The Irrigation Department of Uttarakhand, in Dehradun, has re-tendered a 27 MW solar project at the Haripura Dam and a 13 MW installation at the Tumariya Dam in the Udham Singh Nagar district. The project will now be awarded through tariff-based competitive bidding.

The power minister’s proposal would be a step in the right direction towards meeting the 40 GW rooftop solar target, as it removes a financing hurdle for small and medium enterprises.

SECI’s 1.2 GW solar auction saw four companies – Ayana Renewable, ReNew Power, Azure Power and Mahindra Susten – secure a combined capacity of 1.15 GW at Rs2.54/kWh. Avaada Energy won the remaining 50 MW, at Rs2.55.

Solar trees—like the ones at The National Salt Satyagraha Memorial in Gujarat—are set to make their way into the residential complexes of central government employees as the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) looks to harness solar energy to the maximum extent possible.

Starting its journey as a department within Mahindra Group’s solar EPC company Mahindra Susten, the newly formed comprehensive asset care company for renewable energy customers aims to reach a 20 GWp global portfolio by 2022 from 4 GWp currently.

State-owned Madhya Pradesh Power Management Company Limited (MPPMCL) has invited domestic and global players for providing grid-scale energy storage services of up to 500 MW with 8 hours of daily discharge and setting up a storage manufacturing facility in the state. The deadline for proposal submission is August 2.

State-owned power generator NTPC has invited bids for development of 1 GW grid-connected solar PV projects under Central Public Sector Undertaking (CPSU) scheme Phase-II (Tranche-I). The projects are to be set up on turnkey basis under domestic content requirement category, anywhere in India. These will be awarded through domestic competitive bidding followed by reverse auction.

The government is considering financial incentives such as import and export duty waivers to woo battery manufacturers to set up a globally competitive manufacturing base in India.

Easy access to finance topped the agenda of the minister’s meeting with various stakeholders, wherein issues related to land acquisition and Goods and Services Tax (GST) were also discussed.

The ATUM integrated solar roofing system using 320W panels generates enough electricity to power a light bulb, a fan and a mobile phone.