the challenges in maintaining system stability, which is encouraging developers to support power grid networks with battery storage to help manage the variations in power supply. Renewable energy projects backed with battery technology could transform the energy scenario in India. However, the challenge is to develop a technology that is suitable for large renewable energy projects. As per industry reports, the deployment of energy storage is anticipated to grow over 40 per cent annually in the next 10 years, with around 80 GW of additional storage capacity. We have undertaken proof-of-concept in battery energy storage systems, wherein large lithium-ion battery banks are being deployed in Delhi. As India's leading renewable energy players with a gross generation capacity of 3,210 MW through clean non-fossil sources, we are committed to transform the sector in sync with the government's vision of promoting renewable energy building a total capacity of 20,000 MW by 2025, of which 30-40 per cent would be based on non-fossil fuel. The need of the hour is addressing the bankability of renewable energy projects which has always been an issue in India, owing to off-takers' inability to absorb power and pay for it. The power purchase agreement structure needs to be strengthened further to make renewable energy projects more bankable. There are states which, owing to their fiscal challenges, are not encouraging the must-run status of renewables and are forcing such capacities to back down when wind velocities are unfavourable. The government, therefore, should enforce must-run status as an obligation for all consumers to buy a good proportion of clean and green power. We also need to address some challenges faced by power producers which include high fuel supply risk, time overruns at plants, and the limited paying capacity of the financially weak distribution utilities due to pre-defined RPOs in their PPAs. Last but not the least, in order to remain energy positive and to make the most of renewable energy sources, we will have to parallelly focus on aggressive promotion of energy efficiency practices as India's Energy demand will witness an exponential spurge owning to the lighting and cooling requirements due to the varied climatic conditions, the developments in the Electric Mobility, growth of the Industries as well as rural electrification. The World Bank in its report titled 'Utility scale DSM opportunities and business models in India' has pegged India's energy efficiency market at Rs 1.6 lakh /- crore by considering the end use energy efficiency opportunities which is four times the Rs 44,000/- crore in 2010, against the backdrop of the success of the Government of India's UJALA scheme to distribute LED bulbs (Bachhat Lamp Yojana). Till now, over 28 Crore LEDs have been sold across the

RENEWABLE MIR ROR

Special Focus

country which has resulted in energy savings to the tune of 36,545 MUs and avoided peak demand of 7317 MW. In monetary terms, savings of around Rs. 14,618/- crores have been achieved. This will also provide a very good market for companies manufacturing energy efficient lighting and appliances as well as companies providing DSM solutions.

Green Energy

Future of RE in India

With 300 clear sunny days, over a dozen perennial rivers & a coastline of more than 7,500 KMs, India since the age of Puranas, had realized the importance of the sun & other sources of RE & the power they possess for the benefit of its inhabitants. Post-Independence, India's first Prime Minister, Shri Jawahar Lal Nehru while inaugurating the Bhakra Nangal Dam (having a potential to generate 1500 MW of Power) described it as the 'New Temple of Resurgent India'. However, except hydro power, the other two abundant energy resources – wind & solar remained untapped in the last 70 years mainly due to lack of political will & unviability of relevant technologies. This fact is not hidden from anyone that India is the world's fourth-largest carbon emitter with its population of 1.3 bn people with power sector contributing majorly to the same. But in the recent years, India has made significant strides in the RE space. The Climate Change concern across the Globe has further propelled the Govt. & Decision Makers to develop a detailed blue print for clean & sustainable power for all. As part of the initial commitments to the Paris Climate Accord, India plans to reduce its carbon emission intensity - emission per unit of GDP - by 33-35% from 2005 levels over 15 years. It is working towards producing 40% of its installed electricity capacity by 2030 from non-fossil fuels. This would lead to a significant shift from coal-based power generation to RE sources. To achieve these challenging statistics, it has to produce 100 GW from solar, 60 GW from wind, 10 gigawatt from biomass&5 GW from small hydropower by 2022.&this seems quite an uphill task as the RE development in India is still in its nascent stage. As per the MoP, India's energy mix is evolving slowly with fossil fuels meeting 82% of demand; Coal remaining the dominant fuel with a 57.9% share of total production in 2018. However, there is also a silver lining behind the dark cloud, with the share of coal in the energy mix projected to fall to 50% by 2040, while the share of renewables rises significantly. Renewables will overtake gas & then oil by 2020 as the second largest source of energy production. As per the IEA Renewables Report, Solar & Wind represent 90% of

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the country's capacity growth, which is the result of auctions for contracts to develop power-generation capacity that have yielded some of the world's lowest prices for both technologies. The country, which presently has low conventional energy resources in comparison to the energy needs of the huge population & the swiftly growing economy, can foster the enormous potential of solar energy. India is committed towards the development of RE infrastructure. The 175 GW target for 2022&the formation of ISA led by India & France is another example of the same. Apart from solar, the country is also exploring hydro power potential in the north-eastern states which are an abode to the hydro power opportunities. Besides the above, change in the energy mix will also ride upon innovative technologies, growing energy demand, strong wind & solar resources, policy support, & growing investments et al & will ensure smart, reliable, clean & affordable energy to over a bn people with an energy consumption growth of 4.2% p.a., faster than all major economies in the world, overtaking China as the largest growth market for RE by the late 2020s. With the right investments in such green technologies, India is well positioned to achieve all this. This is significant given India's burgeoning electricity demand & the persistent supply demand gap along with the summer shortages & outages, the pursuit towards cleaner energy sources will have a crucial role in enabling the country's transition to a fully sustainable energy system. Ensuring those projects secure the necessary financing to enable that development, however, remains a challenge, with a large proportion of Southeast Asian projects considered unbendable. The bankability of RE projects has always been an issue owing to off takers' inability to absorb power & pay for it.Amongst the various developments that have tak en place in the solar & wind power segments this year, the ones that would have a long-term impact on the power sector include bidding in the wind segment, which would mean that utilities would not scout for wind sites & choose wind turbine suppliers through competitive measures. Another vital strand is the govt. would tender 20,000 MW of solar capacity, which would perhaps be the largest block of capacity to be auctioned in a single tranche for the first time globally. The govt.'s strong resolve to heightened quality standards for imported solar PV modules, enforced through inspections will further help procurers get over 25 years of module life. This reflects a national commitment to green energy & shows how the country is fast transitioning towards a renewable-focused economy expediting renewable capacity build-up & removing the difficulties being encountered by developers & manufacturers. In what will be a record offering in a financial year, India is set to tender close to 6,650 MW of RE projects in February. Of this, 2,500 MW are wind power projects&4,150 MW solar. With this, the total projects offered during 2017-18 will exceed a combined capacity of 10,000 MW. The tranche of projects to be offered includes several state-level projects from Uttar Pradesh (1,000 Mw), Karnataka (200 Mw), Maharashtra (1,500 MW of wind & solar) &Andhra Pradesh (750 Mw). Wind power projects totaling a generation capacity of 2,000 MW would be bid out by SECI, a state-run company under the aegis of the MNRE. ||www.renewablemirror.com||

Under the Paris Climate Change accord, India has committed itself to building projects with a combined capacity of 175 GW RE by 2022. Of this, 60 GW is solar&40 GW wind. GoI last year introduced a competitive bidding process for wind power projects, along the lines of solar. In the 1,500 MW of projects that have been tendered out, the wind power tariff has fallen to Rs 2.34 per unit. The lowest tariff in solar stands at Rs 2.44 per unit.

