EQ Magazine Feb 2021 Edition by EQ Int'l Solar Media Group

FEBRUARY- 2021

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FEBRUARY- 2021

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CONT EN T

VOLUME 13 Issue #02

The data and information presented in this magazine is provided for informational purpose only.neither EQ INTERNATINAL ,Its affiliates,Information providers nor content providers shall have any liability for investment decisions based up on or the results obtained from the information provided. Nothing contained in this magazine should be construed as a recommendation to buy or sale any securities. The facts and opinions stated in this magazine do not constitute an offer on the part of EQ International for the sale or purchase of any securities, nor any such offer intended or implied

INDIA

NATIONAL HYDROGEN ENERGY MISSION TO SOON GO FOR CABINET APPROVAL: MNRE

40 ELECTRIC VEHICLE

TOP 5 ELECTRIC SCOOTERS TO BUY IN INDIA IN 2021

INDIA

HARNESSING NAGALAND’S HYDRO & SOLAR POTENTIAL NOW CRUCIAL

RENEW POWER EYES US LISTING VIA SPAC AT $4 BN VALUATION

Restriction on use The material in this magazine is protected by international copyright and trademark laws. You may not modify,copy,reproduce,republish,post,transmit,or distribute any part of the magazine in any way.you may only use material for your personall,NonCommercial use, provided you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices. want to use material for any non-personel,non commercial purpose,you need written permission from EQ International.

BUSINESS & FINANCE

ASHOK LEYLAND PICKS 26% STAKE IN PRATHAMA SOLARCONNECT FOR RS 19 CR

FEBRUARY- 2021

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INDIA

INTERNATIONAL

INDIA’S COAL POWER USE MAY HAVE ALREADY PEAKED, SAYS REPORT

SUNGROW BAGS 500 MW AGREEMENTS DURING PV JAPAN EXPO

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ELECTRIC VEHICLE

HUAWEI FILES TWO PATENTS RELATED TO ELECTRIC VEHICLES, SAYS NEW REPORT

ELECTRIC VEHICLE

Sterling And Wilson Partners With Enel X To Enter Electric Mobility Segment In India

FEATURED INDIA ON TRACK TO ACHIEVING CLIMATE GOALS: PM

28 RENEWABLE ENERGY

The Future of Electricity Generation is in Green Energy

FEATURED

POLAND SEES ENERGY TRANSFORMATION COSTING $120 BILLION BY 2045

ELECTRIC VEHICLE Flipkart to deploy more than 25,000 EVs in supply chain

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BUSINESS & FINANCE

AMARA RAJA BATTERIES Q3 PAT SPURTS 18% TO RS 194 CR

FEBRUARY- 2021

EQ Int’l Magazine is India’s Premium and Oldest Solar & Renewable Energy Magazine Since 2009 having a print run of 20,000 Copies/Monthly, Readership of 80,000. EQ’s Digital presence is unparalleled with its Magazine viewed by over 100,000+ professionals in Digital Format every month (On Browser, Tablet, SmartPhone, etc...). Its unrivaled daily e-Newsletter and most visited website <www.EQMagPro.com> has lakhs of viewers and visitors daily. We provide various Medium and Tools to get the Highest Possible Visibility which we call the 365 Days, 24*7 Visibility Solution through the 360 Degree Approach. Print, Digital, Website, e-Newsletters, Conferences, Events & Video Content.

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OPINION COAL INDIA STRIVING TO FIND ITS PLACE IN A GREENER WORLD

Coal India is striving to find its place in a greener world. The top pure-play miner of the black stuff is establishing new units to focus on solar and renewables. It’s a hedge against coal’s decline for an $11 billion company that’s key to India’s power needs.

he state-controlled extractor accounts for 80% of the dirty commodity dug up in the secondlargest coal-consuming country. Most of it is used for power production. If power demand grows 6% each year, India’s annual coal requirement will rise to 1,250 million tonnes by 2030, the company estimates. That assumes Prime Minister Narendra Modi hits his ambitious goal of quadrupling power capacity from renewable energy to 450 gigawatts by then. Coal India has some 116 major coal projects underway whose combined peak capacity will exceed its output in the year to March. But beyond the next decade or so, boss Pramod Agrawal admits the future of the commodity is limited. Shareholders of Coal India have lost money over the past five years, even including dividends, while the Nifty 50 produced handsome returns. Though profitable, the company faces fresh wage hikes for some 300,000 employees and is owed growing sums from power producers, a problem made worse by Covid-19: Trade receivables were up almost 50% in the nine months to December.

For its renewables play, Coal India will acquire land – costly but easier for government entities to secure – and perhaps provide basic infrastructure. It wants outside investors to provide technology and capital as it tries to become carbon neutral. Investors see value in Indian renewables: $23 billion Adani Green Energy is valued at some 600 times trailing earnings after France’s Total picked up a 20% stake in January. Coal India’s initial goals are modest. In solar, it’s aiming for power capacity of 3 GW by 2024, less than 1% of India’s 2030 renewables target. It expects to invest just a little over its annual power consumption expense. Ironically, part of the plan is to use renewables to power the fossil-fuel company’s operations. The effort, though, may be the start of something larger. And if Coal India can minimise its financial outlay as it taps into the hyper-hot fields of green investment that could help it scrape out of the investor pits.

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FEBRUARY- 2021

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NATIONAL HYDROGEN ENERGY MISSION TO SOON GO FOR CABINET APPROVAL: MNRE The proposed National Hydrogen Energy Mission for generating hydrogen from green power sources will soon be placed for the Cabinet approval as the document will be finalised this month, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said.

n the Budget speech, Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had proposed to launch a National Hydrogen Mission for generating hydrogen from green power sources. She had said, “Prime Minister, while speaking at the 3rd RE-Invest Conference in November 2020, had announced plans to launch a comprehensive National Hydrogen Energy Mission. It is now proposed to launch a Hydrogen Energy Mission in 2021-22 for generating hydrogen from green power sources”. In a statement issued after a press conference on the Budget proposals for clean energy, the ministry said, “The draft Mission document has already gone through the consultation process and is expected to be finalized in February 2021. Thereafter, it will go through inter-ministerial consultation and Cabinet approval process”. The roadmap to promote hydrogen is expected to be ready in the next two months.

The mission would put forward a specific strategy for the short term (4 years), and broad strokes principles for long term (10 years and beyond). The aim is to develop India into a global hub for manufacturing of hydrogen and fuel cells technologies across the value chain. Towards this end, a framework to support manufacturing via suitable incentives and facilitation aligned with ”Make in India” and ”Atmanirbhar Bharat” will be developed. It will provide the necessary flexibility to capture benefit from advances taking place in the technology landscape. The government will facilitate demand creation in identified segments. Possible areas include suitable mandates for use of green hydrogen in the industry such as fertiliser, steel, petrochemicals etc. Major activities envisaged under the mission include creating volumes and infrastructure; demonstrations in niche applications (including for transport, industry); goal-oriented research & development; facilitative policy support; and putting in place a robust framework for standards and regulations for hydrogen technologies. About the promotion of domestic manufacturing of solar equipment, the ministry stated that a production linked incentive (PLI) scheme is also announced in the Budget for 2021-22. The PLI scheme to create manufacturing global champions for an AtmaNirbhar Bharat have been announced for 13 sectors, including manufacturing of ”High-Efficiency Solar PV Modules”. The government has committed nearly Rs 1.97 lakh crore over 5 years starting 2021-22, including Rs 4,500 crore for ”High-Efficiency Solar PV Modules” – which will be will be implemented by the MNRE. The PLI schemes will incentivise new Gigawatt (GW) scale solar PV manufacturing facilities in India. The ministry said that the EFC (expenditure finance committee) meeting for formulating a scheme in this regard has already been held and it will now be taken to the Cabinet for final approval. The scheme will reward efficiency of solar modules as well as local value addition. Under the PLI scheme, 10,000 MW capacity of integrated solar PV manufacturing plants (from the manufacturing of wafer-ingot to high-efficiency modules) will be set up by Q4 (January-March 2023) of 2022-23 with the direct investment for around Rs 14,000 crore. About the imposition of basic customs duty (BCD) on solar equipment to boost domestic manufacturing, the MNRE officials explained that the details about that would come under the phased manufacturing plan for solar cells and panels, which would be notified later. 8

FEBRUARY- 2021

The finance minister in her budget speech had said, “To build up domestic capacity, we will notify a phased manufacturing plan for solar cells and solar panels”. The solar energy project developers had urged the government to hold back imposition of BCD for the time being in view of India”s ambitious target of having 175GW of renewable energy by 2022 and limited manufacturing capacity of solar equipment in the country. About certain reported incidents of cancellation of auctions of clean energy project after issuing a letter of award to developers, the officials explained that they are taking up the issue with the respective states. However, they admitted that the MNRE could not interfere on a day-to-day basis on these issues as the states are following the standard bidding document for auctioning clean energy projects.

The ministry also lauded the budget announcement about capital augmentation of Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA). It is proposed in the budget to provide an additional capital infusion of Rs 1,000 crore to SECI and Rs 1,500 crore to IREDA. The cumulative renewable energy capacity installed in the country as on December 31, 2020, is 91,000 MW and further 50,000 MW of the projects are under implementation, of which SECI’s share is 54 per cent. To give a further boost to the RE sector, an additional capital infusion of Rs 1,000 crore to SECI has been provided which will enable it to float 15,000 MW of tenders on yearly basis. On yearly basis, it will attract investment of more than Rs 60,000 crore, generate employment of 45,000 job years and reduce emissions of 28.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year. The capital infusion will also enable the SECI to set up innovative projects of with an investment of around Rs 17,000 crore, the ministry said. With the equity infusion of Rs 1,500 crore for IREDA, it would be able to extend additional loan facility of Rs 12,000 crore. This would be in addition to its existing book size of Rs 27,000 crore. The additional equity will also improve its capital adequacy, which will help IREDA in borrowing at a lower rate of interest, thus lowering the interest rates for developers. It would also help in the financing of around 4,500 MW of RE projects worth Rs 18,000 to 19,000 crore. It will generate employment of 13,500 job years and reduce emissions of 8.55 million tonnes of CO2, the ministry said. www.EQMagPro.com

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INDIA LACKS SILICA TO MAKE SOLAR PANELS: GOVT

Government of India said India does not have any known deposits of silica suitable for producing solar panels. The statement comes in the wake of concerns of dependency on China for meeting India’s renewable energy needs.

olar panels are made from thinly cut wafers of crystalline silicon, which is produced by purifying metallurgical grade silica or sand. Silica that is used for PV panels has to be at least 99.99999% pure. “The metallurgical grade silica required for manufacturing of photovoltaic ingots/ wafers/ cells/ modules has not been reported in any part of the country so far,” said Manoj Kumar Jha, minister for mines, coal and parliamentary affairs. Metallurgical silica is made by removing oxygen from quartz by heating it in an electric arc furnace. This is then exposed to hydrochloric acid and copper, which produce trichlorosilane gas. This vapor is treated with hydrogen to produce silane gas from which molten silicon can be manufactured. Finally, this crystalline silicon is doped with phosphorous and boron to form a semiconductor, which is then sliced into wafers for use in solar cells.

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At present, China dominates the market for solar panels due to its enormous infrastructure for refining silica and producing silica wafers. However, Jha said India has been trying to encourage local manufacturing of downstream materials, such as solar cells and panels, even though India does not have enough silica (sand) to produce the wafers. This has been done, he said, by increasing custom tariffs on solar equipment imported into India. The government has increased basic customs duty on solar inverters and solar lamps from Feb 2, 2021. It has also imposed a safeguard duty on solar cells and modules. India has also put in clauses in various procurement plans requiring the developers and suppliers to source panels made in India. There has been widespread concern about India’s complacency in investing to create an ecosystem of solar industries in the country, with fears being expressed that the country could depend on imports in this area just like it does for hydrocarbons.

FEBRUARY- 2021

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AMP ENERGY INDIA COMMISSIONS SOLAR PROJECT FOR L&T METRO RAIL IN HYDERABAD Amp Energy India mentioned it has commissioned one of many largest behind-the-meter solar tasks for L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Ltd. The metro rail is a public-private partnership (PPP) project between the Telangana authorities and infrastructure firm Larsen & Toubro Ltd.

mp Energy has put in 7.805 MW solar plant for L&T metro project in Hyderabad (Telangana) to produce solar energy to its 24 stations and a pair of depots in town, an organization assertion mentioned. The energy buy settlement (PPA) with Amp for procurement of solar energy is for 25 years and can generate 11,300 MWh of inexperienced vitality in a yr. Hyderabad Metro Rail Project will meet 15 per cent of the full electrical consumption via solar energy equipped by Amp Energy. The plant is without doubt one of the largest behind-the-meter solar tasks in India.

This initiative will help us in reducing our carbon footprint and using green energy to partly power our operations. We are happy to partner with Amp for this project that has helped achieve our sustainability objectives, K V B Reddy, MD and CEO, L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad), mentioned.

The solar plant was absolutely commissioned on December 26, 2020, and the project execution was managed by following all compliances positioned to handle COVID-19 state of affairs in India, the assertion mentioned. “Amp’s Solar project for Hyderabad Metro Rail Project is a futuristic infrastructure projecta high-quality dependable RE system powering an eco-friendly and sustainable transportation system.

We believe that projects like these will provide the right momentum for a mass public transport across cities in India to switch to sustainable energy sources and help meet India’s climate goals, Pinaki Bhattacharyya, MD and CEO, Amp Energy India, mentioned.

CSL CMD INAUGURATES 450 KWP SOLAR POWER PLANT: TOTAL CAPACITY REACHED 1285KWP Shri Madhu S Nair, Chairman & Managing Director of CSL, formally inaugurated the new 450 kWp solar power plant. Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), in its efforts to enhance renewable energy resources, has added 450kWp grid-connected solar power plants at CSL premises.

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FEBRUARY- 2021

ith this, the total installed capacity of solar power plants in CSL has become 1285kWp. An additional 200kWp solar plant is in the final stage of completion and is scheduled to be commissioned next week. CSL has started utilizing renewable energy since 2013. In 2015, CSL had given a green energy commitment to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Govt. of India that it shall develop 1MW of renewable energy during the next five year period.

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HARNESSING NAGALAND’S HYDRO & SOLAR POTENTIAL NOW CRUCIAL The Association of Power Engineers Nagaland (APEN) released a ‘vision document 2021 for sustainable development of Nagaland state power sector.’ The document stressed on the need to generate power using Nagaland State’s own resources and reduce spending on power purchase.

he vision document describes its mission as towards transforming Nagaland through infrastructure and skill development of the State Power Sector; to achieve structural reforms, professionalism and sustainable power sector development; and to achieve 1,000 kWh per capita consumption. It was released by Tongpang Ozukum, Minister for PWD (Housing & Mechanical) Nagaland in commemoration of World Engineering Day at Hotel Vivor under the aegis of Federation of Nagaland State Engineering Service Associations (FONSESA). Ozukum was hopeful that this vision document will be converted into reality for the benefit of all. The vision document has been prepared covering all aspects of the power sector of the state, said the APEN. The vision document captures the essence of the envisioned solution in the State’s plaguing power sector and thereby serves as a guide and reference for policy makers, planners and stakeholders of the state. The document aims to give impetus to economic growth and transform the state through the intervention of the Power Department.

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APEN stated that the vision emphasises on development of state owned generating projects by harnessing the hydro electric potentials and solar power generation to meet the State’s power requirement and simultaneously reduce the spending on power purchase. Installation of Rooftop Solar Generation (RTS) and alternative clean power aims to promote ecological sustainable growth while addressing to meet the State’s energy security. This vision document also aim to suggest ways to provide stable, quality and affordable power supply to all consumers across the state, by transforming the state power sector into a professionally structured organization to meet the challenging demands in all its three core aspects of generation, transmission and distribution of electricity.

The Power Department faces an enormous shortage of workers and workforces without requisite competencies. In an era where digitalization and artificial intelligence are driven forces for modernization of power sector, skill development for the entire sector has become imperative. The vision document projects strategies to be adopted in training and honing the skills of the workforce to meet the challenges facing the department and ultimately make power sector of the state a robust public utility, stated APEN President, Er Penrithung Yanthan and General Secretary, Er T Lithrichum Sangtam.

FEBRUARY- 2021

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INDIA’S COAL POWER USE MAY HAVE ALREADY PEAKED, SAYS REPORT India’s use of coal may have peaked in 2018, according to a new report by according to U.K.-based clean energy group Ember. That’s sooner than many experts have forecast.

The share of the dirtiest fossil fuel in India’s power mix fell for the second year in a row in 2020, according to the report released, due to an economic slowdown in 2019 followed by a pandemic-induced recession. There’s a chance coal power never has to breach 2018 levels again if the Indian government meets its renewable energy goals, Ember senior analyst Aditya Lolla wrote. ‘As India recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic shock, the choices it makes for its power sector can make or break its coal-to-clean electricity transition in the next decade,’ he wrote. ‘It’s even possible coal will fall this decade, if India wants it to.’

FEBRUARY- 2021

ndia wants to reach 175 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2022 and 450 GW by 2030. Those targets are enough to meet an annual increase in electricity demand of up to 5%, according to Lolla. But the country will have to speed up its renewables rollout to reach its green energy targets. Solar and wind power generation in India totalled 118 terawatthours in 2020, still far behind the government’s goal of reaching 274 TWh by 2022. Rapidly cutting global coal consumption is necessary to meet climate goals set under the Paris Agreement, which strives to keep temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels in order to avoid the worst effects of climate change. That’s especially true for China and India, the largest and third-largest emitters of greenhouse gases respectively. While advanced economies like the U.S. and U.K. have had more time to develop alternatives, countries like India and China have to make the switch more quickly. Solar power is now the cheapest source of electricity in most parts of India, offering an opportunity for the government to accelerate adoption. India could speed up the transition by placing a moratorium on new coal power plants and incentivizing the closure of old, inefficient facilities, Lolla wrote in the report. That would require the government to shift its current policies, which saw the government auctioning new coal mines as recently as November.

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POWER INTERRUPTIONS IN ANDHRA PRADESH COME DOWN BY 35 PER CENT IN A YEAR With concerted efforts in strengthening the existing 24×7 power supply infrastructure, the energy department has managed to bring down the power interruptions significantly by about 35 per cent from 3.91 lakh in 2019-20 to 2.54 lakh in 2020-21. The department is working to further strengthen the infrastructure to bring down the interruptions to as low as possible.

ccording to information available with the energy department, APEPDCL has seen the highest drop in the interruptions from 1.24 lakh to 28,663 in a year’s time, followed by APSPDCL from 1.28 lakh to 1 lakh and APCPDCL from 1.39 lakh to 1.26 lakh. The officials said that government attached highest priority to 24×7 uninterrupted and reliable power supply. “The continuous measures taken by power utilities as per directions of State government have helped to reduce interruptions significantly. We see a significant improvement in power supply and consumer’s satisfaction in the State. The government wants to achieve 100 per cent excellence in uninterrupted power supply at international standards to every household in the State,” a senior APTRANSCO official said. As part of this, the power utilities have laid special focus on strengthening of power infrastructure including upgrading of electricity substations, strengthening of distribution networks, especially in rural areas and providing of additional infrastructure for agriculture supply during day time. APTRANSCO has also developed and deployed the country’s first dayahead Electricity Demand Forecasting model that would help to take the right decisions on electricity demand.

The department is also planning to develop four more day-ahead forecast models for wind energy, solar energy, market prices, Central Generating Stations surplus and frequency.

PUNJAB’S SETS UP IST SOLAR-BASED WATER SUPPLY PROJECT AT JAGRAWAN-MURADPUR & TALWARA VILLAGES In bid to ensure uninterrupted potable water supply in rural areas in state, Punjab Water Supply and Sanitation department has set up first of its kind solar-based water supply projects at Jagrawan-Muradpur and Talwara villages of Jalandhar district under “Har Ghar Paani, Har Ghar Safai” mission.

esides, installing 150 meter deep tube-wells, said an official spokesperson, adding that 25000 litres capacity water tanks have been constructed to provide piped water supply to every household in these villages. The solar-based pilot projects were commissioned at a cost of Rs 67.71 lakh. Now, the panchayats of these villages are not paying any electricity bill for water supply projects and the same amount, which was earlier spent for paying electricity bills, is being utilized for development works of the villages. Expressing gratitude towards Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh for the solar-based water supply project, Jagrawan village Sarpanch Harjit Kaur said that the panchayat and residents of the village felt relieved as electricity bills have come down to zero. Similarly, clean water supply has started reaching every household of Talwara and Muradpur villages. With the successful commissioning of these projects 141 households of Jagrawan and Muradpur and 102 households of Talwara village have benefited.

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FEBRUARY- 2021

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RENEW POWER EYES US LISTING VIA SPAC AT $4 BN VALUATION The company, one of India’s largest renewable energy firms, is in talks to merge with RMG Acquisition owned by Nasdaq-listed SPAC Riverside Capital Management, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity.

eNew Power Pvt. Ltd is planning to list its shares in the US through the fast-emerging SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) route at a valuation of almost $4 billion, two people aware of the development said. The company, one of India’s largest renewable energy firms, is in talks to merge with RMG Acquisition owned by Nasdaq-listed SPAC Riverside Capital Management, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity. ReNew Power had shelved its Indian initial public offering plan in 2019 amid market volatility. As per Securities Exchange Commission rules, while Riverside will hold up to 20% in the newly listed avatar of ReNew Power, Goldman Sachs along with CPPIB, ADIA and the company’s founder-cum-chairman Sumant Sinha will hold the rest 80%, one of the two people cited above said.

“The due diligence process for the listing of ReNew Power through SPAC has already begun and once completed, it will mark the largest ever listing of an Indian company in the US through SPAC route,” this person said. “In the case of ReNew Power, SPAC Riverside is expected to put in $300 million through equity and another $150 million through warrants.”

Emails sent to Riverside and ReNew Power remained unanswered, while a Goldman Sachs spokesperson declined to comment. ReNew is one of India’s largest renewable energy independent power producers with a capacity of 10.14GW, of which 5.73GW is operational. For the April-September 2020 period, ReNew Power’s total income stood at ₹782.5 crore as compared to ₹576.6 crore for the same period in 2019. Its total loss ballooned to ₹230.4 crore during April-September as compared to ₹26.7 crore in the year-ago period. Since the outbreak of covid, the SPAC market has become popular as issuers worry that the conventional IPO market could take many months to recover. Data from Refinitiv, a data analytics firm, shows 126 SPAC IPOs raised $44 billion in the first nine months of 2020, which is more than three times the sum raised during the same period in 2019, as corporate value creators and investors seek to dodge the volatility and uncertainty of the traditional listing process.

HARYANA ISSUES SOPS FOR FARMERS REGARDING SUBSIDIES FOR MICRO-IRRIGATION (UNI) With a purpose to eliminate scarcity of water for farming across the state, the Haryana government has issued Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for farmers regarding subsidies being offered for micro-irrigation.

aryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had recently launched a portal with multi-faceted objectives primarily to enhance socio-economic status of farmers and to bridge gap between the irrigation potential created and irrigation potential utilized through micro level infrastructure development. The SOPs for the same have been issued according to which passport size photo, personal details, bank details, address and Parivaar Pehchan Patra (Family ID) of the person seeking subsidy is required. Sharing more details, an official spokesperson of the Micro Irrigation and Command Area Development Authority (MICADA) said in this ‘micro-irrigation initiative’ three schemes are being offered to the farmers.

FEBRUARY- 2021

The first scheme is for Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) and Canal Based Projects with ingredients like auxiliary infrastructure (STP Canal/ Water course), on-farm pond, installation of solar pumps and on-farm MI (drip/sprinkler). The second Scheme is for Canal based projects with ingredients like auxiliary infrastructure (water course), on-farm pond, installation of solar pumps and on-farm MI (drip/sprinkler). The third scheme is for those where sources of water include tubewell, overflowing ponds, on-farm tanks and on-farm MI (drip/ sprinkler). Meanwhile, Upfront Undertaking in shape of affidavit for adoption of 100 per cent M.I. (drip & sprinkler installation) with onfarm pond is mandatory for first scheme, he added. Divulging details of the subsidy being provided, the spokesperson said there will be a contribution of 30 per cent of total expenditure by the farmer for On-Farm pond construction with subsidy of 70 per cent. Also, there will be a contribution of 25 per cent by farmer for installation of solar pump with capacity ranging from 2 HP to 10 HP at 75 per cent subsidy. Also a contribution of 15 per cent plus GST by farmer On-Farm MI cost (Drip and Sprinkler) with 85 per cent subsidy (in accordance with PMKSY guidelines 2018-2019.

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ARBL TO SET UP RS 220 CRORE SOLAR POWER PLANT IN ANDHRA PRADESH

Amara Raja Batteries Ltd (ARBL) is setting up a 50 megawatt solar power plant in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh at a total outlay of Rs 220 crore to support its sustainability initiatives.

his will further reduce cost of power and simultaneously bring down the company’s carbon footprint, it said in a statement. Besides, as part of the overall lead procurement strategy, ARBL will set up a greenfield lead recycling unit with a capacity of one lakh tonnes.

This will help the company comply with recycling standards while adopting advance technology in the most environmentally friendly manner. The total capital outlay for this project is expected to be Rs 280 crore over the next 18 months.” Jayadev Galla, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, said the economy has started showing sharper signs of recovery with reduction in Covid prevalence and ongoing vaccination drive boosting industry confidence.

The rebounding of economy is improving prospects of various market segments, especially those in which the company is operating. The government has also announced many initiatives and Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes, which will accelerate the growth of e-mobility and renewable energy markets. “We are assessing investment opportunities in advanced and futuristic energy storage technologies to address these emerging market segments,” said Galla. ARBL reported net revenue from operations at Rs 1,960 crore in Q3 FY21 as compared to Rs 1,748 crore in the corresponding period of last fiscal. The profit before tax totalled Rs 260 crore as against Rs 217 crore in Q3 FY20.

INDIA TO SEE $500-BILLION INVESTMENT IN RENEWABLES BY 2030: IEEFA REPORT India is set to see investments to the tune of around $500 billion in the renewables sector if the country has to achieve the target of 450 gigawatts (GW) of capacity by 2030, said a report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).

he report highlighted that a huge global capital pool is mobilising to invest in renewable energy and grid projects in India, with pull factors including solar power tariffs hitting record lows, plunging solar module costs, record lowinterest rates, and the security of government-backed, 25year power purchase agreements (PPAs). The renewable energy sector in India has received more than $42 billion in investment since 2014.

