Saurenergy International Magazine October Issue 2020

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October 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 02 | TOTAL PAGES 56 | PUBLISHED ON 1ST OF EVERY MONTH

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SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL VOL 5 | ISSUE 02

GROUP EDITOR

Prasanna Singh prasanna@meilleurmedia.com

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From the

Group Editor SAUR ENERGY

DIRECTOR

Prateek Kapoor prateek@meilleurmedia.com

EDITOR

Manas Nandi manas@meilleurmedia.com

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Ayush Verma editorial@meilleurmedia.com

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DESIGN HEAD Sandeep Kumar

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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.

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his month, it’s instructive to consider something strange that has been going on at a key electricity regulator, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC). For those who might be unaware, this regulator, which adjudicates on appeals against state level judgements, besides any petition involving central government power undertakings and much more, has effectively been shut down since August end. And the reason is not Covid. The shutdown (or orders to proceed on leave to the two members) was delivered by none other than the country’s top court, with the Supreme Court taking the action after discovering that the member of law, as it had mandated in 2018, had still not been appointed here.

After two more hearings, the status has only been more status quo till at least November end, as the government, despite its assurances in August and the hearing in September, has failed to close the process of appointment. If ever an example as needed about the red tape that constantly trips up India’s power sector, then this example should suffice.

All the players involved are supposedly those above petty worries and interests, in other words, central bodies. And yet, doing anything in a matter of weeks has simply proved to be beyond them.

Of course, eventually a member will be found, and duly appointed, allowing the CERC to restart, though with the backlog it has accumulated by now, noone is going to be happy for some time to come.

That, in essence has been India’s solar story in the past year, with promises failing to convert to action, and action, when it finally comes, leaving stakeholders unimpressed, as they have already been under the pump for long.

So we decided to focus on the future instead, where we do have a positive story to tell. We look forward to your feedback as always! Pls send it to editorial@meilleurmedia.com .

Stay Safe.

PRASANNA SINGH Group Editor

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CONTENTS VOL. 05, ISSUE-02

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Policy and Legal

MNRE Drafts Policy to Promote DRE Livelihood Applications in Rural Areas

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Modules

RenewSys Expands Manufacturing Capacity at Facility in Bengaluru

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EV Updates

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Reports

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Finance News

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Storage

23

Innovations

40

Opinions

30

Milestone

44

Projects and Tenders

DHI Invites Proposals for Development of EV Charging Infra on Major Highways

CCI Approves Acquisition of AGE’s Solar Assets by Adani-Total JV

Total and Google Cloud Effort Spawns Solar Mapper, To Gauge Solar Potential

ISA Confers the Very First ISA Solar Awards at Third Assembly

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Renewable Energy Investments can Surge 35% Through FY23 in India: CRISIL

Engie EPS Unveils Hydrogen-Based Energy Storage System in Greece

As China Starts Giant Solar Park, Four More Giant Parks For the Future

India’s RE Capacity at 89.22 GW, 436 MW Added in September: MNRE

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24 COVER STORY

Powering Solar to 2025 and beyond

12 PRADEEP CHAUHAN Country Manager, Indian Subcontinent for Solarpack Corporacion Tecnologica, SA

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JAIDEEP MUKHERJI

CEO, Smart Power India (SPI)

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MNRE Drafts Policy to Promote DRE Livelihood Applications in Rural Areas

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he Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has notified that in order to promote Decentralised Renewable Energy (DRE) livelihood applications in rural areas of the country a draft policy framework is being proposed (to be brought by the Ministry) to provide a conducive environment for development and large-scale adoption of these applications.

The ministry defines DRE livelihood applications, as applications powered by renewable energy, which are used for earning livelihoods directly such as solar dryer, solar-powered cold storage/chillier, solar charkha, etc., or which help in earning livelihoods such as solar lighting systems.

One of the main objectives for the new policy framework, as the ministry stated, is that in recent years, a wave of innovators and entrepreneurs has come up with a variety of decentralised renewable energy (DRE) livelihood applications, which are not only energy-efficient but also economically viable in rural settings.

“Modular design of such DRE livelihood applications ensures scalability without

large investments,” the ministry stated.

Need for Renewable Energy Based Rural Livelihoods There are successful pilots and business models of DRE livelihood applications in agriculture, agro-processing, dairy, poultry, fisheries, tailoring, etc., which have been tested at the field level by various agencies and have the potential to be replicated in

large quantities. However, this is still only a small fraction of the overall spectrum of livelihood activities across the 600,000 villages in India.

Against this background, there is a need to: • Scale-up the currently available DRE livelihood applications in rural areas • E xplore the development of new DRE livelihood applications in rural areas

MNRE Amends Bidding Guidelines for Procuring Power From Solar Projects

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he Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), in a gazette notification, has issued amendments to the guidelines for ‘Tariff Based Competitive Bidding Process for Procurement of Power from Grid Connected Solar PV Power Projects’.

The key amendments are: a. Minimum Paid-up Share Capital to be held by Promoter The successful bidder, if being a single company or consortium, shall ensure that its/ their shareholding in the SPV/project company executing the PPA shall not fall below 51 percent at any time prior to 1

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year from the COD [earlier 3 years], except with the prior approval of the Procurer. b. Quantum of Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) Quantum of the EMD in the form of a bank guarantee/ letter

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of undertaking to pay/ payment of order instrument, [earlier only bank guarantee] to be furnished by the bidders. The EMD shall stand forfeited in the event of failure of the Solar Power Generator to execute the PPA within the stipulated time period. c. Guarantees The Solar Power Generator shall provide the following guarantees to the Procurer in terms of the RfS and the PPA: Earnest Money Deposit (EMD), to be fixed by the Procurer, [but not to be more than 2 percent of the estimated capital cost of the solar PV power project cost, as

determined by CERC, if any, for the financial year in which the bids are invited or the estimated project cost], to be submitted along with a response to RfS, in the form of: (a) Bank Guarantee(s); OR (b) “Payment on Order instrument” / Letter of Undertaking: to pay in case situation of default of solar power generator in terms of tender condition arises, from Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA)/ Power Finance Corporation Limited (PFC)/ REC Limited (REC). [Earlier only bank guarantee(s)]

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MERC Gives Captive Power Producers Until March 2021 to Fulfill RPO Obligations

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n a further concession to Captive Power producers (CPP) in the state, the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission has allowed fossil fuel-based captive power producers and Open Access consumers until March 2021 to fulfill their renewable purchase obligations (RPO).

Taking into account the massive impact of the Covid lockdown on industries in the state and their markets everywhere, the commission also allowed the power producers the option of giving Bank Guarantee, instead of depositing the RPO shortfall amount to MEDA. This was also done keeping in mind that a writ petition challenging the RPO applicability to captive power producers is still before the state high court. An interesting clarification that was forced upon the MERC was the need to specify the calculation of the amounts. The CERC, while specifying the REC (Renewable Energy Certificate) prices in an earlier order, had set a floor price of zero, and Rs 1 per Kwh, which meant that industries could actually pay nothing, by alluding to the zero floor price. The MERC noted that the CERC order is presently stayed by the Hon’ble Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL). But to get around the anomalous situation of nil floor price of RECs, the commission clarified that in case of REC floor prices is stipulated as zero, then CPP Users have to deposit the amount at the rate of the average of floor and forbearance price of RECs. The CPPA had earlier filed a Petition in 2019 seeking rollover of its RPO for FY 2016-17, FY 2017-18, and FY 201819 to FY 2019-20. In that proceeding, the Commission noted that CPPA had filed a Writ Petition before the Hon’ble Bombay High Court seeking RPO exemption for Captive users of Fossil fuel-based Co-generation plants.

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Chandigarh Administration Targets 2400 Free Solar Installations

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n an effort to meet its solar capacity targets for the union territory of Chandigarh, the city administration has pushed out yet another scheme to drive the move to solar. The latest offer for free installation, on first cum first served basis for city residents, is under the previously approved Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO) model for buildings in the city. The Chandigarh UT has a target of generating 69 MW of solar energy by 2022.

The offer follows a petition filed by Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science and Technology Promotion Society (CREST), the nodal city agency for installation of solar photovoltaic (SPV) power plants on rooftops with the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) for the approval of RESCO model. The model operates on a Build Own and Transfer (BOT) for these plants too.

The agency website, Solarchandigarh, has

complete details on the offer. The capacity of plants covered under the offer will be 5kWp to 10kWp for residential sectors and it will be allocated on a first-come-firstserved basis. Interestingly, thanks to very low prices quoted by installers during the enlistment process, many of them have been trying to charge separately for the installation, or for maintenance, which is not allowed under the rules framed. Now, an installer approved by the agency will install solar panels without taking any money from house owners. The owners will have to give only space on the rooftop to the firm and they will get electricity at Rs 2 per unit less than the existing rates for the next 15 years even if the electricity rate increases. After the completion of the fixed period, the company will hand over the solar plant to the owner. The firm will recover the cost by selling the energy produced from the plant to the grid.

Committed to Advanced Technology and Replace Coal-Fired Plants: RK Singh

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nion Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy RK Singh has affirmed that India is strongly committed to its renewable energy targets and that it is constantly working towards advancing the technology that is adopted for the expansion of its renewable sources.

Speaking at the virtual “India PV Edge 2020” symposium, the minister said that future energy bids would be planned to encourage manufacturing using the advanced and latest technology. He also said that the ministry (MNRE) is committed to electrifying the economy and greening the electricity and pointed out the ambition of green transport and clean cooking based on electricity.

“India has the largest renewable energy growing capacity in the world. India had promised on the sidelines of COP-21 that by 2030, 40 percent of the country’s energy capacity would be from non-fossil fuel sources. We are already at 38.5 percent and by 2030, 60 percent of our energy capacity is expected to be from non-fossil fuel

sources,” he said.

The symposium was organised by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), the government think-tank NITI Aayog and Invest India.

Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog said “India should innovate in every part of the value chain and strategically collaborate with global innovators to take a generation leap in solar PV manufacturing. I urge the Indian solar industry and research labs to focus on new technologies like direct wafer manufacturing, hetero-junction, tandem cells, and biaxial modules.”

In his speech, the minister also said that India is planning to replace retiring coalfired power plants with renewable generating capacity in a bid to cut the nation’s carbon footprint. “The addition of RE capacity will continue due to two reasons, one because the country’s power demand is growing and another due to replacement gradually phasing out traditional power generating systems with renewable energy systems,” he said.

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India and France Re-elected President & Co-President of ISA at 3ard Assembly

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he Third Assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), held virtually on October 14, 2020, was attended by 34 ISA member ministers, 53 member countries, and 5 signatory and prospective member countries. During the assembly, India and France were re-elected as the President and Co-President of the alliance for a term of two years.

Along with the re-election of India and France to the leading roles, four new vice-presidents were also chosen to represent the

four regions of ISA. The representatives of Fiji & Nauru for Asia Pacific Region; Mauritius & Niger for Africa Region; UK & Netherlands for Europe and others Region, and Cuba and Guyana for Latin America and Caribbean Region assumed the vice presidency.

The assembly also approved the initiatives of the ISA Secretariat in institutionalising ISA’s engagement with the private and public corporate sector through the Coalition for Sustainable Climate Action (CSCA). Ten public sector organisations in India presented a cheque for 1 million USD each at the assembly.

Addressing the assembly, President of the ISA assembly, India’s Power and New and Renewable Energy Minister, R.K. Singh, appreciated the Alliance Members coming together to work for combating climate change. He welcomed the seventh initiative on heating and cooling to be introduced for discussion in the Third Assembly.

In his speech, Singh said that solar energy has come a long way in the last 5 years and is now the fastest-growing energy source globally. He said, “solar energy is already contributing around 2.8 percent of global electricity, and if trends were to continue, by 2030, solar will become the most important source of energy for electricity production in large part of the world.”

MEDA Allowed to Get Rs 2.25 to Rs 2.52 for Wind Projects With Expired EPA’s

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he MERC (Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission) has allowed, with conditions, MEDA’s demonstration wind projects, which had outlived their EPA (Energy Purchase Agreement) period with MSEDCL, to earn revenues on the basis of MOU’s with the state discom.

The Commission accorded approval to proposed power procurement arrangement between Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited and Maharashtra Energy Development Agency from demonstrative projects at Rs.2.25 for Group-1 projects and Rs. 2.52 for Group – II and III projects on long term basis through MoU route till the useful life of the project i.e. 25 years as per provisions of RE Tariff Regulations, 2019.

Group 1 projects typically had EPA’s for a longer tenure. However, such tariff was made applicable with prospective effect only after signing of EPA’s. Thus energy supplied by these projects from 2019 till date would not be compensated for The MERC also specified that the

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Maharashtra Energy Development Agency shall deposit revenue earned from sale of electricity from these Wind Projects during this extended EPA period in separate account and such amount shall be used for O&M related expenses of these projects and balance amount needs to be used for setting up of new demonstration projects . The Wind Power procured from these projects shall be eligible towards fulfilment of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution

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Co. Ltd.’s Non-Solar RPO for the respective periods.

The price of Rs 2.52 had been discovered after an earlier plea by MSEDCL where it had requested for extension of PPA’s with wind energy projects that had expired. On a request for 500 MW of purchases, it had received a response for only 7 MW on offer, at the said price, which had been accepted by the commission, as it was still lower that the prevailing prices.

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State Commission to Conduct Hearing on Mumbai Power Outage on Oct 21

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he Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) has said that it will be making a suo motu hearing on the Mumbai power outage on October 21, 2020. The rare citywide power outage that paralysed Mumbai on October 12, 2020, halting suburban train services, trapping people in lifts, and disrupting work-from-home adopted by millions during the ongoing pandemic, will be discussed during the e-hearing.

The Commission said it has received a preliminary report about the grid failure from the Maharashtra State Load Dispatch Center (MSLDC) explaining the antecedent conditions, the sequence of events, affected load, and status of recovery of the system, etc. In its preliminary report, MSLDC has stated that the detailed report will be submitted after a thorough analysis of the occurrence and collection of exact data from all the stakeholders, MERC said, asking the Center to submit the same at the earliest.

MERC has also got the preliminary

reports from Tata Power Company – Generation, and Adani Electricity Mumbai – Distribution, but other transmission licensees, distribution licensees, and users are yet to submit the details. At the hearing, the commission plans to discuss reasons for the occurrence of the outage, if the standard protocol was followed to restore the grid and reasons for the delay in

restoring, response of all the stakeholders, if the islanding system operated as envisaged, priority accorded while restoring and also ways to prevent a reoccurrence of the same, as per the notice.

The notice was sent to state-run electricity distribution and transmission companies, Tata Power, Adani Electricity Mumbai, BEST and railways officials.

Power Minister Iterates Plan To Overhaul Regulation, Enforcement Soon

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ndia’s power ministry is pushing for an overhaul of electricity regulation and enforcement of contracts in order to stem losses of the state-run distribution companies that have burdened the sector. On solar imports, plans afoot to draw up a list of approved manufacturers for allowing imports.The weak financial condition of distribution companies hurts their ability to pay producers, which in turn affects investments and credit in one of the world’s leading energy consumers.

Speaking at a webinar arranged by The Economic Times, Power Minister R.K. Singh said that the sector has traditionally suffered because state governments put pressure on regulators to not raise electricity tariffs to reflect prudent costs and they are unable to override this because they are state appointees.

“Discoms get short charged

because they are in a weaker position. And then there are inefficiencies between billing and collections” he said.

“The problem is that if you (states) appoint a regulator he does what he wants you to do. I am adding to clauses of powers of regulators to remove them. If there has been a violation of law or gross dereliction of law then he can be removed,” he said.

Singh said that regulators will be mandated to look at power tariffs every year and will be subject to scrutiny. Separately, the government will also set up a body for enforcement of contracts. Distribution companies often delay payments to producers.

Already only about four to five regulators are not looking at examining power tariffs regularly.

The southern state of Tamil Nadu has not raised tariffs since 2017, Singh observed. India has 30 states and all of them have their own distribution company.

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Cost Reduction In Storage

is Key For the Next Level of Solar Growth

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Pradeep Chauhan, Country Manager, Indian Subcontinent for Solarpack Corporacion Tecnologica, SA, the Spanish solar firm making waves finds himself in focus, after his firm made a record low bid of Rs 2.36 to win a 300 MW share at a SECI Auction this year. Solarpack, which has been bidding, and growing aggressively in multiple markets, has prided itself on its profitability focus despite operating in such a competitive market.

We caught up with Pradeep to get a view on how the firm sees the market in India.

PRADEEP CHAUHAN Country Manager, Indian Subcontinent for Solarpack Corporacion Tecnologica, SA

Tell us about the background to your record Rs 2.36 bid in June for 300 MW. Should we expect more of the same, or was that a one off?

Pradeep Chauhan: We believe the auctions

conducted by SECI are highly successful in attracting huge interest from domestic and international IPP’s/Developers due to various factors like bankability of PPA, ISTS connectivity, SECI’s own payments track record and successful functioning of the projects awarded by them in last many years. Process transparency is another factor. We have been developing projects in India since 2015, but going forward, we want to select larger scale projects under central schemes, which offer definite advantages in terms of lower risk compared to discom PPA’s, scale of the project, grid availability, preference of lender to finance such project. Tariff’s discovered during auctions are generally the derivatives of factors like lending rates & financial liquidity, modules pricing, timeframe of the project which provides certain incentives or applicability of duties etc. Each auction has its own ingredients, hence it is not feasible to predict any trends across different auction programs or agencies awarding the project, we believe that the project awarded to Solarpack is very much viable at Rs 2.36/ Kwh and development of this project is progressing in right direction and very well advanced, which shall be commissioned within the PPA timeframe. Further, we are evaluating new opportunities to participate for similar capacities in coming months to expand our pipeline in India and we hope to present our best offer with most viable tariff as per the prevailing market & tender conditions.

