Saur Energy International Magazine December Issue 2020 by Saur Energy International

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December 2020 | `200

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

DCP LICENSING NO. F.2(S-29) PRESS/2016 | VOL. 5 | ISSUE 04 | TOTAL PAGES 60 | PUBLISHED ON 1ST OF EVERY MONTH

Blown Away!

A Final Blow To India's Rooftop Solar Targets

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GROUP EDITOR

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From the

Group Editor SAUR ENERGY

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Kuldeep Gusain subscription@meilleurmedia.com Saur Energy International is printed, published, edited and owned by Manas Nandi and published from 303, 2nd floor, Neelkanth Palace, Plot No- 190, Sant Nagar, East of Kailash, New Delhi- 110065 (INDIA), Printed at Pearl Printers, C-105, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase 1, New Delhi. DISCLAIMER: Editor, Publisher, Printer and Owner make every effort to ensure high quality and accuracy of the content published. However he cannot accept any responsibility for any effects from errors or omissions. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Editor and publisher. The information in the content and advertisement published in the magazine are just for reference of the readers. However, readers are cautioned to make inquiries and take their decision on purchase or investment after consulting experts on the subject. Saur Energy International holds no responsibility for any decision taken by readers on the basis of the information provided herein. Any unauthorised reproduction of Saur Energy International magazine content is strictly forbidden. Subject to Delhi Jurisdiction.

ack in the final issue of 2019, we had headlined it “ 2019, ThankFully Over”. In retrospect, 2020 has hardly been the respite one had hoped for. If the issues faced in 2019 were more about operational and policy related, 2020 of course brought in the force majeure clause in a big way. However, what is sad is that many if the issues from 2019 continue to fester. For developers, the troubles in Andhra are far from over. Manufacturers continue to lament the lack of clarity and movement on the safeguard duty. Add to that the many issues that 2020 has added on, and 2021 promises to be the year of struggle and catch up. If 2019 saw the beginning of tender cancellations, 2020 has seen the start of a whole new trend of orphaned LOA’s, with no discom willing to sign up for power purchases. In all this, as always, promises for amazing things in the future have been aplenty, from the 30 GW plans for Kutch, to the promise of big things in Kargil and Ladakh. Where one might actually hope for real movement is the plans of multiple PSU’s to jump on the solar bandwagon, which we focus on in a key feature this time. Beyond that, we cover the continuing turmoil in rooftop solar, which, for all the talk, is practically a lost case, as far as getting to even 50 percent of its 2022 target of 40 GW goes. No thanks to poor execution of policies, state level resistance, and badly designed options. We need a miracle in 2021 to turn things around. Are you willing to believe in one?

PRASANNA SINGH Group Editor

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CONTENTS VOL. 05, ISSUE-04

D EC E M B E R 2020

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Policy and Legal

Gujarat Solar Policy 2021. Key Points

Storage

New York To Get 100 MW Battery Storage

EV Updates

Projects and Tenders

Finance News

Grid and Transmission

Innovations

Report

Modules

Opinions

India’s EV Market to Grow at 44 percent CAGR Until 2027: IESA

TAQA, Masdar-led 2 GW Al Dhafra Solar Project Achieves Financial Close

Volkswagen envisions’ a Mobile EV Charging Robot, Reveals First Glimpse

LONGi Supplies 273 MW Modules for 831 MWp Solar Project in Vietnam

SECI Closes 1.2 GW Hybrid Tender Issued in January 2020, Lowest Bid at Rs 2.41/kWh

Increasing Stakes in Intrastate Transmission Will Drive RE Growth in India: IEEFA

Demand for Hydrogen in India can Grow 5-Fold by 2050: TERI

Behind Azure’s Investor Update. Challenges To Continue in 2021

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26 COVER STORY

Blown! How India Lost The Solar Rooftop Battle

24 THE CONVERSATION DARSHAN PANDYA Managing Director Fox ESS India

44 2021. When PSUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Flex Solar Muscles

THE CONVERSATION LOUIS LIU

Head of the Smart PV Business India DEC EMB ER 20 20

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Gujarat Solar Policy 2021. Key Points

ujarat, with an installed capacity of close to 11,000 Mw of renewable energy has just unveiled its new solar policy, that seeks to take the state’s total renewable energy to 30,000 MW by 2022, for starters. Chief Minister Vijay Rupani announced Gujarat’s new solar power policy on Tuesday. The new policy is expected to be valid for the next 5 years. which will be valid for the next five years. The policy stands out for the apparent freedom it gives to generators, with a focus on both the state and producers benefiting from lower costs. However, a key sticking point in the form of extra charges that discoms typically add remains to be cleared up. The big winner should be industry, with power costs, currently at Rs 8 per unit, targeted to be brought down by 50 percent by using renewable energy. Among the key points is the move to

remove the ceiling on installed capacity. The new policy also allows consumers to lease their premises or roofs to third parties for setting up plants to generate and consume power in the same premises. In the same proportion of their ownership of

the plant. Earlier, the cap on the solar project was 50 per cent of the sanctioned load or contracted demand. The security deposit by a developer to a power distribution company (Discom), has been reduced from Rs 25 lakh per MW to Rs 5 lakh per MW. The new policy promises that the state would purchase surplus energy from residential and micro, small and medium enterprises consumers after setting off against their consumption. This means that they would be allowed to sell their surplus power at a tariff of Rs 2.25 per unit. (Gross Metering). This move, while a net positive, may not go down well with smaller producers, as net metering was a real attraction for them. This is possibly offset only by the fact that the state has done a much better job of subsidising smaller installs.

R.K Singh Pushes For Consumer Rights in Power, With Electricity Rules 2020

he Power Sector finally sees a much delayed turn towards becoming more consumer centric, with the promulgation of a set of rules and obligations under the “Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020” issued recently. Announcing the new rules today, R.K.Singh, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, said, “These rules shall empower the consumers of electricity and emanate from the conviction that the power systems exist to serve the consumers and the consumers have rights to get the reliable services and quality electricity.” He said that Distribution Companies across the country are monopolies – whether government or private – and the consumer has no alternative – therefore it was necessary that the consumers’ rights be laid down in Rules and a system for enforcement of these rights be put in place.” Among other things the new rules provide for consumers to have the option to apply for new electricity connection and pay bills online. Consumers should also get electricity connection in prescribed

timeline which is 7 days in Metro cities, 15 days in other cities and 30 days in rural areas; Violations to result in penalties. These rules are expected to benefit about 30 crores existing and prospective consumers in the country. For potential prosumers, or consumers who go for solar generation on rooftops or elsewhere too, net metering has been

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mandated for upto 10 KW, and gross metering beyond that. Discoms also have to set up 24×7 call centres mandatorily, besides the online facilities. The new rules are a welcome effort to professionalise the power sector in the country, and bring it more in line with how any sector should work, with the consumer at the centre.

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With Member Law Finally In, CERC Looks To Restart Soon

ith the appointments committee of the cabinet finally approving the selection of Pravas Kumar Singh as Member (law) for the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), the stage is finally set for restart of operations at the critical regulator, in hibernation since August 28. As we have reported regularly with updates, the body was effectively shut down by the Supreme Court for not following its order of April2018, which mandated a member of law in every central tribunal, regulatory agency and other quasi judicial bodies. In fact, the honourable court had even prevented the released of reserved judgements lying at the CERC, due to what it saw as the poor intent of the government to follow though on its orders. Mr Singh was earlier a member of the Jharkhand SERC, and comes with a tenure of 5 years. He will join two other CERC members I S Jha, former Power Grid Corp chairman, and Arun Goyal, ex-bureaucrat, besides Chairperson P.K Pujari at the commission. The government will now need to file an interlocutory application (IA) at the SC for

an early hearing to resume operations at the regulator. At the moment, an early January start looks to be the mot likely outcome. We believe doubts that have been raised on the validity of the reserved judgements, besides the many cases disposed off during the period from April 2018 to August 2020, were sought to be put to rest by the court when it expressly stated that it has tried to protect those by making its judgement apply prospectively. Along with the condition that any opening in other SERC's will first fill in the position for member of

law. A total of 177 reserved judgements await the expanded team for release soon, besides the massive backlog of cases for hearing from September onwards. For many petitioners, the wait has been a testing time, as their issues, hanging on matters like delays of a few months hang fire. Force Majeure, the most cited word this year to explain away delays in regulatory courts this year, has unfortunately made a case for applying to the regulator itself. It remains to be seen how the CERC clears up its heavy workload.

MSEDCL Petition to Float Open Tenders Under MSKVY Partly Approved by MERC

he Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) has been at the doors of the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) to seek approval to float Open tenders and taking land on lease by paying rent under Mukhyamantri Saur Krishi Vahini Yojana (MSKVY) Scheme. In the first petition filed in October, the commission had stated that it acknowledged the proactive proposal of MSEDCL to accelerate the bidding process under MSKVY and that

it is principally inclined towards the proposal of MSEDCL to conduct Open Tender i.e. continuous re-biding till targeted capacity is fulfilled, for procurement of solar power under MSKVY. However, the Commission postulated that there may be certain operational challenges

that need to be addressed while inviting the bids on a monthly basis. And had thus, directed the agency to make necessary changes in the RfS document to address the issues listed by the commission and submit a fresh petition for approval of the commission. In its latest order on the case, the commission further noted that regarding inviting EOI, MSEDCL has submitted that it will be inviting tenders of different capacities for different circles/districts which will be based on their agriculture loads. It has also highlighted that based on its experience the EOI DEC EMB ER 20 20

mode may not give the desired results and will also consume time. The Commission noted MSEDCL’s submission. After considering all the prayers and amendments made by MSEDCL, the commission has partly allowed the petition filed and asked MSEDCL to make changes in bid document as directed. And further stated that subject to changes suggested to be incorporated in bid documents, MSEDCL is allowed to proceed with the continuous bidding process for selection of bidder under Mukhyamantri Saur Krishi Vahini Yojana. SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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Delay in Imposition of BCD on Solar Equipment Impacting Investments: CII

he Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in a written memorandum to the Ministry of Finance has urged the ministry to impose the planned basic custom duty (BCD) on solar equipment as announced in the last general budget, stressing that the delay in implementation is impacting investments. For now, the government has communicated a probable date of April 2022 for the start of the new BCD regime. The memorandum stated that the implementation of BCD on solar equipment was announced in the last Union Budget, but the government is yet to lay down the implementation road map. Further hinting that the delay in the BCD levy is impacting the investment decisions of the industry. The CII also urged the ministry to bring power under the ambit of GST (goods and services tax), saying that this has been requested through its pre-budget recommendations for several years. It is proposed that the electrical energy may be brought to the GST net with a lower rate of GST or keeping it exempt from GST, a

refund of input credit should be given to the generating/transmission/distribution utility, it added. This is pending a decision from the Government of India, the body claimed. Furthermore, the CII representatives also highlighted that decision on Tariff Policy, 2016 and that the Draft Electricity Amendments Bill (EAB) 2020 is pending, during a scheduled pre-budget meeting with finance ministry officials. They stressed that the Tariff Policy is an

important policy for bringing in more competition, especially in the distribution sector. And the EAB 2020 was also hailed by the industry as an important step for bringing in more efficiency to generation, distribution, transmission and alternate procurement like short-term market, open access, etc. Both are important policy guidelines and are pending implementation from the government, it stated.

NSEFI Writes to MNRE for Delayed Payments of RE Developers Since April

ational Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI) has written a letter to R.K. Singh, Minister of State (I/C) Power, New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) requesting the urgent release of payments to Renewable Energy (RE) Developers. The payments of RE Developers having PPAs with AP DISCOMs by Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) under Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan scheme for DISCOMs are yet to receive payments which are pending since April 2020. NSEFI, a non-profit organization with the objective of solar power development,

wrote in the letter, “The Government of Andhra Pradesh had made the request to PFC and REC to disburse an additional amount of loan to the State under Tranche – I for repayment to REdevelopers. However, we understand that

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the same is pending for a few months already and RE developers are yet to receive payments which are pending since April 2020.” “Our members have not been paid as full tariff agreed under the Power Purchase Agreement

(“PPA”) for the electricity supplied since August 2018. The payments were received at less than 50% of the agreed tariff from almost two years, and that too with a delay of almost a year,” it added. Earlier in 2019, the Andhra Pradesh High Court has directed Discoms to pay an interim tariff of Rs 2.43/kWh and Rs 2.44/kWh to wind and solar developers respectively. That interim tariff provided a slight relief to the project developers, it was not enough to service debt, and not receiving this interim tariff on time is endangering International and domestic investments, as NSEFI asserted. NSEFI Payments to RE Developers.

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RERC Sets Tariff of Rs 6 per unit Applicable on EV Charging Stations

he Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission (RERC) has released a draft Suo-Motu order on the matter of Charging Infrastructure, Tariffs, and other regulatory issues for Electric Vehicles on December 21, 2020. Promoting Electric Vehicles and their Impact on the Grid, they declared the applicable tariffs on the EV public charging stations (PCS) of Rs 6 per unit used under two categories; Public Charging Station LT-8 and HT-6. The above tariff applicable to PCS would also be applicable to EV Battery Charging Stations (BCS) and EV Battery Swapping Stations (BSS). The standard operating procedure (SOP) for establishing the electric vehicle (EV) charging stations were released by the department. The regulatory body has also decided to provide relaxation in permanent fee from Rs 135 to Rs 40 per month for these stations. During off-peak hours, from 11 P.M. to 6 A.M. the rebate of 15% for Public Charging Station would be considered.

Discoms may also encourage other energy companies (like IOCL, HPCL, IGL, etc.) to invest in providing a charging network, especially the fast-charging stations at inter-city routes like state and national highways. The Discoms can also promote Smart Charging features by optimizing the charging process according to distribution grid constraints and local renewable energy availability, whereby EV charging patterns

could be controlled to flatten the peak demand and support the real-time balancing of the grid by adjusting their charging levels. For the implementation of Smart Charging, the Discom shall install a smart meter at all Public Charging Stations. Smart Charging will not only help Discom manage its load but also provide grid security in the long run.

Solar ITC Extends at 26% For Two More Years, Included in US COVID Relief Pkg

he Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC) has been extended at 26 percent for two more years. The ITC for solar systems as well as new funding for energy storage research has been included in the US COVID-19 relief package, the Congress approved. USD 1.4 trillion federal spending package alongside a USD 900 billion COVID-19 virus relief spending bill includes the solar ITC, which was scheduled to drop to 22 percent in 2021, will stay at 26 percent. Alongside, the wind industry also received a limited extension of its production tax credit. The solar projects in all market segments including

residential, commercial, industrial, and utility-scale that begin construction in 2021 and 2022 will still be able to receive a tax credit at 26 percent. All markets will drop to a 22

percent tax credit in 2023, and the residential market will drop to 0 percent while the commercial and utility markets will sit at a permanent 10 percent credit beginning in

2024. The USD 900 billion COVID package also includes funding for distributed energy deployment as well as support to provide better access to federal lands for renewable projects. The 5,593-page legislation – which is said to be the longest bill ever passed by Congress – is soon expected to be signed into law by President Trump. “These policies will help get people back to work, accelerating our economic recovery and achieving greenhouse gas emissions reductions”, said Gregory Wetstone, president and CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy.

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India’s EV Market to Grow at 44 percent CAGR Until 2027: IESA

n its latest report, India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) has forecasted that in its base case scenario – India’s EV market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 44 percent between 2020-2027, and is expected to hit 6.34-million-unit annual sales by 2027. EV Market: The “India Electric Vehicle Market Overview 2020-2027” report details that EV sales in India stood at 3,80,000 in 2019-20, and the EV battery market stood at 5.4 GWh during the year. Thus, in the base case scenario, the EV market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 44 percent between 2020-2027 and expected to hit 6.34-million-unit annual sales by 2027. Furthermore, the annual battery demand is forecasted to grow at 32 percent to hit 50 GWh by 2027, of this, 40+ GWh will be on lithium-ion batteries. The estimated battery market potential is USD 580 million in 2019 and is forecasted to grow to USD 14.9 billion by 2027. Electric 2W: The report then goes on to

highlight that the electric two-wheeler (e-2W) market took up the highest share in 2019-20. Currently, low- and mediumspeed e-2W (up to 40 kph) with conventional lead-acid batteries are dominating the market as they are already at par in terms of upfront cost with Internal

Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles. Secondly, high-speed segment with Li-ion batteries is also gaining momentum slowly. With more companies getting FAME-II certification in 2020, the sale of high-speed e2Ws is also expected to increase rapidly in the next two years.

EESL Tenders for 500 Electric Vehicles Under ADB Financing

he Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) has issued a tender, inviting bids from eligible vendors for the procurement of 500 electric vehicles (EVs). The vehicles will be procured in two categories: the first lot will include 200 sedan EVs with a range of at least 180 km, and the second lot will consist of 300 vehicles with a length of less than four meters and a range of at least 250 km. The tender has been issued under financial assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which will provide financial aid to borrowers under this contract. The open competitive bidding will be

conducted in accordance with ADB’s single-stage: two envelope bidding procedure, and there is no country restriction on this tender.

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As per the tender, the vehicles will come with three years of warranty and a comprehensive annual maintenance contract (AMC). The contract will also

include design, manufacture, on-site supply and maintenance support for electric cars on a pan-India basis. The last date for bid submission is February 5, 2021, and the technical bids will be opened on the same date. In June, EESL had issued a similar tender for the procurement of 250 electric vehicles with ADB financing. The tender was issued for procurement under two categories the first lot with 100 EVs with length more than four meters and range of at least 300 kms, and the second lot of 150 vehicles with length less than four meters and range of at least 250 km.

