The Ministry of Power, in a recent amendment to the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020, has directed state commissions to ensure the tariff for solar hours (the duration of eight hours in a day) must be at least 20% lower than the normal tariff for all consumer categories (except agricultural consumers). The Ministry amended the rules to introduce provisions for Time-of-Day (ToD) tariffs and regulations around smart and prepaid meter usage for consumers. The amended rules came into effect on June 14, 2023. The Ministry has introduced the concept of ToD tariffs to promote efficient energy usage.

ILIOS Power, a Telangana-based solar project developer, has won an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) and operation and maintenance (O&M) contract from Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) for 6.9 MW floating solar power projects in Kerala. The company quoted ₹486 million (~$5.9 million) for the EPC and O&M works. The total contract price, including GST, will be ₹554 million (~$6.7 million). The projects will be developed in the rainwater harvesting pond and shore tank farm in the Kochi refinery of BPCL. According to ILIOS, this is one of India’s first floating solar projects on the seashore in salty waters.

The Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam has floated a tender for developing 82.94 MW of grid-connected solar power projects under Component ‘C’ of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyaan program for feeder polarization. The projects will be developed using the Renewable Energy Service Company model and located in Nagaur, Sikar, Chittorgarh, Dungarpur, and Rajsamand circles in Rajasthan. The developer must provide a remote monitoring system and operation and maintenance of the projects for 25 years.

TagEnergy, a global renewable developer and investor, has closed a dual currency (Australian Dollar and Euro) green bond raising €570 million (~$623 million). The bond issuance, with investors Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and GIC, is expected to provide crucial support for expanding TagEnergy’s renewable energy portfolio across the UK, Europe, and Australia. The initial tranche of €270 million (~$295 million) will contribute to the funding of the first stage of the 1.3 GW Golden Plains Wind Farm.

The capacity of the clean hydrogen market is expected to expand to 170 million tons (MT) of hydrogen by 2030 and reach 600 MT by 2050, according to Deloitte’s 2023 Global Green Hydrogen Outlook. It is estimated that over $9 trillion in cumulative investments will be required in the global hydrogen supply chain, with developing economies accounting for $3.1 trillion of this investment. The decline in spending on oil and gas, if redirected toward clean hydrogen, could easily help achieve the required financing.

ESS Tech, a leading manufacturer of long-duration energy storage systems, and Germany-based energy provider LEAG have partnered to construct a 50 MW/500 MWh iron flow battery system at the Boxberg power plant site in Germany. Estimated to cost an initial €200 million (~$218 million), the project aims to accelerate the clean energy transition by combining renewable generation with long-duration energy storage using ESS’s innovative iron flow battery technology.

Over the past six months, new-build offshore wind and storage project costs have experienced 2% and 12% reductions, respectively, according to BloombergNEF (BNEF). Additionally, the global benchmark costs for onshore wind have decreased by 6% over the past year, remaining stable since the second half of 2022. Another notable finding from BNEF’s analysis is the levelized cost of electricity for offshore wind that has reached parity with coal, marking the lowest level since data collection began in 2009.