Saurenergy International Magazine September Issue 2021

www.saurenergy.com

September 2021 | `200

DCP LICENSING NO. F.2(S-29) PRESS/2016 | VOL. 6 | ISSUE 1 | TOTAL PAGES 72 | PUBLISHED ON 1ST OF EVERY MONTH

DREAMING UP A SUCCESS STORY From Global Firms to Startups, firms are finding new ways to win in India.

Filippo Carzaniga Chairman, FIMER

Mohal Lalbhai

Founder and CEO, Matter

Dr. Akshay Singhal

Founder, Log 9 Materials

High Power Solis-(215-255)K-EHV-5G to a New Era of Low LCOE

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SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL VOL 6 | ISSUE 1

GROUP EDITOR

Prasanna Singh prasanna@meilleurmedia.com

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From the

Group Editor SAUR ENERGY

DIRECTOR

Prateek Kapoor prateek@meilleurmedia.com

EDITOR

Manas Nandi

STAFF WRITER

Soumya Duggal editorial@meilleurmedia.com

MANAGER - MEDIA SOLUTION Girish Mishra girish.mishra@meilleurmedia.com

DESIGN HEAD Sandeep Kumar

WEB DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Jitender Kumar

WEB PRODUCTION Balvinder Singh

SUBSCRIPTIONS

Harsh Gupta subscription@meilleurmedia.com Saur Energy International is printed, published, edited and owned by Manas Nandi and published from 303, 2nd floor, Neelkanth Palace, Plot No- 190, Sant Nagar, East of Kailash, New Delhi110065 (INDIA), Printed at Pearl Printers, C-105, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase 1, New Delhi.

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n this special September issue, delivered to catch the REI 2021 show in NCR, the share of EV related stories has surprised us.

But you only need to look at the REI exhibitor list, to know that renewable energy and EV truly move together, and one without

the other no longer makes sense .

With the closest return to normalcy that the REI signals in 18 months, it’s a good time to thank all of you for your support during this difficult time for so many.

The support of our readers, advertisers, and of course the industry that has backed us to push harder and deliver an ever widening range of news .

In recent months, while covering the happenings in the exciting EV sector, what stood out is the number of young founders keen to get in early. Battery, or storage focused startups have played a special role, considering the high risk of import dependency on this crucial aspect if we don’t fix it now.

That explains the interviews with Akshay Singhal, founder, Log 9 materials , as well as the connect with Mohal Lalbhai, of Matter Automotive. Both these young founders, in their contrasting ways, have hitched their future firmly to the EV transition underway.

Thenis also an interaction with Filippo Carzaniga, Chairman at FIMER, which, after completing the acquisition of ABB Power’s Solar inverter

DISCLAIMER: Editor, Publisher, Printer and Owner make every effort to ensure high quality and accuracy of the content published. However he cannot accept any responsibility for any effects from errors or omissions. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Editor and publisher. The information in the content and advertisement published in the magazine are just for reference of the readers. However, readers are cautioned to make inquiries and take their decision on purchase or investment after consulting experts on the subject. Saur Energy International holds no responsibility for any decision taken by readers on the basis of the information provided herein. Any unauthorised reproduction of Saur Energy International magazine content is strictly forbidden. Subject to Delhi Jurisdiction.

business, has vaulted to the top tier of inverter sellers in India. The global firm is not just the largest manufacturer in India, but has some big plans for the future too, including EV infrastructure.

We do hope you will enjoy these, and the many other technical and detailed articles in this issue.

Here’s wishing all of us a return to complete normalcy soon, and a strong resurgence for India’s renewable energy push.

PRASANNA SINGH

Group Editor

Delivering true value 丨 Higher power, Lower LCOE

Shaping the future.

Once again.

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CONTENTS VOL. 06, ISSUE-1

S E P T E M B E R 2021

S AU R E N E R GY . C O M

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Policy and Legal

MoP Launches Regulatory Compliance Division to Monitor Discoms

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Modules

World’s Module Capacity to Grow in ’21; Southeast Asia 2nd Top Supplier

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Innovations

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Projects and Tenders

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Finance

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Reports

Goan Students Create Solar E-cycle With 20 Li-Ion Batteries

Pune-based BatteryPool Raises Funds from IAN & Others

NHPC Issues 2 Solar Power Tenders For 100 MW And 500 Mw In Tamil Nadu

3.5 GW Solar Capacity Added in H1 of 2021 in India, Says Report

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EV Updates

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Hydrogen

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Technical Feature

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International

Pune’s goEgoNetwork EV Charging Startup Secures $2 Million Seed Funding

WAFER A CRITICAL COMPONENT OF THE PV CELL TECHNOLOGIES

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Ayana Renewable, Greenstat Hydrogen Sign MOU For Hydrogen Development In India

LONGi’s H1 FY21 Results Out: US$5.

438 B Revenue Reported

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CONVERSATION

CONVERSATION

Filippo Carzaniga Chairman, FIMER

Mohal Lalbhai Founder and CEO, Matter

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40 CONVERSATION

Dr. Akshay Singhal Founder, Log 9 Materials SEPTEMB ER 20 21

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MNRE Notification Extends Deadline for PM KUSUM Component A Completion

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he Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has published a notification extending the deadline for projects allotted under Component A of PM KUSUM scheme to March 31, 2022.

Component A refers to ground mounted projects on barren/waste land owned by farmers or in rural areas, with an overall target of 10,000 MW of such projects eventually. Solar Power plants of capacity 500 kW to 2 MW can be set up by individual farmers, groups of farmers, and panchayats. The current extension supersedes the extension already granted for Covid-19 linked delays. The MNRE, had granted a 75-day extension for projects with commissioning dates between April 1 and June 15, 2021 in June this year.

While developers who have been provided letter of awards will welcome the decision, we understand that offtake will be slow in 2021-22 in any case, so overall impact is unlikely to be really big.

Component B of PM KUSUM, which provides for off grid solar pumps has been the most popular option availed till now, with Component C, that seeks grid connected solar pumps, faring poorly too.

This year, there has been a distinct uptick in tenders under component A, with many states coming out with large tenders of upto 500 MW. In just this quarter, we have tracked close to 1500 MW of tenders under component A of PM KUSUM. The outcomes of most of these are not public yet, although the response to some of the recent ones has apparently been good, when we tried to speak to discom officials.

These projects, especially where farmers or farmer organisations are involved, usually take longer to get going owing to the unfamiliarity of the promoters with the process and technicalities, and the risk of falling for scamsters. The MNRE has repeatedly warned people to beware of fraudsters posing as firms and agents that can get financing or approvals in place for PM KUSUM projects.

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Bengal Tender for Empanelment Of Rooftop Agencies for 50 MW Solar On Residential Buildings The West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) is seeking bids for the empanelment of agencies for the installation of 50 MW of grid-connected rooftop solar projects on residential buildings in West Bengal. The tender comes after a significant gap, with Bengal already one of the laggards on solar adoption. In fact, the state happens to have one of the dirtiest (involving use of unwashed coal) thermal energy, according to research from CSE. The state’s reluctance has been blamed on the abundant coal mined in the state, besides the power plants being run by the discoms in the state, especially CESC, which supplies to Kolkata.

The deadline to submit the bids online for this rooftop tender is September 27, 2021, and bids will be opened on September 29.

The pre-bid meeting is scheduled to be held on September 8. The MNRE has also recently notified benchmark rates for rooftop solar, so expect bids to come in well below that.

Bidders are required to pay earnest money deposit (EMD) of Rs. 2,00,000.

Micro, small, and medium enterprises

MoP Launches Regulatory Compliance Division to Monitor Discoms

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he Ministry of Power (MoP) has set up a regulatory compliance division to monitor the various regulatory parameters and their compliances by the DISCOMS (distribution companies) as well as state commissions.

The information was revealed in a recent interaction between Union Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy R.K Singh and electricity regulators. The forum of regulators resolved to prepare norms on various regulatory parameters and issues, which would be adopted by the state commissions. This would help the state commissions in adopting the best practices for faster implementation of reform and regulatory policies, said an official statement.

Regulatory issues like financial viability of

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(MSMEs) have been exempted from paying the EMD. The tender document states that bidders will be empaneled under two categories of bidders (Category-A and Category-B).

Under Category-A, the bidder must have installed a minimum of 200 kW capacity of grid-connected rooftop solar projects in the residential sector before the bid submission date. Or, the bidder must have installed and commissioned a 1 MW capacity of any grid-connected systems in any sector, including residential, industrial, government, or other such programs. New entrepreneurs who are not covered under Category A will be accounted for under Category B. Additionally, Category-A bidders must have an average turnover of Rs. 15 million per year during the last three financial years. Category-B bidders must have an average turnover of Rs. 1.5 million per year during the last three financial years.

Bidders must have a positive net worth in the last three financial years.

Out of the total approved capacity of 50 MW, 35 MW has been reserved for Category A and 15 MW for Category B.

the distribution companies, payment of dues, reduction in AT&C losses, roll out of smart metering in prepayment mode, timely issuance of tariff orders, timely disposal of the petitions, promotional tariff for the EV charging stations etc. were discussed.

The forum of regulators had recently undertaken a study to analyse the impact of various factors on the retail tariff of electricity and to develop measures to address them. The Ministry of Power has already acted on most of the recommendations pertaining to the central government and has requested that the state commission should quickly act upon the recommendation so that the retail tariff for the consumers can be reduced, said the statement.

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Draft Open Access Norms Can be a Tailwind for New RE Projects: CRISIL

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he Draft Electricity (promoting renewable energy through Green Energy Open Access) Rules, 2021, announced by the Ministry of Power, if implemented as is, could improve the certainty of cash flows for new renewable energy projects coming up through this route, finds CRISIL ratings.

In India, power distribution happens through three modes – state distribution companies, captive sources and open access. Under the open access route, which had a total installed capacity of ~11 GW as on March 31, 2021, renewable power producers sell electricity directly to commercial and industrial (C&I) consumers. These consumers pay open access charges to state distribution companies (discoms). Such open access projects are hobbled by state-level policy changes that make returns uncertain.

The draft rules aim to provide clarity on such open access charges – including, inter alia, cross-subsidy surcharge (to compensate discoms for loss of high paying C&I consumers), additional surcharge (to recover the fixed power purchase cost for stranded assets), and banking charges (for consuming energy on a later date) – and will help streamline the overall approval process to improve predictability of cash flows for renewable power producers.

The ministry has sought feedback on the rules from stakeholders, including state regulatory bodies and discoms.

State regulators haven’t been fully backing open access projects fearing their discoms would lose high-tariff paying C&I customers. Consequently, they raise levy of cross-subsidy and additional surcharges, or change banking provisions by removing/ lowering the banking period. Since renewable projects have a lifespan of 25 years, uncertainty around open access charges and tightened banking norms make project returns more vulnerable, thereby influencing the viability of these projects.

For instance, some of the key states having a majority share of open access capacities have levied cross-subsidy and additional surcharges of Rs 1.5-2.0 per unit – on average – in the past three fiscals. On the other hand, some states have either

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removed or lowered the banking period, which affords flexibility to developers (to bank their unsold power with discoms if the offtake of a C&I consumer is affected for a few days).

Says Ankit Hakhu, Director, CRISIL Ratings, “Every 10 paise increase in crosssubsidy and additional surcharges results in a ~150 basis points (bps) reduction in returns for open access project developers.

Reducing the banking period with state discoms increases the risk to the revenue of developers if the offtake by C&I consumers is affected for a few days.”

Open access projects also face hurdles related to timely approvals and states reneging on policy support. For instance, developers faced approval delays in Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, while Karnataka, Haryana and Maharashtra have tried to change their policy support features.

The draft rules propose to address these issues. The document states that crosssubsidy surcharge should not be increased by more than 50% for a 12-year period from the date of project commissioning. Also, any additional surcharge cannot be levied on these projects. This is to ensure predictability on open access charges and thus the cash flows of developers.

The draft rules also propose to limit how much power can be banked with state

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discoms – up to 10% of the annual consumption of the consumer. This will allow the C&I consumer to draw banked power from discoms later, thereby providing some stability to the cash flows of developers Further, a central nodal agency is to be set up to streamline the approval process. All open access applications have to be submitted on the agency’s portal and subsequently routed to the state nodal agency for approval. If approval is not granted within 15 days, the application will be deemed approved subject to the fulfilment of the technical requirement to ensure timely execution of these projects and minimise any risk of cost escalations.

Says Aditya Jhaver, Director, CRISIL Ratings, “Given the government’s target of installing 450 GW of renewable capacity by 2030, the draft rules, if finalised as is, would be a timely measure as these can provide a fillip to open access renewable energy capacity addition. Considering C&I consumers account for almost 50% of all power consumption in India, and have their own go-green initiatives, the open access route can support likely strong demand pull from these consumers.”

The final shape of the rules and their implementation will be the key monitorables, says CRISIL.

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Judicious Land Use Needed for Net-zero India: IEEFA

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udicious planning of land use for solar and wind generation will help India to achieve its renewable energy ambitions, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis’ (IEEFA) new report which examines how much land would be needed for the country to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

IEEFA has calculated that if India were to implement a mid-century net-zero target, solar could occupy in the range of 50,00075,000 square kilometres (km2) of land, while wind could use a further 1,500-2,000 km2 (for the land area directly impacted by turbine pads, sub-stations, roads and buildings) or 15,000-20,000 km2 (the total project area including space between turbines and other infrastructure).

The amount of land that could be needed for solar is equivalent to 1.7-2.5% of India’s total landmass, or 2.2-3.3% of non-forested land.

The report’s author Dr Charles Worringham, researcher and IEEFA guest contributor, explains that the higher end of the land-use range is deliberately generous to allow plenty of leeway for planning.

“This is a precautionary approach for the purposes of planning and putting in place smart land-use policies today for future renewable infrastructure,” he says.

Comparing the effects of large-scale renewable expansion to those of meeting electricity requirements from additional coal-fired power, Worringham noted that the locations for renewable energy generation can be chosen using India’s preferred social and environmental criteria

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and can be widely distributed across the country.

“Additional coal can only come from already heavily mined districts or from new coal blocks, which are often in significant forest areas and where displacement of Adivasi communities is an issue.

“Nor does renewable energy permanently alter land and natural resources in the same way as coal.”

The report notes the potential for landuse conflict to arise over renewable energy installations, even in sparsely populated areas, slowing the rollout of infrastructure.

Beyond reinforcing the need to accelerate energy efficiency gains and reduced grid transmission losses to reduce the total growth in demand, the report discusses how to maximise the benefits and minimise the costs of land use for the energy transition and makes recommendations in three categories: • Minimising total land-use requirements through offshore wind, distributed rooftop solar, and solar on artificial water bodies.

• Optimising the identification and assessment of land. Measures include developing clear environmental and social criteria for rating potential sites; undertaking comprehensive independent assessments of potential sites against these criteria in advance of tenders or project proposals; incentivising the selection of tenders on sites where there is no land conflict; limiting concentration of generation in single regions and

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supporting widely distributed renewable generation at a range of scales.

• Increasing the stock of potentially suitable geographically diverse lands by boosting the uptake of agrivoltaics where crops, soils and conditions are suitable and yields can be maintained or improved.

• Agricultural land has the potential to host a much larger proportion of renewable generation, providing a boost to the rural economy and reducing pressure on other land, according to the report.

• Nurturing an Indian agrivoltaics sector could provide benefits to farmers such as a second income stream, says Worringham.

“Whether or not India commits to a midcentury net-zero emissions target, its huge expansion of renewable energy capacity over the coming decades will enhance energy security enormously, but this requires a large amount of land for infrastructure,” he says.

“The energy transition will also require important choices about where this infrastructure should be located. But careful planning and solutions like agrivoltaics, distributed energy systems and offshore wind can also greatly reduce the potential for renewable generation to conflict with social and environmental values whilst diversifying and strengthening India’s national grid. By bringing more generations closer to both urban and rural loads, transmission costs could also be kept in check.”

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65% Of Aspiring Developers Choose To Exit PPA’s in GUVNL Projects In Gujarat

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he Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) has received 2605 applications from aspiring solar developers to exit their project commitments, after the utility offered a one time exit option to developers from the signed PPA’s.

The development followed the decision by the state government to offer zero subsidy for these smaller projects, at a fixed tariff of Rs 2.83/kWh or unit.

The withdrawals by these developers amounts to 1546 MW, or 62% of the total capacity of 2501 MW that was distributed amongst almost 4005 small scale developers.

That effectively means that about 1400 applicants with a cumulative solar project capacity undertaking of 955 MW still find the Rs 2.83 /unit rate viable to proceed with their plans.

These Small Scale Distributed Solar Projects would have been somewhat like the component A of PM Kusum, but without the subsidies. We assume that might be one reason the state government

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decided to keep subsidies out of these, and use the PMKUSUM option more strongly in the future. Incidentally, even the purchasing power of Rs 2.83 set by Gujarat was considered on the lower side for projects of this nature, with other states generally staying above Rs 3 , going upto Rs 3.15/unit. According to the policy, any

eligible developer can set up a solar power plant with a capacity ranging from 0.5 MW to 4.0 MW and supply the solar power produced to the nearest GETCO substation.

After the state government decision on revoking subsidies, GUVNL had offered the option to withdraw, and the last date for the same was September 5.

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Goan Students Create Solar E-cycle With 20 Li-Ion Batteries

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tudents from Goa’s Agnel Institute of Technology and Design have created a custom solar e-cycle, powered by 20 lithiumion batteries, that can cover the distance between Panaji and Vasco on a single charge.

The batteries can be charged by two solar panels or a conventional power supply point at home. The five mechanical engineering students who worked on this project are Veloy Fernandes, Hrishikesh Mandrekar, Rohan Naik, Annal Prabhu Ajgaonkar, and Beniston Ribeiro. The idea to build a self-sustained e-cycle powered by solar energy first struck them while they were working on their final semester project a year ago. They fabricated a cycle frame made of stainless steel and mounted two solar panels on the cycle to charge the 20 Ahr 18650 Li-Ion batteries for their final semester project.

Ribeiro, one of the five students who worked on the project, was quoted saying, “The cycle weighs 29 kilos at present. We could have made an aluminium frame or even from carbon to reduce the weight but it would have been very expensive.”

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A pulse width modulation (PWM) charge controller ensures that the batteries do not overcharge or short circuit. The batteries power a brushless DC (direct current) motor which is mounted onto the rear wheel.

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Pune-based BatteryPool Raises Funds from IAN & Others Pune-based BatteryPool has raised an undisclosed amount of growth capital as part of its seed funding round. The startup offers battery charging solutions for EV fleets and commercial vehicles.

The round was led by Indian Angel Network (IAN) and the Pune-based Venture Center under the NIDHI-Seed Support Scheme, and lead investors, including Arjun Seth and Harshavardhan Chitale, participated in this round.

Previously, the company had raised grants from the Department of Science and Technology (GoI) and an angel round along with the 100X.VC investment.

The freshly infused capital will be utilised to scale up BatteryPool’s business development efforts and add new fleet charging products to its portfolio, said the firm in an official statement.

Ashwin Shankar, Founder of BatteryPool, said, “We identified that while EVs made sense commercially, challenges around battery charging can lead to downtime of commercial and fleet electric vehicles.

Battery swapping can serve as a viable option to eliminate this downtime.”

“However, existing battery swapping

services require fleet operators and drivers to conform to a certain battery standard and this can be expensive and significantly restrict the fleet operations to where these services are being offered,” he said.

“Therefore, we built hardware that is agnostic to battery type and can be used by fleet operators regardless of the battery standards being used in their fleets. Our key focus is to cater to EV fleet operators and commercial electric vehicles via partnerships with OEMs, and battery pack manufacturers. We appreciate the support of our vision by IAN and marquee investors,” Shankar added.

BatteryPool states that at present it is solving a key challenge via its flagship product: developing a smart batteryswapping station for fleet and commercial EVs. The swapping station is battery agnostic and software-enabled, allowing fleets and commercial EV drivers to swap their batteries and eliminate any downtime caused by charging their vehicles. The firm’s customers include some of the largest two- and three-wheeler EV fleets.

Arjun Seth, Lead Investor at IAN, said, “The EV ecosystem in India is evolving

rapidly. The use case of going electric is well-known as running costs for fleet operators’ contracts. By 2030, the fleet and commercial vehicle charging market size is set to reach $2.7 billion, as these will become electrified.”

“BatteryPool is walking on a path to capture a huge opportunity with India witnessing a rapid shift to electric mobility in the two and three-wheeler segment, which is where EV adoption will see tremendous velocity. We will offer our proprietary software and hardware solutions and embrace a collaborative platform as we build on our partnerships with OEMs and fleet operators,” added Seth.

Founded in 2018, the startup’s tech stack provides real-time, actionable insights to fleet operators to eliminate operational challenges in running EVs and improve utilisation of the vehicles.

BatteryPool claims to have recently signed large contracts/POs with one of India’s largest e-rickshaw fleets. It is also planning to introduce Smart Plug-In chargers for fleet/commercial EVs without swappable battery packs in the near future.

Adani Green Raises $750 M for Projects in Pipeline

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dani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) has priced its maiden ListCo senior issuance of $750 million through a 3-year issuance under the 144A / Reg S format, at a fixed coupon of 4.375%.

The issuance was oversubscribed by 4.7 times. This issuance establishes AGEL as India’s leading credit in the renewable sector with a robust and well defined capital management plan, said the company in an official statement.

The funds will be utilised towards equity funding of the capex for underlying renewable projects under construction by AGEL. Under the structure, AGEL can draw upto $1,700 million (including the present issuance) over the course of time subject to the covenants of the structure. The notes were rated Ba3 (Stable)

by Moodys.

Earlier in the year, AGEL had completed the tie-up of a USD 1.35 Bn revolving construction framework arrangement for senior debt funding of construction stage projects. With this USD 750 Mn ListCo issuance, AGEL has completed the final phase of its capital management plan, and now has a fully funded program for both debt and equity for its stated target of 25 GW by 2025.

“The 4.7X oversubscription of this issuance is testimony of the confidence of global investors in the world’s fastest growing

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Renewable Energy platform and Adani’s capability to set up a world class clean energy business,” said Mr. Vneet S Jaain, MD and CEO, AGEL. AGEL states that top external agencies have provided assurance on its green framework. Vigeo Eiris, a subsidiary of Moody’s Investor Service, has provided a second party opinion endorsing AGEL’s green framework and KPMG has provided independent assurance on the same.

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Green Bonds Worth $3.6 B Issued

by Indian RE Developers in H1 2021

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ccording to a study released by CEEWCEF, Indian renewable energy developers issued green bonds worth INR 26,300 crore (USD 3.6 billion) in the first half of 2021 alone, beating even previous oneyear records.

The CEEW Centre for Energy Finance (CEEW-CEF) is an initiative of the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), one of Asia’s leading think tanks. CEEW-CEF acts as a non-partisan market observer and driver that monitors, develops, tests, and deploys financial solutions to advance the energy transition. The study “Financing India’s Energy Transition Through International Bond Markets,” supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, also found that Indian developers have raised more than INR 78,200 crore (USD 11 billion) since 2014 through green bonds issued in international markets.

Two of them, Greenko and ReNew Power, account for nearly 70 per cent of all issuances by value. CEEW-CEF says that the findings highlight the potential of green bond markets to support India’s ambitious push to achieve energy-independence by 2047, a target

recently announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Proceeds from the INR 78,200 crore of capital raised have directly refinanced debt for over 10 GW’s worth of Indian RE projects.