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Public EV Charging Stations Fall Under Commercial Tariff Category: TANGEDCO

ccording to the new order from Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (TANGEDCO), Public charging stations for electric vehicles across the State would fall under the commercial tariff category while private charging stations (PCS) at homes will be under domestic tariff. TANGEDCO said that the present tariff would be followed until Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) decides the new appropriate tariff for EV charging. The order stated, “As per the Tamil Nadu Electric Vehicle Policy, 2019, the tariff applicable for domestic consumption shall be applicable for the private charging station at home under Light Tention Tariff-IA. Typically, most of the slow charging or overnight charging for EV – two-wheelers, three-wheelers, or small fourwheelers – may be done from this domestic service connection. Private charging in case of offices, malls, gated community and others can be done in the common supply with the LT Tariff-V of TANGEDCO.” Moreover, for commercial charging facilities, the order stated that service connection to the public charging stations, battery charging station, and battery swapping station should be effected under HT/ LT commercial tariff category. Aiming at the updated guidelines for charging infrastructure for electric vehicles issued by the Ministry of Power dated October 1, 2019, it declared that every PCS would

have an exclusive transformer with all related sub-station equipment, including safety appliances. However, As per the notification of the Government of India, TANGEDCO is required to issue an E-invoice, with effect from 1st October 2020. All GST registered HT & LT consumers or suppliers are requested to verify their GST number in the HT & LT bills or Tax invoices. If the GST number is incorrect or not available, the consumers and suppliers are requested to approach TANGEDCO‘s related offices.

SUN Mobility Planning 100 EV Battery Swapping Stations in Bengaluru

UN Mobility, a leading provider of universal energy infrastructure and services to accelerate mass electric vehicle (EV) usage, has announced that it plans to establish 100 battery swapping stations for EVs in Bengaluru by the end of 2021. The announcement was made at the launch event of the firm’s first battery swap points/ stations in the city. Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa formally commenced the commercial launch of the company’s swapping network in Bengaluru. Currently, there are four swap points available at Indian Oil Corporation Ltd’s (IOCL) outlets in the city’s densely populated areas of Indiranagar,

Jayanagar, Koramangala and HSR Layout. The firm also announced its partnership with MetroRide, a sustainable and environmentfriendly shared mobility solution provider, to solve first and last-mile connectivity for metro rail. MetroRide’s fleet of

Piaggio Ape E-City electric three-wheelers will make use of SUN Mobility’s swap points deployed at IOCL outlets. Bengaluru-based SUN Mobility is a joint venture (JV) between Maini Group and SUN Group–co-founded by Chetan Maini, founder of India’s first DEC EMB ER 20 20

electric car, Reva and Uday Khemka, Vice Chairman of SUN Group. “We realise that good infrastructure is a precursor to enabling a vibrant, clean and shared mobility ecosystem in a city like Bengaluru. A great example of this is the threewheeler market that has 1,80,000 three-wheelers, supported by 85 LPG stations,” SUN Mobility co-founder and Vice-Chairman Chetan Maini said. The company wants to create a similar supporting ecosystem by deploying 100 swap points by the end of next year that can power and support all forms of shared mobility in the city, including two-wheelers, threewheelers, and last-mile delivery trucks. SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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SECI Extends EOI Deadline for Empanelment of Agencies in E-Mobility Space

ECI has, for a second time, extended its EOI for empanelment of agencies for the identification & implementation of business opportunities in the e-mobility space The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has extended its EOI for empanelment of agencies for the identification and implementation of business opportunities in the electric mobility (e-mobility) space in line with the national target of raising the share of Electric Vehicles (EVs) to 30 percent of the total number of vehicles by 2030 along with associated infrastructure. The last date for submission of the response to the EOI has been extended from December 23, 2020, to January 14, 2021. The is the second such extension for the EOI, with SECI previously extending the deadline from December 7, 2020, to December 23, 2020. The objective of the EOI, which was issued in October, is to secure an expression of interest from agencies preferably having

prior experience in electric mobility and/ or in new/innovative technology development / scale-up. It is envisaged that such business opportunities could be existing in demand creation, demand aggregation, setting up charging infrastructure, the introduction of new and innovative products, market development, capacity building, etc. The nodal agency has stated that one of its

objectives includes the promotion of new technology and the development of demonstration projects that reduce carbon emissions. Accordingly, it intends to foray into the electric mobility space for contributing towards the national target of raising the share of the electric vehicle in the total number of vehicles to 30 percent by 2030 along with associated infrastructure.

E-2Ws saw 2% of Target Sales till September 2020, Under FAME-II: ICRA

CRA surveyed 16 electric 2 wheeler dealerships, across the country, in November 2020. The Report tells about how the second phase of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME-II), the flagship scheme of the Government of India to push faster electric vehicle (EV) adoption, managed to achieve only 2 percent of its target of covering ten lakh electric twowheeler (E-2W) sales till September 30, 2020. However, it crossed the halfway mark of its three-year tenure (FY2020-FY2022). Among all segments of the automobile market, E-2Ws were expected to witness faster penetration, given the favorable economics and limited reliance

on widespread charging infrastructure. However, FAME-II has been tepid so far, with E-2W constituting less than 1 percent of total twowheelers (2W) sold in FY2020 in India. The E-2Ws constitute 95 percent of the total EVs on road

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in India. Between FY2016-FY2020, the E-2W sales grew a CAGR of 66 percent, even if on a low base. In FY2020, FAME-II was announced for a period of 3 years. While the E-2W sales reported a 21 percent year over year(YoY) growth to 1.5 lakh

units in FY2020(first year of the scheme) under FAME-II. According to the survey, FAME-II the target E-2W sales (FY2020-FY2022) is 1,000,000, and only 21,651 of E-2W sales achieved from April 2019 to September 2020. The possible reasons for such unpleasant results could be; Rigorous eligibility criteria for claiming subsidy, as FAME-II only considers the E-2Ws having Advance -Lithium-ion battery type with an approximate battery capacity of 2 kWh and maximum Ex-factory price of Rs. 1.5 lakhs. This excludes the E-2Ws with Conventional Lead-Acid Battery of lesser approximate battery capacity and cheaper in total upfront cost.

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Ola Exploring Sites for Network of Charging Stations in India & Europe

ndian ride-hailing firm, Ola is searching multiple sites to build a network of charging stations for electric twowheelers(E-2Ws) across India and Europe. The E-mobility driven Ola, is searching in 50 cities in India and different locations in Europe to build the global network of charging infrastructure, according to sources privy to the development. Also, over these stations, Ola’s customers can rapidly charge their E-2Ws. One of the sources said while Ola’s E-scooters will feature a removable battery, the availability of a network of charging stations will address any concerns around charging requirements. Earlier this month, the Bengaluru-based company had announced an MoU signed with the Tamil Nadu government to set up its first electric scooter factory in the state. With an investment of Rs. 2,400 Crores, Ola will produce approximately 10,000 jobs in the country. And, on completion, Ola will be the world’s largest scooter manufacturing facility that will initially have an annual capacity of 2 million scooters.

Ola’s factory will cater to customers not only in India but in markets around the world including Europe, Asia, Latin America, and more. The plant could also galvanize India’s electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem and establish India as a key player in the EV manufacturing space.

Speaking of which, Bhavish Aggarwal, Chairman and Group CEO, Ola stated, “This will be one of the most advanced manufacturing facilities in the world. This factory will showcase India’s skill and talent to produce world-class products that will cater to global markets.”

Focus on Electrification of 3W More as Compared to 4W: TERI

he Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), with the support of Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation (SSEF), has released a report on the Roadmap for Electrification of Urban Freight in India. Speaking at the virtual launch of the report, Sudhendu J Sinha, Adviser, Transport, NITI Aayog, said, “As India’s urban population continues to grow, we have to address the transport sector and its implications. The urban freight sector is no more confined to four (4W) and threewheelers (3W); it also comprises twowheelers (2W) with the advent of e-commerce. One of the most significant challenges in the three-wheeler segment is with respect to finances. However, that cost is now coming down to 25-30 percent in India.” Citing the success of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model for the adoption

of EVs in Kochi, he added, “Awareness campaigns should be taken up to promote the uptake of these electric 3W vehicles.”

The study was conducted by TERI with an objective to assess the operational and financial feasibility of EVs in the urban freight (UF) segment by undertaking a survey-based analysis of five sectors across three cities namely Delhi, Bengaluru and Surat. Key researcher and author of the report, Sharif Qamar, Associate Fellow & Area Convenor, Centre for Sustainable Mobility, TERI, said, “our key findings suggest that the total cost of operation is rapidly turning in favour of EV variants, and diesel prices, range of EVs and subsidies play a significant role in the overall total cost of ownership (TCO) of EVs. He also mentioned that a large proportion of LCVs currently plying in Indian cities are pre-BS-IV emission standards, and focus is needed to upgrade these to newer vehicles.

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TAQA, Masdar-led 2 GW Al Dhafra Solar Project Achieves Financial Close

he Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA) and Masdar – alongside partners EDF and JinkoPower – have announced the successful financial closing of the Al Dhafra Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Independent Power Producer (IPP) project. The record-breaking project, located approximately 35 kilometers from Abu Dhabi city, will have a capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW) and supply power to the plant’s off-taker, Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC). Once operational, the Al Dhafra Solar PV IPP will be the world’s largest single-site solar power plant, using approximately 3.5 million solar panels to generate enough electricity for approximately 160,000 homes across the UAE.

Financing for the project will come from seven international lenders, following the signing of the power purchase agreement in July. Earlier in the year, the competitive bidding for the project led to one of the most competitive tariffs for solar power, set at AED 4.97 fils/kWh (USD 1.35 cents/ kWh or Rs 0.99/kWh). The plant will deploy the latest in

crystalline, bifacial solar technology, which will deliver electricity to the highest efficiency enabling the plant to provide more power by using both the front and backside of the panel. The Al Dhafra project will be 60 percent owned by TAQA and Masdar, while the remaining 40 percent will be owned by EDF and JinkoPower. Jasim Husain Thabet, Group CEO and Managing Director at TAQA, said “the financial closing of the world’s largest solar plant marks the beginning of an important chapter for this IPP project, for TAQA Group and for the UAE as we continue to deliver on our bold clean energy ambitions while demonstrating the commercial and operational viability of utility-scale singlesite solar projects.”

AMP Capital Joins Sterlite in Transmission Platform

he two firms will invest USD 150 Million each in the development of four transmission projects Global investment manager AMP Capital has established a 50/50 partnership with Sterlite Power Transmission Limited (Sterlite Power) for the development of energy transmission projects in India. This marks the first investment in India for AMP Capital’s global infrastructure equity strategy. The Australia-based AMP Capital has been investing in infrastructure since 1988 and has US$21bn infrastructure equity and debt assets under management as at 30 June 2020. AMP Capital and Sterlite Power will each invest an initial amount of approximately USD 150 million in the development of four transmission projects,

and have put in place debt financing, which represents a total capital outlay of around USD 1 billion. These projects have a circuit length of nearly 1800 kilometres of transmission lines across the Western, Southern and North Eastern regions of India. They will provide the critical infrastructure required for evacuating power from multiple renewable energy generation projects and will strengthen the power delivery infrastructure in the country. The partners may in the future contribute further capital for new inter-state transmission projects which are expected to be tendered by the government of India. Therefore, the partnership has the potential to reach an overall investment size of USD 500 million.Transmission

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infrastructure has underpinned the rapid growth seen in the generation capacity of India over the last decade. This growth has been led by renewable energy, where India is rapidly becoming recognised as a global leader, having surpassed its ambitious Paris Agreement targets with 38% of generation capacity currently from clean energy. The Indian power market still has huge potential for expansion, with low relative per capita power consumption in the country. Due to years of underinvestment in transmission capacity there is significant demand for investment, and the Indian government has been actively promoting the participation of the private sector in transmission line development

through the continued implementation of supportive regulatory reforms. Sterlite Power is a leading developer of transmission projects with a robust execution record across India and Brazil. It has won a third (by tariff ) of all inter-state private transmission projects awarded in India under competitive bidding since 2011, and has successfully established its unique asset flip business model across both markets. Sterlite Power has completed and sold nine transmission assets to date in India. AMP Capital was advised by Citigroup (financial), PwC (commercial and tax) and AZB (legal). Sterlite was advised by Moelis & Company and Credit Suisse (financial), Khaitan & Co (legal), and EY (tax).

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SECI Disburses Rs 770 Cr in October, Rs 370 Cr for Solar & Wind Power

he Solar Energy Energy Corporation of India (SECI), the nodal agency for implementing renewable energy projects in the country recently published a list of all the payments (solar/ wind power procured, transmission fees, subsidy and GST rebates) it has made to solar/wind power developers for the month of October 2020. According to the latest datasheet published by the nodal agency, it has released a total of Rs 770 crore in October, and a majority- roughly 50 percent – of this was to solar and wind project developers for clean power procured which amounts to Rs 370 crore paid out to a total of 218 project owners/ developers. The other big payouts were made under the Central Public Sector Undertaking (CPSU) Program Phase-II, which is for the installation of rooftop solar power systems on government buildings across India. A total of roughly Rs 303 crore was made out

to NTPC Ltd in two transactions. The second payment to NTPC, under CPSU-II, of Rs 189.58 crore was the single biggest payment made out to a single entity/ firm under any category for the month of October. The first payment of Rs 113.86 crore was the second-largest sum paid out during the month. Together,

the payment made to NTPC, under the CPSU-II scheme, amounted to almost 40 percent of the total payments made in the month. Other payments include GST and Safeguard Duty reimbursements which were made out to 11 beneficiaries for a total of approximately Rs 8 crore.

NTPC Planning for Renewable InvIT in JV With NIIF

tate-owned power giant NTPC Ltd has proposed that it is mulling over creating a joint venture company with the central governments’ strategic investment fund NIIF to set up a renewable infrastructure investment trust (InvIT). As per industry source, the proposed InvIT will help NTPC to monetise some of its operational renewable energy projects. Further, the funds raised from such exercise have been proposed will be used by the power producer to invest in additional renewable capacity. As per the initial plan, NTPC would put its entire 1 GW of operational renewable assets

and the 2 GW of RE projects in the pipeline under the trust. This will help to raise capital for further expansion of its renewable energy capacity. The power producer is also looking to expand the scope of its partnership with NIIF to foray

into the power distribution business where it is bidding for privatisation of Union Territory Discoms. In May, we had reported that the firm was planning to foray into the electricity distribution business as it had evinced DEC EMB ER 20 20

interest to acquire a majority stake of 51 percent in Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group’s (ADAG) two utilities. The ADAG has two Discoms in Delhi namely BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd (BRPL) and BSES Yamuna Power Ltd (BYPL), which supplies electricity to approximately 4.4 million customers. NTPC plans to generate 25 percent of its power capacity from renewable sources by 2030, which will be equivalent to 32 GW of power capacity and require an investment of Rs 1.60 lakh crore. Experts believe the InvIT route would be ideal to unlock the value of existing assets for making future investments in green projects. SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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Gujarat’s Borosil Renewables Raises Rs 200 Crore via QIP

ndia’s first and only solar glass manufacturer Borosil Renewables Ltd (BLR) has raised Rs 200 crore by issuing 1.58 crore shares through qualified institutional placement (QIP). As per the company’s statement, BRL has successfully completed fundraising of Rs 200 crore through a qualified institutions placement (issue). BRL allotted 1,58,04,030 shares of the face value of rupee one each at Rs 126.55 per share. Post the QIP issue, the holding of promoter and promoter group will be 61.92 percent. Pradeep Kheruka, Executive Chairman of BRL said that he is overwhelmed with the response and the funds raised will be helpful to undertake their planned expansion. “We are overwhelmed with the response from the investors and thank them for showing confidence in the business and management team of Borosil Renewables. The funds raised through this QIP will help us undertake our planned expansion and we are excited to capitalise on the business opportunity that our industry offers,” he said. The funds will be utilised to service the capital expenditure requirements of BRL for a brownfield expansion to more than double its solar glass production capacity from 450 tonnes per day (TPD) to 950 TPD. BLR is known for its pioneering achievements of developing the world’s first fully tempered 2 mm thick solar glass, solar glass with the lowest iron content giving the highest glass efficiency, and successful removal of the most hazardous substance “Antimony” from its solar glass. Very recently BLR haD launched new products like Selene, which is an anti-glare solar glass suitable for PV installations near airports, and Shakti a highefficiency solar glass in the mattmatt finish.

MUFG Gets Green Certification for Softbank’s 900 MW PV Project in India

UFG Bank has announced that it has acted as the sole green structuring advisor for a USD 333 million financing deal for SoftBank’s latest and largest solar project in India. The 900 megawatt-DC solar farm in the PhalodiPokhran Solar Park in the State of Rajasthan, India, is the seventh and largest project of its type in line to be commissioned by SB Energy Holdings Limited (SB Energy), a majority-owned subsidiary of SoftBank Group. “SB Energy is committed to maintaining the highest quality ESG principles in all of our projects,” said Vijay Venkatachalam, CFO of SB Energy. MUFG also acted as the original mandated lead arranger and lender, bookrunner, facility agent, inter-creditor agent, account bank, and hedging bank. This is the

IndiGrid Acquires 100 MW Solar Assets of FRV in Rs 660 Crore Deal

ndia Grid Trust (IndiGrid) has announced in a regulatory filing that it has acquired the 100 MW Indian solar portfolio of Madrid-based developer Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV), in a deal worth Rs 660 crore. The KKR-owned Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) has announced that it has signed a securities purchase agreement for the acquisition of 100 percent shareholdings in two SPVs – FRV Andhra Pradesh Solar Farm-I & FRV India Solar Park II – from FRV Solar Holdings. As per the release, FRV I was incorporated on July 14, 2016, and operates a 50 MW (AC) solar power plant in Ananthapuramu Solar Park in the state of Andhra Pradesh. FRV I had entered into PPA with SECI on October 5, 2016, for a period of 25 years. The asset was commissioned in July 2018. Similarly, FRV II was incorporated on July 09, 2016, and operates another 50 MW (AC) solar power plant in the Ananthapuramu Solar Park. This SPV had also entered into PPA with SECI on

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third project financing undertaken by MUFG for Softbank in India. The transaction closed in August, and with the bank’s assistance, attained green certification on December 22, 2020. This marks the first green certification of a solar project loan for both the client and the country, and underscores both MUFG’s sustainable financing capabilities as well as commitment towards partnering clients in their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) objectives, said the company in a statement released in Singapore. Colin Chen, MUFG’s Head of Structured Finance, Asia Investment Banking Division said in a statement that, “We would like to congratulate SoftBank for achieving yet another milestone towards its sustainability agenda.”

