Saurenergy International Magazine February Issue 2020

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SAUR ENERGY

FEBRUARY 2020 | Rs. 200

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DCP LICENSING NO. F.2(S-29) PRESS/2016 l VOL 4 l ISSUE 06 l TOTAL PAGES 64 l PUBLISHED ON 1ST OF EVERY MONTH

The Perfect Storm Problems demanding solutions are piling up.

How will India's solar sector save 2020?

Inside:SANJAY SETH GRIHA Council IDRISH KHAN Ginlong (Solis) Technologies RAJNEESH KHATTAR Informa Markets

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FROM THE EDITOR

SAUR ENERGY I N T E R N A T I O N A L GROUP EDITOR PRASANNA SINGH prasanna@meilleurmedia.com DIRECTOR MARKETING PRATEEK KAPOOR prateek@meilleurmedia.com

EDITOR February, which was expected to deliver much by way MANAS NANDI of announcements in the Union Budget as well as a manas@meilleurmedia.com pickup in projects, has taught a tough lesson to the solar sector. Firms which had a plan B if the budget did not meet expectations, now find themselves ASSOCIATE EDITOR scrambling for a plan C, thanks to the completely MANU TAYAL unanticipated coronavirus epidemic with its manu@meilleurmedia.com epicentre in China.

The disruption has been massive across sectors, STAFF WRITER thanks to China's preeminent role as a AYUSH VERMA manufacturing hub. It is even more so for the editorial@meilleurmedia.com Indian solar sector which depends on China for over 80 percent of its material requirements.

MANAGER- MEDIA SOLUTION Our cover feature looks at the issue in some GIRISH MISHRA detail, besides other challenges that simply girish.mishra@meilleurmedia.com refuse to go away.

But trust the government to surprise. The DESIGN HEAD sudden action on the UMREP(Ultra Mega SANDEEP KUMAR Renewable Energy Plant) front, where 50 GW of RE plants are envisaged in Gujarat WEB DEVELOPMENT MANAGER and Rajasthan, easily dwarfing anything JITENDER KUMAR we have heard so far, and miraculously, making the 175GW renewable target of WEB PRODUCTION 2022 that much achievable. In theory.

BALVINDER SINGH What we really need to see is more urgency on the many other positive SUBSCRIPTIONS decisions that have been taken KULDEEP GUSAIN already, where execution is lagging subscription@meilleurmedia.com far behind intent. Is that too much Saur Energy International is printed, published, edited and owned by Manas Nandi and to expect?

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.

Prasanna Singh prasanna@meilleurmedia.com

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.

CONTENT PAGE

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SANJAY SETH CEO GRIHA Council

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48

RAJNEESH KHATTAR

Group Director, Energy Portfolio – India Informa Markets

IDRISH KHAN

Chief Technical Officer - India Ginlong (Solis) Technologies

COVER STORY

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The Perfect Storm

A disappointing budget, and now, the Coronavirus might have sealed 2020 for the solar sector. What could save it from here?

STARTUP

POLICY

10 25 RACEnergy

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SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 06

Govt Cuts Application Fee for Small Module Manufacturers MNRE Opens Facilitation Centre to Strengthen Ease of Doing Biz Govt Asks Manufacturers to Submit Items List for BCD Exemption

CONTENT PAGE

POINT OF VIEW

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Digitalization of the Solar Photovoltaic Energy Industry and Why Energy Analytics is Important

EV

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The Role of AI and ML in Solar Energy

MARKET

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Can Privatization Help in Solving Discom Distress?

FINANCE

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Tata Power, Prakriti E-Mobility Partner for EV Charging Stations

Global CO2 Emissions Flatlined in 2019

Adani Transmission Q3 Net Profit Zooms 32% to Rs 204 Cr

EESL, BHEL Signs MoU to Set up EV Charging Network Pan India

ICRA Predicts Slowdown in Wind Capacity Addition in FY2020

Lightsource BP Secures Debt Facility for 250 MW Solar Cluster VOL 4 l ISSUE 06 | SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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POLICY UPDATES

Rajasthan Working on new Policy for Environmental Protection Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has said that the state government will soon bring a new policy for environmental protection. Gehlot was addressing the annual media conclave on the environment at Anil Agarwal Environment Training Institute, Neemali in Alwar district.

"Indiscriminate race for development has led to climate change around the world, the consequences of which are being seen," the chief minister said. "All of us should play a positive role in environmental protection. The state government will soon bring a new policy in the state for environmental protection," the CM said.

He said former prime minister Indira Gandhi had not only expressed her concern on the subject but also made global efforts to solve it. The chief minister said media can play an important role in connecting the younger generation to environmental protection.

Gehlot said there are immense possibilities of solar and wind energy in Rajasthan. The state government has introduced a new policy to encourage them, he said. "When I was the chief minister about 20 years ago, solar power production in Rajasthan was 2 MW, now it has increased to 4,000 MW. The

state government is committed to taking this to a greater level," he said.

The chief minister asserted that the government is making efforts to meet the target of afforestation on 20 percent of land in Rajasthan. He also referred to the policy brought by the state government to provide relief to the patients of silicosis, a lung disease.

Reduction in Power Cost due to Prepayment by Customers

Amendments in Guidelines for Wind Projects Clearance

The Ministry of Power (MoP) has in its latest notification asked the state and UT (Union Territory) governments to request the state electricity regulatory commissions (SERC) to consider reducing the cost of power due to prepayment by the end consumers.

The ministry has stated that Prepayment meters are being provided to the end consumers by the distribution companies.

And that with the availability of the meters, consumers can pay in advance for the electricity consumed by them to the Discoms. With prepayment, the carrying costs will come down, leading to reduced requirement of working capital for the Discoms. Further, this will also eliminate the associated costs involved in meter reading, billing and collection. Thus, where prepayment meters are installed or being installed, the electricity tariff per unit for the consumer should reduce.

It also states that the necessary changes in the relevant regulations, orders, or mechanism to reduce the power tariff in case of advance payments or prepayments by the consumers, should be implemented six months from the time of issuance of the letter.

In October, Union Power Minister RK Singh had said that India is moving towards a new regime where a power consumer would pay first and then get power supply, which would eventually deal with the issue of non-payment in the sector.

The minister also made it clear that states wishing to give free power to certain sections of society would have to pay for it from their own budget.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued amendments in guidelines for forwarding applications to the Ministry of Defence for grant of clearance for the construction of wind power projects.

In pursuance of the order issued in 2013 by the Ministry of Defence, the role of the Nodal Ministry role was limited to verification of the credentials/ bonafide of the project and the developers/ proponents. All other aspects relating to grant of Defence clearance are dealt in entirety by the Ministry of Defence. And now, the MNRE has issued amendments to the said guidelines. According to the new changes, a certificate to the effect that the wind turbine model(s) proposed to be installed under the project for which grant of Defence clearance is requested, are having valid Type Certificate is to be submitted by the applicant with the application, which will be retained by this Ministry.

The Certificate shall have the reference no. of the model(s) proposed to be installed as per the Revised List of Models & Manufacturers (RLMM) with RLMM date and validity of model(s) as per RLMM list. And, in the absence of valid Type Certificate and RLMM listed WTG model, the applicant may submit an undertaking confirming that the WTG for the project will be selected from MNRE's RLMM list and will ensure that highest point of the wind turbines (elevation above mean sea level) will remain in the limit of NoC and if it exceeds the height limit, the applicant will seek fresh approval from the Ministry of Defence through MNRE.

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POLICY UPDATES

MNRE Clarifies on Manufacturers Exempt from BIS Registration In a bid to provide further relief to solar module manufacturers, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued a clarification on the ‘definition of model’, ‘quantum of application fee’ and provisions w.r.t. manufacturers currently exempted from BIS registration and certification for ALMM (Approved List of Models and Manufacturers) application purposes.

As per the clarification on ‘model’, the ministry said that, if two different modules have same technology (say multicrystalline), and have same no. of cells (say 72 cells), have proper ratings either identical (say 320 Wp and 320 Wp) or slightly varying but within the permissible variation range of ± 5 percent from the mean wattage (say 315 Wp and 345 Wp which are within ± 5 percent of the mean wattage module of 330 Wp), they shall be treated as one model, subject to all other major technical aspects being similar.

However, if the two modules, having some differences in technical features like different voltage ratings, different no. of bus bars, different anti-reflective coating, etc, they will not be treated as one model, the ministry said.

Similarly, for photovoltaic (PV) cells, all the cells based on

same technology (multi-crystalline/ mono-crystalline/ mono PERC/ bifacial/ half-cut, etc) and having proper ratings within ± 5 percent of the power rating of the mean wattage as submitted by the applicant, shall be treated as one model, subject to all other major technical aspects being similar.

KUSUM Scheme Expanded in Budget to Cover 20 Lakh Farmers

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, 2019, while presenting the latest budget has announced the expansion of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM KUSUM) Scheme under which 20 lakh farmers will now be provided with funds to set up standalone solar pumps.

While presenting the budget for 202021, the minister said that 15 lakh farmers would be provided funds to set up gridconnected 15 lakh solar pumps. The previous Modi government in February last year had unveiled the PM KUSUM scheme with an outlay of Rs 34,422 crore.

Sitharaman told the Lok Sabha that the scheme has removed farmers' dependence on diesel and kerosene and linked them to solar energy. The scheme also enables the farmers to set up solar power generation capacity and sell it to the grid. She stressed that farmers would be able to earn a livelihood through their baron land also (by generating solar power on that).

The PM KUSUM scheme had three components -- 10,000 megawatts (MW) of decentralised ground-mounted gridconnected renewable power plants SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 06

(Component-A); installation of 17.50 lakh standalone solar-powered agriculture pumps (Component-B); and solarisation of 10 lakh grid-connected solar-powered agriculture pumps (Component-C).

All three components combined, the scheme had aimed to add a solar capacity of 25,750 MW by 2022.

Recently, the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) had issued a tender, invited bids from eligible vendors for the supply and commissioning of over 1.8 lakh offgrid solar water pumps across India under the PM KUSUM scheme that is targeted towards promoting the usage of solar power in the country’s agriculture sector.

POLICY UPDATES

Safeguard Duty Knots. Azure Power Wins Reprieve from CERC Azure Power, which had gone to the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) to get compensation from SECI for two of its bids, due to the imposition of Safeguard Duty (SGD) on 30.07.2018, has found a willing ear at CERC. The two cases here were petition numbers 356/MP/20198, and 51/MP/2019.

In an order that mirrors the now multiple orders across APTEL and other state commissions regarding the legality of claiming compensation after SGD, the CERC, in an order dated February 3rd or this Monday, has directed SECI to consider the details submitted by Azure Power for its two projects affected, and arrive at a suitable compensation figure.

The order also follows the trend of cases where the GST has been treated as a change in law too. However, in keeping with the terms of the PPA, where there is no mention of payment of costs for delays caused by the nodal agency, the order ignores the demand for carrying costs/interest on working capital.

What is important is that the order also makes it clear that SECI, despite having back to back arrangements or PSA

(Power Sales Agreement) with discoms in these cases, would still be liable, for the PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) it has signed with the developer. In other words, SECI cannot hold back payments at the enhanced rate if for any reason, if a discom were to delay the same, or even dispute the same.

The matter came up in respect of projects that were celebrated for their

low winning prices, or bids of Rs 2.48 and Rs 2.53 respectively. In fact, the subsequent issue of safeguard duties, and the mess it has created in terms of legal tangles, delays in projects awarded just before and even after the duty was imposed, just goes to explain why it has been deemed a failure by most people in the industry. Developers being at the forefront of course.

Govt Cuts Application Fee for Small Module Manufacturers In a significant step towards providing further relief to small solar module manufacturers, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has modified its existing provisions related to application fees.

As per the new provisions, for small photovoltaic (PV) module manufacturers having total installed manufacturing capacity less than or equal to 50 MW, the application fee for one model of module will be Rs 2,500 per MW of the total installed manufacturing capacity for solar PV modules, of the applicant.

Earlier, this application fee was Rs 5,000 per MW of the total installed manufacturing capacity for solar PV modules as well as for cells. Also, in case of application consists of multiple models, application fee remained Rs 5,000 per MW for one model and additional 1 percent of this for every additional model.

But now, after the modified provisions by the government this fee has been reduced to a much greater extent for small manufacturers which will help in providing more level playing field to them.

For example – if an applicant having total installed manufacturing capacity of solar PV modules as 100 MW, applies for enlistment of its 3 different models of modules, the application fee shall

be 5,000x100 + 5,000x100x0.01 + 5,000x100x0.01 = Rs 5,10,000.

Now, after the modification in the provisions such application fee for a 50 MW manufacturing capacity would be 2,500x50 + 2,500x50x0.01 + 2,500x50x0.01 = Rs 1,27,500.

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POLICY UPDATES

MNRE Opens Facilitation Centre to Strengthen Ease of Doing Biz With an aim to further strengthen the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ in the country, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has opened a new wing as an “Industry and Investors’ Facilitation Centre” in the Ministry.

This centre will work as a focal point to provide correct and timely information related to policies and programmes of the government. It will also take care of resolving the issues of the renewable energy (RE) investors and industry in the country, the ministry said.

The Centre will be headed by Amitesh Kumar Sinha, Joint Secretary of MNRE, and it “will catalyse and boost investor confidence and ensure timely completion of the projects in the sector. Soon, a dedicated portal will be developed for the purpose,” the ministry added.

Commenting on the opening of this facilitation centre, R K Singh, Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy said that “the Facilitation Centre will work as

a fast track mechanism in resolving the investors’ issues and taking the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) a notch higher.”

Singh further said that his Ministry is constantly working on greater Ease of Doing Business (EODB). The Ministry has strengthened Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and Letter of Credit measures for payment security mechanism.

“We are committed to increase our share of RE to 40 percent of our total power generation capacity by 2030 as per our country goals. This centre will play an important role to achieve this goal,” Singh added.

Referring to the efforts for enhancing RE capacity, the Minister said that 86 GW capacity has already been installed, 34 GW is under implementation while 30 GW is at various stages of tendering.

He also added that the Ministry is setting up Ultra Mega RE Power Projects for providing land and transmission on plug and play basis.

On the state of investment in the sector, the ministry said that, India’s renewable energy journey has been largely supported by private investment. Till date it has attracted about USD 100 billion investment and USD 14 billion is in process.

Meanwhile, India requires a further USD 65 billion in investment in the renewable energy sector to achieve its 2022 goals.

Govt Asks Manufacturers to Submit Items List for BCD Exemption

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To provide relief to domestic solar manufacturers in the country, the Government has asked the solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturers and related associations to submit their list of items to be included in the Basic Custom Duty (BCD) exemption list.

In this regard, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued a notification requesting “solar PV manufacturers and solar PV manufacturer associations to provide list of machinery and capital goods required for inclusion in Basic Custom Duty (BCD) exemption list”.

Since the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget announcement on February 01, 2020, there is a lot of confusion prevailing in the solar industry related to basic custom duty on imports.

So, the MNRE had raised this matter with the Finance Ministry for exemption of BCD on import of capital goods required for setting up of manufacturing units for the manufacturing of solar PV modules, cells, wafers, ingots and polysilicon.

Earlier, MNRE through its notification dated June 30, 2017 of the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance stated that “exemption from payment of BCD is available to goods required for manufacturing of goods falling under Tariff Head 8541.”

Now, the Finance Ministry has suggested the MNRE for finalizing a list, in consultation with the Department of Heavy Industries (DHI), of such machinery and capital goods required for setting up of manufacturing units so that they can be considered for SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 06

inclusion in ‘List 19’ of its earlier June 2017 notification.

Besides, earlier in July 2018, the government imposed 25 percent safeguard duty on import of solar cells from China and Malaysia for two years to protect domestic players from steep rise in the inbound shipments of the product.

It had imposed 25 per cent safeguard duty for the time period from July 30, 2018, to July 29, 2019. This was to gradually come down to 20 percent between July 30, 2019, and January 29, 2020, and 15 per cent during the January 30, 2020 and July 29, 2020, period.

POINT OF VIEW

Can privatization help in solving Discom distress?

India’s power sector is currently struggling with multiple issues, among them is pending dues of state Discoms (distribution companies) to renewable energy developers. The issue now even sparked the fears that many solar and wind energy projects likely to turn into non-performing assets (NPAs). Here’re some views and voices from the industry on what could be the possible solution for solving the Discoms distress:

P. Vinay Kumar Founder and CEO Varp Power

“Privatisation is one of the many things that we need to do to resolve the last-mile problem in the power sector. The larger issue is one of transparency in dealing with energy subsidies. There is an imperative for a road-map to phase-out energy subsidies and a clear political will to deal with them trasparently during the phase-out. This is not impossible. We have shown it can be done, in the case of subsidies on diesel and LPG. The second imperative is to create a mechanism that drives efficiencies and motivates loss reduction by the discoms. This is currently being done by diktat which has not really worked. Political will of course is a pre-requisite for achieving both energy subsidy and loss reduction. In summary, privatisation is one tool in the armoury to resolve the distress in the distribution sector.”

“Distribution is the heart of the power sector. It is the most crucial link as all the payments for the transmission and generation companies is from the Discoms.

Hence it has a direct impact on the sector’s commercial viability and overall sustenance. Today, the established players such as Tata Power can play an important role in strengthening the sector through focused reforms in domains like operations, finance, technology et al. They have the required potential to transform the sector which inspite of repeated attempts at funding/ support has not found a model that is financially sustainable. I am hopeful that the Governments both at the Center and State level will encourage more private sector participation in reforming the ailing State Discoms through PPP model which has been proven to be a success in Delhi.”

Krishan Sharma

Vice President-Asia Pacific ReneSola

Ganesh Srinivasan

CEO Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd

“Discoms have the important part to play to realize the nations dreams like “Har Ghar Bijli” or “24x7 Bijli” but today we live in a different reality where discoms participation is too low to achieve the goals related to government schemes and programs and it’s because of poor network efficiency, high losses and sky rocketing debts of discoms. Privatization can be a possible solution to overcome the sector’s deep stressed financial challenges and improve its efficiency.

There are sufficient case studies when private players have been proved to run cash strapped Discoms successfully via more efficiency, increased revenue and improved consumer services. Profit motive and competition among private players creates a more efficient value chain, and private companies, unlike governments, do not assess investments in five-year windows.

Improved network efficiency and lack of political interference are two of the biggest potential advantages of privatization. The private sector’s ability to strategize and plan for the long term is essential in an area like power distribution.

The Quality of regulation shall be very high with clear guidelines in order to keep control over standards of service and keep prices low so that consumers can be benefitted the most.”

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The Perfect Storm A disappointing budget, and now, the Coronavirus might have sealed 2020 for the solar sector. What could save it from here?

Budget 2020, which carried the hopes of many leaders in the solar sector, has finally come and gone. Even as industry welcomed it with the usual platitudes of ‘good intent’, ‘long term planning’ and praise for the ‘higher allocation’ for renewable energy, the full impact of the Coronavirus crisis has already overtaken the sector.

The crisis, even as it unfolds, could prove to be the final blow for a sector that is already nostalgic for the ‘good old days’ barely 5 years into its formal emergence as a sizeable sector.

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The Discom Trap Make no mistake, the 2020 budget has done little to solve the biggest challenge facing the sector. Gyanesh Chaudhary, Managing Director, Vikram Solar, was one of the rare leaders who went as far as to mention the elephant in the roomDiscoms, in their post-budget reactions. “the budget fell short of addressing fiscal conditions of state discoms, and we hope that the Ministry of Power and MNRE together engage with state governments to address this issue. Details on levying 20 percent Basic Custom Duty on import of Solar Cells and Modules are still awaited in order to comment on the impact.”

