EQ Magazine Jan 2019 Edition by EQ Int'l Solar Media Group

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CONT EN T

VOLUME 11 Issue # 01

Disclaimer,Limitations of Liability While every efforts has been made to ensure the high quality and accuracy of EQ international and all our authors research articles with the greatest of care and attention ,we make no warranty concerning its content,and the magazine is provided on an>> as is <<basis.EQ international contains advertising and third –party contents.EQ International is not liable for any third- party content or error,omission or inaccuracy in any advertising material ,nor is it responsible for the availability of external web sites or their contents

international Australia’s Opposition Bets Big on Renewables to Win Next Election

26 BUSINESS & FINANCE Tycoon Pallonji Mistry eyes $1 billion via 30% share sale in solar unit

ENERGY STORAGE Curtiss Motorcycles Launches Equity Crowdfunding Campaign to Accelerate Production of its Innovative Battery Electric Motorcycles

39 DISTRIBUTED SOLAR

Chennai Metro Rail commissions another 1120 KWp Solar PV Power Plant

48 ELECTRIC VEHICLE

Snel Charge India installs its 5t DC Fast Charger in Chennai for ABB India Ltd

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 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.

energy

Energy to 2040

PV MANUFACTURING LAPP invests INR 220 million in their Bhopal Manufacturing Facility

JANUARY 2019

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th r

22 30

business & finance Green Bank Network Announces US$41 Billion for Clean Energy Projects Around the Globe

INDIA Japan threatens to cut solar power subsidies, angering investors

41 interview

Mr. SUNIL SINNARKAR KSolare

FEATURED TEPSOL has been awarded as the Most Promising Energy Start Up 2018 by ASSOCHAM

38 distributed solar Maha to give solar agri pumps at subsidised rates: Bawankule

ELECTRIC VEHICLE Delhi government drafts policy to make 25% of vehicles electric by 2023, seeks public opinion

interview Mr. Mehul Sharma TBEA

interview

Mr. Sanjeev Agrawal AMPLUS

EQ NEWS Pg. 08-51 Middle east & africa

gy storage

y Storage is a $620 Billion Investment Opportunity 0

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South Africa: African Development Bank approves a ZAR 3 billion loan to bolster renewable energy in South Africa

PRODUCTS Pg. 76-77

JANUARY 2019

5Â

23 2018/10/22 10:09: 190mm.pdf 1

EQ-Nov-3G-200x

3GW+ ents from 2015

in Global Shipm

to 2017

CMY

Huawei is a leading global ICT and network

energy solutions provider. Huawei continuously brings high-quality products and services based on its experience accumulated over the past three decades. Ranked 72nd on the Fortune Global 500 companies, Huawei innovatively integrates digital information technologies such as AI , IoT, big data, and cloud computing, with PV technology, to promote industry-leading smart PV solutions for both utility-scale and commercial scenarios. Huawei smart PV solutions bring digitalization to every PV plant and renewable energy enterprise, enabling our customers and partners to lead in the intelligent world. It has been widely deployed in various countries and regions, and recognized by customers from China, Europe, Japan, America, India, Asia Pacific and Latin America regions. Based on reports released by global consultancies IHS Markit and GTM Research, Huawei was ranked No. 1 globally in inverter shipment for three consecutive years, 2015, 2016 and 2017. According to the Solar Map released by Bridge to India, Huawei was ranked No.1 in inverter suppliers in India.

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JANUARY 2019

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JANUARY 2019

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india

Govt puts solar power on fast track; asks state-run firm to float 4,000 MW tenders in 4 months The government has asked SECI to bring 1,000 MW tenders every month from November 2018 to February 2019, in order to expedite the process of capacity edition amid criticism over unmet targets.

he government has put its ambitious solar power capacity addition plan on a fast track, asking the state-run Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to bring tenders to install 4,000 megawatt (MW) solar power capacity in four months to February 2019. The government has asked SECI to bring 1,000 MW tenders every month from November 2018 to February 2019, in order to expedite the process of capacity edition amid criticism over unmet targets, The Indian Express reported. The proposal to add 4,000 MW of solar capacity is, however, unlikely to help in meeting the government’s target of 1 lakh MW of solar capacity by 2022, The Indian Express report said. India has an installed solar energy capacity of 25,000 MW. The move comes with an assumption that the code of conduct for the next generation election will be enforced in March next year. The solar capacity that is expected to be commissioned in the current financial year is 4,165 MW, while the total of 4,740 of solar capacity is likely to be commissioned during the next financial year 2019-20, the newspaper said. In 2015, the then power minister Piyush Goyal had said that the government has a target of having 175 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity, which would comprise 100 GW from solar power, 60 GW from wind power, 10 GW from biomass power and 5 GW from small hydropower, by the end of 2022. One GW is equal to 1000 MW. During the financial year 201011, just 1030 MW of solar power capacity was installed and by October 31, 2017, it has risen exponentially to 15,605 MW. By March 31, 2018, India has installed a solar capacity of 22 GW, according to estimates of Ministry of Renewable Energy.

Meanwhile, as the capacity has risen, the per unit rate has fallen. In the financial year 2010-11, the lowest tariff of solar power was reported at Rs 17.91 per unit. while the lowest tariff at which a solar project was bid in the last financial year ended on March 2018 was at Rs 2.44 per unit. Between the financial year 2019 and 2023, the solar power capacity is likely to go up to 56-58 GW as against 20 GW between the financial year 2014-2018, showed a report published in July by CRISIL. Source: financialexpress

JANUARY 2019

Maharashtra to extend CM’s agri solar scheme across the state After the success of a pilot project, the Maharashtra government plans to extend the chief minister’s agricultural solar feeder scheme in the rest of the state. The pilot project of the scheme was introduced last year in two places in Ralegan Siddhi in Ahmednagar and Kolambi in Yawatmal.

The scheme is a total success and will be extended to the entire state. This is a game changer and solar units will be set up in the government land where there is evacuation facility, Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company (Mahatransco) director Vishwas Pathak said. Under this programme, the farmers are supplied power during the day with the help of solar generation. When asked about the privatisation process of power distribution for Malegaon and Kalwa-Mumbra sections, he said the project is on fast track and the tendering process is underway now. “The entire process is likely to be completed soon,” he added. Pathak further said the privatisation of Bhiwandi is successful and hence we have decided to go in for privatisation of power supply in the two areas, where the bill collection is very low. “Already a number of companies have participated in the tendering process, including Torrent Power, which manages the powerloom town of Bhiwandi and the best suited one would be picked up,” he added. Pathak also said there has been a growth of power consumers from 2.15 crore to 2.45 crore and to meet this growth, the company is taking every effort. “There was an acute shortage of meters recently due to the fact that 16 lakh meters supplied by two companies, one from Hyderabad and the other from UP, were found to be faulty and had to be replaced on priority. These two companies have been blacklisted, he said and added that the legal process was underway for “recovery of losses,” he said. When asked about the transmission and distribution losses incurred by state discom Mahavitaran, he said the company could reduce it from the past 17.50 per cent to 14.50 per cent. “We do not claim that we have achieved and met every target but to a large extent we have performed and brought the power scene to a good position as regards supply, distribution and reducing the problems which were faced earlier,” he said. Source: PTI

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india

Developers still reluctant to bid for solar power assets Recent tenders of Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for 1,200 megawatt (MW) of wind-solar hybrid scheme and 10,000 MW solar tender linked to manufacturing units suffered major setback as the bidders shunned the auction for these projects.

SECI manufacturing-linked bids could not attract the interest of the developers for the obvious reason that they are not interested to undertake the risk of manufacturing and at the same time existing domestic manufacturers are still struggling for their survival, Vikram Solar’s director-legal and corporate affairs, Amit Gupta, told PTI. He further said that in the absence of any visibility for offtake of manufactured products, it is tough for anyone to commit such a huge investment in a new facility.

fter a number of failed attempts to woo bidders for the manufacturing-linked bids of 10,000 MW, SECI has now increased the tariff cap of the tender by 10 paise to Rs 2.85 per unit, the maximum permissible tariff when the tender was first floated at Rs 2.93 per unit. In May 2018, SECI tendered 5 gigawatts (GW) of manufacturing capacity to be set up in India. This capacity was to be linked to the interstate transmission system (ISTS)-connected solar PV projects for an aggregate capacity of 10GW. Subsequently, the manufacturing capacity was reduced to 3 GW.

With tariff now close to the original cap, developers still seem non-committal mainly due to the cost involved in setting up the facilities, Acme group vice-chairman Shashi Shekar said. The manufacturing-linked PPA (power purchase agreement) tender doesn’t allow existing manufacturing facilities to participate in the bidding to backward integrate their manufacturing facilities but requires only new integrated units to set up. “This entails huge investment and given the current scenario in the power sector and banks and financial institutions shying away from lending, such a clause is perceived as a high risk proposition,” he added.

JANUARY 2019

Apart from this, there have been instances where the state and central entities have cancelled successfully completed auctions by citing high tariffs. A bid of 500 MW by Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam which was auctioned in March 2018 was scrapped as the tariff discovered was Rs 2.98 per unit, while the other bid of 1,000 MW of Uttar Pradesh New Energy Development Agency was cancelled after the lowest tariffs was discovered at Rs 3.48 per unit. Similarly, SECI awarded only 600 MW at Rs 2.44 to ACME, while the rest 2,400 MW was scrapped as the tariffs quoted were higher at Rs 2.64. According to Crisil Research, developers consider several factors such as input costs (primarily module prices and its import costs), land and transmission availability, solar irradiance in the region when arriving at a final bid price.

Since government tenders are the primary source of demand for the sector, cancellation of successfully bid out capacities indirectly pressurises players to lower bids, as it sets a benchmark by the regulatory entity to indicate acceptable tariff thresholds, Crisil Research director Rahul Prithiani said. He further said that lack of clarity at the policy level and a pricing expectation mismatch between various stakeholders have caused a temporary lull in the market. However, Prithiani believes this to be a transient phase which should be resolved with future expected fall in costs as duty rate decreases, supported by low module prices. Source: PTI

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JANUARY 2019

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india

Year End Review 2018 – MNRE India attains global 4th and 5th positions in wind and solar power installed capacities; India now at 5th global position for overall installed renewable energy capacity. A total of 101.83 billion units of power were generated in the country during the year 2017-18 from renewable energy

he Government has declared the trajectory of bidding 60 GW capacity of solar energy and 20 GW capacity of wind energy by March 2020,leaving two years’ time for execution of projects. Keeping in view our commitment to a healthy planet and our Nationally Determined Contributions as per the Paris Accord on Climate Change, India made a pledge that by 2030, 40% of installed power generation capacity shall be based on clean sources, it was determined that 175 GW of renewable energy capacity will be installed by 2022. This includes 100 GW from solar, 60 GW from wind, 10 GW from bio-power and 5 GW from small hydro power. The substantial higher capacity target will ensure greater energy security, improved energy access and enhanced employment opportunities. With the accomplishment of this ambitious target, India will become one of the largest Green Energy producers in the world, even surpassing several developed countries.

The Share of Renewable Energy in overall installed capacity in the country as on 31.10.2018 is given below: SOURCE

INSTALLED CAPACITY (GW)

PERCENTAGE

Thermal

221.76 GW

(63.84%)

Nuclear

6.78 GW

(1.95%)

Hydro

45.48 GW

(13.09%)

Renewable

73.35 GW

(21.12%)

Total

347.37 GW

(100%)

A total of around 73.35 GW of renewable energy capacity has been installed in the country as on October, 2018 from all renewable energy sources which includes around 34.98 GW from Wind, 24.33 GW from solar, 4.5 GW from Small Hydro Power and 9.54 GW from Bio-power. Further, projects worth 46.75 GW capacity have been bid out/under installation. The Government has declared the trajectory of bidding 60 GW capacity of solar energy and 20 GW capacity of wind energy till 31.03.2020.ojects worth each 30 GW solar power and 10 GW wind power capacity would be bid out each in the year 2018-19 & 2019-20. This has given assurance to the renewable energy developers & investors community about long term commitment & planning of the Government in the RE sector encouraging them to make risk free investments in the country.

JANUARY 2019

Status of projects as on October, 2018 is given below: SECTOR

TARGET (GW)

INSTALLED CAPACITY (GW) AS ON 31.10.2018

UNDER IMPLEMENTATION (GW)

TENDERED (GW)

TOTAL INSTALLED/ PIPELINE (GW)

Solar Power

100

24.33

13.8

22.8

60.93

Wind power

34.98

7.02

2.4

44.4

Bio Energy

9.54

Small Hydro

4.5

0.73

5.23

Total

175

73.35

21.55

25.2

120.1

India has 5th Global position for overall installed renewable energy capacity, 4th position for wind power and 5th position for solar power. Registered lowest ever solar tariffs in India of Rs.2.44 per unit in reverse auctions carried out by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) in May 2017, for 200 MW and again in July, 2018, for 600 MW.Registered lowest ever wind tariff of Rs.2.43 per unit in a tender of 500 MW project by Gujarat Government in the month of December 2017. The cumulative renewable energy installed capacity has increased from 35.51 GW as on 31.03.2014 to 73.35 GW as on 31.10.2018 (increase of around 106% during last four &a half years). The capacity addition of over 37.84 GW grid connected renewable power has been achieved during last four & half years (2014-15 to 2018-19) which includes 21.7 GW from Solar Power, 13.98 GW from Wind Power, 0.7 GW from Small Hydro Power and 1.5 GW from Bio-power.The year wise capacity addition is given-

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india [A] GRID CONNECTED POWER PROGRESS OF RENEWABLES IN INDIA DURING THE LAST FOUR AND HALF YEARS (2014-15 TO 2018-19 AS ON 31.10.2018) Sector

Cumulative Ach. in MW (as on 31.03.2014)

Capacity Addition in MW 2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

2017-18

2018-19

Cumulative Achievement in MW (as on 31.10.2018)

Wind Power

21042.57

2311.78

3423.05

5502.37

1865.23

841.35

34986.35

Small Hydro Power

3803.74

251.61

218.60

105.9

105.95

21.15

4506.95

Bio Power

8041.63

355.72

364.09

187.65

552.82

44.00

9545.91

Solar Power

2631.90

1112.08

3018.9

5526

9362.64

2661.12

24312.58

Total

35519.84

4031.19

7024.64

11321.92

11886.64

3567.62

73351.79

[B] OFF-GRID/CAPTIVE POWER (in MWeq) S. NO.

SECTOR

CUMULATIVE installed 2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

2017-18

2018-19

Capacity(as on 31.10.2018)

Waste to Energy

12.00

14.13

12.21

5.50

3.13

175.28

Biomass Gasifiers

6.76

12.54

4.30

0.92

0.00

163.37

SPV Systems

60.00

87.67

115.50

216.63

96.11

767.51

A total of 101.83 billion units of power were generated in the country during the year 2017-18 from all renewable energy sources as compared to 61.78 billion units generated in 2014-15 (increase of around 65% during last four years). Share of renewable energy in terms of overall power generation has reached to around 8% from 5.5% in 2014-15. Further, 62.66 BU of energy is generated during 201819 upto August 2018.Year wise details of renewable energy generation are given in following table:YEAR

OVERALL GENERATION (IN BU)

RENEWABLE GENERATION (IN BU)

% SHARE OF RE

2014-15

1110.18

61.78

5.56

2015-16

1172.98

65.78

5.60

2016-17

1241.38

81.54

6.56

2017-18

1303.37

101.83

7.81

2018-19(up to Aug 2018)

590.04

62.66

10.62

On 14thJune, 2018,the Ministry of Power has notified the long term RPO trajectory from 2019-20 to 2021-22. The year-wise RPO levels are as under: LONG TERM RPO TRAJECTORY

2019-20

2020-21

2021-22

Non-solar

10.25%

10.50%

Solar

7.25%

8.75%

10.50%

Total

17.50%

19.00%

21.00%

Issued guidelines for procurement of solar and wind power through tariff based competitive bidding process involving reverse e-auction.

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Issued order on waiving the Inter State Transmission Systems charges and losses for inter-state sale of solar and wind power for projects to be commissioned by March 2022. Notified standards for deployment of solar photovoltaic systems/devices.

SOLAR ENERGY The Government has revised the target of Grid Connected Solar Power Projects from 20,000 MW by the year 2021-22 to 100,000 MW by the year 2021-22 under the National Solar Mission. The country currently has the fifth highest solar installed capacity in the world with total installed capacity of 24.33 GW as on October, 2018 against a target of 100 GW by 2022. Further, 22.8 GW capacity is under implementation or have been tendered out. The Ministry plans to bid out remaining solar power capacity in 2018-19 and 2019-20, so that bidding gets completed for entire 100 GW capacity additions by March 2020, leaving two yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; time for execution of projects. The tariff for grid-connected solar power projects is determined through competitive bidding process involving reverse e-auction. This has helped in bringing down the tariff significantly. The lowest solar tariff discovered as on date is Rs. 2.44/kWh in July 2018 in ISTS based bidding of solar projects in India. The solar tariff has come down from around Rs 18/kWh in 2010 to Rs. 2.44/kWh in 2018 due to various factors like economies of scale, assured availability of land and power evacuation systems etc.

JANUARY 2019

13Â

india Solar Parks are being set up in the country. 47 solar parks of aggregate capacity 26,694 MW has been approved in 21 States up to November, 2018.Over 1,00,000 lakh acres of land identified for various solar parks out of which over 75,000 acres have been acquired. Solar projects of aggregate capacity 4195 MW have been commissioned inside various solar parks. The Ministry is also taking up projects for new emerging technologies such as floating solar power.

WIND ENERGY The country currently has the fourth highest wind installed capacity in the world with total installed capacity of 34.98 GW as on October, 2018 against a target of 60 GW by 2022. Further, around 9.4 GW capacity is under implementation or have been tendered out. The Ministry plans to bid out 10 GW wind power capacity each year for 2018-19 and 2019-20, so that bidding gets completed for entire 60 GW capacity additions by March 2020, leaving two years’ time for execution of projects. The recent assessment conducted by National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE) indicates a gross wind power potential of 302 GW in the country at 100 meter above ground level. The capacity additions till 2017 were through Feed in Tariff (FiT) mechanism. Subsequently, the tariff regime has been shifted from Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) to bidding route. The Government has issued ‘Guidelines for Tariff Based Competitive Bidding Process for Procurement of Power from Grid Connected Wind Power Projects’, vide Resolution notified on 8th December, 2017, with an objective to provide a framework for procurement of wind power through a transparent process of bidding. This has resulted in discovery of lowest ever tariff for wind power. The National Wind-Solar Hybrid Policy was issued in May 2018. The main objective of the policy is to provide a framework for promotion of large grid connected wind-solar PV hybrid system for optimal and efficient utilization of wind and solar resources, transmission infrastructure and land. The wind – solar PV hybrid systems will help in reducing the variability in renewable power generation and achieving better grid stability. A bid for setting up of first 1200 MW Greenfieldwind solar hybrid project was floated by SECI. The National Offshore wind energy policy was notified in October 2015 with an objective to develop the offshore wind energy in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) along the Indian coastline.

JANUARY 2019

Initial studies carried out by NIWE indicate offshore wind energy potential off the coasts Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. LiDAR was commissioned on the monopile platform in November 2017 at Gulf of Khambhat, off Gujarat coast for wind resource assessment. NIWE floated Expression of Interest (EoI) for establishment of 1 GW offshore wind farm in Gulf of Khambhat region off Gujarat coast. 35 parties (both national and international) showed interest. National targets for offshore wind capacity additions of 5 GW by 2022 and 30 by 2030 declared. The expansion of the wind industry has resulted in a strong ecosystem, project operation capabilities and a manufacturing base. State-of-the-art technologies are now available in the country for the manufacture of wind turbines. All the major global players in this field have their presence in the country. Over 24 different models of wind turbines are being manufactured by more than 12 different companies in India. Wind turbines and components are being exported to the US, Australia, Europe, Brazil and other Asian countries. Around 70-80% indigenization has been achieved with strong domestic manufacturing in the wind sector.

BIO POWER Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has been promoting programmes to promote Biomass Power and Bagasse Cogeneration in the country with an objective to utilize country’s available biomass resources like bagasse, rice husk, straw, cotton stalk, coconut shells etc. for power generation. Waste to Energy projects are also being set up for generation of Energy from Urban, Industrial and Agricultural Waste / Residues such as municipal solid wastes, vegetable and other market wastes, slaughterhouse waste, agricultural residues and industrial wastes & effluents. A total capacity of 9.54 GW ofgrid connected biopowerhas been installed in the country as on October 2018 against a target of 10 GW bio-power by 2022. This includes 8.73 GW from bagasse cogeneration, 0.68 GW from non-bagasse cogeneration and 0.13 GW from waste to energy.

SMALL HYDRO POWER A total capacity of 4.5 GW of grid connected small hydro power has been installed in the country as on October 2018 against a target of 5 GW small hydro power by 2022. Further, 126 no. of projects of capacity 0.73 GW are under various stages of implementation.

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india ENERGY STORAGE Energy Storage is one of the crucial & critical components of India’s energy infrastructure strategy and also for supporting India’s sustained thrust to renewables and electric mobility. With an objective to strive towards leadership in the energy storage sector by creating an enabling policy and regulatory framework, a comprehensive National Energy Storage Mission (NESM) has been developed. The Mission focuses on demand creation, indigenous manufacturing, innovation and necessary policy support for proliferation of Energy Storage in the country.

OFF-GRID RENEWABLES The Ministry is implementing off grid and Decentralized renewables programme for meeting energy demand for cooking, lighting, motive power, space heating, hot water generation, etc. The Ministry also supports deployment of decentralized solar applications like solar lanterns, solar street lights, solar home lights, solar pumps, etc. in the country.As on October, 2018, over 40 Lakhs no. of Lantern & Lamps, 16.72 lakhs no. of Home Lights, 6.40 lakhs no. of Street Lights, 1.96 lakhs no. of solar pumps and 187.99MWp Stand Alone has been installed in the country.

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT The MNRE has decided to scale-up its RD&D effort to Technology Development and Innovation Programme. The focus is on promoting application oriented innovation, integrated with research and development for for commercial applications and testing and standardization for quality and reliability assurance in renewable energy sector. A Technology Development and Innovation Policy (TDIP) is also being finalised. It is based on a robust ecosystem for support for research, innovation and validation for technology development and demonstration, testing and standardization, awards for innovation linked with start-ups.

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT As part of HRD programme of the Ministry, a robust RE education and training system is developed. SPV lighting systems, Solar Thermal systems, SHP have been incorporated in the regular syllabus of 2 years certificate programme for seven trades i.e Electronics, Electrician, Machinist, Welder, Carpenter, Fitter and Plumber. Course modules and Modular Employable Skilling programme (MES) of NCVT have been developed. Parallelly, through Sector Skill Council of Green Jobs NOSs/QPs have been developed for various job roles in Renewable Energy sectors and regular training programmes are being organised for these job roles with the support of MNRE or MSDE as per National Skill Development Policy 2015.

