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					</table><p><strong><a href="https://mercomindia.com/anert-100-mw-rooftop-solar-kerala/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kerala government’s Agency for New and Renewable Energy Research and Technology  has invited bids to develop rooftop solar projects with a cumulative capacity of 100 MW in Thiruvananthapuram.</a></strong> The scope of work includes supplying, installing, and commissioning multiple solar power systems ranging from 1 kW to 500 kW atop public buildings in Thiruvananthapuram under the Solar City Project. Vendors should commission the solar systems within 45 days of receiving the work order. They must also provide five years of comprehensive operation and maintenance services. The last date to submit the bids is March 3, 2023. Bids will be opened the next day.</p>
<p><a href="https://mercomindia.com/mercom-webinar-module-performance-warranty-insurance/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Solar modules account for nearly 40% of the total project cost. Maintaining their quality and efficiency for the entire lifetime (25-30 years) becomes critical so that the project is economically viable.</strong></a> The manufacturers’ warranty on solar modules becomes crucial for any solar installations as they build confidence among project developers and investors who own the assets for a long time. Mercom’s webinar ‘Solar PV Performance Warranty: Building Market Confidence’ will explore some of these issues on March 1 at 3 PM. You can register for the webinar by clicking <a href="https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1155881818944469077?source=Article" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://mercomindia.com/energy-storage-fluence-plans-manufacturing-in-india/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>U.S.-based energy storage products and services provider </strong><strong>Fluence will localize its products in India by the end of 2024.</strong></a> However, the complex process of manufacturing batteries in the country may take longer, the company’s President and CEO, Julian Nebreda<strong>,</strong> said in an interview with Mercom. Fluence’s SVP &amp; President, APAC, Jan Teichmann<strong>, </strong>spoke about the company’s partnership with ReNew and its plans for India. Read the full interview.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://mercomindia.com/himachal-pradesh-bids-set-100-mw-solar-projects/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Himachal Pradesh Energy Development Agency has invited bids to set up 100 MW of grid-connected solar projects ranging from 250 kW to 5 MW in the state.</a></strong> The last date to submit the bids is March 15, 2023. Bidders must submit an application fee of ₹10,000 (~$120.6) for projects up to 1 MW and ₹100,000 (~$1,206) for projects above 1 MW and up to 5 MW. Bidders must submit ₹100,000 (~$1,206) as an earnest money deposit for solar projects up to 1 MW and ₹200,000 (~$2,441) for solar projects above 1 MW and up to 5 MW.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://mercomindia.com/sri-lanka-awards-wind-power-projects-adani-green/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adani Green Energy, the renewable energy arm of Adani Group, has been awarded the letter of approval for two wind energy projects to be developed in the Mannar and Ponneryn areas of northern Sri Lanka.</a></strong> The two projects will be developed at a total investment of $442 million. The wind energy project to be developed in Mannar will operate at a capacity of 250 MW, and the other project in Pooneryn will operate at a capacity of 100 MW, according to the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka.</p>
<p><a href="https://mercomindia.com/india-to-partner-with-fraunhofer-hydrogen-tech/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>The Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Fraunhofer ISE) have signed a letter of intent for a long-term collaboration focusing on hydrogen and other clean technologies.</strong></a> The partnership is expected to lead to the development of higher Technology Readiness Level for hydrogen energy clusters that are being set up by DST, and also identify existing technologies and potential interventions from Fraunhofer in green hydrogen. The partnership aims to integrate the interventions with indigenous technologies and deploy or calibrate them for Indian conditions. DST will provide the framework for cooperation in the hydrogen valley cluster projects and support activities, and facilitate resources.</p>
