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Maxeon Solar Modules Detained by US Customs Authority

Sungrow, TBEA, FIMER Dominate Solar Inverter Rankings in First Half of 2024


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					</table><p><a href="https://www.indigrid.co.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IndiGrid</a>, British International Investment (<a href="https://www.bii.co.uk/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BII</a>), and the Norwegian Climate Investment Fund managed by <a href="https://www.norfund.no/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Norfund</a> have launched EnerGrid, a $300 million platform focusing on developing greenfield transmission and standalone Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) projects in India.</p>
<p>Earlier this year, IndiGrid announced the company’s first phase of this partnership, under which BII and Norfund invested in three of IndiGrid’s existing greenfield transmission projects.</p>
<p>IndiGrid, Norfund, and BII plan to invest $100 million each in the platform. This capital will enable EnerGrid to target projects worth approximately $1.2 billion over the next few years.</p>
<p>After starting commercial operations, IndiGrid will fully acquire these projects at a pre-agreed enterprise value.</p>
<p>IndiGrid said India’s transmission sector is seeing a significant uptick in its bidding and development momentum on the back of the rise in the country’s increasing power demand, changing energy mix, and focus on energy transition. According to the latest estimates released by the Central Electricity Authority, India will require an additional 170,000 circuit kilometers (ckm) of transmission lines and 47 GW of BESS capacity over the next eight years to facilitate the evacuation of its growing generation capacity.</p>
<p>Indigrid has 49 transmission lines with a total network length of 8,700 ckm, 15 substations with 22,550 MVA transformation capacity, 1.1 GW of solar power capacity and 200 MW/400 MWh BESS capacity</p>
<p>In August, IndiGrid <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/indigrid-receives-%E2%82%B96-billion-from-aimco-and-hdfc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">launched</a> a preferential issue of shares priced at ₹136.43 (~$1.62) to raise approximately ₹6.95 billion (~$82.7 million). This move followed the successful conclusion of an Offer-for-Sale managed by its sponsor, KKR, which saw substantial interest from existing and new long-term investors.</p>
<p>The company <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/indigrids-revenue-up-in-q2-fy-2025" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> consolidated revenue of ₹8.06 billion ($96.7 million) in the second quarter of the financial year 2025, a 16% year-over-year increase from ₹6.95 billion ($83.4 million).</p>


IndiGrid, BII and Norfund to Launch $300 Million Platform for BESS Projects


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					</table><p>Switzerland-based engineering company <a href="https://www.meyerburger.com/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meyer Burger</a> is planning to introduce a unified glass, glass-based product platform for its solar modules.</p>
<p>The modules designed under the platform will have optimized glass on the front and back. They will have enhanced bifaciality, a prominent attribute in heterojunction solar technology.</p>
<p>The company said the products will come with increased durability, low weight, sustainably higher performance, and appealing aesthetics in black, white, and transparent variants.</p>
<p>Meyer Burger hopes to cut manufacturing costs as the new platform enables the scalability of new manufacturing capacities and accelerate mass production.</p>
<p>The company said the platform will help eliminate downtime due to product changes and complex procurement logistics processes caused by product diversity.</p>
<p>The company has set a target of producing solar modules with a total output of approximately 800 MW in 2023.</p>
<p>Meyer Burger has designed production lines for the new platform at its Goodyear site in the United States while the technical upgrades at the company’s Freiberg plant in Germany are scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2023.</p>
<p>While the company expanded its production capacity in Germany’s plant to 1.4 GW which would be sufficient for the new platform, Meyer said the ongoing supply chain disruptions for some industrial electronics components have delayed ramping up of the third module line in Freiberg until summer.</p>
<p>Meyer said that it is providing the black and white glass-backsheet modules to its customers while the company transitions to the new product platform. The new platform can be combined with future solar cells technologies such as IBC-HJT and HJT-perovskite tandem.</p>
<p>In 2021, the company <a href="https://mercomindia.com/daily-news-wrap-up-module-plant/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> the beginning of module production using heterojunction technology with an annual capacity of 400 MW which the company said would be expanded to 1 GW.</p>
<p>Last year, the International Energy Agency said in a <a href="https://mercomindia.com/diversifying-global-production-solar-modules-net-zero/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> that ensuring a secure transition to net-zero emissions will require increased efforts to expand and diversify the global production of solar modules. The report examined solar photovoltaic supply chains from raw materials to the finished product, covering energy consumption, emissions, employment, production costs, investment, trade, and financial performance.</p>