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2nd Global Re-Invest Renewable Energy Investors’ Meet and Expo (2nd Re-Invest) The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy hosted the First Assembly of International Solar Alliance (ISA), 2nd Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Energy Ministerial Meet and 2nd Global RE-Invest Meet & Expo from 3rd to 5th October 2018 at the India Expo Mart, Greater NOIDA. The three-day event saw participation of over 20,000 delegates including representatives of over 77 countries out of which 40 were at ministerial level. This Meeting provided a platform for experts to discuss energy needs within the region, identification of hurdles in cooperation and coordination among concerned agencies. The event also witnessed the cementing of ties between the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and ISA in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

International Solar Alliance (ISA) The International Solar Alliance (ISA) became first international intergovernmental organization headquartered in India on 6th December, 2017. ISA is part of India’s vision to provide clean and affordable energy to all. So far 71 countries have signed the Framework Agreement of the ISA. Out of these,48 countries have ratified the same. The First Assembly of the ISA was held on 3 October, 2018 in India. 37 ISA member Countries, including India and France, attended the Assembly. In addition, 25 countries that have signed the Framework Agreement of ISA but yet to ratify; 13 Prospective Member countries that are yet sign the Framework Agreement of the ISA; and 3 Partner countries that are beyond inter-tropical zone attended the Assembly as Observers. In the First Assembly inter-alia India’s resolution for amending the Framework Agreement of the ISA for opening up the ISA membership to all countries that are members of United Nations was adopted. India has recognized ISA’s judicial personality by entering into Headquarter agreement with ISA. Source: pib.nic.in

JANUARY 2019

india

EIB unveils offshore wind initiative and strengthens backing for Indian renewables with SBI and Yes Bank The world’s largest international financier for renewable energy, the European Investment Bank, confirmed new backing for investment across India.

he EIB will increase support for onshore wind investment through expansion of an existing lending programme with the State Bank of India, has approved a new credit line with Yes Bank to accelerate private investment in wind and solar projects and expects to work closely with Indian partners to support offshore wind projects. The clean energy financing was confirmed by European Investment Bank Vice President Andrew McDowell at an offshore energy investment conference in New Delhi

Scaling up renewable energy investment is crucial for economic growth, improving access to energy and addressing climate change and support for renewable is a key priority for the European Investment Bank, the EU Bank, here in India. The EIB is pleased to host our first offshore wind investment conference in New Delhi and bring together technical and financial expertise from across India and the European Union’s unique global experience in the sector. We look forward to broadening cooperation with Indian partners to support new renewable energy projects in the months ahead and enabling offshore wind to contribute to clean power generation in the country. said Andrew McDowell, Vice President of the European Investment Bank responsible for Energy and South Asia.

Sharing global experience to unlock investment in Indian offshore wind sector Government officials, policy experts, business leader, public and private sector project promoters and financial professionals attended the European Investment Bank’s first offshore wind investment conference in India. The EIB has a unique track record supporting expansion of offshore wind over the last 15 years and the conference enabled experience from successful offshore wind investment to benefit India. Technical experts from the European Investment Bank highlighted how the public sector can accelerate deployment of innovative renewable energy technology and identified infrastructure, skills and financial mechanisms that have enabled offshore wind to become a key source of clean energy in a number of European countries.

Partnership with State Bank of India to unlock new onshore wind investment Alongside in conference the European Investment Bank and State Bank of India formally agreed to build on successful cooperation to finance renewable energy provide new support for wind energy projects across India by expanding an ongoing financing initiative to support onshore wind projects. Under the agreement promoters of onshore wind projects will be able to benefit from long-term low cost financing under a dedicated EUR 600 million renewable energy financing programme already supporting large scale solar investment across India. Preliminary discussions with promoters in a number of Indian states have already identified schemes that could benefit from the expanded EIB-SBI financing.

New Yes Bank renewable financing initiative approved The European Union and India share a common goal of tackling climate change. India has huge renewable energy resources and harnessing India’s abundant natural resources is crucial for sustainable development. Supporting energy investment is a key focus of the European Union’s India strategy announced this week and my colleagues are working closely with Indian partners to further develop India’s offshore wind sector. In conference demonstrates the European Union’s firm commitment to support expansion of clean energy in India and as the Bank of the European Union, the European Investment Bank, has a unique technical and financial experience that is already backing transformational renewable energy projects across the country. said H.E. Tomasz Kozlowski, European Union Ambassador to India.

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Over the last year close cooperation between the European Investment Bank and Yes Bank has identified solar power projects and wind farms across India that will benefit from a dedicated renewable energy credit line, backed with EUR 80 million of EIB financing. Following successful progress in allocating this financing a second renewable energy credit line is currently being finalised and expected to be rolled out in the coming months. In 2017 EIB provided EUR 4.4 billion for renewable energy investment worldwide and in recent years has supported projects across Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. Since support for climate related investment became a formal priority in 2010, the EIB has invested over EUR 130 billion globally, supporting more than EUR 600 billion in climate action investment. Source: eib.org

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JANUARY 2019

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india

Solar firms to get Rs 2,000 cr towards GST impact The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has approved the claims of Rs 2,000 crore raised by solar power developers on the impact of the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on their capital cost.

his one-time payment will be made by the electricity distribution companies, or discoms. The order by CERC came in after several petitions were filed with the regulator due to ‘change in law’ that came in on implementation of GST. However, the projects covered under the relief are only those projects that were commissioned after July 1, 2017.

Sabyasachi Majumdar, group head & senior vice-president (corporate ratings) Icra, in a statement said, This is a positive development for the solar power developers. However, the timely release of allowed compensation by the respective state-owned distribution utilities (being the main off-takers) remains crucial… Considering 75% of the capacity commissioned during this period to be under the competitive bidding regime awarded prior to July 2017 (that is prior to introduction of GST), the one-time compensation towards GST impact to be paid by discoms to solar power developers is estimated at about Rs 2,000 crore on all-India level. In India, capacity of 10.9 gigawatt solar power has been commissioned between July 2017 and September 2018, with most of the projects being awarded prior to July 2017. As per the CERC order, the claims related to operation & maintenance and its impact of GST on expenditure were not allowed.

The CERC has also stated that the developers must exhibit clear and one to one correlation between the projects, the supply of goods or services and the invoices raised by the supplier of goods and services backed by auditor certificate. These claims will have to be paid within 60 days of issuance of the order, which means the payment will have to be done by December 8. CERC’s order had come on October 9. In case of delay in the payment, late payment surcharge as provided in the power purchase agreements will have to be paid by the discoms. While CERC in its order has allowed the applicable GST at 5% on photo voltaic (PV) modules, there continues to be an ambiguity on GST rate applicable on PV modules supply under EPC contract given the recent ruling of 18% GST on solar EPC projects by Authority of Advance Ruling in Maharashtra. In this context, the clarity is required on the applicable GST rate on PV modules for the sector, said Majumdar. Introduction of GST regime had a negative impact on solar power projects due to increase in capital cost arising from higher tax rate applicable under GST, given that the solar power sector has been availing exemptions and concession rates on excise duty, customs duty and Value Added Tax for procurement of PV modules, mounting structures and electrical equipment, etc. The GST Council has approved 5% rate for solar PV generating systems, as against the prevailing regime of exemption from excise duty and customs duty as well as exemption or concession VAT rates across various states. Meanwhile, on the bidding front, solar power developers continue to be reluctant in bidding for the new tenders that the government is coming out with. Apart from that, developers are also facing liquidity crunch for arranging funds even for existing projects in hand.

Source: gstindia

JANUARY 2019

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india

IMPLEMENTATION OF 23 GW SOLAR PV PROJECTS IN LEH AND KARGIL REGIONS OF JAMMU & KASHMIR-INTIMATION REGARDING PHASE-I As part of the initiatives under the National Solar Mission, MNRE has launched the ambitious plan of implementation of 23 GW (23,000 MW) Grid-connected Ultra Mega Solar PV Projects in the Leh and Ladakh regions of Jammu & Kashmir.

hase-I of the same comprises setting up of 2500 MW Solar PV Capacity in Kargil Region and 5000 MW to be set up in Leh district. The scope of work shall comprise setting up of the Solar PV Projects along with implementation of the entire power evacuation infrastructure (substations along with transmission lines),till the drawl point. A single tender shall be issued for selection of the Project Developer, who shall be responsible for the setting up of the Solar PV Project along with the power evacuation infrastructure. Tentatively, the projects are planned to be set up in the Pang region in Leh and in the Zangla region in Kargil. Drawl point for the 2500 MW Project is tentatively planned to be located in New Wanpoh and for the 5000 MW capacity, it has been tentatively planned to be located in Hisar. The RfS document is likely to be issued by 15th December, 2018. Prospective Bidders are requested to keep themselves updated on the websites of SECI and TCIL in this regard.

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Phase-I of the same comprises setting up of 2500 MW Solar PV Capacity in Kargil Region and 5000 MW to be set up in Leh district. The scope of work shall comprise setting up of the Solar PV Projects along with implementation of the entire power evacuation infrastructure (substations along with transmission lines),till the drawl point. A single tender shall be issued for selection of the Project Developer, who shall be responsible for the setting up of the Solar PV Project along with the power evacuation infrastructure. Tentatively, the projects are planned to be set up in the Pang region in Leh and in the Zangla region in Kargil. Drawl point for the 2500 MW Project is tentatively planned to be located in New Wanpoh and for the 5000 MW capacity, it has been tentatively planned to be located in Hisar. The RfS document is likely to be issued by 15th December, 2018. Prospective Bidders are requested to keep themselves updated on the websites of SECI and TCIL in this regard.

Source: seci.co.in

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international

Australia’s Opposition Bets Big on Renewables to Win Next Election Opposition leader Bill Shorten pledged A$10 billion ($7 billion) in extra funding for clean energy and steeper cuts to carbon emissions than the government, as he sought to turn tackling Australia’s climate change “disaster” into a key election issue.

The new energy minister, Angus Taylor, who is focused on getting power bills down, attacked Labor’s proposals. These “reckless targets will be a wrecking ball for the economy,” Taylor said. ‘We won’t stand for it.” Opinion polls have consistently put Labor ahead of the ruling Liberal-National coalition ahead of an election expected by May next year. A Fairfax-Ipsos poll this week showed Labor’s advantage had narrowed to a 52-48 split on a two-party preferred basis, from 55-45 in October. In a speech at a Bloomberg NEF event in Sydney, Shorten announced initiatives to boost the use of alternative energy and help meet the Labor party’s goal for 50 percent of the country’s power to come from renewables by 2030. “Climate change is no longer an emergency. It’s a disaster,” Shorten said, while criticizing a lack of coherent action by the government. Labor will also target a 45 percent cut in carbon emissions by 2030, going beyond the existing Paris Agreement goal of a minimum 26 percent reduction from 2005 levels.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said he expects to meet Australia’s Paris targets comfortably. But he has dropped plans to legislate the cuts amid government infighting, which contributed to his predecessor Malcolm Turnbull being ousted by his own party in August. The government is critical of renewable sources such as wind and solar, saying they cannot be relied upon. Australia currently aims for 23.5 percent of energy generation to come from clean sources by 2020, but there is no official target beyond that. Morrison’s team has announced plans to invest in new coal-fired power plants.

JANUARY 2019

The poll also showed that 47 percent of Australians think reducing power bills should be the main priority for the country’s energy policy, compared to 39 percent who said the prime focus should be on cutting carbon emissions. The survey underlines Shorten’s challenge in targeting the green vote.

Other key details from Shorten’s plan: Labor would seek to re-introduce the National Energy Guarantee if it wins office and take a bi-partisan approach for it to pass parliament. The party plans to provide an additional A$10 billion in capital to the Clean Energy Finance Corp. over five years, to support large-scale renewable generation and storage projects. It would establish a A$5 billion fund to upgrade transmission and distribution systems. A Labor government would also help underwrite clean energy projects

Labor’s policy zooms ahead of the coalition,” said Amanda McKenzie, acting chief executive officer of the independent research body, the Climate Council. “This investment would be a huge boost for renewables and jobs and would cut power prices. Source: Bloomberg L.P.

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JANUARY 2019

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international

Japan threatens to cut solar power subsidies, angering investors The Japanese government is threatening to cut existing solar power project subsidies angering the power producers and investors that say the cuts will undermine their profitability and violate earlier agreements.

he Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) last month proposed that companies granted permits for solar projects between the fiscal years of 2012 to 2014 under so-called Feed-In-Tariffs that guarantee minimum power prices submit applications by March 2019 to connect to the grid. Companies that miss the deadline will see their price guarantees under the tariffs of 32 to 40 yen ($0.28 to $0.36) per kilowatt hour (kWh) cut to 21 yen per kWh. Public comments for the proposal are due. Japan introduced the FIT to spur solar developments to fill the power gap after the country closed its nuclear power plants following the 2011 Fukushima disaster. Japan’s FIT levels are among the highest in the world, compared to $0.19 per kWh in Germany and at least as much as those in Spain.

METI has said the cuts are necessary to reduce the public burden of the FIT subsidies, which are added to consumers bills. At the same time, METI is likely unhappy with the amount of unfilled permits. Data from the ministry shows 23 percent of the total capacity approved in fiscal year 2012 is not operating, with 49 percent approved in 2013 and 59 percent approved in 2014 also not operating. Investors and operators in solar projects are angry with the proposals, threatening lawsuits against the government for breaching the earlier contracts. A similar decision by Spain in 2013 led to compensation payments to investors. “Litigation will inevitably ensue from Japan and abroad, and it will be difficult to convince the public that there is no risk of the government losing when the proposed changes so blatantly disregard the foundations of the FIT scheme,” according to a note to clients from law firm Orrick reviewed by Reuters. Orrick confirmed the authenticity of the document. METI estimates show the subsidy cut could affect 23.5 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity, or nearly 44 percent of the amount the government approved in the three-year period after the FIT scheme was created in 2012. Japan’s total installed power capacity is around 250 GW, with 44 GW coming from solar. “The suddenness of the proposal, its almost immediate implementation, and ambiguity around implementation could put future and existing investments at risk,” said a group of business lobbying groups in Japan from the United States, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Canada in a statement

JANUARY 2019

The changes could also “undermine market participants’ confidence in the security, stability, and predictability of Japanese market rules,” the groups said. Beyond Japanese investors, BlackRock and Goldman Sachs group’s Japan Renewable Energy are among the biggest investors in the solar sector in Japan. BlackRock declined to comment, and Japan Renewable Energy could not immediately comment. An official who declined to be identified from a Japanese renewable power producer that submitted comments to METI said that some operators with bad intent have deliberately delayed projects. However, she argued that large-scale solar projects do take a significant amount of time to push forward because of environmental mitigation measures and discussions with nearby landowners. The company told METI a unilateral schedule for automatic cuts is hard to deal with. Several investors and lawyers involved said the changes will likely see many projects cancelled. Banks that have built up project finance teams to handle the billions of dollars of investment that has flowed into renewables in Japan have stopped or cut funding for projects, one investor said. The investor spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. The Japanese Bankers Association requested that projects which already have signed loan contracts be exempted from the new rule, saying that a significant reduction in FIT price would threaten default on payments, it said in its comments to METI. Source: reuters

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Germany Greenlights 8GW of Additional Onshore Wind and Solar Capacity Germany’s governing coalition recently agreed to long-promised supplemental tenders that will add a total of 8 gigawatts of onshore wind and solar power to the grid over the next three years.

n the coalition treaty agreed to by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Union alliance and the Social Democratic Party early in 2018, the governing partners pledged to add 4 gigawatts of onshore wind and 4 gigawatts of solar via “special auctions.” Generating capacity added under the auctions is on top of planned expansions under Germany’s amended Renewable Energy Act, which had capped annual onshore wind additions at 2.8 gigawatts in 2019 and 2.9 gigawatts in 2020. The German wind energy industry, among others, had pushed for the supplementary tenders out of concern that the country’s onshore wind sector faces a potential gigawatt-scale “decommissioning wave” as 20-year feed-in tariff contracts expire for existing wind projects beginning in 2020. The governing parties responded. Under an agreement reached by Germany’s Cabinet in early November, the federal government will hold auctions to procure 1 gigawatt each for onshore wind and solar in 2019, increasing to 1.4 gigawatt for each in 2020 and 1.6 gigawatt for each in 2021. The additional renewable energy tenders are expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 10 million tons by 2020 and are intended to keep Germany within reach of its 65 percent renewable electricity target for 2030. Experts expect renewables to cover 38 percent of Germany’s electricity consumption this year.

Industry, environmentalists welcome tenders Industry organizations and environmental advocates welcomed the supplemental renewables tenders — with some caveats.

It is good that movement [is finally returning] to energy policy. Manufacturers need a clear perspective for the next few years, said Matthias Zelinger, managing director of Germany’s Mechanical Engineering Industry Association, in a statement (translated from German). Zelinger also called on German policymakers to simplify project permitting and to consider additional tenders for offshore wind energy.

The additional tenders are an extremely important sign for the German wind industry that is currently undergoing a critical period due to a rapid political change from a guaranteed feed-in tariff regime to a tender regime,” Christoph Zipf, spokesperson for the German Wind Energy Association (BWE), wrote in an email. “The decision to maintain the 4 GW additional onshore wind capacity while stretching the tender period to three instead of two years is generally seen as a positive sign by BWE,” he added.

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The special tenders for wind and photovoltaics are long overdue. So it’s good that they should finally come, said Henrik Maatsch, policy adviser, climate and energy, WWF Germany, in a statement (translated from German). He added: This must not hide the fact that the expansion path for renewables still lags far behind what would be necessary to implement the energy transition in Germany and to live up to the Paris climate change agreement. Stakeholders have urged Germany’s governing coalition to ramp up renewables deployment in order to meet the country’s 2030 renewable electricity target.

We need more speed on the renewables expansion, otherwise we will not reach the target of 65 percent renewable energy by 2030, German Association of Energy and Water Industries Chairman Stefan Kapferer said in a statement (translated from German). “The overall time to plan and install wind turbine projects takes between three and five years. Investments need a clear and reliable planning horizon instead of changing market conditions (first reducing the tendered capacity, then introducing additional tenders),” he said. He added that project developers are seeking certainty on planned renewable energy capacity additions through at least 2030. “In 2030, Germany wants to produce 65 percent of its energy from renewable sources,” he said. “Different studies and projections come to the result that in order to reach this goal, an annual installation of 5 gigawatts wind onshore is required.”

“With the current expansion rates, the target of 65 percent renewables in 2030 under the coalition agreement will not be achieved,” said WWF Germany’s Maatsch. The organization called on Germany to install at least 2.5 gigawatts net annually, each, of onshore wind and solar photovoltaic capacity. In a bid to promote public acceptance of new onshore wind projects, German utility EnBW recently proposed a plan, similar to policy implemented in Denmark, under which private citizens can invest in projects located near their homes. The citizen investors can invest between 500 euros and 10,000 euros ($570 and $11,385) in projects and receive a guaranteed 3 percent return over seven years. Source: greentechmedia

JANUARY 2019

international

Sindicatum Renewable Energy lists INR and PHP Green Bonds on London Stock Exchange Sindicatum Renewable Energy Company Pte Ltd (Sindicatum Renewables), an award-winning developer and operator of clean energy projects in Asia, has listed its three guaranteed Indian Rupee (INR) and Philippine Peso (PHP) Green Bonds on London Stock Exchange’s International Securities Market (ISM).

he Green Bonds, all guaranteed by GuarantCo, were issued in three tranches: INR 951,100,000 due in 2023; INR 1,585,300,000 due in 2025; and PHP 1,060,200,000 due in 2028. The proceeds of the bonds, totalling an approximate USD 60 million equivalent as at the respective issue dates and each payable in USD, have been used, or are in the process of being used, to finance renewable energy projects in India and the Philippines as well as refinance certain existing indebtedness. The Green Bonds were issued in accordance with the International Capital Market Association (ICMA)’s Green Blond Principles 2017 and the ASEAN Green Bond Standards (GBS). The INR denominated Green Bonds, which were the first ever issued in accordance with these standards to be admitted to the ISM Green Bond segment. Sindicatum Renewables is the first ever offshore private sector corporate entity to issue a 7-year INR Bond. The PHP- denominated Green Bond is the first to list on London Stock Exchange. GuarantCo, a Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) company, provided the 100% guarantee in support of the Green Bonds. The INR and PHP denominated Green Bonds are rated A1 by Moody’s and the INR denominated Green Bonds are rated AA- by Fitch. It is expected that over 100,000 people will benefit from clean, renewable energy by the projects in the Philippines and India.

Assaad Razzouk, CEO of Sindicatum Renewables said: We are delighted to announce the listing of our Green Bonds on London Stock Exchange’s International Securities Market, which we see as an important natural next step in the development of our company. We also hope that this listing will enhance the awareness of innovative financial solutions for investments in sustainable energy in South and South East Asia.

Lasitha Perera, CEO of GuarantCo, said: The listing represents a major milestone for Sindicatum Renewables and GuarantCo. Supporting the development of local capital markets is a priority for PIDG companies, and capital markets in India and the Philippines have a crucial role to play in the development of the countries’ infrastructure sector that is critical to its economic development and future prosperity.

Darko Hajdukovic, Head of Fixed Income, Funds & Analytics, UK Primary Markets, London Stock Exchange Group said: We warmly congratulate the team at Sindicatum Renewables on the listing of their Green Bonds and are delighted to welcome the first Philippine Peso-denominated Green Bond to ISM. There have been 89 Green Bond listings on London Stock Exchange, which have raised over $27 billion across nine currencies, confirming London’s status as a leading international sustainable finance centre Source: sindicatum

Britain to hold auction for renewable subsidies in May 2019 Britain’s energy minister Claire Perry told parliament the government was in the final stages of concluding a sector deal for the offshore wind industry

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ritian will hold its next auction for subsidies to help fund renewable power projects in May next year, with 60 million pounds ($77 million) available, the government said. Under the so-called contract for difference (CfD) scheme, qualifying projects are guaranteed a minimum price at which they can sell electricity, and renewable power generators bid for CfD contracts in a round of auctions.

JANUARY 2019

Britain’s energy minister Claire Perry told parliament the government was in the final stages of concluding a sector deal for the offshore wind industry. “It will include … 60 million for the contract for difference auction next spring,” she said during questions in the House of Commons.

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BUSINESS & FINANCE

ENGIE is open to inorganic opportunities and bullish on Indian power market, says GlobalData Following the news on 13 November 2018 that global energy and services group ENGIE has acquired a 90% controlling stake in Simpa Energy India to fund geographic expansion and accelerate growth,

Ankit Mathur, Power Industry Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view on this development and its implications: “The Indian power industry is undergoing rapid transformation and is well on course to achieve its ambitious renewable energy target of 175 gigawatt (GW) by 2022. Simpa Energy India is a leading solar solution provider in rural areas of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha. Through this acquisition, ENGIE, which is one of the largest foreign investors in India’s solar space, is reinforcing its commitment towards decentralized renewable energy solutions to support India’s rapid transition to clean energy. “ENGIE India plans to provide solar home solutions with pay-as-you-go pricing model to households and small businesses in rural India. The company currently has around 800 megawatt (MW) of utility scale solar projects (around 330 MW under construction) and 280 MW of utility scale wind (all committed in final development or construction). “In September 2018, ENGIE and French infrastructure and investment firm STOA announced a 50:50 joint-venture (JV) to build wind power projects in India. The JV has set a goal of establishing over 2 GW of wind power capacity over the next five years. The JV will be developing both onshore and offshore wind projects under the scope. “In November 2018, ENGIE Laborelec, the utilities division of ENGIE, announced partnership with Tata Consultancy Services to develop cyber security products and services for power utilities and critical energy infrastructure. “ENGIE has been actively increasing its investments and offerings in India’s renewable energy and power sector. This acquisition is in line with the company’s strategy to remain close to customers in the distributed energy market. The company will leverage Simpa’s innovative business model in this huge untapped market with significant growth potential. The company is bullish on the Indian power market and is open to inorganic opportunities if they make a sound and promising business sense.”