We estimate that striving for 450 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030 would require deploying $500 billion of investment over the coming decade – $300 billion for wind and solar infrastructure, $50 billion on grid firming investments such as gas-peakers, hydro and batteries, and $150 billion on expanding and modernising transmission and distribution, said Tim Buckley, Director Energy Finance Studies, South Asia, at the IEEFA.

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The country’s untapped renewable potential at 900 gigawatt (GW) is the most in the world. It is estimated that India’s peak power demand will rise to 295GW by 2021-22 and 690GW by 2035. “Domestic and global institutions across the financial, corporate, energy, utility and government sectors are primed to deploy a wall of capital that India needs to fund its ambitious renewable energy targets,” he added. This includes the capital cost of adding more than 300GW of new renewables infrastructure, firming low-cost but intermittent renewable power generation, and expanding and modernising grid transmission and distribution. The sources of capital range from private equity, global pensions funds and sovereign wealth funds, to oil and gas majors, multinational development banks and Indian state-owned enterprises and power billionaires, the report added.

FEBRUARY- 2021

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PUNE FAMILY PAYS RS. 70/MONTH IN ELECTRICITY BILL, RUNS HOME & 4 EVS ON SOLAR POWER

In 2004, Abhishek Mane, a resident of Pune decided to quit his job at the Ministry of Defence and start a business of his own. With his deep concern for the environment as well as his interest in technology, he decided to venture into a business that manufactures and installs solar panels.

I spent several years learning about solar energy, how to instal panels and harness energy. I also worked closely with people in the solar industry to learn how the panels are manufactured, says Abhishek. He launched his business, Deeva Solar Power Solutions, in 2015 with his sister Deepali Shinde. A manufacturing unit to make the solar panels and other necessary parts was also set up in Pune. But apart from launching a business related to solar energy, Abhishek also installed several panels to power all the appliances in his home. To date, kitchen appliances, the television, washing machine, and water pumps, as well as vehicles such as cars and bikes are powered by solar energy. “For a family of four adults and one child, our electricity bill was a minimum of Rs 5,000/ month. Now, we pay Rs 70/ month,” says Abhishek.

THE PROCESS

SWITCHING TO A GREENER LIFE

Early in 2016, Abhishek decided that if he was running a business that sold solar energy material, then he should believe in the product himself. So he spoke to other members of his family and explained to them that their house would become environmentallyconscious if they switched to solar energy. “The change was gradual. We did not do it overnight. Initially, we spent a few months consciously reducing our energy consumption. From ensuring we turn off the lights when necessary to rationing the amount of water we use, our family slowly made big changes in our behaviour,” says Abhishek. He also identified appliances, such as the refrigerator, that were consuming a lot of energy and switched to a version that consumes less. Once the family agreed to the switch, Abhishek installed 10 panels of 250 watts to produce 2.5KW of energy every day. This system was directly connected to the grid and a battery that stores energy, which the family uses to charge their electric vehicles and power appliances at night. “In 2019, we removed a few panels and added 330 watts panels, and now the system produces 7KW of energy every day. We added the extra panel so that we could charge the car,” says Abhishek. The energy is stored among four leadacid batteries that have a capacity of 12 V & 200 AH. It is supplied across various appliances and electrical outlets through inverters.

To ensure a seamless use of energy, the family prepared a schedule. During the day, when there is direct sunlight, they would use heavy appliances such as the washing machine, water pump, other kitchen appliances to finish their chores and charge one EV. Then, the batteries are given a few hours to charge, and at night, the stored power is used to charge the other two scooters. “The Okinawa electric scooters take four hours to fully charge and can go up to 100 kilometers. The electric car, Mahindra e2o, is charged every three days, as the usage is lesser compared to the scooters. While petrol prices are as high as Rs. 98/ litre, I feel comforted knowing I spend less than 40 paise every km and pay only Rs. 70 as my electricity bill,” says Abhishek. It has now been four years and the family continues to use only solar energy for all their needs. Abhishek says that many people fear the conversion to electric vehicles because of range anxiety. But, he believes using EVs is like using a smartphone. “If you want to use it the next day, charge it at night,” says Abhishek, adding that through his company, Deeva Solar Power Solutions, he has helped more than 500 households go green.

FEBRUARY- 2021

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INTERNATIONAL SOLAR ALLIANCE SPECIAL ASSEMBLY ELECTS DR AJAY MATHUR AS NEW DIRECTOR GENERAL

A coalition of 73 member countries, ISA was established at the end of 2015 to accelerate the demand for and use of safe, sustainable, and affordable solar energy for all. It aims to mobilize over USD 1 trillion of investment into solar projects by 2030 through focused advocacy, policy and regulatory support, capacity building, and by overcoming perceived investment barriers. Dr. Mathur replaces Mr. Upendra Tripathy, who has served as Director General since the ISA was founded in 2015.

r. Mathur’s leadership appointment to the ISA takes place in a year when addressing global climate change transition commitments will take center stage: 2021 started with the US’s renewed climate focus through the Biden administration and will culminate with COP26, the UN’s Climate Change Conference in the UK in November. As the sole multilateral forum dedicated to solar energy transition and building upon existing milestones, including pooling resources across its members, and creating economies of scale to reduce the cost for clean energy, ISA is poised to renew its commitment towards global solar transition through the new leadership.

Speaking at the ISA’s special assembly, Dr. Mathur, said: “I am honored to lead the International Solar Alliance and am ambitious about what we can achieve together with our members and partners to transition to a safer, sustainable, equitable and more prosperous future for all through solar energy. “ISA has a vital role to help establish the infrastructure and ecosystem for a zero-carbon emission future. With strong foundations already in place, my immediate focus is to identify and mobilize the opportunities and capital to accelerate our solarization goals in the interim and long-term.” Dr. Mathur who will take over the leadership of ISA on March 15, brings a wealth of leadership expertise across all key areas of energy transition, from policy, research, and technology commercialization to financing, international cooperation and institutional development. Currently Director General of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), a key driver of the energy transition to renewables and reduction in urban air pollution for the past five years, Dr. Mathur has held leadership appointments at the Bureau of Energy Efficiency and the Green Climate Fund. In 2020, he received an IconSWM-CE Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to environmental protection.

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Ms Barbara Pompili, Minister for Ecological Transition of the French Republic and ISA Co-President added: “At a time when we have reached a new milestone with the recent decision to open ISA membership to all UN Member countries, France, as co-President of ISA, extends its full support to Dr. Mathur. We are fully confident that he is the right person to further the development of ISA, particularly through its universalization, robust governance and support to concrete initiatives to facilitate solar power deployment, such as the ‘STAR-C’ program.”

Mr. R.K. Singh, Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy for India and ISA President, said: “The ISA has grown to become an able global body working effectively towards energy access, energy security and energy transition. I look forward to working constructively under our new Director General and alongside other esteemed Members to take this important mandate forward against a backdrop of growing support around the world for the low-carbon transition.”

COP26 President Alok Sharma said: “I am delighted that Dr Ajay Mathur, an invaluable friend of COP26, is taking up this important post. The International Solar Alliance has been a key partner in driving the international collaboration we need to a low carbon future, and I look forward to working together ahead of COP26 this November.”

Outgoing Director General Mr. Upendra Tripathy commented: “I am grateful to all the member countries for their trust and support over the past five years which has seen ISA grow from an idea to the go-to international organization on solar energy that it is today. It is so pleasing to see more and more countries joining the ISA to work together to pool efforts and resources to bring solar to the next level.”

FEBRUARY- 2021

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INDIA TO BE BIGGEST DRIVER OF GLOBAL ENERGY DEMAND GROWTH IN NEXT 2 DECADES: IEA India will be the main driver of rising demand for energy over the next two decades, accounting for 25% of global growth, and is set to overtake the European Union as the world’s third-biggest energy consumer by 2030, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said. India’s energy consumption is expected to nearly double as the nation’s gross domestic product expands to an estimated $8.6 trillion by 2040 under its current national policy scenario, the IEA said in its India Energy Outlook 2021 released “This is underpinned by a rate of GDP growth that adds the equivalent of another Japan to the world economy by 2040,” said the IEA, the energy agency and policy adviser for members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

ndia’s growing energy needs will make it more reliant on fossil fuel imports as its domestic oil and gas production has been stagnant for years despite government policies to promote petroleum exploration and production and renewable energy. India’s oil demand is expected to rise to 8.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2040 from about 5 million bpd in 2019, the IEA said, while its refining capacity will reach 6.4 million bpd by 2030 and 7.7 million bpd by 2040, from 5 million bpd. It will be the world’s third-biggest energy consumer, behind China and the United States, by 2030. The world’s second-biggest net oil importer, behind China, currently imports about 76% of its crude oil needs. That reliance on overseas oil is expected to rise to 90% by 2030 and 92% by 2040, the IEA said. Rising oil demand could double India’s oil import bill to about $181 billion by 2030 and nearly treble it to $255 billion by 2040 compared with 2019, the IEA said. India, a signatory to the Paris climate accord, wants to boost power generation through renewables, mainly solar, and raise the share of natural gas in its energy mix to 15% by 2030 from 6.2% currently.

The share of solar energy in India’s power generation could equal coal-fired output by 2040, the IEA said. Coal currently dominates India’s electricity sector, accounting for over 70% of overall generation with only about 4% produced through solar. The world’s fourth-largest LNG importer, which ships in about half of its natural gas needs by tanker currently, is spending billions of dollars to build infrastructure to boost use of the cleaner fuel. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports are expected to quadruple to 124 billion cubic metres (bcm), or about 61% of overall gas demand by 2040, IEA said. That would be up from imports of 76 bcm, or about 58% of gas consumption by 2030.

IN A FIRST FOR COUNTRY’S CIVIC BODIES, BMC GIVES NOD TO SET UP HYBRID POWER PLANT

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) cleared a proposal of setting up a hybrid power plant at the middle of the Vaitarna dam, becoming the first civic body in the country to take up a power project.

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he standing committee passed a proposal of appointing a joint venture between Shapoorji Pallonji & Company and Mahalaxmi Konal Urja to set up the hybrid solar power plant. While the hydroelectric power plant, which has been long in planning, will have a capacity of 20 MW, the floating solar photovoltaic power plant can generate as much as 80 MW. The project will take 31 months to complete. Of the total 100 MW, the civic body has planned to augment the power supply in its offices. As per the proposal, 208 million units of electricity can be generated by the plant, which will help the civic body in saving Rs 24 crore on power bills with the help of this project. The BMC has inked an agreement with these companies to buy electricity at the rate of Rs 4.75 per unit for the next 25 years. The BMC will not have to spend money on setting up these solar plants as the company finalised will bear the cost and then sell the electricity.

FEBRUARY- 2021

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RAJASTHAN SEC RECOMMENDS 1.18 LAKH CRORE INVESTMENT IN RENEWABLE ENERGY SECTOR The recommendations were made in the 33rd meeting of the SEC held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary. The proposals are from varied sectors like Energy, Textile and Manufacturing Sectors assuring to generate more than 30,000 job opportunities in the state, said a statement.

arlier, a Board of Investment under Chairmanship of Chief Minister has been constituted under the provisions of Rajasthan 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 of Investment under Chairmanship of Chief Minister, said a government note. The investors have expressed confidence in the investment opportunities in state and policies of the state government under the leadership of the Chief Minister Shri Ashok Gehlot. The proposals recommended in the 33rd SEC meeting also present possibilities for the 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 the State. The proposals in the Renewable energy Sector included a 10 GW solar power project intending an investment of Rs 48,540 crore, a 10 GW Solar-Wind Hybrid renewable energy project with proposed investment of Rs 40,000 crore and, an Integrated renewable energy storage project to be developed with an investment of Rs 30,000 crore, which will come in a phased manner in the coming years.

The state government said that now it is an accepted fact that introduction of investor-friendly policies/schemes like The Rajasthan Investment Promotion Scheme (RIPS) 2019, Rajasthan Industrial Policy-2019 and the Rajasthan Solar Energy Policy 2019 and the Rajasthan Wind and Hybrid Energy Policy 2019 have given a positive message to the investors looking to invest in the State. The proposed Integrated Renewable Energy Storage Project (IRESP) will be the first of its kind renewable energy project with the storage component. The project proposes to store excess solar energy available during the day with help of hydro pumps. The energy can be reclaimed during peak hours or night time when solar energy is unavailable. A project for IC/Semi-Conductor Packaging Unit which will be the first industry in the semiconductor sector in the state. The semiconductor components are an integral part of the vast expanding mobile phone and computing devices, most of these are still being imported in India. The government said that Rajasthan has ample opportunities in the sector and the pioneering project can help in the emergence of the sector. Investor informed that India will be the 5th country in the world with this kind of technology.

DELHI TRANSPORT DEPT ISSUES NOTICE TO TATA MOTORS OVER COMPLAINT FROM E-CAR OWNER The Delhi transport department has issued a show-cause notice to Tata Motors, seeking its reply in connection with a complaint that one of its electric car models failed to meet the specified range on a single charge, officials said. The complainant claimed that the model (Nexon EV) of the electric car purchased by him from a dealer at the Safdarjung Enclave and registered on December 3, 2020 has failed to provide the specified 312-km range on a single charge, a senior transport department officer said.

t has been informed that while the vehicle model is specified to provide a 312-km range on a single charge, the vehicle owned by the said customer has never provided a range of more than 200 km,” the showcause notice issued to Tata Motors read. The vehicle owner, a resident of Najafgarh, also claimed that he has “duly followed” various advices of the dealer but no improvement was noticed, despite best efforts. “Therefore, a show-cause notice is issued as the vehicle has failed to provide an optimal range to the consumer as promised by the OEM (original equipment manufacturer,” the notice said. The notice has directed the OEM to depute its representative to appear before a transport department officer at 12 noon on February 15. In case no representative of the OEM appears before the transport officer on the designated date and time, further action including “delisting” of the said model from the subsidy-eligible e-vehicles’ list can be considered, the notice stated. According to the Delhi Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy, notified by the transport department on August 7, 2020, a purchase incentive of Rs 10,000 per kWh of battery capacity is provided on buying an electric four-wheeler with a cap of Rs 1,50,000 per vehicle. The owners of the first 1,000 ecars to be registered in Delhi after the issuance of the policy will be eligible for the incentive, officials said.

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The electric car model under question was approved under the eligibility conditions of the Delhi EV Policy. A Tata Motors spokesperson said the notice was received and “all possible measures” are being taken to address the concern. The range specified on a single full charge (312 km) for Nexon EV is on the basis of the certification received from the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), which is the official body that independently tests all massproduced vehicles under standard test conditions, before those can be offered to customers, he said. The actual range achieved in EVs is dependent on the usage of the air-conditioner, individual driving style and the actual conditions in which the vehicle is driven. The range achievement is also a function of familiarity with the new technology and customers report improvements upwards of 10 per cent within four to six weeks of familiarity, he said. “Since its launch a year ago, Nexon EV has consistently grown in popularity to become India’s highest-selling electric vehicle with nearly 3,000 families enjoying the pleasure of owning and driving it,” the Tata Motors spokesperson added.

FEBRUARY- 2021

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PLI SCHEME FOR SOLAR PV TO SPUR ₹14,000-CR INVESTMENT Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the performance-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for high-efficiency solar PV modules will spur investments of over ₹14,000 crore and build a manufacturing capacity of 10 GW.

We want to see our companies become global manufacturing champions, not just fulfil local demands, Modi said at a webinar. The Government is committed to invest ₹4,500 crore in the scheme. “This is likely to increase demand for locally produced materials like EVA, solar glass, backsheet, and junction box,” he said.

“The government’s approach for the energy sector is guided by four R’s: reach, reinforce, reform, and renewable,” Modi said. The pathway “For reach, last mile connectivity is needed. This reach needs to be reinforced by installation capacity, for that reforms are needed. Along with all this renewable energy is the demand of the time,” he said. For reach, the government is focussed on reaching every village and every household, Modi added. “With regard to capacity reinforcement, India has become a power surplus country from a power deficit country while reforms like the UDAY scheme and PGCIL’s asset monetisation have improved the financials of the sector,” he said.

POLICY AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR DISCOMS IN THE OFFING: PM MODI Asserting that reforms in the regulatory and process framework have significantly “improved” the outlook towards the power sector, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Centre is working to remove problems in the distribution sector and a policy and regulatory framework for DISCOMs is in the offing.

Consumers should be able to choose their supplier according to performance like any other retail commodity, he said at a webinar for consultation towards effective implementation of the Union Budget provisions in the power and renewable energy sector, the Prime Minister’s Office (PM) said in a statement. Modi said the government treats power as a separate sector and not as part of the industry sector, while adding that the Centre’s approach towards it has been holistic and guided by the four mantras of “reach, reinforce, reform and renewable energy”. He noted that the renewable energy capacity of the country has been enhanced by two-and-a-half times in the last six years and the solar energy capacity by 15 times. “This year’s budget has shown unprecedented commitment towards investment in infrastructure. This is evident in mission hydrogen, domestic manufacturing of solar cells and massive capital infusion in the renewable energy sector,” Modi said.

eferring to the PLI (performance-linked incentive) scheme, he said high-efficiency solar PV modules are now part of it and the government is committed to investing Rs 4,500 crore in this. Modi hoped for a massive response to the scheme. Under the PLI scheme, integrated solar PV manufacturing plants with a capacity of 10,000 MW will be operationalised with an estimated investment of Rs 14,000 crore. This is likely to increase demand for locally produced materials such as EVA, solar glass, backsheet and junction box. “We want to see our companies to become global manufacturing champions, not just to fulfil local demands,” the prime minister said. The government has indicated its commitment of additional capital infusion worth Rs 1,000 crore in the Solar Energy Corporation of India to promote investments in the renewable energy sector. Similarly, the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) will get additional investments worth Rs 1,500 crore. 20

FEBRUARY- 2021

The government is focussed on reaching every village and every household, and India has become a powersurplus country from a power-deficit country, he said. In recent years, the country has added 139 gigawatts capacity and reached the goal of one nation-one grid-one frequency, the prime minister pointed out. Reforms like the UDAY scheme with the issuance of bonds worth Rs 2.32 lakh crore were undertaken to improve financial and operational efficiencies, he said, adding, “For monetising the assets of the Powergrid, Infrastructure Investment Trust — InvIT was established, which will soon be open for investors.” Modi said work is on to make the distribution sector free of entry barriers and licensing for distribution and supply. Efforts are underway for prepaid smart metres, feeder separation and system upgradation, he added. Under the PM KUSUM scheme, farmers are becoming energy entrepreneurs and the goal is to create 30-GW solar capacity through small plants in their fields, the prime minister said. Already, 4-GW solar capacity is installed through rooftop solar projects and 2.5 GW will be added soon. In the next one-and-a-half years, 40-GW solar power is aimed through rooftop solar projects, he added.

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INDIA’S CATCH-22: COAL USE SET TO BOOM AS RENEWABLE WAVE CAN’T KEEP UP WITH ELECTRIFICATION GROWTH

Indian power generation from coal fell to a five-year low of “just” 1,064 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2020 due to the Covid-19-induced slowdown. This was only a dip, however, as coal still makes up a gigantic 70% of the country’s total electricity production and is set to come back with a vengeance, growing by 43% to 1,523 TWh in 2037, when Rystad Energy expects coal power to finally peak.

s surprising as the projection may be to some, such a surge in coal consumption is not that unexpected. India’s power generation is set to grow exponentially to 3,565 TWh by 2037, more than double 2020’s figure. Electricity production will already exceed 2,000 TWh from 2025 and is set to breach the 3,000 TWh ceiling from 2034 as a result of an electrification boost and economic growth. In fact, Rystad Energy expects India’s electricity generation to increase with an average annual growth of 4.2%, effectively tripling its current level over the next 30 years. The outlook is not all grim for clean electricity, though. Today’s power mix will be unrecognizable in three decades as the government pushes for greener initiatives. Rystad Energy forecasts all renewable sources grouped together (wind, solar, hydro, and biofuels/waste) will surpass fossil fuels in India’s total power generation by 2038. Further out, we expect solar to outcompete coal by 2050 in terms of the largest share in the power mix.

India has made some progress in meeting sustainable development goals and its government has set ambitious targets. However, even though it has huge potential for clean power generation, our view is that in the short term its renewable targets are too ambitious. It may take a bit longer, but eventually we will see renewable power dominate, says Fabian Rønningen, gas and power analyst at Rystad Energy.

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New solar and wind projects are projected to accelerate the growth of India’s renewable power generation. Rystad Energy expects electricity produced by solar PV to grow to 65 TWh in 2021 from 55 TWh in 2020, and then rise further to 128 TWh through 2025 and 233 TWh in 2030. Power generated by onshore wind turbines, from 69 TWh in 2020, is set to rise to 82 TWh in 2021 and 143 TWh in 2025. In 2030, produced electricity from this source is expected at 254 TWh. Solar power production will continue to grow even more after 2030, but as onshore wind is also set for a massive boost, solar will only overtake onshore wind towards the end of 2050, Rystad Energy projects. The only fossil fuel to see an uninterrupted rise in use towards 2050 is gas, even though its share will never become a significant one for India. Rystad Energy expects gas-generated electricity to rise to 73 TWh in 2021 from 71 TWh in 2020, and then reach 85 TWh in 2025 and 128 TWh in 2030 – by which time it will make up about 5% of the total power mix. Many countries around the world are relying on gas to transition away from coal and into renewables. However, given the limited access to gas supplies and the country’s economic dependence on the coal industry, India is expected to continue to use coal power to provide stability for the exponential growth in renewable power generation.

FEBRUARY- 2021

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PM DEDICATES 1,000 MW NNTPS, 709 MW SOLAR PROJECTS TO NATION

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, dedicated to the Nation, the 1000 MW lignite based Neyveli New Thermal Power Station.

NTPS) at Neyveli and 709 MW Solar Power Projects of NLC India Limited, located at four Districts of Tamil Nadu through Video Conferencing from Codissia Trade Fare Complex, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Banwarilal Purohit, Governor of Tamil Nadu, Edappadi K. Palaniswami, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal & Mines, O. Panneerselvam, Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, other senior officials from State and Central Governments and CMD and Functional Directors of NLCIL were present on the occasion. While addressing the gathering after dedicating the 1000 MW lignite based Neyveli New Thermal Power Station (NNTPS) and 709 MW Solar Power Projects of NLC India Limited, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed the need for uninterrupted power supply for Industrial Growth and expressed his happiness in dedicating two major power projects of NLCIL, one 1000 MW (2×500) Lignite based Thermal Power Station in Neyveli at a cost of Rs 7,800 crores that supply over 65 per cent of its generated capacity to the state of Tamil Nadu and the 709 MW capacity Solar Power projects of NLCIL at a cost of over 3000 crores in the Districts of Tirunelveli, Ramanathapuram, Virudhunagar and Thoothukudi of Tamil Nadu, the sole beneficiary. He lauded NLCIL for completing these projects that energise the state and realize the “National Solar Mission” and Government’s Mission of “Power to All”.

While addressing, Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal & Mines complimented NLCIL for doubling its Mining capacity in three years and increasing the power generation capacity by 65 per cent in the last six years. He appreciated NLC India in inducting 750 contract workmen into regular roles of the company this year and completing two Wage settlements benefiting 9000 regular workmen and 15000 contract workmen.

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He praised NLCIL on making a huge foray in renewable energy sector by becoming the first CPSE to achieve 1 GW capacity in solar and for the 1000 MW Thermal Power Station at Neyveli having two lignite-fired units of 500 MW each, the first of its kind in India with state of art environment friendly Ash Handling System designed for 100% Ash utilisation. O Pannerselvam, Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu welcomed the dignitaries and gathering.

Edappadi K. Palaniswami, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in his address highlighted the details of projects that are to be inaugurated / dedicated by the Prime Minister and its benefits to the State of Tamil Nadu. Prime Minister who was in the City of Coimbatore had also inaugurated various Government schemes of Tamil Nadu Government from the same venue.

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NAGALAND POWER REQUIREMENT EXPECTED TO REACH 550 MW BY 2025

Though Nagaland is endowed with numerous hydro-potential sites, many are yet to be exploited due to lack of adequate funding to develop the sites. Due to this, even after completion of 50 years of existence, the State power department has not been able to make much headway in the area of development of power projects, according to the Department of Power Nagaland (DoPN) Annual Administrative Report 2020-21 tabled in the recently concluded State assembly session. t present (2020-2021), the peak-off peak demand The report stated that the department is also of the state is 179 Mega Watts (MW) and 120 MW actively moving forward for installation of respectively, the report stated. It also added that the solar power plants with the National Solar State’s power requirement by 2025 is expected to Mission with Solar Parks and Rooftop Solar reach 550 MW. With negligible generation of its own, installations in the State with a target to the State has to depend mostly on the central sector achieve 61MW by 2022. The department has allocation of about 155MW and the rest from Energy commissioned 9 small/mini/micro Hydro ElecMarket which can be very expensive. So far, the state tric Projects (HEPs) so far with a total installed has been able to develop only one major project i.e capacity of 29.658 MW in line with GovernLikimro HEP which is of 24 MW. The projects which ment of India (GoI) policy of capacity addition. have been successfully commissioned and in operaOut of this, 26 MW installed capacity is grid tion are 24 MW Likimro HEP in Kiphire, 1 MW Tehok connected from 24MW Likimro HEP, 1 MW TeHEP in Mon and 1 MW Lang HEP in Tuensang. hok Small Hydro Project and I MW Lang Small The total energy generated by these projects during Hydro Project. The remaining old projects are 2020-21 (Up to January 2021) is 58 million units operated in isolation mode, the report added. (MU), the report stated.

