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					</table>The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (<a href="https://mnre.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MNRE</a>) has invited proposals for pilot demonstration of new and innovative solar applications under Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit&#8217;s (GIZ&#8217;s) bilateral project with the MNRE.
The objective of the project— Innovative Solar Areas (IN-Solar)— is to find innovative ways to expand the application of photovoltaics to optimize the use of land. The project is covered under the scope of India’s ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ (AKAM) initiative.
Proposals are invited from participants to implement the ideas that are technically viable but need pilot projects for their technical performance and financial assessment. Only participants willing to pilot their ideas upon selection are eligible to participate in the project.
The last day to submit the proposals is April 28, 2022.
Companies or start-ups incorporated under the Companies Act, research institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academic institutions, societies registered under the Society Act, foreign companies, or research institutions in partnership with Indian companies are eligible to participate in the project.
MNRE has floated an idea challenge with various categories to identify ideas that can be funded. The categories or themes for the idea challenge include solar installation on innovative sites like waste landfills and closed mines; vertical installation of solar, like building-integrated solar and solar for fencing; decentralized innovative solar applications like solar for cold storage; green hydrogen-based applications; and any other innovative applications of solar.
The winner will be provided with a maximum of €200,000 (~$217,602) to procure materials for the pilot project. The project must be implemented within six months from the formal signing of the agreement. The participant must clearly define their interest in carrying out the pilot project. The winner must fund soft components such as workforce and land by themselves.
Participants will be selected through a two-stage process. In the first stage, a jury consisting of a representative from MNRE, the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), and GIZ will ensure the applications are filled and are submitted along with supporting documents. The jury will also evaluate if the proposed pilot meets the objective of the challenge and falls under the defined categories. Only qualified applications in the first stage will be sent forward to be further evaluated in stage two.
In stage two, the degree of innovation of the proposed pilot, scalability of the proposed solution, ease of implementation, cost-effectiveness of the proposed pilot, and the impact of the proposed pilot will be evaluated. Applicants also must give a virtual or physical presentation before the jury. The results and score will be announced further, to which GIZ will enter into a contract with the winner to disburse the grant for the pilot project.
In February, MNRE had <a href="https://mercomindia.com/mnre-decentralized-renewable-livelihood-applications/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issued</a> the framework to promote and develop decentralized renewable energy-based livelihood applications.

MNRE Invites Proposals for Pilot Projects of Innovative Solar Applications

The Indian wing of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (<a href="https://www.giz.de/de/html/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">GIZ</a>), a Germany-based development agency, has floated a tender for ten solar-powered cold storage units for its projects in Karnataka and Maharashtra to reduce COVID-19 related agricultural losses.
The last date for the submission of bids is November 19, 2020. This tender is part of GIZ&#8217;s Green Innovation Centers (GIC) for the Agriculture and Food Sector project. The scope of work includes transporting, installing, and commissioning the systems on the site. After they are installed, each unit must be tested and commissioned in the presence of farmers, a local partner of the GIC, and the GIC project team.
Successful bidders must also organize training programs for the beneficiaries on operating and maintaining the units. They must also provide scheduled and corrective maintenance services for three years from the date each unit is commissioned.
The units must be certified in the name of the bidder from a test laboratory accredited by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), or the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
To be eligible to participate in the competitive bidding process, applicants must have had an average annual turnover of at least €300,000 (~$356,175) in the last three financial years and at least eight employees as of the last date of the previous year. They must also have prior experience selling or purchasing orders worth at least €100,000 (~$118,725).
GIZ said it requires the systems to be provided by technically and financially sound manufacturers in Hassan and Chikkamagalur, Karnataka, and Pune and Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, to help reduce the loss during the pre-production and post-production phase of potato.
&#8220;In this hour of a global outbreak, the wastage of food can prove to be another disaster we cannot afford. The COVID-19 outbreak has spread in India at a time when the crops are ready to be harvested. Due to restrictions on non-essential travel and movement, a shortage of farmworkers led to delay in the harvesting of crops, which will hamper our food production,&#8221; GIZ India said in its tender documents.
&#8220;The farmers and farm laborers are at the receiving end of this undesirable situation, and the food is getting lost due to issues in the supply chain. The wastage and loss of food could be minimized with a better prevalence of cold chain market and infrastructure in the country,&#8221; it added.
In June, GIZ <a href="https://mercomindia.com/germany-help-southern-india/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">appointed</a> research group DNV GL to conduct a study in India&#8217;s southern region. According to DNV GL, it is the first control reserve study to quantify the requirements to balance the energy supply from wind and solar and the energy demand.
In April, GIZ and the German research institute, Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems <a href="https://mercomindia.com/vietnam-aquaculture-farming-solar-energy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">signed</a> an agreement with other partners from the private and public sectors to implement a new project of combining aquaculture farming with solar photovoltaics in Vietnam&#8217;s Mekong Delta.

