NTPC Renewable Energy has invited bids for the engineering, procurement, and construction package for a 260 MW grid-connected solar power project in Bikaner, Rajasthan. The scope of work includes design, engineering, manufacturing, supply, packing and forwarding, transportation, unloading storage, installation, testing, and commissioning of the projects, including the supply of solar modules. The selected developer will also be responsible for a three-year operation and maintenance of the project.

Damodar Valley Corporation has invited bids for demarcating the boundary of land owned by it near Barhi, Hazaribagh district, Jharkhand, and conducting a topographical survey and geotechnical investigation to establish a ground-mounted solar power project. With 6,687 MW from thermal and hydropower and 13.9 MW from solar, Damodar Valley Corporation plans to expand with 5,500 MW in renewables and 3,720 MW in supercritical and ultracritical thermal generation.

U.S.-based solar firm SunPower Corp will wind down its SunPower Residential Installation locations, close SunPower Direct sales, and reduce its workforce by about 1,000 employees to rein in costs, according to an internal memo. “I’m writing to share difficult news with you as we implement changes across our organization in the days and week to come,” wrote executive chairman of the board Tim Werner in the memo. Werner, who had previously served as CEO for nearly two decades, attributed the restricting to prolonged market recovery and improving financial controls.

Global solar manufacturing capacity under construction indicates an increase of 330 GW in 2023 to almost 800 GW – triple the 2021 level, according to the International Energy Agency. This surplus in capacity is projected to more than double the forecast installations for 2023, creating a significant supply surplus.

India could become the world’s third-largest market for utility-scale batteries, with capacity additions expected to rise to 9 GW by 2030, fuelled by the cost competitiveness for solar photovoltaics coupled with battery storage, according to a recent report from the International Energy Agency. The rapidly declining cost of utility-scale batteries is a driving force behind the solar-plus-storage surge.

Renewable energy company BluPine Energy has secured the debt financing of ₹4.18 billion (~$50.1 million) from HDFC Bank for its 120 MW solar power project in Sadla, Gujarat. The company won the project in Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam’s auction to supply solar power projects (Tranche XVIII) in January 2023. BluPine had won 50 MW in the initial auction for 500 MW solar projects at ₹2.52 (~$0.0302)/kWh and later received additional greenshoe capacity.

AdaniConneX, a data center solutions provider and a joint venture between Adani Enterprises and EdgeConneX, has established sustainability-linked financing to raise $1.44 billion to fund its renewable-powered data centers and enable digital infrastructure growth in the country. The company said the upcoming data center facilities would leverage technologies and renewable energy solutions to minimize the ecological footprint while optimizing operational efficiency.

Researchers have developed a high-energy, high-power hybrid sodium-ion battery that can be a viable alternative to lithium-ion batteries. Led by Jeung Ku Kang, a team from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has found a way to enhance sodium-ion hybrid energy storage systems through an innovative hybrid energy storage system that integrates anode and cathode materials.