Mercom India’s Most Read News Stories from 2024

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					</table><p>India’s weakened monsoon spell, coupled with the country’s strong GDP growth, added nearly 190 million tons (MT) of CO2 to global emissions, according to a report by the International Energy Agency (<a href="https://www.iea.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IEA</a>).</p>
<p>The country experienced warm and dry conditions in 2023, which were a consequence of the consistent occurrence of El Nino and its Indian Ocean counterpart &#8212; Indian Ocean Dipole &#8211;in the second half of 2023.</p>
<p>The country also experienced the driest August due to a reduction in monsoon showers, which <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/dry-august-sparks-demand-across-india" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increased</a> electricity demand and reduced hydropower generation. This contributed to nearly one-fourth of the total emissions in 2023.</p>
<p>Despite this, the country’s per capita emissions fell below the global average.</p>
<p>The report attributed the rise in emissions to the energy-intensive economic growth that the country has embarked on in the post-pandemic years. While India achieved energy intensity improvements of around 2.8% annually, it experienced a slowdown in these improvements after the pandemic.</p>
<p>This, coupled with unfavorable weather conditions, pushed emissions.</p>
<p><strong>Global emissions </strong></p>
<p>The world’s carbon emissions from energy-related activities grew by 1.1% or 410 MT in 2023 to 37.4 billion tons (GT), with coal accounting for over 65% of this increase.</p>
<p>Between 2019 and 2023, total energy-related emissions increased around 900 MT. Without the growing deployment of five key clean energy technologies since 2019 &#8211; solar PV, wind, nuclear, heat pumps, and electric cars &#8211; the growth of emissions would have been three times larger.</p>
<p>Thanks to growing clean energy deployment, emissions are seeing a structural slowdown. In the decade to 2023, global emissions grew slightly more than 0.5% per year, the slowest rate since the Great Depression, the report said.</p>
<p>In 2022, global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/clean-energy-growth-co2-emissions-in-2022-iea" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rose</a> by under 1%, which was lower than initially expected, the IEA had said.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-64013 size-full" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Skype_Picture_2024_03_05T05_39_20_671Z.jpeg" alt="Global Emissions 2023" width="1709" height="1259" srcset="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Skype_Picture_2024_03_05T05_39_20_671Z.jpeg 1709w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Skype_Picture_2024_03_05T05_39_20_671Z-300x221.jpeg 300w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Skype_Picture_2024_03_05T05_39_20_671Z-768x566.jpeg 768w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Skype_Picture_2024_03_05T05_39_20_671Z-1536x1132.jpeg 1536w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Skype_Picture_2024_03_05T05_39_20_671Z-650x479.jpeg 650w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Skype_Picture_2024_03_05T05_39_20_671Z-624x460.jpeg 624w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Skype_Picture_2024_03_05T05_39_20_671Z-600x442.jpeg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 1709px) 100vw, 1709px" /></p>
<p><strong>China Largest Contributor</strong></p>
<p>China was the largest contributor to CO2 emissions, as the country alone accounted for 565 MT in 2023. This was due to the country’s emissions-intensive economic growth in the post-pandemic period. However, the report also found that China continued to dominate the global clean energy additions.</p>
<p>The hydropower generation affected by droughts increased the emissions from global electricity by 170 MT. China’s hydropower generation fell by 4.9%, which was the worst decline in the last two decades. This accounted for nearly two-thirds of the global reduction in hydropower generation last year.</p>
<p>Significant drought conditions in North America and a year of below-average rainfall between 2022 and 2023 in China accentuated the renewable energy deficit.</p>
<p>Further, emissions from advanced economies were lower than they were 50  years ago and fell by 4.5% in 2023. This is due to the countries’ emissions having structurally declined since 2007.</p>


