EQMag Jan 2022 Edition by EQ Int'l Solar Media Group

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CONT EN T

VOLUME 14 Issue #01

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

INDIA

OUTLOOK OF FINANCING IN INDIA

64 ENERGY STORAGE

TATA POWER: ‘PROMISING POTENTIAL’ FOR ENERGY STORAGE BUSINESS IN INDIA

79 EUROPE & UK EUROPE’S HYDROGEN AMBITIONS RISK BOOSTING POWER PRICES

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.

INDIA ADANI COMPLETES ONE OF INDIA'S LARGEST INTRA STATE TRANSMISSION LINES

49 BUSINESS & FINANCE

INDIA

GOVT OFFERS 75% SUBSIDY ON SOLAR PUMPS FOR FARMERS

THIS EV MAKER TO INVEST ₹100 CRORE IN EXPANSION AND MANUFACTURING

ASIA PACIFIC BUSINESS & FINANCE

TOYOTA TO INVEST $35 BILLION INTO BATTERY-POWERED EVS AND ROLL OUT 30 MODELS BY 2030

81 FEATURED MONDRAGON ASSEMBLY, MAKING THE OPTIMIZATION AND EFFICIENCY OF HJT CELL TECHNOLOGY A REALITY

PHOTON ENERGY TO BUILD A MEGA SOLAR-PLUS - STORAGE PROJECT FEATURING RAYGEN’S TECHNOLOGIES IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA

EQ NEWS Pg. 30-78 EQ iSEARCH Pg. 06-28

INDIAN SOLAR INDUSTRY TOP EXECUTIVE OPINION REPORT, 2021

Founded in 2005, JA Solar is a manufacturer of high-performance photovoltaic products. With 12 manufacturing bases and more than 20 branches around the world, the company’s business covers silicon wafers, cells, modules and photovoltaic power stations. JA Solar products are available in over 120 countries and regions.

Stock Code: 605117.SH

Ningbo Deye Inverter Technology Co., Ltd, founded in 2007 with registered capital 46 million USD, is one of the China’s high-tech enterprises and a subsidiary of Deye Group. With a plant area over 15,000㎡ and complete production and testing equipment, Deye has become a major player in the global solar inverter market.

Ningbo Deye Inverter Technology Co., Ltd is dedicated to providing complete photovoltaic power system solutions, including residential and commercial power plants solutions. Also, Deye offers solar energy storage system solutions. Among them, PV grid-connected inverter power range from 1.5-110kW, Hybrid inverter 3kW-12kW, and microinverter 300W-2000W.

Ningbo Deye Inverter Technology Co., Ltd Add: No.26-30, South Yongjiang Road, Beilun, 315806, Ningbo, China Tel: 0086-0574-86120560

E-mail: market@deye.com.cnm

Web: www.deyeinverter.com

COMPANY

PROFILE

As a technology-oriented company, Deye has always been committing to research and develop new cutting-edge technologies to provide efficiency and reliable products. For example, Deye adopts T-type threelevel topology and enhanced SVPWM algorithm to further improve the conversion efficiency by 0.7% compared with common SPWM. With frequency droop control technology, Deye string inverter is able to work with diesel generator, which greatly expands the scope of the product application.

Tier-1 Solar PV Module Mfr

PV Module With

High Strength Alloy Steel Frame C O N TA C T U S W W W . R I S E N E N E R G Y. C O M

INDIAN SOLAR INDUSTRY TOP EXECUTIVE OPINION REPORT

2021

Con t en t Introduction……………………………………………………………………….....................................…………………08 Participants …………………………………………………………………………………............………..…….………………08 Respondents Across the Value Chain …………………………………..…………………………………..…………… 08 Findings from the Survey …………………………………………………….........…………………………………….……09 Industry Outlook Towards Renewable Industry …………......…………………………………………………… 10 Auction Environment ………………………..……………..........................………………………………………………10 Solar Projection by 2022 ………………………………….................……………………………………………………… 10 Policy & Regulation ………………………..………………….............................................………………………… 10 Favorable States for Solar …………………………………….……................................…………..………………… 11 RE Achievement by 2022 …………………………………..…………........................................…………………… 11 Challenges of the Indian Solar Industry ………………………….............................…..……………………… 12 BCD Outlook ……………………………….................................................……………………………….……….…… 12 Subsidy Requirement ………………….....................................................………………………………..……… 13 EV Outlook ………………………………………………...............................................................................…… 13 1. Market Outlook …………………………………………………..……………………………………………….............…… 14 • Overall Policy Environment of India Solar Industry...................................................................14 • Module Manufacturing Outlook..................................................................................................14 • Demand for Renewable Power.....................................................................................................15 • Financial Capability of Discoms to Pay Unpaid Bills..................................................................15 • Private PPA outlook......................................................................................................................16 2. Tender & Auction Activity ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 16 • Tariff Structure..............................................................................................................................17 • Demand for Renewable (Solar/Wind/Other).............................................................................17 • Aggressive Bidding........................................................................................................................18 3. Policy & Regulation ………………………………………………………………………………….….…………………....… 18 • Privatization of Discom.................................................................................................................18 • Electricity Amendment Bill..........................................................................................................19 • BCD..................................................................................................................................................19 • ALMM.............................................................................................................................................20 • PM KUSUM Scheme.......................................................................................................................20 4. PLI Scheme ……………………………….…………………..……………………………….......................................….21 5. Suggestions from Stakeholder ………………………………………………..………………….........…..……..22-23 6. Financial Condition of discom ……………………………………….…………………..……………..............…..… 24 7. Expectation from Government ………………………………………………………..……….….......................… 24 8. Respondents View on Financing ………………………………………………………………….………................. 25 9. Positive Factor for Invest in Indian Solar Market …………………………………………….………............ 26 10. Expectation of the Industry Stakeholders …………………………..…………………....................…..… 26 11. Top Solar PV State in India …………………………………………………………………………….….................…27

Abb r e v i a t io n ALMM................................................................Approved List of Models and Manufacturers BCD................................................................... Basic Customs Duty BIS.................................................................... Bureau of Indian Standards GST................................................................... Goods and Services Tax GW....................................................................Gigawatts PLI.....................................................................Production-Linked Incentive PPA.................................................................. Power Purchase Agreement PSA..................................................................Power Sale Agreement RE....................................................................Renewable energy RTC..................................................................Round-the-Clock SGD.................................................................Safeguard Duty

INTRODUCTION

ndian Solar Industry is going through many struggles in recent times, this report will give a clear picture of the opinions of various stakeholders both in the offshore and onshore market. The report is based on the survey response from the industry stakeholders. More than 30 companies have participated from the Solar value chain.

PARTICIPANTS

India 55%, Global 45%

source: EQ iSEARCH

RESPONDENTS ACROSS THE VALUE CHAIN

source: EQ iSEARCH

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FINDINGS FROM THE SURVEY

source: EQ iSEARCH

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INDUSTRY OUTLOOK TOWARDS RENEWABLE INDUSTRY

30% of the respondents are over-confident that India will achieve the 175 GW target by 2022, while 25% are just confident, and 45% are uncertain whether Indian will achieve the 2022 renewable target due to the ongoing pandemic situation, policy uncertainty, and others. If India will add Hydropower, then 175 GW of renewable might be achievable.

AUCTION ENVIRONMENT

45% of the respondents are aggressive towards the new auction, while 25% say auction will not be that much aggressive as India has lots many under-developments pipeline projects are in-line that will get commissioned in the coming few quarters which itself are sufficient for the 2022 target. While the rest 15% were normal about the auction activity, and 15% of the respondents were not so sure about the upcoming auctions as it all depends on the policy.

SOLAR PROJECTION BY 2022 As per the respondents, 60 GW of Solar capacity will be installed out of which 8 GW will come from rooftop Solar while the rest from Utility-scale. Again, many of the respondents are very uncertain due to the third wave, BCD, and supply chain disruption. If the BCD will postpone for one more year, then the project for Solar installation will increase (with no third wave).

source: EQ iSEARCH

POLICY & REGULATION

source: EQ iSEARCH

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Around 1/4th of the respondents are seeing attractiveness towards the Indian policy, while 36% of them were not happy with the ongoing policy changes such as SGD, GST on Solar, upcoming BCD, and others. Selected respondents are not at all attractive, and said very poor policy & regulation while compared with other top Solar markets across the world. Just 10% of the respondents are happy with the policy & regulation and commented India is the fastest growing Solar industry globally, and attract more investors than other Solar Market.

FAVOURABLE STATES FOR SOLAR

RE ACHIEVEMENT BY 2022 source: EQ iSEARCH

100% of the respondents consider Rajasthan as the number one state for Solar installations in India, followed by Gujarat. 60% of the respondents gave Karnataka in the third spot, while 25% consider Telangana in the 4th and Tamil Nadu in the fifth position. There is a mixed response for Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh but are not coming on top five Solar states in our survey. The favourable state criteria are based on the policy, irradiation level, health of the distribution companies, infrastructure stability & others.

source: EQ iSEARCH

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40% of the respondents are estimating around 130 GW-140 GW of total RE installations by 2022, just 12% of the industry stakeholders are thinking that India will achieve between 160-170 GW. Major respondents are not confidents with the supportive factor which may help the country to install 175 GW by 2022. The major reason for the drawback was COVID-19, followed by unsigned PSA, policy issues, supply chain disruption. The regulatory challenges will always be there, and if addressed well in time, it would be good to have a well-regulated environment that will help the country to achieve the target of 2025 & 2030 as well.

CHALLENGES OF THE INDIAN SOLAR INDUSTRY

18% Policy Roadblock 35%

source: EQ iSEARCH

We received mixed responses from the respondents, but the major challenges that the industry is facing as per the respondents' view based on the survey are the policy uncertainty as respondent's first preference followed by PPA signing, curtailment. Many of the respondents gave more than two preferences on this survey, and many of them consider all the mentioned points are the challenges and gave the chronological order to the mentioned challenges. Out of that 35% of them were given the first major challenges to the policy uncertainty, while 20% for PPA signing timeline, 18% for grid evacuation.

BCD OUTLOOK The industry is pessimistic about manufacturing prospects in India. This is understandable as all the government initiatives to promote domestic manufacturing linked tenders, CPSU scheme, KUSUM, and duty didn’t work out a lot which can gain the market share of indigenous module manufactures,

Not Favoring 28%

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28% of the respondents were not happy with the BCD, and those are mostly developers, while 15% of respondents are in favor of BCD, and consider it as an ambitious step towards the great success of the Indian Solar industry. 35% of them show positive response and suggest giving more time for the industry to mature before this duty as we don’t have enough manufacturing advanced facilities to satisfy the increasing demand of the Indian Solar industry.

SUBSIDY REQUIREMENT

source: EQ iSEARCH

55% of the respondents are against subsidy for the Solar project, 20% still needs subsidy on their project cost, 15% have balanced opinion towards subsidy requirement while 10% are fine with or without subsidy. As per the respondents' view from the survey, the subsidy disbursement is very poor, also there is no check and balance such as where the subsidy goes.

EV OUTLOOK

source: EQ iSEARCH

50% of the respondents are very optimistic about the adoption of EV, while 20% feel optimistic about the adoption. 15% of the respondents are balanced towards their approach as India needs more favorable policies for EV, along with infrastructure. Right now, mostly two & three-wheelers are charging their vehicles domestically, as they cannot wait for the battery to be charged at the charging stations which are also limited in number.

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1. MARKET OUTLOOK

• Overall Policy Environment of India Solar Industry

The government has set a huge target for renewable especially Solar for 2030, but there are lots of policy roadblocks that are affecting the industry. The respondents such as foreign suppliers are not happy with the BCD, ALMM, BIS as these are the factors that are pulling back the industry, on the other hand, domestic manufacturers gave a positive response for them, while the developers gave a mixed response, many are against this for recent future but shown support for the future to come.

• Module Manufacturing Outlook

60% of the respondents showed a positive outlook for the module manufacturers and were happy with the ALMM, BCD, BIS. 35% gave mix response as domestic manufacturers are not able to ramp up their capacity based on the upcoming demand and latest technology. While a small percentage of the respondents are not happy with the domestic manufacturing outlook due to the shortage of raw materials in the country.

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• Demand for Renewable Power

20% of the respondents are saying there is an increase in the renewable power demand, while 30% say we are getting more positive demand from the industry, especially through open access. 25% are against renewable power curtailment. While 25% of the respondents gave a negative response towards the RE Power demand in the country.

• Financial Capability of Discoms to Pay Unpaid Bills

35% of the respondents gave mixed responses for the distribution companies (discom) payment, while just 5% of them voted for excellent whose projects are coming under Gujarat and top-rated discom. 25% of them say we are getting paid on time with few delays but there is no curtailment for our projects.

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• Private PPA Outlook

35% of the respondents are supporting the private PPA, as bulk consumers want to go RE but are unable to, because of certain policy hurdles. 45% are saying it will be a good move for the government to remove all the cross-subsidies, and bring everyone to the same level. 15% of the respondents are fine with the corporate PPA, while 5% are not happy with the private PPA as lots many projects are on hold due to policy change.

2. TENDER & AUCTION ACTIVITY

• Tender Activity

25% of the respondents are very positive towards the Solar tender activity. While 30% are happy with the tender activities in the country. Many tenders have specific requirements of “Make in India” or ALMM for the module, which is a pain for a few of the developers as well as foreign suppliers. Very few respondents show negativity towards the tender's activity in the country.

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• Tariff Structure

20% of the respondents are very happy with the tariff, especially the NTPC & SECI. 35% are happy with a few selected state Solar tender tariffs. More than 45% of them are just fine as well as not much happy with the tariff structure in India, and is having the lowest tariff structure among the top Solar market globally. Few respondents are expecting that the tariff rate will push upwards after the implementation of BCD.

• Demand For Renewable (Solar/Wind/Other)

50% of the respondents showed strong demand for solar PV comparison with other renewable sources, as it is cheap and anyone can install and use the generated capacity. Second preference among the renewable given by respondents on Wind followed by other sources. Many respondents voted for open access Solar projects due to cheaper tariff rates in comparison with the general tariff from the distribution companies.

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• Aggressive Bidding

50% of the respondents mentioned that the Indian Solar sector is the game of a few top creamy players who have enough equity to invest. 35% of the respondents voted that only national level tenders are aggressive such as SECI, NTPC as they have payment security. 15% of the respondents are saying aggressiveness is limited to a few big players who have good investors back-up, those players are not able to compete whose sources of projects fundings are mostly from the bank.

3. POLICY & REGULATION

• Privatization of Discom

Privatization of discoms does bring efficiency, but getting away from the monopolies of these distribution companies will help. Just the privatization may not help. The critical one is the separation of carriage and content; so that the consumers should be allowed to buy electricity from wherever they want. That is the critical reform. In our survey, 75% of the respondents want discoms should get privatized for better improvement of the power sector, while 25% are fine with the current discoms operation.

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• Electricity Amendment bill

80% of the respondents are very happy with the new draft Electricity Amendment Bill (2021), as they (consumers) have the rights to choose. While 20% of the respondents are curious to know about the previous obligation of the distribution companies after the amendment, so don’t want amendment in the short- term.

• BCD

40% of the respondents majorly domestic manufacturers are very happy with the imposition of BCD on foreign cells and modules, but few of them have questions among the participants, what will be the quality of the modules, even though the procurer will support BCD on foreign modules. While the majority of the respondents such as 60% are against BCD on modules, as developers want the extension of BCD date for a few quarters, foreign suppliers are against this. Project developers are happy to support the domestic manufacturers with BCD but it’s an early call from the government side they said.

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• ALMM

source: EQ iSEARCH

30% of the respondents said it’s a positive move from the government side and will bring efficiency in the modules who are listed under ALMM, 50% of them are not happy as the initiate is fine, but the process of approval is way slow, and foreign players have not yet listed, and it’s a delay from the official’s side, which is again hampering their business in India. 20% of them have no idea about the movement of ALMM, as it's been a few years when ALMM was first introduced, and to date, only a few manufacturers (41 companies) can get themselves listed under list l & ll of ALMM.

• PM KUSUM Scheme

80% of the respondents are optimistic about this scheme, as the idea of implementing that scheme was to enhance the income of farmers by providing more opportunities to become part of the green revolution. 20% of the respondents are saying if these schemes are implemented much faster and smoother, can make the renewable energy fastest growing industry for India, but we are lagging behind the target, so we may not achieve 100 GW Solar by 2022.

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4. PLI SCHEME

50% of the respondents are very happy with the PLI scheme in Solar as most of the developers are against the tariff barriers such as BCD, ALMM, BIS, and supporting the PLI scheme as this will give long-term assistance to the Indian Solar industry. 40% of the respondents are satisfied with this scheme looking for longevity & sustainability of this incentives program. While, 10% of the respondents such as small-medium manufacturers are not that happy and quoting that this scheme is not for everyone, only for the selected few so we have nothing to do with the PLI.

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5. SUGGESTIONS FROM STAKEHOLDER

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source: EQ iSEARCH

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6. FINANCIAL CONDITION OF DISCOM The respondents are very negative towards the discom payment schedule, as there are lots of backlogs from the discom side, which is again affecting the financial obligations of the generator. The respondents need a more stringent policy for the state discom and want to make a National discom only if that is going to change the payment terms from the off-takers.

7. EXPECTATION FROM GOVERNMENT

source: EQ iSEARCH

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8. RESPONDENTS VIEW ON FINANCING

source: EQ iSEARCH

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9. POSITIVE FACTOR TO INVEST IN INDIAN SOLAR MARKET

source: EQ iSEARCH

10. EXPECTATION OF THE INDUSTRY STAKEHOLDERS

source: EQ iSEARCH

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11. TOP SOLAR PV STATES IN INDIA States such as Rajasthan, Gujarat are the best states in the ranking for the overall performance such as irradiation, payment, ecosystem, ease of doing business, while states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka fit well for Wind and Solar. Apart from Gujarat, no other state PPAs are worth it from a state policy perspective as per the respondent's views. Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh are preferred because most-Solar developments are happening in these states as per the survey.

States Ranking based on Favourability

30% of the respondents gave Rajasthan as the number one state for Solar projects based on different parameters such as project efficiency, policy, tariff structure. While, Gujarat stood at the second spot based on the survey, as respondents gave major preference to bill payment by distribution company along with others. Karnataka came up in the third position based on the capacity addition in the early year both in utility and open access projects.

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1 7

6 3 5

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INDIA OUTLOOK

In a webinar organised by EQ International Magazine, lenders OF FINANCING from across the industry discussed present and future prospects of lending in the domestic and international market.

IN INDIA

he insightful session was brilliantly moderated by Karan Mitroo, Partner - Luthra & Luthra. In the opening statement, he mentioned that during the pandemic outbreak, there was a phenomenon of dead deals and now there is excess liquidity. Financing has made a comeback with vengeance. This has invited foreign markets to the Indian RE sector due to the ESG package making the market very competitive for lenders. Here are the highlights of the session:

RATE REDUCTION & COMPETITION Liquidity is one of the key reasons for the rate reduction. Besides this, the change in overall risk perception for the lenders and investors over time is one of the causes of rate reductions in the renewable sector. This, along with the dearth of projects and subsequent heavy competition now as compared to the past has stalled the growth. However, more projects are coming now, claimed Veenu Singla, Vice President - Kotak Infrastructure Debt Fund. He mentioned that it is a difficult market for lenders but a good time for borrowers. Single further stated that the rates are at the bottom but it appears to get better although not up to the 2016-18 level as there is more acceptance of and therefore competition in the renewable sector. He warned though this is a good trend but one has to be careful of the past. Stating the 2010 rate reduction, he said that the rates were so low by the time the proposal was sanctioned and drawn down, the increase in rates was almost 2.5 per cent. Although this time, it might not be so high but there is a need to be mindful.

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Agreeing with Singla, Gopi Krishna, Deputy General Manager - ICICI Bank said it is a good time for developers to lock in a long-term deal along with too much liquidity and few assets. About three to four years back the rate transmission was not that high but drastic rate cuts following the pandemic resulted in almost perfect rate transmission. Other factors that were responsible for this phenomenon in the past include: - Improved corporate balance sheets. - Better bank balance sheets. - Reduction in global rates. - Cumulative reduction of rates for borrowers

CONSTRUCTION & REFINANCING Speaking on domestic and international vendors in construction and refinancing, Atul Ranjan, DGM Project Finance - Ayana Renewable Power Pvt Ltd said domestic vendors are not as enthusiastic about construction finance as they were earlier and prefer operational projects. He predicted that the existing liquidity can be short-termed. Infrastructure projects or renewable energy projects are 25 year projects and to achieve the targets long-term financing is needed. The mindset still supports short-term loans and will allow looking for options too. The traditional project financing lender banks that existed two-three years back became inactive. They had a clear understanding of project finance in terms of land acquisition, construction or infrastructure. The domestic banks which have become active now instead but have selective preferences for refinancing.

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INDIA Ranjan said, “I would like to emphasise on domestic banks, there is a huge emphasis on clean energy financing or EAC financing... Of course, they want to do something but do they have a long-term mindset or are they willing to (take) construction risk?” This sector is developing and will get better. MNC banks are good but cannot be seen as long-term players. They are taking more under construction risk than domestic banks, theoretically a project is happening but on a non-disposed basis. The idea should be to identify the risk and have a recourse for each of these risks on promoter and sponsor. He said, “It is better but not as good as we have been wanting it.”

VISION FOR RE SECTOR The present is stable thanks to solid policy support from the government of India claimed Girish Kumar Kadam, Senior Vice President - ICRA. The 500 GW capacity by 2030 target along with the overall supportive framework including Maston status, RPO norms by the SCRCs across the state are some causes that fueled this growth. Tariff competitiveness improved for wind and solar projects. For ultimate off-takers, that is the state-owned distribution utility. Marginal variable cost in the bottom 25 per cent of the merit order position is still well above Rs. 3-3.5 per unit, in that case big tariffs from solar and wind remain quite attractive from the off-takers perspective. This is why the outlook is stable and this will continue to lay solid investment traction. “In fact as of now, at all-India level the RE capacity is about 100 GW. We expect the annual capacity addition in the renewable space in the current year to remain at about 11-12 and it will slowly inch up towards 13-14 GW every year. In fact, over the next three to four year period incrementally we expect anywhere between 60-65 GW of RE capacity to happen. And that will require almost 3-3.5 lakh crore of investment requirements… Typically these investment requirements are funded through 70:30 debt-equity-kind of a ratio to that extent that the debt funding requirements for the upcoming RE projects both in solar followed by wind and of course in the hybrid segment where the government of India has shown increasingly more focus.”

CHALLENGES IN RENEWABLE SPACE Module price volatility and uptick in the module price environment seen over the last 10 years is not significant. PV module price jumped from less than 20 cents per watt to 28-29 cents per watt. Although the rates have started to soften, the jump is almost 40 per cent. This happened because of: High prices of polysilicon and the subsequent supply chain disruption in China causing price hikes in module prices and needs to be watched out for. Execution bottlenecks in terms of land acquisition, transmission, connectivity, approvals (prominently seen in wind projects). This is why we have seen a subdued progress of wind capacity installations. At India level 40-50 GW of capacity has been bid out through the competitive bidding route out of which 4-4.5 GW has been installed. Progress is below the expectation because of relatively more execution challenges in the wind segment unlike solar. Solar has comparatively lower bottlenecks. Another challenge is counterparty credit specific concerns particularly with respect to the state DISCOM. At state DISCOMs the payment behaviour continues to remain quite mixed. Across the state DISCOMs except few like Gujarat and Karnataka, payment behaviour continues to remain erratic and mixed. To conclude Kadam said these are the fundamental challenges in the renewable space along with the regulatory overhang in Andhra Pradesh continues to remain a matter of concern because the tariff renegotiation issue is pending at the AP high court level.

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PROJECT FINANCING IN INDIA & ABROAD On describing the financing market in the country for the renewable sector, Sanjeev Gupta, Managing Director - NEXGEN Financial Solutions Pvt. Ltd. said that the entire banking sector has 11-12 lakh crores in the power sector as of March 2020. The power factor correction (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) cumulatively concoct 13 lakh crore rather than 7 lakh crore. The banking sector is to put a sectoral cap that is specified by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which might be about 15-20 lakh crores of project financing, and two lakh crores of immediate requirement in the coming year. India alone won't conduct this kind of lending as there will be volumes of money raised internationally. Along with this a lot of rupee bonds are actually being accessed. ESG remains a grateful factor as India is actually not only committed as a country but is seemingly going all out to promote renewable energy in the energy basket of the country.

BOND MARKET

Almost 26000 crores were raised in the first half of 2021, he said. Gupta believed money has to be raised on bonds, although not enough has been seen right now. As the activeness is increasing, companies have to align with global ratings. Two Indian companies, Renew and Greenco have typically 70 per cent of the global money access from bond markets. Since 2014, around 78000 crores have been raised and 26000 crores that Gupta has added into this. However, this is too little money to talk about, a lot of money is raised abroad.

OPEN MARKET: KEY DRIVERS Agreeing to looking beyond domestic banks and financial solutions, Mr. Vinay Ghai, Director - E&Y said that Renew, Greenco and Adani were more of the green bond takers. That segment is expanding now with Hero, Acme and various other players getting into bond financing. The market is opening, refinancing from the bond market will help them free up limits with the Indian bank as every bank has group level limits and sectoral limits. It helps free up the limits and help them raise finances domestically for the newer projects. Another key driver is the flexible terms that these bonds offer, the back-end kind of a payment structure along with reduced interest rates and what we are also seeing is how the currency markets are behaving.

JANUARY 2022

INDIA He quoted, “There has been rupee depreciation in the past but if you look at all the forecasts, the Oxford forecast, for example, highlights that in the coming 3-4 years there is a 1% rupee depreciation expected. So that reduces the hedging cost also and the effective cost of borrowing international money is much attractive and also we see the spreads getting fine tuned. There is a 50-100 basis point reduction that we are seeing in the spreads as well for the green bonds that is driven by the ESG pool of capital coming towards a green bond... The bonds now have been oversubscribed by more than four times both of the two recent green bonds.” Ghai added, “In the domestic market there is more reliance on central government projects, more financing for the key NTPC juvenile projects for example. In the bond market, there is acceptance at various state-level DISCOM projects and even C&I projects. Where players are also able to mix and match various pools of assets, capital, cash flows, and that has increased interest among the investor community. Interesting trend for India and in coming years more such alternative channels of financing are expected to open up.”

ALTERNATIVE TO BONDS IN INDIA With more capacity coming up in the next decade and debt financing is certainly scarce in domestic sources. Therefore, the need for international debt has been reinforced in the past few years. Bank debt has slowed down because they have reached their limits or stressed assets. As international banks are opting out of coal there is growing focus towards RE lending, said Nitish Shankar, Associate - GreenStone Energy Advisors. He pointed out that out of all South Asian countries, India only provides the scale for investment in RE. Bond instruments are ideal for funding renewable assets. Among them, green bonds and sustainable link bonds are very much ideal. They are able to take counterpart risk more favourably than domestic lenders. There is liquidity in the market, they are oversubscribed. While bonds are more suited, still the renewable developers face a lot of issues for under-construction projects. Alternatives to it could include raising term-loan through foreign lenders. So, they are also willing to take exposure to renewable energy. It was recently observed that many global financial institutions are growing their sustainable routes. This also helps developers leverage this low decade interest rate in the developed world.

ALTERNATIVE TO BONDS IN INTERNATIONAL MARKET There is increasing interest from multilateral banks. Recently many DFIs are coming into the market and lending to the developers. As a result the benefit is that these lenders don't seek to maximise their returns per se. So, they are able to take some under construction and execution risks, and in a few years the interest rates reset. Among the alternatives, Shankar highlighted, “Bonds certainly are going to lead the pack but we have foreign alternatives to bonds which can be approached by the RE developers.”

CHALLENGES Speaking of challenges, Ghai mentioned the following: - Unattractive IRR due to increase in module price. Low equity IRRs for recently bid out projects is creating doubt in minds of lenders about viability of those projects. - Policy related changes, like safeguard duty and BCD transition. Due to GIB-related issues, projects in Rajasthan are stalled. They have not secured financing due to uncertainties. - Delay in signing off PPAs from SECI that is now getting on track. Further adding to it Shankar stated, “During transaction, timeline is an issue from international banks or multilateral banks. So, the diligence time that they take or most of the time the requirements or several other internal requirements are so huge that most of the time developers are not comfortable dealing with those issues when they are raising under construction financing while they are also doing other construction works. They are also waiting for the funds, this becomes problematic for developers as well. This is a major reason that we have seen from an international bank perspective.” The panel discussion went on to discuss various aspects of debt financing. Harvinder Singh, Head of Project Finance - Amplus Solar talked about the reduction of appetite for domestic funding last year and the challenges faced. He said, “Developers in India have demonstrated their quality. In the last 10 years, we have seen the performances of assets have been different, so, lenders have developed the perception that has reduced for this sector. So, at this point of time, few large developers have approached the national bond market and have significant interest in green bonds. Because India itself is a big market and those bond markets can't ignore Indian bonds.” Discussion on varied interests of IFC and AIIB institutions and ways to simplify the process of lending for them were held. Changes in the regulatory regime to ease business by the RBI or MNRE were also discussed. Prospects of financing interest are storage, battery and manufacturing, and the risks associated were also a topic of contention. Taking the discussion further, reliance over long-term debt with higher rates or short-term debt with reduced rates or a combination of the two was talked about. Preference of domestic debt or ECBs; the longer term goals for the world bank in respect of increasing lending requirements in India for this sector; and changes personally desired to make lending easier in India.

Article By

Aishwarya Puranik Journalist (ME & APAC Region), EQ Magazine

JANUARY 2022

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INDIA POWER SECRETARY REVIEWS STATUS OF BIOMASS UTILIZATION IN THERMAL POWER PLANTS IN THE COUNTRY : SAMARTH (SUSTAINABLE AGRARIAN MISSION ON USE OF AGRO RESIDUE IN THERMAL POWER PLANTS) 59,000 metric tonnes of biomass co-fired in coal fired Thermal power plants. Contracts awarded for procurement of 11 Lakh MT of biomass pellets and tenders floated for 55 lakh MT. Union Power Secretary chaired the second meeting of Steering Committee for SAMARTH i.e. National Mission on Use of Biomass in coal based thermal Power Plants on 14.01.2022. He reviewed the status of bio-mass co-firing and progress of the actions being taken to promote the co-firing in the thermal power plants in the meeting.

n order to reduce stubble burning and to reduce carbon footprint of Thermal Power Plants while increasing the income of farmers, Government of India has taken various proactive step with the establishment of National Mission on Use of Biomass in Thermal Power Plants. The agroresidue/ biomass earlier considered as a waste product has now begun to produce zero-carbon electricity for the citizens of the country. In turn farmers are getting additional income by selling the stubble/ biomass for conversion into torrefied/ non-torrefied biomass pellets. For overall monitoring of the Mission and to facilitate the Mission on inter-ministerial issues/constraints, a Steering Committee under the chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Power (MoP) has been constituted. Ministry of Power’s policy on “Biomass Utilization for Power Generation through Co-firing in Coal based Power Plants” issued in October 2021 mandates all thermal power plants in the country to use 5 to 10% biomass along with coal for power production. The policy has started showing promising results. As on date, approximately 59,000 metric tonnes (MT) of biomass has been cofired in thermal power plants in the country, while tenders for 12 million metric tonnes (MMT) are at different stages of process for short term & long term duration. Out of this, the biomass co-fired in the NCR region stands at 21000 MT and tenders floated in the region are about 5.50 MMT. Contract have already been awarded for more than 11 lakh MT of biomass pellets.

It has been observed that NTPC has emerged as a leader in biomass user having co-fired approx. 58,000 MT of biomass, while tendering a total of 10.7 MMT over short-term and longterm basis. Among the State Governments, while Haryana State Genco has been able to co-fire around 550 MT of biomass in two of its stations and float tenders worth 11 lakh metric tonnes. Some of the Public and Private generating companies have started co-firing small quantities of biomass in Punjab, UP and Maharashtra. The results so far are encouraging and there is still a long way to go before the country can achieve its target of 5-10% co-firing in all plants in the country. This will be achieved with active participation of all Central/State Gencos and Independent Power Producers (IPPs). Under the National Mission on Use of Biomass in Thermal Power Plants, advertisement, awareness campaign and training activities are actively being pursued. Hoardings in public places and advertisement in popular newspapers in the northern states of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh have already started. More advertisement campaigns are planned in 2022 especially in the months leading up to the paddy harvesting season.

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Continuing with the market development efforts and encouraging budding entrepreneurs, the National Mission has conducted two Farmers’ training & awareness programs held at Faridabad, Haryana and Nangal, Punjab in October ‘2021. Both programs witnessed active participation by the Farmers wherein they were sensitized on negative impact of crop residue burning on the soil productivity and avenues to supplement their income by participating in the value chain of biomass co-firing in TPPs. Another two programs were held at NPTI Badarpur and NPTI Nagpur for pellet manufactures in November 2021. Pellet vendors were apprised of the latest technologies in the palletization process and the issues and challenges faced by them in venturing into this relatively new field were gathered and assessed. The Mission has been actively pursuing the issues raised by vendors in the Executive and Steering committee meetings held with the government across Ministries and such programs will be continued in future. The proposed website of the Mission was reviewed and would be launched shortly with a new logo for SAMARTH. It is emerging that the efforts of the Government in transforming the problem of stubble burning into a solution of power production with lower carbon footprints, would continue to bear fruit with the active participation of Farmers, Pellet manufacturers and power plants in the country. This would yield additional income for farmers. It is going to play a big role towards clean energy transition of the country.

JANUARY 2022

INDIA

GOVT OFFERS 75% SUBSIDY ON SOLAR PUMPS FOR FARMERS To support farmers in their irrigation requirements, Haryana’s department of new and renewable energy has decided to give 75% subsidy in the purchase of 3-10 horse power (HP) solar-powered pumps. The department has invited applications from eligible beneficiaries till December 27.

