Global bids are now invited to set up 2 GW of solar manufacturing capacity linked to 6 GW of inter-state-connected solar power projects. The projects—to be developed on ‘build-own-operate’ basis—shall be awarded through tariff-based competitive bidding followed by e-reverse auction. Tariff ceiling is fixed at Rs 2.75/kWh for a period of 25 years. Bidding closes on July 26.

Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd has invited bids to set up 750 MW grid-connected solar projects at 1 GW Dholera Solar Park, and 200 MW projects at 700 MW Raghanesda Solar Park. Tariff ceiling for the projects is set as Rs 2.75/kWh and Rs 2.65/kWh, respectively. Bidding closes on July 24.

The country has so far achieved around 80 GW of installed renewable energy capacity in chasing “175 GW by 2022” target. De-dieselisation of farms and railways ranks high on the Modi government’s priority list to push solar adoption.

Situated in Sirsa district, the group captive solar project is in line with CleanMax Solar’s mission to more than double its customer base from 120 corporates to 300 by 2022.

Earlier, the state had planned to set up floating solar plants at Ujani and Irai dams but had to shelve the projects due to ambiguity on the project implementation as well as revenue sharing, and the high cost involved, respectively.

Though electric vehicles are up to 67% less emissions intensive than gasoline cars, their competitiveness depends on many factors like the source of electricity used for vehicle and battery manufacturing and charging. Given that India still has a high share of coal or other fossil fuels in its power mix, electrifying the current car taxi fleet would help it cut emissions faster than incentivising the use of privately owned EVs because of the taxis’ greater utilisation in terms of miles travelled.

Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited has invited global bids for setting up of an aggregate ground-mounted solar capacity of 57 MW at three sites in the state. Of the total capacity, 30 MW shall come up in Faridabad, and plants of 15 MW and 12 MW at two separate sites in Yamuna Nagar. Bidding closes on July 17.

Citing huge losses to solar power developers, the lobby group has urged state-owned utility Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited not to arbitrarily curtail generation from solar power projects that are in any case ‘must run.’

The tariffs are slightly above Rs2.48/kWh seen in March procurement but still fairly below the levels hit in Maharashtra and Gujarat auctions recently—reaffirming the state’s attractiveness to PV developers.

Wasteful use of water for solar panel cleaning is posing these areas to a high level of water risk. To justify its environment-friendly tag, the industry needs to replace manual cleaning with technologies providing water-efficient solutions.