Utility Scale PV

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.

The New Delhi-based developer is planning a 50 MW plant after the 100 MW facility originally proposed was stymied by the power evacuation equipment available at the Khulna site.

The solar plant is the Indian multinational’s fifth win in Latin America. The EPC has a a 93.3 MW project in Argentina and is constructing three other Chilean PV plants with a total generation capacity of 588 MW.

The state, which is aiming to hit 2.2 GW of solar within two years, has received a Solar Energy Corporation of India proposal for 500 MW of floating project capacity even as it approves a 40 MW water-borne array put forward by the national solar body. The 500 MW suggested comes on top of a similar scale of floating PV planned across the state by public hydropower company NHPC.

The state—which has already installed an aggregate 9.6 GW of renewable energy capacity as of FY 2019-20 end—will add another 22.6 GW to the grid by the end of FY2029-30. Of the new RE addition, 18 GW will come from solar capacity.

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.

Developers now have until September 23 to lodge bids for the 110 MW procurement round and can toss their hat into the ring for a new tender in the district of Jamnagar which closes on October 5.

The U.S. based researchers said linking solar with hydro in a full hybrid system configuration may result – at best – in the deployment of 7,593 GW for an estimated annual power generation of 10,616 TWh and a 20% reservoir coverage. And combining solar with hydro in this way brings further benefits, including improved system operation at different time scales, more opportunities for storage thanks to pumped hydro, increased utilization rates of transmission lines, reduced PV curtailment, and lower interconnection costs and water evaporation.

The company cited delay in sale completion of Neo Solren as the reason for the pact’s cancellation with CLP India. The subsidiary was formed to set up and operate solar plants in Telangana.

The ground-mounted, grid-connected project—to be developed in turnkey mode—shall be awarded through international competitive bidding followed by reverse auction. Bidding closes on October 27.