Blogs
DGTR announces final safeguard duty recommendation
18 July 2018 | Vinay Rustagi
The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has issued its final decision on the safeguard duty petition by domestic cell and module manufacturers. It has recommended a safeguard duty on imports of all cells and modules, irrespective of technology, for a period of two years – 25% in the first year falling to 20% and 15% in the subsequent six month...
Recent solar auctions indicate a sector disconnect
16 July 2018 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
SECI completed auction for its 3,000 MW solar tender last week. Capacity was won by 6 developers – Acme (600 MW, tariff INR 2.44/ kWh), Azure (300 MW, 2.64), Canadian Solar (200, 2.70), Adani (300, 2.71), ReNew (500, 2.71) and Softbank (1,100 MW, 2.71). The auction follows another similar 2,000 MW solar auction conducted by SECI just two weeks ago where Acme (600 MW) and five other Indian...
Madhya Pradesh issues an innovative rooftop solar tender
12 July 2018 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (MPUVNL), in partnership with the World Bank, has issued a 28 MW rooftop solar tender under the OPEX model. The tender has been re-issued but the capacity has been revised down from 40...
Indian solar market records new heights in 2017-18
10 July 2018 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
India’s total installed utility scale solar capacity grew by over 70% in 2017-18 to reach 21.3 GW. Total solar capacity including rooftop solar and off-grid systems reached 24.5 GW as of March 31, 2018. Total utility scale solar capacity in 2017-18 was 9.1 GW, up 72% over last year and more than all other sources combined (4.6 GW of thermal and 1.7 GW of wind power); Karnataka added 4.1...
Growing renewable energy faces new pressures
02 July 2018 | Vinay Rustagi
India has made tremendous progress in renewable energy in the last four years. Solar sector, in particular, has grown rapidly with India becoming the third largest international solar market after China and the USA. Both by total installed capacity and annual capacity addition, India is now amongst the top five renewable countries in the world. The industry is understandably upbeat about the...
Installation activity to slowdown in 2018
28 June 2018 | Surbhi Singhvi
Q1 2018 saw commissioning of a record 3,766 MW (+100% over Q4 2017) of utility scale solar projects. Cumulative utility scale solar capacity has crossed the 20,000 MW mark and now stands at 21,331 MW. Figure: Quarterly utility scale solar capacity addition, MW Source: BRIDGE TO INDIA research The record capacity addition came despite significant delays faced in many projects under...
MNRE’s new 227 GW plan lacks credibility
25 June 2018 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
There have been some bold announcements coming out of MNRE in the last few weeks. It has claimed that India aims to achieve total RE capacity (excluding large hydro) of 227 GW by March 2022....
Public sector fails to meet rooftop solar promise
18 June 2018 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Deadline for project completion under SECI’s 1,000 MW rooftop solar tender for installation on public sector sites is coming up at the end of June 2018. The tender was issued back in December 2016. Because of various...
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...
