EQ Magazine Sept 2020 Edition by EQ Int'l Solar Media Group

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I N T E R N AT I O N A L

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CONT EN T

VOLUME 12 Issue #09

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

featured

Adani Green Energy ties up with 10 global banks for construction projects

36 featured

Rajasthan HC temporarily stays Adani’s 1500 MW solar power project near Pokhran

52 featured

How Dharnai, A Village In Bihar Became India’s First Solar Powered Village?

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.

SEPTEMBER- 2020

interview

Ms. lisa zhang

interview

Mr. vikas jain

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featured Telangana assembly passes resolution against Electricity (Amendment) Bill

featured India to have 220 GW renewable energy capacity by 2022: PM

featured

Adani Green becomes first Adani group company to cross Rs 1-trillion m-cap

K’tka CM distributes solar operated carts to select beneficiaries

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Better than expected: PR of this project is 3.8% higher than initial simulation

46 featured

India’s Very Own Waterless Solar Panel Cleaning Robot

interview

Mr. Sunil Badesra

Interviews Pg. 16-25 interview

Mr. Lyren Liu

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EQ News Pg. 26-50

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SEPTEMBER- 2020

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EQ INT’L MAGAZINE EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD 2019-2020

SUNIL JAIN

T.R. KISHOR NAIR

CEO & ED

Chief Operating Of cer

Hero Future Energies Pvt Ltd

Avaada Energy Pvt Ltd

GAURAV SOOD Chief Executive Of cer

KAPIL MAHESHWARI Chief Executive Of cer

Sprng Energy Pvt Ltd

Hinduja Renewables Energy Pvt Ltd

JAMAL WADI

TANYA SINGHAL

Chief Executive Of cer

Founder and Director

Alfanar Global Development

SolarArise

SAIF DHORAJIWALA MANISH CHOURASIA Managing Director

Co Founder & ED

Fourth Partner Energy

Tata Cleantech Capital

RAVINDER KHANNA

RANJIT GUPTA

Chief Executive Of cer Solar Power Business

Azure Power

CEO

SANDEEP ADANI

KETAN MEHTA

Vice President

Managing Director Rays Power Infra

Adani Green Energy

Aditya Birla Group.

SIDHARATH KAPUR

SHAJI JOHN

PRASHANT SINHA

CEO

Chief - Solar Initiatives

Chief Risk Of cer

ACME Solar

Larsen & Toubro Ltd

NARESH MANSUKHANI PINAKI BHATTACHARYYA CEO

Juniper Green Energy

GIRISH GELLI Director

Mytrah Energy Ltd

Chief Executive Of cer AMP Energy

MAYANK BANSAL President Strategy and Operations ReNew Power

SANJAY AGGARWAL Managing Director Fortum India

L&T Infra Finance

AMIT JAIN

KARAN MITROO

Managing Director

Partner

Engie Solar

Luthra & Luthra

RAJNESH TRIVEDI EX. Vice President Yes Bank

PRANAV R. MEHTA Chairman

Global Solar Council & NSEFI

India’s Oldest & Leading Solar Media Group www.EQMAGPRO.com BIMAL JINDAL Vice President - Procurement SB Energy (SoftBank Group)

SEPTEMBER- 2020

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featured

Mahindra & Mahindra terminates share purchase pact with CLP India

Mahindra & Mahindra said it has terminated share purchase agreement with CLP India to sell the entire stake held by its step down arm Mahindra Renewables in Neo Solren Pvt Ltd (NSPL) for Rs 104.67 crore.

n February this year, M&M had announced that its wholly-owned arm Mahindra Renewables would sell its entire stake in three subsidiaries to CLP India, a part of Hong Kong-based CLP Group, for nearly Rs 340 crore. “Given that the closing has not occurred within the agreed timeframes, the share purchase agreement which was entered into for sale of 93,15,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each of NSPL held by MRPL to CLP India stands terminated on 10th September 2020,” M&M said in a regulatory filing.

Mahindra Renewables Pvt Ltd (MRPL) had agreed to sell its entire stake aggregating 100 per cent of the paid-up equity share capital in Cleansolar Renewable Energy Pvt Ltd (CREPL), Divine Solren Pvt Ltd (DSPL) and Neo Solren Pvt Ltd (NSPL), wholly-owned subsidiaries of MRPL, to CLP India Pvt Ltd (CLP). As per the agreement CLP was to buy 93,15,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each of NSPL at a price of Rs 112.37 per share aggregating to Rs 104.67 crore. The closure of the transaction, originally expected to be completed by May 31, 2020, was extended till September in view of difficulties due to the coronavirus pandemic. The filing, however, did not mention anything about the other two transactions.

Gujarat: Govt announces e-vehicle subsidy

School (class IX and above) and college students who buy electric two-wheelers will get a government subsidy of Rs 12,000, while rickshaw drivers and self-employed persons who buy electric three-wheelers will get a subsidy of Rs 48,000 per vehicle.

he state government announced a new scheme for promotion of electric vehicles (two and three wheelers) on the occasion of completion of eleven years of the climate change department in Gujarat. School (class IX and above) and college students who buy electric two-wheelers will get a government subsidy of Rs 12,000, while rickshaw drivers and self-employed persons who buy electric three-wheelers will get a subsidy of Rs 48,000 per vehicle. CM Vijay Rupani said the state government has set a target of having 10,000 electric two-wheelers and 5,000 electric three-wheelers on the roads in the current fiscal year. He added that the government has resolved to promote e-mobility as a measure to curb pollution caused by fossil fuels. The government also announced that ten public charging stations will be set up in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot to facilitate charging of e-vehicles. A sum of Rs 50 lakh has been earmarked for setting up these charging stations. The event also marked the virtual signing of 10 MoUs between the department of climate change and institutes such as IITs, IIMs, BISAG, Anand Agricultural University and other departments of the government such as GSRTC, Gujarat Gas, GUJCOST, GLPC, the chief town planner, GSTBM and Knowledge Consortium of Gujarat. A compendium titled, “Building a Climate Resilient Gujarat: A Decade of Climate Action and A Road Map for the Future” was also e-released by the CM.

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The collection is a compilation of various actions of the state government in addressing issues related to climate change, including promotion of renewable sources of energy like solar and wind energy. Officials said Gujarat is the leader in the residential solar rooftop power generation scheme, which has at a subsidized cost, installed solar rooftops at over 1.38 lakh houses in the state with an aggregate capacity of 513MW.

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featured

Adani Green Energy ties up with 10 global banks for construction projects Adani Green Energy said it has tied up with around 10 international banks to diversify construction finance portfolio for its ongoing and future projects. The company — which has a portfolio of 14 GW of operating, inconstruction and awarded wind and solar parks — is aiming to commission renewable capacity of 25 GW by 2025.

We have a very large construction pipeline that is ahead of us. Typically how we do our financing is that we take construction financing from Indian banks and once they are operational then we refinance the portfolio by raising international bond funding. “So, what we are doing going ahead is because of the size, scale and volume of projects we have ahead of us, in addition to the Indian banks we are also having about 10 odd international banks who are going to work with us for construction greenfield funding,” Adani Green Energy executive director Sagar Adani told reporters in a media analyst call.

owever, he did not disclose further details on the same. He said the move is a step towards diversifying its construction finance portfolio as well so that all projects are fully funded at the time of execution. Adani said the drawdown of the facility will be over by October and the projects to be executed till December 2021 will be completely funded. “This is going to be a revolving construction facility so as soon as the projects are commissioned they will be taken out from the international bond market and the facility will be made available for the next wave of assets coming on,” he added. On the progress of the acquisition of 205 MW of solar assets from Essel Group, Adani said, “It’s been a longer delay than we expected but we are closing it this quarter. We are only waiting for a few statutory approvals after which we will close it”.

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Last year, debt-ridden Essel Group, controlled by Subhash Chandra, had entered into an agreement with Adani Green Energy to sell its 205-MW operating solar assets at an enterprise value of Rs 1,300 crore. Adani Green Energy posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 21.75 crore for June quarter mainly on the back of higher revenues. The company had a net loss of Rs 97.44 crore in April-June 2019-20, it said. The total income rose to Rs 878.14 crore in April-June 2020-21 from Rs 675.23 crore in the same period last year.

SEPTEMBER- 2020

featured

India’s Very Own Waterless Solar Panel Cleaning Robot

Clean Future caught up with the director for Kapson Tekno Engineers, Pawan Kumaar to discuss their new offering, solar cleaning rollers that cleans the solar panels without water that enabled solar power producers save substantial amount of cleaning and maintenance costs. How does waterless solar panel cleaning works? The solar cleaning rollers are made of micro fiber stretchable cloth, which is scratch proof. The roller rotates in such a way that it gently removes the dust from the panel and slide down. Due to gravitational push dust will slides down and leave the panel clean without dust or stains.

How do you install and run the waterless solar panel cleaning system? Our solar cleaning rollers, iXC-12 robot travel on a track specially created on the mounting frame. Once these tracks are installed, they take care of uneven landscaping, uneven panel installations and gaps between the panels. After the placement of tracks, iXC-12 robot wheels are manually placed in the track and power is switched on. The cleaning operation can be started by a push button or by creating a time-based schedule. The schedule can be loaded remotely or through laptop at site or a pre-programming can be done. As the system is self-powered, this can be programmed to start whenever sun is on. Therefore, it can simultaneously do the cleaning and charging.

How safe is it to operate waterless solar panel cleaning system and how about scratches on PV panel? As described earlier that these solar cleaning rollers are made of micro fiber stretchable clothe which is scratch proof. So it is safe against scratches as well as it protects the Anti-Reflective Coating (ARC Coating) of the panels. On mechanical side as the weight of these robots is not dependent on the panels, therefore there is no chance that they can damage the panels in any condition.

What about the cost of operations and how does it compares to other systems including the water cleaning systems? The average requirement for cleaning an installation of 1 MW of solar panels with water is about 5,00,000 liters of water per year and it can go up even more depending on the climatic conditions of geography and if solar plant is located in harsh or dusty conditions, than the need for water goes up considerably more. Finding water in such conditions itself is a big challenge, so sourcing water from somewhere else becomes a logistical and infrastructure issue such as tanker, storage, hoses and pipes along with labor, which increases the cost of operations.

SEPTEMBER- 2020

Moreover cleaning with hard water damages the panels by scaling at the corners, which forms black spots. In addition, on other hand, cleaning with detergent and wipes destroy the ARC coating which in a way deflect the sunrays and reduce power generation. The average Operation & Maintenance (O&M) cost of water based cleaning system for 1 MW solar panels is around 25-35 Lakhs of rupees per year. Almost 80% cost goes towards cleaning and rest 20% goes towards maintenance of the system. However, if you look at the cost of running a waterless cleaning system for same size of 1 MW, a operator can easily recover its investments within 1.5 to 2 years. Even the average cost for maintenance does not exceed 2 Lakhs per year for 1 MW.

How many models of water less solar panel cleaning systems in your portfolio and what is their cleaning speed? Currently we have only one model, the iXC-12 robot in our product portfolio and but as the demand for various sizes grow we may introduce new models. The iXC-12 robot is able to clean around 1 meter of solar panels in one minute.

How is the water less solar panel cleaning system powered? When the batteries are fully charged- the minimum running time is 1.30 hrs. , but since side by side battery is also getting charged by connected solar system so it can run up to 4-5 hours in one session.

How often do water less solar panel cleaning system require maintenance? The system comes with a warranty of 2 and it can be extended for another 2 years as an extended warranty.

What is the typical life of an water less solar panel cleaning system? The minimum life of iXC-12 robot is 5 years.

What has been the response from the market so far and what is your install base? We are new to the market but so far we have received a encouraging response and we are targeting an install base of 100 MW in a year’s time.

What is the set up cost for their product and how does it compares with the water cleaning systems? A water based cleaning system for 1 MW solar panel plant will require around 25-35 Lac rupees of O&M cost in which almost 80% is the cost of cleaning. Whereas a waterless cleaning system for a similar installation has an average cost not exceeding 2L / year / MW. One should realize the ROI in 2 years time.

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featured

Greenko to invest around $1 billion in new battery storage business Greenko Energy Holdings aims to invest around $1 billion in a new battery storage business that also includes a plan to produce lithium-ion batteries in India for power grid-scale applications and electric vehicles (EV), said a person aware of the development.

he fresh capital for renewables 3.0 investment will be deployed by the Hyderabad-based company to acquire and develop lithium-ion battery technology, and for its manufacturing and application playbook. This comes against the backdrop of the single-largest foreign clean energy investment announcement in India made by Japan’s ORIX Corp. for $980 million in Greenko for a 17% stake. Sovereign funds GIC Holdings Pte. Ltd and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA)-backed Greenko’s pivot towards battery storage comes amid India readying its proposed ₹18,000-crore production-linked incentive package for battery storage manufacturing, Mint had reported earlier. India also plans to issue tenders for setting up Tesla-style gigafactories for cell and battery manufacturing. As China dominates the lithium-ion cell manufacturing, India wants to avoid a repeat of events with solar equipment manufacturing where China leveraged its first-mover advantage to capture the market. The value chain comprises processing of raw materials and manufacturing of separators, cathodes, electrolytes, anodes, cells, and battery storage packs. This assumes importance given India’s ambitious clean energy targets and the intermittent nature of electricity from clean energy sources. In such a situation, large grid-scale battery storages can help maintain spinning reserves to support round-the-clock demand for electricity.

“Greenko has made the transition into a clean technology and solutions platform from pure play energy supply through planned investments in global battery and deep tech companies with intellectual property and indigenization of technology and manufacturing of Li-on batteries for grid and mobility needs of India,” said the person cited above requesting anonymity.

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Greenko is reportedly in talks with Japan’s NEC Corporation to acquire Massachusetts-headquartered NEC Energy Solutions, which holds the intellectual property rights for megawatt-scale lithium-ion batteries. Queries emailed to a Greenko spokesperson remained unanswered. India plans to impose tariffs on imports of lithium-ion cells for as long as a decade and offer incentives to manufacturers such as 100% tax deduction on capex in the first year of operation under Section 35 AD, concessional financing options by giving companies deemed infrastructure status and waiver of minimum alternative tax. Globally, lithium-ion cell manufacturing is dominated by China, followed by the US, Thailand, Germany, and Sweden. Tensions along the India-China border have prompted India to expedite domestic manufacturing. India does not have enough lithium reserves and is thus trying to secure supplies. Meanwhile, Chinese state firms have procured lithium mine concessions in Bolivia, Argentina and Chile, which form the so-called lithium triangle.

SEPTEMBER- 2020

interview

Mr. Sunil Badesra Business Head Sungrow (India) Pvt. Ltd. 16Â

SEPTEMBER- 2020

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interview EQ: How much Inverters have you supplied to India till now, what is the target/expectation in 2020-2021?

SB: Sungrow has supplied more than 5.5 GW to India till now and we are expecting to add 1 GW more by end of this fiscal year.

EQ: Please share your Road Maps – Pricing, Technology etc?

SB: The pricing and technology go hand in hand to generate more value at an optimal cost from a solar project during its entire life. Sungrow has always been at the fore front to introduce the latest technological upgradations which set the industry norm. To name a few, i) 3.125 MW outdoor central inverter to design the largest block size of 12.5 MW, ii) offering the most powerful 1500V string inverter of 250kW as a first for the customers to reap substantial benefits with flexible design which have been followed later by the industry. There has been continued downward pressure on price as India is a price sensitive market. At the same time the quality, reliability, bankability, agile support also must be carefully evaluated against the appropriate price to get the maximum benefit while reducing the project risks substantially.

EQ: What are your views on BIS and other tariff barriers? SB: Any country specific standardization is always welcome to meet the specific requirement in that local climate and conditions. BIS on smaller capacity string inverters have been on the move with latest extension till end of this year. There is paucity of testing facilities at labs for higher capacity and central inverters, and technologies are changing at a rapid pace. With a new product being launched to market frequently, it would be better for the industry, if MNRE comes up with a long term roadmap for testing of these inverters in consultations with BIS, the labs and OEM. Since Sungrow is having a local factory of 3GW annual capacity, tariff barriers will have comparatively less impact on our business. At the same time, considering the present supply chain in India, minimum or nil import duty on major components would be a boost to the Made in India products to make them more competitive till we achieve a threshold volume of sufficient local content of high quality within India.

EQ: What are your views on Inverters – Make in India? SB: Make in India is a positive step for solar sector in India as we try to achieve a mammoth target in the next decade. Sungrow has already been supporting “Make in India” initiative since more than two years while supplying products locally as well as exporting to other markets. We are more enthused now to expand, if required, as demand grows in future and hence help to build an Aatmanirbhar Bharat in green energy.

EQ: Currently 10GW + Solar Projects are in the offing, Whats your plan to Capture this opportunity? SB: As mentioned earlier, we have already secured couple of big orders from the said pipeline. Sungrow is in constant engagements with all the major IPPs and other customers to offer its latest products in both Central and String inverter categories for their upcoming projects. We evaluate each project thoroughly to offer the best solution to achieve maximum and sustained ROI from the project.

EQ: What according to you is the current opportunities, biggest challenges, in Indian Solar Market ? SB: Solar market in India has a huge potential and with the recent thrust on Vocal for local, there is more opportunities for both Global and Indian manufacturers now to take a long-term view and invest in local manufacturing. In terms of challenges, Covid-19 is the most obvious one, which has paralyzed the execution of projects to a large extent and hence stalled the momentum. In addition to this, the financial strength of Discoms and some drastic steps by few states are also adding to the wobbliness of the sector. Similarly, occasional counter measures by state policies hinders the growth of rooftop solar market to some extent.

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EQ: Expectations from Indian Government Budget next year? SB: We would expect more incentives for local manufacturers to grow and scale up rapidly.

