Andhra Pradesh

Hard-up distribution companies say they are not reaping the benefits of falling renewable energy generation costs because 25-year deals tie them to paying power prices which now appear unjustifiably high.

Following New Delhi based Urja Global, Singapore-based Ojovati and another Delhi-based company Avanze Inventive have signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) for manufacturing of Lithium-ion cells and batteries in the state, respectively.

New Delhi based Urja Global will set up an integrated plant for electric vehicles and Lithium-ion batteries at an investment of Rs 200 crore. The announcement comes hot on the heels of US-based Tecchren Batteries’ Lithium-ion venture in the state.

There is widespread doubt about whether India can achieve its 100 GW solar target by 2022 but, having started from a base of only 9 MW of capacity 10 years ago, it would be foolish to write off the prospects of this solar superpower.

Situated in south-east India, the state of Andhra Pradesh is a leading producer of renewable energy with 7.2 GW of installed capacity as of December 2018. The state’s share of renewable energy as part of total capacity has trebled in the last four years from 11% in 2014 to 30% in 2018.

State-owned NLC India Ltd – formerly the Neyveli Lignite Corporation – has signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Tamil Nadu to set up a 1 GW solar project in the state.

Tecchren Batteries will establish a 200 MWh LiFePO4 battery manufacturing unit at Sri City in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Set up after an investment of Rs446 crore, the unit will produce approximately 700,000 li ion batteries per year.

The Gujarati multinational will invest Rs700 billion to set up world’s first 100% renewable powered data center parks in the state.

India is set to add renewable energy capacity of 15,860 MW in 2019, a leap of 50% on the 10,560 MW installed last year. Around 70% – 10,902 MW – of the new capacity will come from utility-scale solar projects, according to Bridge To India analysts.

Under the new Solar Policy 2018 announced on Thursday, Andhra Pradesh has set a minimum target of 5 GW of newly installed PV power capacity over the next five years.