The West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company has invited bids to build a 10 MW solar power project on a turnkey basis along the Teesta Canal bank in Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal. The last date for bid submission is March 7, 2024. Bids will be opened on March 11. The tender is for the procurement, fabrication, galvanization, installation, and fixing of steel structures, solar modules, array junction boxes, surge protection devices, and lightning arrestors.

The Ministry of Power has declared that the central pools for solar power and solar-wind hybrid power have begun operations from February 15, 2024. Any interstate transmission system connected solar and solar-wind hybrid capacity bid after this date will fall under their corresponding pools. The operation of these pools will follow a first-in, first-out approach. This means that projects receiving their letter of award first will be included and sold first within their respective pools.

Government-owned power transmission utility Power Grid Corporation of India has approved investments in two projects totaling ₹6.5 billion (~$79.03 million). The company’s board of directors greenlit an investment of ₹5.1 billion (~$62.03 million) for the implementation of a unified load dispatch and communication phase-III supervisory control and data acquisitions systems and energy management systems upgradation project at northern state load dispatch centers. The project is expected to be commissioned by the end of 2025.

The Electricity Department of Daman and Diu has floated a tender for the enhancement of 2.56 MWdc capacity at an existing 6 MWdc solar power project and the enhancement of 4.91 MWdc capacity at a 3 MWdc solar power project in Diu. Bidders must submit an earnest money deposit of ₹5 million (~$60,229). The successful bidder must submit a performance bank guarantee equivalent to 10% of the contract value. The last date for the submission of bids is February 27, 2024. Bids will be opened on February 29.

NTPC Renewable Energy has invited bids to unload and store solar modules of a total capacity of 631.28 MW for the Bhadla II solar park at the 320 MW Bhainsara project site in Rajasthan. The storage period will be six months with a two-month extension provision. The last day to submit the bids is February 20, 2024. Bids will be opened on the same day. Bidders must submit an earnest money deposit of ₹500,000 (~$6,023).

Fuel cell manufacturer Bloom Energy, in the fourth quarter of 2023, recorded a revenue of $357 million, marking a 22.8% year-over-year (YoY) decline from $462.6 million, impacted mainly due to a drop in product sales during the quarter. The product and service revenue for the same period in 2023 totaled $314.4 million, reflecting a decrease of 21.4% YoY in comparison to the $400.2 million. The company recorded a net profit of ₹4.12 million (~$49,645), improving from the net loss of ₹ 50.78 million (~$611,916).

Bharat Petroleum Corporation has invited bids to set up a green hydrogen plant and refueling station at the 100% solar-powered Cochin International Airport in Kochi, Kerala. The last date to submit bids is March 1, 2024. Bids will be opened on the same day. The proposed facility, to be used to refuel hydrogen buses, will have the capacity to produce 100 normal cubic meters per hour (Nm3/hr) of green hydrogen using a 500-kW electrolyzer system. It must also have the provision to expand up to 200 Nm3 /h.

Researchers at the International Solar Energy Research Center Konstanz and the Delft University of Technology have found a way to pattern the rear end of an Interdigitated Back Contact (IBC) cell to enhance the efficiency of the solar cells by making some parts of it thicker. The researchers developed a novel technique to pattern the backside or the rear end of IBC solar cells through a laser doping process, which enhances oxidation in selected areas.

Corporations announced a record 46 GW of solar and wind contracts in 2023, with a 12% year-over-year increase from 41 GW in 2022, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s Corporate Energy Market outlook for the first half of fiscal year 2024. Companies’ clean energy goals drove these record contracts. The record increase in contracts was fueled by companies’ commitments to clean energy goals. In 2023, 45% or 20.9 GW of power purchase agreements were announced in the Americas, with Europe following with 33% or 15.4 GW.