Finance

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.

DNV GL has issued its annual Energy Transition Outlook. It reports that global electricity demand is set to grow by a factor of 2.5. Over half of this demand is expected to be met with renewable energy by 2050, while storage will play a key role. It adds that grid infrastructure expenditures are less related to variable renewable energy assets than to increasing energy demand. In the current scenario, meanwhile, global warming is likely to reach 2.6°C.

pv magazine’s Quality Roundtable at the 2018 Renewable Energy India (REI) Expo, took place in front of a packed audience. It discussed current problem areas; how solar developers and solution providers can improve the quality of Indian solar PV installations; and innovative financial instruments to reduce the cost of debt and scale up infrastructure investment.

The state’s second attempt to tender for 500 MW of capacity has made a mockery of predictions of rising PV electricity prices and exonerated utility for cancelling previous procurement round. But the absence of India’s cheapest solar energy generator from the latest exercise could be telling.

The decision to tax the ‘service’ provided to solar developers at the full rate comes days after the Supreme Court upheld the federal government’s imposition of a 25% safeguarding duty on Chinese and Malaysian panels.

Hyderabad-based renewable energy major Greenko Group has abandoned plans to buy AT Capital-backed Orange Renewable.

A time-bound process would eliminate financial uncertainties for stakeholders – be it developers, lenders or the DISCOMs. It is a particularly big relief to solar PV power developers seeking pass-through for the impact of goods and services tax (GST) on project costs.