JANUARY 2022

urgaon’s additional deputy commissioner Vishram Kumar Meena said that some 8,629 solar-powered pumps will be given to the farmers of Haryana on 75% subsidy. “These pumps will be given only to those farmers who are into micro-irrigation like drip or sprinkler irrigation and irrigate fields by pressing ground pipelines,” he said. ‘We are inviting applications from the farmers who wish to avail the benefit of 75% subsidy on solar pumps till December 27. There are three categories of pumps — 3 HP, 7.5 HP, and 10 HP — that are covered under the subsidy scheme. The adoption of solar pumps will promote the shift towards newer and sustainable sources of energy. It will help farmers to cater to their irrigation needs too,” Meena added.Farmers have been asked to fill up the form, choose a solar pump of their choice, and pay their share of the price on the portal. Once the form has been received and accepted, it would take around three months for the department to distribute these pumps to the beneficiaries, officials said. Source: TNN

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INDIA

ADANI COMPLETES ONE OF INDIA'S LARGEST INTRA STATE TRANSMISSION LINES

dani Transmission Limited (ATL), India’s largest private sector power transmission and retail distribution company and a part of the diversified Adani Group, has completed construction of one of India’s longest intra-state transmission lines of 897 Circuit Km. This feat was achieved in Uttar Pradesh by Ghatampur Transmission Ltd (GTL) a subsidiary of ATL. The transmission line comprises 4 Nos of 765KV and 400KV bay extensions at Agra, Greater Noida and Hapur. This project has been developed under PPP mode on a Build, Own, Operate and Maintain (BOOM) basis. This will provide transmission services to Long-Term Transmission Customers (LTTC) with 35 years of runway ahead. Mr. Anil Sardana, MD & CEO, Adani Transmission Ltd “Adani Transmission is constantly evolving into a significant player in Indian grid networks. Completion of this large project even during the Covid pandemic is a significant achievement. This proves ATL’s commitment to nation building and to becoming a world class leader in creating long-term sustainable value for our stakeholders. This project will improve reliability, operational efficiency and the robustness of UP’s power system network, especially benefitting the areas of Kanpur, Agra, Greater Noida and Hapur. This will also strengthen the resolve towards ’24×7 Power for all’, the joint initiative of the Central and State Govts.” The project was approved by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) during their 36th Standing Committee meeting on power system planning in India’s northern region. The commissioning of this project will significantly improve the social conditions and welfare of people of the region. The project will evacuate power from 3x660MW Ghatampur TPS owned by the Neyveli Uttar Pradesh Power Limited (a joint venture between Neyveli Lignite Corporation and Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam) and will also strengthen UP’s transmission network. It consists of 765KV S/C Ghatampur-Hapur transmission line of411 km, which is one of the longest HVAC transmission lines

MR. ANIL SARDANA MD & CEO ADANI TRANSMISSION LTD.

in the country. It will connect the Ghatampur TPS (Central UP) to 765/400KV Hapur Substation (Western UP). The transmission line passes through severe right of way (ROW) challenged urban areas and also through highly undulated ravine topography. One of the biggest challenges surpassed by GTL was the uncertainty caused by the COVID pandemic which made deployment of the workforce difficult. GTL exhibited world class quality standards, effective project management, and adhered to all safety and COVID protocol to successfully complete the project. Once operational, the Ghatampur thermal generation power plant of UP and Neyveli Lignite Corporation is expected to generate 14,000 million units (MU) of energy each year to meet UP’s future power requirement. Adani Transmission will play a key role in evacuation of electricity from this thermal power plant through five DISCOMs operational in UP to several parts of the state and thereby benefit millions of households, agricultural loads, industries, businesses and will boost economic development. Source : adanitransmission

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JANUARY 2022

INDIA

LOG9 MATERIALS INAUGURATES INSTACHARGE

STATION IN BENGALURU, PLANS CHARGING was a special day at #Log9 as we flagged off the #ResponsibleDeliveryMovement from our Bengaluru campus along with our #InstaCharge Station. Log9 is at the precipice of creating sustainable delivery ecosystems that will lower mobility-related emissions and bring an end-to-end clean delivery solution.

hrough our Responsible Delivery Movement, we have envisioned a world where last-mile deliveries will happen on electric vehicles. We are envisioning a world where our fleet partners will earn more with efficient EV battery technology from Log9. And customers of last-mile delivery will now become part of the solution by ordering deliveries on EV thereby enabling 49% reduction of emission with each delivery done on EV. The event

was inaugurated by Dr. Pawan Agrawal, who has studied the logistics and supply chain management of India’s original Responsible Delivery partners “The Mumbai’s Dabbawalas” and his insights and inaugural speech was an inspiration for us all. He delved into his own study and gave us raw insights into the complexities of effective supply chain management and how Log9 can lead the charge in ushering the new era of Responsibility Delivery in India.

The real heroes of the event, however, were the delivery scooters, powered by Log9’s #RapidX batteries capable of going. from 0% to 100% charge within 15 minutes and the unveiling of

our #InstaChargeStation that will bring the style and power to India as it embarks on its EV revolution

JANUARY 2022

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INDIA

INDIA LAUNCHES POLICY TO MANUFACTURE OWN SEMICONDUCTOR CHIPS IN 2-3 YEARS The Centre has notified its new policy to promote the manufacturing and refining of semiconductor chips within the country. The government hopes to see local production starting as soon as the next 2-3 years, reported Bloomberg.

The government will be providing up to 50 percent of the cost for setting up two semiconductors and two display fabs units. Additionally, support through the EMC2.0 scheme, demand aggregation, support for R&D, and skill development and training programmes will be provided. The government had also announced a $10-billion package to incentivise companies to set up production in India last week, which will be spread over six years to boost chip production as well. “The scheme aims to attract investments for setting up Compound Semiconductors/ Silicon Photonics (SiPh)/Sensors (including MEMS) Fabs and Semiconductor ATMP/OSAT facilities in the country to strengthen the electronics manufacturing ecosystem and help establish a trusted electronics value chain in the areas of application of these fabrication and packaging technologies,” the government said in its gazette notification. While India has emerged as a centre of semiconductor research and design, the country has been lagging in the local production of the vital component. Semiconductor chips are required for items like smartphones, laptops, PC components, automobiles, electronic appliances, solar panels and more. The recent global semiconductor shortage, that has worsened due to collapsing global supply chains, has highlighted the need for countries to indigenously develop

manufacturing capabilities for semiconductor chips. But the recent efforts of the government may soon be bearing fruit in terms of boosting local production. “In next 2-3 years’ time frame, we see at least 10-12 semiconductors going into production, we see display fab going into production or maybe finalising completion. At least 50-60 designing companies would have started designing the products in the next 2-3 years,” Ashwini Vaishnaw, who holds the portfolio of the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, told Bloomberg. “The response has been very good. All the big players are in talks with Indian partners and many want to come directly to set up their units here. Almost all big ones are talking to us,” Vaishnaw added.

Source : cnbctv18

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JANUARY 2022

INDIA

ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY TO COME UP WITH NEW E-WASTE POLICY WITH MORE RESPONSIBILITY ON PRODUCERS SOON The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) will be coming up with a hard set reframed policy on electronic waste with more onus on producers.

he Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) will be coming up with a hard set reframed policy on electronic waste with more onus on producers . “E-waste (Management) Rules, 2016, enacted since October 1, 2017 have been further strengthened in the new coming policy which will bring change in perception of ewaste recycling market in the country making Electrical and electronic waste with its rich content of valuable metals as a major harvest point “ said Mr Ved Prakash Mishra, Director, The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) while speaking at an interaction on e-waste management organized by Pegasus Waste Management Pvt Ltd, an integrated e waste recycling company late last evening . “The present E-waste management Rules 2016 had strengthened the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which ensured the take-back of the end-of-life products. A new arrangement entitled, ‘Producer Responsibility Organization’ (PRO) was also introduced to strengthen EPR further. PRO, a professional organization, was mostly authorized or financed collectively or individually by producers, to share the responsibility for collection and channelization of e-waste generated from the ‘end-of-life’ products to ensure environmentally sound management of such e-waste.” Said Mr Mishra . “India is currently the world’s Third largest producer of e-waste after the US and China but with a very low e-waste recycling facility. Presently only 300 recyclers are registered in the country but the rate of e-waste collection is very high in India owing to its valuable content. Unfortunately, the collection and recycling of e-waste is predominantly being done by the informal or unorganized labour through highly environmentally degradative ways, which cause serious health hazards. The new policy will help in formalizing the unorganized sector and strengthen the organized recycling units” said Mr Mishra. “At Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) extends the responsibility of producers beyond the consumer stage for collection, storage, transportation and environmentally sound dismantling and recycling of e-waste and creating awareness among consumers through the instrument of EPR Authorization.” Said Mr Mishra.

MR. VED PRAKASH MISHRA Director The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC)

“ Apart from responsibility of big companies, people and Resident Welfare Associations should come forward as most of the e waste is lying in houses of public . The government should give incentive for buying new electronic products if one disposes off the old e waste . A platform is needed to be created for e waste thus making e waste recycling viable in the country. “ said Mr Sandeep Kumar, Regional director (Gurgaon South), Haryana state pollution control board while speaking at the interaction. “All e-waste is valuable as it is highly rich in metals such as copper, iron, tin, nickel, lead, zinc, silver, gold, and palladium. Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) contain rare and precious metals such as ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium and platinum – which are together referred to as the Platinum Group Metals (PGM). But due to lack of awareness the consumers are selling their e waste to unorganised sector which extracts these precious metals and sells the balance e waste to recyclers . which does not make recycling viable for the recycler” said Mr Praveen Bhargava, CEO, Pegasus Waste Management Pvt Ltd, a company which has setup its state of the art e waste recycling unit at Binola, Gurugram in Haryana. “Electronic waste includes discarded computer monitors, motherboards, mobile phones and chargers, compact discs, headphones, television sets, air conditioners and refrigerators. Some of the e-waste is extremely complex in constitution and hence difficult to recycle, while the other does not even have environmentally sound recycling technologies. The existing recycling facilities face the issue of lack of steady supply of raw materials. This is mainly because consumers, owing to lack of awareness about the hazardous impact of inappropriate e-waste recycling, sell their electronic waste to informal recyclers for quick money as it is easier and faster. Thus, registered recycling units are deprived of a regular supply of e-waste which is crucial for their sustenance. Currently, the authorized e-waste recycling facilities in India capture only a small amount of the total e-waste generated and the rest makes its way into informal recycling.” Said Mr Bhargava. “ Setting up recycling facilities is costly and advanced recycling technology is expensive and makes large investments risky, especially when sourcing of e-waste is a challenge. Most of the formal recycling companies in India limit their role to only preprocessing of e-waste, wherein the crushed e-waste with precious metals is exported to smelting refineries outside India. An end-to-end solution for e-waste recycling is still not available in India.” Said Mr Bhargava. Mr Kuldeep Singh, Regional Officer, Gurgaon (North), Haryana State Pollution Control Board has emphasised that these types of interaction meet should be done in Gurgaon and other locations in Haryana and HSPCB will extend its support for the same. The others who were present on the occasion included Sunil Pandey from Tata Energy Research Institute, Mr Prashant Singh, CEO, Blue Planet Environmental Solutions,Mujib Quadari a e waste recycler from Hyderabad and Pawan Kalra, business head from Pegasus .

Source: psuconnect.in 42

JANUARY 2022

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INDIA’S ACHIEVEMENT IN RENEWABLE ENERGY CAPACITY India’s installed renewable energy capacity is the fourth largest in the world. A total of 150.54 GW of Renewable Energy capacity (including large hydro) has been installed in the country as on 30th November, 2021. Further, a total of 219817.14 Million units of electricity have been generated from various renewable energy sources during the year 2021-22 (up to October 2021).

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ost of renewable energy projects in the country are being set up by private sector developers selected through transparent bidding. The Government has issued standard bidding guidelines to enable distribution licensees to procure power at competitive rates in a costeffective manner. To protect the interest of small developers as per central government guidelines, States/UTs can procure power from solar projects (less than 5 MW capacity) and wind projects (less than 25 MW capacity) not covered under competitive bidding guidelines through Feed-in –Tariff (FiT) to be determined by the respective State Electricity Regulatory Commission. This information was given by Shri R. K Singh, Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

JANUARY 2022

INDIA

WHY INDIA’S ROOFTOP SOLAR INSTALLATION INITIATIVE IS YET TO SEE THE LIGHT OF SUCCESS

India aimed to install 40GW of rooftop solar (RTS) power by 2022. However, the nation has installed just 6GW till the end of October 2021 n 2017, India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) decided to install 40GW of rooftop solar (RTS) power by 2022. However, India could install just 6GW by the end of October 2021. The 40GW goal is part of India’s ambitious target to achieve 175GW renewable energy (RE) capacity that includes 100GW of solar power by 2022. Maharashtra had been given a target to install 3.3GW of RTS capacity by 2022. The state could install only 988MW, according to an official of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL), the nodal agency for RE in the state. And it is unlikely that either the state or India will complete its target of RTS by 2022. Manufacturers and experts in RE blame regular policy flip-flops by state and central governments for this probable failure.

creased prices of solar components since the COVID-19 outbreak. Hike in diesel and petrol prices have also increased costs of all solar equipment. “The RTS of 100KW that would cost Rs 35 lakh will now cost Rs 43-45 lakh due to all hikes. Why will consumers pay Rs 8-10 lakh more? They will postpone or cancel their installation. I have lost 3-4 customers since 1 October,” Devtale added. Government departments are major customers of these manufacturers. Many approved funding for RTS according to earlier prices. If costs of RTS go up suddenly, they do not pay an increased amount, causing losses to manufacturers. This is not the first time sudden policy decisions have been made without consultation with solar manufacturers and experts.

HIKE IN GST FOR SOLAR SYSTEM COMPONENTS

There are two ways in which individuals or organisations with RTS units can make money. Under the gross metering scheme, state power distribution companies (DISCOMS) compensate consumers with a fixed feed-in-tariff for the solar power supplied to the grid by the consumer. And the consumers must pay the DISCOM at a retail rate for they energy they consume. The rate for feed-in-tariff is always lower than for retail tariff. So, consumers who produce RE (called prosumers) must buy electricity at a higher rate than they can sell. If a prosumer produces 50 KW and consumes 25 KW, he must pay at a rate of Rs 10 per KW but sell at a rate of Rs 7 per KW. He makes Rs 100, far less than he would if the rates were the same. Under net metering scheme, the DISCOM pays consumers the difference between energy provided to the grid and consumed by consumers at a fixed rate. In net metering, the consumer producing 50KW and using 25KW would make Rs 250. Industrial, commercial, MSME, and even residential RTS installers prefer net metering over gross metering.

On 17 September 2021, India’s Goods and Service Tax (GST) Council decided to hike GST of many components of the solar system from 5 percent to 12 percent. The order, which came into effect from 1 October, will increase RTS’s capital cost by 4-5 percent. “Government should intimate 5-6 months in advance about proposed changes in policies like in this case GST hike by 7 percent. At least, it should apply old rules for purchases and projects signed before 1 October. Now, I have to pay 4-5 percent more for the equipment I ordered earlier. And my consumers would not pay more according to increased taxes. Here we solar manufacturers lose either money or consumers. At least the GST council should have implemented the changes from the next financial year,” said Amit Devtale, a member of Maharashtra Solar Manufacturers Association (MASMA). Manufacturers are already bearing the brunt of in

JANUARY 2022

INCONSISTENT RULES ON NET AND GROSS METERING

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INDIA Net metering was limited to 1 MW until December 2020, when the Power Ministry of India cut it to 10 KW. After much criticism, it amended the Electricity Rules 2020 in April 2021. Now net metering for RTS systems is allowed till 500 KW. It must be gross metering above that. “Policy uncertainty is one of the major issues why India has minuscule RTS installation till now. All states have different rules when it comes to gross and net metering. DISCOMs are generally unwilling to avail gross or net metering as they don’t want to lose premium high-paying consumers like commercial and industries (C and I) to solar,” says Samrat Sengupta, programme director, Climate Change and Energy, at the New Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). In 2019, MSEDCL decided to opt for gross metering over net metering for commercial rooftops. It had to reverse the decision in 2020 after a seven-day protest by solar manufacturers. “Generally, when a prosumer installs RTS, he does not make profit for 4-5 years as he is repaying money of installing RTS. And he makes profit after five years as he does not have to pay electricity bills. But if governments do not have fixed plans, why would consumers invest lakhs of rupees to install RTS?” asks Ajinkya Machale, a solar integrator from Maharashtra. Pradip Kulkarni of MASMA said, “Manufacturers will invest if there are policies for a fixed duration of at least 3-5 years. But both state and Central governments change policies every few months without prior information to us. Policies are made without consulting

consumers or us. MSEDCL or all DISCOMs design policies as per their profit, and they are not at all interested in cutting down greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We have to approach state or central ministries, protest, demand for every policy they design. Is this how India will achieve its target to install a capacity of 100 GW by 2022?”

FINANCING IS A MAJOR ISSUE “Commercial, institutions, and residential sectors are keen to install grid-connected RTS by getting bank loans. MNRE has advised banks to give loans for RTS as subsidised rates. However, nationalised banks hardly offer loans to RTS. Thus, many private players have come into the market that offer loans for RTS at higher rates like 10-12 percent. Consumers cannot afford these rates,” said Machale. He also pointed out that financing is a major issue for MSME and residential RTS. “Commercial and industrial sector easily get bank loans due to their good financial balance. But MSME and the residential sector struggle to get loans for RTS. Under schemes of the World Bank, a few consumers from metros do get loans. But rural areas remain neglected,” he added. The solar consumers and manufacturers also point out MSEDCL’s apathy to pay tariffs to prosumers on time and also delayed processes. “MSEDCL should approve proposals in at least one month but it takes 3-6 months. Not a single time, it pays tariffs on time to prosumers,” tells one of the consumers. Source: firstpost

NO RENEWABLE ENERGY INVESTOR WILL COME IF ENERGY BILLS NOT PAID, STRINGENT ACTION NEEDED, SAYS R K SINGH Power Minister R K Singh on expressed concern over rising dues of renewable energy (RE) producers that have not been paid by discoms, saying no investment will come in the sector if investors find power bills are not being cleared.

aking to reporters on the sidelines of National Energy Conservation Day Function, on rising dues of RE producers from discoms, the minister said, “It is a matter of worry because the quantum is just Rs 15,000 crore or Rs 16,000 crore. But it amounts to 11-month of their billing.” A latest status report of the power minister finalised on November 29, 2021 showed that the total overdue amount of discoms towards renewable energy (RE) producers stood at Rs 19,013 crore as on October 31, 2021, which constitutes 20 per cent of total amount of overdues of Rs 93,906 crore. The overdues of discoms towards RE producers stood at Rs 14,741 crore in January this year. The report showed that the amount of Rs 19,013 crore overdues toward RE producers was 11.8 times of their average monthly billing. Andhra Pradesh utilities owe the maximum amount of the overdues towards RE producers at Rs 6,279 crore followed by Tamil Nadu at Rs 3,215 crore and Telangana at Rs 2,159 crore. The minister explained, “They (RE producers) are very important in the context of COP26 (India’s target of 500GW RE by 2030). No investment will come if they find that power is not paid for. That is compelling us to take more stringent actions to make sure that energy bills are paid. If we don’t do that no investment will come for RE.. then how would I achieve 500GW (RE by 2030) But I cannot have a rule for RE only.” Thus, the power ministry is embarking upon a robust payment security mechanism for the power producers so that energy bills are paid well in time.

MR. R K SINGH

Minister Of Power MNRE & SKILL DEVELOPMENT

Source: PTI

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JANUARY 2022

INDIA

HOW INDIA CAN MANAGE SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULE WASTE BETTER

his policy brief captures the Indian and international policy landscape of PV module waste management to outline some immediate interventions needed in India to prepare for this issue. The recommendations are guided by a thorough review of the recycling processes and globally implemented regulatory and voluntary mechanisms to manage PV module waste.