Wind and solar power account for 42 per cent each of this refinanced portfolio and represent a combined 8.4 GW. Hydropower makes up the balance. This implies that 8.4 per cent per cent of India’s non-hydro RE capacity, totalling 100 GW, has been debt-financed with overseas capital.

Gagan Sidhu, Director, CEEW-CEF, and co-author of the study, said, “India’s nonhydro RE portfolio recently crossed the 100 GW mark, but we need to significantly ramp up capital mobilisation to get to 450 GW by 2030. Additional routes of capital such as green bonds will be essential for this transition, which requires investments of more than INR 15 lakh crore in power generation capacity alone. For perspective, the outstanding exposure of Indian institutional lenders to the entire power sector stood at approximately INR 13 lakh crore as of March 2020.” The CEEW-CEF study highlighted that

green bonds issued by Indian developers have generated high market interest, with average oversubscription at 360 per cent. Asian investors have shown the greatest appetite by picking up nearly 50 per cent of the bonds.

However, the market remains nascent. Only eight Indian developers have accessed international bond markets as of June 2021.

Shreyas garg, Lead Author, adds “Further, it is interesting to note that projects with state utilities make up over 60 per cent of bond portfolios, with developers mitigating payment delay risks by diversifying their portfolios. Other firms planning bond raises should similarly structure projects into portfolios that can diversify risk and attract investor interest.”

The CEEW-CEF study recommends increased participation by developers of all sizes in international bond markets. Also, industrial units looking to set up RE plants for captive consumption can leverage their strong credit profiles to obtain favourable pricing. RE manufacturers can also leverage their inherently ‘green’ businesses to raise green bonds and diversify capital.

Azure Power Q1 Results.

7% QoQ Growth, Back Into Profits

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zure Power, one of the leading solar power developers from India, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), has announced its Q1 results.

The Firm had the following key highlights to showcase: • Megawatts (“MW”) Operating* were 2,052 MWs, as of June 30, 2021, an increase of 23% over June 30, 2020. Operating, Contracted & Awarded MWs* were 6,955 MWs, as of June 30, 2021. Contracted & Awarded megawatts include 4,000 MWs for which we have received Letters of Award (“LOA”) but the Power Purchase Agreements (“PPAs”) have not yet been signed.

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• Operating revenues for the quarter ended June 30, 2021 were INR 4,440 million (US$ 59.7 million), an increase of 13% over the quarter ended June 30, 2020.

• Net profit for the quarter ended June 30, 2021 was INR 697 million (US$ 9.6 million).

The increase in net profit was mainly due to an increase in operating revenue by INR 500 million (US$ 6.7 million), • Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter ended June 30, 2021 was INR 3,668 million (US$ 49.3 million), an increase of 11% over the quarter ended June 30, 2020.

• Non-GAAP Cash Flow to Equity (“CFe”) from Operating

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Assets for the quarter ended June 30, 2021 was INR 1,844 million (US$ 24.8 million), an increase of 12% over the quarter ended June 30, 2020.

Thus, while the results based on the corresponding quarter look satisfactory, it’s the quarter on quarter change that looks interesting. Growth has been anaemic for now, at just 7% of additional capacity added, to take total capacity in operation to 2052 MW. A worrying indicator is the increase in cost per MW, where the firm has flagged a 33% increase to $0.52 million, as compared to $0.39 million in Q4 of 2020-21.

Average collection period or

DSO (daily sales outstanding) for billings is at 75 days now. Andhra Pradesh, at 646 days, and Karnataka at 261 days, are the standout problem states when it comes to collections for the firm.

The firm has given a guidance of 2750-2955 MW of operating assets by the end of March 2022.

It has also indicated progress on 4000 MW of projects awarded by SECI, which have been stuck pending signing of PSA’s by SECI. With Q2 and Q3 historically the lower quarters when it comes to plant load factors, the firm will hope to see movement on many issues to end the year in line with its guidance for a revenue of Rs 1790 cr (17,900 million) to 1890 cr for the full year.

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Pune’s goEgoNetwork EV Charging Startup Secures $2 Million Seed Funding

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une’s goEgoNetwork is electric vehicles (EV) Charging Startup Secures $2 Million Seed Funding.

Recently the two-year-old startup has secured $2 million in seed funding to expand its existing electric charging network. Rishi Bagla of the Bagla Group in association with Olivier Guillaumond, Head of Global Innovation Labs and Fintech at ING Bank in the Netherlands had raised the seed round. Speaking of the investment, Bagla said, “EVs are part of the larger disruption in energy and transportation, which are witnessing a considerable shift towards green technology solutions.”

“In the EV sector, more focus has begun on installing charging infrastructure. This will be the single most important factor, which drives the adoption of electric

vehicles,” he added.

Further, the seed funding arrangement was initiated by Jay Shah of Sharad Shah and Company in Pune.

The goEgoNetwork charging experience was originally conceived and initiated by the founders, Sayantan Chakraborti, Pravin Kumar, and Dheeman Kadam while working for major investment banks in the Netherlands.

The company was incorporated in 2019 and today, the company has its corporate office in Pune, its lab in the Netherlands, and has already set up a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at AURIC city in Aurangabad to cater to the fast-growing demand for robust EV chargers across the country. goEgoNetwork Co-Founder and CEO Sayantan Chakraborti said, “The recent investment further reinforces our

commitment and dedication towards being India’s only smart electric charger network.

We aim to compel the market to switch towards EVs while creating more job opportunities with the best professionals in this greenfield industry.”

Following up on the manufacturing facility, goEgoNetwork has plans to open its own experience centers in the coming few months.

This year has seen aggressive investments in the EV sector despite the Covid-19 pandemic. As the Indian EV sector recorded investments of approx. Rs. 25,000 crore during the first seven months of this year. Firms like C4V, Lohum, Ruchira Green Earth, Omega Seiki, Ashok Leyland, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hyundai, Ather Energy, Hero Electric, and so on have invested in the EV and infrastructure sector.

Tata Motors Launches Tigor EV Sedan Starting at Rs 11.99 L

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uto major Tata Motors has launched a new car — the Tigor EV, which comes with an ARAI-certified range of 306 kms (under standard testing conditions) and is available in 3 variants, i.e. XE (for Rs 11.99 lakhs), XM (for Rs 12.49 lakhs), and XZ+ (for 12.99 Lakhs; Dual Tone option – for Rs 13.14 lakhs).

The Tigor EV deliveries will commence for the personal segment today. Following the footstep of its ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) sibling, the Tigor EV has also been lauded by GNCAP with a 4 star rating for adult (12.00 points out of 17.00) and child (37.24 points out of 49.00) occupant protection, says Tata.

Leading the current electric vehicle personal segment market with a 70% market share, Tata Motors is assertive that the all-new Tigor EV will democratize the electric mobility offerings in India. The Tigor EV delivers a peak power output of 55 kW and a peak torque of 170 Nm and is powered by a 26-kWh liquid-cooled, high energy density battery pack and an IP 67 rated

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battery pack and motor to make it weather and worry-proof.

The Impact-Resistant Battery Pack casing of Tigor EV complies with AIS – 048 standard for nail penetration at cell Level.

Based on a proven platform with Rear Crash suited structure, the car is compatible with globally acceptable CCS2 charging protocol and can be fast-charged

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as well as slow-charged from any 15 A plug point, added Tata.

Earlier this month, in a move to enhance the country’s electric mobility, Tata Motors delivered 35 Starbus electric buses as a part of a larger order of 340 electric buses to BEST, a civic transport and electricity provider public body based in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

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India to Increase Incentives for EV and H2-powered Car Makers

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ndia has revised its proposed $8 billion scheme for the auto sector which will now focus on providing incentives to companies to build electric and hydrogen fuel-powered vehicles, according to recent media reports.

This is a significant shift from the government’s original plan to incentivise auto and auto part makers to build mainly gasoline vehicles and their components for domestic sale and export, with some added benefit for electric vehicles (EVs).

The Ministry of Heavy Industries revealed in August that India registered a total of 5,17,322 electric vehicles (EVs) over three years under the FAME scheme.

The country’s e-mobility sector recorded a total of Rs. 25,045.31 crores of investment during January-July 2021, collectively from E2Ws, E4Ws, EV component makers, electric commercial vehicles, and last-mile delivery companies.

The move to clean technologies comes

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as Tesla Inc is gearing up to enter India and is lobbying for lower import duties on electric cars. While the government is considering the request, it wants some economic benefit in return which could include a commitment from Tesla to produce cars locally.

India is reported to be planning to give incentives to automakers for building EVs and hydrogen fuel cell cars only under the new proposal. The government apparently does not want to spend money on promoting old technologies.

Auto parts makers, however, will get incentives to produce components for clean cars as well as for investing in safety-related parts and other advanced technologies like sensors and radars used in connected cars, automatic transmission, cruise control and other electronics, sources said.

The idea is to promote the development of technology that is currently not manufactured in India but is imported

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either because regulation demands it or customers want those features in their cars, according to sources.

The sources said the original incentive outlay of about $8 billion may also be cut and that the production-linked scheme, which would apply on domestic sale and exports, could be finalised as soon as September-end.

Domestic automaker Tata Motors is currently the largest seller of electric cars in India with rival Mahindra & Mahindra as well as motor-bike companies TVS Motor and Hero MotoCorp firming up their EV plans.

However, India’s biggest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, has no near-term plan to launch EVs as it does not see volumes or affordability for consumers, its chairman said last month.

The incentive scheme is part of India’s broader $27 billion programme to attract global manufacturers so it can boost domestic production and exports.

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WAFER A CRITICAL COMPONENT OF THE PV CELL TECHNOLOGIES D.N. Singh

Chief Executive Officer Bergen Solar Power and Energy Limited

PV

cell manufacturing is today majorly silicon wafer based (approximately 98%), whether technology of production is Al-BSF, PERC, TOPCON, IBC or HJT. Even in future tandem cells, primary cells will be silicon wafer based. It is, therefore, important to be careful in selection of the wafers. The major criterion and considerations in selecting the wafers are as follows:

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1.Type of wafer: Here choice is between Multi-crystalline or Poly-crystalline and Mono-crystalline wafers. Multicrystalline wafers ruled the roost for over a decade in PV cell manufacturing with Al-BSF technology but have now given way to Mono wafers since PERC technology has become the mainstay technology. So here choice of Mono wafers is obvious for all technologies except Al-BSF for which still multi wafers are being used.

2.Size of wafers: In last five years, wafer manufactures, mostly Chinese, have introduced multiple choices of wafer sizes in quick succession starting from Mo(156mmx156mm) to M12 (210mmx210mm) increasing the area in M12 wafers by 66%. Presently M10 (182mmx182mm) is becoming favourite for PERC technology compared to M12. The simple reason being that at module level if 72 cell format either half-cut or 1/3rd -cut is used for M12 wafers, the module size will become unwieldy (>2.6meterx1.14meter), so for this size wafers maximum 66 cell format is being used where as in case of M10 awfers,144 half-cut format can easily be deployed.

Good news, however, is that cell line equipment manufacturers have built their lines for universal, use which can handle all sizes of wafers from M0 to M12. Any way no one would like to set up such a line and process in that M0 wafers, so most probable scenario would be that lines will be universal and initially will be configured for

M10 wafers, so that manufacturers will be able to switch over to M12 size easily whenever all issues related to M12 are sorted out.

3.Dopant: So far for P-type wafers for P-Mono PERC technology, boron has been the most favoured dopant. In P- Mono wafer-based technologies, LID (Light Induced Degradation) is a difficult issue, and it is basically due to Boron in the silicon. So much so, that PERC technology could not take off until this issue was suitably contained through regeneration process introduction after co-firing.

In order to control LID, gallium dopant was introduced and now it has acquired mainstream technology status. N-type wafers are used in TOPCON, IBC and HJT technologies and generally dopant for these wafers is either phosphorus or arsenic. LID is not an issue in these technologies.

4.Wafer Sawing: Diamond wafer sawing has almost replaced the steel wire slurrybased sawing for both Multi and Mono wafers due to its very low kerf loss. In diamond wire sawed multi-wafers texturing is challenging and requires MCCE (metalcatalysed chemical etching) process in place of normal acidic texturing.

There are no issues in diamond sawed mono wafers, however, one should be careful about saw marks and other surface defects. In PV, there is no system of precleaning of the wafers before texturing, however, it would be coming in future.

5.Lifetime of minority carriers: This is the

most important parameter which is very critical in deciding the efficiency for energy conversion. The problem with this parameter is that the wafer manufacturers are able to measure it only at brick level which gives only bulk lifetime.

For measuring lifetime of minority carriers at wafer level, pre-processing e.g. texturing is required. It is, therefore, necessary to have as high as possible lifetime at brick level from the wafer supplier.

6. Wafer Thickness: There has been continuous effort to reduce the thickness of wafer to reduce the cost and increase the efficiency, however, yield loss in the line due to breakage is the restriction in reducing the wafer thickness beyond a certain limit.

With larger size wafers coming, the thickness of the wafers will remain in 165– 175 micron range.

7. Microcracks and other crystallographic defects: These defects are part of the wafering process and those need to be minimised by the wafer suppliers by improving their processes. If these defects are not in limits, those can affect the efficiency severely.

In light of these facts, it becomes very clear that for large scale production facilities, inspection of incoming wafers as comprehensively as possible is must.

Secondly, building of wafer production facilities in the country are necessary in the coming years if India wants to compete in the global market.

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International RECs: A reliable way to go 100% Renewable Introduction: Sustainability Goals and Commitments The Race to Zero campaign was launched by the UNFCCC’s Climate Ambition Alliance with a goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. As of February 2021, 1,397 businesses have pledged to join the Race to Zero campaign and achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. These include the likes of Amazon, Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser, Atos, Infosys, Uber, Siemens, Schneider Electric to name a few.

In addition, 288 companies across the world have pledged to the RE100 initiative.

RE100 is the global corporate renewable energy initiative bringing together hundreds of large and ambitious businesses committed to 100% renewable electricity.

Firms have also been setting ambitious goals targeted at reducing their carbon emissions. For example, under The Climate Pledge which include Microsoft, Amazon, Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser, firms have committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2040. With the increasing focus on emission reductions and ambitious goals, it becomes necessary for the companies to layout out a green strategy and roadmap with objective milestones to achieve the goals. This strategy shall include reducing their current energy consumption, procuring energy from renewable energy sources and, off-setting fossil-fuel based energy consumption through energy attribute certificates.

Procurement of energy from Renewable Sources • One of the important means for a company to reduce their carbon emissions is to procure power from renewable energy (RE) sources like solar, wind, hydro, etc. This can be achieved by: • Setting up own renewable energy plants within their premises and use the generated energy for their consumption • Procuring electricity from renewable energy plants through an Open Access mechanism where in the plant is not

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located within the consumer’s premises • However, procurement of renewable energy may not be possible in several cases. Some of them are listed below: • There may not be sufficient/suitable space within the company’s premises to set up a renewable energy plant (Ex: Solar plant) • Some/all of the facilities of the company may not qualify for the Open Access mechanism due to the minimum load restrictions • RE generators may not be available to supply power through the Open Access mechanism depending on the facility’s location • The company’s facilities are spread across many locations and setting up RE plants may not be feasible in terms of costs or finding RE developers • The company’s energy consumption is high and the RE power procured is not sufficient to meet all of the energy demand In such cases, there is a need for an alternate instrument to reduce the carbon emissions which can keep the companies on track towards achieving their sustainability goals. International Renewable Energy Certificates (I-RECs) are one of the effective instruments available in the market which aim to bridge this gap and help companies meet their sustainability goals.

International Renewable Energy Certificates (I-RECs) International Renewable Energy Certificates or International RECs (I-RECs) are energy attribute certificates which are administered by the International REC Standard (I-REC Standard). The I-REC Standard is the same body that developed the Europe’s ~550 TWh/year renewable energy certificate scheme.

I-RECs are generated from an underlying RE asset. Each RE plant is registered as an asset on the I-REC Registry after a thorough and rigorous qualification protocol which ensures there is no double

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Kranthi Tej

Senior Manager, New Products & Technology, Amplus Solar counting of the emissions reductions arising out of the generation from the RE asset. The I-Registry, which is the repository of I-REC assets and transactions obtains the energy meter readings from the registered assets at regular intervals and issues I-RECs against the RE generation.

Periodic audits are also conducted to ensure that the registered assets are following the protocol set forward by the I-REC standard.

Each International REC or I-REC represents 1 MWh of electricity produced by a registered renewable energy asset and has a unique ID associated with it. This ID can be used to track the asset that has generated the renewable energy and enable the purchaser of the certificates to verify the authenticity and quality of the RE generation. The rigorous qualification criteria and the unique certificate IDs also prevent the double counting, double issuing and double claiming of underlying RE attributes.

To ensure the reliability and scalability of I-REC issuances across the world, the I-REC Standard has authorized issuers in major countries who are authorized to issue I-RECs against the RE generation arising from a registered asset. For instance, Green Certificate Company (GCC) is the authorized issuer of I-RECs in China, South Africa, India, Malaysia and many more countries.

How does I-REC mechanism work?

The RE generators register their plants on the I-REC Registry by making an application along with a set of plant documents. The application is then validated by the Registry and they seek clarity (if required). After the validation, an independent audit may also be initiated by the Registry based on their discretion. Once the registration is approved by the Registry, the generator can furnish the meter readings from time to time to get I-RECs issued on the electricity generation from the RE asset. The end-consumer or a trader can then purchase the issued I-RECs and

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The revenue generated out of the sale of I-RECs can be put back into the system by the RE generator to finance development of new RE projects. In effect, the I-REC mechanism encourages development of new RE projects and reducing the carbon emissions across the world while passing on the benefit to the end-consumers.

Who should go for I-RECs? 1. Companies that have committed to carbon emission reduction initiatives like Race to Zero or RE100 or selfdeclared sustainability goals and are unable to procure sufficient renewable power to reduce their carbon emissions can opt to purchase I-RECs to reduce their emissions and help them achieve their RE targets 2. Companies that have set goals to reduce their carbon emissions from their supply chain including their suppliers’ emissions and find it infeasible to procure RE power for these emissions, such companies can purchase I-RECs for their suppliers and reduce the emissions across their supply chain 3. Companies which want to claim that their products are manufactured using renewable energy from a branding standpoint and cannot physically achieve renewable energy consumption can purchase I-RECs to make claims on the green attributes of the manufacturing of their products. The RE100 guide to make claims based on energy attribute certificates like I-RECs can be found here

How can an end-consumer redeem/retire I-RECs? The I-RECs can be redeemed/retired either directly from an I-REC registered RE generator or through a trader who purchases the I-RECs from the RE generators and sells them to the endconsumer. The end-consumer needs to furnish the following details: 1. Quantum of electricity (in MWh) that needs to be off-set 2. Legal entity name against which the I-RECs must be redeemed/retired 3. Purpose for purchasing the I-RECs

4. These details are recorded in the I-REC Registry as a transaction and will be available for future reference.

Why I-RECs over other carbon mechanisms?

1. International Acceptance: I-RECs are widely accepted and are recognized by international reporting standards including CDP, GHG Scope 2 Protocol and RE100. I-RECs are also recognized

by Governments in developing countries.

2. Ease of Quantification: In case of carbon credits, the electricity component (kWh) and the environmental attributes of RE generation are decoupled and the green attributes are quantified in terms of tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) avoided.

3. I-REC Standard and I-REC Registry: The I-RECs are transacted and maintained on the I-REC Registry which acts as a repository as well as facilitator of I-REC asset maintenance and transactions.

4. Stricter standards: The I-REC Standard has laid out very strict criteria for registration of the assets on the I-REC Registry as compared to other existing carbon mechanisms. For instance, I-REC Registry does not allow registration of projects which are being utilized for fulfilling Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPO) in India while such projects are allowed in some mechanisms.

5. Flexibility and cost-effectiveness: The end-consumer can choose between the different renewable energy sources available and can purchase the type which is more suitable to them.

6. Tackling double counting: Each International REC comes with a unique certificate ID which can be used for reporting purposes as well as track the source of the renewable energy.

7. Traceability: Each certificate consists a unique ID and the details of the underlying RE asset which has generated the renewable energy and this can also be verified on the I-REC Registry’s website.

Conclusion In a time when there is increasing emphasis on reducing carbon emissions and with companies setting forward ambitious sustainability goals, procurement of renewable energy sourced electricity becomes an essential means to achieve them. However, procurement of RE generated electricity may not be feasible in several cases. In such circumstances, I-RECs can bridge this problem by enabling the endconsumer to claim the green benefits of RE power even if they are not able to source it physically. With the increased focus towards net-zero carbon emissions through campaigns like Race to Zero, I-RECs become an indispensable instrument to achieve the sustainability goals and help the companies achieve them.

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A PLI Scheme For Inverters Could

be a game changer for India

For Fimer India, ever since it completed its acquisition of ABB’s Solar Inverter business in March 2020, it has been all about building on it in India. Present in the country since 2010, it’s not like the firm was not known brand in India. Just that they are suddenly in the top tier, with plans to stay there. The firm also has a presence in the EV segment with its chargers, something it hopes to see in India too. We connected with Filippo Carzaniga, Chairman at Fimer, for his views on the market .

Give is a brief on Fimer for our readers.

Turnover, global revenues, presence across countries. Top 3 markets.

Filippo Carzaniga: FIMER is the fourth

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largest, tier one, solar inverter supplier in the world. We provide market-leading inverter systems across the utility, residential and C&I solar sectors, as well as e-mobility solutions.

We have over 1100 employees in 25 countries together with local training centers and manufacturing hubs. FIMER also invests heavily in R&D - it is part of our DNA and we are constantly looking for new ways to improve our solutions and platforms.

FILIPPO CARZANIGA Chairman, FIMER

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How is the progress in India so far? After the ABB Inverter deal, does the firm plan to expand manufacturing further? Any plans to export from India?

Filippo Carzaniga: We have been doing

well in India in the utility, C&I and residential segments and also recently expanded our services into energy storage projects. Our installed base in India is >12GW+ spread across more than 5000 locations across the country. We foresee a bright future thanks to the push for 24/7 power encouraged by different government policies.

India has recently achieved the 100GW milestone of installed renewable energy capacity, with a further 50GW of renewable infrastructure under installation and approximately 27GW under tender. India has also enhanced its ambition to install 450GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030. With such encouraging moves towards solar and renewable energy in the country, it is our ambition to support this

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growth with the advanced technology our solar inverters bring.

Our India facility has been the global manufacturing centre for utility-scale application products as well as being one of FIMER’s R&D centres. We manufacture central inverters in our Bengaluru plant along with battery energy storage converters and microgrid energy storage products. We continue to invest heavily into R&D with a clear focus on delivering manufacturing excellence.

Our factory in Bangalore is the largest supplier of locally manufactured solar inverters in India, with an annual production of more than 5GW (gigawatt) with the latest infrastructure as well as testing facilities. FIMER supports local employment and the Indian factory operations is driven by a local team. This world-class facility has set a benchmark in India for other manufacturers to follow suit. The same factory is also delivering outdoor central inverters to markets around the globe, supporting India’s ambition for excellence in exports.

Fimer has also introduced a utility string inverter, the PVS-350 TL. Does the firm see the market shifting completely to string inverters now? Fimer’s own present and future portfolio plans?

Filippo Carzaniga: We know that, while

string inverters are becoming increasingly popular for utility projects, more traditional central architectures are still prevalent, currently accounting for almost 40 percent of the market.

With this in mind, our two new market leading platforms for the utility market - a high-power MPPT inverter, the PVS-350,

and the PVS-260/PVS-300 modular conversion platform – are designed to cater for both decentralized and centralized applications, covering 100% of utility customer needs.