EQ: Kindly enlighten our readers on the performance of your Inverters in India in various geographic locations, customer feedback. SB: Sungrow’s first installations of Central and String inverters near Pokhran and Bhadla, Rajasthan respectively are running smoothly even after 5 years of operation. These are the testimonials of the quality and robustness of Sungrow’s inverters in harsh tropical climate. Further, our inverters are installed in all solar parks, on agricultural lands, at various industries where gaseous chemical substance are more. In addition, Sungrow inverters are spread across India performing ceaselessly from hot deserts of Rajasthan to snowy places of J&K, from rainy climate of Assam to hilly terrains of Uttarakhand.

EQ: Present some noteworthy projects, case studies of solar plants built using your solar Inverters. SB: Sungrow has supplied to many large scale projects of the top IPPs in India. Few among them are 400 MW project at Bhadla, 250 MW project at Pavagada, 250 MW project at Ananthapuramu etc. and we are having more than 25% share in India’s top three biggest solar parks. Further Sungrow is the No.1 supplier with more than 50% of the total share for the rooftop solar projects at various Railway stations in India. Other noteworthy supplies are to the leading players in e-Commerce, Automobile, Cement, Healthcare, Hospitality etc.

EQ: Please describe in brief about your company, its vision & mission. SB: "Sungrow" is the world's most bankable inverter brand with over 120 GW+ installations worldwide as of June 2020 and its products and services cover more than 120 countries. The company specializes in R&D, manufacturing, sales and service of solar energy, wind energy, energy storage, electric vehicles, and other new energy power supply equipment. Main products include PV inverters, wind converters, energy storage system, new energy automotive drive system, and floaters for floating PV power projects. Sungrow’s Mission: “Clean power for all” & Vision: “To be the global leader of clean power conversion technology”

EQ: What is the size of your company in terms of manufacturing capacities, growth chart, future expansion plans, revenues, shipments? SB: Sungrow has the largest manufacturing factory in the industry with annual production capacity of 50 GW. This includes a 3 GW local manufacturing unit in India with possible expansion in future as the market evolves. Sungrow’s total installations crossed 120GW by end of Jun 2020 across the globe. Sungrow’s financial displayed solid result in first half of 2020 with a huge growth on revenue, and strong competitiveness despite the impact of the pandemic. Specifically, the revenue increased by 55.57% year-on-year (YoY) to US$ 987.2 million in 1H 2020, while net income grew by 34.13% YoY to US$ 63.4 million, due to strong performance in Americas, Europe and China.

EQ: What are your plans for India, your view on the GOI target of 100GW Solar Power by 2022 ? SB: India is a large solar market with a target of 300 GW by 2030. Hence, Sungrow has a very strategic long-term plan for India market to remain an integral part of this almost ten-fold growth journey. In addition, our 3GW India factory has already been an essential element in our long-term plan to provide the cutting edge solutions to customers in India. As the solar project installations proliferates, we will also be expanding the factory capacityto meet the growing demand.

SEPTEMBER- 2020

interview Till date, 35GW have been installed in India and more than 30 GW are under various stages of execution. The impact of Covid-19 has dragged the capacity addition this year. However, with acceleration in next two years, India can reach close to the 100 GW target by 2022.

EQ: How much is your R&D budget as % of your sales / profits? SB: Innovation has been one of the key cornerstones for Sungrow to come up with the optimal Product-Market-Fit (PMF) offering. Hence Sungrow invests heavily in R&D to stay ahead of the curve to build the technologically advanced products to meet the multiple requirements from ROI to Project design, from compatibility with newer modules to grid friendliness etc. Sungrow has one of the largest R&D team in the industry with more than 40% of its total employees contributing their part to Research areas.

EQ: What are the top 5 markets for your company in the past, present and future? SB: Sungrow has presence in more than 120 countries after providing its solutions for more than two decades. At present all the largest solar markets such as China, Europe, US, India, South East Asia are top markets for us. We are also having significant presence in regions such as Latin America, Middle East and Australia.

EQ: Kindly comment of Energy Storage as a game changer, its technology, cost trend etc. SB: To address the challenge of intermittent supply of renewable energy, energy storage has become more vital than ever before. These assets can also offer a multitude of use cases consisting of frequency regulation and ancillary service. Particularly, the solar-plus-storage system needs to fully consider the management of batteries and PCS when dispatching the output, to improve the safety and ROI of the whole hybrid plant. So only an experienced company which excels at both energy storage and PV industry can integrate an efficient system through an intelligent EMS.

SEPTEMBER- 2020

Sungrow is among only few players which can offer complete all in one solution for such complex integrated requirements. When paired with renewable energy, the all-in-one system can meet requirements like frequency regulation, peak shaving, demand charge management, ancillary services. Flexible with DC-coupled or AC-coupled design, the solutions enable minimized cost, safe and reliable operation and competitive levels of profitability.

EQ: Kindly highlight your product, technology & company USP’s, distinctive advantages etc.

SB: Sungrow keeps pioneering on new innovations and is now offering comprehensive updated PV and energy storage solutions in India. The flagship products cover both utility-scale and rooftop segments., including the 1500V, 5 MW & 3.125MW outdoor central inverters, the world’s most powerful 1500V string inverter SG250HX, and prominent commercial PV portfolio ranging from 33kW to 110kW. Our C&I inverters have passed stringent local grid compliance requirements in various countries as required such as VDE 4110 & 4120 in Germany, Korean Standards (KS) and soon we will also have BIS certifications. In addition, Sungrow has many distinct advantages, few of them are as follow: 1. Sungrow is the only supplier which has 100% bankability track record for two straight years and holds the No.1 position as the most bankable brand as per BNEF. This clearly shows the trust and confidence by the lending institutions to give nonrecourse term loan for the large-scale projects anywhere across the globe. 2. Sungrow is the only company which has very focused approach with 100% of its business being into renewable industry. 3. It has the largest R&D team in the industry with more than 40% of its total employees in Research and Development division. 4. Sungrow has the highest production capacity of 50 GW per annum to develop cutting edge products in time to meet the rapidly growing solar energy demand. 5. Sungrow has the industry’sbiggest service team in India along with dedicated service warehouses, local repair & maintenance centers at key locations, and 3rd party service partners to provide high quality and timely support.

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Digital PV Solution for Optimal LCOE Higher Yields

Smart O&M

Safe & Reliable

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SEPTEMBER- 2020

19Â

interview

Ms. Lisa Zhang

Marketing Director Growatt New Energy Technology Co. Ltd. 20Â

SEPTEMBER- 2020

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interview EQ: How much Inverters have you supplied to India till now, what is the target/expectation in 2020-2021

LZ: As of August, our total shipments in the Indian market are close to 3GW

EQ: Please share your Road Maps – Pricing, Technology etc. LZ: Growatt is a new energy enterprise dedicated to the R&D and manufacturing of PV inverters including ongrid, offgrid and storage inverters, and user side smart energy management solutions as well. The power capacity of Growatt ongrid inverters ranges from 750W to 250 kW, meanwhile its offgrid and storage inverters cover a power range from 1 kW to 630 kW.

EQ: What are your views on BIS and other tariff barriers? LZ: Currently has no effect on us.

EQ: What are your views on Inverters – Make in India? LZ: The inverters currently on the market mainly come from China, Europe and the United States. China has the advantages of electronic components, which is conducive to the production of inverters.

EQ: World Market Scenerio including China and its impact on pricing and availability of inverters in2020-2021Expected Pricing & Availability in 2021 ? LZ: The inverters produced in China are much cheaper than those produced in Europe and America. The profit of inverters is very low and there is no room for downward adjustment.

EQ: Currently 10GW + Solar Projects are in the offing, Whats your plan to Capture this opportunity. LZ: We mainly sell our products to installers or traders in India. We provide quality products, technical support and localized services to help them get local projects.

EQ: What according to you is the current opportunities, biggest challenges, in Indian Solar Market? LZ: The biggest challenge at the moment is the impact of the new Covid-19 virus. India’s installation volume this year will be lower.

EQ: Expectations from Indian Government Budget next year ? LZ: Stay the same as this year.

EQ: What are your plans for Manufacturing set up in India, the opportunities and challenges in manufacturing in India? LZ: We have no plans to make in India.

EQ: Briefly describe the various technologies and its suitable applications such as Central Inverter, String, Micro Inverter, 1500V, Outdoor, Container solutions etc. LZ: In the past, we mainly produced string inverters, which were used in rooftop photovoltaic plant This year we also launched a 1500V power station for ground power plant.

EQ: Briefly describe the various technologies and its suitable applications such as Central Inverter, String, Micro Inverter, 1500V, Outdoor, Container solutions etc.

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

LZ: Inverters account for a small price in the entire photovoltaic system, and Chinese inverters are cheap and of good quality, and bidding has little impact on inverters.

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

LZ: Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana Customers’ evaluation of us is very good, the product quality is stable, the efficiency is very good, and it can bring good benefits to users.

EQ: Present some noteworthy projects, case studies of solar plants built using your solar Inverters. LZ: India-based NavalakhaTranslines chose Growatt’s string inverters for its 6 MW ground mounted plant in the Osmanabad district of Maharashtra.

EQ: Please describe in brief about your company, directors, promoters, investors, its vision & mission. LZ: Growatt is a new energy enterprise dedicated to the R&D and manufacturing of PV inverters including ongrid, offgrid and storage inverters, and user side smart energy management solutions as well. Our vision is to be the world's leading smart energy supplier.

EQ: What is the size of your company in terms of manufacturing capacities, growth chart, future expansion plans, revenues, shipments, ASP’s, financial figures?

LZ: We are building a new factory, which is expected to officially start in December this year, and will provide 20GW of production capacity per year.

EQ: What are your plans for India, your view on the GOI target of 100GW Solar Power by 2022 ? LZ: We think it is a bit difficult to reach the 100GW target in 2020, because this year's installation volume is affected by the epidemic and the tariff situation is still unclear

EQ: How much is your R&D budget as % of your sales / profits ? LZ: We will invest 10% of our annual operating income for R&D.

EQ: What are the top 5 markets for your company in the past, present and future? LZ: Now our 5 most important markets are Europe, Latin America, Australia, China, India These markets will still be our important markets in 3 years.

EQ: Kindly comment of Energy Storage as a game changer, its technology, cost trends etc. LZ: The biggest obstacle to energy storage is the price. The price of lithium batteries remains high. Currently, only the European, American and Australian markets are the only markets. Energy storage has developed well due to policy stimulus. Other countries currently do not have the conditions for large-scale development of energy storage.

LZ: In the past, we mainly produced string inverters, which were used in rooftop photovoltaic plant This year we also launched a 1500V power station for ground power plant.

LZ: No

EQ: Whats your commitment towards the solar sector in India?

EQ: What are the trends in new manufacturing technology equipment, materials, processes, innovations etc…

LZ: We will provide high-quality and stable products to ensure long-term benefits for users

EQ: What will be the cost, technology trends in solar inverters? LZ: The price of the inverter is now very low and the technology is very mature.

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

LZ: Inverter technology has been very mature. In recent years, technological changes have mainly been in housing materials and online operation and maintenance. The shell material is changed from metal material to lighter and more durable polymer material, and online fault judgment is more comprehensive.

SEPTEMBER- 2020

interview

Mr. Vikas Jain

Managing Director Insolation Energy Pvt. Ltd. 22Â

SEPTEMBER- 2020

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interview EQ: How much modules have you supplied to India till now, what is the target/expectation in 2020-2021?

VJ: We have supplied around 150MW so far in India and Projections for 20-21 are quite good, Keeping in mind the expansion plans we have in recent months. We are now supplying around 10MWPer Month.

EQ: What are the top 5 markets for your company in the past, present and future?

VJ: We are already exploring export opportunities and are in touch with few overseas clients for this. As of now we are focusing on the Domestic Market after capacity expansion, We are planning to enter into mid east Asia , Africa & selected European countries.

EQ: Please tell us your views about the Proposed SGD / BCD in India.

EQ: Technology road map in terms of 1500V , Double Glass, BiFacial Cells, PERC/PERT Technologies, HIT/HJT, IBC upcoming game changes technologies

EQ: Please tell us your views about the ALMM, BIS and other non-tariff barriers.

EQ: Explain various guarantees, warrantees, insurance, certifications, test results, performance report of your modules?

VJ: BCD to the extent of 40% is long awaited any figure below that won’t help still India Meets 80% of its Solar Demand from china if we have to be self reliant in Solar equipment then BCD is must.

VJ: BIS is already delayed it should had been much before but doing changes in standard too frequently will create confusion and Government should put a cap on Testing fee which is just too much.

EQ: Upcoming & Trending Opportunities with Bifacial , PERC, Wind-Solar Hybrid, Floating Solar etc.?

VJ: High watt Module are trending now Indian manufacturers have to gear up themselves for the changing Technologies worldwide.

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

VJ: We enjoy a large base of repeat customers and had installation all over India in all Geographic locations. We have received excellent feedback on the Generation.

EQ: What are the Module Price Guideline on module prices for next Q4-2020 and 2021?

VJ: Module Prices will bear a upward trend due to Robust Demand, SGD and increased cost of Raw materials.

EQ: Please describe in brief about your company, directors, promoters, investors, its vision & mission?

VJ: Insolation Energy, a state of the art manufacturing facility specializing in high efficiency PV Module located in Jaipur. We aim to be a 500cr company within 5years . Insolation Energy has been formed by the combined efforts of senior Industrialists Mr. Manish Gupta and Mr. Vikas Jain both the promoters are qualified engineers having experience in various streams for more than 20 years.

EQ: What is the size of your company in terms of manufacturing capacities, growth chart, future expansion plans, revenues, shipments, ASP’s, financial figures?

VJ: We have already doubled our manufacturing capacity this year we plan to new machinery for 200MW by next fiscal capable of manufacturing MBB high wattage Panels, Bifacials and twin Peak.

EQ: What are your plans for India, your view on the GOI target of 100GW Solar Power by 2022 ? VJ: We are a MSME unit and feel proud to be a Part of GOI solarising India mission and wish to supply latest technology panels to our Indian Developers.

EQ: What are your plans for Manufacturing set up in India, the opportunities and challenges in manufacturing in India? VJ: We are already under expansion and shall double our capacity by 2021 and a state of art new Module line is Planned for next year. Non- Availablity of all raw materials locally is the biggest challenge and the cheap imports.

EQ: Solar Trade Wars :What is Your View ? VJ: There is a trade war going on between domestic and imported modules and a conflict within between SEZ suppliers and DTA suppliers as SEZ suppliers are not paying duty on raw material though finished goods are supplied within the country. Other Industry is demanding a level playing field.

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VJ: 1500V Double Glass and PERC we are already doing. There is technology upgradation in solar manufacturing very fast we intend to make all these latest technology modules in our new plant.

VJ: 25years Performance warranty is a standard feature of solar Panel. There is lot of Expanse which has be incurred every year by Panel Manufacturers on certifications and testing Govt. should do something to regulate these charges.

EQ: Describe Some of the salient features of modules ? VJ: •Positive Power Tolerance up to 3Wp to reduce current mismatch loss in single string for ensuring better ROI •5 BB high efficiency cell with Improved Module Efficiency. •100% EL tested Pre & post Lamination ,Higher reliability •PID Resistant •Excellent energy generation in weak light •Highest Area efficiency in its Class •Unique Frame design with high mechanical strength •Compact Design ,efficient shipping ,easy handling •More than 30 In-House testing for better Quality product. Certifications:•ISO 9001 : 2015 & ISO 14001 : 2015 •IEC 61215:2015 -2nd Edition •IEC 61730-Ed.1 and IEC 61730-Ed.2 •IEC : 61701 •PID Testing IEC TS 62804-1 •MNRE Approved

EQ: Kindly highlight your product, technology & company USP’s, distinctive advantages etc. VJ: Insolation energy is having fully automatic& state of the art manufacturing unit spread in more than 65000 Sq. ft area with sophisticated machinery which delivers A-grade quality solar PV module that follows all the standard of IEC, MNRE, CE,ISO etc. We promote our products with the brand name “INA”. Our USP •Fully automatic line with least manual intervention and continuous automatic process. •Pre & Post Inline EL Tester. •Automatic Framing Machine for seamless framing. •AAA class inline Sun Simulator.

EQ: The quality system is followed in 4 sections in Insolation energy, what is it?

VJ: •Incoming Quality Inspection (IQC) •In process Quality Inspection (IPQC) •Final Quality Inspection (FQA) •Machine Validation INCOMING QUALITY INSPECTION We shall strive to enhance effectiveness of Quality Management System Through continuous improvement of our processes.

EQ: As per the rapidly changing technology, how do you ensure the technological upgradation of your products, machinery as well as staff ? Do you see the Indian market shifting from poly to mono modules in a big way in 2020?

VJ: We are upgrading & incorporating new equipments for technology upgradation .We have one of the best testing equipments for quality assurance and product upgradation. Along with this we regularly organize the Product and process Training for our staff by internal and external agencies . As with international trends the Indian market is also seeing a trend shift from poly to mono perc modules.

SEPTEMBER- 2020

interview

Mr. Lyren Liu

Vice President, Foxess 24Â

SEPTEMBER- 2020

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interview EQ: How much Inverters have you supplied to India till now, what is the target/expectation in 2020-2021?

LL: Our team have been working in solar inverter sector for 12 years, however, this brand is new to the market, having launched as recently as two months ago. Despite this, our long-termworking relationship with partners in India has already resulted in the supply of 5000 units, and we anticipate significant growth in 2020/21.

EQ: Please share your Road Maps – Pricing, Technology etc.

LL: We aim to manufacture the most reliable and cost-effective products for our clients. Our R&D team have been working in the inverter&storage sectors for 12 years and we have recently recruited more senior engineers from tier 1 companies, adding further strength to our industry leading R&D department. We have already made significant improvements in the areas of inverter efficiency and lifespan thanks to pioneering design features including a unique cooling system design. On pricing, our primary focus remains on quality and service. We would prefer to offer superior quality products and a strong local service network than join a price war with our competitors. By remaining inline with competitor pricing, we believe we can supply industryleading quality and service for no extra cost to the customer.

