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Daily News Wrap-Up: APTEL Criticizes MERC for Denying Petitioner Relief

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					</table><a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/gujarat-bids-consultant-1-5-gw-floating-solar-park" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gujarat State Electricity Corporation has invited bids to appoint a consultant to prepare a feasibility report and detailed project report to set up a 1,500 MW floating solar park in the Tapi</a> district. The last date to submit the bids online is June 1, 2023. Bids will be opened on the same day.
<a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/indian-solar-module-makers-must-revise-cost-and-become-competitive-interview" target="_blank" rel="noopener">With expanding scale of domestic module manufacturing, the industry is incentivized to develop indigenous technologies and know-how, which China currently dominates, Puneet Gupta, Chief Technology Officer at Adani Solar</a>, commented on the sidelines of the Mercom India Renewable Summit 2023. Gupta added that Indian module manufacturers need to reduce their costs to sustain the current surge in exports to the U.S., primarily driven by the extant geopolitical circumstances.
<a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/what-ci-need-to-installing-rooftop-solar-panels" target="_blank" rel="noopener">It has become apparent that solar energy will play an essential part in the future of India, and C&amp;I customers across the country are debating whether the reward is worth the investment.</a> Rooftop solar has been gaining popularity among C&amp;I companies because of the promise that it reduces energy costs significantly. Plus, they hope they can profit from the surplus energy by injecting it back into the grid through metering arrangements.
<a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/government-to-develop-carbon-credit-certificates" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Union government plans to develop the Indian carbon market with a national framework to decarbonize the country’s economy through the trading of carbon credit certificates.</a> The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Ministry of Power, and Ministry of Environment, Forest, &amp; Climate Change are jointly developing a Carbon Credit Trading program.
<a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/madhya-pradesh-guidelines-pumped-hydro" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Madhya Pradesh has released guidelines to promote the development of pumped hydro storage projects in the state</a>. These guidelines clarify the methods for allotment of project sites, tax waivers, and project completion timelines. The state has a significant potential of 11.2 GW for pumped hydro storage projects, which can be further increased by developing off-river closed-loop pumped storage projects and retrofitting existing hydropower projects.
<a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/philippines-610-mw-floating-solar-project" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Blueleaf Energy and SunAsia Energy have been awarded contracts by the Philippine government to construct and manage what is claimed to be the world’s largest floating solar project with a </a>combined capacity of 610.5 MW. The move is viewed as a milestone in the country’s energy sector with the issuance of Solar Energy Operating Contracts by the Department of Energy for a cumulative capacity of 1.3 GW in floating solar projects.
<a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/energy-storage-fluence-cuts-q2-loss-higher-deployments" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Energy storage technology and services provider Fluence’s net loss narrowed to $37.4 million for the second quarter (Q2) of the financial year 2023 from a loss of $60.7 million in Q2 2022 </a>on the back of increased deployments of energy storage solutions. Higher energy storage deployments increased Fluence’s revenue by 104% year-over-year (YoY) to $698 million. The company said the revenue growth was also due to a few projects ahead of schedule.
<a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/us-coal-capacity-fall-2050" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The capacity of coal-fired power plants in the United States could reduce by ~88% from the 2022 levels by 2050, as environmental regulations raise costs and new plants powered by</a> natural gas and renewable energy displace the aging fleet, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Daily News Wrap-Up: Gujarat’s Consultancy Tender for 1.5 GW Floating Solar Park

Here are some noteworthy cleantech announcements of the day from around the world:
<a href="https://www.rear.org.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Renewable Energy Association</a> of Rajasthan, in a letter to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (<a href="https://mnre.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MNRE</a>), requested for a timely release of the subsidy amount to the empaneled vendors for Rajasthan’s Rooftop Power Generation Scheme 2019-20 under the MNRE’s Grid Connected Rooftop Solar Program Phase-II. The association sent the letter citing the reason as there was no response from the nodal agency Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation (RRECL). The association mentioned that most companies empaneled are start-ups and have mostly arranged capital on interest. The timely release of the subsidy amount would be considered a relief for these developers. The letter highlights the loss incurred by an individual start-up with an allocated capacity of 200 kW to be 875,000 (~$11,485).
Colorado Springs Utilities <a href="https://www.csu.org/Pages/PikeSolarProject.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> a power purchase agreement with Boulder-based juwi Inc. for a 175 MW solar project coupled with a 25 MW, four-hour battery energy storage system, known as the Pike solar and storage project. The 25 MW battery storage will be one of the largest in Colorado. The Pike Solar and Storage project will be in El Paso County and is slated to be completed in 2023. Over the 17-year term of the power purchase agreement, Pike Solar will deliver clean energy from more than 400,000 photovoltaic panels and generate enough energy to power more than 55,000 homes a year.
Redflow, an Australia-based energy storage company, <a href="https://redflow.com/project/redflow-signs-its-largest-global-battery-sale-with-anaergia-to-supply-energy-storage-in-california" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> an agreement to supply a 2 MWh energy storage system comprising 192 zinc-bromine flow batteries to Anaergia, an organic waste treatment solutions company. The batteries will support 2 MWh of energy and reduce peak energy use at Anaergia’s Rialto Bioenergy facility as part of its microgrid. The facility is located in San Bernardino County, California, and is owned by Rialto Bioenergy Facility, an Anaergia company. The microgrid project was funded in part by a grant from the California Energy Commission and consists of the batteries, a biogas conditioning system to support a 2 MW biogas-fueled cogeneration unit, and a microgrid control system.
<a href="https://www.elysee.fr/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">French</a> President Emmanuel Macron, in a tweet, confirmed that the European Union member states had reached an agreement on a carbon tax at their borders for imported goods with the objective of encouraging all manufacturers to utilize green energy for production. The carbon tax will affect the products imported into the member states whose production does not meet the climate standards set by the EU.
Envision Digital International, a Singapore-based artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) software provider for net-zero <a href="https://www.envision-digital.com/2022/03/22/lightsource-bp-solar-partnership/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> a multi-year global partnership with solar developer Lightsource bp. Lightsource bp aims to use Envision Digital’s AI and IoT platform to gain data-driven insights to enable automation, efficiency, value, and substantial volumes of additional low-carbon power through the partnership. Lightsource bp is targeting the development of 25 GW of solar power projects globally by 2025, delivering renewable power at scale.

