Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu emerged as the top states for solar open access installations in 2022, according to the 2022 Q4 & Annual Mercom India Solar Open Access Market Report. However, the growth was mainly driven by captive and group captive models. The third-party open access model has failed to take off in these states because of the high open access charges, which include cross-subsidy surcharge and additional surcharge.

The Government of India will auction the 5.9 million tons of lithium reserves found in Jammu and Kashmir’s (J&K) Reasi district in December this year, the Secretary of the Ministry of Mines Vivek Bharadwaj said. The Secretary was quoted by ANI news agency saying that the ministry has written to the J&K administration seeking a transaction advisor for the auction.

Adani Green Energy’s revenue grew by 89% year-over-year (YoY) to ₹21.3 billion (~$261 million) for Q4 of FY 2022-2023 on the back of higher energy sales and renewable capacity addition. The company sold 4,642 MU of energy during the last quarter of the financial year, up 56% YoY. The sales include 2,872 MU of solar, followed by 428 MU of wind and 1,342 MU of solar-wind hybrid.

Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency has invited bids to provide electric vehicle fleet services for 300 EVs on an own, operate, and maintain basis. The contractors must provide a comprehensive free annual maintenance contract for five years. Electric cars should carry a warranty of five years against any manufacturing defect. The car batteries, too, should have a free replacement warranty of up to five years or 100,000 kilometers, whichever is earlier. The last date to submit the bids online is May 31, 2023. Bids will be opened on June 2, 2023.

Gujarat-based solar module manufacturer Navitas Solar has secured $5 million in funding, which will be used to increase its manufacturing capacity by 1.2 GW. The funding round involved the participation of a group of high-net-worth individuals (HNIs) who were advised by RSM-Lemon Consultech. The lead investors in the round were the promoters of Parishi Diamond Group, who acted as the anchor investor and contributed over 50% of the total funding. Lemon Emerging Ventures LLP and other HNI investors also participated in the funding round.

The current and future trends in EV adoption was one of the topics industry insiders discussed at the ‘Mercom India Renewables Summit 2023,’ an exclusive event held on April 26-27 in New Delhi. At a session titled ‘Electric Vehicles – The Next Big Source of Renewable Power Demand‘ on April 27, panelists discussed ways to speed up the growth of electric vehicle infrastructure in the country. The panel featured Joseph Teja, Public Policy Analyst at NITI Aayog, Abhishek Dabas, CEO of Gentari Green Mobility India, and Awadhesh Kumar Jha, Executive Director at Fortum Charge & Drive India.

At a session titled ‘Financing Renewables – Where is the money coming from?’ scheduled for April 27, 2023, panelists shared information and opinions on financing avenues for projects, new manufacturing facilities, expansion, products, and startups. The panel included P K Sinha, ED (Projects) at PFC; Hitesh Paliwal, Sr VP & Zonal Head, North Zone Corporate Banking Group at SBI; Akhil Dokania, Director at Avendus and Sandeep Upadhyay, Managing Director at Centrum Capital.

Global investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) will invest $250 million in Serentica Renewables to help ramp up its clean energy portfolio and provide energy transition solutions to industries. This latest investment builds on the $400 million investment from KKR last November. Serentica Renewables is owned by KKR and Twinstar Overseas, which also has controlling stakes in Sterlite Power Transmission and Sterlite Technologies.

China-based cell and module manufacturer Jinko Solar’s net income surged 155% YoY to RMB836.4 million ($121.8 million) for Q1 of FY 2023, primarily on higher module shipments. The company’s module shipments for the January-March quarter increased 62.3% to over 13 GW compared to about 8 GW YoY. The company’s overall shipments, including modules, cells, and wafers, increased by 73% YoY to 14,490 MW.

China-based photovoltaic-grade polysilicon manufacturer Daqo New Energy Corporation reported a net income of $278.8 million in the Q1 of FY 2023, corresponding to a 48% YoY decline, primarily due to lower demand along with lower average selling price (ASP) for its products. Daqo polysilicon sales volume for the first quarter declined by nearly 35% YoY to 25,284 metric tons. The company said that ASP for polysilicon stood at $27.83/kg in Q1 2023, compared to $37.41/kg in Q4 2022. However, the company did not disclose the YoY comparison.

U.S. lawmakers have voted to overturn President Joe Biden’s decision to suspend tariffs on solar panels from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, countries that together provide most of the panels used in the United States. However, the White House has announced that Biden will veto congressional attempts to overturn his decision to waive solar import tariffs for the four Southeast Asian nations, Reuters reported.