Policy

Developers gave short shrift to gloomy predictions about depreciation, protectionism and tax headwinds as tendering and auction figures soared, but they shied away from the tough price caps set for SECI’s procurement exercises.

With the Solar Energy Corporation of India having already proposed 10 GW of solar be located on artificial bodies of water over the next three years, Shailesh Mishra has mooted ambitious plans at four more locations.

While the timelines for PV power plant execution and completion of manufacturing facilities are now more realistic, production obligations – especially for capacity utilization – need to be revisited.

India saw an increase in PV’s share of national generation capacity in the third quarter, as 2 GW more solar was added despite worries buffeting the industry.

As the currency continued to fall today, analysts are concerned developers will see any savings from falling module prices disappear, and lenders may get nervy, putting the national solar target in grave doubt.

The programme allows the installation of solar roof atop apartment blocks, which otherwise could not install such systems. Potential in the area is around 15 MW, of which 6 MW have been signed up for already. Another 5 MW should be developed in this second phase of the project.

New research from institutes at the London School of Economics has found a significant gap between what countries declared they would be doing in compliance with the Paris Agreement, and what they have translated into national law three years later. As officials from around the world will flock to Poland next month to negotiate the implementation pathway of the Paris Agreement, this and other new studies draw a dark picture of current performance.

Despite political hurdles in key markets including China and Japan, Asia remains highly active. This year, 59 GW of solar is expected to be installed and due to further system price declines, a phase-out of subsidy schemes can be offset.

SECI has opened up to 10 GW of floating PV for expressions of interest to accelerate adoption of the solar platform. The potential generation capacity for the technology in India is enormous, with 700 GW possible if just one-third of the country’s water reservoirs are exploited.

Big players such as Acme, ReNew, Adani, Azure, Hero Future and Aditya Birla Solar are likely to stay away from procurement which requires 3 GW annual manufacturing commitment, says industry insider Gopal Lal Somani.