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FEBRUARY- 2021

business & finance

ASHOK LEYLAND PICKS 26% STAKE IN PRATHAMA SOLARCONNECT FOR RS 19 CR

According to a Crisil report last September, the group is currently developing 75 Mw (about 40 per cent of overall capacity) of group captive solar power plant under PSEPL for Ashok Leyland.

induja Group’s flagship company Ashok Leyland Ltd (ALL) has invested Rs 18.66 crore in Prathama Solarconnect Energy Private Limited, for a 26 per cent stake in the company’s paidup share capital. Prathama Solarconnect Energy is part of the Hinduja Renew group, and is engaged in solar power generation business. The company has reported a loss of Rs 76.97 lakh in 2019-20. According to a Crisil report last September, the group is currently developing 75 Mw (about 40 per cent of overall capacity) of group captive solar power plant under PSEPL for Ashok Leyland. Therefore, the group remains exposed to stabilisation and implementation related risks for this project. However, its track record of calibrated expansion strategy with a prudent funding mix, and group support aid the business risk profile. Moreover, expansion is backed by strong visibility for evacuation and PPA, said in the group. Further, the group plans to set up over 75-85 Mw of solar projects over the medium term, and aims to achieve overall one gigawatt of solar capacity in the long run, said Crisil.

GOLDMAN-BACKED RENEW POWER IS SAID TO NEAR DEAL WITH RMG II SPAC

The deal would give Goldman Sachs Group Inc.-backed ReNew an enterprise value of $8 billion, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

n $855 million private placement to support the transaction is being raised from investors including serial dealmaker Chamath Palihapitiya, TT International Asset Management, a fund managed by BNP Paribas SA, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock Inc. and Sylebra Capital, the people said. Representatives for RMG II, ReNew and BlackRock declined to comment. Other investors in the PIPE didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. ReNew’s plan to go public through a deal with RMG was reported earlier by the Indian newspaper Mint. RMG, sponsored by Riverside Management Group, raised $345 million in its initial public offering including so-called greenshoe shares in December. It’s part of an unprecedented surge in listings by special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, that has continued this year. ReNew would receive about $610 million in net proceeds after using some of the money to pay down debt and repay existing investors who are selling portions of their stakes, according to the people. Other investors in the company include the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

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The prospective merger would extend a wave of clean-tech SPAC deals in the U.S. and expand it to include India’s growing renewables market. ReNew is positioned to benefit from India’s surging electricity demand as the country pushes to slash emissions and improve air quality. India is aiming to use green sources for 40% of its energy needs by 2030, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said last week. ReNew now has more than five gigawatts of operational cleanpower capacity A huge build-out of renewables as the nation targets 450 gigawatts of capacity over the next decade — up from about 91 gigawatts now — is a $20 billion a year investment opportunity, Modi said last year. By 2040, solar generation is expected to account for about the same share of India’s energy mix as coal, currently the nation’s dominant power source, according to the International Energy Agency

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business & Finance

GOVT AND OTHER INITIATIVES WILL HELP IN INCREASING IREDA’S NET-WORTH: CMD IREDA IREDA organized a Quarterly borrower meet under the chairmanship of Shri Pradip Kumar Das, CMD, IREDA through virtual mode. During the course of the interaction, CMD expressed his gratitude towards the new vision for Renewable Energy laid out by the Hon’ble Prime Minister that has resulted in the Rs. 1500 crores Equity infusion in IREDA. Shri Das underlined the support from the Hon’ble Finance Minister and Hon’ble Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister in this regard and expressed gratitude to them for reposing confidence in IREDA.

MD, IREDA highlighted that the equity from Govt. of India and other initiatives will help in increasing IREDA’s Net-worth. The additional equity will improve the company’s capital adequacy that will in turn help in enhancing the individual and group level exposure limits to enable more funding to the existing borrowers as well as new borrowers. Also the same would enable further borrowing by IREDA at lower interest rates in turn also lowering the interest rates for developers by IREDA. IREDA will continue to focus on developing the Green Energy sector in addition to raising funds at minimum cost in order to ensure lower interest rates in the sector. Appreciating IREDA’s proactive support and knowledge sharing even during the pandemic, borrowers from different streams came up with a range of positive suggestions. The participants appreciated the top management’s initiative of such exchanges and issue resolution. They acknowledged the process improvement and prompt response at IREDA over the last few months. Shri B. V. Prasad from Vijay Nagar Sugar Limited complemented the new culture in IREDA and referred to the loan sanction that he received without ever visiting the IREDA office. He mentioned the services that stakeholders of IREDA have begun to get in a transparent manner with help of technology. CMD, Director (Technical), and other IREDA officials clarified the queries raised by the borrowers.

ORANGE SIGNS RENEWABLE ENERGY DEAL WITH ENGIE

Orange is joining forces with ENGIE, a developer of solar and wind power in France, to deliver a global renewable energy supply solution in the country.

his will involve creating new solar energy production capacities, managing the production of all renewable electricity capacities contracted by Orange with other producers and supplying additional volumes to cater to Orange’s actual consumption. The 15-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) between Orange and ENGIE covers the development of two new solar projects totalling 51 MWp in L’Epine (38 MWp) and Ribeyret (13 MWp), both located in the Hautes-Alpes region. These two solar farms will be operational by 1 January 2023 at the latest. The regions covered by these solar projects will reap significant economic benefits: local companies will build, operate and maintain the sites, and rent will be collected and tax income generated by the facilities. ENGIE will aggregate all of the renewable energy produced by the wind farms and solar plants for which Orange France signed a power purchase agreement. ENGIE will put its expertise in energy management to use to deploy a energy strip that caters as closely as possible to Orange’s actual consumption profile.

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Fabienne Dulac, CEO of Orange France said: “Reducing our environmental footprint is a major part of Orange’s strategy. To achieve our aim of carbon neutrality by 2040, we seek to improve the energy performance of our networks and in particular by speeding up the incorporation of renewable energies into our energy mix.”

This innovative contract demonstrates ENGIE’s expertise across the entire renewable electricity value chain and the Group’s aim to become a world leader on the renewable electricity purchase agreements market, said Rosaline Corinthien, CEO of ENGIE France Renewables.

FEBRUARY- 2021

business & finance

BLUE WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ACQUIRES GLOBALLY RECOGNISED MANUFACTURER OF FUEL CELL COMPONENTS TO STRENGTHEN ITS MARKET POSITION Blue World Technologies, developer and manufacturer of methanol fuel cells, is acquiring Danish Power Systems, a 25-year-old HT-PEM material research company.

n 29 December 2020, the respective general assemblies at Blue World Technologies and Danish Power Systems approved a combination of the two companies, whereby Danish Power Systems is acquired by and subsequently merged into Blue World Technologies to strengthen the market position of Blue World Technologies. The transaction follows the acquisition Blue World Technologies made in August 2019, where the company initially bought 15 % of the shares in Danish Power Systems. The transaction awaits the approval of the Danish Authorities. For more than 25 years, Danish Power Systems has been working with high-temperature PEM (HT-PEM) technology and was one of the first companies in the world to start research and development activities within this technology. Based on its outstanding MEA-technology (membrane electrode assembly) Danish Power Systems is widely recognised around the world. Since Blue World Technologies was founded in 2018 with the vision and strategy to commercialise the methanol fuel cell technology, their fuel cell platform has been built using the MEA-technology of Danish Power Systems.

The experience and knowhow the team from Danish Power Systems is bringing into Blue World Technologies are second to none. In the 20 years, I have been working with fuel cell technology I have not seen other component suppliers capable of providing the same stability, power density, and well-proven component-lifetime as Danish Power Systems. The acquisition of Danish Power Systems is, therefore, an important and value-adding step for us to secure additional technology competences strengthening and benefitting our fuel cell production, states Anders Korsgaard, CEO and Co-founder of Blue World Technologies. With the strong experience and competences of Danish Power Systems’ team, Blue World Technologies is able to accelerate product development to optimise the technology platform bridging R&D activities and market needs. With an industrial approach, Blue World Technologies is differentiated from most other manufacturers of methanol fuel cells and fuel cell systems, by having all technologies and core component manufacturing within the fuel cell stack value-chain in-house, and in some cases even to system level.

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For many years, our activities have been centred around R&D. Now we are very much looking forward to being part of Blue World Technologies and contribute to the ambitious goal of commercialising the HT-PEM methanol fuel cell technology. It is taking us much closer to the market where we can really see our technology make a difference in the race towards a greener future, says Hans Aage Hjuler, CEO of Danish Power Systems. Blue World Technologies has initiated the commercialisation of the methanol fuel cell technology through large-scale production and is planning to start up pre-series production in mid-2021 with a production capacity of up to 5,000 units (50MW). The company is targeting to reach a full-scale commercial production capacity of up to 50,000 fuel cell units within three years. Large-scale and cost-efficient production is key for a truly commercialised breakthrough of methanol fuel cell solutions as a green alternative to industries around the world.

An important role in the Power-to-X value chain Within the past couple of years, Power-to-X has gained global ground, both on the political scene and in many industries. In the green transition, Power-to-X technologies are going to play a significant role, especially within the sectors where direct electrification is not possible or feasible, which for example could be within heavy-duty transportation. When transforming green electricity into liquid fuel, such as methanol, it is possible to reuse the existing global infrastructure for storage and distribution while reducing fossil fuel consumption, and thereby, cutting down CO2 emissions. Methanol and other e-fuels can be used to fuel conventional combustion engines and generators, either as a stand-alone fuel or as an additive, or they can be used to power fuel cells. On the utility side of the Power-to-X value chain, Blue World Technologies’ fuel cell technology is striving to play an important role. With high electrical efficiency of up to 45 %, Blue World Technologies’ methanol fuel cells will for many applications provide a much higher efficiency compared to combustion engines and generators. In addition, the fuel cells provide a clean and environmentally friendly operation where emissions of harmful particles such as NOx and SOx are eliminated. Furthermore, the operation can be either CO2 neutral or have a significantly reduced CO2 emission depending on the origin of the fuel, contributing to the combat against severe air pollution and climate changes.

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business & Finance

INVESTEC-BACKED ENERGY FUND PLANS $102 MILLION SOUTH AFRICA IPO

Revego Africa Energy Fund, an investor in South African renewable projects, is looking to raise as much as 1.5 billion rand ($102 million) by April with the industry poised to grow.

The fund is backed by Investec Ltd., the Eskom Pension & Provident Fund and UK Climate Investment and is seeking to list on Johannesburg’s stock exchange, according to Revego Fund Managers Chief Investment Officer Michael Meeser. “We have already identified assets equal to that value and have actually signed purchase agreements,” he said.

he listing may come as South Africa starts to accept bids from independent energy producers to help ease the burden on state-owned utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., which struggles to meet the country’s electricity demand. The government is committed to buy an additional 11,800 megawatts of power from various sources, President Cyril Ramaphosa reiterated this month. The emergence of funds such as Revego indicates there is a market for realized renewable projects in South Africa, even after a state program that was once the fastest-growing in the world stalled under former President Jacob Zuma. He was latterly more interested in a pursuit of nuclear power, though the strategy never got off the ground. Revego plans to pay dividends and wants to see its assets generate enough income to fund expansion, according to Meeser. The company will target inflows from investors seeking to do business with Black-owned firms in South Africa, taking advantage of government policies to help reverse the impact of racial segregation that ended in 1994.

“Things are picking up” in the sector, Meeser said. If South Africa is able to commit to longer timelines and give detail on required capacity, it could give more visibility to international companies and boost local manufacturing, he said. Revego wants to own a wide range of renewable projects to help reduce the fund’s risk. The company holds stakes in South African wind and solar power projects and is anticipating opportunities across sub-Saharan Africa, where nations such as Kenya and Tanzania are also investing in renewable-energy programs.

EDP TO INVEST €24BN IN ENERGY TRANSITION The company targets 50GW of renewables and carbon-neutrality by 2030. Portuguese energy company EDP has announced it will invest €24 billion (£20.9bn) in energy transition and renewables by 2030.

n that timeframe, the firm expects to have 50GW of renewables installed and carbon-neutrality across its operations. EDP said the largest share of the green investment will be secured by renewables. The company anticipates deploying 4GW of solar, hydrogen and storage per year and double solar and wind capacity by 2025. Miguel Stilwell d’Andrade, Chief Executive Officer of EDP, commented:

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“This plan is a bold and ambitious commitment and unprecedented acceleration of growth in renewables building on our strong track record. “The global challenge presented by climate change requires a different mindset, ambition and, above all, measurable action.”

FEBRUARY- 2021

business & finance

AMARA RAJA BATTERIES Q3 PAT SPURTS 18% TO RS 194 CR

Consolidated profit before tax (PBT) surged 19.93% to Rs 260.40 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. Total tax expense for the quarter soared 25.98% to Rs 66.71 crore as against Rs 52.95 crore in Q3 December 2019. The Q3 result was declared on 13 February 2021. The board approved the payment of an interim dividend of Rs 5 per equity share.

n the automotive segment, revenue growth is aided by consistent growth in OEM and aftermarket segments and also the export segment registered robust growth. The telecom and commercial UPS market segments have also recorded a strong growth in the third quarter. Manufacturing capacities are fully ramped up to the optimum utilisation across all segments. During the quarter, ARBL has inaugurated the Advanced Lithium Technology Research Hub with pilot plant facility for cell development. ARBL has developed a wide range of battery packs for e-Mobility and Energy storage applications and has secured approvals from various OE’s and fleet operators for commercial supplies. To further support the sustainability initiatives, ARBL is setting up a 50 megawatt (MW) solar power plant in Chittoor District of Andhra Pradesh at a total outlay of Rs 220 crore. This will further reduce the cost of power and simultaneously bring down the carbon footprint of the company. As part of the overall lead procurement strategy, ARBL will set up a greenfield lead recycling unit with a capacity of one lakh tons which will help the company comply with recycling standards whilst adopting advance technology in the most environmentally friendly manner. The total capital outlay for this project is expected to be Rs 280 crore to be spent over the next 18 months.

Commenting on the Q3 result, Jayadev Galla, the vice chairman & managing director (MD) of Amara Raja Batteries, said that: “The Indian economy has started showing sharper signs of recovery, with reduction in COVID-19 prevalence and ongoing vaccination drive boosting industry confidence. The rebounding of the economy, with recent lessons, is improving the prospects of various market segments, especially those in which were are operating. The Indian Government has recently announced many initiatives and PLI schemes which will accelerate the growth of E-mobility and renewable energy markets. We are assessing the investment opportunities in advanced and futuristic energy storage technologies to address these emerging market segments.”

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S. Vijayanand, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Amara Raja Batteries, has said that: “We are going forward with strategic investments focused on improving operational efficiencies, cost optimisation and technology upgradation. The planned investments in Solar and lead recycling plants will further strengthen our resolve towards a cleaner environment through a sustainable circular economy and also aid reducing costs and provide long term support to our key raw material procurement.”

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business & Finance

CHEVRON LAUNCHES $300 MN FUND FOR LOWCARBON TECHNOLOGY

Chevron announced the launch of a $300 million fund focused on low-carbon technology, as traditional global oil and gas firms attempt to invest more in green energy and tackle climate change.

ajor energy firms have set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or are exploring investments in renewable energy and green technology amid rising pressure from investors and activists, Reuters reported. Earlier this month, top U.S. oil producer Exxon Mobil unveiled a carbon-removal technology venture that would directly compete with Occidental Petroleum’s efforts to develop the largest ever facility to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Chevron Technology Ventures, the venture capital division of the company, launched the first Future Energy Fund in 2018 and has invested in more than 10 companies in the field that focus on carbon capture and energy storage. Last month, Chevron invested in Blue Planet Systems, a startup commercializing a technology that makes a substitute for limestone in concrete and building materials from carbon dioxide.

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The oil major in October formed a joint venture to market dairy biomethane, a renewable natural gas made of methane emissions from cattle burps as part of its push to reduce emissions. Future Energy Fund II is the eighth venture fund launched since CTV was established in 1999. CTV also has a Core Energy Fund which invests in technologies with the potential to have a significant impact on Chevron’s core business through operational enhancements, digitalization and low-carbon operations. Chevron is also an investor as a limited partner in funds such as the Oil & Gas Climate Initiative’s (OGCI) Climate Investments and Emerald Technology Ventures’ Industrial Innovation Fund.

FEBRUARY- 2021

international

ROYAL DUTCH SHELL IN GERMANY SEEKS TO SPEED UP DRIVE TO GO GREEN Royal Dutch Shell in Germany aims to produce aviation fuel and naphtha made from crops and renewable power and to increase to commercial scale an electrolysis plant that makes fossil-free hydrogen, as it seeks to move away from crude oil.

he energy major told an online conference it had applied for subsidies to carry out the work from the European Union and from German funds earmarked for decarbonisation. Fabian Ziegler, head of Shell Deutschland, said several hundred million euros should be spent per year, but he did not give a desired ratio between company and public funding. The global Shell group has set itself a goal of net zero emissions by 2050. At Wesseling, part of the Rheinland refinery, Shell plans to use green electricity and biomass to produce synthetic power-to-liquids (ptl) in a carbon-free way to replace, over the long term, conventional jet fuel and naphtha. The 100,000 tonnes/p.a. ptl plant could be built from 2023 and start producing in 2025.

Shell also gave a timeline for building a 100 megawatt (MW) electrolysis plant, to be called Refhyne II, scaling up from an existing 10 MW plant. Hydrogen is considered a green fuel when electricity from renewable energy sources is used in its production. Shell has begun securing offshore wind power assets whose electricity it could use as feedstock for electrolysis. Through its latest purchase of Next Kraftwerke, a virtual power plant (VPP) operator, it gets access to aggregated biomass-to-power and solar plants. A final investment decision for Refhyne II is due this year and production could start by the end of 2025, Ziegler said. The Berlin government last summer earmarked 7 billion euros for the build-up of green hydrogen in Germany, plus a further 2 billion euros to set up partnerships with other countries, to introduce the alternative fuel across industries and energy.

The market’s build-up will take many years but there are clear targets in place for 2030, accompanied by plans to repurpose existing gas and oil transport infrastructure for example around existing refinery clusters. Hydrogen has a high energy content by mass, but conversion losses from electrolysis and high costs involved in readying it for delivery pose challenges. Costs of producing green hydrogen of 5-6 euros per kg must come down, given that fossil fuelsbased hydrogen costs 1.50 euros/kg, he said. The plans for Wesseling tie in with other European Shell initiatives, with partners, to build electrolysis production in Hamburg and in the Netherlands. Shell wants to build up transport sector delivery chains for hydrogen and provide electric charging.

TOTAL AND ZAHID GROUP TO DEVELOP SOLAR ENERGY IN SAUDI ARABIA In line with Zahid Group and Total’s commitment to the Saudi Vision 2030, SAFEER’s mission is to bring affordable and reliable solar energy solutions to commercial and industrial customers across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, leading the way in the development of the ecosystem for distributed generation through the delivery of high-quality solutions and development of local content and talent, while maintaining a commitment to safety and quality.

pecialising in commercial and industrial solar installations on rooftops and carports, the joint venture will leverage Total’s expertise across the entire solar value chain and Altaaqa’s 18 years of leadership in delivering independent power and water utility solutions in the country. Both the Zahid Group and Total have a track record of successful investments in Saudi Arabia’s oil and gas and energy sectors, creating numerous career opportunities while also being catalysts in the elevation of industry standards and best practices. Establishing SAFEER comes as a natural response to the Ministry of Energy’s announcement to promote renewable distributed generation in the country.

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Commenting on the establishment of SAFEER, Julien Pouget, Senior Vice President, Renewables at Total said, “In line with our 2050 carbon neutrality ambition and our growth strategy in renewables, we are committed to bring to SAFEER Total’s world-class expertise in onsite solar power generation solutions to provide clean, affordable and reliable energy to industrial and commercial customers in Saudi Arabia. We are delighted to expand our partnership with Zahid Group to this new field opened by the Ministry of Energy in the frame of Saudi Vision 2030.” www.EQMagPro.com

international

SPANISH ENERGY COMPANIES TO CARRY THE TORCH FOR RENEWABLE DEALS Several Spanish clean energy companies are planning stock market listings or stake sales within the next two years, taking advantage of a market boom in green assets to raise funds to build more wind farms and solar parks.

ising demand for environmentally friendly investments is focusing attention on Spain’s under-exploited solar and more established wind sector, helped by government targets in line with international requirements to decarbonise economies and stem climate change. International groups Acciona and Repsol have started the process of spinning off energy units that could be valued in the billions of euros. Acciona plans a listing and Repsol has given itself 1-1/2 years for an IPO or stake sale to a partner. Madrid plans to preside over a tripling of its installed solar power generation and a boost to wind which will add 60 gigawatts (GW) in new capacity this decade. The European Union as a whole wants to reduce its planetwarming emissions to net zero – no more than can be absorbed by carbon-sucking trees or other technology – by 2050. Iberdrola, Spain’s biggest power firm, will plough some of its 150 billion-euro investment plan for the next decade into tripling its renewable capacity worldwide.

With sunny Spain at the forefront of Europe’s shift to renewables, many clean power developers there are hiring banks to evaluate whether to sell shares to private bidders or on stock markets, financial sources say. Newer firms Capital Energy and Opdenergy have joined the queue looking for ways to raise funds, according to bankers familiar with those situations. Capital Energy has hired Goldman Sachs and UBS to advise it on a potential share sale, while Opdenergy has taken on Santander and Citi, people familiar with the matter said. A spokesman for Capital Energy said the company was analysing several financing options. Opdenergy declined to comment. The banks declined to comment or were not immediately available for comment.

Renewables is a sector with … high growth, high visibility and unlike many other growth sectors – these companies are already making a profit, said Philip ten Bosch, co-head of global power investment banking at Citi. He added that valuations for pure play clean energy firms are at a clear premium to more diversified utilities, providing the rationale for a spin-offs, though he declined to discuss specific names. Record levels of money has built up in funds that require strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials, stoking demand for green stocks. But government bond yields have risen in recent weeks, taking some steam out of growth stocks like renewables, and bankers said this has muddied the investment case slightly, though demand for ESG remains strong. “Those who have the best assets and the best strategy will have more options but some look opportunistic,” said one banker involved in some of these situations.

SPAIN’S SOLAR SURGE

Going green is a global trend, but Spain stands out for fast growth partly motivated by a sharp fall in the price of solar panel technology that has helped erase the memory of painful subsidy cuts in 2013. Madrid plans to preside over the installation of more than 39 gigawatts (GW) of solar photovoltaic technology by 2030, more than triple its current fleet. And financial investors are now so keen for a ray of sunshine that they are buying into projects before they are built, said Peter Dickson, partner and technical director at London-based investment fund Glenmont Partners. “An infrastructure investor will normally try not to take too much development risk,” Dickson said. But this has changed as the market became more competitive, he said. Strong financial backing has become more important for developers, said Tomas Garcia, Senior Director of Energy and Infrastructure Advisory at Jones Lang LaSalle.

“Development is becoming more capital intensive and more sophisticated, so some smaller developers will need to get that capital and a more professional approach from an international investment fund, for example.”

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FEBRUARY- 2021

international

AGL ACQUIRES AUSTRALIAN C&I SOLAR PROVIDERS SOLGEN AND EPHO Solgen has delivered more than 15,000 solar projects in the past decade. Australian utility AGL Energy has secured deals to acquire two commercial and industrial (C&I) solar companies, Solgen Energy Group and Epho, as it looks to strengthen its existing PV capabilities.

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GL, which operates the largest electricity portfolio in Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM) and is the country’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter, said the acquisitions will allow it to deliver “more tailored and innovative” energy solutions for businesses. Established in 2008, Solgen is among Australia’s largest commercial solar providers, having delivered more than 15,000 projects in the last decade. It also owns solar equipment distribution business Sol Distribution. Epho, which AGL will acquire from Anchorage Capital Partners, specialises in the construction and maintenance of large-scale systems and has carried out more than 400 solar installations in Australia, including a 6MW PV park at Brisbane airport. Oliver Hartley, managing director at Epho, said the acquisition will allow the company to provide a “full suite of on- and off-site renewable energy retail solutions” that its clients require to meet their environmental commitments.

FEBRUARY- 2021

“We can make a material difference to the carbon foot-print of corporate Australia,” he added. AGL CEO Brett Redman said the two acquisitions will allow the utility to deliver more than 70MW of commercial solar projects each year. “This part of the energy sector has seen significant growth over the last ten years, as businesses right across Australia seek out solar offerings to help them decarbonise, reduce costs and create sustainable operations.” Recent figures from the Australian Energy Council revealed that the amount of rooftop solar installations in Australia grew by 18% last year. Despite the impact from COVID-19, some 2.6GW of capacity and 333,978 rooftop PV installations were added to the grid during 2020. In Western Australia, rooftop PV is set to be the fastest-growing form of new capacity, with the expansion displacing coal as well as large-scale solar projects. Alongside the rise of Australia’s C&I market, the amount of corporate power purchase agreements (PPA) in the country from last year are expected to reach record levels. A report published in December from Business Renewables Centre Australia found more than 3GW of renewables have been contracted since 2017 in the country through corporate PPAs

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international

CHINA’S TSINGSHAN PLANS CLEAN ENERGY PLANT IN INDONESIA Chinese steel and nickel producer Tsingshan plans to build a 2,000MW clean energy facility in Indonesia in the next 3-5 years. The firm will build solar and wind power stations and supporting facilities at its Tsingshan and Weda Bay industrial parks in Indonesia. The plant will supply power for the firm’s production of raw materials used in electric vehicle batteries, ensuring its operations emit zero CO2 emissions.

singshan is also on track to build a 5,000MW hydropower project in Indonesia to further ensure clean energy supplies. The exact timeline of this project is unclear. The firm earlier this month announced it will supply nickel matte, a main feedstock to produce nickel sulphate, to domestic cobalt smelter Huayou Cobalt and new energy materials producer CNGR. Argus assessed nickel sulphate prices at 35,500-36,500 yuan/t ($5,460-5,620/t) ex-works, down by Yn1,000/t from 9 March following a fall in nickel metal prices. Import prices were assessed at $3,500-3,800/t cif China on 9 March, unchanged from a week ago. Stock-holding traders offered towards the upper end of the range on expectations of firm long-term demand from the power battery sector.

DAQO NEW ENERGY ANNOUNCES THREE-YEAR HIGH-PURITY POLYSILICON SUPPLY AGREEMENT WITH WUXI SHANGJI AUTOMATION Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE: DQ) (“Daqo New Energy”, the “Company” or “we”), a leading manufacturer of high-purity polysilicon for the global solar PV industry, announced that it signed a three-year high-purity polysilicon supply agreement with Wuxi Shangji Automation (SSE:603158) (“Shangji”), a leading high-end intelligent equipment provider for manufacturing industries including the solar PV industry. Shangji started its mono-wafer manufacturing business in 2019 and has quickly been recognized as a high-quality mono-wafer provider.

nder the supply agreement, Daqo New Energy will provide Shangji with high-purity mono-grade polysilicon in a total amount of 52,700 MT between July 2021 and June 2024. Actual prices will be negotiated by both parties monthly according to market conditions. As part of the supply agreement, Shangji will make an advance payment to Daqo New Energy.