The PVS-350 is the most powerful and power dense multi-MPPT string inverter in the solar industry, optimized for decentralized PV system architectures with a maximum efficiency of ɳMAX > 99 percent to ensure the highest energy yield.

It also has the smallest footprint when compared to other similar products, and significantly reduces the risk of downtime that can occur with central inverters.

For centralized system architectures the PVS-260/PVS-300 provides a fully modular solution engineered with a single-MPPT string platform. It can easily replace central inverters in more traditional designs, significantly improving performance and lowering BoP costs, optimizing the LCOE – achieving a 2.3 percent reduction on the LCOE of a modular conversion architecture compared to a central solution. It also has higher system availability, above 99.9 percent compared to 99.5 percent maximum from central solutions.

In addition, the PVS-260/PVS-300 has a large capacity combined with supercompact design single MPPT power block, to enable system designers to keep a ‘centralized’ system architecture if preferred.

Unlike the solar modules/cell market, the government has placed relatively fewer restrictions on inverter imports for the sector. Do you believe that could change anytime soon? Why/Why not?

Filippo Carzaniga: The government of

India has recently imposed a 20% BCD on solar inverter imports to boost local manufacturing to push India’s self-reliant or “AatmaNirbhar Bharat” vision. This was imposed to achieve maximum localization and build a robust supply chain. It is to be seen whether the government approves a PLI scheme for inverters similar to the module market. If PLI scheme is

introduced, it could be a game changer for the inverter market.

Post-acquisition of ABB Inverters, how has Fimer India performed? How do you feel about your prospects in India in the coming 3 to 5 year period?

Filippo Carzaniga: We are one of the

most experienced solar inverter players in the market and have had a presence in India since 2010-11. While we are amongst leading top 3 suppliers for central inverters, we have been making steady and upward inroads into the string inverter market as well.

For example, we recently launched our PVS

10-33 for the commercial and industrial market segment along with the new PVS350-TL for the utility segment. We have also launched our e-mobility solutions in India and recently commissioned our first pilot project with the installation of our EV AC wallbox and REACT 2 at the prestigious IISC in Bengaluru. We will also be releasing new residential platforms in the month of October shortly.

According to IESA, the Indian EV market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 36 percent by 2026 and the EV battery market is also projected to grow at a CAGR of 30 percent during the same period. India has a lot to gain from the widespread adoption of

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e-mobility and FIMER has the right products, services and experience with over 35,000 EV charging stations installed globally to help India drive this EV revolution.

We are also active in energy storage solutions and have a number of products for both the residential and utility segments. We have recently commissioned a 15MW system with 6MWhr storage facility in India, one of the biggest in the country. We are optimistic about making a difference with our innovative products and leading the way for the growth in the country.

On inverters, do you see any key differences in the Indian market vis a vis other large market? What’s a key market challenge for you?

Filippo Carzaniga: Increasing demand for

standby sources of power across industrial and commercial applications is one of the key factors driving the Indian inverter market. Additionally, factors such as growing urbanization and the rising demand and supply gap of electricity are further propelling the market. India has been a benchmark player in adopting renewable sources of energy, especially solar, leading to a growth of projects across the country.

With the country’s ambitious plan of 450GW by 2030, the road ahead is interesting and challenging at the same time. India has been the lowest price per watt market, so the price dynamic is quite challenging. Lower tariffs as seen in the bids of several government tenders are driving this low-cost market, leading to several long-term and short-term implications on the prices of both modules and inverters.

The residential market has been crowded with several new players sourcing lowquality equipment with the lowest prices which is further making the segment competitive. Considering the impetus on local manufacturers, the demand supply gap is also a major challenge that needs to be addressed properly in a planned manner.

As module prices have fallen in the past decade, so too has the pressure on other parts of the solar supply chain to follow suit. With the market seemingly finding or getting close to a ‘bottom’, do

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you believe the price drops are history now?

Filippo Carzaniga: We are not looking at

absolute price per watt comparison of the inverters. With the development of new technologies in inverter applications, we are focussing on the cost of energy and passing the maximum benefits to the customer. There is this need to work with our customers and educate them about the long-term benefits and potential of the plant and understand the importance of cost of energy over the direct price per watt of the inverter. Our inverters are specifically designed to achieve reductions in LCOE. Price drops could be temporary depending on various factors and also as an after effect in the post-pandemic era.

How do you see the impact of storage+ systems in the coming years? In terms of share and contribution to sales?

Filippo Carzaniga: Storage is expected to

play a key role in the future success of solar PV – not just for residential and C&I, but for utility-scale as well. The cumulative installed capacity of energy storage projects is expected to increase from 11 GW in 2020 to 168 GW in 2030, according to BloombergNEF’s New Energy Outlook. As batteries become more powerful and last longer, the switch from fossil fuels to solar PV renewable energy will be further supported, increasing overall demand.

For example, our new utility platforms have been specifically designed to easily integrate with future requirements for battery storage, providing a whole-system solution for the utility market now and in the future, and forthcoming products will also be storage-ready.

The stationary energy storage market in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of about eight per cent during 2020-27. We have inverters and storage solutions for both residential and utility segments.

REACT 2 is FIMER’s photovoltaic energy storage system, allowing users to store excess energy and optimize the energy use in residential applications.

FIMER’s MGS100 brings together all of the components required for a sustainable microgrid in a single device. Our bidirectional converter, PVS980-58BC, is aimed at large-scale grid connected energy storage applications. The converters are available from 1454 kVA up to 2091 kVA.

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The PVS980-58BC bidirectional converter is based on the world’s leading converter platform used also in FIMER’s solar inverters, ensuring high performance, reliability and availability of global service support.

KN Sreevatsa, Managing Director -India, enthusiastically adds- “We have some fantastic projects done in India so far on Microgrids. Our storage solutions available with easy integration for DG/wind/biomass gen are an ideal fit for village electrification and telecom towers. With over 10MW installation under different stages of installation, we are optimistic about growth in energy storage solutions.”

If you had to be really optimistic, what is that one policy move the solar sector could benefit from?

Filippo Carzaniga: The PLI (Production

Linked Incentive) Scheme is a Central Government scheme introduced to provide financial incentives for domestic manufacturing of goods and also to attract large investments. The scheme did well enough for a roll-out to the solar modules market. If a similar PLI scheme can be introduced for solar inverters, it could be a game changer for the inverter market.

Fimer also has a suite of offerings in the EV charging space. Are you offering those in India yet? How do you see the potential for those here?

Filippo Carzaniga: The growth in the

global e-mobility market is increasing, both in terms of registrations of ‘hybrid (PHEV) and ‘full-electric (BEV) vehicles which means that the need to offer charging infrastructures is increasing.

Since 2017, we have been working with the main players in e-mobility, developing and manufacturing charging solutions for electric-powered vehicles. We have developed platforms, both in DC and in AC, designed to meet the diverse needs of users, who are seeking solutions for private, public and commercial use.

Our FIMER FLEXA AC Wallbox, FIMER FLEXA AC Station and FIMER ELECTRA (Fast) DC Station, all easy to install, certified and customizable, cover today the different needs of the market.

To date, we have supplied more than 35,000 charging stations, both AC and DC, to respond to the specific needs of our customers.

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Making components In House Gives us a huge advantage over competitors Rydot Infotech, a Gujarat based firm which also offers a solar monitoring solution has tasted success with its offerings. Riding the solar wave in India, the role such monitoring devices can play in better maintainance and consequently productivity and returns is vital. Rydot’s ‘Radiant’ offering is seeking a high growth in the coming quarters. We spoke to Jigar Desai, Founder And CTO, on the firm’s plans.

Tell us about your solar monitoring device and the business model behind it.

Jigar: Our solar monitoring device -

"Radiant" is an IoT gateway in the core that collects data from various devices like inverters, energy meters and weather stations and publishes the same to our cloud in a secure manner in real time. This real time data can create various benefits for users of solar farm and we leverage annual cost based on those benefits. Our business model is very much clear that we will have our partner network of EPC contractor and SI’S.

Does it work across all categories of users?

Jigar: We have created various models of

JIGAR DESAI

Founder and CTO, Rydot Infotech

Radiant device that fit in all types of installations. We have smaller Radiant device that fits in roof top installation and one extensive advanced model that gives all required features for commercial installations.

How do you differentiate from other monitoring apps available in the market ? How competitive is this market?

Jigar: We have all technologies under

single roof that allows us to develop a seamless IoT system. Various components of our Radiant system like IoT device, installation hardware, cloud software, backend intelligence, AI/ML models for prediction are all made by us from scratch. This gives us huge advantage from our competitors.

How do you market and distribute your solution currently?

Jigar: We are in process to have system

integrators and EPC contractors registered with us for increasing footprint for this solution.

How big is your installed base currently?

Jigar: We have various sites ranging from 2kW to 12 MW.

Are you planning for more products and services in the renewable energy space?

Jigar: Yes, we are actually planning to develop IoT systems for pure water and pure air monitoring systems.

Rooftop solar in India has lagged behind so far. Do you see the picture changing in the future?

Jigar: Yes of course. More people are going for rooftop installations and our device helps them in maintaining the solar panels for long time hence giving them more financial output.

What attracted you to build a solution for the solar market?

Jigar: The solar industry is booming right

now but the main problem with solar panels is they require continuous maintenance and cleaning for maximum output. Our systems come into play at this stage and help user to plan the maintenance and reduce maintenance cost which increases their financial gains.

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An electric future

is nearer than we think Matter’ is a technology start-up set-up by Mohal Lalbhai, a scion of the Lalbhai Group from Gujarat know more for their textile empire. Founded in January 2019, Matter is a two-year old start-up that seeks to introduce frugal and innovative solutions in the energy storage space which would include batteries for mobility applications, stationary applications, energy distribution solutions as well as renewable energy solutions . Designed for India, we speak to the firm’s founder on just how it’s all coming together.

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Give us your view on the EV transition in India? Is it moving fast enough, or is it too slower than it needs to be?

Mohal Lalbhai: In India, the electric vehicle market is constantly

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Founder and CEO, Matter

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growing. However, I believe we need to shift our focus away from what is now in play and instead focus on anticipating market changes and innovating to provide what the customers need. Policy support, charging infrastructure, education and awareness are some of the key factors that will help accelerate EV adoption.

Further, for EVs to find a place in our cities, tackling awareness at the individual level is of paramount importance. Policymakers can play a critical role in spreading awareness and they must develop partnerships and collaborations with stakeholders in the EV ecosystem to reach a larger audience. The Delhi government’s “Switch Electric” campaign, which aims to alleviate consumer concerns and raise knowledge of EVs, is a good example of this.

As the government steps up and supports in creating a robust infrastructure for energy supply for EVs, this will only help build a positive attitude towards adoption of EVs as a preferred mode of transportation. So, while the transformation may take time, I believe India’s mobility revolution is significant. The targeted and systemic policy assistance as well as adjustments in market architecture, business models, and financial structuring that we are seeing now are only going to add more fuel to the revolution. An electric future is nearer than we think.

Industry will need subsidy support till the EV population reaches a critical mass and the battery prices come down to .around $70/kWh from the current rates of over $150/kWh

In India, along with the shift to EV’s, we see a simultaneous move to say, blend ethanol with petrol, or build up thousands of CBG (Compressed Bio gas) plants to use in transportation again.

How do you see all these coexisting and being sustainable in the long term beyond , say 2030?

Mohal Lalbhai: India’s automobile industry

is the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs), accounting for 14% of global CO2 emissions from energy.

These emissions have more than tripled since 1990, and they are predicted to continue to rise when India’s urban population doubles by 2050. As environmental concerns grow in popularity, India has set ambitious goals by 2030 under the Paris agreement to reduce its carbon footprint and build a greener environment by promoting alternative energy/fuels, renewable energy, and cleaner fuels.

Technology, I believe, will be at the forefront of finding these solutions. These alternatives should be implemented and each one has potential benefits as well as challenges to overcome Given the market size and the ambitious targets set as per the Paris agreement, I believe that we will see the rise of new and alternative technologies in the automotive space. This is also relevant as the transition to a cleaner way of moving goods and people will happen at different times in different segments. For example, long haul commercial vehicles may be the last ones to transition to electric vehicles. However, a transition to other modes of fuel may be much easier for these vehicles.

Recently, the government has stepped up its efforts to achieve a 20% ethanol-to-petrol ratio by 2025. When it comes to CBG, as described in the SATAT project, it has also become a valuable component in India’s shift towards greener fuels. The developments in the automotive fuel field are happening at a very fast pace and are the need of the hour. What is certain is that in the future, greener technology will emerge.

Thus, I see various technologies coexisting and driving the country towards green mobility in the near future. Just as CNG and petrol/diesel cars are co-existing right now, I think Bio-gas and Ethanol-petrol fuel blend vehicles shall co-exist the same way.

However, these technologies only reduce the emissions as compared to conventional fuels. Thus, EVs would still play a major role in reducing pollution from vehicle exhaust.

Further with better charging infrastructure, more advanced and high-range battery packs, electric vehicles will definitely give other technologies a run for their money.

Can you explain your tech platform with a use case example?

Mohal Lalbhai: We are an organisation

founded on the tenets of technology and innovation with a vision to revolutionise the electric ecosystem within India. Even as technology megatrends like autonomous systems and electrification are redefining the benchmarks of industry, Matter has developed an integrated technology stack that has tremendous potential to make a disruptive impact on the electric ecosystem.

Realizing the different needs of our customers, we have branched out into two separate business lines- first one is Matter Energy, an integrated energy solutions company and the second is Matter Mobility which focuses on electric two wheelers.

Matter Energy will be our first offering which is poised to enter the market in September - 2021.

On the whole, our products are backed by extensive testing and validation and are being developed completely from scratch keeping the expectation of Indian customers in mind and considering the Indian weather conditions. Our aim is to offer robust products to our customers and in process create value for them.

Applications of the Matter Technology platform span across the electric energy ecosystem, ranging from energy distribution to energy consumption products that include energy storage

solutions, an EV propulsion platform as well as mobility platforms such as electric vehicles (EVs).

At Matter energy, do you see a core chemistry like say, Lithium ion dominating the battery space, and your own attention for the foreseeable future? Or are you chemistry agnostic?

Mohal Lalbhai: What I see happening now

in battery technology is explosive growth, in India and other markets as well. We need to think ahead and I’m also bullish on the growth of new technologies and newer cell chemistries. Very recently researchers at IIT Bombay have developed a LithiumSulphur (Li-S) battery with thrice the energy efficiency and cost effectiveness, and four times the range as compared to conventional lithium-ion batteries. It is fascinating to learn that new and enhanced electrolytic solvents are being continuously introduced. Upcoming solid-state battery is also a promising candidate for nextgeneration battery technology. But it will take time before these battery technologies find their way into the market At Matter Energy, one of our core values is to provide technologically advanced and sustainable energy solutions to our customers. Our product platforms are agnostic to the battery technologies and can be adapted to newer chemistries as well. So while we are currently focussed on the Lithium ion batteries, we are also open to exploring new technology if it helps us in providing better products to our customers.

What are the biggest risks you see for an orderly transition to EV’s in India and beyond? How long will the sector require subsidy support?

Mohal Lalbhai: Yes, we haven’t really seen huge uptake in the adoption of electric vehicles as a mainstream product in India. And that is troubling at best, but when we look through the mirror, we realize that there are a lot of gaps in terms of the customer

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requirements and the current product positioning. At present the Indian customers do not have a good value proposition to shift away from petrol.

Moreover, I believe that the major hurdle for electric vehicles will be to provide an improved experience to the customers over that of a conventional vehicle. Thus, for an effective transition to EVs, the products can’t be offered just as a replacement for the conventional vehicle. This is an area where the manufacturers need to think long term. We need to see better quality products which are designed and developed for the Indian customer.

So in that sense I see that there are many start-ups who have entered this space and are offering products which are only assembled by them. These products are selling at a lower price and are also eligible for subsidies. However, these products also have a huge potential to play a deterrent for the EV adoption, since they have not undergone the rigorous testing and validation and are bound to underperform. This can add to the existing anxiety among the customers with regards to EV. Another important factor to consider will be the policy measures from the government. Current policies by the central and the state government are playing an important role in the EV adoption. However, it is important to have a consistency in such policy measures across the country and over time. I believe subsidies are important for creating the pull from the consumer and encouraging the manufacturers to invest in developing the EV ecosystem.

It is difficult to comment on how long this support will be needed as it depends on multiple factors such as adoption rates of EVs, evolution of new technologies, cost of the battery and pace of EV infrastructure development to name a few. However, I believe that the industry will need subsidy support till the EV population reaches a critical mass and the battery prices come down to around $70/ kWh from the current rates of over $150/ kWh.

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Your site and reports also cite a strong plan for storage applications across products, including distributed solar products. How do you see the market potential there? Will you approach it with a different distribution strategy?

Mohal Lalbhai: Yes, I believe that there is a

strong potential for energy solutions in the stationary application. As per the India Energy outlook report 2021, India’s clean energy contribution/ renewable capacity contribution is expected to grow to 450 GWh by 2030. With the increased focus on clean energies such as solar and wind, we believe that the demand for the energy storage applications will also see an increased uptake. We will start our operations in August and stationary applications will be one of the key focus areas for us. Our solutions will be available in a range of stationary applications such as industrial & home UPS, solar inverter, and telecom. We are looking at the distribution strategy from the B2B perspective. Thus, distribution strategy and entire support system will be attuned to provide a superior product and service solution to our customers based on the specific requirements.

On the bikes front, we see an ambitious plan to manufacture 60,000 bikes per annum initially. Where are we on the key dates for that? As a newcomer to the segment, are you considering any new approaches to your marketing and distribution?

Mohal Lalbhai: Matter aims to occupy a

space wherein we will offer mobility products that are engineered from a deep understanding of the specific needs of Indian customers at a competitive price. We should be ready with our underdevelopment vehicle in early 2022 and would be happy to share more information closer to the launch. As far as the reach of our product is concerned, we will be looking at a potential customer base across India.

There are different approaches being considered for the marketing and the distribution strategy of the product. We are also working on an omnichannel sales strategy and look forward to working with

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partners who not only share our passion but also our vision of driving India to a sustainable future. However, we will be glad to share the details once we are ready with the product.

How do you plan to support potential customers when it comes to charging?

Mohal Lalbhai: We believe that the

development of charging infrastructure is important for faster EV adoption. However, the way it is being projected as a make-orbreak deal for owning an EV is misleading.

When it comes to two-wheelers, which have energy demands up to 5 kilowatts, a 5-amp plug can charge them in around six hours.

Even a 5-kilowatt-hour battery could be charged from zero to 100 percent in two hours using a 15-amp outlet. As a result, a convenient, economical, and simple system is what is required when it comes to charging two wheelers. These solutions are already available at every small and large shops in our cities. I agree that there is a need to devise a solution for monetization of these solutions. However, education and awareness can play a larger role in alleviating the anxieties related to the charging infrastructure availability.

We are working on offering a solution to our customers that is easy to use and offer a great experience, so different charging solutions are under consideration at the moment considering our product portfolio and future plans. Battery swapping is another option that we will be offering at some point in the future and that is where for us Matter Energy and Matter Mobility come together in terms of setting the entire battery swapping infrastructure and supporting our EV products.

Is there a ballpark revenue number you see for your firm, by 2025?

Mohal Lalbhai: We want to make Matter a

potent harbinger of change in this ecosystem by offering not one, not two but many different products and solutions that address pain-points on the one hand and accelerate the use of electric technologies on the other. Matter’s team has set internal targets of reaching a US$ 1Bn top line by 2025

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Low ceiling tariff for small capacities has impacted the participation of Farmers and developers in PMKUSUM SAEL Limited has emerged as a key solar EPC in North India, with an established capacity of 350 MW already in place. The firm is currently setting up 300MW fully automated Module Manufacturing Facility at Firozpur, Punjab. This will also Manufacture EV Chargers as well as Li-Ion Batteries for EV Market.

We got in touch with Khalid Nadeem, Chief Operating Officer (Solar and EV Infra), who has been leading the group’s push in these sectors.

KHALID NADEEM Chief Operating, Officer (Solar & EV Infra), SAEL Limited How do you see India’s progress so far in solar?

Khalid Nadeem: India has already achieved

almost 99.99% electrification target. To achieve “Power for All”, decentralized renewable energy (DRE) sector will play a critical role especially for providing power to remote locations. With the Kusum and CM Agri feeder schemes, I think India is moving in the right direction to meet the target by 2023. However, the quality and reliability of electricity access remains an issue. To achieve “27/4 power for all” will requires further upgradation of electrical infrastructure including substations and distribution networks which may take few more years to accomplish.

The make in India plan for solar equipment finally seems to be moving forward. Do you believe it will deliver on its promise of self sufficiency? By when? If no, then why not? Do you see potential for a PLI scheme targeted at inverter manufacturing also?

Khalid Nadeem: Presently Indian Solar

Market is largely depending upon import of Solar Cells and Modules. With the Make in India plan, India will soon become self sufficient as most of the big corporate houses are coming up with plans for setting up/ expansion plans for Manufacturing of cells, modules in India. And within next 5 years, it is expected that India will become a major exporter hub of Solar Modules worldwide in addition to decreasing its dependency of

imports from China. Production linked Incentive scheme is a great initiative started

by GOI and can help to provide the much needed boost to solar manufacturing sector and can also be extended towards Solar Inverters also as Solar Modules and Inverters are the only two items which are imported by Solar developers presently.

Do you believe our manufacturing policy is skewed towards large manufacturers? Or is there enough space for smaller manufacturers to thrive too?

Khalid Nadeem: Right now most of the

manufacturing policies are more inclined towards large manufacturers like the PLI scheme to encourage setting up of Module manufacturing of 1000 MW and above.

However, once these GW manufacturing facilities will be set up, it will become very difficult for smaller/medium manufacturers to thrive in this competitive market resulting in monopolistic scenario. So, GOI should come out with policies to help small/medium scale manufacturers also.

Do you believe the new rules and deregulation in power distribution will open up growth for the solar rooftop market? Residential and C&I? Why? Why not?

Khalid Nadeem: Solar Rooftop market is not

growing in India with the pace that was expected earlier and still need govt. incentive to accelerate the rooftop solar

implementation. There is also an urgent need for unified rooftop solar policy for all states in India. Currently, most of the state’s rooftop polices are not favourable for C & I consumers which has a huge potential for installing rooftop systems. Further, with limiting the Net Metering capacity upto 500 KW only as per recent MOP circular, it seems that growth of Solar Rooftop market will further slowdown in coming years.

The PM KUSUM scheme is supposed to deliver almost 32 GW of solar capacity, but real progress has been seen only in component B, i.e. off grid solar pumps? Do you see the picture changing significantly soon? Between PM KUSUM, Solar rooftop for C&I and large utility scale plants, which segment do you see growing and helping India meets its targets the most in the coming future?

Khalid Nadeem: PM Kusum scheme is still at

a very nascent stage and impact of Covid-19 has slowdown its progress. Further, setting of very low ceiling tariff of approx. Rs 3 per unit for small capacities has impacted the participation of Farmers and developers.

State Electricity Regulatory Commissions should have a relook at these very low ceiling tariffs considering the significant increase in project cost in last 1 year to promote PM Kusum scheme which is going to play a vital role in providing 24/7 power to All scheme.

Presently only large utility scale segment is growing at the intended pace.

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Role of IoT in boosting mass adoption of EVs in India

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lectric Vehicles (EVs) are the flavour of the season, and India is no exception.