EQ: What are your views on BIS and other tariff barriers? LL: BIS has been pending too long time and finally everyone seems to have it with the price decrease. I remainpositive on tariff barriers because the market will always find a way to solve the issue and provide a balance that satisfies all parties.

EQ: What are your views on Inverters – Make in India? LL: It will happen in time and we anticipate that India will be a key global base for inverter manufacturing in the long term; but that process will take time, but there are clearly steps forward, and we are delighted to see our partners set up inverter manufacturing facilities in India. But this is a long process, Progressive process in the other words. We are happy to see our partners set up the inverter factory in India. What we are doing now is helping more partners/friends grow up together in India. Only if our partners getting bigger, we can be truly big company.

EQ: Currently 10GW + Solar Projects are in the offing, Whats your plan to Capture this opportunity. LL: We will continue to provide our partners with full support during this period, including promotional offers, as we recognize that this is a big opportunity for everyone and we want to ensure we grasp that opportunity with both hands. Ultimately, we will simply continue to focus on quality and service. By remaining committed to offering the best products and superior service, by doing the right things consistently, we believe those opportunities will come to us.

EQ: What according to you is the current opportunities, biggest challenges, in Indian Solar Market? LL: The are currently too many inverter companies in the market offering low-quality products at the lowest prices. It is a race to the bottom that is not healthy for the solar and storage sectors, and it is ultimately short-changing the consumer as they are receiving sub-standard products and poor service. At Fox we take a long term, strategic view, and believe that product quality and longevity is key to building a sustainable business and establishing a brand presence.

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EQ: Please describe in brief about your company, directors, promoters, investors, its vision & mission? LL: Tsingshan Group is a Fortune Global 500 company and is the largest producer of stainless steel in the world. It has more than 56,000 employees and annual sales revenues in 2019 of 37.6 billion USD.Tsingshan Group controls the complete production chain including nickel-chromium alloy smelting, battery material production, battery cell manufacturing, battery pack assembly and supply of energy storage systems to global markets.The move into the renewable energy industry is a natural progression for Tsingshan Group and represents a significant economic growth point beyond the production of stainless steel.As the world’s largest stainless steel company, Tsingshan Group is a great, visionarycompany. It has set up a full industrial chain for lithium-ion batteries, and FoxESS isan extended application of its battery business. We have mature inverter and storage products and solutions, and with the support of lithium-ion batteries from Tsingshan, we are in a powerful position for cost control – so we have a competitive edge. In addition, we have been granted unlimited support from Tsingshan for exploring markets and global expansion.

EQ: What is the size of your company in terms of manufacturing capacities, growth chart, future expansion plans, revenues, shipments, ASP’s, financial figures?

LL: Tsingshan Group is a Fortune Global 500 company and is the largest producer of stainless steel in the world. It has more than 56,000 employees and annual sales revenues in 2019 of 37.6 billion USD. We have 2 battery cell factories providing 21GWh of capacity and 2 inverter factories which are 11GW in total. We aim to produce 5GW of inverters in 2021 and 10GW in 2022.

EQ: How much is your R&D budget as % of your sales / profits ? LL: We are new company launching a new brand and range of products into the market, so we’re at a key stage in our development, and a lot of thought has gone into what we need to do to quickly and successfully establish ourselves in the market. The answer to that is simple – the products. Invest in product development and the rest takes care of itself. The proportion of R&D investment is around 15-20% of total company sales. This investment is key to our future success and we continue to attract leading engineers from the industry to join our team.

EQ: What are the top 5 markets for your company in the past, present and future? LL: I think the top 5 markets will not change in the short term; they are USA, India, China, Germany & Japan.

EQ: Kindly comment of Energy Storage as a game changer, its technology, cost trends, etc. LL: It represents a significant growth opportunity. The cost of lithium batteries has been decreasing by 15% year on year. As prices fall and as demand increases, the market will boom. FoxESS, as part of the Tsingshan Group and with vertically integrated supply chains, is ideally placed to take advantage of this growth.

EQ: Kindly highlight your product, technology & company USP’s, distinctive advantages etc. LL: Quality is the core.

SEPTEMBER- 2020

featured

Will the world never again see a jump in demand for oil? BP says ‘it’s over’

BP Plc said the relentless growth of oil demand is over, becoming the first supermajor to call the end of an era many thought would last another decade or more.

il consumption may never return to levels seen before the coronavirus crisis took hold, BP said in a report. Even its most bullish scenario sees demand no better than “broadly flat” for the next two decades as the energy transition shifts the world away from fossil fuels. BP is making a profound break from orthodoxy. From the bosses of corporate energy giants to ministers from OPEC states, senior figures from the industry have insisted that oil consumption will see decades of growth. Time and again, they have described it as the only commodity that can satisfy the demands of an increasing global population and expanding middle class. The UK giant is describing a different future, where oil’s supremacy is challenged, and ultimately fades. That explains why BP has taken the boldest steps so far among peers to align its business with the goals of the Paris climate accord. Just six months after taking the top job, Chief Executive Officer Bernard Looney said in August he’d shrink oil and gas output by 40% over the next decade and spend as much as $5 billion a year building one of the world’s largest renewable-power businesses.

That’s because he suspects oil use may already have peaked as a result of the pandemic, stricter government policies and changes in consumer behavior. BP’s energy outlook shows consumption slumping 50% by 2050 in one scenario, and by almost 80% in another. In a “business-as-usual” situation, demand would recover but then flatline near 100 million barrels a day for the next 20 years. BP isn’t the only big oil company adapting its business to the energy transition. Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Total SE and others in Europe have announced similar pivots toward cleaner operations as customers, governments and investors increasingly call for change.

Three Possible Futures BP’s report comes ahead of three days of online briefings starting on its clean-energy and climate strategy. The study considers three scenarios, which aren’t predictions but nevertheless cover a wide range of possible outcomes over the next 30 years and form the basis of the new strategy Looney announced in August. The “Rapid” approach sees new policy measures leading to a significant increase in carbon prices. The “Net Zero” course reinforces Rapid with big shifts in societal behaviour, while the “Business-as-usual” projection assumes that government policies, technology and social preferences continue to evolve as they have in the recent past. In the first two scenarios, oil demand falls as a result of the coronavirus, the report shows. “It subsequently recovers but never back to pre-Covid levels,” according to Spencer Dale, BP’s chief economist. “It brings forward the point at which oil demand peaks

SEPTEMBER- 2020

to 2019.” That contrasts with what many others are forecasting. Russell Hardy, chief executive officer of trading giant Vitol Group, said that oil demand is poised for 10 years of growth before a steady decline. He predicts consumption will return to pre-virus levels by the end of next year. BP’s outlook last year contained a scenario called “More energy,” which had oil demand growing steadily to about 130 million barrels a day in 2040. There’s no such scenario this time. “Demand for oil falls over the next 30 years,” BP said in the report. “The scale and pace of this decline is driven by the increasing efficiency and electrification of road transportation.”

Covid Impact The pandemic shattered oil consumption this year as countries locked down to prevent infections from spreading. While demand has since improved, and crude prices with it, the public health crisis is still raging in many parts of the world and the outlook remains uncertain in the absence of a vaccine. The impact, including lasting behavioural changes like increased working from home, will affect economic activity and prosperity in the developing world, and ultimately demand for liquid fuels, according to BP. That means it won’t be able to offset already falling consumption in developed countries. Demand for liquid fuels is seen falling to less than 55 million barrels a day by 2050 in BP’s Rapid scenario, and to around 30 million a day in Net Zero. The drop is mostly in developed economies and in China. In India, other parts of Asia and Africa, demand remains broadly flat in the first scenario but slips below 2018 levels from the mid-2030s in the second.

Other points in the energy outlook: The Rapid scenario has carbon emissions from energy use falling by around 70% by 2050, while they drop by more than 95% in Net Zero. Business-as-usual sees them peaking in the mid-2020s. Demand for all primary energy — the raw materials from which energy is derived — increases by about 10% in Rapid and Net Zero in the period, and by around 25% in the third scenario. In Rapid, non-fossil fuels account for the majority of global energy from the early 2040s. Growth in China’s energy demand slows sharply relative to past trends, reaching a peak in the early 2030s in all three scenarios. Renewable energy — excluding hydro — increases more than 10-fold in both Rapid and Net Zero, with its share in primary energy rising from 5% in 2018 to more than 40% by 2050 in Rapid and almost 60% in Net Zero. Natural gas consumption is seen broadly unchanged to 2050 in Rapid and around 35% higher in business-asusual. Demand falls by about 40% by 2050 in Net Zero.

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featured

Telangana assembly passes resolution against Electricity (Amendment) Bill The Telangana legislative assembly unanimously passed a resolution against the new Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and asked the Centre to withdraw it. Terming the proposed new Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2020 by the Centre as ‘draconian law’ and aimed at taking away the powers of the states, Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao launched a scathing attack on the NDA government. He said prime minister Narendra Modi was working towards complete centralisation of power instead of decentralisation. Earlier the UPA government also centralised the powers in some sectors, he said. “The amended Electricity Act of 2003 was against the federal spirit of the states and intended to curtail the powers of the states. Chief ministers of Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Kerala, Chattisgarh and Delhi have spoken with me. Our TRS MPs would take up the issue in the parliament sessions,” Chandrasekhar Rao said. “We have seen what happened to BSNL, LIC and other public-sector undertakings. The governments at the Centre are working to hand over every sector to private people,’ he said.

f the Bill is passed, the distribution system goes into the hands of the private persons and Telangana distribution companies, Transco and Genco’s existence would become a big question and thousands of people, working in the power utilities, may have to lose their jobs. “Some people pressured me to give distribution to the private people and I rejected the proposal saying our government will not give one MW of power distribution to the private agencies,’ KCR said. Explaining how the new Bill would impact the state government interests, the chief minister said, the state government had to fix metres to about 26 lakh agriculture motors, which itself costs about Rs 700 to Rs 750 crore and all the farmers, who have been getting 24×7 free power will have to pay the bills every month. For taking meter readings itself, the government has to engage 3,000 people. Many sectors get affected with this new Bill as the government is giving cross subsidy to industries and even some domestic consumers like SC/STs,” he said. Calling the Bill most dangerous, the CM said, the renewable energy was a big conspiracy mainly to help some firms in northern India. “The Centre would not consider hydel power generation by the Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam project. If the state government failed to comply with the norms and ensure renewable energy limits, the Centre may impose a penalty of 0.50 paise to Rs 2 per unit penalty. This will compel the state to reduce power generation in state owned thermal power plants. What kind of rules are they?,” Chandrasekhar Rao said.

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Apart from this, the state load dispatch centre would be shifted to Delhi and electricity regulatory commission chairman appointment would be done by the Centre. The CM said the previous government had failed the country in utilizing the available water resources and energy. “In our country 70,000 tmcft of water is available and still some cities like Chennai are facing acute drinking water problems. Similarly, while the country has four lakh MW of power installed capacity, our generation is 2.13 lakh MW. Many power plants in Odisha and Chattisgarh have closed down. Why the Centre is not reviving them by spending about Rs One lakh crore and supply power to states that are facing problems like Bihar and UP,” he said.

SEPTEMBER- 2020

featured

FOURTH PARTNER ENERGY RAISES US$ 16 MILLION FROM EUROPEAN CONSORTIUM OF LENDERS TO EXPAND PROJECT PORTFOLIO

Fourth Partner Energy, India’s leading solar solutions firm for corporates, announced it has raised US$ 16 million (~₹126 Cr) in mezzanine funding from a consortium of European impact investment funds, led by Symbiotics. This is the second round of funding announced by the firm this fiscal, after responsAbility Investments A.G. pumped in US$ 15 million in June.

ymbiotics, a leading market-access platform for impact investing, has arranged for the issuance of this bond in partnership with Netherland’s sustainable banking majors, Triodos Bank and ASN Bank. This bond marks the consortium’s foray into India’s commercial solar sector. Fourth Partner will utilise these funds towards construction of around 150 MW worth of new solar assets. Phoenix legal and Dua were advisors to this deal.

Pradhyum Reddy, Head – Corporate Finance at Fourth Partner Energy said, “this line of credit from marquee impact investors like Symbiotics, Triodos and ASN is testament to the role of Commercial & Industrial customers driving the transition to clean energy. At Fourth Partner Energy, we are working hard to bring into India high quality global financiers committed to the long-term impact of distributed solar. We have a very healthy orderbook, and these two rounds of funding in quick succession, in what has otherwise been a challenging year, will allow us to execute these projects and adhere to our client commitments. We will be utilising these funds for expanding our distributed solar footprint. We are delighted to welcome Symbiotics, Triodos and ASN as our Fourth Partners!” Fourth Partner Energy has an operational portfolio of 400 MW of solar assets currently and is looking to add close to 350 MW capacity this fiscal. The company is also constructing solar parks across Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu as part of its Open Access portfolio.

The issuance of this bond is fully aligned to Symbiotics’ mission to foster sustainable development and wider adoption of green energy in emerging and frontier economies. We are excited to nurture and selectively grow this segment even further in India with the disbursal of this local currency loan to Fourth Partner Energy, noted Daniel Schriber, Head of Investments at Symbiotics.

SEPTEMBER- 2020

Talking about this development, Rosemarijn van der Meij, Fund Manager, ASN Groenprojectenfonds said, “C&I rooftop solar has vast potential in India. The country hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis. It is crucial that local private companies continue to develop their business. In order to do so, foreign direct investments are essential. Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises, the backbone of the Indian economy, are likely to adopt solar energy at a large scale in the coming years as it is a cleaner and cheaper renewable energy alternative and provides tariff certainty for up to 25 years. We are proud to be co-investors in this innovative, solar PV financing for Fourth Partner Energy.”

Gerrit-Jan Brunink, Senior Investment Manager, Energy & Climate at Triodos added, “Distributed energy is expected to play an important role in the energy transition and Triodos is determined to expand and work with this team as trusted partners to promote renewable energy, combining impact and solid returns.”

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featured

Proposal for 41,500 Mw Kutch hybrid renewable energy park approved The Gujarat cabinet cleared the long pending proposal of the 41,500 MW renewable energy (solar and wind) park in Kutch district by approving a proposal of the revenue department to allot 60,000 hectares of land in the district for the mega project.

he hybrid energy park project is one of the select projects of national importance that the PM reviews at his monthly PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation) system. Over the past two years, the PMO has sent several reminders to the state government to expedite land allotment for the project. The hybrid renewable energy park is projected to attract the investment of around Rs 1.35 lakh crore. The PM had given a deadline of 2022 for the completion of the project. A high powered committee of officials had earlier approved the land allocation plans for five major companies and forwarded the draft allocation plan to the state cabinet for the approval. A key source in the government said: “The state cabinet has approved land allocation for SECI (Solar Energy Corporation of India), NTPC, GIPCL, GSEC, Adani Power and Suzlon, which are expected to get land for their 23000 MW, 5000 MW, 2500 MW, 3500 MW, 3500 MW and 4000 MW solar and wind power generation projects respectively.” There is a strong buzz in the secretariat that the PM could lay the foundation stone for the Kutch hybrid renewable energy park during his upcoming visit either later this month or in October.

Petronas’ Indian arm buys 100 megawatts of assets – worth Rs 800 crore – from Acme Solar Malaysia’s state-run oil and gas company, Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has acquired about 100 MW solar assets owned by Acme Solar, said two people aware of the development. The assets located in Karnataka, was acquired at an enterprise value of Rs 800 crore.

etronas has acquired the assets through its Indian unit- Amplus Energy Solutions. Last month, the UK-based fund Actis closed its acquisition of 400 MW assets from Acme for an enterprise value of Rs.2500 crore. With the sale of 100 MW assets, Acme has raised about Rs.3300 crore this year through assets sale. ET first reported in May on Acme’s proposed deal with Petronas. Acme, established in 2003 by Manoj Kumar Upadhyay, is one of the largest solar IPPs in India with a diversified portfolio of 5GW spread across multiple states and with a mix of central and state utilities. Amplus Energy Solutions, leading rooftop solar power producer, was acquired by Petronas last year from New York-based investor I Squared Capital. Amplus Solar, which provides clean energy to its clients by setting up both on-site solar projects (rooftop and ground-mounted) and off-site solar farms, owns and manages a portfolio of 650 MW of operational and under construction distributed solar assets across India.

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Amplus has a portfolio of about 180 commercial and industrial customers including Yamaha, Cisco, Reckitt Benckiser, Shlumberger, Carlsberg, ABB, TVS, and Government entities such as Indian Railways, Delhi Metro, CPWD and HAL. An Acme spokesperson declined to comment while mail sent to Sanjeev Aggarwal- founder and chief executive officer, Amplus did not elicit any response. In the last five years, overall renewable capacity in India has doubled from 32GW to 84GW driven by solar and wind. Energy demand is set to increase by 6-7% per annum. As of 31 March 2020, 35.86% of India’s installed electricity generation capacity is from renewable sources, generating 21.22% of total utility electricity in the country. India has a target of having 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030. Meanwhile, India Ratings and Research has revised its Outlook for energy infrastructure companies to Negative from Stable for FY21, as the COVID-19-driven lockdown is likely to affect the liquidity level in all companies across the power sector value chain. EQ

SEPTEMBER- 2020

featured

OPINION: How India can become “Atmanirbhar” in Solar PV Manufacturing

China dominates the global supply landscape across the solar PV manufacturing value chain. More than 60 per cent of the world’s supply of polysilicon, wafers, cells and modules comes from China, while it accounts for only 20 per cent of the demand.

his supply is also most economically viable, with cost structures of modules in China being 5-10 cents/Watt lower than those in India, Malaysia, US and Germany. The cost structures have decreased by about 15 per cent year-on-year over the last five years and are expected to decline further, on account of consistent efficiency gains by Chinese manufacturers, making China the factory of the world. China has played a pivotal role in making solar power cheaper and accelerating energy transition, contributing significantly to the decarbonization journey of the world. As India is inching closer to its stated mission of 100 GW installed capacity, it is imperative to become “atmanirbhar” in solar PV manufacturing. Additionally, the recent evolving geopolitical situation has resulted in trade flows from China coming under intense scrutiny, and possibly heavy protection duties, thus posing an imminent supply risk to developers. Most developers will be revisiting their supply strategy, possibly moving away from China, or even considering self-manufacturing. This presents a unique opportunity for India to push ahead in its solar mfg. journey, and even become a preferred alternate supply hub of the world.

