Author Archives: Rakesh Ranjan
About Rakesh Ranjan
Rakesh is a staff reporter at Mercom India. Prior to joining Mercom, he worked in many roles as a business correspondent, assistant editor, senior content writer, and sub-editor with bcfocus.com, CIOReview/Silicon India, Verbinden Communication, and Bangalore Bias. Rakesh holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). More articles from Rakesh Ranjan.
Manipur Invites Bids for 100 MW of Solar Projects With Ceiling Tariff of ₹3/kWh
Manipur Renewable Energy Development Agency (MANIREDA), an autonomous agency under the state's power department, has invited bids to develop 100 MW of grid-connected solar power projects at Jiribam in Manipur ...
Bihar Reissues Tender to Develop 250 MW of Solar Projects
The Bihar Renewable Energy Development Agency (BREDA) has reissued the tender for the procurement of 250 MW of power from grid-connected solar power projects. Interested bidders will have to submit ...
Gujarat’s New Solar Policy Incentivizes Captive and Rooftop Solar Projects
The Gujarat government has announced the new 'Gujarat Solar Power Policy 2021' with incentives for residential, commercial, and industrial rooftop solar developers. The policy will be valid until December 31, ...
Kerala DISCOM Seeks Regulatory Approval to Purchase Solar Power from SECI at ₹2.66/kWh
The Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) has directed the Kerala State Electricity Board Limited (KSEB) and the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to proceed with the procurement of ...
Coal India to Set Up Integrated Solar Wafer Manufacturing Facility
Coal India Limited (CIL) has received approval from its board to venture into the solar power value chain and aluminum value chain. In a BSE filing, the coal giant said ...
2020 A Look Back: Developments that Shaped the Solar Sector
2020 took off with high expectations, with Mercom projecting over 8 GW in solar installations for the year right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. After the lockdown in March, development ...
Uttar Pradesh Approves Tariffs for 72 MW of Solar Projects by Sukhbir Agro and NTPC
The Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) has adopted a tariff of ₹3.02 (~$0.040)/kWh for NTPC’s two solar projects of 20 MW each. These two projects are located at Itawah ...
Solar Developers Seek Center’s Help for Payment Release by Andhra DISCOMs
The National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI) has requested the Union Power Minister, R.K. Singh, for the release of payments by the Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and REC Limited ...
Reasons Behind the Record Low Solar Bid of ₹1.99/kWh in the Gujarat Solar Auction
The recent auction by Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) (Phase XI) for 500 MW of solar projects set a new record for the lowest tariff an auction in India ...
Torrent Power Reissues Tender for Purchasing 300 MW of Solar in Gujarat
Torrent Power Limited has reissued the tender for the purchase of up to 300 MW of power from grid-connected solar projects in Gujarat. The last date to submit the bids ...
Tamil Nadu Regulator Clarifies Billing Mechanism for Rooftop Solar Prosumers
The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) has issued draft amendments to the Electricity Supply Code 2004 for bi-directional meter billing for rooftop solar systems. Stakeholders can submit their comments ...
Insurance Premium in the US Solar Market Up by 400% in the Last Two Years
Property and casualty insurance premiums have increased by nearly 400% in the solar market over the last two years in the United States, and some types of coverage may not ...
Goa Energy Development Agency Invites Bids for Setting up a Biomass Briquetting Project
The Goa Energy Development Agency (GEDA) has invited bids to set up a 2,000 kg/HR biomass briquetting project at Saligao, Bardez in Goa. A briquette is a compressed block of any biomass ...
Solar Federation Requests for Time to Submit Bids for Andhra Pradesh’s 6.4 GW Tender
The National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI) has requested the Andhra Pradesh Green Energy Corporation Limited (APGECL) to extend the bid submission deadline for its recent tender for 6.4 ...
BHEL Invites Bids for Multicrystalline & Mono PERC Solar Cells from Local Manufacturers
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), a government undertaking, has invited bids for the supply of 6,568,000 multicrystalline and monocrystalline passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) solar cells. The bids are ...
BESCOM Plans to Install Over 1 GW of Rooftop Solar Systems, Seeks Consultant
The Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) has invited bids to engage a consultancy firm for demand aggregation and implementation of 1.06 GW of grid-connected rooftop solar systems. The last ...
DGTR Imposes Countervailing Duty of 9.71% on Solar Glass Imports from Malaysia
The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has imposed a countervailing duty at 9.71% of the cost, insurance, and freight (CIF) value for five years ...
IndiGrid to Acquire Two Solar Projects in Andhra Pradesh from Spain’s Fotowatio Renewable
IndiGrid Investment Managers Limited announced that it had signed a securities purchase agreement to acquire two solar projects of capacity 50 MW each from Madrid-based developer Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV), FRV Solar ...
Top Five Funding Deals of 2020 in the Indian Solar Market [Infographics]
After a sluggish start to the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, activity in the solar sector picked up in the third quarter (Q3) of 2020, ...
Gujarat’s 500 MW Auction Sets A New Record Low Solar Tariff of ₹1.99/kWh
The Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited's (GUVNL) (Phase XI) auction for 500 MW of solar projects has set a new record. In this auction, the lowest (L1) tariff reached ₹1.99 ...
A New Solid-State Lithium Battery That Can Increase the Range of Electric Vehicles by 80%
The rise of electric vehicles (EVs) in the last few years has been phenomenal. One of the impediments holding back the broader adoption of EVs is the performance of batteries ...
MNRE Issues Specifications for Lithium Batteries Used in Off-Grid Solar Applications
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has released the requirements for solar street lights and solar study lamps specifying minimum performance parameters for lithium batteries. The ministry has ...
Ayana Renewable Raises $390 Million in Equity Funding
Bangalore-based renewable energy platform Ayana Renewable Power Private Limited has raised $390 million (~₹28.6 billion) in the latest round of funding. The CDC Group-UK’s development finance institution, National Investment and ...
Indonesia Invites Bids for Solar and Bioenergy Projects
Indonesia's state-owned public utility, Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), has invited bids from developers for solar and bioenergy (biomass and biogas) projects in the country. The bidders will have to meet ...
Tamil Nadu Commission Dismisses NSEFI’s Plea for Rollover of Banked Renewable Energy
The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) dismissed the National Solar energy Federation of India's (NSEFI) request to allow rollover of banked energy from open access projects under the captive ...
