India

The Indian Government has mandated that preference be given to domestically manufactured renewable energy products in public procurement. As per the order, 100% of the solar modules for grid-connected solar power projects must be domestically manufactured.

For India to achieve its 2030 dreams of fully electrifying its passenger vehicle market, and growing a leading manufacturing industry, its electric vehicle program must be accelerated. Meanwhile, if Intersolar India 2018 had to nominate the most-repeated word at the event, “storage” would win hands down.

With a fleet of nearly 70 drones and a software investment of US$1 million, Ahmedabad-based Gensol Group is rolling out a high-tech digital solution for monitoring solar plants, which aims to swiftly identify problems and reduce downtime.

Styrofoam and reinforced concrete as a substrate, floating breakwaters and wave attenuators, robust anchoring, robotic cleaning and on-site manufacturing are just some of the buzzwords surrounding floating solar’s future. With 1 GW of installed floating capacity worldwide (as on November 30, 2018) and an optimistic prediction of 5 GW by 2022, this branch of solar energy is gaining immense momentum.

The Indian Government plans to tender 60 GW of solar and 20 GW of wind capacity by March 2020. This would complete the planned auctions for its targets of 100 GW solar and 60 GW wind installations by 2022, leaving two years for project execution, according to an year-end review by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

With yellow marigolds in large terracotta pots, colorful metal swans pinned to the walls, speakers in natty pin stripes and swarms of eager visitors, the 10th Intersolar India began a tad late, but on a high note at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) in Bengaluru, often dubbed the Silicon Valley of India. Karnataka’s successes were a key talking point, while the importance of EVs and storage was underlined.

The Uttar Pradesh Government is looking for private investment worth Rs 55 billion (UD$809 million) for the proposed Bundelkhand Green Energy Corridor, which is expected to generate 4 GW of solar power.

The Indian state is looking to install 1 GW of new solar PV power under a new tender issued. A ceiling tariff of Rs 2.80 (US$0.039) has been set.

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) have signed an agreement to infuse US$100 million into an ambitious $250 million project designed to unlock private sector initiatives for the creation of rooftop solar power capacity across India.

Maharashtra (473 MW), Tamil Nadu (312 MW), Karnataka (272 MW), Rajasthan (270 MW) and Uttar Pradesh (223 MW) are the top five states accounting for 54% of the total market—according to Bridge To India’s latest India Solar Rooftop Map report