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Do you see bid prices trending down even further, or will there be a halt or even an increase, as the government and industry looks to shift to higher quality too?

Pradeep Chauhan: Solar electricity tariffs are

very highly dependent of two major input, Modules prices and Lending rates, both of them are very volatile and dynamic in nature and hence the tariff also fluctuate with them. However, even though there may be slight increase of discovered tariff from one bid to another bid, solar power remains the most affordable source of electricity to the end buyers. I do not foresee any cost increase due to BIS certifications or other certifications being implemented by India on the imports or domestic products as we always choose the best quality products and installation standards, as some have predicted. I do not believe that in large capacity projects any developer chooses low grade products, so certifications as a qualification to supply is welcome as long as the process of these certifications are transparent and do not lead to delay in shipments, as such kind of scenarios may lead to projects delays. It has been noticed that BIS certification of imported solar components and modules are taking extraordinarily long time. Indian Solar Industry growth is hampered by lack of transparency in the approvals for very long and dilemma of intermittent policy changes such as Safeguard Duty & Basic Custom Duties, ALLM (Approved list of Models and Manufacturers) etc. (Editor Note: The deadline for ALMM list for solar passed on September 30, 2020)

You recently shared news on possibly the biggest bifacial module solar plant being developed by Solarpack in India. Tell us more about this project.

Pradeep Chauhan: With the evolution of PV technology from Poly

Silicon based cells to Mono/Monoperc and Bifacial, it has become possible to increase the overall efficiency of Plant and reduce the surface footprint required for the same capacity otherwise. We are evaluating bifacial modules which suits better for soil conditions in certain parts of the country such as Rajasthan and Gujarat with higher albedo effect.

(Note: Albedo effect refers to the measure of reflectivity of a surface)

I do not believe that in large capacity projects any developer chooses low grade products

We believe that there is visible transition happening in the PV industry in last few years from 330Wp to higher rating 400Wp plus modules going upto 600Wp. We would like to be very adaptive to different technologies in the PV space for development of high quality assets. Since gain from bifacial modules application is very site specific depending on the ground conditions, it become more important to measure site specific GHI & Albedo for better yield estimation and presenting to lenders as a bankable project with this type of products which might be new to their criteria.

As a market focused on low costs, India has had the strange situation of growing without major suppliers, like solar trackers, for instance. If the market indeed shifts to better quality and higher CUF requirements, what are the big changes we can expect, besides the entry of solar tracker suppliers.

Pradeep Chauhan: Indian market has been very price sensitive

and competitive with desire of achieving lowest possible cost in all aspects and this is true across industry. Hence is becomes highly critical to work on cost effective solution affordable to masses, here in Solar Industry the opportunity is to provide cost effective and affordable electricity, we are just trying contribute in a small way in the overall ecosystem. In my opinion trackers systems have not achieved scale of domestic production and reduction of cost to match the other advancements eg. Modules capacity has grown almost 3 times and prices reduced to 40% in last five years, similarly for inverters. Trackers have simply not kept pace.

How do you see India progressing on its 2022 goal of 100 GW for solar , and in the long term, 450 GW of renewables by 2030? What will need to be done to get there?

Pradeep Chauhan: To achieve the highly ambitious 100GW goal

upto 2022, it was very important to remove policy hurdles and bring uniform states wise policy for approvals, which has not been attempted. Also there have been few missed opportunities and gear changes in last 3 to 4 years such as GST implementation, currency demonetisation, safe guard duty and now COVID 19, later upcoming BIS/ALLM/BCD. However I am hopeful that notwithstanding some slippage on the deadline India will reach 100GW installed capacity, as evident from the auction trends and the pipeline of projects created in last 1 year On a longer horizon of 450GW Renewable by 2030, it will need consistency in policy and infrastructure such as Solar Parks, Transmission Network upgrades. Also key is the availability of high quality human resource trained specifically on Solar Technology and related infrastructure, availability of domestic solar cells/modules, other BoS (balance of systems) items production ramp up. This long term goal will need enormous capital from oversees investors. We see India as a very long term market that can grow consistently even

with some intermittent disruptions. Thus, the key will be to invest early in development, cost reduction of storage technology and production as mass scale, as without storage renewable energy growth cannot be unleashed for next levels.

Any views on the next big trigger for rooftop solar in India ?

Pradeep Chauhan: We as IPP are completely focused globally in

utility grid scale market in India, on generic view the rooftop industry looks like having difficulties in many areas such as financing to residential customers, net metering policies inconsistencies and barriers applied by certain state discoms/regulators. Rooftop segment can achieve higher growth with implementation of virtual and group metering policies with simplified process of connection to grid.

Vis a vis India’s solar ambitions, what does Solarpack plan to achieve by 2022, and beyond in India?

Pradeep Chauhan: We as company are focused on healthy returns

for our investors and development of a profitable projects pipeline for future growth in multiple geographies, I hope in the coming year Solarpack will be among the global leaders in Solar Energy.

In the tender where Solarpack won 300MW with its 2.36 bid, we saw multiple European players do well too. How much does access to historically low interest rates play a part in that success?

Pradeep Chauhan: As we have seen various international players participated in most of the tenders alongside domestic players, however specifically in the recent auctions international players have been successful due to lowest corporate tax applicability & dividend distribution tax changes on these projects for the new manufacturing incentives including Power Generation, in addition to the attractiveness and growth potential and stability Indian Power Sector provides. Looking at the future growth pipelines and national targets in Renewable Energy Sector, we can expect continued interest of global players.

Has the delay in notifying additional basic customs duty helped you and similar firms who won recent bids in any way? Have the PPA’s been signed finally, as we understand they were delayed for various reasons.

Pradeep Chauhan: LoA/Agreements that were awarded and signed

before the new duties shall not be affected as the provisions of change in law allows to maintain the same conditions as on date of proposal submission, hence any change afterwards shall be considered as change in law to provide pass through in the tariff change.

There have been some delays due to COVID 19 period overhang, PPA signing is in process as we understood from bidding agency and shall be signed shortly.

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DHI Invites Proposals for Development of EV Charging Infra on Major Highways

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he central government has invited proposals for installation of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations from entities that intend to build and operate EV charging infrastructure on major highways and expressways in the country. The Department of Heavy Industries (DHI) has floated an Expression of Interest (EOI) inviting proposals from government organisations, PSUs (State/Central), stateowned DISCOM, Oil PSUs and similar other public and private entities to build and operate Public EV charging infrastructure.

Proposals have been invited from interested entities to build and operate EV charging infrastructure on the Mumbai – Pune, Ahmedabad-Vadodara, Delhi – Agra Yamuna, Bengaluru – Mysore, Bengaluru – Chennai, Surat – Mumbai, Agra – Lucknow, Eastern Peripheral and Hyderabad-ORR Expressways.

Similarly, proposals have also been invited from entities for highways including

Delhi – Srinagar, Delhi – Kolkata, Agra – Nagpur, Meerut to Gangotri Dham, Mumbai – Delhi, Mumbai – Panaji, Mumbai – Nagpur, Mumbai – Bengaluru and Kolkata to Bhubaneswar.

The last date for submission of proposals in response to the EOI is December 7, 2020.

The selected developers/ installers will have a period of 9 months from the approval of the projects to complete the work on the

installation of the chargers. A total of 1544 EV charging stations have been envisaged under the EOI to be deployed along more than 15,000 kms of highways and expressways.

As per the EOI, at least one charging station out of every four to have either a minimum of one 50-kW CCS II or CHAdeMO chargers alongside one 15-kW DC001 charger. The document also specifies for at least one charging station in every three to have a 100-kW charger.

Under Phase-II of the FAME India Scheme, the Government of India (GoI) intends to support the development of EV charging infrastructure by extending capital grant to organisations for promoting the use of Electric Vehicles (EVs). While a spreading charging network will support EV growth , even more important might be ensuring that all manufacturers ensure their vehicle batteries are fully compatible too.

SECI to Empanel Agencies for Development of Electric Mobility Space

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he Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has issued an Expression of Interest (EoI), inviting proposals from eligible firms for the identification and implementation of business opportunities in the electric/ transformative 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 objective 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 stated that one of its objectives includes the

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promotion of new technology and the development of demonstration projects that reduce carbon emission.

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.

It added that it has also been working effectively for decarbonisation (i.e. reducing dependence on fossil fuel like diesel, kerosene oil) by way of RE sources. And that having uniquely positioned in the renewable energy space, SECI intends to enable the greening of transportation through powering/complementing with RE and through further development of the electric mobility ecosystem.

Unless extended, the empanelment will be for a period of three years which shall be subject to regular reviews/ modifications. And around 3-5 agencies will be empaneled.

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E-Bike Startup Ultraviolette Raises Capital From GoFrugal in Series B

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lectric motorcycle startup Ultraviolette Automotive has announced that it has raised capital from GoFrugal Technologies as part of its Series B funding round. The firm, however, did not disclose the amount of the funds raised from GoFrugal in the B round. In a statement released by the firm, it states that backed by a team of strategic investors such as TVS Motor Company, GoFrugal Technologies and Speciale Invest, Ultraviolette Automotive is looking to scale-up its operations in the immediate future by way of expanding the team, investing further in research and development (R&D) and building manufacturing capabilities. Kumar Vembu, CEO of GoFrugal Technologies, along with Special Invest have been early investors in the Chennai-based company.

“Kumar Vembu, who has been an early investor in the company during the Series A funding has joined this round of investment along with TVS Motors to support Ultraviolette Automotive’s vision of transforming the future of electric mobility in the country,” the company said in the release. TVS Motor Company had last month announced an additional Rs 30 crore investment in Ultraviolette Automotive as part of the Series B Funding, taking its total stake in the EV startup to 29.48 percent. Ultraviolette Automotive had unveiled its highperformance electric motorcycle F77 in November last year. The company is now gearing up for the launch of the bike in the market, Ultraviolette Automotive said in the release. Interestingly, competitor Hero MotoCorp has also gone the same way with an investment into two wheeler EV startup Ather Energy , where it has a 35 percent stake. “Kumar Vembu has been a long-standing partner in our journey towards building a superior EV experience in India and we are thrilled about his continued support in this round of investment as well,” said Narayan Subramaniam, Founder and CEO, Ultraviolette Automotive Pvt Ltd.

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Uber Partners With Lithium Urban

to Deploy 1000 EVs in 5 Cities

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uring the lockdown in India, blue skies replaced smog above city skylines and pollution levels declined dramatically, a stark reminder of what life could be like with less traffic and cleaner air. Aligning itself with this vision, Uber has announced that it is partnering with Lithium Urban Technologies, India’s largest electric vehicle (EV) fleet operator.

The association will deploy over 1,000 electric vehicles (EVs), all sedans, across Uber Rentals and Premier in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune over the coming months.

The firm stated that “so far, we have already deployed more than 100 of these electric sedans, such as Mahindra eVerito and Tata Tigor EV, on our platform.

Lithium’s charging hubs in these cities have the capacity to charge multiple cars

and buses simultaneously. They also have fast and slow chargers installed at multiple sites across these cities. While a fast charger can charge a sedan in 90 minutes, a slow charger can do that in 8 to 9 hours.”

After its partnerships with Yulu, Mahindra and SUN Mobility, this is Uber’s fourth partnership in this space that underscores its long-term commitment to providing smarter mobility, building greener cities and creating healthier lives.

This is also in line with its recently announced global commitment to make all rides on its platform 100 percent emissionfree by 2040 through zero-emission vehicles and the integration of public transport and micromobility. Over the next 12 months, the firm stated that it is committed to scaling up to 2,000 EVs on its platform, including the Lithium EVs.

Electric 2-Wheeler Sales Down in

H1 2020, Recovers in Sept to 72%: SMEV

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he electric two-wheeler industry is showing signs of recovery in September, after the first half of the year failed to cross even 10,000 units sales mark during the April-September period, according to the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV). About 7,552 high-speed electric two-wheelers were sold between April and September, according to data from SMEV. This does not include the sale of low-speed two-wheelers that do not require registration. This low number was lower by a quarter compared to last year because of the disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic even after doubledigit growth during August and September.

“One of the main reasons for stagnant sales is attributed to customers not able to buy products due to COVID-19, which led to lockdown in the country. However, the industry has been quickly able to enter the positive curve soon after the government

announced the unlock process,” said Sohinder Gill, director general of SMEV. The central government subsidises the cost of electric vehicles for buyers under the second phase of its Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME-II), with benefits directly linked to the battery size on these vehicles.

However, while the sales of high-speed electric two-wheelers declined by 25.6 percent between April and September 2020 on the back of the coronavirus-induced lockdown, the month of September saw a 72 percent year-on-year increase in sales in this category, said the SMEV At the end of September, Hero Electric accounted for 35 percent of the market share with sales of 2,629 units. Okinawa had a 24 percent share after selling 1,836 units. Ather Energy sold 941 units during this period, for a market share of 12 percent.

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Toyota-Panasonic JV to Begin Production of Prismatic Lithium-ion Batteries

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rime Planet Energy & Solutions, a joint venture (JV) company of Toyota Motor Corporation and Panasonic, has announced that it will begin production of prismatic lithiumion batteries for hybrid vehicles in Tokushima Prefecture of Japan.

To this end, the firm has announced that it will establish a new battery production line within the existing Tokushima factory of the Energy Solutions Business Division, Industrial Solutions Company, Panasonic Corporation. The company stated that “as electrification of automobiles is a must in tackling environmental issues such as global warming and air pollution, the global electric vehicle market is expected to continue growing rapidly.

This expansion in production capability

is a step that allows Prime Planet Energy & Solutions to handle the growing demand for prismatic lithium-ion batteries for hybrid vehicles.”

The production line at a Panasonic factory in Tokushima prefecture will have enough capacity to build batteries for around 500,000 vehicles a year, the firm has confirmed.

The JV started operations in April 2020 as a joint venture for automotive prismatic batteries (owned 51 percent by Toyota Motor Corporation and 49 percent by Panasonic Corporation). The concept was first imagined in December 2017, when Toyota Motor Corporation and Panasonic Corporation agreed to start studying the feasibility of a joint automotive prismatic battery business.

It was announced that the JV will develop highly competitive, cost-effective batteries that are safe and feature excellent quality and performance (in terms of capacity, output, durability, etc.), enabling use with peace of mind by all customers. Furthermore, the joint venture will supply batteries not only to Toyota but also, broadly and stably, to all customers.

EV Startup Etrio Enters Electric 3-Wheeler Segment With new Launch

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trio, one of India’s fastest-growing electric vehicle (EV) startups with the aim of electrifying intracity logistics has expanded its product portfolio with the launch of its new electric 3-wheeler range of products under the brand name “Touro”.

Catering to the small cargo segment, the two new variants will be focused on intra-city logistics especially in last-mile delivery applications. The passenger variants of the three-wheelers will be rolled out soon. The company raised funding of USD 3 million, last month to facilitate these launches.

The firm stated that the brand, Touro, is derived from the Portuguese word Toro which means ‘a bull’.

The design philosophy, thus, emulates the attributes of a bull such as strong stability, unmatched power, immense load carrying capacity, relentless work ethic and intense focus. Touro comes with bull inspired signature front grille and Etrio’s manufactured brake drums. The company takes pride to announce that the entire Touro family is going to be completely localised making it eligible for central and state government subsidy.

Commenting on the announcement, Deepak MV, Co-founder & CEO, Etrio said,

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“With the launch of Touro, we now have added new electric vehicles to our portfolio of retrofitted products. We are on a mission to electrify Intra-City logistics and bring the widest range of electric vehicles tailor-made for this segment. With Touro, the customer has dual benefits of operational cost savings of almost 70 percent and unmatched comfort to the driver through a gear-less, smokeless and noiseless ride. We have built a product that delivers top performance in terms of range and volumetric capacity coupled with robust safety and stability standards.”

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CCI Approves Acquisition of AGE’s Solar Assets by Adani-Total JV

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he Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the acquisition of solar energy generation assets of Adani Green Energy Ten Limited (AGE10L) by Adani Green Energy Twenty-Three Ltd (AGE23L), under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002.

AGE23L is the joint venture (JV) jointly controlled by Total Solar Singapore and Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL).

AGE23L (through its subsidiaries) is engaged in the business of solar power generation in India.

The assets proposed to be acquired consist of (i) TN Urja Private Limited; (ii) Essel Urja Private Limited; (iii) PN Renewable Energy Limited; (iv) PN Clean Energy Limited; (v) KN Indi Vijaypura Solar Energy

Private Limited; (vi) KN Bijapura Solar Energy Private Limited; (vii) KN Muddebihal Solar Energy Private Limited; (viii) KN Sindagi Solar Energy Private Limited; (ix) Essel Bagalkot Solar Energy Private Limited; and (x) Essel Gulbarga Solar Power Private Limited (collectively referred to as

target companies). Adani Green Energy Ten Limited (AGE10L) is the holding company of the target companies.