October 5, 2016, for tenor of 25 years. This asset, however, was commissioned in January 2019. The completion of acquisition would depend upon receipt of relevant approvals and completion of contractual obligations. In October, we had reported that Global investment firm KKR had launched – Virescent Infrastructure, a new platform to acquire renewable energy assets in India. Headquartered in Mumbai, Virescent aims to expand its diversified portfolio of operational renewable energy assets, facilitated by investments predominantly made through KKR’s infrastructure fund.

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Japan’s Orix to Acquire 80% Stake in Spains’ Elawan Energy

apan’s ORIX Corporation has announced that it has entered into an agreement to invest in Elawan Energy, a global renewable energy company headquartered in Madrid, Spain focused on the development and ownership of wind and solar PV power plants. Through its whollyowned subsidiary ORIX Corporation Europe, ORIX will acquire an 80 percent stake in Elawan. The founders of Elawan, Acek Renewables and CEO Dionisio Fernandez will continue to retain a 20 percent stake in the business. “We look forward to working with ORIX at this exciting time for Elawan to continue our global expansion,” said Dionisio Fernandez, Elawan CEO.

“Elawan management team is fully committed to enter into this new era of accelerating the growth of the Company.” Elawan has an extensive track record of successfully delivering wind and solar PV projects with over 2,900 megawatts of

projects developed globally since its incorporation in 2007. The firm is active in 14 countries globally, with its core activities in Europe together with North and South America and today has 714 megawatts of operational projects, 461

megawatts under construction and a development pipeline of over 10 gigawatts. A strength of its business model is its global operations across the entire value chain of the renewable energy sector, from development through to financing, construction and operation. “We welcome Elawan to the ORIX Group and this acquisition is an important milestone to accelerate our corporate strategy of contributing to build a sustainable society,” said Hidetake Takahashi, the Head of Energy and Eco-Services Business Headquarters. “Elawan is an ideal platform to further support the growth of ORIX renewable energy business globally.”

Ørsted Brings on Co-Investors for its 605 MW Offshore Wind Farm in Taiwan

ffshore wind major Ørsted has announced that it has signed an agreement with a consortium of world-leading investors, which consists of global institutional investor Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and established local investor Cathay PE, to co-invest in the 605 MW Greater Changhua 1 Offshore Wind Farm (Greater Changhua 1) in Taiwan. CDPQ and Cathay PE will jointly own 50 percent of the Greater Changhua 1 and Ørsted will retain a 50 percent share. The majority of the deal amount of approximately TWD 75 billion (approximately DKK 16 billion, or 3.4 billion CAD) will be used to pay for the EPC services for Greater Changhua 1. This investment in Greater Changhua 1 is an important step for CDPQ‘s CAD 28-billion infrastructure portfolio. Indeed, this marks the first time that CDPQ is investing in an offshore wind farm in Asia Pacific, which reflects CDPQ’s confidence in Ørsted’s track record and adds the asset to the institutional investor’s long list of investments in solar and wind energy across the Americas, Europe and India. Ørsted further went on to add that the 50-50 partnership is the first of its kind in the APAC offshore wind sector and will help stimulate further opportunities in the Taiwanese market for offshore wind. The firm will retain 50 percent share of the Greater Changhua 1, which will be financed by its corporate balance sheet

and will deliver the long-term operations and maintenance (O&M) services to the project. Greater Changhua 1 is part of the 900 MW Greater Changhua 1 & 2a Offshore Wind Farms, which Ørsted is currently constructing and expects to be completed in 2022. DEC EMB ER 20 20

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Taaleri’s SolarWind II Fund Sees Third Close at EUR 320 Million

he Taaleri SolarWind II fund has held the third closing with approximately EUR 320 million in total commitments. The third-close investors include Obligo Global Infrastuktur II Fund, YLE Pension Fund, the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO), institutional and high net worth investors and the Taaleri Group. Additionally, the Finnish Church Pension Fund joined the fund in June 2020. NEFCO will join EBRD in the Taaleri SolarWind II CEE fund. This parallel fund invests alongside the main fund in investments in the Baltics, Poland and Southeast Europe. With a number of institutional investors currently in active due diligence, it is expected that there will be continued demand in future closings. The Taaleri SolarWind II fund will remain open to new investors until June 2021 and has a hard cap of EUR 400 million. The Taaleri SolarWind II fund invests in utility-scale wind and solar assets. The fund will invest in a diversified portfolio of predominantly ready-to-build assets in Europe (c.80 percent) and in the US (c.20 percent). The fund has already secured its first seven investments, in ready to build wind farms in Finland (3), Norway, the US, Poland and in a ready to build a solar farm in Spain. It is estimated that the fund will finance approximately 850 MW of renewable energy capacity, which will offset over 1 million tonnes of CO2 annually throughout the 25+ year lifetime of the assets. In March, we had reported that the Taaleri SolarWind II fund had held a successful second closing in February 2020, with approximately EUR 275 million in commitments.

Masdar Achieves Financial Close on 100 MW Solar Project in Uzbekistan

asdar has announced the financial close of the 100 MW Nur Navoi Solar Project – Uzbekistan’s first successfully-financed independent power producer (IPP) solar project. The Nur Navoi Solar Project was awarded to Masdar last year under the WBG’s Scaling Solar program, with Masdar tendering the lowest tariff in a competitive auction. In November 2019, Masdar signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) and government support agreement (GSA) with JSC National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan (NEGU) and the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan to design, finance, build, own and operate the solar plant, located in the Navoi region. “This landmark project will drive the development of Uzbekistan’s independent power producer market, and enable us to increase the share of renewable energy in the energy mix,” said Shukhrat Vafaev, Deputy Minister of Investments and

Perovskite Tech Company Swift Solar Secures $8 Mn in Series Seed 2 Funding

wift Solar, a solar PV technology company working on perovskite technology, has announced that it has secured more than USD 8 million in Series Seed 2 funding, with an additional USD 1.5 million expected to close soon, for a total of USD 9.6 million. The seed 2 round was led by GitLab CEO Sid Sijbrandij and cryptocurrency expert James Fickel. Other participants in the round include climate tech and deep tech investors Good Growth Capital, Safar Partners, Climate Capital, Jack Fuchs, and Sierra Peterson, crypto and finance professionals Jonathan Lin, Grant Hummer, and Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin, and a diverse group of angel investors. “We have to accelerate innovation to limit climate change,” said Sid Sijbrandij. “Swift Solar’s cutting-edge solar technology is an important piece of the puzzle, and the Swift

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Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan. “By opening new markets for the private investment we can support energy sector reform, integrate renewables into the grid and address climate change challenges.” Loan and guarantee agreements to finance the 100-megawatt photovoltaic plant were signed in a virtual ceremony with representatives from Masdar, Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade (MIFT), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank Group (WBG) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Masdar established Nur Navoi Solar FE LLC as the local project company to deliver the PV plant, which is scheduled to start operations in the third quarter of 2021. The project company will also operate and maintain the plant for a period of 25 years.

team is second to none. I’m proud to help accelerate their work so it can meet the urgency of the moment.” The firm has stated that the funding round will be used to expand R&D capabilities, develop prototypes, and grow the Swift Solar team. The firm to date has raised over USD 16 million in equity financing. And it is supported by non-dilutive funding from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Office of Naval Research. The firm is currently working on developing a new solar PV technology in metal halide perovskites, which it expects could fundamentally outperform today’s silicon and thin-film technologies. The firm is confident that within 10 years, perovskite tandems could be more efficient, more affordable, and more scalable than any PV product on the market.

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Volkswagen envisions’ a Mobile EV Charging Robot, Reveals First Glimpse

erman automaker, Volkswagen has revealed the first glimpse of the real prototypes of its mobile electric vehicle (EV) charging robot. This is one of the visionary charging concepts that Volkswagen hopes will expand the charging infrastructure over the next few years. The charging robot will deliver fully autonomous charging of vehicles in restricted parking areas, like underground car parks, which started via an app or Car-to-X communication. It independently steers the vehicle to be charged and communicates with it: from opening the charging socket flap to connecting the plug and decoupling it. The entire charging process takes place without any human involvement whatsoever. Interestingly, to charge several vehicles at the same time, the mobile robot moves a trailer, essentially a mobile energy storage unit, to the vehicle, connects it up, and then uses this energy

storage unit to charge the battery of the electric vehicle. The energy storage unit stays with the vehicle during the charging process. In the meantime, the robot charges other electric vehicles. Once the charging is done, the robot independently collects the mobile energy storage unit and takes it back to the central charging station. “A ubiquitous charging infrastructure is and remains a key factor in the success of electric mobility. Our charging robot is just one of several approaches, but is undoubtedly one of the most visionary,” said Thomas Schmall, Volkswagen Group Components’ CEO. The business unit is currently working on a complete DC charging family. The flexible quick-charging station will be launched onto the market in early 2021. For several weeks now, the DC wallbox has been trialed at different company’s German production sites. The mobile charging robot has successfully reached prototype status and will now be further developed. DEC EMB ER 20 20

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LONGi Supplies 273 MW Modules for 831 MWp Solar Project in Vietnam

ONGi, a leading solar technology headquartered in Xi’an, China, has announced that it has successfully supplied its Hi-MO 4 Series modules for what it claims to be Southeast Asia’s largest solar plant, Phase I of the Xuan Thien Ea Sup Project in Dak Lak, Vietnam. Commissioned by Xuan Thien Group on November 15, 2020, the 600 MWac / 831 MWp utility-scale solar plant is estimated to have an electricity output of 1.5 billion kWh per year when completed. With nearly 2 million solar panels, 500 kV / 1,200 MVA transformer station and 22.2 km of 500 kV line, this is so far the largest solar power plant in Southeast Asia. The plant, which has been set up at an estimated cost of 20,000 billion dong (USD 862 million), has been commissioned five months earlier than the scheduled date of completion due to joint efforts by the developers, logistics partners and equipment suppliers including LONGi. Construction of this plant started in April 2020 and LONGi signed an agreement to supply 273 MW of its modules to be used

for the project in May 2020. The module manufacturer completed the delivery much before the deadline. Dennis She, SVP of LONGi Solar, commented, “we are proud as well as excited to be a part of this grand project by the Xuan Thien Group, offering our trusted mono-crystalline innovations. LONGi believes that technology innovations will further drive solar power cost optimisation, enabling us to drive a dramatic shift in the

regional energy landscape through more such partnerships.” The Dak Lak province, located in Vietnam‘s Central Highlands, is blessed with ample sunshine and abundant idle land — is highly suitable for solar power generation. The Xuan Thien Group, therefore, plans to scale up the capacity of this plant to 2,000 MWac / 2,800 MWp by early 2022, providing about 5 billion kWh per year for the national electricity system.

Longi Becomes First Solar Firm To Ship 20 GW Modules In a Year

ONGi has set a new record for being the first solar brand to exceed 20GW in shipments of PV modules in 2020. Thanks to high-quality wafers, high-efficiency PERC cells and strict requirements regarding module materials and processes, LONGi modules have had a strong run in the solar market. LONGi works with B&V, TÜV SÜD, TÜV Rheinland, RETC and other institutions to build global pilot projects to evaluate the energy yield performance of its modules. In the PV Tech Bankability rankings, LONGi remains the only AAA-Rated

module supplier for the fourth consecutive quarter in 2020. This continues to be driven by

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the company's strong track record of being a global 20GW module supplier.

With a strong commitment to R&D and innovation, LONGi has a strong track record of being a reliable supplier with high-efficiency modules (HiMO 1 to Hi-MO 5). Because of savings in LCOE and BOS costs, coupled with their high energy yield, LONGi modules have been well received worldwide. LONGi's all new Hi-MO 5 bifacial module, based on the newly built M10 cell, was launched globally this year for delivery to investors in utilityscale PV plants. The company's new range of products reflects its commitment to delivering consistent value to global clients through innovation.

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Panasonic Expands EverVolt™ Portfolio with New Solar Modules

verVolt Solar Modules deliver 350W-370W in a streamlined, sophisticated style that fits any home Panasonic Corporation of North America today unveiled its new EverVolt™ Solar Modules series with the introduction of four new modules designed to accompany its EverVolt™ Battery Storage system. The EverVolt Solar Modules provide advanced efficiency and performance – even in high temperatures – as well as exceptional degredation rates, and are backed by Panasonic's TripleGuard and AllGuard 25-year warranties. The EverVolt series builds upon Panasonic's legacy in bringing high quality solar energy solutions to market. Panasonic is launching the EverVolt Solar Modules with two product series, which

will be available in February 2021: • EverVolt Solar Module Series 370W / 360W modules feature efficiencies of 21.2% and 20.6% respectively, a temperature coefficient of -0.26%, and provides maximum power output for residential solar systems. • EverVolt Solar Module Black Series 360W / 350W modules feature efficiencies of 20.6% and 20%, respectively, and have a temperature coefficient of -0.26% packaged in a sleek all-black aesthetic. Modules installed by merchants outside of the Panasonic Installer Program receive a 25-year warranty on performance and product only. Whether in year three or year 25, the Panasonic warranty will be there when homeowners need it.

"The EverVolt Solar Modules series are the latest example of Panasonic's 40 years of commitment and investment in the solar energy industry. We continue to innovate and deliver products that cater to homeowners' and installers' needs," said Mukesh Sethi, Director, Solar and Energy Storage, Panasonic Life Solutions Company of America, a division of Panasonic Corporation of North America. "We know homeowners will appreciate having another option to help them achieve grid independence, with greater power and efficiency in a product that delivers a very reliable return on their investment." Homeowners will be able to order the new EverVolt Series Solar Modules from Panasonic Solar Residential Installers starting February 2021.

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FoX ESS- The Newest Entrant

In Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Solar Market

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Fox Ess (Energy Storage Systems) is one of the newest entrants to the solar market in India. The firm, a subsidiary of the USD 37 billion Tsingshan Group of China, itself a world leader in stainless steel and nickel production, is focused on grabbing a slice of the Indian market for inverters first, and later, storage solutions. SaurEnergy connected with Darshan Pandya, the Ahmedabad-based Managing Director, Fox ESS India, for an update on the firm and its plans.

DARSHAN PANDYA Managing Director Fox ESS India

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We expect the India market to offer opportunities in storage solutions very soon

As a new entrant to the market, how is FOX approaching the market? Are you going through partners, or establishing your own network? Darshan Pandya: Let me give some introduction about the

company first .Fox is a subsidiary of Tsingshan Group, a Fortune 500 company with annual sales revenues in 2019 of 37.6 billion USD. It is the world’s largest stainless steel manufacturer and operates the world’s largest nickel mining and production hub in Indonesia, and now, the company is aggressively stepping into position for the energy transition with its investment in Fox, a new company specialising in the development, production, and distribution of distributed generation products and solutions for the residential PV and ESS market and the commercial solar and storage market. In India we are approaching the market through distributors. We currently have manufacturing capacity for 10 GW of inverters.

Who do you see as you key clients in India ? End consumers, installers, or others? How are you approaching them? Darshan Pandya: India has a high potential for rooftop solar. At

this stage, we are targeting this market through both distributors and EPC firms, for larger projects. As we spread across more geographies, we will look to invest more in marketing.

Tell us about your offerings for the Indian market? Which segments will you focus on? Rooftop/Commercial/ Utility. Darshan Pandya: We have a Fox inverter range of 1-25 Kw, that is

obviously more more suitable for rooftop market. Soon, we hope to introduce inverters in the range of 25-100 Kw for utility scale and MW projects.

Coming from such a large industrial group, how does it impact your plans for a market? In terms of scale and expectations. Darshan Pandya: Fox believes India is a very promising market

and wants to play a significant role in India's solar demand. As part of a massive group, Fox is revolutionising the solar and storage sectors with ground-breaking product developments, a vertical supply chain that is driving up quality and driving down costs, and an unswerving commitment to after sales care. By controlling the supply chain, Fox is able to offer the high quality products with an attractive price to be more competitive in this market. Thus, we will hope to make a strong start, and eventually carve out a strong market share too in the market.

How has FOX performed in its home market of China? Is storage backed solutions becoming a major part of the market yet?

Darshan Pandya: Fox is performing very well in its home market. Since its launch in 2019, it has already become a brand known for their solar inverter.storage backed solution in key markets across China. Do you plan to bring in storage solutions with FOX itself in India too? Darshan Pandya: Yes, of course we expect the India market to

offer opportunities in storage solutions very soon. We will shortly be launching our storage solutions in India with our other range of products such as chargers, storage systems or battery cells.