Mr. Jianliang Yang, Chairman of Wuxi Shangji Automation, commented, ” We are very pleased to further strengthen our strategic partnership with Daqo New Energy through this second long-term polysilicon contract between us. We will continue to expand our mono-wafer capacity with advanced technology to better serve the fast-growing solar PV market.”

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Mr. Longgen Zhang, Chief Executive Officer of Daqo New Energy, commented, “Shangji Automation is one of our key customers with a visionary strategy and very strong execution track record in the mono-wafer sector. We will continue to work closely with Shangji by providing first-class polysilicon products and assist them to better execute their capacity expansion plans.”

FEBRUARY- 2021

international

JAPAN LAGS AS ECONOMIES WORLDWIDE SHIFT TO RENEWABLE POWER The 21st century is becoming the age of renewable power as economies around the world ramp up their decarbonization efforts. But as the costs of solar and wind generation dramatically decline, Japan is lagging behind in its efforts to implement green electricity.

n the port of Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, a demonstration unit of the world’s largest wind turbine, manufactured by General Electric, has been built. It is 260 meters high, with 107 meter blades, and each rotation produces enough electricity to power one household for about two days. The Dogger Bank wind farm off the coast of the U.K., which is under construction, will boast 190 of these turbines. When complete, it will have a generation capacity of 3,600 megawatts. The world’s first offshore wind farm, built 30 years ago off the coast of Denmark, had an output of 5 megawatts. The number of days required to build each unit has been reduced from 28 days to only half a day, and the cost of construction has rapidly declined, as has the cost of power generation.

We are surprised at the low prices offered by European companies, said Toshiaki Kushima, deputy mayor of Yurihonjo, Akita Prefecture. European companies are interested in a large-scale wind farm off the coast of Yurihonjo. The tender will take place in May. According to an estimate by the International Renewable Energy Agency, the world’s electricity demand will increase to 48 terawatt-hours by 2050, 2.2 times that of 2017. This is because electricity will replace oil and coal in the transportation and industrial sectors. Moreover, as economies aim for carbon neutrality, investment in green electricity generation that does not emit carbon dioxide will grow. The amount of electricity generated by renewables will increase 7.5 times, and their share of the total will rise from 25% to 86% in the same period. Like countries in northern Europe, the Japanese government is trying to expand offshore wind power, which is currently almost non-existent in the country. The plan is to increase wind power capacity to a total of 4,500 megawatts by 2040, but the offshore facility planned for Yurihonjo will have an output of 730 megawatts, only one-fifth of Dogger Bank’s. Currently, Japan is well behind Europe in terms of renewables. Their share in 2020 was 42% of U.K.’s and 45% of Germany’s, while Japan’s share was only about 20%. Research firm Bloomberg NEF looked at which power sources are cheapest for new power plants in each country and region. According to the study, the cheapest per megawatt-hour was coal at $74 in Japan, solar at $33 in China, wind at $36 in the U.S. and wind at $42 in the U.K. Japan’s renewables were expensive — solar was $124 and wind $113. The combined gross domestic product of the countries and regions where renewable energy is cheapest is close to three-quarters of the world’s total. Japan and Southeast Asian countries were the anomalies, with coal as the cheapest source.

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Until a few years ago, coal and natural gas were competitive around the world, but innovation and economies of scale in the past decade have made solar power 80% cheaper and onshore wind 40% cheaper. Markus Krebber, CFO of German utility RWE, which is in the process of divesting coal-fired power plants, said, “We need to transform to become a major renewable player. It was clear that our operating business [running a huge conventional generation fleet] had no long-lasting future.” In Japan, the utilities in each region own and operate the transmission lines. This makes it difficult for independent power producers that invest in wind and solar power to connect to the grid, as the utilities’ coal, gas and nuclear plants get priority. Since 2011, the U.K. has made it easier to connect renewable energy to the grid by curtailing wind generation when there is excess supply. The amount of renewable energy installed in England has expanded from about 6,000 megawatts in 2011 to about 250,000 megawatts in 2017. Japan is implementing a rule modeled after the U.K. across the country this year to enhance renewables. However, in the U.K., transmission companies pay compensation to renewable energy IPPs when they have to curtail generation; in Japan, there is no such rule. An executive from a Japanese utility who asked not to be named said, “It’s an easy rule for large utilities.”

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international

SUNGROW BAGS 500 MW AGREEMENTS DURING PV JAPAN EXPO

Sungrow, a leading global inverter solution supplier for renewables, has signed 500 MW of strategic agreements to supply PV inverter solutions in Japan during the recent PV Expo. he Company also debuted a future-proof PV and energy storage product lineup optimized for various Japanese market segments; therefore fueling the transition to a low carbon economy and overshooting Japan’s 2050 carbon neutrality target.

AUSPICIOUS BEGINNING FOR 2021 The 500 MW agreements forged between Sungrow and some major Japan-based companies, will power a large number of applications in the coming years. “Our actions are firmly grounded in Japanese demands. We’re excited for what’s to come from these extensive partnerships as it’s a tremendous opportunity to create customer value and business growth,” said Sun Xiao, Country Manager of Sungrow Japan.

ENERGY STORAGE DRIVES NET ZERO CARBON As self-consumption and VPP models increase in popularity, energy storage will play a much greater role in the future. The battery energy storage system (ESS) named ST159KWH-50HV is a 50 kW-3H system for selfconsumption, featuring easy installations and a small footprint. Notably, Sungrow recently supplied a 21 MWh DC-coupling solar-plus-storage project in Hokkaido, ensuring 24 hours continuous yield. Latest PV lineup boosts innovation

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SOLAR PV IS A MAINSTREAM POWER SOURCE IN JAPAN TOWARDS 2030 AND 2050. Sungrow rolled out the new 5.5 kW string inverter tailored to the surging low voltage market. The inverter features a high DC/AC ratio of 3, enabling a low initial investment. With 3 MPPTs, it’s ideal for complicated terrains. Japan has experienced a sizable growth in the ultra-high-voltage (UHV) market. The high-performance 125 kW string inverter Sungrow debuted is designed to support small utility-scale projects, compatible with the growing preference of high wattage bifacial modules. Its compact design and light weight of only 70 kg, permits faster solution speeds at installation and commissioning. The new offerings for the high voltage segment include 100 kW and 49.5 kW string inverters, featuring high efficiency and durability; therefore, making the assets of stakeholders more profitable. Sungrow’s seven-year Japanese presence aids in aligning with its customers. “Our target in 2021 is to increase market share within the energy storage market and get a strong foothold in the UHV PV segment. We foresee the deployment of our commercial product portfolio and a strong beginning with more low voltage projects as well,” commented Sun Xiao at the expo.

FEBRUARY- 2021

international

BENBAN SOLAR PARK IN EGYPT TO BE CLEANED USING ROBOTIC SOLUTIONS

Installed solar panels at the Benban Solar Park in Egypt will be cleaned using robotic solutions from Ecoppia, the pioneer and world leader in robotic solutions for photovoltaic solar.

ean Scemama, the CEO of Ecoppia made the announcement and said that the Israeli company has already signed an agreement for the deployment of its equipment in the facility which is located in Benban (Aswan Governorate of Egypt) in the western desert. Benban Solar Park is set to be the world’s largest solar PV Park with a total capacity of 1650 MWp which corresponds to an annual production of approximately 3.8 TWh. While enjoying very high radiation rates in this location, the facility also suffers from major soiling and desert sands, requiring frequent cleaning to ensure steady and optimal production. Ecoppia’s unique robotic solutions are completely autonomous, water-free, and energy independent, allowing site owners to enjoy the benefits of year-round peak performance while lowering their Operation & Maintenance (O&M) expenses and overall, their Levelized cost of energy, or Levelized cost of electricity (LCOE).

FEBRUARY- 2021

RELIABLE ON ALL MODULE TYPES

According to the CEO, this project in BenBan will feature the light-weighted Ecoppia T4 solution, designed especially for Single Axis trackers. The solutions were proven to be extremely effective, cleaning nearly 10 million solar panels in harsh climatic conditions, spreading across roughly 2,500MW of installations around the globe. In addition, the robots were also proven to be fully safe and reliable on all module types, to include glass on glass and bifacial. “As the front-runners in robotic cleaning solutions for solar, entering a new country is a great milestone in the company’s growth, especially when the project is in one of the largest and most significant solar parks in the world” said CEO Scemama. “Our unparalleled experience in the region, operating in the Middle East for almost 7 years now, enables us to deliver great value to such projects, as we see more and more energy companies advancing towards full automation of their O&M activities” he added.

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international

ITALY’S ENI, CDP FORM JOINT VENTURE TO INVEST 800 MLN EUROS IN RENEWABLE ENERGY Italy’s Eni and state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) have formed a joint venture to invest around 800 million euros ($957 million) over five years in solar and wind energy production, they said in a statement.

reenIT, which is 51% owned by Eni and 49% by CDP unit CDP Equity, will target an installed capacity of approximately 1,000 MW by 2025, they said. The move is aimed at stepping up Italy’s efforts to increase renewable energy generation, in line with the objectives set by the 2030 Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan submitted to the European Union Commission at the end of 2019. Italy’s new ecology minister Roberto Cingolani is working on a new plan for energy transition that is expected to be ready by May. In a phone conversation with U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry held. Cingolani said Rome plans to cut its carbon emissions by around 60% by 2030, and to use 80 billion euros of EU funds for energy transition in the next five years.

UPDATE 4-ITALY’S ENI VOWS TO BECOME CARBON NEUTRAL BY 2050 IN LATEST GREEN PUSH

Eni to merge renewable and retail businesses Eni targets capex of 7 bln euros/yr to 2024 Shares rise 2.3% vs flat European oil & gas index Italian energy group Eni ENI.MI raised its ambition to cut greenhouse gas emissions, vowing to become net carbon neutral by 2050, as it seeks to keep up pace in an industry under pressure from investors to go green.

Like its peers, Eni is stepping up plans to transition to cleaner fuels as governments around the world ratchet up green deals to tackle the climate crisis and electrify economies. “We commit to the full decarbonisation of all our products and processes by 2050,” Chief Executive Claudio Descalzi said. “Our plan is concrete, detailed, economically sustainable and technologically proven.”

ni shares accelerated after the plan was unveiled, rising 2.3% by 1324 GMT versus a flat European oil and gas index. In an update to a clean-up drive announced last year, Eni said it would cut absolute emissions by 25% by 2030 from 2018 levels and by 65% by 2040. Eni’s plans come just days after newly-appointed Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has put climate change at the heart of his plans for Italy and has said his government intends to boost renewable energy and green hydrogen production. Eni, which makes most of its earnings from oil and gas, said the 2050 decarbonisation goal would be reached by growing output from bio-refineries, raising renewable capacity, deforestation initiatives, carbon capture and other green projects.

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“This is a target, not an aspiration,” Descalzi told analysts during a presentation of the plan, adding that management’s salaries would be tied to that. The world’s top oil and gas companies have set varying targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their operations and the use of the products they sell. Dutch Shell RDSa.L vowed to eliminate net carbon emissions by 2050, raising its ambition from previous targets, as its oil output declines from a 2019 peak, while Total rebranded as part of a push to diversify and grow renewable power and electricity production. said it would merge its renewable and retail businesses to grow its customer base in synergy with its green ambitions. Unveiling shorter-term targets to 2024, Eni said production would rise 4% per year, with spending on upstream activities of around 4.5 billion euros per year. Eni plans to spend an overall 7 billion euros per year over the next four years, with over 20% of that allocated to green projects and the merged renewable and retail business. Eni said it would again base its dividend policy on the price of Brent, saying the floor of 0.36 euros per share would start at an annual Brent scenario of $43 a barrel, two dollars lower than the previous level. The company will buy back shares for 300 million euros if Brent reaches $56 a barrel, and more should prices go higher.

FEBRUARY- 2021

international

FLOATING SOLAR PANELS ON 1% OF RESERVOIRS ‘COULD DOUBLE’ AFRICA’S HYDRO POWER CAPACITY Floating solar could be a valuable tool to help African nations expand their power infrastructure sustainably, according to a new study and an energy expert. If panels covered 1% of reservoirs, this alone could double African hydropower capacity and increase electricity generation from dams by 50%. But unknowns remain, such as the impacts on water quality and technical challenges including the impact of bird fouling and corrosion.

olar panels floating on the lakes formed by Africa’s hydropower dams could be a major new source of power, according to a new study. If these panels covered just 1% of reservoirs, this alone could double African hydropower capacity and increase electricity generation from dams by 50%. Hydro dams are the largest renewable power source in a continent where millions of people still lack access to electricity. However, their future potential could be hampered by climate change.

HAVE YOU READ? This is what needs to be done to bring electricity to SubSaharan Africa How will hydropower shape Africa’s future? Africa is facing an electricity crisis – a pay-as-you-go model could solve the problem. In a new paper published in Renewable Energy, researchers lay out the possibility of using floating solar panels installed on lakes to boost the generating capacity of existing dams. With the continent caught between “a climate crisis and widespread energy poverty”, one regional expert tells Carbon Brief that floating solar could be a valuable tool to help African nations expand their power infrastructure sustainably.

BOOSTING HYDRO Hydropower accounts for 17% of the electricity generated across Africa and more than 90% in some nations, including Ethiopia, Mozambique and Zambia. Dr Samuel Gyamfi from the University of Energy and Natural Resources in Ghana, who was not involved in the new study, tells Carbon Brief that African nations have still built far less than other parts of the world: “This is basically due to financial constraints…Africa has about 90% of its hydro resources yet to be developed for power generation.” As it stands, less than half the population of sub-Saharan Africa has access to electricity. With more than 50 new dams currently under construction, this technology is often touted as a renewable solution to Africa’s energy needs. But, with rising global temperatures leading to disrupted rainfall and droughts, existing African facilities are expected to generate less power in the future.

FEBRUARY- 2021

On top of this, the dams that have been built have often been linked to social, environmental and political problems. The new paper proposes floating solar panels as a solution that boosts hydropower capacity using Africa’s “vast solar resources”. Panels can be mounted on floating structures and plugged into existing electricity infrastructure. The authors* – a team from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre – tell Carbon Brief: “Floating photovoltaics could be a potential alternative to expanding hydropower in certain areas, especially in water scarce regions where droughts are causing severe repercussions on hydroelectric generation.” At the same time, they note that during the wet season hydropower could compensate for the intermittency of solar power in these hybrid systems. The researchers used a combination of satellite images and data from hydropower reservoirs and solar radiation to estimate floating solar’s potential at the 146 largest hydropower facilities in Africa as of 2016. In a maximum scenario where 100% of each reservoir was covered with solar panels, there would be an accompanying 100-fold increase in capacity, with 2,922 gigawatts (GW) of solar added to the existing 28GW of hydropower. This would mean a 50-fold increase in electricity production compared to current hydro output, from 106 terawatt hours (TWh) to 5,293TWh. This dwarfs the total electricity demand across the whole of Africa, which is only around 700TWh. While covering every reservoir with panels is clearly “not feasible”, the authors note that, even in cases with far less coverage, the gains were substantial. With just 1% cover, the installed capacity of existing hydropower plants could be more than doubled, rising from 28GW to 58GW.

This would mean increasing the overall electricity output of the hydropower and solar hybrid system to 159TWh, a 50% increase from hydropower alone. The paper also includes a scenario in which the installed solar exactly matched hydropower capacity, allowing for full use of the dam’s connection to the grid. This resulted in 0.9% coverage, but only for 108 reservoirs as the remaining 38 required more than 100% coverage to equal hydropower capacity. These reservoirs are shown in the map below, with the size of the circles indicated the size of solar power output.

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international ‘JUST SOLAR ON A BOAT’

COSTS AND CHALLENGES

Though still at the early stages of development, floating solar power has been “growing exponentially”, according to a 2018 report by the World Bank. Some African nations have taken the first steps towards this new technology, but they are far behind the big players, such as China. A 2019 report found there was 64kW of floating solar deployed in Africa compared to 813,788kW in Asia. Mohamed Adow, director of Nairobi-based thinktank Power Shift Africa, tells Carbon Brief that diversifying the continent’s energy portfolio with technologies such as floating solar could reduce “outages and overreliance” on hydropower. Jenny Chase, a solar analyst at BloombergNEF (BNEF) who was not involved in the new study, tells Carbon Brief “sticking solar on hydro plants should be an obvious win”. She adds: “It’s just solar on a boat. You’ve got the grid connection, so you’re good to go.” In general, solar power is set for considerable growth in the region, taking advantage of Africa’s ample solar resources and falling prices. “The continent really just needed it to get cheap,” says Chase. She adds that, while the new study quotes Africa’s total solar capacity as 5GW, according to BNEF figures it was 12.7GW in 2020 and is expected to be 16.7GW by the end of 2021. An additional benefit provided by floating solar panels on hydropower reservoirs comes from their potential to reduce water loss during periods of drought by forming a shield that blocks any evaporating moisture. This, in turn, could further boost the power output from the dams. The paper found that using floating panels that fully cover 1% of the water surface would increase hydropower output by 0.17% due to water savings. “For a continent that will need to cherish every last drop as global heating continues to rise, this is significant,” says Adow.

Experts tell Carbon Brief that while the new paper paints an interesting picture, there are issues with floating solar in Africa. “The technology is excellent, but rather expensive,” says Dr Mmantsae Moche Diale, a solar power researcher at the University of Pretoria. The study notes evidence from the EU that floating solar power can cost around 20-25% more than the conventional variety. However, the authors tell Carbon Brief that, with electricity grid infrastructure already in place at hydropower plants, the saving on grid connection costs can make floating solar “more economically viable”. Chase downplays the additional costs, telling Carbon Brief that “it’s a bit more expensive than ground mount, but not much”, adding: “Solar’s got so cheap that these days it’s more a ‘why not?’ than ‘why do this’” Nevertheless, Adow says that to make the scenarios laid out in this paper a reality there will need to be targeted financial support for African governments from richer countries: “This is why developing nations talk about the importance of ‘technology transfer‘ at the UN climate summits…It must be top of the agenda when countries meet this year at COP26 in Glasgow.” “Africa is caught between both a climate crisis and widespread energy poverty. Its leaders need to think creatively and be supported,” he adds. The authors of the new study note that, with floating solar still a relatively new technology, there remain many unknowns, such as the impacts on water quality and technical challenges including the impact of bird fouling and corrosion. Gyamfi says these issues will vary considerably between countries and notes that more research will be needed to determine how best to scale up floating solar in the region. The authors say the nations that stand to benefit most from floating solar are northern African countries, as well as South Africa, owing to their relatively low hydropower capacity. Virtually all of South Africa’s electricity is currently provided by coal, while nations such as Algeria and Libya rely heavily on natural gas.

The worlds largest floating solar energy plan in China has a capacity of 40 megawatts.

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FEBRUARY- 2021

electric vehicle

TOP 5 ELECTRIC SCOOTERS TO BUY IN INDIA IN 2021 The automobile industry is shifting towards electrification across the globe, and not just four-wheelers, but two-wheelers are also headed from internal combustion engines to battery packs and electric motors. That said, a range of fully electric two-wheelers are now available in the Indian market, and many more are expected to join the list soon. But if you were planning to buy a new electric scooter, this list of the top 5 electric scooters available in the Indian market as of February 2021 will surely help you – 1. Bajaj Chetak Electric Bajaj Auto launched its first electric scooter in India last year, and named it after the iconic ‘Chetak’ scooter. The e-scooter comes packed with a 3.8 kW/4.1 kW (continuous/peak power) electric motor, which is paired to a lithium-ion battery pack that delivers a range of 95 km in Eco mode, and 85 km in Sport mode. The Chetak has been positioned as a premium product, and hence, gets equipped with high-quality materials along with features like its feather touch switchgear, full-LED lighting, as well as a digital instrument cluster. The scooter is available in two variants, namely Urbane and Premium, priced at Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1.15 lakh (ex-showroom) respectively. 2. Ather 450 Ather Energy is an Indian electric vehicle startup currently focused on making e-scooters for the country. Its first scooter ‘450’ was launched back in 2018, and comes equipped with an IP67 rated 2.4 kWh battery pack. The scooter has a claimed range of 75 km in Eco mode, while Sport mode will bring the range down to 55 km. Ather retails the 450 at Rs 1.13 lakh (on-road, New Delhi), after all the subsidies.

FEBRUARY- 2021

Bajaj Chetak

Ather 450

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electric vehicle

HUAWEI FILES TWO PATENTS RELATED TO ELECTRIC VEHICLES, SAYS NEW REPORT Chinese tech giant Huawei is planning to make electric cars under its own brand, and now a new report has claimed that the company has filed a couple of patents relating to the same.

pecifically, two patents filed by Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. titled “An Electric Drive System, Powertrain, and Electric Vehicle”. The patents were both filed on October 21, 2020, and have the application numbers CN112436747A and CN112436779A, reports GizmoChina. The patent description published with the model bearing the application number CN112436747A shows that this application provides an electric drive system, a powertrain, and an electric vehicle, which involves the technical field of electronic circuits.

The second patent with application number CN112436779A is also for an electric drive system, a powertrain, and an electric vehicle, which involves the field of power electronics technology. Huawei is in talks with state-owned Changan Automobile and other automakers to use their car plants to make its electric vehicles (EVs). Huawei is also in discussions with Beijing-backed BAIC Group’s BluePark New Energy Technology to manufacture its EVs.

In addition, another Chinese tech company Xiaomi is also planning to build its own car and is considering it as a strategic decision, but specific details and the path it aims to take are yet to be determined. Back in 2013, Lei Jun had visited the US twice to meet with Tesla CEO Elon Musk and now it seems that its interest on the field has grown. The Indian market has also seen a demand for smart vehicles, and auto companies like Tata, Mahindra and others are offering their electric vehicles.

KIA SHARES A GLIMPSE OF ITS FIRST DEDICATED ELECTRIC VEHICLE: DETAILS HERE

Kia Motors has given us a glimpse of its first upcoming electric vehicle EV6. This new car will be the first dedicated battery electric vehicle (BEV) built on the company’s new EV platform (Electric-Global Modular Platform, or E-GMP). The company claims that the EV6 is also the first of Kia’s next-generation BEVs which will be developed under a new design philosophy which will embodiy Kia’s shifting focus towards electrification.

EV6 is the embodiment of both our brand purpose, ‘Movement that inspires’, and our new design philosophy. It has been designed to inspire every journey by offering an instinctive and natural experience that improves the daily lives of our customers, and provide user ownership that is simple, intuitive and integrated, said Karim Habib, Senior Vice President and Head of Kia Global Design Center. “Our aim is to design the physical experience of our brand and to create bold, original and inventive electric vehicles.”

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s part of the company’s naming strategy for upcoming dedicated BEVs as well as for brand transition, Kia’s new dedicated battery electric vehicles will be named according to a new naming strategy. The new approach brings simplicity and consistency to Kia’s EV nomenclature across all global markets. According to an official statement by the company, the names of the new dedicated BEVs will start with the prefix ‘EV’ which makes it easy for consumers to understand which of Kia’s products are fully electric. This will be followed by a number that will correspond to the car’s position in the line-up. Kia will be sticking to the launch schedule announced earlier, the EV6 will make its world premiere during the first quarter of 2021.

FEBRUARY- 2021

electric vehicle

Fuel price hike results in increased sale of e-vehicles With the fuel price hike, e-cycle, e scooter and e-rickshaw sale has increased in the last two-three months, one of the directors of Avon Cycles, Omkar Singh Pahwa said. “Our company is growing at a pace of 15 per cent to 20 per cent every year in the sale of e-bikes and e-vehicles, especially after the fuel price hike. That bike is a great option to avoid traffic in big cities, the reason people are preferring e-bike. If the prices of petrol and diesel will keep going up, the market of the bike will get double in the coming time. This will benefit the industry immensely,”

The number of inquiries from prospective buyers about e-scooters has also witnessed a three-fold rise from the past two-three months, after the hike in petrol and diesel prices, there is a growth of 20 per cent to 25 per cent in the e-vehicle business said the director of Hero MotoCorp, Abhishek Munjal. “For the last two-three years, we have seen double the growth in eBike sale, so that we are likely to keep doubling every year in the coming years if the rates of petrol and diesel keep increasing. We are happy to say that Hero Group has the highest share of 70 per cent of e-bikes in India and we have created many new models to help people to travel 20 to 25 kilometers in cities,” said Munjal. “The e-bikes are economic and good for health also,” he added.

ith the prices of petrol inching closer to Rs 100 per litre, the demand for battery-operated scooters is on the rise. People want to save on fuel costs and as a result, the sale of e-scooters has increased considerably in Ludhiana. Hero MotoCorp, which holds 70 per cent of the total sale, followed by Avon and other bicycle manufacturing companies, sold 14,000 e-bikes in 2019 and 30,000 e-bikes in 2020, which shows the rise in demand for battery-operated vehicles. The number of inquiries from prospective buyers about e-scooters has also witnessed a three-fold rise from the past two-three months, after the hike in petrol and diesel prices, there is a growth of 20 per cent to 25 per cent in the e-vehicle business said the director of Hero MotoCorp, Abhishek Munjal.

Elon Musk tweets if ‘Androids dream of electric cars?’. Here’s how world reacted The Tesla CEO recently shared a tweet asking if ‘Androids dream of electric cars?’ and as always, Twitterati have gone bonkers sharing opinions and memes and on Musk’s latest tweet.

usk is known for his out of the box humour as he can be found tweeting a dozen of memes, relating to day-to-day life and also business. A meme shared by the Tesla CEO Androids do dream of electric cars which is will be beneficial to on Dogecoin rocketed the value of the the society cos it causes less environmental hazard like air pollesser-known cryptocurrency several hundred times. Musk lution, noise pollution, it is cheaper & easier to drive. However was recently overtaken (again) by the Amazon CEO, Jeff android cars do have some disadvantages which may pose problems to their owners, one of Musk’s followers wrote. While Bezos which replaced Musk as the world’s richest person. another follower of Musk replied to the tweet writing, “Androids Musk has been swapping the top spot with Bezos since January as the value of Tesla fluctuated. dream of electric money.” 42

FEBRUARY- 2021

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electric vehicle

How Europe became world’s biggest electric-car market and why it might not last European consumers are buying electric cars at a faster pace than ever, encouraged by government subsidies and the availability for the first time of models built by their favorite brands. Around 65 new EV models launched in Europe last he boom is so strong that Europe passed China year—twice as many as in China—and another 99 are as the world’s largest electric-vehicle market last slated to come to market this year. That compares with 15 year. Its share of new electric-car sales nearly launches in North America last year and a planned 64 this doubled to 43%, while China and the US lost year. Manufacturers say the incentives and an explosion market share. But Europe’s surge relies heavily in the number of new EV models came together at the on government incentives doled out during the pandemic, and right time, energizing both supply and demand. analysts warn the momentum could be reversed if and when that support is withdrawn. Most government EV subsidies are limited in scope and due to expire by the end of this year.