This journey, however, will not be easy and will require careful and concerted effort by the Government and Industry. While we now have “domestic demand certainty”, there is a distance to cover in terms achieving “competitiveness certainty”. Today, India’s mfg. capacity is insufficient and unviable. Of the 2.5 GW demand in 2020, only 15% was met through domestic mfg., with the remaining predominantly sourced from China. Our mfg. capacities are sub-scale, avg. plant size of 0.5-1 GW vs. 3-5 GW in China, under- utilized and are largely focused on cell and modules. Despite a 15% safeguard duty, China sourced modules are 2-3 cents/ W lower than those manufactured in India. China’s competitiveness is driven by lower cost of power, especially for polysilicon production, higher efficiencies and throughput on account of scale, Govt. incentivization of investment into R&D, mature ancillary manufacturing supply chains and massive subsidization of capex and financing costs. This has enabled China to develop large integrated solar mfg. behemoths such as Longi Solar, JA Solar, JinKo Solar and many others that play across the polysilicon, wafer, cell and module value chain, and are able to sustain fundamentally lower cost structures and higher ROCE profiles. India will need not one but many manufacturers of the Longi Solar like profile. Even as Chinese manufacturers continue to bring down wafer prices, India’s journey could start with intense focus on cell and module manufacturing, especially as more that 70% of the value addition happens at this stage and even with fundamentally higher wafer prices in the medium term, the economics of the end-product may not vary much.While China’s competitive advantage is driven by “scale efficiencies”, India will need to pivot its competitive advantage on “innovation efficiencies”, replicating the China model will not work.

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Four key imperatives are critical for India to compete and win against China. First, India should focus on not just replicating current manufacturing efficiencies but create the ability to continuously drive down cost curves and build sustainable competitiveness, akin to European wind turbine manufacturers, who have sustained a competitive edge over the longer term. Second, India should bring the best of the world to India – actively engage not just domestic players but incentivize the best in class global manufacturing companies to come to India and participate in the solar manufacturing journey of the world’s second largest market. Third, India should lead with “manufacturing excellence” and not “infrastructure excellence”. Dominance in the solar manufacturing will be enabled by a “build and continuously innovate” cutting edge manufacturing mindset as opposed to a “build and forget” infrastructure provider approach. Lastly, India should invest in creating a fundamentally mature supporting ecosystem including development of robust supply networks, locking long-term lower cost supply agreements, subsidies on cost of power, financing and capex, incentives for R&D – akin to China’s front runner R&D programme. Additionally, the Government must play a critical role through more domestic mfg. linked tenders, with careful and creative price discovery mechanisms to promote domestic manufacturing yet encourage innovation and efficiencies. Domestic manufacturers and developers, on the other hand, must be open to at scale plays, R&D investments/ refreshes, innovative multi-stakeholder partnerships, creative supply agreements and tender structures. This will enable India to truly deliver the “atmanirbhar” promise, generate large scale employment, become self-sufficient to achieving its solar energy targets, and embark on the journey from China “dependent” to globally “dominant” in solar PV manufacturing.

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Andhra Pradesh’s green energy investors now fear loan recall Green energy developers, caught in a bind due to Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy-led Andhra Pradesh government’s decision to reopen power purchase agreements (PPAs), now run the risk of their loan facilities getting recalled, said two people aware of the development.

his comes in the backdrop of 5.2 giga watt (GW) of solar and wind energy projects with an estimated debt exposure of over Rs21,000 crore in the state hanging fire, due to the state government’s decision to reopen renewable energy contracts inked under the previous N. Chandrababu Naidu government. A renewable energy chief executive officer’s council of lobby group Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has raised the issue before union ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE), and said that despite reduced interim tariffs to be paid by the state, there is power curtailment happening. The Electricity Act of 2003 states that power offtake can only be curtailed for grid safety reasons. With the contracted quantum of wind and solar power in the PPAs not being procured, the state government told Mint that while it has directed its electricity distribution companies (discoms) to procure all such electricity generated, the low power demand due to the pandemic has raised grid safety issues.

In a communication to MNRE last month reviewed by Mint, FICCI’ renewable energy CEOs council chairman Ranjit Gupta wrote, “In these circumstances, generators are gravely harmed as are also running the risk of recall of our loan facilities and consequent shutting down of our projects.” The fund starved discoms reduced the contractually approved tariff under the PPA to ₹2.44 per unit for solar projects and ₹2.43 per unit for wind projects since July 2019; and informed the developers that in the event of them not agreeing to the revised tariffs, the PPAs would be terminated. Also, the developers claim that the contracted quantum of wind and solar power in the PPAs is not being procured by the state. “We would also like to draw your attention to the fact that during the pendency of the court proceedings, APSLDC (Andhra Pradesh State Load Dispatch Centre) and APTRANSCO (Andhra Pradesh Transmission Company) have also resorted to excessive illegal curtailment of electricity resulting in huge generation and revenue losses,” the communication from the lobby group added.

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The tariff renegotiation by the AP government was challenged by the developers and the dispute is currently before the Andhra Pradesh High Court. While setting aside the state government’s order, the Andhra Pradesh High Court directed the discom to make payment at the reduced interim tariff of ₹2.44 per unit for wind projects and Rs. 2.43 per unit for solar projects respectively, until the issue is resolved by the Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Regulatory Commission. “Payment and curtailment issues in AP are sub-judice. Due to pandemic, HC has not been able to hear IPP (independent power producer) case. Industry is requesting central govt and state govt for their intervention to seek an early hearing and expedite decision from AP HC,” Gupta, who is the chief executive officer of Azure Power, told Mint. Andhra Pradesh’s energy secretary N. Srikanth confirmed the representation made by the clean energy developers and said, “From our side the discoms have been told all wind and solar power has to be dispatched.”

“However, due to technical reasons only a certain quantum can be evacuated, given the grid safety issues on account of low electricity demand due to the coronavirus pandemic. This has led to coal fuelled projects of the state and the centre operating at low PLF (plant load factor). In such a scenario, we have left it to the grid management,” Srikanth added. This comes in the backdrop of state government expediting efforts to float India’s largest solar tender for setting up 10 GW capacity to supply electricity to the farmers requiring an investment of around Rs35,000 crore. Queries emailed to a MNRE spokesperson remained unanswered. “In such a scenario where generators are getting paid at a reduced interim tariff and with no hearing date in sight, sustenance is getting difficult with each passing day. In order to service debts and meet other obligations arising out of RE (renewable energy) projects such as employee salaries, operation and maintenance costs, vendor payments etc., generators necessarily have to be reimbursed at full PPA Tariff,” the communication said. The state government has drawn flak from the union government and global investors such as Goldman Sachs, Brookfield, SoftBank, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, JERA Co. Inc., GIC Holdings Pte Ltd, Global Infrastructure Partners, CDC Group Plc, EverSource Capital and World Bank’s International Finance Corp. These marquee firms have invested in Indian companies, including ReNew Power, Greenko, Adani Power, PTC India Ltd, SB Energy, Mytrah and Hero Future Energies that have set up projects in Andhra Pradesh. The controversial decision not only drew criticism from the Union government, but also from the governments of France, Canada and Japan given the investments made by their firms in the state’s clean energy space. Other states such as Punjab have taken a leaf out of Andhra Pradesh’ playbook and are seeking to renegotiate clean energy contracts for operational projects. The Andhra Pradesh government’s move led to the central government pitching to set up an Electricity Contract Enforcement Authority to ensure that conditions in PPAs are followed, through the draft amendments to the Electricity Act 2003. Andhra Pradesh has around 7.7 GW of solar and wind projects and is home to India’s second-largest installed capacity of clean energy, accounting for around 10% of the country’s green energy capacity, with investments of ₹60,000 crore.

SEPTEMBER- 2020

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Game changer: Violet Power to offer 50year solar panel warranty with US-made IBC technology

The core of the solar cell technology comes from a collaboration with German-based R&D centre, ISC Konstanz and its head, Radovan Kopecek and his team. The ‘ZEBRA’ IBC cell, which was developed as a low-cost IBC cell architecture using front floating emitter (FFE) and screen-printed and firedthrough metallization made on large-area 152.4mm n-type monocrystalline wafers has been further developed at Violet Power.

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oming out of stealth-mode, US-based integrated PV panel manufacturing start-up, Violet Power intends to disrupt the PV industry with in-house production of high-efficiency IBC (Interdigitated Back Contact) solar cells. The company will use cell-to-module ‘flex circuit’ and thermal plastic encapsulant technology in a glass/glass configuration that will have a solar panel warranty of 50 years, more than three times the average in the industry, today. US-headquartered SunPower, which manufacturers its high-efficiency IBC solar cells in Asia (Philippines and Malaysia), currently offers a 30-year warranty on its Maxeon Series panels, the highest in the industry.

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Charlie Gay, PV industry technology veteran (more than 45 years), who has recently become the new CEO of Violet Power, said, “There are currently no vertically-integrated U.S. PV panel manufacturers to meet the growing global demand for solar power. This lack of manufacturing capability within the United States results in billions of dollars in lost opportunity including jobs, wages, and revenue for American workers and government at the local, state, and federal level. In addition, there are serious concerns over supply chain self-reliance and electric grid security, which can be best addressed with control of the entire value chain. Violet Power’s manufacturing model addresses all of these concerns, and more.”

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PV Tech talked to Charlie Gay about how the start-up intended to disrupt the PV manufacturing industry with solar panel technology that could financially justify offering a 50year warranty. The core of the solar cell technology comes from a collaboration with German-based R&D centre, ISC Konstanz and its head, Radovan Kopecek and his team. The ‘ZEBRA’ IBC cell, which was developed as a low-cost IBC cell architecture using front floating emitter (FFE) and screenprinted and fired-through metallization made on large-area 152.4mm n-type monocrystalline wafers has been further developed at Violet Power to include a ‘flex circuit’ (aluminium) backside cell to module contact technology coupled to thermal plastic encapsulant technology in a glass/glass configuration. Zebra IBC cell has been reported to have 24% plus conversion efficiencies. The results are claimed to provide improved cell-to-module losses, reduced lifetime degradation and higher resistance to moisture ingress that was at the heart of ability to offer game-changing panel reliability that transfers to the lowest Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE). Some of these technologies were developed under multiple U.S. Department of Energy sponsored R&D programs, according to Gay. Asked how the company would back-up the game-changing warranty claims, Gay confirmed that it would have the IBC panels go through PV Evolution Labs’ (PVEL) Product Qualification Programme (PQP). The PQP is a comprehensive, rigorous test regime that assesses reliability and performance of PV modules and well known for its annual ‘PV Module Reliability Scorecard’ report that is the benchmark for module reliability testing. “What Violet Power is doing is differentiating on quality,” noted Gay. However, the company will also be differentiating on carbon footprint with hydro-electric power for all manufacturing processes from polysilicon, wafering as well as cell and module production. The wafering operations will be in partnership with a Northern European wafer producer with direct connections with REC Silicon.

Desari Strader, Violet Energy’s President and Founder, said, “Violet Power is poised to re-establish world-class solar manufacturing leadership here in the United States where the technology was first born. We are deeply grateful to the State of Washington and the U.S. Department of Commerce for their leadership and support and focus on American manufacturing, which was critical in making Moses Lake the ideal location for our home.”

US Manufacturing

Washington state is a leader in the global clean energy future and the addition of Violet Power’s production of solar cells and modules adds to our vibrant clean tech industry, said Gov. Jay Inslee. “Violet Power will build on our state’s great tradition of renewable energy production, and I am pleased they are committed to supporting the continued development of a complete solar manufacturing supply chain with REC Silicon and others. These efforts will be essential to growing 21st century green jobs in Washington.”

Violet Power’s first state-of-the-art integrated manufacturing facility will be based in Moses Lake, WA, across the road from REC Silicon’s high purity polysilicon plant and near to several Guardian Glass production plants in the state, according to Gay. Initially, the start-up is aiming for 300MW of ZEBRAbased IBC cell and module production as the line size is the most cost effective, according to CEO, Gay. However, initial plans are for 500MW of cell and module production by the end of 2021 that will generate around 500 jobs. The company plans 1GW of integrated production, soon after.

Charlie Gay also confirmed that Violet Power had been the undisclosed planned customer of Swiss-based solar equipment supplier, Meyer Burger back in July, 2019 having placed a CHF 100 million (US$101 million) initial order for the equipment suppliers core Heterojunction (HJT) equipment. However, Meyer Burger announced in June 2020 that it planned to become a dedicated manufacturer of HJT solar panels in Europe and the US and exclusively use its technology in-house, forgoing its PV equipment supplier and JV business models.

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SEPTEMBER- 2020

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Vietnamese company joins solar power projects in Laos

The Wealth Power Group of Vietnam has joined two other partners in developing solar power projects in Champasak and Sekong provinces of Laos. he Vientiane Times reported on September 3 that representatives from Wealth Power Group, National Consulting Group Sole Company and Power Company Limited Thepvongsa signed a deal to this effect at a ceremony in Vientiane on September 2. The solar power project in Sekong will be built on more than 720 ha in Lamam district at a total investment of 332.3 million USD. The power plant will have a design capacity of 500 MW and an annual electricity output of 739 GWh. The project in Champasak, spreading over 93.1 ha in Khong and Pathoumphone districts, has a design capacity of 80 MW and annual output of 123GWh. It has total investment of 57.3 million USD. The two plants, when completed, will supply 10 percent of their electricity output for the domestic market and 90 percent will be exported to neighbouring countries, particularly Vietnam and Myanmar.

ADB, ENGIE Sign Loan to Support India’s Renewable Energy Development

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the ENGIE group signed a long-term loan of up to 4.66 billion Indian rupees (about $65.5 million) to construct and operate a 200-megawatt alternating current solar photovoltaic-based power plant at Raghanesda Solar Park in India’s western state of Gujarat.

he agreement was signed by Principal Investment Specialist at ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department Mayank Choudhary and ENGIE group’s Head of Acquisitions, Investments, and Financial Advisory Phuntsok Wangyal. Electro Solaire Private Limited (ESPL), a special purpose vehicle owned by the group, will implement the project. ADB, along with another international lender, will provide the entire debt required to construct the solar power plant.

The project will enable the ENGIE group to expand its renewable energy capacity in India and send positive signals to global investors to continue supporting the growth of renewable energy in India, said Mr. Choudhary. “The project is part of ADB’s ongoing support to India’s renewable energy sector and will help the Government of India meet its targets for non-fossil fuel-based electric power generation.”

We are glad to extend our relationship with ADB to Indian projects, and the Raghanesda Solar Project is our commitment to the government’s non-fossil power generation efforts, said Mr. Wangyal. “Apart from generating green power, the project will create about 1,200 direct and indirect jobs.”

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The company is collaborating with the Government of Gujarat to construct the project and has signed a power purchase agreement for 25 years with the state government. ESPL is expected to commission the solar power plant in the first half of 2021. Once commissioned, the power plant is expected to generate about 440 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually. This will help avoid nearly 385,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year, which would otherwise have been generated by conventional fossil fuel plants. ADB has been supporting the development of renewable energy in India since 2007, when it financed the first set of wind projects under the independent power producer (IPP) model. ADB has subsequently financed solar IPPs by assisting projects under the National Solar Mission and various state policies. ENGIE group is a global leader in low-carbon energy and services, offering turnkey solutions in its key businesses. ENGIE Middle East, South & Central Asia, and Turkey has operated in the region for almost 30 years as a leading independent power and water producer. Its portfolio includes 810 megawatts (MW) peak of solar PV and 280 MW of wind power in India. ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.

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India to have 220 GW renewable energy capacity by 2022: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi exuded confidence that India will increase its existing clean energy capacity of 134 GW to 220 GW by 2022 and stressed on reducing tariffs further through technological advancements. The Prime Minister was earlier expected to deliver the inaugural address at the World Solar Technology Summit organised by the International Solar Alliance (ISA), but could not do so due to some other engagements. New and Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh read out Modi’s message at the virtual summit. ‘We have scaled up our non-fossil fuel based generation to 134 GW, which is about 35 per cent of our total power generation. We are confident of increasing it to 220 GW by 2022,’ Singh said, reading out the Prime Minister’s message. ‘Technology holds the key to scale up the use of solar energy. Technological advancements have already brought about a significant reduction in the price of solar power. A further reduction in the cost will provide a major boost to the use and expansion of renewable energy,’ Modi said in the message. Modi also mentioned the ‘One World, One Sun, One Grid’ project which is aimed at clean energy supplies across nations. The Prime Minister asserted that ISA is part of this project which can bring transformational benefits for entire humanity. He also stated that the government wants to take solar energy to all villages in the country and replace diesel with this clean source in the farm sector.Speaking earlier at the event, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the government is actively encouraging the industry, oil and gas companies in particular, to become participants in this transition to solar energy. ‘Our oil and gas companies are also making efforts to deploy solar panels across the value chain of their operations, and current installed solar power capacity is 270 MW. ‘Additional 60 MW solar capacity will be added in the coming year. We have taken up the mission of solarising about 50 per cent of fuel stations owned by public sector oil companies in the next five years,’ he added. Five public sector undertakings (PSUs) under the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry will be joining ISA’s Coalition for Sustainable Climate Action (ISA-CSCA) as corporate partners. Pradhan said Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and GAIL (India) Limited will be contributing to ISA’s Corpus Fund.

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SEPTEMBER- 2020

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Rajasthan HC temporarily stays Adani’s 1500 MW solar power project near Pokhran

The Rajasthan High Court temporarily stayed an Adani group’s joint venture project with the state government for building a 1500 MW solar energy park near Pokhran in Jaisalmer.