What is your view on the Indian market for the coming year, and for the period to 2025? Darshan Pandya: India’s tropical, sunny climate means it will

always be a strong market for solar. The government is also making strong efforts to support and drive capacity building, and we expect this to continue for the foreseeable future. The targets as you know are ambitious enough to offer a strong opportunity for most players with quality products and a long term commitment to this market.

Technically, how do your inverters stand out? Do share key features you highlight to clients. Is price a major tool for you in your sales efforts? Darshan Pandya: Fox inverters are precision engineered to provide maximum performance, efficiency, reliability and longevity. They incorporate a unique heat-sink and cooling fin design that is integrated into the inverter casing to ensure optimal direct contact with heat generating components. The pioneering fin design creates a larger surface area and this larger contact surface greatly increases the cooling effect, increasing the heat transfer ability of the inverter by up to 30% when compared to other leading brands. In addition to deducing heat stress, the R&D team at Fox paid special attention to the inverter capacitors, the most expensive electrical component, and Fox have selected the market-leading tier one brand for their inverters. A key factor impacting on capacitor lifespan is their capacity to store charge during each cycle, and Fox have scaled up the number of capacitors, decreasing the amount of charge stored and prolonging the lifespan of the inverter. Price will be very competitive compared with current inverters in the market, as the company appreciates the price sensitivity of the India market. Besides this, we have a 5 year warranty with a purchaseable warranty for a further 15 years. DEC EMB ER 20 20

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Blown! |

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How India Lost The Solar Rooftop Battle

Sandeep Dakshini Founder & MD Rayfuel Enercon

Samarth Wadhwa Director Ritika Systems

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Gautam Das

Co-Founder & CEO Oorjan Cleantech

Shri Prakash Rai Head C&I Business AMP Energy India

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ack in 2015, when India declared its renewable energy target of 175GW for 2022, with 100 GW as the share of solar power, the euphoria over the sheer ambition papered over a lot of questions. For not only was this target truly ambitious, but to many, it finally declared the governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s resolve to break away from incrementalism. In retrospect, perhaps the bureaucrat or expert who broke up these numbers could have engaged with more industry stakeholders. Rooftop solar, with a share of 40 GW in the solar target, has been a non- starter , even as pace in the utility solar sector picked up quickly enough. As things stand today, when the time for reckoning arrives on December 2022, if India misses its solar targets by any distance, the gap will be almost completely on the rooftop solar side. DEC EMB ER 20 20

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oday, with talk of using renewable energy for clean hydrogen in the coming decade, along with electrification of transportation, and hopefully more demand from a growing broader economy, utility solar, for all its travails, still has a roadmap of sorts to continue growing. In contrast, with its 40 GW target, rooftop solar grew from a total of 623 MW in 2015 to 5,440 MW by the end of 2019. Add a further 200 MW or less added this year, and you have a figure of barely 5650 MW. Impressive on a stand alone basis, but nowhere close to getting even close to the 40 GW target. The five largest states by installed rooftop solar are Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Gujarat, making up close to 50 percent of total capacity.

So just why has rooftop solar under performed ? The reasons are many, but you need to look no further than the latest blow to the sector, in the form of the recommendation for allowing net metering to plants limited to a maximum of 10 KW in size, pushed out at the end of the year. This latest move from the Ministry of Power has drawn loud protests from an embattled sector, that employs hundreds of thousands of people, and drew entrepreneurs in their thousands, drawn by the sheer size of the possibilities. The latest move seems to indicate that the government is blind to one of the most attractive aspects of rooftop solar, its ability to generate far more jobs than utility solar, for instance. And now, there is the real fear that discoms in states will pick on this one

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aspect of the MoP recommendations while ignoring the other rules that have been formulated, like response times on complaints, new connections and more. The new upto 10 Kw rule, while it awaits uptake by various state regulators now, hurts for the simple reason that it takes away a huge incentive to install solar among MSME’s. (Medium and Small Scale Enterprises). Sandeep Dakshini, Founder and Managing Director at Rayfuel Enercon, a firm engaged in the solar rooftop and related businesses, has this to say. “Of course the impact is going to be negative. Above 10KWP installations are high capex ones and even though gross metering also provides a compensation to the customer but his main incentives are somehow lost , so why would people invest that kind of money ?” In

Farm laws and India’s Power Sector. What’s The Similarity, We wondered. Quite a Lot

effect, gross metering pushes back ROI by years, where EPC’s were pushing it at a ‘reasonable’ period of 5-7 years in most cases. The new economics means that this period is likely to double up, making many firms change their minds for now. Samarth Wadhwa, Director at Ritika Systems, an MNRE Grade A solar firm is even more blunt. “This will effectively be the death bell for solar rooftop industry especially small and medium players.” He adds some suggestions of his own. “ Instead of completely banning the same, there can be slab wise fixed tarriffs for plants greater than 10 KW, ie 10-20 KW , 90 percent will be reimbursed, 20-50 KW 80 percent will be reimbursed and so on. One alternative which could be tried by the govt. is that those producing the power above a certain quantity ( KWH) on an annual basis should

t says something for the sheer scale of the issues in India’s power sector, that the sector finds a mention in the farmers agitation around the capital New Delhi too. The farmers, who have been camping at the city’s borders since November end, have besides repeal of the laws, also called for the same fate for the proposed Electricity Amendment (Act), that was also heralded as a much needed boost to power sector reforms. But from a layman’s perspective, it is not such a leap of imagination to see parallels within the farming economy and the power economy. Both are dysfunctional, due to similar reasons. Over regulation by the government. Thus farming has its MSP, which benefits less than 10 percent of farmers, and power has its many subsidies, that have arguably achieved a similar end result of higher inefficiencies and opaqueness. IF the power sector has its many subsidies and additional charges, the farm sector has matching subsidies on fertilisers, water use, and even power itself (free) that has done more to distort and hurt long term sustainability, than benefit farmers. In both sectors, a focus on generation at the expense of everything else has meant huge overproduction of wheat and paddy in the case of farming, and stranded assets with no demand in the case of the power sector. If farming has its entrenched government mandi system of monopoly buyers , the power sector has its discoms, merrily piling up losses with little oversight. Even as one of the farm laws tries to open up the market with more ‘freedom’ to the farmer to sell his produce, the government is trying the same thing in power by pushing for privatisation of distribution, and laying down a rule book of rights for power consumers. The freedom to enter into private contracts for farmers in another farm law is quite close to the failed attempts to get open access going across the country without crippling additional charges, something that could truly open up the renewable energy floodgates for one. Ditto for the move to allow electronic trading and ecommerce of selected farmer produce, where farming follows the moves to allow power trading on exchanges, as well as the trading of REC’s, and hopefully soon, a market for carbon trading too. Finally, the removal of most farm produce from the essential commodities act would be akin to freeing up smaller power categories like rooftops and other smaller systems the benefit of net metering, or virtual power plants. Much like the farm laws, the government has struggled to execute almost all of the ‘reforms’ mentioned above, and faces resistance every step of the way. However, in the little success it has had, perhaps there is a lesson for the government on pushing through its farm reform packages too. In a calibrated way, with deep engagement and involvement of all stakeholders.

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be given benefits of some kind in their income tax payments or for commercial installations it could be even in GST payments . Gautam Das, Co-Founder and CEO at Oorjan Cleantech, another solar startup that has grown well adds his perspective. “Net Metering allows the consumers to set off the solar power exported to the grid against the power they consumed from the grid. This makes solar investment economically beneficial to the C&I consumers since they are billed only for the net power consumption only. However, in gross metering the export of power and the consumption of power are billed separately and accounted for at different tariffs. The nominal tariff at which the exported units will be credited would make the entire solar investment economically less attractive. Hence, limiting the net metering benefits to 10 kW would have a negative impact on the C&I segment which accounted for 70% of the growth in the Rooftop solar segment between 2012 to 2018. “ Shri Prakash Rai, Head C&I Business, AMP Energy India, a key player in the C&I segment, adds that “The rules haven’t been notified yet but they would definitely not help the already lagging sector much. Rooftop solar is the most under-developed segment in renewables with only 3.4GW capacity (MNRE, as of 30th November, 2020) installed till date as against a target of 40GW by 2022 and more than 70% of the distributed generation/ rooftop capacity in India has been contributed by C&I customers . Policies/ notifications like these will exterminate the market specially for C&I customers where the power demand is not 24x7. This is like taking 1 step forward and taking 2 steps back.”

The Global Story Markets that are ahead of India globally, like China and the US , and even Australia in 2020, have all grown on the back of a strong rooftop solar segment. Like India, they have all got a thriving ecosystem of small EPC firms that service this sector, except that unlike India, they have been provided the space to grow and establish themselves. The result is a very strong growth, and wide ranging support for rooftop solar today. From states making it mandatory to install it at new constructions, to almost 30 percent of schools and similar institutions having a solar system on premises, the rooftop solar

market is thriving in these markets. That has enabled innovations or local manufacturers as well, thanks to the different price dynamics of this segment. It is a travesty that at a time when solar costs are close to all time lows, rooftop solar should struggle so much for acceptance and growth. Oorjan’s Gautam Das adds that “a more balanced approach is expected. While we have to protect the interests of the DISCOMs on one hand, we have to be sensitive to our commitments towards adoption of renewable energy. Bringing in stricter rules to avoid excess injection to the grid, allowing higher limits for net metering say as a function of the customer’s historical consumption, creating the right policies to improve the existing grid technology and enabling virtual power plants are few means by which the government can strike this balance.” Sandeep Dakshini also feels that “linking green energy generation to direct and more tangible benefits to its producers . Even farmers who put solar pumps or generate solar power should be given benefits like reduced interest rates in their other bank loans . These kind of things will have to become acceptable norms in our country now.” He goes as far as to suggest that state Governments should pitch in for those installing above 10 KWP in residential or say 20 KWP in commercial by say a relaxation in FAR ( floor area ratios) in their construction. In making rooftop solar growth so difficult, India is clearly travelling alone, among solar majors worldwide. Developed markets like the US , most of Europe and Australia are today offering subsidies on storage as well as solar. More importantly, the whole process is way smoother and simpler than it is in India, where wait times of upto 6 months or more are perfectly common when it comes to subsidised solar rooftop installations. In every one of these markets, rooftop and distributed solar would comprise between 30-40 percent of total solar capacity. In India, we are on course for a 90 percent share of utility solar, something that seems efficient due to scale economies, but in reality, probably doesn’t have anywhere near the kind of impact a more vibrant rooftop solar market could have had. Not surprisingly, even domestic manufacturers, who are supposed to benefit from the DCR (Domestic Component Requirements) of subsidised rooftop solar,

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are not impressed by this move. Mot donot believe the residential rooftop sector can generate enough demand for them, and the C&I sector is crucial. The blow to that sector from the 10 Kw rule will hit them hard too.

So just why has rooftop solar been given this raw deal? As always, the three key issues are financial, political, and a matter of vision. On the financial side, it suffered from a perception of being expensive, and requiring subsidies. That made it a lower priority for the government straightaway, for all the noises made about supporting it. In fact, as shown by the massive push for PMKKUSUM, the government, at both state and central levels, are far more keen to push any subsidies towards the agricultural sector, if at all. That’s an attitude and trend that is mirrored across sectors, and explains the miserable state of most of our urban centres too. On the political side, power as a concurrent subject has become a massive stumbling block for rooftop solar. Over the years, we have seen multiple MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy) proposals to streamline and accelerate adoption quietly disposed at the altar of this power sharing. Be it the proposal to have a single window mechanism for rooftop solar subsidies, or a single rule for net metering, or even the failed attempt to drive some competition through the SARAL rankings for rooftop solar friendliness in states, each move has died a slow death. Even on the issue of gross metering beyond 10 Kw, many experts have been quick to aver that it needs to stand the test of legal challenge, and eventually state specific regulators (SERC’s) will be the ones who will decide to frame the final rules in each state. On the vision front, India has struggled to put in place a detailed roadmap after laying down the targets. In other words, plans are nothing without proper planning. A long term vision is still absent if you ask stakeholders, be it for manufacturing, for phasing out of subsidies , or speeding up the approval process from discoms for rooftop solar. In fact, industry has been open to the idea of sharing some of the ‘savings’ with discoms to make this a real win win for all, considering how low costs have dropped. But a long term, focused initiative remains missing.

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New York To Get 100 MW Battery Storage

on Edison, a US-based energy company and 174 Power Global, a solar project development company have struck a deal that will place the largest battery storage project in New York on an industrial site in Astoria, Queens, the batteries will be able to discharge 100 megawatts of electricity. This East River Energy Storage System will hold enough electricity to run more than 16,000 homes for several hours during a summer heat wave. 174 Power Global, with its specialization in renewable energy projects, will build and own the battery system. They won the project by responding to a request for proposal that Con Edison issued in July 2019. Tim Cawley, the president of Con Edison stated that the utility-scale battery storage will play a vital role in New York’s clean energy future as it will help to maximize the benefit of the wind power

being developed offshore, and will help in displacing some fossil fuel-fired generation when the demand for power will be highest. Mark Chambers, director of Sustainability for New York City appreciated the idea of expanding battery storage and this can be useful in meeting the energy demands while combating climate change. The companies have a seven-year contract

under which Con Edison will bid power from the battery system into the state’s wholesale market. At the end of the contract, 174 Power Global will dispatch the power into the state’s bulk power transmission system. Con Edison and its customers will also get the benefit of the revenues from the sales into the wholesale market during the contract term.

EPRI Selected for 3 US DOE Awards for Advancing Energy Storage

he Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has announced that it will lead three projects for advanced, bulk energy storage following selection by the US Department of Energy (DOE) for awards totaling USD 600,000. The projects will study innovative, non-battery solutions to bulk energy storage that is integrated with fossil assets, supporting a cleaner integrated energy network. Large-scale energy storage options are key to increasing the amount of variable renewable energy on the grid, while also helping to reduce carbon emissions and maintain the availability of reliable and flexible power. “Investing in research and development to improve energy storage is critical at this moment in time,” said Neva Espinoza, EPRI Vice

President for Energy Supply and Low-Carbon Resources. “Innovations in energy storage, along with advancements in alternative low-carbon fuels, will contribute to a grid that is both reliable and resilient. This is essential to reaching a cleaner energy future.” The projects will evaluate opportunities for

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opportunities without putting additional stress on the system from ramping up and down. EPRI is collaborating with nine industry organizations to lead these studies, three of which are major US power generators providing potential host sites for the design assessments. SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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PG&E to Expand its Battery Storage Portfolio, Further Integrate Renewable Energy

acific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has requested California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approval of six additional battery energy storage projects totaling 387 megawatts (MW) of capacity, intended to further integrate clean energy from renewable generation sources while helping to ensure the future reliability of the electric system. The six project agreements complete PG&E’s procurement requirements outlined in a November 2019 CPUC decision that identified potential electric system reliability issues beginning in the summer of 2021. In that decision, the CPUC authorized PG&E to procure at least 716.9 MW of system reliability resources to come online between August 1, 2021, and August 1, 2023. In May, PG&E announced the results of its first round of procurement: 423 MW of battery energy storage capacity, scheduled to be online by August 2021.

“The next few years will be pivotal for the deployment and integration of utility-scale battery energy storage onto the grid. PG&E has awarded contracts for battery energy storage projects totaling more than 1,000 MW of capacity to be deployed through 2023, all of which contribute to meeting

California’s ambitious clean energy goals while ensuring grid efficiency and reliability, reducing the need to build additional fossil fuel generation plants, and keeping customer costs affordable,” said Fong Wan, senior vice president, Energy Policy and Procurement, PG&E.

EDF to Work on Augwind’s AirBattery Energy Storage System in Israel

ugwind has announced that it has signed an MOU with EDF Renewables Israel, a subsidiary of the global EDF conglomerate, for the two firms to work together on building and operating a 5 MW solar photovoltaic power plant integrated with a 20 MWh Augwind’s storage system – AirBattery. The project will be built as a pioneering facility with a secured PPA from the government’s owned electricity company (IEC) for 23 years. “Augwind aims for global expansion and a significant presence in the storage market through its groundbreaking technology. The agreement we are signing today is an

expression of confidence by one of the world’s largest market leaders in energy and is yet another keystone in Augwind’s strategic plan for global expansion and for becoming a

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leading supplier in the energy storage market worldwide. “Within a matter of weeks, Augwind has expanded its circle of partners for installation of the AirBattery energy

storage system and is poised to continue the momentum of development into 2021,” said Or Yogev, CEO and Founder of Augwind. Augwind and EDF have agreed to hold the project in equal shares, with EDF being responsible for first securing the land of the project and later for the construction and operation of the photovoltaic facility. Augwind will act as the storage supplier and lead all aspects of engineering, construction, operation and maintenance of the system. It is estimated that the pioneering facility will be completed within 12-24 months from the date the conditions precedent are met.

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134 Govt Schools in Rajasthan to get Hybrid Solar Plus Battery Systems

ajasthan Council of School Education (RCScE) has notified that there are currently 134 model schools in Rajasthan and almost all of them are situated in rural areas where the electricity supply is not regular. Thus, to solve this issue of irregular electricity supply and also to reduce the monthly electricity bills expenditure a new Rs 25 crore project has been sanctioned under the ‘Samagra Shiksha’ scheme for all the 134 models schools in the state to get hybrid solar plus battery bank systems. RCScE has thus issued a tender, inviting bids from eligible bidders, for setting up of the hybrid solar PV systems of 15 kW solar capacity with a battery bank in the 134 Swami Vivekananda Govt Model Schools in different districts of Rajasthan. The scope of work for the selected bidders will include the design, supply, testing and commissioning of the hybrid solar PV systems of 15 kW capacity at the 134 preidentified schools across Rajasthan. The developers will also be required to provide comprehensive operation and maintenance

services for the plants for a period of 5 years from the date of successful commissioning. The last date for bid submission is January 18, 2021. The estimated cost of the entire project is Rs 25.12 crore, and all bidders are required to submit a bid security amount of Rs 25.12 lakh along with their bids. The 100 percent cost of the system will be funded for this project by the RCScE. All prospective bidders must submit bids for

establishing the hybrid solar PV plants at all 134 schools in the state under one package. Furthermore, the PV modules used for the project need to warranted for a minimum period of 25 years from the date of supply. The PV modules must be warranted for their output peak watt capacity, which should not be less than 90 percent at the end of 10 years and 80 percent at the end of 25 years.