• Globally, only a few regulations cover PV modules in any waste category. The European Union (EU) is the first to revise its Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) legislation and bring PV modules under its ambit. It also provides some financing mechanisms to cover the waste management costs.

KEY RECOMMENDATIONS

KEY FINDINGS

POLICYMAKERS SHOULD:

• A responsible management of PV module waste and efficient recovery of different components would prevent the leaching of various toxic elements into the environment and render them available for the manufacturing industry.

• Introduce a ban on dumping of waste modules by different entities in the landfills.

• PV module recycling is a multistep process involving dismantling, delamination, and metal recovery. Some recycling techniques like chemical delamination yield undamaged solar cells, which could be reused directly or with little refurbishing. Mechanical and combustion delamination, on the contrary, yield damaged solar cells that need to be treated electrochemically or metallurgically to recover the metals.

PV MODULE RECYCLING IS A MULTISTEP PROCESS

• Formulate a dedicated PV module waste management regulation. • Introduce incentives like green certificates to provide a levelplaying field and encourage recycling and mineral recovery by the industry. • Improve the PV module design to minimise the waste at the disposal stage. This can include sustainable design with reduced use of toxic minerals or adopting a ‘design to disassemble’ approach. • Invest in the second-life use of sub-standard modules to delay waste creation. • Collaborate with research institutes to develop recycling techniques and support pilot demonstrations. • Conceptualise new business models to manage and finance the waste disposal. Source : ceew

JANUARY 2022

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INDIA NCL ILLUMINATED 80 STATE-RUN HEALTHCARE CENTERS WITH SOLAR ENERGY WITH 2.41 CRORES Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL) is continuously working to increase the share of clean energy in the country’s total Energy Mix. Under its commitment towards Social Sustainability and giving thrust on renewable energy

orthern Coalfields Limited (NCL), a Mini Ratna Company of GoI is continuously working to increase the share of clean energy in the country’s total Energy Mix. Under its commitment towards Social Sustainability and giving thrust on renewable energy, the Krishnashila Unit of NCL has successfully installed solar panels in 80 healthcare centers through an MoU with Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (NEDA with an investment of 2.41 crores. NEDA is a state Government-run agency to develop the capacity in renewable energy sources such as Solar Energy, Wind Energy, BioEnergy, Micro Hydel, and Energy Conservation besides planning and other aspects of energy management in Uttar Pradesh.

Through this initiative, 20 primary healthcare centers and 60 sub-healthcare centers are equipped with an availability of 24 hours Solar Energy based electricity. All these health centers are remotely located in Sonbhadra District. The total installed capacity of this project is 220 KW if all the locations are taken together. All these Healthcare centers are located in remote areas of Sonbhadra District and cater to the healthcare needs of approx. 20 thousand local people. Pregnant women, children, and serious patients are the prime beneficiaries of this project. It is worth mentioning that, in the last financial year NCL has done remarkable work in the field of infrastructure development, education, healthcare, drinking water, sports, and skill development with a total spend of 129.93 crore, which was approx. 10 percent more than the allocated budget under CSR. Source: psuconnect

ADANI EXPANDS HIS GREEN PLAN, EYES FORAY INTO EVS

Along with metal, Gautam Adani, India’s second-richest particular person and head of the ports-to-power conglomerate Group, might now be eyeing the auto sector.

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trademark has been registered for the identify ‘Adani’, proposed for use for autos, by S.B. Adani Family Trust. The plan is to enter the EV house, Times of India reported, quoting sources. The Group will first take a look at electric commercial vehicles — coaches, buses and vans and can initially use them for its in-house necessities in airports and ports, in line with the report. It additionally has plans to fabricate batteries and arrange charging stations throughout the nation. The transfer is consistent with the Group’s broader play in green tasks.

This follows scorching on the heels of Adani Green hitting a market cap of Rs 3 lakh crore. The group just lately arrange a brand new subsidiary, ANIL to undertake green hydrogen tasks, era of low carbon electrical energy and manufacture of wind generators, photo voltaic modules and batteries because it seems to be to grow to be the world’s largest renewable vitality firm and produce the most affordable hydrogen. Adani had in November final 12 months said that his group will make investments $70 billion within the new vitality house of the following decade. The infrastructure conglomerate additionally plans to determine an R&D centre in its particular financial zone (SEZ) in Mundra, Gujarat, for its proposed play in electrical mobility, the report mentioned. This transfer will pit Adani in opposition to the Tata Group and Reliance, who even have introduced formidable plans in low-carbon tasks. Source: pehalnews

JANUARY 2022

BUSINESS & FINANCE

"ODISHA CABINET APPROVES POWER INFRA PROJECTS WORTH RS. 1,796CR"

The Cabinet of Naveen Patnaik government in Odisha on approved power infrastructure projects worth Rs 1,796.73 crore.

he Cabinet has decided to execute PhaseIV of the Odisha Distribution System Strengthening Project (ODSSP), which was launched during the year 2013-14 for installing 473 number of 33/11 KV primary sub-stations and its associated lines across the state, said Chief Secretary SC Mahapatra. "Under the project, 99 numbers of 33/11 KV primary substations and independent 33 KV lines of 812.05 km length will be taken up with a total estimated cost of Rs 1,796.73 crore. The project will be implemented over a period of 3 years, effective from financial year 2021-22," he said. Mahapatra said the state panel has decided to execute five transmission projects worth Rs 259.43 crore in low voltage pockets of the state with 30 per cent (Rs 77.83 crore) equity support from its own resources. Further, the Cabinet has decided to amend the provisions pertaining to reservation of seats/office of the chairperson, mayor in favour of backward class citizens (BCC) in the Odisha Municipal Act, 1950 and Odisha Municipal Corporation Act, 2003. Similarly, a tender of Rs 888.50 crore has been approved for redevelopment and expansion of SCB Medical College and Hospital,

Cuttack. Further, three irrigation projects of a total estimated cost of Rs 827 crore also got the nod from Cabinet on. The panel has decided to regularise 3,328 multilingual education (MLE) Sikshya Sahayaks, who were recruited from the tribal candidates of 17 districts having requisite qualification during the year 2013 under Samagra Shiksha. Moreover, the state has approved the exemption of electricity duty on power consumption in favour of Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Paradip Refinery unit based on MoU signed between state government and IOCL.

Source: sarkaritel 48

JANUARY 2022

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BUSINESS & FINANCE

THIS EV MAKER TO INVEST ₹100 CRORE

IN EXPANSION AND MANUFACTURING

op Electric has signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Rajasthan government to lay the foundation of a large-scale electric vehicle manufacturing unit in Jaipur. It is expected to build a unit that can produce approximately 1.8 lakh vehicles. The mobility firm offers electric two-wheelers and battery swapping technology. Presently, Hop has two market-ready products, HOP Leo and HOP Lyf. It is gearing up to launch at least ten new products within the next three years. The brand also has an 80,000 square feet manufacturing unit in Jaipur and currently produces 7,500 units/month, which can be expanded up to 15,000 units/month. CEO and Founder of Hop Electric Mobility, Ketan Mehta, said, “We are extremely excited to avail this opportunity. We expect the MoU to encourage other local companies to continue moving forward with zeal and hard work. This MoU will work as a catalyst for society’s combined growth as we aim to strengthen our non-polluting transportation system (e-mobility) by leveraging futuristic technology and meticulous R&D. As of now, we are vigorously evaluating different states to set up more assembly units. According to the facilities and support provided by the states, we’ll be investing close to INR 100 crore and generating over 3000 direct and indirect employment opportunities,” added Ketan. Hop wants Rajasthan government to encourage the EV segment in

The brand is expanding its footprint in Gujarat, Telangana, Punjab, UP, MP, WB, Bihar, and Jharkhand the state. This includes incentives like capital subsidy, additional MSME, electricity duty exemption, stamp duty exemption, allotment of government land on 0-50% of DLC rates in Jaipur district, reimbursement on SGST, employment incentives, and under-investment promotions. The brand is also expanding its footprint in other prominent states like Gujarat, Telangana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, and Jharkhand. HOP is further planning to open at least 120 dealerships across India. Hop Energy NetworkHop Electric Mobility is also planning to come up with a first electric vehicle segment, called the Hop Energy Network. It will have built-in battery swapping cum charging stations where the customer will be able to replace their discharged battery with a fully charged battery in just 30 seconds. In January 2021, its pilot network with 5 swapping stations and 50 batteries started operation in Jaipur. Source: livemint

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JANUARY 2022

BUSINESS & FINANCE

$100 MILLION TO SUPPORT THE NEXT GENERATION OF GRID SCALE BATTERIES On behalf of the Australian Government, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) announced a $100 million competitive funding round for grid scale batteries equipped with advanced inverters to support the grid.

RENA’s Large Scale Battery Storage Funding Round will provide up to $100 million in funding to new battery energy storage projects of 70 MW or larger operating in the National Electricity Market or Western Australia’s Wholesale Electricity Market. In addition to supporting new build projects, funding will also be available to existing grid scale batteries seeking to retrofit advanced inverter capability. The funding round aims to incentivise and derisk private sector investment and overcome barriers to the deployment of advanced inverter technology. By funding advanced inverter technology at scale, ARENA hopes to provide valuable insights into the operations and emerging capabilities of advanced inverters. It is expected that the funding round will support at least three projects, with a maximum grant available of $35 million per project. Applications will be open to all battery energy storage technologies, provided that they are equipped with advanced inverters. Advanced inverters enable grid scale batteries to provide system stability services traditionally provided by synchronous generation, such as coal or gas. Finding new ways of providing stability to the electricity system will enable the grid to operate with higher shares of variable renewable energy. In July, the Australian Energy Market Operator published its white paper on advanced inverters highlighting the importance of grid scale batteries equipped with advanced inverter technology in supporting the energy transition. ARENA CEO Darren Miller said the funding round will support grid scale batteries that can provide system stability during periods of very high renewable

generation. “Grid scale batteries and other types of energy storage technology will be vital to support our future electricity system powered by renewables,” he said.“This funding round will demonstrate the role of advanced inverters in grid scale batteries to provide system stability, facilitating a more efficient transition and accelerate the uptake of renewable generation. We’ve seen promising signs that advanced inverters can support system stability, but it’s clear public sector investment is still needed to prove the technology at scale. We’re confident that ARENA funding will help drive the uptake of this technology and provide valuable lessons that will benefit the industry as a whole.” This funding round builds on ARENA’s previous investments in both grid scale batteries and system security, including a recent study by Powerlink Queensland which found that batteries with advanced inverters can play a valuable role in maintaining system strength, supplementing the use of synchronous condensers.ARENA has funded six grid scale batteries since 2017. The ARENA-funded Energy Storage for Commercial Renewable Integration (ESCRI) project in South Australia is currently Australia’s largest grid-connected battery using advanced inverter technology, but this will be surpassed once Hornsdale Power Reserve completes its upgrade to advanced inverters. Expressions of interest will open in February 2022, with a due date of 31 March 2022. Selected projects will be invited to submit a full application later in the year. For more information including funding guidelines and how to apply, please visit ARENA’s funding page.

Source: arena 50

JANUARY 2022

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BUSINESS & FINANCE

TVS MOTOR COMPANY AND BMW MOTORRAD ANNOUNCE THE EXPANSION OF THEIR COOPERATION AGREEMENT FOR FUTURE TECHNOLOGIES AND ELECTRIC VEHICLES TVS Motor Company and BMW Motorrad announced that they are extending and expanding their long-term partnership with the joint development of new platforms and future technologies, including Electric Vehicles.

ased on this decision, TVS Motor Company’s scope will include the design and development of future BMW Motorrad products and delivering world-class quality, supply chain management, and industrialization. Under this enhanced cooperation, both companies have identified a range of products and technologies to deliver significant business benefits. BMW Motorrad and TVS Motor Company will develop common platforms by mutually tapping the emerging technologies in the future mobility space, keeping in mind the global requirements of customer segments in various markets. Exclusive products for both companies will be developed on these common platforms, and the companies will retail their products globally. TVS Motor Company will continue to bring on board engineering prowess in design, manufacturing and supply chain capabilities and provide best-in-class quality and economic advantage. The first product through this cooperation will be showcased in the next 24 months. Mr. Sudarshan Venu, Joint Managing Director, TVS Motor Company, said, “In the nine years of our long-term strategic partnership, we have always cherished the common core values we share with BMW Motorrad: focus on quality, engineering prowess, innovation and customer satisfaction. These factors and our commitment to deliver superior quality products with a strong value proposition has been key to the success of all three products launched from the platform. The new world of future mobility encompasses a strong play through alternate solutions, including electric mobility. Expanding this successful partnership to EVs and other newer platforms will create opportunities to deliver advanced technology and aspirational products to global markets and bring valuable synergies to both companies.” Dr. Markus Schramm, Head of BMW Motorrad, said, “In light of our fruitful association with TVS Motor Company, we are delighted to extend and expand our cooperation agreement to include long-term partnership and joint development of new platforms and technologies, including electric vehicles. Our strong synergies have led to the development of impressive offerings in the sub-500cc segment. Since the launch, BMW G 310 R and BMW G 310 GS single-cylinder models continue to enjoy unrivalled popularity with over 100,000 global customers. We look forward to the future of this cooperation.” In April 2013, TVS Motor Company and BMW Motorrad signed a long-term strategic partnership to manufacture sub-500cc motorcycles for the globe. This collaboration has resulted in three products on the 310cc platform:

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MR. SUDARSHAN VENU Joint Managing Director TVS MOTOR COMPANY

DR. MARKUS SCHRAMM Head BMW MOTORRAD

BMW G 310 R, BMW 310 GS, and TVS Motor Company’s TVS Apache RR 310. With over 100,000 customers, the products have been well accepted in all the leading markets like the EU, USA, Japan, China and India. The success of this cooperation has been the steppingstone of extending and expanding the partnership.

JANUARY 2022

BUSINESS & FINANCE

WHY GREEN STOCKS ARE

SLUMPING DURING AN ESG BOOM Despite a drop in clean-energy stocks and intensifying concerns about widespread greenwashing, the market for investment products sold as being ESG-related had another record year by most yardsticks.

Issuance of sustainable loans and bonds, where proceeds are supposedly earmarked for environmental projects or to further a company’s social goals, exceeded $1.5 trillion, including about $505 billion of green bond sales; ESG-focused exchangetraded funds attracted almost $130 billion in 2021, up from $75 billion a year ago; and investment in early-stage climate tech companies approached $50 billion. It also was a year of big fees for U.S.

managers of sustainable funds, with revenue climbing to almost $1.8 billion from $1.1 billion in 2020, according to data compiled by researchers at Morningstar Inc. But not everything went one way. The S&P Global Clean Energy Index, which includes companies like wind-energy giant Orsted AS, Spanish utility Iberdrola SA and Sunrun Inc., the largest U.S. residentialsolar company, has declined 27% so far in 2021, after more than doubling in value last year.

" The outlook for green stocks is challenging because of worries about rising interest rates tied to inflation, unpredictable U.S. politics and regulatory maneuvers like California’s decision to sharply lower subsidies and add new fees for home solar users, said Sophie Karp, an analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets. Despite long-term growth prospects, there is waning enthusiasm for the sector,” she said. Adeline Diab, head of ESG research for EMEA and the Asia-Pacific region at Bloomberg Intelligence, agreed. On Dec. 21, she wrote: “Despite mounting catalysts with the U.S. infrastructure plan and EU taxonomy requirements, the clean-energy sector may

remain exposed to uncertainty linked to government support such as stimulus delays or incentives-cuts announcements, the most recent being in California “Despite mounting catalysts with the U.S. infrastructure plan and EU taxonomy requirements, the clean-energy sector may remain exposed to uncertainty linked to government support such as stimulus delays or incentives-cuts announcements, the most recent being in California .“ Shares of renewable energy stocks hit another speed bump this week when U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat from coal state West Virginia, shocked his own party by announcing his opposition to President Joe Biden’s

JANUARY 2022

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BUSINESS & FINANCE economic plan, which includes a landmark investment in the fight against global warming. Manchin, whose vote in an evenly-split Senate was needed in the face of universal Republican

opposition to significant efforts to fight global warming, has undermined Biden’s bid to address the climate crisis.

Even with the stock market slide, this year was still the first since the Paris climate agreement in late 2015 that more money went into green bonds than debt issued by oil, gas and coal companies. And next year is shaping up to be bigger. Analysts at Morgan Stanley estimate that green bond issuance will approach $1 trillion in 2022, led by sales from the European Union. Bank of America Corp., the biggest corpo rate issuer of U.S. bonds sold as being tied to environmental, social and

governance factors, also is predicting another big year for global sales of the debt. “Will ESG primary issuance market double again in 2022? We’re not making that prediction,” said Karen Fang, the bank’s global head of sustainable finance, in an interview last week. “But we do think it will grow very, very strongly given the momentum behind the global netzero transition and investor demand.”

SUSTAINABLE FINANCE IN BRIEF • Pimco and Fidelity shun net-zero alliance that was embraced by BlackRock. • This quant investor uses artificial intelligence to see if business executives speak the truth about sustainability. • Microsoft and Tesla fuel ESG gains for 32-year-old Fidelity fund. • Goldman Sachs says that it plans to slash its financed emissions. • Wall Street banks face new pressure to cut fossil fuel financing.