Meyer Burger to Introduce Unified Glass-Glass Platform for Solar Modules


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					</table><p>The U.S. Department of Energy (<a href="https://www.energy.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DOE</a>) announced a series of investments to accelerate the deployment of floating offshore wind in the country.</p>
<p>The DOE will partner with various institutions to explore two-thirds of the country’s offshore wind resources in deep waters that need floating platforms.</p>
<p>The energy department will also use $100 million, a part of the funds available under the President’s Inflation Reduction Act, to launch a 20-month West Offshore Wind Transmission Study.</p>
<p>The study will help DOE examine the possibilities of expanding transmission to harness power from floating offshore wind for the communities on the West Coast. It is also expected to pave ways to support grid reliability, resilience, and ocean co-use.</p>
<p>The investments are part of the Biden-Harris administration’s Floating Offshore Wind Shot Summit. The government aims to deploy 15 GW of floating offshore wind by 2035 and reduce the cost of by over 70%.</p>
<p>U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm said, “President Biden wants America to become a global leader of offshore wind technology and deployment, and with his historic climate investments, DOE is capturing this potential to spur private investment, boost the domestic supply chain and deliver on our bold clean energy goals.”</p>
<p><strong>Floating wind focussed developments</strong></p>
<p>The DOE also announced that California would become the first state along the West Coast to join the National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium, a research consortium funded by DOE.</p>
<p>Last October, the U.S. government said it would hold a <a href="https://mercomindia.com/us-to-lease-out-california-coast-offshore-wind-projects/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lease</a> sale for areas off the West Coast for wind projects critical to achieving the administration’s offshore wind energy goals of 30 GW by 2030 and a floating offshore wind energy target of 15 GW by 2035.</p>
<p>The department’s National Laboratories and National Renewable Energy Laboratory announced the development of an industry-informed roadmap for new operations and maintenance technologies and processes to enhance the cost-effectiveness, efficiency, and reliability at offshore wind sites.</p>
<p>DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management have deployed a floating scientific research buoy located approximately 15 miles east of Oahu, Hawaii.</p>
<p>The buoy will help the lab collect offshore wind resources, and meteorological, and oceanographic data.</p>
<p>In October 2022, the DOE <a href="https://mercomindia.com/us-announces-30-million-funding-wind-power-research/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> it intends to use $30 million from the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to fund wind power research.</p>
<p>According to the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the country needs to <a href="https://mercomindia.com/us-needs-to-deploy-90-gw-solar-150-gw-wind-capacity-annually-to-decarbonize-electric-grid/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deploy</a> 70–150 GW of wind energy and 40–90 GW of solar every year until 2030 to decarbonize America’s power sector by 2035.</p>


U.S. Announces New Investments for Floating Offshore Wind Deployment


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					</table><p>Bengaluru-based electric vehicle (EV) charging aggregation platform <a href="https://electricpe.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ElectricPe</a> closed a pre-series A funding round of $5 million, taking the company’s total capital raised in the last 12 months to $8 million. The company said it will use the funds to deepen technology investments and scale its operations.</p>
<p>The funding round was led by Green Frontier Capital, Blume Ventures, and Micelio Fund, while notable investors from Dubai NB Ventures, Anchorage Capital Partners, Supermorpheus, and Climate Angels also participated in the fundraising.</p>
<p>ElectricPe is a Business-2-Customer EV charging and demand generation platform that offers EV users one spot to identify, access, and pay for charging points to make e-mobility easier. The company has dispensed 100 GWh of energy to date.</p>
<p>Co-Founder and CEO of ElectricPe Avinash Sharma said, &#8220;We&#8217;ve received positive consumer response to our offering of a single app to find, use and pay across any charging or swapping station. Our belief has always been in stage-by-stage capitalization as we ramp up our operations and create a holistic full-stack consumer-facing platform.”</p>
<p>Managing Partner at Green Frontier Capital Sandiip Bhammer said, “We are focused on investing in homegrown startups which have a strong vision and are proving their ability to provide a unique technology solution to the growing climate change issue.”</p>
<p>Since its incorporation in 2021, ElectricPe has installed 10,000 live charging points in Bengaluru. The company’s app has witnessed a 30% increase in usage month-on-month, in the past 7.5 months, with customers on the network completing 4 million green kilometers.</p>
<p>&#8221; We are excited to once again back the ElectricPe team to solve the issue of access to charging infrastructure and improve customer satisfaction,” said Shreyas Shibulal, CEO &amp; Founder of Micelio Fund.</p>
<p>“The EV sector is growing at a rapid pace and consumers are seeking full-stack solutions, in one place. Having a trusted dense network of charging/swapping points to find, use and pay will not only help increase adoption but also utilization of charging infrastructure,” said Arpit Agarwal, Director, Blume Ventures.</p>
<p>Last month, the Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari <a href="https://mercomindia.com/two-and-three-wheelers-dominate-indias-registered-electric-vehicles/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">informed</a> the lower house of Parliament that India has over 1.8 million registered EVs, with Uttar Pradesh accounting for nearly 23% of the total at 0.41 million.</p>
<p>Last April, Hero Electric <a href="https://mercomindia.com/daily-news-wrap-up-kerc-condones-delay-solar-project-vijayapura/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">partnered</a> with ElectriPe to provide the former’s customers with accessibility to ElectricPe’s charging network across India.</p>