The assets which are being transferred to the Adani-Total JV have a combined solar generating capacity of 205 MW, and are located in Punjab, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.

The 10 assets that are being transferred are part of the 205 MW portfolio that Adani Green Energy recently acquired from Essel Green Energy Private Limited (EGEPL) and Essel Infraprojects Limited (EIL).

Adani Group Chairman, Gautam Adani, commented, “India continues to be one of the most attractive markets for clean energy globally. We are delighted to expand our partnership with Total and are committed to growing our renewables JV platform with them. This step is in line with our ambition of achieving 25 GW of renewable power capacity by 2025 and becoming the world’s largest renewable power company by 2030.” Total had invested Rs 3707 crores or a 50 percent stake in the JV

Wind Energy arm of CLP India Raises Nearly Rs 300 Crore via Green Bonds

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LP Wind Farms (India), the wind energy subsidiary of CLP India, has announced that it has raised Rs 296.9 crore through non-convertible debentures/ green bonds.

“CLP Wind Farms (India) Private Ltd, a subsidiary of CLP India Private Ltd (CLP India), has raised Rs 296.9 crores through the issuance of rated, secured, unlisted, redeemable and non-convertible debentures. Standard Chartered Bank and DBS Bank India are the arrangers for the bond issuance for a tenure of two to three years,” a company statement read.

The firm has announced that the proceeds from these green bonds will be utilised to refinance loans used for projects in the field of renewable energy from wind sources. The move will help the firm sustain the expansion of its renewable energy portfolio in alignment with the company’s vision to invest in low carbon footprint businesses. CLP India is one of the largest wind power developers in the country with committed wind projects of close to 1,000 MW across six states. In 2015, CLP Wind Farms (India) was the first mover in South Asia to issue corporate green bonds in the power sector. It is owned by the CLP Group, one of the largest investor-owned power businesses in Asia, and Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, a leading Canadian institutional

fund manager. “The issuance of these green bonds will enable us to strengthen our low-carbon portfolio and explore new opportunities in renewables on the back of our strong partnership with Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ). We are committed to generating and providing reliable power at competitive prices in a sustainable manner in order to be an integral contributor to India’s green economy,” Rajiv Mishra, MD – CLP India said.

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Tata Power Provides Update on InvIT for its Renewables Business

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ata Power, in its latest regulatory filing, has stated that as a part of its growth strategy, the Company has taken several steps to deleverage the balance sheet and improve the capital structure including the creation of an InvIT for its renewables business as laid out in the firms’ previous press release which was issued on July 2, 2020.

As an update on this process, the Company has issued that it has • Already made an application to SEBI for in-principle approval for creation of the InvIT, • Anchor investor(s) in the InvIT have started their due diligence of the assets proposed to be transferred to InvIT, • And the firm expects to sign the binding documents in the next few months.

The firm has clarified that the necessary board and shareholder approvals will be sought on finalisation of the binding agreements.

“Creation of the InvIT will provide a suitable structure for the Company to expand its renewable business as laid out in its FY 25 strategy. The Company is progressing on setting up of the InvIT as per the initially laid timelines and is confident of completing this transaction in this financial year,” the firm stated. In July, the firm had stated that it is working on a strategic turnaround plan to strengthen the fundamentals of the Company through a mix of divestment and business restructuring that will deleverage the balance sheet and improve the capital structure of the Company. Praveer Sinha, CEO & MD, Tata Power had said at the time, “the Board’s in-principle approval for setting up of an InvIT is another important step towards restructuring the renewables business and unlocking value.”

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Scatec Solar Acquires SN Power, Building a Global Leader in RE

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orwegian firm Scatec Solar has signed a binding agreement to acquire 100% of the shares in SN Power, a leading hydropower developer and IPP, from Norfund for a total equity value of USD 1,166 million. SN Power has hydropower assets across SouthEast Asia, Central America and Africa. The acquisition forms an important part of Scatec Solar’s broadened growth strategy, with an ambition to become a global large-scale player in solar, hydro, wind and storage solutions, and an integrator of highvalue infrastructure solutions.

Scatec Solar and SN Power have a unique and complementary portfolio of assets, geographical footprint and capabilities, and will together hold a large project pipeline across solar, hydro, wind and storage.

The combined company will have 450 employees, power plants in 14 countries and gross 3.3 GW of plants in operation and under construction. When all plants are in full operation from early 2021, the median annual production is expected to be 4.1 TWh.

Dutch Development Bank FMO Invests $5 Million in Husk Power

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ihar-based Husk Power Systems, a next-generation power company operating renewable energy minigrids in Asia and Africa, has announced that Dutch entrepreneurial development bank FMO has invested USD 5 million in the company. The financing was also accompanied by FMO spotlighting Husk Power CEO Manoj Sinha as an “energy disruptor” in its latest publication, FutureMinded. FMO Principal Investment Officer, Keesjan de Kruijf said “FMO considers minigrids as the key to unlocking a successful rural distributed energy sector, both off- and underthe-grid, as it brings affordable and reliable clean

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“Hydropower and solar PV are complementary technologies, resulting in new project opportunities, for instance floating solar on hydro reservoirs. With this transaction we see great potential in broader project origination and geographical expansion into growth markets in South East Asia and Sub-Sahara Africa. SN Power adds scale and significant cash flow from operating plants and will raise stakeholder value; benefiting customers, employees, shareholders, business partners and the societies in which we operate,” says Raymond Carlsen, CEO of Scatec Solar.

“Norfund’s investment in SN Power has contributed to job creation, improved living conditions and avoided carbon emissions. By mobilising private capital in SN Power, we can recycle significant funds for new investments, demonstrating the effectiveness of using development aid to invest in clean energy in developing countries,” says Tellef Thorleifsson, CEO of Norfund.

power to MSME’s and residential customers in rural areas in developing markets. Especially the 24/7 consistent supply of power is seen as key by MSME customers in reliably supporting their businesses for further growth. “Husk’s relentless drive for cost efficiency and customercentric business model ensures it is able to position itself both competitively and profitably, both of which are key enablers to truly scale this solution.” The USD 5 million investment from FMO, which was deployed from its Infrastructure Development Fund, followed a USD 20 million investment in 2018 by Shell, Swedfund, ENGIE Rassembleurs D’Energies. “We are

honoured to have FMO as an investor and partner in Husk Power,” said Sinha. “Not only will the investment be a catalyst for Husk to achieve its ambitious minigrid rollout plan, it gives us a partner with deep knowledge and experience in scaling innovative energy technology companies like Husk Power to focus on promoting productive uses of energy.” Husk was the first firm to use biomass gasification using rice husk to generate electricity for rural areas in 2008. That earned the firm much goodwill and fame, something it has built on smartly to expand into more areas, while serving its original rural audiences everywhere.

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Sunrun Completes Acquisition of Vivint Solar Creating 3 GW Conglomerate

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unrun, a leading provider of residential solar, battery storage and energy services, has announced that it has completed its acquisition of Vivint Solar which was initially announced on July 6, 2020. This follows approval by regulators and stockholders of both companies. With the transaction complete, Sunrun solidifies its position as the leader in home solar and energy services across the United States and a top owner of solar assets globally with more than 3 gigawatts (GW) of solar energy and more than 500,000 customers.

“Welcome, Vivint Solar employees and customers,” said Lynn Jurich, Sunrun’s CEO and co-founder. “Together, we will provide affordable, reliable and clean electricity at an exciting new scale. With our compelling services, millions of

homeowners will rewire their homes with solar and batteries to enjoy enhanced comfort and affordability. The combined company benefits from the broad market reach and differentiated consumer

offerings. A lower-cost structure from the greater scale will accelerate the transition away from polluting and unreliable fossil fuels.”

The company issued in a statement that

“Sunrun will be a meaningful contributor to a fully renewable and electrified energy system. Its growing fleet of solar homes and batteries will be networked to provide greater benefits to the grid and energy consumers. Generating energy at the point it is used reduces the need for dirty energy being produced far away that is increasingly expensive to transmit. Our customers have already and will continue to help shut down inefficient carbonproducing power plants.”

Over the coming months, product offerings will be transitioned to offer customers the best solutions, including expanded access to Sunrun’s leading Brightbox rechargeable battery solution which enables homeowners to power through grid outages.

IIM-Tiruchi’s 2 MW Solar Plant Rings in Savings For Institute

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he Indian Institute of Management, Tiruchirapalli (Tiruchi) inaugurated its 2 MW solar plant early this month. With this, the country’s 11th IIM became the first to have such a large scale solar plant to power its campus.

Started in 2011, IIM-Tiruchi took support from the Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC) by securing a ₹14.2 crore financial assistance to set up the 2-megawatt solar power plant.

The plant was finally inaugurated by Sanjeev Kumar Gupta, Chairman, Managing Director, REC Ltd. The plant has delivered savings of over 70 percent on the institute’s monthly power bills, at Rs 7 lacs, after

evaluation. It’s a figure the institute expects to go up significantly, as formal classes in the institute restart by November possibly, increasing the power load requirements. A 2 MW solar plant should could

potentially deliver around 240,000 to 250,000 units per month for anyone in the region.

For IIM -Trichy, paying commercial rates to the state discom, cost savings could easily cross Rs 12-15 lacs per O CTO B ER 20 20

month accordingly.

It has long been a contention of this publication that all large government funded educational institutions need to be mandated to shift to solar where they can. Not only is the financial case stronger than ever, there is also the issue of thousands of government schools and other educational institutions that are still getting very poor quality of grid power.

Institutes of eminence, like the IIT’s and the IIM’s, besides large central universities, have been granted generous swathes of land that could be put to much better use by adding solar power where possible. At New Delhi’s IIT for instance, total solar plants of over 1 MW have been installed to support its energy needs.

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I N T E R V I E W

We need to increase our per capita energy consumption three-fold Jaideep Mukherji, CEO, Smart Power India (SPI), has been a strong advocate of access to reliable electricity for the last mile. SPI, a subsidiary of The Rockefeller Foundation, was established in 2015 to develop and scale sustainable models to accelerate electricity access and spur economic development amongst the rural underserved communities. In recent years, SPI has been actively engaged in working towards realizing the goal of 24 x 7 electricity for all through various initiatives, consisting of grid and off-grid solutions. We spoke to Jaideep on the developments and outlook for the sector.

Give us an update on the status of SPI projects in India?

Jaideep Mukherji: Smart Power India, a subsidiary of The

JAIDEEP MUKHERJI

CEO, Smart Power India (SPI(

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Rockefeller Foundation, was established in India in 2015 with the aim of extending power to those without sufficient access to reliable and quality electricity. Our vision is to drive economic progress by ensuring reliable electricity is accessible for all, especially among the underserved communities in rural India. Today, more than 300 renewable energy mini-grids cumulating to 9.2 MW of capacity, supported by Smart Power India, have been set up across Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand. This is the largest such cluster in India.

Our efforts and interventions in ensuring reliable and quality electricity for people have led to the following positive changes in the rural communities: • Providing electricity to 321 villages in India across the states of U.P. Bihar and Jharkhand, impacting over 250,000 people • Serving over 237 electricity-based micro-enterprises which have been directly incubated by SPI across these 321 villages • SPI has also supported mini-grid sector’s policy engagement to align narratives between government, investors, and energy service companies.

• SPI is also now working towards improving the quality of on-grid electricity supply and services in rural areas in collaboration with the state governments and DISCOMs Mini-grids have been set up to supply electricity to small, localized groups of customers and operates independently from the national transmission grid. Mini-grids can work both in rural and poorly served urban areas as well. However, mini-grids have been mostly set up in rural areas where grid-connected electricity has not reached yet. Our focus, in the last 5 years, has been on rural communities where, by providing access to reliable electricity, we also strive to spur economic development.

What is the revenue model for the mini-grid model currently? Does it consider households, or small enterprises as well? How does SPI itself fund its projects? Is there a breakup between owned and external funds?

Jaideep Mukherji: The revenue model for mini-grids is similar

to that of the traditional electricity suppliers. The mini-grid operators regularly bill their household and commercial customers as per the amount of electricity consumption. But in unregulated markets where a fixed tariff system does not exist, mini-grid operators determine the tariffs. An appropriate retail tariff ensures the commercial viability of mini-grid projects and also helps protect the interests of the consumers. However, there is no standard tariff system that can be applied to all contexts as technology, investment and geographical conditions vary from region to region. But it is preferred that mini-grid operators and regulators together should decide the tariffs that are suited to local economic and social situation. Both households and small enterprises are part of the mix.

SPI’s funds are channeled through The Rockefeller Foundation.

Are the mini-grids serving a supplementary tole as energy providers, or primary providers of energy access in your projects?

Jaideep Mukherji: A mini-grid is a set of small-scale electricity

generators and energy storage systems interconnected to a distribution network with a capacity of more than 10kW. It supplies electricity to a small, localized group of customers and operates independently from the national transmission grid.

Mini-grids help provide last-mile electricity in areas where traditional grids have not been able to reach, or where power supply is unreliable and unstable. They help serve a variety of customers including private households, small businesses, and agricultural loads.

While mini-grids have been used as an off-grid solution to provide energy, they can also be connected to the government grid and feed in their surplus renewables-based electricity.

Integrated mini-grids are a cost-effective and timely solution for meeting the energy demands of India. In short, they can be both a primary provider of electricity where grid-connected power has not reached and play a supplementary role where electricity supply is unreliable.

How has Covid-19 impacted operations, plans, and funding?

Jaideep Mukherji: As lockdown affected the grid-connected

electricity supply, mini-grids provided reliable power. Even though mini-grid services remained disrupted in areas under containment, consumer satisfaction continued to be high.

Despite the services, MGOs suffered major losses in revenue collection as many customers could not pay their electricity bills on time. The revenue collection in April was only 25% of the MGOs usual monthly average. We were fully aware that lack of employment and subsequent shortfall in income will definitely affect the customers’ ability to pay the electricity bills. As a result, all ESCOs deferred their bill collection during lockdown period and communicated with the consumers through their registered mobile numbers.

While the government is making real steps to privatize distribution, it seems to be keeping rural areas /agriculture out of such efforts for now. Does that augur well or poorly for such areas?

Jaideep Mukherji: I feel Government of India has made great progress in revolutionizing the power sector. India is today the third largest producer and consumer of electricity in the world.

In 2018, it achieved universal household electrification. But there are a number of systemic flaws that continue to hold us O CTO B ER 20 20

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back from providing reliable power for all. Distribution companies have been reeling under mounting financial stress for a long time in the country. A major part of the problem lies with the distribution companies. Privatization of distribution companies, to a great extent, will help us address these issues. For example, metros like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad have privatized distribution companies. This has, over time, led significant improvement in electricity supply.

Rural India continues to remain in the dark either because electricity has not reached yet or because electricity supply is unreliable. But privatizing distribution companies will address these issues, provide reliable electricity to millions of rural households at affordable rates and will help in spurring economic activities.

However, I believe that models of electricity service and delivery should be sustainable, scalable, and market-based, and engaging private sector companies based on the principles of true partnership – shared risks and gains to achieve a triple-win outcome: a win for the DISCOMs, a win for the franchisee, and a win for the customers.

Jaideep Mukherji: The Union Budget 2020-21 emphasized the

How do you see per capita power consumption going up?

Do you see that as a key challenge at all for SPI? Jaideep Mukherji: According to International Energy Agency,

With the electricity amendment bill failing to make it to parliament this session, do you see that as a major setback?

Jaideep Mukherji: India’s power sector is awaiting to start a new

India’s per capita consumption of electricity in 2017 stood at 1.12 megawatt hour, as against China’s 4.55 mwh and the US’s 12.57 mwh. India’s per capita energy consumption is very low as compared to the world average. The Economic Survey 2018-19 also pointed out that India lags behind significantly in energy usage. We need to increase our per capita energy consumption three-fold to realize our economic potential. China’s economy began to expand when its electricity consumption increased.

However, a major problem that holds us back from improving the per capita electricity consumption is the unreliable nature of electricity supply. Access to reliable power plays a key role in increasing the per capita power consumption and encourages prospective customers to take new connections. Mini-grids, to a great extent, have addressed this gap and are seen as provider of reliable electricity. A recent survey conducted by Smart Power India during lockdown showed that while rest of India faced challenges with electricity supply, mini-grid villages continued to receive reliable electricity.

This is one reason that has endeared rural customers to mini-grid services.

I believe low per capita electricity consumption is a major issue that India is grappling now. At SPI, our efforts have been to provide access to reliable electricity for all. We aim to impact millions of lives by accelerating electricity access among the rural community.

We believe that meaningful electricity access goes beyond provision of electric connection, encompassing the predictability and quality of power, as well responsive consumer service.

Do you see any scope for linkages between what SPI does and say, the PM KUSUM scheme, which has a huge component of off-grid solar pumps too?

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use of solar energy for agricultural purposes under the PM KUSUM scheme. The Finance Minister hinted at allowing 20 lakh farmers to set up standalone solar pumps, besides supporting 15 lakh farmers to solarize their grid-connected agricultural pumps. The scheme also encourages farmers to set up grid-connected solar power generation capacity on fallow and barren land. The new focus on off-grid solutions to meet the energy need in rural India is a great initiative. At SPI, we have been travelling in the same direction wherein we aim to provide reliable electricity to rural communities and help them meet their electricity needs.