Jodhpur bench of the high court, while staying the project, also sought the Rajasthan government’s stand on a petition by local farmers challenging the allocation of nearly 990 hectares of agricultural land to the private business house for executing the solar energy project. The bench of justices Sangeet Lodha and Rameshwar Vyas also sought the stand of project executant Adani Renewable Energy Park Rajasthan Limited on the farmers’ petition and ordered status quo over the project land and slated September 29 for further hearing of the petition. The bench slated September 29 for the next hearing on Rajasthan Additional Advocate General Rekha Borana’s plea for two weeks to file a reply to the petition. Status quo has to be maintained in connection with the land allocated to the project executants, said the bench, while also seeking the Adani business group’s stand on the farmers’ petition, challenging the high court’s single-judge bench order, giving a go-ahead to the project. The Rajasthan government had in 2018 allocated a total of 6,115 bighas (989.50 hectares) land in Nedan village of Pokhran tehsil to AREPRL for executing a 1500 MW solar energy power project at the cost of Rs 13.48 crore.

The allocation of the land has been challenged by Nedan villagers, questioning the allotment of the agricultural land for the power project after changing the nature of the land to barren one, said petitioners’ counsel Moti Singh Rajpurohit. Rajpurohit said the land had been allotted to the company in violation of many laws and bye-laws in January 2018 for the establishment of the solar energy park.

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We have argued that as per the Rajasthan Land Revenue Rules 2007, the land could be allotted only to Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation or Rajasthan Solar Park Development Corporation and not to any private player or investor directly, said Rajpurohit. Besides this, the land in question was also specified as cultivable land in revenue records but the Revenue Department changed the nature of the land to barren through an executive order on May 30, 2017, giving sanction for the allotment of the land for the establishment of the solar energy park. “We objected to this alteration in the specification as illegal. As per the allotment rules, a land reserved for some purpose and that too cultivable, could not be allotted for any other purpose,” said Rajpurohit, asserting that this entire 6115 bigha of land was neither waste land nor barren and the petitioners had been cultivating this land for ages. Despite this, the RREC sent a recommendation for allotment of the land for setting up of solar plant in violation of the Rajasthan Land Revenue (Allotment of Land for Agriculture Purposes) Rules 1970, in 2015. The petitioner also challenged the allotment of the land for executing a power project contending that it will have a fatal impact on the conservation of the Great Indian Bustard (GIB), the state bird of Rajasthan. “Since the land in question is adjacent to village Rasla known as Rasla Park, reserved for the conservation of the GIB, the project would harm the efforts for conservation of the bird,” Rajpurohit said.

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Total capacity of under construction thermal power projects at 59,810 MW As much as 59,810 MW of thermal power generation capacity is under construction in the country which includes 23,730 MW to be developed by private players, Parliament was on informed

hile the under construction projects under the central sector totalled 18,320 MW, those under the state sector stood at 17,760 MW, Power Minister R K Singh said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. The capacity of under construction large hydro (above 25 MW) projects stood at around 14,014 MW. Explaining the reasons for delay in implementation of these projects, the minister said “The major reasons for time overrun in respect of the thermal and hydel projects are related to availability of materials and equipment, land issues and inter-state matters. The cost overrun arises from increase in interest rate, inflation and change in scope of the project.”

As per the Electricity Act 2003, power generation is a de-licensed activity. Investment in setting up of power projects is made by the developers concerned. Therefore, no funds are sanctioned / allocated by the Centre in this regard, except contribution in the form of equity of the Central Public Sector Units for setting up of such projects on a case-to-case basis.

Power Minister dedicates CSR projects of NHPC, PFC Power Minister R K Singh dedicated various CSR projects of NHPC and PFC in Shahpur and Bihiya blocks of Bhojpur district in Bihar through videoconferencing. A total of 33 projects in Shahpur block and 39 projects in Bihiya block were dedicated, the power ministry said in a statement. The projects include construction of PCC (plain cement concrete) road at 55 locations, community building and chabutras at three locations, apart from facilities like solar / LED / high mast lights, open gym, drainage system, Chhath ghat and library, among others. The total cost of all these projects is about Rs 9 crore. Speaking on the occasion, Singh referred to the rural road and electrification works executed by NHPC in various districts of Bihar. He further said PFC is playing an important role in the development of the country by providing loans of thousands of crore rupees to various power companies. Both these companies are capable of competing with any foreign firm due to their capability, quality of work and timeliness, he added. Speaking about the power sector, Singh said in the last few years, the installed capacity of the country has been increased by 1.25 lakh MW. The government has fulfilled the dream of ‘one nation, one grid, one frequency’, connecting remote areas like Leh-Ladakh to the grid, he added. Today electricity has reached every village and every house in the country and India has been praised all over the world for such large-scale electrification in such a short period, the minister said.

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SEPTEMBER- 2020

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Adani Green becomes first Adani group company to cross Rs 1-trillion m-cap Shares of Adani Green Energy (AGEL) were locked in 5 per cent upper circuit at their fresh record high of Rs 670.65 on the BSE, thereby entering the elite club of firms with Rs 1 trillion market-capitalisation (m-cap). The firm joins the ranks of Titan Company, UltraTech Cement, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), and Avenue Supermarts.

he company also became the first Gautam Adani-led Adani Group company to cross Rs 1-trillion in m-cap. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, the other group company, had seen its m-cap touch a record high of Rs 93,607 crore in intra-day trade on January 24, 2018. At 09:27 am, AGEL’s m-cap stood at Rs 1.05 trillion, the BSE data shows. The company was at number 25th position in overall m-cap ranking, ahead of the state-owned companies such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), NTPC, Power Grid Corporation and Hindustan Zinc. In the past year, AGEL’s share price has rallied 1,230 per cent against 4 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. AGEL is the largest solar company in the world with 12+ GW of operating, inconstruction, and awarded solar parks. The company develops, builds, owns, operates, and maintains utility-scale grid-connected solar and wind farm projects.

The company reported a profit before tax of Rs 51.27 crore during the first quarter of FY21 ended June, as against loss of Rs 131.24 crore during the same period in FY20. The total income of the company during Q1FY21 rose 30 per cent year on year to Rs 878 from Rs 675 crore in the same period last year. AGEL, in its statement on BSE, said the company has progressed to become the largest solar power producer in the world, having won the world’s largest solar bid of 8 Gw. “With this, we have moved closer to our goal of commissioning renewable capacity of 25 Gw by 2025,” it said.

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The growing domestic and international demand for cleaner and greener technology has accelerated the green energy transition in the country and we are prepared to lead this change. This quarter, we have cemented our place in the global renewable space by winning the world’s largest solar bid and with this we have been ranked as the largest solar power developer in the world by Mercom Capital, said Gautam Adani, Chairman, AGEL. The company is ideally positioned to deliver above-average growth attributed to the high growth potential of the renewable industry. The Indian Government has revised the target for renewable generation capacity to 450 GW by 2030 giving a boost to large scale strategic players in the industry. The competitive intensity remains low due to lack of large scale integrated players in the industry, cost of capital – wider pool for sources of capital at the competitive rate available to large scale integrated players and secured rights for large scale land with high solar / wind resource and transmission connectivity; thus, low viability for new and small-scale players in the sector, AGEL said in the 2019-20 annual report.

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Mahindra & Mahindra terminates share purchase pact with CLP India Mahindra & Mahindra said it has terminated share purchase agreement with CLP India to sell the entire stake held by its step down arm Mahindra Renewables in Neo Solren Pvt Ltd (NSPL) for Rs 104.67 crore. In February this year, M&M had announced that its wholly-owned arm Mahindra Renewables would sell its entire stake in three subsidiaries to CLP India, a part of Hong Kong-based CLP Group, for nearly Rs 340 crore. “Given that the closing has not occurred within the agreed timeframes, the share purchase agreement which was entered into for sale of 93,15,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each of NSPL held by MRPL to CLP India stands terminated on 10th September 2020,” M&M said in a regulatory filing.

ahindra Renewables Pvt Ltd (MRPL) had agreed to sell its entire stake aggregating 100 per cent of the paid-up equity share capital in Cleansolar Renewable Energy Pvt Ltd (CREPL), Divine Solren Pvt Ltd (DSPL) and Neo Solren Pvt Ltd (NSPL), wholly-owned subsidiaries of MRPL, to CLP India Pvt Ltd (CLP). As per the agreement CLP was to buy 93,15,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each of NSPL at a price of Rs 112.37 per share aggregating to Rs 104.67 crore. The closure of the transaction, originally expected to be completed by May 31, 2020, was extended till September in view of difficulties due to the coronavirus pandemic. The filing, however, did not mention anything about the other two transactions.

Vaibhav Global commissions 1 MW Solar PV Power Generation Project

Vaibhav Global has successfully commissioned a 1MW Solar PV Power Generation Project under Captive use in Bikaner, Rajasthan. he plant, which was commissioned on 28th August 2020, is a major addition to the existing 385 KW rooftop solar panels installed in Jaipur, which have been servicing 7% of the Company’s electricity requirements at its Jaipur manufacturing facility. Together, the existing facility and the new plant will address around 45% of the Company’s power requirements for the Jaipur facility.

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SEPTEMBER- 2020

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India has attained status of One Nation, One Grid, One Frequency: Power Secy India has already attained the status of ‘One Nation, One Grid, One Frequency’ and there are now no constraints in inter-regional transfer of power, said Sanjiv Nandan Sahai, Secretary, Ministry of Power

He was speaking in a webinar organised by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry on ‘Innovations in Renewable Energy’. A liquidity scheme for the power sector with an outlay of Rs 1,20,000 crore has been started under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat scheme to prevent any crisis of confidence in this sector. For this, an amount of Rs 68,000 crore has been sanctioned and out of this, Rs 25,000 crore has already been disbursed, said Sahai. Sahai, while deliberating on the amendments to the Electricity Act, said that the consumer is at the heart of renewable energy power generation. Towards this end, amendments are being considered to the Electricity legislations which will recognise the right of the consumer to get good quality power at reasonable rates. For the renewable energy sector, the “prosumers” will be allowed to set up roof-top solar units up to their sanctioned loads.

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ahai mentioned the long-term PPAs lie at the heart of all renewable energy contracts. Of late the DISCOMS, which are themselves financially stressed, look for escape routes when they see the renewable energy prices falling every day. The Ministry of Power is in the process of making amendments to the electricity legislations so as to overcome the developing situation.

SEPTEMBER- 2020

With the extension of electrification to all households, the average cost of power to DISCOMS has gone up. This has created further financial stress for the DISCOMS especially when they see the renewable energy prices falling almost with every tender, said Sahai. However, the Ministry of Power is all for honouring the PPAs. For this, they are considering the amendments to the Electricity Act like setting up a Contracts Enforcing Authority, mandating a Letter of Credit to back every PPA, and introducing an “Arms-Length Distance” between the regulator and the government, among others, added Sahai. The secretary highlighted that 11 Renewable Energy Management Centres have been set up all over the country to ensure seamless generation, transmission, and distribution of renewable power. The Time of Day (TOD) tariff systems have also taken off and are being made full use of. The government is in the process of privatising all the DISCOMS in the Union territories. The first such case will be finalised by December this year, added Sahai.

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Union Power Ministry has invested Rs 11,000 Crore worth of initiatives for electrification in Bihar in last 3-4 years: Shri R. K. Singh Shri R. K. Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, New and Renewable Energy and Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India, inaugurated a host of community focused facilities developed by NTPC in Bihar in the vicinity of NTPC Barh (1320 MW), Nabinagar Power Generation Company Pvt. Ltd. (NPGCL), Nabinagar (660 MW) and Kanti Bijlee Utpadan Nigam Limited (KBUNL), Kanti (610 MW). Shri Singh inaugurated two Community Centres- Sahari and Sahnaura at Barh, Patna. He also inaugurated 3 km long Meh-Indrapuri Barrage Road at Nabinagar, Aurangabad and the Main Gate Complex of Kanti Bijlee Utpadan Nigam Limited (KBUNL) in Bihar. The construction of these facilities and infrastructure will make the life convenient for the locals, improve access and help save travel time. While inaugurating the facilities from Patna, Shri R. K. Singh, Minister informed that in the past 3-4 years, the Power Ministry has invested Rs 11,000 Crore worth of initiatives for electrification in Bihar, which includes substations, transmission and rural electrification projects that we see today. He added that NTPC has given good dividends for every investment made in terms of nation building. “In the past 5 years, cost of coal and railway freight increased by 40%, but due to efficiency displayed by NTPC, they were able to limit power price hike by only 12%,” Shri Singh said. Shri R K Singh further added, “The organisation has given Rs 257.5 Crore, the highest amongst Power PSUs to PM CARES fund. It has given over Rs 12 Crore to AIIMS, Patna. NTPC is diversifying its portfolio into other ways of generating power and we have a vision to transform it into a true multinational company. NTPC was also given the responsibility for electrification for the rural areas in Odisha, which they completed well before the deadline.” The construction of these facilities and infrastructure inaugurated will make the life convenient for the locals, improve access and help save travel time. The inauguration ceremony was graced by Shri Sushil Kumar Singh, MP-Aurangabad, Shri Gyanendra Kumar Singh, MLA-Barh, Shri Ashok Kumar Choudhary, MLA-Kanti, Shri Virendra Kumar Singh, MLA-Nabinagar along with Shri Gurdeep Singh, CMD, NTPC, senior officials of Ministry of Power, NTPC and Administration of Bihar. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Sushil Kumar Singh MP, Aurangabad said “I would like to extend my gratitude to NTPC for its CSR and power generation efforts. Today, electricity is not a luxury but a necessity. Even healthcare treatment is highly dependent of electricity. We are proud to learn that Bihar will soon be generating 10,000 MW of electricity.”

Shri Gyanendra Kumar Singh, MLA, Barh said, “It is a proud moment for us that two beautiful community buildings are being constructed by NTPC which will contribute to the development of the area. Under the guidance of Power Minister, today our region has 24 by 7 electricity.” www.EQMagPro.com

Shri Virendra Kumar Singh, MLA, Nabinagar said, “These CSR initiatives of NTPC is a reflection of Government’s vision for Bihar. This road is important step towards national development as this road will make commuting to Patna highly convenient.”

Shri Ashok Kumar Choudhary, MLA, Kanti said, “The construction of the multifunctional Main Gate Complex at NTPC Kanti has been a cause for immense delight in the people here. This has boosted the prestige of Kanti area in East Bihar.”

Shri Gurdeep Singh, CMD NTPC said on the occasion, “Under the inspirational guidance of Shri R K Singh ji, the growth of NTPC has played an instrumental role in the development of Bihar. Out of its total installed capacity of 62910 MW, NTPC presently has 6150 MW in Bihar. In addition, 3800 MW capacity is in pipeline. We are also committed to undertake various CSR initiatives for the development of Bihar, it is for such crucial initiatives for which we have gathered here.” Under CSR Initiative, NTPC Barh has constructed two community buildings for Rs 62 lakhs to support 13,500 villagers in adjoining villages. During the inauguration ceremony, films on Community Centre at Sahnaura and Sahari (Barh), Renovation work on Meh-Indrapuri Barrage Road (Nabinagar), Kanti Bijlee Utpadan Nigam Limited (KBUNL) Main Gate Complex (Kanti) was shown to stakeholders present on the occasion. With a total installed capacity of 62.9 GW, NTPC Group has 70 Power stations comprising of 24 Coal, 7 combined cycle Gas/Liquid Fuel, 1 Hydro, 13 Renewables along with 25 Subsidiary & JV Power Stations. The group has over 20 GW of capacity under construction, of which 5GW comprises of renewable energy.

SEPTEMBER- 2020

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Meghadrigedda floating solar power plant to be ready by Dec-end The floating solar power plant on Meghadrigedda reservoir is likely to be ready by end of December. The 3MW plant, which is being designed by a Haryana-based solar firm, will cost around Rs 14 crore.

hough environment enthusiasts and bird watchers have raised concerns that the solar panels may affect aquatic life and deter migratory birds from coming to the reservoir site, officials have allayed such fears and stated that ecology will not be impacted as the floating plant will occupy less than 1% of the lake area.

The advanced technology photovoltaic solar panels will occupy 0.6% of the entire reservoir, which is less than 1%, and it would be a floating plant. There is, therefore, no question of disturbing or adversely affecting aquatic life or migratory birds, GVMC superintending engineer KVN Ravi told TOI.

The reservoir, including the catchment area, covers an area of around 5 sq km. The dimensions of the solar plant and switch yard will be 230×126 metres. GVMC deputy executive engineer Ch Kameswara Rao said Haryana-based ReNew Power is designing the project and will also be maintaining it for five years. “Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund (UCCRTF) has given a grant of Rs 14 crore for the project. Once the plant becomes functional, we will supply power to APEPDCL and they will pay GVMC as per unit cost. The work commenced in January but was put on hold due to the pandemic-induced lockdown. Technical teams from other states would install the panels and floating modules. We expect the work to be completed by December-end,” he said. The GVMC had earlier set up a 1MW solar power plant on Mudasarlova reservoir, which became functional last year.

Nalco in process of augmenting wind power capacity to 223.90 MW: CMD State-run Nalco is in the process of increasing its wind power generation capacity to 223.90 mw by adding another project in Tamil Nadu at a capital expenditure of Rs 163 crore. National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco) has established wind power plants of 198.40 mw capacity in various states, its Chairman and Managing Director Sridhar Patra said in a report.

he company is in the “process of augmenting its wind power generation capacity to 223.90 mw by adding another wind power project of capacity 25.5 mw at Kayathar, Tamil Nadu, at a capital expenditure of Rs 163 crore through REGen Powertech Pvt Ltd,” the CMD said in the latest report of the company. “Substantial progress has been made on supply and execution of the equipment. However, the job is not completed yet due to cash crunch with the executing agency,” he said. The executing agency REGen has subsequently been referred to NCLT, which has engaged an Insolvency Resolution Professional (IRP). Matter has been taken up with IRP who is taking necessary action to complete and commission the project in a time bound manner, he said. The company has said that it has adopted green energy initiatives like generation of wind power and solar power to check emission of green house gases and associated global warming.