This politely worded viewpoint from Chaudhary puts the exasperation of the whole power sector in context, where not just renewables, but virtually every energy provider knows that without a resolution of the discom challenge, major changes are simply non- starters in the country. A grim reminder of this fact came in last week, with the news that total discom dues in December 2019 have moved up by almost 50 percent over SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 06

the corresponding figure of 2018, to Rs 88,177 crores. Dues to renewable energy producers in this figure are well over Rs 7000 crores.

Not only are discom delays on dues creating cashflow issues, but other discom related issues like curtailment of renewable energy purchases also are still not resolved completely.

What that means is that hopes for the ADITYA scheme (Atal Distribution System Improvement Yojana), widely expected to provide some immediate relief for the power sector, and the renewable energy sector by extension, are now even higher. The scheme was reported to arrive with a potential corpus of almost Rs 110000 crores, or over $15 billion dollars.

On past performance, that seems like a surefire setup for disappointment.

And then the virus struck The coronavirus in China, from the day China reported its first death on January 11, has been hanging like a sword over the sector ever since. And unlike a hanging sword, the virus has already wrought some serious damage on the ground in India. That was bound to happen, in a sector where over 80 percent of materials come from China. While a clarification by the ministry of finance seems to have provided some relief for now, by accepting its validity as a force majeure event, uncertainty is bound to affect its interpretatioin by relevant agencies. Add the Indian domestic module manufacturers likely to be stuck waiting for cells, to the likely delays in future projects. The effects of the virus are all too visible.

COVER STORY

A note by CRISIL, the credit rating and research agency, puts a number to the risk. According to its paper released on February 17, nearly 3 GW of solar projects, worth Rs 16,000 crore, could be at risk of penalties for missing their respective scheduled commercial operation date (SCOD) if the impact of Coronavirus on trade with China prolongs. This is because as per the standard terms of power purchase agreements, non-adherence to completion timelines attracts penalties, including downward renegotiation of tariffs. A typical schedule

of penalties on account of delay is given in the table below.

The 3 GW of solar projects are mostly projects auctioned between July and August 2018, which need to meet their SCODs by July 2020. Given that orders for modules are typically placed with a lead time of six months from SCOD, these are the projects where developers would have been taking delivery of modules now. Thus, any delay from here on could prove very disruptive indeed.

Krishan Kumar Sharma, Vice President, Asia Pacific for ReneSola, a leading Chinese firm that supplies to large developers in India, has this to say. “Due to this event (coronavirus) supplies are seeing a major disruption due to delay in production, shortage of raw material, and transportation which forced several manufacturers to run their plants partially.

Even the solar modules already manufactured are facing delays in transit to project sites on account of precautionary restrictions on transit at ports (In China).

In India particularly, we are witnessing a surge in demand with limited supply from Chinese SPV manufacturers at the moment.

Despite the safeguard duty, Chinese companies still have a major share in supplying solar cells and modules in the Indian market.

The Solar PV Cells & Modules production of the domestic units will suffer till the time there are enough supplies from China. Unless the situation improves in China, the domestic industry may feel the pinch in a few weeks as their raw material inventory shall be exhausted.

The limited supply from China will force EPCs & Developers to either delay their projects for a while or look for some

alternative which may be a costly affair again. Further delay in supply may impact the delay in commissioning of many solar projects approaching the COD because PPAs signed by Indian developers have strict commissioning deadlines and a failure to meet them may attract the considerable penalties.

Aurangabad in Maharashtra, where the virus outbreak has hit industries in the district, is a prominent manufacturing hub.

Local companies are already finding it difficult to procure substitutes for Chinese parts. The firms are now trying other countries to continue their manufacturing without interruptions.

"Aurangabad has more than 4,000 companies and some of them source parts from China. The coronavirus outbreak in China has disturbed the supply chain of materials," former chairman of Chamber of Marathwada Industries and Agriculture (CMIA) Prasad Kokil told media.

Quite simply, when we spoke to multiple people, including sources at SECI, the prognosis was grim. Between the best case of 12 weeks to a worst-case of 4-6 months, delays have to be factored in, felt all. Even our source at SECI, while refusing to hazard any guesses at this stage, preferred to advise developers to look at the lessons from the experience (more domestic manufacturing). “Yes, it will definitely impact the solar sector of India, because if going to China is stopped, then your supplies, negotiations, inspections of parts etc… those will be stopped. We feel there will be some impact on the Indian solar industry.” If that sounded like a principal willing to accommodate large delays on signed contracts on this account, then best of luck to developers.

If there is one thing the industry has learnt from previous events that can be termed disruptive, like the GST or even Safeguard Duty imposition, it is that the road to getting the government on board is filled with many petitions, arguments, and even getting orders from the state, and even national regulators. All guaranteed to drive up delays further and costs too.

A source at a developer with a pipeline over 1 GW adds that the news doesn’t stop there. “Even if things get back to normal by, say, April, it’s not like we can execute projects in a rush. Within three months, you will have the delays due to the monsoons to contend with. And if last year was any lesson, it is that you can never take anything for granted when it comes to the monsoons anymore”.

Sanjeev Jha, operations head at U-Solar Clean Energy, a solar EPC, voices the uncertainty for the sector “There are concerns in the markets and the government does not have any timeline VOL 4 l ISSUE 06 | SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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COVER STORY

Krishan Sharma

Sanjeev Jha

Vice President-Asia Pacific ReneSola

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Head of Operations U-Solar Clean Energy

for when this will be resolved. Future projects are in a dilemma and we don't know how much more supply chain disruptions will affect the availability and price of materials”. In effect, as one of the sectors with the highest dependence on Chinese imports, the solar sector is set to pay a price, even if the issue is resolved somewhat by early March. As a developer told us, “ the one thing we cannot have in this case, due to the nature of the parties involved, is to have our regulators take the official version as the final word”.

the court’s intervention in the matter of the dues pending for several months. According to the affidavit, the state-owned utility has paid Rs 1,955 crore to generators so far while Rs 599 crore remains to be paid.

In fact, if you needed to see just how tortuous the workings of the state can be, then look no further than the monthly reports shared by the MNRE with the union cabinet. We analysed the reports for all of 2019, and it’s a study in how difficult it can be for things to move.

States, Agencies, and Delays If the discoms and now, the Coronavirus were the only issues the industry had, one could have looked to the future with hope. After all, hopes are still high that a solution for the discom issue will come soon, while the Chinese government has taken drastic action to limit the virus and restore normalcy, as soon as it can.

But unfortunately for India’s solar sector, it doesn’t stop there.

Delays, legal troubles, and more dog some of the biggest projects wins. Completed projects are mired in permissions or disputes. The case of the NTPC managed solar bids at Ananthpur in Andhra Pradesh is a case in point. 3 firms, all well known foreign firms operating in the country, bid for, and won the 750 MW tender with bids of Rs 2.72 and Rs 2.73 respectively in May 2018. Almost 20 months on, the SCOD. Similarly, multiple projects since 2016 have been embroiled in delays due to GST disputes, issues around safeguard duties, delay in signing of PPA’s and subsequent start of work, and more. The Andhra Pradesh government’s stand on lower prices on old, signed PPA’s, is still yet to be resolved.

The Andhra Pradesh Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (APSPDCL) has recently sought more time to clear outstanding dues to the tune of Rs 599 crore it owes to renewable energy developers.

In an affidavit filed with the state high court recently, the Discom has pleaded with the court to grant 4 weeks further time to clear the dues. The court had directed the state discom on December 20, 2019, to clear the dues within four weeks.

The order had come in the wake of the developers seeking

Renewable Energy Additions During 2019

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 06

Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Annual Addition

Solar Wind Bio Small Energy Energy Power Hydro 26.03 35.29 9.92 4.52 27.09 35.32 9.92 4.54 28.18 35.63 9.91 4.59 No Mention* 29.41 36.09 9.94 4.6 29.55 36.37 9.94 4.6 30.07 36.69 9.94 4.6 30.7 36.76 9.94 4.6 No Report* 31.7 37.09 9.94 4.65 32.52 37.28 9.94 4.65 33.73 37.5 10 4.67 7.7 2.21 0.08 0.15

Total Pipeline** 74.76 76.87 78.31

58.77 67.38

80.04 80.46 81.3 82.01

Na NA Na NA

83.38 84.39 85.9 11.14

39.67 50.36 66.54

All figures in GW Source: MNRE notes to the Union Cabinet *No report uploaded in these months. ** Projects under bidding or implementation

As readers can see from the details above, solar and wind energy should feel fortunate they are not in the same boat as Bio Power and Small Hydro, both of which barely saw any major additions at all. The missing data in April and September might be explained by the fact that new commissions, especially

COVER STORY

in September, seemed to have evaporated altogether on those months, as reported by us too.

But most of us already know these numbers. What is perhaps more interesting is the many ideas and initiatives, big and small, that were presented, approved, or planned to be built upon, but are yet to see the light of real implementation.

Look at just a few select highlights from each month's reports.

Missing in Action. Decisions Taken Each Month At MNRE in 2019 2019

DESCRIPTION

January

A revised note for KUSUM, a revised note for the CPSU Phase II scheme was submitted to CCEA. A concept note for distribution of 1 million solar cookstoves prepared for approval by the department of expenditure. A concept note for National Energy Storage Mission, presented in November 2018, followed up with a draft cabinet note.

February

CCEA in its meeting held on February 19, 2019, has approved the KUSUM scheme for providing 17.5 lakh stand-alone Solar Pumps with a generational capacity of 1000 MW, solarisation of 10 lakh gridconnected Pumps and installation of 1000 MW small solar power plants up to 2 MW capacity by farmers.

CCEA has also approved Ph-II of the Rooftop solar Programme to achieve 40 GW RTS capacity in the country by 2022. Under this Programme central financial assistance will be provided for residential sector and incentives for Discoms.

March

Guidelines for CPSU scheme Phase II issued. Administrative approvals for new schemes of KUSUM and SHRISHTI (Solar Rooftop Programme) issued.

April

More meetings on CPSU Phase II scheme, 1000 MW project for North East, Re-Invest 2019 (which was postponed eventually)

May

A ‘Chintan Baithak’ to review progress in the renewable energy sector.

June

Implementation guidelines for CPSU Scheme Phase II finally. SECI issues the first RFS document for 2000 MW under the scheme. Follow up meeting to May ‘Chintan Baithak’. A decision to make NDMC areas of New Delhi a 100 percent green energy area. Committee to suggest changes in bye-laws, with an aim to ensure solar rooftop is compulsory on all government/institutional buildings.

July

A meeting with honourable PM to discuss boost for solar manufacturing, implementing best practices globally for the renewable sector. Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Power Plants (UMREP) discussed with states vis a vis land and financing. Meeting with 6 IIT’s to set up centres of excellence for research on renewable energy.

August

The formal launch of the PM-KUSUM scheme, the second phase of the SHRISHTI scheme, and the SARAL index of rooftop attractiveness among states.

October

ISA 2019 held. SECI issues RFS for 400 MW Round the clock (RTC) supply of power to NDMC and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

November

Meeting to discuss Green energy Corridor Project with states. Land issues in Gujarat ‘resolved’ with the Gujarat government agreeing to provide land to SECI’s Tranche I to IV winners.

December

Meeting to address mismatch in commissioning of solar /wind projects and transmission projects.

Proposals for union budget 2020 given. A review by the Prime Minister of the renewable energy sector done. Centralised tender for Component B of PM-KUSUM by EESL concludes with a reduction of 20 percent compared to benchmark rates.

Source: MNRE Website

That’s some of the biggest highlights, by the MNRE’s own reckoning, of a year’s work. We leave it for you to judge how much of an impact it has made, or is likely to make in the near future.

In the meantime came the news that Vikram Solar, a respected manufacturer and EPC player, has let go of 320 workers from one of its plants in Bengal. The firm is quite clear that the action has been forced on it by the prevailing uncertainty.

What that implies for other manufacturing plans in the pipeline, could be the topic for the next monthly report.

Multiple EPC players, who count on contract workers for a large part of their operations, have the same story to share, though of course they haven’t had to share the same issues as Vikram Solar in their layoffs.

-EDITORIAL@MEILLEURMEDIA.COM

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FEBRUARY 2020

Energy Storage Industry Sees New

Opportunities in Sitharaman’s

BUDGET 2020

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Welcoming the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Union Budget 2020, which was tabled in the parliament today, the energy storage industry body India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) sees many opportunities in this year’s Budget for the energy storage sector.

It analyzed that it will not only provide a further boost to the economy but also help in further boosting the renewable energy sector as a whole. For the energy storage sector, areas like – power and renewable energy (RE) sector, KUSUM Scheme, manufacturing, policy for building data centre parks, Kishan Rail network, 100 more airports by 2024, Rs 4,400 crore allocation for climate change policy, startups, smart cities, fish production, sewer systems cleaning, and Arth Ganga among others.

Thus, in his first reaction on the Budget, Dr. Rahul Walawalkar, President of India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) commented that we welcome the government’s focus on the power and renewable energy sector as it had allocated Rs 20,000 crore for the renewable energy sector. With the recent path-breaking tenders showing the viability of RE plus storage as an alternative to peaker plants, government’s plan to retire old inefficient thermal plants can be achieved through RE plus storage hybrid projects, thus SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 06

providing a boost for efforts for cleaner air and renewable energy push. He further said we welcome the announcement on concessional corporate task rate of 15 percent to the generation sector as this can attract greater investments in the renewable energy sector in the country.

Explaining the various growth opportunities for the energy storage sector in KUSUM scheme, Dr Walawalkar said that “over the past 2-3 years, we have witnessed reliance on solar pumps to reduce distribution network losses by various states. We urge the government to consider the use of microgrids that can help improve the utilization of solar panels deployed with these pumps as well as ensuring groundwater management is done. Without such integrated policies, push for just deployment of solar pumps could lead to exploitation of limited ground water resources and result in unintended consequences during summer months.”

By welcoming the government’s step to boost electronics manufacturing, IESA Chief said, “power electronics and electronic manufacturing is an essential part of advanced storage and EV ecosystem. We hope that this new scheme can boost component manufacturing in India and reduce reliance on imports for Indian companies.”

IESA was given the push under Niti Aayog’s mission National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage for indigenous manufacturing.

However, Dr Rahul seemed disappointed on manufacturing incentives, “we were anticipating a clear allocation of resources for accelerating e-mobility and setting up of Giga factory/s which was a miss in the budget. We hope the finance ministry will provide a clarification on this.”

On the policy for building data centre parks, the IESA Chief commented “India is already witnessing the rapid growth of data centres. Data centres need high quality and reliability of power supply. This would give a big boost for the integration of advanced energy storage technologies that can offer higher energy density and thus allow data centres to dedicate more space to deploying servers for revenue-generating activities.”

On Kisan Rail network to ferry perishable goods faster, that will have refrigerated coaches, he said that “we thank the government for addressing issues of lost agricultural produce during transportation that leads to huge losses for farmers.

Use of refrigerated coaches, as well as cold storage facilities, would help reduce these losses to a large extent, thus helping to boost the income of

STORAGE UPDATES

farmers in India. IESA and its members are working on the use of thermal storage technologies for both cold storage and refrigerated transportation facilities as well as looking of use of microgrids for local processing of agricultural produce and thermal storage for accelerated drying of agricultural produce.”

Also on the allocation of Rs 4,400 crore for the climate change policy, Dr Rahul expressed happiness by saying that energy storage has been recognized as a key enabler for the renewable energy targets. The allocation for climate change policy will result in faster deployment of renewable energy plus hybrid projects in 2020-21.

In order to boost startups, the Budget says tax burden on employees due to tax on Employee Stock Options to be deferred by 5 years or till they leave the company or when they sell, whichever is earliest.

“Government’s five year tax holiday will definitely encourage the new innovation in electric vehicle and energy storage startups to flourish in India. This will provide a competitive platform for Indian startups to compete with global players,” he further added.

Furthermore, Budget also indicated about fish production which is likely to be raised to 200 lakh tonnes by 2022-23.

The reliable power supply is essential for fisheries. IESA is already working on exploring the role of microgrids for helping fisheries to avoid losses due to power cuts. We look forward to helping the government is achieving the target for increasing fish production in India, the IESA Chief commented.

Besides, Budget also puts emphasis on the removal of manual cleaning of sewer systems or septic tanks. On this Dr Rahul said that “IESA welcomes this step. Entrepreneurs are developing new

tools that can automate the task of cleaning of drainage systems (such as Bandicoot, a drainage-cleaning robot).

With the advances in energy storage technologies and the availability of compact high power batteries, such systems can reach tougher spots and help us eliminate the need for manual cleaning immediately. We encourage all industries and residential societies to consider such options before choosing for manual scavenging.”

Looking for further opportunities in the transportation sector such as Arth Ganga, he said, we are looking forward to furthering details on this plan. Push for opening up waterways for transportation and developing economic activities along the river banks can be achieved through the introduction of electric boats that can also ensure minimal damage to fragile ecosystems along with the rivers.

Innogy Builds its 1st Battery Storage Facility in Ireland Innogy SE has announced it has taken the final investment decision (FID) for a large-scale battery storage facility in Ireland.

The 60-megawatt (MW) facility will be located in the Irish county of Monaghan within the vicinity of Lisdrumdoagh. The construction will start this year, with commissioning scheduled for 2021. After full commissioning, the battery storage plant will provide system services to the national grid and will expand the firms’ renewables portfolio in Ireland.

Sven Utermöhlen, senior vice president renewables operations at Innogy SE, said “I am proud that we are making our first significant utility-scale battery storage investment, not just anywhere, but in Ireland, a market with a strong commitment to renewable energies and dedicated support for battery storage.

Ireland is an excellent starting point for us as we look to expand and grow our battery storage technology business.”

As the growth of renewable generation continues to replace conventional power generation in Ireland, there is an increasing challenge for the grid operators to safely manage imbalances in the system, which can include the

curtailment of wind generators. Large storage systems, like the battery facility planned in Lisdrumdoagh, will respond in less than 150 milliseconds to frequency changes, importing or exporting electricity from the grid as needed. As a result, battery storage schemes help not only to even out the fluctuating feed-in from

renewable energies but also to efficiently stabilise the grid and guarantee reliable electricity supply.

After commissioning, the battery storage system in Lisdrumdoagh will have the ability to deliver 60 MW of power, enough capacity to power around 125,000 homes.

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FEBRUARY 2020

THE CONVERSATION

SANJAY SETH CEO, GRIHA Council

SYNERGY NEEDED AMONG ARCHITECTS, REAL ESTATE DEVELOPERS, GOVT TO DELIVER GREEN BUILDINGS

Synergy is required amongst the architects, the real estate developers and the government to design and deliver green buildings. Green buildings are still perceived to be expensive by the end users. While there have been steps taken to orient the market towards a life-cycle approach in estimating the financial implication of construction, operational savings due to lower consumption of energy still fail to attract the necessary investments, believes Sanjay Seth, CEO, Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) Council, a government-backed non-profit organisation focused on green building ratings. In conversation with Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Saur Energy International, Seth shared his views on various issues which the power sector is currently dealing with along with the organisation’s various initiatives in the renewable energy segment. Following are the excerpts from that exclusive interview.

Q

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What does GRIHA see as its biggest focus area in the near future?

The GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) Rating, which has been adopted as the National Rating System by the Indian government, has been entrusted to measure, verify and evaluate the environmental impact of new and existing buildings. The GRIHA platforms also enables a streamlined process to collate data pertaining to the built-environment in order to help the government in determining the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and strengthen its implementation efforts further. GRIHA aims to enhance the stock of green buildings in India, thereby supporting the Indian government to mitigate and adapt to the effect of climate change. Due to the immense confidence expressed by several international organisations such as UNSW, Sydney and the Danish Government, GRIHA Council is in the process of exploring possibilities for development of codes and standards for other countries with climatic conditions similar to that in India.

Through these meaSAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 06

sures, GRIHA aims to disseminate concepts of sustainable and low-carbon development beyond national boundaries.

Q

What do you think is the level of consumer awareness about green construction in India? How it can be increased?

Consumer’s perception is that green buildings cost more and thus can be afforded by only the affluent. However, the reality is that sustainable buildings can be constructed to provide monetary benefits provided the decisions for the same are made at the right stage. Traditional buildings, which were constructed in the past, incorporated the concepts of sustainability and were designed to respond to local climatic conditions. The green building stock of India can only be enhanced if this misapprehension disappears.

Another issue impacting the penetration of green buildings is the absence of adequate information on sustainable material in the public domain.

In today’s scenario, the technical knowledge of advanced sustainable construction is concentrated in metropolitan

THE CONVERSATION

cities while the indigenous knowledge in local communities • Fast track environment clearance is disappearing. Therefore, GRIHA has been actively working The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change towards training industry professionals through our regular (MoEF&CC), Government of India issued a memorandum capacity building programs. to facilitate fast track environmental clearance for GRIHA pre certified projects.

Shed some light on the incentives/ facilities provided to encourage construction of green buildings in the country. • Property tax rebate Government policies play a very crucial role in promoting Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation – Discount of sustainable development. It is critical to inform national policies 10% on property tax for home owners in GRIHA rated to create a much-needed demand for green or sustainable green building projects buildings in the Indian market. I would say that the addition of Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation – Discount of 5%, a new chapter on sustainability in the National Building Code 8%, 10%, 12% and 15% on property tax for home owners is a huge step towards large scale implementation of Green of 1 star, 2 star, 3 star, 4 star and 5 star rated SVAGRIHA Buildings. It has also been observed that a lot of impetus is green building projects respectively being given by the government to align the regional building codes with the national agenda of promoting sustainability • Reduction of permit fee and reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Furthermore, M unicipal Administration and Urban Development an eco-system approach to enhancing the sector has been Department, Andhra Pradesh - 20% Reduction on Permit adopted to ensure the scaling-up and implementation of Fees for all GRIHA rated buildings market ready solutions.

Several incentives have been brought in the market to promote • Subsidy on capital investment GRIHA, the national rating system for Green Buildings by Industrial Development Policy 2015 – 2020 by Government several state and central government bodies. All the central of Andhra Pradesh - 25% subsidy of total fixed capital government buildings and PSUs have mandated GRIHA for investment of the project (excluding cost of land, land all their buildings since 2009. Following the same, many of the development, preliminary and pre-operative expenses states have been several benefits as listed below: and consultancy fees) for the industries which will obtain • Additional FAR green rating as per GRIHA with a ceiling of INR 50 crore Urban Development & Housing Department, Government of In addition, Sunref India has been offering additional benefits Jharkhand - 3%, 5% & 7% additional FAR shall be awarded for the housing projects developers, owners as well as primary to all building uses (except plotted residential) for achieving lending institutions under the affordable housing segment. a 3-star, 4-star or 5-star GRIHA Rating respectively In the private sector, GRIHA has signed MOUs with major Housing & Urban Planning Department, Government of players such as Vatika Group, IREO, and Conscient Group to Uttar Pradesh - Free of cost 5% additional FAR for projects ensure that all their upcoming constructions are GRIHA rated. for complying with 4 or 5 Star GRIHA Rating These partnerships have helped GRIHA establish a sizeable Building Code 2017, Government of Haryana - 3%, 6%, 9%, footprint across the country with over 1733 registered projects 12% or 15% additional FAR shall be awarded to all building and 52502869 square meters of sustainable built up space. uses (except plotted residential) for achieving a 1-star, In your view, what are the challenges in the road towards 2-star, 3-star, 4-star or 5-star GRIHA Rating respectively developing green buildings in India?

Department of Municipal Affairs, Government of West Bengal - 10% additional Floor Area Ratio F.A.R. for "Green Synergy is required amongst the architects, the real estate developers and the government to design and deliver green Building" Jaipur Development Authority - Free of cost 5% additional buildings. Green buildings are still perceived to be expensive FAR for projects for complying with 4 or 5 Star GRIHA Rating by the end users. While there have been steps taken to orient D epartment of Housing and Urban Development, the market towards a life-cycle approach in estimating the Government of Punjab - Free of cost 5% additional FAR financial implication of construction, operational savings due for projects for complying with 4 or 5 Star GRIHA Rating to lower consumption of energy still fail to attract the necessary Town & country planning department, Himachal Pradesh investments. We have been working towards enabling the entire – Free of cost 10% additional FAR for projects complying building eco-system to work towards sustainable development and life-cycle approach to construction progressively. with 4/5 star GRIHA rating Another hurdle would be that majority of the buildings that are being developed green are yet to be completed. People • Discounted Development Premium Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) – 5%, 10% and 15% believe in things that are physically visible and are supported discounted development premium for achieving a 3 star, with numbers substantiating the associated savings rather than just the numbers. While traditional buildings were built on the 4 star or 5 star GRIHA rating respectively Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) – 5%, 10% and 15% principles of sustainability, the associated savings were not discounted development premium for achieving a 3 star, being monitored and reported in the public domain. Thus, there is a need to put more credible information associated 4 star or 5 star SVAGRIHA rating respectively with the green buildings in the public domain.

Q

Q

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THE CONVERSATION

A major challenge is enhancing consumer understanding NDCs submitted to UNFCCC. GRIHA’s initiatives have been of the implication of design, planning and construction of instrumental in reducing carbon emissions from the building buildings on climate change and the environment. Additionally, sector considerably. Last year, the PWD in Maharashtra had infrastructure and financial constraints coupled with difficulties mandated all upcoming government buildings and retrofitting in procurement of sustainably sourced materials are major of existing buildings to comply with green building concepts hindrances towards creating a paradigm shift. An integrated and to be rated by the GRIHA Council. “This small initiative approach in spreading awareness, creating policy imperatives in its first phase led to an annual reduction of nearly 2721 and mandates for “green” construction is critical.GRIHA Council tonnes of carbon emissions, which is equivalent to eliminating has associated with Indian Institute of Architects (IIA), Council 600 vehicles from the roads. The potential impact of GRIHA of Architecture (CoA) and National Real Estate Development registered projects, with 2525 MWp of renewable energy Council (NAREDCO) to carry out capacity building programs installation, 8,48,71,412 MWh/ annum of energy savings and to disseminate knowledge about green buildings into the nearly 2,81,60,249 tCO2/ annum CO2 emissions offset is a building fraternity. The GRIHA Council in association with TERI clear indicator of how green buildings will be fundamental has launched the GRIHA Product Catalogue with the intent in helping India achieve its emissions targets. to provide information about products which meet GRIHA Just as renewables energy found larger adoption only parameters to the architects, engineers, builders and other when they reached price parity, are green buildings professionals for use in their green rated buildings. This has helped in increasing the pool of green building products making a strong case for immediate economic benefits too? and provided clarity to building professionals who are often There are several sustainability parameters that affect the unsure about whether a certain product is sustainable or not. ‘greenness’ of a building. While there are various technologies and systems such as efficient glazing, directly leading to a What is the viewpoint at GRIHA on the surge in usage higher capital investment, there are many no cost and low of glass in buildings? Especially with the massive walls cost strategies and technologies which can enhance resource made of glass? Is that appropriate for India? efficiency. Ironically building procurement decisions are The increasing building energy use due to space conditioning predominantly made on the basis of upfront capital cost and calls for a more nuanced design of building envelopes there is a lack of life cycle approach including operational specifically, since a majority of the heat ingress in buildings factors affecting cost, performance and ease of operation. can be attributed to glazing and roofs (nearly 50% and This has led to the general notion that green buildings are 25% respectively in single storey structures and 48% and 9% expensive. respectively in multi-storied buildings ). Consideration of heat Constructing a green building is only a question of engaging gain is usually secondary to the aesthetic or brand appeal and understanding the nuances of climate responsive design. and is not given sufficient importance during the design stage. The hindrance in large scale adoption of green buildings can The current market trends and international architecture also be attributed to the low demand of green construction. zeitgeist is geared towards the use of large glass façades. The onus is also on designers and architects to promote Such an approach to design inevitably increases the heat green building practices and dispel the notion of high capital ingress into buildings and can result in an increased cooling costs associated with green buildings. The government has load. Depending on the envelope design and construction acknowledged the importance of green buildings and in adopted for residential buildings located in a particular consonance with this plan; various state governments have climate zone, the minimum and maximum sensible cooling introduced incentives for developers promoting green demand can vary by as much as 1:3. . However, the under- construction. Several state governments allow increased utilization of transparent construction can also lead to a dimly floor space index (FSI) in case of green buildings based on lit building, resulting in increased energy consumption due to certification by rating agencies such as GRIHA Council. To list artificial lighting. Therefore, GRIHA sets the standards for the a few, Housing & Urban Planning Department, Government use of glazing and the daylight requirement for comfortable of Uttar Pradesh is offering free of cost 5% additional FAR for and energy efficient habitat. projects for complying with 4 or 5 Star GRIHA Rating; Building Code 2017, Government of Haryana - 3%, 6%, 9%, 12% or 15% Can the building and housing sector help India achieve is awarding additional FAR to all building uses (except plotted its emissions targets going forward more easily? residential) for achieving a 1-star, 2-star, 3-star, 4-star or 5-star The building sector has the largest potential for significantly GRIHA Rating respectively; Department of Municipal Affairs, reducing greenhouse gas emissions compared to other major Government of West Bengal is awarding 10% additional Floor emitting sectors . This emissions savings potential is said to be Area Ratio F.A.R. for "Green Building". as much as 84 gigatonnes of CO2 (GtCO2) by 2050, through When energy conservation projects increase the initial capital direct measures in buildings such as energy efficiency, fuel cost of a new building or incur retrofit costs in an existing switching and the use of renewable energy . The bulk of building, Life Cycle Costing can determine whether or not the building infrastructure is yet to be built. In this respect, these projects are economically justified from the investor’s GRIHA has been acknowledged as the tool to evaluate viewpoint, based on necessary investments, reduced energy reduction in emission intensity through habitats, as part of costs and other costs implications over the project life or the mitigation strategy for combating climate change in India’s investor’s time horizon.

Q

Q

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SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 06

INNOVATION UPDATES

Solar PV Sources Emit More CO2 Than Geothermal: Study New research published in the journal Geomechanics and Geophysics for Geo-Energy and Geo-Resources has revealed that Solar photovoltaic (PV) cells emit more carbon dioxide (CO2) than geothermal power plants during their lifetime.

According to a recent study conducted by the civil engineering department at the Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad, the total CO2 emissions during the lifecycle of a solar photovoltaic (PV) cell is about 3312 × 106 kg, which is far higher than a geothermal energy source emitting about 450 g/kWh. The life cycle of the solar cell is explained as follows, the quartz that is required to manufacture solar cells that can generate 1 MWe weighs about 10 tons, and the manufacture of PV cells involves two important stages: metallurgical grade silicon (MGS) and electronic-grade silicon (EGS). In the first stage, an amount of 1756 × 106 kg of CO2 is released, and a similar amount of CO2 is released during the conversion of EGS to ingots. Thus bringing the total CO2 emissions during

the lifecycle of a solar PV cell at about 3312 × 106 kg.

“Solar PV cells may not emit CO2 during the generation of electricity, but in their lifetime, emissions are considerable.

Therefore, solar PV cannot be considered a zero-emission source,” said the research

titled ‘CO2 emissions from renewables: Solar PV, hydrothermal and EGS sources’.

The research paper added that apart from the emissions related to the manufacture of solar PV cells, solar panels, and solar cell waste management were also of great concern.

Battery Power Sharing, Swap Stations Could Make EV Affordable

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Researchers are working on two solutions for electric vehicles (EVs), including a technology that would allow sharing of stored battery power with another EV and even sell excess energy to make a fast buck, for making the clean vehicles more economical.

Along with the power-sharing tool vehicle-to-everything (V2X), researchers are also examining the feasibility of battery swapping stations where an EV owner would simply replace the batteries like refilling of gas cylinders, Hitesh Datt Mathur, Associate Professor at the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani, has said.

The two solutions can make EVs economical as customers would not need to buy expensive heavy batteries which account for around 25-30 percent of the total cost of an EV currently.

The research projects are sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Mathur, who has designed an EV with V2X technology, said the model is capable of sharing stored power with another EV, a grid, hotels, malls, etc.

"The incentive could be seen by an example where a customer is charging EV with V2X feature at home at Rs 8 per unit and discharging some part of stored power at any commercial place at Rs 15 as commercial rates are higher than domestic SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 06

rates of electricity," he suggested.

When the EV is not in use, some parts of stored energy may be sold to others including the grid, another EV customer, even to some offices or homes.

If a customer sells 20 units equivalent of power during this discharge, he will have Rs 140 earned. The power grid, at large, during peak hour, can also be supplemented by orderly managed owners of EVs with V2X feature.

RACEnergy

Arun Sreyas Founder

Brief details Total employees: 10 Key operational areas (Products, Regions, Clients): The company is making electric conversion kits for three-wheelers and battery swapping stations. It is targeting to launch its products in urban areas, especially Tier 1 cities. The company does direct sales to auto-rickshaw drivers and is also looking to partner with OEMs to launch vehicles on its swapping platform.

Founding Members detail: The start-up was founded in 2018 by Arun Sreyas and Gautham Maheswaran, who are alumni of BITS Pilani. They were part of the Formula SAE and BAJA teams of their university and have developed and built several race cars in the past.

Turning Point for the firm One month after starting RACEnergy,

Gautham Maheswaran Founder

when the founders were selected for the finals of Y Combinator and were invited for an interview in the Silicon Valley. Some of the best investors in the world believed that there was value in their idea and was worthwhile. This gave them more conviction to start executing their idea quickly.

Plans in next 3 to 5 years The company aimed to be a leader in the battery segment and battery swapping technology. It has planned to scale up its swapping network across all the major cities in India while increasing the density of stations in each city. The company wants to work with OEMs to manufacture vehicles on its battery swapping platform.

Biggest Challenge for the Sector In a price-sensitive market like India, the high price of purchasing electric

vehicles (EVs) hinders the adoption of electric mobility.

Biggest Attraction in the sector The price-sensitivity of the Indian market provides the company with a great opportunity to intervene and solve the cost problem and help accelerate the rate of EV adoption in the country.

Present State of Mind We have maintained a steady rate of progress since the time we started building our products and our team. We could have had faster advancements in product development with betterstreamlined component sourcing which we are striving to improve every day.

Talent acquisition is another area that we are focusing on and we think it would help fast track growth.

-MANU@MEILLEURMEDIA.COM

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BUDGET EXCLUSIVE

BUDGET 2020 REACTIONS

The stakeholders from the solar industry has broadly welcomed the Narendra Modi led NDA government’s Union Budget 2020, as this time the power and renewable energy sector managed to get more attention in the budget. This time Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget got more relevance as it came at a time when the country’s economy is struggling with one of the worst slowdowns till date. Despite this, the government’s focus on it’s commitment towards climate goals clearly reflected in the Budget, which kept the momentum upbeat for the solar energy sector. The industry appreciated the various provisions announced by the Finance Minister for the renewable energy industry including expansion of PM KUSUM Scheme, use of barren land for solar power, increased solar energy generation via Indian Railways tracks, reduction in corporate tax rate for new energy companies, abolishing dividend distribution tax, addressed concerns of start-ups, proposed prepaid smart meters to strengthen Discoms among others. The industry is keen to find new opportunities in various sectors for itself, however, some of them have raised their concerns as well, over the government’s union budget announcement of raising tariffs on imports of green energy equipments such as solar cells and modules, no mention of electric vehicles etc. Here’s what they say:

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BUDGET EXCLUSIVE

Dr. Ajay Mathur, Director General of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), an energy and environment think tank, said “The Union Budget 2020-21 aimed to increase the purchasing power of the people by addressing the aspirations of all the sections of the society. It was broadly woven around three primary pillars, Aspirational India, Economic Development for All and a Caring Society. This somewhat is line with the concept of three pillars of the sustainable development that includes economic, social and environmental. Through aiding for setting up of solar pumps under the PM-KUSUM scheme, the government is trying to achieve the twin objective of scaling employment and increasing RE capacity in the country. The uptake of RE in the country is also been proposed through setting up of solar power capacity alongside the rail tracks. The introduction of ‘Smart metering’ would give consumers the freedom to choose the supplier and plan offered by distribution companies as per their requirements.

The proposals announced under the Union Budget 2020-21 will help move ahead towards achieving higher resource efficiency while promoting greater environmental sustainability and economic stability.”

Sumant Sinha, Chairman and Managing Director of ReNew Power, country’s largest renewable energy Independent Power Producer (IPP), commented “The Union Budget 2020 is a balanced and pragmatic statement of intent. Finance minister in her speech has attempted to address the trust deficit across a host of sectors. She has assured stock market investors by abolishing dividend distribution tax, addressed concerns of start-ups with respect to ESOPS and in the renewable energy sector through strengthening of contracts act and lowering of Corporate tax rate for new energy companies. While there was pressure to move away from fiscal responsibility the government has chosen to walk a middle path allowing for an acceptable increase in fiscal deficit while putting some extra money in the hands of tax payers.”

Tulsi Tanti, Chairman of IWTMA (Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association), an apex business association and voice of the Indian Wind Industry and Stakeholders, said “The Budget 2020 is pro-growth, gives impetus for consumption, creation of infrastructure and encourages investments into Indian economy. It provides a boost to propel domestic consumption through – a) Income Tax sops for nearly 30 million income taxpayers b) Improved financial health of 120 million marginal farmers. The special focus on agriculture sector with a 16-point plan is very encouraging. The budget also gave a boost to ‘Make in India’ by focusing on manufacturing and enhancing infrastructure and rural digital connectivity. It is aligned to the objective of overall economic growth, Nation building and job creation. The renewable energy industry welcomes the government’s focus on clean energy being the major source of energy security for the country. The Finance Minister assertion to address Discoms is welcomed to tackle the financial stress in the system and help renewable energy sector. The infusion of Rs 22,000 crore for the renewable energy sector is a major boost to grow the clean energy and help achieve the PM vision of 175 GW by 2022. Also, we hope that with the capital infused in the banking sector and banks coming out of PCA will help in infusing more funds to renewable energy projects.”

Ashish Khanna, MD & CEO of Tata Power Solar and President, Tata Power (Renewables), a renewable arm of utility giant Tata Power, said “The Union Budget allocations are in the same direction that the Government of India has been supporting renewable for quite a long time now. The announcement that has been made by the government towards the KUSUM scheme is quite a positive step which will further help farmers to improve their livelihood through establishing solar pumps. Government’s decision to incentivize farmers to go solar and allowing farmers with barren land can set up solar power units will further help them to get a living out of it. Also, Government’s proposal to set up large solar power capacity alongside the railway tracks on the land owned by the Indian Railways is a positive step towards the renewable industry of the country.”