Barriers to private capital investment

Policy & regulatory bottlenecks: India’s RE policies & regulations are a significant deterrent to private capital investment in clean energy projects. Policies regarding RE projects have evolved rapidly & at times haphazardly due to the Modi govt.’s ostensible commitment to a low carbon transition. The policy making process has not been inclusive, however, as private sector contributions have only been requested towards the later stages of the policy framing process. Stakeholders interviewed for this study believe that investor & business owner inputs are needed throughout the entire formulation & implementation process in order to formulate cohesive & meaningful policy measures. Additionally, regulatory measures & frameworks for RE seem to be inconsistent with certain other govt. policies. For instance, India has pledged to reduce coal based electricity generation to sixty% of overall power generation by 2050 per its INDCs. Current policies, however, indicate limited scaling down & shuttering of thermal plants over the next two decades. Further examples of misaligned policies can be seen in India’s push towards 175 GW of RE capacity by 2050. In order to achieve this goal, financial regulations would need to be changed as well. Yet, there has been no indication of a concurrent policy shift by the govt.. The lack of alignment between climate policy & other macro policies has created further unease amongst financiers looking to make RE investments in India.An additional issue pertains to the unpredictably of govt. policies. Large scale economic shifts such as demonetization, as well as sector oriented policy shifts such as the recent reduction in depreciation benefits for RE sources have contributed to investor uncertainty. Studies show that frequent changes in policies can significantly impede the scaling up of RE investment in India’s foreseeable future. In addition to policy unpredictability, another area of concern is the non-enforcement of central govt. policy.

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A stark illustration of this can be seen in the case of certain Indian states where only ten% of RE investors have received promised govt. subsidies. Additional examples can be seen in the state of Maharashtra, where the govt. has refused to provide payments for electricity generated by wind farms ostensibly due to a lack of demand.RE investors looking to initiate projects in India also have to deal with inconsistency in power procurement policies. Certain states, for example award contracts to developers based on determined, fixed tariffs. In other states, however, developers are required to go through a reverse auction bid process. While sub national variances can be problematic for investors, of even greater concern are post hoc shifts in energy procurement policy. A number of states have shifted their policies arbitrarily, going from fixed tariff to reverse auction bid & vice versa. The mismanagement of the procurement process by Indian states has created uncertainty around what should be a straightforward procedure, which can have an adverse effect on investor confidence. Additionally, concerns have also been raised about the competitive bidding processes implemented in certain states. Discussants, citing the dramatic drop in RE rates over the past five years, believe that the bidding mechanism could incite financially unsound bids from renewable power producers. While technology developments have led to lower material & project development costs, somewhat justifying the downward trend in overall project cost, there remains uncertainty over the medium & long term sustainability of these renewable projects. The worst-case scenario is an en masse collapse of the Indian RE industry, which would certainly hamper future private capital flow for such projects in the future. Political risk: A corollary to India’s policy & regulatory issues are the politics present within the Indian governance architecture. The non-enforcement of central govt. policies mentioned in the previous section is part of the problematic dynamic that exists between India’s central & state govt.s. India’s constitution accords a fair amount of autonomy to states – for example, resources such as land & water fall under state jurisdiction rather than that of the central govt.. The pricing of electricity for consumers & the determination of power procurement methods also fall under the purview of the state govt.. As a result, state govt.’s

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RENEWABLE MIR ROR

Green Energy

Special Focus

can play a critical role in the advancement or discouragement of private capital flow for RE projects. The importance of the state as an entity was elucidated by an interviewee who recalled a scenario in which a particular state govt. was governed by the central govt.’s opposition party. Despite the incentives laid out in central govt. policies, the state govt. was able to impede a potential RE projects through sheer obstinacies. Intransigent local authorities were able to induce significant time delays, using bureaucracy & red tape to stall information requests & clearances. The discussant registered complaints to the heads of the appropriate departments to no avail. Eventually, after having exhausted all options, the discussant was forced to drop the proposed project. Willful use of delaying tactics on the part of the state authorities are not simply the by-product of partisan politics - administrative turf wars between the federal & state govt. can also side-line promising projects. Significant time delays in a project can be costly, serving to further dis-incentivize private capital flows. Off-taker risk: One of the most significant areas of concern in India is the poor financial health of the power sector & the consequential dampening effect on the flow of private capital for RE projects. Concerns are specifically focused on the DISCOMS which have been, with a few exceptions, operating at a loss for many years, with the govt. having to bail the sector out three times in the past 13 years. The largest factor for the continued failures of Indian DISCOMS is the policies that govern electricity prices for consumers. Consumer electricity rates are determined by state authorities & rates are largely set for political reasons with certain powerful lobbies, such as the agricultural sector, receiving fully subsided electricity. These electricity rate policies have unfortunate consequences for the DISCOMS, who have to pay power generators between 30 to 50% more than the amounts charged to end users. There are additional reasons for the financial losses incurred by Indian DISCOMS – among them large scale distribution issues [xv]. The distribution issues come most often in the form of power theft & transmission leakage due to unstable electricity grids [xvi]. Operational inefficiencies, largely manifested in the form of collection issues & misallocation of resources also affect DISCOMS, serving to add further cash flow strains to financially stressed balance sheets. The amalgamation of loss generating activities often force DISCOMS to take out loans to continue operational activities, which only further exacerbates the matter. Adding interest payments to the list of costs places firms under greater financial duress, leading to the aforementioned scenario wherein the govt. is forced to rescue the entire industry. Despite the implementation of policies aimed at revamping the sector, certain DISCOMS have been unable to follow through on their payment commitments to power generators over the past few years fulfilling only a portion of their power purchase commitments. This has once again put the Indian power sector in a precarious position leading to a great deal of investor uncertainty with regards to the financial viability of future power purchase agreements. The difficulties faced by the Indian power sector are further aggravated by policies implemented in certain states. RPO, a policy initiative designed to encourage RE projects,

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compel DISCOMS to purchase a certain percentage (5-10%) of their electricity from renewable power sources. While RE prices have been steadily falling, there are states where thermal power remains less expensive for distributors. Unfortunately, this has led to a scenario where DISCOMS have avoided entering into agreements with large RE producers, as the power provided by said sources would exceed the percentage required under the RPO’s. There are no easy solutions to the issues facing the Indian power sector. Under the India constitution, issues related to electricity pricing fall under the jurisdiction of the state govt.. Unless there is a constitutional amendment, the central govt. has no discernible way to regulate electricity prices charged to consumers, & are therefore powerless to make wholesale changes to the industry. Technology risks: Another area of concern for investors is the technology risk associated with the RE sector. An overarching issue, on the global level, pertains to the perception of RE as a technology that is still evolving. Consequentially, investor sentiment among certain segments views the risk of technology obsolescence to be too high. The possibility of a scenario in which RE investments quickly become antiquated & the potential downside of the losses that could be incurred, act as a psychological hurdle for some investors. In addition to the risk of industry wide technological risks, interviewees also voiced concerns about the adaptability of RE technologies to local conditions. Solar & wind component manufacturing is dominated by China & while the technologies have been tested in other regions, their performance under Indian conditions is uncertain given the nascent nature of its RE sector. Ideally, there would be standards to ensure the capability of all foreign manufactured RE components – unfortunately, India does not have any governing guidelines or regulatory body overlooking such imports. The lack of adaptability to the subcontinent’s environment could lead to excessive inefficiency or