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Suzlon completes sale subsidiaries to Canadian Solar for Rs 54.53 cr Renewable Energy solution provider Suzlon Energy said it has completed sale of its arm Amun and Avighna to Canadian Solar for a total consideration of Rs 54.53 crore. “The company has completed sale of Amun (Amun Solarfarms Ltd) and Avighna (Avighna Solarfarms Ltd) to canadian Solar and accordingly Amun and Avighna have ceased to be the subsidiaries of the company,” a Suzlon Energy statement to the BSE said.

ccording to the statement as first part of the transaction, Canadian Solar acquired 49 per cent stake in Amun and Avighna, respectively, for a combined cash consideration of Rs 26.42 crore. As second part of the transaction, Canadian Solar acquired balance 51 per cent stake for a combined cash consideration of Rs 28.11 crore. The turnover of Amun for financial year ended March 31 2018 was Rs 7.30 crore, while the net worth as on March 31, 2018 was negative Rs 2.78 crore. Avighna’s turnover for the fiscal ended 31st March 2018 stood at Rs 6.50 crore, whereas the net worth was negative Rs 3.04 crore as on March 31, 2018. Source: PTI

JANUARY 2019

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Tycoon Pallonji Mistry eyes $1 billion via 30% share sale in solar unit India’s Shapoorji Pallonji Group plans to seek about $1 billion by bringing outside investors into its solar unit, as it embarks on a series of asset sales across the 153-year-old conglomerate to reduce debt.

The group, owned by reclusive billionaire Pallonji Mistry, will sell as much as 30 per cent in the solar engineering arm of Sterling & Wilson Pvt, said Jai Mavani, executive director at conglomerate’s flagship company. The funds would be raised through a pre-listing stake sale followed by a public offering. A separate listing of Eureka Forbes Ltd., the water purification unit of publicly-traded Forbes & Co., and sales of commercial real estate will also be considered, Mavani said. Part of the proceeds will be used to pare debt, he sad. “We have leveraged ourselves to the level that we believe is sustainable but, beyond a point, we want to create equity for ourselves,” Mavani said in a Nov. 15 interview. “Be it Sterling & Wilson or Eureka Forbes, their real value is a multiple of what’s in the balance sheet.”

he 400-billion-rupee ($5.6 billion) group, which built the Sultan of Oman’s palace and is now helming one of India’s biggest affordable home projects, plans to tap the market at a time when debt funding is getting scarcer after India’s worst liquidity crunch in two years.

Tap opportunities The conglomerate spans engineering and construction, energy and infrastructure, real estate, textiles, financial services and water. Fresh funds will also help the group tap opportunities in the world’s fastest-growing major economy, where the government plans to spend billions on infrastructure and has pledged to provide housing for all by 2022. Group firms have raised bonds and loans equivalent to at least $4.3 billion since the beginning of 2014, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Pallonji Mistry, patriarch of the founding family, has a net worth of $18.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Much of that fortune coming from its holdings in the company controlling the $100 billion Tata Group. Mistry’s son Cyrus was chairman of Tata Group before being ousted in a boardroom coup in 2016. The Shapoorji Pallonji Group, founded in 1865, is responsible for some of financial capital Mumbai’s most iconic structures including the Reserve Bank of India buildings and the Tower wing of Taj Mahal Palace hotel. It’s now building what the group says may well be the world’s largest affordable housing project.

JANUARY 2019

$10 billion potential The solar unit, which provides engineering, procurement and construction services, will generate 95 billion rupees of revenue for the year ended March 2019, Sterling & Wilson Chairman Khurshed Daruvala said. The business is now building its presence in the U. S. and Australia, where the market potential may be about $10 billion for solar contracts, Daruvala said. Investment talks are underway with overseas multilateral agencies and sovereign funds, and pre-IPO placements will probably be completed within six months, Mavani said.

Hiving off The group is also holding discussions about hiving off Forbes & Co.’s subsidiary Eureka Forbes Ltd., maker of India’s ubiquitous Aquaguard water purifiers, and listing it as a separate company. Other options like a qualified institutional placement for Forbes & Co. may be considered, he said. Mavani estimates that Eureka Forbes alone would be worth more than its parent, which has a market capitalization of about 26.1 billion rupees. Forbes & Co.’s “sum-of-the-parts, in our opinion, runs at least three times the value it’s currently represented by.” The group has also been looking to exit some real estate holdings, having completed the sale of a Pune technology park and nearing closure for a deal on its Chennai IT park. The property unit will look to monetize land parcels and bring in equity partners to develop retail spaces in its projects. The group has set a “modest target” of raising about 30 billion rupees by March 2019 through asset sales and infusions from the founder family, Mavani said. Source: Bloomberg

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BUSINESS & FINANCE

Emerging cities could attract $29 trillion in climate-cash: World Bank Cities in emerging markets could attract $29 trillion in climate-related investments like green buildings and electric vehicles over the next decade, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) said.

esearchers looked at climate action plans of cities with more than 500,000 people, focusing on six sectors: green buildings, public transport, electric vehicles, waste management, water treatment and renewable energy.

Over half of the total estimated investment potential will be needed in East Asian and Pacific cities as they grow and spend on real estate, infrastructure and transport, said Aditi Maheshwari, lead author of the study. “Cities are driving economic growth in East Asia and the Pacific – they account for over 80 percent of GDP in most countries,” Maheshwari told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Getting the cities right is absolutely essential for climate, said Alzbeta Klein, the IFC’s director for climate business. “They play a role in how climate looks and how it defines for the next generation ahead of us.” More than half the global population lives in urban areas, according to the IFC. Cities consume over two-thirds of the world’s energy, and account for more than 70 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions. Green investments, targets and policies in cities will be crucial if countries are to meet the emissions reduction targets endorsed by governments for the 2015 Paris Agreement to curb climate change. Green building codes, which include reducing energy consumption, will account for $24.7 trillion of climate investment opportunities in cities by 2030, the report said. Low-carbon transportation such as energy-efficient public transport could attract $1 trillion during the same period, while electric vehicles could see $1.6 trillion in investments. Clean energy could bring $842 billion of investments, while water may attract $1 trillion, and waste management $200 billion.

“The scale of this economic opportunity is drawing people into the cities and we anticipate an additional 1.2 billion people will live in Asian cities in the next 35 years.” The rate of change in China is likely to account for a significant portion of climate-related investments in the region, she added. For cities to attract investment and create a pipeline of bankable projects, they need the ability to borrow money and develop innovative methods like green bonds and public-private partnerships, Klein said. C40 Cities, a network of cities pushing climate action, announced that nine cities would be given specialist support to develop sustainable infrastructure projects over the next two years. The cities – which include Bogota in Colombia, South Africa’s Tshwane, and Quezon City in the Philippines – will get help from national and international experts to prepare financially sound business proposals for projects. Projects will include bike-sharing, cycle lanes, waste water treatment and rooftop solar energy, the C40 statement said. Source: reuters

Chemtrols Solar to launch SPOWDI solar pump in March, 2019 Solar solutions company Chemtrols Solar Pvt Ltd will launch SPOWDI solar pump across India in March, 2019 as part of its national distributorship agreement with the Swedish technology company SPOWDI.

POWDI’s solar pump is a set of three key components comprising a motor-less pump, a 120 Wp solar PV module and a power management box that can drive the pump using DC as well as AC power as and when required. SPOWDI had signed a national distributorship agreement with Chemtrols Solar recently, and the two have been working closely on strategizing the sale and distribution of the product across India. Chemtrols Solar had showcased the product and the technology during the recently held Renewable Energy India Expo in Greater Noida, and had received a huge interest from a large number of prospective dealers from across the country.

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Accordingly to Chemtrols Solar’s director, Mr Anish Rajgopal, the company has invited applications from prospective dealers and the two partners are scheduled to conduct dealer training programs in February, 2019, prior to the formal launch of the pump in India. The pump system has no parallel in the market, as it consumes barely 70 Wp of energy to provide a flowrate of about 72 litres per minute for water distribution in fields and for domestic pumping solution upto a height of 15 metres. These usages will considerably reduce power distribution companies losses over a period of years because the pump provides an alternative to the subsidised power supplied by the discoms, he said. Source: chemtrolssolar

JANUARY 2019

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Freyr Energy raises Rs 27 crore Freyr Energy, a Hyderabad-based rooftop solar company, has raised Rs 27 crore through a mix of equity and debt. This Series-A round was led by C4D Partners, a Netherlands-based Impact Investment Fund.

Resolution plan: IL&FS puts its green energy assets on block Days after saying that it has received strong interest for sale of two of its securities business verticals, the debt-laden IL&FS Group on initiated the process of selling stake in its renewable energy assets totalling about 1,277.5 MW.

D Saurabh Marda, Co-Founder, Freyr Energy said, “Freyr Energy is committed to leveraging its technology platform to accelerate the growth of decentralised solar both in India and major solar markets around the world. The funds raised will be used to continue improving our technology platform, increase the strength of our sales and channel partner network and support our marketing activities to fuel future growth.”

he company has recorded a 16X growth in revenue in the last four years and has been profitable since the last two years. It has over 1,000 installations across 18 States in India and customers in USA, Nigeria and Ghana.

Arvind Agarwal, Managing Director, C4D, said, The capital support from C4D Partners will help Freyr Energy to create more than 2,000 direct jobs and support more than 400 micro-entrepreneurs in the next five years. Freyr has a strong technology platform to scale the business and achieve wider customer base in India and internationally. We will continue to invest in Fryer in the future rounds as well to unlock synergies with other portfolio companies globally.

ays after saying that it has received strong interest for sale of two of its securities business verticals, the debt-laden IL&FS Group initiated the process of selling stake in its renewable energy assets totalling about 1,277.5 MW. In an emailed statement, the company said it is putting up for sale operating wind power plants with an aggregate capacity of 873.5 MW as well as under-construction plants with capacity of 104 MW. It has also put up for sale about 300 MW in businesses relating to project development and implementation of solar power generating plants and projects. Apart from power plants, also on the block are asset management services for operating wind power plants as well as the business division for project development and implementation of these plants.

IL&FS said its board of directors has decided to publicly solicit expressions of interest for the assets and that the final sale many be carried out either as a whole or individually, or in any possible combination, depending on developments with potential buyers. The company also said the board is cognizant that the steps are required to advance the process for putting together the resolution plan for the group, based on market interest and price discovery for its assets. Any binding transaction for their sale, as well as the resulting resolution plan, will be subject to requisite approvals, including that of the National Company Law Tribunal, before the transactions are implemented. According to sources, the company is also in the process of coming out with expressions of interest for its road assets. Arpwood Capital and JM Financial Consultants, the financial and transaction advisors to IL&FS, are preparing a list of assets that can be monetised. The advisors, appointed last month by the company’s new board, may present the list of projects to be sold to the board in next few days. After the list is approved, the company will make an announcement and will call for expressions of interest, also known as request for qualifications. Source: financialexpress

JANUARY 2019

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JANUARY 2019

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Green Bank Network Announces US$41 Billion for Clean Energy Projects Around the Globe The event is hosted in partnership with the Center for Finance and Development, Tsinghua National Institute of Financial Research, Green Finance Committee (GFC) of the China Society for Finance and Banking, with support from Lujiazui Green Finance Development Committee and Shenzhen Green Finance Committee.

embers of the Green Bank Network have collectively closed transactions that are expected to mobilize US$41 billion in public and private capital[1] for green infrastructure projects around the globe, effectively meeting their goal of US$40 billion by 2019. The announcement was made at the 6th annual Green Bank Congress, convened adjacent to the Bloomberg NEF Future of Energy Summit in Shanghai. The analysis, prepared by the Secretariat of the Green Bank Network using publicly available information, shows members are mobilizing as much as 10 dollars in total investment for every one dollar of public capital invested in clean energy projects. Investments to date have avoided 25 million metric tons of CO2EQ emissions.

Additional announcements at the Congress include: The Green Bank Network announces the addition of a new member in 2019 – the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank, whose mission is to actively support and finance investments in the State’s infrastructure through a variety of means, including the issuance of bonds, originating loans and making grants, and the engagement with and mobilization of sources of public and private capital. A new Climate Finance Facility has been formed in Southern Africa—a first-of-its kind, path-breaking application of the Green Bank model, adapted for emerging market conditions. Additional efforts to form new green banks, are underway in diverse jurisdictions in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. To support acceleration of efforts to develop green banks in emerging economies, the Green Bank Design Summit will be sponsored by the Agence Française de Développement and held in Paris in March 2019. The conference will enable public- and private-sector professionals working to design and set up green banks in emerging economies to access the lessons learned by countries that have already established green banks.

JANUARY 2019

An updated website that contains a searchable database of all Green Bank Network member transactions, providing ready access to innovative deals. Green banks are dedicated finance institutions created to work closely with the private sector to increase overall investment in clean energy and bring clean energy financing into the mainstream. The members of the Green Bank Network are investing across the technology spectrum, including wind, utility and small-scale solar, energy efficiency, low-carbon transport, combined heat and power, anaerobic digesters, LED street lighting, geothermal and energy storage. They are financing with a variety of products and at all scales – from multibillion dollar offshore wind farms to more energy efficient property and vehicles, to solar for small and medium-sized enterprises and affordable housing properties. This global group of financial institutions includes founding members Clean Energy Finance Corporation (Australia), Connecticut Green Bank (US), Green Finance Organisation (Japan), Malaysia Green Technology Corporation, NY Green Bank (US), and Green Investment Group (UK) and new member Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank (US). These organizations have appointed the Coalition for Green Capital and the Natural Resources Defense Council to manage the development of the network, with support from ClimateWorks foundation.

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BUSINESS & FINANCE It has been a pivotal year for the pioneering green banks that are the members of the Green Bank Network. Members collectively have committed about USD 10 billion for projects with a total value of more than USD 40 billion. The Clean Energy Finance Corporation invested across the innovation and project finance life cycle as well as across a wide array of clean energy asset classes critical to tackling Australia’s toughest emissions challenges. The Green Investment Group (formerly UK Green Investment Bank) continued to innovate in new structures and new geographic areas during its first year under private ownership. The NY Green Bank’s portfolio grew in size and diversity as it demonstrated the sustainability of its business model. Through its unique equity strategy, the Green Finance Organization crossed a key threshold by mobilizing 10 times its USD 100 million investment in projects across Japan. The Connecticut Green Bank continued to win awards for innovation in government, spin out an affiliate, transform existing markets and enter new ones, such as electric vehicles, even as it ironically became a victim of its own success and had half of its annual operating revenues swept by the state legislature. Our sixth member, GreenTech Malaysia, was being repositioned after a change in government. Nevertheless, since the inception of its Green Technology Finance Scheme in 2010 and through the end of 2017, it had approved more than USD 900 million under the Scheme and the total cost of the 319 projects receiving funding was USD 1.775 billion. Investments have led to more than 3,785 million tonnes of CO2e emissions avoided annually.

Ilmi Granoff, Director of Sustainable Finance at the ClimateWorks Foundation said: it is fantastic to see a growing network of institutions, in both industrialized and emerging markets, demonstrating that entrepreneurial public capital with a low-carbon mission is fiscally efficient and an effective catalyst for growth in the lowcarbon economy.

Reed Hundt, CEO of the Coalition for Green Capital, notes: “Meeting climate goals will require an unprecedented and immediate mobilization of capital. Accelerating the formation of Green Banks in emerging economies can provide critical capacity to take on risk and leverage private capital to support large-scale low-carbon investment and enable countries, cities and states to meet their climate goals.”

Douglass Sims, Director of Strategy and Finance at NRDC’s Center for Market Innovation, said: Green banks are financial institutions that have sustainability and low carbon development written into their DNA, which makes them an ideal vehicle to help countries achieve their Paris Agreement commitments and sustainable development goals. From a relatively small capital base, the members of the Green Bank Network are demonstrating that innovative investing in renewable energy, energy efficiency and green infrastructure is good for the climate, economic development and the bottom line. Source: climateworks.org

EMMVEE inks pact with Swedish firm Spowdi for mfg, supply of solar water pumps EMMVEE Photovoltaic Power Private Limited said it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Swedish firm Spowdi for manufacture and supply of solar water pumps. Bengaluru-based EMMVEE specialises in developing photovoltaic modules and systems for on-grid and off-grid applications.

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We signed an MoU with Spowdi which is a Swedish company manufacturing solar water pumps,” EMMVEE Managing Director Manjunatha D V said. The pact was signed between Manjunatha and Henrik Johansson, CEO, Spowdi, at ‘Sustainability by Sweden – Showroom India’ event here. As per the pact, Manjunatha said his company will assemble the solar pumps at its facility in Bengaluru, besides manufacturing some components. It will be a 70 watt solar pump which can draw 25,000 litres of water per day, he added.

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He further said that looking at the rising cost of power, a pump run on solar energy can help farmers reduce their dependence on electricity. Those living in urban regions can also replace their electric pumps with solar ones to reduce their electricity bill, he said. When asked about shipping the first consignment, Manjunatha said that “the aim is to begin the production at the earliest. We are trying to start before the end of this financial year. Source: PTI

JANUARY 2019

PV MANUFACTURING

RISEN ENERGY: world’s first GW scale double-side AlOx passivated PERC cell Fab achieves mass production Risen Energy Co., Ltd. has given a keynote speech focusing on the latest update involving the double-side-AlOx-passivated PERC cell in the 14th China Solar-grade-silicon and PV Conference (14th CSPV) in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, China.

he conference is jointly organized by the Chinese Renewable Energy Society, Institute of Solar Energy at Shanghai Jiaotong University, Institute for Solar Energy Systems at Sun Yat-sen University and State Key Lab of Silicon Materials at Zhejiang University. More than 1,000 researchers, industry experts, as well as business leaders were brought together for in-depth discussions concerning the world’s latest updates on photovoltaic technologies, policies and market trends. Cost-reduction and efficiency-improvement becomes the priority across the industry as PV industry is approaching grid parity. PERC (Passivated Emitter Rear Contact) cells becomes hot due to its numerous advantages, including high conversion efficiency, low thermal co-efficient and a high power generation, etc. According to the International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaic (ITRPV), PERC is expected to dominate the solar market soon. The mass production efficiency of PERC has reached 21.6% in 1st half, 2018 and is expected to exceed 22% by 2020, as ITRPV predicts. The prediction is, however, mainly based on single-side AlOx passivation technology that relies on a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technique. A single-side passivation layer only on the rear side of the PERC cell. As a technology leader in the industry, Risen Energy differentiates itself and takes up the challenge to develop the most promising double-sided AlOx passivation technology based on the atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique, despite the degree to which this kind of technology is considered challenging. This technique uses AlOx to passivate both the front and the rear of the PERC cell at the same time.

Risen Energy is the first company in the world to achieve double-sided AlOx PERC cell production up into the 2GW scale in 2018, through a series of process optimizations in selective emitters, oxidation, passivation and metallization, the company finally achieved a substantial breakthrough in the production efficiency of double-sided AlOx passivated PERC cells. Currently, Risen Energy’s average efficiency of double-sided AlOx passivated PERC cells exceeded 22.19% with the highest efficiency of the production line reaching 22.51%. Risen Energy’s new PERC cell technology not only improves the cell efficiency, but also greatly reduces the light and elevated temperature-induced degradation (LeTID), especially the LeTID of the PERC cell is subject to high temperatures. Under test conditions of 75°C temperature and 1000W/ m2 illumination for 200 hours, Risen Energy’s new PERC cells demonstrated excellent light degradation resistance, with the highest attenuation rate at about 1%. Compared to the industry’s standard test conditions at 25°C temperature and 1000W/ m2 illumination for 200 for 5 hours, Risen Energy’s testing methods are substantially more rigorous and scientifically sound. Source: Risen Energy Co., Ltd

JinkoSolar Ranked as Top Solar Brand Used in Debt-Financed Projects and Most “Bankable” PV Manufacturer by Bloomberg New Energy Finance JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. (“JinkoSolar” or the “Company”) (NYSE:JKS), a global leader in the solar PV industry, announced that in addition to being ranked as a top solar brand in debt financed projects, it was named the most “bankable” PV manufacturer by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) among 57 module brands.

he rankings are based on BNEF’s global survey to key PV stakeholders on which module brands used in projects are most likely to obtain nonrecourse debt financing from commercial banks. Survey respondents include banks, technical consultants, EPCs, and independent power producers (IPPs) from all around the world. Considering product quality, long term reliability, field deployment performance, and the manufacturer’s financial strength, 100% of survey respondents considered JinkoSolar as bankable. Aligning with JinkoSolar’s high bankability score, BNEF’s database also shows that projects using JinkoSolar’s modules has secured more debt financing than any other brand since July 2016.

JANUARY 2019

The result of this survey confirms that JinkoSolar is the most preferred brand by banks, the top brand that industry players are most willing to use in their projects, and also the top brand that source of finances are most willing to fund,” said Kangping Chen, CEO of JinkoSolar. “We maintained our position as one of the largest manufacturer of PV modules in the world by delivering 9.8GW modules in 2017 thanks to our continuous endeavors in quality and technology improvements. We will continue invest in quality to assure delivery of power and performance in the field with a higher level of product quality and reliability as we pursue further growth both in established markets and emerging ones.

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Quantum Materials Corp to Establish Large Scale Quantum Dot Production in Assam India via License and Development Agreement with Amtronics CC QMC grants a “right of use” of QMC Intellectual Property for development, manufacture and commercialization of quantum dots to Amtronics CC in Assam India to support end-use products in thin-film quantum dot solar cells (QDSC), solid-state LED lighting (SSL) and state of the art display applications In addition to an upfront license fee, QMC is to receive milestone payments, royalties, and will in-turn provide via sale the requisite proprietary production and support equipment

eading American cadmium-free quantum dot and nanomaterials manufacturer Quantum Materials Corp., (OTCQB:QTMM) announced that it has signed a License and Development Agreement with Amtronics CC to allow for the establishment of large scale, low cost quantum dot production for the development and future commercial manufacture of: ultra-high definition display panels (UHDTV); solid state lighting (SSL) LED’s; and quantum dot driven thin-film solar cells (QDSC). The Agreement provides Amtronics CC with the right to manufacture quantum dots and thin-film quantum dot solar cells for commercial supply in India, as well as the right to use the QDXTM trademark and technical data to support its marketing initiatives. Under the terms of the Agreement, QMC receives an immediate upfront license fee of US$1,000,000 in addition to technology development funding, scheduled milestone payments and royalties on all quantum dots/solar cells produced. The 12,000 square feet nanotech-focused facility is being established as the anchor project within the recently announced Electronics Manufacturing Cluster in the Guwahati Tech City.

Stephen B. Squires, President and CEO of Quantum Materials Corp. stated, “We are extremely pleased to partner with Amtronics CC and Amtron as they establish the necessary infrastructure to support large scale thin-film, quantum dot based solar cell production in Assam India using QMC patented technologies. India has announced an ambitious target of achieving 175 GW’s (gigawatts) of renewable energy installed capacity by 2022 and this challenge represents a tremendous opportunity for the deployment of our advanced nano-materials and thin-film quantum dot solar technologies which have the potential to be produced much more cheaply in terms of initial capex and opex than traditional silicon based solar cells. India’s recent implementation of tariffs applied to imported solar photovoltaic’s creates an ideal opportunity to establish QMC’s next generation thin-film photovoltaic’s for broad adoption in the region. I am highly confident that our technologies will help India fulfill its goal to deploy low cost renewables as a significant step toward energy independence.”

M. K. Yadava IFS, Managing Director of AMTRON stated, “We are very pleased that QMC and AMTRON (Assam Electronics Development Corporation Ltd) have joined together in this timely venture to create a state-of-the-art quantum dot manufacturing facility within the newly established Guwahati Tech City. AMTRON is a State-owned public sector undertaking of the government and is providing the necessary bank guarantees to move this project to completion.”

The Honorable Minister IT Mr. Keshab Mahanta added, “We are happy to report that all the preparatory work has been completed, and we are now ready to commence construction of the project. My Government, under the leadership of our Honorable Chief Minister Mr. Sarbananda Sonowal welcomes Quantum Materials Corp with open arms. This timely project has full government support through a number of key policy incentives and subsidies.

Dr. George Anthony Balchin, Managing Director of Amtronics CC added, “We are pleased to be involved and provide the initial US $20,000,000 in funding for this enterprise and are anxious to see these extraordinary technologies deployed in a region that will benefit from both the end product as well as the significant potential for job creation. The initial capital infusion will be used to build out the facility, purchase all the production and process equipment, including the micro reactors, train the staff and provide the initial working capital. It is very rare and rewarding to be involved with a project that is the culmination of a group of like-minded individuals striving for a common goal that has so much potential to enhance the lives of so many.”

