Covid-19

With biodiversity concerns and social impacts such as arguments over the loss of agricultural land delaying projects, non-profit The Nature Conservancy India has published a report to help developers choose their locations more carefully and get India’s energy transition back on track.

Faced with raw material and labor shortages, solar manufacturers have stressed the need to find alternative supply chains and to push automation and internet of things applications on the factory floor to keep production running.

Mitesh Patel, Renewables Director-Asia, US-headquartered EPC player Black & Veatch, speaks to pv magazine about the key trends driving the solar market, especially in Southeast Asia, and strategies to improve the bankability of PV projects.

Covid-related disruption hit solar project construction in the second quarter. The activity will likely rebound over the coming quarters, with 4,720 MW expected to be commissioned in the second half.

India imported solar cells and modules worth $1.3 billion from China in FY2019-20. Domestic manufacturers have demanded a level playing field to compete against cheaper imports.

Covid-19 hits to demand and bill payment collection have worsened the plight of the nation’s already debt-crippled power distribution companies, prompting the government to order an exceptional relaxation of lending limits.

Analyst IHS Markit has predicted storage will rebound this year following its first year-on-year decline in 2019. The technology is being rolled out at pace despite Covid-19 with state-level policies set to keep the US the global capital for the next five years.

Some 1 GW of utility scale project capacity was added to the end of June.

In March, the government said delays in renewable energy plant construction on account of Covid-19-prompted supply chain disruption would be considered a force majeure event.

Mercom India Research has said the quarterly value of solar cell and module imports was down 83% in the second quarter of the year, compared to the same period of 2019, to sit 54% lower than the value recorded in the January-to-March window.