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even failure of the technology under extreme conditions creating further uncertainty in the mind of investors. A further issue pertinent to the Indian RE ecosystem is the lack of easily accessible environmental data. In order to determine the viability of a RE project, investors tap into country specific databases to procure information regarding environmental factors. The importance of this data is perhaps best illustrated by looking at the example of a solar power plant. During the beginning stages of a solar project, potential investors attempt to identify the amount of solar radiation that a location receives over a certain time period. This data is then fed into software that calculates the amount of energy that will be generated if a solar plant is set up in the location, taking into account a multitude of factors. India does not currently have an existing solar radiation database. As a result, potential investors looking to build a solar plant have to use other data sources which have been shown to have discrepancies of up to seven% when projecting energy generation. The variance is hard to account for in the profit forecasting models that financiers use to make investment decisions, thereby creating an added layer of uncertainty for private capital to take into account. The state of India’s electricity grids is an additional source of apprehension for investors. India’s electrical grid infrastructure is below standards, with a T&D loss percentage of twenty of 21% in 2014, 4 times the T&D Loss percentage of China & the United States in the same year. Revenues losses due to T&D leakages are further compounded by the transmission constraints of the national electricity grid. India’s national electricity grid cannot currently handle excess electricity generation transfers between regions, which have leading to significant curtailment of RE power in certain states [xix]. If the issue is not rectified, there is the possibility of a worst-case scenario where over congested grids could lead to a scaling back of future contracts in an otherwise conducive RE environment. Leaving aside the T&D losses & the

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inherent inflexibility of the national electricity grid, India still faces problems in integrating renewable power sources to the grid. The variability & intermittency associated with solar & wind power, combined with a lack of grid capacity, has led to major bottlenecks in the transmission of renewable based electricity within states themselves. Curtailment rates have been as high as 50% due to issues related to transmission & the lack of a smart grid. Baring a dramatic uptick in investment, technology related concerns will continue to act as a deterrent for large scale private capital flow. Upgrades to the grid infrastructure are not enough however – they need to be paired with adequate inflows of technical knowledge in order to truly make the grid stable enough to handle increased energy capacity. The dearth of technical expertise is not restricted to grid-related issues – it is pervasive throughout India’s RE sector. Construction & maintenance of RE sources require specialized skill-sets. If appropriate capacity building measures for said skills sets are not prioritized within the labour force, there could be manpower shortages for RE construction & inadequate responses to operational problems for existing RE sources. Both scenarios could result in institutions rethinking private capital investments for RE in India.

Way Forward

The current Northwest energy system runs primarily on three different sources of energy: coal, hydro, and petroleum. Either coal or hydro supplies most of the electricity in every state in the Northwest. Massive amounts of energy are consumed from petroleum sources as well, however, in non-electrical uses such as transportation. Unfortunately, all three of these energy sources have drawbacks. Coal and petroleum are fossil fuels and therefore inherently limited in quantity. These fuels are also highly polluting, and cannot form the basis for a completely sustainable society. The other major source, hydroelectric power, has also come under fire from various groups due to adverse effects it imposes upon local aquatic life. The issue of how hydro should be weighed in terms of the benefits it brings with greatly lessened greenhouse gas emissions yet the drawbacks it presents with possibly causing the near extinction of several aquatic species is something we would like to continue exploring in the future. Technical impact information as well as sociological studies should both be used to shed more light on this delicate issue. Given that the big three forms of energy in the Northwest all have their drawbacks, it is important to consider the potential for changing to more sustainable energy sources. There are significant renewable resources available throughout the Northwest. While solar energy is by and large limited in terms of its potential (at least near-potential), several areas have excellent wind or geothermal resources A couple of states have some innovative incentive programs. Perhaps these could be models for the other states At this time we conclude that renewable energy resources do have the potential to provide a significant amount of energy in the Northwest, but there are certainly some political issues we need to examine more (e.g. hydro dam removal, deregulation). RM || August 2021 ||

RENEWABLE MIR ROR

Special Theme

Smart Cities

Smart cities can become a model for a property and ultra-modern way

Vaccine or not, we have to come to terms with the reality that COVID-19 requires us to rethink how we live. And that includes the idea of smart cities that use advanced technologies to serve citizens. This has become critical in a time of pandemic. But as we prepare to move beyond this crisis, cities need to design systems that are prepared to handle the next pandemic. Better still, they will reduce the chances of another one. Issues of trust are central In a world of egalitarian governments and ethical corporations, the solution to a coronavirus-like pandemic would be simple: a complete individual-level track and trace system. It would use geolocation data and CCTV image recognition, complemented by remote biometric sensors. While some such governments and corporations do exist, putting so much information in the hands of a few, without airtight privacy controls, could lay the foundations of an Orwellian world. Our research on smart city challenges suggests a robust solution should be a mix of protocols and norms covering technology, processes and people. To avoid the perils of individual-level monitoring systems, we need to focus on how to leverage technology to modify voluntary citizen behaviour. This is not a trivial challenge. Desired behaviours that maximise societal benefit may not align with individual preferences in the short run. In part, this could be due to misplaced beliefs or misunderstanding of the long-term consequences. As an example, despite the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the US, many states have had public protests against

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Smart Cities

Special Theme

revenues. lockdowns. A serious proportion of polled Americans believe this pandemic is a hoax, or that its threat is being exaggerated • During her speech, she also proposed setting up of large for political reasons. solar power capacity alongside rail tracks on land owned by the Railways. With industry majors being positive about the government’s plans on meeting the target of 175 GW of installed clean energy Here are the implications these announcements might have capacity by 2022, Budget 2020 was rather a much-awaited on the future of the sector: affair for the renewable energy industry. To help us further • KPMG’s report suggests that the increased budgetary understand the hits and misses (though not anticipated but, if allocation for MNRE will improve financial assistance for various clean energy initiatives such as solar parks, roof-top any) of this year’s budget, KPMG analysts present a detailed solar, off-grid renewable energy, etc. overview of the key announcements made for the renewable energy sector and they imply about the future of the sector. • The Rs 1000 crore budget allocated for furthering the PM-KUSUM scheme can also have a major effect on the (The details have been presented in a report prepared by sector. The report states: “This kind of significant monetary KPMG India’s Energy and Natural Resources department.) • First, here’s a round-up of all the announcements made for the sustainable energy sector in FY21 Budget:

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) received a major boost with budgetary allocation going up by 48% in comparison to the revised allocation in last fiscal. • In her budget speech, FM Nirmala Sitharaman, while presenting a 16 point action plan for the agriculture sector aimed at doubling farmers’ income by 2022, announced the allocation of Rs 1000 crore for extending the Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (KUSUM) scheme. This would aid farmers in adopting solar power for agricultural purposes and utilize barren/unproductive land for generating

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allocation will help speed up implementation and could potentially result in 10-15 GW of new capacity creation if it materialises. This will be a big push for farmer’s income, but will in turn require lesser demand for grid scale power, targets for which then should be adjusted downwards.” Additionally, the report also suggests that banks will have to provide funding at an effective cost of interest to aid the implementation of renewable energy projects and the commission will have to consider for feed-in tariff after taking into account the cost of debt. • Lastly, the proposal to set up large solar capacity alongside railway tracks can help the Railways add about 18-20 GW capacity by utilising vacant land owned by the Indian Railways

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1. Retrofitting existing heritage town infrastructure to form it smart: There are varieties of latent problems to think about once reviewing a sensible town strategy. The foremost vital is to work out the prevailing city’s weak areas that require utmost thought, e.g. 100-per-cent distribution of facility and sanitation. The combination of isolated heritage systems to realize wide efficiencies are often a big challenge. and reduce their power procurement cost.