Commenting further QMC CEO Squires stated: “As India represents one of the largest renewable energy and consumer electronics markets in the world, our partnership with Amtronics CC is an important step in expanding the value of the QMC franchise globally. This partnership will allow us to address global challenges such as rising energy costs, energy security, increasing power consumption and environmental quality on a more rapid basis. Source:Quantum Materials Corp.

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JANUARY 2019

PV MANUFACTURING

Risen Energy ranks among the top three solar PV module manufacturers in the second-quarter Exawatt Power Rankings With its industry-leading PV module technology and growing capacity, Risen Energy found itself among the top three solar PV module manufacturers in the Exawatt Power Rankings for the second quarter of 2018. This achievement demonstrates Risen Energy’s outstanding success in technology and professional project services.

isen Energy attributes its strong competitiveness in the Chinese solar PV sector to the company’s continuous commitment to R&D and innovation. The company recently rolled out nine new product lines, with a special focus on half-cut cell modules, with its black polycrystalline silicon, general monocrystalline and PERC monocrystalline half-cut cell modules recently going into mass production. Thanks to improvements in the R&D and technology of solar cells and modules, the company has expanded its patent portfolio and achieved record conversion efficiency, with conversion efficiencies of monocrystalline cells, polycrystalline cells, monocrystalline modules and polycrystalline modules exceeding 23 per cent, 21.1 per cent, 20.4 per cent and 19.4 per cent, respectively. The attenuation ratio of these products is less than 2.5 per cent in the first year, rising only to 19.2 per cent after 30 years. In addition, with its highly competitive core technology and sound market strategy, Risen Energy has increased the total capacity of its production facilities in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, Luoyang, Henan province, Wuhai, Inner Mongolia and Jintan, Jiangsu province as well as in Mexico. Upon completion of two 5GW projects under construction in Jintan and Yiwu, Zhejiang province, the company expects to grow its total production capacity to 16.5 GW. Meanwhile, the company has been actively expanding into overseas markets and now has thousands of PV power stations across the globe with combined installed capacity expected to grow to 800 MW by the end of this year.

“Under the guidance of our strategy for the renewable energy and new materials markets, the company has made great progress in both segments,” said a spokesperson for Risen Energy. “With a strong competitive edge in efficient solar modules, including half-cut cell modules, the company has continuously met the increasing demand for high-tech, high quality, efficient and low-cost products. Looking ahead, the company plans to further drive the development of the global green energy market through industry-leading technologies with a focus on both domestic and international markets.” Source: Risen Energy Co., Ltd

LONGi Solar named Tier-1 Module manufacturer in Q4-2018 Bloomberg New Energy Finance Report LONGi in select group of PV Manufacturers meeting BNEF’s Tier 1 criteria DNV-GL recognizes LONGi as “Top Performer” in their PV Module reliability Scorecard 2018. LONGi ranked as the most financially stable PV manufacturer in Asia, second worldwide.

loomberg NEF’s criteria require module manufactueres to have supplied own-brand, own-manufacture products to six different projects over 1.5MW that have been financed by six different banks in the past 2 years. Moreover, manufacturers in China, India and Turkey are subject to a more stringent rule that requires the project to be non-recourse, which means the bank undertakes the risk in the event of the modules failing. LONGi met all criteria and is joint fifth in the list in terms of in-house manufacturing capacity.

We are delighted, but of course not surprised, to be named in BNEF ‘sTier-1 supplier,” said Li Wenxue, President of LONGi Solar. “Consistently meeting and exceeding the bankability requirements for a range of investors is a must for any serious manufacturer, particularly as LONGi looks to further develop its international reach. The report also updated the Altman-Z ratio of solar module manufacturers that measures the company’s financial security. The test predicts the probability of a manufacturer going bankrupt in the next two years. LONGi was ranked the most secure company in Asia and second of all PV manufacturers worldwide. While BNEF’s Tier 1 and Altman-Z are strong indicators of a manufacturer’s bankability, quality and reliability require a different measure. In its fourth annual PV Module Reliability Scorecard Report 2018, DNV GL, named LONGi Solar a “Top Performer” for module reliability. DNV GL awards are based on 4 stringent PV module reliability laboratory tests, comprising: thermal cycling, damp heat, dynamic mechanical load and potential induced degradation. LONGi Solar received is “Top Performer” in all four tests categories. Source: longi-silicon

JANUARY 2019

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PV MANUFACTURING

LAPP invests INR 220 million in their Bhopal Manufacturing Facility Doubles production capacity with state-of-the-art machinery. Expands warehousing capacity by 70%. Expands the production range from ÖLFLEX®, power and control cables, to UNITRONIC®, communication cables, to cater amongst sectors like OEMs, Automation, Machine Tools, Panel Builders, Food & Beverage, Residential and Commercial building markets. Inauguration in the presence of Mr. Vyas, Managing Director of AKVN Industrial Estate.

APP, a leading supplier of integrated solutions and branded products in the field of cable and connection technology for global industries, announced their investment of INR 220 million in their manufacturing facility in Pilukhedi, Bhopal. The investment aims to strengthen LAPP’s foothold in India towards its vision of INR 10 billion by 2020.

Key Highlights of the plant: 1. Cumulative Bhopal plant investment INR 81 Crores. 2. Increased production capacity to 216,000 kms of single core & 36,000 kms of multicore wires. 3. New state-of-the-art machineries installed – Rosendahl Insulation line and Tubular Stranding Line. 4. Increased warehouse capacity. LAPP’s Bhopal manufacturing facility was established in the year 2012 and with an initial investment of INR 450 million which now grows to a total of INR 810 million. Currently, the facility is spread across 60,000 Sq. Ft. with the capacity to produce 216,000 kms of single core wires catering to the fast-expanding Building and Panel Builders sector as well as 36,000 kms of multicore cables. With this investment, the facility has been expanded by an additional 30,000 Sq. ft. The company has installed new state-of-the-art, high-end machineries like Rosendahl Insulation line and Tubular Stranding Line for doubling its production capacity. These additions will help serve the OEMs, Automation, Machine Tools, Panel Builders, and Residential and Commercial building markets. LAPP India has procured braiding machines to support the growing demand for shielded multicore cables and data communication cables for the process industries such as Food &Beverage. "The extended facility was inaugurated in the presence of Mr. Georg Stawowy, Chief Technology Officer and Member of the Board of Directors, LAPP Holding AG, Dr. Hilmar Doering, Chief Human Resource Officer and Member of Supervisory Board, and Mr. Hyungeon Park, Chief Technology Officer, Lapp Asia Pacific. The event was also graced by LAPP’s channel partners and the customers."

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Bhopal plant is the most productive factory of LAPP. This year investment will not only double de facto Bhopal’s production capacity in power and control cables under our ÖLFLEX® brand, but also allow LAPP to expand in the growing market of communication cables with the production of our UNITRONIC® brand and meet the demands of our rapidly growing and evolving customers, said Mr. Gorge Stowowy at the event.

Our Bhopal plant is a major contributor to our growth in India. Due to its geographical advantage, it helps us deliver the products faster across India and fully contribute to the delightful purchase experience of our customers, says Mr. Marc Jarrault, Managing Director, LAPP India Pvt. Ltd. LAPP marks the 20thanniversary of its manufacturing presence in India in 2018. Being the first multinational in the field of cable and connection technology to establish operations in India, LAPP India is the second largest company of the LAPP Group outside Germany. Source: thegutenberg

JANUARY 2019

distributed solar

Bisleri’s Mineral Water Manufacturing Unit – Operated by Sri Manjunath Foods and Packagings – Now Powered by Orb Energy’s 200 Kilowatt Rooftop Solar System

HFM Solar commissions 1.4 MW Roof-Top Solar Power Plant at University of Allahabad Rooftop Solar Power Developer, HFM Solar Power Private Limited has commissioned a 1.4 MW roof-top solar power project at the University of Allahabad, Prayagraj.

Orb Energy (“Orb”) announced that it has successfully installed and commissioned a 200 kilowatt rooftop solar system at Sri Manjunath Foods and Packagings Pvt. Ltd. in Mangalore, Karnataka. This installation will help Manjunath Foods generate over 3 lakh units of electricity every year harnessing solar energy to power its Bisleri mineral water manufacturing unit.

“We are extremely pleased that Manjunath Foods has selected Orb to design, supply, and install their 200 kilowatt rooftop solar system. We are also pleased they opted to use Orb’s collateral-free solar loan facility, and are proud to be associated with them and Bisleri. Using clean solar energy to generate clean, healthy water feels very natural, and right.” said Damian Miller, Orb’s Chief Executive Officer.

ooftop solar provides commercial and industrial customers a three- to fouryear payback without any subsidy – an unheard-of return on investment on an unsubsidized solar power system. Despite this, many SMEs in India can only afford rooftop solar with finance. To tackle this, Orb offers a collateral-free solar loan to SMEs that matches their payback period, after which all their power is effectively free.

As a manufacturing partner for Bisleri, we embrace Bisleri’s mission – to have world class quality, at the lowest production and distribution costs. Orb has helped us significantly bring down our production costs, with the power generated from our rooftop solar system costing us just one third of grid power. The cost effectiveness of the system has ensured that the projected savings will be approximately INR 20 lakhs per year, which helps us stay competitive in our market. said Chetan Shetty, Director, Sri Manjunath Foods and Packagings Pvt. Ltd. Orb is a vertically integrated provider of rooftop solar solutions, that manufactures its own range of solar panels and provides in-house finance for SMEs – a totally unique value proposition for commercial and industrial customers in India.

uilt in collaboration with SECI and MNRE, the rooftop solar power plant has been installed across 23 buildings which will provide around 44% of the university’s electricity. The solar plant will reduce emissions from grid power and backup diesel generators, and will help abate around 1820 Tons of CO2 per year. The company will provide solar power to University of Allahabad based on the OPEX / RESCO model. Solar Power will be provided at tariff rates cheaper than the grid tariffs, which is estimated to save the university approx. Rs. 7.5 million annually.

Dharmendra Jain, Director, HFM Solar said “We are extremely honored and proud to be associated with such a distinguished & illustrate institute like University of Allahabad, which at one point was called “the Oxford of the East”, a University which occupies a unique and significant position in the educational sector in India. We are happy to note that the solar power supplied to the institution will be at a cost which is approx. 50% cheaper than the grid tariff, providing significant cost savings to the Institution as well. Through our partnership, we are helping University of Allahabad reduce their carbon footprint and electricity costs simultaneously. To avoid irreversible, catastrophic climate change, we must reduce its carbon use and ensure an ideal near-zero use of fossil fuels in the coming decades. As an energy company, we are committed in implementing Solar Energy Projects to help reduce CO2 emissions and contribute towards the objective of energy conservation.

Source: orbenergy

JANUARY 2019

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Energy that makes a difference Sembcorp’s energy assets aim to contribute to India’s growing need.

Sembcorp Energy India Limited (SEIL), with 4367^ MW capacity, is contributing to India’s quest for generating power, sustainably. 

SEIL is a part of Sembcorp Group – a S$ 22 billion energy, utilities, marine & urban development global conglomerate

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A diversified portfolio of thermal & renewable energy assets, strategically located across 7 states

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Total RE portfolio of 1727 MW# and winner of the largest capacity in central wind bids1 in FY18 at 800 MW

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Thermal portfolio of 2640 MW, operating at >80% capacity

35 WIND ASSETS

3 SOLAR ASSETS

vital partners essential solutions

2 THERMAL ASSETS

A decade of prudent investment, disciplined growth.

www.sembcorpenergyindia.com ^As on date total Power generation capacity of 4367 MW. # Total of wind and solar energy, including projects under execution. 1Source: CRISIL Report Sembcorp Energy India Limited is proposing, subject to applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, receipt of requisite approvals, market conditions and other considerations, to make an initial public offer of its Equity Shares and has filed the DRHP with the SEBI. The DRHP is available on the websites of SEBI, BSE, NSE at www.sebi.gov.in, www.bseindia.com, www.nseindia.com, respectively and is available on the websites of the GCBRLMs at www.axiscapital.co.in, https://www.credit-suisse.com/in/en/investment-banking/regional-presence/asia-pacific/india/ipo.html, www.india.clsa.com and www.sbicaps.com, respectively and on the website of the BRLM at www.indusind.com. All potential investors should note that investment in equity shares involves a high degree of risk and for details relating to the same, please refer to the DRHP including the section titled “Risk Factors” on page 16 of the DRHP and any investment decision shall be made on the basis of the Red Herring Prospectus, when available. Potential investors should not rely on the DRHP filed with the SEBI for making any investment decision. The Equity Shares have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act, 1933 as amended (the "US Securities Act") or any state securities laws in the United States, and unless so registered, and may not be offered or sold within the United States, except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and in accordance with any applicable U.S. state securities laws. Accordingly, the Equity Shares are being offered and sold (i) in the United States solely to “qualified institutional buyers” (as defined in Rule 144A under the U.S. Securities Act) in transactions exempt from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and (ii) outside the United States in offshore transactions in reliance on Regulation S of the U.S. Securities Act and the applicable laws of each jurisdictions where such offers and sales are made.

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JANUARY 2019

distributed solar

Haryana govt to incentivise consumers for installing solar home system With a view to promote renewable energy in Haryana, consumers in the state would now be provided with a ‘solar home system’ under the ‘Manohar Jyoti Yojana’.

The state government would provide subsidy of Rs 15,000 to consumers for installing this system,” an official release said. The solar home system would be equipped with lithium battery which does not require maintenance and has long life. “This system would be able to run a ceiling fan and three LED lights. Apart from this, this system would have a mobile charging port,” it said.

“The system is being made available on subsidy to consumers of the state so that they may not face any inconvenience related to power and lights in their houses. It is the priority of the state government that uninterrupted power supply is ensured in each and every household of the state,” the release added. The ‘Manohar Jyoti Yojana’ was launched in Haryana by the government last year, under which a target had been kept to set up one lakh solar lighting systems in the state. Source: PTI

Maha to give solar agri pumps at subsidised rates: Bawankule The Maharashtra government plans to give 5 horsepower solar agricultural pumps worth Rs 3.5 lakh at a subsidised rate of Rs 20,000 and 3HP pumps costing Rs 1.5 lakh at Rs 15,000 to farmers, state Energy Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said Speaking at the Agro Vision 2018 here, he said the state government had set a target of distributing one lakh solar pumps of which 10,000 had already been given out. He said another 25,000 solar pumps will be provided to farmers in the next three months. Bawankule also spoke about the “Mukhya Mantri Solar Agriculture Feeder” scheme under which solar power projects would be set up on PPP mode to provide farmers with affordable electricity. The scheme is being implemented by the Maharashtra Energy Development Agency, Mahagenco and Mahavitaran along with private firms. Source: PTI

JANUARY 2019

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distributed solar

Chennai Metro Rail commissions another 1120 KWp Solar PV Power Plant Chennai Metro Rail successfully commissioned another 1120 KWp Solar PV Power Plant in Roof Top area of two Elevated Stations namely Alandur and St. Thomas Mount Stations and in the Ground areas at Metro Rail Depot, Koyambedu, according to a release. It is expected to generate around 1,51,200 units per month and saves around Rs.69, 49,152 lakhs per year, the release said.

HFM Solar commissions 1 MW Roof-Top Solar Power Plant in Lucknow Rooftop Solar Power Developer, HFM Solar Power Private Limited has commissioned a 1 MW roof-top solar power project at the University of Lucknow, Lucknow. The roof-top solar was built in collaboration with SECI and MNRE.

he solar plant will reduce emissions from grid power and backup diesel generators, and will abate around 1300 Tons of CO2 per year. The company will provide solar power to University of Lucknow on the ‘pay as you go’ or OPEX model. Solar Power will be provided at tariff rates cheaper than the grid tariffs, which is estimated to save the university approx. Rs. 6 million annually.

Medhir Jain, Director, HFM Solar said “India has one of the best solar conditions and solar is already the cheapest form of generation in many parts of the world. We are happy to note that the solar power supplied to University of Lucknow will be at a cost which is 50% cheaper than the grid tariff, providing significant cost savings to the university. Through our partnership, we are helping University of Lucknow reduce their carbon footprint and electricity costs simultaneously.

More Information: It said, CMRL being very much committed to achieve energy security, to reduce carbon emission & Green energy concept by generating renewable energy by installing Roof Top Solar PV Power System in different premises of Roof Top Area and Ground Area of Metro Rail depot, Elevated and Under Ground Stations. These Solar Plant Projects were executed under Zero Capital Investment by CMRL and based on RESCO Model under Solar energy Corporation of India (SECI ) Scheme, on monthly Tariff basis payment, it said. This method of Generated Solar Power will be utilised for technical demands. The release said, now the installed capacity of Roof Top Solar Power by CMRL is 3.0 MW in total. Another 4.6 MW Roof Top Solar Power installation is under progress and is expected to be completed by end of this year 2018, it said.

Source: railanalysis.in

This is a very compelling proposition to institutes like University of Lucknow, and we hope to replicate it for other premier institutes across the country as well. We are committed in implementing Solar Energy Projects to help reduce CO2 emissions and contribute towards the objective of energy conservation.

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JANUARY 2019

featured

More than 40 per cent of world coal plants are unprofitable, says report More than 40 per cent of the world’s coal plants are operating at a loss due to high fuel costs and that proportion could to rise to nearly 75 percent by 2040, a report by environmental think-tank Carbon Tracker showed

nstitutional investors are increasingly divesting from fossil fuel companies due to the risk their assets will become stranded as tougher emissions cut targets discourage their use and renewable energy becomes even cheaper. London-based Carbon Tracker analysed the profitability of 6,685 coal plants around the world, representing 95 percent of operating capacity and 90 percent of capacity under construction. It found that 42 percent of global coal capacity is already unprofitable. From 2019 onwards, it expects falling renewable energy costs, air pollution regulations and carbon pricing to result in further cost pressures and make around 72 percent of the fleet cashflow negative by 2040.

In addition, by 2030, new wind and solar will be cheaper than continuing to operate 96 percent of today’s existing and planned coal plants, the report said. “Our analysis shows a least-cost power system without coal should be seen as an economic inevitability rather than a clean and green nicety,” said Sebastian Ljungwaldh, energy analyst at Carbon Tracker and co-author of the report.

Almost 195 countries will meet Katowice, Poland – one of the most polluted coal-mining regions in Europe – to agree on the rules for implementing a landmark deal to cut carbon emissions called the Paris Agreement. Efforts are underway across the world to curb global warming by using more renewable energy and burning less fossil fuels such as coal and oil to produce power but emissions are still rising. A U.N. report in October said the share of coal-fired power in the global energy mix would need to be cut to under 2 percent by 2050 to keep global temperature rises within safe limits. In several coal-reliant economies, governments will have to choose between closing plants; subsidising coal generation and power prices or increasing power prices to make coal viable, which will hurt consumers and undermine competitiveness, Carbon Tracker said. By phasing out coal globally by 2040, stranded asset risk worth $267 billion could be avoided, the report added. Source: reuters

JANUARY 2019

Gensol engineering eyes Rs 20 crore from IPO next year Gensol Engineering Ltd, part of the Ahmedabad-based Gensol group of companies that provide solar advisory and EPC services, intends to raise roughly Rs 20 crore from the primary market early next year. The public issue will be a mix of fresh equity and an offer for sale, founder Anmol Singh Jaggi told Mint.

he public issue is being advised by Pantomath Capital Advisors, a leading investment banker for small and medium enterprises listing on stock exchanges. The Gensol group, founded by brothers Anmol Singh Jaggi and Puneet Singh Jaggi, is one of the leading consultants and system integrators for solar power plants with a portfolio of over 7900 MW of solar photovoltaic plants. Gensol provides concept to commissioning solar advisory, execution and operation services for solar projects in India and abroad. It is present in 18 Indian states and has ongoing projects in Africa, Middle East and South East Asia. Gensol Engineering’s solar advisory services has a portfolio of over 20,000 MW, offering technical due diligence, policy and strategic advisory and project management. Gensol’s clients include the renewable energy projects of SunEdison, Adani, Greenko, Mytrah and Shapoorji Pallonji Infra. It also houses a smaller engineering-procurement-construction arm, which operates chiefly in the rooftop solar installation space and manages a portfolio of 95MW. Gensol Engineering’s is on track to report revenue of Rs 150 crore in FY19, Jaggi told Mint.The Gensol Group is controlled by the Jaggi brothers, will involve an offer for sale for 6% of shares by Puneet Jaggi and a fresh equity issue for 26%. Gensol’s public issue will come at a time when much larger renewable energy players – ACME Solar, Sembcorp Energy India and ReNew – have had to repeatedly shelve their public offer plans due to a lack of investor interest. The Indian solar power sector is facing headwinds in terms of a safeguard duty of 25% and a depreciating rupee, pushing up costs for local developers who import a bulk of the solar modules. The last major deal in the renewable energy sector was in April when ReNew Power announced its plan to buy Ostro Energy for Rs 10,800 crore. Since then, appetite for large deals between developers and financial investors has weakened while bank funding has dried up as well. For developers, this dearth of financing and trend towards consolidation could be a significant threat to India’s target of 175 gigawatts (GWs) of renewables capacity by 2022, industry experts say. The Indian government has set an ambitious target of generating 100GW of solar power by 2022 from the existing installed capacity of 21.65 GW. Tariffs for electricity produced at utility-scale solar farms touched an all-time low of Rs 2.44 per kilowatt-hour earlier this year, but have since risen from those levels. Source: livemint

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featured

TEPSOL has been awarded as the Most Promising Energy Start Up 2018 by ASSOCHAM TEPSOL Projects Private Limited (“TEPSOL”), a joint venture between Think Energy and EverStream Capital has been consolidating its position in the Indian solar space.

ith a current portfolio of over 500 MW of ground mounted solar PV projects and a pipeline of around 500 MW, Think Energy has emerged as one of the “Most Successful and Promising Start Up” over the last 2-3 years. The current portfolio includes 104 MWp of operational ground mounted solar PV projects in Telangana, , 60 MWp of under construction ground mounted solar PV projects in Karnataka, and 300 MWp of ground mounted solar PV projects allocated and under development in the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka. TEPSOL has been awarded as the Most Promising Energy Start Up 2018 by ASSOCHAM” TEPSOL is also committed to contribute to India’s quest for energy security through generation of on-site electricity through solar rooftop installations. It has commissioned close to 11,000 kW of rooftop solar photo-voltaic projects over 100 sites, spread across the three states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka in the current calendar year. TEPSOL is in the process of building and commissioning another 30,000 KWp of rooftop projects over 200 sites, spread across multiple states in the next 6 months. These projects intend to reduce the carbon footprint of and deliver economic benefits to, the Government Departments. TEPSOL was also awarded as the “Rooftop Developer of the Year 2018” by EQ International, a leading Solar & Renewable Energy journal.

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When contacted, Mr. Ravishankar Tumuluri, Managing Director & CEO, TEPSOL, said “The initiatives taken by Government to support capacity building in the solar space is commendable. Having invested across geographies, we are of the view that India is one of most attractive markets given the policy support and vision of the Government. We are pleased to partner with government institutions and central/state departments to deliver energy cost savings and reducing their carbon footprint. We are also participating in the delivery of competitive solar PV solutions to clients in the commercial & industrial space, in geographies where the government is supporting such initiatives through appropriate win-win regulatory mechanisms.”

Mr. Sandip Agarwal, Partner & CEO, Think Energy, said “Although our portfolio is skewed in favour of large solar parks, we are looking to accelerate our pace in solution-based grid connected and off grid installation both with government and private consumers. We shall continue to grow in terms of capability and deployment of solar solutions and work on innovative technologies and product, to support the National Mission of achieving energy security.”