Source : bloombergquint

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JANUARY 2022

BUSINESS & FINANCE

PV INDUSTRY PRICE TREND: UPSTREAM SECTOR CONTINUES TO DROP IN PRICES AMIDST MARKET ADJUSTMENT PERIOD; DEMAND PROVIDES RESTRICTED DEGREE OF FALLBACK IN POLYSILICON PRICES POLYSILICON

WAFERS

The transaction status of the polysilicon market had somewhat improved compared to mid-November, where polysilicon quotations are now constantly dropping. Most polysilicon businesses are currently in the order delivery phase, and the reduction of polysilicon prices primarily comes from sporadic spot orders. Individual businesses are still holding onto sturdy quotations as seen from early December, with almost no transactions concluded, and have slightly accumulated in inventory. Price reduction of mono-Si dense materials is now approaching to that of compound feeding, and overall quotations of mono-Si polysilicon has dropped to roughly RMB 235/kg. Judging from market feedbacks, leading wafer businesses have once again lowered their quotations, which resulted in successive followup from other businesses. The downstream market currently remains in an adjustment phase. Wafer businesses will start to sign for January orders next week, and concluded prices are expected to fall below current quotations as the market is adamant towards further price depletion. An observation on the production, operation, and shipment status of the domestic polysilicon sector indicates that Inner Mongolia Tongwei and Daqo New Energy have been successively initiating new capacity (totaling 85K tons/year) since December, thus there has been a MoM increase of approximately 45K tons in polysilicon during the month when coupled with the projects of GCL-Poly and Sichuan Tongwei. In terms of orders, recent signing of polysilicon has been met with a low level of activeness as a whole due to a lower degree of operating rate from the downstream sector, where partial polysilicon businesses are experiencing elevating inventory, and a minor excessive provision of polysilicon is seen in the market. The supply and demand of the polysilicon market will once again shift towards a tight balance with the initiation of stocking demand before and after Chinese New Year.

Wafer quotations had declined sizably this week primarily seen from mono-Si products. Market quotations have been chaotic after Longi’s announcement of its latest round of quotes, where some businesses are adjusting their quotations accordingly, while others are maintaining a wait-and-see attitude under constantly depleting inventory. A small number of businesses are dumping their inventory for the purpose of surging year-end sales volume, though there have been fewer concluded orders in the market this week, which manifests an apparent status of market bargaining. As reduction continues in the price and inventory of wafers, the average market price of G1 wafers has dropped to RMB 4.83/pc, while M6 mono-Si wafers are temporarily maintained at RMB 4.9/pc due to supply decrement. As for large-sized products, the average market prices of M10 and G12 have been lowered to RMB 5.7/pc and RMB 8/pc respectively. An observation on the production, operation, and shipment status of the domestic wafer sector indicates a relatively sluggish operating rate right now, followed by postponed initiation schedule of new capacity, though the downstream demand for wafer remains unfulfilled. The continuous fallback of upstream prices, together with the invigoration from stocking demand prior to Chinese New Year, will somewhat actuate an increase in operating rate for the wafer sector.

JANUARY 2022

CELLS Cell quotations had slightly loosened this week, and overall mono-Si prices had remained stable. There were no significant fluctuations among cell quotations this week as most first-tier businesses have yet to announce their list prices for January, though price declination is starting to be seen from sporadic orders. In addition, the persisting adjustments in the wafer mar ket recently has enhanced the wait-and-see approach of cell

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BUSINESS & FINANCE businesses, who are now cautious in quotations. In terms of orders, the end demand had yet to improve this week, with a mediocre level of cell demand. Mono-Si M6 cells are marginally stabilized in prices due to subsided market supply, and are temporarily maintained at an average market price of RMB 1.02/W. However, the increase in the shipment ratio of largesized products is restricting the demand visibility of mono-Si m6 in the subsequent market. This round of development may persist for a shorter time period primarily owing to the reinstallation demand of PV projects in the first quarter of 2022. Regarding multi-Si cells, recent prices are continuous weakening under the lethargic demand in India, and the downstream sector carries on with its wait-and see approach from difficulties in order signing. Domestic and overseas prices of multi-Si cells have further reduced to RMB 0.72/W and US$0.102.

MODULES Module prices had marginally oscillated this week, where 166mm and 210mm modules continued to drop in quotations. The end market saw no apparent improvement this week. Despite constant reduction of upstream prices from the industry chain, the lower purchase demand from the end sector has led to fewer negotiation orders for modules, which in turn yielded a

slower price fluctuation. The mainstream quotation for 166mm modules had dropped to RMB 1.85/W, while the mainstream quotation for 182mm modules has been lowered to roughly RMB 1.9/W, and 210mm modules have decreased to approxi mately RMB 1.87/W in quotation. An observation on the production and operation of the module sector denotes that most module makers are still inhibiting their operating rate at 50-70% due to the ambiguous demand in the first quarter of 2022, which explains their current inventory level that is regarded as normal. Several module makers have commented on their recent perception in the pressure of price drop applied by the downstream sector during procurement, and are having trouble in maintaining sturdy quotations. The declining tendency of the module market is expected to carry on next week. Pertaining to auxiliary materials, glass quotations were stabilized in quotations this week, where 3.2mm and 2.0mm glasses are now RMB 25-26/ m2 and RMB 19-21/m2 respectively. The end demand has yet to significantly improve since December, and partial PV glass production lines have postponed the schedule of ignition, while some businesses have decided to lower their production volume. Glass shipment was met with obstacles this week, where several businesses had lowered their quotations for 3.2mm glasses to RMB 23-24/m2 in order to seize orders, though the volume of transactions has been insignificant. Source: energytrend

PFC ENTERS PACT

TO FINANCE 350 ELECTRIC BUSES IN UTTAR PRADESH PFC, India’s leading NBFC in the power sector, signed an agreement to lend Rs 275 crore for deployment of 350 electric buses across nine cities of Uttar Pradesh. The agreement was signed with GreenCell Mobility, which is an e-mobility platform supported by Governments of India and United Kingdom to boost adoption of electric vehicles in the country.

The buses will be deployed in key cities of UP including Agra, Meerut, Aligarh, Bareilly, Ghaziabad & Mathura. Government of India has launched FAME-II scheme with an allocation of Rs.3500 crore for promotion of adoption of electric buses. Electric buses offer sustainable mobility solutions by tackling challenges of poor air quality and also reducing carbon footprints of the nation.

Source : PIB

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JANUARY 2022

BUSINESS & FINANCE

TOYOTA TO INVEST $35 BILLION INTO BATTERY-POWERED EVS AND ROLL OUT 30 MODELS BY 2030 • Toyota, one of the world’s largest automakers, is planning to invest 4 trillion yen ($35 billion) to build a full lineup of 30 battery-powered electric vehicles by 2030. • It aims to increase global sales of battery electric vehicles by 3.5 million units a year by 2030. • Most of Toyota’s current electric vehicle sales are hybrid EVs that are powered by a combination of an internal combustion engine and batteryoperated electric motors.

• Battery-only electric vehicles make up a fraction of current sales. oyota, one of the world’s largest automakers, is planning to invest 4 trillion yen ($35 billion) to build a full lineup of 30 batterypowered electric vehicles by 2030. It aims to also increase global sales of battery electric vehicles by 3.5 million units a year by the end of the decade, CEO Akio Toyoda said. Most of Toyota’s current electric vehicle sales are hybrid electric cars that are powered by a combination of an internal combustion engine and battery-operated electric motors. Battery-only EVs make up only a fraction of its current sales. The Japanese automaker will increase new investments into battery technologies by 500 billion yen ($4.4 billion) to 2 trillion yen, according to Toyoda. It will be part of Toyota’s broader 4 trillion yen investment into battery electric vehicles and would include both capital expenditure as well as research and development. Toyota also plans to invest another 4 trillion yen in other types of electric vehicles, including hybrid cars, plug-in hybrids and fuel-cell electric vehicles, which use hydrogen as a power source. “In this diversified and unchartered era, it is important to flexibly change the types and quantities of products produced, while keeping an eye on the market trends,” Toyoda said during a briefing on the carmaker’s battery electric vehicle strategies, according to of

ficial translations of his remarks in Japanese. “We believe that quickly adapting to changes in the future is more important than trying to predict the future, which is nothing but uncertain. We want to keep options available for our customers until the right path is known,” he added. For its luxury brand Lexus, Toyota aims to have battery electric vehicles account for 100% of vehicle sales in Europe, North America, and China by 2030 and globally by 2035. Despite being one of the pioneers of hybrid models, Toyota has been relatively slow in its push toward battery-only electric vehicles compared to some of its global competitors like General Motors and Ford. Last month, at the U.N. climate conference in Scotland, the Japanese automaker declined to join a group of six major carmakers, including Sweden’s Volvo and Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz, to sign a declaration to phase out fossil-fuel cars by 2040, Reuters reported. A top Toyota executive had reportedly told the news agency that the company does not want to be seen as an electric vehicle maker, but wants to be viewed as a carbon-neutral business instead. Toyota is aiming for carbon-neutrality at manufacturing plants by 2035, Toyoda said at briefing. Rival Nissan last month said it will invest 2 trillion yen (around $17.6 billion) over the next five years to speed up the electrification of its product line. It plans to roll out 23 new electrified models by 2030, 15 of which will be fully electric. Source: Reuters

JANUARY 2022

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BUSINESS & FINANCE

TOP EQUITY FUNDS IN ASIA ARE ALL BUYING CHINA'S GREEN STOCKS

What do Asia’s five best-performing $1 billion-plus equity funds for 2021 have in common? They are all betting big on China’s renewables push. he funds returned at least 40% each by investing in stocks that are part of the renewables and electric-vehicle supply chains, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The $3.7 billion China AMC Energy Innovation Equity Fund led the pack with total returns of 55%, followed by First State Cinda New Energy Industry Equity Fund and HSBC Low Carbon Pioneer Fund.

China’s push to reach carbon neutrality by 2060 is fueling growth in what is already the world’s largest renewables market and a leading one for electric-vehicle automakers and suppliers. That’s produced record rallies and eye-watering valuations for some stocks in a sector that has boomed globally this year as policy makers try to curb fossil fuel subsidies and coal use.“Carbon neutrality is going to be one of the largest investment themes for the next five to 10 years” and there is room for firms within this sector to grow by a few or even ten times, said Bin Lu, the Shanghai-based manager of the HSBC Low Carbon Pioneer Fund.

ported solar and wind shares. For Raymond Jing, who manages the ChinaAMC New Horizon China A Share Fund that returned more than 40% this year, CATL’s penetration rate and market share is “rapidly increasing,” which could eventually push its forward price-to-earnings ratio down to 40 to 50 times from about 78 times. To be sure, not everyone is comfortable with the valuations of some of the popular names in the clean energy sector. In a sign of that unease, solar glass maker Xinyi Solar Holdings Ltd. is down about 24% from an August peak and inverter maker Sungrow Power Supply Co. has dropped around 13% after reaching a record high in October. Deepening investors’ trepidation are bets that the Federal Reserve will taper faster than expected, and the passage in the U.S. House of legislation designed to punish China for its treatment of Uyghur Muslims. The lithium battery supply chain is also facing some pressures from Beijing’s guidelines published last month that aim at reducing capacity expansion. “The short-term market for new energy is very hot, and the stock prices of some companies have shown a tendency of short-term bubbles,” Zheng Zehong, manager of the China AMC Energy Innovation Equity Fund said in a third-quarter report, stating that the fund has made some adjustments to positions. In the longer term there remain “abundant investment opportunities,” he added.

BIG OPPORTUNITIES Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., the world’s largest power battery maker, is a recurring name among the top 10 holdings of the outperforming funds. The stock has jumped more than 80% to record highs this year. Automaker BYD Co. and Tesla Inc. supplier Ganfeng Lithium Co. — other investor favorites — have surged more than 50% each. Those shares were boosted by President Xi Jinping’s “common prosperity” drive, which stresses sustainable growth. His announcement of a massive renewable energy project in the desert has also sup

Policy Support Still, asset managers say that policy tailwinds will support China’s green shares. The government has vowed to accelerate the development of electric vehicles and highlighted ambitions to lower carbon emissions per unit of industrial output by 18% during the 14th five-year plan period. CATL and another leading EV battery maker, Eve Energy Co., are expanding production at a time when China’s EV sales are in line to more than double 2020’s total. Source : bloombergquint

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JANUARY 2022

RENEWABLE ENERGY

RENEWABLE ENERGY FIRM ECOFLOW AIMS TO FORAY INTO INDIA NEXT YEAR

ortable power and renewable energy solutions firm EcoFlow is planning to enter the Indian market next year, a top official of the company said. “The strong showing of support from our customers have enabled us to expand our presence at a fast pace,” said Jenny Zhang, Global Marketing Head, EcoFlow. She said the company is already in talks with Indian dealers with a full-proof plan to launch the products in India in the coming year. Zhang said the company remains unwavering in its mission to reinvent the way the world accesses energy. “Power is essential for driving economic growth, especially in emerging markets like India. Achieving Sustainable Development Goal(SDG) 7—Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all—is a necessary precondition for progress on many other SDGs, including those concerning health, education, industry, sustainable cities, and more,” she said. With its new expansion plan, the company aims at providing doorstep-focused energy shortage resolution by promoting greener technologies in essential, outdoor and professional purposes including home back-up, motorbike, camping, construction and filmmaking, Zhang said. Source : PTI

REC GETS $169.5 MN FROM KFW DEVELOPMENT

BANK FOR POWER, RENEWABLE PROJECTS This is the fifth credit line signed between REC Ltd and KfW for financing power sector projects and the third credit line for the financing of renewable energy projects.

tate-owned REC Ltd has signed a pact with KfW Development Bank to avail USD 169.5 million to the power finance sector and renewable energy projects. “REC Ltd has entered into an agreement with KfW Development Bank for availing ODA (official development assistance) term loan of USD 169.5 million under the Indo-German Bilateral Partnership in accordance with the approval granted by the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India,” the power ministry said in a statement. The proceeds of the ODA loan will be deployed for part-financing of innovative solar PV technologybased power generation projects in India at competitive interest rates, according to the statement. This is the fifth credit line signed between REC Ltd and KfW for financing power sector projects and the third credit line for the financing of renewable energy projects. REC is continuously re-shaping its policies to align with market requirements and developing financial solutions and mechanisms that create scalable and effective ways of channelising both public and private investments in the renewable energy space. As a testament to this, REC offers the lowest interest rates to the renewable energy sector among all the segments being financed by the corporation, it stated. Source : PTI 58

JANUARY 2022

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RENEWABLE ENERGY

COUNTRY’S AMBITIOUS PIPELINE ADOPTS

RENEWABLE ENERGY • Statcon Energiaa has provided the complete Renewable Energy solution for all SV Stations along the entire length of the entire 355-km-long Bina-Panki Pipeline, which will contribute to the safety and sustainability of the pipeline. • The Company is a 30+ years old Power Electronics manufacturer building products for Solar, Power, Defence and Indian Railways sectors and providing EPC solutions for the Critical Renewable Applications. • As the pipeline is set to be inaugurated by PM Modi, the company shares details about the multi-site solar plant that supports the safety, operation and sustainability of the entire pipeline. Statcon Energiaa has successfully solarised ‘Bina-Panki MultiProduct Pipeline’ that is all set to be inaugurated by Honourable PM Modi on 28th December 2021. This pipeline, a prestigious project of the BPCL, Govt of India, running from Bina (Sagar, Madhya Pradesh) to Panki (Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh), is touted to be the main artery of fuel supply in eastern Uttar Pradesh. It will potentially fostering social and economic development in the region. Statcon Energiaa has designed and installed a total of 211.2 kWP ‘Hybrid Solar Solution’ along the 355 km-long pipeline – a 19.2 kWP at each SV Station. SV (Sectionalised Valve) stations are installations at regular intervals along the pipeline so as to isolate each pipeline section during emergencies like gas leakages. The solution includes the company’s indigenously manufactured Hybrid Solar Power Conditioning Units (PCU) that are essentially grid-tied plus battery storage. These are

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advanced bi-directional inverters that provide seamless power (less than 10 msec of changeover time in case of power cut). The battery bank is of 1200Ah- 48V at each station along with its health monitoring. Statcon Energiaa is a 30+ years old Power Electronics manufacturer renowned for critical renewable applications and for supplying best-in-class products for the Indian Railways, Power Utilities, Solar and Defence Sectors. Their products have been functioning smoothly across critical applications globally – from Microgrids in Nigeria to Minigrids in Uttar Pradesh and Microgrids in Bihar. Similar to the Bina-Panki pipeline solar project, Statcon Energiaa has solarised several pipeline projects by GAIL (India) Ltd. The world’s highest bottling plant by the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL) in Leh, has been solarised by Statcon Energiaa where they designed and delivered an ‘Island Solar Solution’. The company also solarised India’s first court in Khunti, Jharkhand – also inaugurated by the honourable PM Shri Narendra Modi. The company’s Director, Mr Pranjal Pande, said, “Having grown up and studied in Uttar Pradesh, I am proud to be associated with this project of the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. This prestigious project gives the citizens of this state an opportunity to grow and foster. In alignment with our Honourable PM’s message at COP26 this year, we are striving to ensure a sustainable and clean future for all. Also grateful to BPCL for giving us this opportunity to serve our country in a big way – as they have in the past for several of their projects. Our company has been a leading power electronics manufacturer for 30+ years and will continue to build innovative products and solutions that fulfil the energy needs of our nation”.

JANUARY 2022

RENEWABLE ENERGY

NORTHEAST HAS POTENTIAL TO BECOME HUB OF ORGANIC

PRODUCTS, RENEWABLE ENERGY: ASSAM GOVERNOR Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi said the northeast region of the country has the potential to become a future hub of organic products, renewable energy, international tourism, and the country’s gateway to ASEAN countries.

he Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a regional grouping that promotes economic, political, and security cooperation among its ten members Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.The Central government has been very committed in the last seven years to ensure rapid infrastructure and economic development of the northeast, the governor said at a conclave on Atmanirbhar North East through science and technology interventions’ at Cotton University here. Pointing out that there had been no credible effort for the speedy economic development of the northeast after Independence, the governor said, as a result, economic deprivation engulfed the region leading to a feeling of alienation which ultimately culminated into several other problems. He emphasised that a concerted and planned effort for the rapid and systematic development of the northeast started in 2001 with the creation of a separate Ministry for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER). Moreover, the Act East Policy thoroughly overhauled the focus of development of the region to ensure action-oriented project and outcome-based policy, and this approach created a new narrative of development for the entire northeast to utilise its potential, the governor said. Considering the region’s strategic location, the Centre under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken several initiatives to develop international routes with the 10 ASEAN countries, Mukhi said. The re-opening of trade routes with the ASEAN countries which were closed for the northeast since Independence will also open the gates of economic development for the entire region, he added. Lauding PM Modi’s emphasis on the four C’s that is culture, commerce, connectivity, and capacity building of the entire northeast, Mukhi said that the objective of transforming the Indian economy into a five trillion-dollar economy will not be possible without unfolding the commercial and economic potential of the region. The governor during his speech said that the northeast was one of the richest regions of the country before 1947, but lost its sheen

after Independence. During the British period, the economy of the region was dependent on the use of resources such as tea, forest produce, crude oil, etc but post-Independence, the entire area became land-locked due to the Partition of India leading to the closure of all the international trade routes and sea links, he pointed out. The conclave was organised by North East Centre for Technology Application and Reach (NECTAR) in collaboration with Vijnana Bharati, Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, and Cotton University.

