The Adani Group’s solar manufacturing arm, Adani Solar announced the launch of their retail distribution business in Telangana with Amplifymart as official channel partners for the Telangana region. With this channel expansion, Adani Solar has reached 500 towns for solar panels distribution in India. The intent is to rapidly capitalize and penetrate into the South Indian renewable energy market. This partnership is a step towards facilitating consumers or commercial establishments, houses, apartment complexes and community halls in Telangana to switch to sustainable solar power solutions at an economical rate.
Having announced the retail channel partners in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, Adani Solar has been speedily expanding its retail presence across the country.
For consumers, installing off-grid Adani solar panels will help them mitigate power cut challenges and on-grid will assist in reducing overall electricity costs and usage in Telangana region. The government of Telangana has been promoting the solar rooftop system in the region and intends to make use of the positive environment in solar market. They are constantly pushing for substantially harnessing the solar potential in the state of Telangana. The state government has envisioned a capacity of 5 GW for solar capacity by 2022 in Telangana.
Commenting on the announcement, Ramesh Nair, Chief Executive Officer, Adani Solar, said, “The Indian renewable energy sector has witnessed a tremendous success on the installation and supply of solar power further leading to a shift towards renewable power as the driver of global energy transformation. With India being a growing economy and with the remarkable development, we will be able to offer power facility via solar panel distribution to customers at competitive rates for all applications in the South markets. On the retail front, Adani Solar will target an aggressive 50% market share. We look forward to achieve a higher reach and visibility of our product in the country by increasing power consumption through alternate forms of energy like solar energy as moving forward this will be an ideal way to maintain a balance between economic growth and sustainable environment.”
“Hyderabad as a region has enormous investment opportunities in renewable energy. It is a land of implementation for smart ideas for the benefit of the people that supports abundant solar power generation. Amplifymart as the authorized channel partner of Adani Solar will be responsible for all the retail requirements across the state. They will be consigned with an exclusive territory to manage orders of solar panels up to 200 KW and be responsible for overall lead generation, conversion and service,” Nair added
National water agency PUB intends to deploy a 50 megawatt-peak (MWp) floating solar photovoltaic (PV) system on Tengeh Reservoir by 2021. When installed, it will be Singapore’s first single large-scale floating solar PV system.
PUB is also in the process of implementing two other smaller 1.5MWp floating solar PV systems on Bedok and Lower Seletar reservoirs. The construction tender for these two projects has closed and will be awarded in the third quarter of this year. The systems should be in place by early 2020.
PUB is actively implementing the deployment of solar PV systems on the roofs of our water infrastructure, and also on our reservoirs, in order to generate renewable energy and reduce our carbon footprint. Currently, we already have rooftop systems installed at Choa Chu Kang Waterworks, Bedok Waterworks, PUB WaterHub, Tuas Desalination Plant, and the Changi Water Reclamation Plant. When the floating systems on Bedok, Lower Seletar and Tengeh reservoirs are completed, PUB will have a total solar capacity of some 57MWp. This is significant and will give us enough solar energy to power the equivalent of 15,500 4-room HDB flats for a whole year. Solar panels on the roof of Tuas Water Reclamation Plant, when it is finished in 2025, will add another 5MWp to this.
On 7 June 2019, PUB will launch a Request for Proposal (RFP) to invite private sector companies to design, build, own and operate, for 25 years, the floating solar PV system on Tengeh Reservoir. This was announced today by Masagos Zulkifli, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, at the opening ceremony of the Ecosperity Conference 2019.
The 50MWp Tengeh floating solar PV system will be one of the largest single floating solar PV systems in the world when it is completed. It will generate green energy to power water treatment and is expected to offset 7% of PUB’s current energy needs, reducing our carbon footprint at the same time. Because solar energy does not involve the burning of fossil fuels, the floating Tengeh system will eliminate the need to emit 28,000 tons of carbon dioxide every year that it is in operation. This is equivalent to removing 6,000 cars off our roads.
WBSEDCL Issues Notice Inviting e-Tender for EPC and OM For 10 MW Solar Project at West Bengal
Below are the top weekly news updates for India’s solar energy industries one should know:
Wind-solar
hybrid projects witness a slow beginning as per Modi’s Ambition
The Union Government saw the wind-solar projects as the options for meeting the ambitious target of renewable energy of 175 MW capacity by 2022. Its been an year since their launch although there has been a slow start in these projects. Out of the 3,200 MW of wind-solar hybrid tenders launched in the past one year by central and state agencies, only 2,400 MW have come into being and 1,600 MW been allotted, indicating an under-subscription of 34%.The auctions have witnessed participation from a handful of developers like Adani, Softbank, and ReNew Power. According to industry experts, low ceiling tariffs of `2.7 per unit set by SECI; expectation of a minimum 38% combined utilisation factor (CUF) in the tenders; and lack of good sites are among the reasons impacting hybrid projects.
Uttar Pradesh and SECI Finalize PSA for 750 MW of Solar at a Tariff of Rs.2.55/kWh
UPERC (Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission) have approved the Power Sale Agreements (PSA) between UPPCL (Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited) and Solar Energy Corporation of India at a tariff rate of Rs. 2.55/kWh for 25 years. It was also confirmed by UPPCL that Uttar Pradesh is the only beneficiary for the projects. The move comes after UPPCL filed a petition before the commission seeking the approval of 750 MW of solar power PSA dated March 28, 2018, signed between UPPCL and SECI at a tariff rate of Rs.2.55 including Rs.0.07 trading margin for 25 years. In an aim to replicate the success of the Bhadla Phase-III and Phase-IV solar park auctions, the government of Uttar Pradesh was also considering setting up 750 MW of solar at Bhadla. The solar tariffs reached a low of Rs.2.44/kWh for these projects hence, the governing body at Uttar Pradesh is was in the plans of setting up the projects in Rajasthan at such similar competitive rates.
Manufacturing-linked solar tender scaled up to 7 GW
The Solar Energy Corporation of India has made a number of amendments to the tender for annual solar manufacturing capacity of 2 GW which is linked to 6 GW of inter-state (ISTS) connected solar projects. SECI has now notified that developers shall be provided assured PPAs for up to 2000 MW against 500 MW of cells/modules manufacturing, and up to 1500 MW against 500 MW of ingots/wafer manufacturing. Hence, the total solar plant capacity now stands at 7 GW for manufacturing capacity of 2 GW. Bidders can bid for all the four projects. Further, SECI shall exercise the Green-Shoe Option to allocate additional capacities to the successful bidders equivalent to the capacities won by them, provided they match the lowest discovered tariff of the respective projects.
Avyan Renewable Solar’s Acquisition In SunEdison Reduced to 31%
Avyan Renewable Solar will have an acquisition to 13,91,896 equity shares which represents 31% of the equity share capital of SunEdison, according to a recent corporate filing by SunEdison with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). At first the share purchase agreement was signed with SunEdison Infrastructure Limited to acquire 16,83,713 equity shares which accounted for 37.50%. However all other terms and conditions of the SPA will remain the same.
Largest Floating Solar Plant to be established in MP, India
The government is aiming to set up a 1,000MW floating solar park at Indira Sagar Dam in Khandwa. The state government of Madhya Pradesh is ready to procure 200MW power from this project and they are in conversation with other procurers too. The work for the project is expected to start in 7-8 months provided if everything goes smoothly. The cost of developing this floating solar park will be about Rs. 5,000 crores, at Rs. 5 crore per MW, said the sources.
Andhra Pradesh regulator approves solar power tariffs
The Andhra Pradesh Electricty Regulatory Commission has waded into the row over attempts to renegotiate signed power purchase agreements by ordering state power distribution companies to honor the contracts. Te power prices range from Rs. 2.72 – 3.15/kWh forming the basis of power purchase agreements which were signed by power companies in collaboration with project developers like SB Energy, Ayana Renewable Power, Sprng Energy and Engie after the Solar Energy Corporation of India held a tender. The APERC has directed the Southern Power Distribution Company of Andhra Pradesh Limited and its Eastern counterpart to honor the agreements.
