Utility Scale Storage

The German giant – which manufactures central inverters near Mumbai – announced plans last week to acquire Kaco and start a new smart infrastructure business from April 1. In light of those moves, pv magazine spoke to IHS Markit’s Cormac Gilligan about the new kid, albeit huge, on the block.

The organization responsible for coordinating India’s push for 100 GW of new solar capacity by 2022 has had a busy week. But, as last year illustrated, tenders alone are not always a guarantee of new generation assets.

The German powerhouse – which makes central inverters for PV projects in India – wants to complete the acquisition by July. Indian employees will be hoping target company Kaco’s disposal of its central inverter operation last month will avert job losses by removing any potential overlap between the manufacturers.

The Solar Energy Corporation of India has invited bids for the development of an aggregate capacity of 20 MW of lagoon-based floating PV with 60 MWh of battery-based storage systems in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep.

The power transmission infrastructure developer has submitted bids for two battery energy storage projects, with a cumulative capacity of 400 MW, in the recently concluded auction of Salt River Project utility in Arizona, USA.

Given its ambitious goal of 175 GW renewable power by 2022 and push for electric mobility, the country presents a potential investment opportunity of $50 billion in battery storage facilities.

The 10 MW grid-scale energy storage system at Tata Power Delhi Distribution’s Rohini Substation is also said to be South Asia’s largest.

The president of India has sanctioned setting up of 14 MW grid-connected solar PV projects with aggregate battery storage capacity of 42 MWh for Jammu & Kashmir under Prime Minister Development Package (PMDP)-2015 . The projects would be set up during 2019-20 and 2020-21, and include 7 MW solar projects with battery storage of 21 MWh each in Leh and Kargil at different locations. These would be implemented in developer mode, at a fixed tariff of Rs 2 per unit, with viability gap funding support.

The fate of the clutch of 500 MW-plus projects due to break ground this year could determine whether such ambitious schemes have a viable future, says Wood Mackenzie in its solar 2019 forecast. And the Indian market should brace for consolidation, add the analysts, because of aggressive reverse-auction tariff pricing.

Although the solar industry sees itself as young, its assets are aging. Owners still struggle with the complexity of making the best use of big data analysis to improve plant efficiency and profitability. Ragna Schmidt-Haupt, of Everoze, examines why this has not changed, and what can or should be improved. Artificial intelligence, advanced data analytics, automated assessments and smart monitoring software – holistic solar asset management starts here.