Policy

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.

To avail the waiver, the solar or wind project capacity should have been awarded through competitive bidding and commissioned between February 13, 2018 and March 31, 2022.

The benchmark levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for lithium-ion batteries has fallen to $187 per kilowatt-hour since the first half of 2018. The overwhelming cost improvement is making batteries paired with solar or wind projects challenge coal- and gas-fired generation for grid stability, according to BloombergNEF (BNEF).

National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) will carry out inspections, verifications and quality checks on behalf of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).