Rising fuel prices and commitment towards sustainable development goals is leading to a big push towards EVs. The EV market in India is expected to top USD 50 billion by 2030. After a temporary setback in the last 18 months, the adoption of EVs has picked up the pace. With EVs now becoming the preferred choice for e-commerce deliveries and passenger transport, the future looks promising.

While the EV demand is expanding, this comes with its own set of challenges. Every point on the EV value chain is progressing at a different pace, from business models to pricing mechanisms around charging stations to industry standards around critical items like wattage, charging cables, plug etc.

There is a sense of apprehension and anxiety among the buyers as the EV industry is still in its early days. Buyers, habituated to the ubiquity of gas stations, vary the product, range, and charge time. Insurers and lenders are unable to identify and quantify risks or compute the residual value. Numerous business models are being tested, which will take time to develop fully.

IoT devices (telematics) play a key part in eliminating these complexities by addressing the root cause of most uncertainties by providing real-time information. Some ways in which IoT devices are helping the EV industry include:

Safer and Smarter EVs

The new-age technology and fintech players are investing in IoT-enabled vehicles to create an integrated EV platform that would help drivers improve their income, get financing, ensure better EMI repayment, and reduce their insurance claims, thereby providing a better user experience to make the EV experiment successful in India. Besides this, it would also enable real-time monitoring of the vehicles, equipment, and other assets in an enterprise. Predictive and preventive maintenance offered by the technology makes the users find it more reliable.

IoT devices embedded in EVs can provide users with the following features:

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• It can gauge the absolute and relative parameters of the driver, such as speed, acceleration, and others, for providing real-time tips to ensure better performance.

• Theft can be prevented through real-time tracking, geo-fencing, and immobilisation.

Thus, there will be enhanced safety and security to reduce the dependence on insurance.

• It will monitor the vehicle performance data, based on which the EV and battery OEMs can improve the products. The parameters include a range for each charge, utilisation of a vehicle, performance difference based on geography, weather conditions, age, and alteration in range for each charge over a certain period.

• Maintenance of battery • Warranty and maintenance prediction In India, EV players have started to opt for high-quality Li-ion battery packs as they have a longer life and give a better range because of high energy density. Along with these advantages, there are some drawbacks too.

Besides being very expensive, there has to be strict control of the charging and discharging of the battery by keeping the temperature at a limit.

In such a scenario, the onboard sensor data obtained through IoT can help in managing the challenges. Then, these can be run through AI-based models for performance evaluation.

Tests can be conducted on some Li-ions to assess the patterns of partial & complete charging and discharging and the thermal stress pattern. Models are characterised using the data collected from each step. These are integrated with AI before deploying on a server. The EV sends crucial sensor data to the server, providing insights on the next course of action and performance. We can say that the EV’s state is monitored by the server.

Though EVs are carefully designed, there can be situations where the components might fail. To predict this, AI algorithms and remote IoT data can be instrumental. This helps in alerting the EV users ahead of time to

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Sameer Aggarwal

Founder and Founder and CEO of Revfin fix any possible issues or avert a total breakdown. This will lead to a better customer experience as they will find it to be reliable.

Keeping in view the overall temperature and moisture conditions in India, monitoring the remote performance is extremely important.

This will not just help in resolving the issues quickly but also provide a sense of comfort and security to the users about the EV’s health through predictive diagnosis.

Use in EV charging stations

With an IoT ecosystem in place, EV charging stations can stay connected and easily accessible from remote locations. The maintenance can also be done quickly. Let’s see how: • Better support and management for Users With IoT technology, EV charging stations become smart, connected, and easily accessible for remote support and maintenance.

Moreover, a great number of factors such as charging time, weather conditions, charging queues are analysed by IoT powered AI software, so users can access real-time information about charging process.

• Cloud solution for data collection and analysis at a single place Advanced cloud solutions help the users collect and analyse the various parameters at a place. The data relating to voltage, temperature, electric current help the service workers to maintain the station conveniently and monitor the processes.

• Dashboards showing geographically dispersed EV stations IoT powered apps enables users to search for nearby stations and schedule trips. IoT provides different access levels based on the job and capacity of the clients. The clients can obtain high-level help in case the network admin of a charging station fails to resolve an issue.

Geographical distribution of the EVs also allows the management to assess the demand for charging infrastructure in respective geographies and helps plan the strategic expansion.

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World’s Module Capacity to Grow in ’21; Southeast Asia 2nd Top Supplier

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p to 400 GW of nameplate solar module manufacturing capacity and nearly 325 GW of nameplate cell capacity could be online by the end of 2021, says a new report. Southeast Asia is the second top production location for cell and module suppliers, following China and Taiwan, which are at the top.

Clean Energy Associates (CEA), a leading solar and storage supply technical advisory, has released its Q2 PV Supplier Market Intelligence Program (SMIP) report for 2021, which includes insights gathered from interviews and analysis of many of the industry’s leading solar supply chain manufacturers.

According to the forecasts, sizable pipelines for new polysilicon expansions will continue to be built with over 1.2 million tons expected to be online by 2023. Although the majority of expansions (72%) are planned for outside of Xinjiang, China, the vast majority (89%) of global polysilicon production is still expected to take place within China. Non-Chinese-based polysilicon capacity is expected to exceed 130,000 tons by 2023 (11% of global capacity), with the majority located in Germany and the United States.

Most major Chinese polysilicon providers are looking at expansions exceeding 100,000 tons; only Daqo has not detailed a significant boost in new production capacity. Small expansions from incumbents such as OCI, Ordos, Youser and others are also underway, although these suppliers are eclipsed by the scale of major market players. Xinjiang Jingnuo, a new supplier, announced intentions to develop polysilicon production in Xinjiang this past quarter and will target 100,000 tons of production capacity if permits are approved by government bodies.

400 GW of Nameplate Solar Module Capacity Expected to Be Online by End of 2021 Through surveys with leading module suppliers, CEA believes that around 400 GW of total nameplate module manufacturing capacity and nearly 325 GW of nameplate cell capacity could be online by the end of 2021.

China and Taiwan are expected to remain the top production locations, together accounting for over 85% of global cell manufacturing capacity and around 75% of global module manufacturing capacity. Southeast Asia is the second top production location for cell and module suppliers, holding around 9% and 13% of the global cell and module production

capacities, respectively.

Despite this large production potential, wafer, cell, and module suppliers faced difficulties due to persistent shortages of polysilicon and a subsequent rise in its price.

Furthermore, rising prices of steel, aluminum, and copper, along with surging freight charges further led to increased project costs, creating weak demand during the first half of 2021 for most markets. Even with these challenges, global supplies of both cells and modules are expected to expand throughout the forecast period. Large developers have already started construction on large manufacturing complexes and most maintain plans to bring new capacity online.

Strong Environmental Policies and Regulations in Conjunction With Ambitious Carbon-Neutrality Goals Makes Europe An Attractive Destination For Solar PV Cell And Module Manufacturers Despite COVID-19 pandemic, demand for solar in the European Union region increased to 18.2 GW in 2020 from 16.2 GW in 2019. The region is revising several policies and regulations to achieve its carbon-neutrality goal by 2050 which is expected to offer strong advantages to solar and other renewable energy sources. Increasing focus on building a resilient domestic solar PV supply chain while reducing the reliance on Chinese imports is expected to attract suppliers to set up their facilities in this region.

However, Europe’s solar manufacturing ecosystem is currently limited by wafer and cell production which accounts for less than 20% of total module production. Wacker remains the sole producer of polysilicon in the region, with few ingots or wafer producers situated in Europe to buy its polysilicon outputs. The lack of cost-effective wafer and cell production is also increasing module imports from China.

With module production capacity around 25% of module demand in the European Union, most of all installed capacity in Europe can be traced back to China.

Although solar PV cell and module suppliers keep announcing new capacity expansion plans, with polysilicon suppliers still needing several quarters to bring new production online, and logistics challenges not expected to abate in 2021, solar projects in many key markets are at risk of being pushed to 2022 and module manufacturers may not reach desired shipment figures this year, says the report.

MNRE Releases Updated ALMM List With 3 New Additions

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he Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued an updated list of approved manufacturers in its ALMM (Approved list of module manufacturers) list. The List is effective August 17, 2021, with the certifications valid to August 16, 2023, or two years. While broadly in line with the previous list, the fresh list has three new additions, in the form of Central Electronics Limited with a capacity of 35 MW, Patanjali Renewable Energy Private Limited for 70 MW, and finally, Jakson Engineers for 80 MW capacity.

Interestingly, all the three new additions are based in and around Western Uttar Pradesh, in Greater Noida and Sahibabad respectively.

Power and MNRE Minister R.K. Singh has repeatedly gone on record to say that the ALMM list will be one of the tools to drive faster domestic manufacturing, as even foreign firms will be allowed in only if they set up domestic manufacturing. Overall domestic capacity available as per the new list is now at about 8350 MW spread over 26 manufacturers. With a large amount of capacity (around 7 GW by our estimates) coming up by March 2022, assuming quick certification for those, domestic capacity available post March next year, when the 40 % customs duty will kick in, could be close to 15GW, adequate to meet all domestic demand, but for the manufacturers who also service export markets. Of course, a significant proportion of legacy capacity is for multi crystalline modules, considered obsolete or close to it by many developers today.

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How Adani Solar Is Gearing Up For The Next Wave Of Growth

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E Manufacturing in India has a crucial role to play in achieving RE targets of 175 GW by 2022 and 450 GW by 2030.

Adani Solar being India’s largest integrated solar Cell & Module Manufacturer, is geared up to ensure the Energy Security of the country with planned expansion up to 3.5 GW of solar Cell & Module Manufacturing capacity from current 1.5 GW. Adani Solar’s cutting-edge technology, scale of operations, cost leadership and reliability, sets up apart from all other global competitors and supporting utilities.

Let’s take an in-depth look at the technologies, behind the innovations of its recently announced High Efficiency ultrahigh-power modules designed for applications in small to utility-scale power plants with • Power output up to 540W and 660W • 21%+ efficiency • SHINE Series - Module size of 2266×1135mm with 182mm Cell • PRIDE SERIES - Module size of 2390mm X 1303mm with 210mm cell.

Adani Solar’s R&D and Technology team has optimized the gallium-doped M10 standard silicon wafers (182mm) and G12 standard silicon wafers (210mm) that produce P-Type Mono PERC module with the lowest LID and LETID performances.

It has also been proven that Galliumdoped silicon wafers shows lower LID performance with stable, long-term power generation as compared to borondoped ones.

Adani Solar’s Gallium-doped wafers are coupled with Non-Destructive cell cutting Technology that delivers superior performance.

With these gallium-doped cells, Adani Solar modules have increased annual generation performance, power performance and long-term reliability.

The 1st year power warranty is an industry-leading 98% and linear annual degradation is within 0.45% after Year 1.

Adani Solar has also adopted a

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superior soldering technology on its modules that has increased the module conversion efficiency by 0.3%. This technology uses wires that maximize light capture and reliably connect cells with reduced gap distance. More importantly, soldering reduces the tensile stress of the cell and ensures higher reliability.

If we see the current trend in India’s Solar industry, many Indian manufacturers are still trying to migrate from Poly/ Multi manufacturing to Mono manufacturing, while our overseas contemporaries have already migrated to high efficiency Mono.

Adani Solar has already developed the infrastructure to manufacture the M10 (182mm) and G12 (210mm) design with high efficiency cells of 23% and above reaching power class bins of 540Wp and above, making it an early adopter in Global Solar technologies in India.

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Product design based on industry insights and real-world applications The initial point in the development of Adani Solar modules was well planned after extensive insights from the PV industry and analysis of customer inputs and voices globally. Adani Solar further considered real-world applications to come with its new – Elan Pride (Bifacial modules with G12 cells) & Elan Shine (Bifacial modules with M10 Cells) and Eternal Pride (Monofacial modules with G12 cells) & Eternal Shine (Monofacial module with M10 cells) modules in the logistics chain.

The new world class modules from Adani Solar save 4.1% on BOS cost, 20% on Labour, 5% on Land & Logistics and 3% on LCOE. The working current of Adani Solar modules are as high as 13-17A, including the bifacial gain. The operating current

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remains within the maximum input current range of the inverter, with no power generation losses. The module length is compatible with 1P and 2P horizontal single axis tracking systems.

Adani Solar modules come with “Double glass with frame" design that provides exceptional strength for high load capacity.

The strength of the frame negates the need for a crossbeam, hence no shading losses at the back of the module.

In terms of BOS simulations using fixed brackets and centralized inverters, Adani Solar modules can reduce BOS costs by more than (US$1.5 cents/W) when compared to mainstream products in the market.

With string inverters, Adani Solar modules can improve the capacity ratio of the power plant, reduce AC equipment cost, and bring about the lowest LCOE for large power plants.

Adani Solar is partnering with more than 20 global customers to verify the BOS savings, lowest LCOE and high performance of its Elan (Bifacial)/ Eternal (Monofacial) modules in real world applications.

Driving the Solar PV industry forward with breakthrough innovation in volume production

Adani Solar firmly believes in continuous innovations that can be quickly brought into volume production delivering true value for its partners and customers.

The module production capacity of Adani Solar is expanding from 1.5 GW to 3.5 GW in 2021. Elan (Bifacial) and Eternal (MonoFacial) series will be produced in volume and receive IEC/UL certification shortly in the next few months during 2021.

The Company is also planning to expand its manufacturing capacity to up to 6 GW in 2023-2024.

Adani Solar Product Portfolio Presenting Adani Solar‘s Elan and Eternal range includes 66C and 72C formats, in bifacial and monofacial applications. The 72C (M10) version deploys the traditional 6 rows design in a 72-cell layout with frontside power up to 540W, which is the

optimal choice for the ultra-large power plants worldwide. The 66C (G12) module has front power of 660W and a smaller footprint that broaden its applications.

Currently, Adani Solar’s Elan Pride & Shine (Bifacial Modules) and Eternal Pride & Shine (Monofacial modules), launching in 2021, will continue to enhance its product portfolio and are the most competitive products suited for residential, C&I and utility-scale power plants.

About Adani Solar

Adani Solar continues to lead the Indian solar PV manufacturing industry to new heights with product innovations and optimized power-cost ratio with breakthrough High Efficiency monocrystalline technologies. Adani Solar leads the Indian solar cell and module manufacturing industry by producing the highest cell efficiencies and highest module power bins produced & made from India. Do visit the website at www.adanisolar.com to know more about the company and their products.

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

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

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Hydrogen is not the optimum option for fuel storage in India because of costs, safety issues.

Bengaluru-based Log 9 Materials shot into the limelight (again) recently after Amara Raja batteries, a leader in the domestic automotive battery market, invested in the firm. Log 9 Materials is using its core competence in Graphene nanotechnology to develop advanced energy storage technologies from electrode materials, cell to pack level. Their rapid charging battery packs solve the challenges in adoption for the 2W and 3W electric vehicle platforms while their Aluminium Fuel Cell technology research is targeted towards the electrification of long haul, heavier vehicles. Log9 has successfully collaborated with major companies in the last mile B2B intracity delivert sector like Amazon, Shadowfax, Delhivery, Porter, Vogo, EBikeGo, ITC, Zoom Cars, etc for its battery pack solutions .Group Editor Prasanna Singh caught up with Akshay Singhal, Founder and CEO, for a chat on the firm’s plans and hopes going forward.

Prasanna. Let’s start with the Log 9 in the company name.

Where did that come from?

Akshay: So, because we primarily are a material science company and in that we are dealing with nano materials like graphene and carbon nano materials. So nano is 10 to the power minus nine meters (One billionth of a metre). So that's the reference from logarithmic 9, log nine.

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Now of course we see log9 materials in many areas, right from rapid charging to the oil spill products, battery...

Akshay: Yeah. The enabler for all of the different products and

technologies that there are in the market from log 9 is basically nanotechnology. So the competency of log 9 around nanotechnology and nano materials is what helps us build these revolutionary products and put them in the market.

Which one of your products has you most excited for the future?

Akshay: So although the focus of the company is towards batteries and electric vehicles, it’s purely from a battery perspective. That's the focus of the company. We did have a lot of other products like you spoke about. Those are more of our side development and side technology that we have come up with over time, the focus and excitement remains around energy storage itself.

Okay. So when you say energy storage, we are talking about the aluminium battery?

Akshay: So we are talking about two technologies here. One is the

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aluminium fuel cell, or as you call it aluminium air battery, that is one aspect technology and the other one, being our rapid charging battery packs. So, these are two distinct technologies: aluminium fuel cell is a refilling concept, which consumes aluminium as a fuel and provides energy and that technology is targeted more towards your long-haul vehicles, whereas a rapid charging battery

technology is a charge-discharge-based technology like any other lithium-ion technology, but provides you benefits of very rapid charging time and at the same time, very long life and very high performance vehicles .So this technology is targeted towards the intra-city segment: two-wheeler, three-wheeler, four-wheeler for the intra-city commercial fleet applications. So that's how we are kind of positioning these two technologies in the market.

And what are the plans in terms of taking these technologies to market?

How far would they progress over the next two years?

Akshay: So rapid-charge is already in the

market. We have already, done a lot of the successful pilots with various last-mile fleet operators. We also have made announcements with OEM partners for launching the vehicles in the market. We have received ARAI certifications on our battery packs and the commercial rollout, wherein we’ll start deploying on a regular basis is due for October this year.

You were in the news recently for the investment from Amara Raja batteries.

Amara Raja is of course among the leaders in the lead acid battery segment. How do they see your segment?

Akshay: If you look at the way our

organization is structured, we are very good at innovating new kinds of products and technologies. And the idea is that whatever we are able to make that has a product market fit, post that Amara Raja’s experience and resources can help us scale up. Setting up large-scale manufacturing, last scale distribution.

One of the key things that you stressed on is the fact that whether it is the aluminium cell battery or any other product right now, it's all about the circular economy for you, you know, it's

completely recyclable. Even lead asset battery firms stress on how lead is completely recyclable and lead recycle rates are almost 85-90% worldwide.

That, combined with the extremely lower cost of lead acid batteries, how will that play out in a market like India?

Akshay: So that is not going to play out

well in the future because lead acid batteries and the technology is obsolete now in that sense. In terms of battery technology, when it comes to your total energy that can be stored per kg of battery pack, which is what we call as energy density. At the same time, the cycle lives are far higher now, even with the worst of lithium-ion as compared to your lead acid battery. So from that perspective, although the upfront cost definitely is higher, but your cost per unit of electricity stored or cost per unit time the battery is being used for is far, far lower in the advanced technologies. And also a lot of times we have a tendency, at least in India, to kind of ignore the maintenance costs and the replacement hassles associated with any technology or product.

But market is now changing with more structuring happening across use cases when it comes to vehicles and otherwise, and people are doing these calculations, especially your fleet operators, commercial users which is because every penny is important when it comes to per kilometre cost. So from that perspective, lead acid doesn't play out at all in mobility long term or even in case of stationary backup.

We have seen how you shared the challenge of convincing people about your own Aluminium fuel cell battery.

How have you managed to get investors to buy in finally?

Akshay: So the thing is that where

aluminium fuel cell as a concept, plugs in is when basically positioned for long-haul mobility. And the reason I say that is because with any kind of battery technology where you're charging and discharging, you

can't really go for a thousand kilometres or fifteen hundred kilometres at a stretch, right? And in many cases, if you do the math, it turns out that if you actually build a vehicle with a thousand kilometre range, then you will only be carrying the battery and not load in the vehicle. And that's the reason why even the government has pushed for using some kind of a fuel cell for long haul mobility. The hydrogen mission and all of those kinds of things. We are saying that hydrogen is an option, but we don't think hydrogen is an option for the Indian economy. Because the upfront cost is very high.

At the same time, there are a lot of safety risks associated with it, especially when it comes to the Indian conditions, because hydrogen requires pressurized tanks. It is very explosive and all of those challenges are there. So that is one side of the story. In case of Aluminium, it is basically a solid fuel, so you don't need any kind of infrastructure to store it. You can take a warehouse throw aluminium inside it and it will be there as long as you want it. Right?

So, that is easier distribution for the fuel itself. At the same time, the upfront cost is definitely far cheaper than hydrogen and all the materials, components required for making aluminium fuel cells are available within the country.

Moving on to our rapid charging battery pack that we are putting forward we are able to offer not only very, very rapid charging. So your fleet can run for a longer time on the road than waiting for the vehicle to be charged. But at the same time, again, safety is a very big parameter over there. So irrespective of temperature, whether you're running it in Bangalore or whether you're running it in the peak heat of Delhi, or even Siachen, there is no impact on battery performance or there is no risk of any kind of catastrophic failure in the battery pack. You would've already heard of even Tesla’s battery packs catching fire and all of those things. We are coming up with a bunch of safety-related videos around our

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battery packs, where if you do any kind of accidental damage to the pack, or even throw it in an open flame, nothing is going to happen unlike the other batteries which are out there.

So how do we make aluminium fuel cells green like Green Hydrogen is being discussed? After the battery has converted, it has to be reprocessed back to aluminium, right?

Akshay: In the case of aluminium fuel cell

the aluminium hydroxide that is generated now, that can be converted back into aluminium metal using green energy. And if you look at it, it can be far more efficient because right now, the reason we have these aluminium smelters located where they are is because the mines are closer to that place.

So it's the mines that are defining where the smelter will come up. But when you have vehicles running on this and producing what the mine is giving you- so aluminium hydroxide is what will come from the mine first from smelting, right? It's the same thing, which you get out of the aluminium fuel cell as well. In that perspective, there can be decentralized smaller smelters in every, district or every state to start with.

And then you can kind of power it up with a solar installation or the wind installation in that. And that's similar to your hydrogen economy concept of using renewable energy to split water and create hydrogen.

So it's the same concept.

But what about use cases in large scale storage? Is there a possibility there?

Akshay: Coming to another aspect of

solving intermittency in the solar and wind site is from our rapid charging-based solution. So what we are putting as the rapid battery charging solution in the market, the same technology can be used as a power backup or a storage battery pack also on the grid. And when you do that, what happens is because in case of lithiumion also typically you will look at a life of two to three years’ time because that's when you'll be able to use up the entire cycle of the battery packs. Whereas in our case the battery life would be at least 15

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years and potentially up to 30 years.

So from that perspective, if you look at our RTC (Round the clock) solar project today, right? What happens here is that your battery cost, the cost of storage alone is around five rupees(per kWh)).

Whereas cost of generation would be somewhere around two rupees but two plus five becomes seven rupees, which is not viable, right?

Whereas in our case, you will have the cost of storage at only two, or around two and a half rupees. So, club that with the cost of generation, which is two rupees, and you have RTC at a much lower cost. And that is very valuable because then you can sell round-the-clock power at six rupees, seven rupees in the market. That is something which we are already coming up with. We will have a pilot plant also combined with solar sometime early next year.

SO in your case for the aluminium fuel cell, once the aluminium is oxidised, we swap the battery?

Akshay: Well, you don't swap the entire

battery, just refuel it. So basically instead of just putting in liquid fuel that I could do today in your vehicle, you're basically putting a solid plate fuel.

So in your case, you would have to set up enough centres to replace those?

Akshay: Yes. Even existing fuel stations

could be used. In this case, all you need is the physical space to kind of store aluminium plates, then manually you can

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put in a new plate set and just remove the previous one.

Okay. And what, when you raised this money from investors, what is the big promise there? The aluminium fuel cell or the rapid charging battery pack ?

Akshay: Both. The idea is to indigenize

more and more on the rapid charging side.

We are possibly the first company, which has cell level competency, local cell-level technology and competency to produce sales at the local level in India right now.

