Finance

Two of the world’s biggest players in the oil industry have backed the nation’s ambitious solar target – and are putting their money where their mouth is.

Ratings agency adds to pessimistic predictions about Indian solar with MNRE ambition of 34 GW of solar auctions next year at real risk. The news follows similar warnings about India’s 100 GW solar target.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released a new report on different ways global warming can be kept within the 1.5°C limit. The panel seeks to inform policymakers before the upcoming COP24 in Poland this December. Resulting from their analysis, the 91 authors state that drastic action and significant investments are needed. Such climate action across all sectors would have significant positive effects on sustainable development progress, they say.

Saurabhbhai Patel, Minister of Energy, Government of Gujarat, has announced that the state will soon issue a 250 MW grid-connected solar tender linked with storage. He also said that Gujarat will add more than 5 GW of new PV capacity in the next three years.

The recent 500 MW grid-connected solar capacity tendered by the Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA) was oversubscribed by 250 MW. A reverse auction will now be held on October 9. The capacity is part of the previous 1 GW tendered capacity, which was oversubscribed by around 800 MW, but cancelled due to high tariffs

India’s Prime Minister kick started the first Assembly of the ISA, the second IORA Renewable Energy Ministerial Meeting, and the 2nd Global RE-Invest yesterday in Greater Noida. The agenda of the day? Universal access to solar energy at affordable rates; securing 40% of India’s electricity generation from non-fossil fuels by 2030, and allocating up to US$80 billion to boost domestic PV manufacturing.

In recent years, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has laid the foundation for a clean energy expansion through robust policies and initiatives. India’s solar energy capacity has jumped a thousand-fold from a mere 17 MW in 2010, to more than 23 GW in 2018. Similarly, the wind market has more than doubled in recent years, from around 13 GW of installed power in 2010, to 34 GW by June 2018. These developments help move India closer to its ambitious clean energy goal of 175 GW installed capacity by 2022. However, in spite of several public financial institutions, private banks, and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) providing capital, financing remains a key barrier in scaling India’s clean energy markets further.

Taiwan has joined Malaysia in requesting consultations with India under the safeguard agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO), following India’s decision to impose 25% safeguard duties on imports of solar cells, whether or not assembled in modules.

India’s cash-strapped solar industry was in for a rude awakening after the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) has refused to write to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to accord priority sector lending (PSL) status to renewable energy projects.

The International Solar Alliance (ISA) received a significant boost at the New York One Planet Summit, with European Investment Bank (EIB) President, Werner Hoyer announcing a commitment to back the ISA in its expansion of India’s solar industry and the exchange of technology.