EV Charging Aggregation Platform ElectricPe Raises $5 Million in Funding

<p><a href="https://loanpal.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Loanpal</a>, a solar loan origination platform that finances solar systems and batteries, has secured over $800 million in funding in its first external investment round.</p>
<p>The investment round was led by NEA, <a href="https://www.westcap.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">WestCap Group</a>, Brookfield Asset Management, <a href="https://www.riverstonellc.com/en/home/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Riverstone Holdings</a>, and other private investors, Loanpal said in a statement.</p>
<p>Loanpal is a financier of residential solar energy in the United States. The financial technology firm enables insurance companies, banks, credit unions, and asset managers to provide zero down payment options for residential solar systems.</p>
<p>Scott Sandel, Managing General Partner at NEA, and Laurence Tosi, the Managing Partner of WestCap Group, have joined Loanpal’s board of directors as part of the transaction.</p>
<p>Hayes Barnard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Loanpal, said, “Everything on our platform is available as a ‘buy now, pay later’ solution to help homeowners swiftly install smart home upgrades. The aim is to scale an easier deployment of carbon-reducing products that benefit the planet while providing more jobs.”</p>
<p>Loanpal said its point-of-sale payment platform allows businesses to deploy sustainable home solutions at scale with its digital tools. The platform provides flexible payment options to remove the cost barrier for homeowners and create a channel for financial institutions to deploy their capital in environmental, social, and governance assets.</p>
<p>Loanpal has provided capital worth around $5.8 billion for solar and other home efficiency products since 2018, helping 175,000 families upgrade their homes with modern and sustainable technologies. The platform also supported over 20,000 clean energy jobs across the U.S.</p>
<p>In November 2020, Loanpal <a href="https://mercomindia.com/funding-and-ma-roundup-loanpal-securitization/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">closed</a> a securitization of around $434 million worth of solar loans previously purchased by Goldman Sachs, Blackstone Credit, and Goodfinch. This securitization sponsored by Goldman Sachs consisted of $346.7 million of notes rated by the Kroll Bond Rating Agency.</p>
<p>In January 2021, it <a href="https://mercomindia.com/funding-and-ma-roundup-loanpal-solar-loans/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">closed</a> another securitization of approximately $474 million solar loans previously purchased by Goldman Sachs Lending Partners, Blackstone Credit, Davidson Kempner Capital Management, funds managed by CarVal Investors, Credigy, and GoodFinch.</p>
<p>The company had earlier <a href="https://mercomindia.com/blackstone-to-invest-300-million/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">announced</a> that Blackstone would invest nearly $300 million (~₹22.44 billion) in residential solar loans on the Loanpal platform.</p>
<p>The amount raised by residential and commercial solar funds was $1,749 million in 12 deals in 2020 compared to $327 million raised in 5 deals in 2019. Since 2009, nearly $28 billion has gone into 178 residential and commercial solar funds to finance installations, according to Mercom’s 2020 Q4 Annual Solar Funding and M&amp;A <a href="https://mercomcapital.com/product/2020-q4-annual-solar-funding-ma-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Report</a>.</p>