This is the primary time, a MoUD programme is mistreatment the ‘Challenge’ or competition technique to pick cities for funding and employing a strategy of area-based development. This captures the spirit of ‘competitive and cooperative federalism’. States and ULBs can play a key ancillary role within the development of smart cities. Good leadership and vision at this level and skill to act resolutely are vital factors determinative the success of the Mission. Understanding the ideas of retrofitting, renovation and Greenfield development by the policy manufacturers, implementers and different stakeholders at completely different levels would require capability help. Major investments in time and resources can get to be created throughout the design section before participation within the Challenge. This can be completely different from the traditional DPR-driven approach. The smart cities Mission needs good folks that actively participate in governance and reforms. National involvement is way quite a ceremonial participation in governance. good folks involve themselves within the definition of the good town, choices on deploying good Solutions, implementing reforms, doing additional with less and oversight throughout ||www.renewablemirror.com||

2. Funding sensible cities: The High Power knowledgeable Committee (HPEC) on Investment Estimates in Urban Infrastructure has assessed a per-capita investment price (PCIC) of Rs 43,386 for a 20-year amount. Exploitation a mean figure of one million individuals in every of the a hundred sensible cities, the full estimate of investment necessities for the sensible town involves Rs seven hundred thousand large integer over twenty years (with associate degree annual step-up of ten per cent from 2009-20 to 2014-15). This interprets into associate degree annual demand of Rs 35,000 crore. One has to see however these comes are going to be supported because the majority of project want would move through complete personal investment or through PPPs (public-private partnership). 3. Handiness of programme or town development plan: Most of our cities don’t have master plans or a town development plan, that is that the key to sensible planning and implementation and encapsulates all a town has to improve and supply higher opportunities to its voters. Sadly 70-80 per cent of Indian cities don’t have one.

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implementing and coming up with post-project structures so as to form the good town developments property. The participation of good folks is enabled by the SPV through increasing use of ICT, particularly mobile-based tools. Having recognised that cities are the engines of growth and are drawing 1,000,000 individuals each minute from rural areas, the govt. has introduced the ‘Smart town Challenge’, delivering the in cumbrance of planned urbanisation to the states. Within the approach to the sensible Cities Mission, the target is to push cities that give core infrastructure and supply quality of life to voters, a clean and property atmosphere and application of ‘smart’ solutions. Those states that do to the rules and nominate cities may get funding of Rs a hundred large integer p.a. per town for ensuing 5 years. The funding could be a golden probability for states to rejuvenate their urban areas however the sensible Cities Mission still has its own challenges to face. Here are the highest 10:

4. Money property of ULBs: Most ULBs aren't financially self-sustainable and tariff levels mounted by the ULBs for providing services typically don't mirror the value of activity constant. Although further investments are recovered in an exceedingly phased manner, inadequate price recovery can result in continued money losses.

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RENEWABLE MIR ROR

Special Theme

Smart Cities

5. Technical constraints of ULBs: Most ULBs have restricted technical capability to confirm timely and efficient implementation and sequent operations and maintenance due to restricted accomplishment over variety of years at the side of inability of the ULBs to draw in better of talent at market competitive compensation rates. 6. Three-tier governance: victorious implementation of sensible town solutions desires effective horizontal and vertical coordination between numerous establishments providing numerous municipal amenities in addition as effective coordination between central government (MoUD), government and native government agencies on numerous problems associated with funding and sharing of best practices and repair delivery processes. 7. Providing clearances in an exceedingly timely manner: For timely completion of the project, all clearances ought to use on-line processes and be cleared in an exceedingly time-bound manner. A restrictive body ought to be got wind of for all utility services in order that grade enjoying field is formed obtainable to the personal sector and tariffs are set in an exceedingly manner that balances money property with quality. 8. Coping with a multivendor environment: Another major challenge within the Indian sensible town area is that (usually) package infrastructure in cities contains elements provided by totally different vendors. Hence, the power to handle complicated combos of sensible town solutions developed by multiple technology vendors becomes terribly vital. 9. Capability building programme: Building capability for a hundred sensible cities isn't a simple task and most 48

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bold comes is delayed due to lack of quality men, each at the centre and state levels. In terms of funds, solely around five per cent of the central allocation is also allotted for capability building programs that concentrate on coaching, discourse analysis, information exchange and a chic info. Investments in capability building programs have a number impact as they assist in time-bound completion of comes and in coming up with programs, developing college, building databases in addition as coming up with tool kits and call support systems. As of these have a lag time, capability building has to be reinforced right at the start. 10. Dependability of utility services: For any sensible town within the world, the main target is on dependability of utility services, whether or not it's electricity, water, phone or broadband services. Sensible cities ought to have universal access to electricity 24×7; this is often inconceivable with the prevailing offer and distribution system. Cities got to shift towards renewable sources and concentrate on inexperienced buildings and inexperienced transport to cut back the requirement for electricity.

Is Solar Power the Future for Smart Cities? It may have started with sensible cars and sensible homes, however as technology advances, the "smart" trend is taking on entire cities. Across the country and therefore the world, cities of all sizes area unit reworking their infrastructure, systems, and operations to maximize new technologies and integrate connected solutions into the terribly cloth of however they operate and look after their voters. Through advances in information assortment and analytics, they will anticipate and reply to daily challenges like traffic flow ||www.renewablemirror.com||

and potential emergencies like severe storms. But these new sensible cities are not simply forward-thinking once it involves the most effective ways that to serve the general public — several of them also are pioneering efforts to include property and energy potency into developing sensible town solutions. Integration of solar energy and alternative renewable energy sources is quickly changing into a trademark of sensible urban planning. Here's a glance at a number of the innovative ways that sensible town initiatives and school leaders area unit harnessing solar energy in their quest to make the cities of the longer term. Federal Government focuses on sensible and Property Development Last year, the Administration proclaimed a $160 million investment into sensible town development. The initiative required a stress on solutions to manage the economic process, crime rates, and — apparently — global climate change. While the property hasn't traditionally been a high priority in urban planning, the present state of the setting is quickly ever-changing that trend. Innovators and school mogul’s area unit specializing in energy potency and their environmental impact over ever before. Sensible resolution suppliers area unit following suit, providing hi-tech infrastructure choices which will facilitate town governments save on energy prices at the same time as they cut back their carbon output. This is often Associate in the Nursing particularly sensible pairing as a result of it permits municipalities to consolidate efforts to enhance the quality of life and property below one umbrella initiative, instead of in multiple separate solutions. Department of Transportation Makes DC star a Partner for sensible town Challenge other government department’s area unit pushing smaller initiatives for property sensible

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town development, too. The sensible town Challenge, for example — a contest instigated by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) — offered up to $40 million to town that came up with the most effective "smart city" set up. The challenge inspired cities to become totally integrated and connected victimization sensible technology and property energy to form however individuals and product get from one place to a different. DC star partnered with the U.S. DOT, giving mobile star generators and electric vehicle chargers price $1.5 million to winning town Columbus, Ohio. Additionally, the corporate pledged to figure with the opposite six competition cities to adopt mobile star technology and incorporate the use of electric cars into town infrastructure. DC star also will facilitate the cities convert diesel off-grid power generators to star. IBM Predicts Weather Patterns to maximize solar energy The movement toward adopting renewable energy to power sensible cities is not while not its hurdles. Solar energy is nice as long because the sun is shining, however cloudy days will minimize the energy output star arrays will manufacture. One grid-tied home losing star potency is not an enormous downside, however, once a city-wide infrastructure is tied to solar energy production, having the ability to set up around periods of low potency is crucial. In a trial to mitigate the impact of overcast weather, school big IBM is staring at ways that to accurately predict bad weather. As a part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Sun Shot Initiative, IBM has conducted analysis that they claim produces weather predictions that area unit half-hour a lot of correct than the National Weather Service. Increased accuracy can facilitate town governments and utility firms recognize beforehand what quantity sun a star plant