The market is extremely sensitive to government and company discounts, said Arndt Ellinghorst, auto analyst at Bernstein Research. “Once subsidies are taken away EV sales will collapse by 30-40% at least for one or two quarters.”

Without the subsidies, EVs are still considerably more expensive than equivalent combustion-engine vehicles. This isn’t likely to change until later this decade, analysts say, as battery prices come down because of new technology, greater scale and competition. Europe’s approach started with more sticks than carrots. The European Union in particular has steadily tightened emissions requirements, prompting the industry to roll out more electric cars and hybrids, or face hefty fines. When the pandemic hit, governments looking to cushion the economic shock began targeting aid at industries on the front line of the battle with climate change. A big part of this assistance went into incentives for consumers to buy EVs, creating a surge in demand. The moves changed the perception among industry leaders that there wasn’t a market to justify the huge investments needed to build electric cars.

We have an incentive to build these cars…It helps make the EV very attractive for the consumer, said Hakan Samuelsson, chief executive of Volvo Cars, the Swedish car maker owned by China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. “But long term these incentives and tax breaks are not sustainable.”

Car makers began rolling out new models in earnest last year. Volkswagen AG, Europe’s biggest auto maker, unveiled its ID.3 and ID.4 models. Premium car makers such as BMW AG, Mercedes and Audi launched high-end EVs. This year, Mercedes is set to launch the EQS, which will be an electric and highly automated successor to the flagship S-Class.

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You have to have the right product on offer…That’s what we saw last year in Europe, said Britta Seeger, board member at Daimler AG in charge of global sales. “The offer is better, and subsidies are supporting sales.” The availability of EVs with familiar brand names is also pushing sales. Hallgeir Langeland, a 65-year-old Norwegian environmentalist and former politician, hasn’t owned a car for 25 years, but when Ford Motor Co. rolled out a fully electric version of its Mustang last year, he didn’t think twice. “I had to have it,” he said, recalling the Mustang he drove in his youth. Now he can’t wait for it to arrive in March. “It’s cherry red.” The purchase was made easier by subsidies that have made Norway the world’s biggest EV market per capita, prompting a tongue-in-cheek Super Bowl ad by General Motors Co. starring Will Ferrell, who called on American consumers to buy EVs and crush Norway. Christian Burg, who runs a business building energy-efficient houses in Germany, had driven a diesel BMW X3 SUV for years. When the government boosted subsidies for electric cars last summer, he applied for a small-business grant and switched to the new iX3 plug-in hybrid version of the car. “We received 3,750 euros [equivalent to $4,500] in cash incentives,” he said.

Sales of plug-in electric vehicles in Europe rose 137% to 1.4 million vehicles last year, outpacing China, which recorded a 12% increase to 1.3 million, and the U.S., where sales rose 4% to 328,000, according to ev-volumes. com, a research group. The state of Europe’s market is reminiscent of China’s electric-vehicle trajectory years ago. Determined to leapfrog Western markets, Beijing provided hefty subsidies for purchases and required manufacturers to ensure that a certain percentage of new cars produced each year were electric. The effort helped spawn hundreds of startups and boosted the share of EVs to more than 8% of new-car sales by mid-2019. Then Beijing slashed incentives in June 2019 and sales plunged, with the share of EVs falling below 5% by the end of the year.

FEBRUARY- 2021

electric vehicle

Sterling And Wilson Partners With Enel X To Enter Electric Mobility Segment In India

The joint venture between Sterling and Wilson and Enel X will be incorporated on April 1, 2021 and will start operating from the second quarter of 2021. Sterling and Wilson Pvt Ltd (SWPL), a Shapoorji Pallonji group company and India’s leading engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) company, announced that it has entered the Electric Mobility segment in India. SWPL has signed a 50-50 joint venture (JV) with Enel X, a subsidiary of Enel Group, known for its innovative products and digital energy solutions, to launch and create world-class electric charging infrastructure in the Indian sub-continent.

he JV intends to give a boost to the fast-evolving private e-mobility ecosystem by providing worldclass products and software platforms to support the electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure build-up across the country. For SWPL and Enel X, this is a major step towards sustainability and a greener future that can boost India’s e-mobility ambitions. At the same time, consumers can access and benefit immensely from Enel X’s vast range of cutting-edge electric vehicle chargers. With this partnership, SWPL will introduce Enel X’s Juice family of high-tech, digital, and smart DC as well as fast AC electrical vehicle chargers that already have worldwide recognition, adjusted to the needs of the Indian consumer. Customers will have the opportunity to choose how, where, and when to charge their car, potentially selecting the most efficient time for charging, thus making the charging experience fully controllable, easy, and convenient. This platform also facilitates asset operators and owners to track the performance of charging stations and networks, as well as troubleshoot systems in real-time.

Mr. Sanjay Jadhav, CEO, Sterling Generators Pvt Ltd, said “As part of our commitment to sustainability, we are happy to announce our entry into the electric mobility segment through a joint venture with Enel X, providing end-to-end services for electric vehicle charging stations across India. The quick electric charger will be a game-changer for the EV sector in the country and is in line with the national vision to combat fossil fuel pollution and associated climate change through accelerated electrification of private and public transportation as a prime lever. The JV will help create direct and indirect employment through local manufacturing and operations & maintenance services of the charging infrastructure.”

FEBRUARY- 2021

Mr. Francesco Venturini, Enel X CEO, said “This partnership represents an important step forward in our energy transition strategy. We are leading the spread of electric mobility in several global markets, including Europe and North America and we are thrilled to work with Sterling and Wilson, marking our entry into the Indian market. Joining forces allows our teams to leverage our extensive market knowledge and technical experience, helping to deliver effective results, as well as making important steps towards a clean and sustainable future.

We will support the JV by bringing electric mobility solutions to market that are fit for local needs, accessible, and convenient for all drivers, significantly contributing to the decarbonization of the transport sector across India and subsequently South East Asia”. The joint venture between Sterling and Wilson and Enel X will be incorporated on April 1, 2021 and will start operating from the

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electric vehicle

Betting on death of petrol cars, Volvo to go all electric by 2030 Volvo’s entire car lineup will be fully electric by 2030, the Chinese-owned company said, joining a growing number of automakers planning to phase out fossil-fuel engines by the end of this decade

I am totally convinced there will be no customers who really want to stay with a petrol engine, Volvo Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson told reporters when asked about future demand for electric vehicles. “We are convinced that an electric car is more attractive for customers.”

he Swedish-based carmaker said 50% of its global sales should be fully-electric cars by 2025 and the other half hybrid models. Owned by Hangzhoubased Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, Volvo will launch a new family of electric cars in the next few years, all of which will be sold online only, it unveiled the first of those models, the C40, a fully electric SUV, which will have an initial battery range of around 420 kilometres (261 miles). Volvo will include wireless upgrades and fixes for its new electric models – an approach originally pioneered by electric carmaker Tesla Inc. This means the C40’s range will be extended over time with software upgrades, Chief Technology Officer Henrik Green said. Carmakers are racing to switch to zero-emission models as they face CO2 emissions targets in Europe and China, plus looming bans in some countries on fossil fuel vehicles. Last month, Ford Motor Co said its lineup in Europe will be fully electric by 2030, while Tata Motors unit Jaguar Land Rover said its luxury Jaguar brand will be entirely electric by 2025 and the carmaker will launch electric models of its entire line-up by 2030. In November, luxury carmaker Bentley, owned by Germany’s Volkswagen, said its models would be all electric by 2030.

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Electrification is expensive for carmakers and as electric vehicles have fewer moving parts, employment in the car industry is expected to shrink. Volvo CEO Samuelsson said that industry-wide, electrification will mostly affect engine plants and auto suppliers providing everything from oil filters to fuel injectors and spark plugs. “Those are a lot of jobs of course,” he said. “But overall I don’t think there will be a big difference.” Volvo said it will “radically reduce” the complexity of its model line-up and provide customers with transparent pricing. The carmaker’s global network of 2,400 traditional bricks-andmortar dealers will remain open to service vehicles and to help customers make online orders. So far Volvo has not been affected by a pandemic-fueled global semiconductor chip shortage that has temporarily shut a number of assembly plants, which Samuelsson said was thanks to constant communication with suppliers. “So far, knock on wood, we have not had to stop any assembly line,” he said. “But it could happen any day.”

FEBRUARY- 2021

electric vehicle

Scots councils plan EV charging tariffs More councils in central Scotland are preparing to introduce tariffs for electric vehicle drivers using public chargepoints. As well as reducing the authority’s own electricity costs, the councils hope charges will encourage the private sector to install more chargepoints. Patterson said that, although the project had orth and South Lanarkshire councils are the council expanded EV charging coverage, it was “unlikely members of the £5.3m PACE project to accelerate that the council will be viewed as the primary the introduction of rapid and fast chargers. It also provider of this infrastructure in the longer term”. includes the Scottish Government, Scottish and “Commercial operators will be unable to compete Southern Electricity Networks, and Scottish Power with free charging. In the longer term this may Energy Networks. The first chargers delivered by the project were act as a constraint to the rollout of commercially installed at Strathclyde Park last July. Installations have since been operated chargers.” made in Coatbridge, Airdrie, Cumbernauld, Motherwell, Kilsyth, West Lothian Council also plans to introduce Wishaw, Moodiesburn, Viewpark, and Shotts. charges. Peter Rogers, energy and climate change manager, said charges would “create more favourable market conditions for private sector investment in network development”. West Lothian’s tariff for rapid (over 43kW) chargers will be: £1 minimum Although the chargers have been operational for a short time there is charge, £0.30 unit rate/kWh, maximum stay limit evidence that commercial operators are taking advantage of the free of 45 minutes, and an overstay charge of £1/minute. electricity, particularly at the Strathclyde Park site, Nicole Patterson, For fast and standard chargers (7-22kW), the tariffs head of environmental assets, told North Lanarkshire’s environment will be: £1 minimum charge, £0.16 unit rate/kWh, and transportation committee. The council is to explore introducing no maximum stay. tariffs.

FEBRUARY- 2021

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electric vehicle

Ahmedabad based electric vehicle startup MATTER...

targets $1B turnover by

2025

EV startup Matter plans to launch its lithium-ion batteries, followed by its electric motorbike this year. 1.4K CLAPS +0 +0 Bullish on the growth of electric vehicles (EV) market in India, EV and energy storage technology startup Matter expects to clock a turnover of $1 billion (over Rs 7,250 crore) by 2025, according to a top company official.

he Ahmedabad-based company, which has so far invested $3 million (over Rs 20 crore), will be launching its lithium-ion batteries for solar and renewable management by April 2021, which will be followed by its first electric motorcycle closer to Diwali this year. “2021 is the motorcycle closer to Diwali this year.

The industry as a whole would be much larger in five years time than even the best of estimates. We are expecting the same thing that happened with 4G, the rate of adoption of 4G exploded above everyone’s expectations, and that is what we are expecting with EVs as well,” Matter Founder and CEO Mohal Lalbhai told PTI.

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“2021 is the year of the electric…The industry as a whole would be much larger in five years time than even the best of estimates. We are expecting the same thing that happened with 4G, the rate of adoption of 4G exploded above everyone’s expectations, and that is what we are expecting with EVs as well,”

Explaining the rationale, he said with India wanting to become a $5 trillion economy and its commitment to the Paris Climate Change Agreement, the country has no option but to switch to EVs, eco-friendly newer energies and energy solutions. On why the sector has not been able to grow in the past, Lalbhai said, “Electric (vehicles) fundamentally in India have either been overpriced products or under-delivering products. There has never been a true value for money fit.” Stating that customers understand internal combustion engine vehicle and its value proposition, he further said, “But in electrics, there are some companies which are 100 percent more expensive than the comparable internal combustion, some who are 20 percent cheaper, but they don’t really deliver”. He said inferior quality Chinese product kits are brought in and assembled in India, and then and sold at much cheaper prices.

FEBRUARY- 2021

electric vehicle

Flipkart to deploy more than 25,000 EVs in supply chain E-commerce marketplace Flipkart will deploy more than 25,000 electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030 in line with its commitment to fast-track their adoption in the country. Besides transitioning to EVs across its city logistics fleet, it will help set up charging infrastructure around the company’s delivery hubs and offices.

lipkart said, it has already started deploying two-wheeler and three-wheeler electric vehicles in multiple locations for delivery across the country, including in Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Guwahati and Pune. The company’s electric fleet will include two-wheeler, three-wheeler and four-wheeler vehicles designed and assembled in India, helping boost local innovation and economy. Flipkart has partnered with leading EV manufacturers including Hero Electric, Mahindra Electric and Piaggio for specific vehicles to be deployed for its first and last mile delivery fleet across the country. The company said it will also place requirements in service contracts, install charging infrastructure close to its 1,400 supply chain facilities, conduct awareness programmes and encourage delivery executives to use EVs.

FEBRUARY- 2021

Electrification of the logistics fleet is a key part of Flipkart’s larger sustainability goal and in line with our commitment to the Climate Group’s EV100 initiative, said Amitesh Jha, Senior Vice-President for E-kart and Marketplace at Flipkart. “We understand the relevance of electric mobility in achieving both business and sustainability goals, and are committed to paving the way for greater adoption of EVs across the country,” he said in a statement.

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electric vehicle

Mukesh Ambani says he will make batteries ahead of a boom in electric vehicles As of now, Ambani’s plan sounds a lot like Elon Musk’s Tesla minus the electric vehicles. India’s richest man is making a strategic shift towards renewable energy. This is significant because over 60% of RIL’s consolidated revenue comes from fossil fuels and their by-products. Global investment bank Morgan Stanley expects RIL to pump in $13 billion to $15 billion into renewable energy space in the next 10 years. One of the reasons for RIL hiving off its oil-to-chemicals business is to revive the deal talks with Saudi Arabia’s Aramco. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia itself is planning to invest in renewables in a big way and reduce its carbon footprint.

he possibility of a stake sale to Saudi Arabia’s Aramco is only one part of the story behind Reliance Industries hiving off its oil-to-chemicals business. This is also part of a strategic shift by Ambani to renewable energy. “RIL will further accelerate its new energy and new materials business towards its vision of clean and green energy development,” the company said in its filing with the stock exchanges. Is Ambani trying to be Elon Musk minus the electric vehicles? Tesla makes the lion’s share of its revenue from selling electric cars but its owner Elon Musk is investing in a big way in the energy generation and storage business⁠, which includes batteries and solar panels⁠. As it seems, Ambani too may invest in similar spaces except for the electric cars. There is a reason why two of the world’s richest men are going big in this space. “The rate of stationary (energy) storage is going to grow exponentially. For many years to come each incremental year will be about as much as all of the preceding years, which is a crazy, crazy growth rate,” Musk said in 2018. And, this segment has grown 72% in the one year ending December 2020, despite the pandemic and the ensuing crisis. Global investment bank Morgan Stanley expects Ambani-owned Reliance, India’s biggest private sector conglomerate, to pump in $13 billion to $15 billion into this space in the next 10 years, to capture a $50 billion opportunity in renewables, batteries, and new fuels. This is significant because fossil fuels and their by products contribute to 60% of RIL’s consolidated revenue. The stock of RIL opened up 2%. Much of the cheer was because Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, the world’s seventh largest company by revenue, was back on the table for deal talks. Aramco, owned by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, agreed to buy a 20% stake in RIL’s oil-to-chemicals business for $15 billion. However, the deal talks hit a speed bump due to the pandemic.

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Another reason why Ambani may have pivoted to renewables is because Saudi Arabia, world’s largest crude oil producer, itself is planning to pivot to cleaner energy sources and reduce its carbon emission.The kingdom reportedly plans to attract over $20 billion investment into renewables, according to S&P Global Platts. The scale and potential of Ambani’s plan is yet to unravel, but it is safe to assume that it will be sizeable.

FEBRUARY- 2021

hydrogen

HOW SIEMENS ENERGY IS TARGETING THE US GREEN HYDROGEN OPPORTUNITY

Green hydrogen is both an untested and a potentially vital way for renewable-energy-powered grids to store their intermittent power for later use, not just for hours at a time, but for days, weeks or even seasons ahead. Most of the early-stage work on hydrogen’s grid storage potential is happening in Europe and Asia, but the U.S. does have a few projects taking steps toward proving out the concept.

T 50

ake the Intermountain Power Project, the coal-fired power plant in Utah converting to turbines that will use natural gas blended with 30 percent hydrogen, a proportion that will rise to 100 percent hydrogen over the coming decades. That 840 megawatts of generation capacity, serving customers including California’s Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, could become a source of increasingly low-carbon energy fueled by hydrogen stored in massive underground caverns — if the systems to use renewable energy to convert water to hydrogen via electrolysis and store it for later use can combine in a cost-effective way. Siemens Energy announced a U.S. Energy Department grant-funded project to study how its Silyzer electrolyzers could be combined with hydrogen compression, storage and power plant controls technology to meet those goals at Intermountain. It’s the latest of three grants to the energy systems spinoff of the German industrial giant to test its hydrogen technology in the U.S., including a small-scale pilot with Southeast utility Duke Energy and South Carolina’s Clemson University, and another to design, build and test a compressor system to integrate hydrogen into existing fossil fuel generation.

FEBRUARY- 2021

Siemens Energy is among global power systems giants such as Mitsubishi Power, General Electric and Wärtsilä designing a new generation of turbines and engines to run on hydrogen. While Mitsubishi won the contract to supply turbines to the Intermountain project, “we have a good shot to create the hydrogen” to fuel them, Richard Voorberg, vice president of global service operations for Siemens Energy, said in a December interview. Siemens Energy is also supplying the steam turbines, alongside GE gas-fired turbines, for a $65 million, 20-megawatt green hydrogen project being built by Florida Power & Light, the utility subsidiary of NextEra Energy, the country’s biggest renewable energy developer, Voorberg said. That project envisions turning excess solar into hydrogen to augment the natural-gas supply for FPL’s 1.75-gigawatt Okeechobee power plant, and it could be online by 2023. Siemens Silyzer technology, meanwhile, is competing with a host of electrolyzer technologies seeking to capitalize on major governmental targets, starting with the European Union’s 2030 target to deploy 40 gigawatts of electrolyzers within its own borders and another 40 GW in neighboring countries.

THE U.S. GREEN HYDROGEN MARKET LANDSCAPE The U.S. lacks a national hydrogen energy strategy like Europe’s, or like South Korea’s plan to have 15 gigawatts of hydrogen-powered fuel cells by 2040 and become the world’s largest fuel cell-powered vehicle maker by decade’s end. But U.S. power plant operators are starting to expand their ambitions. In September, three groups including Intermountain announced their intention to buy about 3,300 megawatts of hydrogen-capable turbines and hydrogen generation and storage systems from Mitsubishi. Utilities facing the challenge of decarbonizing their power systems see green hydrogen as an important addition to batteries to store wind and solar power for use when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining. The earliest entrants into the field have access to large underground salt domes now used for storing fossil fuels that could be converted to storing hydrogen, like Intermountain and New Orleand-based utility Entergy. Massive storage capacity is key to the promise of using hydrogen at scales that could allow power plants now burning natural gas to tap the carbon-neutral gas to fire turbines for days or weeks at a time. Today’s lithium-ion battery technologies are limited to about four to eight hours of storage capacity, and overbuilding enough battery capacity to cover longer periods of time would drastically expand costs.

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hydrogen That limitation is driving research into longerduration energy storage, from novel battery chemistries to kinetic or thermal storage systems, that could help replace the need for fueled generation to ensure reliable grid power amid the global push to decarbonize generation. Major U.S. fuel cell makers including Bloom Energy and Plug Power are expanding into electrolyzers to provide the green hydrogen to fuel on-site and distributed electricity generation, as well as to serve carbonfree transportation.

THE CHALLENGES FOR GREEN HYDROGEN AS A POWER GRID RESOURCE But multiple challenges face efforts to use green hydrogen as a long-duration energy storage option. First of all, the efficiency of turning clean electricity into hydrogen, and then burning that hydrogen to generate power, is “somewhere in the 40 to 50 percent level,” Voorberg said. “That becomes pretty expensive,” he said. “One of the challenges we’ve got is how to increase the efficiencies,” whether through reducing the cost of clean power and electrolysis systems or by capturing additional uses for the energy outputs involved.

Siemens Energy’s project with Duke and Clemson, for example, is testing the value of capturing excess heat from a 15-megawatt turbine to supply the university campus district heat system, he said. It’s also examining the value of generating and storing hydrogen onsite, to allow the campus grid to maintain low-carbon power production amid larger grid failures. Whether or not the economics of using excess renewable energy to generate hydrogen can pencil out may well depend on how market structures are developed to integrate it. Using only excess wind and solar power to generate hydrogen may underutilize the capital costs of the electrolyzer, storage and transport infrastructure needed to put it to use. But the resulting stored energy could also reliably provide power for rare but critical gaps in renewable power supply, putting the onus on policymakers and energy regulators to create structures that can support it, Michael Liebreich, CEO of Liebreich Associates and the founder of BloombergNEF, wrote in an October blog post. Duke Energy, one of a growing number of major U.S. utilities pledging zero-carbon emissions by 2050, is looking for opportunities to test the reliability and economics of hydrogen-powered turbines as one of the “emerging technologies” it will rely on to reach its goal, Voorberg said. Converting the nation’s naturalgas power plant fleet to a fuel that’s only being produced at a minuscule scale today will require “a scale-up of epic proportions,” he said. “This is a market that will dynamically change. None of us know quite what it will look like.”

GERMAN STEEL GIANT THYSSENKRUPP PLANS 500MW GREEN HYDROGEN PLANT German industrial engineering and steel production giant Thyssenkrupp will work with German energy company Steag are planning a 500MW hydrogen electrolysis plant intended to power steel production.

he HydrOxy Hub Walsum project is expected to be connected to the grid and producing green, renewable-powered hydrogen by as soon as 2025. Set to be built in Walsum, its proximity to Thyssenkrupp’s Duisburg steel production plant will also avoid the need to construct an elaborate supply system, and allow the project and subsequent hydrogen powered steel production to be implemented much quicker. The HydrOxy Hub Walsum hydrogen project is intended as a first step in decarbonising steel production in Germany and act as a test case to be later expanded across Europe. Thyssenkrupp’s steel production facility in Duisburg is “the largest steel location in the EU,” according to Dr. Ralf Schiele, responsible within the STEAG management for the Market and Technology divisions, and subsequently serves as a promising example of the value of climate-neutral steel production. Further, the Thyssenkrupp and STEAG project in DuisburgWalsum falls at the crossroads of the hydrogen objectives of the German Federal Government and the European Union’s own hydrogen strategy. Additionally, if successful, the HydrOxy Hub Walsum project would contribute directly to achieving Germany’s emissions targets set out in the Federal Climate Change Act. As renewables and green hydrogen projects continue to grow in popularity and demand, the decarbonisation of industrial production will become a more attractive prospect for companies. Thyssenkrupp’s plan to decarbonise its steel production comes just over a month after Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) began producing aluminium powered by electricity generated by the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in the United Arab Emirates.

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The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) jointly announced in January that the Mohammed bin Rashid solar project in Dubai had started generating electricity for EGA’s aluminium smelter, providing 560,000 megawatt-hours of power each year, sufficient for the production of 40,000 tonnes of aluminium.

Aluminium is lightweight, strong and infinitely recyclable metal and these properties mean that as a material it plays a vital global role in the development of a sustainable future, said Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of EGA. “However, it also matters how sustainably aluminium is made. CelestiAL aluminium, made in the UAE with solar power, will help make modern life possible for people around the world whilst protecting our planet for future generations. This is a great milestone for the UAE and our industry.” In turn, at the beginning of February, German luxury vehicle manufacturer BMW announced that it had signed a contract to source its aluminium from Emirates Global Aluminium’s new CelestiAL production line.

FEBRUARY- 2021

hydrogen

WHAT IS NATIONAL HYDROGEN ENERGY MISSION (NHEM)? ALL ABOUT ITS SIGNIFICANCE, ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES HERE

National Hydrogen Energy Mission (NHEM) has been introduced by the Finance Minister in her budgetary speech. Know more about this mission and the uses of hydrogen as a fuel here

WHY IN NEWS? It was in the Budget speech of this year that the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman included the introduction of National Hydrogen Energy Mission. The Government has also started holding Green Hydrogen auctions. There are also talks to mandate the usage of 10% domestic hydrogen in fertilizer, steel and oil refineries.

NATIONAL HYDROGEN ENERGY MISSION: INDUSTRIES TO BENEFIT

Battery Powered Electric Vehicles use fully electric, rechargeable batteries with no petrol. Plug In Hybrid Vehicles use batteries plus petrol Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles use hydrogen plus oxygen as fuel. These are fully electric but are not rechargeable like Battery powered electric vehicles.

Take a look at a hydrogen vehicle below:

The end users are said to be steel, chemical and transportation industry. These contribute to one third of greenhouse gas emissions due to the amount of fossil fuels they burn, which can be directly replaced with hydrogen. Despite being said the hydrogen technology was not scaled up.

NATIONAL HYDROGEN ENERGY MISSION: SIGNIFICANCE Hydrogen is said to be the alternative fuel and would replace fossil fuels India has set its goals to de-carbonize itself by 2050. This along with its ambitious goal of 175 GW of renewable energy capacity that was given impetus in the Union Budget 2021-22 would also get to raise INR 1500 crore finance

NATIONAL HYDROGEN ENERGY MISSION: REASON FOR IMPLEMENTATION India’s heavy dependence on coal and the need to replace fossil fuels with hydrogen. Since it is estimated hydrogen helped in the formation of Earth, it would be more abundant than Oxygen. The fuel would be used and can be reused again as it would control pollution. It is said to be 2-3 times better than petrol.