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BUDGET EXCLUSIVE

Jaideep N. Malaviya, Consultant, Solar Energy says “The renewable energy budget which would hover around Rs 5,500 crore has seen almost a four-fold jump to Rs 22,000 crore, which is praiseworthy. However a majority of it may go in supporting the ambitious stand-alone 20 lakh and 15 lakh grid connected solar PV agricultural pumps. But a major announcement of milk processing capacity to be doubled to 108 tonne from 53 tonne by 2025 will increase the demand for heat energy and provides opportunity to explore solar thermal energy or any sustainable heating and throw opportunities to entrepreneurs for manufacturing sustainable heating technologies.”

Gautam Seth, Joint-Managing Director, HPL & Electric Power Ltd, country’s one of the leading electric equipment manufacturer, find new opportunities and said “The annual budget announced by the FM has given special impetus to the power and infrastructure sector and allocating Rs 22,000 crore for renewable and power sector is going to push for faster development and growth across sector. The announcement made by FM to replace energy meters with pre-paid smart meters will further help in complete digitization of the whole system and will help in bring about more financially healthier utilities. The FM has urged state governments to implement smart meters in the next three years and HPL being one of the leading manufacturer of smart meters sees this as a huge opportunity. In addition, the implementation of five Smart city projects in PPP mode will give more opportunities to the private companies.”

Saif Dhorajiwala, Co-Founder & ED, Fourth Partner Energy, a company working in the distributed solar sector, replied “The Rs 20,000 crore corpus dedicated to the RE sector to tackle climate change and pollution, announced in the union budget reflects India’s commitment and urgency for transition to clean energy sources. We await further clarity on new schemes around smart meters and grid infrastructure. The government’s intentions on solarizing the Indian railways and expanding the KUSUM scheme to include 20 lakh farmers will give a good boost to solar power in the rural segment — where the impact will be highest, as it will address the issues of energy access, energy affordability and climate in one stroke. Another key announcement made by the FM is the abolition of the Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT), which is a good move as it makes investments more attractive.”

Nikunj Ghodawat, Chief Financial Officer, CleanMax Solar opined “The Union Budget 2020 has a few positive inclusions. For the Renewable Energy Sector – the extension of the 15 percent and 22 percent tax rate to the new and existing power generation companies, which was earlier only earmarked for the manufacturing sector, is a welcome move. While the fine print is still awaited, the new personal income tax structure should help to increase liquidity at the hands of the individuals, which will have a trickle-down effect to boost demand and consumption across multiple sectors.”

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Sanjeev Aggarwal, Founder and CEO, Amplus Solar, a part of the Malaysia-based Petronas (Petroliam Nasional Berhad) Group and distributed energy provider to C&I customers, replied “The overall impetus on long term reforms in the power sector is very encouraging and it was noteworthy to note that India stands committed to its international sustainability commitments.

The focus on bringing down the commercial losses in the distribution companies by mandating prepaid meters, coupled with the consumers having the ‘choice of suppliers’ will surely resolve the long term viability issues of the power sector and lead to a vibrant electricity market. The usage of solar in the railways and farming and usage of farmlands for solar plants will open up new entrepreneurial opportunities and will help in faster adoption of solar energy across the country. We are also encouraged by the support extended to NBFCs and infrastructure funds that can improve much needed liquidity. Also, the slew of tax incentives offered to foreign investors for investments in priority sectors will boost inwards equity flow in the infrastructure sectors.”

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 06

BUDGET EXCLUSIVE

Gagan Vermani, Founder & CEO, MYSUN, a rooftop solar solutions provider, says “Budget 2020 was a mixed bag for the Solar Sector. To boost generation and use of power, the government has brought institutional changes in some schemes. It expanded the ‘PM Kusum Scheme’ to 20 lac farmers to set up grid-connected solar farms on barren lands making ‘Annadata an Urjadata’. The setting up of grid-connected solar farms on barren lands would reduce the dependence on thermal and other non-renewable resources. Further, the setting up of large solar-powered capacity alongside rail tracks is in line with the idea of Green India. The thrust on the integration of smart meters is good for the end-users and would push Discoms to provide better services at competitive prices. The Rs 22,000 crore is kept for the power and renewable sector, but the bigger question will be where and how that will be utilised. The key highlight was the Government admitting the distressed situations of the Discoms and assuring to work with them, which may relax sudden change of policies in key aspects like Net Metering. The FM did leave a grey area when it comes to custom duties on imports and it will be a game of wait and watch there. The government’s pro-environment approach is visible with its stress on the ‘clean air scheme’. The abolition of the dividend distribution tax will encourage further investments in the renewable energy sector.”

Nitin Prasad, Chairman of Shell India, one of the most diversified international energy companies in India, commented “The policy reforms announced in the Union Budget by the Finance Minister sustain the Prime Minister’s vision for India’s journey towards a climate resilient and clean energy society under pinned on electro-mobility, a gas based economy and renewable power delivered through accelerating innovation from startups.”

Gyanesh Chaudhary, Managing Director, Vikram Solar, a manufacturer of solar photovoltaic (PV) module and EPC solutions provider, commented “The budget had a clear intent on fulfilling India’s COP 21 commitments in a sustainable manner. The government announced that it is expanding the solarisation of grid-connected and standalone agricultural pumps. This is a positive step, which will encourage domestic manufacturing. Merchandise exports are very important for any economy to create jobs, and in order to boost the same, the Government announced that it will reimburse indirect taxes such as excise duty on fuel, electricity duty incurred by exporters. This is a positive development for ingenious exporters. Additionally, FM announced that the Government is planning to launch a new scheme to promote the manufacturing of Network Products (Electronics, Semiconductors, medical devices, etc.) especially for the purpose of exports. While we await the details of the scheme, it appears a step further on the right path. Having said this, the budget fell short of addressing fiscal conditions of state discoms, and we hope that the Ministry of Power and MNRE together engage with state governments to address this issue. Details on levying 20 percent Basic Custom Duty on import of Solar Cells and Modules are still awaited in order to comment on the impact.”

Maxson Lewis, Managing Director of Magenta Power, a pioneer in the electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure space in India, expressed his concern on not mentioning of EVs and said “Budget 2020 has no major announcement for EV and for ‘valid’ reason – the traditional automotive industry heavily invested in the transition to BS-VI cannot be pushed to another disruption.”

-MANU@MEILLEURMEDIA.COM

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THE CONVERSATION

IDRISH KHAN

Chief Technical Officer - India, Ginlong (Solis) Technologies WE HOPE DEEPER COOPERATION WITH INDIA BY SETTING UP FACTORIES HERE Setting up manufacturing base in India is one of our future plans. India is a large country with growing photovoltaic product consumption and has huge potential. As Indian government is encouraging the Make in India concept. We also hope to deeper cooperation with India by setting up factories in India in the future and provide photovoltaic product, produce and construction as Make in India, says Idrish Khan, Chief Technical Officer - India, Ginlong (Solis) Technologies, a specialist in manufacturing string inverters. In conversation with Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Saur Energy International, Khan spoke about his company’s latest product offerings for the Indian market, New Models in New Year, customer sales service, quality measures, future plans etc. Following are the excerpts from that exclusive interview

Q

Shed some light on Ginlong Solis’ latest product offerings for the Indian market in terms of technology?

Ginlong Solis has been committed to technological innovation. From the 4G technology platform to the current 5G technology platform, our products are more abundant and the technology has also made great progress. The Indian market is one of the most active solar markets in the world. For the Indian market, we have also developed and applied many new technologies, such as technology for improving grid harmonics, active surge suppression technology and Class II SPD technology. Intelligent system diagnosis and String level monitoring technology, on Solis cloud platform. The application of these technologies is to better match the Indian power grid, installation environment and system management.

Q

Are you planning to bring some new models to India in 2020?

Yes, no doubt. India's solar market has huge potential, both the government and the public are actively developing clean energy. Aiming at India's fast-

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growing industrial and commercial and ground power stations, we will bring new 5G products to the Indian market in 2020, including high-power 400VAC inverters such as 100kW, 110kW, and also 250kW such as 1500Vdc, 800VAC products for large power stations. In addition, we also planned off-grid systems for Industrial and Residential application where have more power cuts, off-grid system is independent power generator to cater such requirement.

Q

Over the years, how do you see the level of consumer awareness while selecting any inverter brand in India?

How can it be improved?

From the interaction of the Indian market over the years, most Indian consumers have paid great

THE CONVERSATION

attention to value for money.

Product quality, Reliable design are all important considerations. Of course, some customers pay more attention to product prices. Therefore, on the whole, Indian consumers have strong inverter brand awareness. As the core of a photovoltaic system, the inverter's stability and reliability directly determine the output and life of the power station. Therefore, when choosing an inverter, we need to consider not only its price but also its brand and customer evaluation, good products always have good market feedback and technical verification.

Q

What are the services you provide to your customers post sale?

Ginlong Solis' after-sales service is comprehensive, including 24-hour technical support, online Q & A and technical training response, as well as on-site technical problem assistance, warranty service, customer claim service, etc. We also have Well trained technical team and warehouse in India, which are very convenient for us to help customers solve field problems in a timely manner.

Q

How do you ensure the quality of your products and what testing measures you follow?

Ginlong Solis conducts strict control and actual verification from each link of product development and design, component procurement, production, complete machine testing, field installation and trial operation to ensure product quality. We have a large and professional R & D and design team. We have in-depth cooperation with various world-class component manufacturers to ensure the quality of components, and ensure the production quality of products through automatic production lines and production process management. Meet expected evaluations and requirements to truly create reliable products.

Our testing measures mainly include: 1. Laboratory theory verification and design performance test evaluation; 2. P e r f o r m a n c e e v a l u a t i o n o f component procurement materials; 3. In t e l l i g e n t s e l f - i n s p e c t i o n a n d

We will bring new 5G products to the Indian market in 2020, including highpower 400VAC inverters such as 100kW, 110kW, and also 250kW such as 1500Vdc, 800VAC products for large power stations.

evaluation of all links in the production line; 4. Machine test and evaluation; 5. On-site empirical test evaluation etc.

Through these 5 main parts, each link from the technical concept to the actual operation of the inverter can withstand reliable verification, so as to ensure the quality of the product.

Q

Do you have any future plans to set up manufacturing base in India?

Yes, this is one of our future plans.

India is a large country with growing photovoltaic product consumption and has huge potential. As Indian government is encouraging the Make in India concept. We also hope to deeper cooperation with India by setting up factories in India in the future and provide photovoltaic product, produce and construction as Make in India.

Q

What do you feel about the prospects for the rooftop solar market for your firm?

Rooftop solar plant is very suitable for the characteristics of near-site production and consumption of photovoltaic power. With the advancement of technology, the cost of electricity is also very low. Plant is of great significance for adjusting the energy structure, advancing the revolution in energy production and consumption, and promoting the construction of ecological civilization.

Rooftop solar plant we explain from two aspects: 1. M arket development, the United S t a t es, China , So u theas t As i a, Europe, Australia, etc. will all grow steadily. The Indian market is different from these regions and will flourish even more. In the future, emerging markets such as the Middle East and the Mediterranean (including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt and Italy) will be the fastest growing regions for rooftop solar market. Distributed rooftop solar in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and other South American countries have great potential.

2. Off-grid systems such as PV + energy storage and PV + generators will be another technology and solution demand point for rooftop solar market.

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FINANCE UPDATES

Tata Power Reports 12% Increase in Profits during Q3 Tata Power has announced its financial results for the third quarter of the financial year 2020, reporting consolidate Profit After Tax (PAT) grew 12 percent and stood at Rs 246 crore as compared to the corresponding quarter last year at Rs 220 crore. This is mainly due to lower losses in Mundra and better operational performance across all businesses.

The firm announced that in its renewable business, which has so far seen 400 MW in capacity additions in the financial year, there continues to be growth with EBITDA increasing from Rs 436 crore in Q3 FY20 to Rs 515 crore up by 18 percent despite lower solar PLFs due to extended monsoon.

Furthermore, YTD FY20 Consolidated EBITDA stood at Rs 6,313 crore up by 18 percent over the previous year mainly driven by lower losses in Mundra, capacity addition in Renewables and better operational performance across all the businesses. For Q3 Consolidated EBDITA was up 8 percent at Rs 1,970 crore (Excluding one-off item in Q3FY19, EBITDA grew by 27%) as compared to Rs 1,820 crore in Q3FY19 YTD FY20 Consolidated PAT before exceptional item stood at Rs 850 crore (as compared to Rs 895 crore in the previous year.

Consolidated revenue stood at Rs 22,067 crore as compared to Rs 22,388 crore in the same period last year.

Praveer Sinha, CEO & managing director, Tata Power said, “All our operations have performed well. We have reported a strong growth trajectory in renewable business and other consumer-centric businesses.”

“We hope to serve Odisha’s consumers with 24x7 reliable power and unmatched customer services. Tata Power Solar’s order book stands tall at an approximate Rs 7,700 crore, marking a major business accomplishment for the company,” he added.

Foresight Closes Sustainable Energy Infra Fund at €342 Mn

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Foresight Group, a leading infrastructure and private equity investment manager, has announced that it has secured total commitments to-date of EUR 342 million to Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners.

Commitments to the Fund have been made by institutional investors from across Europe, including the life insurance company in DNB, Norway’s largest financial institution; PRI Pensionsgaranti, a Swedish mutually-owned insurance company; Arcano Earth Fund, a sustainable infrastructure Fund of Funds managed by Spain’s leading alternative asset manager, Arcano Capital; a number of Swedish pension foundations acting through COIN, an investment management consultancy; IMAS Foundation, a sister foundation to the INGKA Foundation, owner of INGKA Group, which in turn owns the majority of IKEA's department stores globally; and the European Investment Bank.

The group has an extensive pipeline of investment opportunities and it is expected that the Fund will acquire assets rapidly, using EUR 275 million of the total EUR 342 million of commitments that are SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 06

available on first Closing. FEIP will invest in all aspects of new low-carbon energy infrastructure. This includes: (i) a diverse range of renewable energy generation technologies particularly wind, solar and hydropower; (ii) flexible renewableenabling infrastructure, such as batteries and other forms of energy storage; and (iii) transmission and distribution assets.

It is expected that the majority of investments will be made into greenfield projects where Foresight can utilise its experience of managing projects during construction, with the aim of delivering a premium return to investors. The Fund will retain a proportional allocation for investment into operational projects to provide an element of cash yield.

FINANCE UPDATES

EIB Backs €1 Bn Clean Energy Investment in Europe, Central Asia The European Investment Bank (EIB) has announced that its board has approved a new investment across Europe and around the world to improve clean energy, sustainable transport, high-speed communications and social housing, as well as health and education infrastructure.

Meeting in Luxembourg today the Board of the European Investment Bank (EIB) agreed to support EUR 4.9 billion of financing. Of this, EUR 1 billion of financing will go to clean energy investment across Europe and Central Asia. This includes support for 18 new photovoltaic projects in central Spain, renewable energy projects in Austria and Italy, as well as new transmission infrastructure in the Netherlands to distribute electricity generated by wind farms in the North Sea. The EIB will also support a new investment program intended to cut energy use by district heating systems in Uzbekistan.

Furthermore, it was also announced that five more projects have been approved by the EIB board, with a total financing amount of EUR 445 million that will be guaranteed by the European Fund for

Strategic Investments (EFSI), the financial pillar of the Juncker plan. This will mobilise an estimated EUR 1.4 billion of new transport, energy, agriculture and small business investment.

An additional EUR 1.7 billion of new financing has been approved for private sector investment. This includes projects

to reduce industrial energy use. New targeted credit lines will support climate action by companies in Bulgaria, Italy, Romania and Spain, improve access to finance by energy, tourism and education companies in Serbia, help agriculture firms in Romania to expand and encourage circular economy investment in Spain.

Siemens to Acquire Iberdrola’s Stake in SGRE for €1.1 Bn Siemens AG will acquire all the shares of Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) held by Spanish utility Iberdrola S.A. At its regular meeting, the Supervisory Board of Siemens AG has approved the purchase of Iberdrola’s 8.1 percent stake in SGRE. The purchase price is EUR 20 per share, which corresponds to a 32 percent premium on top of the average SGRE share price for the last 30 trading days. Siemens will pay the total amount of EUR 1.1 billion from its own resources.

In addition, Iberdrola, Siemens and SGRE have signed a cooperation agreement that covers certain projects for wind power generation and for improving the distribution grid. For these projects, Iberdrola, as a customer of SGRE and Siemens, will grant these companies exclusive negotiation rights for a limited period of time. Furthermore, Siemens expects that additional annual savings of up to EUR 100 million can be realised by unwinding the shareholder agreement and through intensified cooperation between Siemens and SGRE, resulting in a net present value of about EUR 900 million.

As part of the spin-off and subsequent public listing of its Gas and Power business, Siemens will contribute all its shares in SGRE to the new Siemens Energy company. This move will create a pure-play energy company with a unique value proposition in

the area of conventional and renewable energies. Siemens Energy, which will then hold about 67 percent of the voting rights at SGRE. “Way before anyone else, Siemens and Iberdrola had taken the first step to a necessary consolidation in the sector. We have created a leading and robust supplier of renewable energy and believe, that SGRE still has considerable potential to grow and create significant value,” said Joe Kaeser, president and CEO of Siemens AG. VOL 4 l ISSUE 06 | SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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Adani Transmission Q3 Net Profit Zooms 32% to Rs 204 Cr Adani Transmission Ltd (ATL), an arm of the Adani Group, has reported a jump of 32 per cent in its consolidated net profit after taxes (PAT) at Rs 204 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2019, strongly driven by superlative operational performance. “The consolidated net profit of the company stood at Rs 154 crore during the same period a year ago,” said Adani Transmission in a statement.

Further, its consolidated operational EBITDA too grew by 37 percent at Rs 1,114 crore during Q3 FY 2020, as compared to Rs 814 crore during the same period last year.

Commenting on the performance of the company, Gautam Adani, Chairman of Adani Group, said “there is abundant potential and significant growth in India’s transmission sector in the coming years. With the government core focus towards the objective of 24x7 Power for all, Adani Transmission Limited with its widespread network and continuous growth looks forward to expand its business at large. We are increasingly working towards building strong relations between India and other countries via acquisitions and partnerships to ensure improvisation in reliability of power supply and consumer satisfaction in our services. Adani Transmission is striving towards nation building and fueling sustainability and we will continue to explore opportunities for growth by leveraging our strong transmission network” “ATL’s focus in FY20 has been in strengthening long-partnerships, expanding our grid network and enhancing customer centricity by supplying power to deficit parts of the country. Our recent acquisitions will make us the country’s largest private sector

transmission company in India. Through leveraging technology, innovation and commitment to transmitting bulk green power, we always make efforts to deliver and fuel country’s power demands,” said Anil Sardana, MD & CEO of Adani Transmission Ltd. During Q3 FY20, the company has received a Letter of Intent (LOI) for Transmission Project bid under TBCB in Maharashtra, from MSETCL for the project ‘400 KV Kharghar Vikhroli Transmission Private Limited’. This will be first ever 400KV substation facility in the city of Mumbai.

Furthermore, it has also signed Share Purchase Agreements with REC Transmission Projects Company Ltd, during the quarter under review, for acquisition of its entire stake in LBTL and JKTL. Now, with the completion of the ongoing projects, ATL’s total network will be approx. 14,738 ckt kms.