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RENEWABLE MIR ROR

Smart Cities

Special Theme

can receive at any given time, permitting them to raised set up their power masses. With the correct response, this foresight has the potential to save lots of cash and cut back reliance on coal and gas power plants that usually got to obtain the slack once clouds appear. These examples area unit simply the tip of the iceberg once it involves sensible town initiatives. Due to solar energy efforts and alternative renewable energy sources, the town of the longer term goes to be a lot of economical, a lot of connections, and a lot of property. Creating cities smarter and greener can amendment the manner municipalities operate and facilitate voters maximize their potential as accountable, property members of a world community? Azure power to put in top star comes on government buildings Independent solar energy producer Azure Power these days proclaimed it's bagged a contract to put in two power unit capability top star comes for Udaipur sensible town restricted (USCL). As per the contract, the company’s subsidiary Azure Roof Power can style, supply, install, commission and operate the grid-connected top star Photo-Voltaic (PV) comes for twenty-five years at multiple government buildings in Udaipur. The project is calculable to save lots of twenty-five per cent of USCL’s existing electricity price. “Rooftop star forms a necessary a part of the sensible cities development and is remedies to the growing infrastructural issues of the Asian nation to create a better and a lot of property future. In 2013, we have a tendency to designed the primary MW-scale top project in Gandhinagar below the sensible town initiative and recently we've got worked on many sensible towns comes in Bhubaneshwar and Cuttack,” same Inderpreet Wadhwa, Founder, Chairman and Chief officer of Azure Power. Role of alternative energy in developing sensible Cities in the country

push the applying of alternative energy on an outsized and property scale of India. Star applications like star street lights, star water heaters, upside star etc. will go an extended method in conveyance a clean and inexperienced living vogue to those smart cities. Not solely can these smart cities improve the conditions in Republic of India in terms of employment generation And an urban living vogue, it'll conjointly go an extended method in promoting the usage of renewable kinds of energy and therefore facilitate the country fight the growing considerations of worldwide warming and pollution. It has already been mandated that 100% of the smart cities’ energy demand can return from alternative energy and a minimum of eightieth buildings ought to be energy economical and inexperienced buildings. With an inspiration to develop or so one hundred such cities, the speed of renewable energy usage can go up within the country. Alternative energy solutions for sensible cities The vision of a contemporary Asian nation encapsulates the conception of 'smart cities' to deal with the phenomenally speedy urbanization of our nation. The govt. has proclaimed plans to form 100 sensible cities to satisfy the challenge of the longer term, because it has been calculable that by 2050 India's urban community’s are expected to rise to a thumping fifty per cent of the population. Significantly, regarding sixty six per cent of the world's population would then be living in urban areas. Cities worldwide would consume simple

Smart Cities in the country

In Gregorian calendar month 2016, the Asian nation government proclaimed a listing of twenty cities to be developed into sensible cities in India. Today’s era contains everything that's sensible – be it smartphones, sensible individuals or the construct of sensible town. Primarily a wise town is a complicated urban city/ city that have the well-connected infrastructure and communications through information centers and automatic networks. The Asian nation is expecting to develop ninety-eight such cities altogether. These cities can become a model town for a property and ultra-modern way. Importance of alternative energy in smart cities of India Hence these cities will become the developing centers to 50

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fraction of worldwide energy and contribute up to eighty per cent of worldwide greenhouse emission. At present, regarding three hundred million of our countrymen live sans electricity. Therefore, we've protracted thanks to go as way as our endeavors to administer basic wants and quality of life to voters is involved. This, indeed, could be a warning sign. The vision of a contemporary are encapsulates the conception of 'smart cities' to deal with the phenomenally speedy urbanization of our nation. The govt. has proclaimed plans to form 100 sensible cities to satisfy the challenge of the longer term, because it has been calculable that by 2050 India's urban community’s are expected to rise to a thumping fifty per cent of the population. Significantly, regarding sixty six per cent of the world's population would then be living in urban areas. Cities worldwide would consume simple fraction of worldwide energy and contribute up to eighty per cent of worldwide greenhouse emission. At present, regarding three hundred million of our countrymen live sans electricity. Therefore, we've protracted thanks to go as way as our endeavors to administer basic wants and quality of life to voter’s are involved. This, indeed, could be a warning sign. However, India would positively return up with answers for such challenges of the twenty first century supported its civilization's knowledge and attribute. Indians are conservative naturally, however precocious with such qualities

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as resilience, ability and frugalness - these are our strengths. For instance, even those that will afford to pay the next electricity bill can have solely such lights switched on as are essential. Most homes have one house that's unbroken cool within the summer or warm up in winter. Entire homes are rarely climate-controlled. If one were to require a glance at rural Asian nation, a revolution of kinds has taken place within the past few years. Light-emitting diode lamps have replaced traditional electrical bulbs all over, thereby saving an enormous quantity of electricity. It is calculable that by 2030, India's energy demand can increase by virtually two hundred per cent. in line with an analysis allotted by the ministry of recent and renewable energy, at an doable and conservative gross domestic product increase of half-dozen.5 per cent, our energy would like would bit 7,55,719 MW. This was capably exhorted by the prime minister at the COP twenty one summits in Paris - "We ought to guarantee, within the spirit of climate justice, that the lifetime of some doesn't force out the opportunities for the various still on the initial steps of the event ladder". whereas coal is probably going to be our dominant energy supply for the close to and mid-term future, we have a tendency to are doubtless to ascertain larger use of other, carbon-free sources of energy like gas, hydro, nuclear and a bunch of alternative renewable sources. We have no alternative however to travel sure less and fewer fossil fuels and step by step enhance dependence on nature-based clean and renewable energy sources and reach planned targets in an exceedingly time-bound manner. What’s additional vital is that we've to reinforce investments in research project and develop technologies to maximise the assembly, storage and loss-free distribution of unpolluted energy. Besides that, new technology would want to be exploited to evolve energy-saving and energy-efficient techniques and build the entire initiative property as an integrated 'smart energy system'. India, as an accountable international player, has set for itself formidable targets of, firstly, cutting carbon emissions intensity of its gross domestic product by thirty five per cent from 2005 levels by 2030 with forty per cent of its energy returning from 'non-fossil fuels'. Secondly, it aims at making a hundred seventy five GW of renewable energy by 2022, of that a hundred GW would be made from alternative energy. The International star Alliance was launched throughout the COP twenty one summit in Paris by Narendra Modi and therefore the French president, François Hollande. The latter not solely praised India's initiative however conjointly assured handsome support by France. This step would possibly well become another pillar of the strategic partnership between the 2 countries. The importance of alternative energy as another power supply has so been globally enshrined. RM || August 2021 ||

RENEWABLE MIR ROR

Special Feature

Solar & Stoarge Energy

The solar industry is trying to overcome the safeguard duty

India is fast moving towards an energy future with systems that will combine solar power and battery technologies, according to research firm JMK Research & Analytics. The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of such a system is already economical for the commercial and industrial category in most of the states for both open access and rooftop solar projects, it said in a statement. “Solar+storage is also a viable option for the standalone system where there is no grid connectivity, and the electricity is generated using diesel gensets. The cost of storage systems is likely to fall further with the proposed battery manufacturing facilities. Thus, improving the financial viability of solar+storage system,” the firm said in a press release. JMK Research considered three scenarios to understand the current cost dynamics of battery storage. In this, they analysed technical and financial parameters of the solar+storage system for behind the meter installations for the commercial and industrial segment. The rationale behind the four-hour battery backup is that the peak demand comes from 6 pm to 8 pm in the evening and as more and more states opt for the time-of-day tariff, the battery back-up of four hours would help consumers avoid the high cost of tariff applicable in these peak hours. The financial model is based on assumptions including for solar a depreciation of 3.6 per cent for 25 years and for battery a depreciation of 9 per cent for first battery life, followed by 6 per cent for second battery life was assumed. The tariff of the combined solar and battery system would range between Rs 6.6 per unit and Rs 9 per unit under different capacity scenarios for both the technologies. The report said that in order to increase storage adoption, policymakers should devise policies to benefit all the stakeholders and promote storage systems along with solar. “Financial incentives can help in reducing the burden on consumers and utilities and will help in faster adoption. A separate fund can also be created to support solar+storage

