Policy

The cost of wind would fall to Rs 2.3-2.6/kWh, while solar tariff would reduce to Rs 1.9-2.3/kWh. The cost of storage will fall by about 70%, according to a report.

The payment security fund administered by SECI will ensure late payments by debt-laden discoms will not affect solar developers. The government is considering a levy on PV projects to help maintain the fund.

The project is one among 300 odd projects worth Rs 65,000 crore including solar parks to be launched during a ground breaking ceremony in Kanpur later this month.

The National Solar Energy Federation Of India says the recent decision to exclude commercial and industrial premises, as well as public buildings, from self consumption remuneration unfairly penalizes businesses and public bodies which have gone down the solar path.

As India plans to set up large lithium-ion battery plants, the Lithium Triangle countries in South America (comprising Chile, Argentina and Bolivia) have offered to meet India’s growing demand for lithium.

The solar projects, mainly located in Africa and South America, are identified by International Solar Alliance (ISA). These will include on-grid as well as off-grid projects like rooftop solar and irrigation pumps powered by solar panels.

Owing to the general elections this year, little progress on the policy front is expected in the near term, according to the report.

Developers will have to provide operation and maintenance services for ten years for the project at Kasargod Solar Park. The deadline for bid submission is in two weeks.

The Philippines-based solar major will develop around 500 MW of solar capacity in India, which it describes as having favourable regulatory environment.

Considering the remarkable advances made by the solar sector since the Rio ‘Earth Summit’ of 1992, PV was notable by its absence at the Convention of Parties climate change summit held by the UN in Poland.