Letter of Credit Has not Been Effective as Payment Security for Solar Developers
To tackle the risks related to delays in payments to independent power producers, the Ministry of Power (MoP) recently mandated state-owned distribution companies (DISCOMs) to issue a letter of credit ...
Public Health Department in Rajasthan Announces Tender to Install 520 Solar Pumps
The Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) of Rajasthan has floated tenders for setting up solar-based water pumping systems in the state. The PHED has issued three different tenders for the ...
Ather Energy to Set Up EV, Lithium-ion Battery Manufacturing Facility in Tamil Nadu
Ather Energy has announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Tamil Nadu to set up a two-wheeled electric vehicle and lithium-ion battery manufacturing ...
Month in a Minute: Important News Snippets from India’s Renewable Sector in November 2019
For the domestic renewable industry, November was a busy month on the investment front. There were several important funding announcements in the Indian renewable sector, along with technological developments and ...
ADB Approves $250 Million to EESL to Assist its Energy Efficiency Program in India
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has sanctioned a loan of $250 million as a part of the assistance package to the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL). The loan will help ...
Andhra High Court Stays APERC’s Public Hearing to Revise Solar Tariffs
The Andhra Pradesh high court has stayed the notice issued by the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) for public hearings to revise solar tariffs. The APERC was expected to ...
Traded Volumes of Solar RECs Witness 45% Decline in November 2019
In the November 2019 renewable energy certificate (REC) trading session, there was a significant decrease in the number of solar and non-solar RECs that were traded when compared with the ...
Maharashtra DISCOM to Pay ₹7 Million as Delayed Payments to Three Wind Generators
The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) has directed the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSECDL) to clear its outstanding dues with three wind developers in the state, including interest ...
Nemji Solar Plans to Start 1 GW Solar Module Manufacturing Unit Next Year
Nemji Solar, a new entrant into the solar industry has announced that it plans to start operating a 1 GW solar module manufacturing facility by April 2020. The Gujarat-based company ...
Haryana DISCOMs to Allow Net Metering Until Rooftop Solar Capacity Reaches 500 MW
The Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) has issued an updated version of its regulations for rooftop solar grid-interactive systems based on net metering in response to a petition filed by ...
Over 285,000 Electric Vehicle Buyers Have Received Subsidies Under FAME Program
The Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises (MHIPE) has announced that about 285,000 buyers of electric and hybrid vehicles have benefitted from the subsidies provided under the Faster Adoption ...
Indian Railways has Installed 95.67 MW of Rooftop Solar Capacity: Piyush Goyal
The Minister of Railways, Piyush Goyal, has announced that the ministry has installed 95.67 MW of rooftop solar systems to date. In response to an inquiry in the Lok Sabha, Goyal replied that the ministry had awarded nearly 248.46 MW of solar capacity ...
New Guidelines Restrict Short-term Equity Investment in Solar Projects
In an amendment to the competitive bidding guidelines for procuring power from grid-connected solar PV projects, issued by the MNRE in July 2019, it was noted that the project developers need to maintain a controlling shareholding of 51% in the SPV or project company executing the PPA. ...
Andhra Pradesh Amends its Solar, Wind and Hybrid Policy – Pulls Back Incentives
The government of Andhra Pradesh has issued a notification amending the state’s policy for wind, solar, and wind-solar hybrid projects, taking away some vital incentives from the renewable generators. The ...
France’s PROPARCO Makes $15 Million Equity Investment in Solar Developer Avaada Energy
PROPARCO, a French development financial institution, has announced that it has made a $15 million (~₹1.07 billion) equity investment in independent power producer Avaada Energy Private Limited. According to Mercom’s ...
After the Success of SAUBHAGYA Program, Off-Grid Solar Product Sales Decline: GOGLA
Sales of off-grid solar products in India fell by 20% in the first half of 2019 when compared with the second half of 2018, according to the latest report from ...
Singapore’s Temasek Partners with Swedish EQT to Build Solar & Wind Farms in India
Temasek, a Singapore-based Holdings company, has partnered with EQT, a Swedish private equity company, to launch a renewable energy platform in India. The platform, called 02 Power, aims to construct wind ...
No ISTS Charges for Solar and Wind Projects Commissioned by December 2022
The Ministry of Power (MoP) has announced that interstate transmission system (ISTS) charges and losses on the transmission of electricity generated from solar and wind energy projects will be waived ...
Solar Power Generation Dipped in the Third Quarter of 2019 By Nearly 14%
Solar power generation numbers declined by 14% quarter over quarter (QoQ) in the third (Q3) quarter of 2019. Solar power generation in India stood at 10,530 million units (MUs), according ...
Solar Now Accounts for 9.2% of India’s Total Installed Power Capacity
In the quarter ending September 2019, India’s total renewable energy capacity (including large hydro) stood at 130.68 GW. This translates into approximately 35.7% of the total installed power capacity in ...
Solar MSMEs are Not Benefiting from Safeguard Duty and Domestic Content Rules
Over the past year and a half, the government has launched several policy measures to support the domestic solar manufacturing industry — these range from the imposition of a safeguard ...
Tata Power and Rockefeller Foundation to Set Up Renewable Microgrids in India
Tata Power and the Rockefeller Foundation have launched TP Renewable Microgrid Ltd., with plans to set up 10,000 microgrids in India by 2026. The new unit is expected to provide ...
China and India Poised to Lead Asia in Harnessing Wind by 2050: IRENA Report
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has released its latest Global Energy Transformation Report, which explores global energy development scenarios up to the year 2050. The report states that Asia ...
MNRE’s New Solar Bidding Guidelines Say No Power Backdown Without Formal Instructions
To expedite and streamline the process of developing solar projects, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued amendments to its guidelines for the competitive bidding process. The ...
Economic Slowdown Has Taken a Toll on Indian Rooftop Solar Market: Solis Interview
In August 2019, Mercom reported that in the first half of the year, the top five solar inverter manufacturers in China accounted for 36.44% of inverter exports globally from China ...
