Markets & Policy

The recently concluded 400 MW renewables auction to supply 24-hour electricity saw winning bid of INR2.90/kWh—a new milestone after peak+off-peak tariff of INR4.07 was achieved in January’s 1.2 GW auction demanding assured power supply during peak demand hours.

Industry body FICCI has recommended an extension of the FAME II Scheme by at least one year to 2023 as it feels change in the consumer behavior can impact the demand for electric vehicles (EVs) in the short term.

The projects shall be co-funded by India’s Department of Science & Technology and the European Commission’s Innovation and Networks Executive Agency. The aim is to make energy supply cleaner, more efficient and affordable by smartly integrating large amounts of renewable energy in local energy systems. Proposals can be submitted till September 1.

The country earned a score of 6.3 on a 10-point scale on the basis of its investment, partially usage or plans to use renewable energy in the near future—in a study by UK based analytics firm British Business Energy. The USA ranks first with a score of 7, followed by Brazil at 6.5.

The market for drones in the power and utility industry will grow 23.6% annually, reaching $515 million by 2030—according to a Frost & Sullivan report.
The report, Drones in the Global Power and Utilities Industry, Forecast to 2030, cites ongoing digital transformation, remote monitoring, and the need to optimize operational costs as the factors driving increasing adoption of drones in the power and utility industry.
“Drones minimize the need to send human employees onsite and can be deployed for monitoring, operations, and maintenance services. As the global power and utility industry continues to tackle the impact of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, drones can be potential game-changers in combating the challenges it poses,” as per the report.
pv magazine spoke to Supreeth Srinivasa Rao, Associate Director, Industrial Practice, Frost & Sullivan, to find out the role of drones in the solar sector, especially for India.

That’s a significant feat for the country which has pledged to bring down the energy intensity of the economy by 33 to 35% compared to 2005 levels by 2030.

Australia based Neometals and India’s Manikaran Power—which announced their collaboration on India’s first lithium refinery last year—have also doubled the proposed refinery capacity to 20,000 tonnes per annum of lithium hydroxide.

While the solar and storage pairing is still relatively new, the growth over the next five years will be significant globally. As against just 5% in 2019, by 2025 more than 25% of all behind-the-meter solar systems will be paired with storage.

A study by the International Energy Agency into the chilling effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on energy demand states renewables will be ‘the only energy source likely to experience demand growth for the rest of 2020’. The slower the economic recovery, the more the fossil fuel industry will suffer.

The Central Electronics Limited (CEL) seeks to empanel balance-of-system (BOS) suppliers for compact solar power packs ranging from 1 kWp to 5 kWp. The empaneled vendors shall also be responsible for installation and commissioning of the packs at four locations—in and around Pune, Chennai, Delhi National Capital Region and Sahibabad.