In recent years, we have noticed that with the availability of reliable power, rural communities have been able to improve their economic performance, leading to increased agricultural output, small-scale business activities and improvement in healthcare facilities. Although there is no direct linkage between SPI’s work and that of PM KUSUM Scheme, both share a common objective, that is, providing reliable electricity to rural households and spurring economic activities.

journey in the post pandemic world where the sector is expected to receive a lot of policy support. I believe the Electricity Amendment Bill 2020 will be a progressive step in this direction and help the sector improve its overall performance.

With mission water now taking center stage after power For All till 2019, do you see a need to align with or opportunities with the energy requirements bringing clean water to everyone will entail? If yes, what are you looking at?

Jaideep Mukherji: I believe both the missions are interrelated

in some way. In 2018, India achieved universal household electrification. There is a close linkage between clean drinking water and energy. A large number of the global population today does not have access to clean drinking water. An estimated 2.5 billion people drink contaminated water. However, today we have technologies and water filter systems that can purify water. This has led to many governments and businesses recognizing the close linkage between water and electricity. As one of the most populous country with a large number of people still deprived of clean drinking water and reliable electricity, it was the right time to shift the focus from electricity to water.

Grid-connected power is expensive and unreliable. As a result, we cannot rely on it for water purification processes. Water treatment requires steady supply of electricity that can be used for multi-step purification process. As a next critical step in its mission of providing clean drinking water to all, India needs to ensure access to reliable and affordable electricity. Reliable electricity will play a crucial role in providing safe drinking water for all.

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Total and Google Cloud Effort Spawns Solar Mapper, To Gauge Solar Potential

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rench energy major Total and Google Cloud from Google have pooled their expertise to jointly develop an innovative tool, Solar Mapper, which aims to accelerate the deployment of solar panels for individuals (B2C) by providing an accurate and rapid estimate of the solar energy potential of their homes, first in Europe and then worldwide. The tool seeks to bring the small, residential segment tools that were hitherto unavailable, due to cost issues or lack of expertise at the small installer level.

Solar Mapper uses brand-new artificial intelligence algorithms that provide better results than current tools, especially by improving: • the quality of the data extracted from satellite images; • the sharpness of the estimation of the solar potential; • the relevance of the technology to be installed; • the global geographical coverage of the tool.

In the case of France, Total’s home country, Solar Mapper provides more than 90% geographical coverage, allowing many more people to assess the solar potential of their homes, with greater accuracy than before.

“Solar Mapper will enable Total to faster deploy solar panels on the houses’ roofs, in order to provide its customers with more affordable and more accessible solar energy,” explains Marie-Noëlle Séméria,

Total’s Chief Technology Officer. “By combining Total’s expertise in solar energy with Google Cloud’s expertise in artificial intelligence and databases, we were able to develop an attractive and innovative offer together in just 6 months.”

In addition, Total plans to develop a B2B application of Solar Mapper, dedicated to industrial and commercial buildings and installations. Solar Mapper is contributing to the Group’s ambition to become a world leader in the production of renewable energies, toward getting to net-zero emissions by 2050 together with society.

Fill Solar Jobs Advertise with the most read solar magazine in India.

To advertise, get in touch with girish.mishra@meilleurmedia.com

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Powering Solar to 2025 and beyond The Technologies and Interventions That Will Drive Solar

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or the global solar sector, the pandemic hit home much earlier than it did for many other sectors.

For even before global lockdowns became the norm, China’s early lockdown in late January, followed by other cities subsequently, was sufficiently disruptive for global shipments of solar equipment, of which China is a source for closet to 70 percent or more.

The surprising fact however is that the final toll, when it is taken by the end of 2020, is likely to be much lower than estimated in the first half of the year. Mainly due again to a faster than expected bounce back in China, not to mention the stress on ‘green recovery’plans in many large markets, especially the European union. In markets like India too, efforts were made to protect the sector by placing it under the exempt category from lockdown measures, although the measure had very limited impact, thanks to the large scale disruption the broader lockdown and the worker migrations it triggered off have caused.

The net result is that 2020 is likely to see a drop over 2019, but not by as much as feared. From a beginning of the year prediction of just over 140 GW of capacity additions globally in 2020, the latest predictions place capacity additions this year at just over 100 GW. That is well below 2019’s figure of 114.5 GW capacity additions, but below a hit of over 20 percent, as was feared in the middle of this year. The new capacity additions in 2020 should also take total global solar capacity to 730 GW. In fact, an IRENA report last year projected solar PV growth to 2840 GW by 2030, and 8519 GW by 2050. A 4x growth over 2020 numbers, and in 2050, just under 12 times. If that happens, solar is supposed to be the second largest electricity source after wind, providing 25 percent of power globally. Even the IEA’s World Energy Outlook Report 2020 places Solar as the new ‘King of Electricity’, displacing coal. A process that has already seen it overtake coal in terms of investments, worldwide.

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Everyone Agrees, Solar to Have Largest Capacity So what will be the big drivers powering the next phase of solar growth? We looked at various factors, and our researchers, after a lot of diligence, have come up with these five solar drivers without which, most of these projections could not just miss their targets, it could have massive implications for global targets on emissions reduction and decarbonisation of the power grids too.

Solar To have Largest Capacity by 2050

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1. Technology, Especially Storage: It is no secret that technological improvements that came with fresh innovations and scale have been the primary reason behind the growth of solar. A large part of these improvements have been on the manufacturing side, that has allowed costs to slide by 82 percent over the past decade, according to renewable Industry body IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency).

That has made solar power the lowest cost energy source today, where the right policy and ground conditions have merged, says the other global energy body IEA (International Energy Agency). But that hardly guarantees continuous growth for the next decade.

Solar’s next decade requires sustained technology breakthroughs, be it in module efficiency, inverters to manage it all, and perhaps most importantly, storage technol-

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ogy. The issue of recycling will also emerge in due time as a key issue.

Global research agency WoodMac (Wood Mackenzie), in its Solar PV Module Technology Report 2020, highlights three key technologies that will drive the push for lower costs. Larger wafers, n-type cells, and cell- and module-level techniques. Wafers in the new M6, M10 and G12 formats have been singled out, with some of the largest manufacturers on course to start building them by the end of this year or early in 2021. The report points out that M6, M10, and G12 wafer-based modules will reach 28GW, 63GW, and 59GW in capacity respectively, by the end of 2021. By 2025, the production capacity of modules using M10 and G12 wafers is forecasted to exceed 90GW, making them the dominant technologies by manufacturing capacity.

Wafer sizes, besides offering higher power output and efficiency, are also proving to be an easy manufacturing transition from the existing M0, or 156 mm side length cut, that has been used with a 200mm ingot for a long time now. The M12, for instance, has a side lenth of just 210 mm for the ingot.

Predicted market share trend in mono-Si wafer sizes. Source: ITRPV 2019 Report author Dr. Xiaojin Sun says that “Multiple industry alliances have been formed since early 2020 to ensure the entire solar ecosystem evolves to support the adoption of large modules. If the industry’s efforts bear fruit, we forecast that large module shipments in 2021 will account for approximately 40% of the total shipment of crystalline silicon modules. By the end of 2025, modules made with wafer sizes smaller than M6 will phase out of the market.”

TOPCon (Tunnel activated passivated contacts) and HIT modules are also in focus , for their performance and efficiency under extreme heat. One reason some of the earliest large projects using them have been set up in the middle east. In TOPCon modules, a nanometer scale layer of silicon oxide along with a thicker polycrystalline silicon layeris inserted between the silicon wafer and metal contacts. These layers reduce charge recombination between the wafer and the contacts, leading to a higher carrier lifetime and resulting in a conversion efficiency boost of around 0.5%. Moreover, the temperature co-efficient of n-type cell technology’s , at -0.32%, compares well to -0.37-0.39% for the more dominant p-type. That makes the combination a favourite with bifacial modules, the emerging technology that is expected to be 40 percent of global installations by 2025. Right now, there is a production challenge to surmount, while keeping costs low, that is keeping volumes here low. But not for long.

For India, which is making a massive push for more manufacturing capacity, it is important to start on the right foot by ensuring he new capacities are good blend of existing ‘economical’ and these future technologies too.

At the ISA (International Solar Alliance) organised First World Solar Technology Summit in September, Professor Eicke Weber, Chairman of the European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC) spoke about the transition from 2nd generation (PERC) to 3rd generation (Passivating Contacts – HJT) high-efficiency technologies (graph). And that with this transition, we will witness the efficiency of panels increasing from the 20-21 percent to high 24 and even 26 percent in a few years. He went to to cite tandem solar cells as even more disruptive, which will be the fourth generation of technology that will utilise the breakthrough Perovskite materials for bumping up efficiencies beyond even 30 percent.

Another area with huge impact is likely to be storage. Here, the possibilities are massive, both in terms of storage in front of the meter (generator end) , and storage that is behind the meter (user end) . For instance, a sharp drop in storage costs could easily change the dynamics for end users, or behind the meter consumers, as they could potentially produce a significant amount of their energy without going through the grid (meter) at all. While hybrid solar+storage projects have started being bid out in India, its still early days, as no significant project is scheduled to come online this year, or possibly even next year. Developers have also been given enough flexibility in both supply conditions for round the clock supply bids, along with a choice of storage technologies, which means the largest hybrid project for now (won by Greenko group) is going to use pumped storage.

2. Floating Solar: Land has always been a sticking point for solar parks, and is set to become an even bigger issue for India in particular.

From Rajasthan to Madhya Pradesh to Gujarat and Ladakh, rumblings of discontent at issues related to land, have already started.

With an average of 5 acres of land needed for every 1 MW of grid scale solar, the maths of finding the land for the next 200 GW might be far more complicated than most people imagine. Which is where floating solar comes in.

Floating PV (FPV) is being widely touted as the third pillar of solar, after utility scale solar and rooftop solar. It also occupies a broad middle ground, for capacities ranging from 25 Kw to upto 100 MW possibly. The advantages of FPV’s are well known, in avoiding/saving land, offering slightly higher efficiencies due to the cooling effect of water, and surprisingly, lower offtake or transmission costs for large plants, which are being considered on reservoirs linked to large hydro electric plants with established transmission systems.

Interestingly, unlike land based PV plants where other use cases like agriculture are still being explored , FPV’s in many cases have not disrupted the eco-system they operate in, allowing activities like fishing or even fish farming to be continued.

The biggest challenge with floating solar, higher costs- has also proved to be relatively short lived, as costs have closely followed land based solar plant costs, finally staying about 15-20 percent higher, a number that is acceptable considering the other advantages it brings.

All this has been achieved with an existing global installed capacity of just around 2.5 GW for FPV’s.

Currently, Asia is supposed to be the hub of new FPV capacities, with just China (3GW), Japan, South Korea(2.1 GW) and India(1.2 GW) having a project pipeline (tendered and projected) of over 6 GW to 2025. That might not sound like a lot, but it could ramp up very fast O CTO B ER 20 20

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depending on further cost reductions, or even bigger land acquisition troubles, not to mention positive reports from the first of the larger projects due to come online from 2021 onwards in China, and later, South Korea. For India, plans like the large plant on the Rihand Dam reservoir, if they perform to expectations, would do much to encourage a larger shift to use the country’s many large and small water reservoirs for power generation.

3. Solar Integration at Building Stage: One could argue that this could be covered under policy, but there is much more to this than just a couple of years back. Today, with the progress that has been made with BIPV (Building Integrated Photo Voltaic) , and the promise of innovations like solar windows, policy action will simply be the icing on the cake.

The Building and construction has so far been playing catch up with the many other changes in the rest of the economy, especially when it comes to digital connectivity and energy use. However, the sector remains the most vital for its energy impact. At building industry meets in India, it is not uncommon to hear the line “ 80 percent of the buildings of 2050 are yet to be made”. That figure takes into account not just replacement and normal expansion, but the transition of a much higher share of our population to urban areas. Power consumption and demand should shoot up when that happens, especially for hitherto small segments like cooling. Yes, cooling, which is estimated to account for almost 20 percent of energy consumption by 2050, thanks to global warming, and its heightened impact in urban areas.

A 2019 report by the IEA and United Nations backed Global Alliance for Buildings And Construction states that “the buildings and construction sector should be a primary target for GHG (Greenhouse Gas)emissions mitigation efforts, as it accounted for 36% of final energy use and 39% of energy- and process-related emissions in 2018”.

At this year’s SNEC show at Shanghai, solar firms paid special attention to BIPV offerings, seeing the potential and better margins it offers. Leading firms like LONGi Solar, JinkoSolar, Talesun and Arctech Solar launched BIPV products at SNEC 2020. JinkoSolar showcased a coloured BIPV curtain wall made up of five colouring schemes, namely black, blue, purple, red and green, to offer a broader aesthetic for BIPV, that should help designers use it more.

Longi on the other hand launched its first pre-fabricated BIPV product from a brand new line, formally marking the company’s entry into the integrated BIPV market.

Much like Solar power itself till about 2015, BIPV is also close to overcoming issues of high cost, low output, and missing regulation.

With virtually all three gradually falling into place over the past few years, especially across North America Europe, and now China, the BIPV segment is finally moving into the spotlight. Larger, sturdier solar panels offering higher output, that have been hitting the market this year, have only added to the possibilities here. BIPV systems compensate for other limitations of utility solar, by using existing building infrastucture (no land requirement), being able to produce even facing multiple directions (all round the building), and now with bifacials, even using internal light to produce some power. They can even compensate for the high initial cost through savings in building materials required for a BIPV roof for instance, or by providing better thermal insulation.

Beyond BIPV systems, we of course have innovations that are still to go to market, but offer huge promise for buildings. Solar shingles, where solar panels are designed to look like conventional roofing

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materials, while also producing electricity have been around for some time now, although costs are a big factor still.

Researchers at the US Energy Department’s NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory), for instance have progressed well on what is called a thermochromic photovoltaic, or a ‘solar window’.

This window both changes colour to block glare and reduce unwanted solar heating on hot days and also allows the formation of a functioning solar cell that generates on-board power. This enhancement of the previous version can support multiple colours and a broader range of temperatures that drive the colour switch. That translates to more design flexibility for better building aesthetics as well as better energy efficiency for owners. Considering the immense new energy demand for cooling, such innovations could quickly go from an option to mandatory, if they progress well. Funded by the department’s Building technologies Office, expect a prototype by 2022.

4. Policy Changes: Supportive policy has been one of the key reasons solar has travelled the journey that it has. If it was high subsidies in Germany and elsewhere that enabled investments into manufacturing and research

through the 90’s and the first decade of this century, since 2015, it has been the dramatic support in China that has driven the sector.

Generous state subsidies, and lower costs of manufacturing meant that ‘made in China’ equipment dominated global markets on the basis of low prices and more than acceptable quality, as Chinese manufacturers learnt fast. An open market in the US also helped, and lately, the support it has received, from emerging markets like Australia and India, where utility scale solar got a massive boost. But the same policy moves can stifle the next level of growth too.

For starters, with solar power able to compete with other sources on its own now, subsidies are virtually a thing of the past. After subsidies, even government guarantees of payment for generators are being phased out now in some markets like the middle east. In India, as we have highlighted before, there are multiple issues that have turned into solar speed breakers. From the high ‘stranded’ capacity

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of thermal and gas power plants, to low power demand growth, to contractual obligations that have locked in discoms with other power producers, solar faces some serious challenges.

In India, the very health of the overall distribution system, or the discoms that run it, is a major stumbling block, as we have highlighted earlier. Nowhere is this exemplified better than the abysmal performance in solar rooftops, where despite very attractive prices today, adoption remains painfully slow. Mostly attributable to discom reluctance to push it. Maharashtra actually offers a case study on how to throttle solar rooftop , as we have covered in SaurEnergy earlier.

Building codes that have been voluntary until now might need to be made mandatory, in terms of both energy use, consumption and efficiency, to drive changes faster. The phasing out of solar subsidies might need to be replaced with some incentives for retrofitting existing buildings to be more energy efficient and generate at least a share of their own energy.

India’s huge air pollution problem has already brought the issue to the fore, but no effort has been made to target the energy sector through this critical large consumer for change.

5. Grid Innovations For Effective Solar Integration: A check of the daily reports at Power System Operation Corporation Limited (POSOCO),which handles load despatch functions for India, shows the share of renewables in the national energy mix moving from a low of six to barely 10 percent. This, when total renewable energy capacity for variable renewable energy, which is fundamentally solar and wind energy, is edging close to 85 GW. And has must run status.

Clearly, there is a mismatch that is leading to wastage, curtailments or more, with costs borne by consumers.

The answer, many believe, lies in storage batteries. Which is why we stressed on the need for battery costs to drop fast, for the impact it can have. In Delhi, Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (DDL) inaugurated its first storage battery last year in March. The 10 Mwh battery is being used for used for peak load management besides deviation settlement mechanism management. Based on the current

dominant standard, Lithium Ion technology, the battery essentially remains a short term, quick discharge option for now. Even the Central Electricity Authority has stated that storage at the right price will help ensure grid stability, lower power purchase costs, smoother demand spikes and ensure better integration of an increasing renewable energy contribution to the national grid.