<p><a href="https://mercomindia.com/ireda-plan-finance-renewable-projects-foreign-currency/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) plans to finance renewable energy projects in foreign currency for which an office would be established in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT city) in Gandhinagar.</strong></a> Addressing a panel discussion on ‘Scaling up Clean Energy Investment in Emerging Economies’ under the aegis of G20 events at the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, IREDA Chairman and Managing Director Pradip Kumar Das said the office in Gandhinagar would be classified as an overseas office. The minister said that the office will help IREDA avoid foreign exchange hedging costs.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://mercomindia.com/87-5-million-fund-solar-development-africa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">France-based fund manager Rgreen Invest and investment advisor Echosys Invest have raised €87.5 million (~$92.2 million) as part of their Afrigreen Debt Impact Fund to finance on and off-grid solar power projects for small and medium-sized commercial and industrial consumers in Africa.</a></strong> The first closing includes commitments from the European Investment Bank, the International Finance Corporation, the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries, and PROPARCO, a subsidiary of Agence française de développement Group. Private banks Societe Generale and BNP Paribas also participated in the funding round. Afrigreen targets raising €100 million (~$105.4 million) from development finance institutions and private investors.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://mercomindia.com/gujarat-bids-921-mw-solar-projects-under-kusum/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paschim Gujarat Vij Company has invited bids to develop 921 MW of solar projects to solarize 11 kV feeders of selected 66/11 kV substations under Component C of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) program.</a></strong> The successful bidder will also have to take care of the project’s operation and maintenance for 25 years. The last date to submit the bids online is March 17, 2023. Bids will be opened the following day. Bidders will have to submit ₹100,000 (~$1,206)/MW of the quoted capacity as an earnest money deposit. The successful bidder must submit ₹500,000 (~$6,029)/MW as a performance bank guarantee within seven days from the date of the issuance of the letter of award.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://mercomindia.com/new-lithium-air-four-times-than-lithium-ion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Researchers at the Illinois Institute of Technology and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have developed a lithium-air battery design that could power domestic airplanes and long-haul trucks.</a></strong> The research, published in a recent issue of <em>Science, </em>was funded by the DOE Vehicle Technologies Office and the Office of Basic Energy Sciences through the Joint Centre for Energy Storage Research. The main new component in this lithium-air battery is a solid electrolyte instead of the usual liquid variety. Batteries with solid electrolytes are not prone to safety issues associated with the liquid electrolytes used in lithium-ion and other battery types, which can overheat and catch fire.</p>
<p><a href="https://mercomindia.com/essar-invest-energy-transition-uk-india/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Multinational conglomerate Essar Group has launched the Essar Energy Transition (EET) initiative with an investment of $3.6 billion to develop a range of low-carbon energy transition projects over the next five years in the United Kingdom and India.</strong></a> Under the EET initiative, Essar will take measures to support the UK government’s decarbonization policy by investing $2.4 billion across its sites at Stanlow oil refinery which produces over 16% of the UK’s Road transport fuels annually. Through EET, Essar targets achieving 75% mitigation of carbon emissions in the  Stanlow refinery by 2030.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/mercom-staff/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Mercom Staff</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"></div></div><div class="clearfix"></div></div></div>

Daily News Wrap-Up: Bids for 100 MW Rooftop Solar Announced in Kerala


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					</table><p>Multinational conglomerate <a href="https://www.essar.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Essar Group</a> has launched the Essar Energy Transition (EET) initiative with an investment of $3.6 billion to develop a range of low-carbon energy transition projects over the next five years in the United Kingdom and India.</p>
<p>Under the EET initiative, Essar will take measures to support the UK government’s decarbonization policy by investing $2.4 billion across its sites at Stanlow oil refinery which produces over 16% of the UK’s Road transport fuels annually.</p>
<p>Through EET, Essar targets achieving 75% mitigation of carbon emissions in the  Stanlow refinery by 2030.</p>
<p>EET will include Essar Oil UK, Vertex Hydrogen, which is developing 1 GW of blue hydrogen for the UK market, with follow-on capacity set to reach 3.8GW and EET Future Energy, which is developing 1 GW of green ammonia in India.</p>