Lightsource BP Secures Debt Facility for 250 MW Solar Cluster

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Lightsource BP, a global leader in the development, financing and operation of solar power projects has announced that it has signed a senior debt facility with NatWest Markets to fund its first Spanish solar project cluster of 250 MW in the province of Zaragoza. Once operational the cluster will be one of Spain’s first few utility-scale subsidy-free projects.

The firm moved into the Spanish energy market just over a year ago, and this announcement cements its position locally. Having only acquired this portfolio early autumn, the company has managed to secure financing for its first Spanish project in just a few months along with a 7-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with BP’s European Gas and Power (EGP) Business, which is part of the Group’s supply and trading business, for the entire 250 MW capacity.

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approximately 500 GWh of clean, renewable electricity a year.

With construction about to start imminently, the firm has appointed leading Andalusia-based EPC contractor, Prodiel and plans for the cluster to be operational by January 2021. The solar panels procured for this project are Trina Pro’s bifacial modules and trackers with inverters from Power Electronics. This combination will allow Lightsource BP to operate the site to maximize efficiency

and boost levels of energy production.

Paul McCartie, chief investment officer for Lightsource BP said that “the speed at which we have brought this deal together is a huge testament to what Lightsource BP can bring to the Spanish Energy Market. Working out of Madrid, we have a very capable team that can manage the entire lifecycle of projects from development and financing through to asset management and operations.

THE CONVERSATION

Cleantech Startups Awarded for Unique Tech, Biz Model In a bid to encourage startup companies in the cleantech space, fifteen companies addressing climate change and energy access were awarded by the Government of India, BIRAC, Tata Trusts, Tata Power and Social Alpha.

These companies were working on technologies for energy storage, smart metering, clean cooking, innovative electric vehicle (EV) solutions, battery technologies, energy monitoring systems and hydro turbine technologies.

The awards were provided at a felicitation ceremony and innovation showcase of the Social Alpha Energy Challenge 2.0 (SAEC 2.0). Further, these winners were selected from more than 150 applicants across the country which were screened for their unique technology and business model, strong focus on affordability and accessibility and social, economic and environmental impact.

The selection for the winners of ‘Social Alpha Energy Challenge 2.0’ was made for two categories respectively - ‘pre-pilot’ and ‘post-pilot’, to address the needs of technologies and start-ups in different stages of product development.

Moreover, these winners will be incubated by the Clean Energy International Incubation Centre (CEIIC). CEIIC, Social Alpha’s deep-tech Energy Innovation Lab, which is the joint initiative of the Government of India and Tata Trusts, supported by Department of Biotechnology, BIRAC, Tata Power and Tata Power-DDL. CEIIC will support entrepreneurs by providing industry and field connect critical for product development.

Dr. Renu Swarup, Secretary Department of Biotechnology & Chairperson BIRAC, said “The incubation support at CEIIC would play a catalytic role for lab-to-market facilitation to the winners of the Energy Challenge 2.0. Under Mission Innovation, CEIIC is a first of its kind International Incubation Centre jointly established by DBT/BIRAC, Tata Trusts & Tata Power reflecting strong PPP commitment for promoting new affordable solutions for clean energy.”

“Technological innovation in the cleanenergy space is

not a choice anymore, but a necessity. This is the only way to deliver sustainable and affordable energy for all. We have joined hands with Social Alpha for the Clean Energy International Incubation Centre that will help us achieve this goal. Tata Power is extending support to the start-ups in terms of technical mentorship and commercial opportunities, wherever possible,” said Praveer Sinha, CEO and Managing Director, TATA Power.

Manoj Kumar, Founder and CEO, Social Alpha and Head of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Tata Trusts, commented “we already have 8 cleantech companies in our portfolio that have demonstrated the potential to collectively reduce more than 90 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year by 2030. We are really looking forward to this year’s winning innovations and believe that they will further strengthen India’s leadership in global shift towards clean and sustainable energy.”

The top fifteen startup winners under pre-pilot and post-pilot categories include - Tan90, SwitchDin, Feyman Innovations, Elicius Energy, Doorastha Analytics, Offgrid Energy Labs, Meladath Auto, NRG Village, Gtarang Energy Solutions, Stallion Vortex, Grassroots Energy, Maclec, Himalayan Rocket Stove, Krishna Arya Tech Corp.

JinkoSolar Wins ‘Top Brand PV Europe Seal 2020’ Award One of the world’s leading solar module manufacturers JinkoSolar has won the ‘Top Brand PV Europe Seal 2020’ award from EuPD Research, an internationally recognized research institute, for the second consecutive year.

EuPD Research awarded the top PV seals based on its global PV installer monitor survey which compiles the opinions of solar installers from leading solar markets in Europe and around the world.

“We are very proud to receive this prestigious award for Europe and Australia for the second and third consecutive year, respectively. This recognition by

the downstream partners we work with not only proves JinkoSolar is the preferred brand to work with but also reflects our strong reputation and commitment to our customers as a leading supplier,” said Frank Niendorf, General Manager of JinkoSolar Europe.

Niendorf further added that “JinkoSolar’s highly-reliable solar products and customer service have significantly contributed to the steady growth of our customer base across these important markets.

Our strategy to innovate and lead the industry by setting standards continues to strengthen our position as the preferred

choice across Europe and Australia.”

Solar installers in some of the most important European markets including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain and France participated in the survey where JinkoSolar was identified for its exceptional high-quality products and outstanding customer service.

Besides, the company had also won the ‘Top Brand PV Australia Seal 2020’ award for the third consecutive year in Australia.

On receiving the awards the company said that, it will further cement our strong reputation and leading market position in Europe and Australia.

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OPED

Digitalization of the Solar Photovoltaic Energy Industry and Why Energy Analytics is Important

Dr. Keyur Gandhi

CTO & Co-Founder|Helios IoT Systems Pvt. Ltd. Just like every other industry, the solar photovoltaic energy sector stands to benefit from digitalization significantly. More so, when sustainability concerns are compelling business to turn towards renewable sources and keep pace with the growing energy demands of the world.

Emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things, Cloud Computing, and Data Analytics are enabling energy companies to build smart grids, better manage energy generation, distribution and consumption, and reduce wastage.

Digitalization is probably the greatest empowering agent of that change, allowing energy companies to remotely monitor assets, unearth insights, and improve operational performance from a service and maintenance perspective.

In this article, we talk about the importance of digitalization and analytics and how ApolloTM – an energy analytics solution is designed to solve business critical and complex problems in the Solar Space using patented digital twin technology and advanced performance and health insights.

Why digitalization is necessary With the world’s fossil fuels quickly depleting, economies across the globe are turning towards renewable sources such as solar photovoltaic energy – not just to meet the growing energy needs but also to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions and move to clean energy production. With the sun giving off far more energy to power every device on earth, it is imperative for energy companies to turn towards the digitalization of the solar photovoltaic energy industry and get maximum returns from their investment.

Application of new-age digital technology such as cloud computing, IoT, big data analytics, and blockchain to solar photovoltaic energy can not only help democratize but also decentralize energy supply. These capabilities can help energy companies build competitive advantage while capitalizing on the vast potential of new digital technology to increase deployment.

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Digitalization and adoption of cutting-edge tools and technologies can enable companies to: • Build smart grids while increasing self-consumption rates, optimizing grid feed-in, and increasing the profitability of solar installations. According to reports, the global smart grid market is expected to reach $14.33 billion by 2022.

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 06

• Become agile at managing production better, resulting in improvements in distribution, management, as well as end-user consumption as a result.

• Leverage the power of data analytics to monitor solar grids proactively and identify and resolve issues before they impact production. It is estimated that the big data analytics market in the energy sector is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.22%, during the forecast period, 2020-2025.

• Accurately forecast energy demand and optimize generation while paving the way for more efficient and reliable production and reducing wastage.

• Enable smart metering for quicker and more accurate billing and pave the way for better insight into energy consumption. It was estimated that by 2020, the EU Member States plan to roll out close to 200 million smart meters at a total potential investment of $50 billion.

• Reduce the time and cost spent on the installation of grids by using satellite mapping and remote design software.

• Decrease payback time on solar installations and encourage faster and more widespread solar production using blockchain technology. Reports suggest blockchain in the energy market will reach $3 billion by 2025.

• Reduce the cost of solar electricity by increasing the capacity utilization and using latest storage technologies.

A TERI study found that the cost of solar power will fall to Rs 1.9 per unit in India by 2030!

Why analytics is important When it comes to digitalization, next-gen data analytics solutions can play a massive role in improving solar photovoltaic power plant operations and performance.

Using a data-driven approach, these solutions can solve complex business problems and improve system efficiency – with the promise of building a sustainable future. Using modern machine learning, AI, and digital twin technology, organizations can conduct efficient solar energy monitoring and analysis and benefit from valuable insights for decision-making.

With the advent of analytics, Helios IoT Systems Pvt. Ltd. has developed ApolloTM – an energy analytics solution for the Solar Industry. Apollo™ is a suite of enterprise applications specifically designed to generate actionable closed loop insights for the renewable energy industry. The applications enable all the eco-system’s stakeholders to improve productivity in the

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O&M & asset management empowered by our patented digital twin technology & industry leading IoT technology to solve business critical and complex problems. Features of ApolloTM are: • Easily keep a stock of latest operating components post commissioning of the plant and their SLA’s. This helps the stakeholders identify ageing assets which are closing on their warranty period and replace them with new ones.

• Carry out end-to-end Portfolio Management by keeping track of operations of multiple plants across locations and receive high-level performance, financials, and environmental KPIs. • Conduct Health Analysis of solar grids and get insight into asset health, key health indicators, and OEM device efficiency degradation and cognitive age.

• Enable efficient Forecasting of demand by predicting power requirements while analyzing deviations and correcting them in time.

• Carry out machine learning-based Predictive Maintenance and asset health degradation assessment and optimizing the soiling levels.

• Get real-time Operation Insights about plant performance, system energy losses, and analyze actual vs. designed performance benchmarks.

• Enable Event Management by receiving real-time key events and updates and receive operational, financial, and environmental insights to optimize plant operations and power generation and reduce revenue loss.

• Conduct Energy Loss Analysis, and benchmark it against

predicted and designed losses.

• Enable Smart Metering using IoT for automatic meter reading, invoicing, and receivables. Companies can also enable automated component replacement and its inventory management because the ageing plants undergo through engineering re-design.

• Enable Failure Analysis using real-time failure notifications and conduct root cause analysis to build workarounds.

Keep pace with energy demands With the energy sector struggling to achieve transparency into plant asset health and performance, digitalization can make better use of existing grid infrastructure, reduce the need for back-up capacity, and drastically reduce reliance on renewable sources of energy. It can enable companies to make decisions based on hard evidence while being prepared for asset downtime and missed SLAs. In addition, it can more easily connect digital assets, provide real-time visibility into asset performance, and optimize asset utilization.

In reality, the more digital technology is integrated into a solar photovoltaic grid, the more easily the energy demands of the world can be met.

Apollo™ is an energy analytics solution company in India completely owned by Helios IoT Systems – an Energy Analytics Software Solution Company. Helios is a subsidiary of Pratiti Technologies – an innovative Outsourced Product Development Company. Helios has been co-founded by four experienced executives from energy and software industry. Helios IoT is a part of START-UP India program since Jan 2018.

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GRID UPDATES

IndiGrid Acquires Power Transmission firm ENICL for Rs 1,020 Cr IndiGrid, the country's first infrastructure investment trust in the power sector, has announced the acquisition of power transmission firm East-North Interconnection Company Ltd (ENICL) for Rs 1,020 crore.

ENICL is part of interstate transmission scheme network and consists of two 400 KV transmission lines with a total 900 circuit kilometers across Assam, Bihar and West Bengal, which were set up to evacuate power from northeast and eastern states to the northern region of India.

The Board of the Investment Manager has approved the acquisition of ENICL at a value of Rs 1,020 crore, a company statement said. The acquisition would increase the AUM of the firm by 10 percent to Rs 12,100 crore, it added.

It had signed an extension of Right of First Offer deed with Sterlite Power for ENICL as disclosed in the Offer Document dated May 4, 2019, the statement said.

As IndiGrid is leveraged at 45 percent net debt/AUM, it will be able to acquire the ENICL without any dilution. This acquisition will be funded by internal

accruals, proceeds from the preference issue done in May 2019 and new debt.

The acquisition is expected to be completed during the fourth quarter of 2019-20, subject to unit holders' approval, execution of definitive agreements and regulatory approvals.

Upon acquisition of the ENICL, the

company’s net debt/AUM will continue to be below 49 percent.

Furthermore, the firms’ portfolio will increase to nine power transmission projects with a total network of 20 power transmission lines that span more than 5,800 circuit kilometres across 13 Indian states post this acquisition.

L&T Bags Contracts for its Power, Transmission & Distribution Biz

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Larsen and Toubro have announced that the Power, Transmission and Distribution Business of L&T Construction has secured orders from prestigious clients in India and abroad.

In the Philippines, the business has won an order to construct a 500 kV substation, in association with a prominent local player, that will cater to the growing demand for electricity in the metropolitan area of Manila.

In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, an order has been received to construct a 380 kV substation with an associated 230 kV cable network and establishing a 380 kV and 230 kV transmission line corridors have been bagged. Another order to construct EHV Overhead Lines has been received from a reputed customer in the Middle East.

On the domestic front, the business has won an order in Gujarat to construct a 765 kV Double Circuit Transmission Line that will help transmit power from renewable energy sources. Another order has been secured to build a 20 MW floating solar power project at a reservoir of NTPC's Auraiya Gas Power Plant in Uttar Pradesh.

Additional orders have been received from ongoing substation jobs in India.

In January, we had reported that NTPC Ltd has concluded SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 06

the e-reverse auction for its 1,000 MW of solar projects tender under the Develop Build Demonstrate (DBDT) program, awarding 560 MW capacity to three bidders. Three bidders that were awarded projects under the tender are Tata Power Solar which won 300 MW capacity, Jakson Limited was awarded 110 MW and Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) was awarded 150 MW project capacity under the tender.

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The Role of AI and ML in Solar Energy

ASOKE K. LAHA

President and CEO, Interra Information Technologies Inc

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Climate change is one of the biggest threats that humanity is currently facing. With these challenges which lie before the government and various energy solution providers, it has become imperative for them to provide a sustainable mode of renewable energy. This has also made renewable energy to be an alternative source of energy compared to fossil fuels. It is much safer and cleaner than conventional sources.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have become important technology solutions as the industry is constantly looking for ways to cater to the rapidly increasing SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 06

demand for clean, cheap, and reliable energy. These advanced technologies have the potential to analyze the past, optimize the present, and predict the future. This means that AI and ML have the potential to solve most of the challenges that currently prevail.

With technology making rapid advancements, the renewable energy sector has made significant progress in the last decade.

However, there are a few challenges that still prevail that can be addressed with the help of AI and ML.

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Challenges faced by the Renewable Energy Sector

There are numerous benefits when it comes to renewable energy sources. They are climate-friendly, minimize various pollutions, the expenditure for infrastructure required is only one-time along with a couple of regular maintenance costs, and the cost of fuel is nil. Enhanced forecasting and scheduling of power resources become important for the renewable energy sector in order to effectively manage the grid.

Looking at the downside, the unpredictability of the weather is one of the main challenges when it comes to producing renewable energy.

Efficient technologies exist which can predict the weather conditions, but there are going to be sudden changes in the climate that can affect the energy flow. The supply chain of renewable energy is prone to such vulnerabilities. It needs to be smoothened enough to cope up with unexpected changes. Secondly, the recent developments in energy storage technology are still at a nascent stage and require thorough testing.

There is no doubt that the demand for renewable energy will increase in the near future which makes it more important for the investment in emerging technologies such as AI, ML, and IoT to improve productivity and overcome the shortfalls.

How Can AI Technology Help

The electric grid is one of the complex machines when it comes to renewable energy. Grids that are currently available face many challenges in accommodating the diversity of renewable energy because of the integral variability of wind and solar. This makes it necessary to have smart systems that can expand the integration of renewables into the existing grid and make renewable energy an equal player in the energy supply. Here’s how AI technology improves the reliability of renewable energy and modernizes the overall grid.

Smart, Centralized Control Centers

Devices and sensors of a grid are mostly interconnected to collect huge amounts of data. When AI is integrated into the system, this data can give new insights to the grid operators.

It offers flexibility to the energy suppliers to cleverly adjust the supply with demand. The advanced load control systems can be installed with the equipment, such as industrial furnaces or large AC units, which can automatically switch off when the power supply is low. Intelligent storage units can also be adjusted based on the flow of supply. Along with this, making weather and load predictions with the help of smart sensors and advanced sensors which will improve the overall integration and efficiency of renewable energy.

Improved Integration of Microgrids The way of handling distributed energy goes through a broad acceptance of microgrids. AI-powered control optimization can solve power quality issues and bottlenecks. Intelligent algorithms have the potential to provide real-time control over the dynamic nature of the grid below the substation autonomous controls. Algorithms that are available due to AI can also help to improve system optimization as new devices and new generation sources are integrated.

Improved Safety and Reliability AI not only has the ability to manage the intermittency, but it can also provide improved safety, efficiency, and reliability.

This helps companies understand the consumption patterns, identify the energy leakage and health of the devices.

Expand the Market Integration AI will help suppliers expand the marketplace by introducing new service models and encouraging higher participation. Data related to energy collection can be analyzed with the help of AI. Such technologies can also provide insights regarding energy consumption. This helps suppliers to optimize the existing services and launch new service models. Retailers benefit from such insights to target new consumer markets.

Intelligent Energy Storage Undoubtedly, storage technology is very helpful to solve problems related to the seasonal nature of solar and wind energy sources. But, due to the chaotic and periodic dynamics of these sources on both demand and supply side, battery hardware alone can’t bring true energy values. As the situation is complex, a simple solution cannot be the only savior. There needs to be a proper control production-consumption and energy storage. This can only be done when sophisticated software is available. This is where AI plays a vital role. By pairing RE with AI-driven storage we can make a change in paradigm.

What does the future hold?

According to a recent paper published by DNV GL, AI will increasingly automate operations in the coming years in the solar and wind industries and boost efficiencies across the renewable energy sector.

An increasing number of sensors are expected to be installed along with the increase in easier-to-use ML based tools, and the continuous expansion of data monitoring, processing and analytics capabilities to create new operating efficiencies.

Without a doubt, solar and wind industry stakeholders will witness AI benefits in several areas, including: • Remote inspection is one of the main areas where robotics plays an important role, with additional and new benefits in maintenance and troubleshooting • Crawling robots are built in a way that can get close to a structure’s surface giving rise to a new set of technologies such as microwave and ultrasonic transmitters and receivers, making it easier to reveal faults in materials • Autonomous driving robots can optimize the supply chain process. This has the potential to build an entire optimize an onshore wind or solar farm • To carry out effective and efficient scrutiny of solar panels, autonomous drones with real-time artificial intelligencesupported analysis will become the primary tool.

• AI applications fast-tracking due diligence. This will reduce the time investment of planning and analysis that today requires many human hours.

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EV UPDATES

Hyundai, Canoo to Co-Develop Electric Platform for Future EVs Hyundai Motor Group and Canoo have announced that Hyundai has engaged Canoo to jointly develop an electric vehicle (EV) platform based on Canoo’s proprietary skateboard design for upcoming Hyundai and Kia models.

