Blogs
Open access market in Telangana slows down
15 June 2018 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Telangana is the third largest open access (OA) state in the country with an installed capacity 322 MW. The state has an attractive OA policy and added 145 MW capacity in 2015. But since then, activity has slowed down significantly. Last two years saw new capacity addition of only 22 MW and 64 MW respectively. Figure: OA solar capacity addition in Telangana, MW Source: BRIDGE TO...
China scale back a huge positive for India
11 June 2018 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Chinese authorities have announced a major pull back in the country’s solar programme. Their new plan, titled 2018 Solar PV Power Generation Notice, proposes many radical and largely unexpected changes – utility scale target of 13.9...
Another fanciful idea for domestic manufacturing
04 June 2018 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
SECI has issued a new request for selection (RFS) for creating integrated module manufacturing capacity of 5 GW. Interested parties can bid for setting up manufacturing capacity in blocks of 1 GW each. The only financial incentive available to them – assured...
Karnataka order shows the perils of open access market in India
28 May 2018 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Earlier this month, Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC), the state power regulator, issued an order notifying various open access charges for renewable projects. The regulator has withdrawn all open access incentives for solar...
Bidding stays aggressive in solar auctions
24 May 2018 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
NTPC, SECI and Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) completed auctions for their 750 MW, 200 MW and 1,000 MW tenders respectively in last two weeks. The NTPC and SECI projects would be located in Anantapur solar park, Andhra Pradesh and Pavagada solar park, Karnataka respectively. There is no solar park availability for the MSEDCL tender. Capacity has been won...
Wind-solar hybrid policy has little substance
21 May 2018 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Wind-solar hybrid policy has little substance MNRE released the final version of National Wind-Solar Hybrid Policy last week. The...
ReNew breaks away from the competition
14 May 2018 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
India’s largest RE developer, ReNew Power, recently completed acquisition of Ostro Energy, a wind and solar project developer with a total portfolio of 1,108 MW. The acquisition, the largest in the sector so...
ISTS tenders face long delays
07 May 2018 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), India’s chief power sector regulator, recently issued a draft procedure for applying for connectivity to the inter-state transmission system (ISTS). The draft procedure comes in the wake of last year’s
India launches its first offshore wind project
30 April 2018 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), an autonomous technical institution set up by MNRE, has invited Expressions of Interest (EOI) for India’s first offshore wind project. The 1,000 MW project is proposed to be located...
Gujarat tender cancellation is ill advised
23 April 2018 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Gujarat government has cancelled the 500-MW state tender, for which an auction was held just four weeks ago. Capacity was won in this tender by Kalthia Engineering (50 MW), Gujarat State Electricity Corporation (150 MW), Acme (100 MW) and Azure Power (200 MW). Reason for cancellation has been cited as winning tariffs, between INR 2.98 – 3.06/kWh, being “on the higher side”. In the same...
DC overloading gains increasing acceptance in India
19 April 2018 | Mudit Jain
A solar power plant rarely produces nameplate capacity power as solar modules operate at their maximum efficiency only during limited peak hours. It has therefore become routine industry practice to over-size DC module capacity, a concept commonly known as DC overloading. It allows solar plants to increase generation during non-peak hours and optimizes overall performance. In 2017, 45% of the...
SECI draws strong response to its 2000 MW wind auction
19 April 2018 | Shipra Arora
SECI conducted another e-auction for 2,000 MW of wind power projects on 6 April 2018. Winning bids were INR 2.51 – 2.52/kWh, just marginally higher than the tariffs discovered in the previous 2,000 MW SECI auction (2.44 – 2.45) held in February 2018. Winning bidders include an even spread of international and Indian names. International winners include Continuum (250 MW), Sprng (300 MW), BLP...
