Installations

The utility-scale PV project, which Belectric built for Fortum Solar India across five sites, is the largest amount of solar capacity that the German EPC services provider has commissioned in the country thus far.

The Climate Investment Platform launched by three multilateral bodies in September is now open for business and renewables companies in developing nations across 14 regions including south Asia could qualify for help with clean energy facilities, renewables-related grid improvements and energy efficiency schemes.

Lobby group the National Solar Energy Federation of India has welcomed the move and asked the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to extend any such measures to existing contracts to help developers meet working capital requirements.

March 27 is the last date to bid for ground-based, grid-interactive solar power plants ranging from 500 kWp to 2 MWp or more at various locations/sub-stations of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL). Bidding for 100 kWp to 500 kWp grid-interactive rooftop solar plants in Uttarakhand closes on March 21.

Developers are also expected to drag their heels over project completion during the first half of the year as the safeguarding duty applied to imported Chinese and Malaysian solar products is due to expire at the end of July.

The International Water Management Institute is promoting the Solar Irrigation for Agricultural Resilience (SoLAR) initiative to expand the use of solar irrigation systems throughout Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan. Proponents of solar irrigation pumps say that they can have a strong positive impact on groundwater.

Contracted revenue, minimal volume risk and moderate-to-strong counterparties mitigate cash flow concerns in solar assets.

India, with 750 GW of solar potential, has also one of the highest transmission and distribution losses in the world. So, while there is immense scope in PV deployment, there is a need for greater investment in grid related projects also to help the country best utilise its renewable energy potential, says the latest report by SolarPower Europe and National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI) which also makes recommendations to help accelerate investments in the solar sector.

Scientists at Germany’s Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin have made a discovery they say could greatly increase the energy storage capacity of titanium-based ‘MXene’ pseudocapacitors, ultimately leading to faster-charging batteries. The group found adding urea molecules between MXene layers increased the material’s storage capacity by up to 56%.

Following a 20 MW floating solar project in Uttar Pradesh last month, Larsen & Toubro has won an order to design and construct a 50 MW solar plant in Tamil Nadu.