India Adds 190 MT of CO2 as Global Emissions Hit a Record in 2023: IEA Report


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					</table><p>Gujarat-based power company <a href="https://www.torrentpower.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Torrent Power</a> has invited bids for the purchase of 300 MW of power from wind-solar hybrid energy projects, with a greenshoe option of up to 150 MW.</p>
<p>The last date for the submission of bids is February 7, 2024. Bids will be opened on February 9.</p>
<p>Bidders have to submit ₹25,000 (~$300.76) + 18% GST as the cost of the document and ₹300,000 (~$3,609.06) + 18% GST as a non-refundable processing fee.</p>
<p>Bidders have to submit an earnest money deposit of ₹1 million (~$12,030.37)/MW of the quoted capacity.</p>
<p>The selected bidders must supply electricity from the hybrid power project situated anywhere in India as per the preliminary power purchase agreement (PPA).</p>
<p>Torrent Power intends to enter into a PPA with successful bidders for 25 years from the project&#8217;s scheduled commercial operation date (SCOD).</p>
<p>The highest tariff payable to the selected bidder from the SCOD will remain fixed for 25 years, as determined through e-bidding and e-reverse auction.</p>
<p>The chosen projects must incorporate a 2:1 ratio of wind to solar technologies (66.67% wind and the remaining in solar).</p>
<p>Projects in various stages, including those under construction, not yet commissioned, or already commissioned without a long-term PPA with any agency and selling power on a short-term or merchant plant basis, will be considered.</p>
<p>However, this consideration is contingent upon these projects not being accepted under any other central or state programs and having no obligations towards any buyers.</p>
<p>Bidders who express their willingness to enter into a PPA at the L1 rate must confirm their commitment within ten days from the conclusion of the reverse auction.</p>
<p>For projects linked to the inter-state transmission system, a single bidder must bid for a minimum project capacity of 50 MW, while for projects connected to the intra-state transmission system, the minimum capacity required is 10 MW.</p>
<p>The bidder or its affiliates must possess an operational renewable energy project with a minimum capacity of 600 MW.</p>
<p>The net worth of the bidders for the financial year ending March 31, 2023, should be at least ₹20 million (~$240,626.83)/MW of the quoted capacity.</p>
<p>To ensure the bidder&#8217;s financial capability for the project, the bidder&#8217;s annual turnover for the financial year ending March 31, 2023, should not be less than ₹7.5 million (~$90,230.83)/MW.</p>
<p>The internal resource generation of the bidder should not be less than ₹1.5 million (~$18,045.71)/MW of the quoted capacity.</p>
<p>In June last year, Torrent Power <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/torrent-6000-hectares-gujarat-renewable-projects" target="_blank" rel="noopener">disclosed</a> its plans to achieve a 5 GW renewable energy portfolio over the next three to five years through inorganic acquisitions and greenfield projects. It also announced that it had been allocated 6,000 hectares of land in Gujarat, where it plans to set up ~3 GW of renewable projects encompassing both solar and wind energy.</p>
<p>Subscribe to Mercom’s <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/product/india-solar-tender-tracker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">India Solar Tender Tracker</a> for timely updates on all solar tenders issued by various agencies in India.</p>