Rajasthan to tender for 61 solar operated water pumping systems
Public Health Engineering Department, the Government of Rajasthan, has determined to install solar based bore well water pumping systems in various villages and towns of Jaipur district with a vision to provide potable drinking water in far off rural areas having no electricity or having very less power supply. The work has to be completed within 9 months of signing the contract. The government will be responsible in providing the required land and bore well as per the requirement of the plant. The bidder who gets selected for this tender will be responsible for designing, providing, installation and commissioning of the solar pumping systems. It will also be responsible for providing comprehensive operation and maintenance for seven years.
Mr. Pinaki Bhattacharyya, CEO, AMP talks about his experience and future plans for AMP…
“AMP Energy India is the fastest growing integrated energy solution provider in India”
Recently AMP celebrated its 10th Year Anniversary, How has the experience been till date?
AMP Energy India is the Indian arm of the AMP Energy group that celebrated its 10th year anniversary. AMP Energy India is the fastest growing integrated energy solution provider in India and is focussed on delivering clean and green energy to C&I customers. Within a short span of 3 years, AMP has developed a portfolio of 450+ MW across 15 states and is providing bespoke solutions its 40+ customers under the open access and distribution generation mode. AMP Energy India is one of the few companies in India that provides sustainable energy solutions across different technologies such as solar, wind, hybrids, storage and energy management with guaranteed savings and lock in predictability in energy costs
AMP Energy India has begun construction on UP’s 120MW open access solar project, It will be one of the largest open access solar energy projects in the state. What are your plans for the project?
We are setting up one of the largest portfolios of projects across four districts in UP. With an approx. investment of Rs 5 billion, the project will bring with itself local development as well as lowering power costs for some major industries, which will make the state – a more attractive investment destination. Once completed, the project will have economic, social and environmental benefits- job creation for the local community; leased lands will provide long term income to farmers and reduction of CO2 emissions of approx. 41,40,000 MT which is equivalent to planting approx. 24 lakh trees over the complete lifecycle of the plant.
What do you believe is the strength of your organisation and how do you stand apart from your competitors?
AMP Energy India’s core strength is its world class team with extensive and proven experience across the lifecycle of RE projects in India. In addition to this, AMP believes in the programmatic approach of building sustainable partnerships and engage with its customers on a long-term basis through project types & geographies. This coupled with a strong support of institutional project level investors across US, Europe & Japan and a network of strong financial partners helps to reduce project turn-around time which is not the case with many developers in the country.
What challenges does the company face on the business front & how does it plan to counter threats?
The challenges in the non-utility space include lack of scalability, policy uncertainty and lack of an established debt financing framework. However, we at AMP have designed our strategy to insulate our business from these issues. We concentrate on addressing the energy requirement needs of C&I consumers across policy stable geographies. In this manner, we have been able to build a balanced portfolio of projects with long term PPAs focussed on delivering affordable solar power to commercial & industrial customers with guaranteed savings on their energy costs. As a result, we have been able to create and build lasting relationships with lenders as well as investors which AMP Energy India is able to leverage to meet all our funding requirements.
What can be done to increase performance of the project while improving the life of the project?
AMP Energy India is one of the few companies that focuses on system quality and plant efficiency at all stages of the project lifecycle (be it development, implementation or operation). We follow industry best practices to ensure high levels of system reliability and safety. We believe that this not only ensures robust plant performance it also extends project life. Towards this goal AMP has established an experienced technical team with an aggregate industry experience of more than ~90 years of executing RE projects and delivering more than 1000MW. Additionally, we utilise a state-of-the-art technology solution for centralised monitoring of our installations across India.
Mr. Pradeep Chauhan, Country Manager-Indian Subcontinent, Solarpack Corporacion Tecnologica, SA gives his perspective on India’s manufacturing potential and much more…
“Our aim is to achieve excellence in all aspects of the Solar Business activities from development, design, engineering, construction to management of assets”
Till Date Solarpack has commissioned 104 MWp in six sites in India. What are the future plans in India?
We, Solarpack Corporacion Tecnologica, SA is having focus on building quality assets globally, our presence in India at present are in two states 1. Telangana with 104MWp of Solar Assets at six locations and 2. Karnataka with 135MWp at five locations of grid connected utility scale Solar plants under development & different stages of construction. Further, Indian Power Sector has vast potential of Renewable Energy supply to Commercial & Industrial (C&I) segment under group captive and open access power sale, we have been evaluating opportunities in Utility market and C&I customers. In addition, we have identified opportunities for 450MW of projects in solar rich states in India, where we shall be participating in auctions and bi-lateral transactions. We also are keen to explore new technology areas into Solar with battery storage and floating solar systems.
In my opinion, the next set of growth shall be coming in utility scale market from Battery Storage, as the Lithium Ion battery cost is expected to reduce quite fast due to the scale of deployment similar to PV prices. For India, the current PV deployment of 35GW doesn’t impose any threat to grid stability but the signs of grid stability have already been visible which is evident from the grid curtailments happening in many states in recent past. Hence, as we move closer to the 100GW target, there will be a higher focus on delivering power as per the requirement of the grid, which shall be the basis for programme having storage as part of Solar or wind PPA’s.
Solarpack has an integrated solar portfolio in the industry, how has the experience of each portfolio help the other portfolio?
We are a multinational company specialized in the development, financing, construction, operation and management of utility scale solar photovoltaic power plants with presence in fast-growing markets in Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia and Africa.
Since 2005, we have been developing solar PV assets for customers as well as IPP, having all expertise as Integrated in-house portfolio helps us deliver sustainable high-quality projects for any other customer and our own development with consistency in the design & build quality. Our aim is to achieve excellence in all aspects of the Solar Business activities from development, design, engineering, construction to management of assets. As our business operations are spread over Asia, Africa, Europe, LATAM & USA, we always work with various functions within the group for optimising resources and update about new technological innovations happening in the industry.
What according to you is the biggest strength of your company in the solar industry and how do you plan to leverage this strength in the Indian Solar Sector.
We always focus on people and quality standards, Solarpack team comprises of Best of the Industry professionals working with us, who possess vast experience in international markets spread over Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia and Africa. Our team members are highly self-motivated professionals, keeps striving for excellence, getting versed with technological changes, exploring new markets, adapting to change in quality parameter/standards.
With our experience in India so far, we have been building projects with third party EPC services, going forward, our developments will utilise more in-house capabilities of the global expertise that Solarpack group possess. Solarpack continues to be a preferred EPC service provider in Spain & other LATAM market and we would like to gain from the benefit of cross fertilisation of those strengths in India for our investments.
We are very much a seamlessly connected effective workforce, which functions as a global unit and assists in all business functions for Indian activities on real time basis. While we have dedicated workforce for Indian business activities spread over New Delhi, Karnataka & Telangana, yet still our global experienced team participates quite actively in various areas of our Indian efforts to help us maintain global standards Solarpack intends to maintain.
While people are any company’s biggest strength, process orientation plays a very big role in tapping the potential and conversion into results. We, Solarpack has clearly defined processes for channelizing the people energy/potential to achieve common corporate objectives.
How different is Indian PV module market from the International market?
International PV modules manufacturing in India has been quite sluggish compared to the demand for domestic consumption and exports, while country has approx. 10GW of Solar modules manufacturing capacity, yet effective Tier-1 & 2 level producers collectively can produce about 3-4GW annually against the 8-9GW consumption. Pricing is another large factor, which makes Chinees manufactured modules favourable to buyers.
India has made attempts to increase domestic production by offering PPA linked to manufacturing capacity of 10GW, which remains a non-starter despite various incentive and modification to the scheme.