As part of the collaboration, Canoo will provide engineering services to help develop a fully scalable, all-electric platform to meet Hyundai and Kia specifications. Hyundai expects the platform to help facilitate its commitment to delivering cost-competitive electrified vehicles — ranging from small-sized EVs to Purpose Built Vehicles (PBV) — that meet diverse customer needs.

Canoo, a Los Angeles based company creating EVs for subscription only, offers

a skateboard platform that houses the most critical components of the vehicle with a strong emphasis on functional integration, meaning all components fulfill as many functions as possible. This feat of engineering reduces the skateboard size, weight and a total number of parts, which ultimately provides more interior cabin space and a more cost-effective EV offering. In addition, the skateboard is

a self-contained unit that can be paired with any cabin design.

“We have been working diligently to develop a bold new electric vehicle and partnering with a global leader like Hyundai is a validating moment for our young company,” said Ulrich Kranz, in charge of Canoo. “It is a real honour for us to help Hyundai explore EV architecture concepts for their future models.”

Hyundai Motor Group expects an adaptable all-electric platform using Canoo’s scalable skateboard architecture to allow for a simplified and standardised development process for Hyundai and Kia electrified vehicles, which is expected to help reduce the cost that can be passed along to consumers.

Tata Power, Prakriti E-Mobility Partner for EV Charging Stations

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Uutility giant Tata Power has entered into an agreement with Prakriti E-Mobility, an app-based electric vehicle (EV) cab operator, to set up fifty charging stations in Delhi NCR region.

As per the deal signed, Tata Power will set up charging infrastructure in phased manner to support Prakriti’s EV Taxi fleet of ‘EVERA’ Cabs.

Last month, the Tata Group unveiled its plan to create an e-mobility ecosystem, via group companies, to accelerate the adoption of EVs in India.

According to the agreement, the company will be responsible for designing, procurement, installation & management of all charging infrastructure at select locations across Delhi NCR. Commenting on the partnership, Praveer Sinha, CEO and MD of Tata Power, said “EV charging is the future to ensure a cleaner tomorrow and we are happy to see that partners like Prakriti E-Mobility team share our vision.”

During the first phase 5 EV chargers will be installed at Jasola, while the rest will be installed near Delhi Airport, Gurgaon and North Delhi progressively with the rise in Prakriti’s EV fleet.

“This partnership with Tata Power is extremely important as it will help us tide over one of the major roadblocks SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 06

towards adoption on Electric vehicles in India – the lack of sound charging infrastructure. We believe that this partnership will not only help in strengthening our plan of rolling out 5000 EV cabs within the next 2 years, but also give a huge boost to the overall EV environment in India,” said Nimish Trivedi, Co-Founder & CEO, Prakriti E-Mobility.

Ramesh Subramanyam, CFO and President New Businesses, Tata Power, commented on the partnership, “we believe EV fleets have a huge role to play in providing greener, cleaner and healthier mobility solutions for our cities. Such partnerships would be key in our journey to be one stop integrated charging service provider to forms of transport and all categories of user.”

EV UPDATES

EESL, BHEL Signs MoU to set up EV Charging Network Pan India Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture under Ministry of Power has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), one of the largest engineering and manufacturing enterprises in India to set up a network of Public Charging Infrastructure for electric mobility at various highways across the country.

EESL & BHEL will jointly explore opportunities in the field of e-mobility and fast-track the adoption of EVs in the country under the Government of India’s National E-Mobility Programme.

As part of the MoU, BHEL will offer complete EPC solutions from concept to commissioning while EESL will make the entire upfront investment on services, along with the operation and maintenance of the public

charging infrastructure. The MoU covers collaboration for identifying, planning, development and installation of charging stations at suitable locations.

Saurabh Kumar, managing director, EESL said, “Mobility is changing rapidly,

and India is powering ahead to a sustainability-driven future by adopting electric vehicles. The availability of adequate charging infrastructure is one of the key requirements for further accelerating EV adoption in India.”

Nearly Half of new 3-Wheelers EVs to Cost Less Than ICE to be Electric by 2024 Vehicles Inside 3 Years By 2024, as much as 43-48 percent of new 3-wheelers (excluding e-rickshaws), and 12-17 percent of new two-wheelers sold in India will be electric vehicles (EVs), a study by CRISIL Research has shown. But traction may be low for 4-wheelers, with only 5 percent of new sales likely to be EVs. The study looked at demand, supply and policy growth drivers for EVs such as battery costs, government subsidy and charging infrastructure, besides conducting a segment-wise analysis of the cost of acquisition and operation of EVs compared with existing internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.

Faster adoption of two- and three-wheelers are a function of cost.

Typically, electric scooters are cheaper to run compared with ICE scooters. And e-autos are cheaper to both own and run compared with their ICE counterparts.

Sales of personal electric cars will remain in the slow lane due to high acquisition and ownership costs, in the absence of demand incentives. Cab aggregators, though, will step on the accelerator as these will enjoy better operational economies and subsidies.

A cab aggregator e-car that runs ~50,000 km a year, for instance, can save about Rs 1.65 lakh a year compared with Rs 35,000 for a personal e-car that runs ~10,000 km a year. And in the commercial vehicle space, subsidies to state transport undertakings will drive sales of electric buses for intra-city operations.

That said, lagging public charging infrastructure will impact adoption.

Electric Vehicles (EVs) will become cheaper than combustion (ICE) vehicles in three years as the price of battery packs of EVs is expected to fall by almost 51 percent per unit, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has said while speaking at the Mobility Talk Corporate Conclave at the World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) 2020, TERI's annual flagship event being held in the capital.

"The price of battery packs of EVs is expected to fall to USD 76 per kWh in three years, down from the present-day USD 156 per unit," he said.

Reaffirming the national vision towards moving to clean mobility, Kant said, given its size and scale of growth potential, the Indian industry must be the biggest driver of change to make the country the centre for manufacturing EVs. "There are two challenges to address: to ensure a new form of urbanisation which is based on public transportation, and to ensure India doesn't lose out among global manufacturers of tomorrow," he added.

Representatives from the auto industry in the session welcomed the direction given by the NITI Aayog CEO, and sought clarity on pathways and policy that the government is considering to take on EVs. They urged the government to quickly develop a road map, whether to focus on hybrid or fully electric mobility, and policies that can promote indigenous research and development.

TERI DG Ajay Mathur said there is a need to decarbonise key sectors such as road economy and in the process push a transition to 100 percent green electricity-based mobility.

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EV UPDATES

Kochi Metro Issues EOI for Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment The Kochi Water Metro Project under the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) has issued an Expression of Interest (EOI) for the commissioning of electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) including related Electrical infrastructures at Kochi, Kerala.

EVSE includes the electrical equipment external to the electric vehicle that provides a connection for an electric vehicle to a power source for charging the batteries of different variety of lithium-Ion chemistry/ Lithium Titanate Oxide (LTO).

Kochi Water Metro Project (KWMP) is envisaged as an integrated urban water transport project to interlink the city hearts and islands of Kochi, through modern water transport system with the primary aim of improving the connectivity of the people and thereby improving their livelihood and standard of living.

The project is conceived as an environmentally friendly, modern urban transport system with 15 identified routes over 78 km of route length. The overall project costs of the Kochi Water Metro Project are estimated at Rs 747.48 crore. Funding for the project is being secured under German-Indian Financial Cooperation through KfW, with a concessional loan and part-funded by government sources.

As per the EOI, fast charger infrastructure shall be built in the major terminals for charging the batteries of different types of electric vehicles and watercrafts. Under Phase-II of the Fame

India Scheme, Government of India supports the development of EV Charging infrastructure by extending the capital grant to different organization/stockholders and KMRL intend to avail the capital grant offered through FAME-II scheme.

Under the EOI, KMRL envisages to set up EVSE in its Boat terminals which are intended to charge electric vehicles such as electric cars, electric buses, and electric ferry boat etc.

The last date for bid submission is February 20, 2019.

Hero Electric Launches E-Motorcycle ‘AE-47’ at Auto Expo 2020

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Hero Electric has showcased a range of electric motorcycle and scooters at the Auto Expo 2020. The electric twowheeler manufacturer has also entered two new segments with an electric motorcycle, a first-of-its-kind electric bike and e-scooters in the high-speed and low-speed segments.

The electric motorcycle, AE-47 was unveiled by the brand and it is powered by a 4 kW electric motor that offers a top speed of 85 km/h, claims the company.

It gets a lightweight portable lithium-ion battery.

As per the company’s fact sheet, the motorcycle can be charged in 4 hours and it has a range of 85 km/ch in the Power mode, which extends to nearly160 km/ch in the more reduced output - Eco mode. Also, the motorcycle is claimed to be able to go from 0-60 km/h in just 9 seconds.

Furthermore, the AE-47 electric bike features an advanced braking system with combi discs. It gets rear monoshock suspension along with cruise control feature. Apart from that, the SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 06

motorcycle gets features like the digital instrument cluster, keyless access, mobile charger, walk assist and reverse feature.

Hero Electric claims the motorcycle is supported by a mobile app featuring GPS, GPRS, Realtime tracking and Geofencing.

Apart from that, the company also unveiled AE-29 e-scooter in the high-

speed segment.

Naveen Munjal, Managing Director Hero Electric, told reporters that “being the pioneer in electric vehicles, Hero Electric aims to be at the forefront of the electric mobility revolution by providing technologically advanced products to meet the growing aspirations of our customers.

MARKET UPDATES

Global CO2 Emissions Flatlined in 2019 Despite widespread expectations of another increase, global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions stopped growing in 2019, according to new IEA data released recently.

After two years of growth, global emissions were unchanged at 33 gigatonnes in 2019 even as the world economy expanded by 2.9 percent. This was primarily due to declining emissions from electricity generation in advanced economies, thanks to the expanding role of renewable sources (mainly wind and solar), fuel switching from coal to natural gas, and higher nuclear power generation. Other factors included milder weather in several countries and slower economic growth in some emerging markets.

“We now need to work hard to make sure that 2019 is remembered as a definitive

peak in global emissions, not just another pause in growth,” said Dr. Fatih Birol, IEA’s executive director. “We have the energy technologies to do this, and we have to make use of them all. The IEA is building a grand coalition focused on reducing emissions – encompassing governments, companies, investors and everyone with a genuine commitment to tackling our

climate challenge.”

A significant decrease in emissions in advanced economies in 2019 offset continued growth elsewhere. The United States recorded the largest emissions decline on a country basis, with a fall of 140 million tonnes, or 2.9 percent.

US emissions are now down by almost 1 gigatonne from their peak in 2000.

Emissions in the European Union fell by 160 million tonnes, or 5 percent, in 2019 driven by reductions in the power sector.

Natural gas produced more electricity than coal for the first time ever, meanwhile, wind-powered electricity nearly caught up with coal-fired electricity. As of now, thanks to the effects of the Coronavirus in China already, and another mild winter, it does look like 2020 will be a repeat, if not an improvement over 2019.

Difficult to Meet India’s 175 GW RE Target by 2022: CSE

India’s Solar & Wind Capacity to Reach 135 GW by 2024: BTI

India’s renewable energy (RE) sector seems to be losing steam and may find it tough to meet its 175 gigawatt (GW) target by 2022, even as its total capacity reached almost 86 GW

by December 2019, claims the new report ‘State of India's Environment Annual’ report released by think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) at the 2020 Annual Media Conclave and Anil Agarwal Dialogue organised in Alwar.

The report follows similar predictions by a range of local and global research firms, from CRISIl, to CARE to Wood Mackenzie.

As on date, only the government remains adamant that the targets will be achieved.

"India has set itself a target of 175 gigawatts (GW) RE capacity by 2022, mainly in the form of 100 GW solar and 60 GW wind.

Between 2014 and 2018, the RE sector grew from 2.6 GW to 28 GW - a cumulative aggregated growth rate of around 18 percent. But there has been a slowdown in capacity addition and auctions due to emerging risks and unaddressed structural issues," the report said.

CSE researchers said the government must restore the sanctity of auctions by removing arbitrary barriers like ceilings and by refraining from cancellations or postponement of bids.

"New mechanisms should be explored to manage discom risks. Simultaneously, the government should start working on the country's longer-term energy decarbonisation vision," the CSE said.

Annual additions to solar capacity have dipped drastically to 6.5 GW in 2018-19, from 9.4 GW in 2017-18, the report said.

According to a new report, India’s solar and wind generation capacity has been predicted to reach 135 gigawatts (GW) by the end of 2024 up from the 77 GW capacity it had reached at the end of 2019.

“Notwithstanding the various operational and financial challenges and growing risk aversion, we expect the record low solar tariff level to be breached in the next one to two years,” said renewable energy consultancy Bridge to India. in its report titled ‘India renewables outlook 2024’.

The report further revealed that there would be a move away from vanilla tenders to complex schemes including manufacturing-linked tenders, solar-wind-storage hybrid tenders and even completely technology agnostic tenders seeking firm 24x7 power. The higher complexity may bring down the number of active players and consolidate the industry further, it further added.

Regarding the results of the first mega storage tender, the report said that the growth potential is huge but, the takeoff stage was still another two two-three years away, as it remains to be seen if the discoms are willing to buy power at a cost of over Rs 6/kWh. Highlighting the residential rooftop solar prospects, the report added that the sector is expected to pick up owing to clearer policy focus and improving availability of financing solutions. As safeguard duty on cell and module imports is set to expire in July 2020, the report added that mixed financing environment equity funding will remain easy as the sector attracts global investors.

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MARKET UPDATES

ICRA Predicts Slowdown in Wind Capacity Addition in FY2020 Wind energy capacity addition to be subdued in FY2020, amid challenges with payment delays from discoms and tight financing environment. In this context, ICRA has recently revised the outlook for the wind energy sector from stable to negative.

The wind power sector is facing significant challenges because of the delays in making payments by the state distribution utilities and the execution delays being faced by the projects bid out by the central nodal agencies and state distribution utilities. This apart, the tariff uncertainty for the wind power projects in Andhra Pradesh has affected the investor sentiments in the sector. This is also reflected in the slowdown in the tendering activity of wind power projects by 67 percent to 2.3 GW in CY2019 from

6.9 GW in CY2018.

Many of the bids called by central nodal agencies remain under-subscribed. While the capacity addition is likely to improve on a fiscal year basis, to about 2.5 GW in FY2020 from 1.9 GW in FY2019 on the back of large project back-log, achieving

the 60 GW target set by the Government of India by December 2022 remains a challenge. Citing these reasons, ICRA, which is independent and professional investment information and credit rating agency of India has recently revised the outlook for the wind energy sector from stable to negative.

Further, the bid tariff discovered in the recent wind power auctions continue to remain at less than Rs. 3 per unit and highly competitive against the conventional energy sources. The viability of these projects remains dependent upon the ability of the developers to identify locations and using wind turbine generator (WTG) machines having the potential to generate power at annual Plant Load Factory (PLF) of 35 percent or higher.

RE Generation Increased by 17.2% YoY in Dec 19: CEA

African Nations saw Jump in RE Investments in 2018: BNEF

The latest report by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) tracking the monthly renewable energy generation in India for the month of December 2019 has revealed that electricity generated from renewable sources increased by 17.2 percent year over year (YoY) from the same month in 2018, and 23.9 percent over the previous month (Nov’19).

A total of 10647.33 million units of renewable energy was generated compared to 9083.27 MUs in the same month last year.

Furthermore, the report has revealed that with around 1508.51 MW of new renewable energy capacity added during the month, the increase over the same month in the previous year was 85 percent which was 816.11 MW. Of the total new capacity added in the month, the majority was provided by solar installations which saw 1203.01 MW of new installations in the month.

With that, the total installed renewable capacity in the country (as on December 31, 2019) stood at 85.91 GW, holding a 23 percent share in the country’s total energy mix which is still largely dominated by coal which accounted for 56 percent of the total share with 205.25 GW of installed capacity.

Under renewables, wind energy with 37.51 GW holds the leading position with a 10 percent share of the country’s renewable mix, however, solar at 33.73 GW installed capacity is closing in fast on the wind in the leading position. And, with the pace of growth of both the energy technologies in the country, it won’t be long before photovoltaics take over as the leading source of renewable electricity in the country.

The year 2018 saw USD 2.8 billion spent on renewables projects in sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa) – a regional record and some USD 600 million more than the previous year, according to a new report published by research company BloombergNEF (BNEF). More renewables investment flowing to sub-Saharan African countries than ever before is a testament to how cheaper technology, investor familiarity and subsidy schemes are helping clean energy spread across the continent. The report added that as investors cast a wider net, projects are being built outside of mature markets such as South Africa. Many utility-scale solar projects are being developed in countries that have not built much renewables infrastructure to date. Some 1.2 GW of PV is expected to come online in 2021 outside of South Africa – that is more than twice the amount commissioned in 2018.

Country-level targets and incentives are backed by assistance from multilateral, which remain a key source of finance and have helped roll out renewable energy auction programs. The World Bank’s Scaling Solar program, for instance, awarded just under 400 MW of solar capacity over 2015-18, equivalent to 39 percent of the total installed outside of South Africa over the same period. Such auctions have yielded some of the world’s lowest bid prices for solar power – several projects have won capacity at prices under USD 0.04/kWh. The report further added that such auctions are often like a double-edged. On the one hand, they prove that large-scale renewables can be procured throughout the region and help develop local familiarity with clean energy.

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THE CONVERSATION

RAJNEESH KHATTAR

Group Director, Energy Portfolio – India, Informa Markets FLOATING SOLAR, AGRO PV WILL OPEN NEW HORIZON FOR SOLAR ENERGY I handpick bi-facial modules in addition to solar plus storage solutions that would be most relevant for meeting requirements. Also electric vehicles plus solarised charging stations will embark upon new era of energy revolution. Floating solar and agro PV (Being newer applications though!!) will open up yet another horizon of mass consumption of solar energy in our lives, belives Rajneesh Khattar, Group Director, Energy Portfolio – India, Informa Markets, a leading international events, intelligence and scholarly research group.

In conversation with Manu Tayal, Associate Editor, Saur Energy International, Khattar shared his views on various issues which the power sector is currently dealing with along with the new highlights of the RenewX expo, which offers various opportunities for the renewable energy sector. Following are the excerpts from that exclusive interview.

Q

RenewX is scheduled in April. What can we expect in this 5th edition of the much awaited renewable energy expo?

In no time, we are into our 5th epic edition of RenewX this year. The forthcoming edition of RenewX 2020 has so much to offer to the sector. A congregation of leading 150+ exhibitors, 7,000+ trade visitors representing captive industries, Chinese pavilion, launch of whitepapers and sector reports, skill competition on the floor, rich technical conference sessions focusing on AgroPV, rooftop solar, solar pumping solutions, EVs + storage, CEO conclave powered by World Bank / E&Y and bio energy sessions are destined to enrich the knowledge landscape of the participants. Very compact and closely knit environment will make business happen at ease.

Q

What are the most promising and emerging technologies which would be most relevant for meeting future renewable requirements?

I handpick bi-facial modules in addition to solar + storage solutions that’d be most relevant for meeting

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requirements. Also electric vehicles + solarised charging stations will embark upon new era of energy revolution. Floating solar & agro PV (Being newer applications though!!) will open up yet another horizon of mass consumption of solar energy in our lives.

What are some of the new and emerging challenges for the renewable?