Source : PTI 60

JANUARY 2022

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RENEWABLE ENERGY

MEXICO POWER REFORM BILL IN US SIGHTS AS GRANHOLM MAKES CASE FOR RENEWABLES U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm outlined an “enormous opportunity for renewable energy in North America,” Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Twitter after the meeting.

he Mexican president’s bid to tighten state control of power generation drew scrutiny on Jan. 20 during the visit of a top U.S. energy official, who faces pressure from her party to move Mexico towards a greener energy policy. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, met President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and other officials in Mexico City for talks that tackled a Mexican plan that U.S. business leaders worry is curbing investment in renewables. Granholm outlined an “enormous opportunity for renewable energy in North America,” Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Twitter after the meeting.

Granholm outlined an “enormous opportunity for renewable energy in North America,” Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Twitter after the meeting. Sitting down with Ebrard, Granholm said: “Mexico has such an enviable, an amazing series of clean resources that we want to talk about. And, like all friends, there may be issues we’re also going to work on, on electricity reform.” Lopez Obrador, who said talks with Granholm had been “cordial” and marked by “respect, understanding and a desire for cooperation on development,” had earlier said he planned to set out the reasons why he was pursuing the market shake-up. The leftist leader calls his initiative to change the constitution to favor the state power utility a matter of national security, saying past governments skewed the market in favor of private capital. Not only did this weaken Mexico’s cash-strapped state-owned energy firms, it also hurt consumers and public finances, according to Lopez Obrador, who says he is committed to lowering the country’s carbon footprint with more hydroelectric power. However, critics say his plan to give market control to the utility, the Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE), is hurting investment in wind and solar power, will increase costs, and make Mexico too reliant on fossil fuels, as the CFE uses hydrocarbons to generate much of its power.

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It has also caused diplomatic ructions. “It would also threaten at least $44 billion in private investment in Mexico’s energy sector, (and) negatively impact U.S. private sector investment in Mexico,” wrote senators Bob Menendez, Brian Schatz, Tim Kaine, and Jeff Merkley. Lopez Obrador’s power bill is in Congress and is expected to be voted on by the end of April. The flagship of Mexican manufacturing has struggled under Lopez Obrador, with automotive output falling for a fourth year running in 2021. Gross fixed investment levels are about 16% lower than when he won election in July 2018. Federico Peña, a former U.S. energy secretary, said that rather than insisting on a policy that undermined the confidence of U.S. investors, Mexico should be regarding the transition to renewable energies as a “win-win” for both economies. “Look at the resources that Mexico has: sun, wind, open space, workers,” he said. “They have experience in building highly sophisticated manufactures. They’ve got great potential.” Source: Reuters

JANUARY 2022

ENERGY STORAGE

AZELIO GETS DNV VALIDATION OF ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM Swedish company Azelio AB (FRA:4AZ) last week announced the performance of its energy storage system has been validated by certification body DNV implying larger projects using the technology will be able to get financing.

DNV performed a due diligence of the technology, production, R&D and Azelio test facilities. As part of the validation process, the TES.POD energy storage system was charged with 100 kW for 6 hours and then left producing electricity via a Stirling engine at the system’s nominal power of 13 kW for 13 hours. After 13 hours, it still had several hours of remaining production capacity. “This further strengthens the competitiveness of the solution as a long duration energy storage system, allowing for intermittent renewable energy from, for example, solar and wind, to be in line with demand and closing the 24-hour circle with clean energy,” Azelio said. This December, the company is initiating shipments of the TES.POD to customers in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, and Coligny, South Africa. The assembly of the Stirling engine takes place in Uddevalla, Sweden, while the assembly of the system’s storage unit happens in Vaggeryd, Sweden. Source: renewablesnow

THE LARGEST BATTERY-BASED ENERGY STORAGE FACILITY IN FRANCE LAUNCHES WITH POWER CAPACITY OF 61 MW AND A TOTAL STORAGE CAPACITY OF 61 MWH TotalEnergies (EPA: TTE), one of the seven “supermajor” oil companies, has announced the launch of what’s considered France’s largest batterybased energy storage facility in response to the grid stabilization needs. Located in Dunkirk, northern France, and designed and assembled by the company’s battery affiliate company Saft, the facility is made up of 27 containers of 2.5 MWh and boasts a power capacity of 61 MW and a total storage capacity of 61 megawatt hours (MWh).

his project was selected as part of the longterm tender launched by the French Electricity Transmission Network (RTE) in February 2020, where TotalEnergies was awarded battery storage capacities in France. The full commissioning of the site follows the start-up of a first 25 MW unit in January 2021. A strong and proven industrial track record The commissioning of this site marks a new step in the development of TotalEnergies’ battery energy storage capabilities. With this project, TotalEnergies is contributing to: ensuring sufficient electricity supply in the national grid, especially during peak winter periods, guaranteeing grid security by providing fast reserve services1, supporting the production of renewable energy by allowing more green electricity to be integrated into the grid. “We are proud of the commissioning of the largest storage site in France and to be able to support RTE, the grid operator, in guaranteeing the stability of the grid and thus enabling the increased development of renewable energies”, said Vincent Stoquart, Senior Vice President Renewables at TotalEnergies. “With the success of this project and Saft’s expertise in batteries for energy

JANUARY 2022

storage, TotalEnergies intends to deploy its storage solutions in countries where the Company is actively developing renewable energies”.

TOTALENERGIES AND RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY As part of its ambition to get to net zero by 2050, TotalEnergies is building a portfolio of activities in renewables and electricity. At the end of 2021, TotalEnergies’ gross renewable electricity generation capacity is more than 10 GW. TotalEnergies will continue to expand this business to reach 35 GW of gross production capacity from renewable sources and storage by 2025, and then 100 GW by 2030 with the objective of being among the world’s top 5 producers of electricity from wind and solar energy.

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ENERGY STORAGE ROUNDUP: FLUENCE’S FIRST TAIWAN PROJECT, REDFLOW’S 2MWH CALIFORNIA FLOW BATTERY, STEM INC ACQUIRES ALSOENERGY

Redflow’s zinc-bromine circulate batteries and Dynapower’s inverters on the Anaergia biogas facility. luence supplying 6MWh BESS for Taiwan’s Computerized Frequency Management grid service Fluence will provide a 6MW / 6MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) which is able to carry out frequency regulation grid companies in Taiwan. The US-headquartered know-how supplier’s tools will present Computerized Frequency Management (AFC) companies for the island’s fundamental utility Taipower. Fluence’s buyer is Ina Energy, a renewable energy unbiased energy producer (IPP). Fluence will likely be working with native accomplice TECO Group and turns into the newest worldwide participant within the energy storage trade to deploy programs to play into the area’s frequency regulation market, after related bulletins in July from Powin Energy, in August from Wärtsilä and October from New HOrizons Ahead (NHOA). It will likely be the thirtieth new market Fluence has entered since its launch in 2017 as a three way partnership of AES Company and Siemens. Fluence CEO Manuel Perez Dubuc has taken half within the first instalment of our ‘Year in review 2021’ blogs, printed right now. Australian zinc-bromine circulate battery firm Redflow has accomplished its largest undertaking to this point, a 2MWh system in California. The undertaking, comprising 192 models of Redflow’s batteries linked collectively, is at Rialto Bioenergy Facility, a waste-to-energy plant which converts a mixed 1,000 tonnes of natural waste and biosolids into renewable pure gasoline and fertiliser, diverting waste in any other case destined for landfills. The circulate batteries function a part of the advanced’s microgrid for web site proprietor Anaergia, alongside a 2MW biogas-fuelled cogeneration unit, microgrid controls and a biogas conditioning system. The 192 battery models are clustered into 12 Redflow models known as Energy Pods, every of 160kWh and tied to 4 125kW Dynapower inverters. As reported by Energy-Storage.information in March, the batteries retailer energy on the facility and are able to discharge to the grid during a five-hour peak tariff period which happens between 4pm and 9pm every single day. The undertaking acquired grant funding help from the California Energy Fee. “As our greatest single deployment system to this point, Anaergia will present a excessive visibility MWh reference set up for our development into america and different international markets,” Redflow CEO and managing director Tim Harris stated.

MR. TIM HARRIS

“I’m delighted that we now have handed this vital stage. Now we have already had enquiries from a number of prospects and engineering, procurement and building (EPC) firms who’ve requested a web site go to in early January.” The sensible, AI-driven energy storage supplier has entered a definitive settlement to purchase all excellent shares in Additionally Energy on a cash- and debt-free foundation for US$695 million, together with 75% money and 25% in Stem frequent inventory. Stem stated the end result will likely be a mix of its energy storage optimisation platforms and companies with AlsoEnergy’s {solar} asset efficiency monitoring and management software program, in impact making a renewable energy undertaking “one cease store”. The energy storage firm may also be capable to supply its energy storage options to AlsoEnergy’s current front-of-the-meter and business and industrial (C&I) prospects to connect battery storage to their {solar} PV. “Via this instantly accretive transaction, a mixed Stem and AlsoEnergy will deliver the distinctive software program, controls, and analytics functionality to speed up the energy transition to a renewable, decarbonised future,” Stem Inc CEO John Carrington stated.

MR. JOHN CARRINGTON Chief Executive Officer Director

STEM INC

“Because the battery storage and {solar} industries proceed to expertise large international development, builders, asset house owners, and utilities will more and more look to our mixed software program capabilities to offer a unified platform for energy intelligence that improves undertaking efficiency. The mixed firm will ship an AI-driven software program providing that we anticipate will simplify our prospects’ asset administration, increase their undertaking returns, and speed up our personal development trajectory.”

Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director REDFLOW

Source: smartech

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JANUARY 2022

ENERGY STORAGE

TATA POWER: ‘PROMISING POTENTIAL’ FOR ENERGY STORAGE BUSINESS IN INDIA The need for energy storage solutions in India to enable huge renewable energy growth makes it a promising market, Tata Power has said, after its solar subsidiary was awarded the country’s largest solar-plus-storage project to date.

t the beginning of December, Tata Power Solar received a Letter of Award (LoA) from the government-owned Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), for the INR9.45 billion (US$125 million) project in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Tata Power Solar Systems Limited will build a 100MW solar PV plant, colocated with a 120MWh utility-scale battery energy storage system (BESS). Tata Power told Energy-Storage. news that the battery storage will have 40MW output, making it a three-hour duration system. The project will be built in a year and a half. Tata Power Solar’s duties include engineering, design, supply, construction, testing, operations and maintenance (O&M) and commissioning. “We are currently in discussion with many reputed vendors and will declare the same in due course,” Tata Power said in response to an enquiry from Energy-Storage.news as to what sort of third-party technology providers or partners might be brought in to work on the project. “The BESS system will be charged from the colocated Solar PV Plant and will be used to cater to the peaking requirement of the off-taker,” the company said. This will be Tata Power Solar’s second project of this type, with the company — known mostly for commercial and industrial (C&I) rooftop solar EPC activities — already building another solar-plus-storage project combining 50MW of PV and 50MWh of battery storage in Leh, the capital of the union territory of Ladakh. Energy storage approaching inflection point While India’s renewable energy capacity has grown rapidly in the past few years and the country has a target of 500GW of renewables by 2030 set by government policy, battery storage development has so far been limited. Tata Power noted that its group company Tata Power DDL, a distribution network company in Delhi, inaugurated the country’s first 10MW / 10MWh grid-scale battery storage system. Tata Power Solar has built many BESS projects for smaller scale applications,

both on-grid and off-grid. However, Tata Power said, “a large-scale installation, [such] as this project, is in limited number for India”. There appear to be much bigger things on the horizon however. Energy-Storage.news has reported this year on a number of large government tenders being expected including a 2,000MWh SECI tender. Ministry of Power joint secretary Ghanshyam Prasad stated at an industry event in September that the government is willing to handhold the industry until it is capable of standing on its own two feet. At that event, held in honour of World Energy Storage Day, Tata Power CEO Praveer Sinha said that the “story of renewables is not complete without storage,” and that while renewable energy is already huge in India, it would not be long before energy storage arrived at a similar inflection point. India is expected to arrive at a 40% renewables target set for 2030 long in advance of that date, being already close to 39% non-fossil fuel powered — equivalent to about 175GW of renewable energy capacity. In June, the national Central Electricity Regulatory Commission said it was drafting rules to enable the participation of energy storage in ancillary services markets. “Keeping in consideration the country’s potential and commitment to renewable energy, there is a technical need for storage solutions,” Tata Power told Energy-Storage.news this week. “Hence, we believe that there is promising potential in the energy storage business in India.”

Source: energy-storage 64

JANUARY 2022

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ENERGY STORAGE

ENERGY STORAGE TECHNOLOGY WITH OFF-GRID AND DECENTRALIZED SOLAR PV APPLICATION PROGRAMME

Research & development in the field of renewable energy including energy storage technology in the country is carried out at various research institutes/ universities/laboratories and industries. A National Centre of Photovoltaic and Research and Education (NCPRE) at IIT Bombay has developed Lithium ion and Sodium ion batteries.

ff-grid and Decentralized Solar PV Applications Programme provided financial support, primarily to public service institutions, for installation of battery backed off-grid solar power plants/ packs. Till date, 216.9 MWp capacity of these plants has been installed under the Programme This information was given by R. K Singh, Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy in a written reply in Lok Sabha .

MR. R K SINGH

Minister Of Power MNRE & SKILL DEVELOPMENT

ENGIE SETS UP AQUIFER GEOTHERMAL

ENERGY STORAGE FOR ITS NEW HQ Construction work on French multinational utility company ENGIE Group’s new headquarters in La Garenne-Colombes (Hauts-de-Seine), named “the Campus,” began at the end of 2020. The aim of these new buildings is to be carbon neutral.

torengy was in charge of designing the air conditioning and heating systems for the buildings using the ATES (aquifer thermal energy storage) geothermal renewable energy solution. ATES geothermal energy acts like a conventional geothermal energy solution, with the only difference being that in this solution, water withdrawal and injection are reversed according to the season. In winter, the hot water is pumped on one side and once used to heat the building, it is cooled and reinjected into a cold water tank. A total of nine wells were dug by Storengy’s partner, SANFOR, for this purpose. These 90-meter deep wells will be accessible via the basements of the buildings and will thus be able to supply renewable heat and cold with a power of 1.9MW in heating and 1.6MW in cooling. This 100% renewable and innovative geothermal solution will be used to heat and cool the premises. It will be supplemented by heating provided by a biogas-fired boiler and by cooling provided by photovoltaic panels. This is the first time in France that Storengy will implement its “smart geothermal” solution on a project of this scale.

Source: Storengy

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JANUARY 2022

ENERGY STORAGE

ENERGY STORAGE IS KEY FOR MENA’S

RENEWABLE ENERGY AMBITIONS

Surge in energy storage projects in MENA is being driven by ambitious renewable energy targets and mounting peak electricity demand. ESS also plays a critical role in managing intermittencies of VREs and in mitigating potential power supply disruptions while providing ancillary services

ccording to the Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation’s (APICORP) latest report ‘Leveraging Energy Storage Systems In MENA,’ MENA countries must rapidly scale up and integrate variable renewable energy (VRE) – such as solar PV and onshore wind – into their respective power grids if they are to meet their national renewable energy targets in the medium term. Scaling up renewables requires the deployment of energy storage solutions (ESS) for firming the power capacity, building flexibility, and ensuring power systems stability. ESS also plays a critical role in managing intermittencies of VREs and in mitigating potential power supply disruptions while providing ancillary services. The report lays out ten key policy recommendations to help accelerate the successful integration of energy storage systems into national grids, including guidance on regulatory frameworks, multilateral stakeholder collaboration, and asset ownership across the power value chains.

MENA RENEWABLE TARGETS DRIVING DEPLOYMENT OF ESS Renewable energy systems have gained considerable momentum across the MENA region over the past decade, driven by ambitious national renewable energy targets, technology cost declines, and increasing investments in low-cost and low-carbon technologies as part of the energy transition. The mid- and longterm renewable energy targets for MENA countries – which range

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MR. AHMED ALI ATTIGA Chief Executive Officer

APICORP

from 15% to up to 50% of total electricity generation – show that governments are committed to increasing the share of renewables in the energy mix. However, because of the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources, ESS – whether electrical, electrochemical (batteries), chemical and thermal – have emerged as the key driver to firming power capacities while providing opportunities for scaling up renewable energy projects into a multi-GW scale. The pace of integration of ESS in MENA is being driven by three main factors; (1) A technical need associated with the accelerated deployment of renewables, (2) Technological advancements driving cost competitiveness

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ENERGY STORAGE of ESS, and (3) Policy support and power markets evolution that incentivizes investments. “The need for energy storage solutions in the MENA region is primarily driven by ambitious national renewable energy targets and mounting peak electricity demand as a result of accelerating economic development and diversification of the energy mix. With adbundant land and low-cost solar and wind generation capacities, MENA countries have real competitive advantages that enable it to take the lead in energy storage and successfully navigate the energy transition,” says Dr. Ahmed Ali Attiga, CEO of APICORP. national renewable energy targets and mounting peak electricity demand as a result of accelerating economic development and diversification of the energy mix. With adbundant land and low-cost solar and wind generation capacities, MENA countries have real competitive advantages that enable it to take the lead in energy storage and successfully navigate the energy transition,” says Dr. Ahmed Ali Attiga, CEO of APICORP.

