IEEFA

A report says India’s energy investment commitments over the last 14 months largely feature measures for power transmission and distribution that could benefit greenhouse-gas-producing fuels more than renewables.

A new report discusses battery storage, green hydrogen, and flexible coal-fired power generation as key grid firming options for India as solar and wind are poised to form 51% of the nation’s total installed generation capacity by 2030. 

A new report highlights key investors finding opportunity in India’s US$500-billion renewable energy infrastructure development and various factors driving these investments. 

A net feed-in tariff could offer a solution for consumers, developers, and distribution companies.

A new report says the imposition of safeguard duties and basic custom duties is only a partial solution to help the domestically produced solar modules remain competitive with imported panels. The government needs to adopt a long-term strategy towards PV manufacturing that supports backward integration and sustained innovation.

The intra-state transmission infrastructure is the weakest link in the grid. The introduction of competition from private players can help drive down construction costs and promote timely completion of projects, assisting the absorption of low-cost, domestic renewable energy generation.

The Group’s renewable energy business (Adani Green Energy) has a market value of US$15.6 billion, which is 40% more than India’s largest thermal power generator NTPC—a company with 22 times as much capacity. The RE business is of serious global investor interest, but also materially exposed to the wider Group’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) standing. By committing to phased closure of coal plants, Adani Group could lower the risk to global capital access while aligning with the government’s vision for energy independence through fast-growing reliance on renewables.

India’s state-owned electricity distribution companies (Discoms) are in dire financial straits, as they owe some $16 billion to generators, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). Despite this, national PV auctions have been oversubscribed and are setting record low tariffs in the country, indicating strong interest from developers – if the Discom challenge can be overcome.

It has been a rocky year for installers with issues like availability of modules from Chinese suppliers, restricted construction due to local lockdowns, and uncertainty over import duties. Going forward, the market could see a dramatic rebound if net-metering is allowed with a current cap of 1 MW and re-introduced in the states that have shifted to gross-metering.

A joint report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (Ieefa) and the CEEW-Centre for Energy Finance (CEF) has recommended indexed tariff structure over flat rate for future renewable capacity, with front-ending tariffs as low as INR 2/kWh, to ease near-term financial pressure on discoms.