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Solar & Stoarge Energy

Special Feature

systems,” it said. The firm added that the government can also direct financial institutions and banks to provide low-cost financing to the upcoming solar+storage projects, which would further help in tariff reductions and improve projects’ viability. According to a draft ‘National energy storage mission’ (NESM) document, Battery making represents a “Huge economic opportunity for India”, which also contour how the country could capture value across the supply chain and increase speed of the country’s adoption of renewable energy. The Indian government Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) issued a declaration some time ago, announcing the publication of a joint report on the potential for scaling up domestic manufacturing of batteries for EV. Written by NITI Aayog – (the National Institution for Transforming India) and US think tank Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), the frames key policy recommendations to be a part of three distinct stages. While the MNRE statement referred to energy storage as “one of the most prominent and analytical components of India’s energy infrastructure”, with the mission itself and its Expert Committee brought together to achieve a target of becoming a leader in the energy storage sector, the report focuses almost absolutely on the manufacture of batteries for EVs. The NESM also demonstrate incentives and other various methods to speed up the market, such as tax incentives and land grants for manufacturers as well as the streamlining of

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empowering systems. Government of India is targeting for 100% of the car sales which runs with electricity by the year 2030, which NITI Aayog and RMI said was ambitious but can be achieved, with a supportive government and an “active and involved consortium”. In fact, the report’s authors only mention addressing the need for batteries for the stationary storage market once this all-electric consumer transport future has been reached. According to sources, Power Minister Mr. R.K. Singh attended the meeting with battery-based energy storage manufacturers calling on them to set up manufacturing units in India, stating that a “Make in India” policy favoring such attempts and identical to ‘Make in India’ policies for other sectors was forthcoming. Within the short time, the industry also received a boost just a few weeks ago when the rate of the newly introduced Goods and Services Tax (GST) - applied across all sectors of the Indian economy – that is applicable to lithium-ion batteries, was short by 10%. SECI Likely to Issue RFS for 2.5 GW of Solar in Kargil very soon The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has issued a notification expressing that the Request for Selection (RFS) for setting up of 2.5 GW grid-connected solar PV projects in Kargil region will be issued shortly. This capacity comes under phase-I of the government’s plan to set up of 23 GW in the Leh and Kargil Regions, Jammu & Kashmir. Latest in the month of November 2018, the Ministry of ||www.renewablemirror.com||

The solar system is expected to save 1 million/year in electricity cost The Delhi Legislative Assembly building has gone green with the recent installation of a 100 kW rooftop solar system. The cost of the solar project installation is estimated to be Rs 735,000 (~$10,470), according to PTI. It is anticipated ||www.renewablemirror.com||

Markets and Policy GRIDCO signs PPA with Aditya Birla Renewable for the remaining 75 MW. The Grid Corporation of Odisha (GRIDCO) recently cancelled 125 MW out of its recent auction conducted for 200 MW of grid-connected solar projects. The GRIDCO has now signed a 25-year PPA to develop the remaining 75 MWs with Aditya Birla Renewables. The capacity was tendered by GRIDCO in April 2018 and was oversubscribed by almost four times. In the auction, Aditya Birla Renewable had quotedRs.2.79 (~$0.0406)/kWh to develop 75 MW of solar capacity. Sukhbir Agro bid Rs.3.19 (~$0.0464)/kWh to develop 25 MW, Gupta Power quoted the same tariff to develop 20 MW. Eden Renewable quoted Rs.3.19 (~$0.0464)/kWh to develop 50 MW and ACME Solar quoted a tariff of Rs.3.20 (~$0.0466)/kWh to develop another 50 MW. Previously, Mercom reported that the tariff aboveRs3 (~$0.0429)/kWh mark was not financially feasible || August 2021 ||

w w w. r e n e w a b l e m i r r o r. c o m

New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) announced a plan for the execution of 23 GW of ultra mega solar projects in the Leh and Ladakh regions of Jammu & Kashmir. The grid-connected solar PV projects are planned to be set up in the Pang region in Leh and in the Zangla region in Kargil. The 2,500 MW grid-connected solar PV project is tentatively planned to be in New Wanpoh region and the 5,000 MW grid-connected solar PV project is tentatively planned to be in Hisar. The scope of work would include the setting up of the grid-connected solar PV projects along with implementation of the entire power evacuation infrastructure (substations along with transmission lines), up to the drawl point. A single tender would be issued for the selection of the project developer, who would be responsible for the setting up of the project along with the power evacuation infrastructure. Speaking at the CII’s Government and Business Partnership Conclave in August, the Minister of Power, Mr. R.K. Singh had said, “We have 35 GW of installation potential in Ladakh. We will come out with single bid of 25 GW with storage and delivery at Una.” This will be India’s largest tender so far in terms of the capacity envisaged.

to save Delhi assembly nearly Rs1 million (~$14,244) in electricity bill on the annual basis. The agedness of the solar project is expected to be 25 years. Ram Niwas Goel, the speaker of the Delhi assembly, told PTI, “The second phase of 100 kW of solar panels will be installed in Delhi Vidhan Sabha premises soon.” Delhi government has taken several steps in the past months to increase the adoption of renewable energy in the region in order to combat the harmful and unsafe air quality and make the national capital more sustainable. For instance, in July 2018, the government had planned to launch a Solar Rooftop Demand Aggregation Program for domestic customers in the nation’s capital. The program would benefit consumers including residential, schools, hospitals and municipal segments with an anticipated assembled demand of 40 MW under the RESCO mode. In the same month, it approved Mukhya Mantri Agriculture-cum Solar Farm Program to enhance farmer productivity and revenue attain the state’s solar target as per the Delhi Solar Policy 2016.Recently, Delhi’s Indraprastha Power Generation Co. Ltd. (IPGCL) issued a tender for 35 MW of grid-connected rooftop solar projects in Delhi under the Mukhya Mantri Solar Power Program. BSES, Delhi’s major distribution company (DISCOM), announced that it has installed more than 1,000 solar rooftop connections with a sanctioned solar load of over 40 MW. According to BSES, the total number of solar rooftop net metering connections is likely to cross 2,000 and the sanctioned solar load will double up to around 80 MW by the end of 2018.In November 2018, the Delhi government also released its draft Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy 2018 to improve Delhi’s air quality by bringing down the emission from transport sector. This policy will apply to Battery Electric Vehicles as defined in Fast Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME). Moreover, Mild Hybrid, Strong Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles are not included in the policy.

RENEWABLE MIR ROR

Special Feature

Solar & Stoarge Energy

for GRIDCO and any tariffs over that could be cancelled. As the difference between L1 and the other bidders was more than Rs.0.40 (~$0.0057)/kWh, GRIDCO asked the other bidders to match the lowest tariff of Rs.2.79 (~$0.0406)/ kWh. According to Mercom’s sources, despite the plea made by GRIDCO, the bidders denied to reduce the tariff rates. This, consequently, led to the cancellation of 125 MW of solar projects, and the capacity is now likely to be retendered by GRIDCO. An official at Sukhbir Agro, who’s 25 MW has been cancelled, commented saying, “We have denied matching the L1 price as it is too low, and the other players are in the same price range”. The solar industry is trying to overcome the safeguard duty and GST, but government agencies continue to insist on lower tariffs which developers feel are unviable.