NATIONAL HYDROGEN ENERGY MISSION: TYPES OF HYDROGEN Green Hydrogen: It is produced from renewable resources of energy and not fossil fuels. The by products are water and water vapour Blue Hydrogen: It is sourced from fossil fuels. The emission or the by products such as CO2 and CO are stored. It is better than grey hydrogen. Grey Hydrogen: India’s bulk comes from fossil fuels at present. This type of hydrogen is called grey hydrogen.

TYPES OF VEHICLES BASED ON HYDROGEN: There are various types of Electric Vehicles that would be run using hydrogen. There are various categories of these vehicles: HEVs or Hybrid Electric Vehicles use high fuel economy and low tailpipe emission.

FEBRUARY- 2021

NATIONAL HYDROGEN ENERGY MISSION: ADVANTAGES OF HYDROGEN FUEL It has near zero carbon footprint. The electricity to extract hydrogen comes from fossil fuels. It can be stored in tanks such as CNG and can be integrated into car’s be,lies. The average that can be provided is about 500 kilometre or 400 miles per charge. It is lighter than heavy Lithium ion batteries, better for long haul trucks and commercial vehicles. It can be refueled in 5 minutes.

NATIONAL HYDROGEN ENERGY MISSION: DISADVANTAGES OF HYDROGEN FUEL It has only three manufacturers that are equipped with the technology- Honda, Toyota and Hyundai. Under 25000 hydrogen FCEVs on road were launched in 2020, compared to EVs. Lack of Infrastructure: There are less than 500 hydrogen stations globally Hydrogen has great explosion risk and is a highly combustible gas.

Hydrogen is one of the most abundant elements on the earth. The global demand for hydrogen as a fuel has become thrice of what it was in 1975. It is also the only source of energy that only emits water vapour and leaves no residue in the air. Due to these advantages hydrogen is being seen as the biggest source of clean energy fuel in the near future.

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hydrogen

CENTRICA IN TALKS WITH U.K. TO DEVELOP HYDROGEN STORAGE

Centrica Plc is in talks with the U.K. government about plans to convert its disused Rough natural gas storage site off the coast of northeast England to store hydrogen.

he conversion requires about 650 million pounds ($908 million) of investment and would create several thousand jobs during construction, Chris O’Shea chief executive officer said in an interview. Rough closed in 2017 after operating for over three decades. It had been plagued by technical problems and became too expensive to repair without government funding. Now O’Shea sees the possibility of a second life for the facility but it would still need help from state coffers.

We’ve been working with government and others to see if we could convert Rough to store hydrogen for the U.K., O’Shea said. “We need a regulated model probably for that. It probably doesn’t work with a merchant model. Centrica Shares Drop as Canceled Dividend Shows No Quick Fix Energy minister Kwasi Kwarteng visited the Rough gas field in August last year, O’Shea said. The government “looking at how hydrogen technology can help us meet targets to eradicate our contribution to climate change by 2050,” the department for business energy and industrial strategy said in by email. The site could be linked with the planned zero carbon industrial cluster in the northeast of England. The project is a hub of energy producers, industry, infrastructure and engineering expertise powered by electricity that will develop and use carbon capture and storage technology and hydrogen. Centrica is a partner in the initiative along with Equinor AS, Drax Plc and Uniper SE The Humber cluster will need a ready supply of hydrogen and if it’s only produced in one place, there could be security of supply issues, O’Shea said.

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While Rough was once a jewel in Centrica’s crown, its efficiency had declined with age and usage. Rough was turned from a depleted gas reservoir into a storage site in 1985. Its main function was to keep prices from jumping during the winter if demand rose beyond what the fields could produce. The facility lost its strategic importance with and influx of liquefied natural gas imports from the U.S.and Australia. Centrica’s decline is more widereaching than just Rough. The company has struggled in recent years with dwindling profits and customers switching away from its energy supply business. O’Shea is trying to turn the company around with a new focus and a promise to simplify the business made back in June. The utility shed 5,000 jobs and announced the sale of its U.S. business for $3.6 billion. The remaining gas at the Rough field will continue to be processed until early 2023 so conversion couldn’t happen before then. Adjustments would need to be made to the facility to ensure its safe to store hydrogen. Hydrogen is much lighter than methane gas and the molecules much smaller so it escapes more easily. “Hydrogen is not the only answer and I think we’re going to have a mix of energies,” O’Shea said. “I think gas will be part of the energy mix for the next 20 to 30 years but with cleaner gas, and having hydrogen means that can happen.”

FEBRUARY- 2021

hydrogen

EXPLAINED: WHAT IS HYDROGEN ECONOMY? The hydrogen economy is an envisioned future where hydrogen is used as fuel for vehicles, energy storage and long-distance transport of energy. In a bid to tap the energy potential of the most abundant element in the universe, Hydrogen, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a National Hydrogen Energy Mission (NHEM) to transform transportation in India. The mission was announced during Union Budget 2021-22.

n 9 February 2021, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) Secretary Indu Shekhar Chaturvedi stated that the Government of India may come up with a draft on the initiative in the coming months– a roadmap for using hydrogen as an energy source. In 2020, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways issued a notification proposing amendments to the Central Motor Vehicle Rules of 1989, to include safety evaluation standards for hydrogen fuel cell-based vehicles. In 2016, Dr. K. Kasturirangan committee, set up by MNRE, prepared reports on Hydrogen and Fuel cells and suggested a way forward on the same. In 2006, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) constituted a high-level committee to come up with a hydrogen energy roadmap. The roadmap was laid to provide a blueprint for hydrogen energy development in India and underscored the technology gaps and challenges in the introduction of hydrogen on large scale, in a phased manner.

WHAT IS HYDROGEN ECONOMY? Hydrogen is a promising energy carrier and has the potential to address various energy sector challenges and technically from the application point of view, substituting conventional fuels. Its use can reduce CO2 related emissions significantly and decarbonise the entire value chain, enabling reduced emissions and climate change threats. Hydrogen can also bridge the gap between supply and demand, in both a centralized or decentralized manner, thereby enhancing the overall energy system flexibility. Hydrogen can be used to meet both seasonal and daily supply-demand mismatch in the case of renewables. In rural India, where there is no access to the grid, the use of hydrogen can provide energy services. In 1970, the term ‘hydrogen economy’ was coined by John Bockris. He mentioned that a hydrogen economy can replace the current hydrocarbon-based economy, leading to a cleaner environment. The hydrogen economy is an envisioned future where hydrogen is used as fuel for vehicles, energy storage and long-distance transport of energy. The different pathways to use hydrogen economy includes hydrogen production, storage, transport and utilization. At present, the current global demand for hydrogen is 70 million metric tons, most of which is being produced from fossil fuels– 76% from natural gas and 23% from coal and remaining from the electrolysis of water— consumes 6% of the global natural gas and 2% of the global coal. This results in CO2 emissions of around 830Mt/year out of which only 130Mt/year is being captured and used in the fertilizer industry. Much of the hydrogen produced is used for oil refining (33%), ammonia (27%), methanol production (11%), steel production via DRI (3%) and others. Hydrogen production from natural gas without CCUS is the most economic method at a cost of USD1/ kgH2 in the Middle East, while the electrolysis of water is the most expensive one. However, if the renewables meet the heat/ electricity requirements, hydrogen is produced using electrolysis or thermochemical method. In India, hydrogen is being commercially produced in the fertilizer industry, petroleum refining and chemical industries and also as a by-product in chlorine alkali industries. A limited amount of hydrogen is also produced by electrolysis.

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HYDROGEN AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO FUEL Hydrogen is a zero-carbon fuel and is considered an alternative to fuel and a key source of clean energy. It can be produced from renewable sources of energy such as solar and wind. At present, there are a number of ways to produce hydrogen, but the most common method is natural gas reforming and electrolysis.

HYDROGEN ECONOMY IN INDIA India’s goal of attaining 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022 and to decarbonise by 2050 got an impetus in the Union Budget 2021-22. The Budget allocated Rs. 1,500 crores for renewable-energy development and Hydrogen Energy Mission. In October 2020, Delhi became the first Indian city to operate Hydrogenenriched CNG (H-CNG) buses in a six-month pilot project. Companies such as Indian Oil Corporation and NTPC Ltd are working towards this technology. IOC has patented the technology for producing H-CNG— 18% hydrogen in CNG, directly from natural gas without restoring to conventional blending. It is also planning to set up a dedicated unit to produce hydrogen to run buses at its Research and Development Centre in Faridabad. On the other hand, state-run NTPC Ltd is planning to start a premium hydrogen fuel bus service on the Delhi-Jaipur route (the first intercity service on the aforementioned technology). It is also considering to set up a green hydrogen production facility in Andhra Pradesh. The Government of India is planning to focus on five key areas: (a) Research and Development (b) Demand creation (c) how to use it in the industry (d) how to create an eco-system (e) how to bring it on board along with international partnerships.

NEED FOR HYDROGEN 1- It is well-known that India’s electricity is heavily coal-dependent. Thus, the introduction of Hydrogen will replace fossil fuels and will address pollution levels and oil-price hike. 2- Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the Universe. It is lighter, energy-dense and is two to three times more efficient than petrol. 3- Hydrogen will benefit transportation which contributes 1/3 of India’s greenhouse-gas emissions, iron and steel and chemical sectors.

TYPES OF HYDROGEN 1- Grey Hydrogen: It constitutes India’s bulk production and is extracted from hydrocarbons and is a byproduct of CO2. 2- Blue Hydrogen: It is sourced from fossil fuels. Byproducts of CO and CO2 is captured and stored. It is better than grey hydrogen. 3- Green Hydrogen: It is generated from renewable sources of energy such as solar and wind. The electricity splits water into hydrogen and Oxygen. It is a by-product of water and water vapour.

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hydrogen

PROS AND CONS:

Pros: 1- It has near-zero carbon footprints. 2- It provides a range of about 440 miles or 550 km per charge. 3- It is stored in tanks like CNG and integrated into cars’ bellies, unlike CNG. 4- It is lighter than heavy lithium-ion batteries and is best for long haul trucks and commercial vehicles. 5- It refuels in 5 minutes. Cons: 1- It has only three manufacturers– Honda, Toyota and Hyundai. 2- There are only 25,000 Hydrogen FCEVs on road in 2020 as compared to 8 million EVs. 3- There are less than 500 hydrogen stations globally. 4- It is highly combustible and is stored at very high pressure, up to 700 bar. The tank is outside the passenger bay.

WORKING OF HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS Hydrogen is an energy carrier and not a source of energy. It is transformed into electricity via a fuel cell stack before it can be used to power a car or a truck. A fuel cell converts chemical energy into electric energy with the help of an oxidationreduction reaction.

The fuel cell-based vehicles combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity to power the electric motor on board. Since fuel cells use electricity to run, they are considered electric vehicles. Hydrogen is drawn from an onboard pressurised tank and made to react with a catalyst inside each individual fuel cell that is made from platinum. As hydrogen passes through a catalyst, it produces an electric current that is used to power vehicles.

HISTORY In 1874, Science fiction writer, Jules Verne set out a prescient vision of the world in The Mysterious Land where water will be used as a fuel and generate an inexhaustible source of heat and light, of an intensity of which coal is not capable. In the year 1937, a German passenger airship, LZ129 Hindenburg, used hydrogen to fly across the Atlantic but exploded while docking at the Naval Air Station Lakehurst in New Jersey, killing at least 36 people. In the last 1960s, hydrogen fuel cells powered NASA’s Apollo missions to the moon. In the 1970s, soon after the oil price shocks, the possibility of replacing fossil fuels with hydrogen was considered seriously. Honda, Toyota and Hyundai have since then started commercialising the technology on a limited scale. It is to be noted that hydrogen is not found freely and has to be extracted from naturally occurring compounds such as water. Although Hydrogen is a clean molecule, the process of extracting is energy-intensive.

GROUPE RENAULT AND FAURECIA COLLABORATE ON HYDROGEN STORAGE SYSTEMS Faurecia and Groupe Renault announced their decision to collaborate on hydrogen storage systems for hydrogen light commercial vehicles. Starting at the end of 2021, Faurecia will supply hydrogen storage systems for a first fleet of light commercial vehicles.

hese systems will be developed and produced at its global centre of expertise in Bavans, France. As volumes, increase production will be extended to a new plant dedicated to hydrogen storage systems that Faurecia is building in Allenjoie, France.

Mathias Miedreich, Executive Vice President of Faurecia Clean Mobility said, “Fuel cell electric vehicle technology is set to become significant in the powertrain mix by 2030, and as such Faurecia is dedicating important resources to accelerate its deployment.”

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This collaboration on hydrogen storage systems is embedded in Renault’s strategy to offer market-ready H2 solutions for light commercial vehicles and target over 30% share of this market in Europe.

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BRIGHT FUTURE OF HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS IN INDIA Road transport today is responsible for a significant and growing share of global anthropogenic emissions of CO2. Moreover, it is almost entirely dependent on oil-derived fuels and therefore highly vulnerable to possible oil price shocks and supply disruptions. Improving road transport requires all these issues to be addressed.

ntroducing alternative transport fuels and vehicles will also be necessary to achieve the objectives of decarbonization, energy security and urban air quality. Fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of reactions. According to the Canadian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association, hydrogen is the most common element and makes up 75 percent of the mass of the entire universe. And, with an atomic number of one, it is the lightest element in the periodic table. Hydrogen fuel cells could have a huge impact on our planet. Fuel cells can have efficiency of over 80 percent, compared to internal combustion engines that currently operate at around 25 percent efficiency and power plants at about 35 percent.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), if we wish to keep global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, which will already cause major drawbacks for future generations, globally the world will need to cut CO2 emissions by 25% by 2030 and be net zero by 2070. Whichever way one looks at this, the world will accept either a climate emergency, or it must decarbonize, and the richer countries will have to bear the heaviest burden for it. Fuel cell energy is good for use in backup generations or emerging lighting, as it could be stored for years. Storing electricity for future use has been a problem for a long time. Now, electric cars & buses contain a battery that needs to be charged which take hours and it discharge so quickly after driving a short distance. With Fuel Cells, if the cells have a constant hydrogen source, they can continue to create electricity. It means that instead of filling your vehicle up with fuel at a petrol station, you could be filling your vehicle up with hydrogen and you may travel a longer distance on Fuel Cells. Fuel Cells are noise and pollution free; it is also available everywhere no matter where you are located. Fuel Cells would also be very cost effective and easily available.

Some Middle Eastern countries that built their fortunes on oil are seeking to develop hydrogen as fuel, given a shift among some of their buyers toward less-polluting alternatives to crude. Three of Abu Dhabi’s biggest governmentbacked companies agreed to work together to turn the oil-rich emirates into an exporter of blue and green hydrogen. A new report from research firm Frost & Sullivan, which predicts that global hydrogen production will rise from its current 71 million tonnes to 160 million tonnes by 2030. Revenue generation within the market is expected to increase from USD177 billion in 2020 to USD420 billion in 2030. Indian government has said it intends to use hydrogenbased fuel technology to help combat pollution in response to criticism by the Supreme Court of India regarding the air pollution problems in the New Delhi and whole northern India, the Solicitor General of India informed the court that the government is making progress, including exploring hydrogen-based technology being developed in Japan. Despite enormous potential and abundant RES and coal reserves, India still in its early stage in the adoption of hydrogen technology. Indian govt should first focus on the use of Fuel Cells as alternative fuel in the government/ state owned transports in India as it will be a climate smart solution for heavy transport in India.

ITOCHU, AIR LIQUIDE EYE HYDROGEN SUPPLY CHAIN IN JAPAN Japanese trading house Itochu and its energy trading subsidiary Itochu Enex have agreed with French industrial gas supplier Air Liquide to develop a hydrogen supply chain near major Japanese cities and tap potential growth in demand to supply fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).

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he three firms are planning to jointly discuss the possibility of a project located in major Japanese cities to produce cost-competitive hydrogen for consumption in nearby areas and supply local hydrogen fuelling stations. They are also targeting to expand hydrogen supplies to the manufacturing sector and for industrial mobility use, such as trucks and buses. Japan has pledged to ban sales of new gasoline-only cars and only sell electric vehicles by 2035 under its roadmap to achieve a decarbonised society by 2050. The policy is expected to increase demand for FCEVs, as well as fuel cell transport trucks for commercial use. Japan is projected to require 3mn t/yr of hydrogen in 2030.

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Itochu, Itochu Enex and Air Liquide are targeting to jointly promote their hydrogen businesses in Japan and overseas, aiming to launch a global hydrogen value chain and explore opportunities to import hydrogen into Japan. Itochu is planning a study into a hydrogen production and supply chain project in Japan’s Kyushu region jointly with Japanese coke producer Nippon Coke & Engineering and French shipping firm CMB. The company and Itochu Enex are also jointly working on a project to develop an ammonia fuel supply chain in Japan and in Singapore. Air Liquide began developing hydrogen infrastructure in Japan in 2015 and has since opened 13 hydrogen fuelling stations. Japan had a total of 137 hydrogen fuelling stations across the country at the end of 2020.

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INDIA ON TRACK TO ACHIEVING CLIMATE GOALS: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country is on track to achieving its climate goals well before the target date as it switches over to energy-efficient mediums and uses waste to generate energy.

Speaking after accepting the 2021 CERAWeek Global Energy & Environment Leadership Award for his commitment to energy sustainability and the environment, Modi said climate change and calamity are major challenges facing the world. Both are interlinked, and one way to fight them is through policies, laws, rules and orders, and the other is bringing behavioural change, he said, listing measures taken by his government for sustainable energy usage. While the target of mixing 20 per cent ethanol has been advanced to 2025, 5,000 compressed bio-gas plants will be set up to turn municipal and agriculture waste into energy, he said. While switch over to energy-efficient LED bulbs has helped save 38 million tonnes of carbon emission, modern techniques of irrigation as well as reducing the use of pesticides with greater awareness of improving soil health has greatly helped, he said.

he share of non-fossil sources in India’s installed capacity of electricity has grown to 38 per cent and the nation adopted Bharat-VI emission norms in April last year to cut vehicular pollution. India, he said, is working to increase the share of natural gas, which is environment friendly and less polluting, in the energy basket from the current 6 per cent to 15 per cent by 2030. Also, liquefied natural gas (LNG) is being promoted as a fuel. He also mentioned of recently launched National Hydrogen Mission and equitable and decentralized model of solar energy generation. ‘India is well on track to achieve its Paris agreement targets well before the target date of 2030,’ he said. India has maintained that it is not a polluter and cause of climate change and has voluntarily committed to reducing greenhouse gas emission intensity of its GDP by 33-35 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. On behavioural changes, Modi cited examples such as people embracing LED bulbs, voluntarily giving up LPG subsidy, increased cooking gas coverage and affordable transportation initiatives. The Prime Minister noted that over the last seven years, India’s forest cover has grown significantly, the population of lions, tigers, leopards and waterfowls has grown.

These, he said, are great indicators of positive behavioural changes. Accepting the award, he said, ‘It is with great humility that I accept the CERAWeek Global Energy and Environment Leadership Award. I dedicate this award to the people of our great Motherland, India. I dedicate this award to the glorious tradition of our land that has shown the way when it comes to caring for the environment.’ He added that Indians are leaders when it comes to caring for the environment for centuries and the nation’s culture, nature and divinity are closely linked. The Prime Minister said that Mahatma Gandhi is one of the greatest environment champions to have ever lived. ‘If humanity had followed the path laid down by him, we would not face many of the problems we do today.’ He concluded ‘now is the time to think logically and ecologically. After all this is not about me or you. It is about our planet’s future. We owe this to our coming generations.’

JIGAR SHAH’S PLAN TO MANAGE DOE’S $40B LOAN PROGRAM The solar PPA pioneer and “infrastructure-as-a-service” investor has been selected to revive the program that boosted Tesla and utility-scale renewables.

igar Shah has decades of experience bringing clean energy technologies to commercial scale. As CEO and co-founder of SunEdison, he helped pioneer the solar power-purchase agreement (PPA) model now central to the industry. As president and co-founder of Generate Capital, he’s applied similar expertise to commercializing new generations of clean energy and decarbonization technologies. Now the clean-energy entrepreneur, well known to Greentech Media fans as a co-host of The Energy Gang podcast, is taking his acumen to the public sector. This week, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm named Shah as the head of DOE’s Loan Programs Office and affirmed that the agency’s more than $40 billion in loan guarantee authority will play an important role in the DOE’s push to commercialize technologies to help meet the Biden administration’s aggressive decarbonization goals.

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I’m not kidding when I say I’m more terrified than excited at the responsibility of managing the program, Shah said in his final episode of The Energy Gang this week. But he also laid out some of the principles he intends to follow in reviving a program that helped boost now-successful companies like Tesla before it was sidelined by the Trump administration. EQ

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FOURTH PARTNER ENERGY TIES UP WITH INDONESIA’S INDIKA ENERGY TO EXPAND ITS INTERNATIONAL FOOTPRINT Fourth Partner Energy, India’s leading solar solutions firm announced a partnership with Indonesia’s energy major, Indika Energy. The joint venture company Empat Mitra Indika Tenaga Surya (EMITS) is aimed at accelerating Indonesia’s renewable energy transition. Like Fourth Partner Energy’s India portfolio, EMITS will offer integrated solar, storage and EV charging solutions to Indonesia’s businesses. Indika Energy will hold 51% and Fourth Partner Energy 49% stake in EMITS.

Vivek Subramanian, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Fourth Partner Energy announced this development saying, “this partnership with Indika Energy is an important part of our strategic international expansion into key markets across South East Asia. The commercial potential for renewable energy in Indonesia is immense – the government aims to double its current share of clean energy and achieve nearly a quarter of its energy needs from renewables by 2025. Indonesia, like India has a clear imperative towards aggressive decarbonization. EMITS is gearing up to play a vital role in enabling this transition through a simple value proposition to the consumer – cleaner electricity at lower rates than grid tariffs, to help meet their sustainability goals.” “Indika Energy is the ideal partner for us in Indonesia as they have 2 decades of on-ground leadership as an integrated energy player with robust clientele and strong financials – together with Indika’s local regulatory expertise and our execution prowess, we are confident that EMITS will be Indonesia’s leading renewable energy solutions platform,” he added.

Azis Armand, Vice President Director and CEO of Indika Energy commented on the partnership saying, “this JV is a manifestation of Indika’s commitment to continue diversification of our business portfolios, achieve our sustainability goals, improve ESG performance as well as contribute to Indonesia’s national energy interests. For Indika Energy, EMITS is expected to contribute to our efforts to increase revenues from the non-coal segment by 50% by 2025. We are excited to work with Fourth Partner Energy, whose end-to-end renewable energy expertise will ensure that EMITS can replicate in Indonesia, the market dominance they have achieved in India.”

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Alluding to the market opportunity in Indonesia, he added, “the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR) has projected the total investment to achieve the 23% renewable energy target by 2025 as upwards of $36 Bn. Realizing this potential requires intensified collaboration with various stakeholders – including the private sector. EMITS expects to bring in at least $500 Mn into Indonesia in the next 5 years.” This partnership was facilitated by TPG Capital’s Impact Investment Arm, The RISE Fund – which is the majority shareholder in Fourth Partner Energy. With a portfolio of over $5 Bn, RISE is the largest social impact fund in the world.

Sir Richard Branson, member, Founders Board at RISE, commented on the significance of this joint venture, “RISE is constantly looking to invest in or bring together companies that drive measurable social and environmental impact, alongside business performance and strong returns. EMITS brings together two stellar market leaders across respective geographies to combat climate change. We look forward to working with this team and lending our global expertise to help green Indonesia’s energy footprint.” Apart from operations in Indonesia, Fourth Partner Energy is looking to expand its International presence in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Myanmar and Singapore. The company currently has an installed base of 550 MW solar capacity across the distributed and open access portfolios – with solar parks under construction in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat. Fourth Partner Energy has also set up a 50:50 JV with leading commercial EV fleet operator, Lithium Urban Technologies in India to set up solar powered EV charging infrastructure across the country. Charging Hubs across Pune and Gurugram have already been commissioned while hubs across Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai and Jaipur are in the pipeline.

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INDIAN RENEWABLES’ CREDIT QUALITY INTACT: MOODY’S Although Indian renewable energy companies failed to meet generation targets in fiscal years 2019 and 2020 that ended in March 2019 and March 2020 respectively, they will be able to withstand the impact of this underperformance thanks to large and diversified portfolios, according to a report by Moody’s Investors Service.

About 15%-20% of Indian wind and solar projects did not meet capacity utilization targets in fiscal years 2019 and 2020 because of wind generation curtailments and lower irradiance for solar projects, which were responsible for 56% and 68% of the underperformance respectively,” said Abhishek Tyagi, a Moody’s Vice President and Senior Analyst. As a result, rated renewable energy companies’ EBITDA declined 2%-5.6% in fiscal 2020. “Nevertheless, all rated issuers have undertaken multiple projects, and thus their credit quality benefits from portfolio diversification, which reduces the impact of individual projects,” added Tyagi. Moody’s analyzed 176 projects totaling 11,462MW across five rated companies – Greenko Energy Holdings (GEH, Ba1 stable), ReNew Power Private Limited (RPPL, Ba2 stable), Adani Renewable Energy (Rj) Limited (AGEL RG, Ba1 negative), Azure Power Energy Ltd (Azure RG1, Ba2 stable) and Azure Power Solar Energy Private Limited (Azure RG2, Ba1 negative).

espite missed targets, India reported a healthy 20% growth in renewable energy generation over the past five years. Specifically, wind and solar generation grew at a compound annual growth rate of 20% in fiscal years 2015-20, increasing their share of electricity generation in India thanks to declining development costs, strong policy support and investor interest in the sector. Still, if India wants to achieve its target of 175-gigawatt renewable energy capacity by the end of fiscal 2022, it will need to increase renewable energy’s share of electricity generation to around 16%-18% from 10% in December 2020, said Moody’s.