Asia to Remain ‘Mother of Batteries’, Producing 1 TWh pa by 2025: Rystad

n its monthly energy transition report, Rystad Energy has found that Asia, is, and will remain the centre for battery manufacturing over the coming decade. The report details that the world’s current total battery cell production capacity is ending 2020 at around 617 gigawatt-hours (GWh) per year. Most of this capacity, 516 GWh, comes from producing facilities in Asia. Europe follows with 61 GWh and North America with 40 GWh of production capacity. Existing sanctioning is set to create a boom in capacity for Europe and North America towards 2025, while Asia’s capacity is also set to expand, dwarfing other continents, and securing its place as the ‘mother of batteries’. In 2025, Asia’s production capacity is set to double to around 1 terawatt hour (TWh) per annum.

Europe will follow with around 0.33 TWh and North America with around 0.14 TWh. The report then goes on to add that currently, the world’s battery cell producing

capacity by far exceeds global demand, which is limited to around 140 GWh per year. However, as the electrification of road transport accelerates and with added battery demand from grid storage projects and marine applications, the world is now ahead of a ground-breaking demand boom, which will already create a battery cell supply shortfall from 2026, unless more production projects are sanctioned globally. It forecasts a balanced battery cell market in 2025, with both supply and demand at just under 1.5 TWh per year. Demand however, will continue to grow going forward and is forecast to reach nearly 2 TWh in 2026, adding even more in the following years. Unless more battery cell production projects are sanctioned globally, the world is in for a deficit and buyers will have to compete for limited supply.

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SECI Closes 1.2 GW Hybrid Tender Issued in January 2020, Lowest Bid at Rs 2.41/kWh

he Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has finally closed its tender for setting up of a 1.2 GW ISTSConnected solar-wind hybrid power projects in India under Tranche-III. Three firms have emerged successful in the auctions with the winning and lowest tariff of Rs 2.41/kWh and were awarded a combined 1110 MW capacity. The L2 bid saw the entire tendered capacity awarded to four bidders. As per industry sources, Adani Renewables, ABC Renewables – a subsidiary of Axis Energy, and Amp Energy were awarded 600 MW, 380 MW and 130 MW capacities respectively in the auction. All three met the L1 tariff of Rs 2.41 per unit. Besides the three L1 bidders, ACME Solar submitted a bid of Rs 2.42/ kWh for 300 MW capacity, however, the firm was only awarded 90 MW under the tender. The tender was first issued in January 2020. As per the RfS document, SECI will now enter into PPA with the Hybrid Power Developers (HPDs) for a period of 25 years

from the date as per the provisions of PPA. The maximum tariff/ ceiling tariff was fixed at Rs. 2.88/kWh for the entire term of 25 years. Buying Entities and bulk consumers which require wind-solar hybrid power to fulfill their solar and non-solar RPO under respective RPO regulations will be eligible

to buy wind-solar hybrid power under this scheme. SECI shall sign PPAs with the HPDs at the respective tariffs discovered after e-reverse auction and back-to-back Power Sale Agreements (PSAs) with the Buying Entities at a pooled price of the total capacity allotted.

SECI Issues RfS for 1200 MW ISTS-Connected Wind Projects in India

he Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has issued a Request for Selection (RfS) for the selection of wind power developers (WPD) for setting up of 1200 MW ISTS-connected wind power projects in India (Tranche-X). SECI wishes to invite proposals for setting up of the ISTS-connected wind power projects in India, on a Build Own Operate (BOO) basis for an aggregate capacity of 1200 MW. The nodal agency shall enter into a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the successful bidders selected based on this RfS for purchase of wind power for a period of 25 years based on the terms, conditions and provisions of the RfS and PPA. Power procured by SECI from the above projects has been provisioned to be sold to the Discoms of Rajasthan, which

shall be the buying entities under this RfS. The Buying Entities shall procure power under the RfS through Rajasthan Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (RUVNL), which is the authorised representative for signing the Power Sale Agreement, on behalf of the Rajasthan Discoms. SECI shall be an

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intermediary nodal agency for procurement of power supplied by the WPD and sale of such power to the buying entity(ies) entirely on a back-to-back basis based on due performance by the WPD as well as the buying entity(ies). The last date of bid submission is February 5, 2021, and a pre-bid meeting has been scheduled for January 8, 2021, to address the concerns raised by the prospective bidders. All bidders selected by SECI based on this RfS will be required to submit a Performance Guarantee for Rs 12 Lakh/ MW/Project. With over 18 GW of solar projects that have been won still awaiting PPA’s, there is a serious worry on the fate of wind projects, as wind power is expected to be marginally higher than solar bids awaiting buyers.

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Railways Looking to Procure Schedulable Power From Solar & Storage System

EMCL Ltd, a Joint Venture (JV) company of the Indian Railways and RITES Ltd, has issued an expression of interest (EOI) for its Pilot Project for the procurement of Flexible, Schedulable renewable power for long term from grid-connected solar project with an energy storage system. One of the largest electricity consumers in India, the Indian Railways (IR), aims to become a “net-zero” carbon emissions organization by 2030. In this quest, it has been undertaking multiple initiatives to diversify its energy portfolio towards greener sources of energy. As a part of these initiatives, it is planning to grow its renewable energy portfolio by expanding into solar-plus-storage hybrid systems. The aim here is to increase power reliability by managing the intermittency of solar energy. Based on the success of this pilot storage project, Indian Railways will like to scale up storage based project across the Railway Network to achieve its largest ‘net zero’ carbon emissions organization by 2030.

REMC Ltd. for and on behalf of the Ministry of Railways has invited EOI for the establishment of a Solar plus Storage Pilot project to procure power from the hybrid project at a tariff discovered through a competitive e-bidding process. Eligible renewable energy developers have been requested to provide techno-economical, feasible and innovative solutions for the effective utilisation of solar energy during

non-solar hours through energy storage technologies. Based on the inputs received in EOI responses and solutions proposed by prospective bidders, the bid document will be prepared and uploaded for bidding on the project. The project will be set up on a vacant railway land of approximately 90 acres in Dahod, Gujarat. Interested parties can submit their response to the EOI latest by January 5, 2020.

SECI Tenders for 20 MW Solar Plus 50 MWh BESS in Leh, Ladakh

he Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has issued a tender for the commissioning of a 20 MW (AC) solar PV power plant (50 MWp DC) with 20 MW/50 MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) at Phyang in Leh, Ladakh. The scope of work for the selected bidders will include the design, engineering, supply, construction, erection, testing and commission of the solar and battery storage system. The developers will also be required to provide comprehensive operation and maintenance services for the systems for a prior of 10 years from the date of successful commissioning.

As per the tender, SECI envisages the execution of green energy technologies by way of implementing groundbased solar PV plant with BESS in the UT of Ladakh, India. This would not only be a leap towards harnessing the use of

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submission is February 10, 2021, and the bids will be opened on the same date. A prebid meeting has been scheduled for January 12, 2021, to address the concerns raised by the prospective bidders. The modules used in the project have the condition of being only domestically manufactured and approved by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. To be eligible for participating in the bidding process – the bidders must have experience of successfully executing similar EPC work for ground-mounted solar projects with a cumulative capacity of 10 MW in the last seven financial years. SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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Tender Issued for Hydro Plus Floating Solar Hybrid Project in Mumbai

he Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) acting through the Municipal Commissioner, has issued a tender for the selection of developers for procurement of a renewable hybrid energy project to be developed in a combination of 20 MW installed capacity of hydro power facilities at the Toe of the Middle Vaitarna Dam and 80 MW installed capacity of solar energy via floating photovoltaic panels in the Middle Vaitarna lake. As per the Request for Proposals (RfP) document the required generation of electricity per annum shall be 67.98 MU from the hydro-electric plant and 140.58 MU from the floating solar project. The responsibility of the successful bidder shall be to supply power from the projects to MCGM for a period of 25 years as per the terms and conditions of the PPA. It has also been clarified that the bidders will be required to quote levelised tariff for the entire duration of 25 years, and the same shall be paid by the procurer (MCGM) for each Financial Year during the whole span of PPA. The ceiling tariff for the bid has

been fixed at Rs. 4.48/kWh. Each bidder must submit the bid online accompanied by an EMD of Rs.4.72 crore. Earnest money Rs. 47 lakhs through online payment gateway and the rest in the form of Bank Guarantee, for an amount of Rs 4.25 crore. Furthermore, they are also required to submit a Performance

Security of Rs 23.58 crore within 30 days after issuance of Letter of Award (LoA) or before signing of PPA. The Commercial Operation Date of the hydro plant shall be within 31 months from the date of signing of PPA. And the COD of the floating solar system shall be within 25 months from the date of signing of PPA.

Adani Green Energy Commissions 100 MW Solar Plant in Gujarat

dani Solar Energy Kutchh Two Private Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) has commissioned a 100 MW ac solar power project at Khirsara, Gujarat, ahead of its scheduled Commercial Operation Date (COD) according to its 25-yearlong Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam India (GUVNL). The new plant will be connected to the firms’ new state-of-the-art Energy Network Operation Centre (ENOC) that continuously monitors and analyses the performance of 80+ solar and

wind plants across diverse locations in India. The PPA for the project is priced at Rs 2.44/ kWh, as of December 29, 2020. Vneet S. Jaain, MD & CEO, Adani Green Energy Ltd said, “Adani Green is committed to creating a sustainable future through rapid project execution capability in line with the global

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best practices in the renewable energy sector. The commencement of 100 MWac solar power project in Khirsara, Kutchh, Gujarat in line with the Adani Group’s legacy of scale and speed and is another significant step towards achieving our vision of 25 GW renewable energy by 2025.”

With the commissioning of this project, AGEL’s total operational portfolio has grown to 2,950 MWac demonstrating a CAGR of 55 percent since March 2016. The firm has a total renewable capacity of 14,195 MWac including 11,245 MWac awarded and under implementation projects; and targets commissioning of renewable capacity of 25 GW by 2025. Last month, a report by IEEFA had identified the opportunity for the Adani Group to lead India’s energy strategy by further aligning itself with the government’s vision for energy independence and fast-growing reliance on renewables.

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NTPC Subsidiary NVVN Tenders for 30 MW Solar Projects in Madhya Pradesh

TPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN), a wholly-owned subsidiary of NTPC Ltd, has issued a tender – inviting bids from eligible firms for the commissioning of rooftop/ ground-mounted/ elevated structure solar PV projects worth 30 MW across Madhya Pradesh. The scope of work for the selected developers will include the design, engineering, supply, construction, erection, testing, and commissioning of the 30 MW grid-connected solar PV projects at various locations across Madhya Pradesh on the basis of a

single point responsibility, completely covering all the activities and services. The developers will also be required to provide comprehensive operation and maintenance services for the projects for a period of 10 years from the date of successful commissioning. Further, the successful bidder shall be exclusively responsible for preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) containing all aspects like design, commissioning and all other relevant activities like rooftop strength test, water arrangements, electricity, transportation required for setting up of the solar PV

plants and for the O&M activities for 10 years. NVVN intends to finance the subject package through external commercial borrowings/ domestic commercial borrowings / own sources. The last date for bid submission is January 7, 2020, and the technocommercial bids will be opened on January 8, 2020. The date and time of opening of the price bids will be informed to the technically cleared bidders separately. Additionally, all bids must be accompanied by Bid Security for an amount of Rs 50 lakh.

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When PSUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Flex Solar Muscles 38

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ust 5 years ago, if you had looked around at India’s largest energy public sector firms or PSU’s, be they energy producers or consumers, you would have struggled to see ambition, when it came to their renewable energy plans. However, more has changed in the preceding 5 years than any 5 year plan devised by the government, or otherwise. The huge drop in solar prices, coupled with stagnation or obstacles linked to resistance on environmental grounds for their traditional energy model, has driven most to switch towards renewable energy. From ‘natural’ adopters like the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), the national power generator, to an unlikely champion in Indian Railways, which has declared an ambition to install 20 GW solar on its own by 2030. DEC EMB ER 20 20

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The new rush of PSU’s into the space could not be more welcome, considering the speed breakers the sector has hit in the past two years. Despite delivering the sort of performance that would have made it a darling of all stakeholders. Consider this. Solar energy capacity, at a piffling 2.6 GW in 2014, has risen to 36.91 GW in November 2020. That’s a massive 14 times increase, accompanied by a drop in tariffs to grid parity today. Prices dropped by close to 85 percent in the same period on average. For all its disruptions and delays, solar did become mainstream in 2020, from being an experimental, off-grid option till a few years back.

India Solar Capacity Over The Years and The Future 2015 2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

5593 9879 18152 27355 35060 36.93

2022*

2030*

100,000

300,000

*PROJECTED INDIA’s Energy Transition Plan- 2020 to 2030

Those targets for 2022 and beyond are increasingly facing stronger headwinds in the form of basic issues ranging from energy demand, discom apathy, financial risks to both legacy fossil fuel assets and fresh renewables, and finally, the risk of investor fatigue setting in. Keep in mind that so far, most of India’s solar capacity has been built on the back of private sector capital, including significant dollops of equity capital. Prime Minister Modi himself has declared an opportunity for investing upto $20 billion per year in the years leading up to 2030, to meet the country’s renewable energy targets. Quite simply, those numbers will need a lot of reassurance and domestic support now, which is where PSU’s come in. At the recent REInvest show, voices supporting PSU involvement were heard loud and clear from many private investors , mainly for the financial assurance they brought for other investors and suppliers. But most of these central PSU’s bring in not just capital, but also experience in navigating the complex energy sector, a willingness to take the long view, and increasingly, a genuine commitment to building up a renewable energy portfolio on purely commercial considerations. Consider NTPC, India’s largest power utility with an installed capacity of 62,918 MW (including JVs), with plans to become a 130 GW company by 2032. By 2032, the company plans to have a minimum of 32000 MW capacity through RE sources constituting nearly 25% of its overall power generation capacity. This will include almost 30 GW of solar capacity.

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Present installed capacity of NTPC including 11,755 MW through JVs/Subsidiaries comprises of 46 NTPC Stations which have 24 Coal based stations, 7 gas based stations, 1 Hydro station, 1 small hydro, 12 Solar PV and 1 Wind based Station and 25 Joint Venture stations having 9 coal based, 4 gas based, 8 hydro, 1 small hydro 2 Wind and 1 Solar PV It also has 2298 MW of RE projects which are under implementation, out of which 237 MW constitutes floating solar projects located in reservoirs in NTPC’s existing stations. Ramagundam 100 MW Floating Solar being set up under non PPA mode, is the largest in the country for now. The relatively small RE base means that NTPC’s future capacity additions, other than possible acquisitions of stressed thermal assets, will be almost exclusively renewable focused. Following the NTPC is surprisingly, the Indian railways, not strictly a PSU, but well on its way to being corporatized. The railways has been pushing for a greener look for some time now, and has an existing plan to be 100 percent electrified by 2023. Beyond that, to meet its own energy needs and make better use of its massive land bank, it has declared plans to install 20GW of solar. That will also support its drive to be a zero carbon emitter by 2030. The railways plans to use its 51,000 hectares of land bank for its solar ambitions. While bids for a short term target of 3GW by 2022 have floundered recently due to pricing issues, the railways is far more likely to find a way than many other power developers. It has already installed solar panels at more than 960 stations with another 550 additional stations in the pipeline. By early 2022, it hopes to have 500 MW of rooftop solar across its buildings, complimented by 500 MW of ground mounted solar. Following the railways are a pair of Hydroelectric champions, NHPC (National Hydroelectric Power Corporation), and the Himachal-based SJVN Limited. NHPC, which has become the largest organisation for hydropower development in India with a base of almost 7 GW from 24 power projects has diversified in the field of Solar & Wind power. During the financial year 2019-2020, NHPC Power Stations achieved the generation of 26121 MU and had an Income from sale of Power of Rs. 8301 Crore with a Net Profit of Rs. 3007 Crore. On the solar front NHPC has signed an MoU with Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha Limited (GEDCOL). As part of the MoU, they will form a joint venture company for the development of techno-commercially feasible floating solar power projects of nearly 500 MW in the state of Odisha. In 2019, it also floated a 2 GW solar tender successfully. NHPC also has some of the most ambitious plans for floating solar plants, aiming for a 1 GW plus target there, in states including Odisha and Telangana. It already has approvals for over 250 MW of additional solar projects on top of that. SJVN Limited, on the other hand, is a JV set up in 1988 between the Government of India and Government of Himachal Pradesh. It started with a single project and single state operation i.e. 1500