Progress in the Off-Grid utilities The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has received approval to launch phase II of Atal Jyoti Yojna (AJAY) during the financial year 2018-19 and 2019-20. The ministry has also received Rs.500 million (~$7.13 million) to meet the pending liabilities of phase I of the program. Under the phase II of AJAY, 304,500 solar street lights are expected to be installed in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and North Eastern states including Sikkim, Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshadweep and parliamentary constituencies covering 48 aspirational districts. The estimated cost per light is Rs.25, 000 (~$356) and the MNRE will provide Rs.5.71 billion (~$81.41 million), which is 75 percent of the total cost of solar street lights to be installed in phase II. The remaining 25 percent will come from Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) fund of respective constituencies. The Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) is the implementing agency for the phase II of the AJAY scheme. The project needs to be implemented within one year from the date of notification. The MNRE had launched the Atal Jyoti Yojna in 2016. By March 2018, 1.45 lakh solar street lights were installed in 96 parliamentary constituencies. In June 2018, the Union Cabinet approved phase three of the Off-grid and Decentralized Solar PV Application Program. Under the program, a total of 3, 00, 000 solar street lights would be installed across the country and areas devoid of grid connectivity with no facility of street lighting solution would get precedence over other areas. The program also aims to distribute 25, 00, 000 solar study lamps in northeastern states and left wing extremism affected districts. Tenders and Auctions Indian Railways Invites Bids for 2 MW of Solar Projects along Delhi-Ambala Line. The last date for submission of bids is January 28, 2019. The Railway Energy Management

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Company Limited (REMCL), a joint venture of Indian Railways and RITES Limited, has invited bids for setting up of 2 MW of solar projects along the Delhi-Ambala railway track. The projects, which will be located near Diwana station, will follow a tariff-based competitive bidding. The successful bidder will sign power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Northern Railways for a period of 25 years. To be eligible to bid for the project, the net worth of the bidder should be equal to or greater than the Rs.10.7 million (~$0.15 million) per MW of the project capacity as on the last date of financial year 2017-18. Earlier, REMCL had also invited bids for a 50 MW solar project on railways land at Bhilai, Chhattisgarh. Railways are the single largest consumer of electricity in the country, with roughly 2 percent share of national energy consumption. Moreover, Indian Railways has announced that it is planning to become a net-zero carbon emitter by 2030 and is working tirelessly on all fronts to reduce its carbon footprint. The infrastructure as well as the space available to the Indian Railways has opened avenues for the development of rooftop and ground-mount solar projects that can be utilized to address its increasing energy needs. Solar panels at rooftops of 78 railway stations across Kerala have been planned based on feasibility at the stations. Mercom previously reported that the Indian Railways had announced it will soon launch tenders to set up large-scale solar power projects, inching closer towards its overall solar power target of 5 GW. The 5 GW capacities will consist of utility-scale and rooftop solar power projects. BHEL to Set Up 129 MW of Solar Projects in Telangana for Singareni Collieries. This is by far the largest solar power project order won by BHEL. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), a public sector undertaking (PSU) involved in the manufacturing of electrical equipment, has won an order for setting up 129 MW of solar power projects in Telangana from Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL). This is by far the largest solar power project order won by BHEL with a value of Rs 5.65 billion (~$ 79.79 million). The 129 MW projects are to be set up at four locations in Telangana – Ramagundam (50 MW), Yellandu (39 MW), Manuguru (30 MW), and Pegadapally (10 MW), on engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) basis. The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) had issued a tender to award EPC contracts for development of 150 MW solar PV capacity spread across various locations of SCCL. It was a domestic competitive bidding tender. “BHEL has been awarded 129 MW in the first phase and the remaining capacity is yet to be processed. The most likely time to process the remaining capacity will be around February end”, an SCCL official informed Mercom India. SCCL has estimated the entire capacity development to cost ||www.renewablemirror.com||

approximately Rs13,615 million (~$199.9 million) through a debt equity ratio of 70:30. Per SCCL, the debt portion of Rs.9, 530 million (~$139 million) will be met through banks and foreign investors and equity portion of Rs.4,085 million (~$ 59.6 million) will be met through SCCL’s internal resources. The SCCL board has approved detailed project reports for nine solar projects. In June 2018, BHEL had announced bagging orders worth Rs1.25 billion (~$0.019 billion) for the development of two solar power projects in Gujarat. The recent win for Renew Power in the round the clock power tender for 400 MW at Rs 2.90 kWh marked a huge turning point for storage in India too. For one, the renewable+ storage combination as a way to get power at all hours possibly, and at scale, is no longer a possibility that will get laughed off. A reaction we would regularly hear as recently as 9-10 months ago. The 1200 MW tender RE+storage that preceded this one, although with peak power supply requirements, had already indicated that things were changing far faster than people imagined. Secondly, questions about the opportunity in storage, while no longer relevant, will now be focused on the fact that the same cost pressure that accompanied the growth of solar in India will bear down on storage suppliers and manufacturers too. For storage, that means the margin premium for early movers is a very small window indeed. How the sector, that is still taking shape, adapts to this reality remains to be seen. Will it impact manufacturing decisions for India? Or will it mean government protection of some sort soon? While there are multiple technologies aiming to make a mark, at this point, Lithium Ion remains well ahead. The good news is that being a little behind the curve; India will get the benefit of both scale economics and research investment already made into storage technology. The storage market was already projected to rise from $18 billion in 2019 to $100 billion in 2025. On the back of strong pipelines for capacity creation in China, the US and Australia. All three countries have seen resurgence in Hybrid solutions, or Renewable+ storage systems, something India discovered last week with the Renew bid. In fact, Woodmac, the global research firm predicts that despite the disruptions caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, global storage addition will go from 5.2 GW in 2019 to 12.6 GW in 2020. In India, there is a strong pipeline building up for storage linked projects, of which the smaller ones will start coming online from 2021 onwards. In terms of long term demand and growth, any number of triggers could increase it, or sustain it. Old, polluting coal powered stations could be retired, for instance. The power ministry itself had informed a Parliamentary Standing commitee on energy that thermal power plants of 42,877 megawatt (MW) capacity have outlived their lives and have been operational for 25 years or more in ||www.renewablemirror.com||

India. The 1973 make Badarpur Thermal Power Station was virtually forced to shut down in 2018 as pollution worries in the NCR region reached a crescendo. There is no reason not to apply the same standards to many more areas where similar vintage plants operate, especially as the low cost argument of coal fired energy versus renewable is laid to rest now. In fact, over 50% of the country’s thermal plants today are over 25 years old, if one goes by the list of plants on the CEA website. The oldest ones that are over 40 years ( pre -1980) are a sizeable cohort themselves. Close to 60 GW of capacity is linked to these plants. many of these plants are already living on borrowed time, as they have managed repeated extensions on deadlines to comply with new pollution norms. The latest deadline is 2021. At some stage, the owners of these plants, which include many state discoms themselves or the NTPC , will take a call on closure or extending their lives further, with the latter becoming an increasingly expensive proposition. That means fresh installation demand for renewable energy, but this time with storage. As power markets evolve to a more competitive market possibly, customers will also get more choice from generators who go with renewable energy+ storage options to meet demand. The drop in storage costs seen recently challenges many projections, and notions about the limitations of renewable energy in meeting ‘baseload’ requirements. 2015 might be too early, but 2030 is definitely a time when the last of the doubts are blown away by the performance of the hybrid projects that come up by then. Throw in better handling of the power produced today ( a lot of captive commercial renewable power is wasted on holidays, for instance), and you have the making of a perfect, long runway for storage in India. RM

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RENEWABLE MIR ROR

Guest Article

Growatt Embraces Smart Manufacturing with Its New Facility

Growatt celebrating 10 years of Trust, partnership and Commited towards Greener world with one of the biggest String Inverters manufacturing facility of 20GW yearly production plant Set-up in year 2021. In 2021, Growatt Smart Factory will be officially put into production, which can provide 20GW of production capacity for global customers every year . Huizhou Smart Factory covers an area of 200,000 square meters, including material warehouses, production workshops and finished products warehouses. It creatively proposed and applied platformbased factory design concepts, and established a smart factory system with automated production, intelligent logistics and information management. The new Growatt manufacturing center introduces a series of modern manufacturing management systems, with the incorporation of varied data management tools and cloud-based technologies, to implement production automation and management digitalization. This includes the deployment of new intelligent production equipment, highly automated inspection facilities, integrated management systems and an advanced unmanned warehouse system. The new manufacturing center practices a One-Piece Flow production process to ensure continuous high-quality production from PCBA to final package on one production line. To further enhance the efficiency and flexibility of the production process, Growatt adopts a distributed warehouse system to provide nearby materials and storage while reducing the time consumption of materials