Projected Penetration of Solar Power in Grids, by Country Initiatives like the green energy corridors (GEC), meant for agricultural use, where these parallel medium to low voltage grids run exclusively on green energy or solar power for farming use, are also one way to manage the nature of power supply from renewables. In India, where power for agriculture is frequently subsidised using much more expensive thermal power, this also offers a real possibility of a solid return on investment once the initial costs of the grid and renewable energy plants is recovered. In states where subsidy is 100 percent, the period mentioned for a full return of investment is as low as 5 to 6 years, according to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

Other measures to ensure a better integration with grids could mean spread out of the time of day pricing for energy, based on demand and supply of renewable energy. Add to that the possibilities being discussed with an ever larger Electric Vehicle (EV) feet to influence demand and even supply by plugging into the grid when not in use and supplying power, and you have a future that has as many answers as the questions being thrown around today about grid stability.

Progress with technologies and devices like Static VAR Compensators (SVC’s) that provide fast reactive power potentially allow grid operators to increase power transfer capability and improve overall grid stability when fed a high proportion of relatively unsteady renewable power.

Conclusion: For India specifically, there is absolutely no doubt that every single one of these key drivers for solar, has made only baby steps.

Be it technology, where we are still doing a slow transition away from polycrystalline modules, to relatively tiny FPV’s that have actually been commissioned, to next to nothing on building regulations that can make energy generation or efficiency a key outcome. Similarly, rooftop solar has been virtually throttled, by routing the process through discoms with zero interest to resentment against it. On the battery storage and even grid front, very small steps have been taken, even as we are quickly reaching a stage where big leaps will have to be attempted. Much more than just meeting solar targets depends on it.

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ISA Confers the Very First ISA Solar Awards at Third Assembly

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or the first time since the inception of the framework agreement of ISA, Solar Awards were conferred on countries of the region as well as institutions working for solar.

The assembly witnessed the conferment of the Visvesvaraya award which recognises the countries with maximum floating solar capacity in each of the four regions of ISA. The awards went to Japan for the Asia Pacific region and the Netherlands for Europe and other regions.

Mahendra Jain, Additional Chief Secretary to the Government of Karnataka, announced the awards named after Bharat Ratna M. Visvesvaraya to the representatives of the countries of Japan, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The winners received USD 12,330 prize money. Haryana Chief Minister M. L. Khattar announced the recipients of the Kalpana Chawla award, named after the American astronaut of Indian origin. The award recognizes outstanding contribution of scientists and engineers working in the field of solar energy. The inaugural award in this category was conferred to Dr. Bhim Singh from IIT Delhi (India), and Dr. Aaesha Alnuaimi (UAE) from Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA). The Diwakar award instituted by ISA out of the contribution made by India’s Minister for Railways and Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal of USD 25,000 received by him from the University of Pennsylvania, has been awarded to Arpan Institute (Haryana) and Arushi Society. The award recognises organisations and institutions that have been working for

the benefit of differently-abled people and have maximised the use of solar energy in the host country. At the assembly, ISA also announced the launch of ISA CARES, in response to the global pandemic. The initiative is dedicated to the deployment of solar energy in the healthcare sector in LDC/SIDS ISA member countries.

EBRD to Support Largest Renewable Energy Project in Greece

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upporting the largest renewable energy project in Greece and the largest solar energy project in southeastern Europe to date, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is investing EUR 75 million in the successful Eurobond tap issuance by Hellenic Petroleum (HELPE), a leading Greek energy group.

The total funds of EUR 100 million raised will enable HELPE to finance the construction of 18 solar photovoltaic (PV) plants with a total installed capacity of 204 MW in Kozani, Western Macedonia, the country’s most coal-dependent region.

The solar park will be built close to existing coal-fired power plants that are being phased out and is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by

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320,000 tonnes annually.

HELPE is listed on the Athens Stock Exchange, while the bonds are listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

The group aims to develop 600 MW renewable energy capacity by 2025 in order to diversify its energy portfolio and reduce its environmental footprint by 50

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percent until 2030.

Harry Boyd-Carpenter, EBRD Head of Energy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said “we are very proud to support HELPE in developing what will be the largest solar park in southeastern Europe. Greece has a very ambitious decarbonisation

plan and it will therefore need many projects of this scale to replace its existing lignite capacity. We are very happy to be part of this milestone project, led by such a strong sponsor, and support the transition of Western Macedonia towards new greener economic activities.”

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World’s Most Powerful Rooftop Solar Plant Comes Online in Europe

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VH Europe, the global headquarters of Tommy Hilfiger and the European offices of Calvin Klein, both owned by PVH Corp., has announced the installation of what is believed to be the world’s most powerful (currently operational) rooftop solar system at its state-of-the-art Warehouse and Logistics Center in Venlo, the Netherlands.

Generated by more than 48,000 solar panels, the solar rooftop system covers the Center’s electricity footprint, as well as indirectly providing 100 percent of all energy for PVH Europe’s warehouses, offices and stores in the Netherlands via the Dutch public power network.

Key Facts: • The Venlo warehouse is PVH Europe’s main distribution center covering 110,000m2.

• Awarded a BREEAM (Building Research Establishment

Netherlands.

PVH Europe’s energy partner, Eneco, has certified that all energy needed to power these buildings is generated by the new rooftop installation.

The firm stated that this milestone marks another step in its journey to procure 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources for its offices, warehouses and stores, and to drive a 30 percent reduction in supply chain carbon emissions by 2030.

This work is linked to PVH’s sciencebased emissions target aligned with the most ambitious level of decarbonisation as set out by the Paris Agreement. It is also one of the priorities outlined in the company’s Forward Fashion corporate responsibility strategy, which aims to reduce negative impacts to zero, increase positive impacts to 100 percent and improve the over 1 million lives across the company’s value chain.

Environmental Assessment Method) sustainability rating of “Very Good”.

• The world’s most powerful solar roof, with a capacity to generate 18 MWp (megawatt peak).

• Facilitated by over 48,000 highperformance solar panels.

• Fully powers all PVH Europe owned stores, warehouses and offices in the

Solis Conferred With Best Power Conversion System Supplier Award

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inlong Technologies (Solis), a global leader in solar photovoltaic string inverter manufacturing, has won the ‘Best PCS Supplier Award’ in China’s energy storage industry 2020 at the 10th China International Energy Storage Conference in Shenzhen.

“We are honoured to have won this award, which is the market’s recognition of Solis’ products,” said Sandy Woodward, Sales Director – Europe. “The energy storage segment has grown rapidly and we are expanding our solutions to ensure suitability for home energy storage systems all over the world.”

The Solis hybrid storage inverter is the best choice for integrated storage solutions connected to the grid, with this new technology it can choose the power consumption mode in real-time according to the market electricity price saving system owners money, it can also be set to run separately from the power grid helping to drive less reliance on weak

grids and promote energy independence.

This inverter is compatible with many market-leading lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries and adopts high-frequency isolation technology makings the system safer and giving it a longer life, in few words this inverter reduces the cost for

the owners and give them the security of inexhaustible energy. In July, Solis was awarded the “All Quality Matters” award for its commercial inverters Solis-(25-50) K-5G in recognition of the outstanding product quality in 2020, by TÜV Rheinland.

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Huawei Smart PV Solution Highlights Role In World’s Largest PV Plant

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n September 26, Chinese stateowned utility Huanghe Hydropower Development (“Huanghe Hydropower”) successfully connected its 2.2 GW PV plant to the power grid in Hainan Prefecture, northwestern China’s Qinghai Province. With this, the 2.2 GW project became the world’s first ultra-high voltage power line that delivers 100% renewable energy over long distances and also the world’s largest single-site renewable energy project built in the shortest construction time.

For Huanghe, the milestone project key not just in terms of size, but device selection, construction standards, and technologies. For the firm, which works with multiple partners to support and build a strong ecosystem for research and innovation, the partnership with Huawei was always going to be crucial, considering Huawei’s leadership in the inverter, and

especially the string inverter space.

The grid-connected 2.2 GW PV plant is located in Qinghai Province at an average altitude of over 3000 m. Built in five phases, it consists of 672 PV arrays with over 7 million PV modules. Three 330 kV booster

stations were constructed and string inverters were installed. The cold, dry desert like conditions were considered ideal or solar power generation.

Huawei claims to have provided 1.6 GW inverters for this project, making it the single largest supplier. As the world’s first ultra-high voltage power line that delivers 100% renewable energy over long distances, the project requires inverters with high voltage ride-through (HVRT) capability to ensure the safety and stability of the power grid. Being the first to pass the GB/T 374082019 technical requirements for photovoltaic grid-connected inverter, Huawei’s claims that its smart string inverter supports short circuit ratio (SCR) as low as 1.5, without power derating during HVRT. It can also connect to weak grids and offers fault ride-through capability, guaranteeing stable operation in various grid environments.

Sungrow Receives World’s 1st DC Arc Detection and Interruption Technical Report

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ungrow, a leading global inverter solution supplier for renewables, has announced that it received the world’s first DC arc detection and interruption technical report issued

by TÜV SÜD. The report outlines that the Sungrow SG110CX has been tested according to the newly recognized international standard IEC 63027 ED1 (draft), 82/1636/CDV, underlining the global leading position on product reliability and safety.

The arc fault is an unintended arc created by a current flowing through an unplanned path. Conventional overcurrent protective devices do not detect low level hazardous arcing currents that have the potential to initiate electrical fires. The SG110CX integrates the AFCI function, which utilises advanced electronic technology to “sense” the different arcing conditions to help reduce the electrical system from being an ignition source of a fire. Optimised for commercial and industrial PV plants, the featured product SG110CX tested to be more reliable and securer

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embraces a shipment of over 5 GW all over the world.

“We are happy to provide Sungrow with this type of technical report which gives Sungrow an internationally recognized proof that its SG110CX was developed to rigorous safety standards, preventing the loss from an arc fault,” said Hurry Xu, Vice President of TÜV SÜD China New Energy Vehicle Testing Laboratory, an international trusted partner focused on testing, certification, inspection and training.

“Our community of experts is passionate about advanced technology and delighted to contributes to a more sustainable future with partners like Sungrow,” he added.

Sungrow reported that the first batch of SG110CX enabled with AFCI function has been delivered to Southeast Asia, and more deployments are expected to come in the following months. The Company also mentioned that a wider range of its products will get certified with AFCI in the near future.

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RenewSys Expands Manufacturing Capacity at Facility in Bengaluru

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enewSys India has announced an increase in the manufacturing capacity of its Encapsulant (EVA & POE) lines to 3 GW (from its current 1.65 GW). Similarly, the Backsheet capacity is being expanded to 4 GW (from the existing 3 GW). The firm stated that these investments being made by RenewSys have been encouraged by the growing domestic solar PV industry and are based on government’s policies to promote local manufacturing (#Vocalforlocal) through various initiatives under the Aatmanirbhar Bharath Abhiyaan.

Avinash Hiranandani, Global CEO & Managing Director, RenewSys India said, “the Indian solar industry is growing at a steady pace. To be competitive, however, we need indigenous manufacturing to keep up with global advances in technology in both the PV module and PV component manufacturing areas. The Encapsulant and Backsheet components of a module have a significant role in the performance and life of solar modules.

Our investments in technology, R&D and capacity expansion will help India and RenewSys maintain the foothold we have established as a key player in the global market.” The firm started that currently it is India’s largest producer of indigenously formulated Encapsulants and Backsheets and is among the top five manufacturers worldwide. Established in 2012, the RenewSys Bengaluru facility has supplied nearly 9 GW of Encapsulants and Backsheets the world over. It houses state of the art equipment and is home to several innovations and firsts including India’s first commercially launched, UL certified POE and India’s first Backsheet patent. RenewSys Bengaluru also boasts of India’s 1st and only dedicated Encapsulant and Backsheet testing facility that is NABL accredited (#DrPV). It provides on-demand access to Project Developers and Module Manufacturers across the country.

Solex Initiates Ground Breaking Ceremony for the Construction of its 1.5 GW PV Module Manufacturing Facility near Surat, Gujarat

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few months ago, Solex Energy Limited had announced the expansion of its solar module manufacturing facility to 1.5 GW. The pandemic and the resulting call for being ‘Atma Nirbhar’ had propelled the plans of the firm for setting up the facility at a rapid pace. And on October 19, 2020, the company earmarked the commencement of this ambitious project by performing the ground breaking ceremony at its factory site near Surat, Gujarat. With this, the firm became one of the earliest to actually proceed with its plans.

The ultra-modern facility spread across 10 acres, will have the latest manufacturing technology and introduce high-quality modules delivering enhanced performance and the best generation, undergoing all stringent quality checks, according to Solex.

With the inclusion of automated processes like auto bussing, auto curing line and automatic module sorting; its assembly lines will also be fully equipped for half-cut cell, bifacial, BIPV, glass to glass as well as multi busbar cell module manufacturing.

The company will be introducing a range of modules using Mono and Multi – crystalline cells along with catering to the client’s specific requirements.

With high quality, the firm will also be eyeing exports to European & American markets, contributing its share in making India the solar hub of the world, the firm stated.

A dedicated R&D team and a high-profile in-house quality lab will be set up. Apart from the Solex brand, the company will be doing OEM for a very limited but niche set of clients with long-term tie-ups.

India can Become the Global hub for PV Manufacturing: NITI Aayog CEO

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olar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing is one of the strategic sectors announced by the government and India has the opportunity to be the global hub for this, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has said. While speaking at the virtual symposium ‘India PV Edge 2020’ organised by NITI Aayog, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and Invest India, Kant said the government is confident of building competence, capabilities and capacities, especially in the sunrise areas of growth.

“Solar PV manufacturing is one of the strategic sectors announced by the government as part of the post-COVID-19

Aatmanirbhar Bharat recovery initiative. Efforts are underway to make India a global hub for solar PV manufacturing,” he said. He further added that India with its huge market and relevant manufacturing advantages can be a gigascale manufacturing destination for the cuttingedge PV technologies across the entire value chain.

“We are at a critical juncture where India has the opportunity to be the global hub for solar PV manufacturing and are confident of building competence, capabilities and capacities, especially in the sunrise areas of growth,” he said. He also expressed hope that PV technology improvements O CTO B ER 20 20

will exceed general market expectations and will be the key anchor towards reducing solar deployment costs. Also speaking at the event, NITI Aayog ViceChairman Rajiv Kumar said India has a 31 gigawatts (GW) demand from government-sponsored schemes that require locally made solar panels and a large 300 GW target over the next 10 years. Kumar urged the PV manufacturing industry to utilise this large demand to invest in state-of-theart manufacturing lines and collaborate with startups and research institutions to continue to increase the performance of the solar panels and reduce the cost.

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Renewable Energy Investments can Surge 35% Through FY23 in India: CRISIL

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new CRISIL analysis has estimated that by stimulating global investor interest and enabling regulations, India can fuel the addition of as much as 35 GW of renewable energy (solar and wind power) capacity, involving Rs 1.5 lakh crore of investments, in the three years through fiscal 2023. Which would be a 35 percent growth over the Rs 1.1 lakh crore invested in the past three fiscals. The key of course being the ‘will’ to take advantage of such a favourable global environment. As we have seen in recent months, in India, that is easier said than done.

A push towards clean energy is driving the global investor interest in the Indian renewables

sector — as reflected in project tenders getting oversubscribed amid strong participation by global investors.

Hetal Gandhi, Director, CRISIL Research said “global investments have risen from

around 15 percent of total capital investment in fiscal 2015-18 to around 50 percent of total investments in fiscal 2018-20.

Going forward, global investments and internal accruals can generate around half of the Rs 1.5 lakh crore

investments required.”

The report highlighted that the continued investor interest also builds on sustained enabling regulations, visible through the removal of tariff caps, consistent regulatory policies, and rising renewable energy targets.

Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the ‘must-run’ status of projects had ensured continuous power off-take despite weak demand. Further, enablers such as extensions to under-construction projects helped developers deal with mobility constraints, supply hurdles and labour shortages.

CRISIL believes continued investor thrust and an enabling regulation may double the capacity-addition run-rate from the 6-8 GW projects set up annually in the past 3 fiscals.

Over 17 GW of Wind Turbine Capacity Ordered Globally in Q2 2020: WoodMac

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he second quarter of 2020 (Q2) saw more than 17 GW of wind turbine capacity ordered globally. This equates to an estimated USD 16 billion, according to a new analysis from Wood Mackenzie.

As noted in the research, Q2 2020 global wind turbine order intake decreased 45 percent when compared with Q2 2019. Despite this YoY decline, Q2 2020 order intake still represented a solid haul and exceeded Q2 order intake for 2016, 2017, and 2018.

The US and China combined for a nearly 18 GW drop in Q2 YoY order capacity. This follows a record 2019 where developers in these regions accumulated a robust backlog ahead of policy changes scheduled for the year ahead. A wave of offshore demand in the second quarter of this year, located in countries such as the UK, the Netherlands, and France, helped to lift overall turbine

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order capacity despite a drop in the US and China. Global offshore order intake captured 38 percent – or 6.5 GW – of all Q2 orders, which is an increase of 40 percent YoY. “Chinese developers ordered more than 2 GW of offshore turbine capacity for the sixth consecutive quarter, with Envision capturing 66% of Q2 demand in China. SGRE and MHI Vestas each landed more than a GW of orders in Europe for new offshore turbine models rated over 10 MW. This flurry of orders for 10 MW+ turbines in Q2 helped to lift the average rating of global offshore orders to 7.5 MW. “Developers continue to seek higher-rated onshore models to maximize site constraints, with SGRE Vestas and Nordex capturing all demand in Q2 for onshore models rated 5 MW or higher,” said Luke Lewandowski, Wood Mackenzie Research Director.