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The first wind power plant of capacity 50.4 MW in Gandikota, Andhra Pradesh was commissioned in December 2012, the second plant of 47.6 MW capacity in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan was commissioned in January, 2014. The third plant of capacity of 50 mw in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan and 50.4 MW wind project in Sangli, Maharashtra were commissioned in 2016-17, the report said. Four wind power units have generated 310 MU net wind power in 2019-20. National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) is a navratna CPSE under the Ministry of Mines.

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CRPF distributes 600 solar lamps in J&K’s Reasi Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) distributed 600 solar lamps in a remote area in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir as part of its Civic Action Programme, a spokesperson of the force said. Inspector General of CRPF, Jammu sector, Charu Sinha handed over the solar lamps to the civil population residing in nine wards of Sukhal Ghati and Devigarh, an area which is inaccessible by road and entails strenuous hill bound journey of around 15-km on foot from Jungle Gali area of Katra, the spokesperson said. He said the sixth battalion CRPF, which is deployed for security of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Bhawan and Katra town, is doing various welfare works in the remote area and has arranged the solar lamps. “Sinha had visited the area during July and during interaction with the villagers was informed that there is an acute problem of electricity during the monsoon and snowfall. Keeping this problem in view, a decision was taken at Jammu Sector in consultation with the sixth battalion to procure solar lamps for distribution under Civic action Programme at the earliest,” the spokesperson said. He said the medical officer of sixth battalion of CRPF, Bhanu Pratap Singh, along with unit hospital staff has trained 18 boys and girls belonging to these villages in the ‘Medical First Aid’.

K’tka CM distributes solar operated carts to select beneficiaries

As part of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, a mission envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa distributed solar power operated tricycle carts for vending fresh fruits and vegetables to select beneficiaries.

he carts have been designed and developed by the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Indian Institute for Horticulture Research (IIHR). According to a note released by the ICAR-IIHR, “The produces are exposed to the hot sun, dust and pollution while being moved on the streets on traditional push carts. This process causes post-harvest losses to the extent of 10-15 per cent every day.” Such losses can be reduced if the push carts are fitted with provisions to provide temperature and humidity management system in an enclosed chamber which also protects the products from dust and pollution. The ICARIIHR designed carts are made of aluminum frames and fittings. “It is covered with glass doors to protect the products from dust and pollution and entry of insects. It is fitted with a fine misting system to maintain humidity inside the chamber which will keep the produce fresh for at least for 36-48 hours from the time of harvest, enabling the consumers to get fresh produce,” the note read. There are eight plastic crates in the chamber which can hold 10-15 kg of produce each. The entire chamber is mounted on a tricycle frame, which is powered by a DC geared motor.

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SEPTEMBER- 2020

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Countries Need to Invest $55 Trillion to Reach Emissions Target Global economies will need to invest as much as $55 trillion through the middle of the century to meet an emissions goal and contain warming of the planet, according to a report by a group of executives from energy-intensive companies including ArcelorMittal SA, BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

eaching net-zero carbon emissions target by 2050 will require large-scale electrification of industries, buildings and transport, as well as the use of hydrogen and biofuels in areas that can’t be electrified, according to the Energy Transitions Commission. Using less energy to produce more and recycling material will aid the efforts. Building renewable power plants will take up a bulk of the estimated investment. More frequent and severe natural calamities across the world have heightened the need to contain climate change and end the use of coal and other fossil fuels while expanding clean energy. That’s forcing some of the biggest fossil fuel users to recast their energy mix and adopt greener sources of power. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said in a 2018 report that reaching net-zero CO2 emissions by mid-century will be key to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. Humanity is on course to miss that mark, with the World Meteorological Organization saying there is a 20% chance that global temperatures will breach the limit in at least one of the next five years. The decarbonization strategy will involve phasing out of coal-fired plants, according to the report. Those that remain should be used as a peaking or a seasonal back-up to renewable power and should be retrofitted with carbon capture and storage.

The report highlighted some challenges on the way. China, the world’s biggest coal user, “is not yet on a clear path towards a net-zero economy and new coal investments are continuing despite evidence that renewables are now highly competitive on a new-build basis in most of China’s provinces,” it said. The nation can become a fully developed, rich economy with net-zero emissions by 2050 by rapidly deploying renewable power projects and reducing its dependence on coal, according to the report. The country needs to double annual investments in solar and as much as quadruple investments in wind energy, along with accelerating use of clean energy in industries and residential heating. India, the second biggest coal user, is likely to see consumption of the fuel peak between 2027 and 2030, before gradually sliding down, Ajay Mathur, a co-chair at Energy Transitions Commission, said in a phone interview. The nation, which currently produces nearly 65% of its electricity from coal, can do without building new coal power plants, as its existing coal fleet is under-utilized and can be ramped up to meet any increase in demand, he said. Yet, lack of reliable electricity remains a key challenge for the country, said Mathur, who also heads the New Delhi-based The Energy and Resources Institute.

Tata Power Venture TPRMG’s 200 Microgrids Expected to Be Ready by 2021: Rockefeller Foundation TP Renewable Microgrid (TPRMG), a venture by Tata Power, is expected to complete installation work of 200 microgrids and make them ready for use by next year, said the Rockefeller Foundation — a partner in the clean energy project. In November 2019, Tata Power had announced creating an arm, TPRMG, to set up 10,000 microgrids to provide power to 5 million homes across India. US-based philanthropic organisation Rockefeller Foundation, which collaborated with Tata Power for this project, said it is using experience, knowledge and proven success to date in India, to help lead the development of large-scale, innovative partnerships.

It said such associations and tie-ups break down the silos between traditional utilities and disruptive new technologies, unleashing a new wave of last-mile electrification that blends grid and off-grid, fosters partnership between public and private sectors and champions clean, green and sustainable energy solutions. “Since the launch of TPRMG last November, the first microgrids are up and running with customers connected and additional construction is underway across Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The TPRMG team is working hard…we expect to have the first 200 sites ready in 2021,” Ashvin Dayal, Senior Vice President, Power Initiative, The Rockefeller Foundation, told PTI in an email response to a query.

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he outbreak of COVID-19 has impacted the speed at which the project was being implemented in India, he said. India, Dayal said, is home to one of the largest “un-electrified and under-electrified” populations in the world where communities, especially in states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, still use non-grid sources like diesel generators to power more than 40 per cent of rural enterprises. Off-grid solutions, he said, can help India meet the urgent power needs of communities in a quick manner and these are cheap as well. There is a good market for off-grid power solutions in India, he said. The Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) in a study has noted there is an over USD 50 billion market opportunity in India for distributed renewables and clean energy innovations. Dayal informed that the Rockefeller Foundation has already been working in the area for quite some time in India. The Rockefeller Foundation launched Smart Power India (SPI) in 2015, which has supported establishment of 300 operating mini grids, run by a diverse set of private companies, benefiting more than 2.5 lakh customers. “The partnership with Tata Power last year, which established what will become the largest mini grid company in the world, reaching 10,000 villages and serving over 25 million people,” he added.

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World Solar Bank aims to infuse $10 bn in solar projects across ISA members The World Solar Bank aims to infuse $10 billion in solar energy projects in countries which are members of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), a senior official said

Participating in a webinar organised by the India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA), ISA Director General Upendra Tripathy said, “One of the most important aspects in energy storage is e-vehicles. In order to promote its adoption, solar cost should be affordable for the masses. Talking about storage economy, the aim is to solarize the storage to generate employment.” He further said ISA is closely working with member countries to understand their storage requirements.

n a first, the World Solar Bank is aimed at infusing around $10 billion toward addressing solar projects in the member countries. Storage will play an important role in realizing the ambitious goal of ‘One World, One Sun, One Grid’ – a term coined by the Prime Minister of India,” Tripathy was quoted as saying in a statement issued by IESA. In a letter to the World Energy Storage Day Conclave and Expo held digitally by the IESA, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated, “For energy access and energy sustainability, we are focused towards building a robust storage capability in the country… The presence of policymakers, technical experts, and other participants from various countries reflects mankind’s commitment to sustainable development.” Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said, “The potential demand for advance battery storage applications till 2030 in India is expected to reach 230 GW on a year to year basis while on a cumulative basis, the domestic market demand of 1116 GWh has been estimated.” With high priority accorded to Make in India, the government shall soon launch incentive schemes to invite global companies to set up mega manufacturing plants in advanced technology areas such as solar photovoltaic cells and battery storage, he added. The IESA was launched in 2012 to assess the market potential of energy storage technologies in India. The ISA is an alliance of 121 countries to create a global market system to tap the benefits of solar power and promote clean energy applications.

Sterling and Wilson Solar continues to take minority shareholders for a ride: InGovern InGovern has said the non-fulfilment of obligations by the promoters has resulted in a loss of over 75 percent in investment value for IPO investors as stock price has fallen from the issue price of Rs 780. Proxy advisory firm InGovern Research on September 23 expressed concerns over the decision of Sterling and Wilson Solar’s (SWSL) board to alter the term of loan given to its promoters. In a report, the research firm has said that the company continues to take minority public shareholders for a ride.

n September 16, SWSL informed the exchanges that promoter group Shapoorji Pallonji had failed to meet timely repayment of dues to the tune of over Rs 1,000 crore. It added that the board of SWSL on September 15 approved the promoters’ request for a further extension of time up to September 30, 2021, to facilitate funding for the repayment of part of the June 2020 installment and September 2020 installment. This, the research firm has claimed, was done without seeking the company’s shareholders’ approval. The company has declined to comment on the matter.

“Additionally, though the Board of Directors changed the terms of the loan, the Company did not seek shareholders’ approval, under Section 188, for the related party transaction when the terms of the loan were changed,” InGovern has stated. “The company also has Rs 604 crores as debt, including secured and unsecured loans, on its books as of March 31, 2020. This could well have been offset by the loans availed by the promoter holding company and the group companies,” it added.

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SWSL, the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company promoted by Shapoorji Pallonji Group and the Daruvala family, was listed on stock exchanges in August 2019 via an offer for sale of shares by the promoters, which resulted in promoters raising Rs 2,850 crore through an initial public offer (IPO). While the main objective of the IPO was to use the proceeds raised to repay the loans worth Rs 2,563 crore to SWSL within 90 days of listing, within three months since the listing of the company’s shares, a change in plans led to an extension being sought for the repayment of the loans. SWSL had received only Rs 1,000 crore as of December 31, 2019. InGovern has said the non-fulfillment of obligations by the company’s promoters as per the objects of its initial public offer (IPO) has resulted in a loss of over 75 percent in investment value for IPO investors as stock price has fallen from the issue price of Rs 780. Earlier this year, the advisory firm had asked the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to direct the SP Group to provide an exit offer to public minority shareholders at a price as per SEBI (ICDR) Regulations, for not fulfilling its IPO objectives.

SEPTEMBER- 2020

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India’s Very Own Waterless Solar Panel Cleaning Robot

EQ: How does waterless solar panel cleaning works? Ans.: The solar cleaning rollers are made of micro fiber stretchable cloth, which is scratch proof. The roller rotates in such a way that it gently removes the dust from the panel and slide down. Due to gravitational push dust will slides down and leave the panel clean without dust or stains.

EQ: How do you install and run the waterless solar panel cleaning system? Ans.: Our solar cleaning rollers, iXC-12 robot travel on a track specially created on the mounting frame. Once these tracks are installed, they take care of uneven landscaping, uneven panel installations and gaps between the panels. After the placement of tracks, iXC-12 robot wheels are manually placed in the track and power is switched on. The cleaning operation can be started by a push button or by creating a time-based schedule. The schedule can be loaded remotely or through laptop at site or a pre-programming can be done. As the system is self-powered, this can be programmed to start whenever sun is on. Therefore, it can simultaneously do the cleaning and charging.

EQ: How safe is it to operate waterless solar panel cleaning system and how about scratches on PV panel? Ans.: As described earlier that these solar cleaning rollers are made of micro fiber stretchable clothe which is scratch proof. So it is safe against scratches as well as it protects the Anti-Reflective Coating (ARC Coating) of the panels. On mechanical side as the weight of these robots is not dependent on the panels, therefore there is no chance that they can damage the panels in any condition.

EQ: What about the cost of operations and how does it compares to other systems including the water cleaning systems? Ans.: The average requirement for cleaning an installation of 1 MW of solar panels with water is about 5,00,000 liters of water per year and it can go up even more depending on the climatic conditions of geography and if solar plant is located in harsh or dusty conditions, than the need for water goes up considerably more. Finding water in such conditions itself is a big challenge, so sourcing water from somewhere else becomes a logistical and infrastructure issue such as tanker, storage, hoses and pipes along with labor, which increases the cost of operations. Moreover cleaning with hard water damages the panels by scaling at the corners, which forms black spots.

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In addition, on other hand, cleaning with detergent and wipes destroy the ARC coating which in a way deflect the sunrays and reduce power generation. The average Operation & Maintenance (O&M) cost of water based cleaning system for 1 MW solar panels is around 25-35 Lakhs of rupees per year. Almost 80% cost goes towards cleaning and rest 20% goes towards maintenance of the system. However, if you look at the cost of running a waterless cleaning system for same size of 1 MW, a operator can easily recover its investments within 1.5 to 2 years. Even the average cost for maintenance does not exceed 2 Lakhs per year for 1 MW.

EQ: How many models of water less solar panel cleaning systems in your portfolio and what is their cleaning speed? Ans.: Currently we have only one model, the iXC-12 robot in our product portfolio and but as the demand for various sizes grow we may introduce new models. The iXC-12 robot is able to clean around 1 meter of solar panels in one minute.

EQ: How is the water less solar panel cleaning system powered? Ans.: When the batteries are fully charged- the minimum running time is 1.30 hrs. , but since side by side battery is also getting charged by connected solar system so it can run up to 4-5 hours in one session.

EQ: How often do water less solar panel cleaning system require maintenance? Ans.: The system comes with a warranty of 2 and it can be extended for another 2 years as an extended warranty.

EQ: What is the typical life of an water less solar panel cleaning system? Ans.: The minimum life of iXC-12 robot is 5 years.

EQ: What has been the response from the market so far and what is your install base? Ans.: We are new to the market but so far we have received a encouraging response and we are targeting an install base of 100 MW in a year’s time.

EQ: What is the set up cost for their product and how does it compares with the water cleaning systems? Ans.: A water based cleaning system for 1 MW solar panel plant will require around 25-35 Lac rupees of O&M cost in which almost 80% is the cost of cleaning. Whereas a waterless cleaning system for a similar installation has an average cost not exceeding 2L / year / MW. One should realize the ROI in 2 years time.

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Renewable sector in India attracts $10-20 bn of investment: IEEFA Policy-related headwinds and a collapse in electricity demand due to the Covid-19 crisis have disrupted India’s renewable energy capacity tendering and commissioning process.

hile the pace of renewable energy growth has slowed in India, positive outcomes in recent auctions suggest there remains plenty of appetite among domestic and foreign investors to build renewable infrastructure, a new IEEFA briefing note said. Policy-related headwinds and a collapse in electricity demand due to the Covid-19 crisis have disrupted India’s renewable energy capacity tendering and commissioning process.But despite these setbacks, renewables are proving resilient with investment capital available for new projects with favourable risk-return profiles, says author Kashish Shah, Research Analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). IEEFA’s note looked at the outcomes of seven renewable energy capacity and storage auctions held to-date in 2020.

It found that together they attracted some $10-20 billion of investment commitments, despite the pandemic. The note points to the Solar Energy Corporation of India’s (SECI) 2 gigawatt (2GW) solar auction in June as a particular highlight. It delivered India’s lowest-yet renewable energy tariff at Rs 2.36/kWh ($31/MWh) with zero indexation for 25 years.

Developers from around the world secured winning bids: Solarpack (Spain); Enel (Italy); Amp Energy (Canada); Eden Renewables (France); IB Vogt (Germany); Ayana Renewable Power (backed by the UK’s CDC Group); and ReNew Power (Indian, but backed by Abu Dhabi’s ADIA, Canada’s CPPIB, Japan’s JERA and the US’s Goldman Sachs). “The cost competitiveness and continuing price deflation of renewable sources makes them a more viable energy generator than many existing thermal power plants, and all new import power plants,” says Shah. “Domestic and global investors are sitting up and taking notice of declining renewable prices plus the clear government policy alignment and ambition, and this is reflected in the very positive results of these recent auctions.”

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Near-term falling electricity demand is hitting India’s power distribution companies (discoms), exacerbating structural and financial issues in the sector. By July 2020 the state-owned discoms had accumulated total overdue payment liabilities of Rs 1,16,864 crore ($15 billion) to power generators across India, creating a massive liquidity crunch in the sector. “The discoms are reluctant to sign even exceptionally low-cost new power purchase agreements (PPAs) when demand has collapsed and they are already locked into high capacity charges on legacy coal power supply agreements,” says Shah. “SECI has been struggling to sign PPAs with discoms for its already auctioned 6GW of renewable energy capacity. “The biggest loser from the collapse in electricity demand will be the thermal power sector, with its high marginal cost of production and lack of flexibility. “The encouraging results of these auctions demonstrate strong investor interest in renewables in an extremely tough economic environment. “At the moment there is more capital available than opportunities to invest in India’s renewable energy sector. “With the right policy environment, India’s renewable energy sector will continue to attract international as well domestic investment capital. “A green stimulus that accelerates investments into renewable energy infrastructure could help India to emerge from the economic slump by boosting employment, reducing fossil fuel imports and building energy security.”

SEPTEMBER- 2020

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Tesla Battery Day: Expect Battery Costs to Drop by Half Within 3 Years

Changes in battery form factor, materials, supply chain and manufacturing could add up to game-changing savings, says Elon Musk. After much Muskian fanfare, Tesla’s Battery Day revealed a smattering of improvements to cut battery prices in half.

