Siemens has acquired C&S Electric’s around 99.22% equity share capital for INR 2,100 crore. The acquisition will allow it to address the rising demand for low-voltage power distribution solutions in India. Apart from gaining easy access to the Indian market, the transaction also aims to create an export hub.

Under the joint venture, Sterling and Wilson will provide end-to-end services for electric vehicle charging stations across India. 

A new report discusses battery storage, green hydrogen, and flexible coal-fired power generation as key grid firming options for India as solar and wind are poised to form 51% of the nation’s total installed generation capacity by 2030. 

Proceeds from the transaction with RMG Acquisition will be used to support ReNew’s growth strategy, including the buildout of its contracted, utility-scale renewable power generation capacity and to reduce debt.

The private power producer will set up the proposed solar plant in the Datia district in two parts of 33.7 MW and 56.17 MW. The project is expected to be completed by June 2022.

The nation installed a cumulative solar capacity of 41,689 MW as of December 31, 2020, with 1298 MW added in the October-December period. Going forward, capacity addition in the current year’s first quarter could exceed 2 GW.

Developers now have until March 11 to lodge their interest in building 275 MW of grid-connected solar capacity in Uttar Pradesh Solar Park. The projects are to be set up on a build-own-operate basis.

Today, the State has 5042 MW of renewable energy capacity, a ten-fold increase from 491 MW in 2012.

The floating solar plant shall come up at the Santhaldih Thermal Power Station in the Purulia district of West Bengal. Bidders have until April 12 to lodge their interest in its installation and commissioning.

With large projects contributing 78% of the new capacity, the nation installed less than half the 7.3 GW added in 2019 and recorded its poorest figures in five years, according to a Mercom India report.

Every year, chemical and energy companies produce $15 billion worth of commodities such as carbon black, silicon oxide, and aluminum oxide, for manufacturing purposes. Engineers do this by pumping chemicals into a flame and collecting material formed in the fire, in an approach known as flame spray pyrolysis. This approach, according to scientists at Argonne National Laboratory, has the potential to create more advanced materials for use in next-generation storage batteries.

A numercal study by researchers at India’s Chitkara University has shown enhanced charge extraction in metal-perovskite-metal back-contact solar cell structure through electrostatic doping. The proposed design yielded a 59.4% improvement in power conversion efficiency over previously reported structures.

Solar module manufacturers, grid-tied inverter manufacturers and PV system integrators with requisite EPC experience can bid for the grid-interactive PV capacity. The plants—to be set up in sizes ranging from 2 MW to 10 MW—shall come up in various districts of the state. Bidding closes on March 17.

AdaniConneX, the joint venture with US-based data center solution provider EdgeConneX, will develop renewable energy-powered data centers with up to 1 GW of power demand in India over the next decade.

The partnership will lead to enhanced power system modeling backed with rich data-sets to identify interventions for addressing power sector problems like grid instability.

The new devices feature efficiencies ranging from 20.7-21%. The panels are said to be compatible with a wide range of slates and tiles, include special fixings for different batten thicknesses, and achieve the highest fire rating and wind resistance without modifications to the roof.

India’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme—which targets 10 GW of integrated solar PV manufacturing capacity within two years—will spur demand for locally produced materials like ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) sheets, solar glass, backsheet and junction boxes, too.

The Telangana-headquartered lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery manufacturer has teamed up with Las Vegas-headquartered Barrel Energy to develop and manufacture lithium batteries for electric vehicles. The joint venture will establish factories in India and North America.

In various forms, quantum dot technology has attracted plenty of attention among PV researchers recently. And as efficiencies have crept past the 15% mark, the community is beginning to look at other factors limiting the viability of quantum dot solar cells in a commercial setting. Scientists in Germany examined the degradation mechanisms affecting different quantum dot materials; and suggest a standardization of stability testing to enable comparability of results.

The Indian automotive battery major has announced the setting up of a 50 MW solar power plant in Chittoor District of Andhra Pradesh. The plant—to be built at INR 220-crore investment—will help reduce the manufacturer’s carbon footprint while lowering its electricity bill. The firm, which has already set up a pilot plant facility for Lithium-ion cell development, is also mulling investments into energy storage for the renewables sector.

The Solar Energy Corporation of India has allowed a two-week bidding extension for the installation of a 20 MW (AC) solar plant (50 MWp DC) with 20 MW/50 MWh battery energy storage in the union territory of Ladakh.

India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) and Greenstat Hydrogen India will collaborate on establishing a Norwegian Centre of Excellence on Hydrogen in India and supporting the development of green hydrogen technologies.

The Spanish startup will use ION’s advanced battery management and intelligence technologies for its electric scooter, the RAY 7.7.

The Solar Energy Corporation of India has issued amendments to the procurement and extended the bidding deadline by two weeks.

India is set to see the largest increase in energy demand of any country over next 20 years, a new International Energy Agency (IEA) report says, highlighting potential for policies and investment to accelerate clean energy transition.

A net feed-in tariff could offer a solution for consumers, developers, and distribution companies.

The government should consider offering a 50% capital subsidy for setting up R&D and quality testing infrastructure within the manufacturing units and a 200% super-deduction for the R&D expenditure on new and clean solar technology development. Simultaneously, it should look at implementing tariff barriers on imports for at least four-five years.

Challenges like frequent policy and regulatory changes, high capital costs, low awareness, non-uniformity in approval processes across states, restriction on net metering, and additional charges by DISCOMs need to be addressed for rooftop solar to take off in India.

Feeder segregation, i.e., the installation of dedicated electricity supply lines for agriculture, is often celebrated as the solution to the electricity utilities’ pain point of free or highly subsidized electricity supply for agriculture. But does it address the root cause of the issue?

The nation is already firmly positioned to lead the world in the clean energy revolution. Consolidating this position would unlock significant economic growth and competitiveness by attracting domestic and foreign investment, creating jobs, and improving public health.