GIZ Floats Tender for Solar-Powered Cold Storage Units To Help Farmers

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (<a href="https://www.giz.de/de/html/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">GIZ</a>), a Germany-based development agency, has appointed research group <a href="https://www.dnvgl.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">DNV GL</a> to conduct a study in the southern region of India. According to DNV GL, it is the first control reserve study to quantify the requirements to balance the energy supply from wind and solar and the energy demand.
“India is a regional and global industrial powerhouse, consuming more than 6,600 TWh of energy every year. Hence, its plan to grow renewable energy is both bold and promising. Because of these factors, this study proves to be a key step towards ensuring the quality of the energy supply within this plan,” says Markus Wypior, an officer for implementation at GIZ.
DNV GL also noted that the study is a part of the Indo-German Energy Program, a joint initiative of the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) implemented by GIZ India.
“India is in the midst of a very ambitious journey that will put it at the forefront of the global energy transition. This study, implemented for the southern states, with support from GIZ, would serve as a prime example of the Indian government’s commitment to making this journey a success,” said Nicolas Renon, executive vice president APAC, at DNV GL – Energy.
The release added that the study was carried out on behalf of the Southern Regional Power Committee (SRPC), a Government of India enterprise, and covered the southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh.
For the study, DNV GL utilized its renewable energy integration study and control reserve dimensioning services to quantify the secondary and tertiary control reserve requirements that will enable optimal sharing of power between the states.
It also mentioned that dimensioning of the states’ control reserves will help ensure efficient and cost-effective integration of large-scale renewable energy supplies.
Further, the DNV GL will provide recommendations to the Southern Regional Power Committee for control reserve requirement identification based on the final report.
India has been consistently increasing the share of renewable sources in its energy mix to meet the country’s power demands.
Mercom also <a href="https://mercomindia.com/solar-share-india-installed-power-capacity-mix/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> that, as of March 31, 2020, the country’s total installed power capacity stood at about 372 GW, up from 358.6 GW during the same time last year. Of this, the installed power capacity from renewable sources (including large hydro) accounted for about 134.7 GW, up from about 125.5 GW as of Q1 2019. Solar installations accounted for about 27.2% of the overall renewable capacity.
Renewable energy is the <a href="https://mercomindia.com/renewables-primary-source-energy-2040/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fastest-growing</a> source of energy, accounting for around half of the increase in energy and is set to penetrate the global energy system more quickly than any fuel in history, according to BP Energy Outlook. The report said that in an evolving transition scenario, renewables would account for around two-thirds of the increase in power generation, with their share in the global power sector increasing to around 30% by 2040.

Germany to Help Southern India Evaluate Optimal Power Balancing for Renewables

Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL), a power distribution company (DISCOM), and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore possibilities for collaboration at the electric utility level in the areas of grid-connected solar rooftop, energy storage systems, electric vehicles, smart grid initiatives, and energy efficiency measures.
The MoU provides a framework for the companies to jointly work toward achieving common goals in the areas of collaboration. Under the agreement, the pair will also conduct research related to those areas and jointly organize capacity building programs for channel partners, project developers, financial institutions, government departments, distribution utilities, and public-sector units.
“With approximately <a href="https://mercomindia.com/research/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10 GW</a> of solar estimated to be installed in 2017, the share of renewables in the electricity generation mix in India is increasing at a rapid pace. Partnerships like this will be important going forward for Indian utilities to learn and implement the best practices in integrating renewable energy to the grid,” said Raj Prabhu CEO of Mercom Capital Group.
“The collaboration with an institution like GIZ will provide the impetus towards the adoption of clean, efficient, and smart technology in the utility space. We are confident that the collaboration will help us to learn and achieve greener and sustainable solutions,” said Praveer Sinha, chief executive officer and managing director of TPDDL.
“We expect the collaboration with TPDDL will help us in designing and implementing tailored solutions by developing a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by distribution utilities in promoting mature clean technologies like rooftop photovoltaics. We are proud to state that Tata Power DDL is the first utility in India officially joining GIZ in the effort to install 5 GW of distributed solar power by promoting standardized rooftop PV systems for the broader mass by the year 2022,” said Joerg Gaebler, principal advisor of GIZ.
The MoU aims to pave way for technical cooperation between the two organizations that will help to mitigate climate change by promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy measures. The MoU also furthers other work already being done by GIZ in India. In August 2017, GIZ and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) signed a technical cooperation agreement under the “Indo-German Energy Program – Green Energy Corridors (IGEN-GEC)” to improve the framework for market mechanisms and regulations for the integration of renewable energies.
Recently, TPDDL embarked on a project under which it will install 250,000 smart meters in north and northwest Delhi by the end of 2018.
Image credit: TPDDL

Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited and GIZ Sign MOU to Promote Renewable Energy

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH India on behalf of the Government of Germany, signed an agreement on technical cooperation under the “Indo-German Energy Program – Green Energy Corridors (IGEN-GEC), ” to improve the framework for market mechanisms and regulations for integration of renewable energies.
The IGEN-GEC program is commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Under the program, the GIZ and MNRE will also work to advance technical and institutional conditions in specified target states, regions and on national level and add strategic, managerial, financial, and technical to handle renewable energies integration in an efficient and effective manner.
“I am delighted that this relationship between GIZ and India will result in improved market mechanisms and regulations, help us train manpower, to ensure grid stability &amp; integration of renewables into grid and ensure safer &amp; secure grid and a grid which can take cyber challenges,” said Mr. Piyush Goyal, Minister for Power.
In November 2016, the German government-owned development bank, KfW, provided <a href="https://mercomindia.com/indian-state-transmission-utilities-power-grid-corporation-india-receive-e1-billion-soft-loan-germany/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">€1 billion</a> (~$1.05 billion) in a soft loan to India to develop inter and intra-state transmission infrastructure under the green energy corridor program.
Image credit: MNRE, PIB

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