Looking at current pace of installations and manufacturing developments, India still would have to remain mostly dependent on the imports of solar cells & modules from China & Malaysia. Unfortunately, imposition of Safeguard Duty on Solar cells & modules imports from these two countries hasn’t been able to improve manufacturing industry situation in last 2years.
Some of the more developed international markets have been quite cautious on price sensitivity Vs quality of modules, whereas Indian market is more price sensitive due to reverse auction tariff pressures for achieving cheapest electricity producing country.
In my opinion, India has the potential to become the 2nd largest producer of solar modules considering pipeline towards the next decade of domestic consumption and exports to developing countries eg. Africa & MENA regions with higher acceptability of Indian produced goods.
What is your outlook for the Indian market by 2020? What have been some of your key learning from Indian projects so far?
I am quite optimistic about the growth of Indian Solar Industry by 2020, country shall achieve a pipeline of 100GW and 50GW of installed capacity, yet there are show spoilers like safeguard duty, financial market liquidity crunch, cancellation of auction programmes, re-negotiation of PPA’s by some of the states.
While there are large auctions being offered ranging from 1 to 3GW in recent times, which shall help in accelerating the growth, yet there are challenges eg. availability of solar parks has reduced which generally offer plug & play approach for large scale fast development, difficulty in Inter State Transmission System (ISTS) connectivity-based project not being able to find approvals on time.
In our experience, few of the factors makes Solar Assets exposed to risk, which varies from state to state or agency like payment security mechanism though L/C not being implemented even though the PPA obligation of purchaser mandates to establish L/C one month before project achieving COD, grid curtailment, non recognition of late payment surcharges as part of monthly payments by utilities. These are the learning that shall help us in selecting our future participation for further investments.
What has been your company’s role in enhancing technology knowledge sharing between India and Spain?
Spain market has been more of consumers market for solar system related products, yet the experience in technical design & engineering of the overall solar farms adopted by Spain has been quite modest yet practical, that experience helps us improve the overall efficiency of the solar farms in India for maintaining higher uptime and achieve better LCOE.
Mr. Aman Mathur, Managing Director, Addwatt Power Solutions Pvt Ltd talks about challenges faced by EPC and technology advancement and more…
Addwatt started with 100 KWp, it has now successfully commissioned 500 MWp. How has your journey been so far?
To be honest, I am not a great admirer of measuring success with the number of MWs of capacities installed. In fact, what matters more is the trust you create in the industry, the project execution strength of your team and the relationships you build with your vendors and all stakeholders. By keeping the above factors as yardstick for measuring success, I am glad to share that our journey so far has been quite successful. From bootstrapping a startup with a single employee and to make it an organization with global presence and about 100 team members in 6 years span is satisfying. At the same time, it offers a whole new set of challenges for which we strive to prepare ourselves every day.
What have been some of the recent developments at your organization?
We have been striving towards streamlining our internal processes to achieve efficiency and maintain the highest standards of quality delivery. We have launched an internal project management software- Addpro and an online inventory management app- E-store in this pursuit.
We have also started operations in Nairobi, Kenya and are keenly looking for projects in Africa.
What are the major challenges faced by you as an EPC while commissioning a project? How do you overcome those?
In India, apart from the engineering, logistics and project timeline related challenges, one has to be prepared to face hindrances in the form of local issues, slow Government departments and extreme weather conditions etc. For all such issues, our mantra is – Prevention is better than cure.
However, challenges are bound to come and involvement of top management as and when a major issue comes up is a must for stopping them in their tracks.
Most of the time solution does not consists of any rocket science, but a good project company is one who remains vigilant and have short response time.
Tell us a bit about the recent technology advancements in the sector which are driving the industry forward?
I feel that we have hit a plateau as far as major technological advancements in the sector are concerned. Some of the buzzwords like Mono and PERC,micro inverters, bi-axial trackers etc are still being evaluated both technically and commercially.
Solar floaters is the one bright segment being explored by the industry which holds the particular significance in our country with so many wetlands, lakes and reservoirs.
How do you ensure that the safety and quality parameters are met at your project sites?
We are adopting a zero-tolerance policy on safety and thankfully have avoided any major incident so far. Safety still remains a concern us primarily because of the fact that most of the farm scale projects are executed in the remote locations with local laborers doing much of the manual jobs. It is difficult to train them in a short span of 60-90 days which is the typical project cycle of a solar project. We are sensitizing our teams and have taken up QHS training programs at site..
One of the major challenges we face as an EPC contractor is the excessive pressure being exerted by the developers and the project owners to execute the project at an enormous pace. People need to understand that Quality and Safety comes when work is done at an optimum pace. I am glad that people are learning nowadays from their past mistakes.
Addwatt has stake in Electric Vehicle too, How do you foresee the synergy between solar industry and the EV sector?
There is a misconception in the industry that EV sector is the natural progression for solar industry, that’s not true. E-mobility offers a whole new set of opportunities and challenges. As per our assessment, it will take some more time before a lucrative revenue model can be explored with scalability. Currently, the EV market has limited players like commercial fleet operators, E-rickshaws in shared mobility. It will take more time before mass adoption of Electric Passenger vehicles happens. Government interventions like FAME and other tax sops have stirred up the sentiments of the sector but only time will tell whether these will give the desired results. For a solar EPC company like us, EV Charging stations offer a new opportunity to diversify, where upon we are currently focusing ourselves via our new business vertical Addwatt Electric.
WBSEDCL Issues Notice Inviting e-Tender for EPC and OM For 10 MW Solar Project at West Bengal
Mr. Sunil Bansal, Director, Diwakar Renewable
The country’s solar power total generation capacity is 26 GW by end of September 2018 which comprises 87 per cent (23 GW) of utility-scale solar and about 13 per cent (3 GW) of rooftop solar projects. The country’s solar installed capacity reached 29.41 GW as of 31 May 2019. India has become globally the lowest cost producer of solar power. India will achieve 100 GW solar electricity capacities till 2022. (Which include 40GW as rooftops and the Indian government which had an initial target of 20 GW capacities for 2022?) The Government has revised the target of Grid Connected Solar Power Projects from 20,000 MW by the year 2021-22 to 100,000 MW by the year 2021-22 under the National Solar Mission. In August 2016, the forecast for solar photovoltaic installations was about 4.8 GW for the calendar year. About 2.8 GW was installed in the first eight months of 2016, more than all 2015 solar installations. India’s solar projects stood at about 21 GW, with about 14 GW under construction and about 7 GW to be auctioned. He also increased the government target for installed renewable energy by 2022 to 227GW. Rooftop solar -Rooftop solar capacity addition in 2019 is expected at 2,368 MW, 49% higher than in 2018.
Importance of Leadership:-
India’s 100 GW solar target would generate more than 1.1 million jobs by 2022 spread across business development (2%), design and pre-construction (3%), construction and commissioning (72%), operations and maintenance (23%). Around 81,000 highly skilled workers would be needed annually by 2022 to carry out annual and ongoing performance monitoring of solar projects.
Above figures tell the importance of leadership and quality and quantity of business leaders required in solar sector and what companies will look out in CEOs. Those future leaders must be equipped with clear vision, strategy, and experience and skills management to achieve the target. Future leaders must be adaptive and flexible and ready to face and plan according to day to day and long term issues. The smart leaders who are capable to do and achieve this are the most sought solar sector business leaders in future. Planning and re planning as per situation will be very important.
Solar is not just a business ,it is a movement and every future leader who is heading solar business should keep in mind this also.
Mr. Kushagra Juneja, Managing Partner, Design2Occupancy Services LLP
The Indian solar market has evolved like none other in the last decade or so. Thanks to awareness on energy efficiency, provisions of subsidies and widespread and effective implementation of the net-metering scheme. The government has done a great job in sensitizing solar. in fact many entrepreneurs have derived alternate financial models, international investments have come in and domestic production and consumption has gone up manifold. Not only has this created widespread opportunity but also opened a new segment of business, sustainability.
Though, if we look at the cumulative face of business, many entrepreneurs are found struggling and customers dissatisfied. The government has already promised predictable policy making and stable tariffs to ensure sustainable business models. However, its absence so far has impacted, businesses and consumers alike. For instance, the domestic subsidy scheme was announced by the central government and even publicised to a great extent. This left the customers enquiring subsidy for which no established guidelines have been floated, however, this led to the customers withholding their decision to install solar in the domestic sector. Several other schemes, such as carry forwarding of credit under net metering scheme, state and discom discretion on open access and increased competition are a few things that can be worked upon. Also, promoting manufacturing of solar cells in the domestic market can also lead to a boost in not just local economy but also in the exports which are currently limited in the solar domain.
Indian market sentiment is that of competitive ownership, the buyer earlier aspirational to buy cars is now investing in energy efficiency and sustainability not only out of responsibility but also out of peer competition. The onus is thus on us to make the most of it.
Mr. Aniket Baheti, Co Founder, Peacock Solar
India is a land of opportunities for start-ups, especially the tech start-ups aimed at disrupting the way we go about living our daily lives. With world’s finest engineers building innovative products, India has become a hub of technological innovation. Even though innovation has spiralled into every aspect of our lives, our energy infrastructure is still decayed and paralyzed by traditional, old fashioned way of production, distribution and consumption.
India’s energy infrastructure looks up to a massive transformation with advent of solar sector and ambitious targets by Government. Solar allows for a cleaner generation, closer to the point of consumption, thereby eliminating the need for a grid infrastructure and energy losses. Future business leaders in Solar are looking out for innovative use of technology to achieve grid transformation and make energy accessible for all. This definitely requires the need to attract technical and data analytics professionals who can build new models for managing energy at consumer level. CXOs are also looking out at visionary goals to aim for given that India currently barely consumes 1/30th that of US per capita energy consumption. Solar energy firms have the unique opportunity to sustainably enable the growth of India’s energy consumption without hampering the environment. Lastly, CXOs from solar sectors expect mobilization of private capital which is required for scaling and trying out innovative financing models. Currently, solar industry is laden with debt and is heavily dependent on Government incentives and makes the entire industry vulnerable. With the assistance of private capital, solar firms can look forward to long term view for the industry and investors can fetch higher returns at lower risk.
Mr. Bimal Jindal, Vice President-SCM, SB Energy (SoftBank Group)
Solar Power is a source of clean energy and reduces the dependency on fossil fuels. India has set a target of 175 GW of renewables power projects by 2022 which includes 100 GW of Solar Power Projects. The Government is targeting 40% of power from non-fossil fuels by 2030, which translates to 250 GW of Solar Projects.
India has commissioned Solar Power Projects cumulatively amounting to 1 GW in 2012, 10 GW in 2017 and 30 GW in 2019. Thanks to the effort and support from the Government, this reflects the exponential growth of the Solar sector. The first 10 GW milestone took five years after hitting the 1 GW milestone and the next 20 GW happened in just two years. Indian Government is planning to issue another 60 GW of solar project tenders by 2020, to meet 100 GW of Solar Power target by 2022 .
This isn’t all. India has the potential of approx. 750 GW of Solar Projects as per Government data published in 2016-17. India has 470,000 sq.km. of wasteland and only 0.4 % of India’s wasteland is sufficient to meet the 2022 Solar Power target. India has both good solar irradiation and wasteland to meet such targets.
Further, India has already achieved grid parity in terms of tariff for utility scale Solar Power Projects in 2016. It is pertinent to note that Solar Power Projects tariff’s are now lower than Coal and Gas power projects in India. This is a very positive sign as Solar Projects in India can be executed without any Government subsidies.
However, it is important to note that there are still challenges to meet the target Solar project capacity, like:
1. Timely availability of suitable Grid Infrastructure;
2. Land ROW (right of way) issues
From the above, it is clear that India has the potential and resources to meet the growth momentum in Solar sector and needs to manage the challenges, which is possible through proper planning and Government support. To support the anticipated GDP growth, and to meet the impending Global Environment standards, India will need to accelerate the pace of growth in Solar Energy Generation.”
Mr. Pinaki Bhattacharyya, CEO, AMP India
The Indian solar sector is at an inflection point and is about to become a success story. The installed capacity has reached an impressive 31.5GW (by end June 2019) but we still have a highly ambitious target of 100GW by 2022 to chase.
Although considerable efforts have been made to promote the sector such as a streamlined regulatory and policy framework, developing a conducive ecosystem for all stakeholders, obligatory large power consumers and strengthening grid infrastructure for seamless RE accommodation.
At the same time, there have been severe head winds in terms of uncertainty around duties (safeguard duty, anti-dumping duty), GST impact on solar EPC, caps on bid tariffs & the recent cancellation of PPAs by Andhra Pradesh tend to pull the sector backward. The key to achieving India’s true solar potential and maintain the growth path is to create the right environment for private participation. While some of the ingredients for India’s path to achieving its potential are in place (e.g. the industry is gravitating towards institutional players with appetite for large investments, solar now has a track record of successful operations of almost 6/7 years), other aspects such as the policy environment need to be tweaked so that India can continue on its path to 100 GW and beyond of solar usage.
The long-term quality of the assets is of paramount importance and to ensure that, both corporate and government power purchasers should not be just driven by the lowest tariffs that will compromise long term quality of the assets. If we step back, the amount of solar energy that we as a nation can tap will be maximized if we create efficient and highquality solar assets supported by reliable transmission infrastructure. Rebidding by states, cancellation of Letters of Intent, putting tariff caps will eventually create poor quality assets and NPAs for banks. This leads to a national resource wastage as well as wastage of public money and not just investor returns and financial stress for developers.
Hence, the need of the hour is to make policies to promote solar rooftop on a large scale, augment the transmission infrastructure to accommodate for the new RE capacity coming online and better coordination between state and central governments with a sustained focus on rapid capacity deployment to help India move closer to its goal of 100GW by 2022.
Mr. Ashu Gupta, Head Regulatory and Government Relation, Cleanmax Solar
Solar Rooftop or we may say distributed solar pv system is perhaps the best usage of the solar PV technology and state governments understand the same as well. Most of the state governments through their agencies like the SNA and SERCs have issued progressive policies and regulations respectively, but in recent times the state utilities of many of the states have been seen becoming hurdle in the promotion and growth of the same. The SERCs have also been amending the regulations from time to time which are deterrent in nature for the growth of this sector. The more worrying part is the helplessness of the state government in ensuring that the policies and regulations are not deterrent in nature for this sector. As a duty of the state government needs to see the overall impact of the increase of usage of renewable energy in distributed form in their area and from only one angle of perceived threat to the revenue of the state utilities. Some of the progressive states like Telangana, Punjab etc. which have realized the benefit of rooftop have gone ahead with single portal facility for the approval of the rooftop plants and due to the states initiatives tremendous growth can be seen.
The new subsidy scheme for the promotion of the residential rooftop solar pv system will definitely be a game changer in the growth of this sector if not in volume but in terms of reach and spread. It will be very interesting to see the growth in this sector post the implementation of rooftop solar phase II as proposed by government of India where by incentivising the DISCOMs and making them nodal agencies for the promotion of the solar rooftop and distributed generation programme.
Mr. Dharmendra Jain, Director, HFM Solar Power Private Limited
Uttar Pradesh, owing to large population and economic potential has high industrial, commercial as well as MSME activity, representing a large & strong market for rooftop solar installations. UP has been assigned among the highest targets for solar rooftop (4.3 GWp) of which only 6.1% has been achieved on date. The untapped potential represents a significant market opportunity to rooftop solar players. As per MNRE the state has 22.3 GWp potential.
With the new Regulation of the Uttar Pradesh State Electricity Regulatory Commission, in January, 2019 there will be a huge negative impact on investment in the rooftop solar sector in the state. The government / Public / Private institutions are only interested to install rooftop solar plant under Net Metering model for getting the cheap electricity generated from the solar plant for their use and to reduce the cost of electricity bills. Now, according to the new UPERC policy, due to the provision of gross metering instead of net metering, electricity produced from Solar Roof Top Plant will go directly to the grid and it will not be utilized by the Roof top owner hence Institutions will not take any interest in installing the Solar plant. We sincerely urge to the Uttar Pradesh government to direct the Electricity Regulatory Commission to implement the old system of net metering in Uttar Pradesh so that the investment in the solar field should be encouraged and Hon’ble PM Modi and Hon’ble CM Yogi Government Solar Mission could touch the heights of success with getting the cheap electricity to the Institution and encourage using solar power in the state.
Mr. Nikhil Nahar, Co-Founder & Director, SolarSquare Energy Private Limited
India has an ambitious target of 175 GWs of renewable energy by 2022 out of which 100 GWs is set to be completed through solar with 40 GWs likely to be accomplished through rooftop solar. However, present statistics show that we have merely crossed 30% of the solar target and touching 10% of rooftop solar. Slow run-rate needs an accelerated approach to meet the target.
While most states on-paper have conducive solar policies to allow grid connectivity for solar rooftop, some states have percolated clarity to implementation agencies while others still display disparity w.r.t. policy roll-out.
For instance, some leading states have recently announced encouraging moves:
1. Karnataka came up with a welcoming move to waive-off CEIG approval for up to 1 MW projects.
2. Tamil Nadu solar policy now permits LT consumers as well to go for solar, which was previously prohibited.
3. Rajasthan announced net-metering related favorable amendments for small solar gridinteractive systems. They have given definitive timelines which reduce the process to 25-30 days, as opposed to 3-6 months in certain states like Maharashtra.
4. Gujarat’s latest policy is promoting the development of small scale distributed solar PV sector
Wherein below list captures typical hurdles practically faced by installers in various states:
1. Policy: Policy-level gray-zones call for clarifications/ amendments viz. approval process for installations under non-net-metering scheme e.g. Maharashtra.
2. Awareness: Non-uniformity in the interpretation of terms such as MW/ MWp/ PF while processing applications e.g. Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh.
3. Approvals: Lack of procedural awareness among the authorities, offline application processes, lack of single window channels add to the bureaucracy/ delays e.g. Chattisgarh, Maharashtra.
4. Abrupt Changes: UP was in news recently for suddenly notifying the exclusion of C&I’s and public buildings from access to net-metering, which stalled/ delayed the installations. 5. Constraints: Gujarat still doesn’t allow 3rd party PPA’s for the solar rooftop projects. Tamil Nadu does not permit net-metering for HT consumers.
6. Competitive-notion: Some discoms directly/ indirectly discourage the adoption of solar, as they see solar as a competition directly affecting their business rather than a means to fulfill the RPO.
In summary, the proliferation of solar rooftop needs an inclusive approach for segments like residential, clarity on policy, awareness among stakeholders and pro-active approach in ground-level issue-resolution.
Mr. Vishwanath Kamath – Managing Director, Fronius India Private Limited
The current government has been trying to come out with supportive and encouraging stand to promote solar in its all-time best. It is quite evident from the way the target norms have been elevated to 175 GW to 2022. Also the norm of 500 GW target by 2030. Whereas if we ask sincerely if the ambitious energy and targets have reached out to the common man in terms of affordable, scalable, sustainable means, it’s a open ended question.
Solar has gone through lot of ups and downs, more aggressive scenario and cut throat market to where it has come now. From unbelievable EPC prices to revision of MNRE subsidy norms, it’s a total “Survival of the fittest” game.
Some of the quick market expectations from the government include – Timely subsidy with clear time bound release, Liasoning with discoms thereby enabling/facilitating the whole process, Promotion of residential rootop solar through better financing schemes and ways to reduce the burden of common man, net metering enabled for projects until 2 MW thereby the cap for project size sealing is taken off, nurture new entrants in the market who wish to execute EPC projects. Many new entrants have to perish from the market due to non-welcome scenario and don’t care attitude from the solar federation.
Also the government should emphasis on SPO (Solar purchase obligation) for all residential societies and industrial federation and should reward the ones who accomplish them. This would prove to be a great catalyst for the industry and nurture many to grow. Solar is possible !
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PV module market around the world have been cost driven and it is no wonder that the crystalline technology has been the chalk horse of the industry. Further, with the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) from solar plants have started breaching grid parity, the focus now is to extract maximum kWh from the plant in order to ensure the investors have maximized returns. The technology upgradation in conjunction with module design upgradation has played a significant role in such shift. Utilization of bifacial module which are capable of generating power from both sides has been gaining traction, given the fact that enhanced energy output could be expected under right designing considerations. However, the currently available bifacial module utilizes PERC/PERT crystalline solar cells which have limited bifaciality coupled with other inherent issues like LID, PID, LeTID, etc. It was hence necessary to bank upon a pragmatic solution.
Silicon heterojunction (HJT) solar cell which has been introduced in the mid-19th century, utilizes both crystalline and thin film technology. The cell has a crystalline silicon (n-type) sandwiched between amorphous (thin film) layers of silicon on both the sides, giving the cell its bifacial nature. The mono crystalline technology in the cell has better absorption of light whereas the amorphous has superior passivation (which enables high electron collection) characteristics. The cells are thinner (~120 μm) compared to crystalline silicon cell making it slightly flexible and further also making them highly resistant to microcracks. The n-type silicon present in HJT does not have Boron, which makes these cells LID free. Further the mitigation of electron from solar cell which are responsible for PID are also reduced to zero in HJT cells, thanks to the presence of highly conductive oxide layer (ITO) which protects the cell electrically. Additionally the cell has a lower temperature coefficient (almost half of the crystalline technology based cells). All the above factors when coupled together enables HJT based module to have lower degradation rates throughout its lifetime.
Figure 1: SUPER HJT module from Waaree energies (on left) and (on right) cross sectional view of a Heterojunction cell (Source: Meyer Burger)
Figure 2: Comparison of superior technologies existing in PV market
Since these cells have high bifaciality, micro-crack resistance, no LID, PID & LeTID and lower temperature coefficient it is a perfect technology for Indian conditions. Waaree Energies recently in REI-2019 launched their SUPER HJT module which utilizes HJT solar cells. Available next year, this module have already started gaining popularity among the local and international markets. Further with the detailed scrutiny happening for each and every module we manufacture, the end customer can be rest assured that their plant would be up and running for 25+ years ensuring more than desired return. Let us all pledge to make solar energy the primary source of energy in the near future.
MR. SUNIL RATHI Director- Sales & Marketing Waaree Energies ltd
Dr. Anuvrat Joshi, Head-Business Development, Cleantech Solar
Cleantech Solar’s leadership in the rooftop solar industry stands on three fundamental pillars:
1. Customers’ complete trust in our execution capabilities and quality of our systems;
2. Deep access to capital;
3. The size and customer profile of our operating portfolio.
In addition to these core strengths, the ability to deliver rooftop solar projects across eight countries as well as off-site open access solar power within India have also played a key role in our success.
We believe it is these strengths and the trust and support of our customers that have made us the #1 rooftop developer three times in a row since 2017 in the Bridge to India rooftop leadership board.
Mr. Amit Barve, Head- Business Development, Enerparc Energy Pvt Ltd
A rooftop solar project is really a multi-decade relationship between parties: top corporates respect high quality and high integrity RESCO partners who have the technical capability, financial strength and commitment to the relationship to deliver not only a high-performance project but a commitment towards proactive service and problem solving that can stand the test of twenty years or longer. Offering our leadership to the sector by building such relationships is an organic part of the Cleantech Solar DNA and it plays to our strengths.
Today India is one of the fastest growing solar markets worldwide and has surpassed 30GW installation in the last few years also poised to remain leader in the sector in coming years. However against targeted installation of 40GW in rooftop solar by 2022, we have been able to reach only 10% installation target. There are few structural problems for scaling up of rooftop solar market which needs to be addressed to get the sector on high growth path. Rooftop solar market mainly comprises of installations in Commercial and Industrial segment (C&I) and Residential segment.
C&I segment is growing fast, however recently pace has been stifled due to uncertain regulatory environment. Policies especially related to net metering which are very essential, are varying a lot from state to state and few states have been changing rules and regulations frequently which are unfriendly to industry. Secondly residential segment has highest potential however has not picked up due to financial unviability on account of skewed tariff regime with cross subsidization of domestic consumers at the cost of C&I consumers.
To make this sector get back on track and achieve rapid deployment, we need state governments to harmonize policies related to net metering and keep them consistent across all states as well as do not tinker them time and again. Friendliness and consistency in policies would attract investment in this segment which is need of time. Also state DISCOMs who have already adopted to UDAY scheme should rationalize tariffs which can motivate residential customers for adopting solar for captive consumption using net metering support. Third important point that can make a huge difference would be making funding available for residential as well as Industrial customers which can quickly increase offtake.
Mr. Prateek Agrawal, Co-Founder & Director, Solar91 Cleantech Pvt Ltd
To emerge as a leader in the solar industry one should go with good quality of projects otherwise you will not be able to fulfill the maintenance required in low-grade plants. As an EPC, we should focus on the material used and skilled manpower for the execution of the project since this can change the life cycle of the project. EPC companies should work on decent margins otherwise they will not be able to provide after-sales service which is a requirement of the project. EPCs should focus on the BOS used for the project and BOM used in modules. Generally, people talk about module and inverter only and they are not concern about BOS i.e. earthing material, cables, conduits, Walkway cable trays, etc. which is an essential part of the project. It is the job of EPC to educate the end customer regarding the BOS of the project so that a quality project can be delivered.
Support of the government is also required to emerge as a leader in the market in terms of policy (net metering, gross metering) and financing. The government should give a firm policy keeping in mind to promote the installation of solar projects and they should stick to in for 25 years. Frequent changes in policy by the government will lead to distrust which is not good for the growth of the industry.
Support for DISCOM is also required for the implementation of the project as it should be a hassle-free process from the DISCOM end. DISCOM must follow the net metering regulations for the settlement of the power generated from solar power plants so that customers can get the actual benefit. There should not be any hassle in the settlement of energy generated from the solar plant. There should be proper calculation mentioned in the consumption generated by DISCOM, in which they should mention power generated from the solar plant, exported power, and banked units (if any). It will give clarity to the customer regarding their electricity bill and savings from the solar plant.
Mr. Sangram Singh, Director, SunReform Energy Pvt Ltd
According to me the rooftop solar industry is mainly lagging because of not getting proper support from the Electricity department. Many states are not aware of the net metering policy.
Policies are there, but no proper implementation is their on the policies. CFA ( Central finance assistance ) are their, but due to delay it’s getting very hard for a vendor to manage his business. Due to lack of support from Government nodal agencies the solar rooftop is not touching height. Lack of awareness and finance part are the major issues.
According to me Bankers should come up with some loan facility. All schools and institution should be mandate for installation of solar power plants. Talking about commercial sector all commercial buildings should also be given some type of CFA to promote solar rooftop in industrial sectors. But without electricity departments support this mission of making India green will not be possible. Many more issues are there which vendors are facing on ground level. solar rooftop is a one time investment but due to not maintaining proper quality of the system it’s falling down.
Proper guidelines and procedure should be maintained so that one can easily install the solar plant without any hesitation and also metering issues should be given online.
Dr. Sanjay Vashishtha, CEO, Firstgreen Consulting Pvt Ltd
Government of India has a target of 175 GW of renewable’s installation by 2022. Of this target solar installation is planned of the order of 100 GW and government has given rooftop sector target of 40 GW by 2022. As of date by December 2018 India has about 1.44 GW of solar rooftop installation.
As for Deloitte report “ Scaling up rooftop solar in MSME in India” rooftop installation in MSME sector constitutes a significant share on rooftop solar installation and government targets about 40% rooftop solar targets from Commercial and Industrial sectors only.
The electricity cost in C&I consumers is significantly higher and hence while solar has reached a great parity C&I consumers can contribute significantly to achieve government of India’s targets for rooftop solar installations. Considering the fact that government of India is no longer providing subsidy to the C&I, however there is still requirement of at least low cost financing support to this sector.
Currently there are various international line of credit is available through ADB, World Bank and KFW however this line of credit is available through few of the public sector banks such as SBI, PNB and bank of Baroda. Some of the private sector banks should also be made part of this line of credit so that handling of large volume of solar rooftop financing applications can be made possible and many rooftop solar developers get access of this low-cost financing option.
In recent years demand aggregation of solar rooftop capacity has been quite successful by looking at examples in Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Maharashtra. The demand aggregation will help to create attractive capacity to the Solar project developers and will bring down the overall installation cost.
It is equally important to involve Discom for billing & collection and the solar PPAs need to be made tri party PPAs where Discom has responsibility of the payment collection as a part of their regular billing and collection activities for grid electricity sale. Demand aggregation of solar rooftop projects with RESCO model can become a successful model where the PPAs are triparty PPAs and Discom has the role of billing and payment collection agent on behalf of solar project developer. Industrial estate bodies such as MIDC, GIDC, HSIDC, etc can also become part of the solar rooftop installation and help in billing and payment collection of payments from C&I consumers within their industrial clusters. Government should also create a partial risk guarantee fund which will help to fund solar rooftop projects to the rooftop solar developers.
Mr. Ishan Chaturvedi, Co Founder, Vareyn Solar Pvt. Ltd
The Rooftop Solar Energy Industry needs a strong knowledge base on traditional installation techniques and technologies, also bold decisions to advocate newer tested technologies and strong engineering base. There is a necessity to develop the entire value chain ecosystem to become competitive and achieve sustainable growth.
The Solar Energy Industry is ever changing, with the advent of newer Panel Manufacturing Technologies and Solar Panel Material for example, Organic Cells, Perovskite Cells, etc. there is going to be a change in the landscape of Rooftop Installations. There is a good chance of new leaders coming up in the market with new offerings which are cost effective and far more sustainable than traditional technologies, furthermore there are newer installation techniques which are saving Balance of System costs and making Solar Rooftop Installations reach places where it was considered too expensive until now.
Almost two year back, Vareyn Solar took up a challenging project of rooftop solar at Indira IVF Hospital, Udaipur. The requirement was for a high superstructure of 20 feet height and a shed construction of 32 feet height. We advocated for 5 bus bar half cell panels, the material choice was a mix of traditional and new technology. The project was completed with our in-house engineering, design and execution team, using a few external structural auditors. We were able to create value for the entire roof real-estate to the client by using less than 70sq.ft. – 80sq.ft. per kWp resulting in a 100kWp Plant.
Solar energy has become the most competitive energy source. In off-grid energy systems, solar energy combined with conventional energy generation and battery storage can provide secure power during day and night. B2Gold Corp. (CA) operates the Fekola gold mine in Mali, West Africa. Suntrace GmbH with its partner BayWa r.e. had completed a preliminary study earlier this year evaluating the technical and economic viability of adding the solar battery plant to the Fekola mine site.
Following the study results, B2Gold has approved the US$ 38million project for implementation in 2019-2020, which will be one of the world’s largest off-grid solar battery hybrid systems. Construction shall start end of 2019 and is scheduled for completion in August 2020.
Suntrace together with its partner BayWa r.e. were selected to support B2Gold during implemention of the project as solar experts, providing all relevant technical expertise, such as detailed engineering, procurement support and support during construction and commissioning until completion of the project.
“It is a strong commitment by B2Gold to build such a significant solar-battery plant as a fuel saver for the Fekola mine. This project is a landmark in terms of battery and PV plant size with respect to an off-grid project. We are very proud that B2Gold has entrusted Suntrace/BayWa r.e. as expert to support the implementation of this innovative project,” says Martin Schlecht, COO of Suntrace.
“This is a great achievement for B2Gold and their move towards sustainable production. The fuel savings will enable repayment on the investment as well as lower energy costs and cut carbon emissions”, says Tobias Kriete, regional Manager Africa at BayWa r.e. Solar Projects GmbH. “The realization of this innovative system highlights the hybrid expertise of Suntrace and BayWa r.e.”, adds Philipp Kunze, Head of BayWa r.e. Solar Projects’s Global Hybrid Team.
The PV-battery system will be integrated with the existing Power Plant to ensure safe and reliable operation of the hybrid and allow fuel savings of 13.1 million liters HFO per year. The solar battery system will significantly cut total energy costs and CO2 emissions. Electricity for the mining site is currently been generated exclusively by means of HFO (heavy fuel oil) and diesel generators. The addition of the 30 MW net capacity solar battery plant will allow the mine to shut-off up to three HFO engines during daylight time, with the 13.5 MWh battery storage providing the buffer for the irradiation fluctuations.
Suntrace together with its partner BayWa r.e., will implement the project together with B2Gold until operation, and will thus make a significant contribution to sustainable power generation for mines in West Africa.
In the framework of the elections of the new Board of Directors of the Global Solar Council, held last week in Salt Lake City (United States), José Donoso, UNEF General Manager, has been appointed President of the international association. Donoso’s term will begin in 2021.
The Global Solar Council was founded in 2015, within the framework of COP21, by the main solar associations to unify the industry at international level, share best practices and boost the development of PV technology with cooperation, training and the exchange of experiences.
GSC members include national and regional associations of both emerging and consolidated markets, as well as the largest markets in the world, such as China, Europe, India, Japan, the Middle East, South America and the United States.
“The presence of Spain in the Presidency of the Global Solar Council shows the leadership of the Spanish PV industry in the world, at a time when, thanks to its growing competitiveness and flexibility, this technology has become a fundamental ally in the fight against climate change” said Donoso.
Donoso also highlighted that PV is a democratic technology that allows to produce clean and cheap energy. The development of this sector in emerging markets also generates a positive impact in the framework of the fight against poverty.
By representing the PV sector at an international level, the Global Solar Council will play a central role in the path towards an energy model based on renewables in which PV will be a key player.
Enviromena, the leading clean energy technology company, has just joined the elite club of the #Solar O&M Best Practices Mark, a label of excellence in solar O&M (operations and maintenance).
Enviromena, during the 10 years of providing O&M services, has made prolonged efforts to develop and establish processes. This effort is now being recognised by Solar Power Europe’s “Solar O&M Best Practices Mark” – a self-evaluation based label to promote transparency and excellence in the solar O&M market.
“This certification demonstrates that our processes meet the highest international standards for O&M providers,” said Enviromena Director of O&M, Vasileios Chatzimpaloglou. “We believe that, by delivering world-class, standardised, O&M services, we are contributing to the improvement of security for those investing in Solar in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.”
“These thorough and established best-practice processes allow us to quickly recognise operational requirements and opportunities for improvement. This is particularly important when taking on a PV Plant that has not been adequately maintained in the past – or had not been performing as expected.”
“I am proud that our talented team at Enviromena has passed the stringent requirements of the Solar O&M Best Practices Mark. This achievement is no easy task – check out the detailed requirements on www.solarmaintenancemark.com. It demonstrates our commitment to providing a world-class service to our clients. The MENA region is highly significant, and we are keen to increase – still further – our number of third party O&M contracts here. This latest recognition shows we can be trusted to do just that,” added Vasileios.
With one of the largest footprints of clean energy projects, Enviromena has installed more than 17,000 solar systems and has one of the largest portfolios of solar rooftops in the GCC and is one of the largest and most experienced O&M providers in the MENA region.
Today, Enviromena is at the forefront of technological advancements by adopting large-scale energy storage technology. These technologies will revolutionise the delivery of electricity worldwide – solving dispatch, intermittency and grid stability issues.
Compared with dual glass bifacial, JinkoSolar’s Swan reduces the weight by 25%. How much would this mean to the investors, developers, EPCs and O&M? Would it make much of a difference, or would the savings be significant enough to 100% shift to it? Will weight increase of glass-glass bifacial diminish its returns or offset the benefits of additional power generated from rear side?
There is an easy way to get a rough idea of what magnitude the savings are: saving 25% of weight per panel would reduce cost of BOS by 3%, mounting structure by 15%, labor by 20% and finally O&M by 5%.
Mounting structure heights should be raised to allow the rear surface to capture additional diffuse albedo light. Height between 1.0 – 1.5m is recommended as optimum. If using a fixed tilt mounting structure, a more aggressive tilt angle is common. This aggressive tilt angle aims to increase rear side exposure and promote diffuse albedo light; however, this will also increase the load experienced under high wind conditions. Thus the mounting structure and foundation requires new, specific and much costly designs to be solid enough to secure the heavier modules and greater wind loads expected. The greatest performance benefits for bifacial technology are seen when it is deployed in tracking systems. For single axis tracking system, 25% weight loss has been shown to provide superior alleviation over tracking system, as this does not require special design or strengthened material.
That is not the same case when speaking about the typical installation site . But if we consider harsh environment where the solar plant is located, such as mountain regions, offshore waterbodies, salt affected land, contaminated land, abandoned land, high building rooftop, car port,agriculture situations allowing crop growth underneath – basically remote areas which are difficult to access and that generally involveextremely high cost of labor and logistic, etc., the saving can easily be twice as much.
Future trends for bifacial include longer warranties (30 years) and reduced degradation rates, a very likely fall in price as well as weight.
Two recent votes by the Louisiana Public Service Commission double down on anti-solar policy while boosting profits for the monopoly utility companies. In September, three Public Service Commissioners – Eric Skrmetta, Mike Francis and Craig Green – voted to severely limit new rooftop solar by forcing solar customers to sell their energy to the utility for ~$0.03 and then allow the utility to sell that same power for ~$0.10, allowing the utilities to pocket the profits. The change hurts solar customers and solar companies while greatly benefitting the monopoly utilities.
At the Public Service Commission Business and Executive meeting on October 10th in Lake Charles, LA, the Commission doubled down on that ruling. They rejected the solar industry’s request for a rehearing on the September solar policy vote, despite hearing evidence of specific conflicts of interest by the Commission’s technical consultant, David Dismukes, who pushed for a solar policy strongly supported by the monopoly utilities in the state.
“The Commission’s blind refusal to rehear the case and address its consultant’s blatant ties to industry is another example of pubic servants failing Louisiana citizens. However, these decisions will not affect PosiGen’s determination to support energy independence for Louisiana families. We remain committed,” said PosiGen CEO Tom Neyhart.
As a Louisiana solar customer and leader of the Green Army, General Russel Honoré said, “Net metering allowed for Louisiana residents to have a say where their energy comes from, and enabled folks to put their rooftops to work. The elimination of net metering, quite literally, gives all of the power back to the energy companies.”
Essentially, by voting to take away the value of residential solar, Commissioners Skrmetta, Francis and Green put the investor-owned utility monopolies’ interests ahead of the interests of Louisiana families. It’s not surprising, as Skrmetta has been the champion of eliminating residential solar ever since he failed to strong arm the solar industry into supporting his reelection campaign against Forest Wright in 2014. He was allegedly caught in a pay-to-play scandal to win the support of the solar industry or they would face dire consequences. It’s been five years but he seems to have made good on his word with the help of two new, inexperienced Commissioners.
Commissioner Francis said solar customers were getting a “subsidy,” but the evidence presented by Dismukes on the cost of solar included the now retired state tax credit. Further, Commissioner Francis has no credibility when it comes to protecting consumers since he tried to reverse the Commission’s ethics rule so he could get free lunches from the industries he is supposed to regulate.
It is regrettable that prior to this vote, Louisiana was ranked 31st on the rooftop solar policy list. After the new rule goes into effect on January 1, 2020, Louisiana will drop to 47th.
PosiGen will continue pushing for energy independence, clean energy, and lower bills. Starting immediately, PosiGen will ramp up efforts to bring solar to as many Louisiana families as possible before November 30, 2019, which is the last day to enroll under the old rule.
Only 40 per cent of Myanmar’s rural population has access to grid power. The joint venture by Singapore-listed Yoma Strategic Holdings and the energy platform of Philippine conglomerate Ayala Corporation aims to boost access to electricity.
Two Southeast Asian business conglomerates have teamed up to invest at least US$30 million in renewable energy projects in Myanmar, which has one the region’s lowest rates of access to grid electricity.
Myanmar-focused Yoma Strategic Holdings, which is listed on the Singapore stock exchange, will form a 50:50 joint venture with AC Energy, the energy arm of Ayala Corporation of the Philippines, to drive the growth of Yoma Micro Power.
Together, they want to develop about 200 megawatts of renewable energy projects in Myanmar, including participation in large utility-scale projects.
Myanmar, an emerging economy in Southeast Asia, has one of the world’s lowest per capita electricity consumption. Each of its 53 million people consumed only 0.3 MWh of electricity in 2017—or 3 per cent of the 9.2MWh that an average person in Singapore consumed, according to the International Energy Agency.
The country suffers from chronic power shortages with only 40 per cent of its rural population having access to the national grid. It currently derives its electricity from hydropower (70 per cent), natural gas (28 per cent) and coal (2 per cent), and the government has projected that solar energy will supply up to 5 per cent of its electricity by 2030.
The World Bank expects electricity consumption in Myanmar to grow at an average rate of 11 per cent a year until 2030—the year its government aims to achieve full electrification—and estimates that around US$2 billion of investment per year is required.
Renew Power limited India’s leading Renewable energy company, today announced the elevation of Sanjay Varghese to the position of Executive Vice President in the company.
Sanjay will head the Solar Business for the company and report directly to Chairman and Managing Director, Sumant Sinha. Sanjay has been with ReNew for the past 2 years and has been responsible for executing key solar projects for the company. Sanjay joined ReNew from Lanco Solar, where he was the Chief Operating Officer. Sanjay was earlier reporting to the company’s Chief Operating Officer Parag Sharma, who has decided to pursue interests outside the Company. Parag was with ReNew for the last 5 years and we wish him all the best for his future endeavours.
ReNew Power also announces the appointment of Vishal Sehgal as the head of its Corporate Affairs function. Vishal Sehgal has worked in multiple sectors of the economy including a long and distinguished spell with the German retail giant –Metro Cash & Carry, and has an MPA from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. These appointments are meant to expand ReNew’s leadership team to manage its growing portfolio and explore new growth opportunities in the renewable energy sector.
ReNew had earlier announced the appointment of D Muthukumaran as its Chief Financial officer in August this year. Mr. Muthukumaran brings with him a wealth of experience in the field of finance. He has driven business portfolio, M&A deals, raised funds in debt and equity and specialises in structured finance, leverage buyouts and regulatory and tax structuring. Before joining ReNew, Mr. Muthukumaran was the Chief Executive Officer of Aditya Birla PE Advisors Private Limited.
The process of expanding the leadership team by hiring some of the Industry’s best talent started last year itself. Ajay Bhardwaj, a veteran of the power sector, joined ReNew Power last year. Ajay is responsible for setting up and building the transmission business of ReNew. The company had recently announced its intention to foray into this area.
2018 also saw two other key additions in the leadership team. Well known Physicist and author Varun Sivaram joined ReNew as its Chief Technology officer, while Mayank Bansal was appointed as President Strategy & Operations. Mayank has honed his skills at some of the world’s top consultancy firms like A.T. Kearney and McKinsey, before joining ReNew.
Sumant Sinha, Chairman and Managing Director of ReNew Power said, “The strengthening of the leadership team is a continuous process and is focused on improving and aligning functions as we continue to remain India’s largest renewable energy company. I am confident that with new members of the leadership team coming on board and the existing team continuing to deliver business outcomes, ReNew Power is well poised to build scale in India’s quest for generating 450 GW of renewable energy.”
The expansion of ReNew’s leadership team will allow the company to make the best possible use of growth opportunities arising in the Indian renewable energy space.
Mr. Sanjay Varghese – Excecutive Vice President ReNEw Power
Renew Power limited (“ReNew Power”), India’s leading Renewable energy company, announced the elevation of Sanjay Varghese to the position of Executive Vice President in the company.
Sanjay will head the Solar Business for the company and report directly to Chairman and Managing Director, Sumant Sinha. Sanjay has been with ReNew for the past 2 years and has been responsible for executing key solar projects for the company. Sanjay joined ReNew from Lanco Solar, where he was the Chief Operating Officer. Sanjay was earlier reporting to the company’s Chief Operating Officer Parag Sharma, who has decided to pursue interests outside the Company. Parag was with ReNew for the last 5 years and we wish him all the best for his future endeavours.
ReNew Power also announces the appointment of Vishal Sehgal as the head of its Corporate Affairs function. Vishal Sehgal has worked in multiple sectors of the economy including a long and distinguished spell with the German retail giant –Metro Cash & Carry, and has an MPA from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. These appointments are meant to expand ReNew’s leadership team to manage its growing portfolio and explore new growth opportunities in the renewable energy sector.
ReNew had earlier announced the appointment of D Muthukumaran as its Chief Financial officer in August this year. Mr. Muthukumaran brings with him a wealth of experience in the field of finance. He has driven business portfolio, M&A deals, raised funds in debt and equity and specialises in structured finance, leverage buyouts and regulatory and tax structuring. Before joining ReNew, Mr. Muthukumaran was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Aditya Birla PE Advisors Private Limited.
The process of expanding the leadership team by hiring some of the Industry’s best talent started last year itself. Ajay Bhardwaj, a veteran of the power sector, joined ReNew Power last year. Ajay is responsible for setting up and building the transmission business of ReNew. The company had recently announced its intention to foray into this area.
2018 also saw two other key additions in the leadership team. Well known Physicist and author Varun Sivaram joined ReNew as its Chief Technology officer, while Mayank Bansal was appointed as President Strategy & Operations. Mayank has honed his skills at some of the world’s top consultancy firms like A.T. Kearney and McKinsey, before joining ReNew.
Sumant Sinha, Chairman and Managing Director of ReNew Power said, “The strengthening of the leadership team is a continuous process and is focused on improving and aligning functions as we continue to remain India’s largest renewable energy company. I am confident that with new members of the leadership team coming on board and the existing team continuing to deliver business outcomes, ReNew Power is well poised to build scale in India’s quest for generating 450 GW of renewable energy.”
The expansion of ReNew’s leadership team will allow the company to make the best possible use of growth opportunities arising in the Indian renewable energy space.
About ReNew Power
ReNew Power Limited is India’s largest renewable energy IPP (Independent Power Producer) in terms of total energy generation capacity. As of June 2019, ReNew had a total capacity of over 8 GW of wind and solar power assets across the country, including commissioned and under development projects. It develops, builds, owns and operates utility scale wind and solar energy projects as well as distributed solar energy projects that generate energy for commercial and industrial customers. ReNew has a strong track record of organic and inorganic growth having nearly doubled its operational capacity in each of the last three Fiscal Years. ReNew’s broad base of equity investors include Goldman Sachs, JERA, ADIA, CPPIB, and GEF SACEF India.