Mr. Paul Huelskamp, Director, EverStream Capital, said “We will leverage the collective relationships and resources of our firm to help scale this business, and we are highly confident in Think Energy’s market knowledge and execution capabilities.” Source: thinkenergypartners

JANUARY 2019

Energy storage

Alliance Ventures Invests in Enevate to Advance Li-ion Battery Technology for Electric Vehicles Alliance Ventures, the strategic venture capital arm of Renault-NissanMitsubishi, has announced that it has invested in the latest round of funding in Enevate Corporation, an advanced lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery technology company based in Irvine, California.

his marks the latest technology investment by Alliance Ventures, launched earlier this year to support start-ups, early-stage development, and entrepreneurs at the cutting edge of next-generation systems for the automotive industry.

Francois Dossa, Alliance Global Vice President, Ventures and Open Innovation, said: “We are pleased to participate in Enevate’s latest funding round. This strategic investment allows us to support the development of Enevate’s proprietary, cutting-edge electrode technology. Continued development in this critical field will help us accelerate the electrification of our vehicles.” The investment reflects the capability of Enevate in breakthrough Li-ion batteries capable of extreme fast charging with high energy density. Enevate’s technology, which could enable electric vehicles (EVs) to charge in the same time as refueling conventional cars, is seen as a leader in its field.

We share the common goal of making electric vehicles easier to use and adopt in mass markets, said Enevate President and CEO Robert A. Rango. We look forward to our strategic partnership with Renault-NissanMitsubishi, as they are a global leader in electric vehicles and they understand the market needs of EV consumers worldwide. Enevate’s HD-Energy® Technology for EVs features five-minute fast charging with high energy density and long driving range with added focus on low-temperature operation for cold climates, low cost and safety benefits. This short charging time is superior to any other Li-ion technology available. Enevate licenses its silicon-dominant HD-Energy Technology to battery and EV automotive manufacturers and suppliers worldwide to quickly achieve production volume and drive adoption of next-generation features that take EVs to the next level.

JANUARY 2019

Curtiss Motorcycles Launches Equity Crowdfunding Campaign to Accelerate Production of its Innovative Battery Electric Motorcycles Curtiss Motorcycles, in collaboration with the equity crowdfunding portal Wefunder, announced the opening of its equity raise, priced at $0.20 per share. Investment is open to the public with a minimum investment of $1,000 USD, equating to 5,000 shares of common stock in the company.

We formed Curtiss to lead the growing premium all-electric motorcycle market, said Curtiss CEO and Chairman Matt Chambers. “With equity crowdfunding, we’re inviting our customers, followers, and fans to join us as we accelerate production of our first battery electric motorcycles, and ultimately lead the electric motorcycle revolution. Curtiss enters the battery electric motorcycle market as traditional motorcycle brands including Harley-Davidson begin exploring their own electric motorcycle programs. “Unlike traditional brands like Harley-Davidson, Honda, BMW, and KTM, we don’t have a portfolio of gas-powered motorcycles (and their associated factory overhead) to protect,” Chambers explains. “Our balance sheet is clear of such burdens, which frees us to pursue the best and finest solutions to sustainable motorcycling without regard to the inevitable disruption to revenue from gas-powered product lines.

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Energy storage

Energy Storage is a $620 Billion Investment Opportunity to 2040 BNEF has significantly increased its forecast for global deployment of behind-the-meter and grid-scale batteries over coming decades.

he tumbling cost of batteries is set to drive a boom in the installation of energy storage systems around the world in the years from now to 2040, according to the latest annual forecast from research company BloombergNEF (BNEF). The global energy storage market[1] will grow to a cumulative 942GW/2,857GWh by 2040, attracting $620 billion in investment over the next 22 years. Cheap batteries mean that wind and solar will increasingly be able to run when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining. BNEF’s latest Long-Term Energy Storage Outlook sees the capital cost of a utility-scale lithium-ion battery storage system sliding another 52% between 2018 and 2030, on top of the steep declines seen earlier this decade. This will transform the economic case for batteries in both the vehicle and the electricity sector.

Yayoi Sekine, energy storage analyst for BloombergNEF and coauthor of the report, said: We have become much more bullish about storage deployments since our last forecast a year ago. This is partly due to faster-than-expected falls in storage system costs, and partly to a greater focus on two emerging applications for the technology – electric vehicle charging, and energy access in remote regions.

Logan Goldie-Scot, head of energy storage at BNEF, added: We see energy storage growing to a point where it is equivalent to 7% of the total installed power capacity globally in 2040. The majority of storage capacity will be utility-scale until the mid2030s, when behind the meter applications overtake. Behind-the-meter, or BTM, installations will be sited at business and industrial premises, and at millions of residential properties. For their owners, they will perform a variety of tasks, including shifting grid demand in order to reduce electricity costs, storing excess rooftop solar output, improving power quality and reliability, and earning fees for helping to smooth voltage on the grid. China, the U.S., India, Japan, Germany, France, Australia, South Korea and the U.K will be the leading countries. These nine markets will represent two thirds of the installed capacity by 2040. In the near-term, South Korea will dominate the market, the U.S. will take over in the early 2020s, but will be overtaken by China in the 2020s. China will then lead throughout to 2040. Especially developing countries in Africa will also see rapid growth in battery storage. Utilities are likely to “recognize increasingly that isolated assets combining solar, diesel and batteries are cheaper in far flung sites than either an extension of the main grid or a fossil-only generator,” the report says.

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BNEF analysis estimates energy storage build across multiple applications to meet variable supply and demand and to operate the grid more efficiently, while taking into account customer-sited economics for using storage as well as system-level needs. Aggregating BTM energy storage could be a viable alternative to utility-scale for many applications but it will take years before regulatory frameworks in some countries fully allow this. There is significant opportunity for energy storage to provide flexibility – to help balance variable supply and demand – and systems will undoubtedly be used in complex ways. Energy storage will become a practical alternative to new-build generation or network reinforcement. Behind-the-meter storage will also increasingly be used to provide system services on top of customer applications. Despite the rapid growth from today’s levels, demand for batteries for stationary storage will make up only 7% of total battery demand in 2040. It will be dwarfed by the electrical vehicle market, which will more materially impact the supply-demand balance and prices for metals such as lithium and cobalt. Source: about.bnef

JANUARY 2019

middle east & africa

South Africa: African Development Bank approves a ZAR 3 billion loan to bolster renewable energy in South Africa The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank has approved a senior loan of ZAR 3 billion to the 100 MW Redstone Concentrated Solar Power Project, which is expected to boost South Africa’s energy mix and hasten transition to renewable energy.

ocated in the Humansrus Solar Park, Northern Cape Province of South Africa, the solar power project is expected to generate 466 GWh/year. This will offset diesel-fueled Open Cycle Gas Turbine’s (OCGT’s) operating at peak demand, thereby avoiding and mitigating carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuels. The project will also improve South Africa’s power supply and access to energy, and green the energy mix which is currently dominated by coal at 82%.

Commenting on the importance of the project, President of the African Development Bank Akinwumi Adesina said “there is no other country – that has made bold efforts at promoting solar power – apart from South Africa and Morocco. Of the countries currently using coal, South Africa is one of the few with an aggressive strategy towards developing a solar-based power.” At the heart of this transition to a low-carbon energy sector is a complete transformation of the future energy mix.” The project is one of 27 renewable energy Independent Power Producer projects under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer (REIPPP). Once commissioned, it is expected to create over 3500 jobs over the project life cycle. The project will also fulfil South Africa’s social development requirements on citizens employed, Black Economic Empowerment, procurement from small and medium-scale enterprises, local content, and shareholding by local communities.

JANUARY 2019

The development of this concentrated solar power project will provide green baseload energy and contribute to a further diversification of South Africa’s energy mix, which is fundamental to South Africa’s strategic vision of transitioning to green growth, said Amadou Hott, the Bank’s Vice-President for Power, Energy, Climate, and Green Growth. The project comprises a 12-hour molten salt thermal energy storage system, which will enable the project to meet peak electricity demand in the absence of sun, and allow for dispatchability to adapt generation to electricity demand. The project will also involve the construction of a new 132 kV switching station, and a 34 km long single circuit 132 kV transmission line. This Project is aligned with the Bank’s Ten-Year Strategy, The New Deal for Energy in Africa under the Hi5 Priority to ‘Light Up and Power Africa’, and the South Africa Country Strategy Paper (CSP 20182022), which supports economic transformation for inclusive growth and job creation. The project is also fully in line with the Bank’s green growth strategy, energy strategy and private sector development strategy to finance clean renewable energy projects, increase access to energy, and reduce dependence on carbon intensive power generation. The project makes a significant contribution to efforts of the South African government to implement its nationally determined contribution (NDC) by pursuing investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency in order to mitigate CO2 emissions. Source: afdb.org

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JANUARY 2019

45Â

Energy storage

Instruments to Accelerate the Advent of Energy Storage in India With all the buzz going around energy storage these days, very often than not it is claimed to be the holy grail of renewable energy.Owing to the intermittency and unpredictability in solar and wind generation, high degree of flexibility in Loads and Sources is needed by the electricity grid for absorbing renewable energy beyond a critical proportion in the energy mix.

TERI launches storage battery-based load management in Kolkata The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) launched a “first-of-its-kind” pilot project here to support implementation of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) at the distribution level, aimed at reducing stress on transformers during peak hours.

he Delhi-based research institute, with support from MacArthur Foundation, kick started the project in collaboration with the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (WBSEDCL), a TERI statement said. The distribution transformers get overloaded during peak load hours, while they remain under-utilised during non-peak hours and with rise in solar power, integration of BESS at the distribution level was felt necessary, it said. A comprehensive module would be developed to assist WBSEDCL in determining application-specific optimum battery capacity, operational logic and levelised cost of storage, TERI said. For implementation of the pilot project, TERI would act as project management consultant (PMC) to WBSEDCL and Department of Power, West Bengal.

We, at TERI, are delighted to work with WBSEDCL on the innovative, and possibly cost-effective, option of using batteries to meet peak loads, as well as to store electricity from rooftop solar installations at off-peak hours, said Ajay Mathur, Director General, TERI. Prominent local battery manufacturers have also shown keen interest to support the project, the statement said. Source: PTI

JANUARY 2019

attery Energy Storage System (BESS) serves both the purposes – flexible load as well as flexible source. This dual flexibility not only can be used at grid generation level applications like in transmission & distribution network operations, but also in multiple end-user level applications like for Commercial & Industrial (C&I) clients. This dual nature of both load & source enables BESS to provide multiple services to C&I users like Peak Load management to reduce the Contract Demand charges, Energy time shift to utilize the benefit of time-of-day tariff structure or to install higher capacity of Solar PV, Diesel abatement for higher reliability at reduced expenses etc. However, mass uptake of any technological solution beyond the demonstration level happens when it brings in commercial advantage either versus an incumbent technology or versus an opportunity lost. This can be seen in the case of advanced energy storage systems, where the uptake has been growing steadily year-on-yearwith a major chunk limited to geographies like USA, Australia & Europe driven by suitable grid tariff levels & structures, relatively clearer regulatory policies and fiscal incentives by government which enhances the commercial value proposition of BESS. In the Indian landscape, although BESS has strong commercial value proposition under certain scenarios, lack of suitable regulatory policies or fiscal incentives for BESS added with significantly high upfront capital costs diminishes the adoption by prospective users. It is at this point where Opex / BOOT (Build, Own, Operate & Transfer) model will play a significant role in the early adoption of this technology. However, BOOT model of BESS comes in with its own set of challenges. Unlike solar PV projects where the evaluation metrics are straight forward withcommercial metric being solar PV tariff pegged against grid tariff, and performance metric being electricity units generated which off-set the grid units; BESS project metrics are complex owing to its innovative and versatile features/use cases. In addition, due the multitude of applications served with the same BESS asset, structuring the legal contract for BOOT model requires due amount of consideration to bring it to a saleable and scalable point. Hence, building the right Opex/BOOT Model for BESS with due weightage given totechnical, financial & legal structuring will be the foundation for mass scale deployments of BESS solutions in India & abroad. At this stage and time, Amplus having done early Opex/BOOT projects in BESS,is a step ahead in understanding and framing the Model toplace the bits in place and scale up the Opex/BOOT offering as the infliction point in BESS cost is reached in near future.

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES

EV Motors India launches its first public EV charging outlet PlugNgo Electric vehicles start-up EV Motors India announced the launch of its first Public EV Charging Outlet ‘PlugNgo’.

he company said that it is seeking to install over 6500 charging outlets, each with multiple charging stations, spread across cities, businesses and residential complexes of India, over the next five years with an estimated investment requirement of USD 200 million. The chargers will be networked and connected to PlugNgo’s innovative cloud-based integrated software platform. PlugNgo, over the course of next 12 months plans to set up 20 outlets in the Delhi NCR followed by expanding its reach to other cities including, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Kanpur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Amritsar, Bhubaneshwar, Cochin, Indore, and Chennai.

For the nation to progress towards the vision of a large fleet of EVs across the country, a co-ordinated approach between Real Estate Developers, Vehicle OEMs and Charger Manufacturers is necessary, Vinit Bansal, Managing Director, EV Motors India said.

PlugNgo aims to deliver customised installation support, round the clock service, maintenance support and remote vehicle charging monitoring & e-payments through the PlugNgo mobile application based on iOS & Android platforms, in addition to the range of charging equipment for all kinds of two wheelers, three wheelers, passenger cars and buses that comply with the Global Charging Standard including Type-2, CCS, CHAdeMO and BIS. The PlugNgo charging solution also comes laced with a vehicle to vehicle charging proposition that can be availed through the PlugNgo mobile application, controlled and maintained by a location based networking system. Under this service, any vehicle, within the company’s network, left stranded due to battery dissipation shall be assisted with its charging needs within 30 minutes by a services vehicle provided by the company’s service centres. Source: ntpc.co.in

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JANUARY 2019

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Snel Charge India installs its 5th DC Fast Charger in Chennai for ABB India Ltd Snel Charge India Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Chemi Tech Group is credited as one of the pioneers in EV Charger Installation and Commissioning in India.

Magenta announces its first EV charging station in Bangalore, exclusively for the Mahindra Treo Electric 3-Wheeler After setting up the EV Charging Corridor successfully at Mumbai – Pune Expressway, Magenta Power, one of the leading service providers of renewable energy solutions, accomplishes another milestone with the establishment of its first EV charging station in Bangalore, exclusively for the Mahindra Treo Electric 3-Wheeler.

he charging stations shall be equipped with the ChargeGrid App which will show the availability of chargers along the route, coupled with their status at an individual socket level. It will also detect chargers within 500 meters with the help of EO fencing algorithms. With this development, Magenta aims to make the ‘driving and charging’ experience better for the owners of electric vehicles.

Speaking on the set up, Mr. Maxson Lewis, Managing Director – Magenta Power says, We are extremely proud of our latest launch as we are entering a new city. Our expansion and acquisition plans will unitedly help us bring about the much awaited EV revolution in the country. We are delighted to join hands with Mahindra (for Treo vehicles) for an exclusive partnership as it will help people to shift to EV a for better tomorrow.”“With an interconnected network of accessible charging stations and 24*7 assistance, this development by Magenta and the launch by Mahindra will revolutionise the EV industry,’’ he further adds. By launching these initiatives in partnership with major automobile giants, Magenta Power will create the facilitation of an independent and open network for charging infrastructure. It will further satiate the demand for the availability and engagement of charging stations in an ever changing technological environment. Magenta is all set to transform the integrated network and make the charging experience a seamless one in collaboration with industry stalwarts like Tata and Mahindra.

ne of the first installation by Snel Charge was for ABB India Limited at NITI Aayog in New Delhi, which was also one of the first 50 kW Fast-Charger installation in the country. The machine itself was inaugurated by Sh Nitin Gadkari ji in February 2018. Snel Charge’s second installation was for Renault India Private Limited through its parent company Chemi Tech Constructions.

Delhi-Jaipur Highway and Chennai-Bangalore Highway Snel Charge installed 3 chargers in November 2018. The chargers were installed for an automotive giant. Two Chargers were installed in between Delhi and Jaipur highway and a Single Charger was completed last week on Chennai Bangalore Highway. The automotive OEM plans to test its upcoming electric fleet on these two prominent national highways for many months to come. The cars will start from Delhi and will stop at these charging stations before going to the next charging stops and eventually proceeding to the city and coming back.

Source: synapsepr.co.in

JANUARY 2019

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Statement from Fortum India – New Delhi Draft EV Policy Mr. Awadhesh Kumar Jha Vice President – Charge & Drive & Sustainability, Fortum India said, “This is one of the most concrete EV Policies which has been envisaged by any State Government. It has set a clear target and means to achieve the same. Setting up charging hub through the aid of private sector is a welcome move. While the draft policy addresses the need of parking space, we would also like the government to give provisions for upgraded electricity infrastructure at identified location to create plug & play. This move in turn will reduce risk of private players substantially.”

Appended is the profile of Fortum India for your reference: Fortum is a leading clean-energy company that provides its customers with electricity, heating and cooling as well as smart solutions to improve resource efficiency. We want to engage our customers and society to join the change for a cleaner world. We employ some 9,000 professionals in the Nordic and Baltic countries, Russia, Poland and India, and 62% of our electricity generation is CO2 free.

Our vision “For a cleaner world” reflects our ambition to drive the transformation towards a low-emission energy system and optimal resource efficiency. Our mission is to engage our customers and society to drive the change towards a cleaner world. Fortum in India is focused on 4 verticals (Solar, EV Charging infrastructure, Bio-ethanol and NOx reduction solutions for thermal power plants).Fortum Charge & Drive is a pioneer in electric vehicle charging. Presently it has a network of 2017 smart chargers in Europe out of which about 700 are DC quick chargers. Besides, post-acquisition of PlgSurfing, an EV user can access to 67,000 charging points across Europe. Fortum provides turnkey solution for B2B and B2G, creating public charging network as well as providing world-class cloud solutions for an interactive end-user interface and a comprehensive back-end system that supports charge point operators in the remote management of charging stations. We have set up and been operating 18 charging points (14 DC and 4 AC) in India at various locations in Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Delhi. Source: edelman

NTPC Signs MoU with Seven Electric Vehicle Aggregators NTPC signed MoUs with Vehicle Aggregators Ola, Lithium, Shuttl, Bikxie, Bounce, Electrie and Zoom Car for development and utilization of public charging infrastructure

his collaboration with Aggregators, having presence in the entire spectrum of e-mobility across India, will lead to development of charging infrastructure for the various vehicle segments as well as effective utilisation of public charging infrastructure. The arrangement would thus provide a win-win situation for all stakeholders. Senior leaders from IOCL and HPCL were also present during the event. Company is planning to provide charging solutions for the entire range of electric vehicles ranging from electric buses to electric 2/3-wheelers and developing associated e-mobility ecosystem across the country. NTPC is in discussion with various State/City administrations for creation of charging infrastructure for public transport and has signed MoUs for cities of Jabalpur, Navi Mumbai and Bhopal. NTPC has already installed charging stations across its generating stations and Regional offices. Company has also been associated with IOCL, HPCL and DMRC for development of public charging infrastructure. With these tie-ups NTPC plans to set up a broad based charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, effectively addressing the issue of range anxiety for these vehicles. NTPC is thus

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supporting Government of India’s initiatives for adoption of e-mobility. The e-mobility in India is at nascent stage and close coordination among the various stakeholders in the e-mobility ecosystem is required for enabling rapid transition to electric mobility. Source: ntpc.co.in

JANUARY 2019

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Delhi government drafts policy to make 25% of vehicles electric by 2023, seeks public opinion As various reports on air pollution in Delhi cite vehicular emission as key factor, the government has come out with the electric vehicle proposal. The Delhi government releases policy draft on e-vehicles to combat vehicular pollution. Various subsidies will be offered by the Delhi government on the use of electric vehicles. Battery charging and swapping stations to be setup across Delhi.

n a bid to combat air pollution, the Delhi government has proposed to make 25 per cent of all vehicles to be electric by 2023. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government released the draft ‘Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy 2018’ for public comments and feedback. As various reports on air pollution in Delhi cite vehicular emission as key factor, the government has come out with the electric vehicle proposal.

“Rapid adoption of zero-emission electric vehicles is, therefore, of great importance to Delhi,” Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gehlot said. The Delhi government has planned to create a significant corpus of funds to incentivise every vehicle segment. “All incentives are in addition to the incentive offered by the Government of India as part of the Scheme for Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicles in India,” the draft report said. The policy draft states various subsidies that will be offered by the Delhi government on the use of electric vehicles. “The Delhi government will offer a subsidy up to Rs 22,000 on purchase of e-two wheelers to ensure their cost is less than or equal to petrol two wheelers. Government Electric two-wheeler taxis will be allowed to provide last mile connectivity and Scrapping Incentive of up to Rs 15,000 on old BS II and BS III two wheelers. This policy will allow open permit system for e-autos in Delhi while Individual e-auto owners will get down payment subsidy up to Rs 12,500 and 5 per cent interest subvention and similarly the cashback for passengers using e-autos up to Rs 10 per trip will be offered through this policy,” stated the report. Government plans to promote more e-rickshaws for mile connectivity offering individual e-rickshaw owners. They will get payment subsidy up to Rs 20,000 and 5 per cent interest subvention. To reduce carbon emission govt offers full waiver on registration fees, road tax and MCD one-time parking fee for elecric cabs and cashback for passengers using e-cabs up to Rs 10 per trip.

JANUARY 2019

Under this policy, fully electric buses will be at least 50 per cent of all new buses procured for the city fleet starting with the induction of 1,000 electric buses in 2019. The government will offer substantial incentives to private stage-carriage vehicles of all sizes to ensure that electric vehicles make up at least 50 per cent of the entire public transport system in Delhi by 2023. Other than public transport, government will offer subsidy up to Rs 20,000 for the first 5,000 e-Carriers with advanced, swappable batteries for electric goods carriage. Offering exemptiom from prohibition on plying and idle parking of lights goods vehicles during specified timings. Under the policy, the Delhi government will set up huge cable of charging stations like of petrol pumps. “Battery charging and swapping stations to be setup across Delhi with private sector participation at existing public parking zones, bus depots and terminals, metro stations etc. Energy Operators identified for operating charging stations based on competitive bidding with Up to 100 per cent capital subsidy. Government to also provide special electricity tariff for operation of battery charging and swapping stations. This policy will provide private charging stations across the capital. 100 per cent subsidy on installation of charging point up to Rs 30,000 per charging point for the first 10,000 points at residential or non-residential buildings. The transport minister said the Delhi government would “amend building bye-laws to ensure both home and work place parking becomes EV ready through mandatory installation of charging conduits.” Source: PTI

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES

SUN Mobility and SmartE partner to transform EV adoption in the country SUN Mobility, a leading provider of energy infrastructure and services for electric vehicles (EVs), announced a partnership with SmartETM, India’s largest electric vehicle fleet operator, to deploy its universal energy infrastructure to support SmartE’s growing EV operations. In April 2018, SUN Mobility showcased the Interoperable Smart Mobility solution for 2-and-3 wheelers and this is the first-of-its-kind deployment in the country for electric three-wheelers.

martE’s fleet of electric three-wheelers will make use of SUN Mobility’s solution and will be deployed at SmartE Park & Charge Hubs across the Delhi-NCR, to bolster its first and last-mile connectivity services. The monthlong field trials for this solution were successfully concluded in Gurugram last week and the partnership will see SUN Mobility scaling the battery swapping infrastructure over the next 3 months to support 500 electric threewheelers in Phase 1. The two companies have come together, leveraging their expertise in product and solution to drive convenient, affordable and zero-emission last mile connectivity for the NCR region. The partnership is an example of collaboration between companies to address India’s growing need for clean public transport solutions and aims to rapidly transform the overall EV adoption in the country.

