Blogs
Andhra Pradesh pulls back on open access solar
25 March 2019 | Arti Mishra Saran
In January 2019, Government of Andhra Pradesh issued a new solar policy superseding the solar policy issued in 2015. The state aims to add 5,000 MW of solar power capacity in next five years. Solar park capacity addition target for next five years is increased to 4,000 MW from 2,500 MW....
Policy reversals threaten private sale of renewable energy
19 March 2019 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
DISCOMs across India are increasingly railing against private procurement of renewable energy. Following Uttar Pradesh’s recent decision to cancel net metering for C&I consumers, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana have withdrawn most incentives provided to open access solar power. And Maharashtra State Electricity...
2018 ends on a low note
12 March 2019 | Arti Mishra Saran
BRIDGE TO INDIA has released its quarterly market report – India Solar Compass Q4 2018. The report contains detailed analysis of solar capacity addition, tender issuance, leading market players, prices and other market trends for the last quarter as well as our estimates...
Indian RE increasingly dependent on foreign capital
11 March 2019 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
A quick look at the profile of winning bidders in utility scale wind and solar auctions over last three years throws some pointed results. The role of international investors – utilities, developers and financial investors (pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, PE funds) – is becoming more critical. Their combined share has gone up steadily from 32% in 2016 to 65% in YTD 2019. Indian...
A draconian approach to solve quality problems?
04 March 2019 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
MNRE recently issued a notification to create an “Approved...
Storage tenders pick up in India
28 February 2019 | Jyoti Gulia
After years of anticipation, grid scale storage tenders have finally started picking pace in India. Seven tenders with a total storage capacity of 84 MWh (with 78 MW of solar PV capacity) have been issued in the last one year. These tenders have been issued by SECI, NTPC and NLC predominantly in remote areas of Jammu & Kashmir, Lakshadweep, Himachal Pradesh and Andaman & Nicobar Islands....
Cabinet approval for rooftop and rural solar schemes means little
24 February 2019 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Last week, India’s Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs finally issued its approval for two signature policy schemes announced by the government more than a year ago. The two schemes – SRISTI, covering rooftop solar and KUSUM, covering
Uttar Pradesh deals a blow to rooftop solar
22 February 2019 | Arti Mishra Saran
In January 2019, Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) issued new Rooftop Solar PV Grid Interactive Systems Gross / Net Metering (RSVP) Regulations, 2019. These regulations supersede
Renewable Energy Certificate market has lost its relevance
18 February 2019 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Something unique happened in the Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) market last month. Prices of solar RECs moved above the specified floor (INR 1,000/ MWh) for the first time ever and touched INR 1,750/ MWh. Non-solar RECs also traded above the floor level at INR 1,500/ MWh. The price jump came even as trading volumes continued to stay low. The reason for price rise is that the REC...
DISCOM payment delays sapping industry confidence
11 February 2019 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
A DISCOM payment crisis has been building up again in India. The Ministry of Power payments portal shows that outstanding dues increased to INR 410 billion (USD 5.9 billion) by November 2018 (March 2018: INR 250 billion). These numbers are based on limited available data, actual amounts are likely to be much larger. Worst...
MNRE refuses to give up on manufacturing
04 February 2019 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
After failure of its flagship 10 GW integrated manufacturing tender, SECI has issued another integrated tender combining project development (3 GW) and module...
OPEX market continues to gain share but for how long?
31 January 2019 | Jyoti Gulia
Rooftop solar market in India has seen share of OPEX model increase from barely 2% in 2012 to an estimated 35% as of September 2018. The model is growing rapidly as it is very attractive particularly for the C&I consumers – they make assured cost savings over grid power without any upfront...
