Policy

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has proposed making it mandatory for solar power developers to follow glass recycling procedures for solar photovoltaic (PV) panels.

Market-based scheduling will enable flexibility in grids to facilitate renewable energy generation. However, the framework proposed by Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) doesn’t indicate any change in the payments mechanism for renewable projects, says the ratings agency.

India needs to adopt renewable energy and electric vehicles in a big way to meet the twin goals of energy security and climate protection.

This revived growth comes mainly from markets outside of China, which are forecast to rise by 43% in 2019.  While China will grow marginally by 2%, Europe will add over 7 GW with utility-scale installations in Spain alone contributing 60% of the growth in the region. The USA will overtake India to once again become the second-largest PV market.

Following a petition by National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI), Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) stated that the State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC) cannot curtail renewable power at convenience.

Amid the hubbub surrounding India’s renewable energy ambitions, few people have likely heard the last wails of a critically endangered great Indian bustard as it chars to death on a power transmission line or fatally collides with a wind turbine.

Not many people know it, but DuPont’s India connection goes back to 1802, when the company started importing raw materials from the country for its first product: black powder for explosives for its plant in the United States. In 1974, it opened its first liaison office in India, while its first wholly owned subsidiary in the country was set up 20 years later. Today, DuPont India has a significant local footprint across a range of market segments in India, including solar PV.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGTR) has concluded that the imposition of a duty, in the range of $537-1,559/metric ton, is required to offset the injury caused by imports of solar ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) sheets from China, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Thailand. The harshest penalty—$1,559/metric ton (MT)—has been imposed on sheets supplied from any Saudi manufacturer other than Saudi Specialized Products.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs is approaching Chinese authorities, demanding CSUN Trading and CEEG Solar Science to meet the contractual obligations to the Indian companies and also to honour the arbitration award. Further, it has cautioned Indian stakeholders against procuring PV modules from these high-risk companies that have over 160 court cases against them—mostly for breach of contract.

Nevertheless, bringing down aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses would be key to stabilising the power sector in India. Additionally, measures like smart-metering should be expedited and implemented in a time-bound manner, suggest the ratings agency analysts.