Leased areas for offshore wind energy projects will be valid for an initial three-year period for conducting resource measurements and surveys, according to the Offshore Wind Energy Lease Rules, 2023, issued by the Ministry of External Affairs. The lease period can be extended by an additional two years. All clearances will be revoked after the five-year lease period expires. The lessee must submit study or survey data to the National Institute of Wind Energy unless it has commenced setting up wind energy capacity as per the lease terms.

Production costs of solar modules saw a 42% drop in China over the past year, settling at $0.15 per watt, providing Chinese manufacturers with a substantial cost advantage over their international counterparts. Wood Mackenzie‘s report, ‘Top of the Charts: Five Low-Carbon Tech Trends Worth Tracking,’ highlights the decline in Chinese solar hardware costs and explores the rapid growth of renewable energy, endeavors to diversify the supply of battery raw materials, advancements in carbon capture and storage, and the increasing adoption of domestic heat pumps.

India-based solar module manufacturer Waaree Energies has announced it will build a 5 GW integrated solar cell and module manufacturing facility in Brookshire in the U.S. The facility is expected to produce 3 GW of solar modules annually by the end of 2024. The company plans to invest up to $1 billion over the next four years to scale the capacity to 5 GW by 2027. The facility will be technology-agnostic, manufacturing both Mono-PERC and TOPCon modules.

Germany awarded 1.96 GW of onshore wind energy in the auction for 2,087 MW conducted by the Federal Network Agency Bundesnetzagentur. In all, 167 bids were received for a cumulative volume of 1,981 MW. Two bids were disqualified. The winning bids in the auction demonstrated a competitive pricing landscape. Prices ranged from €0.588(~$0.64)/kWh to the price ceiling of €0.735 (~$0.81)/kWh. The average volume-weighted bid price settled at €0.731 (~$0.80)/kWh, slightly below the price ceiling and near the previous round’s average of €0.732 (~$0.80)/kWh.

German development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau has signed two loan agreements recently, one with the Indian Ministry of Finance for €130 million (~$142 million) and another with the State Bank of India for €70 million (~$76 million). The funds will be used to expand solar generation capacity under the German–Indian solar partnership. SBI is refinancing loans to investors for solar projects with a total capacity of 180 MW, with the funds committed as part of Phase III.