Goldie Srivastava, Co-Founder and CEO, SmartE, said, “The partnership underscores our commitment to make last-mile commute easy, safe, affordable and eco-friendly for everyone. SUN Mobility’s Interoperable Smart Mobility solution will enable us to rapidly scale up our vision without having to worry about the energy infrastructure.” “As a pioneer in the electric mobility service space, SmartE plans to roll-out 100,000 vehicles by 2022. At 100,000 vehicles, SmartE will help reduce close to a million tonnes of carbon emissions, equivalent of planting 17 million trees per year,” he added. SmartE already has an ongoing partnership with Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and delivers nearly 80,000 rides to commuters daily. SmartE has served over 30 million pollution-free rides in the past three years since inception and is India’s largest electric vehicle service platform. By using SUN Mobility’s Smart Batteries, which use the advanced Lithium ion technology, the weight of the vehicle is reduced by ~100 Kgs improving the efficiency of the vehicle, therefore allowing for increased mileage, better pickup and higher gradients. The Quick Interchange Stations enable electric three-wheeler drivers to swap their batteries in under two minutes. The pilot results show a spike in the revenue as drivers are able to operate the vehicle for 40% longer range compared to the conventional Li-Ion battery-based vehicles and 80% more compared to conventional Lead-Acid battery-based vehicles.

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Conventional electric three-wheelers that run on lead-acid batteries usually require eight hours of overnight charging and four hours of opportunity charge during the day. The assets remain idle half of the time during the day and could only cover 60-80 km which cause a loss of potential revenue. Our solution, through swapping, enables them to realize the full potential of last-mile transport and clock more than 150 kms per day,” said Chetan Maini, Co-Founder and Vice-Chairman, SUN Mobility. “The partnership with SmartE will enable us to tangibly impact the lives of hundreds of people by making ‘refueling’ of electric vehicles faster, cheaper and more convenient for them to adopt,” he added. SUN Mobility’s solution will aim to significantly augur the earning opportunity for electric three-wheeler drivers on SmartE’s platform, as it addresses the main challenges of high-replacement cost, low-life of the battery, limited-range, and long-refueling time. SUN Mobility’s Quick Interchange Stations’ computer controlled advanced charging and thermal management enables over 200 swaps a day and utilize less than 1/50th the real estate space for regular charging.

Speaking on the occasion, Uday Khemka, CoFounder and Vice Chairman of SUN Mobility, said, “E-rickshaw drivers not only worry about making ends-meet, but also about saving money to replace lead-acid batteries every 6-9 months. Our pay-as-you-go solution ensures that the 1.5 million erickshaws plying on the roads today and the eleven thousand that are added every month are affordable and make economic sense for the drivers.” SUN Mobility’s energy infrastructure platform comprises of SUN Mobility Smart BatteryTM that is light-weight, connected, long-life, compact and swappable. SUN Mobility Quick Interchange StationTM is compact, easy to install and ensure quick refueling of electric vehicles and are compatible with multiple vehicle platforms including: 2 and 3 wheelers (e-rickshaws and e-autos). SUN Mobility Smart Network (an IoT-based cloud platform) helps keep a constant check on the battery vitals, tracks batteries in real time, enables digital authentication, station operations and ensures service delivery optimization. Source: the-practice.net

JANUARY 2019

energy storage

Billion-Euro Package Mobilizes German Battery Sector But analysts warn the money is nothing compared to Asia’s battery war chest. Battery maker Varta and the Fraunhofer Institute are taking advantage of a new German government finance package for battery development. The two organizations this month announced a research partnership days after Germany’s Economy Minister Peter Altmaier unveiled a €1 billion (USD $1.1 billion) fund for battery cell development. Altmaier said the money was aimed at helping Europe secure 30 percent of global battery cell production by 2030. The European Commission believes the worldwide battery market could be worth €250 billion ($286 billion) a year by 2025, Reuters reported. Germany wants a significant portion of the market. The money being put forward by the government would help German battery manufacturing consortia get production lines up and running from 2021 onward, said Altmaier. The government is expecting multiple consortia to take advantage of the cash and hopes each one will create between 1,000 and 2,000 jobs. Altmaier said he expects consortia to start making investment decisions from the first quarter of next year. The partnership between Varta and Fraunhofer Institute is the first to come forward. Varta will be looking to Fraunhofer to help diversify its battery portfolio, which currently specializes in batteries for hearing aids and large storage systems for solar energy, to include lithium-ion cells for electric cars. The focus of research will be to set up a digitized production line that will reduce a current battery scrap rate of 10 percent, Reuters said. The chemical giant BASF and Ford’s German subsidiary Ford-Werke are also in talks with the German government about building local battery cell alliances. Volkswagen is also said to be open to joining a Berlin-led consortium exploring production of electric car battery cells in Germany. While the German government’s spending on batteries appears to have galvanized the sector, there are concerns the investment is now too little, too late.

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Battery cells are at the heart of electric vehicles,” said Mitalee Gupta, an energy storage analyst with Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables. “Currently all major German automakers have supply contracts with Chinese, Korean and Japanese battery vendors.

Volkswagen, for example, has battery supply contracts with LG Chem, Samsung SDI, SK Innovation and Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), she said. And most of these Asian vendors are already developing manufacturing bases in Europe. “The fear of losing out to Asian battery vendors is becoming real as the EV industry takes off, and hence this strategic investment will help German automakers strengthen their supply chains,” Gupta observed. However, the amount put aside by Germany for its entire national battery industry building effort is barely what each of Asia’s Tier 1 manufacturing giants are spending. LG Chem, for instance, earlier this year announced a $1.8 billion investment for a plant in China that is expected to have an output of 32 gigawatt-hours of battery capacity a year by 2023. Also this year, BYD announced a $1.5 billion spend on its biggest EV battery plant in China, scheduled to have 35 gigawatt-hours of production capacity. CATL, meanwhile, is planning to invest around €240 million ($280 million) in an EV battery plant in Europe with 14 gigawatthours of capacity by 2022. The plant, in eastern Germany, will supply batteries for BMW. The German carmaker plans to source €4 billion ($4.7 billion) of battery cells from CATL over the next few years, reported Reuters. The CATL investment, announced in July, is thought to have stung German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “If we could do it ourselves then I would not be upset,” she said. cross Europe as a whole, battery-making capacity is set to grow by 20 times in the next seven years, hitting 90 gigawatt-hours of manufacturing output per year by 2025, based on figures from Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables. Nevertheless, said Gupta, Asia’s significant head start in battery manufacturing would make it a hard rival to beat. “It is obvious that Germany is making big strides to build their own battery supply chain,” she said. “But in comparison to the investments that are going into China, a lot more will be needed to develop strong European manufacturing.” Source: greentechmedia

JANUARY 2019

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Solar Energy

What Solar can do for you! The immense potential of Solar PV

Importance of small-scale solar installations

Solar has very fast become the cheapest source of electricity, gradually attaining grid parity and outcompeting conventional power generation plants. Solar can reach its full potential only in a dispersed / decentralized energy system onsite, which can be attained by installing small scale solar plants. A dispersed energy system allows for optimal use of renewable energy, reduces fossil fuel use and increases eco-efficiency. The power industry has focused on developing large, central power stations which transmit generation loads across long transmission and distribution lines to consumers, which amounts to considerable loss during transmission. In contrast a dispersed energy system seeks to put power sources closer to the end user, reducing transmission and distribution efficiencies and related economic and environmental costs. These small-scale installations will prove to be a fulcrum of a digitalized, decarbonized, distributed and democratized energy system which will empower the consumer with cleaner, cheaper and smart electricity available locally.

Solar â&#x20AC;&#x201C; an integral part of future ready smart cities

The present-day cities are responsible for 80% of greenhouse emissions and consume 75% of global energy. To tackle this issue the concept of smart cities came into being. Smart cities use technology to create efficiencies, sustainability, economic development and enhance quality of life factors for city dwelling people. They incorporate smarter energy infrastructure. Solar is the perfect matching partner to make this happen. This is mainly because solar is the only agile renewable technology which can be heavily decentralized and can be integrated into every component of a sustainable urban area like carports, street lighting, solar powered charging points, large buildings and even single houses. Besides offering a versatile solution, as it has the ability to be installed very close to consumption points, this avoids grid losses. Solar paired with EVs

EVs (Electric Vehicles) are quickly emerging as a global trend promising exciting opportunities along with zeroing in on putting an end to vehicular emissions. This can only be achieved by powering EVs using renewable energy. With the rapidly rising demand and usage of EVs in the future, solar is the only flexible renewable energy which can come to the rescue and justify the zero-emission purpose of EVs by avoiding consumption of electricity generated by conventional norms and also reducing additional loading on the grid.

Author

Mr. Chetan Shah Director

Goldi Solar Pvt Ltd

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JANUARY 2019

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distributed solar

A Solar-Powered Solution to

Drinking Water Problem India’s Current Scenerio Nearly 600 million Indians faces high water stress and about 2,00,000 people finds it difficult to surviveevery year due to inadequate access to safe water. Around 77 million people in India do not have access to safe drinking water – more than any other country in the world. A large part of rural India is dependent on hand-operated water pumps, simply called “hand pumps” for their water needs. The hand pumps are low maintenance and work well, but only until the water depth is about 30 meters. Beyond that you would need an electric/diesel pump. But in a remote area, both electricity and diesel would be difficult to find.

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distributed solar The problem is aggravated during summers when the water table recedes. A lot of time and effort is wasted to fetch water manually, and it is the women folk who have to suffer the most. Looking towards the issue, REIL aligned its business need with the objective of Government of Rajasthan, and has taken initiative & provided “Solar Power Based Drinking Water Pumping Systems” with Remote Monitoring Units (RMU) at bore well based schemes for low demand area in villages/ habitations. A total 784 nos. sites across the states of Rajasthan in the remote sites of Alwar, Bharatpur, Jodhpur, Kota and Udaipur are going to be benefitted through this unique initiative. Project is spread in other parts of Rajasthan too. These systems are facilitated with monitoring of various linked parameters like Status of Pump, Run Hours, Fault Hours, Water Discharge through a web enabled application. The project is not only benefitting about One lakh people of Rajasthanthrough 24 hrs water facility for the rural peoplebut also giving additional social and community benefits.

Solar based Water Pumping System: The most viable solution for drinking water Solar energy is increasingly becoming mainstream due to cost feasibility and higher efficiency. Half of the health hazards faced by India are due to unhygienic drinking water and most available freshwater is underground. The various strata of soil, sand, and gravel found underground filter out most disease-causing organisms and harmful chemicals. Therefore, Solar pumps are the most feasible option to providedrinking water in places facing scarce or poor water supply, erratic power supply, and persistent drought.

Benefits & Impact of the project The project helps not only to avoid dependence on conventional electricity but also to facilitate availability of drinking water supply especially in areas having deeper water table not suited to convenient operation of hand pumps. For instance, rural people have to wait for the electricity supply while in case of Solar pumps, they can extract fresh drinking water anytime of the day. As India is facing its ‘worst’ water crisis in history and if steps are not taken, the potable water will outstrip supply by 2030. So these solutions play an immense role to address the issue.

The benefits of solar pumps are not restricted to irrigation, in India and globally. Besides reducing pollution and emissions by replacing diesel generators, they can deliver many other applications such as: Villagers need not to cover long distance to fulfill drinking water need, more specifically the women are now having comfort in these villages. Remote Monitoring Unit equipped in these solution provides efficient controlling of faults and water linked parameters even in the mobile. Health improvement: Prevention in harmful diseases from open and stored contaminated water. Awareness regarding use of Renewable Energy i.e. Noiseless, pollution free and Eco-friendly power. Elimination in cost of electricity which is a key driver of the economic impact on the end-beneficiary. Skill development of villagers which will further generate employment opportunities. The system helps and is operational even at the time of natural calamities. With the establishment of this solution, the residents of villageswho have access to these solutions have shown better daily life experiences than the people who don’t have access to these systems.

An Eco-Friendly State of art Technology REIL is providing the solar water pumping system by adopting AC or DC pumps capable to produce minimum 10000 litres water per day. PV array Capacity: 1200Wp to 6000 Wp (Domestically produced Solar Modules) Pump & Controller with HDPE riser pipe, cables, steel wire rope with PVC cover(Domestically produced). MS fabricated &galvanizedstructure to house storage tank. (Domestically produced). PVC storage tank capacity: 5000 Ltrs. (Domestically produced). State-of-Art Remote Monitoring Unit (RMU) with flow sensors & float sensors(Domestically produced). The project is aligned with various government missions such as Make in India, Skill India, Digital India, Drinking Water Mission and National Solar Mission etc.

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Way Forward Despite progress, providing safe drinking water to millions of India’s rural people still remains challenge. Being a dedicated community- based project, it can create an enabling environment for replicating this all over the Country. This will not only ensure good health of villagers, but also will educate them on use of green technology and benefits of drinking clean water. The green technology will also help ensuringclean environment. So in theCountry like Indiawhere aggressive working towards achieving ambitious solar targets is also on its way, we must exploit such projects with multiple benefits of protecting environment and also fulfilling the needs of our rural India.

Author

Mr. A.K. Jain

Managing Director Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments Limited

JANUARY 2019

technology

MerlinModules: A sneak peek of its premier technology! Solar module has seen immense developments in power output, efficiency, interconnection, etc. in the recent years. However the heavy weight of solar panel primitively due to the glass and Aluminium frame (used in it) limited its use on many roofs. Replacing these materials was a tough as it challenged the reliability, ruggedness and aesthetic appeal of a PV module. This is when flexible (and frameless) modules came into picture. As the name suggest flexible modules are those which can (almost) be installed on any shape and/or size of mounting surface. These modules tend to fulfil almost all the customizable requirement. With the world adding almost more than 200 GW of solar PV modules in the next 5 years, it is estimated that the share of flexible modules in such capacity addition would be around 3 to 5%. One reason that can be attributed to this is the widespread adaptation of PV modules and increased energy demand of consumer. This quantifies the usage of solar PV flexible modules for many customized applications (such as on car sheds/ports, transportations, remote mobile applications, residential roofs with special conditions). Merlin (Figure 1) is one of its kind flexible modules available in the market. While there has been a lot of buzz in the market, very less is actually known about the module. This blog hence aims to educate its readers on the technical aspects and advantages of using Merlin modules.

Conventional solar cells have fingers and busbarswhich are used for current collection. The cells in Merlin module use patented manufacturing process & design (7 patents in US with 53 total patents pending worldwide)to encapsulate its cells. Known as the â&#x20AC;&#x153;gridâ&#x20AC;?, the mesh type front grid has 20 busbars which are optimally designed to ensure maximum light falls on the solar cells. Overall the entire grid has around 1,200 current collection points which are way more than the normal solar cell. These busbars in the front grid are interconnected with each other. This enables that the current is collected efficiently even in case of micro crack or a crack in the solar cell.The rear grid in Merlin cell in addition to carrier collection, also ensures that the entire assembly is held together (without damaging the solar cell) when bent giving the module its flexible nature (to an extent).The grid uses almost half the silver while comparing it to the normal busbar cell. Additionally, the extension of front grid (circled in red inFigure 1) is used as an interconnect between the cells.Hence, utilizes maximum possible area in a module.

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Difference between Merlin (left) and conventional (right) solar cells

The next and the most important property of Merlin module is its reliability. The flexible module has been tested under various conditions, climates & orientations and in all the tests, they have been found to operate at a level much above the normal. One of the test was to test the flexibility of the Merlin grid and cell. For this, a module was made and bent. The Electro Luminance (EL) image and power output before and after the test was recorded. As expected, the module was found to be perfectly intact and there was almost no loss in power output even after extended testing.

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technology The merlin modules on the other hand could be made up with any number of cells depending on customerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s power requirement. The cells in this module can also be arranged according to the requirement and space availably of the end consumer i.e. say a module of 24 cells can be made by 4 x 6 cell or 6 x 4 cell or even in 12 x 2 cell configuration.Such customized panels are of use mainly in northern and western countries where (specifically 2 x 12 & 2 x 10) modules fit exactly into the size of their roof without compromising the roofâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s purpose (to allow easy drifting of snow during winter). Flexibility test of Merlin module (left) and EL image of the module (right)

The figures below compares the testing result of Merlin module to the primitive modules. Figure 4 shows the test result of 1500 Pa mechanical loading test subsequently followed by humidity freeze test. Figure 5 shows the test result of transportation test where modules were mounted on a transport vehicle for a specified distance. Figure 6 shows the test result of thermal cycling after 1,000 cycles. It was found that the Merlin module almost outperforms the standard module in almost all the standard tests depicting the rugged nature of Merlin modules.

Modules subjected to 1500 Pa load test and Humidity Freeze test (Source: Team Merlin, Waaree Energies)

Modules subjected to Transportation test (Source: Team Merlin, Waaree Energies)

The Figure below depicts (few of) the various configurations available for a typical PV plant.Installing such power plant requires a lot of steps such as levelling the rooftop ground, drilling, digging, piling, bolting, welding, etc. before the solar modules are actually installed. This process may take about 1~3 months of time and its equivalent man-hours & adequate capital before the power plant is up and running. Compared to such perplexing process, the installation of the entire Merlinmodules hardly takes any time & capital. As evident from below, the Merlin modules have a special tape which is already fixed on the backside of the module. At the site, the installer/ end consumer only has to peel the tape such that the module can be stuck on to the rooftop/ industrial sheds without any hassle and/or extra material. If required, these modules can also be bolted, riveted, screwed over the rooftop. This technology enables the entire plant to be almost weightless and thus making the end consumer relaxed about the load bearing capacity of its roof.

Various possible orientation of a rooftop plant (Source: Google images)

An example of peel and stick Merlin module

Award received by Waaree energies for installation of flexible module

Modules subjected to Thermal Cycle test (Source: Team Merlin, Waaree Energies)

The conventional solar module (normally) comes in two standard offering i.e. 60 cell and 72 cell which has cell configuration of 10x 6cell & 12 x 6 cell. The size of these modules is(approximately) 1650 mm x 990 mm & 1960 mm x 990 mm respectively.

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Let us all pledge to make solar energy the primary source of energy in the near future.

Mr. Sunil Rathi Director- Sales and Marketing Waaree Energies ltd

JANUARY 2019

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electric vehicle

Evs and Solar as a supporting source of power What is an EV? EV stands for electric vehicle. A fully electric EV runs on a rechargeable battery that powers an electric motor. An EV does not need any petrol or diesel. It has no clutch, gears, spark plugs and emits no exhaust. There are only around 20 moving parts in an electric engine compared to nearly 2000 in an ICE (internal combustion engine). This results in very low maintenance compared to a fossil fuel powered vehicle. Recently there has been much hype around EVs what with the Indian government pledging to replace all petrol and diesel cars with EVs by 2030. Though it is an ambitious plan, getting the supporting infrastructure up and running will be a major challenge. Besides, one more aspect and that too a very important one is whether the switch over to EVs is really serving the purpose for which they were basically put on the roads? Yes, we are discussing about whether the switch over to EVs will actually make a difference in emissions, whether it will help in reducing air pollution? It will definitely help in reducing India’s oil import bill to a great extent but is an electric vehicle as green as it is supposed to be? Well, the answer lies in the fact that an EV will only be as green as the electricity it runs on. For instance, lets take the example of a country like Norway. It’s EVs are the cleanest in the world, as 98% of its electricity is sourced from hydropower, a form of renewable energy. 64% of India’s electricity is produced by means of conventional sources like coal, diesel etc., 2% from nuclear and 34% from renewable sources. Out of 34% of renewables, the share of solar consists of 6.9%. Large- and small-scale hydro, wind and biomass make up for the rest.

JANUARY 2019

With only a small share of power sourcing coming from renewables, and electrification of mobility gathering steam in the near future, the potential impact of EVs on electricity cannot be ruled out. What will happen when the share of EVs gradually increases in the future? Will it serve the purpose of a clean energy revolution if the EVs will be charged by electricity generated through conventional forms? Solar is the only answer which will justify the zero-emission purpose of embracing EVs. Why particularly solar and not wind or other renewables? Solar PV technology is the only

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electric vehicle

form of renewable which can be heavily decentralized or dispersed by way of installing small scale solar power plants. A dispersed energy system consisting of a small-scale power plant will put the power source closer to the end user, reducing transmission and distribution inefficiencies and most importantly relieving the impact of extra loading on the grid. It will offer dual benefits of reducing emissions by adopting EVs as a means of transport and reducing fossil fuel use, thereby increasing eco-efficiency.

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With the gradually decreasing prices of solar and new breakthroughs in PV technology coupled with better and more effective storage systems with improved efficiencies and decreasing costs, we will be witnessing a huge disruption in the automobile industry. Solar will be the perfect matching partner for EVs and the future is bright for an EV market integrated with Solar PV. Article courtesy: Goldi Solar Pvt Ltd.

JANUARY 2019

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

In Exclusive Talk With Mr.SUNIL SINNARKAR EQ: How much inverters have you supplied India till now, what is the target/expectation in 20182019

SS : We have started our journey in last few years with incorporation of Ksolare in 2012 & till date supplied more than 80MW inverter to India. Our target is 200MW inverter installation for India market in 2020, Presently we have the production capacity of approximately 0.5 MW per day.

EQ: Please share your road maps – pricing technology etc. MANAGING DIRECTOR KSOLARE

SS: Ksolare is having highly technical ,Experience & professionals having over 15 yearsof experience in power electronics with work hand-on experience from international companies worldwide , Our products have been technicaldeveloped with world leading design house integrating a combination of latest technology with simplicity special designed for Indian System Integrations & the ultimate uses & customers ,we have mapped the major problems cited by most of the EPC companied while addressing and designed with great consideration of Indian grid instability which caused major failures in GridInverters. Ksolare products have been designed by technology innovation to decreasing the inverter cost by considering the latest hardware & software Ksolare Inverters starts with 1Kw to 6.2KW in single phase and 5 KW to 80KW in three phase with customize solutions for MPPT range, Grid Voltage & Frequency range. Ksolare designed the inverters which gives VALUE FOR MONEY, our products are considered as Indian product integrated with innovative ideas & features.

EQ: What is the impact of BIS for Inverter ?

SS: BIS is good for India, but there are two major challenges for SME or MSME sectors to get the BIS. BIS accredited

JANUARY 2019

- lab is not yet 100% implemented forthe certification requires as per IEC & second issue is the price which is extraordinary as comparers to IEC certifications which presently being charged, for exampleto test one inverters as per IEC 62116 under BIS is Rs. 4Lacs, so to get all the tests as per IEC under BIS would be very high & not possible for SME’s to go for it, so our request is to give some concessions for SME’s sector or charge the fees as per earlier IEC norms. EQ: World Market Scenario including China and its impact on pricing and availability of Inverters in 2018-2019. Expected Pricing & Availability in 2019?

SS: Recently Chinese market for solar inverters had fallen due to subsidy, most of the small Chinese companies had to closed because of financial problems, & other big companies were dumping the products in India atlow prices, it seems it will continue in next quarter. Most of the companies are labeling their inverters from China due to low price.

EQ: Currently 10GW + Solar Projects are in the offing, what’s your plan to Capture this opportunity.

SS: Ksolare is gearing up under MAKE IN INDIA initiative as we are funding 200 Million INR for production to meet the demand.

EQ: What according to you is the current opportunities, biggest challenges, in Indian Solar Market.

SS: For us the biggest opportunity is our product is Indian, MADE IN INDIA,SALES & SERVICE BY INDIAN. The biggest challenge is the low-cost Chinese Inverters with throw away technology.

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW EQ: Expectations from Indian Government Budget next year ?