The RE sector currently stands at the cusp of yet another era of explosive growth. The mandate, and approach, of the Government is clearer than ever before with the magnitude of tenders being announced telling the story. However few of the key challenges that glare this sector for quite some time now are: Continuous shrinking margins of the developers, thus, stressing the bottom-lines of many corporates, tariff caps currently in place, thus, demotivating developers to bid for Govt projects, expanding the net of BIS certification & safeguard duties on multiple components that’s not only expensive, but, time consuming as well.

This puts entire value chain at strain, thus, impacting elasticity of the market. Top of all challenges is de-clotting of payment pipeline by state Discoms i.e. improving

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THE CONVERSATION

financial health of power distribution companies. Another critical challenge is ensuring quality quotient of the modules in long run i.e. to continue deriving more power per WP. This needs technological innovations of designing & improvising module layout. Not too far is yet another challenge that glares this sector and would need redressal is the disposal of modules in environmentally friendly way.

How do you analyze the Budget 2020 for the renewable energy sector as a whole?

Budget 2020 has been a mix bag for RE sector. Probably industry expectations were way too high especially in the wake of the multiple challenges sector is passing through currently. Whilst the Government has announced major thrust on expanding PM KUSUM Scheme for solar pumps targeting to cover 2 million farmers to be provided funds to set up standalone solar pumps with an idea of removing farmers’ dependence on diesel and kerosene and link them up with solar energy. It also encourages farmers to sell the surplus power back into the grid.

Yet another positive is that Govt has mandated to extensively use the barren land alongside lacs of kilometres on either side of the Railway tracks, thus, fulfilling twin objective of land usage & power generation in environment-friendly manner.

However, sector also expected partial relief from duties structure paralysing the sector, mandates & net of BIS certifications, bids to be more market-driven & dynamic by knocking off tariff caps and push “Make in India” dream forward in this sector….Unfortunately the wait has been

Q

made bit longer it seems !!

Q

Will the show feature exhibitors from the EV space too? Do you see electric vehicles space as a separate category, or a potential addition to renewable energy exhibitions?

Yes for sure. The EV space is gonna be pretty busy as we move forward in this decade and RenewX 2020 will be no different. We are leveraging RenewX 2020 as a curtain raiser for the launch of our new venture “The Battery Show and Electric & Hybrid Vehicle technology expo” being launched during our global endeavour REI 2020 in September this year. This will include TED-format Spotlight Session by the expertise in Bloomberg besides standalone knowledge-rich sessions by the domain experts.

Looking at the synergy between the two domains, we will co-locate this event alongside REI 2020 rather than a separate category.

Q

What is your message to your exhibitors and to end users who look forward to visiting RenewX 2020 event?

My message to all participating stakeholders @ RenewX 2020 is to leverage the 2-days of intense business opportunities to the maximum, network with domain experts, generate business leads, learn new technologies, recent product developments trending RE sector these days and newer applications that have potential to contribute to the growth story of the region. Enjoy, Appreciate and go home richer in knowledge and connections established.

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PROJECT UPDATES

NTPC Tenders for 1200 MW ISTS-Connected Solar Projects NTPC Ltd has invited online bids from eligible bidders for the selection of solar power developers for setting up 1200 MW ISTS-Connected solar PV power projects anywhere in India.

The last date for submission of bids is March 19, 2020, and the techno-commercial bids will be opened on the same date. The date and time of opening of the price bids and the e-reverse auction will be intimated separately by NTPC to the technically selected bidders.

A pre-bid meeting has been scheduled for March 6, 2020, to address the concerns raised by the prospective bidders and all bids must be accompanied by Earnest Money Deposit for an amount calculated at the rate of Rs 400,000 per MW of quoted bid capacity and in the form as stipulated in the RfS Documents.

The Request for Selection (RfS) for the tender will be available for download from February 20, 2020.

SECI Reissues NIT for 1200 MW Himachal Pradesh Tenders for Wind Power Projects 10000 Solar PV Lanterns The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has issued a new notice inviting tender (NIT) for procurement of wind power through a Request for Selection (RfS) document for setting up of 1200 MW ISTS-connected Wind Power Projects in India, through a global tariff-based competitive bidding process.

As per the NIT, the new tender will be issued under TrancheIX and will replace the existing tender which was issued in September 2019, and now there will be no upper limit on the tariff to be proposed by the bidders, under the proposed RfS. In the tender that was previously issued in September 2019, the scope of work for the selected bidders will include the design, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of the wind energy plants anywhere in India on a Build Own Operate (BOO) basis. The developers will also be responsible for the connection of the project to the ISTS network and the maximum tariff payable to each WPD was fixed at Rs 2.85/kWh for the entire term of 25 years.

The minimum cumulative project capacity quoted/awarded under the RfS will be 50 MW and the maximum cumulative project capacity awarded under the RfS shall be 600 MW. For a single project, the project capacity shall remain between 50 MW and 300 MW. In November 2019, we had reported that the response to the SECI’s 1200 MW wind tenders, where only Adani Energy with 200 MW and ENEL for 66 MW responded, proves the point.

The tender had since been postponed.

After the price squeeze of previous tenders, not only had developers stayed away despite the higher ceiling of Rs 2.93, (it was Rs 2.85 earlier), but the lack of participation despite the option to set up capacity anywhere goes to show just how unattractive the government’s policy flip flops have managed to make renewables currently.

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The Himachal Pradesh Government Energy Development Agency (HIMURJA) has issued a tender, inviting bids from eligible firms for the supply of approximately 10000 solar PV Lanterns (LED type) for distribution to the beneficiaries in the state.

The general scope of work for the contract will include supplying of 10,000 solar lanterns to the beneficiaries of the State. The material will be supplied at the District/ Block level from where it will further be distributed to the beneficiaries.

Additionally, the suppliers must provide a warranty period of five years which will commence from the date of receipt of the material by Project Officer. During the warranty period, the supplier will carry out preventive, routine and breakdown maintenance of the SPV Lantern including replacement of any components including DC battery, electronics, etc. which goes bad free of cost.

The last date for submission of bids is February 27, 2020, and the technical bids will be opened on the same date. The tentative cost of the project is Rs 2.5 crore, and all bidders must submit an Earnest Money Deposit of Rs 5 lakh along with their bids.

As per the tender document, system integrators under the National Solar Mission (NSM) of solar PV systems or manufacturers of solar Systems, having sufficient experience of installation and commissioning of a minimum of 3000 solar lanterns to other Nodal Agencies/ Government Departments or their organizations are eligible for tendering. Furthermore, the annual turnover of the firm should be not less than Rs 75 lakh for each preceding three years i.e. 2016-17, 2017-18 & 2018-19.

The tender also details that within twenty-one days from the date of issue of the award letter, the successful bidder shall furnish the performance security amount of the value of 10 percent of the total contract value which should be valid for five years beyond the date of supply of the material.

PROJECT UPDATES

Govt Set to Divest its 100% Stake in CEL; Invites EoI by Mar 16 After BPCL and Air India, government is now set to add its solar products manufacturer Central Electronics Ltd (CEL) to the list of public firms up for sale. CEL is up for 100 percent sale, or complete exit.

The last date for interested parties to submit the bids is March 16, 2020.

CEL is a Government of India Enterprise under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Science & Technology.

It is India’s oldest monocrystalline cell manufacturer having a capacity of 10 MW p.a. The company is also having high quality module manufacturing line with installed capacity of 38 MW, i.e. 10 MW in manual line and 28 MW in automated line.

It has a paid up capital of Rs 69.22 crore and net worth of Rs 75.99 crore as on March 31, 2019.

According to the Preliminary Information Memorandum (PIM), the selected bidder will be required to lock in its shares for a period of 3 years during which it cannot undertake the sale of its stake in CEL. For the eligibility criterion, the interested bidders must have a minimum net worth

of Rs 50 crore, and have been in existence for at least three financial years as on March 31, 2019.

In the SWOT analysis of CEL, DIPAM has mentioned under weakness that “CEL has weak financial position due to past losses; high manufacturing cost; and non-payment of dues by state nodal agencies affecting the financial position of the company”.

Further in threats, DIPM stated that “dumping of Solar cells at very low rates makes Solar PV manufacturing industry unviable; and

entry of new players in the market for solar products as well as Railway signalling systems”.

Meanwhile on the strengths, it highlights the company’s land bank; NCR locationproximity to New Delhi; expertise in development of customised solar solutions; expertise in design, development and supply of strategic devices and components; internationally certified quality products; and trained and experienced manpower”.

Engie Commissions 250 MW Solar Project in Andhra Pradesh French electric utility firm Engie has fully commissioned its 250 MW solar project in Andhra Pradesh. The 200 MW phase was commissioned ahead of schedule in May 2019 and this milestone supports the firms’ ambition to be a major renewables development partner as India becomes one of the fastest-growing countries in the global energy transition, a company statement said. The remaining 50 MW was recently commissioned in order to provide power to about 400,000 people, it said.

Engie was awarded the Kadapa project in April 2017. The signing of the 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with state-run power giant NTPC was announced at the inauguration of the Mirzapur solar power plant in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron in March 2018.

Over 1 million panels and over 2,700 string inverters were installed with 1.9 million

safe man-hours put by over 1,200 skilled and unskilled manpower in a site spread across 1,250 acres, it said.

The developer has been present and active in India for over 40 years and has a total installed capacity of more than 1.5 GW in renewables, and employs around 1,000 people in power generation, engineering, and energy services.

“Engie is committed to supporting India’s energy transition. We look forward to continuing to support India’s low-carbon generation investments and in the Middle East region whilst continuing to operate to the highest possible health and safety standards,” the Middle East, South & Central Asia and Turkey CEO Sebastien Arbola said.

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UPDATES

Govt Favours Domestic Manufacturing, Market not so Much According to information relayed in a recent parliamentary discussion, the central government is heavily engaged with the idea of promoting domestic solar manufacturing as portrayed by all the policy changes and financial incentives being introduced to help boost domestic capacity and competition. However, when it comes to utilisation on projects, imports are still heavily favoured.

Answering a question raised in Rajya Sabha, Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy RK Singh listed the steps taken for enhancing domestic manufacturing capacity and capability of solar equipment. These include: (i) D omestic manufacturing of solar cells and modules in India is being supported by the Government of India through Modified Special Incentive Package

(ii) Imposition of Safeguard Duty on import of solar cells/ modules from certain markets (iii) Mandating the use of solar PV cells and modules from domestic sources and additional subsidy on their use under the different schemes of the MNRE called the CPSU Scheme PhaseII, PM- KUSUM and Grid-connected Rooftop Solar Programme Phase-II. Scheme (M-SIPS) of the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology.

The scheme, inter alia, provides for: (I) 20-25 percent subsidy for investments in capital expenditure for setting up of the manufacturing facility; and (II) Reimbursement of countervailing Duty (CVD)/ Excise Duty for capital equipment for the units outside Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

Despite all these steps and incentives, most projects under implementation are still importing solar panels and the key reason for that is that the domestic manufacturing is yet to catch up on the development cycle of solar cell and modules which are being undertaken in countries like China. These offer better efficiency and durability at lower prices.

Hero Ropes in Piyush Prasad as National Business Head

As Cancellations Surge, India’s Solar ‘Pipeline’ Drying Up

Hero Electric, a market leader in the Indian electric twowheeler industry, said that it has appointed Piyush Prasad as its national business head.

In his new role, Prasad will be responsible for leading business across tier-I, II, III and below markets as the brand aims to further spread awareness for electric vehicles (EVs) in the region.

Moreover, he will be responsible for the overall business growth, expanding product sales and will oversee customer satisfaction programs for the company.

Prasad brings with him more than 20 years of diverse experience.

Prior to joining Hero Electric, he has worked with various other top brands such as Harley-Davidson, Renault, General Motors, Mahindra and Hyundai.

Commenting on Prasad’s appointment, Sohinder Gill, CEO of Hero Electric was quoted by PTI saying that “we are delighted to have Piyush on-board, his vast experience and expertise in business and sales management among other verticals will certainly boost the brand awareness and will further strengthen Hero Electric’s position in India.”

Hero Electric has been the front runner for electric mobility (e-mobility) in India for the last ten years.

It had launched its first e-scooter in India between 2007 and 2009; and also founded the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) - the only EV association in India.

In 2018-19, the company has implemented Lithium Ion technology on its complete electric range and has crossed more than five hundred dealerships on pan India basis.

News from the much celebrated 2 GW auction of NTPC in 2018, where top developers had bid for prices as low as Rs 2.59 is not good. 70 percent of the capacity won by developers, namely, Acme Solar, Shapoorji Pallonji, and Azure Power, have opted out of the deal, citing regulatory delays.

The option of cancellation with the bidders was there in the PPA, which they have duly enforced now. Interestingly, SB Energy, which had won 600 MW at a Rs 2.60 bid, is the only developer left. Readers might recall that SB Energy had actually made a bid for the full 2 GW complement, but got ‘only’ 600 MW as it missed the lowest price by a whisker in the oversubscribed tender. The tender had stood out for the fact that it was one of the first big awards after the safeguard duty was announced, and to that extent, these costs were easily as good as the record low price of Rs 2.44 that had been witnessed earlier, on a like to like basis.

As it turns out, almost each of the developers mentioned here have their own liquidity issues to deal with currently. From general distress (ACME Solar) to a new team transitioning at Azure. The Shapoorji Pallonji group and its travails linked to its now listed EPC arm Sterling and Wilson have been well documented to be detailed again . While no such proviso exists, even SB Energy may be loathe to pick up the slack anymore at the price that had been quoted by it, even had that option existed.

The net outcome of these cancellations are a stark reminder of the state of the solar ‘pipeline’, that Power and MNRE minister R.K. Singh spoke about in Parliament, when he defended the government’s record on solar targets.

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UPDATES

Vikram Solar Hires Inox Wind’s Saibaba Vutukuri as New CEO In a significant development, leading solar module maker Vikram Solar on Wednesday said that it has appointed Saibaba Vutukuri as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

With Vutukuri’s appointment, Gyanesh Chaudhary, who was earlier holding the post of Managing Director and CEO of Vikram Solar, will remain as the company's Managing Director.

Chaudhary will now focus on future expansion, new business opportunities and growth plans including investments and major capex decisions among key business areas. The announcement came at a time when the company is marching towards its next phase of growth.

On the appointment, Saibaba Vutukuri said “I’m delighted to be joining Vikram Solar as the CEO at an exciting time for the business.

It is a remarkable company with a long history of outperformance, creating innovative products. I’m looking forward to working with an exceptional group of

leaders over the coming years to continue to transform Vikram Solar.”

“It is important to state that we, at Vikram Solar, are going to stay true to our DNA and will continue to make the best products in the industry that delight our customers and make our employees incredibly proud of what they do,” he added.

“Sai’s knowledge and experience will be an extremely valuable asset to Vikram Solar. His wide experience in solar manufacturing, corporate affairs and international markets will help us

to further strengthen our leadership position in the renewable sector. I will be supporting Sai in the transition process during the first half of the year to ensure a seamless experience for all our internal and external stakeholders,” said Gyanesh Chaudhary, Managing Director of Vikram Solar on Vutukuri’s appointment.

Vutukuri brings with him 34 years of industry experience and has been aiding the growth of renewable energy in India and across the globe for over 2 decades.

Earlier, he served as the President and CEO-Diversification of BSE-listed Inox Wind Ltd. In his previous roles, Vutukuri held leadership positions in several organizations including General Electric (GE), Vestas , Lanco, Suzlon, APV Pasilac, Hindustan Unilever.

Meanwhile, on the educational background, he is having a post-graduate degree in International Business (MBA) from Copenhagen Business School and also graduated from National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI).

The Total-Adani Deal- Impact on Indian Solar Sector The announcement of a proposed JV between Total Total SA, the French energy major, and Adani Green Energy, the renewable energy arm of the Adani Group, for $510 million (approx Rs 3600 crores) is, to put it mildly, a surprise. After all, while not dire, the sector today faces multiple pressure points, the latest of which is the uncertainty around supplies from China, the biggest supplier market for equipment.

The deal, wherein Total will be the 50 percent owner in a joint venture firm that will own the solar assets of Adani Green Energy Ltd, is welcome news in that respect. The new JV will start with 2,148MW of solar projects portfolio across 11 states in India. After Malaysia’s Petronas, which brought out Amplus Energy last year, this is the second major global oil firm investing big in India’s renewable energy sector. Previously, some of the biggest investors have been financial investors, from Goldman Sachs in Renew power, to multilateral agencies in Avaada Energy,

besides smaller fund raises by other top developers like Azure Power and more.

So what does the deal signal for the sector as a whole? For starters, the worst might be getting behind the sector, that has been weighed down by the full complement of policy troubles, price squeezes, discom dues and challenges to signed contracts by state governments.

In fact, if one goes by just a sample of the stories we have covered in the past 30 days on various cases at state and national

regulatory commissions for electricity, the force majeure clause, considered the rarest of the rare, has been the de facto resort in far too many projects.

Impressively, regulators have agreed, more often than not, with developers on this. However, all this could not stop the squeeze on lending the sector has faced, with financial institutions worried both about the viability of projects at razor thin margins, and the quality and safety of assets.

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CASE STUDY

ILIOS® Solar Module Mounting Solutions Perfect Synergy For Solar Energy

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Client : Simcon Power Project Location : Ganjbasoda, Madhya Pradesh Project Size : 21.3 MW (690 MT) Solution : ILIOS® Ground Mounting Solar Solutions C Purlins made of high strength ZINCALUME® steel

overdesigned, making them bulky and redundant. Moreover, on site welding and fragmented supplies added to the woes of the overall feasibility/affordability of the project. In such cost competitive market, selection of the right module mounting structure becomes even more critical.

Background The solar power segment has taken off in a way that most people would not have anticipated. From an almost nonexistent solar market in 2010, India today is home to the 5th largest installed solar power generation capacity in the world and Karnataka is the top solar state of India followed

by Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Rajasthan. Overall, the country is estimated to add nearly 16 GW of clean energy capacity in 2019, driven by large-scale solar projects. India’s solar capacity addition is set for a record in 2019. New installations this year will reach nearly 14 gigawatts (GW), which is about 50% more than the capacity added last year.

For addressing this ever increasing demand for solar energy, selection of the right module mounting structure becomes even more critical. While being cost competitive the module mounting structure should possess uncompromised strength with durability. Over the years the trend has shifted from post-coated to pre-coated products for the virtues it brings to the table. Traditionally used Hot Rolled Sections were

ILIOS® from Tata BlueScope Steel optimizes the consumption of steel, thus optimizing the overall cost. The pre- punched components with standardized kit ensures agility in overall erection/installation. ILIOS® has gained immense popularity amongst EPC players in the Indian Solar solutions ecosystem.

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Simcon Solar Park Project Simcon Power, is a fully integrated EPC company that provides Design, Engineering, Project Management, Project Execution and maintenance services.

For Simcon Solar Park project in Ganjbasoda, Madhya Pradesh; the company intended to implement Ground Mounting Solar Solutions, with a special requirement. Simcon wanted to install solar panel on Rod foundation, unlike conventional systems. Rod foundation as compared to traditional system has better compatibility with engineering specifications and is easy to install with a quicker turnaround time. It also eliminates the need for expensive and heavy construction equipment.

CASE STUDY

ILIOS® Solar Module Mounting Solutions from Tata Bluescope Steel ILIOS ® customized solutions perfectly matched Simcon's requirements. ILIOS® offers premium solar module mounting solutions for both ground and roof top applications. These customized structures offer higher corrosion resistance, weight optimisation and quick installation.

