India’s Plan: 55 Gigawatts of Solar & Wind Capacity Alongside Pakistan’s Border
Indian government is planning some bold moves by utilizing the barren areas and wasteland alongside the border of Pakistan. India is continuously in plans to expand renewable energy projects across India. Currently, a senior official at the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said they are studying the feasibility of setting up projects alongside the border of Pakistan in the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat. According to the ministry both the states have large areas of barren lands and wastelands. Currently Rajasthan is already hosting large-scale solar power projects in the Pokhran district. Since there are security risks in this project, the Ministry of Defence will approve these projects.
Indian Railways to utilize power from Wind- Solar Hybrid Projects
The joint venture Railway Energy Management Company Ltd. (REMCL) has issued a request for selection (RfS) to utilize power from wind-solar hybrid projects. In the interest of utilizing the optimum potential offered by the hybridization of solar and wind, the developer is free to declare the rated capacity of the hybrid project at the output level of the sub-pooling substation does not necessarily have to be the arithmetic sum of the installed capacity of the two components, the tender document has underlined. The cost of the RfS document is INR 29,500.
India Issued Tender For An All-Time Renewable Energy Supply
India’s SECI (Solar Energy Corporation of India) has issued a tender for an all-Time Renewable Energy Supply for the first time. The renewable energy sector is evolving strongly in India and this opens up yet another opportunity for the solar companies to tap into the Indian market. The SECI is offering the project developers with a 400 MW capacity under this tender. The project developers can bid for a minimum capacity of 200 MW, however they can bid for a maximum capacity of 400 MW as well. For the time being, there is no specified tariff threshold for the projects. Under this tender, the developers can quote tariffs for the first year of operations. The tariff will be then increased up to 4% each year for a duration of 15 years after which the tariff will remain stable. Developers can choose a storage capacity of their choice. The buyers of the generated energy from these projects will be the federally administered regions of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and NDMC.
Ladhak plans on leading the Solar Energy: 23 GW Of Potential And More
After Ladhak was declared as a Union Territory, the region is up for a Rs. 50,000 crore mega solar power project which is under a public-private partnership and is being cleared by the Government. The project is being promoted by SECI which aims to install facilities that will generate 7,500 MW of solar energy by 2023. Ladhak receives the highest intensity of solar radiation in India, Leh receives more than 320 days of clear sunny days along with the low climatic temperatures. Hence this enables the solar panels to work better. The cold arid regions such as the Leh and Ladhak which receive the highest amount of radiation of about 7-7.5 kWh m-2 day-1. Another factor is the abundance of surplus land owned by the government.
India conducted the Second Assembly of International Solar Alliance in New Delhi
French Deputy Minister for Ecological and Inclusive Transition Brune Poirson visited India to co-preside the second assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) which was conducted in New Delhi on 31st October, 2019. Poirson, was on a three day India visit. He was the co-president of the event along-side Raj Kumar Singh, Union Minister of State for Power and New and Renewable Energy. This alliance gathers around 80 nations and provides with solutions which help to reduce the cost of solar installations, especially in the developing countries.
Rajasthan Applies For A Tender Of 45 MW of Rooftop Solar Projects
Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Limited has applied for a tender for 45 MW of rooftop solar projects across the state. The estimated capacity of the project is 50 MW which can increased or decreased based on the availability of the capacity and Central Financial Assistance (CFA) allocation as approved by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). The cost for the project is 25 MW is Rs. 1.35 billion (~$19 million), and it is Rs. 540 million (~$7.6 million) for 15 MW. Also, there are some variations in the earnest money deposit (EMD). If the bidder is an established entrepreneur, they pay Rs. 540,000 (~$7,627) as EMD, and for start-up firms, the rate has been fixed at Rs. 216,000 (~$3,051).
Winners in the 960 MW SECI Auction: ReNew, Avaada, UPC Renewables & Tata Power
The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has awarded 960 MW of inter-state transmission system (ISTS-VI) connected solar projects in a recently concluded auction. The winners of the auction were ReNew Power (300 MW) at Rs. 2.71/kWh, Avaada Energy (300 MW) at Rs. 2.71/kWh, Masaya Solar Energy (UPC Renewables) (300 MW) at Rs. 2.71/kWh and Tata Power (60 MW) at Rs. 2.72/kWh. SECI floated a tender of 1.2 GW of solar PV projects under ISTS-VI which received bids of 1,200 MW as the reports suggested on October 21, 2019. However, only 80% of the quoted capacity was awarded within the ministry norms.
Tesla reveals it latest Solar Roof
On October 27, Elon Musk, the multi-billionaire has revealed their latest version of Tesla Solar Roof product. It the third version of their solar roof. They hope to install the first solar roof on a large scale. Musk said that this version of the solar roof will be cheaper, easier and faster to install than the other solar roofs. The company says that it has increased power density in the third version of the Solar Roof tiles, reduced the parts used in the tiles by half and brought down costs substantially compared to the second generation tiles. The cost estimated for the 2,000 square – foot is $33,950 which comes with a warranty period of 25 years. Initially Tesla will also be responsible for the installation and aims to complete the whole installation in eight hours.
Tariff of Rs. 2.65/kWh approved by Gujarat for for a 100 MW Solar Project
Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) has approved a tariff of Rs.2.65 /kWh for a 100 MW solar project under phase VI of the state’s Raghanesda Solar Park. This tariff was quoted by Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Limited (GSECL) under the competitive bidding process conducted by Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL). The first tender by GUVNL was for 700 MW of grid-connected solar PV projects which were to be under Phase III in September 2018. Later, in the auction carried out in December 2018, the tariff was increased from Rs. 2.84/kWh to Rs. 2.89/kWh. In May, during the auction the tariffs ranged from Rs. 2.65/kWh to Rs. 2.70/kWh for the development of 500 MW of solar project and the rest 200 MW was left unallocated. The power purchase agreements for this 500 MW was also approved by GERC in July 2019. The ceiling tariff for this bid was set as ₹2.65 (~$0.040)/kWh. The bid submission for this tender closed on July 24, 2019, but since GUVNL did not receive any bids, the deadline was moved to August 7, 2019. Finally, after the third attempt, GUVNL received a bid from GSECL offering to develop100 MW at the tariff of ₹2.65 (~$0.038)/ kWh, which was also the ceiling tariff specified in the tender.
Meghalaya issues for tender of 3 MW of Solar Rooftop Projects
Meghalaya New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (MNREDA) has issued a tender for 3 MW grid-connected solar rooftop projects under the net metering arrangement. The tender was issued under the Central Finance Assistance (CFA) program. The successful bidders will be responsible for the installation, commissioning, operation and maintenance of the project for five years. MNREDA has reserved 500 kW under the CAPEX model out of the total capacity of 3 MW. The given duration for the completion of this project is 120 days.