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MW Nathpa Jhakri Hydro Power Station in Himachal Pradesh, and now has commissioned seven projects totalling 2016.51 MW of installed capacity and 86km 400 KV transmission line. It has a joint venture with Durk Green Power corporation of Bhutan with 50:50 equity contribution for execution of 600 MW Kholongchhu Hydro Electric Project in Bhutan. It has also signed an agreement with IREDA for financing green energy projects. IREDA will undertake Techno-Financial due diligence of Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Projects for SJVN and will assist in developing an action plan to create and acquire Renewable Energy projects for the next five years. With Himachal Pradesh identifying solar potential of 6 GW in the Lahaul Spiti region, SJVN has already been given charge of an 880 MW solar project in the Spiti region. In August this year, it had floated tenders for land to build a 500 MW project in Rajasthan. In September, it announced it had won a 100 mega watt (MW) solar project in Raghanesda Solar Park in Gujarat. A second tender to acquire land in Rajasthan followed last month. Its solar power projects on the drawing board include a 4,000 MW Ultra Mega Green Solar photovoltaic (PV) Power Project and Ultra Mega Hybrid Renewable Energy (Solar and Wind) Park. All in all, SJVN may have the least to show in hand, but when it comes to the future, this firm from Himachal might just surprise a few industry watchers if it executes on its plans well. NLC India Ltd (Formerly Neyveli Lignite Corporation) , which is one of India’s leading Public sector company engaged in mining and power generation is another key player. Established in 1956, its operations are spreading throughout the country. Its Present total Power Generation Capacity including joint ventures is 5661.06 MW, out of which is 3240MW (Lignite), 1000MW (Coal), 1370.06 MW (Solar) and 51MW (Wind). It's renewable energy capacity of 1.4 GW is among the highest for all CPSE's, in fact. Further, NLC India has installed 34 Wind Turbine Generators of capacity 1.50 MW each and also commissioned 440 MW Solar Photo Voltaic Power plant in Neyveli, resulting in an overall power generating capacity of 3731 MW. Apart from this NLC also has registered for new initiatives in green energy sector such as an agreement with Coal India for formation of a Joint Venture Company (JVC) to develop solar and thermal power assets to the tune of 5000 MW on pan-India basis. In 2019, NLC actually made it to the list of top 5 developers to have commissioned utility scale solar projects, on the back of its initiatives. From lignite, one of the most polluting variants of fuel used for power generation, to Solar, NLC is certainly cleaning up at a very fast pace. With 2.8 GW of solar+wind projects in the pipeline to 2025, this PSU is not going to be left behind for sure. Counting on NLC and other PSU’s to build its own solar portfolio is the grand daddy of them all, Coal India Limited (CIL), the state owned coal mining corporate that is the single largest coal producer in the world. CIL, even as it targets a billion tonnes of coal production by 2023-24, is looking long term as it seeks to build a renewables portfolio too. All 3 GW of it by 2025 This 3 GW solar would come from 14 rooftop and groundmounted solar power projects. The firm claims this this would entail an investment of around Rs 5,650 crore, with Rs 3,650 crore to come from CIL’s capex and the rest through joint venture initiatives. An investment that is not an issue at all for the dividend paying PSU. It has also formed a JV with NTPC and signed an MoU

with the Solar Energy Corporation of India for solar projects of 1,000 MW each. CIL enjoys some unique potential advantages, be it access to land from its mines that might be closed or are closed, to access to government land as a critical PSU. Beyond CIL, you have latecomer ONGC, which, even as its dated website predicts grid parity for solar only by 2030, is seemingly moving with a 2 GW plan of its own by 2025 again. ONGC will probably go the JV route too to meet those numbers, with funding the least of its challenges. One only hopes it’s understanding of solar realities have moved beyond the statements on its website. The tens of smaller PSU’s and similar entities, be it the Airports Authority of India, or state level entities can also be expected to step in, for both captive and commercial uses. Even large metal working PSU’s like SAIL 9Steel Authority of India Limited ) or NALCO (National Aluminium Company Limited) can be expected to move, once green hydrogen production from renewable energy approaches levels they consider viable. For using green hydrogen in the sort of energy intensive processes they employ is the big frontier for solar, post 2025. Conclusion: Ignoring the role of these PSU’s in the next 300 GW of solar would be a huge mistake for all stakeholders. Not only could they account for a significant chunk of over 70 GW by 2030, chances are, they would actually invest much more if the foray works out for them.

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CCEA Approves RCE for North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project

he Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the Revised Cost Estimate (RCE) of the North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP) at an estimated cost of Rs.6,700 crore. This is a major step, towards the economic development of the North Eastern Region through the strengthening of Intra-State Transmission and Distribution systems. This scheme is being executed through POWERGRID, a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) with six beneficiaries; Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura and targeted to be commissioned by December 2021. After commissioning, the project will be owned and maintained by the respective North-Eastern State Utilities. The government’s commitment to the total economic development of the North Eastern Region and to strengthen the Intra-State Transmission & Distribution Infrastructure in the North Eastern Region is the foremost goal of this project. Its implementation will create a reliable power grid and improve North East Region States’ connectivity to the upcoming load centers, thus extend the benefits of the grid-connected power to all consumers of beneficiaries in the North Eastern Region. The scheme shall also increase the per capita power consumption of these States, and shall contribute to the total economic development of the North-Eastern Region. This Scheme was initially approved in December 2014 as a Central Sector Plan Scheme of the Ministry of Power and being funded with the assistance of World Bank funds and by the Government of India through the Budget support of the Ministry of Power on a 50:50 basis. But, the capacity building component for Rs 89 crore will be entirely funded by the Government of India.

Increasing Stakes in Intrastate Transmission

Will Drive RE Growth in India: IEEFA

new IEEFA report recommends increasing competition in the development of intrastate transmission infrastructure, to speed up the deployment of renewable energy in India. “As the share of increasingly low cost but variable renewable energy grows, development of transmission systems must keep pace to meet demand and ensure efficient, reliable delivery of power to consumers,” said the report’s author Vibhuti Garg, Energy Economist at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). “Intra-state transmission networks will be key for the evacuation of power as we transition to a sustainable energy economy. Yet intra-state transmission is the weakest link in the grid.” Most of India’s renewable energy generation capacity is connected to state transmission utilities (STUs) so the efficiency and reliability of intra-state transmission networks will be key for the evacuation of power. The report goes on

to add that the introduction of competition can help to drive down construction costs, introduce new technologies and new ways of thinking and promote timely completion of projects, said Garg. “More competition would not only benefit the private players but also increase focus by the stateowned utilities on the benefits to consumers who wear this cost. “The private sector can also bring in increased capital at low cost for building transmission networks, leveraging record low global interest rates that are seeking low-risk, long-dated infrastructure returns. It would also free up state governments’ limited resources, which could be allocated to other social sectors like health or education for development.” Analysis of bid data reveals that Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) has achieved lower costs and higher return on equity (RoE) from competitively awarded projects, compared to cost-plus projects.

EDF, Capgemini to Offer Smart Meters and Grid Across key Markets Including India

DF International Networks, a subsidiary of the EDF Group, and Capgemini have signed a partnership agreement to combine their expertise and together confirm their position as major players for emerging smart grid projects worldwide. The firms stated that the control of consumption and the development of renewable energies has become key in the context of the global energy transition. As a result, the demand for smart metering and smarts grids solutions is growing rapidly. Relying heavily on digital tools, smart grids provide in-depth knowledge of electricity supply and demand and enables the decentralized development of renewable energies as well as electrified uses. By relying on digital tools, it becomes possible to “decode” traditional electrical infrastructures and recover valuable data. This data can be used to accurately determine the energy consumption of a neighbourhood, to

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forecast the next day’s consumption, and also to manage the renewable energy production of a wind farm or a set of photovoltaic panels. These innovations, including smart meters, software and applications, allow to adjust supply to demand and thus ensure the balance of the distribution networks. Further adding that between 2014 and 2019, the deployment of smart metering in Europe increased from a 24 percent penetration rate to around 50 percent, compared to 65 percent in North America. This rate is expected to exceed 70 percent in both regions by 2024. At the same time, projects are multiplying in Asia. India is entering the race, aiming to deploy more than 250 million smart meters in the coming years. In India, EDF International Networks is particularly well established, with local teams that have already installed nearly 100,000 prepayment smart meters with the aim of reaching, as a first step, 5 million meters.

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IndiGrid Partners With IBM to Build AI-Enabled Asset Management Platform

ndia Grid Trust (IndiGrid) has announced that it has signed a multiyear collaboration agreement with tech-giant IBM to build Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled asset management platform. The IBM Maximo Application Suite will allow IndiGrid to become future-ready by improving the overall health of its assets and maximise the full potential of their operating life while adhering to safety and regulatory guidelines, a company statement said. Through this digital transformation with IBM Services, the Infrastructure Investment Trust will be able to monitor, manage and maintain these multicomponent assets efficiently and leverage AI for detecting anomalies at scale – thus proactively preventing their breakdown and boosting availability, it added. “IndiGrid has adopted a long-term Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) approach to managing its assets with utmost safety, reliability and efficiency. This collaboration with IBM will enable IndiGrid to lead the sector transformation from the conventional-corrective practices to

preventive and resilient-RCM approach,” Satish Talmale, COO, IndiGrid said. Enterprise asset management (EAM) is crucial for obtaining the insights and visibility needed to maintain and control intelligent assets and equipment. The firm currently has 11 operating projects consisting of 28 transmission lines with more than 6,280 circuit KMs length and 9

substations with 11,460 MVA transformation capacity and plans to grow its asset base in the transmission and solar sector. According to International Data Corporation (IDC), monitoring performance and scheduling repairs with predictive maintenance alone can reduce costs by 15 to 20 percent, improve asset availability by 20 percent and extend the lives of machines by years.

KPTL Bags Transmission and Distribution Projects With Rs 1300 Cr

ngineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) company Kalpataru Power Transmission Limited (KPTL) has announced that it has received orders worth Rs 1,300 crore from India and the overseas market in the power transmission and distribution (T and D) space. The company said that it has received EPC orders for pipeline laying and associated works in India and order for railway electrification, adding that KPTL’s international subsidiary has secured new T and D projects in Europe too. “We continue to focus on expanding our international operations in all our business verticals for KTPL

and JMC. The process of divestment of TandD assets is also on track and we expect to be net debt free in 2021,” Manish Mohnot, Managing Director and CEO, KPTL said on the development. KPTL is present in power transmission and distribution, oil and gas pipeline, railways,

infrastructure development, civil contracting and warehousing and logistics business with an international presence in power transmission and distribution. The company is currently executing contracts in India, Africa, Middle East, CIS, SAARC and the Far East. In September, we had reported DEC EMB ER 20 20

that the firm and its joint venture partner have completed 74 percent equity stake sale in Jhajjar KT Transco Pvt Ltd (JKTPL) to IndiGrid. KPTL had completed the sale of about 37.78 percent of equity shares (which includes 1.32 percent equity shares held by KVPL and acquired by the Company), the filing added. In July, we had reported that Adani Transmission Ltd (ATL) had signed definitive agreements with Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd (KPTL) for acquiring Alipurduar Transmission Ltd in a manner consistent with Transmission Service Agreement and applicable consents. SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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Huawei Looks Forward To ‘Normalcy’ In 2021

I N T E R V I E W

Huawei has firmly established its global leadership in the solar inverter space, thanks to its 100 percent string inverter portfolio. The firm, whose strong presence in India has made it a partner of choice for some of the largest utility scale projects in solar so far, has plans for the storage and rooftop segment also now. It’s strong technology edge means it will be a formidable competitor there too. We caught up with Louis Liu, Head of the Smart PV Business India, to better understand the firm’s plans in India.

LOUIS LIU

Head of the Smart PV Business India

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We expect the energy storage system to be applied in C&I and utility scenarios quite soon

As a global leader, how have markets around the world performed for Huawei? Which markets have done better than expected? What are your expectations from 2021? Louis Liu: As a global leader in PV industry, the total shipment

of Huawei by June 2020 is more than 130GW and despite the challenges of COVID-19, most of our markets have done quite well this year. In India, we have more than 2GW shipment this year which we are quite pleased with the support from our customers and partners. In 2021, we believe the situation will turn back as the demand of renewable energy especially solar energy remains high. Huawei offers leading Smart PV solutions harnessing more than 30 years of expertise in digital information technology. By integrating AI and Cloud, Huawei further incorporates many latest ICT technologies with PV for optimal power generation, thus making the solar power plant to be Highly Efficient, Safe & Reliable with Smart O&M and Grid Supporting capabilities and builds the foundation for solar be become the main energy source. Our focus on string solutions since 2013, has helped us to deliver more benefits to investors and owners, such as higher yield and easy O&M. We are gratified to see the market also responded and today string solutions have become the mainstay of the global solar sector since 2018.

Storage is finally making its presence felt, in almost all discussions of the next decade of solar. With over 2000 GW to be installed worldwide in the year to 2030, how big would solar+storage grow to? Louis Liu: Solar energy has become the lowest-cost energy in

many countries today. With energy storage system, it would add more value to solar energy by increasing renewable power usage and helping to generate power during peak demand. Huawei has accumulated a large amount of energy storage application experience in fields such as PV + storage microgrid, telecom site energy, data center facility, and terminal power. Huawei also has profound technical accumulation in terms of efficient energy storage system architecture, high-performance battery management system (BMS), cell system safety, as well as smart diagnosis and analysis. Based on this, we launched our energy storage system in 2020, and we expect the energy storage system to be applied in C&I and utility scenarios quite soon. Moreover, the Indian market would be a good opportunity for Huawei to develop more energy storage solution as it is a growing PV market and some clients have already been enquiring about our new products. We look forward to work with our customers and bringing more energy storage in Indian market.

For an inverter manufacturer, what are the advantages of Huawei technology? Louis Liu: Huawei integrates ICT technologies with PV and

provides many innovations in the industry. Redefine Power Generation: in the power generation process, the Smart DC System (SDS) is a typical technology that uses software to improve the energy yields of PV plants. From the perspective of digitalization, the SDS algorithm enables solar inverters to know external factors such as radiation, temperature, and wind speed based on slight changes in current and voltage. According to the actual environment calculated based on historical data analysis, precise big data, and AI self-learning, the optimal angle of the trackers is adjusted in real time to implement closed-loop collaboration among the bifacial PV module, tracker, and smart PV controller with multiple MPPTs. In this way, the SDS reaches the optimal status and the energy yields of the PV plant is maximized. Redefine O&M: Huaweiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Smart I-V Curve Diagnosis has been applied in more than 7 GW PV plants worldwide. So far, Smart I-V Curve Diagnosis has reached the highest level in the industry in terms of fault detection accuracy (certified by China General Certification Center, CGC). The traditional manual inspection mode is completely changed. All PV strings can be remotely scanned in one-click mode. For a 100 MW PV plant, Smart I-V Curve Diagnosis can automatically generate a diagnosis report within 15 minutes and proactively send maintenance requests, issue diagnosis, and accurate locations to O&M personnel. This achieves zero-inspection for PV plants. The application of Smart I-V Curve Diagnosis in actual PV plants significantly improves the energy yields.

How do you see the next frontier, i.e. grid integrated solar evolving? Scenarios like solar being stored or used to charge EVâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, which serve as distributed storage for the grid, do you see those playing out soon? Louis Liu: We see the next frontier lies on AI and also we believe

energy storage will play a bigger role in solar energy industry. In terms of AI, besides SDS and IV Curve Diagnosis, we also apply it in making solar and storage safer. For instance, fire risks of rooftop PV plants are mainly caused by DC arcs. It is difficult to detect DC arcs for the whole industry. The main reason is that the arc signal is similar to the white noise signal, and the energy of the arc signal is distributed among almost all spectrums. When the environmental noise is close to the spectrum features of arcs, it is difficult to effectively identify arcs, and a false alarm is likely to be reported. In addition, the energy of the arc feature signal decreases with the increase of the input cable length and arc current, making the signal difficult to find and easy to miss. Therefore, both false alarms and missing alarms should be DEC EMB ER 20 20

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prevented. To solve the problem, Huawei combines the arc-fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) and AI deep learning technology to launch the AI BOOST AFCI smart arc detection solution. Different from manual induction design, the AI deep learning technology is based on a highly non-linear model and can calculate and iterate massive data simultaneously to find feature rules of high-dimensional spaces. In this way, the feature signals with similar shapes can be effectively distinguished. AI and deep learning technologies enable the detection model to continuously learn unknown spectrums and effectively discover arc features. Currently, Huawei AI BOOST AFCI smart arc detection technology has been widely used around the world. It has passed the strict authoritative tests conducted by CGC and Huawei is issued the industry’s first highest performance certificate, proving that Huawei AI BOOST AFCI smart arc detection technology is leading in the industry. Our AI technologies have been well received in Europe and Australia residential markets and we look forward to bringing more innovations to India market too.

Will grid quality and upgrade be a serious issue for expansion of solar’s share in the total energy mix in your view? Louis Liu: We see Grid-connection Algorithm plays a more

important role as solar becomes the major energy source. In the near future, over 30% of the annual newly installed power capacity will be the PV plants. However, with the increase in renewable energy construction, the short circuit ratio (SCR) of the power grid is gradually reduced. We could see the SCR in some countries will be going down quite significantly. Or in another way, more and more regions will face a new challenge of weak grid. It is expected that between 2025 and 2030, the SCR will be lower than 2 in a lot of the countries. Huawei has been researching on the grid connection technologies for many years and the improved its control accuracy. Currently, Huawei has achieved stable gridconnection in all PV scenarios. We are confident that our algorithm could help our clients to build a robust system with more resilience. The smart inverters could support SCR as low as 1.5 to avoid frequent synchronization failure incidents. Moreover, Huawei solution is capable to provide better POD (power oscillation damping) control, which has already been considered and partially adopted with some of our clients in Latin America.