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Wind-Solar Hybrid Projects Estimated to

Reach 11.7 GW by 2023: Report

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ndia’s total wind-solar hybrid capacity is expected to grow rapidly to reach nearly 11.7 gigawatts (GW) by 2023, according to a new report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) and JMK Research.

This is a new and fast-growing market in India,” said the report’s authors Vibhuti Garg, energy economist at the IEEFA and Jyoti Gulia, founder of JMK Research.

“There is a lot of interest in the potential of wind-solar hybrid generation to better manage the intermittency problem of standalone wind and solar and to make clean power more competitive against traditional thermal plants,” added Garg.

Hybrid systems can produce more consistent power because solar power is produced during the day, while wind power is typically strongest at night. This inherent complementary nature of wind and solar power makes hybrid systems well-suited to meet energy demand, according to the report.

As the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and several state governments continue to provide incentives to promote the

building of new wind-solar hybrid projects, Garg and Gulia predict that total capacity, which is now only 148 megawatts (MW), will increase by almost 80 times in the next three years. “SECI has taken the lead by regularly coming up with large tenders to scale up market growth,” said Gulia. The government is now also planning to hold renewable energy auctions for round-the-clock and hybrid

projects instead of plain solar or wind tenders.

“Based on the tenders allotted under various central and state schemes, we expect capacity addition of wind-solar hybrid projects to reach almost 11.7 GW in the next three years, and also that it will rise at a compound annual growth rate of 223 percent from 2020-2023,” added Garg.

Over 90% Families Have Electricity Meters, Billed Regularly: CEEW

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s many as 93 percent of families have metered electricity connections and 91 percent of households are billed regularly for power consumption, as per two independent studies released by the CEEW. The studies are based on findings from India Residential Energy Survey (IRES) 2020 conducted by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) in collaboration with Initiative for Sustainable Energy Policy (ISEP).

IRES, which covered nearly 15,000 households across 152

districts in 21 states, is the firstever pan-India survey on the state of energy access, consumption and energy efficiency in Indian homes.

“93 percent of grid-electrified Indian households had metered connections and 91 percent were billed regularly according to two independent studies released today by the CEEW,” the council said in a statement.

According to the statement, the studies also found that 77 percent of grid users were satisfied with their electricity services. Further, consumer

satisfaction in the rural areas of Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal had more than tripled from 23 percent in 2015 to 73 percent in 2020.

The studies, which also examined energy efficiency in Indian households, found that 88 percent of Indian homes had LED bulbs on the back of the government’s Unnat Jyoti

by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) scheme and other state government initiatives.

Sanjay Malhotra, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Power,

said, “While a 77 percent satisfaction rate is high given the increasing expectations, a 23 percent un-satisfaction rate is also a significant number.”

“Our focus is now going to be on quality, reliability and consumer satisfaction to increase satisfaction rates from 77 percent to 90 percent and even higher. We are setting up a committee to develop a framework to rank the distribution companies. Improving satisfaction rates, and viability and sustainability of discoms is very important,” he added.

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Rooftop Solar Dodged Covid Impact In US, Record Year Ahead

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report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) posits that the US rooftop solar market is set to grow by a record level as the residential sector in the country has managed to avoid any Covid linked slowdown.

This resiliency in the sector could mean an addition of 3GW of residential solar PV capacity additions in 2020, a further improvement over 2019’s record of 2.8GW. Utility-scale PV capacity additions are predicted to go from 7.3GW in 2019 to 10GW in 2020.

The record utility scale solar additions in 2021 mean that the solar story in the US remains good. While states in the US are still warming up to utility scale, residential solar has been showered with incentives, all the way down to storage. The federal tax credit on solar roofs for instance, is almost 26 percent across the US. A key factor has also been the speed at which the industry adapted to the new realities of lockdown, by shifting to digital selling, for instance. Be it early pioneers like Tesla’s or smaller sellers and installers. BNEF predicts a 5% year-on-year growth for residen-

tial PV 2020, and 22% in 2021.

The only sector that is expected to struggle is the C&I (commercial and industrial) segment, where issues of profitability, available capital and remote working, have led to an expected 16% decline in new capacity additions this year, BNEF predicts.

The C&I segment has been a major factor

in building volume and awareness about solar as major US corporations have moved to source their energy needs from solar and wind. These firms have taken the initiative worldwide in some cases, and the tech firms in particular have some of the most ambitious targets for renewable energy additions and sourcing.

More Jobs, More GDP & Lower Emissions With Green Recovery Plans: Study

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f all major nations, including India, the US, UK, etc. developed strong plans for a green recovery from COVID-19, global annual emissions would be seven percent lower in 2030 than in 2019 and millions of new jobs would be created in the energy, transport and materials sectors.

An analysis, commissioned by the We Mean Business coalition and conducted by Cambridge Econometrics, shows how green recovery plans boost income, employment and GDP better than return-to-normal stimulus measures, with the added benefit of reducing emissions.

In all geographies modelled

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under the study, including the EU, Germany, Poland, the UK, the US and India, green recovery plans were found to be more effective than return-to-normal stimulus approaches that reduce VAT rates and encourage households to resume spending.

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The analysis models a five point ‘green recovery plan’ and a ‘return-to-normal’ plan each at an equal cost to the government.

The green recovery plan includes a (smaller) reduction in VAT and public investment in

energy efficiency, subsidies for wind and solar power, public investment in upgrading electricity grids, car scrappage schemes in which subsidies are only provided to electric vehicles and tree planting programmes.

Both recovery plans provide immediate boosts to output and employment, but the impact is consistently larger in the green recovery plan. The key findings include that the green recovery plan in the EU would result in two million more jobs by 2024 whilst a green US recovery would deliver nearly one million more jobs than a return-to-normal plan.

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Engie EPS Unveils Hydrogen-Based

Energy Storage System in Greece

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ngie EPS, has announced the unveiling of the hydrogen-based energy storage system built with its proprietary technology in Agkistro, Greece.

The Agkistro site, presented in October in an event attended by numerous representatives of Greek authorities and of the technical and academic community, has been developed in the frame of the EU-H2020 funded project entitled “Remote area Energy supply with Multiple Options for integrated hydrogen-based Technologies” (REMOTE). The project aims to demonstrate the advantages of hydrogen-based technologies for renewable energy storage in isolated and off-grid areas and has been awarded as the best renewable energy project in the Innovation section at the European Sustainable Energy Week 2020. The technology introduced by Enegie is expected to enable the Greek renewable energy player HORIZON S.A. to supply an energy independent agri-food processing unit, using

part of the produced energy from the nearby HORIZON owned hydroelectric plant to produce hydrogen, which will be then stored and used for power generation when needed.

“Engie EPS has pioneered hydrogen since 2005, and has been at the forefront of battery stor-

age and microgrids since 2012” said Carlalberto Guglielminotti, ENGIE EPS’ CEO and General Manager. “With the finalisation of the Agkistro’s plant, our hydrogen proprietary technology is now proven in 4 continents as the only available option to make microgrids 100 percent green.

For the future, we are also targeting utility-scale opportunities as system integrator and technology provider, leveraging our patented technology platform and unparalleled hydrogen and storage experience for our Industrial Solutions product line.”

Sterling and Wilson Wins Solar Plus Battery Storage Contract

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terling and Wilson, one of the leading engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies in India, has announced that its Hybrid & Energy Storage division (HES) has signed an EPC contract to construct a Solar PV Battery Storage and Diesel Genset based hybrid power plant in Agadez, Niger, in West Africa.

The project contract has been signed by Sterling and Wilson in a consortium partnership with French EPC company Vergnet and SNS Niger. The project will include the commissioning of an 18.9 MWp solar power plant along with an 11.55 MWh/ 3.0 MVA battery energy storage system (BESS), and a 6.54 MVA (2.18 x 3 MVA) diesel generator with 20 kV substation & evacuation line up

to the Nigelec Substation in Agadez. The project was tendered by the Nigerian Electricity Company (NIGELEC) and the consortium will be responsible for a two-

year operation and maintenance (O&M) service of the power plant.

“The project also includes the rehabilitation of the electrical network of Agadez and the electrification of the neighbouring hamlet of Tibinitene,” the company said in a statement.

Deepak Thakur, CEO – Hybrid & Energy Storage, Sterling and Wilson said, “we are extremely delighted to have secured another prestigious opportunity in Africa after successfully commissioning Nigeria’s first solar storage hybrid power plant, which is also Africa’s largest battery energy storage system. Hybrid energy solutions is a huge opportunity as many power generation and distribution companies in places like Africa are moving into renewables.”

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Viable Battery Costs Remain Critical to EV Penetration in India: Ind-Ra

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nd-Ra claims that battery remains the most critical component of an EV due to both cost viability (30-40 percent of EV cost) and technological expertise.

India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest market analysis has predicted (that driven by the economic slowdown induced by the Coronavirus pandemic) a delay in the penetration of electric vehicles (EVs) in the Indian automobile industry. And, among other factors, the analysts claim that battery remains the most critical component of an EV due to both cost viability (30-40 percent of EV cost is of battery) and technological expertise.

The analysis adds that the prices of batteries have dropped by around 85 percent over FY10-FY20 globally and are likely to decline further with better economies of scale.

However, prices for Indian markets are higher than the global average due to lower volumes. Moreover, in India, the concentration is largely towards small batteries (130kWh), while the global average is 60kWh; smaller batteries have a higher per kWh price.

The Indian e-PV market is largely dominated by Tata Motors Limited and Mahindra & Mahindra, catering to the demand generated under Energy Efficiency Services Limited. In FY20, OEMs such as Hyundai

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Motor India Limited and MG Motor India Private Limited have entered the Indian market with their EV models. Tesla, Inc., the largest EV OEM globally, has announced to enter into the Indian market by FY22.

“With large EV OEMs entering into India, battery pricing should reduce due to their ability to source batteries at competitive rates,” adds the report.

The analysis also states that with the current level of reliance on imports, localisation of the EV segment in India could take even longer now thanks to the added slowdown induced by the pandemic.

It adds that EV components are largely imported except body / chassis. The government has laid out a Phased Manufacturing Program to promote localisation of EV components. Amid COVID-19, the government has extended the deadline for local manufacturing, to be eligible for incentives under FAME-II scheme, for auto parts such as electronic throttles, motors and compressors to April 1, 2021, from the earlier deadlines ranging between April to October 2020.

However, India lacks meaningful resources of lithium and cobalt, which are the key raw materials for a lithium-ion battery. Moreover, significant capital expenditure is required to establish battery manufacturing facilities, undertake research and development and develop required expertise, which is difficult in the current scenario and can only be justified with a larger scale. Hence, Ind-Ra expects that it would be limited to assembling battery packs in the near to medium term while the manufacturing of batteries may take longer. The other components of EVs could be localised in India as the overall volumes go up. Indian auto ancillaries have made several tie-ups to enter into the EV space. While some of these are also supplying to global EV OEMs, the overall number is fairly small.

Most of the components for an EV are imported from China; supply-side risks are high, given the current geopolitical tensions with China.

Andhra Pradesh Planning for 7 Storage

Plants Worth Nearly 6300 MW

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he state government of Andhra Pradesh is planning to set up seven Pumped Hydro Storage Power Projects (PSP) as part of its decision to promote new renewable energy power plants in the state. The PSP mode is likely to balance fluctuations in total input power from the existing renewable energy plants depending on solar and wind power stations. PSP projects will act as large-scale energy storage stations.

The state government has identified seven locations to set up PSP plants to the tune of nearly 6,300 megawatts. “This is a new concept on the energy storage platform and brings new life to the renewable energy sector,” said S Ramana Reddy, Managing Director of New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation (NREDC) while addressing local press.

Reddy said that consultancy firms were finalised to ready the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for setting up the power stations. He said that PSP stations would be coming up at Gandikota (Kadapa),

Chitravati (Ananthapuram), Somasila (Nellore), Owk (Kurnool), Kurukutti, Karrivalasa (Vizianagaram) and Yerravaram (Visakhapatnam).

Adding that that renewable energy is variable due to sudden cloud covers and wind variations. In order to balance the generation, energy storage technology is required.

“PSPs are commercially viable, commonly used and large-scale electricity storage technology,” said Ramana Reddy.

He said that though battery storage system is available, they were not only expensive but also unsuitable to store high volumes.

He said that highest battery storage unit was set up in Australia with 100 MW. While it is difficult to ramp up and ramp down the battery storage system, PSPs are easy to handle, he explained.

It is worth highlighting that the state has quite a few local ‘champions’ in the construction sector who will only be too happy with the move as these large projects create equally large opportunities for them

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As China Starts Giant Solar Park,

Four More Giant Parks For the Future

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he world’s largest single location solar plant, of 2.2 GW capacity was inaugurated in China’s Quinghai province this month. Built by state owned utility Huanghe Hydropower Development, the massive plant touts a special achievement along with its size . It has been built in the shortest time among plants of comparable sizes. That single fact is well worth considering, especially when we consider some of the largest solar projects planned worldwide. For these giant projects, markers of both ambition and commitment to renewable energy, the real test would be the time they take to reach completion, from announcement. As we have seen in case of the Indian projects, promise has invariably trumped delivery so far. One hopes these big projects will change the narrative in due time.

1. Right up on the list of upcoming giants is the massive 10 GW project of Sun Cable.

The firms planned Australia Asean Power Line (AAPL) solar photovoltaic (PV) plant is a 10 gigawatt array situated close to Elliott in the Northern Territory in Australia. It is also planning an associated 30GWh storage facility to support the solar farm’s operations, enabling 24/7 dispatch of power to it’s key market, Singapore, where it hopes to meet 20 percent of Singapore’s energy needs by 2027.

Sun Cable plans to use rapid deployment prefabricated solar arrays built in a proposed Darwin factory. The prefabricated design materially reduces geotechnical risk during construction. The electricity dispatched from

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the solar and storage facility will be transmitted to Darwin via an 750 km transmission line. Submarine HVDC cables will be installed between Darwin and Singapore. At the load centres, there will be large scale batteries that will enable critical storage. The Sun Cable project is just one physical example of the transition Australia seeks to make, which involves retaining its eminent status as an energy exporter, except this time by shifting to green energy , instead of the massive coal and gas exports that lead its exports basket currently.

2. Joining Sun Cable in sheer size and ambition is India’s very own Solar plant in Gujarat’s Kutch District. The Hybrid Renewable Energy park plans to use primarily solar, and some wind energy installations, for a total capacity of 28,000 MW, or 28 GW minimum. Initial reports had pegged the size at 41.5 GW. Solar will account for over 80 percent of total capacity here. The process of allotting almost 50,000 hectares of land to various developers has already started, although multiple issues remain to be resolved, including the categorisation of the land itself as waste land.

3. Before the Kutch project was the planned was the 7.5 GW Ladakh solar project.

The project, to be spread over Leh and Kargil in the now Union territory of Ladakh, was first announced in 2018, and has been making slow progress ever since, mostly due to issues over land acquisition, the toughest hurdle for any large project in the country, across

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sectors. As the project also requires adequate transmission infrastructure to be set up, that has only made it that much more challenging.

4. Floating solar plants. Another area where announcements have got bigger, but results remain invisible, is the area of floating solar plants in India. It is no secret that thanks to its large reservoirs created due to massive dams, and a canal network , the potential for floating solar is high in India. that is one reason why states like UP (150 MW over Rihand Dam reservoir) or Madhya Pradesh (1 GW on Indira Sagar reservoir) have regularly made announcements, and in case of Rihand, even picked developers for the same. But progress remains slow on these large projects. For now, China again remains the leader with its 150 MW floating solar plant in Anhui what was connected in 2019 .

Another area that promises to throw up some big surprises, soon, is the corporate C&I market. Between 2016 and 2018, C&I solar accounted for 20 percent of total U.S. solar capacity. Further, projections show that just within the Fortune 1000, C&I customers will need up to 85 GW of renewable energy through 2030, going by commitments to turn to renewable energy in part, or wholly. Even in India, the C&I market holds a lot of potential, accounting for a significant part of total rooftop capacity. That means in markets that are truly open, we could soon see demand aggregators going for massive solar farms.

Perhaps even in Kutch, if India’s states get their open access rules in place.

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IEA Predicts Global Energy Demand Recovery Only In 2025, Key Solar Role

Solar-led Renewables Sector Will Be A Top draw For Global Investors

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he International Energy Agency (IEA), in its annual World Energy Outlook 2020 report, (WEO-2020) has predicted a return to normalcy for world energy demand only by 2025. This is mainly due to the sluggish recover being experienced from the Covid pandemic worldwide, including fears of a second wave of infections in key markets like Europe and North America.

The Paris-based IEA has predicted a fall in global energy demand by 5 percent in 2020, while CO2 emissions related to energy fall by 7 percent thanks to more renewable energy share and energy investment by 18 percent.

Demand for oil is set to fall by 8 per cent and coal use by 7 per cent while renewables will see a slight rise. The agency remained ambiguous on the impact of the pandemic on governments, in terms of a setback to renewable effort push or a stronger resolve to make the most of this crisis.

Interestingly, the agency sees solar power playing a key role in all its scenarios. “I see solar becoming the new king of the world’s electricity markets. Based on today’s policy settings, it is on track to set new records for deployment every year after 2022,” said Dr Fatih Birol, the IEA Executive Director.

