Policy

Solar installations in year 2020 are set to exceed 10 GW after a year hit by political uncertainties, module price increases associated with safeguard duty and a fewer number of awarded tenders. The outlook for battery energy storage installations for solar projects, however, is bleak as such combinations in India can cost 3-5 times more in 2020 than standalone renewable projects.

While stress in the renewable sector can only be averted if long-term viability of the project is intact, prevention of default due to issues temporary in nature is also the need of the hour—says a report by the ratings agency.

Battery swapping is the ultimate expression of a sharing economy in which assets are shared to facilitate business operations—says E-Chargeup Solutions, which recently launched a battery swapping station for e-rickshaws in Noida city of Uttar Pradesh.

Under KUSUM scheme, the state government will help farmers in setting up an aggregate 75 MW capacity of grid-connected solar plants—in capacities of up to 2 MW—on their barren or cultivable land.

The minister’s statement comes at a time when analysts fear that potential disregard of past contractual agreements in Andhra Pradesh, along with the regular curtailment of renewable energy facilities and delayed payments to developers, may drive foreign investors away from India’s renewable energy sector.

Electric vehicle (EV) battery market will grow annually at 30%, growing almost six times to 28 GWh from 4.75 GWh in 2018. The EV infrastructure will grow at double the pace (60% annually), reaching 50,000 units from less than a thousand in 2018.

Government incentives driving state-owned enterprises’ investment away from the soon-to-be stranded fossil fuel based assets are a way of further boosting investment in the renewable energy sector.

The state government’s Policy for Development of Small-scale Distributed Solar Projects 2019 allows any individual or company to set up solar plants in capacities ranging from 0.5 MW to 4 MW for sale of electricity to the DISCOMs.

Following equity injection of about Rs 5169 million, Singapore-based integrated energy player has signed an agreement to invest another Rs 4060 million in Sembcorp Energy India Ltd to gain complete control over it and pursue growth in the India renewable energy business.

Commercial and industrial (C&I) sector consumes 51% of the total electricity generated in India, with a mere 3% of this consumption coming from renewable energy. To increase renewable energy uptake among C&I consumers, India needs to explore new models like virtual power purchase agreements, green tariffs, internationally tradable RECs that have already been successfully tried and tested in many countries—according to a report by climate advocacy group WWF India.