Thicker cells, faster production

Tesla CEO Elon Musk insists he measures the company’s success by the extent to which it accelerates the arrival of sustainable energy. Powering electric cars and running a grid on renewable electricity requires a drastic expansion of battery production. The meat of Battery Day was Musk’s step by step breakdown of the battery production process to squeeze cost out and raise productivity. All told, the series of advances will yield a 54 percent increase in range, a 56 percent decrease in dollar per kilowatt-hour pack price, and a decrease in capital investment required for manufacturing. The implementation of these improvements will take more than a year, and could take three years for full realization, Musk said. “If we could do this instantly, we would,” Musk told the crowd, socially distanced in Tesla cars like a drive-in theater. “It just really bodes well for the future.” “If we could do this instantly, we would,” Musk told the crowd, socially distanced in Tesla cars like a drive-in theater. “It just really bodes well for the future.” The transparency that the improvements were not yet fully in effect marked a change from past Tesla events, which portrayed new products as fully formed when they weren’t. But instead of flashy product unveilings, Musk stayed true to the framing of Battery Day, delving into the particularities of cathode and anode design, lithium supply chains, and custom-cast aluminum alloy battery enclosures. All the subject matter expertise adds up to one big takeaway: cheaper electric cars, and cheaper energy storage. “One of the things that troubles me the most is that we don’t yet have a truly affordable car,” Musk said. “That is something that we will make in the future.” He later added some detail to that claim: Tesla will make a $25,000 electric vehicle in three years (and it will be fully autonomous).

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The new era starts with a much thicker cell form factor, the 4680. The new design eliminates tabs, rendering it “tabless,” which simplifies manufacturing and improves the power-to-weight ratio. The new form factor adds 16 percent range compared to Tesla’s current battery cells, and reduces the cost per kilowatt-hour by 14 percent. In a break from the past, Tesla plans to manufacture these cells in-house. Tesla built its car business off a supply partnership with cell manufacturer Panasonic. Panasonic makes cells in the Nevada Gigafactory, then Tesla takes them and turns them into highly engineered battery packs for cars and stationary storage. But Tesla is ramping up a 10 gigawatt-hour pilot factory in Fremont for its new cell design. It will take a year to hit full capacity there, Musk noted. A full production plant would get to 200 gigawatt-hours or so. In total, Tesla plans to produce 100 gigawatt-hours of its own cells in 2022, ramping to 3 terawatthours by 2030. The shift to in-house manufacturing does not spell doom for Tesla’s cell supply relationships. Instead, Musk said it would be additive, in a Tweet. Tesla will buy more cells from Panasonic and new suppliers CATL and LG Chem, and it will produce a bunch of its own. Besides the new cell design, Musk described a series of manufacturing process improvements. The company is eliminating the solvent addition step, which requires bulky machinery plus considerable time and energy, and replacing it with a dry process. Tesla watchers had speculated that there would be some announcement of this kind, based on Tesla’s 2019 acquisition of Maxwell Technologies, which was working on a dry electrode coating. Musk noted, though, that Maxwell had a proof of concept for dry coating, and Tesla had revised the machinery four times already. “It’s close to working,” he said, making clear it was not commercially ready yet. Those reforms, plus advances in high speed, continuously moving manufacturing machines, will improve a single factory line’s output by 7 times, Musk said.

Material improvements Tesla is making headway on new anode and cathode designs as well. The company is working on a silicon anode, which it thinks will increase range 20 percent and cut cost 5 percent. The company is also working on a high nickel cathode that eliminates cobalt, leading to a 15 percent reduction in cost. But Tesla is also pushing deeper into the supply chain, and re-engineering cathode and anode production to eliminate wasteful intermediate steps. The company will establish cathode manufacturing using domestic lithium and nickel supplies, Musk said. In fact, Tesla secured mining rights to a 10,000 acre lithium deposit in the U.S. A pilot recycling facility will kick off in Nevada next quarter, which could lead to turning old Tesla batteries into new Tesla batteries. All these measures, if enacted, would streamline supply chains and could insulate Tesla from criticisms of the human costs of global lithium and cobalt mining.

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SEPTEMBER- 2020

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ADB, ENGIE Sign Loan to Support India’s Renewable Energy Development

SEPTEMBER- 2020

The company is collaborating with the Government of Gujarat to construct the project and has signed a power purchase agreement for 25 years with the state government. ESPL is expected to commission the solar power plant in the first half of 2021. Once commissioned, the power plant is expected to generate about 440 gigawatthours of electricity annually. This will help avoid nearly 385,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year, which would otherwise have been generated by conventional fossil fuel plants. ADB has been supporting the development of renewable energy in India since 2007, when it financed the first set of wind projects under the independent power producer (IPP) model. ADB has subsequently financed solar IPPs by assisting projects under the National Solar Mission and various state policies. ENGIE group is a global leader in low-carbon energy and services, offering turnkey solutions in its key businesses. ENGIE Middle East, South & Central Asia, and Turkey has operated in the region for almost 30 years as a leading independent power and water producer. Its portfolio includes 810 megawatts (MW) peak of solar PV and 280 MW of wind power in India. ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.

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Solaria Files ITC Complaint Against Canadian Solar (CSIQ) On the heels of its lawsuit filed in March against Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Solaria Corporation, a U.S. company based in Fremont, California, announced it filed additional claims against Canadian Solar with the International Trade Commission (ITC).

Solaria has over 250 patents and has invested more than $200 million in developing our advanced solar panel technology,” said Solaria Founder and Director Suvi Sharma. “Despite our pending District Court case, Canadian Solar continues to willfully misappropriate Solaria’s intellectual property. It’s unfair that an infringing company can swoop in, as Canadian Solar has done here, use our patented inventions, and threaten American jobs. We filed the ITC complaint because Canadian Solar deems itself above the law, and its anti-competitive behavior must be remedied.”

ccording to Solaria’s complaint, Canadian Solar’s “HiDM” shingled modules infringe Solaria’s U.S. patents that cover tiled or so-called “shingled” solar modules, as well as Solaria’s patented process for separating photovoltaic (PV) strips from solar cells for use in such modules. Solaria asserts that it introduced its high-efficiency, high-density module (HDM) technology to Canadian Solar when representatives of Canadian Solar evaluated Solaria’s next generation shingling technology for a potential licensing deal. Shortly thereafter, Canadian Solar launched its HiDM shingled modules and began advertising and selling them in the United States. Solaria is seeking an exclusion order that would prevent Canadian Solar from importing infringing products into the U.S.

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T.J. Rodgers, a member of Solaria’s Board of Directors, said “As a founder and 34-year CEO of Cypress Semiconductor, I have been through dozens of legal actions against big companies who think they can take what they want. I am now actively involved in Solaria’s suit against Canadian Solar in the ITC – the American institution that levels the playing field for an emerging company like Solaria.”

Solaria has spent years researching and developing our technology, explained Solaria CEO Tony Alvarez. “Numerous companies in the industry, including ones from China, have recognized the value of Solaria’s IP by licensing Solaria’s technology. To protect ourselves and our valued partners, Solaria will actively defend our IP against any infringers.” The ITC is expected to review the matter and begin an investigation within 30 days. If the ITC’s investigation finds that the accused Canadian Solar products infringe Solaria’s patents, it will issue an exclusion order, which will prevent Canadian Solar from importing and selling shingled modules in the U.S. and from installing or servicing the infringing imported shingled modules.

SEPTEMBER- 2020

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How Dharnai, A Village In Bihar Became India’s First Solar Powered Village?

Sitting in the comfort of our homes or offices, we cannot even imagine a single day without electricity. But for the Dharnai village, a small village near Bodhgaya in Bihar which had remained in darkness for 30 years, having electricity was like a far-fetched dream.

The village happens to be on a NH, it has a railway halt. It has pretty much all the social infrastructure that should be available in a village. And, the only thing that sort of was missing was energy, says Manish Ram, senior campaigner/analyst, Renewable Energy, Greenpeace India.

s alternative energy sources, the rural population of this area uses hazardous fuels like cow dung, kerosene lamps and firewood for cooking and lighting. According to WHO, over four million people die prematurely from sickness due to household air pollution caused by cooking with these dangerous fuels.

While India was growing leaps and bounds, we were stuck here for the last 30 years, trying everything in the book to get electricity. We were forced to struggle with kerosene lamps and expensive diesel generators, said Kamal Kishore, a resident of Dharnai.

SEPTEMBER- 2020

Greenpeace, along with partner organisations CEED (Centre for Environment and Energy Development) and BASIX (a livelihood promotional institute), decided to transform the lives of people in this village by bringing in electricity through Decentralized Renewable Energy System (DRES). The project was put into operation on 20 July 2014, with an initial cost of around Rs. 3 crore. It made Dharnai the first village in India to be fully powered by solar energy. The system has a capacity of 100 kilowatt and powers 450 homes of the 2,400 residents, 50 commercial operations, 60 street lights in the village, two schools, a training centre and a health care facility. A battery backup ensures electricity is available around the clock. According to Greenpeace, Dharnai was chosen for the project because it suited the requirements of having agriculture as the main occupation and also had basic social infrastructure like a school, healthcare facility, an aanganwadi (community childcare centre), a commercial zone and around 400 households. The coming of solar-powered electricity has revolutionized the lives of the people here, especially women and children. It allows children to study even beyond the daylight hours and lifts the restriction on women to cook before it is dark. Moreover, women in Dharnai can now venture out after it is dark due to the street lights.

The solar powered pumps have provided access to fresh water to the farmers. People are now able to charge their mobile phones regularly, and the world of Internet is now also open to the people of Dharnai. “Solar energy is the only solution and I praise and appreciate Greenpeace for accepting the challenge in successfully installing this everlasting viable solution model,” Nitish Kumar told at the public event in Dharnai. Climate change is a reality now, and the current central government has rightly acknowledged that with its target of 100 GW of solar capacity by 2022. However, Greenpeace says that Decentralized energy systems are more helpful for villages like Dharnai than the central grid that is currently in use.

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Draft Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020 SUMMARY OF DRAFT ELECTRICITY (RIGHTS OF CONSUMERS) RULES 2020

Background Ministry of Power framed the proposed rules under Section 176 of the Electricity Act 2003. Definition of consumer covers the same definition as in Electricity Act 2003. Electricity Rules recognises the definition of ‘Prosumer’ making it part of the statute Draft rules specifies the KPI for SERCs, DISCOM and Consumers in matter of electricity supply

Connection/Disconnection/Reconnection/Modification of existing electricity connection DISCOM to publish procedure, forms and process along with fee details and details of contact person on their website. DISCOMs to digitalise the process of connection by way of website and mobile app for online processing along with provision for offline processing. An agreement is required to be signed between consumer and DISCOM. SERCs to specify max time period of 7 days in metro cities, 15 days in municipal areas and 30 days in rural areas to provide for new connection and modify an existing connection for load upto 10 KW or such higher load. For electrified areas upto 150 KW or such higher load, SERCs are required to determine demand charges in such a manner to cover average cost of connection so as to avoid delay in site inspection and estimation of demand charges for each and every case individually. In case of permanent disconnection request, DISCOMs to arrange for special meter reading and prepare final bill and disconnection to be done immediately after the bill payment. Balance payment between invoicing of final bill and payment shall be adjusted against security deposit with DISCOM and remaining shall be refunded within 7 days. Automatic cut-off of supply in case of prepaid meters shall not be qualified as disconnection.

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Metering/ Billing and Payment No connection without either Smart pre-payment meter or pre-payment meter. Any exception to the use of meter must be approved by SERCs. Ownership of meters can be with either Consumer or DISCOM on cost reimbursement basis. DISCOM to public the approved list of makes and specification of meters and other equipment. Meter reading atleast once in billing cycle in urban as well as rural areas by DISCOM. In case of smart prepayment meters, meter reading will be atleast once every month and in case of prepayment meters’, it shall be read at least once in three months. Consumers to get data access for checking their consumption on real time basis. 30 days for Meter testing from date of complaint by consumer at no cost from consumer. In case of meter defect attributable to consumers, the cost of new meter and test fee shall be borne by consumers. DISCOM to provide meter test report to consumers duly signed by both parties. Consumer shall have option of third party testing and the list of approved third party agencies for meter testing shall be made public by DISCOM DISCOM to replace the defective meter within 24 hours in urban and 72 hours in rural areas or such shorter period as determined by SERCs DISCOM to provide for tariff for each category along with any change in tariff including fuel surcharge or other charges through website as well as through energy bills DISCOM to prepare bill for each billing cycle based on actual energy meter reading and shall reach consumer by hand, post, courier or through e-mail atleast 10 days prior to due date. In case of pre-payment meter, bill to be issued on consumer’s request Billing details of last one year for all consumer shall also be made available on licensee’s website DISCOM to generate first bill within 2 billing cycle and if consumer do not receive then upon request DISCOM is obligated to provide within 7 days For delay more than 60 days in serving electricity bill, consumers to get rebate of 2-5% as specified by SERCs DISCOM to issue NOC to consumers on written request on vacation of premises, by special meter reading within 7 days of payment made as specified by SERCs Consumers have option to pay online or offline. For payment above Rs 1000 shall be mandatorily be paid online. SERC to specify the incentive/rebate for online payment. Consumers shall have option to pay through Cheque/Demand draft or ECS at designated counters of bank or through credit card or debit cards or online payment through DISCOM portal or mobile app. Mode of payment shall be user friendly than prevailing system. Sufficient number of collection centres or drop boxes at suitable locations with necessary facilities for bill payment deposit shall be there.

SEPTEMBER- 2020

featured When a domestic consumer gives prior information in writing about continued absence from residence, the DISCOM shall not send any notice/provisional bill to consumers provided consumer pays the fixed charges for such period in advance and his supply line shall remain connected. Interest shall be paid at a rate specified by SERC on such advance amount by consumer.

Reliability of Supply/ Standard of Performance DISCOMs to supply 24 x 7 to all consumers, however, SERC may specify lower hours of supply for some categories of consumers. SERCs to specify reliability standards to be maintained by DISCOM as SAIDI/SAIFI per consumers in year. Min outage time shall be considered for SAIDI/SAIFI. DISCOMs to deploy automatic tools for monitoring and restoring outages, to extent permissible. SERCs shall specify Standard of Performance (SOP) as per Section 57 (1) of Electricity Act 2003. SERC to specify compensation amount to be paid to consumers for violation of SOP. Compensation mechanism shall be based on... Automatic compensation for remotely monitored parameters SERC shall notify regulations for establishment of mechanism by DISCOM SERC shall oversee DISCOM designs and maintains the distribution system in such a manner there is gradual increase in list of parameters which can be remotely monitored SOP compensation shall be paid for following but not limited to No Supply to a consumer beyond particular duration determined by SERC No of interruptions in supply beyond specified limits by SERC Time taken for connection/disconnection/reconnection/ shifting Time taken for change in consumer category/load Time taken for change in consumer details Time taken for replacement of defective meters Time period within which bills are to be served Time period of resolving voltage related complaints and Bill complaints DISCOM to create an online facility, within 6 month of notification of regulation by SERC, on which consumers may register and claim compensation amount and this information shall be widely made public. Payment of compensation shall be adjusted against current or future bills of consumers within stipulated time determined by SERC.

Consumer as Prosumers Prosumers shall have all the rights as general consumers and also the right to establish RE unit including rooftop Solar PV solutions either by himself or by service provider. Such RE capacity established shall not exceed the limit specified by SERC. SERC to lay down regulations on grid interactive rooftop solar PV system within 6 month of notification of these rules.

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Grid interactive rooftop solar PV system Regulation shall provide for net metering upto 5 kW and for gross metering above 5 kW. DISCOM to facilitate for setting up of RE capacity at Prosumers premises and DISCOM shall undertake following: Online portal for receiving applications, interconnection and metering and update on regular basis. Display detailed procedure for installation & commissioning of rooftop solar PV system, single point of contact for submission of form to commissioning, charges, procedure, process, forms and contact details of responsible person, list of empanelled vendors, financial incentives under State and central govt schemes. Technical feasibility study to be completed within 20 days of application submitted. During technical feasibility study, DISCOM to upgrade the infrastructure if needed before commissioning of solar PV installations. Consumer to provide certificate of installation to consumer and DISCOM to complete the signing of connection agreement, installation of meter and successful commissioning of Solar PV System within 30 days of certificate submission. Any deviation from timelines shall be approved by SERC and for delay on part of DISCOM without any just cause, DISCOM to pay compensation @ Rs 500 per day at the least.

Grievance Redressal Mechanism DISCOM to establish Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum (CGRF) under Section 42 (5) of Act in each subdivision, division, circle, zone, company level. The forum shall be 2-3 member as officers of appropriate seniority. Performance of CGRF to be monitored by SERC Timelines for grievance Redressal is normally 30 days and shall not be above 45 days of receipt registration. Consumer shall have option to choose company level CGRF before making appeal to Ombudsman. DISOCM shall send quarterly report to the Ombudsman and to SERC from time to time in respect of SOP, other performance parameters and consumer grievances related information showing the extent to which the time schedule has been followed.

Other Provisions 24x7 toll-free call centre from date specified by SERC to undertake activities related to electricity supply. While other modes of communication to continue, DISCOM to set up common Customer Relation Manager to get a unified view of all services requested, attended and pending at backend for better monitoring and analytics. DISCOM to provide access to different options for various services through its website, mobile app and its designated office area-wise. DISCOM shall provide all services to senior citizen at their door step. Details of scheduled power outages shall be informed to the consumers. In case of unplanned outage, immediate intimation shall be given through SMS/other electronic media along with estimated time for restoration and shall also be made available in the call centre. Manual of procedure for providing common services and handling consumer grievances shall be made available for reference of consumers at every office and on website in downloadable form. DISCOM shall arrange for due publicity through media, TV, newspaper, website and by display to bring awareness of consumer rights, SOP, Compensation mechanism, grievance Redressal, measures for energy efficiency and other schemes of DISCOM.

