MERCOM INDIA SOLAR FORUM 2021
Introduction to the Forum
Duration: 5 mins
Solar’s Dominant Role in India’s Transition: Market Outlook 2030
India is targeting 100 GW of solar installations by 2022 and has a longer-term target of deploying 450 GW of renewables, with Solar making up 300 GW of that goal. Cumulative solar installations stand at 43 GWs, requiring solar to be installed at a rate of approximately 28 GW a year until 2030.
These goals create an appealing long-term market as India transitions towards renewables. However, a clear roadmap is yet to be laid out, and renewable purchase obligation targets beyond 2022 are unclear. A clear roadmap with yearly milestones can make the market even more attractive to investors and ESG funds and bring hundreds of billions in new investments. The panel will discuss ways to deploy solar and the investments it will take to meet these ambitious targets.
Duration: 50 mins
Suman Sharma
Managing Director
SECI
Aditya Aggarwal
CEO
Global Infrastructure Partners Singapore
Raj Prabhu
CEO
Mercom Capital Group
Deepak Malhotra
Senior Director, Infrastructure
CDPQ
Networking Break
Duration: 60 mins
Moving Towards a Domestic Manufacturing Base With Sustainable Demand
The government’s call for Make in India, the production-linked incentive plan, and duties and restrictions on imports have collectively boosted solar manufacturing in India. We have seen a flood of announcements from companies building new manufacturing capacities or scaling existing ones. The Indian government has embarked on creating a massive manufacturing ecosystem. From polysilicon to modules, vertical integration will need billions of dollars in investment. Creating an ecosystem is just the start. Success will also depend on technology upgrades, consistency in supplies, quality, and competitive pricing. As supply increases, the government needs to ensure enough projects are auctioned every year to avoid a supply-demand imbalance.
The panel discussion will revolve around the feasibility of the domestic manufacturing initiative, market opportunity, and the plans of stakeholders to establish a market within the country, as well as export opportunities. We will speak to companies that have made their manufacturing plans known to understand their growth forecast, plans, and investments.
Duration: 50 mins
Amitesh Kumar Sinha
Joint Secretary
MNRE
Sujoy Ghosh
Vice President & Country Managing Director
First Solar
Ramesh Nair
CEO
Adani Solar
Manjunatha D V
Managing Director
EMMVEE
Lunch / Networking Break
Duration: 30 mins
Open Access Solar – an Ideal Solution to Reduce Carbon Footprint and Operating Costs for C&I Entities
Commercial and industrial (C&I) customers are increasingly opting for open access solar to reduce operating costs and the carbon footprint of their facilities. Initially, the market was driven by a mandate to meet part of the energy consumption from clean sources, but now it just makes business sense to go solar.
Businesses are also driven by 100% renewable energy goals and ESG initiatives. While demand has accelerated, regulatory inconsistencies and unpredictability have proved to be the main obstacle. DISCOMs, fearing the loss of their best customers, are introducing regulatory hurdles and new charges making open access challenging, expensive, and in turn, curbing demand. The panel discussion will bring opinions from developers, consumers, facility owners, and new ideas and suggestions to make open access favorable to all.
Duration: 50 mins
Naveen Vunnam
CEO
Ilios Power
Johnny N Christo
Regional Manager – Energy & Utilities
GSC, Intel
Sarathi Ghosh
Divisional Manager, Center of Excellence – RE
ITC LIMITED
Sindhu Sharma
Lead – Energy Management
Nxtra by Airtel
Networking Break
Duration: 15 mins
Rooftop Solar – Demand is Up Despite Policy Restrictions
India’s solar energy deployment goals cannot be met by large-scale projects alone as land becomes a scarce commodity. Rooftop solar is an obvious choice in a country with severe transmission issues. However, rooftop solar is mired in regulatory and policy gridlock.
Net metering, gross metering, net billing… regulations are inconsistent and can be interpreted different ways by state entities. While the rules are made at the center, states are reluctant to implement them as they fear losing customers.
The segment has crossed the hurdle of creating awareness, and the demand, especially in the C&I segment, is high, and the costs are down. But regulatory hurdles are plaguing the segment. Stakeholders and regulators will share their thoughts and recommendations to create a path for rooftop solar and a way forward to meet the demand for consumers wanting to go green.
Duration: 50 mins
J J Gandhi
Chief Engineer (Technical)
PGVCL
Ravinder Singh
Chief – Solar Rooftop Business
Tata Power
Lakshminarayanan Sankaran
Vice President – E&M
Bangalore International Airport Limited
Honey Raza
Head – Sales India
Ginlong Technologies
Networking Break
Duration: 15 mins
Large-Scale Project Development – Growth Strategies for an Evolving Market
Large-scale projects largely drive the solar sector in India. The pandemic has added to the difficulties for developers with rising component prices, supply chain disruptions, infrastructure, and regulatory bottlenecks. With the government’s push to procure domestically manufactured components, developers face the added challenge of procuring a large capacity of the latest technology modules at competitive rates.
On the demand side, tender and auction activity has dipped lately, along with a growing backlog of unsigned power sale agreements. For developers, there are not enough projects right now to build and scale. With investor appetite growing, the expectation is for SECI to roll out auctions quickly and consistently to meet the government targets of 100 GW by 2022 and 300 GW by 2030. The discussion will tackle both supply and demand challenges and strategies for growth. Experts will discuss their experiences and provide solutions to wade through these challenges.
Duration: 50 mins
Dilip Nigam
Adviser
MNRE
Manu Srivastava
Principal Secretary (Former)
New & Renewable Energy Department – Govt of Madhya Pradesh
Rajesh Shrivastava
Chief Operating Officer
Adani Renewables
Ashish Upadhyay
Chief Operating Officer
Belectric Photovoltaic India
Networking Break
Duration: 15 mins
A Look at India’s Solar Supply Chain and Sourcing Strategies
The production-linked incentive program by the government of India has spurred investments into the vertical integration of module manufacturing. From polysilicon to module manufacturing, the maximum incentive is for companies offering to integrate fully. There are also a large number of new module capacities along with an expansion of existing capacity in the works.
From solar glass to EVA back sheets, how are companies planning to source raw materials, manage the supply chain, and sudden increase in demand? Panelists will discuss details of their strategies and ideas to overcome challenges.
Developers will bring their perspective on purchasing strategies based on product availability, technology, quality, and price.
Duration: 50 mins
Gaurav Sood
CEO
Sprng Energy
Pradeep Kumar M
Managing Director- India & Sri Lanka Business
LONGi
Ritudhwaj Singh
Country Manager, India
Targray
Rahul Khatri
Sales and Business Development Leader – South Asia
DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions