Below are the top weekly news updates for India’s solar energy industries one should know:
The Rooftop Solar Power Scheme In Gujarat Aims To Cover 2 Lakh Families
Saurabh Patel, Gujarat Energy Minister, said that the rooftop solar power scheme will be covering two lakh households in Gujarat by 31st March, 2020. According to this scheme locals can install solar rooftops in their buildings for solar energy generation in case of any surplus, they can sell it to the power grid. The government has declared a 40% subsidy for people who will or have installed solar panels for a capacity of 2 KW and a 20% subsidy for a capacity of 3 KW to 10 KW. They can avail this subsidy under the state government scheme or under the similar schemes of central government.
SECI To Increase Solar Tender Capacity Upto 7 GW With 2 GW Of Manufacturing
Solar Energy Corporation of India has increased the solar tender from 6 GW to 7 GW. The tender has been amended to 7 GW of Interstate Transmission System (ISTS) connected solar photovoltaic (PV) projects with a solar manufacturing capacity of 2 GW. SECI has set the maximum tariff slab of Rs. 2.93/kWh compared to the previous slab of Rs.2.75 which is an increase of 6.5%. A SECI official confirmed that the tender is according to the MNRE order and the new date for submission of bid is October 31,2019.
Renewable Energy Deviation Settlement Regulations To Be Launched By Maharashtra From Jan 2020
MERC has directed the Maharashtra State Load Despatch Center (MSLDC) to revise its forecasting and scheduling procedure in line with the principles and rules of commission in two weeks. The commission has also directed MSLDC to take stakeholder’s views into account and take their approval in 45 days. Forty-three renewable energy generators filed a petition along with Maharashtra State Load Despatch Center (MSLDC) and Manikaran Analytics Limited for the removal of hurdles from the provisions of the MERC (Forecasting, Scheduling and Deviation Settlement for Solar and Wind Generation) Regulations, 2018, and its implementation. The hearing for the 43 cases were done together by the commission because of the similarities in the cases. After which some of the issues were considered to be addressed.
US Alerts Against The Cheap Chinese Imports For Solar Equipments
According to Francis R Fannon, assistant secretary of state for energy resources, it is important to consider service, quality, overall costs and geopolitical implications before adopting the Chinese imports which are often cheaper. Further he even mentioned that reliability and cost of decommissioning should be a factor. Although the imports might be 5% cheaper but the reliability and decommissioning downgrades over the years. He was present during the launch of Flexible Resources Initiative which is under the US-India Clean Energy Finance Task Force.
Lakshadweep, A Growing Potential For Solar Energy
The energy consumption in Lakshadweep per capita is expected to increase upto 962 units by FY19. Lakshadweep is the smallest UT receiving an abundant amount of sunlight. Hence, opting for solar PV systems would be an ideal solution for the increasing energy consumption. There are policies and subsidies allowing to set up solar power plants with the best deals.
Indian Railway Invites Bids For 32.56 Mwp Solar Rooftop
Indian railways is inviting bids to set up 32.56 MWp of grid-connected rooftop solar system for railway establishments, offices, and others. This project will be under public-private partnership on the basis of ‘design-build-finance-operate-transfer’. The developer who gets this tender shall be accountable from the start to end design of this project, involving all the necessary procedures. The developer will also have to provide operation and maintenance support for 25 years. These systems will be covering up to 117 locations of four zonal railways – Easter, North Central, North frontier and Northern, and coach production units in Kapurthala and Raebareli. One developer can either bid for any one location of for all the zonal locations. However, the developer should bid for the full quoted capacity.
Maharashtra Has Extended The Bidding Deadline For Its Solar Tender Of 1350MW
Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) extended its bid submission deadline till 15th October, 2019 for its 1,350 MW projects which is spread across 30 districts. This project is under the Mukhyamantri Saur Krishi Vahini Yojana. This project has a vision to provide with power in the daytime to the consumers for agriculture. This new submission date is both for the technical and financial bids. This project will be with 50MW capacity each which will be developed in 24 districts and 25 MW each each across six districts.
World’s Largest Solar Farm: An Investment Of $13bn On 15,000 Hectares Of Land
Australian technology billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes has recently announced that he would be investing in Singapore-based Sun Cable to create the world’s largest solar farm. However, the co-founder of the software company Atlassian is yet to reveal how much he is going to invest, the project would enable Singapore to get away from its reliance on imported liquid natural gas, and thereby achieve its greenhouse gas emissions goals. $13 billion is the estimated valuation of Sun Cable’s proposed solar farm. The company aims to develop the world’s largest solar energy farm to power Singapore from the Australian desert.
Shell To Join The Solar Energy Sector With The Acquisition Of Orb Energy, India
Shell, one of the global leader has purchased 20% stakes of Orb Energy which provides a credit to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for installing solar rooftops. Orb energy is known to have sold around 160,000 systems in India having a capacity of 75 megawatts. Shell aims to provide a reliable source of electricity to a 100 million people in the developing countries by 2030. According to Orb Energy, this will help them to provide cleaner and affordable energy solutions to SMEs in India.
10 Per Cent Growth After GST Rate Cut For Solar Thermal Industries
Solar thermal industries are expecting a 10% percent growth after the GST rate cuts on the components from 18% to 5%. The STFI (Solar Thermal Federation of India) secretary proceeded towards the GST directorate general and the finance minister to convince them. Hence with this rate cut the final product will become economical to the consumer hence seeing a growth in the market.