GREEN HYDROGEN AUCTIONS IN 3-4 MONTHS: R K SINGH Taking forward the National Hydrogen Mission announced in the Union Budget this month, the Government of India is planning to make the usage of Made-in-India green hydrogen mandatory in sectors such as steel, oil refineries, and fertilizers. The Centre is planning for green hydrogen auctions within the next 3-4 months to further this agenda, said Power Minister R K Singh.

reen hydrogen is produced through processes which are powered by renewable energy, as opposed to that produced through fossil fuel-driven systems. Hydrogen, in turn, is used in several high energy sectors, such as in oil refineries, and fertiliser and steel factories. The government is now planning to make it mandatory for such factories to buy and use a minimum amount of green hydrogen from India, instead of importing their requirements. Singh pointed out that materials such as ammonia, for instance, are imported. “Suppose we have a mandate, like the renewable purchase obligations.

To begin with, 10 per cent of the ammonia you import should be replaced by green ammonia made in India,” Singh said, adding that a similar system could be put in place for hydrogen too. “We have put it to the Ministry of Petroleum… Suppose we put a mandate to replace 10 per cent of the hydrogen used for refining with green hydrogen made in India,” Singh explained. According to Singh, his officials have already conducted discussions on such a measure with the fertiliser and steel ministries too. As for the cost, which is likely to turn out to be significantly higher for green hydrogen, Singh said that a purchase obligation and subsequent demand would make the fuel more affordable in time.

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“You have to have an obligation to buy made in India green hydrogen which may be slightly more expensive. It depends on the bid. In fact, it may turn out to be not more expensive at all,” he said. As an example, he noted that solar electricity tariffs had cost as high as `15 per unit at one point of time, but now, have come down to just Rs 1.99 per unit,” he added.

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EIB BACKS EUR 3.7 BILLION COVID-19 BUSINESS SUPPORT, RENEWABLE ENERGY, INTERNET, HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SUSTAINABLE URBAN INVESTMENT € 2.4 billion to strengthen access to finance and economic resilience to COVID-19 € 688 million to support solar and wind energy € 381 million for transport, upgrading hospitals and schools, and sustainable urban investment € 1.5 billion new private sector financing COVID crisis response under Pan-European Guarantee Fund Business investment, renewable energy and upgrading hospitals, schools, internet services and urban infrastructure will be accelerated by new financing totalling EUR 3.7 billion approved by the European Investment Bank (EIB). “Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic the European Investment Bank Group has approved EUR 40.3 billion for 251 projects to provide vaccines, improve public health and strengthen economic resilience across Europe and around the world. A year after COVID-19 led to unprecedented lockdowns, public health emergencies, business challenges, and loss of life, Europe continues to support its citizens and its companies while promoting global solidarity. The EIB Group has enabled a rapid, targeted and effective response across Europe and around the world as the EU Bank and as part of Team Europe. Approval of EUR 3.7 billion of new EIB financing will help private and public partners to achieve a green and sustainable recovery”, said Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank.

€ 688 MILLION TO HARNESS RENEWABLE ENERGY ACROSS EUROPE

he Board approved EIB financing for clean energy that will help to accelerate the energy transition and expand wind and solar clean power generation. This includes support for the construction of 11 windfarms across Poland expected to generate 380MW, three solar power plans in Greece to provide 230 MW and 7 solar power schemes in Spain to supply 253 MW. Two other schemes will scale up investment in onshore wind and solar power projects across Europe and provide streamlined financing for small scale energy efficiency schemes.

€ 2.4 BILLION FOR BUSINESS INVESTMENT AND ENSURING ECONOMIC RESILIENCE TO COVID-19

€ 381 MILLION FOR TRANSPORT, HOSPITALS AND SCHOOLS, AND SUSTAINABLE URBAN INVESTMENT

he Board of Directors of the EIB, meeting via video conference approved EUR 2.4 billion of new private sector financing that will improve access to finance by companies and entrepreneurs. This includes targeted credit lines managed by local banking partners that address challenges faced by businesses negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. EUR 1.5 billion of the new private sector financing approved is backed by the Pan-European Guarantee Fund (EGF). The two new EGF transactions will support business investment across Italy. More than EUR 7.9 billion of new EGF financing, expected to mobilise EUR 61.6 billion of new private sector investment has been approved and the first contracts signed in December 2020, immediately following confirmation of state aid clearance by the European Commission. The EGF was created by the EIB Group within weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic being declared, to help businesses recover from the pandemic, make new investments, and save jobs. Additional EIB backing for business investment includes new lending programmes in France, Italy and Slovenia and direct financing for corporate research and development in Denmark.

ommunities across Europe and beyond will benefit from EIB backed investment to improve transport, upgrade health and education, and unlock investment in cities. People and businesses in more than 1,000 remote rural villages across Georgia will benefit from a new fibre optic network providing broadband internet access backed by the EIB. Healthcare and medical education in Banja Luka, the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina, will be transformed by EIB support for the construction of a new medical complex, including a teaching centre and university clinic. The EIB approved backing for investment to build seven school and day care centres in the city of Jyvaskyla in Finland and upgrading commuter trains in the Swedish capital Stockholm. New investment to improve energy efficiency, urban transport, education, sports and cultural facilities across the Polish city of Wrocław will also benefit from new EIB financing agreed.

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POLAND SEES ENERGY TRANSFORMATION COSTING $120 BILLION BY 2045 Switching energy supplies from fossil fuels to cleaner sources of power will cost Poland an estimated 450 billion zlotys ($120 billion) by 2045, the minister responsible for energy infrastructure said. Poland still generates most of its electricity from coal, but plans to reduce its share in power production amid rising carbon emission costs.

Transformation will cost us a lot. It is difficult to assess it exactly at the moment. We have calculated that by 2045 the transformation in the electricity system will cost around 450 billion zlotys, Piotr Naimski told private radio RMF.

He added that Poland would be closing its coalburning power plants over the next 30 years, replacing them with gas-fuelled ones, offshore wind farms and nuclear power plants. Naimski said the first nuclear plant would be built in the north of Poland – in Lubiatowo or Zarnowiec, and the second in Belchatow, central Poland, which is currently the site of Europe’s biggest lignite coal power plant. A third will potentially be built in Patnow. Poland plans to have its first nuclear reactor operating in 2033. “We want to start construction in 2026,” Naimski said.

GERMANY URGED TO BE CARBON-NEUTRAL BY 2040

“What the next German government decides will have an impact on our greenhouse gas emissions over the next 20 to 30 years,” Xinhua news agency quoted Christiane Averbeck, Executive Director of Climate Alliance Germany, as saying in a statement

ermany should seek to achieve climate neutrality by 2040, 10 years earlier than officially planned, according to a paper drafted by Climate Alliance Germany, a social alliance for climate protection. The paper urged the future German government to “rapidly and ambitiously expand renewable energy”, particularly wind power and photovoltaics, in order to decarbonise the industrial, building and transport sectors. Renewable energies would need to achieve a share of “at least 75 per cent of the expected increase in gross electricity consumption” by 2030, the paper noted. Germany’s official government target is 65 per cent. The country would also need to accelerate its coal phase-out to 2030 and completely phase out fossil oil and gas by the early 2040s, according to the paper. The next German government should also present a “specific timetable” for the abolition of environment and climate-damaging subsidies, the Climate Alliance added.

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SOLAR PANELS IN THE SAHARA COULD DAMAGE GLOBAL CLIMATE Deserts are spacious, comparatively flat, wealthy in silicon – the uncooked materials for the semiconductors from which photo voltaic cells are made — and by no means wanting daylight. The truth is, the ten largest solar plants world wide are all situated in deserts or dry areas.

esearchers imagine it may be attainable to remodel the world’s largest desert, the Sahara, into an enormous photo voltaic farm, able to assembly four times the world’s present power demand. Blueprints have been drawn up for initiatives in Tunisia and Morocco that might provide electrical energy for hundreds of thousands of households in Europe. Whereas the black surfaces of photo voltaic panels soak up many of the daylight that reaches them, solely a fraction (around 15%) of that incoming power will get transformed to electrical energy. The remainder is returned to the setting as warmth. The panels are normally a lot darker than the bottom they cowl, so an unlimited expanse of photo voltaic cells will soak up quite a lot of extra power and emit it as warmth, affecting the local weather. If these results have been solely native, they may not matter in a sparsely populated and barren desert. However the scale of the installations that might be wanted to make a dent on the earth’s fossil power demand can be huge, masking 1000’s of sq. kilometres. Warmth re-emitted from an space this dimension will likely be redistributed by the stream of air within the ambiance, having regional and even international results on the local weather.

Clockwise from prime left: Bhadla photo voltaic park, India; Desert Sublight photo voltaic farm, US; Hainanzhou photo voltaic park, China and Ouarzazate photo voltaic park, Morocco. Photos through Google Earth, writer offered A greener Sahara. A 2018 study used a local weather mannequin to simulate the results of decrease albedo on the land floor of deserts brought on by putting in huge photo voltaic farms. Albedo is a measure of how nicely surfaces replicate daylight. Sand, for instance, is rather more reflective than a photo voltaic panel and so has the next albedo. The mannequin revealed that when the scale of the photo voltaic farm reaches 20% of the entire space of the Sahara, it triggers a suggestions loop. Warmth emitted by the darker photo voltaic panels (in comparison with the extremely reflective desert soil) creates a steep temperature distinction between the land and the encircling oceans that finally lowers floor air strain and causes moist air to rise and condense into raindrops. With extra monsoon rainfall, crops develop and the desert displays much less of the solar’s power, since vegetation absorbs gentle higher than sand and soil. With extra crops current, extra water is evaporated, making a extra humid setting that causes vegetation to unfold. This situation might sound fanciful, however research counsel that a related suggestions loop saved a lot of the Sahara inexperienced throughout the African Humid Period, which solely ended 5,000 years in the past. 62

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So, an enormous photo voltaic farm might generate ample power to satisfy international demand and concurrently flip one of the vital hostile environments on Earth right into a liveable oasis. Sounds good, proper? Not fairly. In a recent study, we used an advanced Earth system model to intently look at how Saharan photo voltaic farms work together with the local weather. Our mannequin takes under consideration the advanced feedbacks between the interacting spheres of the world’s local weather – the ambiance, the ocean and the land and its ecosystems. It confirmed there could possibly be unintended results in distant elements of the land and ocean that offset any regional advantages over the Sahara itself. Drought within the Amazon, cyclones in Vietnam. Overlaying 20% of the Sahara with photo voltaic farms raises native temperatures within the desert by 1.5°C in response to our mannequin. At 50% protection, the temperature improve is 2.5°C. This warming is ultimately unfold across the globe by ambiance and ocean motion, elevating the world’s common temperature by zero.16°C for 20% protection, and zero.39°C for 50% protection. The worldwide temperature shift will not be uniform although – the polar areas would heat greater than the tropics, growing sea ice loss within the Arctic. This might additional speed up warming, as melting sea ice exposes darkish water which absorbs rather more photo voltaic power.

This huge new warmth supply within the Sahara reorganizes international air and ocean circulation, affecting precipitation patterns world wide. The slim band of heavy rainfall within the tropics, which accounts for greater than 30% of worldwide precipitation and helps the rainforests of the Amazon and Congo Basin, shifts northward in our simulations. For the Amazon area, this causes droughts as much less moisture arrives from the ocean. Roughly the identical quantity of extra rainfall that falls over the Sahara as a result of surface-darkening results of photo voltaic panels is misplaced from the Amazon. The mannequin additionally predicts extra frequent tropical cyclones hitting North American and East Asian coasts.

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featured International temperature, rainfall and floor wind adjustments in simulations with 20% and 50% photo voltaic panel protection of Sahara. Photos through Lu et al. (2021), Writer offered some necessary processes are nonetheless lacking from our mannequin, similar to mud blown from massive deserts. Saharan mud, carried on the wind, is a crucial source of nutrients for the Amazon and the Atlantic Ocean. So a greener Sahara might have a fair greater international impact than our simulations steered. We’re solely starting to know the potential penalties of building huge photo voltaic farms on the earth’s deserts. Solutions like this will assist society transition from fossil power, however Earth system research like ours underscore the significance of contemplating the quite a few coupled responses of the ambiance, oceans and land floor when analyzing their advantages and dangers. This text by Zhengyao Lu, Researcher in Bodily Geography, Lund University and Benjamin Smith, Director of Analysis, Hawkesbury Institute for the Setting, Western Sydney University, is republished from The Conversation underneath a Inventive Commons license. Learn the original article.

East Jordan Students Looking to Power School Through Solar Energy Project You may know East Jordan Middle and High school teacher Matt Hamilton who started the famous East Jordan Shoe Club to empower students to do anything they set their mind to. Screen Shot 2021 03 01 At 23728 PmNow, he and his students are heading up a project aimed at another type of power.

The idea started this summer when Hamilton was thinking of safe ways his 7th and 8th grade Shoe Club students could serve the community. “Every year we do service projects where we go out into the community and volunteer and support different organizations,” said Hamilton. “This year because of the pandemic, we weren’t able to do any of that.” He saw a video of a teacher who spearheaded a solar panel campaign at their school, and he thought that was the perfect thing for his students to do. “It’s something that teaches these kids life lessons, it teaches them about renewable energy, and it’s also something that they’re able to give back to the school and leave a lasting legacy,” he said.

he goal of the EJ Solar Spark project is to raise $70,000 to install 71 30 kilowatt solar panels on the high school’s roof. “This is something that kids are going to be learning about in every grade in our school district,” said Hamilton. “We’re planning on having the Shoe Club kids go to the elementary school and teach these kids about renewable energy.” There will also be a website teachers can go to so they can teach their class how the solar panels are working in real time. Hamilton brought in Ric Evans, who is the Principal Manager at Paradigm Energy Services, to provide insight into how to do this project. “I was helping able to help kind of put them in touch with a lot of different installers, help with building the request for proposal, and some recommendations on where it would go,” said Evans. Twelfth grader Nathan Newman and 10th grader Mailey Hamilton became mentors for the students.

Newman did the research on solar panels. www.EQMagPro.com

I would go in and do some of the actual hands on work of getting that research, and then I’d be sharing it with students along the way, making sure they understood every step of the process, said Newman. Mailey, who is also Hamilton’s daughter, helped students create presentations and pitches to local organizations and businesses to raise funds. “It’s incredible seeing the kids maybe nervous going into a presentation, not really sure of themselves, and coming out of the presentation like nailing it and feeling a lot more confident in themselves,” said Mailey. One of those students is seventh grader Rylan McVannel. This is his first year in the Shoe Club. “When I first heard about it, it got me on my feet,” said McVannel. “It sounded something big and fun and I like stuff like that.” McVannel is excited for the impact this project will leave on his school. “It’s not just a today thing, it’s going to last for years to come,” he said. “When people like me get older, we can look back on that and tell our kids like, ‘Hey I helped with that!’.” The group has $15,000 more to raise by March 13. You can head to this link to donate. The Shoe Club hopes to unveil their solar panels on Earth Day, April 22.

FEBRUARY- 2021

technology

ENERGY INDUSTRY: DISRUPTION WILL DRIVE COMPANIES TO IMPROVE OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY 2020 sent shock waves across Oil and Gas, Utilities and Mining organizations, creating dramatic shifts in supply and demand, revenue streams and productivity. As these companies head into 2021 they continue to face the fallout from disparate — yet equally challenging — business disruptors.

n the Oil and Gas sector, companies are dealing with the consequences of reduced demand, which has resulted in less headcount and more merger and acquisition activity. Mining companies, meanwhile, are having the opposite experience – massive growth in demand and prices. Yet they are challenged to keep up with this growth while maintaining a safe operating environment. And for Utilities, accommodating a remote workforce and creating ever-richer digital experiences for customers are musts. How will the Energy industry deal with these challenges in 2021 and beyond? By focusing on information management to make optimal use of data. Improved use of information is the common denominator that will propel the Energy industry to work smarter, more efficiently and more profitably. When leveraging information to its full potential, Energy companies are better able to transform, scale and prosper. Here are five predictions for how improved information management could drive change in 2021.

TACKLING UNCONNECTED DATA The pandemic has highlighted continued challenges related to poor data quality and ineffective information strategies within organizations. Unconnected data repositories often lead to operational inefficiencies, requiring time and manpower to maintain – two resources stretched thin during pandemic operations. In a recent OpenText survey of Energy companies, 40 percent reported that data is not connected across the enterprise as a whole and a further 35 percent of organizations maintain data in silos and legacy systems. Heading into 2021, organizations should strive for better control over work processes, information and risk, looking to integrate data from multiple systems and sources. Within Oil & Gas, in particular, the focus will be on bridging content silos and consolidating operational systems to get the desired value from mergers, acquisitions and divestitures and produce economies of scale.

EMPOWERING THE REMOTE WORKER Pandemic disruptions led to a fast transition from on-site to remote working. In addition, staff reductions are taking place in Oil and Gas companies due to reduced demand. As demand starts to increase through 2021 there will be an increased reliance on third-party contractors who need temporary access to corporate content. While the shift to remote and contract workers has accelerated the need for data sharing, many organizations have accessibility, visibility and security challenges when it comes to asset-related content. To fully enable remote workflows, organizations should make asset management more automated, digital and intelligent. Being able to quickly access the most up-to-date asset information will improve worker confidence in data, leverage maintenance data to boost visibility and reporting and facilitate better collaboration and handoffs across teams.

DIALING UP DECISION SUPPORT TO IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY

FEBRUARY- 2021

Gaining operational efficiency and reducing costs are perennial goals for just about every company, but are especially important as the Energy industry adjusts to the “new normal.” Improved decision support, driven by integrating and managing data and content systems and leaning on analytics to make the most effective decisions for any given task, is key to achieving these goals. But before companies can integrate and manage data, they must shrink the backlog of critical documentation yet to be digitized. The OpenText survey of Energy companies showed a slow transition to digital, with respondents citing no digitization of inspection documents, work orders and piping and instrument diagrams; 35 percent reporting digitization for standard operating procedures; 36 percent for operator logs and 48 percent for worker assignments. Organizations will first look to bridge the digitization gap in 2021, and then try to better control operational processes and information. For work orders, as an example, when asset information is digitized and integrated into a single source, organizations can collect IoT data on an asset, perform analysis to optimize require work orders and schedule work orders to minimize downtime. When operations engineers get a connected view of the data required to perform the task, mistakes are reduced, more effective decisions are made and safety is improved.

OPTIMIZING SUPPLY CHAINS The pandemic has created intense pressure across all Energy supply chains. Historically, supply chain management has not been a high priority for these industries, but COVID-19 has impacted supply chains in unforeseen ways and companies are starting to pay more attention. For 2021, creating more resilient supply chains and ensuring that production and maintenance won’t be affected during turbulent times is becoming essential. How will this be achieved? The rise of automation in Energy supply chains, which rely heavily on maintaining and servicing their physical assets, has the transformative potential to reduce system downtime and predict failures before they happen. Digital transformation of supply chains can deliver the visibility required to improve economic performance, environmental compliance and ethical practices.

IMPROVING DIGITAL EXPERIENCES For Utility companies, the need to deliver superior digital customer experiences has been magnified in 2020, thanks to new technology, increased connectivity and the pandemic-driven shift to online interactions. Customers want to research and compare offerings on their own; when they do communicate with companies they expect the experience to be personalized and seamless. As Utility companies respond to customers’ new preferences they must ensure they’re delivering the right information through the right channel at the right time. Digital platforms that help provide exceptional digital experiences throughout the customer journey will become indispensable. Energy companies that will persevere in 2021 will prioritize unlocking data in content, fully enabling remote and contract workers, boosting productivity through better decision support, optimizing supply chains and improving the customer experience. Spokesperson Martin Richards

Industry Marketing Director, OpenText

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technology

Huawei unveils its latest FusionSolar Smart PV offerings Huawei has launched its latest cutting edge FusionSolar Smart PV offerings at a special industry event in Sydney to meet the growing demands for smarter solutions in a booming Australian solar sector in which 4,000MW of new capacity was added in 2020 taking total capacity to nearly 20,200MW.

s the recognised global leader in the solar inverter market Huawei has now launched its state-of-art residential and C&I inverter in Australia that will deliver three main benefits to users: optimal electricity cost, active safety and better experience. The SUN20006KTL-L1 inverter is the newest addition to the existing L1 range with the ‘true-hybrid’ battery and optimizer ready with AFCI function and providing ultimate flexibility and safety for both installers and end-customers.

The SUN2000-29.9/36/40KTL-M3 has been designed to better meet the requirements of C&I customers in Australia and includes four key features:

Huawei FusionSolar Product Launch

AFCI: Designed to improve safety for PV plants, AFCI can reliably detect the occurrence of arcs in less than 0.5 seconds. Huawei’s AFCI complies with TÜV SÜD’s IEC63027 standards and the maximum distance of AFCI is 200 meters, which is sufficient for large rooftops. Optimizer compatibility: The SUN2000-20.0/36/50KTL-M3 inverters are compatible with Huawei SUN2000-450W-P optimizers. This will significantly increase the yields of the system (up to 30%) especially if the roof has shading issue. With full optimizer solution, panel level monitoring and 0V rapid shutdown can also be achieved, which is a mandatory requirement for some C&I projects in Australia. The automatic module mapping function saves 95% configuration time and ensures smooth and easy commissioning. Built-in PID recovery: PID Effect is very common in humid areas of Australia (such as Queensland and Northern Territory). The M3 inverters are equipped with built-in PID recovery function, which can increase energy yield by 1.59% in 6 months, based on a real Huawei case study. Easy commissioning: Only WLAN-FE and 4G Smart Dongle are required for commissioning the M3 inverters, and a smart dangle can support up to 10 devices. Besides this, only one App – the FusionSolar App – is required for all set up, commissioning and monitoring, further enhancing the user experience. Both SUN2000-6KTL-L1 and SUN2000-29.9/36/40KTL-M3 inverters come with 10-year full comprehensive warranty, providing peace of mind for the customers.

Mr. Hudson Liu, CEO of Huawei Australia, said, “As a pioneer of the Smart PV industry we are continuously innovating and are committed to providing the optimal output and experience to our customers and actively contributing to Australia’s Renewable Energy Target.”

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Keera Single, CEO of Solargain, sharing his experience with Huawei

Haider Khan, Product and Solutions Manager of Huawei, unveiling the new products

Hudson Liu, CEO of Huawei Australia, making the welcome speech

Timm McVaign, Digital Marketing Specialist of One Stop Warehouse, said, “The primary features of the SUN2000-6KTLL1 inverter of active safety, higher yields and being battery ready are extremely helpful for our customer to communicate and on-sell the product as a desirable value add to their customers.”

Mr. Keera Single, CEO of Solargain, said, “As part of the smart PV solution the Fusion Solar App enables simple monitoring making selling the benefits of storage visible and also helps customers to become energy independent.”

FEBRUARY- 2021

energy storage

MALTA’S ENERGY STORAGE TECH TO STABILIZE ELECTRICITY GRIDS RELIANT ON RENEWABLES GETS $50 MILLION As energy grids transition away from fossil fuels and toward the use of zero emission sources of power from primarily renewable energy sources, they’re going to need an ability to store and then use the massive amounts of energy that’s only generated intermittently by the sun and wind. That’s why technologies coming from companies like Malta, an energy storage technology developer that just raised $50 million in new financing, are attracting attention and venture capital investment.

alta spun out from the special projects group at Google’s parent company Alphabet and relies on some very old technologies combined in a novel way to provide long-duration energy storage that can be discharged during times of peaking demand — like the conditions that effected Texas’ power grid last week. The company’s latest round of funding was led by the Swiss natural gas, methanol and agricultural conglomerate Proman, with participation from previous investors Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the nearly ubiquitous backer of renewable energy and sustainable startups, and Alfa Laval, which makes industrial filters and heat exchangers.

Dustin Moskovitz, a co-founder of Facebook and the chief executive and co-founder of Asana, also participated in the round. Heat exchangers are central to Malta’s approach, which is based on research from the Nobel Prize-winning Stanford University physics professor Robert Laughlin. In a 2017 paper, Laughlin proposed a system that used a thermal heat-pump tapping super-cold cryogenic storage fluids and superheated molten salt to store energy. Building on that initial design, engineers at Alphabet’s moonshot factory, X, began developing a modified version of the designs Laughlin proposed. That modified design is what’s now being developed by Malta, which spun out from X in 2018. Ramya Swaminathan, Malta’s chief executive officer, who previously worked for the renewable energy project developer Rye Development, said that the current Malta system can store and dispatch energy with efficiency rates of around 60%. That’s… not great, but Swaminathan said that the declining costs of renewable power means that efficiency is less important as prices continue to come down the cost curve.

In practice we are heading towards a system where electricity is priced close to zero, Swaminathan said. Indeed, as some grids employ negative pricing models when there’s a glut of electricity generated by wind and solar power, Malta’s tech becomes more appealing she said.

FEBRUARY- 2021

Malta is far from the only company developing longduration storage to solve the variable power production problem caused by the build out of renewable energy. Fortune had a whole dang article (which is actually something I’d wanted to write) listing the multiple companies that are tackling the energy storage dilemma. They include companies like Energy Vault and Advanced Rail Energy Storage North America, which are both trying to use mechanical energy for long storage. In Energy Vault’s case that means using renewable power to lift huge one-ton blocks of cement that can then be dropped to unleash that stored energy as power. ARES North America uses a similar concept, but instead of big honkin’ bricks, the company has trains that it moves to store and discharge energy. Closer to Malta’s Cambridge, Massachusetts base of operations, a company called Form Energy is working on… something… that would compete with Malta’s energy storage system. That business was launched by some energy storage superstars, who previously had stints at companies like Tesla, the failed big battery tech developer Aquion and A123 Systems (a granddaddy of the lithium ion battery revolution). Malta’s system is able to discharge 100 megawatts over 10 hours, which is equivalent to one gigawatt hour of production at a price tag that’s about price competitive with lithium ion batteries, according to Swaminathan. The company is currently working on its first commercial scale plant, which it expects to commission in the 2024 or 2025 time frame. Meanwhile its competitors are already supplying power from pretty massive storage projects. Energy Vault has had a demonstration unit connected to the Swiss national utility grid that can discharge roughly 35 megawatt hours onto the grid, according to the company. Companies like Proman like Malta because it can provide a ready customer for its chemicals and natural gas.

There is an exponential global need for long-duration, low-cost energy storage solutions, and we are excited to work with the Malta team and our new partners to progress Malta’s highly scalable and technically robust solution, said David Cassidy, chief executive of Proman, in a statement. “Alongside our investment, Proman will bring complementary design, engineering and construction expertise to the Malta PHES technology as we begin work with Malta on a commercial scale plant.”