SS : With Indian Government initiative to promote solar had graduallyincreasing the demand in recent years and has opportunity for Ksolare. With full range of inverters backed up my very efficient & professional for after sales service our product down time is less than 24 hours & our service team had recorded the highest acknowledgements form the customers for the fasted solution as compares with other inverters Traders & manufacturers. The biggest challenges are the inverters imported from China with low prices, as these products are been developed for European markets where temperature , dust & Grid fluctuations are very low as compared to Indian conditions so most of the inverters miserably failed in Indian market creating bad impact for inverters market & most of the Chinese companies give box replacementas they do not have the technicians for card level repairs ,where as we give component level /card level servicing to our customers & also trained the system Integrators for fault finding with transparency in our circuit diagram as we believe in transparency in business .

EQ: Aggressive Bidding despite of many challenges enlisted above, what is your view/ opinion.

SS: For String Inverters Many international inverter companies enter to India PV market and competition becomes more aggressivethan before. the Inverter high quality low price and good after service is more important factors for all costumers. Ksolaredeveloped the product as per Indianstandards...

EQ: The recent aggressive bidding by various developers keeping solar tariffs in the price range of RS 2.44-3.3 per kwh in various solar tenders . What is your view on pressures resources and challenges (materials, manpower, execution, Gridconnection ) etc.

SS: The profits are shrinking low and only mass production and innovation technique will help to withstand the price competitions with MAKE IN INDIA plan. As per new policy by govt of India it is now compulsory to certain percent of Indian make product this will help Indian manufacturer to compete.

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EQ: Present some noteworthy projects, case studies of solar plants built using solar inverters.

SS : Case study 1: We have supplier earlier inverters as per the standard specifications for AC out put window - phase to Neutral as 170 to 270VAC , but we have observed that in rural areas the voltages were pretty low to export the power , so our R&D had developed the system where is tone can change the parameters which are user friendly from 145 V to 295V AC, this had not only solved the major issues but also given extra generation to the user. Case study 2. : In Gujrat & Rajasthan we have supplied the inverters where the ambient temperature exceeds over 45 to 48 degree where all most all the inverters failed as the inverters device junction temperatureisabout 130 degree so the inverters goes in derating mode , we have chosen the SPDPWMwihVINCOTECHswitching device encapusued with radiators for extra cooling ,this has resulted us to use our Inverters at 60 degree also . Case Study 3. In recent SKY project 14 inverters were installed parallelly and there was no load and the distance for each inverters was above 500mters , so during the peak hours their was resonance and due to which inverter were going on sleep mode , so our R& D team with in 24 hour remotely vis WIFI /GPRS found the solution and upgraded the inverters & now it’s working ok & generating more energy. Case study 4: All the inverters have the rebooting time of 60 sec to 360 seconds, this reduces the overall generation, so our research team have developed the system & reduces the rebooting time to 20 seconds. We have many more case studies ……

EQ: Please describe brief about your company, directors, investors, its vision and mission. SS: Ksolare was established in the 2012 and with all the Directors and the shareholders are technically qualified a & from power industries Our Vision if to give VALUE FOR THEMONEY to Indiancustomers as these inverters are not to be thrownafter five year it can be repaired areserviced, so we claim our inverters design life of over 20 yrs. and it can be serviced by any Indian -

technician withour training Ksolare team mission is to become no. one Brand in manufacturing, providing ease in servicing and Price befitsto our Indian customers & to provide employment to Indian youth.

EQ: What is the size of your company in terms of manufacturing capacities, growth chart, future expansion plans, revenues, shipment, ASPs, financial figures. SS: Presently we have semi-automatic line for assembly, production, heat run test, Endurance test & Final Quality Control and Quality Assurance followed by Packing & them it goes to our warehouse for stores and then we shipped it either by our private or well renowned logistic transporter to our Dealers, Distributors, Or EPC companies. In next financial year we will be shifting to our new factory where we have planned 100% automation for testing with production capacity of 2MW per day.

EQ: How much is your R&D budget as % of your sales / Profits. SS: Weallocate 2 to 3% of budget to R&D because we know this will help us to grow & meet our targets.

EQ: Technology road map, Upcoming game changes technologies. SS: Ksolare is continuously developing and upgrading the inverters in sync with technology, we are the one of first company to deploy 3 level in single phase,as it helps in reducing the leakage current and lowering the THD we are ae to archive THD <1.7% which is great achievement for the industry.

EQ: Kindly comment energy storage as a game changer its technology,cost trends, etc. SS: Considering the Indian grid conditions energy storage demand is increasing,due to cost factor and maintenance efforts this is not getting up… Looking at the present scenario and emerging market of energy storage;Ksolare team have developed the storage grid inverters which will be available in next financial years, this we call it as bidirectional inverters which will have although functions of Off-Grid, ONGrid, Hybrid, Sync with DG with remote monitoring for the calibration.

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW EQ: What are the Top 5 markets for your company in past, present and future.

EQ: Do you also bring financing solutions for your customers?

EQ: Explain various guarantees, warrantees, insurance, certificate, test results, performance reports of your interviews.

EQ: Please share information of some new orders in hand.

SS: India, Bangladesh, Srilanka, South African market.

SS: We give standard 5 year’s warranty from 1KW to 45KW and above 50KW String Inverters we also extend 10 years warranty, All our Inverters have all third party certificates needed for India as per MNRE guidelines including IEC2109, IEC61683, IEC61727, IEC61683, IEC50530 from NISE, SGS etc. All these tests are carried out under harsh conditions, which make sure the application in harsh environment like high temperature and humidity in India.

EQ: Kindly highlight your product, technology & company USPs, distinctive advantages etc. SS: Our inverters are having Extremely low THD (<1.7%) with undistorted sine wave with powerful TEXAS DSP as compared to other which is over 3%. High MPPT Dynamic Efficiency (99.99%) as compared to other which 97~99%. Ksolare inverter is having Fast Anti-Islanding response time (0.9ms) as compared to other which 1~5 Sec. Ksolare inverters is with Wide Output AC Voltage Range (145V ~295V ) as compared to other which is (176V~276V) Fan less technology, All models with Type-III SPD with GDT protections at DC and AC side for high spikes against lightening and surge, Type-2 SPD’s are available with few selected models. Robust AC/DC, EMI and RFI filters with protections like ELCB, RCCB, OV/UV, Overload and Short Circuit protection User defined Grid parameters for LVRT/HVRT as per Grid conditions

SS: Not yet as we only provide String inverters& Bidirectional Inverters systems to customers as of now

SS: Recently we have supplied 15MW in SECI projects, 30MW in GEDA projects, 20MW in SKY & 30MW from Indian EPC companies’projects,weare proud to say that till today we do not have any single major failure due to product quality or its workmanship.

EQ: What are trends in new manufacturing technology equipment, material processes innovations etc.

SS: Presently we have semi-automatic line for assembly,production, heat run test, Endurance test & Final Quality Control and Quality Assurance followed by Packing & them it goes to our warehouse for stores and then we shipped it either by our private or well renowned logistic transporter to our Dealers, Distributors, Or EPC companies. In next financial year we will be shifting to our new factory where we are planned 100% automation fortesting. We have very strong SCM team for procurement of the components, we have committed to use only reputed components and do not want to compromise on qualities as there are cheaper material are available which results in failures after 2 or 3 years of operations, For example, we use Vincotech IGBT from Germany, We use dual Texas DSP’s, We use TDK-Epcos, Vishay, Faratronics, Nichicon Capacitors, Sensors form Tamura, Relays form Panasonic orZettler,DC switches from Santon Germany, so one get VALUE FOR MONEY when any customer consider Ksolare brand. Our product design life is over 25 Years.

EQ: What’s your commitment towards the solar sector in India.

SS: Ksolare working on MAKE IN INDIA as per our Prime Minister Vision & to give o give maximum employments to Indian’s. Ksolare Vision is to become first leading Indian company to serve our Indian customers.

EQ: What will be the cost, technology trends in solar inverters.

RMU with Wi-Fi / GPRS to monitor all AC/DC parameters through our cloud server on PC and Mobile Apps.

SS: As mentioned earlier the Chinese market is driving the prices so we must compete with them, but now the trend is changing most of the Indian buyers are considering & promotingIndian companies. With some innovation techniques considering Indian environment & climatic conditions in our products we were able to achieve more generation that most of the Chinese companies.

Over 80MW successful, trouble free installations without any interruption due to major failures.

EQ: EQ What is the remote monitoring you provide.

Full Graphical Big Mimic Display (85X60mm) as compared to others with single Line Display(16x2) above 6KW.

Most of our products components with internationally renowned companies (from Japan, Germany & India) 24X7 Service back-up with component level repairing facility with highly professional technical engineers. Ksolare Inverters derating starts from 52 degrees till 60 degrees as compared to others which stops at 52 degrees. Ksolare 3rd Gen products can provide 0.5 % extra generation. Our inverters ca be installed at record breaking time which helps to reduce the overall commissioning time, Typically or 50KW inverter will take 22min. for complete installation.

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SS: Ksolare have developed the Remote monitoring with cloudbased system & our server is based in India, We give three options for remote monitoring: WIFI- one can configure it with local wifi router. GPRS- IOT based monitoring with SIM card. ETHERNET: if you have LAN you can connect it with Ethernet device. HOTSPOT: if you want to monitor it on mobile phones you can create internal hotspot and monitor the performance of the inverters in 50~100mts. Range for our EPC clients we provide admin account to monitor their clients in one screen, so they can view the current status of power plant, Faults conditions (Brownout /Blackout/ Isolation/ Leakage resistance/ AC/DC voltage current, frequencies, OVER /Under current etc.

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

In Exclusive Talk With Mr.MEHUL SHARMA EQ: How much Inverters have you supplied to India till now, what is the target/expectation in 2018-2019

DIRECTOR SALES INDIA TBEA

MS : TBEA Xián Electric Technology Co. Ltd. have been exploring India Market from more than 5 years now and have served almost all major clients namely ACME, Renew Power, KEC International, OPG Energy, KC Solar, Adani, BHEL, L&T, Enrich Energy, Maheshwari Mines, Rays power expert, Rays Power Infra, Avaada, Azure Power, etc. TBEA Xián Electric Technology Co. Ltd., has always been praised about the product quality offered along with providing of after sales service, keeping customer first mindset helping company grow fruitfully in the solar energy sector. The big customer base have fruitfully awarded TBEA Xián Electric technology Co. Ltd. to gain more than 2GW Inverter Supply in India and further counting.

EQ: Please share your Road Maps – Pricing, Technology etc. MS: TBEA Xián Electric Technology Co. Ltd., is a part of TBEA group, and inherits the engineering & manufacturing excellence of 70 years’ experience having a professional R&D team which mainly formed by Doctors & Masters. Firmly focusing on the development of photovoltaic grid connected control equipment, the company works under a concept of environment-friendly, reliability and efficiency. And now, the company has established R&D Centers and GW production bases in Xi’an and Hami, whose annual capacity is able to be beyond 10GW. Focusing on Indian Solar market requirements, TBEA has launched 1500V 3.75MW & 5MW inverters into its product basket for 1000V & 1500V inverters with capacity 500kW to 5MW (Central Inverter). TBEA Xián is one of the enterprises which has mastered a number of core

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technology independent research and development in PV grid inverter field. The company now has accomplished the development of the full range of the 3kW-5000kW grid-connected inverters, and the products have passed the authoritative industry certification such as CQC, TUV, VDE, CE, G59, BDEW, SAA, UL, and LVRT. This promises the assurance of best quality productions keeping the product quality standards up to the mark and reliable.

EQ: Currently 10GW + Solar Projects are in the offing, Whats your plan to Capture this opportunity.

MS: India being second largest solar market globally after China. TBEA have always focused on product quality and customer services being fruitfully awarded and have more than 2GW Inverters Supplied in India. Focusing on Indian Solar market requirements, TBEA has launched 1500V 3.75MW & 5MW inverters into its product basket having product range 1000V & 1500V inverters with capacity 500kW to 5MW (Central Inverter). Thus, keeping inverter solutions up-to-date with market scenario & technology drag, TBEA have plans to support maximum number of solar giants in India.

EQ: Aggressive Bidding despite of many challenges enlisted above, what is your view/opinion.

MS: Overall cost & technology trends in solar inverters is a drag in market from 1000V solutions to 1500V solutions and due to this technology drag the cost lowers down by almost 10-12% in inverters & 0.5-2% in overall project cost. And Indian Solar Industry have witnessed some really aggressive biddings in recent past, so the biggest challenge is to meet the decreasing Bids going as low as Rs 2.44 per kWh.

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

EQ: Kindly enlighten our readers on the performance of your Inverters in India in various geographic locations, customer feedback,.

MS : TBEA Xián Electric Technology Co. Ltd. have served all-round the solar industry by associating with almost all major key players Big & Small in the market namely ACME, RENEW, AZURE, AVAADA, ADANI, OPG, BHEL, Rays Power Infra, Rays Power Expert, KEC, L&T, ENRICH, KC Solar etc contributing to a total of 2GW+ supply record in India. ACME alone counts approx. 900MW of supply for their several projects in Andhra Pradesh, Uttarkhand, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Punjab, etc. Azure have been served with 1500V Outdoor solutions which successfully commissioned & running at their 10MW site in Kadapa (Andhra Pradesh), OPG 62MW in Karnataka, L&T 150MW in Karnataka, BHEL 20MW in West Bengal, Rays Power Infra 100MW in Karnataka, KEC 5MW in Himachal Pradesh, Rays Power Expert 50MW in Rajasthan, and still counting. Overall performance of inverters are remarkable leading to reliability over the brand & technology of TBEA Xián Electric Technology Co. Ltd.

EQ: Present some noteworthy projects, case studies of solar plants built using your solar Inverters.

MS: i. ACME 900MW of supply for their several projects in Andhra Pradesh, Uttarkhand, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Punjab, etc. with 1000V Solution. ii. Azure have been served with 1500V Outdoor solutions which successfully commissioned & running at their 10MW site in Kadapa (Andhra Pradesh), iii. OPG 62MW in Karnataka with 1000V Solution. iv. L&T 150MW in Karnataka with 1000V Solution. v. BHEL 20MW in West Bengal with 1000V Solution. vi. Rays Power Infra 100MW in Karnataka with 1000V Solution. vii. KEC 5MW in Himachal Pradesh with 1000V Solution. viii. Rays Power Expert 50MW in Rajasthan with 1000V Solution.

EQ: Please describe in brief about your company and its product offerings.

MS: TBEA Xián Electric Technology Co. Ltd., is one of the global leaders in Solar Inverter manufacturing having its Global Headquarters in Xián, China. Company is a part of TBEA group, and inherits the engineering & manufacturing excellence of 70 years’ experience having a professional R&D team. India being second largest solar market globally after China. TBEA have always focused on product quality and customer services being fruitfully awarded and have

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more than 2GW Inverters Supplied in India. TBEA Xián Electric Technology Co. Ltd. have a wide range of Solar Inverter Solutions of Central Inverters comprising with 1000V & 1500V solutions. TBEA Product basket have below mentioned solutions: 1000V 500kW Central Inverter 1000V 630kW Central Inverter 1000V 1000kW Central Inverter 1000V/1500V 1250kW Central Inverter 1000V/1500V 2500kW Central Inverter 1000V/1500V 3750kW Central Inverter 1000V/1500V 5000kW Central Inverter

EQ: What is the size of your company in terms of manufacturing capacities.

MS: TBEA Xián Electric Technology Co. Ltd., is a part of TBEA group, and inherits the engineering & manufacturing excellence of 70 years’ experience having a professional R&D team which mainly formed by Doctors & Masters. Firmly focusing on the development of photovoltaic grid connected control equipment, the company works under a concept of environment-friendly, reliability and efficiency. And now, the company has established R&D Centers and GW production bases in Xi’an and Hami, whose annual capacity is able to be beyond 10GW.

EQ: What are your plans for India, your view on the GOI target of 100GW Solar Power by 2022.

MS: India has become the world’s largest market for new renewable energy auctions and the secondlargest destination for attracting clean energy investments, according to the latest Climatescope 2018 report by BloombergNEF. India being one of the biggest solar market globally provide an open sky of opportunities to Solar developers investing their money. . TBEA has always focused on product quality and customer services being fruitfully awarded and have more than 2GW Inverters Supplied in India. Focusing on Indian Solar market requirements, TBEA has launched 1500V 3.75MW & 5MW inverters into its product basket having product range 1000V & 1500V inverters with capacity 500kW to 5MW (Central Inverter). As of July 2018, India has an installed solar capacity of 23.12 GW, according to MNRE. They also claim to have planned a detailed trajectory so as to meet the target of 100 GW by 2022. Projects of around 10 GW are under implementation and tenders for an additional 24.4 GW have been issued. The country is on track to comfortably achieve the target of 100 GW of solar capacity by 2022, as claimed by MNRE. Also, there is a drag of technology from 1000V to 1500V solutions and TBEA is well prepared with solutions, along with its R&D team dedicatedly working for Indian Solar Market requirements.

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

In Exclusive Talk With Mr.Sanjeev Aggarwal

EQ: What is your perspective on the overall industry? What is the latest disruption in the solar industry as of now?

SA : Overall there is a big shift happening in the industry towards renewables. Technology is driving this shift and making renewables more affordable. With the pace at which technology is evolving and solar is penetrating the market, there could be a time when it will start replacing the grid line connections. Time has come for the customers to make choices. It is now in the hands of people to choose the best source of electricity which is economically viable and environment-friendly for them.

EQ: You recently bid for MP governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s auction of 35 MW rooftop solar capacity along with many big players. Can you share the plan to develop the capacity won in the auction? FOUNDER & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AMPLUS

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SA: Out of 35 MW, we have been awarded 11 MW. There was good competition in the tender and the experience was also good because it was one of the rare government bids which were properly structured. Participation in a bid is based on perception and what people think about the structuring of the project. As a developer, if I perceive my risks to be lower in a certain project and I have complete information, I will be willing to quote the best price. They have allowed us 6-9 months for development of the project and we will complete the allocated capacity in the given timelines.technology independent research and development in PV grid inverter field. The company now has accomplished the development of the full range of the 3kW-5000kW grid-connected inverters, and the products have passed the authoritative industry certification such as CQC, TUV, VDE, CE, G59, BDEW, SAA, UL, and LVRT. This promises the assurance of best quality productions keeping the product quality standards up to the mark and reliable.

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

EQ: You also have Electricity Trading license. Could you explain what are the larger plans from it?

SA: A trading license is a unique activity through which we can provide electricity to multiple customers. As of now, we are focusing on our internal plants but going forward we would like to see trading developing as a separate activity. We are trading around 200 Mw of solar energy from our own plants. Going ahead, trading activity will depend on the people who want to sell their electricity through our network. They may be people who have projects but lack access to the market which we can provide.

EQ: How much of a dampener is the imposition of safeguard duty of 25 per cent imposed on imports and how do you see its implementation in the current market scenario which, investors claim, is already difficult?

SA: Nothing is going to change much. There will only be a short-term impact. Solar power prices are down to the extent that they are lower than the grid tariffs. It is reasonably cheaper for the commercial customers that we work with. We estimate that it will push up cost of generation by 30 to 40 paise. One year back the developers were bidding at Rs 3.50 and the consumers were happy. Now, if the base price is Rs 2.60 and with the impact of safeguard if the price goes up to Rs 3 per kWh, I think the customers should be satisfied. Duty imposition is just a psychological barrier. Is safeguard duty really serving the purpose? Should we really try to stop Chinese imports in the country? What will be the benefit for the consumers? People will be paying higher tariff due to safeguard duty year after year. If you do a very simple calculation of this you can imagine the larger picture. A one MW plant generates 16 lakh units a year. As a result of 25 per cent safeguard duty, on every unit people are asked to pay 20 to 40 paise higher depending on the project size. This means just because of the safeguard duty, Rs 3 lakh is paid higher every year by the customer on a 25-year horizon on every MW. If the government really wants to encourage domestic manufacturing, instead of levying duty they should give them a direct manufacturing subsidy. Why do we have to stop the imports of a commodity that is oversupplied globally?

EQ: Amplus recently announced plans to set up 400 MW solar capacity in UP. What is the timeline for the commissioning of the projects?

SA: In the first phase, we are planning to build up to 150-200 Mw capacity in UP. Our plan is to commission 70 Mw in the next six months and then 100 Mw in 6-9 months after that. This is a plan for the next 12 -18 months considering how the demand looks like. We visualize Amplus to grow significantly, mainly in the area

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of distributed solar power where both rooftop and open access models remain as the largest segment for us. In the next 6 to 9 months, we have a plan to commission solar projects of around 200-300 Mw capacity with an investment of around Rs 1,200 to 1,400 crore.

EQ: Are you planning to venture into any new areas of business? SA: We have defined our goal to work in the distributed solar energy space. We are actually looking into the battery storage side. Renewables and storage together will start making a lot of sense, particularly in the distributed scenario. The other thing that we want to actively look at is the electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

EQ: Can you share some details of the plan on the storage side?

SA: We are at the planning stage as of now. We have done 3-4 projects. This includes a project at a toll plaza at NH-24 which is of 100 Kilowatt capacity of solar and 100 kW batteries. We did another project in Chhattisgarh which is an off-grid application of storage. The third project is in Maharashtra which is again an off-grid application installed in a jungle. Off-grid is highly useful in areas where you cannot reach in a normal scenario and you require emergency energy which makes a lot of sense. A lot of large companies use big UPS sets so they require batteries and that is an opportunity for us. If the government starts saying that during the peak time customers will be charged more, things will change. In order to balance the energy consumed from the renewable, distribution companies would charge more during evening hours when solar is not available. This again will be an opportunity for us from the storage perspective.

EQ: How do you visualize the overall renewable energy market growth over the next few years? What will be the main areas of opportunity for companies? SA: It is early right now but in the future, as prices come down, the opportunity will be fairly large because then you will become independent from the grid. The challenges on the policy side today are mainly because of the lack of network spread and banking. In future, every household will be like a PROSUMER (producer + consumer). They will produce energy for themselves to consume and sell the rest. That is why distribution companies have to change their mindset. They cannot restrict the customers for a very long time. Technology is changing so fast that it will find its way through.

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opinion

Solar Power Developers Say Safeguard Duty Has Put Projects At Risk Solar power developers warned that projects could turn unviable as they can’t pass on additional levy on imported panels to distribution companies despite the central regulator allowing it. Generation companies want to pass on the additional cost to consumers to offset the impact of 25 percent safeguard duty imposed by the government on July 30 to protect local manufacturing.

A developer has to increase power tariff to set off the increase in cost due to the duty, said Shashi Shekhar, vice chairman at Acme Solar. “But utilities are not willing to buy power at a higher tariff.” India imports roughly 90 percent of the solar panels from Malaysia and China, which had helped developers quote record-low tariffs. Higher costs now threaten Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s target of reaching 100 gigawatts of solar energy by 2022.

Future Unsure The imposition of safeguard duty has delayed financial closure for solar projects. “Unless we get a certainty for a pass-through from the state governments, how will we approach banks for financing the project,” Shekhar said. “Therefore, developers are not participating in solar tenders.” The Solar Energy Corporation of India had to scrap a 750 megawatts tender in Rajasthan after the utilities weren’t willing to agree for a tariff beyond Rs 2.44 per unit, Shekhar said, adding that two tenders were also cancelled because of a higher tariff in Gujarat. Acme Solar approached the power regulator to seek a pass-through for Reva and Bhadla solar tenders. “We had filed the petition on Nov. 2 and are yet to get a date for a hearing,” said Shekhar. The company won the contract for developing 200 megawatts at the Bhadla solar project at Rs 2.44 a unit and it has so far invested Rs 980 crore in setting up the plant, according to Shekhar.

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-While the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission allows a pass-through, developers said state-level regulators have still not asked distribution companies to do so.

The Ministry of Power in August asked the power regulator to allow pass-through of higher costs due to any change in levies. The central regulator, however, is yet ask state regulators to allow that, Amit Gupta, director, legal and corporate affairs, at Vikram Solar, told BloombergQuint over the phone. Without states issuing directions to increase tariff, developers face a time-consuming and complex regulatory process to pass on additional costs under change in law in power purchase agreement, he said.