<p>Essar said EET’s strategy is founded on the fact that hydrogen and biofuels are fast becoming globally significant fuels of the future and that the UK is positioned strongly to spearhead the rapid growth of the European low carbon fuels market.</p>
<p>Director of Essar Capital Prashant Ruia said, “The launch of EET is a major milestone in Essar’s long-standing commitment to put the UK at the forefront of low carbon energy. We are excited about the opportunity to drive the UK’s energy transition by producing low carbon future fuels which will help eliminate around 20% of the industrial carbon dioxide in Northwest England.”</p>
<p><strong>Investment in India</strong></p>
<p>Essar will invest $1.2 billion to develop India as a cost-efficient global supply hub for low-carbon fuels, comprising green hydrogen and green ammonia.</p>
<p>As part of this investment, ammonia will be shipped globally from India, including to the UK and Europe, to meet the growing market demand for green fuels.</p>
<p>Recently, European Investment Bank <a href="https://mercomindia.com/eib-provide-1-1-billion-green-hydrogen-hubs-india/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> a memorandum of understanding with India Hydrogen Alliance to provide €1 billion (~$1.1 billion) to develop large-scale green hydrogen hubs across India.</p>
<p>In 2021, Essar had <a href="https://mercomindia.com/essar-power-open-access-solar-madhya-pradesh/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> plans to enter the Indian renewable energy market by setting up a 90 MW open access solar power project worth ₹3 billion (~$41.4 million) in Madhya Pradesh.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/gourav-mishra/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Gourav Mishra</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><div class="designboxt">
<p><img class="alignleft" style="border-radius: 50%;height: 50px;margin-top: -4px;border: 1px solid #00b451" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/WhatsApp-Image-2022-04-06-at-6.37.25-PM-1-1.jpeg" width="50" /></p>
<p><strong style="text-decoration: underline">Gourav,</strong> Staff reporter at Mercom India<br />
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/gourav-mishra/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Gourav.</a></p>
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<div class="authorboxn"><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/WhatsApp-Image-2022-04-06-at-6.37.25-PM-1-1.jpeg" width="89" height="102" /><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/gourav-mishra/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gourav</a> is a staff reporter with Mercom India with over six years of experience in various roles with NewsX, The New Indian Express, IBTimes India, and U.S., Republic, and Analytics India Magazine. Gourav has a Master&#8217;s in journalism from Jain University, Bengaluru. <a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/gourav-mishra/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Gourav Mishra</a></div>
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Essar to Invest $3.6 Billion in Energy Transition Projects in UK and India


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					</table><p>Here are some noteworthy cleantech announcements of the day from around the world:</p>
<p><strong>NTPC </strong><a href="https://www.bseindia.com/xml-data/corpfiling/AttachLive/0a243958-0169-4744-ba4d-0d3687066c08.pdf"><strong>announced</strong></a><strong> the successful commissioning of the first capacity of 150 MW out of 300 MW Shambu ki Burj-2 solar photovoltaic power project at Bikaner, Rajasthan.</strong> The standalone installed and commercial capacity of NTPC after this commissioning now stands at 57.64 GW, while the group installed and commercial capacity of NTPC is at 70.23 GW.</p>
<p><strong>KPI Green Energy </strong><a href="https://www.bseindia.com/xml-data/corpfiling/AttachLive/7fe0911b-c1fd-45e4-917d-acb63229697e.pdf"><strong>announced</strong></a><strong> that it has received an order to execute a solar power project of 1.4 MW capacity from M.S. Synthetics.</strong> The project will be executed under the company&#8217;s Captive Power Producer (CPP) segment. KPI Green Energy also <a href="https://www.bseindia.com/xml-data/corpfiling/AttachLive/2d5dfab4-5cec-4d63-a86c-76ea546600bf.pdf">announced</a> that it had crossed the 200MW+ mark in a cumulative consolidated solar power project capacity. The cumulative capacity comprises 100MW+ of their power generation portfolio under the Independent Power Producer (IPP) segment and 100MW+ under the company&#8217;s CPP segment. From the 165 MW cumulative capacity of both segments at the end of the first quarter, the company increased its CPP capacity by about 38 MW during the second quarter of the financial year 2023 to reach more than 200MW.</p>
