Policy

The Biden administration has upheld an exclusion for bifacial panels in its new extension of Section 201 tariffs, while ramping up the annual tariff rate quota for cells to 5GW.

Norway’s Scatec, which has a 50% stake in Acme’s 900 MW solar project in Rajasthan, cited a lack of domestic solar panel supply and the 40% import duty on solar panels effective from April as the reasons for putting the PV project on hold.

The move is aimed at identifying chunks of land for solar plants and solar parks as the State government looks into the possibility of developing more capacity in the state and further increasing its ‘37.5 GW by 2024-25’ renewable energy generation target.

The budget presented today by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman allocates an extra INR19,500 crore (US$2,602 million) to the production-linked incentive scheme for solar and notifies basic customs duty of 40% on foreign-made solar modules and 25% on cells, from April.

Players in the electric mobility sector call for a reduction in goods and services tax on electric vehicle (EV) batteries, easy access to low-cost finance for EV buyers, and expansion of FAME Scheme subsidy to ICE-to-EV conversion kits. They also expect the government to enhance the manufacturing capacity and financial layout under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for advanced-chemistry battery cells.

Power minister RK Singh recently met with renewable energy developers and industry representatives to discuss the draft Policy on energy storage systems. He informed the participants the government is looking to delicense the setting up of energy storage systems not co-located with renewable energy generation facilities.

With solar water pumps, farmers have access to high-quality power available for irrigation. These systems are portable and can be assembled at any preferred location. With the growing utilization of these systems, the costs have decreased substantially, making them an efficient, convenient, and cost-effective solution for grid-isolated rural areas. 

That meant the nation reached a cumulative 4.8GW of “open-access” solar generation capacity by the end of September. At that point, there were also more than 1.1GW of open access projects in the development pipeline, according to analyst Mercom India Solar.

The core objective of renewable energy deployment in India is to promote economic growth, enhance energy security, increase energy access, and reduce climate change. Sustainable development is possible by the use of clean energy and by ensuring access to affordable and reliable energy for every citizen.

Advances in solar power and other clean energy technologies have failed to keep up with demand for electricity as economies rebound from the Covid crisis and China and India’s fossil fuel appetite will ensure the world stays well short of what is needed for a net zero 2050 for at least the next three years.