Torrent Invites Bids to Procure 300 MW of Power from Wind-Solar Hybrid Projects


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					</table><p>Researchers from <a href="https://www.pdx.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Portland State University</a>, the <a href="https://www.utah.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Utah</a>, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (<a href="https://www.nrel.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NREL</a>) said they have identified a new method to improve efficiencies at solar projects through enhanced natural cooling which is achieved by utilizing the existing geometry of the farms.</p>
<p>The researchers found that a solar farm with optimally spaced panels facing the correct direction could cool itself through convection using the surrounding wind. It was identified that raising the height of solar cells and increasing the spacing between panel rows increased power output by 2% to 3%.</p>
<p>Contrary to common perception, too much sun or heat can reduce the efficiency of photovoltaics and they have been found to work more efficiently when operated at lower temperatures.</p>
<p>“This correlation between geometry and efficiency is a huge step toward predicting convective cooling for solar farms based on their inherently unique arrangements… and paves the way for more accurate energy generation and cost prediction models in the industry,” author Sarah Smith, of Portland State University said.</p>
<p>The team found that when the operating temperature rises by 1°C, silicon-based solar cells lose about 0.5% efficiency. For instance: In the case of a typical photovoltaic plant, energy loss would account for 12%, where modules operate at nearly 25°C above ambient temperature.</p>
<p>Modern cooling methods force wind or water to interact with solar panel surfaces, while others employ specific materials with less thermal sensitivity, but such techniques require significant resources to operate.</p>
<p>This necessitates effective and hassle-free cooling measures for solar farms.</p>
<p><strong>Each farm needs a different cooling model</strong></p>
<p><strong> </strong>The team improved the models that calculate how much energy a given solar system would produce based on factors such as material, environmental conditions, and panel temperature.</p>
<p>This was done by specifically focusing on the geometry of solar farms, or how much space was present between the modules.</p>
<p>The working hypothesis was that the most precise estimate of solar system convection and production efficiency must consider the farm as a whole and all the possible configuration changes.</p>
<p>“This means that the heat-removing wind flow will also move differently throughout each solar plant based on its arrangement, ultimately changing how efficiently heat is removed from module surfaces,” said Smith.</p>
<p>To corroborate their model, the researchers performed wind tunnel experiments and high-resolution simulations and collected real-world data.</p>
<p>This was followed by the investigation of photovoltaic heating and cooling with variations in module height, row spacing, angle, and wind.</p>
<p>Earlier, NREL had <a href="https://mercomindia.com/more-space-between-solar-panel-rows-help-lower-module-temperatures/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed</a> that distancing rows of solar panels could help maintain the module temperature, which usually increases when solar modules are exposed to direct sun for a long time leading to a decrease in module efficiency.</p>
<p>In November 2022, a team of researchers at the University of Alcala in Spain <a href="https://mercomindia.com/researchers-in-spain-way-to-cool-solar-panels/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claimed</a> that a temperature reduction in solar modules by up to 20ºC can enhance the net system efficiency by about 14%.</p>


