India generated around 95.15 billion units (BU) of solar power in the calendar year (CY) 2022, a 38% increase compared to 68.77 BU generated last year. Solar generation has seen continuous positive growth since 2018. The increase in overall solar power generation is due to new capacity additions during the year. Solar power generation during the fourth quarter of 2022 was 24.91 BU, a rise of 46% year-over-year from 17.1 BU. The generation was up by 10% quarter-over-quarter from 22.6 BU.

Sprng Energy, ib vogt, Hinduja Renewables, and Solarcraft Power India 9 (Blupine Energy) have won Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam’s (GUVNL) auction to supply power from 500 MW of grid-connected solar power projects (Tranche XVIII) with a greenshoe option of an additional 500 MW. Sprng Energy won 200 MW by quoting ₹2.51 (~$0.031)/kWh. ib vogt, Hinduja, and Blupine won 130 MW, 120 MW, and 50 MW, respectively, at ₹2.52 (~$0.031)/kWh.

Rajasthan Urja Vikas Nigam (RUVNL) has invited bids to set up 1,500 MW of interstate transmission system (ISTS)-connected wind-solar hybrid power projects anywhere in India with required storage for distribution companies (DISCOMs) to have flexibility in scheduling of power. The last date to submit the bids is February 28, 2023. Bids will be opened on March 3.

The Economic Survey 2022-23, which was tabled in the Parliament today ahead of the budget sessions, said that India has become a popular investment destination for renewables over the last few years. It said that between 2014 and 2021, the country attracted a total investment of $78.1 billion in the renewable energy sector. Investment in renewables remained close to or exceeded $10 billion annually since 2016, except for a dip in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Company (IHC) has said it would invest AED1.4 billion ($400 million) through its subsidiary Green Transmission Investment Holding into the Follow-on Public Offer (FPO) of Adani Enterprises. Adani’s $2.5 billion FPO, which closes on January 31, received a lukewarm response when it opened, but IHC’s investment announcement has come as a shot in the arm for the Indian multinational conglomerate. The Adani Group plans to use part of the proceeds from the FPO to fund its clean energy initiatives, including green hydrogen projects.

Even as power purchase agreement (PPA) prices increased, corporations in the United States procured nearly 20 GW of clean energy in 2022. Cumulatively, 326 companies contracted 77.4 GW of clean energy by the end of 2022. Of this, 36 GW is operational, making up 16% of the total operational clean energy capacity in the U.S.

The Ministry of Power has proposed to expand the security-constrained economic dispatch (SCED) program by including more state-owned thermal projects, which would run on a day-ahead basis. The program also intends to include intra-state thermal power stations. The objective of SCED is to minimize the total generation cost while ensuring the reliability of the power system.

CSI Solar, a wholly owned subsidiary of solar module maker Canadian Solar, has entered a multi-year investment agreement with the municipal government of Yangzhou City in Jiangsu Province of China for capacity additions across the company’s solar and battery storage supply chain. Through the agreement, CSI Solar aims to add vertically integrated high-efficiency wafer, cell, and module capacity, along with battery system manufacturing capacity, in the clean energy manufacturing industrial park of Yangzhou.

IndiGrid, the Indian power sector’s first infrastructure investment trust (InvIT), said its profit jumped 27% year-over-year (YoY) to ₹1.19 billion (~$14.59 million) in the third quarter (Q3) of the financial year (FY) 2023. The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Harsh Shah, attributed the performance to robust operations and steady acquisitions, which would help the firm meet its FY23 distribution guidance of ₹13.20 (~$0.162) per unit.

ST Telemedia, Global Data Centers India (STT GDC India) said it will buy power through open access under the captive mode from O2 Power, a subsidiary of O2 Energy SG. The company will use the power to run its data centers in Bengaluru, Karnataka. O2 Power will supply renewable energy from its wind-solar hybrid project of 201.1 MW in Karnataka.

Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) said that they have produced perovskite solar cells to achieve efficiencies of well above 24%, which are resistant to drop under rapid temperature fluctuations between -60 and +80 degrees Celsius over one hundred cycles. The experiment findings correspond to about one year of outdoor use.