Daily News Wrap-Up: Rooftop Solar Installers Urge for Timely Release of Subsidies

According to a communique reviewed by Mercom, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office has proposed waiving the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Compensation Cess, (earlier called the Clean Energy Cess which was India’s version of carbon tax) on coal to reduce the financial strain on distribution companies, besides helping the thermal power projects install flue gas desulphurization to curb pollution.
This proposal comes in light of the mandate to implement flue gas desulphurization (FGD) at thermal power projects in the country. The resulting investment in the FGD process is expected to result in increased power prices for customers.
FGD is the process of removing sulfur dioxide from exhaust flue gases of fossil-fuel power plants, and sulfur oxide emissions from processes like the incineration of waste material.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Power (MoP) <a href="https://mercomindia.com/700-million-plan-for-ev-infrastructure-revamp/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">proposed</a> a ₹835 billion ($11.70 billion) plan to meet the cost of development of Flue Gas Desulfurization to improve air quality and to conform to new norms notified by the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEF &amp; CC) for power plants.
Projects which have the FGD facility at their sites would have to sell power at a higher cost after factoring in implementation costs. The communique stated that even with financing, the power tariff would increase by ₹0.30 – 0.35 (~$0.004 – 0.005)/kWh and would further burden DISCOMs that already <a href="https://mercomindia.com/discom-dues-to-power-generators-october-up-yoy/">owe</a> power developers over ₹844 billion (~$11.83 billion) in outstanding dues.
The National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) was created in 2010 to fund the cost of research and innovative projects using clean energy technologies by public and private sector entities. The fund has evolved under the NDA administration and was rebranded as the Clean Environment Cess, from the earlier Clean Energy Cess, to include river cleaning and other projects. The Cess, which was ₹50 (~$0.74)/ton when it was introduced in 2010, was raised to ₹100 (~$1.5)/ton in 2014 and to ₹200 (~$3)/ton in the 2015-2016 budget. It was again doubled from ₹200 (~$3)/ton to ₹400 (~$6)/ton in the 2016-17 budget.
From 2010 to 2017, about ₹864 billion (~$13.3 billion) <a href="https://mercomindia.com/mnre-receive-rs-53-41-billion-817-million-national-clean-energy-fund-fy2017-2018/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has been collected</a> through the Clean Environment Cess, out of which only ₹296 billion (~$4.6 billion) was transferred to NCEF. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) had only received about ₹171 million (~$2.6 million) to that point.
The Government of India then enacted a bill to utilize the Clean Environment Cess (India’s version of carbon tax) collected on coal, to finance the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Compensation Fund, a non-lapsable fund that will form part of the public account of India.
The Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act, 2017 which came into force in April 2017, states that coal cess, along with other cess on pan masala, tobacco, aerated water etc., would constitute GST Compensation Fund and would be utilized to fund the States for five years to compensate them for potential losses on account of GST implementation. After five years, any amount left was to be shared on a 50 percent basis between the Center and States.
The PMO explained that by waiving the ₹400 (~$5.61)/ton cess, the increase in tariff would not be transferred to customers. Consequently, the requirement of subsidies from the government would also not increase, and this would make up for losses to the GST compensation cess.
This move, while positive for the Indian coal industry would, however, would make coal power slightly more competitive with solar and wind energy.
The total power capacity <a href="https://mercomindia.com/solar-accounts-india-total-installed-power-capacity/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">installed</a> in India stood at 366 GW at the end of September 2019, with coal accounting for 53.8% and renewable energy capacity (including large hydro), making up 35.7% of the total installed power capacity in the country.
“The amount of clean energy cess fund going towards renewable energy and MNRE was only about 20% in 2017. The funds were already being diverted to river cleaning, water and sanitation, and other areas. The impact of this proposal on renewable energy development is likely to be minimal,” said Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group.
Image credit: Shivang Dubey [CC BY-SA <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">4.0</a>]

Prime Minister’s Office Proposes Waiving Carbon Tax on Coal

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