And the idea is that within 24 months, we will set up a commercial cell level production line on our high power lithium sets which are going in the rapid charging battery pack. Okay. At the same time, the aluminium fuel cell is something which will be optimized over that two, two to threeyear period, before launch in the market.

deliver that product and launch it in the market. Kudos to the team for being able to do it in flat 15days time from idea to the first shipment going out. Definitely we had a lot of sales happening last year.

This year, the retail sales have definitely gone down. This project is now emerging as a more B2B product wherein, seeing a lot of interest in this product for general sanitization needs of your first responders like hospitals, ICUs, Police etc. We are even sending these to other countries now.

So do you have separate team to market the corona over?

What do you think of Tesla? Do you think they offer lessons for firms here Akshay: Tesla is a great example of a firm that that has disrupted massively, even as incumbents kept ignoring it. Our own auto makers need to take lessons from that, or risk becoming redundant in time. People must set aside their ego and consider the changes that are happening. In EV’s today, you have Chinese firms dominating the market, firms that barely existed a decade ago. Simply because many of the erstwhile leaders refused to change in time.

Going aside for a moment, tell us about the Corona oven. You had some commercial success there I believe.

Akshay: So that was a great thing that we

were able to contribute towards the pandemic. And I'm happy that instead of just sitting on our hands at home during the first year of the pandemic, we were able to

Akshay: No, we don't have a separate team, particularly for Corona oven. We are looking for partners who can acquire this technology and take it forward. We have set up partnerships in place. We have distributors, and this is more global in that sense right now.

Among all the battery chemistry’s/ technologies that are around right now, which ones do you feel have been really innovative and have high potential?

Akshay: So the thing is that one of the key

things that we missed out generally, and I've seen this across the ecosystem itself is a quest to find the ultimate battery technology, which is never going to happen.

There cannot be a one-size-fits-all solution, which will suffice your stationary needs, your mobility needs. And in mobility also all sort of different kind of vehicle requirements and use cases. So there will be

a play of four, five technologies that the market will consolidate. Some technologies have their very niche play, be it long haul for aluminium fuel cells, or very short hauls for some others.

Could you give me a benchmark price right now that, where you expect this to be on a per, per kilowatt basis, aluminium fuel cells?

Akshay: So if you do a kilowatt hour kind of an equivalent, then on a kilowatt/hour basis purely, it'll come up to be around $17, $20 per kilowatt hour.

How has being in Bengaluru helped you?

Akshay: Bangalore had made a difference

to us in many ways, not just one at a business level, but personal level too. One of the things, like slightly on a side note, I think the problem with places like Delhi and Bombay, especially Delhi and the North is that half of the year we are cribbing about the heat. And half of the year we are cribbing about the cold. Whereas if you have a climate like Bangalore’s, then you are more peaceful and then you can focus on your work. I think that that has been a very wonderful experience. And that's why I always like the city when I used to visit Bangalore before, even before moving here Also, if you look at the traditional R&D centres of hardcore technologies, many R&D centres are in Bangalore. For example, you have AstraZeneca here, you have ISRO here, you have IIS, which is already there.

The DRDO has an R&D centre here. So all of these new age technology development centres have been in Bangalore. And when you have these centres here, you also get the talent pool, which is basically popping up in this city. At the same time, you also get a lot of support-structure because, because these centres are there, there will be a lot of vendors who are supplying stuff to these centres, and hence you can tap into that entire ecosystem. So that has been very beneficial for Log 9, because when we were developing our tech, and when we are doing prototyping and all of it, so vendors, talent, pool, everything was available in the city, and we didn't have to kind of go to Mumbai or go to Chennai or whatever.

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NHPC Issues 2 Solar Power Tenders For 100 MW And 500 Mw In Tamil Nadu

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tepping up the pace after its 100 MW floating solar tender early this week, NHPC (National Hydroelectric Power Corporation) has issued two tenders, for a 100 MW and a 500 MW solar project. Both projects are to be located in Tamil Nadu.

With these, the pace of solar development returns to Tamil Nadu, after a period of relative quiet.

Both the tenders come with an O&M provision of 10 years, following the standard PSU rulebook. NHPC has set itself a target of almost 4 GW of solar projects by 2024 going by past announcements, and these projects seem very well to be a push to get close to those numbers. The company already has projects worth 2000 MW with ISTS connectivity under implementation,

after awarding them last year. It’s floating solar tender for Odisha was also announced recently.

For these two Tamil Nadu solar tenders, the last date for submissions is October 11 (100 MW) and October 8 respectively for the 500 Mw option. As a profitable PSU, it will hope to get some strong bids for these tenders no doubt.

While the minimum average turnover requirement for the both the tendered projects is Rs 700 crores. For the 500 Mw tender, bidding is allowed in multiples of 100 MW each.

The ramp up of tenders from NHPC clearly indicates a new dominance of PSU’s when it comes to fresh capacity creation.

This is something that was on the cards for

a while, as we had covered back in January this year. With NTPC doubling its own target to 2032, it should be interesting to see how the plans of the remaining PSU’s, be it Coal India, SJVN, NLC, GAIL and more, that have also committed to add solar capacity, pan out.

The flurry of new tenders indicates a strong revival for the sector, after a poor 2019-20 and even 2020-21. 2021 is already promising close to 8 GW of actual capacity additions, and the momentum of the new tenders, as well as the projects stuck in implementation indicates we might well see a new capacity creation record next year. Of course, each year will have to deliver a fresh high for India to meet its 280 GW solar targets for 2030.

Renew Power Commissions 250 MW Solar project In Rajasthan

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eNew Power today announced the commissioning of 250 MW capacity of its Interstate Transmission System (ISTS) solar generation project, SECI-3. The project has a total generation capacity of 300 MW which was won by ReNew Power in tranche 3 of the competitive auction conducted by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

ReNew expects the remaining 50 MW capacity to be commissioned by the end of this month.

This solar project is in the Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan and has a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with SECI and will provide clean electricity to the state of Bihar at a rate of INR 2.55/kWh (~US$ 0.035). The project is also expected to provide direct employment to around 600 people, according to the firm.

In this project, ReNew has installed monocrystalline modules with fixed tilt and string inverters which enhance the project efficiency. ReNew will also be using robotic module cleaning at this site to help conserve water in the desert state of Rajasthan.

Speaking about the commissioning, Founder, Chairman and CEO of ReNew

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Power, Sumant Sinha said, “With this commissioning, ReNew Power continues to contribute significantly to India’s growing renewable energy capacity in line with the country’s ambitious targets of achieving a capacity of 450 GW by 2030. This is the first project to be commissioned after ReNew started trading on NASDAQ (RNW) and is another step towards ReNew achieving close to 18 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2025. I am delighted that our teams were able to commission this project within the budget as well as within the stipulated time despite COVID related challenges.”

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As of August 31, 2021, ReNew Power has a total capacity of 10.2 GW out of which 5.8 GW is operational across wind, solar and hydro energy projects in India and the rest is under construction or in the pipeline.

The latest commissioning from the firm adds to a string of projects going online this year, and further strengthens the odds of 2021 being the best year on record for fresh capacity creation. While industry estimated for 2021 have put a possible number between 8.5GW to 9 GW for this year, steps taken to clear obstacles by the MNRE seem to have borne fruit, and we might actually see the magic 10 GW number reached too.

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TPREL Commissions 150 MW Solar Project in Rajasthan

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ata Power Renewable Energy Ltd. (TPREL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Power, has commissioned a 150 MW solar power project in Loharki, a village in Rajasthan.

Spread across 756 acres of land, this plant is expected to generate more than 350 million units annually. Approximately 656,700 modules were used in the project, and the installation is expected to reduce 3.34 lakh tons of carbon emission every year.

“The commissioning of the 150 MW project in Loharki, Rajasthan has further fortified our position as one of the leading renewable energy company in the country with a strong presence in solar power generation. We will continue to seek potential of sustainable growth of renewable power in India,” Dr. Praveer Sinha, CEO & MD, Tata Power, said.

With this addition of 150 MW, the total renewables installed capacity of Tata Power has now become 2947 MW, with 2015 MW of solar and 932 MW of wind. About 1084 MW of renewable projects are under implementation.

Earlier this month, TPREL commissioned a 100 MW solar power project in Raghanesda, Gujarat, which is expected to generate 255 million units. The Raghanesda solar park, located in the Banaskantha district of Gujarat, is considered to be one of the biggest solar parks in the country.

The project was awarded by Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd (GUVNL).

One of the largest solar manufacturers in India, Tata Power Solar operates a manufacturing unit in Bangalore with a production capacity of 1,100 MW of modules and cells. It has a portfolio of more than 7GW of ground-mount utility-scale, over 600MW of rooftop and distributed generation projects, and installation of over 50,000 pumps across the country till date.

MSEDCL Issues Tender for 487 MW Solar Projects Under Component A of KUSUM Schem

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aharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) has issued a tender for bids under component A of the KUSUM (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthan Mahabhiyan) scheme, that has a focus on improving incomes of farmers and generating solar power at the scale. Until now, most of the solar success under KUSUM has been seen in component B, which is effectively the off grid component of the scheme. This is the second tender from MSEDCL under the KUSUM

scheme within 3 months, after its previous tender in June.

IN KUSUM component A, schemes can be between sizes 0.5 MW to 2 MW. Under the scheme, 10,000 MW of Decentralized Ground Mounted Grid Connected Renewable Power Plants of

individual plant size up to 2 MW are being targeted across India. Preferably on barren land. In case of agricultural land, use of stilts to host the solar plant is mandated.

Component A in KUSUM is the only one that is not focused on solar irrigation pumps.

Component B is about stand alone solar pumps, while scheme C is about grid connected solar pumps.

Winning bidders will enter into a power purchase agreement with MSEDCL for a 25 year period.

MSEDCL has set the ceiling tariff for this tender at Rs 3.10/ SEPTEMB ER 20 21

unit, with a non refundable processing fee of Rs 5,000 per MW. A net worth requirement of Rs 1 crore per MW makes it a little challenging for farmers who might be interested.

The last date for submission of bids is September 17, 2021.

While we can safely expect many more states to follow up with their own tenders to fill up Component A projections under the KUSUM scheme, one hopes that systems at government agencies have been streamlined sufficiently to enable timely approvals and support for the winning bidders.

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NHPC Tenders for 100 MW Floating Solar Project in Odisha

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ndia’s National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) Ltd. Has floated a tender for an EPC contract for the development of a 100 MW Floating Solar Project in Odisha.

The tender has been issued on the behalf of a joint venture (to be formed between NHPC Ltd. & GEDCOL). And the scope of work includes Engineering, Procurement, Construction (EPC) Contract for development of the project and associated 220 KV transmission line for connectivity at 400 KV Grid substation along with Comprehensive Operation and Maintenance for 10 years at Rengali Reservoir at Angul district in the state of Odisha. The project forms part of NHPC’s commitment to the state of Odisha, among others.

The last date to submit the online bids is October 7, 2021, while a pre-bid meeting has been scheduled for September 2, 2021. October 14 is the last date to submit offline bids. Interested bidders are expected to pay a tender document fee of Rs. 20,000. Also, the bid is valid for the next 120 days from the last bid

submission date.

A 12 month period has been given for completion of the project from the date of issuance of Notification of Award including the commissioning period.

The bidder must have a minimum average annual turnover in the preceding three financial years shall be Rs. 800 crores.

Bidder’s Net Worth should be positive in 3 out of the preceding 5 financial years. While

the working capital (current assets minus current liabilities) should be at least Rs. 90 crores. Last month, NHPC had invited bids for a 600 MW ISTS (Inter-State Transmission System) connected solar project. The tender, which covers engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) for the project/s, is planned for Deora village of the Jaisalmer district in Rajasthan.

Gautam Solar On Course To Install 2500 Solar Pumps in Haryana

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ew Delhi-based solar power equipment manufacturer Gautam Solar has installed 1,500 solar pumps at various locations in Haryana under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) scheme, as per the company’s press release.

While the company had installed 1,000 solar pumps in Haryana by May 2021, by August, the company won an order of about 1,500 more solar pumps from Haryana farmers.

“So far, we’ve worked with the farmers of Haryana and Rajasthan…We look forward to working with farmers in the other regions of the country as

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well,” said Gautam Mohanka, managing director, Gautam Solar. Solar-powered irrigation systems provide a clean alternative to fossil fuels and enable the development of lowcarbon irrigated agriculture. In areas with no or unreliable access to energy, they contribute to rural electrification and reduce energy costs for irrigation.

The government has set a target of installing 22,000 standalone solar pumps in Haryana within the first year of the PM-KUSUM scheme. Under this scheme, the farmers have to bear only 40% of the pump’s cost, while the central and state governments subsidise the

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remaining 60% for solar pumps.

However, the Haryana government has provided additional top-up on the subsidies, which has reduced the farmer’s share to less than 25%.

Being the only solar manufacturer in the country that produces all the solar pump components in-house, Gautam Solar can maintain a steady supply as per the demand and serves as a single point of service for the farmers so they do not have to run from vendor to vendor.

“At Gautam Solar, we’ve always emphasized the importance of spreading ecoconsciousness and we believe

that for substantial change to occur, we need to start at the grassroots i.e. Our farmers.

While farmers have been using diesel-based generators for quite some time, they’ve been doing so because of the lack of options. In practice, dieselbased generators not only cause pollution but are also costly in the long term. This problem will only be compounded in the future as fossil fuel sources are becoming scarce. Pradhan Mantri Kusum Yojana is a wonderful scheme that will catalyze the adoption of solar energy as the primary power source in the rural areas of the country,” Mohanka had stated in May.

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Tripura Joins The List for Rooftop Solar Additions in 2021-22 With 1 MW tender

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orth Eastern state of Tripura has also stepped up efforts to add solar capacity with a fresh tender for residential rooftop solar. The region has seen low solar progress until now, with the largest state Assam the only one with a solar project of over 50 MW, in the form of the upcoming 70 MW project from Jakson Group. Rooftop solar is finally getting its due however, and one hopes this tender in Tripura will mark a fresh start for faster rooftop solar additions.

The latest tender has been brought out by the Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited (TSECL) to empanel developers to design, supply, install, and commission 1 MW of grid-connected rooftop solar projects on residential buildings at different locations in the state under Phase-II of the rooftop solar program. TSECL has just under a million connections in the state, with the state counted as a zero load shedding state since 2011. Like most rooftop tenders so far, successful bidders will have to commit to maintenance of the projects for five years after activation date.

The last date to submit the bids online is

September 27, 2021 with bids to be opened on September 29.

Among conditions for successful bidders, key highlights are for bidders to have designed, supplied, installed, and commissioned grid-connected solar power projects having a cumulative aggregate capacity of at least 100 kW before bid opening date. They will also have to submit 3% of the project cost as a security deposit within 15 days of issuing the Letter of Intent. The minimum capacity utilization factor (CUF) has been kept surprisingly low at 13.5% for five years to achieve annual CUF within +10% and -13.5% of the declared value for the release of subsidy. That clearly opens the gates for use of polycrystalline modules, which are still manufactured by most domestic manufacturers in the ALMM list of MNRE. The bids will also be covered under the MNRE notification on benchmark solar rooftop costs that were released recently.

With a minimum bid size of 100 to 200 KW in the general category, bidders will need to show an average annual turnover of

Rs 15,000/kW of the bid capacity in the previous three financial years. This requirement is reduced to Rs 5000/kW for micro, small, and medium enterprises.

The document specifies that TSECL will allocate a minimum of 10% of the total allocated quantity to the lowest bidder (L1).

If the allocated quantity is not executed, the L1 bidder’s bank guarantee will be encashed and the bidder blacklisted for five years for all government tenders.

The solar modules to be used in the project should have a warranty of 25 years.

The central financial assistance (CFA) or subsidy of 40% on the benchmark cost will be provided for systems up to 3 kW. For systems above 3 kW and up to 10 kW, a CFA of 40% will be applicable for only the first 3 kW capacity, and for others, it will be 20%.

The CFA will be restricted to 20% for common facilities up to 500 kW for group housing societies and residential welfare associations. There is no additional subsidy from the state government.

The whole region, due to its hilly nature, offers opportunities in off grid solar, an area where much more could be done.

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Coal India Tenders For Partners To Build A 4 GW PV Ingot-wafer-cell-module Manufacturing Plant

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tate-owned Coal India Limited has invited requests for qualification (RFQ) from prospective equity partners who wish to be shortlisted for setting up 4 GW solar PV ingot-wafer-cellmodule manufacturing plant.

The move is significant considering all the solar manufacturing in India is focused on cells and modules, besides mounting structures.

The complete value chain, from

ingots to wafers to cells and modules is simply not available, and many industry players have pointed out the risks from this.

Reliance seems to be the only other firm that seems to be considering and capable of executing this at scale. Coal India, which has the cash flows, balance sheet size and ability to pull this off with the right partner, if it does it well, would be a very successful diversification from its coal

mining business, where it is the world’s largest coal miner.

The giant PSU has a 3 GW target for solar power capacity development in the meantime for 2024. Based on the responses received from this RFQ, CIL may run a subsequent selection process, shortlisted players will discuss proposed partnership with CIL followed by a Request for Proposal (RFP) process for final selection of the equity partner.

The selected equity partners will perform a variety of roles in collaboration with CIL, including providing equity investment in the proposed plant; selecting technology partner(s), engineering consultant(s), environmental consultant(s), etc.; securing project financing; monitoring and reviewing project development activities and ensuring project execution as per timelines; etc.

SECI’s Call For EOI In Providing Land in Uttar Pradesh

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n September 7, SECI (Solar Energy Corporation of India) issued a tender inviting expressions of interest (EOI) for providing land to be used for solar projects in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state. The land is to be used for solar projects focused on solarising the state’s agriculture feed.

The tender follows the appointment of SECI by the Government of Uttar Pradesh (UP) as an implementing agency for selection of Solar Power Developers for Setting up of Solar Power Plant(s) for Solarization Of (Segregated) Agri-Feeders in the state.

The current tender has a last date of October 7, with bids to be opened by October 8. As the tender makes it clear, at this stage, this is by now way a commitment to buy or lease the land offered by relevant owners, just an effort by SECI to map out land availability in the state, with prices valid for 180 days, that can then be shared with potential developers keen to set up solar projects in the state. A minimum requirement of 4 acres of contiguous land, or space enough for 1 MW of solar indicates that the exercise might be a precursor to a larger tender for solar developers under component A of the KUSUM scheme, which has seen strong progress in recent months.

The exercise is critical in densely populated states like UP, Bihar and other agriculture dominated states, as land availability is a touchy subject, and ownership issues abound. Thus, clear title

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and rights are essential for developers to consider projects, or even get funding. The SECI effort is just one way to take care of this key aspect for later. Transparent tenders like this could also help somewhat to take out the many middlemen who crop up to ‘speed up’ the process when a developer tries to do the land acquisition on its own. Of course, providing clean, cheaper land is not an issue limited to India, as we saw in recent moves by the US admin to lower land costs to make solar more competitive. Developers are expected to buy the land or lease it for 30 years, as the case might be. Tenders for land can in no way be taken as the start of solar development, as they remain just a market mapping exercise, with subsequent project bidding and allotment still a process to follow. Readers will know that UP has really lagged in solarisation, and in recent months, it has seemed to

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make more sense for the state to pish harder for rooftop solar over utility scale solar. Be it it’s many pilgrimage centres, or government owned buildings and land, the state really needs to focus on the low lying fruits of solarisation.

Solarisation of agricultural feeders has been a key objective of the government in recent years, but ironically, it has faced its biggest challenge in states where power is free, like Punjab.

Thus, despite facing a power crisis, and some of the highest procurement costs for mostly thermal power, Punjab has made scant progress on the effort.

UP’s faces a different scale of challenge, which will not be made any easier by the decision to subsidise power partly following the pandemic for state farmers. With the state heading for polls in 2022, fingers can safely be crossed for any significant progress until after the polls.

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IREDA Releases List of Tentative Bidders for 5 GW CPSU Scheme

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he Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Tamil Nadu Generation & Distribution Corporation Limited (TANGEDCO) for providing its technical expertise in developing renewable energy projects and fundraising.

The MoU was signed by Mr. Pradip Kumar Das, Chairman & Managing Director (CMD), IREDA and Mr. Rajesh Lakhoni, CMD, TANGEDCO in the presence of Mr. M K Stalin, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, and other dignitaries.

Under the MoU, IREDA will extend its technical expertise to TANGEDCO for renewable energy project development, bid process management, and implementation support. IREDA will also assist TANGEDCO in debt raising through developing financial models, providing assistance in understanding market instruments, underwriting services for the proposed debt requirement, and conducting pre-market surveys and road shows to generate interest amongst prospective investors.

TANGEDCO is planning for 20,000 MW of solar power projects, with adequate battery storage, 3,000 MW of pumped

storage hydro electric project, and 2,000 MW of gas-based power plant for efficient renewable integration. The estimated loan required for the above projects is about Rs.1,32,500 crores approximately.

Last week, IREDA, the agency appointed by the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) for the implementation of the CPSU Scheme Phase II, released a tentative list of bidders for building 5000 MW capacity of renewable energy. The list

comprises seven bidders: energy conglomerate NTPC Limited for 2500 MW, Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd. (SECI) for 1200 MW, state-owned hydropower board NHPC for 1000 MW, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd. (SJVN) for 1000 MW, fossil fuel electric power generation company NLC India Limited for 510 MW, Indian Railway Construction Limited (IRCON) for 500 MW, and stateowned Indian Oil Corporation for 250 MW.

SECI’s 1200 MW Tranche XI Wind Tender Sees Winning Bids at Rs 2.69/Unit

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ind Energy continues to charge up in 2021, with SECI’s Tranche XI tender attracting winning bids at Rs 2.69/unit. The winning firms this time were ReNew Power (300 MW), Sembcorp through its subsidiary Green Wind Infra Energy (180 MW), Evergreen Power through Anupavan Renewables (150 MW). Adani Green scooped up the largest parcel of 450 MW with its bid of Rs 2.70/unit, leaving 120 MW for Azure Power at the same price.

For ReNew power, the win

follows a series of aggressive bids it has made, and won, over the past couple of months, as it builds up a strong pipeline for its aggressive growth targets.

The numbers matter here because the bids for Tranche X had been won at Rs 2.77.

Industry experts and discom officials have repeatedly been stressing that wind can work only at prices around Rs 2.70/ unit or lower in the present environment, just as they expect solar prices to stay within range of Rs 2.50.

Discoms that we spoke to last

month clarified that they donot see how they can justify a premium for wind of over 10 percent over solar, unless there are very compelling reasons.

Among the firms missing out, O2 Power had the closest bid at Rs 2.72/unit For India’s wind industry, these auctions and the hope of quick PPA’s thanks to assured buyers is vital, to keep a steady pipeline of orders going. Keep in mind that domestic manufacturing in wind energy is much much better than for solar, and sustains a broader ecosystem of skilled workers.

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Manufacturers will be pulling out all stops to gran a share of orders from winners this year, as these orders will be delivered through 2023 with luck.

The winning group of firms is also interesting in that the smallest in the lack is the US multinational Evergreen Power.

Though it did start operations in India. The rest all stand out for their presence in public markets today, with Renew joining the ranks last month.

That means better access to funds, as we have already heard from both Adani Green and Azure in the past week itself.

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3.5 GW Solar Capacity Added in H1 of 2021 in India, Says Report A report by renewable energy research firm JMK Analytics says that India added 3.5 GW of solar capacity in the first six months of the financial year 2022. It places cumulative renewable capacity at 96.95 GW, a figure at variance with government claims of having hit 100 GW. Typically, these differences are accounted for by rooftop solar tally and scheduled commissioning date of some projects.

