
Solar Project Development in India: A Long Road Towards an Ambitious Target
India's cumulative installations breached the 40 GW mark, according to Mercom India Research. The total installations comprised 34.9 MW of utility-scale solar installations, and the rooftop segment accounted for 5.1 ...

MNRE: No Commissioning Date Extension Beyond Six Months for Renewable Energy Projects
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has clarified that the extension provided by implementing agencies on account of the Covid-19 pandemic should in no case be more than ...

China Installs Record 52 GW of New Wind Capacity, Doubles Annual Installations in 2020
According to the latest data released by Global Wind Energy Council's (GWEC) market intelligence, 2020 was a record year for wind power growth in the Asia Pacific, specifically driven by ...

Ministry Asks States to Relax Performance and Bid Security for Power Project Bids
The Ministry of Power has directed the state governments and the governments of union territories (UT) to relax performance security, earnest money deposits requirements for power project bids. It has ...

Solar Projects Totaling 90 MW Citing ‘Force Majeure’ Get Extension for Commissioning
The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) has extended the commissioning date of three solar power projects of 90 MW cumulative capacity and ruled that no compensation would be payable to ...

Solar Glass Manufacturer Xinyi Solar’s Profit Jumps 79% in 2020
Xinyi Solar, a China-based solar glass manufacturer and project developer, has announced a 79.52% increase in its net profit to HK$ 5.023 billion (~$647.46 million) in 2020 from HK$2.798 billion ...

Investments in the Indian Solar Sector Declined by 66% in 2020
Investments in the Indian solar sector declined by 66% and stood at approximately $2.8 billion (~₹203.17 billion) in the calendar year (CY) 2020, compared to $8.2 billion (~$595.02 billion) in ...

India Adds 3.2 GW of Solar in 2020, a 56% Decline as COVID Takes a Toll
India installed 3,239 MW of solar capacity in the calendar year (CY) 2020, a 56% decline, compared to 7,346 MW in 2019, according to the latest 2020 Q4 & Annual ...

MNRE Denies Additional Five-Month Commissioning Date Extension for Renewable Projects
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued a notification denying requests for another five-month extension for commissioning renewable energy projects, stating that these extensions would not be ...

Global Green Bond Issuance Reached a Record High of $269.5 Billion in 2020: Report
Global green bond issuance reached a record high of $269.5 billion in 2020, a 1.12% increase compared to $266.5 billion in 2019, due to a late surge in the second ...

Changing Wafer Sizes Will Cost Cell and Solar Module Manufacturers
The past few years have witnessed significant changes in solar manufacturing with the introduction of new technologies such as half-cut and even triple-cut, passivated emitter, and rear cell (PERC), bifacial, ...

Mercom India’s Most Read News Stories from 2020
2020 is almost behind us. The year threw unique challenges at us while some interesting developments took shape in the renewable industry. Mercom revisits announcements and policy developments that interested ...

US Extends 26% Solar Investment Tax Credit Until 2022
The United States Congress has passed a bill providing a two-year extension on its solar investment tax credit (ITC) facility, allowing solar power projects across the residential, commercial, industrial, and utility-scale segments ...

Top Five Funding Deals of 2020 in the Indian Solar Market [Infographics]
After a sluggish start to the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, activity in the solar sector picked up in the third quarter (Q3) of 2020, ...

Where Does India’s Rooftop Solar Market Stand Since COVID-19 Lockdown?
India's rooftop solar industry has started recovering steadily from the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the country returning to normalcy following the easing of lockdown restrictions in phases ...

African Development Bank Pledges $50 Million to Help Energy Access Companies Tackle COVID-19
The African Development Bank's (AfDB) board of directors (BoD) has approved a $20 million concessional investment from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) to establish the COVID-19 off-grid recovery ...

European Commission Plans to Expand Offshore Wind Capacity to 300 GW by 2050
The European Commission (EC) has unveiled a strategy to help achieve the European Union’s (EU) climate neutrality target by 2050. The plan suggests increasing Europe’s offshore wind capacity up to ...

This Process Uses Sunlight to Turn Hazardous Medical Waste into Clean Hydrogen Fuel
A joint team of researchers from India and Wales, led by Swansea University researchers, said they were developing a new process to convert hazardous medical waste into clean hydrogen fuel ...

India Will Lead The Renewable Energy Upswing in 2021: IEA Report
The International Energy Agency's (IEA) latest report 'Renewables 2020' forecasts the impact of COVID-19 on the renewable sector. According to the report, the renewables used for generating electricity will grow ...

GIZ Floats Tender for Solar-Powered Cold Storage Units To Help Farmers
The Indian wing of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), a Germany-based development agency, has floated a tender for ten solar-powered cold storage units for its projects in Karnataka and ...

Shortage of Solar Modules Likely to Continue Until First Half of 2021: Interview
2020 has been a difficult year. As the year draws to an end, the world is still dealing with challenges posed by the pandemic. For the Indian solar industry, this ...

European Commission Announces €1 Billion Fund to Promote Sustainable Projects
The European Commission (EC) announced that it would launch a €1 billion (~$ 1.16 billion) European Green Deal call for research and innovation projects to tackle the climate crisis and ...

Nigeria Bets on Solar to Create Jobs Post COVID-19 Disruption
Nigeria is currently facing one of the most significant economic downturns in its history due to COVID-19. While the country is grappling with a recession, the government has outlined an ...

Wind Project in Maharashtra Gets Extension for Disruptions Due to COVID Lockdown
The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) extended the commissioning date of the 76.5 MW wind project being developed by Clean Wind Power (Bhavnagar) Private Limited on the grounds of force ...

Shapoorji Pallonji Defers Repayment of Sterling & Wilson Solar’s Loan
The Shapoorji Pallonji Group has told the subsidiary company, Sterling and Wilson Solar Limited (SWSL), that it would defer the payment of the loan amount of over ₹10 billion (~$135.8 ...