Tariff Cap The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, according to reports by the Economic Times and Mint, asked the Solar Energy Corporation of India cap the tariff at Rs 2.5 and Rs 2.68 a unit for developers using locally made and imported solar panels, respectively. The higher cap was to factor in the impact of safeguard duty. The ministry reportedly arrived at the limits after the recent 2,000-megawatt NTPC Ltd. got bids for Rs 2.59-2.60 a unit, the Economic Times reported. A ceiling of Rs 2.68 a unit is unviable, said Sunil Jain, the chief executive officer of Hero Future Energies. “Keeping in view factors like rupee depreciation, interest rates going up and safeguard duty, the impact on tariff is around 38-39 paise a unit,” he said. “A tariff below Rs 2.95 a unit is unviable for a developer.” Source: BloombergQuint

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research

2H 2018 LCOE Update Every half year, BloombergNEF runs its Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) analysis, a worldwide assessment of the cost competitiveness of different power generating and energy storage technologies – excluding subsidies. These are the key, high-level results: Solar and/or wind are now the cheapest new source of generation in all major economies, except Japan. This includes China and India, where not long ago coal was king. In India, best-in-class solar and wind plants are now half the cost of new coal plants.

BNEF’s 2H 2018 LCOE analysis covers nearly 7,000 projects across 20 technologies and 46 countries globally. All updated technology costs and performance inputs are available on BloombergNEF’s digital platforms.

The utility-scale PV market in China has contracted by more than a third in 2018 because of policy revisions in that country. This in turn has created a global wave of cheap equipment that has driven the benchmark global levelized cost of new PV (non-tracking) down to $60/MWh in 2H 2018, a 13% drop from the first semester of 2018. Our benchmark global levelized cost for onshore wind sits at $52/MWh, down 6% from our 1H 2018 analysis. This is on the back of cheaper turbines and a stronger U.S. dollar. Onshore wind is now as cheap as $27/MWh in India and Texas, without subsidy. In most locations in the U.S. today, wind outcompetes combined-cycle gas plants (CCGT) supplied by cheap shale gas as a source of new bulk generation. If the gas price rises above $3/MMBtu, our analysis suggests that new and existing CCGT are going to run the risk of becoming rapidly undercut by new solar and wind. This means fewer run-hours and a stronger case for flexible technologies such as gas peaker plants and batteries that do well at lower utilization (capacity factor). Higher interest rates in China and the U.S. over the past two years have put upward pressure on financing costs for PV and wind, but these have been dwarfed by lower equipment costs.

Source: BloombergNEF. Note: For thermal plants, the range captures a variety of capacity factors and costs and includes a carbon price in the case of coal and gas. For renewable-plus-storage systems, we assume a four-hour lithiumion battery storage and the range captures the diversity of capacity factors in the country, as well as different capacity ratios between the storage and the generating asset (25%-100%). All LCOEs are unsubsidized.

In Asia-Pacific, more expensive gas imports mean that new-build combined-cycle gas plants with a levelized cost of $70-117/MWh continue to be less competitive than new coal-fired power at $59-81/MWh. This remains a major hurdle for reducing the carbon intensity of electricity generation in this part of the world. Short-duration batteries are today the cheapest source of new fast-response and peaking capacity in all major economies except the U.S., where cheap gas gives peaker gas plants an edge. As electric vehicle manufacturing ramps-up, battery costs are set to drop another 66% by 2030, according to our analysis. This, in turn, means cheaper battery storage for the power sector, lowering the cost of peak power and flexible capacity to levels never reached before by conventional fossil-fuel peaking plants. Batteries co-located with PV or wind are becoming more common. Our analysis suggests that new-build solar and wind paired with four-hour battery storage systems can already be cost competitive, without subsidy, as a source of dispatchable generation compared with new coal and new gas plants in Australia and India.

Source: BloombergNEF. Note: GRE: Gas reciprocating engine, OCGT: Open-cycle gas turbine. For gas peakers, the range captures a variety of capacity factors and costs. It includes a carbon price. For storage we assume lithium-ion batteries operating at a daily cycle, the range captures a diversity of financing costs and realized charging costs. All levelized costs are unsubsidized

Source: Bloomberg

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research

Five key questions clients ask about our energy demand outlook to 2050 Our Global Energy Perspective summarizes our energy demand outlook to 2050. Based on client conversations we’ve had since its release, we’re answering five key questions that give more insight into our forecast for the energy transition. We published our Global Energy Perspective 2018 Reference Case, which summarizes our fundamental energy demand outlook and shows our projections for how the energy transition will unfold over the next few decades. Since its release, we’ve spoken to clients around the world about the implications of these expected trends and how they should navigate this energy transition. Based on these discussions, we’re answering five key questions that provider greater insight into our forecast. Q.1: Why do you expect global energy demand growth to slow down, and do you believe it is a structural phenomenon? Ans. For the first time in recent history, global energy demand growth is decelerating to below 1% p.a. until 2030 and to around 0.5% p.a. from 2030-2050. In many economies, this is driven by shifts from products to services and improvements in energy intensity from more energy-efficient fuels and technologies. At an aggregate level, we see that, while global energy demand continues to grow, the rate of growth decelerates rapidly. Following several decades of primary energy demand rising in excess of 2% p.a., we expect the world will experience a period of subdued growth—0.9% p.a. from 2015-30 and just 0.5% p.a. from 203050. If we look at the drivers underlying these developments, we see that the continued growth is driven by population and economic expansion, particularly by the rising middle class in emerging economies. At the same time, there are two structural developments that will cause this growth to decelerate. First, there will be a shift in the structure of the economy in many countries, with ageing populations and an overall transition from industrial to service-based. We have seen this development already in many high-income countries and now anticipate the same in, for instance, China. Second, there will be strong improvements in energy intensity because of shifts towards more energy-efficient fuels and technologies.

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Examples include electrification, where electricity is used as a substitute for conventional fuels, and better energy efficiency in the equipment and machines used by households and the industrial sector. From a geographical perspective, we expect the energy demand in OECD countries (which make up 40% of the global figure in 2015) to decline at an accelerated rate and China (22% of the 2015 total) to experience a peak in demand around 2030. The regions experiencing the strongest growth, notably Africa and India, are starting from a low base (each at ~6% of the 2015 total) but will exceed Europe’s demand level by 2050.

Q.2: Why do you expect oil demand to peak, even as you expect the population and GDP per capita to increase? Ans. We expect oil demand to peak in 2037 at around 110 mmb/d. The key drivers behind the inflection point are related to road transport and include improving fuel efficiency, the rising share of electric vehicles, and passenger car market saturation in high-income economies. We see petroleum liquids demand peaking nearly 180 years after Edwin Drake struck oil by Titusville and spurred explosive growth of the industry, which has since revolutionized transport and numerous other branches of the economy. Currently, we are on the verge of another revolution, with electric vehicles making bold inroads into passenger and even commercial road transport. The stakes are high, as road transportation not only makes up roughly 45% of total petroleum liquids demand but it also consumes the products with the highest margins (e.g., gasoline, diesel). In our view, electric vehicles will steadily win market share from ICE vehicles in the coming decades, as further technology developments make them more economically attractive and government policies put restrictions on use and sales of ICE vehicles, while encouraging zero-emission vehicles. With the parallel transition towards cleaner power generation, we expect the push for electric vehicles only to increase. In the short term, efficiency improvements and peaking car ownership in developed countries will play a key role behind the peak liquids demand for road transport, which we expect to see in 2025—a decade before overall peak oil demand itself.

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research Q.3: How do you expect the power sector to deal with demand variations and supply intermittency given your assumptions of rapid growth of solar and wind power generation? Ans.: The role of solar and wind power will increase substantially towards 2050, though the extent to which it grows will vary considerably between countries. In Germany, for instance, their combined share in the generation mix will exceed 60%. This will require investments in energy storage technology development and transmission infrastructure, as well as appropriate updates to system regulation. Over the past years, the costs of renewables has reduced to a fraction of its former levels. Solar PV has experienced an 85% cost decline in the past decade. The impact of falling renewables cost has been further strengthened by equally strong decline in battery cost. There is a possibility of battery pack cost below $100/kWh by 2020. Would you like to learn more about Energy Insights? Consequently, we expect the power sector to deal with intermittencies in three ways: First, battery storage will play a large role. Particularly in geographies with optimal solar conditions, we believe that the combination of battery storage and solar PV will become cost-competitive in the next 10-15 years—depending on local conditions (see the graph below). Second, some fossil fuel capacity—especially flexible gas capacity—will remain online to provide stability. The utilization of that capacity will inevitably drop, accelerated by renewables and storage becoming costcompetitive faster (see graph below). For some time, covering more expensive peak capacity will still provide sufficient revenues to keep the capacity online. At some point, capacity markets might become necessary (where they do not exist already) to maintain stability. In addition, we expect grid interconnectivity to increase, which will further support the balancing of intermittent loads. Further down the road, alternative flexibility instruments such as hydrogen storage could play an increasing role, which will be particularly important for seasonal storage. However, the magnitude and speed of such developments remain uncertain as technologies need to advance further and associated costs need to decrease to make these solutions economic.

Q.4: Why don’t you anticipate a more rapid decline in CO2 emissions as low-carbon technologies, such as renewables and EVs, become more widespread? Ans.: We expect to see an unprecedented period of stabilization in energy-related CO2 emissions over the next 30 years. However, the forecast emission level remains far from a 2-degree trajectory. The main reason for this is continued reliance on coal in a number of large emerging economies, particularly for power generation. We see energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions plateauing at around 3234 GT CO2 equivalent in the coming decades. We expect the peak and the subsequent decline to be driven by rising electrification and the decarbonization of the power generation mix. However, the projected trajectory remains far above the 2-degrees pathway laid out in the IEA Sustainable Development Scenario. To reach this goal, emissions would need to decline to ~25 GT CO2 equivalent in 2030 and ~13 GT CO2 equivalent by 2050. There are two main reasons for this. The primary reason is the ongoing growth of global populations and GDP, which drives higher overall energy demand and a continued reliance on fossil fuels in certain industries and geographies. The secondary reason relates to lock-in effects

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despite a relatively rapid shift towards electric vehicles for new sales and renewables for new power generation capacity. Although, for instance, new renewable capacity will be cheaper than new fossil generation in most places in the world within a matter of years, in many places existing fossil fuel plants will continue to be cheaper than new renewables for a long time. So, although more than 80 percent of power capacity additions until 2050 will be renewable, it will take a while before existing capacity is completely phased out. These lock-in effects also exist for ICE vehicles and industrial equipment. The implication is that overall fossil fuel use flattens from 2035 onwards, but in our current perspective we do not see a drastic decline.

Q.5: Why is fossil fuel demand in the chemical industry growing so quickly compared to the rest of the economy? Ans.: The chemical industry’s fossil fuel consumption will drive nearly half of the demand growth for oil and more than a quarter of gas demand growth until 2030. The reason is its high correlation with global GDP growth and a limited number of cost-competitive alternatives for petrochemical-based feedstocks. The chemical industry will be the key driver of oil and gas demand growth over the next few decades. Despite representing only 13 percent of oil and 9 percent of gas consumption in 2015, it will contribute 46 percent and 28 percent of demand growth for these two fuels respectively until 2030. We expect the chemical sector to maintain this trend in 2030-50, even as global oil demand peaks in 2037. Steady hydrocarbon demand growth from the chemical sector is explained by the strong correlation between chemicals demand and growth in GDP and population, as well as the large share of oil and gas that is used as feedstock rather than as energy (~80 percent of oil and gas in chemicals is used as feedstock). Anticipated energy efficiency improvements will mostly reduce the fossil fuel demand that is not feedstock.

To understand the future of fossil fuels in the chemicals sector, three trends will be important to watch. 1. Demand for chemical products, especially plastics There is increasing regulatory pressure on the use of plastics. We expect a decoupling of virgin plastic consumption—which uses the majority of liquids-based feedstock—and GDP growth due to reduced use and substitution after 2030

2. Plastics recycling

There is currently a lot of attention on circularity and recycling. However, to increase the recycling uptake of hard-to-recycle plastics, improvements in consumer waste collection, technological breakthroughs, and industry scaling are still necessary

3. Biobased alternatives Demand for renewable feedstock might lead to uptake in selected production routes. Sensitivity to these trends is high. In a disruptive scenario where we assume a doubling for each of these trends versus our reference case, chemical oil demand would peak by 2030, and demand in 2050 ends up ~25 percent lower than in our reference case. About the author(s) Jasper van de Staaij, Bram Smeets, and Ole Rolser are associate partners in the Amsterdam office, James Eddy is a partner in the London office, Namit Sharma is a partner in the Amsterdam office, and Christer Tryggestad is a senior partner in the Oslo office.

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A case for accelerated deployment of renewable energy capacity in India India is positioned to deliver strong economic growth over the coming decade. To achieve this, a wider electrification programme coupled with accelerated deployment of renewable energy capacity is needed.

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India is transforming its national electricity system by incorporating deflationary renewables. In doing so, it is improving energy security, reducing reliance on imported fossil fuels, addressing air pollution, and lowering emissions intensity. The timing of this transformation is spot on.India’s economy is set to double by 2030. Even with improved energy efficiency and lower grid losses, an investment exceeding US$500 billion is required to deliver a near 70 per cent expansion in total electricity generation. Clearly the challenges are huge, but so are the opportunities.To meet India’s energy needs and ensure continued economic growth, The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) asserts a wider electrification programme coupled with an accelerated deployment of renewable energy capacity is needed. In this article, we explore trends in electricity demand growth, capacity installations and plant closures, and we examine the financial sector’s capacity to fund development and the resulting energy mix changes.

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Current trends in electricity demand growth India’s electricity production in the six months to date (April-September 2018) is up 6.2 per cent compared to the same period last year. This reflects an increase of 29 per cent for variable renewable generation and 4 per cent for thermal/hydro/nuclear. Assuming a 0.8 per cent reduction in grid losses, this implies electricity demand growth of 6.7 per cent year-on-year, consistent with GDP growth of 7.0-7.5 per cent. In the seven months to October 2018, India’s net thermal power plant (TPP) capacity has fallen 1.1 Gigawatts (GW). Although 10 years in the planning, the addition of 600 megawatts (MW) at the Mahan Super Thermal Power Project in Madhya Pradesh was more than offset by the closure of 1,799 MW of capacity, principally at two other plants: 705 MW at the Badarpur Thermal Power Station in NCT of Delhi and 420 MW at the Ropar Coal Power Station in Punjab. Echoing this trend, India’snewest power sector blueprint – the National Electricity Plan of 2018 (NEP 2018) – forecasts thermal power plant closures of 4 GW to 5 GW annually.

account 7 GW of new plants commissioned and 4 GW per annum of end-of-life closures). Additionally, and despite significant planning, very few new hydro and nuclear power projects are likely to be commissioned due to legal, financial and land acquisition delays. In fact, IEEFA assumes just 1 GW to 2 GW per annum.

India’s renewable energy sector has increasing momentum India’s renewable energy momentum entering 2018 has been staggeringly positive. Tariffs of below Rs 3/ kWh are still being registered relatively consistently. While up 10 per cent to 20 per cent on the record lows of Rs 2.43-2.44/ kWh observed in the past two years, this still puts renewable energy as the lowest cost source of new electricity supply for India. Further, an understated positive in the renewables industry is the price of solar modules which have fallen some 30 per cent over 2018 to US25-27c/w, thereby offsetting the price inflation of import duties.

Increased financial risk of thermal power plants A few headwinds, however, have taken some becoming stranded assets of the wind out of the renewable sector. India’s thermal power plant (TPP) sector is suffering clear stranded asset risk. This is making access to capital increasingly problematic. Public sector company NTPC is the only Indian power producer still able to regularly access capital for new TPP development. Their latest corporate presentation estimates TPP commissioning at 4.2 GW in 2018-19 and 5.2 GW in 2019-20. It would be fair, however, to expect delays with NTPC announcing cancellations/delays on 13 GW of TPP development to date in 2018-19. IEEFA notes that even NTPC may be finding it difficult to justify investment in greenfield TPP developments, particularly when coupled with constraints including fuel access, the high tariffs required, and the long delays being experienced. Despite Global Coal Plant Tracker estimating 103 GW of thermal power plants in the development pipeline (including 39 GW under construction), the cancellation of 26 GW during the first half of 2018 illustrates that most remaining projects are stalled. The impact of stalled projects is far reaching.Right now, US$100 billion of distressed TPP loans are clogging the Indian banking system. Further, the travails at Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) suggests a real solution is yet to be found. Stranded assets commonly reflect a myriad of problems, including outdated technologies, legal issues around land acquisition, a geographical misfit between proposed plant locations and the distance coal supplies must travel, and unviable tariffs. TPP proposals are generally requiring tariffs at increasingly high rates. As a result, Indian ‘discoms’ — distribution companies that purchase electricity and supply it to consumers — will not accept them given renewable energy tariffs are the low-cost solution. For instance, renewables are now widely available at below Rs 3/kWh (US$40/MWh), with zero indexation for 25 years. Similarly, other TPP proposals are pegging tariffs at rates deemed too low, making financing impossible. Either way, banks are unwilling to finance unviable TPP projects.Reviewing the evidence, IEEFA forecasts net thermal power plant installations of just 3 GW annually over 2018-19 and 2019-20 (taking into

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Grid integration of variable renewable energy is an increasing challenge. This could be partly addressed by an accelerated deployment of distributed residential, commercial and industrial rooftop solar. Another key avenue would be to minimise land acquisition impacts and maximise affordable distributed energy solutions (e.g. solar irrigation pumps) in the agricultural sector. Some of the other issues affecting the renewable industry include increasing access difficulties, a 25 per cent solar module import duty, GST uncertainties, the depreciation of the currency, higher interest rates and policy uncertainty. Tariff guarantees by the Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd (SECI) and NTPC are largely circumventing the lack of bankability of discoms for now, but the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) reforms must be completed to resolve this critical headwind.

Source: Central Electricity Authority, MNRE, IEEFA Estimates Note: The renewable estimates include large scale hydro and excludes ‘behind the meter’ rooftop solar

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IEEFA now expects 13 GW of net renewable capacity addition in 201819, a marginal decline on 2017-18. Despite this, with a building pipeline of project tenders currently sitting at 26 GW, momentum into 2019-20 is looking a lot stronger.

Reviewing the energy mix In the four years to 2015-16, India over-built 20 GW annually of net new TPP. This was well ahead of demand growth, and meant that coal utilisation rates fell to a decade low of 56.7 per cent in 2016/17. With current underinvestment in new generation capacity, India is now seeing an uptick in coal utilisation rates to an estimated 58.8 per cent in 2018-19

Source: Central Electricity Authority, MNRE, IEEFA Estimates

In the near term, a higher utilisation rate will improve capacity efficiency through the better use of existing investments, in turn reducing financial system stress. Further, with Coal India’s production up 10.4% yearon-year year-to-date to October 2018, coal availability should progressively improve. However, combined with an increased system reliance on variable renewable energy, a rising utilisation rate of coal reduces system capacity surplus and if sustained, will reduce India’s grid stability. While the TPP pipeline is notionally large, most of these proposals are stale, stuck in litigation, using outdated technology, and poorly located relative to fuel supply.Indian banks are unlikely to provide yet more capital to proceed, leaving most as stranded assets. For the few that do, construction timelines of 3-4 years are likely. In comparison, there are 26 GW of renewable energy projects already in India’s project development pipeline. A renewable energy project development only takes about 12 months, making such projects readily scalable in the near term to meet India’s ongoing demand growth. Domestic and international capital and finance are both available for new renewable projects at prices that give adequate returns to investors, while also bringing down system generation costs and backing in long-term wholesale electricity system deflation.

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It is clear that grid connectivity needs to be further enhanced. An acceleration of existing plans for transmission and distribution investment by Power Grid Corp of India, Adani Transmission, et al, is also required, but well in hand.

Accelerating deployment of renewable energy capacity needed India is positioned to deliver sustained, strong economic growth over the coming decade.To achieve this, a wider electrification programme coupled with an accelerated deployment of renewable energy capacity is needed to power this growth, without the unsustainable constraint of ever higher fossil fuel imports. Grid stability needs to be enhanced, a requirement made harder by the variable nature of renewable energy. Finally, a more progressive peaking power supply price signal is needed to appropriately reward flexible supply, be that fast ramping coal power, gas peakers, batteries, pumped hydro storage and demand response management. The increased extreme weather events and rising pollution health costs in India make this strategy both economically sensible, more sustainable, and necessary. Source: energy.economictimes.indiatimes

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UBON launches its first solar power bank in India Tech accessory brand UBON has recently announced the launch of its first solar power bank — SL – 6067. This power bank is priced at Rs 1,299 and comes with a one year warranty.

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t comes in a white and black colour scheme and is available with all leading stores and e-commerce websites in India. The solar power bank comes with a built-in 6000mah high capacity lithium battery equipped with a compact solar panel, which could recharge the battery under the sunlight. UBON claims that the solar panel conversion rate is 18-20 per cent. It has a single output port and attached is a wire which is with a V8 socket and a USB dock.

JANUARY 2019

It provides an output at around 10W and has a plastic body with aluminium shells with a micro USB input port for charging the power bank. It also comes with additional safety features such as overvoltage protection, flame retardant case, dual safety circuits, over temperature protection, overcharge and discharge protection. It also has a blue charging indicator light which shows how much battery is left.

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Mono PERC Modules - Latest technological invention in making of Solar PV Modules When we think about solar panels, likelihood is we predict of roofs or big arrays of glimmering panels within the desert. However, advances in solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies over the last decade have created doable more smaller-scale applications for everyday living, on a lot of personal level. Solar technologies have evolved lots since they 1st created their debut within the 1960s. Whereas antecedently solar photovoltaic (PV) were seen as a factor of the longer term, technological breakthroughs have positioned the business for large growth. But here in smart world, we discuss about PERC technology.

What is PERC technology and why we need to know about it? Scientists and engineers are perpetually innovating to supply the foremost bleeding-edge technology in solar PV systems to improve up energy generation. One amongst the foremost recent introductions to extend solar battery potency has been the event of a replacement process of advanced Passivated Emitter and Rear Contact (PERC) technology.The initiation of PERC technology has increased solar efficiency, which converts to faster ROI and more savings for end users.

A bit more about technologyâ&#x20AC;Ś PERC cell technology defines a solar cell architecture that differs from the standard cell architecture that has been in use for three decades and that is usually featured in all photovoltaic manuals.In this technological era, that combines rear wafer surface passivation and local rear contacts to maximize light capture, mono PERC solar modules are paving the way for dramatically increased PV system efficiency. While conventional mono-crystalline cells have an emitter layer on the front side and a standard back surface field, the PERC cells, on the other hand, employ two different features not found in conventional cells. These include applying a passivation film on the rear surface of the cell and using chemicals to create tiny pockets in the film that absorb more light. These additional features create a three-part advantage:

A significant reduction in electron recombination. Greater absorption of light. Higher internal reflectivity.

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Combined, these three benefits boost energy generation in solar PERC cells compared to conventional ones. Sanelite Solar Pvt Ltd, a leading manufacturer of highquality solar photovoltaic modules, has launched its highefficiency mono PERC modules recently. Exceeding all trade standards and certifications, our mono-crystalline PERC star panels square measure out there in white (higher power) and all-black (sleeker aesthetic) PV back sheet variants. It comes with a standard quality & 25-years of warranty, which guarantees maximum performance throughout the lifetime of the PV system.Features of Our Mono PERC Solar Modules are:

High-performance mono PERC cell structure. Exceptional performance under low-light and high temperature conditions. Higher energy density per square foot than conventional mono-crystalline cells.

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