Utility Scale PV

A failed association with IL&FS has failed to deter SoftBank from its plan to invest a staggering $1tn in Indian solar by 2030. Now the Japanese funding giant is working with Essel Infraprojects on a 500 MW plant, with further details yet to be revealed.

As the currency continued to fall today, analysts are concerned developers will see any savings from falling module prices disappear, and lenders may get nervy, putting the national solar target in grave doubt.

Azure Power has raised the capital since June 30th, and says it is “the largest amount of financing raised by a solar power company in India during this period”. Azure says the fund leaves it well positioned to deliver a 2 GW project pipeline.

Despite political hurdles in key markets including China and Japan, Asia remains highly active. This year, 59 GW of solar is expected to be installed and due to further system price declines, a phase-out of subsidy schemes can be offset.

SECI has opened up to 10 GW of floating PV for expressions of interest to accelerate adoption of the solar platform. The potential generation capacity for the technology in India is enormous, with 700 GW possible if just one-third of the country’s water reservoirs are exploited.

Big players such as Acme, ReNew, Adani, Azure, Hero Future and Aditya Birla Solar are likely to stay away from procurement which requires 3 GW annual manufacturing commitment, says industry insider Gopal Lal Somani.

The state has set an electricity price ceiling of Rs3.10/kWh and reserved the right to cancel the auction if it doesn’t fancy the resulting tariff. Bidders can go for projects ranging in size from 5 MW up to the whole capacity on offer.

Analysts are weighing into the debate over the MNRE’s big solar plans, but pointing out that even a partial victory would set the foundation for future solar triumphs.

India is likely to add between 8-8.5 GW of renewable energy generation capacity in the current financial year ending March 2019, according to ICRA Limited.

Developers have successfully secured relief from the federal government to mitigate the effects of GST on PV projects. One-off compensation will be paid and tariffs may be adjusted to reflect any ongoing rise in maintenance expenses.