Renewables

Solar panels at the railway coach manufacturer’s three factories in West Bengal will cover approximately 50,000 sq m of roof space and generate around a quarter of the power used by the company each year.

The Rajasthan-headquartered engineering, procurement and construction company commissioned the project as part of a 40 MW solar park in Bhiwani district. The business has an ambitious renewables plan for the state with 150 MW in its two-year pipeline.

The state electric company has issued a call for expressions of interest in installing the residential arrays.

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.

Floating PV specialist Ocean Sun and South Korean energy company EN Technologies have signed an agreement to develop the pilot projects of the 2.1 GW floating solar site planned near the Saemangeum tidal flat, on the coast of the Yellow Sea.

The Italian utility, fresh from securing its first 300 MW of PV generation capacity in the recent, record-setting tender held by SECI, has teamed up with the state-owned Norwegian Investment Fund to commit to further clean energy facilities in India.

The fossil fuel company will become a partner in the fund, which invests in clean energy projects.

Almost 10 GW of hybrid generation capacity is already under implementation despite India having only 100 MW of combined wind and PV projects at present, according to analyst Crisil.

While the solar and storage pairing is still relatively new, the growth over the next five years will be significant globally. As against just 5% in 2019, by 2025 more than 25% of all behind-the-meter solar systems will be paired with storage.

India Ratings says the power demand declined for March and April 2020, taking a hit on generation from thermal sources as renewables continued to enjoy ‘must run’ status.