Researchers Say Cooling Measures for Solar Farms Improve Efficiency by 2-3%

<p>Through 2018, the world added 171 GW of renewable energy, witnessing a growth of 7.9 percent in renewable capacity during the year. These findings were revealed by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)  in its new <a href="https://www.irena.org/publications/2019/Mar/Capacity-Statistics-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">publication</a> titled ‘Renewable Capacity Statistics 2019’.</p>
<p>According to the report, the total global renewable generation capacity was 2,351 GW at the end of 2018. Hydro accounted for the largest share of the renewable capacity with a total installed capacity of 1,172 GW. Wind and solar energy accounted for 564 GW and 486 GW respectively.</p>
<div id="attachment_13179" style="width: 504px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/HYD.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-13179" class="wp-image-13179 size-full" src="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/HYD.png" alt="" width="494" height="410" srcset="https://cms.mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/HYD.png 494w, https://cms.mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/HYD-300x249.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 494px) 100vw, 494px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-13179" class="wp-caption-text">Source: IRENA</p></div>
<p>The report highlights that new solar and wind energy installations are mostly driving the growth in renewable capacity expansion, accounting for 84 percent of all new capacity installed in 2018.</p>
<p>Solar energy witnessed the fastest growth at 24 percent with capacity addition of 94 GW. Wind energy posted a growth of 10 percent with the capacity addition of 49 GW. In comparison, hydropower grew by just 2 percent with a capacity increase of 21 GW.</p>
<p>Most of the new renewable energy installations are taking place in Asia as it added over 105 GW of renewable capacity and accounted for 61 percent of new capacity additions in 2018. Asia’s share in global renewable generation capacity accounted for 44 percent. In comparison, North America’s share of global renewable generation capacity accounted for 16 percent while Europe stood at 23 percent.</p>
<p>“Asia continued to dominate the global solar capacity expansion with a 64 GW increase (about 70 percent of the global expansion in 2018). In a repeat of last year, China, India, Japan, and the Republic of Korea accounted for most of this. Other major increases were in the U.S., Australia, and Germany”, IRENA highlighted in its report.</p>
<p>The report also mentions that the share of renewables in the growth of electricity generation capacity has increased from 25 percent in 2001 to 50 percent in 2012. Now, this figure reached 63 percent in 2018. The share of renewables in total generation capacity has also increased from 22 percent to 33 percent over the same period.</p>
<div id="attachment_13180" style="width: 629px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/HYDR.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-13180" class="size-full wp-image-13180" src="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/HYDR.png" alt="" width="619" height="453" srcset="https://cms.mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/HYDR.png 619w, https://cms.mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/HYDR-600x439.png 600w, https://cms.mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/HYDR-300x220.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 619px) 100vw, 619px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-13180" class="wp-caption-text">Source: IRENA</p></div>
<p><a href="https://mercomindia.com/india-solar-market-2018-behind-china-us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Recently,</a> Mercom reported that India was the third largest solar market behind China and the United States with 8.3 GW of solar PV capacity installed in 2018. Japan and Germany were the fourth and fifth largest solar markets in the world.</p>
<p><a href="https://mercomindia.com/total-global-energy-storage-triple-2030-irena/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">In December 2018,</a> IRENA had reported that total global energy storage capacity could triple by 2030. It also projected that the total installed cost of a lithium-ion battery in stationary applications could fall by 54 percent by 2030.</p>
<p>Mercom had previously forecasted 8 GW of solar PV installations in India in 2018 due to a lack of a strong project pipeline. <a href="https://mercomindia.com/india-installs-8-3-gw-solar-2018/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Recently,</a> Mercom reported that the Indian solar market installed 8,263 MW in 2018, down 15.5 percent compared to 9,782 MW in 2017 as the safeguard duty, GST issues, and land and transmission issues took a toll on large-scale installations.</p>
<p>Image credit: RESOL</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>


India, China Help Establish Asia’s Leadership Role in Solar: IRENA

<p>India recorded a low power supply deficit of 0.7 percent in the financial year (FY) 2016-17. More than 1,134,631 million units of electricity were produced, which was 7,461 million units less than the targeted 1,142,092 million units, according to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter" src="https://mercomcapital.com/assets/images/India_Power_Deficit_(1991-92_to_2016-17).png" alt="" width="502" height="301" /></p>
<p>The supply deficit was 0.7 percent and the peak deficit stood at 1.6 percent. Compared to the FY2015-16, both the supply deficit and peak deficit dropped by 1.4 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.</p>
<p>A senior official at the CEA told Economic Times that the deficit in FY2016-17 was lowest since the agency started maintaining the reports in 1992.</p>
<p>The CEA <a href="https://mercomindia.com/central-electricity-authority-releases-draft-national-electricity-plan-2017-2022/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">estimated</a> peak demand and energy requirements in the five-year period, 2017-2022, to be 235,317 MW and 1,611 billion units.</p>
<p><em>Image Credit: World Bank Group</em></p>


India’s Power Supply Deficit Was 0.7 Percent in FY2016-17

<p>In the 10-month period from April 2016 to January 2017, in the current fiscal, 70.13 billion units of electricity were generated from renewable energy sources, stated Minister for Power Mr. Piyush Goyal in the Lok Sabha.</p>
<p>The electricity generated in the current fiscal up to January is much higher compared to the 65.78 billion units of electricity generated by renewable energy sources in the entire FY2015-16.</p>
<p><a href="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Electricity_Generation_from_Renewable_Energy_in_India_Billion_Units.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5229" src="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Electricity_Generation_from_Renewable_Energy_in_India_Billion_Units.png" alt="" width="266" height="183" /></a></p>
<p>As of the end of December last year, <a href="https://mercomindia.com/cumulative-renewable-energy-installations-cross-50-gw-india/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">50 GW of renewable energy</a> was installed in India making up 16 percent of the total energy generation.</p>


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