Weight optimisation The initial design proposed for this project was two pole design with base plate foundation. The overall steel requirement for the structure based on base plate proposal was high. Design modification was required for reducing the overall weight.

Structural stability of design It was very important to achieve structural stability for the modified design with weight optimisation.

After discussing with customer, Tata BlueScope Steel provided two pole design with rod foundation. This helped in reducing overall steel requirement for the structure. Thus weight optimisation was achieved through the modified design.

Tata Bluescope Steel team of expert engineers provided a stable and compliant design for the required structure. The structural stability of the design was approved by IIT Chennai.

Significant Savings due to Optimized Material Usage: ILIOS® structural design is engineered for strength and durability and minimizes material usage without compromising on strength and load. Weight optimization leads to cost advantage.

Increase in weight due to GI sections To achieve high strength and structural stability Galvanised sections with higher thickness were initially proposed for the design. But this resulted in increase in weight of the structure.

High strength and Light weight C section purlins made from G550 ZINCALUME® steel was offered to overcome the challenge.

Longer life Solar module mounting structures are usually exposed to extreme environmental conditions. So it is important to have higher corrosion resistance for longer life.

C section purlins made from ZINCALUME® steel were offered. These sections have greater corrosion resistance and last upto 4 times longer than galvanised steel.

Higher Performance: High quality Al-Zn alloy ZINCALUME® steel ensures better performance under extreme environments as compared to galvanized steel.

The installation process was planned in several phases. It required 'Just in Time' delivery of Mounting structures in accordance with other raw materials.

Tata Bluescope Steel operations and supply chain team were able to deliver the materials 'Just In Time' as per the required schedule. All the supplies of 21.3 MW were executed within the agreed timeline.

Flexibility with Customization: ILIOS® comes with a wide range of sectional dimensions and thicknesses; making it suitable for every requirement. Pre Punched Sections ensure faster project delivery and takes lesser time for assembly & installation.

Ground Mounted Solar Installation In Progress

Conclusion Complete understanding of customer’s requirement, adopting innovative design optimization techniques, enabling quick turnaround through an agile supply chain along with team work and collaboration; helped achieve customer satisfaction.

“We are delighted to do business with LYSAGHT® from Tata BlueScope Steel from whom we procured 700 MT of material for our 22 MW Power project. Customer centric approach and the promptness displayed by the company representatives was very professional. Tata BlueScope Steel’s in-house engineering team helped us design the project which resulted in substantial weight optimization and thus helped us to save on the cost.

The supply of the material was trouble free and the on-time delivery helped us to achieve the project timelines. Overall with LYSAGHT® we had a trouble free experience and we would like to do business with LYSAGHT® again,” said Anil Kumar Verma, Co-Founder & Director, Simcon Power and Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. VOL 4 l ISSUE 06 | SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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MODULE UPDATES

Canadian Solar, Lightsource Sign 1.2GW Module Supply Pact Canadian Solar, one of the world's largest solar power companies, has announced that it has signed a multi-year module supply agreement with Lightsource BP to deliver 1.2 GW of high efficiency polycrystalline solar modules for projects in the US and Australia.

Lightsource BP is a global market leader in the development, acquisition and long-term management of large-scale solar projects and smart energy solutions.

"We are pleased to be working with Canadian Solar to deliver our global pipeline. They are a bankable and industry-proven partner for our projects.

Our centralised procurement team selected these modules for their highefficiency performance and we look forward to seeing the satisfactory results in

the field very soon," commented Kareen Boutonnat, chief operating officer at Lightsource BP.The projects will be using Canadian Solar's polycrystalline bifacial high power BiHiKu (CS3W-PB-AG) and high power HiKu (CS3W-P) modules.

Bifacial modules generate power from both the front and the rear sides of the module, which increases the power output

compared to conventional monofacial modules. The very high output of the BiHiKu bifacial modules will maximise the power generation in a limited area of the plant site, while dramatically reducing the Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) of the power plant.

Dr. Shawn Qu, chairman and chief executive officer of Canadian Solar, said, "we are excited about the strong partnership with Lightsource BP that has contributed to the 1.2 GW of module sales commitments. As a solar technology leader, we are working continuously on innovation. I am proud to see that our high-power modules, based on the latest bifacial technology, have been selected for these projects in Australia and the US.”

JinkoSolar Retains top Spot in NEDO, Panasonic set Highest PV Module Shipments in 2019 Efficiency for Solar Cell Module

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Chinese solar module manufacturer JinkoSolar has emerged as the leading company in terms of global solar photovoltaic (PV) module shipments in 2019, securing the top position in GlobalData’s 2018 ranking produced last year.

The Chinese manufacturer topped the 2019 ranking with 14.2 gigawatts (GW) of PV modules compared to the secondranked JA Solar’s 10.3 GW. Most of the companies featured in the table are from Asia-Pacific (APAC).

GlobalData found that there has been no significant change in 2019 rankings compared to 2018. However, the top 10 manufacturers have shown improvement in their shipments over the last year. In 2019, the top 10 manufacturers shipped approximately 80.3 GW modules compared to 63 GW in 2018, an increment of more than 27 percent. The top 10 manufacturers are likely control more than 75 percent of the module shipments in 2020. Ankit Mathur, Practice Head of Power at GlobalData, said that the global solar PV market is riding high on account of higher demand, continuous reduction of costs, software and technological advancements and improvement in module efficiency. The enhanced solar system efficiency and performance coupled with data analytics for better asset management and commercial monitoring has significantly reduced the LCOE and stands to improve further .

JA Solar in second place recorded a shipment increase of around 17 percent due to high product quality and reliability, and performance and innovation. It reported that the efforts made to expand their presence in the emerging international markets in the Middle East have led to increased module shipments and profitability.

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The Panasonic Corporation has achieved the world's highest energy conversion efficiency of 16.09 percent for a perovskite solar module (Aperture area 802 cm2: 30 cm long x 30 cm wide x 2 mm thick) by developing lightweight technology using a glass substrate and a large-area coating method based on inkjet printing. This was carried out as part of the project of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), which is working on the "Development of Technologies to Reduce Power Generation Costs for High-Performance and High-Reliability Photovoltaic Power Generation" to promote the widespread adoption of solar power generation. This inkjetbased coating method that can cover a large area reduces the manufacturing costs of modules. In addition, this large-area, lightweight, and high-conversion efficiency module allows for generating solar power highly efficiently at locations where conventional solar panels were difficult to install, such as façades.

By optimising these technologies through the coating process in each layer formation, Panasonic succeeded in enhancing crystal growth and improving the uniformity for thickness and crystal layer. As a result, they achieved the power conversion efficiency of 16.09% and took a step forward to practical application. Going forward, the two firms want to continue to improve perovskite layer materials, aiming to achieve high efficiency comparable to that of crystalline silicon solar cells and establish technologies for practical application in new markets. By realising lower process cost and more lightweight for a large-area perovskite module, the two corporations will plan to create a new market in which the solar cells have never been placed and adopted.

PRODUCTS

Pearl: AI-powered Earbuds with Solar Charging

PRODUCT BRIEF: Inspired by the flowing lines of Ferrari sports cars, former PininFarina designer Crystal Li is the designer behind Pearl, a new wireless earbud that rivals Apple's popular audio product, the Airpods Pro. PRODUCT FEATURES: The earbuds boast groundbreaking design, noise cancellation, and solar charging. Pearl earbuds allow for 60 hours of playtime when paired with the included solar charging case. In just three days, the brand has generated over USD 120,000 in pre-orders and received praise from celebrities like Ne-Yo. APPLICATION: Wireless Headphones PRODUCT BENEFITS: The product boasts of Active Noise Cancellation, Solar Charging, Premium Sound, Water Resistance and even Touch Control. The charging case comes with USB-C, Wireless Qi or industry first solar charging. Developed with Weide electronics, the case comes with solar discs that can be pulled out for charging in environments where outlets may not be available.

AVAILABILITY: The product has been backed by 1401 people raising Rs 1.33 crore for the project, and the product is now available for preorder on indiegogo.

Twilight Solar Light by Solight

PRODUCT BRIEF: This award-winning solar light is engineered with an origami inspired, self-inflating design and creates beautiful, clean light in dual bright white and red light, with a red SOS mode.

PRODUCT FEATURES: It's light weight, just 1.8 ounces and it floats and can withstand complete immersion under water. For as many hours as you charge it in the sun, it will provide light for just as long. For example, 5 hours of charging in the sun will provide illumination to light up a 10 X 10 room for 5-8 hours.

APPLICATION: Lighting PRODUCT BENEFITS: Made from eco-friendly, recyclable PET sailcloth, the light is lightweight, collapsible, waterproof and durable, even in extreme weather. Harnessing the power of the sun, the Twilight is engineered to provide beautiful, clean light as a night light, bike light, for night vision, and in emergencies. Once fully charged, the TwiLight can be stored for up to 2 years and is a must-have for emergency kits.

AVAILABILITY: The product is available for purchase on the firm’s website and retails for USD 30.

Hydrade - Solar Powered Double Wall Smart Bottle

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PRODUCT BRIEF: The Hydrade is a unique, environmentally conscious bottle that helps you stay hydrated while helping others access clean drinking water.

PRODUCT FEATURES: Powered by a built in solar panel, the bottle recommends your daily hydration levels (hydration coaching), quantifies water intake with gentle ‘drink’ reminders, and donates clean water to a charity on your behalf with each sip you take.

APPLICATION: Water Bottle PRODUCT BENEFITS: Hydrade's smart solar-powered insulated bottle recommends hydration levels, monitors intake, & donates to charity based on your intake.

The bottle can be synced with smartphones, health apps, and/or activity wearables for more accurate recommendations.

AVAILABILITY: The product has been backed by 1781 people raising USD 97,034 for the project, and the product is now available for preorder on KickStarter.

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 06

PRODUCTS

Delta - Battery Powered Generator

PRODUCT BRIEF: The DELTA is a technological, environmental, and experiential innovation in personal power use. Requiring no gas, emitting no pollution and no noise.

PRODUCT FEATURES: Bring DELTA to any party or into your living room and power up to 13 devices simultaneously. DELTA’s system includes four regular USB ports, two 60-watt USB-C ports plus four wall outlets on the International edition and six wall outlets on the American edition.

APPLICATION: Off-Grid Power Source PRODUCT BENEFITS: With an output of 1800W, DELTA can power anything from your lamps to the power tools in your workshop.

Compact to heavy-duty, everything is possible with DELTA. It can even charge your electric vehicle in the case of an emergency! The battery can recharge fully within two hours. Built with aerospace-grade Aluminium and high strength steel, it can be charged with any solar panel mat. Comes with a 1x 110W Solar Panel, which takes 15 hours, depending on the weather to fully charge the battery.

AVAILABILITY: The product has been backed by 2662 people raising USD 2.8 million for the project, and the product is now available for order on KickStarter.

Solar Paper-World’s Thinnest and Lightest Solar Charger

PRODUCT BRIEF: The Solar Paper by Yolk is the world's first solar power charger that can be placed inside your note or planner. It is a paper thin and ultra light weight solar charger PRODUCT FEATURES: The Solar Paper charger can reliably charge your smartphone in about 2.5 hours on a sunny day. That’s about the same as a wall charger. It is so lightweight that outdoorsy types can clip it to a backpack and charge while hiking. Urban adventurers can easily slip it into a jacket pocket or notebook.

APPLICATION: Solar Powered Charger PRODUCT BENEFITS: Most solar chargers shut down and need to be manually reset after a cloud passes overhead and the voltage drops. Solar Paper automatically resets itself so you can keep charging, hassle free. The basic 5 watt Solar Paper can charge your smartphone on a sunny day. If you need more power to charge a tablet, or to charge on a cloudy day, you can click new magnetic panels into place.

AVAILABILITY: The product is available for purchase on the firms website and retails for USD 148-450 depending on the customisations.

PocketPower Solar Charger by Flextech Solar

PRODUCT BRIEF: The PocketPower is an ultra portable solar charger, which can be folded and easily fit into your pocket.

PRODUCT FEATURES: Easy to clean, the product even works when under water as long as its surface is illuminated. The Surface deep embossing + ETFE film coating+ integrated lamination, make this panel waterproof, dust proof, and super durable.

APPLICATION: Power Bank/ Solar Charger PRODUCT BENEFITS: No worries about charging under low temperature, the PocketPower`s operation temperature is -20℃~70℃. Good for camping, travelling, hiking and emergency preparation. It can power up all your USB devices including mobile phones, tablets, power banks, MP4, GPS, bluetooth headsets, portable speakers and other gadgets when there’s sunshine. Or you can combine it with bags, bikes, golf cart, boat, tents.

AVAILABILITY: The product is available for purchase for Rs 4300 on indiegogo.

VOL 4 l ISSUE 06 | SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

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OPPORTUNITIES

Head of Design: Solar PV - Latitude Resource

Latitude Resource is a niche recruitment business that specialise in GIS, Finance and other professional fields by employing experienced and qualified consultants to source & vet suitable candidates for each specialty field or sector. The company service small, medium and corporate clients located anywhere in South African and ranging from private through to government sectors.

Type of job: The position is full-time.

Eligibility Criterion: • Electrical Engineering Degree (at least).

• Professional registration compulsory.

• 8 to 15 years engineering work experience essential, including medium and large-scale Solar PV projects.

• Solar design lead and management experience.

• Solid technical, commercial and strategic exposure and aptitude.

Job Description: The company is looking to employ an experienced Electrical Engineer as their Head of Solar PV Design at their Head Quarters in Cape Town. This is an excellent opportunity with unlimited potential for a technically astute engineering design specialist to join one of the industry leaders in Africa. Salary fully negotiable depends on the experience.

Apply Before: April 7, 2020 Apply here: https://bit.ly/2vB1bPK

Solar Business Development Rockwood Energy Search LLC

Commercial/Utility-Scale solar developer is starting a new initiative in the Greater New York City area.

Firm is headed by seasoned solar development manager with good resources and good EPC relationships.

Location of job: Remote position in or around New York City.

Type of job: The position is full-time.

Eligibility Criterion: • 5 - 1 0 y e a r s o f e x p e r i e n c e i n b u s i n e s s a n d s o l a r development, with ability to strategize about best verticals to sell to--to match the company’s focus and return requirements.

• Bachelor’s Degree required.

• Candidates MUST understand the NY market and VDER and how to work with that to create solid proposals to commercial- and utility-scale solar clients.

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Availability of Job: The job will be available for detailed discussions starting March 15.

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | VOL 4 l ISSUE 06

Job Description: Focus will be on corporate PPA’s, power project development, new business development, solar energy. While there are some project development duties, the key part of the job is to find new clients.

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

Solar Installation Manager – Vivint Solar

Vivint Solar is a leading provider of simple, affordable solar solutions and one of the fastest growing residential solar power providers in North America. It is looking for Solar Installation Manager who will become a strong contributor and make a difference. In the Solar Installation Manager role, he will be responsible for running the day-to-day operations of the office and solar panel installation process from start to finish.

Location of job: Bolingbrook, Illinois, United States Type of job: The position is full-time.

Eligibility Criterion: • Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management preferred • 4+ years of construction experience • 4+ years management experience • Experience with project management and construction experience required • Solar industry a plus • Must know how to handle problems quickly and efficiently • Must be very organized and have great communication skills • Ability to demonstrate basic computer skills • 2-3 years of experience in a leadership role within the solar industry Job Description: • Hire qualified staff • Maintain the highest positive attitude in the office • Ensure the safety of the staff assigned to their office by holding weekly trainings • Assign trainers and follow up with the progress for each new hire • Confirm that staff is aware of their daily duties and assignments • Ensure that the installation crew has the opportunity to perform 2 installations per day • Monitor and oversee daily production of the office and its employees • Inspect job sites of each installation crew and correct as needed • Accompany crews on jobs sites to ensure quality and improve techniques • Communicate and coordinate with the office sales manager on a regular basis • Monitor the progress of all accounts associated with their office • Resolve customer complaints or concerns involving the installation process • Coordinate with corporate departments on a daily basis • Perform other needed job tasks as requested by leadership Apply here: https://bit.ly/2Styttj

EVENTS THE ENERGY EXPO

INTERSOLAR NORTH AMERICA 2020 website : www.intersolar.us START DATE : 04-FEB-2020 END DATE : 06-FEB-2020

website : www.theenergyexpo.com Location : California, USA Phone : +49 761 38813800

START DATE : 12-FEB-2020 END DATE : 13-FEB-2020

Location : Miami, USA Phone : (305) 412-0000

E-mail : bregazzi@intersolar.us

E-mail : mail@TEE2019.com

MIDDLE EAST ELECTRICITY 2020

THE SOLAR SHOW MENA 2020

website : https://www.middleeastelectricity.com

website:https://www.terrapinn.com/exhibition/solar-show-mena

START DATE : 24-APR-2020 END DATE : 25-APR-2020

Location : Dubai, UAE Phone : +971 4 4072470

START DATE : 13-APR-2020 END DATE : 14-APR-2020

Location : Cairo, Egypt Phone : +971 4 4402535

E-mail : Info@middleeastelectricity.com

E-mail : Abdelbasset.hfd@terrapinn.com

RENEWX 2020

POWERGEN INDIA 2020

website : www.renewx.in

website : www.powergen-india.com

START DATE : 24-APR-2020 END DATE : 25-APR-2020

Location : Hyderabad, India Phone : +91 98707 46073

E-mail : sheetal.rathod@ubm.com

Location : New Delhi, India Phone : +91 97114 33860

E-mail : pr@itenmedia.in

SNEC 14TH (2020) INTERNATIONAL PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER GENERATION AND SMART ENERGY

6TH SMART CITIES INDIA 2020 EXPO website : www.solarindiaexpo.com START DATE : 20-MAY-2020 END DATE : 22-MAY-2020

START DATE : 05-MAY-2020 END DATE : 07-MAY-2020

Location : New Delhi, India Phone : +91 11 4279 5000

E-mail : ravim@eigroup.in

website : www.snec.org.cn

START DATE : 25-MAY-2020 END DATE : 27-MAY-2020

Location : Shanghai, China Phone : +86 21 33685117

E-mail : info@snec.org.cn

THE 16TH SOUTH EAST ASIA'S RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY EXHIBITION & CONFERENCE

THE 9TH (CHINA) SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTED ENERGY AND BIOMASS POWER

E-mail : info@annexhibition.com

E-mail : power@ronco.com.cn

THE 12TH CHINESE RENEWABLE ENERGY CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION

INTERSOLAR INDIA 2020

website : www.asew-expo.com/Home.aspx Location : Bangkok, Thailand START DATE : 11-JUN- 2020 Phone : +86 10 65262861 END DATE : 13-JUN- 2020

website : www.crecexpo.com START DATE : 03-NOV- 2020 END DATE : 05-NOV- 2020

E-mail : liuyang@crecexpo.com

Location : Wuxi, China Phone : +86 510 81827276

website : www.distributed-energy.cn Location : Shanghai, China START DATE : 16-JUN- 2020 Phone : +86 21 50185270 END DATE : 18-JUN- 2020

website : www.intersolar.in START DATE : 15-DEC- 2020 END DATE : 17-DEC- 2020 E-mail : feth@solarpromotion.com

Location : Mumbai, India Phone : +49 7231 58598206

www.saurenergy.com

SAUR ENERGY

JANUARY 2020 | Rs. 200

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

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Clean Energy

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Easy Financing Tracking The Latest Hurdles To Raising Funding For Solar Developers In India

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