Blogs
Rooftop solar tenders pick up again
19 August 2019 | Shobhit Srivastava
After a slow 2017-18, rooftop solar tender issuance activity picked up again in 2018-19. Central and state government agencies issued a total of 804 MW (CAPEX 291 MW, OPEX 513 MW) of rooftop solar tenders in the year, up 64% on previous year. Figure: Rooftop solar tender issuance, MW Source: BRIDGE TO INDIA research Note: Tenders below 5 MW capacity are excluded from this...
Sterling & Wilson successfully completes its IPO
12 August 2019 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Sterling & Wilson Solar (S&W) has become a rare success story in the Indian renewable energy sector by becoming the first company in many years to successfully complete an IPO. The share sale was structured as an offer for...
Ministry of Power looking to act tough on DISCOMs
05 August 2019 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
The Ministry of Power (MOP) and MNRE have issued a couple of emphatic orders to tackle the growing DISCOM payment crisis. The first is an MOP order in end June instructing State Load Despatch Centres (SLDC) and Regional Load...
One year of safeguard duty fails to produce any results
29 July 2019 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
It is nearly a year since announcement of safeguard duty on import of PV cells and modules. To recap, the Indian government enforced duties on all imports from China, Malaysia and all developed countries starting 31 July 2018 for a period of two years. The duty level was set at 25% in the first year,...
Hydrogen makes inroads into the global energy mix
26 July 2019 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Last month, the International Energy Agency (IEA) declared 2019 a critical year for hydrogen and stated that it has a key role in a clean, secure and affordable energy future. Hydrogen is potentially a very attractive energy source as it combusts cleanly and does not produce carbon emissions. It is also a dense...
FAME-II scheme – ambitious vision, poor planning
24 July 2019 | Prantik Mitra
In March 2019, the Indian government announced the much-awaited phase II of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme after delaying its announcement for over two years. FAME-I was initially set until 2017 but was extended up to March 2019. FAME-II has...
Rooftop solar growing rapidly but needs nurturing
23 July 2019 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
India is estimated to have added new rooftop solar capacity of 1,836 MW in FY 2018-19, up a remarkable 61% over previous year. Total installed capacity is estimated at 4,375 MW as on 31 March 2019. Due to negative growth in utility scale solar over the last year, rooftop solar’s share of the total solar market has shot up to a very respectable 28% (11% in the previous year). Rooftop solar...
India’s uniquely complex bidding quagmire
16 July 2019 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Gujarat has asked winning bidders in its May 2019 wind auction for 1,000 MW projects to match the lowest tariff of INR 2.80/ kWh bid by Enerfra, a local developer. Seven other winners including Adani, ReNew, Greenko, EdF, Vena, INOX and Powerica, who had bid...
RE power trading a sensible move
12 July 2019 | Surbhi Singhvi
The Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) has repeatedly proposed to the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) to allow spot trading of renewable energy through a separate window on its platform. While CERC had disapproved the proposal for Green Day Ahead Market in 2017 citing lack of readiness of the renewable energy market…
2019-20 budget a non-event
10 July 2019 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented maiden budget of the NDA government’s second term on 5 July 2019 with a renewed focus on infrastructure. Though energy including renewables received a lot of coverage in the budget, there was no notable increase in funding allocation, subsidies or incentives. Total budgetary allocation to MNRE for 2019-20 is INR 52.5 billion (USD 675...
Andhra Pradesh renegotiation attempt a mere bluster
10 July 2019 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
The new Andhra Pradesh government led by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy of the YSR Congress Party has made a sensational announcement seeking to renegotiate all renewable energy PPAs, review ‘must run’ status for the sector and cancel all...
Joint power council a permanent way out of the DISCOM bailout cycle
18 June 2019 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
All eyes are on the new government as there is talk building up of an ambitious 100-day reform agenda. Expectations are rising now that the government has won a decisive mandate and there is pressure to deal with a multitude of macroeconomic troubles. It is reassuring to note that resolving DISCOM offtake risk seems high on the agenda of the new government. News sources quoting senior government...