<p><strong>Essar Oil UK </strong><a href="https://www.essaroil.co.uk/news/essar-oil-uk-signs-offtake-agreement-with-vertex-hydrogen/"><strong>announced</strong></a><strong> it had signed a ‘Heads of Terms’ offtake agreement with Vertex Hydrogen to supply 280 MW+ of Hydrogen.</strong> The hydrogen will then be used to help decarbonize Essar’s existing production facilities, including the new hydrogen-powered furnace delivered in August this year. Vertex, a joint venture between Essar and Progressive Energy, is developing the first large-scale, low-carbon hydrogen production hub in the UK as part of the HyNet Consortium. In its initial phases, it would produce 1GW of hydrogen, the equivalent energy use of a large UK city like Liverpool, and capture some 1.8 million tons of carbon per annum.</p>
<p><strong>Nuveen Infrastructure’s Glennmont Partners, a clean energy infrastructure manager, </strong><a href="https://www.glennmont.com/glennmont-partners-raises-e250m-for-second-energy-transition-credit-strategy/"><strong>announced</strong></a><strong> its energy transition enhanced credit II strategy.</strong> This is Glennmont’s second vintage energy transition credit strategy, focused on investment in renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure assets, and has raised €250 million (~$243.39 million). The vast growth in investment opportunities is a tailwind for this strategy as the market for energy transition infrastructure surpasses €5.5 trillion (~$5.35 trillion) of addressable market size. It will draw on the experience of Glennmont’s original €200 million (~$194.79 million) energy transition credit strategy, which has exposure to over 150 renewable energy loans and has consistently delivered value for investors.</p>
<p><strong>Vattenfall </strong><a href="https://group.vattenfall.com/press-and-media/pressreleases/2022/vattenfall-awarded-major-wind-power-project-off-the-coast-of-germany"><strong>announced</strong></a><strong> that it has obtained the right to develop the N-7.2 offshore wind power project off the German North Sea coast after exercising its right of entry. </strong>The project is expected to generate fossil-free electricity corresponding to the consumption of more than one million German households. As part of the tender process for constructing a large wind farm off the German island of Borkum on the German North Sea coast, Vattenfall has informed German authority that it is exercising the right of entry to the project, thereby obtaining the right to develop and construct the wind farm. Following a final investment decision by Vattenfall, the wind farm could be connected to the German electricity grid sometime in 2027. Fully developed, it would have an output of 980 MW with annual generation corresponding to the consumption of more than one million German households.</p>
<p><strong>Tata Motors announced the launch of Tiago.ev, its new addition to the company’s electric vehicle fleet in the hatch segment. </strong>The Tiago.ev would be available at introductory prices starting at ₹849,000 (~$10,389) for the first 10,000 customers, of which 2000 will be reserved for the current owners of Nexon EV and Tigor EV. The bookings are expected to start on October 10, 2022, and the deliveries are scheduled to commence from January 2023. The vehicle comes with multiple combinations of IP67-rated battery packs (water and dust resistant) and charging options, including a 24-kWh battery pack, delivering a Modified Indian Driving Cycle (MIDC) range of 315 km and a 19.2 kWh battery pack for short and frequent trips, delivering an estimated MIDC range of 250 km. The battery and motor also come with eight years or 160,000 km warranty.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/satish-shetty/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Satish Shetty</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><div class="designboxt">
<p><img class="alignleft" style="border-radius: 50%;height: 50px;margin-top: -4px;border: 1px solid #00b451" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Satish-pic-1.jpg" width="50" /></p>
<p><strong style="text-decoration: underline">Satish Shetty,</strong> Associate Editor at Mercom India<br />
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/satish-shetty/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Satish Shetty.</a></p>
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<div class="authorboxn"><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Satish-pic-1.jpg" width="102" height="102" /><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/satish-shetty/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong style="color: #00b451">Satish Shetty</strong></a> is an Associate Editor with Mercom India. Prior to Mercom, Satish was a multimedia news producer at Reuters, where he gained experience in digital news media. Satish has his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Broadcast Journalism from Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, Malaysia.<br />
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/satish-shetty/" rel="noopener noreferrer">More articles from Satish Shetty.</a></div>
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Daily News Wrap-Up: NTPC Commissions 150 MW Solar Power Project in Rajasthan

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