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energy storage

ENERGY STORAGE SUMMIT 2021: LONGDURATION OPPORTUNITIES WILL GROW BUT BANKABILITY IS MAIN CHALLENGE The energy storage market is poised for strong growth over the next decade and opportunities are likely to emerge for alternatives to lithium-ion that offer longer durations of storage, but three key challenges remain for those technologies.

peaking at second day of the Energy Storage Summit 2021, hosted by our publisher Solar Media, George Hilton, senior energy storage analyst at IHS Markit, said that scaling up, achieving cost reductions and proving bankability are the biggest hurdles facing technologies such as flow batteries and mechanical storage. With the market research and analysis group predicting that more than 10GW of energy storage will be deployed during 2021 worldwide, more than doubling last years installations, Hilton said that it is obvious lithium-ion is clearly the dominant technology in the market. However, stationary energy storage represents a relatively small proportion of demand for batteries.

The scale of the lithium-ion industry is huge compared to the scale of the energy storage industry, Hilton said, adding that this presents both opportunities and challenges for stationary energy storage. The scale and demand for lithium for transport applications has driven forward dramatic price reductions and helped develop a global supply chain. Meanwhile, from a technological perspective, “all developments in lithium-ion batteries will be dictated by the automotive sector,” with significant investment from that sector driving innovation in cell chemistry and manufacturing. This has benefits and drawbacks, with batteries suited for transport not necessarily meeting the needs of the stationary storage sector. Additionally, new technologies will need to meet a high precedent of bankability and scale set by the dominance of lithium-ion. On the other hand, lithium-ion batteries are well-suited for higher power applications, while alternative and potentially disruptive technologies such as flow batteries, compressed air and thermal storage options are more like “conventional energy assets”, and the majority offer longer-duration energy storage.

Promising signs already but real opportunities will take some time to develop www.EQMagPro.com

For demand for these long-duration technologies to grow, they need to solve supply and demand mismatches at a bulk level on energy networks. “If you’re solving the supply and demand mismatch at a country scale, you really are looking at significant quantities of stored energy. And following on from that the costs clearly need to be very low. If this technology is to be deployed at scale then it needs to be deployed at scale, and low cost.” Then, he said, “most importantly, investors will need to trust that the technology that they’re investing in is effective and robust in order for it to be bankable. And this is a very tough hurdle for alternative technologies, which are often unproven and they haven’t necessarily benefited from the scale that lithiumion has in the automotive sector”. The opportunity for alternative technologies is “tied to the value available in long-duration applications, and that’s because that’s where lithium-ion is least competitive,” Hilton said. For example, to add more duration of storage and discharge to a lithium battery system, you need to add more cells, whereas with flow batteries, you increase the size of the electrolyte tanks. The relationship between adding more lithium cells and increased cost is linear – for flow batteries, adding that extra capacity is therefore a “cheaper way of increasing capacity than building a whole new flow battery next door”. Hilton said IHS Markit believes that for 8-hour duration applications flow batteries can become broadly competitive with lithium-ion by 2030. There had been “interesting and promising signs” for long-duration even in 2020 and Hilton brought up three relatively small but significant actions taken in different countries: a 500MW request for offers (RFO) by a group of Community Choice Aggregator (CCA) electricity suppliers in California for energy storage with a minimum eight-hour discharge duration, Israel’s recent solar-plus-storage tender which awarded 3GWh of government energy contracts to systems with fourhour duration and a South African government energy tender which is technology agnostic but requires 2GW of dispatchable generation capacity available between 5am and 9:30pm each day. Going forwards, Europe’s wholesale electricity market could offer a route for bulk storage, but it will require some fairly big changes in market dynamics, from “sporadic peaks and troughs” in wholesale prices, with infrequent one to two hour peaks to much longer and more regular peaks of several hours. Long-duration batteries will cycle much less often, by definition, than high power lithium batteries so the revenue opportunities need to be much deeper per cycle too. These factors will align, offering an opportunity for long-duration storage in the gigawatt-scale, he said, but what is required is a continued high growth in renewable energy penetration and corresponding reduction in the size of the thermal generation fleet: “We do see these changes happening in the coming years,” he said. Over the next few years to 2025 however, the majority of opportunities are going to remain in the two to four-hour duration segment of the market and the opportunity for long-duration storage is most likely to come to fruition post-2030, according to the analyst. The Energy Storage Summit 2021, hosted by our publisher Solar Media, will continue on 2-3 March while all previous sessions are available to watch on-demand.

FEBRUARY- 2021

energy storage

SALT-BASED ENERGY STORAGE TRIAL TAPS “FIRSTCLASS” AUSTRALIAN TECHNOLOGY Swedish plans to develop and trial a salt-based energy storage system will enlist the electric kiln technology of award-winning Australian company Calix, in an agreement with Sweden-based SaltX Technology.

SX-listed Calix said that it had entered an agreement with SaltX to build a pilotscale 200kW electric powered direct separation reactor (eDS) in Sweden to be used as a charger in its energy storage system. The joint venture, which would also incorporate Japanese giant Sumitomo, will install the reactor at SaltX’s current pilot in Stockholm, with a “complete optimised storage solution” expected to be ready for testing and validation within the calendar year. And if the tests prove successful, a megawatt-scale commercial plant could follow.

We are thrilled to have a leading partner like Calix for optimising SaltX EnerStore system further, said CarlJohan Linér, the CEO of SaltX Technology in a company statement. “Calix is a provider of first-class solutions and I’m convinced that this is the start of a promising long-term collaboration. Furthermore, I’m also proud that we now have secured a scalable technology for the charging equipment.’’ SaltX is behind a patented nanocoated salt that claims to have solved a couple of the key barriers to using salt as an energy storage medium, including its highly corrosive properties and its tendency to degrade and lose efficiency after a limited number of cycles. Swedish plans to develop and trial a salt-based energy storage system will enlist the electric kiln technology of award-winning Australian company Calix, in an agreement with Sweden-based SaltX Technology. ASX-listed Calix said that it had entered an agreement with SaltX to build a pilot-scale 200kW electric powered direct separation reactor (eDS) in Sweden to be used as a charger in its energy storage system. The joint venture, which would also incorporate Japanese giant Sumitomo, will install the reactor at SaltX’s current pilot in Stockholm, with a “complete optimised storage solution” expected to be ready for testing and validation within the calendar year. And if the tests prove successful, a megawatt-scale commercial plant could follow. “We are thrilled to have a leading partner like Calix for optimising SaltX EnerStore system further,” said CarlJohan Linér, the CEO of SaltX Technology in a company statement. “Calix is a provider of first-class solutions and I’m convinced that this is the start of a promising longterm collaboration. Furthermore, I’m also proud that we now have secured a scalable technology for the charging equipment.’’

FEBRUARY- 2021

SaltX is behind a patented nanocoated salt that claims to have solved a couple of the key barriers to using salt as an energy storage medium, including its highly corrosive properties and its tendency to degrade and lose efficiency after a limited number of cycles. “We use a technology where, it’s similar to an engine and a fuel tank, so the salt is the fuel and it’s really easy to scale this tank up and then we have a reactor or engine where we can take out the energy or the power,” SaltX’s marketing director Eric Jacobson said in 2019. This is where Calix’s electric reactor technology comes in – a version of which the company successfully built and commissioned in 2019 at its Bacchus Marsh facility in Victoria. The Victorian project, dubbed BATMn – a portmanteau of batteries and manganese, pronounced Batman – was Calix’s first demonstration of an all-electric reactor, and showed that its proprietary technology could be run entirely by electricity – a win in the bid to decarbonise industrial heating processes. Calix’s immediate plans following the success of the BATMn reactor had focused on the development of lowcost, safe, and easier to recycle electrode materials for lithium-ion battery technology. But the company also flagged a longer-term R&D focus on the “development of high performance nano-active materials for next-generation, solid-state and post lithium electro-chemical energy storage technologies.” Which brings us back to the SaltX system. Calix – having returned promising results from lab testing of the nanocoated salt – says it has executed a purchase agreement with SaltX for the design and supply of a 200kW eDS pilot reactor, as part of the Swedish demonstration project. SaltX will be responsible for the construction and operation of the pilot reactor, while Calix will provide a non-exclusive, non-transferable limited license to SaltX to use the eDS reactor for the pilot plant. The deal also gives Calix the right to undertake its own research in the eDS unit and – as mentioned above – to work with SaltX on further collaboration on a larger 1MW capacity unit, subject to the results achieved at the pilot plant. “The use of Calix’s technology in baseload energy storage systems was foreshadowed as we developed our SOCRATCES project in Europe – which is based upon solar-powered calcium looping and is progressing well,” said Calix managing director and CEO Phil Hodgson in a statement. “We are very pleased to be working with SaltX on its system now also. This system has great potential for load balancing applications as the grid de-carbonises,” Hodgson said. “Calix is a pioneer in developing sustainable solutions for many industries and therefore I believe this co-operation will have many benefits in SaltX mission of developing energy storage solutions that will have a real change for the renewable energy sector,” added SaltX CEO, Carl-Johan Linér.

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energy storage

NORTHVOLT INVESTS $200M IN POLISH ENERGY STORAGE FACTORY Swedish battery supplier Northvolt has announced the $200m construction of Europe’s largest energy storage systems factory in Poland. Located in Gdańsk, builders will construct the 50,000m² factory in two phases.

he first phase will begin this year, with production expected to start next year. This phase will have an annual output of 5GWh of modules and packs while the second construction phase will see the factory expanded to a total capacity of 12GWh. The facility will also feature an engineering research and development centre. This would only use energy generated from renewable sources, including on-site generation. Once operational, the facility will create 500 new jobs in the Gdańsk region. A Northvolt statement said the company intends to become a global leader in the development and delivery of premium, sustainable battery solutions for the European market. The new facility will help the company increase its manufacturing capacity. As part of its battery solutions delivery, the company will offer technical solutions to help end industrial dependence on fossil fuels.

Northvolt co-founder and CEO Peter Carlsson said: “Securing battery cell manufacturing capacity in Europe is key for its industrial future, but what is equally critical is the industrial capacity for integrating cells into realworld solutions.

GLOBAL ENERGY STORAGE INSTALLATIONS TO EXCEED 10GW IN 2021

According to a new report released by research firm IHS Markit, the global market for energy storage will more than double in 2021 from the 2020 level. The study forecasts the energy storage market will reach a record year in 2021 with annual installations exceeding 10GW for the first time, up from 4.5GW in 2020.

THE US CONTINUES TO DOMINATE THE MARKET, BUT APAC DEMAND ACCELERATES. The US will account for 50% of the global market in 2021 following a threefold increase from the prior year as energy storage begins to provide power during times of peak demand at a significantly wider scale. The US is expected to dominate the market through 2023. However, from 2025 aggressive decarbonisation plans in mainland China will lead to rapid growth in the region, driving Asia Pacific to account for 44% of annual installations by 2030. In Europe, a 70% increase in annual installations will be realised in 2021, as the technology will begin to be used more widely to keep the grid frequency stable and reduce the intermittency of renewable energy.

SOLAR-PLUS-STORAGE EMERGES AS GROWTH DRIVER.

Solar-plus-storage installations are capitalising on recent policy changes in the US such as the extension of the solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC), meaning that energy storage projects co-located with solar will continue to benefit from a reduced tax burden through to 2025. In the past six months, 1.3GW of tenders have been announced or awarded for storage which will be co-located with solar PV. Combined with the impact of the US ITC, IHS Markit predicts that 3.8GW of storage co-located with solar will be completed in 2021 compared with 0.9GW in 2020 – an increase of 320%.

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George Hilton, senior analyst Clean Technology at IHS Markit, said: “The energy storage industry will begin significant multiyear growth in 2021, continuing until 2030, as the technology begins to form a core component of power grids in developed markets and new opportunities in developing markets continue to emerge. “The global market for energy storage is maturing rapidly. The number of countries where annual installations exceed 100MW will increase from nine in 2020 to 17 in 2022. The three biggest contributors to this growth will be the United States, mainland China and Australia, which are together forecast to supply 4.5GW of capacity in 2021.”

FEBRUARY- 2021

energy storage

GREECE’S IPTO, SUNLIGHT TO JOIN HANDS IN 20-MW ENERGY STORAGE PILOT – REPORT Greek power grid operator IPTO and domestic battery maker Sunlight plan to join hands in the installation of a 20 MW/20 MWh pilot energy storage system in the city of Thiva, central Greece, Energypress reports.

he duo is expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the project within the next few days. Its implementation was included in IPTO’s EUR-4.1-billion (USD 4.96bn) plan for transmission system investments between 2022 and 2031 that was presented in January. The battery facility will be located at a substation in Thiva, around 100km (62 miles) northwest of Athens.

It will deploy batteries made by Sunlight, which is part of Greece’s Olympia Group. Apart from investment in energy storage projects on Greek islands and in the central part of the country, IPTO’s plan envisages spending on new international electrical interconnections and upgrades of the national power transmission grid in line with the recent expansion of renewables. The company’s plans for energy storage capacity also include the construction of an up to 10-MW pilot battery facility on the island of Naxos.

FIVE KEY FACTORS IMPACTING UTILITY BUSINESS MODELS FOR ENERGY STORAGE

A new report released by the US Energy Storage Association (ESA), in partnership with the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA), highlights key factors that influence utility business models for energy storage. The five key factors impacting utility busiOther key study findings include: ness models include: Monetising multiple value streams. Incorporating storage as part of a microgrid. Addressing renewable intermittency with hybrid configurations. Storage as a non-wires alternative (NWA). Locational constraints and demand cost reduction.

Multiple battery storage technologies offer viable solutions as grid-connected assets, with lithium-ion batteries already demonstrating cost-effectiveness under certain business models.

Regulatory challenges remain in some states and jurisdictions regarding utility ownership of energy storage, limiting the ability of those utilities to maximise the value of storage for the grid and customers. Energy storage is a preferred non-wires alternative (NWA) solution for many utilities due to the flexible services it can offer and its cost-effectiveness as compared to traditional capital expenditures. Grid-connected energy storage projects can optimise value streams between project partners through operational control agreements that codify operational parameters and prioritise dispatch rights between parties.

Robert Tucker, Director, Industry Strategy at SEPA, said: ”Energy storage, more so than other asset types, requires utilities to think creatively in order to realise potential value streams. “This report highlights the business models we see utilities using to extract these value streams to the benefit of the grid and customers.”

FEBRUARY- 2021

Creative programme designs can enable utilities to leverage grid-connected energy storage to provide grid value, while also providing direct customer benefits.

Some four innovative energy storage use cases are explored in the report and they include projects deployed by: SMUD Energy StorageShares.

Maryland IOU Energy Storage Pilots.

Con Edison and GI Energy.

Oakland Clean Energy Initiative (OECI) and PG&EVistra Energy.

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renewable energy

The Future of Electricity Generation is in Green Energy Electricity generation from renewable sources on a global scale reached 2020 thousand 340 TWh in 2 with an increase of 805 TWh compared to the previous year, surpassing all resources.

hina leads in renewable energy generation with 732,3 TWh, while the US is second with 489,8 TWh, Germany is third with 224,1 TWh, India is fourth with 134,9 TWh and Japan is fifth with 121,2 TWh. According to the information given by Çağada Kırım, founder of electricity tariffs comparison and supplier switching site encazip.com; If Turkey has an important potential for green energy last year to a total of 45,3 TWh of electricity production from renewable energy sources to meet. Thus, the growth rate of renewable energy sources in electricity production stood at 20 percent in Turkey. The rapid disappearance of natural resources continues to develop technologies for energy resources. Green energy, which can be supplied without the need for fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas, renewed in a continuous process and available in nature ready to be used; While increasing the usage rate all over the world, it is becoming a promising type of energy generation in our country. According to the information compiled by Çağada Kırım, founder of electricity tariffs comparison and supplier switching site encazip.com; hydraulic, wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, wave, tidal, such as energy resources representing green energy in terms of significant potential with Turkey, in the world with geothermal potential 7. In Europe Ranks # 1 and the share of renewable energy in electricity production Growing steadily.

ELECTRICITY GENERATION FROM SOLAR ENERGY IS A GLOBAL LEADER

Electricity generation from renewable sources worldwide, reaching a total of 2020 thousand 340 TWh in 2 with an increase of 805 TWh compared to the previous year; It outperformed fossil resources such as coal, oil and carbon. While the biggest growth in renewable energy production was seen in solar energy, 724,1 TWh of electricity was produced from solar energy. Wind energy, which ranked second in growth with an increase of 12,6 percent, contributed 1429,6 TWh to electricity generation last year. The production obtained from other energy sources such as geothermal and biomass was determined as 651,8 TWh.

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THE HEAD OF WIND ENERGY IN TURKEY DREW

Earth moves towards a lower carbon, Turkey should increase environmental awareness in the need technological developments in electricity production as well as the deepening of government policy, particularly hydropower, has increased the share of wind and solar energy. Turkey, a total of 2020 TWh of electricity production in 45,3 was provided from renewable energy sources. According to obtained in 2020 from a year earlier to 20 percent growth in electricity production from renewable energy sources in Turkey with 21,7 TWh of electricity production took place first in wind energy. Wind energy was followed by geothermal and biomass with 12,7 TWh, while solar power ranked third with a total production of 10,9 TWh.

GREEN ENERGY TOOK ITS PLACE IN THE ‘NATIONAL ELECTRICITY TARIFF’

Although it has a cost in the short term, the long-term benefit is indisputable. On the other hand, the expectation of sustainability, which is increasingly important especially in our export markets, will be reflected in our industrialists in a short time. In particular, European buyers, the products produced in Turkey can bring the condition to be produced with green energy. All of these will increase the interest in the Green Tariff, and the sensitivity of the society on this issue will both reduce the damage to the environment and reduce electricity prices in the medium term ”.

FEBRUARY- 2021

research & analysis

Power Sector Update Electricity consumption and generation held on to the improvements of recent months in February’21 and was only marginally lower than the pre-lockdown period of February’20. The firming up of prices in the shortterm electricity market during the month is also indicative of the strengthening of electricity demand. The addition to domestic power generation capacity in the first eleven months of FY21 at 9.7 GW has been the lowest annualised addition in twelve years and is around half of that a year ago. New capacity addition of conventional as well as renewable energy has slowed down, with the decline in the former being higher. The addition to capacity in the current financial year has been led by solar power. DISCOMS dues to generators have been mounting. As of February’21, the outstanding dues amounted to Rs.1.27 lakh crores, a 25% increase from April’20.

ELECTRICITY GENERATION India’s power generation in February’21 was lower than the preceding two months and nearly stable from the year-ago period (based on provisional data). Electricity generation during February at 112 billion units (BU) was 7% lower than the previous month and 0.2% less than February’20. It was also lower than the output during July-October’20 (average generation of 120 BU) . Generation from renewable energy sources moderated in February’21 (by 3%), while that from conventional sources increased, albeit marginally (by 0.1%), on a year-on-year basis. In the first eleven months of FY21, domestic electricity generation declined to a three-year low and was 2.4% less than that in the corresponding period of FY20. This fall was mainly on account of the lower output from conventional sources (thermal, hydro, and nuclear), which accounts for around 90% of the total generation.

Conventional energy sources have recorded consecutive six months of growth on a year-on-year basis since September’20. There has however been a decline on a sequential basis in February’21. Coal-based power generation (76% of total power output and 84% of conventional energy output) in February’21 registered a 3% year-on-year improvement.

FEBRUARY- 2021

The output from conventional energy sources during AprilFebruary of FY21 was 3% lower than that in the corresponding months of FY20, while that from renewable energy sources has seen a year-on-year increase of 6%, aided by the higher output during May-August’20. Further, the ‘must-run’ status of renewable power plants that mandates uninterrupted power procurement by utilities supported the higher generation from these power sources despite the sharp fall in power consumption during the lockdown (by over 20% year-onyear basis). Lower power generation in FY21 has been the consequence of a sharp fall in electricity demand from the industrial and commercial sectors consequent to the nationwide lockdown during the end of March-May’20 as well as the disruptions in the supply of inputs, raw materials, and labour shortages consequent to the pandemic led restrictions across regions.

The higher generation saw the capacity utilization rate or plant load factor of coal power plants rise to 63%, the highest level in twenty-one months. Higher coal power output helped offset the lower generation of hydro power (6% of total output) and gas power (3% share) in February’21. Both hydro-power and gas generation in February’21 was 14% lower than a year earlier.

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research & analysis Generation from renewable energy sources declined on a monthly (by 5%) and annual (by 3%) basis in February’21. This decline is primarily on account of lower wind power generation during the month. Wind power output fell by around 25% on a sequential and annual basis in February. Solar power generation on the other hand rose by 7% on a month-on-month basis and by 2% on a year-on-year basis in February’21. During April-February of FY21, wind power generation, which accounts for the larger share in renewable energy (nearly 50%), was 8% lower than a year ago and this decline can be attributed to low wind speeds, especially in the peak monsoon season.

The cumulative solar power generation in the eleven months to February’21 was 20% more than that in the same period last year. This increase can be credited to the higher generation during the summer months (AprMay) which was nearly 30% higher than a year ago. Solar power has seen fluctuations in monthly power generation which can be linked to seasonal factors as well as the disruptions in the input (imported) supply chains.

POWER CONSUMPTION Electricity consumption in the country declined on a sequential as well as an annual basis in February’21, following an increase in the previous two months. Electricity consumption in February’21 at 104.7 BU was 6% lower than that in January’21 and 0.1% less than the pre-lockdown February’20. The fall in consumption was despite the gradual and progressive revival in domestic economic activity and can be put down to the fewer number of days during the month. The decline in power consumption in February was broad-based across regions.

The fall in electricity consumption was the highest in the southern region (23% m-o-m). The western and northern region witnessed a month-on-month decline of 8% and 9% respectively. Electricity consumption in the country fell by 3% year-on-year during AprilFebruary of FY21. This is mainly due to lower demand from the industrial and commercial sector consequent to the lockdown and the gradual increase in demand with the unlocking of the economy since June’20. Consumption has seen an increase (year-on-year) since September’21, following six months of decline.

PRICE RISE IN THE SHORT-TERM ELECTRICITY MARKET The short-term transactions of electricity in the Day Ahead Market (DAM) on the IEX power exchange declined on a sequential basis in February’21 and were accompanied by a firming up of prices. The trade volumes in DAM at 5124 MU were 8% lower than the previous month. It was however 19% higher than a year ago. In the first eleven months of FY21, the volume of electricity traded in the DAM was 31% higher on a year-on -year basis. The average price of electricity in the DAM in February’21 rose to Rs. 3.39/unit from Rs.3.18/unit in January’21 and Rs.2.91/unit in February’20. This translates into a 7% month-on-month increase and a 16% year-on-year rise.

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There has been a sustained increase in prices since December’20 and prices have risen by 20% in the three months to February’21, reflective of the growing electricity demand. DISCOMS and industrial consumers have been increasingly procuring power from the power exchanges given the cost advantage of relatively lower prices when compared with their long-term power purchase agreements as well as the ease and efficiency of these transactions.

FEBRUARY- 2021

research & analysis

LOWER ADDITION TO POWER GENERATION CAPACITY IN 2020-21 Capacity addition to conventional as well as renewable power generation slowed in FY21. During April–February of FY21, 9.7 GW of new generation capacity was installed. This has been the lowest annualised addition in twelve years and nearly half of that in the same period of FY20 (April- February). The decline in annual capacity addition was higher in the case of conventional energy sources (54% decline y-o-y) than that on renewable energy (47% lower y-o-y). The lower capacity addition can be attributed to the lockdown led to supply side disruptions (which slowed movement of inputs and has led to an increase in their prices), labour shortages as well as the constrained finances and liquidity pressures faced by the developers. Also, the restriction on the imports of inputs viz. for solar power has aggravated the constraints faced by the developers. Project timelines have been extended as a result, further aggravating the financial stress of developers. A five-month extension in the scheduled commissioning date due to the Covid-19 pandemic was provided by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy for renewable energy projects (from 25 March’20 to 24 August’20).

New power generation capacity addition in 2020-21 has been led by renewable energy. 6.2 GW of renewable energy generation capacity has been added during AprilFebruary of FY21 versus 3.5 GW of conventional energy. Renewable energy capacity addition has been led by solar power, which accounted for 48% or 4.7 GW of new capacity. Solar power generation capacity currently stands at 39 GW. Coal-based power, which is the dominant source of electricity in the country and which accounts for 53% of the total generation capacity, added 3.1 GW to generation capacity in the eleven months to February’21, taking its total installed capacity to 201 GW. Of the total domestic electricity generation capacity of 379 GW, the installed capacity of conventional energy is 286 GW (75% share in total) and that of renewable energy is 93 GW (25% share).

MOUNTING UP OF DISCOMS DUES The outstanding dues owed by DISCOMs to power generators as of the end of January’21 amounted to Rs.1.27 lakh crores, a 25% increase from April 2020. The absence of cost-reflective tariffs, high operational expenses, and AT&C losses along with huge historical outstanding dues has been pressuring the finances of state distribution utilities over time. Added to this, the fall in power demand and disruptions in the billing and collections consequent to the lockdown in the current financial year has further aggravated their financial stress and thereby the overall financial weakness in the power sector. The government support to DISCOMS under the special economic package (Atmanirbhar) announced in May’20 has not helped in lowering their dues. For liquidating the dues of DISCOMS, the government had announced liquidity support to them to the tune of Rs. 1.20 lakh crores by way of special long-term loans through PFC and REC. However, only 37% of the proposed liquidity support has been disbursed to DISCOMS as of the end of January’21. The lower disbursement is mainly due to these loans being linked to DISCOMs undertaking reform measures such as installing pre-paid smart meters, stipulating trajectory for reducing AT&C losses, ACSARR gaps, recovery of subsidy, and government dues.

FEBRUARY- 2021

Up until 19 February’21, only 7 states (Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand) had undertaken partial power sector reforms. The outstanding dues were the highest for the DISCOMS of Rajasthan (Rs.41,914 crs). The other states with notable outstanding dues are Tamil Nadu (Rs.19,324 crs) and Uttar Pradesh (Rs.15,319 crs). These three states accounted for 60% of the total outstanding dues. The other states with sizeable dues (over Rs.3,500 crs) include Telangana, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Haryana. Table 2 details the outstanding DISCOMS dues of the states who make up for 90% of the total dues.

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