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We had reported on Huawei inverters being used on a solar farm, where fishing was also possible. How has that experience played out? What is the future for solar and agriculture together? Louis Liu: Huawei Smart PV is always boosting power generation

efficiency, the successful case such as Tongwei 300 MW fisherysolar PV project in Binzhou, Shandong Province which is the world’s largest fishery-solar plant that all use Huawei’s smart PV solution. It showed the new model of intelligence that power generation at the top, and aquaculture below the surface. India is a potential market for the use of solar and agriculture together, as we have got some cases around the world using the new agriculture plus PV model to generate clean energy and improve local climate. We believe there would be a lot of potential for India as well.

How is Huawei going for the residential segment? What role do you see for Virtual Power Plants here? Louis Liu: Huawei closely monitors the trends of the residential market. We would like to bring clear energy to everyone, and that’s why we have launched our new residential solution portfolio this year. We provide the residential solution with 30% yields increase by full optimizer design, lower inverter failure rate which is below 0.5%, real-time module-level performance management, high voltage DC coupled battery, FusionSolar APP via WLAN for local commissioning and more technologies to bring customers a smarter home. Virtual Power Plants will greatly help the national grid which will benefit the end users. We look forward to helping our customers and partners in building the future VPP for India.

Share some insights on the Indian market, based on your experience here. Louis Liu: We are glad to see that solar energy industry has grown

significantly over the years with the help of industry players and supported by government policies. We are also delighted to see that the string solution has become mainstream in India and humbled to play a part in it. By supporting ‘Make in India’, we have also started to explore new ways of working and localize our solutions. As one of the most valued and important markets of Huawei, we will continue to invest in Indian market and bring in more innovations to our local customers.

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Demand for Hydrogen in India can Grow 5-Fold by 2050: TERI

he demand for hydrogen in India can grow five-fold by 2050. Further, by 2030, the costs of “green hydrogen” from renewables will fall more than 50 percent and start to compete with hydrogen from fossil fuels. These were the findings in the latest report published by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). The report states that hydrogen needs to be targeted in sectors where direct electrification is not possible. These are heavy-duty, long-distance transport sectors, some industry sectors, and longterm seasonal storage in the power sector. Further in transport, the report details that, battery electric vehicles (BEV) will become competitive across all segments, except for very long-distance, heavy-duty transport, which could be fuelled by hydrogen. And in industry, hydrogen can start to compete with fossil fuels in certain applications by 2030. For example, ammonia produced from green hydrogen will be competitive with the current incumbent technology of ammonia produced from fossil fuel-based hydrogen. Further in the power sector, hydrogen could provide an important source of

seasonal storage for variable renewables like solar and wind energy. Large amounts of seasonal storage will become necessary only when the share of wind and solar in total generation reaches very high levels (60-80 percent). The report adds that green hydrogen production could require around 1000 TWh of renewables-based electricity by 2050, placing further pressure on power system decarbonisation. Emphasizing the need to look at

hydrogen growth in India from the point of view of demand, Dr. Ajay Mathur, Director General, TERI, said, “The falling cost of hydrogen will drive its uptake, with initial scale-up being driven by collaborations between progressive public and private players… India has an opportunity to grow an economically competitive low carbon hydrogen sector that can spur job growth to reduce energy imports, whilst drastically reducing emissions.”

Perceived Risk of Investment in Indian Solar Market Cited in UNDP HDR

he latest edition of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Report (HDR) cited the case of India to explain the disparity in the investments made in renewable energy amongst lower-middle-income and low-income countries, and high-income countries. The report cites that in (2018) the lower-middle-income and low-income countries, with well over 40 percent of the world’s people, accounted for less than 15 percent of renewable energy

investment, while high-income countries, with just over 15 percent of the world’s people, accounted for more than 40 percent. This difference, the report believes, comes largely from a lack of access to funding in developing countries, which in turn has major impacts on the price and competitiveness

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of green energy. Here the Indian case is examined by the report. It cites that in India, where financing costs account for 50–65 percent of renewable energy tariffs. Solar tariffs have consistently fallen in India since 2010. But since a high share of the tariff is the cost of capital, even big declines in equipment costs could lower tariffs only so much. The cost of capital is high, even with a maturing market, partly because of the perceived risks in renewable energy

investments. So policy had to reduce risk perceptions and improve the bankability of renewable energy projects. Large solar parks were attractive to international investors, and when the bids were backed by central and state government guarantees or credible off-takers (such as the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation), tariffs fell sharply. The government aimed to improve the availability and pricing of project debt finance over time, facilitating lower cost investment.

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Uneven Grouping of Renewables Leading to Curtailments in India: TCCL

lectricity demand in India grew at a CAGR of 5.1% over the last decade from FY 2011 to FY 2019. However, this fell to a mere 1.2% in FY 2020. India was already facing an economic slowdown, with industrial output declining to an 8-year low during the year, but compounded by the impact of the nationwide lock-down imposed with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the power demand fell more sharply this year. With the easing of the lockdown, power consumption has started to pick up, however, this uptake may still not suffice to compensate for the drop witnessed in the aftermath of the COVID-19-related lockdown. The report by TATA Cleantech Capital Ltd (TCCL) expects electricity demand to only grow steadily, albeit slowly, until FY 2025. The report then moves on to detail how post the 1991 economic reforms the share of industrial consumption in the country’s electricity demand – agonist the expectations – mix fell from 48% in FY 1992 to 41% in FY 2019. While on the other hand, the share of power consumption clocked by the residential segment spiked from 16% to

25%. Driven by increased electrification, enhanced lifestyles and aspirations, and increasing dependence on air conditioners. With the increased share of residential demand, India’s daily power demand curve observes twin peaks – one in the morning (8:00 to 10:30 AM) and the other in the evening (6:00 to 8:00 PM), with the evening peak significantly more pronounced. As is well known, solar energy can help

meet, to some extent, the demand during the morning peak. However, the challenge is that the inherent intermittent nature of both solar and wind sources implies that the bulk of the generation coincides with either the o-peak or normal day lean periods. The penetration of infirm solar and wind sources accentuates the requirements from other sources to meet the peak demand.

Electricity Generation From Renewables Increased 6.9 percent in Nov’20: Ind-Ra

n its latest power sector report, India Ratings (Ind-Ra) has detailed that the electricity generation from renewables sources in November 2020 increased by 6.9 percent yoy to 9.2 billion units. The report also highlighted that despite the energy demand increasing yoy for the third consecutive month in November, the improvement was slower than over the last few months. The report found that in November 2020, the all-India energy demand increased yoy for the third consecutive month, after declining over March-August 2020; although the improvement slowed down to 3.7 percent yoy to 97.9 billion units (October 2020: up 11.5 percent; September 2020: up 4.0 percent). This was due to the early onset of winters impacting demand from the northern region (up 3.2 percent;

October 2020: up 12.9 percent) and southern region (down 3.8 percent; up 3.3 percent). Even though the energy demand has been recovering, the demand over April-November 2020 came in 5.0 percent yoy lower (1QFY21: down 15.9 percent; 1HFY21: down 8.7 percent). The report then goes on to add that electricity generation (excluding

renewables) increased 1.9 percent yoy to 95.3 billion units in November 2020 (October 2020: up 8.9 percent), owing to 4.1 percent (up 13.3 percent) growth in thermal generation, although hydro generation was lower 17.0 percent (down 10.3 percent) yoy. The thermal PLF over April-November 2020 was lower at 50.8 percent (AprilNovember 2019: 56.0 percent), most impacted by the decline in power demand, given the must-run status of nuclear, hydro and renewables. For renewables, the report added that generation increased by 6.9 percent yoy to 9.2 billion units with wind and solar generation improving 11.6 percent and 7.4 percent, respectively. It also adds that the wind generation has shown 1.1 percent yoy improvement in AprilNovember 2020 after being lower 17.1 percent in 1HFY21.

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China & India to Lead Revival of Electricity Demand in 2021: IEA

fter experiencing its biggest decline in decades, global electricity demand is expected to rebound modestly in 2021, led by growth in China, India and other emerging economies, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The report details that the historic shock of the COVID-19 crisis is set to result in a 2 percent decline in global electricity demand in 2020, according to the IEA’s first-ever Electricity Market Report. And that with the recovery of the world economy in 2021, electricity demand is forecast to grow by around 3 percent. That would be significantly weaker than the rebound in demand of over 7 percent in 2010, the year following the global financial crisis. China will be the only major economy to see higher electricity demand in 2020. However, its expected growth of around 2 percent is well below its recent average of 6.5 percent. Other big electricity consumers including the United States, India, Europe, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia are all set to experience declines for the year as a whole. It further adds that electricity generation from renewable energy – such as hydropower, wind and

solar – is forecast to grow by almost 7 percent in 2020, squeezing conventional power sources. Coal-fired generation is set to fall by around 5 percent, the largest decrease on record; nuclear power generation by around 4 percent; and gasfired electricity generation by 2 percent.

Overall, CO2 emissions from electricity generation are on course to fall by 5 percent in 2020. “Electricity has a central role in today’s energy world – a role that will only increase in importance as clean energy transitions accelerate,” said Dr. Fatih Birol, the IEA’s Executive Director.

South Asia Should Prioritise Sustainable Energy to Accelerate Economic Recovery: SEforALL

s 2020 comes to an end and the world continues to face ongoing challenges from the COVID19 pandemic, a new guide from Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) shows that countries in South Asia should use this moment to strengthen sustainable energy policies and finance to accelerate their economic recovery, close energy access gaps and improve the lives of vulnerable populations in the region. South Asia is home to some of

the world’s most populous countries with the largest energy access deficits, particularly access to reliable electricity for productive use and clean cooking solutions. Though countries in South Asia have made substantial progress in recent years, according to the new ‘Recover Better with Sustainable Energy Guide for South Asian Countries’, the pandemic is putting this regional progress at risk and calls for countries to prioritise investments in sustainable

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energy. The latest guide from the Recover Better with Sustainable Energy series suggests South Asian countries should invest 25 percent of stimulus budgets in closing energy access gaps, improving energy efficiency and increasing deployment of renewable energy. This investment will directly support faster progress on Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) – access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030.

This progress is critical for South Asia as the latest data shows that 152 million people in the region lack access to electricity and 900 million lack access to clean cooking. The region also has vast untapped potential for energy efficiency and renewable energy progress. Present trends show that South Asia will not meet the SDG7 targets of doubling their renewable energy share and increasing energy efficiency by 2030 if they do not act now.

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PLN has ‘Green Ambition’ but is Short on Renewable Energy Credibility: IEEFA

ndonesian state-owned electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) is preparing to issue a “green and/or sustainable financing” instrument as early as January 2021 following the publication of its Statement of Intent on Sustainable Financing Framework in November. And a new briefing note from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) finds that PLN must be prepared for a much higher level of scrutiny around its continuing coal investments and lack of progress in renewable energy investment projects when the company does launch its debut green and/or sustainable bonds. Author Christina Ng believes that

although this is the right direction, PLN now needs to work hard to build investor credibility given its track record. “PLN’s recent commitment to provide clean and sustainable energy for Indonesia in line with government expectations could be attractive to ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance) fixed income investors,” she said, adding “The company’s renewable energy performance however will be of concern. PLN’s renewable energy plans lag its regional and global peers. The company has not implemented its project investments as planned and has a limited track record of successful implementation.”

Ng notes PLN may be better known to investors as a major carbon emitter that continues to add coal-fired power capacity. “The company still has at least 20 gigawatts of coal projects in the pipeline.” The firm can show its investors that the company, going forward, is committing to a sustainable, conventional mix of renewable energy projects from solar and wind with relatively low implementation risk and that will commence as soon as PLN secures financing. Further, if followthrough on a project fails, penalty costs or other redresses as part of the terms of the bond could be written in to prove PLN’s commitment to delivering on stated sustainability goals.

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Behind Azure’s Investor Update. Challenges To Continue in 2021

n an update to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the US, where it is listed at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Azure Power has sounded out its investors on the challenges it faces vis a vis its 4 GW tender win in India. The firm won the tender early in 2019. The firm says it “continues to work towards signing PPAs for the 4 GW manufacturing linked tender for which a Letter of Award (“LOA”) has already been received. The Solar Energy Corporation of India (“SECI”) has informed us that so far there has not been adequate response from the state electricity distribution companies (“DISCOMs”) for SECI to be able to sign the PSAs at this stage even though we have a LOA.” Thus, the project has effectively seen zero progress ever since the letter of award was provided. readers will recall that this is the same project where Adani Green Energy won 8 GW of capacity, a number that catapulted them to the ‘leading solar developer’ status in the world, thanks to over eager industry publications. That’s 12 GW of solar pipeline that is stuck tight, for now. It is believed another 6 GW from

various other developers is also in the same bucket for now. Azure’s statement adds that capital costs, interest rates and foreign exchange rates have improved since it won the 4 GW auction a year ago which have resulted in lower tariffs in other recent SECI auctions. “We expect these savings likely will be passed on to state electricity distribution companies (Discoms). We expect a tariff

markdown from the price discovered in the auction, which will facilitate signing of PSAs. We will continue our discussions with SECI towards signing PPAs in respect of the 4GW tender and expect the PPAs to be signed in tranches over a period of time. We will continue our policy to only take on contracts that create shareholder value and earn returns that are above our cost of capital.”

An Apple Electric Car? The EV Market Welcomes It

ith a global news agency almost confirming Apple’s plans for an electric car, one must realise what this means. For one, there is the usual promise of the car achieving a breakthrough in lower prices and battery technology. Both areas that are highly debatable. Apple, if it has built a reputation for anything beyond its designs is known not to be a price warrior. So yes, you can safely forget any price fights, although you might be told that for the “value’ you are getting in the new car, the price is just right, as some iPhone owners sincerely believe. On to the technology now. The

iron-phosphate technology for batteries that has been mentioned as the ‘breakthrough’ that Apple will use, is already being used by Tesla for its Shanghai gigafactory. In fact, a number of

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Chinese manufacturers are also on it , churning out ever higher numbers as we write. Where Apple might hope to build a differentiator is possibly the AI (artificial intelligence) powered self-driving system in

the car, something it has actually been working on through its ‘Project Titan’, which has now apparently morphed into the EV project. So why is Apple getting into this? For one, integration of the phone with a car is far more intuitive than it is with say, a television, and the auto market offers the kind of volumes and margins that a firm the size of Apple seeks at the minimum. Interestingly, proven hits like the Daimler promoted SMART car, seem t be at the end of their life cycles, ready for a refresh. Apple possibly sees the opportunity there, and the chance to scale it up, now that the time is finally right.

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Booming Vietnam Solar Draws Thai Firms To Invest

ietnam, one of the last sizeable markets that are still offering Feed In tariffs (FIT) in solar, has managed to attract international attention due to its plans. The company has a plan in place to build 18 GW of solar energy plants by 2030. Of this proposed 18 GW, 4.5 GW has already been installed by the country’s feed-intariff (FIT) 1 policy, and another 1.5 GW is likely to be added under FIT 2. The rest is likely to be a mix of tendered and aided projects, as the country transitions away from FIT to a tender and auction led regime. For Thai firms, that makes the neighbouring market an attractive place for investment. Thai energy firm Gunkul Engineering, for example, has acquired the 50-megawatt Phong Dien II solar power plant in the central Vietnamese province of Thua Thien-Hue for US$39.9 million. The facility started commercial operation on December 15 with a feed-in tariff (FIT) of 7.09 US cents(Rs 5.25 approx.) per kilowatt-hour for 20 years. The deal, completed in late November, includes the purchase of a 49% stake from Bangjak

Green Energy, a subsidiary of Bangkokbased BS Industry Service, and 51% from two Vietnamese shareholders. The acquisition is part of Gunkul Engineering’s plans to expand in Southeast Asia in the renewable energy sector, which it sees as low risk and high growth potential. Gunkul

is also buying the Tan Chau solar plant in southern Vietnam’s Tay Ninh province bordering Cambodia for a reported US$47 million, its fourth such acquisition in a row this year. The plant began operations in October with the same FIT of 7.09 US cents per kWh for 20 years.

Borosil Renewables, The Newest Renewable Star On The Stock Market

orosil Renewables Limited, the Mumbai based firm manufacturing firm that specialises in solar glass, has had a dream run up in the stock markets. Luckily for investors, this is a firm that has some real numbers to back it up, although valuations remain a matter of hope over substance probably. The firm, formerly called Borosil Glass Works Limited, has found that adding the name renewables to itself, besides delivering a key product, can certainly provide huge rewards for its shareholders. That, plus some some serious duty protection from imports of solar glass, even while being the sole manufacturer in India. In fact, after Adani Green and

its stellar stock market record in the past year, and the relative disappointment of Sterling and Wilson Solar’s stock market journey so far, Borosil Renewables has come up with an absolutely solid

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unmet demand, the probability of higher duties on imported competition, and finally, a successful fund raise to expand capacity. In short a perfect storm of positives to light a rocket under its stock. Industry insiders we spoke to confirm that the firm is barely able to meet even 50 percent of the demand for their product, and remains a competitive player even vis a vis competition from China. Part of the Borosil Group, which has a long and respected presence in the glass ware sector, the firm has found it easier than most to combat the threat of low priced imports as well as maintain quality in the cut throat world of solar manufacturing. SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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Solar Tariffs Drop to a new low of Rs 1.99/kWh in Latest Gujarat Auction

he latest round of auctions conducted by the Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited’s (GUVNL), for 500 MW worth of solar projects to be developed in the state, has set a new record for the lowest solar tariff in India. With L1 tariffs reaching Rs 1.99/ kWh, the auction beat the recently set record Rs 2/kWh which was set last month. According to industry sources, the L1 tariff was quoted by four bidders which together were awarded 400 MW capacity in the auctions. NTPC Ltd secured the maximum capacity under the tender yet again, with the state-owned power giant securing 200 MW project capacity at the L1 tariff. Further, Aditya Birla Renewables, Torrent Power and Saudi Arabia’s Aljomaih Energy and Water Company secured 120 MW, 100 MW and 80 MW capacity respectively under the tender at the L1 tariff. For NTPC, this new resurgence in bidding and low prices follows the set up of its subsidiary, NTPC Renewables, where it gets the benefit of lower tax rates too. Besides all its other advantages as an incumbent giant with competitive access to funds. Another winner, Torrent Power is also not such a big surprise, considering the groups stake in the power distribution business in Gujarat. GUVNL will now enter into power purchase agreements (PPAs)

with the successful bidders for a period of 25 years from the scheduled commercial operation date (SCOD) of the project. At the end of September, GUVNL had issued the tender for the purchase of 500 MW of solar power through competitive bidding. With the solar power set to be procured from grid-connected solar photovoltaic power projects to be set up in the state.