Residential Solar Financing Company Loanpal Receives $800 Million in Funding

<p>The Indian Energy Exchange (<a href="https://www.iexindia.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">IEX</a>) announced that its new real-time electricity trading platform had enabled a trading volume of 515.46 million units (MUs) of power in June 2020, its first month of operation.</p>
<p>In its press statement, the IEX also said that it accomplished a single-day trading volume of 36.09 MUs on June 30, 2020, the highest during the month. It added that 110 customers participated in the auction sessions held that day.</p>
<p>Real-time market (RTM) trading platforms are used widely across the world. RTMs are designed as half-hourly markets comprising 48 auction sessions of 15 minutes each. Auction sessions are conducted at even time blocks on the hour, and delivery commences one hour after the trade session is closed.</p>
<p>IEX said the newly launched trading platform saw a total of 237 customers participating in the new market segment during the month. It also said that the average market clearing price in June was ₹2.22 (~$0.029)/kWh, lower than the day-ahead market average price of ₹2.35 (~$0.031)/kWh for the month.</p>
<p>It also noted that the market saw substantial sell-side liquidity at 1,810 MU – over two times the buy volumes at 742 MU.</p>
<p>The company explained that the platform not only enabled the sale of surplus power generated, but it also helped generators fulfill obligations during outages. The power trading exchange noted that &#8211; Raipur Power and Raigarh Energy Generation were the first generators to have bought electricity to meet their commitments.</p>
<p>It also said that it worked with distribution companies (DISCOMs), power generators, and commercial and industrial (C&amp;I) consumers to conduct capacity building sessions and provide them with the necessary technology applications and tools to help them use the platform optimally.</p>
<p>“The real-time market is a boon to cashflow constrained DISCOMs to access quality power at economical prices. At the same time, meeting the exigent demand, block-wise by the grid operator, has become painless,” said K.V.N Chakradhar Babu, Chairman, Andhra Pradesh Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (APSPDCL).</p>
<p>Power Exchange India Limited and IEX recently <a href="https://mercomindia.com/pxil-iex-real-time-market-electricity-transactions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">announced</a> that they started their real-time market trading platforms for electricity transactions on June 1, 2020. The real-time market was launched to ensure that buyers and sellers can purchase or sell electricity from anywhere across the country with just an hour’s notice.</p>
<p>Amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in India, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission <a href="https://mercomindia.com/cerc-real-time-power-market-june-covid-19-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">decided to defer</a> the implementation of the real-time power market until June 1, 2020.</p>
<p>Earlier, Mercom <a href="https://mercomindia.com/indias-power-sector-shifting-short-term-contracts-and-spot-markets/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">published</a> a report that said that India’s power sector is currently in a transitional phase, shifting from long-term generation contracts to a greater reliance on short-term contracts and electricity spot markets. In this transition, policymakers and regulators face some tough questions around contract regulation, spot market design, requirements and incentives for spot market participation, and potential risks in ensuring competitive markets.</p>


IEX’s New Real-Time Power Market Sees Over 515 Million Units of Trading Volume in June

<p>Swedish private equity company <a href="https://www.eqtgroup.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">EQT Infrastructure</a> and Singapore-based holdings company <a href="https://www.temasek.com.sg/en/index" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Temasek</a> have announced the launch of O2 Power, their renewable energy platform in India.</p>
<p>According to a press statement from EQT, O2 Power aims to achieve 4 GW of installed solar and wind capacity in the country and has already received $500 million (~₹35.53 billion) of commitments in equity from EQT and Temasek. The platform will be headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana.</p>
<p>The renewable energy platform will focus on developing utility-scale renewable energy projects across solar, wind, and hybrid through Greenfield projects, which means that projects would be built up from scratch instead of upgrading and taking over existing ones, and through mergers and acquisitions.</p>
<p>“India presents significant investment opportunities being the second-largest renewable energy market in the world. This is not only EQT Infrastructure’s first investment in India, but it is also well in line with our ambitions to contribute to a cleaner future,” said Fabian Gröne, Partner at EQT Partners and Investment Advisor to EQT Infrastructure.</p>
<p>In its press release, EQT said that with this transaction, EQT Infrastructure IV is expected to be 60-65% invested. EQT is a global investment organization that manages and advises investment funds across the world.</p>
<p>Back in 2017, Temasek partnered with EQT to expand its presence into Asia, particularly in Southeast Asia, India, Korea, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia to look for investment opportunities in communications, transportation, energy, and social infrastructure.</p>
<p>Temasek is a global investment company headquartered in Singapore with a portfolio of operations in financial services, telecommunications, media, technology, real estate, transportation, industrials, life sciences, and agribusiness, as well as energy and resources.</p>
<p>In November, Mercom <a href="https://mercomindia.com/temasek-partners-with-eqt-to-build-solar-wind-farms-india/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> when Temasek and EQT entered into a partnership to launch this renewable energy platform in India.</p>


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