Solar Continues Run On Top

Solar continues to cement its dominance after overtaking wind in total capacity this year, with a 44% share in the total renewable mix, followed by wind with a 41% share. According to JMK, the current pipeline of solar, wind, and hybrid projects stands at around 56 GW which is likely to be commissioned in the next 3-4 years, well past the deadline of 2022. Another 25 GW of projects are under the bidding phase where tenders are issued but auctions are not completed. So safe to say these will take even longer, according to the researchers.

The H1 Comparisons

In H1 2021, about 3.5 GW of new utilityscale solar capacity was added in the country, which is 63% higher than the H1 2020 installations. Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh were the leading states with most of the largescale solar installations during this period.

Quarterly Comparison:

In Q2 2021 (Apr-Jun 2021), 1.5 GW of utility-scale solar capacity was installed.

This is about 30% lesser than the previous quarter installations. this was helped by almost 215 MW of solar projects commissioned by Renew Power in rajasthan. In wind, about 475 MW were added, which is 56% lesser than the Q1 2021 installations. In rooftop solar, about 417 MW were added, which is 55% lesser than the previous quarter. In wind, only 475 MW could be added, pointing to the increasing troubles in that part of the renewable duo.

Notably, this is after Adani Green energy commissioned some 100 MW of wind

energy projects ahead of schedule.

Projections

In terms of projections for the year, JMK predicts that about 10.3 GW of new utilityscale solar capacity and 2.8 GW of fresh wind capacity is likely to get installed in 2021. That, if it happens, would be a massive improvement over the previous three years, when capacity additions have been stuck between 7 to 4.5 GW.

Quarterly In Q3 2021, installation activity

is likely to further pick up with an estimate of 3.1 GW of new solar capacity and 1 GW of new wind capacity addition. That would indicate the slump in Q2 was an aberration caused by a spike in Covid’s second wave across key states, that took out most of April and May for firms. While encouraging on its own, keeping in mind the backlog behind, and the ambitious targets in front, clearly the increase needed is of a far higher order to ensure that the country does not miss its own targets by a wider margin.

India Added 2,110 MW Solar Power Capacity in Q2 ’21: BRIDGE TO INDIA India added 2,110 MW solar power capacity in Q2 2021, according to the Q2 2021 edition of its “India Solar Compass” report that was recently released by BRIDGE TO INDIA. The report provides a detailed quarterly update of all key sector trends and developments – capacity addition, leading players, tender and policy issuance, equipment and EPC prices and policy framework – as well as outlook over the next two quarters.

Key highlights: • India added 2,110 MW solar power capacity in Q2 2021, taking total installed capacity to 46,130 MW by 30 June 2021.

Utility solar installations increased marginally over the previous quarter despite COVID-19 lockdowns across the country. We estimate pace of project construction to remain robust with about

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4580 MW capacity to be added in the next six months.

• Tender issuance in Q2 was down 25% QOQ. 17 utility scale project tenders aggregating 8,062 MW and six rooftop tenders aggregating 94 MW were issued in the quarter. There were only three project development auctions totalling

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625 MW with tariffs ranging between INR 2.51 to 2.68/ kWh. • The quarter saw rising module prices and risk of delayed shipments. Many module suppliers are believed to be renegotiating module prices and/ or delaying shipments because of supply chain constraints.

• Reluctance of DISCOMs to sign PPAs is another major concern with as much as 21,696 MW of auctioned projects yet to be tied-up. On the policy front, the quarter saw ISTS waiver extension by two years to 2025. The waiver now also applies to GTAM, pumped hydro and battery storage projects.

• BRIDGE TO INDIA is a consultancy and knowledge services provider operating in the Indian renewable energy market, aiming to offer clean innovative and viable clean energy solutions.

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Indian RE Sector Stable But Riddled With Payment & PPAs Signing Delays

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hile India’s renewable energy (RE) sector is currently stable, the key challenges containing its growth lie on the execution front, finds a new report by ICRA. According to the report, the RE sector’s present stability is on account of strong project pipeline, the government’s continued policy support, and superior tariff competitiveness offered by wind and solar power projects, both in the utility and open access segments. The challenges, however, are associated mainly with land and transmission infrastructure, as well as the slow but improving progress in the signing of power purchase agreements and power sale agreements by intermediate procurers with state distribution utilities.

ICRA Limited (formerly Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency of India Limited) was set up in 1991 by leading financial/investment institutions, commercial banks and financial services companies as an independent and professional investment Information and Credit Rating Agency.

Tariff competitiveness offered by the solar and wind power projects in utility auction route continued to remain superior, with tariffs remaining below Rs. 3.0 per unit, despite the upward pressure arising from the imposition of customs duty on imported cells and modules, w.e.f.

April 2022, the report added.

Mr. Girishkumar Kadam, Senior Vice President & Co-Group Head, ICRA ratings, said, “The investment prospects in the RE sector thus are expected to remain strong, given the policy impetus with a target to reach 450 GW by FY2030 and competitive tariffs. The capacity addition in the power sector over the medium term will be driven by the RE segment, led by a strong project pipeline of close to 40 GW1 as on date.”

“An improving financing environment along with the softening in the interest rate for the RE projects over the last 12-18 months period has been a positive for the sector,” he added.

Apart from the execution related challenges, the renewable energy (RE) developers are facing challenges arising

from delays in payments from the state distribution utilities and grid curtailments as observed in few states, especially for the relatively higher tariff projects. Based on a petition filed by the solar developers affected by grid curtailment in Tamil Nadu, the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) issued a favourable order in August 2021.

The same stated that the actions of the state utility of Tamil Nadu were ‘mala fide’ in issuing backdown instructions for commercial reasons and ordered payment of compensation to the solar IPPs at 75% of PPA tariff. Further, the APTEL issued directions to all state discoms, state electricity regulators and grid operators stating that any curtailment of renewable energy (RE) plants (for reasons other than grid security) shall be compensated at PPA tariff.

In this regard, Mr. Vikram V, Vice President & Sector Head - Corporate Ratings, ICRA, adds, “This order by APTEL is a positive for the RE sector and is expected to act as a deterrent against grid curtailment by discoms and grid operators. However, timely implementation of the order remains key, given that risk of a further challenge to the Supreme Court cannot be ruled out.

Further, while the operating projects continue to face delays in payments from the state discoms in some of the key states, the presence of strong

intermediate procurers like SECI and NTPC is supporting the addition of new capacities led by presence of strong payment security mechanism in the form of letter of credit, payment security fund and tri-partite agreement with Central government, state government and RBI.” Further, the demand outlook for the domestic solar OEMs remains favourable, with the strong policy support through imposition of BCD on imported cells and modules, the notification of the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme and a strong project pipeline from various schemes requiring the use of domestic modules. Also, the noninclusion of the overseas suppliers in the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) so far, is likely to support the demand for domestic module OEMs in the near term.

The policy push is expected to improve the cost competitiveness of domestic OEMs and has led to new capacity announcements of more than 15-GW by various OEMs and entry of new players.

The timely commissioning of these new capacities remains important to meet the growing demand from the developers, given the current capacity constraints.

Moreover, the ability of the OEMs to achieve backward integration and build economies of scale would be important to remain competitive against the overseas suppliers on a sustained basis, said ICRA.

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RE Investment in India Bounces Back from COVID-19 Slowdown: IEEFA Renewable energy investment is rising again in India following the slowdown in the previous financial year due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, finds a new briefing note by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).

In the first four months of this financial year (FY), from April to July 2021, investment in the Indian renewable energy sector reached US$6.6 billion, surpassing the US$6.4 billion level for FY2020/21 and on track to easily overtake the US$8.4 billion total achieved in 2019/20 prior to the pandemic.

“Rebounding energy demand and a surge of commitments from banks and financial institutions to exit fossil fuel financing are helping to drive investment into Indian renewable energy infrastructure,” says author Vibhuti Garg, Energy Economist, Lead India at IEEFA. The new IEEFA note explores renewable energy investment trends during FY2020/21 and for the first four months of FY2021/22, and also highlights the key deals made during both periods.

The majority of the money flowed through acquisitions which helps to recycle the capital into new projects.

The largest of around 30 deals during FY2020/21 and April to July FY2021/22 was SoftBank’s exit from the Indian renewable

energy sector in May 2021 with a US$3.5 billion sale of assets to Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL). With this acquisition AGEL became a major investor as well as the world’s largest solar developer.

Other major deals included Engie’s acquisition by Edelweiss Infrastructure Yield Plus for US$550 million, Acme’s acquisition

by Scatec Solar for US$400 million, and Fortum’s acquisition by Actis for US$333 million. Analysis of the different deal types reveals the majority of the other big deals were packaged as debt, equity investment, green bonds, and mezzanine funding.

Indian renewable energy developers are attracting huge investments from green bonds, says co-author Saurabh Trivedi, Research Analyst at IEEFA. “In April 2021, ReNew Power raised money from green bonds with a tenor of 7.25 years at a fixed interest rate of 4.5% per annum, and this was soon trumped in August 2021 by the US$414 million 2026 green bond issue by Azure Power Global at a record low 3.575% per year.” In the latest development, a mega US$8 billion special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) transaction between ReNew Power and RMG Acquisition Corporation II has approval from a majority of shareholders, paving the way for a Nasdaq listing with

expected trading from 24 August 2021.

IEEFA’s note also points to several very positive developments: investment in India is clearly shifting towards renewables; the government is redoubling efforts to boost energy security and self-reliance by expanding clean energy technologies as demonstrated by Prime Minister Modi’s Independence Day speech; and Indian corporates like Reliance and JSW Energy are making big clean energy commitments. In addition, the lending portfolios of Indian financial institutions like State Bank of India (SBI) and Power Finance Corporation (PFC) now include more renewable energy assets than fossil fuels, a trend which has picked up significantly in the last one to two years, according to the note.

India is currently investing around US$18-20 billion in energy generation capacity and a further US$20 billion in the grid on an annual basis. To achieve the Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS) in the International Energy Agency’s India Energy Outlook 2021 the country would need to triple its current rate of annual investment to US$110bn.

“This is daunting in one respect,” says Garg.

“But the financial trends in Indian renewable energy and grid infrastructure over the last two to three years strongly suggest domestic and global capital can support this ambition.”

Jinko Rides India’s Solar Recovery With A 528 MW Module Contribution In Q2

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inko Solar, with deliveries of 528 MW continued to lead the India solar market in Q2, according tp the company. India added 2.1 GW solar capacity in the second quarter of 2021, taking the country’s total installed solar base to 46 GW. Despite lockdowns and challenges faced due to the pandemic, the sector saw a stable utility scale capacity addition. Jinko Solar’s modules accounted for 20% of India’s Q2 deployment on ground. These figures have been reported

by Bridge to India, a research agency, in their latest quarterly report covering the sector.

Jinko Solar’s flagship model Tiger Pro, which is believed to have been dominating the market since last year, contributes the most to Jinko’s numbers. For Jinko, this continues its strong show from Q1 this year.

New statistics released by Bridge to India

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show that about 2110 MW of solar capacity was added between April and June, with around 84% (1785 MW) in the utility scale segment. Jinko was the highest contributor to this number, accounting for 528 MW alone between some of the most reputed IPPs and project developers across segments. This was achieved despite raw material sourcing issues, demand pressures, volatile upstream pricing, restricted movement of equipment, supply shortages among other challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

JinkoSolar, having built a strong foothold in large-scale utility markets in India, also saw rapid adoption of its products in the DG segment during the second quarter. “Moving to the third quarter of 2021, JinkoSolar’s Tiger and Tiger Pro ultra-high power series modules will continue to meet the increasing demand

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and expand our market share in the high-end distribution market,” said Daniel Liu, General Manager, JinkoSolar - South & Central Asia.

“JinkoSolar was the leading supplier to India during the first quarter in terms of shipment capacity with more than 800 MW of solar modules shipped and delivered to customers across the country. The second quarter was crucial for the company as we saw successful installation and commissioning of a large part of that capacity which reaffirms our position as a market leader in both aspects – Market Share and Technology Acceptance. We continue to innovate and upgrade our technology platforms so that our product offerings make commercial sense for a highly competitive and strategic market like India.” said Gener Miao, CMO, JinkoSolar.

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Climate Tech Startups Raised $16b Across 250 Venture Deals, finds Study

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limate is heating up, more traditional investors are participating, and there are more cross-sector opportunities than ever before, reports Climate Tech VC (CTVC), a weekly newsletter about climate and innovation, which has recently reviewed the investments made in climate technologies in the first half of 2021. The study finds that in the first half of 2021, climate tech startups raised ~$16b across ~250 venture deals.

The CTVC team tracked about $16 billion of funding in 1Q and 2Q 2021, including more than 250 individual deals across seven sectors: carbon, climate, consumer, energy, food and water, industrial, and mobility. The newsletter aims to bring its readers a perspective on the evolving world of climate tech by interviewing top investors & operators and covering recent venture deals, news, and jobs.

The findings of the CTVC team are as follows: • In the first half of 2021, climate tech startups raised ~$16b across ~250 venture deals.

• Around 1,000 investment firms joined at least 1 climate tech deal from Q2’20 to Q2’21, with ~50 firms backing 5+ climate tech deals.

• Compared to just a year before, there were ~50% more climate deals in Q2’21 vs Q2’20.

• In Q2’21, Series A deals were double the average size of same stage deals from a year before; meanwhile, Growth deals have tripled in size.

• Mobility sector deals are the largest on average, and make up ~50% of total H1 2021 funding.

• Food & Water and Mobility attract the greatest diversity of investment firms; over half of climate tech investors are active in these two sectors.

Deals: Around 250 unique climate tech venture deals occurred in the first 2 quarters of 2021.

Q2’21 exhibited a ~50% increase in deal activity compared to the prior 12 months, with a considerably greater number of Energy sector deals.

Around $16b of climate tech venture capital funding was announced in H1 2021. Relative to the count of deals by sector, Mobility punched above its weight in terms of average deal size. >50% of venture capital funding in H1 2021 was committed exclusively to Mobility deals. Though more nascent climate tech sectors like Climate, Consumer, Industrial, and Carbon have begun to increase in deal count, their smaller deal sizes mean that these nascent sectors remain a small percentage of total climate tech venture funding.

Compared to the 4 prior quarters, in Q2’21 pre-Growth stage deals like Series A, B, and C

commanded relatively more climate tech venture funding as both the count and size of pre-Growth deals increased. Overall, Growth deals (expectedly) make up >50% of total climate tech venture capital funding.

Compared to just a year before, the average deal size of every stage of climate tech deals increased (except Series C). Of particular note, Series A deals in Q2’21 are double the average size of same stage deals from a year before. Meanwhile, Growth deals in 2021 are triple the size of Growth deals in 2020 – likely buoyed by vast quantities of institutional ESG capital and SPACs. Investors: From the last half of 2020 through the first half of 2021, 48 investment firms participated in at least 5 unique climate tech deals each. 10 investment firms busily participated in over 10 deals, with Breakthrough Energy Ventures joining 30 deals – nearly double that of the next most active firm. Around 1,000 unique investment firms joined at least 1 climate tech deal from Q2’20 to Q2’21.

Of all of the unique investment firms who participated in climate tech deals from Q2’20 to Q2’21, over half funded deals in Food & Water and Mobility. Given these two sectors’ ubiquity in everyday life, it’s logical that a diversity of traditionally non-climate investors are drawn to these broad appeal categories.

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Ayana Renewable, Greenstat Hydrogen Sign MOU For Hydrogen Development In India

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yana Renewable Power, a renewable energy platform majority controlled by National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), focuses on development of utility scale renewable projects in India. Ayana’s vision is to be the lowest cost renewable energy producer which utilizes technology to maximize value creation. Ayana and Greenstat Hydrogen India, a Norwegian energy organization, recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to accelerate the hydrogen technology development in India. The objective of this partnership is to collaborate on developing projects for production of green hydrogen. The Government of India announced in the Union Budget 2021, its plan to launch the National Hydrogen Mission.

Speaking on the partnership, Mr. Shivanand Nimbargi, Managing Director and CEO, Ayana Renewable Power says “Ayana is delighted to partner with Greenstat to accelerate the production of green hydrogen in India. For India, Hydrogen presents a great potential opportunity as it will decrease reliance on fossil fuels and focus on sustainable sources of energy. We anticipate that our initiatives will support the National Hydrogen Mission, to fasttrack India’s decarbonization of grid and providing energy storage solutions for industrial sector, and transportation sector over the

next few years.”

Sturle Pedersen, Chairman, Greenstat Hydrogen India, said “leading a broad representation of Norwegian cutting-edge expertise within the hydrogen sector, we are thrilled to be a part of this exciting journey together with Ayana Power, the Indian industry, R&D institutes and the Indian government.”

After Reliance, IOC, NTPC, now GAIL to Foray into Hydrogen

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tate-owned natural gas corporation GAIL plans to foray into hydrogen and ethanol production, as well as expanding its presence in the petrochemicals segment.

Hydrogen is a clean fuel that, when consumed in a fuel cell, produces only water. Many countries are venturing into hydrogen production from a variety of domestic resources, such as natural gas, nuclear power, biomass, and renewable power like solar and wind.

As for India, major companies like Reliance Industries, Indian Oil Corporation, and NTPC have announced ambitious plans for generating hydrogen.

GAIL has now joined that list.

“The global energy sector is witnessing a paradigm shift in recent years as the world is

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its renewable energy portfolio, he said.

“Your company has been scouting for opportunities to scale up the RE portfolio from the current 130 MW through bidding and other inorganic routes such as mergers and acquisitions. In addition, your company is also foraying into ethanol and hydrogen generation,” he said. transitioning to a sustainable energy future,” GAIL Chairman and Managing Director Manoj Jain said in the company’s latest annual report.

As part of a push to embrace cleaner forms of energy, GAIL will be laying pipeline infrastructure to connect consumption centres to gas sources while also augmenting

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Jain further noted, to accomplish a cleaner primary energy mix for India, the government is emphasizing the expansion of the natural gas sector so as to achieve a gasbased economy along with growth in renewables. GAIL as a leading integrated energy major has aligned with this vision.

Accordingly, GAIL is laying around 6,000-kilometres of pipeline, including a west coast to east coast pipeline from Mumbai to Jharsuduga in Odisha via Nagpur. Currently, the firm has around 13,700-km of natural gas pipeline network.

GAIL Limited has targeted a 1 GWh renewable energy capacity by investing around Rs. 5,000 crores for setting up compressed biogas as well as ethanol plants.

Jain also said, GAIL has the largest and most diverse LNG portfolio in India that can offer both stable prices and reliable supply to consumers.

Additionally, the company has signed up with governmentowned power equipmentmaker BHEL to ramp up its renewables portfolio.

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Green Hydrogen Tech Can Decarbonise India’s Steel Sector: TERI

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reen hydrogen technologies have the potential to drastically reduce CO2 emissions from primary steelmaking in India, allowing the sector to industrialise without the need to “carbonise,” finds new research by the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

The study entitled “Green Steel through Hydrogen Direct Reduction: A Study on the Role of Hydrogen in the Indian Iron and Steel sector” provides a techno-economic analysis of the hydrogen direct reduction (H-DR) process to discusses its suitability in the Indian context. The study is a joint effort by TERI, Primetals Technologies Austria GmbH, Austria, and Siemens India.

According to the study, one of the leading technology options is using low or zero carbon hydrogen as a reducing agent in a direct reduction (DR) plant and subsequently using such low or zero carbon power for the electric arc furnace (EAF) to allow the production of green steel.

The environmental burden of steel is growing, and it will take a revolution in steelmaking technology to reduce its carbon intensity. Hydrogen may definitely be an answer provided other issues, such as its efficiency and cost, are addressed. Syn gas may be cheaper and for the time being it

can be a substitute, but we have to get to the DRI route so that in future, hydrogen can be brought in to move towards zero emission, said Dr Mukesh Kumar, Director, Steel Research & Technology Mission of India, under the aegis of the Ministry of Steel.

Currently steel production via the DR-EAF route based on hydrogen is more expensive than the conventional steelmaking routes. The path to costcompetitiveness for green steel can be accelerated by broader action around the production of hydrogen, as well as supportive climate policy, the study says.

It recommends proactive collaboration between companies and the government to cultivate demand for low carbon products.

The study also suggests actions for ‘supply push’ and ‘demand pull’ to be taken by governments and business. For providing a supply push, it recommends access to natural gas/syngas, demonstration plants, large-scale green finance, emissions penalty on production, and transition support for small-scale plants on the supply side. On the demand side, it suggests green product standards, corporate buyers’ clubs, and public procurement.

The findings of the study were presented in a webinar at TERI on Wednesday, followed by a panel discussion with the stakeholders that delved into the huge potential that green hydrogen had in bringing sustainability and reducing the carbon footprint of India’s iron and steel industry. Reducing variability in renewable energy technologies to increase the operational hours of electrolysis was also discussed amongst industry leaders.

With stakeholder cooperation, governmental push for research and development, along with policy initiatives promoting green steel production, India’s efforts to decarbonise this hard-to-abate sector can become a reality, the panelists agreed.

In his recent Independence Day address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the launch of the National Hydrogen Mission, which aims to make India a global hub for the production and export of green hydrogen.

According to him, India’s iron and steel sector is set to be the largest consumer of green hydrogen, making it an important driver of the hydrogen economy being planned at present. The release of TERI’s study is thus a timely one.

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One Year On, Vedanta Emerges as Top Buyer On GTAM Market of IEX

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ndian Energy Exchange, (IEX) celebrated the first anniversary of the start of trading on its its Green Term Ahead Market (GTAM) with a special conference.

IEX informs us that the GTAM has cumulatively traded 2744 MU of renewable energy in its first year comprising of 1267 MU volume in the solar segment and 1477 MU in the non-solar segment. The market discovered Rs 3.75 per unit as the avg price in first year with avg solar price at Rs 3.48 per unit and average non solar price at Rs 4.06 per unit.

The green market has done well to built a strong core of 100 participant in this time.

Distribution companies from Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Himachal including RE generators like Choudhary Power, Bhilangana Hydro Power, Amplus Green, Adani solar and MRN Cane Power are a few key participants on the sell side.

While the distribution companies like CESC, Haryana, DNH, Tata Power Company and DVC along with Industrial consumers like Vedanta, SAIL, Jindal Steel, Tata Steel etc. are the key participants on the buy side.

In the first year, Power Company Karnataka Limited (PCKL) has emerged as the top seller while Vedanta Limited as the top buyer in the Green Market.

Launched formally by Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy R.K. Singh on 1 September’20, the green market offers a key platform for green power generators, and distribution utilities who have surplus renewable energy, to trade among themselves and also support deficit entities to meet their energy and RPO requirements in an integrated way.

Speaking on the occasion, G. Kumar Naik, Chairman, PCKL and Additional Chief Secretary to Government, Energy Department, Government of Karnataka, “The State of Karnataka has proud credentials of being a renewable - rich State with 15 GW of installed capacity base and another 9 GW of green capacity under implementation. PCKL has been successfully leveraging the recently introduced Real- Time Electricity Market and the Green Term - Ahead Market at IEX to sell our surplus renewable energy, as per

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the Govt of Karnataka’s decision to effectively integrate the renewable energy without undertaking RE power curtailment. This has helped Karnataka to reduce the renewable intermittency as well as strengthen the State’s grid security.

These measures have been helping the PCKL/ESCOMs to save the precious financial resources, making it a win- win solution for the State (KPTCL) as well as the renewable energy generators.”