APPLICATIONS OF ESS Some of the current technologies being used for energy storage in MENA include pumped hydro storage (PHS) and electrochemical energy storage – mainly sodium-sulfur and lithium-ion batteries. Most of the planned and operational projects are in the GCC (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman), North Africa (Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia), with several projects in the Levant – mainly in Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon. There are 30 ESS projects planned in MENA between 2021 and 2025 with a total capacity/energy of 653 MW/3,382 MWh – out of which 24 projects are for VRE integration and grid firming. The share of batteries out of the total energy storage landscape in MENA is expected to jump from the current 7% to 45% by 2025.

CHALLENGES AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS Although the energy storage market in MENA is bound to grow, several barriers hinder the integration of ESS and the ramping up of investments. Financial, regulatory and market barriers must be

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MR. SUHAIL SHATILA Senior Energy Specialist

APICORP

addressed via policy tools to lay the foundations to an evolved power market for successfully integrating deployed ESS. “At APICORP, we see ESS as a critical element in the energy transition. In addition to the US $1 billion we plan to allocate over the next two years to fund ESG-linked assets, we are also looking at facilitating partnerships between governmental entities, financial institutions and the private sector to make ESS more financially viable to unlock its potential in the region,” said Suhail Shatila, Senior En ergy Specialist at APICORP and co-author of the report. The report lays out ten key policy support actions needed to integrate energy storage systems in the MENA power markets. This includes creating a MENA Energy Storage Alliance, an organization supported by governments and the private sector dedicated to fostering the development of ESS in the region through public-private partnerships. The report also proposes defining energy storage as a standalone asset category in the power value chain and setting energy storage targets in national energy policies. Other recommendations include creating incentives to attract private sector investments, endorsing utility-scale ESS within green financing frameworks, among other policy recommendations. Source: utilities

JANUARY 2022

ASIA PACIFIC

IS SOLAR ENERGY REALLY GREEN? HERE'S THE ANSWER TO COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT PANELS

As the world continues to push towards net zero emissions, more large-scale solar farms will be built in Australia.

years.

ut why are they being built on productive agricultural land and are how credible are claims about toxic contamination? The Clean Energy Council (CEC) is forecasting a massive increase in the number of solar panels in the short term. The amount of solar power installed in Australia has doubled in the past three to four years, and the CEC is forecasting it will double again in the next couple of

• The number of solar panels will double in the next two years • Many large solar projects are being developed on agricultural land

• Regional communities are concerned about heavy metal contamination and lost jobs

CONCERN IS GLOBAL Achim Steiner, administrator of the United Nations Development Program, said solar panels were adding significantly to the world’s non-recycled waste mountain. “But it also poses a growing threat to human health and the environment due to the hazardous elements it contains,” Mr Steiner said. Australia is adding to that mountain by sending 40,000 old panels a year in containers to markets in developing countries. While that trade provides cheap panels for poorer nations, the UN is concerned that many of them will end up in landfill overseas.

MR. ACHIM STEINER Administrator of the

UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

ARE SOLAR PANELS TOXIC? The vast majority of solar panels are made of thin silicon wafers using refined silicon dioxide. It is the same chemical compound as sand, which is used in making glass, so it is harmless. The solar cells are connected by thin strips of tin and copper which is sealed and protected under glass. Almost all of the materials can be recycled and there are several new plants in development that will be able to turn old panels into reusable materials. There are, however, a small number of panels that were made in the past using cadmium, which is highly toxic and associated with serious health problems. Some panels are also made with nitrogen trifluoride

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(NF3), a gas that is associated with global warming. A South Korean study from 2020 raised concerns about contamination from solar panels that are “released into the environment during their disposal or following damage, such as that from natural disasters.” The United States wants to address the problem as well, with a report by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory from March 2021 pointing to a lack of incentives for recycling companies and confusing and conflicting state regulations.

ARE SOLAR FARMS TAKING OVER PRODUCTIVE FARM LAND? The NSW government has set up five renewable energy zones in regional areas where it is promoting the development of solar farms close to large populations and the existing electricity grid. That means productive farming land is sometimes used to build large-scale solar plants, and farmer Bianca Schultz right is in the firing line. She owns a property next door to the proposed Walla Walla site in the Riverina in south-west NSW, while the Culcairn project borders her other boundary. Ms Schultz said the property was used in the past for grazing livestock, making hay, and cropping. She thinks that turning it into an industrial-scale solar plant with just a few employees for maintenance will negatively affect the local economy. “The on-flow effect on the transport companies, the grain merchants, the rural merchants; it’s taking away a lot from our community,” she said.

KEEPING JOBS AND FOOD One of the companies behind the projects in the Riverina and eight others across Australia is Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV).In a report on the Walla Walla project, FRV argued they can maintain up to 85 per cent of the current stocking rates for livestock with the solar farm. The project will employ 16 people on-site and will generate $200 million during the construction phase, according to an Ernst and Young (EY) study. EY also published a report highlighting the potential for the renewables industry to lead the world to global recovery, post-pandemic.

REGULATOR COMFORTABLE WITH SOLAR EXPANSION Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner Andrew Dyer says Australia has plenty of low value land next to the grid that had already cleared, so it suits developments of this kind. He understands why some farmers would be concerned about losing land for production out of their region, but he gets very few complaints about solar projects in general, especially once they are up and running.

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ASIA PACIFIC MR. ANDREW DYER Commissioner AUSTRALIAN ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE

He says there is no evidence to support the heat sink theory and he has had no complaints about cadmium contamination, but he does agree that solar projects need an “end of life” plan and wants to see default setbacks to protect neighbours. “We have them in the wind industry and there should be setbacks from houses, roads, and other forms of public infrastructure,” he said. My Dyer is concerned about possible contamination leaking from dumped panels and wants to see sites cleaned up at the end of life. “Decommissioning plans should include removal of the panels from the site and appropriate disposal so they’re not causing long-term environmental harm,” he said. Kane Thornton from the industry group the Clean Energy Council says the community broadly supports the growth in renewables, even though there are not many jobs on solar farms once they are built. “They deliver low-cost power that can support other industries in the region and across the country,” he said.

MR. KANE THORNTON Driving Australia’s Clean Energy Revolution Clean Energy Council

Source: abc

CHINA’S RISEN PLANS $7 BILLION SOLAR FACTORY RUN ON CLEAN ENERGY

Risen Energy Co. is planning to build a 45 billion yuan ($7 billion) integrated solar power factory in Inner Mongolia that’ll run on clean energy.

he plant will produce materials across the supply chain from industrial silicon to finished solar modules, the company said in a Dec. 27 filing with the Shenzhen stock exchange. It’ll also host, and draw power from, solar, wind and renewable energy storage facilities. The clean energy component should allow the project to avoid higher power prices for heavily polluting factories. It’s also the latest solar manufacturing complex to be located outside Xinjiang as international scrutiny of the region grows. The plant, to be built in two phases, will be able to produce 200,000 tons of industrial silicon, 150,000 tons of polysilicon, 10 gigawatts of solar cells and three gigawatts of modules a year, according to the filing. Risen will spend 25.2 billion yuan on power facilities for the factory, including installing 3.5 gigawatts of solar and 1.6 gigawatts of wind, as well as an energy storage site. The filing didn’t say whether all of the plant’s activities would be powered by clean energy. Risen rose as much as 7.8% in Shenzhen. Source: bloomberg

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JANUARY 2022

ASIA PACIFIC

RISE OF SOLAR ROOFTOPS TO

ACCELERATE COAL’S EXIT IN AUSTRALIA

Australia’s accelerating energy transition will see half of all homes installed with rooftop solar in the early 2030s, helping to spur a faster exit from coal-fired power generation, according to the operator of the country’s main electricity market.

bout 14 gigawatts of generation capacity using the fuel could retire by the end of the decade, far more than the 5.4 gigawatts of closures currently announced, the Australian Energy Market Operator said, citing the most likely scenario in a draft plan to develop the country’s electricity system over the next 30 years. “The sec tor is

Australia, which still relies heavily on coal for power generation, can do more to harness advantages in renewables, according to the document. Utility-scale wind and solar capacity can be increased nine-fold by 2050 to about 140 gigawatts. “We have the blueprint for how Australia can operate a coal power-free grid in a little over a decade,” said Richie Merzian, climate and energy program direc tor at the Australia Institute, a think tank that advocates a faster shift away from fossil fuels.

undergoing a more rapid change than has been previously expected,” the operator said in the plan. Given these uncertainties, the effective coordination of closures will be extremely challenging.” More than half of homes connected to the national electricity market will have rooftop solar panels installed by 2032 from the current 30%, and that will rise to 65% by 2050, according to AEMO’s plan.

Some other key AEMO forecasts for changes by 2050: • A tripling of firming capacity such as batteries, hydro storage and virtual power plants.

• Installation of 10,000 kilometers (6,200 miles) of transmission lines.

• Installation of four times the current rooftop solar capacity, with most connected to a dedicated energy storage system. Source : bloombergquint

JANUARY 2022

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ASIA PACIFIC

GINLONG TECHNOLOGIES (SOLIS) AWARDED

‘BEST COMPANIES TO WORK FOR IN ASIA’ Ningbo China, Ginlong technologies (Solis) was awarded ‘Best Companies to Work For In Asia’ after competing with hundreds of companies in different fields.

his glorious coronation is to commend the contribution of the enterprise talent management system construction and value improvement, affirming the achievements of Ginlong Technology (Solis) in the core value of talent management, performance management, incentive system, and other aspects. ‘‘As a world-renowned solar inverter manufacturer, Solis knows that the development of technology and maintaining a competitive edge is closely linked to talent,’’ said Lucy Lu, Assistant General Manager and Marketing Director of Ginlong Technologies (Solis). ‘’The engagement of employees is particularly important for the success and sustainable growth of any company.‘’ Solis’s global mission statement, “Developing Technology to Power the World with Clean Energy focuses to plan brand development strategies tailored to local market characteristics.” We are honored to receive this award, recognizing Solis for its commitment to providing valuable employment opportunities to its employees and for delivering employee engagement and satisfaction. Solis is also looking forward to discovering more talent to explore the infinite possibilities of smart solar creating a green, beautiful and zero-carbon future.

MS. LUCY LU Assistant General Manager & Marketing Director GinlongTechnologies (Solis)

Japan’s industry and land ministries have selected three consortiums, all led by Mitsubishi Corp (8058.T), as the operators for three offshore wind power projects in Akita, northern Japan, and Chiba, near Tokyo, they said. The announcement is the second set of results of government auctions for offshore blocks under a new law to promote wind power as Japan aims to boost renewable power capacity to help achieve its 2050 goal of becoming carbon neutral. read more The winner of the 391 megawatts (MW) wind farm off the coast of Choshi in Chiba is a consortium of Mitsubishi Corp Energy Solutions, Mitsubishi

Corp and C-Tech Corp, a subsidiary of Chubu Electric Power Co Inc (9502.T). Another consortium of the same three companies also won the 479 MW project off the coast of Noshiro, Mitane and Oga in Akita. A third consortium of the same three companies and Venti Japan Inc, Akita-based renewable energy firm, was selected for the 819 MW project off the coast of Yurihonjyo in Akita. Source : userwalls

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JANUARY 2022

ASIA PACIFIC

TSMC LEADS RUSH FOR RENEWABLES

AHEAD OF TAIWAN ENERGY VOTE

This month, Taiwan will hold a referendum that could have far-reaching effects on the world’s supply of semiconductors. aiwan is home to the world’s biggest chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., and plays a crucial role in the global electronics supply chain. The logistical snarl caused by the pandemic showed how vital the island is to keeping auto and tech production lines running. Now a longer-term threat is emerging: energy supply. Energy security and reliance on imported fossil fuels have long been key political issues for Taiwan that have become more inflammatory after the government committed to net-zero emissions by 2050. Only Australia is more dependent on coal power for its electricity among the world’s advanced economies. Two blackouts earlier this year raised concern about Taiwan’s ability to meet power demand that is rising by 2.5% a year. While the outages were at least partly caused by human error, they highlighted the government’s challenge in trying to decarbonize its grid, reduce dependence on imported energy and solve a long-running debate over nuclear power. For the electronics plants that drive theeconomy, they were a stark reminder of the need to find new sources of green energy soon to be able to expand production.

JANUARY 2022

Even Taiwan’s aim to increase the share of green energy to 20% by 2025 has a long way to go. Last year, the island imported almost 98% of its energy. About 82% of its electricity came from thermal power stations, with most of the remainder generated by two ag ing nuclear plants. Renewables generated only 5.5%. Power usage at TSMC, which is planning a new 2-nanometer wafer foundry near its headquarters in Hsinchu, could double within three years, according to a report by Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Charles Shum. TSMC became the first in its industry to sign up to the RE100 renewable energy initiative last year, pledging to use 100% renewable energy by 2050. Delta Electronics Inc.,United Microelectronics Corp. and others followed suit. The Dec. 18 referendum will ask citizens four questions -- two related to power: whether to activate a fourth nuclear plant that was mothballed in 2015, and where to build a new natural gas terminal. The results could extend the island’s reliance on imported coal and make it harder to meet rising demand from factories.

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ASIA PACIFIC

The nuclear issue has been a thorn in government policy for years. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had pledged to end atomic energy by 2025, when the last of the currently operating plants was due to be decommissioned. The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) argues that nuclear is necessary to generate emission-free baseload power and without it Taiwan could face power outages.

"We support nuclear power as it’s free of carbon

MS. TSAI LIENSHENG Secretary-General Taiwan’s Chinese National Federation Of Industries

tax and supplies stable power."

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JANUARY 2022

ASIA PACIFIC KEEPING JOBS AND FOOD Anti-nuclear groups say renovating the fourth plant would be prohibitively expensive and unnecessary, not to mention concerns about nuclear waste disposal and the safety of operating reactors on an island prone to earthquakes. “It is technically impossible to start that ghost of a plant.” In a poll conducted in November by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation, 43.5% supported activating the fourth nuclear plant, while 45.9% opposed it. A 2018 referendum voted to continue using nuclear power.

MR. PAUL JOBIN Associate Research Fellow Taiwan Academia Sinica’s In Stitute Of Sociology

“Pro-nuclear advocates have repeatedly used this trick- agitating the fear of energy shortages.”

A second referendum topic seeks to block CPC Corp.’s construction of a $2 billion LNG terminal on the coast at Taoyuan. Critics say the facility would damage a 7,000-year-old algal reef, while advocates say the terminal is vital to supplant coal imports with less-polluting natural gas. Taiwan’s existing two LNG terminals are already at full capacity. “If construction of the facility is halted, it will be a huge blow to stable power supply and plans to reduce emissions,” the Bureau of Energy said. The government has proposed moving the terminal 455 meters offshore to protect the reef. But even this could delay the project by 2.5 years, derailing efforts to raise the share of natural gas to 50% of the power mix by 2025, according to Liang Chi-yuan, chair professor of management at National Central University. “If nuclear power is to be eliminated, raising the gas power generation to 50% of power mix is not just a goal, but a must,” said BloombergNEF power analyst Wei Hanyang. “Without the third gas-receiving terminal, it’s likely that Taiwan won’t have enough power by 2025.”

JANUARY 2022

MR. LIANG CHI-YUAN Chair Professor Management At National Central University

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ASIA PACIFIC

In the November opinion poll, 42.3% of respondents said they would vote to protect the reef in Taoyuan, while 36.7% supported construction of the terminal. The two other referendum questions concern the imports of pork and the scheduling of future referendums. Defeat for President Tsai Ing-wen’s DPP on all four issues could harm the ruling party’s prospects in local elections next year.

Longer te rm, the vote could derail Taiwan’s efforts to fight global warming. Its per capita emissions rank among the world’s highest, said Niven Huang, Managing Director of KPMG Sustainability Consulting Co. in Taiwan. The Energy Bureau forecasts Taiwan’s power usage will grow 2.5% a year on average between 2021 and 2027, almost double the growth rate from 2011 to 2020.

POWER DEALS TSMC said it is pursuing “carbon reduction actions including green manufacturing, implementation of energy conservation projects, purchase of renewable energy and carbon credits” to meet its 2050 target. The semiconductor giant is estimated to have consumed about 6% of Taiwan’s electricity in 2019. While TSMC and other big manufacturers look to buy renewable energy, many of their contractors still rely on state grid operator Taiwan Power. “Companies in science parks added diesel generators in addition to uninterruptible power supply to contingency plan after blackouts in May,” said Hander Chang, president of the Allied Association for Science Park Industries. “Power shortage is more important than national security.” Taiwan’s green options include solar, wind, hydro and geothermal power. Back in the 1950s, hydro generated more than 90% of Taiwan’s electricity, but most large conventional hydro sites have already been tapped and output is expected to grow only marginally. Sitting on the so-called Ring of Fire and dotted with hot springs, Taiwan could potentially generate as much as 32 GW of geothermal power, according to the Taiwan Geothermal Association. But so far, only one plant is operating, a privately built 4.2 MW facility that started in October in Yilan County. Taiwan’s lack of land and policy of promoting self-sufficiency also create hurdles for solar. Wh ile companies like TSMC are adding panels to facilities, large-scale solar farms must compete for space with agriculture. “I understand that the government is under pressure to meet its renewable energy goal,” said Liu Wan-yu, Distinguished

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Professor at National Chung Hsing University’s Department of Forestry. But it should “first decide which areas are appropriate for solar,” including the effects of loss of crops, biodiversity, landscape and the irrecoverable loss of arable land. Taiwan’s best bet is wind. The island is positioned to be the largest offshore wind market in Asia, excluding China, with capacity reaching almost 21 GW by 2035, the Global Wind Energy Council forecasts.