The WEO-2020 report shows that strong growth of renewables needs to be paired with robust investment in electricity grids. Without enough investment, grids will prove to be a weak link in the transformation of the power sector, with implications for the reliability and security of electricity supply.For India, where the World Bank has predicted a 9 percent GDP contraction in 2020, followed by just 5 percent growth in 2021, effectively meaning that the country will reach 2019 levels only by 2022, these predictions may not hold as much relevance. Electricity demand is already back to 2019 levels or above, while fossil fuel consumption is also on track to be at 2019 levels by the end of the year or earlier.

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ndia’s renewable energy market led by solar energy will likely be one of the top five sectors for the country that will attract global investments, Deepak Bagla, chief executive officer of Invest India told a conference organised by the International Solar Alliance (ISA) on October 16.

He said there was a high degree of innovation characterising the sector that was emerging from small towns and cities that are affordable, scalable and are relevant not only for the country but also for the world. “There are some amazing new technologies that are being brought out.”

Bagla said that the covid-19 pandemic was reordering the energy business so that the demand was no longer going to be concentrated in certain large cities and would instead increasingly be spread out as businesses catch up to the concept of work from home.

Such a transition is bound to open up new opportunities for solar powered renewable energy, he added.

In the last four years, India’s program to build up its renewable energy has resulted in the segment being able to contribute to about a quarter of the total requirement in terms of capacity added.

T.N Vijay Bhaskar, chief secretary of Karnataka government, said that his state was planning to shift their reliance on fossil

fuels completely and in about five years would use them only as a contingency measure.

The southern Indian state, which boasts of the world’s largest solar park, currently meets around half of its energy requirement from renewable sources.

The state is planning to build two more solar parks equal in size to the world’s largest solar park, he said.

The state is planning to supplement its solar capacity through floating solar plants as well as other innovative technology.

Sanjay Dubey, principal secretary in the state government of Madhya Pradesh, said that they were aiming to have as much as 40% of their energy generation from renewable sources by 2027. That will also entail investment in a 750 MW solar project in the state. He said the state’s solar generation was helping it fulfill not only the state’s requirement, but was also able to provide electricity to Delhi’s metro services.

The state has been able to distribute as many as 18,000 solar pumps to farmers under the Prime Minister’s KUSUM program.

The program aims to wean off farmers from their reliance on thermal energy sources for pumping water into their fields.

It also aims to provide them with a secondary income by being able to sell surplus power back to electricity grids.

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PM Modi’s Solar Vision Vindicated As IEA Dubs Solar “The New King Of Electricity”

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he International Energy Agency (IEA), has never been a huge fan of renewable energy. The Paris-based agency, formed after the first oil shock in 1973-74 had a broad mandate on energy security and energy policy co-operation. Over the years, the agency remained focused on oil, even as it grudgingly broadened its own mandate to transformation of the global energy system.

So when the agency, in its annual World Energy Outlook 2020 report declares Solar Power as the ‘New King of Electricity’, it should make even the most die-hard skeptics get up and notice. It will please Prime Minister Narendra Modi no end to read that “In some parts of the world, solar power is now the cheapest source of electricity in history, thanks to policies encouraging renewable energy growth. “Though prefaced with ‘some parts of the world’, the statement is nevertheless a ringing endorsement of the future for solar, as well as the critical role solar has to play in the push for sustainable development and limiting climate changes caused due to global warming.

A key cause for which had been the huge usage of fossil fuels. So full marks to Mr Modi for vision here. Solar has changed the dynamics of

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energy and electricity production decisively today . In most countries in the world, today it’s cheaper to build solar parks than new coal- or gas-fired power plants, the report says. For utility-scale solar projects completed this year, the average cost of electricity generation over the lifetime of the plant (levelized cost of electricity or LCOE) was between $35 to $55 per megawatt-hour in some of the world’s biggest markets — the US, Europe, China, and India.

Just four years ago, this was closer to $100 per megawatt-hour. A decade back? Almost $300 per MW hour. In this context, India’s big shift to a bigger focus on solar energy ever since the present government took charge in 2014 under Prime Minister Modi, has been a key factor. Not just in delivering faster growth rate for solar than anticipated, but also in helping spread the movement wider, with initiatives like the International Solar Alliance (ISA). Keep in mind that in 2014, solar costs were still relatively high, and to make the kind of 5 fold increase in targets as India did to 100 GW by 2022, was still considered a shot in the dark.

In India, solar has been in a funk lately, caused by multiple factors, from the familiar to the unfamiliar. Thus, the challenges around

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land acquisition, capital, and driving down costs are familiar to most of us. The unexpected has been the strong resistance, even apathy from discoms to supporting solar growth, caused by mismatched priorities and misaligned incentives. As a state subject, progress has also been much slower than expected, with many states not really interested in the ‘green’ part of solar, for all practical purposes. That explains the miserable performance across the country for rooftop solar, which requires much more nuanced policy and support to flourish.

One hopes that the ringing endorsement for the option from a respected international agency will make a lot more skeptics open up, to what solar has achieved so far, and is set to achieve, given the space to do so.

The IEA report estimates a cost drop of 20-50 percent in just the last year for solar. That is quite simply an opportunity the country cannot afford to stay out of anymore. With even the newest hopes like green hydrogen heavily dependent on cheap electricity from solar and wind, it is critical that India continues to make the transition to not just solar power, but also better quality and technology that is becoming increasingly available to do so.

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Delhi CM Kejriwal Calls For Mass Movement for Solar, But Reality Stays Slow and Low

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hen the Delhi government announced its first ever solar policy in 2015, the target was 1000 MW by 2020, and 2000 MW by 2025. Call it inexperience, lack of focus, or a rapidly changing policy environment, but the state is nowhere close to, or even on the path to, those ambitious numbers. The Delhi government always faced a trickier challenge on its numbers, thanks to the almost complete dependence on rooftop solar rather than utility scale solar, due to lack of land. Rooftop solar, as we all know, has really struggled everywhere, for multiple reasons. However, if any city could, or should overcome those challenges, it should have been the national capital, that faces the scourge of pollution from thermal power like few others.

Help, in fact has come from unexpected quarters, like the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). The city’s metro network operator installed a 500 KW solar plant at its Dwarka Sector 21 station back in 2014, and has plans to install solar plants at all of its 275 odd stations by 2021. That will easily make it the largest single solar owner in the capital, with close to 60MW of installed

capacity potentially. Currently, the number stands at 28 MW. Interestingly, the metro also sources 27 MW solar power from the Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited in Madhya Pradesh, (RUMSL), enabling it to use solar to run actual trains, rather than just auxiliary services at its stations. Take away the metro numbers, and solar in Delhi is just an experimental source, being tried with no seriousness. For Chief Minister Kejriwal, who called for a mass movement for solar while inaugurating a solar plant at Delhi University’s Lady Irwin College earlier this week, the 218 kWp Solar Power Plant should make it clear where the future lies. In large institutions and buildings. While the capital lacks the sort of open, available land that most other states can provide, Delhi does have developed building infrastructure offering a great opportunity to deliver on his promise of building a solar capital. The Delhi government has already made progress in installing solar plants at its many schools, for instance. Almost 100 plus should have had the plants by now, going by government announcements in the past.

The same zeal, if repeated for the many

colleges across the city, besides its own buildings and institutions, could easily deliver a major boost to its solar ambitions. The governments own estimates claim that Delhi is blessed with almost 300 sunny days and the rooftop space available for solar panels is estimated to be 31 sq. km, giving the city state a solar energy potential of 2500 MW. A reasonably robust transmission system and grid also means that unlike many other states, Delhi should not have as much of a problem of grid integration as other states, at least on paper. With peak power demand approaching 8000MW in summers and 6000MW in winters, the capital is well within limits to add a further 300-450 MW of solar power to its grid system. A figure of just 130 MW is a very poor reflection of both intent, and execution.

Residential solar users we spoke to have been uniform in their views, on the sheer apathy of the city discoms for solar rooftops, especially for smaller capacities. The process has been long, slow, and stuck in red tape.

With the city deciding to pretty much ignore the Corona pandemic now, the excuse of delays caused by the virus also need to end.

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India’s RE Capacity at 89.22 GW, 436 MW Added in September: MNRE

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he Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has informed that India’s total installed renewable energy (RE) capacity has reached 89.22 GW by the end of September 2020. The information was issued in the Ministry’s monthly summary (September) to the Cabinet. The monthly reports have been revived after a long six month break presumably due to the covid pandemic.

In the monthly summary for September, the Ministry revealed that a total of 435.99 MW of RE capacity was added during the month of September, which took the cumulative capacity to 89.22 GW at the end of the month. As per the notice, this includes 38.12 GW of wind capacity, 36.05 GW of solar capacity, 10.31 GW of bio-power capacity, and 4.74 GW of small hydropower.

The ministry has also revealed that further projects worth 48.21 GW of renewable capacity are at various stages of implementations, and projects worth 25.64 GW are under various stages of bidding.

Other key highlights:

a. The cabinet report also stated that an expenditure of Rs 1710.52 crore had been incurred during the month, which is around 29.73 percent of the total budget estimate for

the ministry for the financial year 2020-21. b. Five solar parks of total capacity of 4300 MW were sanctioned under the Ministry’s solar parks scheme. These five parks will come up in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. c. An Expression of Interest (EOI) was issued by the Ministry, inviting proposals

for the installation of innovative standalone solar pumps under the schemes implemented by the Ministry. d. SECI issued an LoA for 970 MW ISTS-connected wind projects. It also issued a tender for the selection of EPC contractors for 100 MW solar along with 50 MW/150 MWh BESS at Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh.

NHDC Tenders for Price Discovery of Solar Modules for 1500 MW PV Projects

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HDC Ltd, a Joint Venture of NHPC Ltd and the Government of Madhya Pradesh, has issued a limited tender for the price discovery of solar PV modules for solar power projects of NHDC for Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Park (RUMSL) RFPs for 1500 MW. Bids have been invited from vendors that have been empaneled by the NHDC. The last date for bid submission is November 2, 2020, and the technical bids will be opened on the following day i.e. November 3, 2020. The date and time of opening of the price bids and the e-reverse auction will be intimated to the bidders that clear the technical stage and then the price bid round.

Theworkunderthetenderhasbeencategorisedintofivepackages:Agar Unit-2 (350MW/ 490MWp) – Category A Neemuch Unit-2 (170MW/ 238MWp) – Category A

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Neemuch Unit-3 (170MW/ 238MWp) – Category A Shajapur Unit-3 (125MW/ 175MWp) – Category B Shajapur Unit-2 (220MW/ 308MWp) – Category A It must be noted that NHDC intends to participate in the RFP invited by Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited (RUMSL) for the development of the 1500 MW grid-connected solar project for the selection of developer(s) under the open category at Agar (550 MW), Shajapur (450 MW) & Neemuch (500 MW) within the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. The three RFPs have been called by RUMS separately for each solar park.

For NHDC, participation in the said RFP’s shall be done in a sequential manner and bidding shall stop, if NHDC wins any project (a combination of projects) in the range of 340 MW to 350 MW i.e. NHDC shall invest for projects in the range of 340 MW to 350 MW.

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Tata Power to Develop 100 MW Solar Project at Dholera Solar Park

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ata Power, India’s largest integrated power company, has announced the receipt of a Letter of Award (LOA) from the Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) on October 9, 2020, to develop a 100 MW solar project in Dholera Solar Park of Gujarat.

The energy will be supplied to GUVNL under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), valid for a period of 25 years from the scheduled commercial operation date. The company has won this capacity in a bid announced by GUVNL in March 2020. The project has to be commissioned within 15 months from the date of execution of the PPA. With this award, the cumulative capacity under development in Gujarat would be 620 MW out of which 400 MW will be in Dholera Solar Park.

It is an important milestone in the company’s endeavour to generate 35 – 40 percent of Tata Power’s total generation capacity from clean energy sources. The Plant is expected to generate about 246 MUs of energy per year and will annually offset approximately 246 million kilograms of carbon dioxide.

Tata Power’s renewable capacity will increase to 3936 MW, out of which 2637 MW is already operational and 1299 MW is under implementation including 100 MW won under this LOA. In August, we had reported that auctions for GUVNL’s 700 MW solar tender saw the entire capacity awarded to five bidders. With Tata Power and Vena Energy submitting the winning bids (Lowest Bids – L1) of Rs 2.78/kWh. Both the L1 bidders had secured capacities of 100 MW each under the tender.

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GE Selected by SB Energy for 327 MW Wind Plant in Madhya Pradesh

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E Renewable Energy has announced that it has been selected by SB Energy (SoftBank Group) to supply, install and commission 121 sets of its 2.7132 onshore wind turbines, cumulating 327 MW, to be installed at Pritam Nagar wind farm in Madhya Pradesh, India. The project was won

by SB Energy during the tranche-VI auction of wind projects by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and will produce enough green energy for 250,000 households in India.

The firm added that this order is another success for its 2.7-132 wind turbine, which has proven to be the technology of choice for customers in India due to its industryleading performance at India’s low wind speeds. The supply for this project will leverage GE’s significant local footprint in India with product design primarily at GE’s

Technology Centre in Bengaluru, blades manufactured in GE’s plants in Vadodara and Bengaluru and assembly at the GE Multi-modal Manufacturing Facility in Pune. Gilan Sabatier, Regional Leader for GE Renewable Energy’s Onshore Wind business in South Asia and ASEAN said, “we are proud to be selected by SB Energy to execute this flagship project for the country. It is one of the largest wind projects ever awarded in India and will significantly contribute to the country’s renewable aspirations. The project is a testament to GE’s ability to not only offer state of the art technology but also site development solutions to maximise customer returns. We sincerely thank SB Energy for its trust and look forward to furthering our partnership as it continues to build its renewable energy portfolio.”

BHEL Tenders for O&M Works for NTPC 50 MW Solar Project

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HEL has issued a tender, inviting bids from eligible vendors for undertaking the task of operation and maintenance (O&M) of NTPC’s 50 MW solar power plant at Ananthapur in Andhra Pradesh. The selected firms will be contracted for a period of 11 months from the date of signing of the letter of award, with work expected to begin in November. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 64.42 lakh and all bidders (including MSMEs) are required to submit an Earnest Money Deposit of Rs 1.30 lakh along with their

bids. To be eligible for participating in the bidding process the bidders must have an average annual financial turnover during the last 3 years ending March 31, of the previous financial year, not less than 30 percent of the NIT value.

Recently, the PSU had floated two more O&M tenders for solar projects.

The first project on offer is the 10 MW solar power project at Charanka in Gujarat for a period of ten years. Interested bidders will have to submit an amount of Rs 662,000 as the earnest money deposit (EMD) for the bid. The O CTO B ER 20 20

estimated cost of the O&M contract for the 10 MW solar project is Rs 33.06 million. The second tender is for Singareni Collieries Company Limited’s (SCCL) 30 MW solar project located at Manuguru in Telangana for 123 months. This had earlier been tendered in July this year when the response was poor or unacceptable to BHEL. In this tender, bidders will have to submit an amount of Rs 12.8 lakh as the EMD. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 63.89 million.

For both these projects, the last date to submit the bids is October 30, 2020.

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NTPC Incorporates a Subsidiary for its Renewable Energy Business

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tate-owned NTPC Ltd, India’s largest energy conglomerate, has announced that it has officially incorporated a subsidiary for its renewable energy business.

“NTPC Ltd has incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary, in the name of NTPC Renewable Energy Ltd with the Registrar of Companies, NCT of Delhi & Haryana on October 7, 2020, to undertake renewable energy business,” the company stated in a regulatory filing.

In August, NTPC had received the approval from NITI Aayog and the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management to set up a wholly-owned company for its renewable energy business.

The creation of the new subsidiary comes at a time when NTPC is targeting a generation of nearly 30 percent

or 39 GW of its overall power capacity from renewable energy sources by 2032.

With the incorporation of the new subsidiary, it would be easier for NTPC to achieve its goal of pushing renewables in the country. The firm has

planned to be a 130 GW company by 2032 with diversified fuel mix and a 600 BU (billion units per annum) firm in terms of power generation.

The company is aiming to have 30 GW of solar and 2 GW

of other renewable energy sources based on power generation capacity by 2032.

Besides, it will have 5 GW of hydropower and 2 GW of nuclear energy by 2032, taking the total clean energy capacity to 39 GW. The non-fossil fuel based capacity would achieve a share of 30 percent and the thermal-based generating capacity share would be 70 percent by 2032.

The present installed capacity of NTPC Group is 62.9 GW (including 11.75 GW through JVs/subsidiaries) comprising 45 NTPC Stations and 25 Joint Venture stations (9 coal-based, 4 gas-based, 8 hydro, 1 small hydro 2 wind and 1 Solar PV). The group also has a reported ~20 GW of capacity under construction, including 5 GW of renewable energy projects.

Novus Green Bags EPC Contract for 15 MW Floating Solar Plant at SCCL

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ovus Green has announced that it has been awarded the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract for a 15 MW (19.5 MW DC) floating solar power plant from Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL). The tender for which was issued and the bidding conducted, by the Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd (SECI).

The firm has stated that it will do the complete EPC of the project located in the state of Telangana. With the construction of the solar project scheduled to begin in early 2021, the plant is expected to be commissioned before September 2021.

The Floating Solar Power Plants will be installed at the Singareni Thermal Power Plant (STPP) Storage Reservoir (10 MW)

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and Dorli OC-2 Void (5 MW) with comprehensive operation & maintenance for a period of 10 years. SCCL is a Government coal mining company jointly owned by the Government of Telangana and the Government of India.