According to C Srinivasa Rao, Joint Managing Director, Telangana Transco, “The, Telangana DISCOMs have sold about 797 MU of solar energy from September 2020 to July 2021. It has helped the State in ensuring financial liquidity while also enabling us to channelize the surplus renewable energy into the market. The green market is an important part in India’s green energy shift and going forward, we will increasingly tap into the market segment”.

S N Goel, Chairman and Managing Director, IEX added that, “The inception of the green market has been a landmark milestone for our nation. Recently, on the eve of 75th Independence Day, the Honorable Prime Minister announced that India aspires to attain energy Independence by the year 2047. The market can play a catalyst role in facilitating our efforts towards achieving energy independence and building a green and sustainable energy economy in

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the most competitive and efficient manner. The forthcoming introduction of green day-ahead market will evolve the market further. In the mid to long term, gradual shift from PPA to market-based models will build and deepen the markets to next level, paving way for India to meet its ambitious 450 GW green capacity by 2030.”

Green Market: First Year Performance Highlights - Total trade - 2744 MU comprising 1267 MU under Solar & 1477 MU under Non-solar - Average Price - Rs 3.48 per unit for Solar; Rs 4.06 per unit for non-Solar - Maximum trade volume in a single day 153.1 MU on 16 July 2021 - Maximum trade volume in a month - 726 MU in July 2021 - Highest no. of participants in a month 50 in July 2021 - Top 5 Buyers - Vedanta Limited, Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (India) Ltd, Haryana Power Purchase Centre, DNH Power Distribution Corporation Ltd & Bihar State Power Holding Co. Limited.

- Top 5 Sellers - Power Company of Karnataka Ltd, Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Limited (TSSPDCL), Choudhary Power Projects Private Ltd, Bhilangana Hydro Power Ltd and Amplus Green Power Pvt. Ltd.

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Global Solar Installations Reached 138.2 GW in 2020

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espite the continued impact of COVID-19, a massive 138.2 GW of solar was installed in 2020, representing an 18% increase compared to 2019, in yet another global annual installation record for the global solar PV sector, finds a new report by SolarPower Europe.

SolarPower Europe, the new EPIA (European Photovoltaic Industry Association), has released its new Global Market Outlook report. The member-led association, which represents organisations active along the whole value chain, aims to shape the regulatory environment and enhance business opportunities for solar power in Europe.

The new report provides market intelligence for the global solar sector for 2020, and forecasts capacity for 2021–2025.

The study has found that the global cumulative solar capacity reached 773.2 GW, exceeding three quarters of a terawatt for the first time ever, in 2020. Market projections put the global solar sector comfortably within the Terawatt scale by 2022, and under optimal conditions, reaching 2 TW by 2025.

This was made possible by 138.2 GW of installations in 2020, representing an 18% y-o-y growth, which is a global annual installation record for the sector.

Aristotelis Chantavas, President of SolarPower Europe, said, “Solar’s growth confirmed its dominance among all newly installed power generation technologies, reaching a 39% global share, which means that more than every third power plant installed in 2020 came from solar.”

In 2020, 18 countries added over 1 GW of solar, compared to 17 in 2019, and 11 in 2018, proving that solar is continuing its growth trajectory. The next four years will see more solar installed than previously anticipated, crossing the 200 GW annual installation level by 2022, and reaching 29 markets around the world adding more than 1 GW by 2023, predicts the report.

Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe, said, “We now expect new annual installed capacities to reach 266 GW in 2025 in our medium-ambition scenario. To put this into perspective, only six years ago, in 2015, this was the world’s total

installed solar power generation fleet.”

The Global Market Outlook forecasts cumulative grid-connected solar power capacities to reach 1,870 GW by 2025, according to the most likely scenario. Under optimal conditions, the world could operate PV generation plant capacities as large as 2.147 TW by the end of 2025. In the Medium Scenario, it is expected that total global installed PV generation capacity will pass the following milestones over the next 5 years: 900 GW in 2021, 1.1 TW in 2022, 1.3 TW in 2023, 1.6 TW in 2024, and 1.8 TW in 2025.

Michael Schmela, Head of Market Intelligence at SolarPower Europe, commented, “Indeed, by next year we anticipate the global solar market increase by 25% to 203 GW, the first time annual PV installations will cross the 200 GW level. This is particularly impressive considering that crossing the 200 GW threshold in 2022 would occur only five years after the 100 GW level was reached. With COVID-19 vaccination rates increasing, and silicon supply issues resolved, the coming years will be sure to see many solar installation records broken.”

India’s Emissions Have Dropped by 28% from 2005 Levels: R K Singh

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ndia has already achieved emission reduction of 28% over 2005 levels, against the target of 35% by 2030 committed in its NDC (Nationally determined contributions), which makes India one of the few countries globally that have kept to their Paris Climate Change (COP21) commitments along with an exponential increase in renewable energy capacity, said Union Power and New and Renewable Energy minister Raj Kumar Singh. Considering the pace of development in the energy sector, India is determined to not only achieve, but to exceed its NDC commitments well within the committed time frame, the minister added.

Mr. Singh made these statements while delivering the keynote address at the recently held “INDIA-ISA Energy Transition Dialogue 2021,” organised by the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

He added that the key is to allow the

regulatory and policy support to keep the sector afloat till the supply-side strengthens, technology develops, and competitive market takes root resulting in a fall in prices, and the industry becomes self-sustainable. It is anticipated that by 2050, 80-85% of India’s overall power capacity will come from renewables, said Singh.

India has already touched 200 GW of peak demand, in addition to reducing emissions by 28% from 2005 levels. The demand had crossed what it was during pre-COVID time and it is expected that electricity demand will continue to rise. This enables space for adding more renewables capacity, but that will call for power system flexibility and introduction of various storage technologies.

While 100 GW of capacity has been installed and operationalised in the country, 50 GW of additional capacity is under installation and another 27 GW is under tendering process.

Further, as on 31st July 2021, 38.5% of India’s installed power generation capacity is based

on clean renewable energy sources. Presently, India stands at the fourth position in the world in terms of installed RE capacity (fifth in Solar and fourth in Wind energy capacity).

The minister said that an active private sector continued to strengthen the supply side through capacity building exercises. The story is expected to be repeated in the years to come with advanced technologies, such as energy storage and green hydrogen.

Dedicated Green Energy Corridors initiated by the MNRE have made it easier for renewable energy developers to avail grid connectivity and evacuate up to 40,000 MW of large-scale renewable energy from renewable energy-rich parts of India, he said.

The Dialogue featured two panel discussions and a presentation by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) on Citizen Centric Energy Transition- India Story. India’s energy transition journey was highlighted in the presentation.

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Solar Recycling Is Becoming A Race Against Time

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n the last two decades, millions of solar panels have been installed, with an expected lifetime of between 25 and 30 years.

That means over the coming years, a trickle of discarded panels will gradually turn into a flood, requiring effective recycling techniques to be in place soon. Solar recycling technologies have their task cut out, needing to cut down module waste as well as the need for new material to build more solar equipment.

A solar panel is a photovoltaic module made of materials such as glass, aluminum, silicon and copper. It uses sunlight as a source of energy to generate direct current electricity. A solar cell is a black mirror-like electrical device that is the key component of a solar panel. Techniques have been researched to maximize the efficiency of recycling solar panels.

Of late, many new technologies for solar recycling have been coming up. Researchers at the state-run Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), for instance, have developed a non-destructive technique to recycle discarded solar panels to create highperformance solar cells. The institute said the new technique can recycle both undamaged and damaged panels to achieve up to 100 percent retrieval rate of glass components. About 80 percent of other materials can be retrieved and recycled into highperformance solar cells.

“Recycling a ton of discarded solar panels has the effect of reducing 1.2 tons of greenhouse gases so this technique is the absolute key to achieve net-zero emissions,” KIER head researcher Lee Jin-seok was quoted as saying. KIER has transferred the technique to HST, a domestic solar energy generating equipment maker, for commercialisation.

Another case is of ROSI Solar, a French startup founded in 2017, which recently announced plans to build a new recycling plant in Grenoble, France. Yun Luo, ROSI’s CEO, has been quoted as saying, the company has developed a process to extract the silver, silicon, and other high-value materials from used panels. The plant should open before the end of 2022 with a contract from Soren, a French trade association.

Soren is also working with a French logistics company called Envie 2E Aquitaine, which will try to find other uses for decommissioned solar panels. If the panels aren’t operational, the company will remove the aluminum frame and glass before passing them along to ROSI to recycle, Luo says.

ROSI focuses on recovering silver and high-purity silicon, since these two materials make up over 60% of a panel’s cost. The company uses a proprietary chemical process on the remaining layers, focusing on removing the tiny silver threads that transmit electricity through a working solar panel.

Despite these technological advancements, recycling in the solar industry is not a widespread practice across the world yet. Only about 10% of panels in the US are recycled since recycling isn’t mandated by federal regulations, and recycling the devices is currently much more expensive than just discarding them. But the materials in solar panels coming offline each year could be worth an estimated $2 billion by 2050. Or higher, if commodity metal prices move higher.

India is among the top five countries producing solar photovoltaic power and will continue to further improve its position in the future. The government has already set its sights to produce 350

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GW of solar power by 2030. Currently, there are no laws that mandate safe disposal of solar energy waste unlike Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) in Europe.

Under this directive, EU regulations require 85% collection and 80% recycling of the materials used in PV panels, which was extended to solar products in 2012. The solar cells manufacturers are bound by law to fulfil specific legal requirements and recycling standards in order to make sure that solar panels do not become a burden to the environment.

Similarly, recycling needs to be accorded priority in India as well to avoid land pollution from discarded panels. A not-for-profit organisation can formulate a roadmap to pave the way for a safe end of life management using low-cost recycling equipment and ensure they are used for re-powering. About 240,000 MW of new panels can be re-produced without extracting new materials. It will result in the overall CO2 abatement of 360 billion tons in their lifetime, as per some estimates.

Consultancy Sofies India, for instance, has joined the Solar Waste Action Plan (SWAP) pilot to investigate the feasibility of recycling photovoltaic solar panels. The innovative project, funded by Netherlands-based Signify Foundation and Doen Foundation, aims to enhance solar panel recycling practices in India. It wants to boost daily capacity to at least 150 tonnes of PV panel waste by May 2022. An important SWAP milestone was setting up a pilot plant in Gummidipoondi in Tamil Nadu with a daily processing capacity of 2.5 tonnes. The site is operated by recycling firm Poseidon Solar and became fully operational in September.

About 8 million metric tons of decommissioned solar panels could accumulate globally by 2030. By 2050, that number could reach 80 million. Recycling these panels could provide a new source for materials that would otherwise need to be mined (potentially under unsafe or exploitative working conditions), making solar a more sustainable piece of the clean-energy puzzle.

Like the national scrappage policy for vehicles, which was announced recently, and aims to reduce waste, create jobs, and recycle massively in the automotive sector, India will do well to be more proactive on the solar recycling front too, by laying the law for disposal and recycling early on.

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Reflections on World EV Day

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eptember 9, or World EV day, went by with a flurry of activities to commemorate the same. This writer too spent time moderating panelists at an event to commemorate progress, followed up by ‘fireside chat’ with an Electric Bus specialist for India.

What came out really strongly was the overall optimism across the EV space, and not because of specific government moves, or other such actions, but because of the universal belief that the EV transition is finally looking inevitable.

That word needs to be used carefully, as we have repeatedly seen, when it came to the same ‘inevitable’ need to use less coal for power, or less fertilisers for agriculture and so on. But a few things stand out in the electric vehicle (EV) driven transition that is well and truly underway, even though speed bumps abound.

For one, it is noticeable that we have a slew of startups and truly smart founders trying to find answers to the challenges in front of us.

Be it about range anxiety, costs, accessibility, actual usage, or battery chemistry for the long term, the sheer range of firms and talent behind these problems is impressive.

It’s The Future, Accept it What is even better is that vindication has come from investors willing to back these founders vision, and support a period when little may move, but much would have been achieved.

This quote from Awadhesh Jha, Vice President, Fortum Charge & Drive India Pvt. Ltd, captures it well.

“India is pushing to encourage the use of EVs to reduce the country’s dependence on diesel and petrol as part of a larger effort to cut vehicular emissions in line with commitments it has made under the global climate change pact. The demand for electric vehicles has grown substantially during last one year despite general, economy getting affected by Covid-19. It is fair to say that a transition from petrol and diesel-powered cars to EVs has commenced. EVs in India have now become more relevant than ever and this is evident by the addition of new electric cars. To accelerate the uptake of EVs further, the central government must offer a subsidy to individual buyers of 4-W Passenger Electric Vehicles, making EVs affordable and their manufacturing a viable business for automobile companies. The future of

e-mobility in India lies at the convergence of robust charging infrastructure, increased participation by automakers, and successful consumer use cases. The shift to EV mobility is inevitable, and we should do all to hasten its adoption.”

Cooperation Before Competition?

Similarly, what has stood out in the EV transition, and the startups pushing it, is the degree of cooperation we see, as firms realise that going it alone will not move things fast enough for them and the sector. So be it modular batteries that can be used interchangeably, shared charging networks , opening up the source code for key functionalities, we are seeing it all. Frankly, the most noticeable example that one can think off for this level of cooperation from the legacy automotive sector is Volvo’s decision in 1959 to share the invention of the seat belt with the broader sector.

Or hear what Samarth Kholkar & Sandeep Mukherjee, Co-founders BLive, say- “2021 will go down as the year of the EV revolution in history. There’s massive growth in the Indian EV market, led by Electric 2 Wheeler.

There are several promising brands in the market that are working on E2W models that withstand all the mobility challenges in India.

Companies are also collaborating to address all the pain points in the EV segment. For instance, we recently partnered with Ather Energy to facilitate charging infrastructure in tourist destinations, starting with Goa. These ‘BLive EV Zones’ were launched with complete support from the GTDC to further the adoption of EVs in the state.

Moreover, key hospitality players like Club Mahindra, IHCL have also further our efforts to drive EV adoption by leveraging popular tourist spots. As India’s first electric vehicle (EV) experiential platform, we see tremendous potential in the growth of newer formats of retail like multi-brand EV retail platforms. The market will see great demand and action in the upcoming months on the back of supportive government policies that promote clean mobility.”

A Government Agency To Help Them All In all this, the role for a government backed agency to start with a clean slate and push the cause has also been highlighted, something that has been done by both EESL earlier, and now CESL. A CESL can hurdle over the issues at state government entities, be it legacy

issues or financial limitations due to weak balance sheets.

Mahua Acharya, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Convergence Energy Services Limited said “Having an “EV day” says a lot about the changing times, needs, priorities and ambitions of the new generation. While some countries are the largest manufacturers, others such as India present the potential to become the largest users of electric vehicles. The Government has announced several incentives and offered all possible help to foster greater penetration of EVs – and CESL being a central Government entity has the advantage, enthusiasm and commitment to implement these ambitions for the country.”

The New Business Models We finally end with what Amit Gupta, Co-Founder and CEO at Yulu Bikes, one of the most enthusiastic and aggressive proponent for a shared mobility future powered by EV’s has to say.

“The electric vehicle (EV) industry has gone through various stages in India, it is now growing due to many factors like the increased government policies supporting battery-powered vehicles, increasing petrol prices, the growing awareness toward the environment and stringent emission norms. The electric vehicle (EV) market in India is expected to hit over 63 lakh unit mark per annum by 2025-27. Considering the average Indian purchasing power, India is full to its brim with EV two-wheelers adoption and is fast growing as one of the top markets in the EV ecosystem. Shared mobility is the future of last-mile mobility in India. We plan on expanding our Yulu Miracle fleet from 10,000 to 50,000 units and adding 10,000 more units of recently launched Yulu DEX a custom-designed Electric 2-Wheeler for “short mile” delivery to empower the gig economy by providing affordable lease options is under the pipeline by the end of this year.”

While all this was happening, came the news that EV’s in the past two months have actually overtaken sales of CNG vehicles in one of the largest automotive markets, Delhi. While that trend needs to play out over a far longer period, it’s a welcome sign that strong, pro-EV policies can make an impact, and as the economy recovers, will play out even better in the coming months and years.

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LONGi’s H1 FY21 Results Out: US$5.

438 B Revenue Reported

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hinese module manufacturer LONGi has released its financial results for the first half of 2021, reporting revenue of 35.098 billion yuan (around US$5.438 billion), an increase of 74.26% compared to the same period of last year. The company earned a net profit of 4.993 billion yuan (around US$773.688 million), up 21.30% over the prior-year period.

2021 has been a bit of a mixed year for Chinese manufacturers, depending on how much of the supply chain they control. For a relatively large and integrated firm like LONGi, this has meant bumper profits on the back of higher prices.

The company’s debt to assets ratio in H1 FY21 was 55.18%, a decrease of 4.20 percentage points compared to the end of 2020.

LONGi has obtained 1,196 patents to date. Investment in R&D increased to 1.614 billion yuan, accounting for 4.60% of the revenue during the reporting period.

LONGi shipped 38.36GW of monocrystalline silicon wafers during the period, including 18.76GW in exports, a year-on-year increase of 36.48%. Shipments of monocrystalline modules stood at 17.01GW, with exports reaching 16.60GW, an increase of 152.40%.

The proportion of revenue from modules increased to 67%, as compared to 57% in the prior corresponding period.

In early June 2021, the company announced that the R&D conversion efficiency of its N-type TOPCon and HJT cells had reached 25.21% and 25.26%, respectively, while that of the newly announced P-type TOPCon cells reached 25.19%, a new record.

Among them, the efficiency records of N-type TOPCon and HJT cells were included in the Solar Cell Efficiency Tables (Version 58)

compiled by Martin Green, Scientia Professor at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

In March 2021, LONGi entered the hydrogen energy sector and established laboratories in cooperation with several leading universities. This year, the firm also entered into a strategic partnership with CENTER to jointly develop the BIPV business in large-scale public and industrial buildings, expanding the application scenarios of PV products and promoting the applications of BIPV at scale. Additionally, LONGi, together with several industry players, has proposed the standardization of M10 silicon wafers and modules and issued the 182 Module Products white paper.

Belgian Companies Unveil ‘World’s 1st H2-powered Excavator’

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elgian companies CMB.TECH (a hydrogen solutions firm) and Luyckx (a crane equipment manufacturer) have recently presented the “first hydrogen-powered dual fuel excavator,” which is meant to provide gradual ecological development within the heavy construction and earthmoving sector.

With this machine, companies within the sector can embark on energy transition with today’s machines without being permanently dependent on the availability of hydrogen, said an official statement.

CMB.TECH and Luyckx state that this is the first solution within the entire heavy excavator sector that allows concrete greening without limiting the machine’s power or autonomy. Traditional fuel remains available and the machine can continue to operate if the supply of

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hydrogen is not available.

In other words, the machine can be purchased and put into service today, even if the hydrogen issue for the customer or site has not yet been fully worked out, said CMB.TECH. With these first generation dual fuel machines, CO₂ emissions can be reduced by up to 50%, the firm added.

Besides the excavator, CMB.TECH has also unveiled its new mobile hydrogen refueller. It is said to deliver up to 600 kg of green hydrogen at 350 bar to the consumer.

This works for excavators, but also for other applications such as trucks, port equipment, ships and gensets. The mobile refuelling station is the answer to hydrogen supply in maritime and industrial applications, claims the Belgian company.

“Driven by the wishes of our end users and fleet owners, we launched an own initiative

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feasibility study with regard to possible alternative solutions that help to reduce CO₂ emissions, make the machine park more sustainable and do business in a socially responsible way. Given this vision, the collaboration with CMB.TECH was started in order to convert a 37 ton excavator (Hitachi ZX350LC-7) to a dual fuel engine (hydrogen/diesel), thus taking a first concrete step towards greening the sector,” said Jos Luyckx, CEO of Luyckx.

“The additional cost of the machines in the sector is rather limited, with the kgs of hydrogen used leading directly to CO₂ reduction. As of today, we offer the applications to enable up to 8 tonnes of CO₂ reduction per site per day, anywhere in the Benelux, without operational restrictions at the lowest possible cost,” said Roy Campe, CTO of CMB.TECH.

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Renewable Energy Marketplace LevelTen Raises $35 Million Series C Funding

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evelTen Energy, a leading provider of renewable transaction infrastructure, has completed a $35 million Series C funding round led by NGP ETP, with participation from My Climate Journey (MCJ) Collective, as well as nearly all of LevelTen’s existing investors, including Avista Development, Constellation Technology Ventures, Equinor Ventures, Founders’ Co-op, Prelude Ventures, Techstars, TotalEnergies Ventures and Wireframe Ventures. In addition, Google participated as part of its goal of supporting innovative solutions that help enable businesses of all sizes, including Google Cloud customers, to source 24/7 carbonfree energy. With this fund raise, LevelTen has now raised $62.3 million, in aggregate.

This latest capital infusion will help the company further scale its existing renewable energy transaction platform, which comprises the Energy Marketplace, Asset Marketplace and Performance Monitoring software. The company will also use proceeds to develop additional software solutions to accelerate the clean energy transition, investing in real-time load matching technology (24/7), project developer services, environmental and social justice scoring systems, and more advanced power purchase agreement (PPA) products.

The LevelTen Platform is now claimed to be the world’s largest online hub for utility-scale renewable energy deals, connecting a

range of energy advisors and experienced buyers with more than 500 project developers, owners and financiers.

LevelTen’s partner network now includes more than 25 energy advisors and retail electricity providers, including 3Degrees, Accenture, Constellation, Deloitte and South Pole. The LevelTen Energy Marketplace delivers access to the world’s largest collection of PPAs, with more than 4,000 offers from 1,300 projects spanning 21 countries in North America and Europe.

To date, LevelTen claims to have facilitated more than $5 billion in renewable energy transactions and 3.3 gigawatts of renewable energy deals.

“In market after market, when the majority of buyers and sellers coalesce around a single technology platform, tremendous growth and value creation typically follow,” said Philip Deutch, Partner, NGP. “With renewable energy projects, sophisticated software is key to helping buyers and sellers align on risk, value and terms, and transact more efficiently. We believe LevelTen is the leading global network for

renewable transactions and is positioned to dramatically grow its business with the right capital partners. We are pleased to be one of those partners and think that our experience growing global energy transition companies can really add value.”

To reach net zero emissions by 2050, BloombergNEF has estimated that 1,400 gigawatts of renewables need to be deployed every year, on average, for the next three decades, and annual investment in energy supply and infrastructure must double, exceeding $3.1 trillion per year. By delivering the marketplaces, software, standards and analytics necessary to execute efficiently, LevelTen facilitates better and faster deals for energy buyers, sellers, advisors and financiers.

“In 2018, LevelTen dramatically improved the power purchase agreement process with the launch of the LevelTen Energy Marketplace,” said Bryce Smith, Chief Executive Officer, LevelTen Energy. “In 2021, we released the LevelTen Asset Marketplace, simplifying the process of buying and selling the projects themselves.

Now, with this new funding, LevelTen will advance the industry again with the launch of even more transaction infrastructure products and services vital to accelerating the energy transition. Renewable transactions will surely become as customary and as efficient as fossil fuel transactions, and we’re intent on improving our platform until that happens.”

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Shell & CoensHexicon to Build 1.4 GW Floating Wind Farm in South Korea

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hell Overseas Investment BV, a unit of Dutch oil and gas major Royal Dutch Shell, and CoensHexicon have established a joint venture to fund, develop, and operate MunmuBaram, a 1.4 GW floating offshore wind farm for South Korea. MunmuBaram is expected to power over 1 million homes once it begins operating.