Western Railway Wins First Prize In Energy Conservation Awards 2020

estern Railway bagged three prestigious National Energy Conservation Awards (NECA) in ‘Transport’ and ‘Building – Govt offices’ categories for the year 2020, by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Ministry of Power. It has been awarded the First Prize in the Transportation Category along with First and Third prize in Buildings Category for Divisional Railway Manager’s offices at Bhavnagar and Rajkot respectively. As per the press release issued by Sumit Thakur, Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, the prizes are won for the efforts made by these divisions to promote energy efficiency in the non-traction area. Western Railway is constantly working towards

energy efficiency and a clean environment for many years. The top honour has been given to Western Railway for significant improvements in energy conservation by adopting various measures, which are as follows:• During 2019-20, electrification of 664 km was done on Western Railway, which is highest in Indian Railway. • The introduction of electric traction reduces the

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consumption of Diesel oil and improves the efficiency of transportation, reducing the carbon footprint. • Western Railway is operating 67 regular train pairs with Head-On Generation and stopped the use of diesel generator set for power supply to coaches, thus achieving a net saving of about Rs 50 Crore. • 8.67 MWp capacity rooftop

solar plants have been provided at various railway stations, office & service buildings. These plants have generated 5.47 million units of green energy resulting in a net saving of Rs.2.25 crores per annum. • Energy-efficient 5-star rated electrical appliances are used extensively in office and service buildings. • Energy-efficient LED lights have been installed at all the stations, service buildings & residential quarters resulting in a saving of about Rs. 12 crores per annum. • The introduction of threephase technology and improvement in driving techniques has helped in 15% improvement in the SEC, a net saving of about Rs.15 crores per annum.

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Delhi Police Goes With Solar To Power Beat Booth At India Gate

n December 26th Delhi Police set up its first solar energy-enabled “modern beat booth”, which is also water, fire and vandalism proof, at the iconic India Gate. The beat booth was inaugurated by special commissioner of police, law and order, south zone, Satish Golchha. As per Mr Anil Mittal, Additional PRO (Delhi Police), the booth is dust proof and solar energy enabled. The storage capacity of the plant is 10 hours. It is remote Wi-Fienabled for digital display of informative or awareness messages on LED panels installed on top of it and have a public announcement system. with its hundreds of booths spread across the city, including those at traffic islands, the possibilities for a further spread of solar systems in these are significant. The cabin of the present booth is equipped with extreme weather regulator, movable wardrobe, first-aid facility and a public facilitation desk. Police officials say that similar police booths with solar-powered LED panels will soon be seen. Besides this Delhi Police has also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd (SECI) for the installation of solar power panels on the rooftops of over their 200 buildings across the national capital in 2019. The agreement was signed between the senior SECI officials and Delhi Police in the presence of Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik at the city police headquarters. The installation process is expected to be completed early next year. Both rooftop solar, and distributed solar applications like the one seen in the beat booth, offer massive opportunities for a supply side ecosystem that is truly domestic, and to that extent, creates opportunities, jobs as well as a greener city. One truly hopes that other police forces and similarly placed services, be it forest services or water departments, will also take steps to solarise their small outposts using solar power in 2021.

Vedanta Signs Declaration on Climate Change, Pledges to Carbon Neutrality

edanta, a leading natural resources company, has signed a declaration on climate change by pledging to move towards carbon neutrality at the Second India CEO Forum on Climate Change. The firm stated that the mission is to take the country to net zero emission goal through specific emission measures, including the promotion of renewable energy, enhanced energy efficiency, waterefficient processes, green mobility, planned afforestation, and waste management & recycling. Sunil Duggal, CEO, Vedanta Group said, “we as a company remain fully supportive of the government initiative to work towards a net zero emission goal and are committed to minimise our carbon footprint. At Vedanta, we have a philosophy of ‘Zero Harm, Zero Waste & Zero Discharge’. We are well on course to substantially de-carbonise our operations over the next decade. I would like to congratulate the Government of India for

this important initiative and assure our full support to help India achieve its carbon commitments” The firms’ in-house Carbon Forum and Innovation Cells comprise of Global experts who are actively working on solutions that can help the company reduce its carbon footprint. With a continuous focus on responsible mining, as of March 2020, the company has successfully reduced their GHG emissions by almost 14 percent from 2012 baseline levels, this will help reduce more than 9 Million Tons of CO2 from the atmosphere. They generated 582 million nits of renewable energy last year and have achieved 6 million gigajoules of energy savings in the last 3 years. 70 projects have been implemented across various locations for the conservation of energy. In addition to setting up 40 MW solar project, wind farms with capacity of 274 MW were installed in 5 states across India.

Amp Energy Expands Tata Hitachi’s Solar Plant, Largest Distributed RE Project in East India

ata Hitachi, a leading construction machinery provider in India has partnered with Amp Energy to set up an onsite solar power unit at their facility in Kharagpur, West Bengal. This project is a repeat order to Amp Energy from Tata Hitachi, which already has an operational 5 MW solar project supplying power to Tata Hitachi at their factory premises in Kharagpur since 2018. With this project, Amp has expanded the capacity to 10.5 MW making it the largest behind-the-meter (distributed RE) project in Eastern India. The Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Amp for procurement of solar power is for 25 years and will generate 7,150 MWh of green energy in a year, equivalent to reducing 5,055 MT of carbon emissions annually. The solar plant was commissioned on November 11, 2020, and the project execution was managed by following all compliances placed to manage the COVID-

19 situation in India. “Tata Hitachi is the best demonstration project of Amp’s Programmatic Approach of building sustainable partnerships through project types and geographies. We are supplying solar power to them through open access in Karnataka and behind-the-meter in West Bengal. This repeat order from them is a testimonial to our service quality and deliverability. This partnership will ensure that the growth in the construction sector is on the back of a solid ecosystem of solar power generation and demand in India,” said Pinaki Bhattacharyya, MD and CEO, Amp Energy India. Tata Hitachi is a joint venture company between India’s Tata Motors and Hitachi Construction Machinery of Japan. Its product line-up includes a wide range of excavators, Rigid dump trucks, Wheel Loaders and Backhoe Loaders. It has two manufacturing facilities at Dharwad – Karnataka and Kharagpur – West Bengal.

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Landholder Solar House PRODUCT BRIEF:

The Landholder Solar House is 100% solar powered and is, what we like to call it an active house. It is a new type of smart home where everything has multiple functions. This kind of houses would help people towards more sustainable way of living and reduce the cost of energy.

PRODUCT FEATURES:

Current prototype has 24 solar panels on its outer wall. The solar panels are hooked to 24 batteries which are located in the prism section. Building one house takes 5 men, 2 trucks, 1 month and est. 150 000-200 000 Euros. This current prototype has one

bedroom, 2 bathrooms, sauna, living room/ kitchen area, garage, storage room.

PRODUCT APPLICATION:

Live in a fully solar powered house which can meet all the daily needs.

PRODUCT BENEFITS:

Special edition house, which is transportable via helicopter to places cars cannot reach, in order to make off grid living possibility where it has not been before.

AVAILABILITY:

This product is available on the firm’s website and on retail.

S.EBuds: Solar Energy Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds Product Brief: S.Ebuds is the first Earphones and charging case that can be charged outdoors. It can automatically charge in the sun. In addition to being an earphone case, it is also a power bank.

PRODUCT FEATURES:

Fast charging case for electronic products, High battery capacity, intelligent noise reduction control, Charge Everywhere Earphones which recharge independently, Up to 10m of

range in Bluetooth mode.

PRODUCT APPLICATION:

Microphone pickup detects external sound waves.

PRODUCT BENEFITS:

This product uses solar energy which is a renewable free source of energy that is sustainable and totally inexhaustible. The less pollution and the infinite power make you a green and enjoyable experience on listening.

AVAILABILITY:

This product is available on firm’s website and retails for USD 61

FILTRON: Solar Powered Air Purifier PRODUCT BRIEF:

catalyst filters and is able to clean the air up to 40 square meters. The most important feature is the filters of the product are: Hepa Filter, Activitated Carbon Filter, and Cold Catalyst Filter.

Highly innovative Eco-Friendly air purifier works with flexible solar panels, UV sterilizer and anti-allergen filters inside. Filtron is here to help you live a healthier life, enjoying fresh air. Filtron PRODUCT APPLICATION: provides 360° filtration and purification of air from bacteria, pollen, heavy metals Unique design and portable technology, Makes it perfect to fit into any place. and purifies the air up to 98.5%.

PRODUCT FEATURES:

Filtron uses changeable anti-allergen filters: Three-layer composite filter, initial anti-bacterial cloth, high effiency HEPA , activated carbon cotton layer and cold

PRODUCT BENEFITS:

Being comfortable in sizes, Filtron has touch control and intelligent switch not to spend a lot of time to set it up. Comfortable to use along with a simple and elegant

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design. Being comfortable in sizes, Filtron has touch control and intelligent switch not to spend a lot of time to set it up.

AVAILABILITY:

This product is available at firm’s website and retail in different options; FiltrOn: Smartest Air Purifier for USD 74, Filtron: Changable Filters X3 for USD 15, 2X FiltrOn: Early bird for USD 126 and, 4X Filtron: For all Family for USD 245

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Sun King Home250-32”HD LED TV with Solar Power Backup Product Brief:

TV runs on both grid electricity and solar power to provide uninterrupted run time. The TV can run on solar power alone for 7 hours after charging to 100 percent, & comes with an STB Junction box to connect your regular set-top box with.

PRODUCT FEATURES:

32” LED solar TV with remote control - 20W Solar Panel with 12-metre wire - Control Unit -STB Junction Box Tube light with wall-mounted switch Warranty Card - User Manual.

PRODUCT APPLICATION:

Solar Television

PRODUCT BENEFITS:

With the Home 250 digital HD LED TV, you will enjoy great sound quality every day. Charge your phone faster by using the Home 250 USB charging port with 5V/2.1A fast charging. The Universal TV Input port makes it easy to connect your HD LED TV to any input device.

AVAILABILITY:

This product is available at amazon.in for Rs. 24,999.

Legion Solar 5 - Permission Free Energy & Lithium PRODUCT BRIEF:

Legion Solar is a simple do-it-yourself solar system with battery storage and off grid power with artificial intelligence (AI), installs in minutes, and for one-third cost of traditional solar. Legion Solar is designed for anybody with any skill level to setup.

PRODUCT FEATURES:

Compared to the traditional solar rooftops Legion Solar is easy to install; all you need to is, (i) install inverter (ii) place solar panel under sunlight (iii) plug in to power outlet (iv) install solar regulator (v) launch LegionSolar App. Legion Solar works with your existing rate program to simply drive your consumption down resulting in simply a lowered electric bill. Legion Solar

need no permission for installation. It is not necessary to seek interconnection permission pertaining to utility company approved grid-tied solar systems. Bluetooth interface allows you to monitor your energy production and consumption, check system health, diagnostics and more via the LegionSolar App for Apple/Android.

PRODUCT APPLICATION:

Legion Solar provides energy delivered straight to your door without the unnecessary costs giving you up to 3x faster ROI.

PRODUCT BENEFITS:

Legion Solar makes financial sense and outperforms nearly all other investments. Legion Solar also outperforms nearly all other forms of energy in long term energy

value. It makes clean energy PROFITABLE for you with ZERO emissions. High efficiency A Grade polycrystalline cells delivers unsurpassed price/watt performance with a 30 year service life.

AVAILABILITY:

This product is available at firms and retail as well. The “Starter Set Deluxe+OffGrid+Lit” for USD 1,999

EyeCube- Solar - Powered Wireless Security Camera PRODUCT BRIEF:

The solar-power system from a huge size into the size of an apple. With this portable size camera, it is never easier to install and travel with it. Consistent monitoring has never been this easy.

PRODUCT FEATURES:

Compared to conventional cameras, which come in large shapes and require

complicated installation, EyeCube is smaller but keeping all features with perfect functions and able to absorb sunlight 270° with easy installation and uninstallation. The built-in 3000 mAh battery would allow the camera work well for more than 3 months without any cable charging. The PIR low consumption mode. It allows the camera to only be activated when something appears within the capture range, and only consumes 30-40 mAh per day.

PRODUCT APPLICATION:

Solar - Powered Wireless Security Camera

PRODUCT BENEFITS:

The EyeCube camera is designed to be a multifunctional with features including 120° wideangle. Place your EyeCube in a convenient place for quick and easy surveillance. High adaptability allows EyeCube to fit in different scenarios while remaining the convenience of installation.

AVAILABILITY:

This product is available on the website and retail at INR 13,086.

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Research Analyst, Global Power & Renewables- IHS Markit

Sr. Manager, Strategy & Business Development- Statkraft Statkraft is a leading company in hydropower internationally and Europes largest generator of renewable energy. The Group produces power out of hydro, wind, solar, gas-fire and supplies district heating. Statkraft is a global company in energy market operations and has over 3600 employees in 17 countries.

IHS Markit maintains a substance-free workplace; employees may be asked to submit to a drug test (where permitted by law). In addition, as a federal contractor in the United States, the company participates in the E-Verify Program to confirm eligibility to work.

JOB LOCATION: New Delhi JOB DESCRIPTION: He/she will be a resource for Statkraft India for Business Development activities within India. The role represents a unique opportunity for personal and professional growth by being part of the team involved in Business Development activities in India.

JOB LOCATION: Gurgaon JOB DESCRIPTION: This Research Analyst will

ROLES: • Lead strategy and business development opportunities across renewable technologies. • Monitor market intelligence within the industry in terms of market development, new projects, competitive activity, new customers etc. • Lead origination, screening and local coordination of M&A pursuits. • Support the greenfield development teams in project conceptualization, internal approval processes, financial evaluation. • Project manage new initiatives, selected development/asset management/commercial activities in collaboration with teams based in India and globally.

be an important member of our research team, supporting analysis of global power market trends and geographic expansion of the global service. The Research Analyst will conduct research on power projects and transactions, as well as contribute to global analysis and reports.

ELIGILBILTY CRITERIA: • An undergraduate degree in a science, engineering, economics or other quantitative field. • A strong background in the power sector. • Aptitude for statistical analysis. • Keen attention to detail. • Strong team player who can work across geographies and time zones. • Excellent English communication (reading / writing / speaking) skills • Primary research / journalistic skills including ability to cold-call investors, developers , and engineering companies and ask questions are a plus.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: • Ability to manage teams and complex strategy projects. • Experience in strategy formulation, business planning and implementation. • Well-rounded experience in renewable M&A transactions in India. • Understanding of Indian electricity sector and specifically, renewable energy sector including wind, solar, hydro and emerging technologies. • Prior experience in managing/working with cross-cultural teams. • Ability to represent Statkraft and imbibe the Statkraft way. • Good communication and IT skills. • Overall 10+ years of professional experience in renewable power industry, of which the last five years should have been in strategy, M&A, business/commercial development. • Degree in engineering/business/economics/mathematics from a reputed Institute/ University with preference for Master’s in business/finance.

APPLY AT: https://statkraft.easycruit.com/intranet/linkedin/ vacancy/2623647/164029?soruce=Linkedin

APPLY AT: https://careers.ihsmarkit.com/job. php?id=R15724

Procurement Team Leader-Siemens Technology India Smart infrastructure from Siemens makes the world a more connected and caring place – where resources are valued, where impact on the world is considered, where sustainable energy is delivered reliably and efficiently. A collection of over 379,000 minds building the future, one day at a time in over 200 countries. We’re dedicated to equality and we welcome applications that reflect the diversity of the communities we work in. All employment decisions at Siemens are based on qualifications, merit and business need. Bring your curiosity and imagination, and help us shape tomorrow.

JOB LOCATION: Goa JOB DESCRIPTION: • The incumbent shall be responsible

to lead, coordinate, manage and develop a team. Ensure efficient, cost-effective, and compliant processes along the entire value chain as well as export control and customs requirements. • Analyze, derive and implement procurement strategies, managing and negotiating with suitable suppliers as well as awarding and conclusion of procurement contracts. • Manage, plan, operate and control Strategic Procurement (Plan, Source, Make, Deliver, Return) of the value chain - within and across O-GIS factory - for fulfilling customer orders and for sustainable improvement of performance and costs.

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL D EC E M B E R 2 02 0 SAURENERGY .C O M

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: • University degree in engineering along with knowledge of SAP and Supply Chain Management , MS Software and other analytical tools. • Experience required :15-20 Years • Knowledge of procurement methods and strategies and implementation of procurement strategies. • Strong Leadership, people management and people development skills and proven experiences • The incumbent should have experience to work in matrix organization.

APPLY AT: https://jobs.siemens.com/ jobs/232397?sourceType=PREMIUM_ POST_SITE&source=LinkedIn(Wrap)

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