MS. LIU WAN-YU Distinguished Professor National Chung Hsing University’s Department of Forestry

JANUARY 2022

ASIA PACIFIC

But even if Taiwan can ramp up the share of wind and solar power, both are weather dependent, which could make the supply unstable without more traditional sources. “This is a universal problem,” Citigroup said in a July report. To meet rapidly rising demand, “more baseload capacity and delays in the decommissioning of power plants may be required,” the bank said. “The referendum offers

the gover nment an opportunity to visit Taiwan’s energy policy, which needs fundamental change,” said National Central University’s Liang. “In the long term, we should consider whether it’s right to phase out nuclear, and whether there is a better and safer technology.” Source : bloombergquint

INDONESIA BEGINS CONSTRUCTION OF

WORLD’S LARGEST GREEN INDUSTRIAL PARK Indonesia began construction of what would become the world’s largest green industrial park in Bulungan district on the country’s second-largest island of Kalimantan. “We hope that this will be the largest green industrial park in the world, not only in North Kalimantan, not only in Indonesia, but in the world,” Indonesian President Joko Widodo said during the groundbreaking of the park. The green industrial park, which is expected to produce solar panels, semiconductors, green aluminum and petrochemicals among other things, is currently under construction in an area of 16,400 hectares and is targeted to expand to 30,000 hectares. Built by the cooperation between domestic and foreign investors such as those from China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the green park is expected to mostly produce finished goods with added value. The construction process is expected to employ around 100,000 workers, and more than 200,000 others once it is operational.

JANUARY 2022

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ASIA PACIFIC

PHOTON ENERGY TO BUILD A MEGA SOLAR-PLUS

- STORAGE PROJECT FEATURING RAYGEN’S

TECHNOLOGIES IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Photon Energy, a renewable energy developer based in the Netherlands, announced on November 3 that it has acquired 1,200ha of land in Australia to build a utility-scale solar-plus-storage project.

he project, which is located in the state of South Australia, will feature a new kind of concentrated solar thermal array as well as a new kind of thermal energy storage system. The project will have a generation capacity of 300MW and a storage capacity of 3.6GWh. The generation and storage technologies deployed at the project will be provided by Australia-based RayGen. “PV Ultra”, which is the proprietary generation technology developed by RayGen, integrates concentrated solar power with photovoltaics. In terms of operation, an array of mirrors directs the sunlight onto a receiver that contains PV Ultra modules. These modules cogenerate electricity and heat from the focused sunlight. The company’s official website states that a PV Ultra module outputs as much as 750kW per square meter, whereas a conventional c-Si module outputs around 0.18kW per square meter. Turning to energy storage, RayGen offers “Thermal Hydro” that comprises a hot reservoir and a cold reservoir. The temperatures of the two reservoirs are maintained by the heat and electricity from PV Ultra, and they work together to store energy as a temperature difference. Hence, this system differs from pumped hydroelectric energy storage that relies on the gravitational potential energy of water. The heat from the hot reservoir can be used to drive a steam turbine, while the temperature difference created with the cold reservoir can generate electricity through an Organic Rankin Cycle engine. The roundtrip efficiency rates of most electric-thermal energy storage systems are less than 50%. By contrast, Thermal Hydro offers a roundtrip efficiency rate of more than 70%. Photon Energy has been involved in the development and O&M of PV projects in

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Europe in Europe and Australia. It formed a strategic partnership with RayGen in April 2020. With RayGen’s technologies, Photon Energy is able to offer integrated renewable solutions that can operate 24/7 and offer a huge potential for scaling up. A 1MW project for demonstrating RayGen’s unique technologies was set up in the state of Victoria six years ago and is still in operation. Photon Energy intends to continue deploying Ultra PV and Thermal Hydro for many project sites. RayGen in its press release about the project in South Australia also stated that it raised AUD 55 million in its Series C funding round. Investors in this round include Photon Energy, AGL Energy, Schlumberger New Energy, Chevron Technology Ventures, and Equinor Ventures. RayGen also said that it is currently building another solar-plus-storage project in Victoria. With a generation capacity of 4MW and a storage capacity of 50MWh, the project is expected to enter operation in the middle of next year. The total investment in the project is AUD 30 million, half of which is coming from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. Photon Energy said that the preliminary design of the project in South Australia calls for a generation capacity of 300MW, of which 150MW will be connected to the grid. The company further pointed out that the 3.6GWh storage component will provide enough power to meet 24 hours of full load, even though RayGen’s previous press releases said Thermal Hydro offers 10-17 hours of discharge. Both Photon Energy and RayGen claim that the project in South Australia sets the record for the largest energy storage capacity of any type except pumped hydro. Looking at the development schedule, Photon Energy is currently proceeding with permitting and grid-connection application. The company hopes that the project will be ready to build by the end of 2023. Source: uniindia

JANUARY 2022

EUROPE & UK

EUROPE HITS CHINA’S WIND INDUSTRY

WITH ANTI-DUMPING DUTIES

Europe slapped import tariffs of up to 19.2% on Chinese steel wind turbine towers as governments seek to protect industries producing clean power equipment needed for the energy transition.

he European Commission found that Chinese firms had dumped about 300 million euros ($337 million) a year worth of towers at below-market prices, hurting European producers, it said in a Dec. 16 statement. Governments around the world are seeking to support domestic clean energy supply chains after Chinese firms have come to dominate solar panel production and are looking to expand in wind. The anti-dumping duties will secure over 3,600 jobs in the 1 billion euro industry in the EU, the commission said. “These measures serve to protect and defend EU producers and workers from trade distortive practices that harm EU manufacturing,” the commission said. China’s top tower maker Titan Wind Energy Suzhou Co. fell 6% in Shenzhen saying late it now faced

14.4% anti-dumping duties in Europe. Dajin Heavy Industry Co. will be charged 7.2%, while other Chinese companies that did not cooperate in the European Commission’s investigation face 19.2% levies. Sales to Europe made up 6% of Titan’s revenue in the first nine months of the year, and the company will expand exports to non-EU countries while accelerating construction of its manufacturing base in Germany to reduce the tariff impact, the company said in the statement. “Demand in the domestic market has been high in recent years, so the importance of overseas markets is even lower,” said Leo Wang, a BloombergNEF wind analyst based in Beijing.China’s largest wind turbine maker, Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co., fell as much as 10% in Hong Kong and its peer Ming Yang Smart Energy Group Ltd. dropped 4.6% in Shanghai. Source : bloombergquint

META PLANS DUTCH RECRUITMENT DRIVE

WITH GREEN-POWER DATA CENTER Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. said a new data center it plans to build in the Netherlands will create hundreds of jobs and run entirely on renewable energy, amid a row in government over the environmental impact of such large-scale projects.

he facility in Zeewolde, located 55 kilometers east of Amsterdam, is expected to be the country’s largest and will eventually support over 1,000 construction and hundreds of operational jobs, a Meta spokesperson told Bloomberg. All of Meta’s data centers have achieved net zero carbon emissions, they added. While the company said there’s still a significant amount of work to be done before an investment decision can be considered, the project has received a nod from the authorities. The zoning plan was approved by the majority of local council members, according to an announcement on the website of Zeewolde municipality.

JANUARY 2022

The green light comes even as Dutch parties pledged to make it more difficult to grant permission for so-called hyperscale data centers, according to the coalition agreement that was presented . Some members of the council opposed the plan citing sustainability concerns, Dutch news agency ANP reported. Dutch political parties PvdA and GroenLinks also expressed opposition to the plans. GroenLinks party member Suzanne Kröger said on Twitter that more regulations were needed for “this kind of energyintensive industry.” Source : bloombergquint

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EUROPE & UK

EUROPE’S HYDROGEN AMBITIONS RISK BOOSTING POWER PRICES The European Union’s plan to use hydrogen to decarbonize energy-intensive industries like transport and steel risks making making electricity prices “punishingly expensive,” a new study shows.

sing green hydrogen, produced using renewable electricity, to drive the decarbonization of those industries would increase power demand by 17% — equivalent to the consumption of France — by 2030, according to non-profit group Transport & Environment. Without additional renewable power, more natural gas would be needed to plug the gap, pushing prices higher, T&E said. “The EU must ensure that any hydrogen production is coupled with new renewable energy generation,” Geert Decock, electricity and energy manager at T&E, said in a statement. “Otherwise today’s high gas and electricity prices will feel like a bargain compared with what’s to come.” Against a backdrop of soaring power prices, EU member states will next week debate the Renewable Energy Directive, a key pillar of the bloc’s strategy to reach climate neutrality by 2050. T&E is concerned that EU’s targets for green hydrogen in the transport industry are too high and said it would be better to use renewable energy directly in powering vehicles. “We do need hydrogen for ships and planes, but it is reckless to heap unnecessary pressure on wind and solar when clean electricity will be needed to power the growing number of electric cars and heat pumps for homes,”

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MR. GEERT DECOCK Electricity & Energy Manager Transport & Environment (T&E)

Decock said. “The EU is playing a high risk hydrogen strategy.” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said this week that she would like to see the cost of hydrogen fall below 1.8 euros per kilogram by the end of the decade, which would mark a drop of around three-quarters from current levels. Source: Bloomberg

JANUARY 2022

FEATURED

BP PLANS GREEN HYDROGEN BASE IN

U.K. AS ENERGY TRANSITION SPEEDS UP

BP Plc plans to build a green hydrogen facility in northeast England that could start producing the gas by 2025, part of a massive project to help the oil major transition toward cleaner sources of energy. The HyGreen Teesside proposal follows one made earlier this year to develop a blue hydrogen facility in the same location. That would produce 1 gigawatt of hydrogen by 2030 and capture 2 million tons of carbon dioxide a year. BP mapped out a strategy last year to scale back its fossil-fuel business in favor of alternatives as the U.K. targets net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Beyond solar and wind, London-based BP wants to capture a 10% share of “core” hydrogen markets over the next decade. Oil-and-gas companies are pouring money into the hydrogen business with expectations it could displace hydrocarbons in po wer generation, heavy industry and transportation such as trucking and shipping. “Low-carbon hydrogen will be essential in decarbonizing hard-to-

MS. LOUISE JACOBSONPLUTT Senior Vice President, Hydrogen & CCUS BP

abate industrial sectors,” said Louise Jacobson-Plutt, BP’s senior vice president for hydrogen and carbon capture.

BP GOES ON HYDROGEN HIRING SPREE IN BID FOR 10% MARKET SHARE It won’t be difficult to place the 60 megawatts of green hydrogen expected to be produced at HyGreen by 2025, Matt Williamson, vice president of BP’s blue hydrogen operations, said in an

interview. “Customers are coming to us all the time wanting to get hydrogen,” he said.

The facility plans to boost its output to 500MW by 2030, a target that should be achievable given the “enormous” amount of renewable power coming online in the U.K. by then, Williamson said. BP didn’t disclose the expected cost of the plant, which relies on receiving some government funding, and a final decision is expected in 2023. BP also is considering green hydrogen production at refineries i n Germany, Spain and the Netherlands. Teesside itself is undergoing a redevelopment from its roots in steel, chemicals and fossil fuels. The city was selected as one of two industrial clusters that will receive government support for a carbon capture

project. It also has ambitions to become the U.K.’s first hydrogen transport hub, Williamson said. “You’ve got the opportunity to get hydrogen into trucks, there’s the airport, there’s the port and then there’s trains,” he said. Currently, most hydrogen is described as “gray,” meaning it’s made from fossil fuels and releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. With blue hydrogen, those emissions are captured and buried into the ground. The cleanest -- and most expensive -- variety is green hyd rogen, made using renewable power.

JANUARY 2022

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FEATURED

MONDRAGON ASSEMBLY, MAKING THE OPTIMIZATION AND EFFICIENCY OF HJT CELL TECHNOLOGY A REALITY The European equipment manufacturer already includes in its portfolio the solutions for the interconnection of HJT cells being its groundbreaking Tabber & Stringer ECA industrial machine already a market reality.

month ago we heard about the news on the continuation of the collaboration agreement between MONDRAGON ASSEMBLY and CEA at INES, with the former aiming to strengthen its position for the newest technologies in the field of high-efficiency photovoltaic modules, with a particular focus on heterojunction. This collaboration aims to offer clients latest generation production equipment and assembly lines. Recent studies point towards the efficiency of this type of cells exceeding that of the sector’s well-known PERx cell modules. Therefore, the present challenge for the solar sector, in which Mondragon Assembly is currently immersed, strives to develop solutions that provide increased performance in terms of conversion efficiency, a reduction in losses, increased performance and economic competitiveness. In short, providing solutions that allow to find a bal ance between efficiency and cost for its clients.

EQUIPMENT FOR HJT SOLUTIONS, A REALITY FOR MONDRAGON ASSEMBLY Thanks to the collaboration that Mondragon Assembly has established with CEA at INES, the manufacturer of high-tech equipment already has its high-precision Tabber&Stringer machine with Electrically Conductive Adhesive (ECA) technology for the HJT highefficiency cell technology and is capable of producing up to 2,600 HJT cells per hour. For this new development which comes with independent printing of both sides of the cells, flexibility is a key factor of this machine, since it can produce strings of up to 15BB with cell sizes of up to M12 (210mm), in addition also it is able to handle cells as thin as 110 µm. It is also compatible with Gapless and Paving technologies.

Thanks to the multiple vision controls it has been fitted with, this new machine guarantees the precision and quality of the manufactured strings, which allows to increase the efficiency of the machine and obtain better manufacturing results in less time. However, the developments and commitment made by Mondragon Assembly go a step further and the company is currently developing a welding solution for HJT. It is a known fact that this type of cells cannot endure very high temperatures, hence tests and new developments are underway to also enable the equipment manufacturer to offer this type of solutions in future.

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JANUARY 2022

OPINION

SOLAR INDUSTRY WELCOMES DUAL INITIATIVES OF INDIAN GOVERNMENT India has committed to achieve 40% of its installed electricity capacity from renewable energy by 2030 as a part of Paris Climate Agreement. To achieve this goal, 175 GW of non-fossil fuel energy will be installed by 2022 incorporating 100 GW of solar energy. Write now, India’s solar sector is heavily dependent on imports from other countries. Certain countries has been dumping solar cells and modules that overpowers domestic solar module manufacturers and this is also noted by the Indian Government. During COVID-19 pandemic, the international trade was heavily disturbed and Government of India has also noticed the disturbance faced by domestic solar module manufacturers. India need to promote its domestic solar module manufacturers to achieve its ambitious goals about installing solar energy. Therefore, Government of India (GOI) thought to levy a strong policy which promotes domestic solar modules and decrease its dependence on international imports.

IMMA (North India Module Manufacturers Association) along with ISMA (Indian Solar Manufacturers Association) and AISIA( All India Solar Industries Association) met the Finance Minister. In the delegation, Vineet Mittal (Cofounder & Director, Navitas Solar), Manish Gupta (President, NIMMA, and Founder, Director, Insolation Energy), Arpit Agarwal (Neosol), Manish Agarwal (Enkay Solar) and Sandeep Gupta (Vice-Chairman & Managing Director of Jakson Group) were present on behalf of the solar associations. This was basis a release shared by NIMMA, ISMA & AISIA. The meeting took place in the Ministry of Finance, North Block, Delhi under the leadership of Ramcharan Bohra, MP – Jaipur City. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has assured the delegation of domestic solar module manufacturers that BCD, which was announced 9 months back, will be levied from 1st April, 2022.

Vineet Mittal, Cofounder & Director, Navitas Solar, a leading Indian Solar Manufacturer said, “Local employment will be escalated by a huge capacity as wide job opportunities will be created in the solar sector. Dependency on other countries will be diminished after this historic implementation. India’s forex reserves can be saved to a large extent by having lesser dependency on imports.” Ministry of Finance, Government of India has agreed to impose Basic Customs Duty (BCD) based on MNRE (The Ministry of New and renewable Energy)’s proposal as 40% on Solar Module imports and 25% on Solar Cell imports with effective from 1st April,2022. Current solar cell or solar module imports from China are duty free and because of that, domestic manufacturers faced a huge problem and some of them were on the verge of closing. The implementation of BCD will show a big relief to the domestic solar module manufacturers. BCD has become a boon for Indian Solar Module manufacturers who has faced tough competition from imported modules. As per the announcement of Indian Government about its vision to install solar energy in a massive stage in the country, domestic manufacturers have invested hugely on that basis. BCD minimises the scope of any type of imports from any country. The challenge associated with BCD is as it was announced but it is not implemented until now and due to that uncertainty persists regarding the same. MNRE boosts the solar energy sector by including open access and net-metering projects in ALMM. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India has recently taken a major step towards making the Indian Solar Energy sector more vibrant and quality-driven. The ministry has amended the "Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) of Solar Modules (requirements for Compulsory Registration) Order, 2019" to include open access and net-metering projects. Both will be subjected to change from April 1, 2022. As per the amendment, for all government projects, governmentassisted projects, government-sponsored projects, open access projects,

JANUARY 2022

and net metering installations across the country, only products from manufacturers on the ALMM list will be allowed to be used. The enlistment would also be necessary for projects under Component A of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) program. The enlistment requirement was identical to the prior rule, but it was not relevant to open access and net metering programs, which are now included in the change. The inclusion of open access and net-metering initiatives under ALMM is bound to bring in a positive change in the Indian solar energy market. As modules are the most significant component of solar power projects, this move will ensure that, the consumers get better quality and trustworthy products. This will result in an overall increase in demand and that would help small manufacturers expand their capacity, while the investor will have more confidence in their investments. Navitas Solar, a Surat-based leading solar energy systems provider, welcomed the announcement, saying that the move will boost the manufacturing of the solar modules and the industry will see an acceleration in the demand while bringing much-needed quality assurance in the products. An updated list of ALMM-ordered models and manufacturers was released by the MNRE in November. Mandatory registration rules for solar module manufacturers were established by MNRE in 2018. Models and manufacturers must have received Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification under the 'Solar Photovoltaics, Systems, Devices, and Components Goods (Requirements for Compulsory Registration) Order, 2017' and must have established a manufacturing capacity for production in India to be included on the list.

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