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transportation. The use of intelligent AGVs also significantly reduces manual errors and improves the accuracy of data management. Furthermore, industrial leading ESOP and MES systems enable comprehensive, dynamic, and integrated management, which allows monitoring, tracking, documenting and control from raw materials to finished products. In addition to the modern production management system, Growatt has world-class manufacturing facilities, including Class 100,000 SMT cleanrooms, fully-automated solder paste printing, AOI inspection and conformal coating equipment, to ensure quality and efficiency of the final product to the greatest extent. In terms of warehouse transportation and management, Growatt is one of the pioneers to realize unmanned transportation between workshops and warehouses, as well as self-check-in and self-check-out of inventories. Growatt’s new manufacturing center is an embodiment of modern high-intelligence, high-automation, and high-digital manufacturing.

Industry-Leading 20GW Production Capacity

The manufacturing center covers an area of 200,000 sqm, with a construction area of 120,000 sqm. Advanced production lines of single-phase and three-phase inverters, hybrid inverters, off-grid inverters, storage batteries are deployed at the facility. Its annual production capacity reaches up to 1.5 million units with a total output of 20GW. With the new manufacturing center put into production, Growatt will continue to provide high-quality products, flexible delivery and sufficient capacity to meet growing global market demand and to provide clear and convenient access to green energy for households and businesses worldwide. ||www.renewablemirror.com||

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RENEWABLE MIR ROR

Guest Article

Development of solar parks in India - a global phenomenon

The renewable energy sector especially in the energy infrastructure in India has taken a centre stage to achieve India’s economic goals. To transform the present expensive, unreliable, and polluting fossil-fuels-based solar market into a low-cost, dependable, and low-emission system based on renewable energy, the government established a target of 175 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy by fiscal year (FY) 2021/22. According to the Central Electricity Authority's analysis on the "optimal generation capacity mix for 2030," the aim was raised to 450GW by 2030 in 2019. More than 90 percent of the 30 GW of renewable energy capacity added since the start of FY 2017/18, as well as another 50 GW awarded to date, has been contracted at rates ranging from Rs. 2.43-2.80 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) (US$35-40 per megawatt-hour (MWh) for 25 years with no indexation In India's first year pricing, this is 60-70 percent less than the expected new non-mine mouth coal-fired power plants. In December 2014, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) announced a plan to establish Solar Parks and Ultra-Mega Solar Power Projects. It recommended at the time that at least 25 solar parks and Ultra Mega solar power plants be established across the country. Since then, India has built a few ultra-mega solar parks with installed capacities over one gigawatt (GW) like the ones built in Bhadla, Rajasthan and Pavagada, Karnataka. These are some of the largest solar parks commissioned in the world. Of late there has been a renewed interest in the Ultra Large Renewable Energy projects. Ranging from a 2 GW in Uttar Pradesh to a 25 GW announced in Gujarat & Rajasthan, there is a list of such huge parks being planned by various states and nodal agencies. Also recently, the MNRE, through an Official Memorandum (OM) dated 15th June 2020 announced significant modifications to the 2014 solar park scheme. This OM introduced a new mode of implementation of solar parks to the existing seven modes of implementation. It announced a new 8th mode of implementation of the 2014 solar park scheme, called the Ultra-Mega Renewable Energy Power Parks (UMREPPs) wherein developers have been offered multiple incentives to install UMREPP. This OM coupled with other supplementary steps like the recently announced extension of the Interstate transmission charges waiver will go a long way

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in fuelling the Indian RE landscape. With an eye on the 175 GW target by 2022 and the larger target of 450 GW by 2030, these large parks will be key to India’s transition to Clean & Green energy. National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC), the country's largest power generator, recently announced intentions to build India's largest single local solar power park of 4.75 Gigawatt (GW) in Kutch through its renewable energy arm. The nodal ministry of modern and renewable energy has approved NTPC Renewable Energy (NTPC-REL). The ministry of Renewable energy provides Central Financial Assistance to non-public project developers. In general, solar parks provide adequately developed property with the necessary permissions, transmission, water access, road connectivity, and communication networks, among other things. It speeds up the installation of grid-connected solar power projects and facilitates electricity generation on a large scale. Solar parks bring economies of scale, attract foreign investments, create employment and lead to the overall growth of the Renewable Energy Sector. However, developing these large solar parks has its challenges; managing these parks efficiently is important. Collaboration amongst energy ecosystem partners like power producers, discoms, investors and manufacturers would play a crucial role in developing the renewable energy ecosystem. Managing a solar park requires technical expertise, workforce management, scheduling, understanding of legal and regulatory framework along community engagement. While looking at the generation and sale numbers is required, keeping track of State policies, DISCOM regulations, labour law and safety compliances, community welfare activities, etc. is important. Solar Parks will fuel the economic growth of the country and help transition to a sustainable environment. To build solar parks, India would have to get forward-looking and well-aligned policies across states, promote domestic manufacturing of cells and modules, incentivize developers and discoms, and improve the power infrastructure. Indian utility-scale solar parks have been effective in kick-starting India’s energy sector transition. In the past few years, many ultra-mega solar parks have attracted foreign capital also as top global developers to India and reciprocally has provided investors with an opportunity to hitch a US$500-700bn investment boom in grid infrastructure and renewable energy within the coming decade. India’s power and solar energy industry should make good use of this time to resolve long-pending problems and to be fully prepared for a green infrastructure investment stimulus as India comes out of this pandemic. India should take pride in being able to execute world-leading renewable energy projects and continue to work to resolve short-term policy impediments to achieving its long-term renewable energy aspirations. ||www.renewablemirror.com||

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EVENT DIARY 15-17 Sept. 2021

India expo mart, greater Noida www.renewableenergyindiaexpo.com

The 14th edition of Renewable Energy India 2020 Expo observed a grand opening on the first day, with participation from leading international stakeholders and experts from across the globe at the India Expo Centre, Greater Noida. Over the years, REI has been established as the most comprehensive, reputed and Asia’s largest expo in this domain where the green community congregates to discuss the trends, addresses challenges and showcases the best and most innovative technological solutions available to overcome them.

25-26 Nov 2021

Bombay Exhibition Centre, MUMBAI www.oshindia.com

South Asia’s largest occupational safety & health event, OSH India Expo brings together internationally renowned exhibitors, consultants, business experts and key government officials on an industry platform. The show facilitates exchanges of global best practices and seeks solutions for challenges in upholding workplace safety and health. The show witness safety professionals from across India.

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27-29 Oct 2021

IECC, PRAGATI MAIDAN

www.powergen-india.com

For more than 15 years, POWERGEN India has served as India's premier forum for the power generation industry. Attracting over 8,000 attendees, POWERGEN India covers all forms of power generation, from conventional to renewable energy and other low-carbon options. This leading forum is where the power industry can meet, share and discuss solutions for India's energy future.

14-16 Dec 2021 Mumbai, India www.thesmartere.in

Intersolar is the world’s leading exhibition & conference series for the solar industry. As part of this event series, Intersolar India in Mumbai is India’s most pioneering exhibition and conference for India’s solar industry. It takes place annually and has a focus on the areas of photovoltaics, PV production and solar thermal technologies. Since 2019, Intersolar India is held under the umbrella of The smarter E India – India’s innovation hub for the new energy world.

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RNI No. DELENG/2017/74537 English Monthly Date of Publication 9th of Every Month

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