“I am happy that our team has been successful in bidding for one of the largest

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solar floating plants in India. We are fully geared and very excited to execute this project by using our innovative designs and execution capabilities to meet SCCL’s expectations. I am sure than our endeavour to make this a state of art installation will help in being recognized as a model large size floating solar power plant in the country,” said Praveen Penchala, Vice President-Projects, Novus Green.

The firm further stated that it has come up with a state-of-the-art solar photovoltaic module manufacturing line with a production capacity of 300 MW per annum.

The manufacturing facility is built to facilitate a production capacity of 1 GW per annum, which the company plans to expand soon.

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Sungrow Bags Inverter Solution Contract for 800 MW Solar Project in Qatar

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ungrow, a leading inverter solution supplier for renewables, has announced that it will power the 800 MW Al Kharsaa solar project in Qatar with featured 1500V string inverter SG250HX. The project is noteworthy as the third-largest solar plant in the world and the first utility-scale solar project in Qatar. It’s planned to be fully operational before the 2022 FIFA World Cup, supporting Qatar National Vision 2030 by facilitating local economic decarbonisation and sustainable development.

The 800 MWp plant is located 80 kms west of Doha, Qatar, covering 1000 hectares in a tropical desert and featuring ample sunlight amid high temperatures and strong wind.

The project was awarded to a consortium of Marubeni and Total as the result of the country’s first solar tender, benefiting from a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) to supply electricity to the offtaker Kahramaa (Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation). It will represent around 10 percent of

electricity peak demand of the country and reduce the carbon dioxide emissions of Qatar by 26 million tonnes during its lifetime. Sungrow will supply its 1500V string inverter SG250HX, which it stated is resilient in harsh conditions given the IP66 and C5 protection capability and smart forced air-cooling technology.

Compatible with bifacial modules and

tracking systems, the solution allows considerable yields by leveraging the sunlight resources onsite. It enables flexible block design allowing up to 6.75 MW, significantly saving the initial investment and streamlining O&M. As one of the best-selling PV inverter solutions, SG250HX is expected to be deployed over 3 GW by the end of 2020.

Vestas Introduces Low-Wind Variant to Expand Footprint in India

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he global demand for sustainable energy solutions in low and ultra-low wind areas continues to grow as renewable technology improves in efficiency and cost. This trend is especially prominent in India, the world’s fourth-largest wind energy market, where the energy demand is expected to double and the government targets to add around 100 GW wind power in the predominantly low-wind market by 2030. To help meet the growing demand, Vestas is introducing the V155-3.3 MW

turbine optimised for low and ultra-low wind conditions.

The V155-3.3 MW was introduced by Vestas CEO Henrik Andersen in a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Vestas’ commitment to support India’s push for renewable energy and to strengthen the country’s wind energy industry.

While the new turbine is globally applicable, it initially targets low and ultra-low wind condition projects in India. It increases the turbine swept area by 67 percent in comparison to V120-2.2 MW,

and with a large rotor to rating ratio, it significantly improves the partial load production in low-wind conditions. The V1553.3 MW improves the annual energy production (AEP) by more than three percent for a 300 MW wind park with 46 fewer turbines, creating an improved level of business case certainty.

“With the introduction of the V155-3.3 MW wind turbine, Vestas is connecting our proven 4 MW platform technology with customised solutions to improve our customers’ business case in low and ultraO CTO B ER 20 20

low wind conditions,” said Thomas Scarinci, Senior Vice President of Product Management Vestas.

As the turbine will be predominantly locally manufactured and sourced in India, it reinforces the firms’ existing commitment to the country’s growing renewable energy industry. Vestas will increase its already prominent manufacturing footprint in India by establishing a new converter factory in Chennai and expanding its current blade factory in Ahmedabad.

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Adani to Complete 1 GW Transmission Line to Mumbai by Dec’ 2021

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dani Transmission has vowed that it will be committed to execute a transmission line and substation project at suburban Vikhroli which will enhance the power supply by 1,000 MW (1 GW) to Mumbai, by the end of next year, as per the mandated deadline for it.

It was reported that following last week’s power outage in the Maharashtra capital, state CM Uddhav Thackeray had asked all stakeholders in a review meeting to expedite the project by adhering to the timelines.

“Adani is committed to completing the KhargharVikhroli transmission line project within the timeline set by Thackeray,” a spokesperson for Adani Group said in a statement.

The firm further said that there will be growth in power load in the megapolis

and to avoid the mismatch between generation and load growth, it is now committed to executing two critical transmission projects that would help channelise additional power to Mumbai. These capacity enhancement projects will create an additional transmission capacity of 1,000 MW each, thereby easing the existing transmission corridors.

It includes the KhargharVikhroli 400/220 kV EHV

transmission line project, which will add a 1,000 MW power supply corridor and will also be Mumbai’s first 400 KV Substation, it added.

Local news reports suggested that one reason for the delay to the project was a dispute between Tata Power and ATL, however, that has since been resolved with the former agreeing to provide land for the project.

The project was reportedly approved in 2009 and awarded to ATL in 2019. ATL on Sunday said it has already placed orders for all critical equipment and service contracts, which are vital for project completion, including towers and insulators. It has also completed 80 percent of engineering and is working with authorities to get possession of land parcels at Kharghar and Vikhroli.

Jammu & Kashmir to be Power Surplus by 2024: L-G Manoj Sinha

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he presently power-starved union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) will be power surplus over the next four years, Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Manoj Sinha has said.

Speaking to the media at the Raj Bhawan, Sinha said, “Under the power sector, modalities have been finalised for the upcoming 850 MW new joint venture Ratle project. The project is expected to augment the existing generation capacity in the region. Cumulatively, the upcoming power projects will generate 6298 MW at the cost of Rs 54,593 crore, thus substantially enhancing the generation capacity in the region.”

Sinha further added that “it has taken us 40 years to reach the capacity of 3000 MW

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power generation. I assure that the target of the next 3,000 MW will be reached within the next four years. All options will be explored to make Jammu and Kashmir selfsufficient in power.”

According to Sinha, a total of 270 projects at a cost of Rs 12,972.12 crore are under execution in 17 districts of J&K with an average value of Rs 48.04 crore for each project. He said that most of the projects will be completed during the financial year 2021-22.

In March, we had reported that the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Power Development Corporation had drawn a roadmap to make the Union Territory energy surplus by 2025 by harnessing its large hydel power potential.

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Power Consumption has Returned to Normal, Over 11% Growth in October

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ndia’s power consumption grew 11.45 percent to 55.37 billion units (BU) in the first half of October this year, mainly driven by buoyancy in industrial and commercial activities, as per government data. According to the power ministry data, power consumption in India was recorded at 49.67 BU during the same period last year. For a full month in October last year, power consumption was 97.84 BU. Thus, the extrapolation of half-month data gives sufficient indication that power consumption may witness yearon-year double digit growth this month, according to experts. Double-digit growth in power consumption in the first half of this month showed that commercial and industrial demand has returned to normalcy and even gone beyond it after improving with the easing of lockdown restrictions. And industry experts believe that the trend will only get better than this in the coming months. The government had imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 25 to contain the spread of COVID-19. Power consumption started declining from March onwards due to fewer economic activities in the country.

The COVID-19 situation had affected power consumption for six months in a row from March to August this year.

During the lockdown months, power consumption on a year-on-year basis declined 8.7 percent in March, 23.2 percent in April, 14.9 percent in May, 10.9 percent in June, 3.7 percent in July, and 1.7 percent in August.

Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister RK Singh while addressing a virtual conference had said, “In September, our power demand was higher than September 2019. So the growth started again. Despite the fact that the COVID problem lingers, the growth in our power consumption and demand has started.”

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THE PATIENT GAMECHANGER The solar water pump scheme could change energy dynamics forever for Indian agriculture, but not by 2024 as targeted

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With the Ministry for New and Renewable Energy releasing a draft policy for feedback on distributed solar energy products, we thought it would be a good time to look at some interesting solar products available in India. Especially as the MNRE policy has a specific rural focus, while there are many solar products out there that could be useful for everyone. As a large market, there is every chance that we will be seeing some really innovative products, with bigger applications and use cases than before soon. But until then, these products are well worth a look, don’t you think?

Solar Roof E-Rickshaw PRODUCT BRIEF:

This battery operated three-wheeler comes with a retrofitted solar rooftop that uses power sourced from sunlight to add additional charge to the battery system that operates the passenger e-rickshaw and its peripherals.

PRODUCT FEATURES:

The product features a smart design that utilises the empty roof space of the vehicle to add an additional 50 km to the ride range on a full solar charge. The polycrystalline panel on top can power this 4-seater with an 850 W motor an additional 50 kms (lab).

APPLICATION:

Electric Rickshaw for passengers

PRODUCT BENEFITS:

The product is lightweight, ergonomic, ecofriendly and cheap, however, it comes with proper support in charge controllers, motors, battery system, which together work to charge the battery in under 8 hours.

AVAILABILITY:

This rickshaw by Sun-Kalpataru is available for purchase on indiagosolar.in, and retails for Rs 1.6 lakh.

Luminous Solar Home Solution

ESCAM 4G Solar Panel Camera

PRODUCT BRIEF:

The solar home solution comes with a solar hybrid-inverter NXG1100, a 150Ah solar tubular battery and 150W polycrystalline battery from Luminous. Once charged using the provided solar panels or an A/C source the battery can power home appliances such as lights, fans, TVs and more.

even if left out in the rain. The recording quality in HD 1080p is clear and can be wirelessly accessed over the internet.

PRODUCT FEATURES:

The product features a solar hybrid inverter that can control the charge created and stored in the system efficiently, the 150Ah solar battery (ideal conditions) can be charged through the day, and is much faster with additional panels.

APPLICATION:

Solar Home Lighting Solution

PRODUCT BENEFITS: Once charged the battery and inverter system can efficiently power multiple devices in a household. Powering a single fan for a minimum of 10 hours on a single charge, however, with the hybrid inverter, the input is constant from solar panels and even the grid.

AVAILABILITY:

The product is available for purchase on leading e-commerce websites, and is currently retailing for Rs 23,600.

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PRODUCT BRIEF:

The ESCAM Q4480 4G Solar Panel PT IP camera is the ideal security device (camera) for surveillance in areas that have access to solar irradiation. The retrofitted camera with solar panel can be completely self-powered if placed suitably in the sunlight, with the panels charging up the battery.

PRODUCT FEATURES:

The camera comes with night vision, motion detection and is IP66 waterproof so it will be okay

APPLICATION:

Solar-powered security camera

PRODUCT BENEFITS:

One key feature of the product is that it is 4G enabled, which makes its install and forget application more viable.

Enabling users to access the on-board storage virtually.

It also features built-in microphone and speakers, sup-rioting 2-way intercom.

AVAILABILITY:

The product its available for purchase on select e-commerce websites and retails for Rs 15,000.

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Infiniti na 20W Solar Renogy Off-Grid Panel Lighting System Portable Solar Panel System PRODUCT BRIEF:

This domestically manufactured solar panel lighting system comes with 2 solar panels of 10 W rating each which power the multiple 4W and 2W DC bulbs. The product is ideal for illuminating roads or large compound areas using only power stored during the day from solar panels.

PRODUCT FEATURES:

The product also features a battery box with Lithium Ferrous Phosphate Battery technology, that performs ideally in most conditions. The product battery can also be used to charge appliances like mobile and tablets.

PRODUCT BENEFITS:

As per the firm, the solar panels and system provided are approved by the Ministry for New and Renewable Energy for application in off-grid systems in rural areas. The bulbs are OSRAM LED’s with an illumination rating of 200 lm/w. And there’s a 3-year warranty on the entire system.

APPLICATION:

Solar lighting system

AVAILABILITY:

The product its available for purchase on select e-commerce websites and retails for Rs 10,000.

Schneider Made-in-India Anti-Bacterial Switches and Sockets

PRODUCT FEATURES:

Ion technology which incorporates anti-bacterial additive compounds in the products inhibiting the growth of bacteria and fungi on frequently touched switches and cover frames. These additives impart germ controlling properties on plastic surfaces, are non-migratory and nontoxic in nature and are food grade as well as ecologically safe.

APPLICATION:

PRODUCT BENEFITS:

Schneider Electric has recently launched its anti-bacterial and selfdisinfecting switches and sockets under its Livia product range.

FEATURES:

Meeting international standards of testing, this antibacterial range of products self-disinfects its surface throughout its lifespan and uses Silver

Powered by the Silver Ion technology which can kill over 99.9% bacteria and fungi, these products have been conceptualised and manufactured in India as a part of Schneider Electric’s commitments towards ‘Make in India’ aimed at making an Atmanirbhar Bharat.

AVAILABILITY:

The product consists of solar suitcase includes two monocrystalline panels, one 10 Amp waterproof controller with an LCD screen for power regulation, one 10 feet tray cable with alligator clips for easy connection to the battery, and protective casing for safe portability.

APPLICATION:

Off-Grid Power Generation System

PRODUCT BENEFITS:

Switches and Sockets

PRODUCT BRIEF:

PRODUCT BRIEF:

The Renogy Foldable Solar Suitcase is an portable 100 W solar panel system that consists of two 50 W panels which are retrofitted to form a suitcase when closed making it ideal for off-grid usage.

The system also consists of a 10 A Voyager charge controller.

The product its available for purchase on select e-commerce websites and the firm’s website.

The10A built-in solar charge controller provides overcharge protection, reducing fire risk, and the negative-ground charge controller provides compatibility with an RV, boat, trailer, etc. The system is compatible with gel, sealed, lithium, and flooded batteries. The system also comes with a 25-year power output warranty of 80 percent rated output by the end of its lifetime.

AVAILABILITY:

Th product is available on the company website and few select e-commerce websites and retails for USD 252-280.

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Associate Manager at Siemens Gamesa Siemens Gamesa is a global technology leader in the renewable energy industry - specifically in the development, manufacturing, installation and maintenance of wind turbines. The company is looking for a Associate Manager.

Job Location: Bengaluru Job Description: • The applicant will be Working on electrical design of control panels, cables and connection boxes • Participating in design, prototyping and production follow-up to support deployment into SCM • Updating documentation in our Engineering Change Management system • Design and implementation of cables and components in our wind turbines • Ensure time and quality in the deliveries to our development projects • Task coordination and priorities, as well as task execution of key tasks

Eligibility Criteria: • Graduate/Post Graduate in Electrical engineering • At least 7 years of relevant experience • Knowledge about design of electrical control panels according to relevant standards like IEC 61439, IEC 60204 and IEC 61400-1 • Knowledge on Caddy++ or similar Software as electrical design tools

Apply here: https://bit.ly/2TcKByo

Corporate Communications Role - Ayana Renewable Power Ayana Renewable Power has been set up to develop significant megawatts (MWs) of renewable energy generation capacities in India, and strategic vision is to create significant renewable power generating capacity across South Asia. The firm is looking for applications to the fill the Corporate Communications Role.

Job Location: Bengaluru Job Description: • Responsible for end to end Corporate Communications of the Company • Handling both Internal & External Communications • Media Management- Branding • Handling the Social Media pages of the Company • Crisis Management

Eligibility Criteria: • The candidate must be having exposure in the Press Industry • Experience in Print Media • Having relevant experience in Power Sector / Renewable Energy Sector • Public Relations

Apply here: https://bit.ly/3ohEMy7

Technology and Quality Market Analysts at Clean Energy Associates (CEA) CEA provides technical due diligence and engineering services for solar and storage clients around the globe who are financial institutions, project developers, EPCs, IPPs, and PV power plant owners. The firm is is looking for applications to the fill the Technology and Quality Market Analysts positions.

Job Location: Delhi Job Description: The TQ Market Analyst position is focused on intelligently collecting data to help CEA’s clients deploy the correct solar and storage solutions globally.

• The TQ Market Analyst will support CEA’s

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internal teams and clients to gain the insights necessary to help them make the right decisions.

• Required to analyse a large volume of data, at times conflicting, to provide informative analysis and powerful content packages.

• Process and organize CEA’s archived data.

• Create client facing content with customized visualizations and supporting analysis.

Eligibility Criteria: • Bachelor’s Degree, preferably related

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economics, journalism, English, or science. Other degree backgrounds are encouraged to apply if the candidate is interested in renewable energy.

A minimum of 2 years of experience working as a market analyst, preferably in the solar and storage sector.

Excellent English writing proficiency.

High level of proficiency in Office applications, especially Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.

Experience with data visualization platforms, such as Power BI or Tableau is preferred.

PROVIDING COMPLETE TURNKEY

SAND TO ENERGY SOLUTION

India's Most Experienced Fully Integrated, Technology, Application and Knowledge Engineering Group with end to end O & M Capabilities.

Cell Manufacturing

Module Manufacturing

Wafer

Ingot

Polysilicon

Inverter

Charge Controller

FCEV

Bergen Solar Power and Energy Limited

floor, Plot No. 21, Institutional Area, Sector 32, Gurugram, Haryana, India-122018|Tel : +91(0124) 4986400-416 | Fax : +91(0124) 4986405 ENERGY INTERNATIONAL O CTO B E R 2 02 0 56 SAUR SAURENERGY .C O M Email : pv@bergengroupindia.com |Web : www.bergengroupindia.com nd