Blogs
Transmission outlook improving
16 August 2020 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
CERC, the national power sector regulator, has issued a set of proposed amendments to procedure for grant of inter-state transmission system (ISTS) connectivity approval to renewable projects. Among the major proposals is relaxation in the onerous bank guarantee requirements. Deadline for commissioning of transmission line and obligation for payment of transmission charges are proposed to be...
C&I renewable market held back by policy uncertainty
08 August 2020 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Last week, Norfund, Norway’s development finance institution, announced a USD 100 million investment together with Siemens into Berkeley Energy Commercial Industrial Solutions (BECIS). The two companies have agreed to invest USD 50 million each into BECIS, which offers rooftop solar and other energy solutions to C&I consumers under PPA model. BECIS, founded by Berkeley Energy, is a new...
Module market evolving rapidly
01 August 2020 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Chinese module major Trina launched a new series of 550 W bifacial modules recently and announced production of a new 600 W version from next year onwards. The company also announced that it expects to triple production to 31 GW in 2022, up from 10 GW last year. The new modules use half-cut cells and are reported to...
Indian Railways ramping up renewable energy adoption
29 July 2020 | Dhruv Tyagi
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Railways announced a plan to transform Indian Railways to ‘Green Railways’ by 2030. The move is in line with the government’s initiatives to meet the commitments made under the Paris Agreement, with Railways being identified as one of the key sectors for decarbonisation. The...
DISCOM liquidity package stuck
11 July 2020 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Last week, power minister R.K. Singh announced that the INR 900 billion (USD 12 billion) liquidity package for DISCOMs may be expanded to INR 1,250 billion (USD 17 billion) to cover their increasing outstanding dues. The dues have increased sharply from INR 1,062...
Webinar: COVID 19 implications for domestic manufacturing
07 July 2020 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
BRIDGE TO INDIA hosted a webinar on 3 June 2020 to discuss impact of COVID-19 on domestic module manufacturing industry in India. We had an eminent group of speakers including Mr. Amitesh Sinha, Joint Secretary, MNRE, Mr. Ashish Khanna, CEO, Tata Power Solar, Mr. Ramesh Nair, CEO, Adani Solar, Mr. Saibaba...
New solar tariff low not a surprise
05 July 2020 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
SECI’s latest solar auction has discovered a new record low tariff of INR 2.36/ kWh (USD 3.1 cent). The company’s pan India 2,000 MW ISTS tender was oversubscribed 2.3 times. Spain’s Solarpack (300 MW, tariff INR 2.36/ kWh) was the lowest bidder. Other winners...
Customs duty finally on the anvil
26 June 2020 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
After a year of deliberation, MNRE has announced that basic customs duty (BCD) shall be levied on all cell and module imports from 1 August 2020 onwards. The proposal, pending approval from The Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of...
Border tension with China does not augur well
22 June 2020 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Border tension with China does not augur well This week saw violent clashes between Indian and Chinese armed forces. 20 Indian soldiers have died in reportedly the worst clashes in the last 58 years. These events have revived longstanding distrust of China and lent an edge to the precarious relationship between the two countries. There is growing political chorus for boycott of Chinese goods...
Financial bonanza for Adani and Azure?
12 June 2020 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
SECI has approved award of an astounding 12,000 MW project capacity in its 7,000 MW manufacturing-linked project tender. The auction was held back in January 2020 with Adani Green and Azure announced as winners with tariff bids of INR 2.92/ kWh. The two developers had bid for 4,000 MW and 2,000 MW project capacity but are being...
Real-time power trading a win-win for power producers and consumers
06 June 2020 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Power exchanges in India started offering a new ‘Real Time Market’ (RTM) trading window at the beginning of this week. The market features 48 trading slots, half an hour each, during the day for delivery of power within one hour of...
COVID-19 to cause serious damage to renewables
31 May 2020 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
COVID-19 infections in India, relatively low so far, have started rising rapidly. New cases were reported at 8,380 on 30 May 2020, up 4.6x in the last month. Ironically, the lockdown is still being relaxed to avoid economic hardship and under pressure from the business community. Almost all social and business activities would be...
