Markets & Policy

Manufacturers can apply for incentives to set up gigawatt-scale solar factories in India. Applications can be submitted until June 30 and the list of successful recipients will be announced on July 26, with letters of award to be issued four days later.

Researchers led by the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi have projected the waste expected from end-of-life solar panels and related components. They assumed 347.5 GW of total installed solar generation capacity would be reached this decade. The academics said the waste would include critical metals worth around $645 trillion, 70% of which could be recovered.

The sheer volume of new power lines which will be required to accommodate the rising tide of solar installations ensures copper has been included by the International Energy Agency on its list of minerals which must keep flowing if the energy transition is to stay on course. And it’s not production that’s the potential bottleneck.

Adani Enterprises, which already controls Mundra Solar PV, has acquired a 74% stake in PV cells and modules manufacturing business Mundra Solar Energy through its subsidiary. The move will bring synergy in the company’s solar manufacturing operations and solidify its position in this space.

A new report stresses on rebooting the renewable energy certificate (REC) trading for a balanced energy transition in India. It proposes measures to make RECs more appealing to stakeholders and prepare the market for the possible supply crunch in the future.

The Indian developer has agreed to acquire a 100% interest in SB Energy’s India renewable portfolio for approximately US$3.5 billion (INR 26,000 crore). The assets, totaling 4,954 MW, are spread across four Indian states.

The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) under the commerce ministry stated the Indian manufacturers provided sufficient evidence to warrant the initiation of an investigation into the alleged dumping of solar cells. The investigation will aim to determine the existence, degree and effect of the dumping and recommend an amount of anti-dumping duty to offset the material injury to domestic manufacturers.

The production-linked incentive scheme for battery storage, with an outlay of INR 18,100 crore (US$ 2459 million), is intended to build a cumulative 50 GWh of advanced chemistry cell (ACC) and 5 GWh of ‘niche’ ACC production facilities in India.

India added 7.7 GW of new renewable energy (RE) capacity in FY2020-21, out of which 5.5 GW (71%) came from solar (grid-scale and rooftop) alone. Overall power generation capacity addition for the year stood at 12.1 GW.

With South Africa holding 63,000 of the world’s estimated 69,000 metric tons of platinum reserves – according to the Statista.com website – and Russia and Zimbabwe a further 5,100 between them, the European Commission has cited the metal as an example of a potential supply chain bottleneck that could handicap its grand plans for renewables-powered hydrogen production.