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Eos Energy Storage Announces Agreement for 500 MWh Project with Carson Hybrid Energy Storage Eos’ safe, sustainable, long-duration battery solutions will be used in parallel with existing power generation and substation architecture to store renewable energy generated capacity, and to provide power quality and better resilience to the California Power Grid.

os Energy Storage (“Eos”), a leading manufacturer of safe, low-cost, and long-duration zinc hybrid cathode (Znyth™) battery energy storage systems, announced that it has entered into an agreement to supply Carson Hybrid Energy Storage, LLC (“CHES”) with 500 MWh of integrated AC battery energy storage systems (“BESS”). Eos will manufacture, design and deliver its zinc-based battery solutions to CHES starting in the first quarter of 2023. These safe, sustainable, long duration battery solutions will be used in parallel with existing power generation and substation architecture to store renewable energy generated capacity, and to provide power quality and better resilience to the California Power Grid.

The recent rolling blackouts in California call for another transformation in energy, this time related to supply. We believe long duration energy storage is going to play a pivotal role in this transformation over the next three to five years, commented Dr. Balki G. Iyer, Chief Commercial Officer of Eos. “Eos is delighted to be partnering with an innovator such as CHES, which is seeking to build this project to provide solutions around a premium zone in Los Angeles. Eos’s zinc batteries are non-flammable, built with environmentally friendly materials, and are manufactured right here in the USA. They are a perfect fit for addressing the need which we have seen from some of our recent projects in California on a smaller scale.”

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Peter Reardon, President of CHES, commented, “California needs fire safe, large scale energy storage located in our cities and towns to provide grid reliability as we move towards our zero carbon future. The recent blackouts showed that California cannot rely on out of state imports during climate induced heat waves affecting regions and not individual states. CHES is committed to developing safe energy storage solutions located in the Los Angeles basin. We seek to partner on this project and a second project with LA’s Load Serving Entities (LSE) that value our safe, city based product. With support from Southern California Edison, we are going to maximize the benefit of an existing interconnect to allow for this important energy storage resource to be located in the Los Angeles basin. Choosing Eos was easy, as their zinc aqueous technology is safe from fire, made in the USA, and provides green jobs. We will implement a pilot 1 MW behind the meter project in the Los Angeles basin in 2021 and then scale rapidly.”

SEPTEMBER- 2020

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EverSource Capital plans to buyout Azure Power’ entire solar rooftop portfolio for around $112 million

In what may rank among the largest solar rooftop deals in India, EverSource Capital plans to buy out the entire 167 MW solar rooftop portfolio of NYSE-listed Azure Power Global for around $112 million, said two people aware of the development.

he sales process for International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Canadian pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) backed one of India’s largest solar rooftop portfolio is being run by KPMG. The deal activity in India’s green energy space that was subdued on account of the coronavirus pandemic has now gained traction and has also permeated to the solar rooftop space. This assumes significance given that developers are looking for growth capital in the backdrop of India being home to the world’s largest clean energy programme. The latest case in point being last week’ single-largest foreign clean energy investment announcement of $980 million in India by Japan’s ORIX Corp. for buying a 17% stake in Greenko Energy Holdings.

“EverSource is looking to buy out the entire solar rooftop portfolio of Azure Power Global,” said the first person cited above requesting anonymity. The electricity generated from these projects is sold to state run firms such as Solar Energy Corporation of India, NTPC, Railways, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited; commercial and industrial consumers such as DLF and Decathlon, and the state-run electricity distribution companies. “The deal is yet to be concluded,” said a second person cited above who also did not want to be named. EverSource Capital, an equal joint venture between private equity firm Everstone Capital and global solar project developer Lightsource BP has invested in Radiance Renewables, a distributed renewable energy platform. It develops, owns and operates assets for residential, commercial and industrial customers and has a 1.5 gigawatt (GW) operating portfolio target in four years. Azure Power has a 7 GW portfolio and German development finance institution Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), World Bank’s private-sector development arm IFC and CDPQ as investors. Queries emailed to a EverSource Capital spokesperson remained unanswered. Nathan Judge, head of investor relations, Azure Power, in an emailed response declined comment. A KPMG spokesperson in an emailed response said, “As a policy, we cannot comment on any company specific information.”

SEPTEMBER- 2020

For one, the electricity demand has more or less caught up with the last year number after the Covid demand shock, and over the long run India’s electricity demand is expected to raise at around 5-6% CAGR (compound annual growth rate). Secondly, we have been seeing a firm commitment towards green energy in India and with an installed solar capacity of less than 40GW wherein the peak demand is around 175GW (and growing), there is enough head room for solar capacity to expand further, said Rajesh Ivaturi, partner, power and utilities at EY India. India aims to have 175 GW of clean energy capacity by 2022, including 100GW from solar projects. Of this, 40 GW is to come from solar rooftop projects. “The roof top solar sector however, hasn’t taken off as expected due to a variety of reasons including lack of innovative business models and sub-optimal push from the discoms. Having said this, the Commercial and Industrial sectors, with their high power tariffs are attractive segments for innovation in the rooftop solar solutions, and we may well see some action around these segments in the short-medium term,” he added. This is expected to change with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’ recently calling for each state to have at least one ‘solar city’ whose electricity needs would be met entirely through rooftop solar power. EverSource Capital is a target $ 700 million green infrastructure fund and is looking to invest over $1 billion in renewable energy investments through its Green Growth Equity Fund (GGEF). It has the National Investments and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) of India and the UK government’ Department for International Development as anchor investors. In July BP Plc announced a $70 million investment in GGEF.

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Sterling and Wilson Solar Q1 results: Profit falls 62% to Rs 17 crore Sterling and Wilson Solar Ltd said its consolidated net profit dipped 62 per cent on a year-on-year basis to Rs 17.22 crore in the June quarter mainly due to lower revenues. The consolidated net profit of the company stood at Rs 46.01 crore in the quarter ended June 30, 2019, a BSE filing said.

he total income of the company fell to Rs 1,099.38 crore in the quarter under review, from Rs 1,309.34 crore a year ago, the filing said. In a separate filing, the company said the promoters of the firm â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Private Ltd (SPCPL) and Khurshed Daruvala â&#x20AC;&#x201D; have offered a total security on various assets aggregating to about Rs 1,200 crore, which is slightly higher than the aggregate outstanding loans against them. The promoters requested the Board of Sterling and Wilson Solar to grant further extension of time up to September 30, 2021 to facilitate funding for repayment of the outstanding loans and assured the Board that they will continue to facilitate repayment over the course of the period up to September 30, 2021, it noted.

The audit committee and the Board of Directors at its meeting held on September 15, 2020 approved further extension of time up to September 30, 2021 to facilitate funding for the repayment of part of the June 2020 installment and the September 2020 installment of the loan. The committee also decided to levy an additional interest spread of 400 basis points per annum over the average interest rate on borrowings as against the interest spread of 100 basis points per annum levied earlier. The promoters will pay interest on quarterly basis. Earlier, in June as well as in July, the promoters had sought for extension of time to facilitate the repayment of the June 2020 installment of Rs 500 crore. The Board of Directors at its meeting held on July 7, 2020 had requested the promoters to provide necessary security in respect of the June 2020 Installment, and to revert back to the Board at the earliest. The company has been paid an amount of Rs 103 crore as on date out of June 2020 installment of Rs 500 crore, it added.

Low solar tariff could boost manufacturing competitiveness, help achieve Aatmanirbhar Bharat Solar energy could contribute to manufacturing competitiveness due to its low tariff, which would ultimately help achieve the goal of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, Parliament was informed

Low cost power is an essential requirement for competitive manufacturing. Since solar tariffs have been declining, use of solar energy could contribute to manufacturing competitiveness, and thus to achieving the goal of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

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ndia has set an ambitious target of having 100GW of solar energy by 2022. As of August 31, 2020, the total installed solar power generation capacity stood at 35.73 GW in the country out of the total renewable energy of 88.79 GW. As per the reply, Karnataka tops the chart with 7.29 GW installed solar power generation capacity followed by Rajasthan (5.31 GW) and Tamil Nadu (4.17GW). As far as renewable energy generation capacity is concerned Karnataka again tops the chart with 15.26 GW followed by Tamil Nadu (14.64 GW) and Gujarat (11.11 GW.) Tamil Nadu tops the wind energy generation capacity chart at 9.32 GW followed by Gujarat (7.77 GW) and Maharashtra (5GW). Total installed wind power generation capacity in the country is at around 38 GW.

SEPTEMBER- 2020

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article

Road to Sustainable Energy Recovery with Smart and Green Power

Though faced with a grim economic outlook post-COVID-19, it also provides an opportunity for countries around the world to look at energy recovery plan with intelligent technologies and green energy sources. Based on a recent report from UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2020, it argues that renewable energy is more cost-effective than ever â&#x20AC;&#x201C; providing an opportunity to prioritize clean energy in COVID-19 economic recovery packages & bring the world closer to meeting the Paris Agreement goals.

Accelerate the growth of wind and solar PV Based on research from IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency) from 2020, green power technologies have rapidly become the most favored power generation technologies in markets around the world. In 2019, capital spending in wind and solar PV made up almost half of total power plant investment. Wind and solar PV accounted for 80% of the growth in global electricity supply in 2019 and now make up the majority of global power capacity additions, up from under 20% in 2010. The rapid growth of solar PV and wind has been paired with impressive cost reductions: close to 80% on average for solar PV, 40% for onshore wind and 30% for offshore wind power over the past ten years (IRENA, 2020). This will no doubt help to drive the energy recovery post-COVID-19 in favor of wind and solar PV power.

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AI Drives Digital Transformation with Energy Industry During COVID-19, all industries relies on digital technology including AI and Big Data to transform their business and finding new ways to do business and improve efficiency. When it comes to solar PV industry, it is no exception that AI and other key digital technologies plays a pivot role in transforming the industry. For example, O&M is a significant challenge for solar farms globally even before COVID-19, but during the pandemic, it is even more so difficult for solar farm owners to travel onsite to perform any regular checks and maintenance. Back in 2014, Huawei took the lead in joint R&D with Huanghe Hydropower Development Co., Ltd and conducted a large number of tests for I-V curve which could assess the health of the PV plant by scanning all the PV modules through reverse power supply by Huawei Smart PV solution. This Smart I-V Curve Diagnosis technology can identify 14 common failures, including hidden PV module cracks, hot spots, backplane failures, and diode damage. Following three upgrade versions, Huawei Smart I-V Curve Diagnosis has now applied for over 7 GW PV plants worldwide, and the number of detected PV modules exceeds 10 million. In addition to this widespread application, the AI-based Smart I-V Curve Diagnosis 4.0 further improves detection speeds, requiring just 15 minutes to completely scan an entire 100 MW PV plant. Bifacial, shingled, and hybrid mixed PV modules are all supported. While most industry vendors jumped on this trend almost overnight, the required technology is based on massive data accumulation. Without such big data and an advanced algorithm, detection accuracy cannot be ensured.

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article The Smart I-V Curve Diagnosis is the decisive factor contributing to the Smart PV industry intelligence, and only string inverters can provide such analysis. At the same time, the accuracy of Smart I-V Curve Diagnosis also provides an effective defense for Huawei technology and prevents missing or false reports. As Huawei Smart I-V Curve Diagnosis is based on the analysis of massive data reported from over 100 GW smart devices. AI has achieved cross-industry collaboration and completed the last step of "massive scenarios + expert experience + cross-domain convergence", greatly unleashing the potential of PV plants. Such intelligence has never been appreciated at this level before COVID-19.

Smart PV: Breathing Life into a Desert Landscape The green energy industry is not only a testament of digital transformation, but also helps to recover industry and create new values for the local community. The following project from Baofeng Group is a great example of how smart PV could turning crisis into opportunity. Historically, Binhe New District on the eastern banks of the Yellow River in Ningxia forms a harsh ecosystem with sweeping deserts. In 2014, Baofeng Group began managing 107 square kilometers of desertified land by planting alfalfa to improve the soil. The company then began planting goji berries, a business that stretches back 1,000 years in Ningxia. Reviving goji farming has also revived an otherwise dead expanse of desert. To make full use of the land resources bestowed by nature, Huawei Smart PV supported Baofeng Group in building a solar power system over the goji plantation, in effect draping a green blanket over the land. Goji farming and smart PV technology have integrated in perfect harmony, creating a rich layer of “edible rubies” topped by a pristine blue sea of solar cells. It represents a new model of mixed land use involving two complementary industries: agriculture and PV – a model that’s leading the transformation of goji farming and new energy in the Ningxia region.

Under the Sun, a Desert Becomes an Oasis The planned 1 GWp solar power system will cover a total area of 20 square kilometers. The 640 MW PV power plants that have already been constructed are connected to the grid, creating the world’s largest PV power plant with smart tracking. Huawei’s smart PV solution adopts world-leading, horizontal single-axis automatic tracking technology, allowing the solar panels to track the sun like sunflowers, which in turn greatly improves power generation compared to traditional PV power plants. The solar power plant can effectively reduce land moisture evaporation by 30%~40%. The vegetation coverage is increased by 85%, which significantly improves the regional climate. Baofeng PV Park has generated 3.875 billion kWh of electricity (*since connected to the grid until July 31 2020), reducing CO2 emissions by 1.841 billion kg. Once the project is completed, it will save 557,600 tons of coal, reducing emissions of CO2 by 1.695 million tons, sulfur dioxide (SO2) by 51,000 tons, nitrogen oxide (NOx) by 26,000 tons, and dust by 462,000 tons each year. This will increase the annual environmental capacity by about 2.23 million tons for the future growth of the energy sector in Ningxia. Although the sun still beats down on this land, the once barren, endless desert has slowly been transformed into an economic blue ocean, representing the future and hope – all thanks to time and advances in technology. Huawei and Baofeng are leading the transformation of goji farming and new energy in Ningxia, accelerating the development of new technologies, industries, businesses, and models. This new agriculture + PV, multiple land use model isn’t just bringing new life to Ningxia, it’s forging a new ecosystem where humans and nature coexist harmoniously, adding an extra shade of green to the world.

Powering the World with Sunlight Huawei looks forward to working with more partners globally and taking an active role in reducing reliance on fossil fuels and moving towards renewable energy to help put humanity on the road to resource-saving, environmentally friendly, and lowcarbon sustainable development. We will continue to harness the power of technology to develop new practices in response to global climate change and protect the Earth, our home.

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AUTHOR Allen Li Vice President- Smart PV Business, Global Sales and Service, Huawei

SEPTEMBER- 2020

article

Better than expected: PR of this project is 3.8% higher than initial simulation Kazakhstan gets 2200–3000 sun hours annually, bringing great potential for PV development. The 50 MW PV plant, backed by the investor Risen Energy, is a special plant amongthe37 PV plants currently in Kazakhstan, located in Chulakkurgan, Turkistan. There, the wind howls, the sand is heavy, and the climate is harsh. Data from the weather station shows that the lowestrecorded temperature is –27°C and the highest is 42°C. Nevertheless, the actual performance ratio (PR) measurement result of the plant in July was 80.39%, which is 3.8% higher than the simulated value. Considering it is in such an extreme environment, the energy yield well exceeded design and return on investment (ROI) expectations, despite the odds being stacked against it.

Onsite tests were performed according to IEC 61724: Photovoltaic System Performance Monitoring. The test result is as follows:

As shown, the all-time highest actual PR was 82.44%, and the 7-day weighted average was 80.39%. According to the PV system report submitted to the supervisor for review, the simulated PR for July was 76.6%. The actual PR is 3.8% higher than simulated.

SEPTEMBER- 2020

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article How did this PV plant exceed expectations so dramatically? The project uses Risen Energy 330 W polycrystalline PV modules, Huawei SUN2000-185KTL string inverters, and Arctech Solar Skyline 1V84 trackers. The string inverters work with the trackers, and the PV modules move by tracking the sun, ensuring the optimal status of each PV string in the plant. The project owner had great things to say about Huawei's string inverters for their outstanding performance in ensuring the efficient and reliable operation of the plant.

Huawei inverter's multi-MPPT feature can help minimize the impact of PV string mismatch during dusty and cloudy weather. A 3.5 MW PV array supports 170 MPPT routes to ensure that each PV string works at its optimum, which in turn brings higher energy yields. Not only this, but Huawei SUN2000 series string inverters can operate over a wide temperature range, which is befitting to environments with both extremes of hot and cold such as Kazakhstan. They can run stably in the temperature range of –40°C to 60°C, with the availability reaching over 99.996%. Extremely hot or cold conditions would usually pose severe challenges on components. Huawei employs high component selection standards and patented heat dissipation technologies to ensure the reliability of all components, even in difficult or severe environments.

In addition, Huawei string inverters use low power consumption control technology, power supply technology with a wide input voltage range, and power component shutdown peak suppression technology. They also support an operating voltage range as wide as 500–1500 V. A lower operating voltage lower limit enables inverters to start early and shut down late every day, which allows them to generate more electricity.

The success of this project is inseparable from the meticulous design and optimization of Risen Energy’s Overseas Project Technical Team based in China. Jeff Lv, Technical Director, were on site personally for inspection and research. Under his guidance, the technical team of Risen Energy compares more than 100 system design solutions with automatic configuration and loss algorithms, and analyzes the cost and benefit sensitivity. The team optimizes and selects the cost structure of each project. The modular, powerful, and capable solution design ensures a balance in project cost and quality. The corresponding balance created between cost and energy yield is the key to the high energy yield of the project. According to data from the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan, in the first quarter of 2020, the country generated 548.4 million kWh of electricity using renewable energy, 35.7% of it generated from PV. In the Concept of Transition towards Green Economy, the Kazakhstan government proposed to increase the proportion of electricity generated from renewable energy to 3% by 2020. We believe that more PV plants with unexpected PR will make the future of Kazakhstan's PV market landscape brighter.

www.EQMagPro.com

SEPTEMBER- 2020

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