The two companies announced their collaboration two years ago and have now set up a firm called MunmuBaram Co Ltd exclusively for the project. Shell Overseas Investment holds an 80% stake in the JV, while CoensHexicon accounts for 20%.

CoensHexicon is also a partnership between Hexicon AB, a Swedish engineering company, and Coens Co Ltd., a Korean service provider.

The floating offshore wind farm will be located off the southeast Korean coast, between 40 and 50 miles (65 and 80 km) from the city of Ulsan. It will cover an area of approximately 93 square miles (240 square km).

Ulsan is the industrial powerhouse of South Korea. It is said to have the world’s largest automobile assembly plant, the world’s largest shipyard and the world’s third largest oil refinery. Initial project development started in early 2019 and was led by CoensHexicon.

The $4.9 billion project is currently at a feasibility assessment stage and is expected to be developed in phases. Over the past year, the developers have been collecting various measurements, including critical offshore wind data at the project location, with which they intend to apply for an Electricity Business License (EBL) this month. A final investment decision is expected in the mid-2020s.

South Korea aims to increase domestic renewable energy generation to 20% of the energy mix by 2030 and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

“Korea’s capabilities in the fabrication of offshore facilities and shipbuilding could play a pivotal role in the development and fabrication of floating offshore wind

foundations not only for Korea but also for the region and beyond,” commented Joe Nai, Shell’s General Manager, Offshore Wind Asia.

Steve Seo, CEO of CoensHexcion, noted that the company is also developing new areas in South Korea in addition to the current project.

Henrik Baltscheffsky, CEO of Hexicon AB and Director of CoensHexicon Co., Ltd, said: “This is the start of our commercial journey in South Korea and similar places around the globe. We have formed a project company in Busan, TwinWind Development Co. Ltd, obtained an adequate water area offshore Ulsan City and are developing the first commercial floating wind farm.”

“Our collaboration with Shell will contribute a wealth of skills and expertise when it comes to developing and operating a large floating wind farm. This includes serial manufacturing in South Korea of the patented multi-turbine foundation design developed by Hexicon in Sweden.”

Japan to Recycle Solar Modules Using Blockchain Tech Solar PV manufacturer Next Energy and trading and investment business conglomerate Marubeni are partnering to recycle used solar panels using blockchain technology, as part of a programme supported by Japan’s Ministry of the Environment.

Mitsubishi Research Institute will also assist the two companies in developing and demonstrating the potential of blockchain in reporting and recording information on the reuse and recycling of used solar cells.

This technology should be able to inspect the solar modules and provide data on the traceability and components used, as well as verifying that these data were not modified or tampered with.

This technique is expected to enable the identification of a larger amount of modules that can still be reused or recycled, which would reduce the amount of waste in landfills and, in the case of modules being reused, would also lower their carbon footprint and produce other environmental

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benefits, says Next Energy.

In Japan, the deployment of solar PV has grown rapidly, in particular over the course of the past decade in the wake of the Fukushima disaster. With their product life of 20 to 30 years, by the mid-2030s approximately 800,000 tons of solar panels will require replacing annually, according to Ministry of Environment data quoted by Next Energy. Others can be replaced for other reasons such as damage or upgrading.

Next Energy has been undertaking solar PV recycling since 2005, which it operates under the REBORN Technology brand.

Among its findings from inspection of over

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40,000 used solar cells are that they can retain up to 80% performance after 25 years of use.

The company also is contributing to the drafting of guidelines for solar panel re-sale being developed by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation (NEDO).

In parallel with the blockchain demonstration, Next Energy also has launched a used solar cell recovery demonstration, again with the support of the Environment Ministry. Solar modules that are no longer needed may be taken to a collection site or will be collected free of charge, from where they will be taken for recycling.

According to a draft of its latest energy policy, renewables in Japan should account for 36-38% of power supplies in 2030, double the level of 18% in the financial year to March 2020. The earlier target was for renewables to contribute 22-24% of electricity in 2030.

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In Boost to US, WTO Rules Against China On Solar Tariffs Dispute

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he World Trade Organization (WTO) on September 2 ruled in favor of the United States in a dispute with China over tariffs on solar panels that were imposed by the previous American administration on imports from China.

The tariffs had been slapped on in January 2018 by the Trump administration, setting off a chain of events that continues to play out to this day. Primarily in the form of a massive US push to recover lost manufacturing ground. However, the tariffs have never quite been welcomed by large sections of US solar industry members, owing mainly to the fear of rise in solar costs.

China had made a request at the WTO set up a dispute panel to judge whether the tariffs violated international trade rules, and in its decision, the body said it “rejected all of China’s claims.”

With the tariffs and other barriers only spreading further, it remains to be seen how China handles this. What has actually happened so far is that China based manufacturers supplying key raw materials, citing multiple issues, have hiked prices of key inputs significantly in

2021. While some countries have called this profiteering, others have pointed to the real issues caused by Covid disruptions and other natural disasters like floods in support.

But it is becoming increasingly clear that with the major increase seen for Solar in

the energy transition, many key markets no longer wish to have the kind of dependence on Chinese imports that they were only too happy with, right through 2015-2020.

At the time of filing, we have no information on China’s plans following this rebuff at the WTO. An appeal seems likely.

Lowest Bid of $0.01332/kWh Reported in Chile’s Renewables Auction

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he National Energy Commission of Chile (CNE) held a 2.31 TWh/year renewable energy auction last week, in which the lowest bid was submitted for $0.01332/kWh for a solar PV project.

29 bidders took part in the bidding process, which was conducted by Empresas Eléctricas AG and by Enel, to provide electricity to the National Electric System from 2026 to 2041. The lowest bid was offered by Canadian Solar Libertador Solar Holding for a solar project, reported local daily La Tercera.

Several bids were submitted in the $0.021/ kWh and $0.028/kWh range, and a bid of $0.0399/kWh for a concentrated solar power (CSP) project was also submitted, which is the lowest one for an energy

auction at a global level till date. The bid relates to the 390 MW Likana Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) project, under development by EIG Global Energy Partners.

Early 2020, Chile was one of the first countries to officially submit an updated Paris Agreement target to the UNFCCC. The updated Nationally Determined Contribution (2020 NDC) involves greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions peaking by 2025 at the latest, and then a decrease to emit no more than 95 million tonnes of greenhouse gases by 2030. These mediumterm emission pledges were made in the context of a long-term vision and goal of GHG neutrality by 2050.Within the new bidding law framework, CNE is responsible

for designing, coordinating, and directing the public bidding process for this year. The objective of the bidding process is to help electricity distribution companies to have contracts for the long-term supply of electricity to their customers subject to price regulations.

The bidding terms consider reducing risks to encourage the participation of different energy suppliers, achieve competitive prices that benefit regulated customers and give more access to different types of energy, including storage.

Companies which participated through bids included Acciona Energía Chile Holdings, Enel Generación Chile, Canadian Solar Libertador Solar Holding, Renovalia Chile Dos, Pacific Hydro Chile, etc.

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Developing Energy Storage Key for India’s Decarbonisation, finds Study

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n order to achieve its target of 450 GW of wind and solar by 2030, India’s wind and solar capacity must grow 20% year-overyear between 2022 and 2030. Developing energy storage is a key avenue for increasing India’s power system flexibility and the share of renewables and ultimately enabling India’s decarbonisation, finds a new study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

To date, there has been no comprehensive assessment of cost-effective opportunities for bulk grid storage in South Asia. The new study, entitled “Energy Storage in South Asia: Understanding the Role of Grid- Connected Energy Storage in South Asia’s Power Sector Transformation,” provides a first-of-its-kind assessment of cost-effective opportunities for grid-scale energy storage in South Asia, especially in India.

Under All Scenarios, Major Opportunities for Energy Storage Through 2030 and Beyond The study team, composed of Ilya Chernyakhovskiy, Mohit Joshi, David Palchak, and Amy Rose, evaluated storage growth under various technology cost, policy, and regulatory scenarios, resulting in a range of trajectories for storage growth over the next three decades.

By 2030, energy storage capacity from these scenarios in India ranges from 50 to 120 GW, or 160 to 800 gigawatt hours (GWh), and continues climbing to between 180 to 800 GW (750–4,800 GWh) by 2050. Based on this modeling, 50 GW of energy storage by 2030 is a lower-bound estimate for the total storage market size in India, with most of this capacity expected to come from battery storage projects.

Storage Projects Are Most Cost-Effective When Providing Multiple Value Streams The team evaluated multiple value streams from energy storage and the potential contributions of storage to grid flexibility at different timescales are: Energy time-shifting throughout the day to reduce curtailment of renewable energy and reduce the cost of electricity during peak demand.

Provision of reliable capacity for long-term system reliability, helping offset the need for new coal-fired power plants.

Provision of on-call operating reserves needed to manage grid frequency.

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Understanding multiple value streams in the study’s modeling was key, because energy storage projects are typically most cost effective when they provide multiple services, and cost-effective projects are more likely to get built when developers have access to multiple revenue streams. Additionally, as energy storage becomes a greater share of the overall capacity of the system, its ability to serve multiple roles will greatly impact the growth of the system.

For example, the study shows that when energy storage is barred from providing operating reserves, overall storage deployment in India is 24% lower compared to the reference case. In place of energy storage, new conventional resources, such coal- and gas-fired power plants, are built to meet the operating reserve requirement in that scenario. This leads to a 4% increase in overall system costs and a 15% increase in carbon emissions over the planning horizon.

Operational Benefits Extend Across the South Asia Region For the South Asia grid including India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal, energy storage can play a major role in future system operations. Modeling results found that energy storage supports the regional system by providing balancing services, which helps to avoid renewable energy curtailment and balance renewable energy forecast errors. It does this by bolstering ramping capabilities and shifting the timing of energy supply.

Opportunities for storage to improve grid

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operations and reduce costs individually in Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal were also assessed. Bangladesh currently relies on expensive, high-polluting diesel- and fuel-oilfired power plants to manage demand and provide peaking power.

This study finds that energy storage could displace fuel oil consumption in Bangladesh, reducing the carbon intensity and the costs of grid operations. Storage in Bangladesh can charge during daytime hours and discharge during the evening peak, reducing the need to start up fuel oil generators.

Bhutan and Nepal, on the other hand, rely primarily on hydropower resources to meet domestic demand and to provide electricity exports to India. In both countries, adding energy storage helped optimize the use of domestic hydropower resources and reduce daytime renewable energy curtailment in India by shifting exports more to the evening hours.

“This study shows how a level playing field for energy storage to compete with conventional technologies can lead to an increase in renewable energy deployment, reduced air emissions from the power sector, and lower costs for electricity,” Chernyakhovskiy said.

“While we didn’t evaluate energy storage versus other emerging technologies, such as demand response, electric vehicles, or distributed energy resources, the results of this study make clear that cost-effective energy storage in South Asia is right around the corner.”

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Tesla & Local Partners to Build Storage Facility in Japan

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S auto major Tesla is partnering with Japanese companies to build an energy storage facility using its rechargeable battery in Hokkaido in northern Japan to help stabilise the power system.

Tesla will collaborate with Japanese power retailer and aggregator Global Engineering and engineering firm EneVision to build the energy storage facility connected to the grid with 6,095 kWh capacity that could power about 500 homes.

Tesla will supply its Megapack battery technology for the project, which is due to start operating in summer 2022.

Global Engineering will be the operator, selling power to the wholesale electricity market, balancing market and capacity

market, while Ene-Vision will handle engineering, procurement and construction.

The project’s estimated cost is said to be around 300 million yen ($2.7 million).

Global Engineering said that the project aims to help further expansion of renewable energy and to reduce costs by absorbing fluctuations and stabilising output through the use of generators and storage batteries. Tesla announced its second quarter (Q2) quarterly results last month. The firm, with an oversized presence and impact in the EV segment, has shared some key metrics for its solar and energy storage business this time. In fact, even as it has postponed the launch of its electric trucks, the Semi Truck to 2022, the

firm claims that but for shortage of chips, its storage business would have been even stronger this past quarter. The company declared $12 billion in revenues, with a net income of $1.14 billion. The solar and storage business accounted for $801 million topline. This includes its three main offerings here: solar, its Powerwall storage device for homes and businesses, and its year old utility storage unit Megapack. Not only has this group grown 62% in revenues over the previous quarter, it has also turned profitable. Total cost of the business, according to Tesla, was $781 million.

Tesla founder Elon Musk has indicated the firm will look at powering some of its products with batteries using lithium-ironphosphate (LFP) chemistry in the future.

Chennai-Based Lucas TVS Plans 10 GWh Battery Gigafactory in Tamil Nadu

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ucas TVS, the Chennai-based auto components major that is part of the TVS group has signed an agreement with 24M’s advanced ‘SemiSolid’ electrode technology.

24M has built its reputation on the promise of a lithium-ion battery manufacturing process that is more modular, efficient and low cost. Spun out of MIT, it already has partnerships with EV battery companies and battery storage system makers around the world, including Japan’s Kyocera, which has been piloting production of 24M cells for use in residential battery systems and Canadian residential and small commercial battery storage maker Eguana Technologies.

Norwegian lithium battery startup Freyr is also a partner.

Lucas TVS says that it wants to open the gigafactory in Thervoy Kandigai, Gummudipundi, by the second half of 2023 and build up production capacity to 10GWh in two stages, with the expectation that other plants will be constructed around the country at later dates. The cells manufactured at the plant would be used in stationary energy storage systems — including grid-scale — as well as in electric cars and will also be aimed at replacing lead acid batteries for various applications. We believe the firm will expect to be a part of the PLI scheme for battery

manufacturing with these plans.

For 24M, the deal, if it fructifies, will be its first big one in India. Beyond its cost advantages, 24M’s patented cell design enhances safety, reliability, and traceability, by virtually eliminating potential metal contamination, the most common cause of shorts in conventional lithium-ion cells. It has created a binder-free manufacturing process which enables electrodes four to five times thicker than other lithium cells. This removes a “substantial portion of the inactive material set,” including copper, aluminium and cell separator, allowing lower costs and complexity.

Lucas TVS plans to build products using different chemistries, in Pouch and Prismatic cell formats, with high energy density. The products will meet customer needs in e-mobility, stationary energy storage, including grid-scale markets, and lead acid

battery replacement. Lucas TVS will also be offering complete battery solutions to those customers who need them.

“Lucas TVS believes in investing in the nextgeneration technologies, which is why we chose to partner with 24M,” stated T.K. Balaji, Chairman and Managing Director, Lucas TVS. “We are confident that their innovative SemiSolidTM platform technology will enable us to provide our customers affordable e-mobility, lead acid battery replacement and storage solutions with improved quality and best-in-class safety.”

“We are delighted to partner with a market leader like Lucas TVS with a 60+ year track record of performance as a leading provider of electromagnetic solutions to the mobility market,” commented Naoki Ota, Chief Executive Officer of 24M. “Our innovative SemiSolidTM technology and ongoing R&D investments will support Lucas TVS’s ambition to become a leader in the energy storage space for mobility, lead acid battery replacement, storage and grid scale markets in India.”

The deal follows an interesting pick up of activity and more importantly, funding in the battery space. We had reported earlier on Bengaluru based Log9 materials picking up Amara Raja batteries as a key investor.

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Everyday Solar Devices That Make Sense

Ever wondered about how useful solar powered devices could be? Yes, we have all heard of (and covered) the solar cooker, solar backpack, and solar lights etc. But how about a solar powered keyboard? Or a hat that can also charge your phone? It's all becoming possible, and more importantly, accessible even from India. Check out these products we selected! Usually available at Amazon or their own websites, shipping to India is possible where available.

Logitech K750 Wireless Solar Keyboard Feel-good typing: Logitech-only concave key cap design for faster, quieter, more comfortable typing; Powerful 2.4 GHz wireless:

PRODUCT APPLICATION:

System Requirements: Windows XP, Windows Vista , Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10. Light source from sunlight and/or indoor lighting. Not for Mac

PRODUCT BRIEF:

Solar-powered keyboard: No battery hassles - any light source keeps your keyboard charged for at least three months in total darkness.

PRODUCT BENEFITS:

Enjoy a reliable connection using a tiny Logitech Unifying receiver that stays in your computer;

AVAILABILITY:

PRODUCT FEATURES:

Only 1/3-inch thick: Ultra-thin design adds sleek style to your workspace;

The product is available for $81

ABFOCE Portable Solar Speaker Product Brief:

This solar bluetooth speaker utilizes a mono-crystalline silicon ETFE laminated solar panel.

Product Features:

PRODUCT APPLICATION:

The product is available for $59.99.

Outdoor Bluetooth IPX6 Waterproof Speaker with 5000mAh Power Bank, 60 Hours Play Time Dual Speaker with Mic, Stereo Sound with Bass Home Wireless Speaker-Black.

Every 10 minutes of charging in the sun equals half an hour of music play time (Depending on the volume of music played and the intensity of the sunlight).

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PRODUCT BENEFITS:

Compatible with all Bluetooth devices including tablets, smart phones and laptop computers.

Compatible with nonBluetooth devices equipped with a 3.5 mm audio line (MP3, MP4).

Availability:

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SOLIOM Solar-powered Security Camera Product Brief:

Soliom S90 Cameras for home security are self-sustained by 3 solar panels with builtin 12000 mah battery. The current produced by the solar panels is 500 to 1000 ma per hour.

Product Features:

S90 Wireless Security Camera Outdoor Solar Battery Powered,1080P Wireless IP Home Camera with Night Vision, Two-Way Audio and Accurate Motion Detection.

PRODUCT APPLICATION:

The outdoor camera made from special plastic material to withstand extreme weather; Uses reliable

battery for outdoor temperature between -40 to 1400; The SOLIOM security camera outdoor contains all accessories, tools and instructions needed in the box; Average install time is less than 15 minutes.

PRODUCT BENEFITS:

The S90 Wifi camera is enabled with 3 enhanced antennas; SOLIOM+ app allows to monitor yard entrance, garage, office, garden and home; Manually takes snapshots and records videos in live mode,Which helps a lot for your wireless security camera system.

Availability:

The product is available for $139

SOLSOL New Solar Hat Charger Product Brief:

SOLSOL™ Hat is a five-panel Snapback Flat Brim Solar Charging Hat.

Product Features:

Battery-free, safe, clean and renewable and it extends the battery life of an iphone. 5 Panel snapback flat brim baseball cap design in 8 different two-tone and solid colors. Compatible with iPod, iphone5, 6, 6s, iPad, android smartphones, gopro, Bluetooth devices.

PRODUCT APPLICATION:

ust insert your own USB extension into the LXTSOL USB outport on the hat, plug the other end of the cord into your device, walk into the sun and watch your device begin to charge instantly.

PRODUCT BENEFITS:

It is available in 13 vibrant colors and combinations. Perfect for a hike or a day at the beach and a great gift idea.

Availability:

The product is available for $69.95

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Software, Senior Design Engineer Schneider Electric Schneider’s purpose is to empower all to make the most of our energy and resources, bridging progress and sustainability for all. At Schneider, we call this Life Is On. We believe access to energy and digital is a basic human right. Our generation is facing a tectonic shift in energy transition and industrial revolution catalysed by accelerated digitisation in a more electric world. Electricity is the most efficient and best vector for decarbonisation; combined with a circular economy approach, we will achieve a climate-positive impact as part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Location: Bangalore, India Job Description: • Support for the timely deliveries of the Project without compromise on the KPI & Quality Goals.

• Responsible for design and development of new features in the project.

• Analyse and provide right solutions/fixes for the existing issues or defects in the project.

• Should collaborate with other disciplines like verification & validation, quality, and whatever required by the project team.

Essential Responsibilities: • You are comfortable jumping in and quickly getting your “hands dirty” in new and unfamiliar code.

• You have critical and lateral thinking ability.

• You are adept at brainstorming and research.

• You are smart and get things done.

Engineer – Converter Electrical Vestas

Vestas is proud to be the energy industry’s global partner on sustainable energy solutions. We design, manufacture, install, and service wind turbines across the globe, and we have installed more wind power than anyone else. Vestas strives to be the most inclusive workplace in the sustainable energy industry and ensure equal opportunities for everyone regardless of the social identity. We are stronger as a company not despite our differences, but because of them, both professionally and personally. Beyond a diverse workforce, we want to ensure that all of our employees are included and actively contributing to Vestas’ success and innovation. Only then can we become the global leader in sustainable energy solutions and ensure sustainability in everything we do.

Location: Chennai, India.

Job Description: As a Converter Electrical Engineer in “Converter Structure and Integration” sub-module, you will be part of a team of highly skilled R&D engineers located in Denmark, Portugal and Chennai. In our department we are accountable for the structural design of the electrical converter for all onshore and offshore Vestas turbine, has well as the converter integration in Nacelle and its electrical interface design.

Essential Responsibilities: • Power electronic converter circuit analysis and design.

• Analysis, simulation and test of higher-frequency behavior in power electronic.

• Technical Lead of engineering team through new product design.

Eligibility Criteria: • Bachelor’s Degree / Master’s Degree in Engineering in Computer Science/Electrical Engineering/Telecommunication Engineering / M.C.A. • Should have min 6 years of experience in development of front applications by using latest web technologies and web APIs.

Eligibility Criteria: • Bachelor/ Master in Power Electronics / Electrical engineering.

• Experience from power electronics design.

• Experience in working with test and verification of power electronics.

• Good communication skills.

Apply:https://schneiderele.taleo.net/careersection/2/jobdetail. ftl?job=007685&lang=en

Apply: https://careers.vestas.com/job/Chennai-Engineer-ConverterElectrical-600119/711029401/

Project Control Analyst GE Renewable Energy GE (NYSE:GE) rises to the challenge of building a world that works. For more than 125 years, GE has invented the future of industry, and today the company’s dedicated team, leading technology, and global reach and capabilities help the world work more efficiently, reliably, and safely. GE’s people are diverse and dedicated, operating with the highest level of integrity and focus to fulfil GE’s mission and deliver for its customers. www.ge.com Location: Gujarat, India Job Description: Support the Value Chain CFO and the Engineering Executive to follow the Engineering Operational performance, especially in 2 main aspects, Project

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Monthly Reviews and Functional costs (Variable, RTS, R&D).

Essential Responsibilities: •A ssociated to another Engineering Analyst, she/he will have the responsibility to monitor the main Financial KPIs of Engineering.

•D uring Project Monthly Reviews, she/ he will prepare the Finance data using SAP and EMT (Engineering database) according to the methodology already in place; she/he will support the PEMs in its forecast estimate, will document the Cost to Complete estimates and the variation analysis; and liaise properly with Finance OTR to ensure good integration of Engineering estimates in the Project Forecast; she/he will also prepare the Sales

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pacing for the projects.opportunities.

• She/he is responsible of the Closing entries to perform.

• She/he will be responsible to follow the Headcount evolutions of Global Engineering people, and liaise with the CoE to validate properly the Fixed costs Eligibility Criteria: • Diploma from a Business School or University with a Finance dominan.

• Minimum 5 years of experience in a Finance department, with preference in Operational Finance.

• Experience in Team supervision.

Apply: https://jobs.gecareers.com/ renewableenergy/global/en/job/R3593951/ Project-Control-Analyst

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Primed

As Solar Takes Lead, Moment of Reckoning For Wind Energy

For Growth

Firms, both established and start-ups, are racing to profit from the opportunities on the energy front.

Sameer Gupta Chairman & MD Jakson Group

Sandeep Gupta

Vice Chairman & MD Jakson Group

Pranesh Chaudhary Founder and CEO Zunroof

Rahul Kale

Founder Sunpower Renewables

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SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL S E P TE M B E R 2 02 1 SAURENERGY .C O M

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