Author Archives: Shaurya Bajaj
About Shaurya Bajaj
Shaurya is a staff reporter at MercomIndia.com with experience working in the Indian solar energy industry for the past four years in various roles. Prior to joining Mercom, Shaurya worked with a renewable energy developer and a consulting company. Shaurya holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Management from Lancaster University in the United Kingdom.
Privatizing DISCOMs the Way Out of their Financial Mess
The Indian power sector has been reeling under enormous financial pressure over the last few decades. Distribution companies (DISCOMs), a crucial part of the power sector, have been at the ...
First Loss Protection Can Open up Third-Party Rooftop Solar Market
The rooftop solar market slowed down significantly in 2019 along with regulatory hurdles and the overall downturn in the economy – it has yet to recover. Because of the liquidity ...
PFC Tenders Transmission Systems for 2.5 GW of Wind Projects in Tamil Nadu
PFC Consulting, a subsidiary of Power Finance Corporation, has issued a tender for shortlisting transmission service providers. These service providers will help develop transmission systems for the evacuation of 2.5 ...
Letter of Credit Has not Been Effective as Payment Security for Solar Developers
To tackle the risks related to delays in payments to independent power producers, the Ministry of Power (MoP) recently mandated state-owned distribution companies (DISCOMs) to issue a letter of credit ...
Andhra High Court Stays APERC’s Public Hearing to Revise Solar Tariffs
The Andhra Pradesh high court has stayed the notice issued by the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) for public hearings to revise solar tariffs. The APERC was expected to ...
Traded Volumes of Solar RECs Witness 45% Decline in November 2019
In the November 2019 renewable energy certificate (REC) trading session, there was a significant decrease in the number of solar and non-solar RECs that were traded when compared with the ...
Solar Tender, Auction & Commissioning Delays Causing Liquidity Issues for Developers
According to several solar developers Mercom interacted with recently, there was unanimous agreement that the cost of participating in large-scale solar tenders has reduced their ability to actively bid for ...
RBI Relaxes External Commercial Borrowing Norms to Benefit Solar & Wind Companies
In January 2019, National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI) wrote to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to carve out a special category to allow External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) ...
New Guidelines Restrict Short-term Equity Investment in Solar Projects
In an amendment to the competitive bidding guidelines for procuring power from grid-connected solar PV projects, issued by the MNRE in July 2019, it was noted that the project developers need to maintain a controlling shareholding of 51% in the SPV or project company executing the PPA. ...
Andhra Pradesh Amends its Solar, Wind and Hybrid Policy – Pulls Back Incentives
The government of Andhra Pradesh has issued a notification amending the state’s policy for wind, solar, and wind-solar hybrid projects, taking away some vital incentives from the renewable generators. The ...
Tariff Adoption Delays are Hurting Investments and Jobs in the Solar Sector
According to Section 63 of the Electricity Act 2003, authorities such as the state electricity regulatory commissions (SERCs) are expected to adopt tariffs that have been discovered through a transparent ...
No ISTS Charges for Solar and Wind Projects Commissioned by December 2022
The Ministry of Power (MoP) has announced that interstate transmission system (ISTS) charges and losses on the transmission of electricity generated from solar and wind energy projects will be waived ...
Solar Power Generation Dipped in the Third Quarter of 2019 By Nearly 14%
Solar power generation numbers declined by 14% quarter over quarter (QoQ) in the third (Q3) quarter of 2019. Solar power generation in India stood at 10,530 million units (MUs), according ...
Solar Now Accounts for 9.2% of India’s Total Installed Power Capacity
In the quarter ending September 2019, India’s total renewable energy capacity (including large hydro) stood at 130.68 GW. This translates into approximately 35.7% of the total installed power capacity in ...
Solar MSMEs are Not Benefiting from Safeguard Duty and Domestic Content Rules
Over the past year and a half, the government has launched several policy measures to support the domestic solar manufacturing industry — these range from the imposition of a safeguard ...
October’s Solar REC Trading Sees Record High Price of ₹2,400
In October’s renewable energy certificate (REC) trading session, there was an increase in the number of solar and non-solar RECs that were traded compared with the trading activity recorded in ...
Solar Inverter Supplier Ginlong Reports 82% Jump in Revenue During Q3 2019
String solar inverter supplier, Ginlong Technologies, has reported revenues of $52 million in the third quarter (Q3) of the calendar year 2019 compared to Q3 2018. This jump in revenue ...
MNRE’s New Solar Bidding Guidelines Say No Power Backdown Without Formal Instructions
To expedite and streamline the process of developing solar projects, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued amendments to its guidelines for the competitive bidding process. The ...
Economic Slowdown Has Taken a Toll on Indian Rooftop Solar Market: Solis Interview
In August 2019, Mercom reported that in the first half of the year, the top five solar inverter manufacturers in China accounted for 36.44% of inverter exports globally from China ...
ReNew, Avaada, UPC Renewables & Tata Power are Winners in the 960 MW SECI Auction
The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has awarded 960 MW of inter-state transmission system (ISTS-VI) connected solar projects in a recently concluded auction. The auction winners included ReNew Power ...
Gujarat Files Petition to Purchase Surplus Solar Power from MSMEs at ₹1.75/kWh
The Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) recently filed a petition with the Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) to get the tariff approved for purchasing surplus solar power generated by ...
Maharashtra Releases Draft Regulation for Tariff Determination of Renewable Projects
The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) has issued the draft version for its tariff determination regulation order for renewable projects that are commissioned in the state for the generation and ...
Price Competition Translates into Technological Competition: Growatt Interview
For solar project developers in the country, the decision to choose one inverter over the other is becoming increasingly difficult, given the rapid expansion of the segment, and numerous entrants ...
North-East India Continues to Have the Highest Power Supply Deficit in First Half of FY20
India’s power supply deficit stood at 0.5% during the six months between April and September 2019, according to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA). During these six months, 683,389 million units ...
Maharashtra’s Draft Policy Sets Solar RPO Target at 4.5% for 2020-21
The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) has issued a draft policy announcing its renewable purchase obligation (RPO) from 2020 to 2025. The solar RPO targets mentioned in the policy draft ...
