Blogs
5 charts to capture 2017
31 January 2018 | Arti Mishra Saran
2017 was an extraordinary year in many ways for the Indian RE sector. The year will be known for record capacity addition, drastic fall in tariffs and start of the new trade investigations by Indian government into imports of cells and modules. We look at 5 charts summarizing key trends for the sector in 2017. Sector added record new capacity 2017 RE capacity addition is estimated to touch...
Indian RE players searching for new growth opportunities
29 January 2018 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
A mix of policy uncertainty and slowing pipeline is forcing Indian project developers, suppliers and contractors to look for opportunities anew – inorganic expansion, looking at other business segments, new markets outside India or even diversification into other parts of the energy sector. Private sector players have scaled up hugely in anticipation of rapid year-on-year growth but if the...
2018, the morning after the night before
22 January 2018 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
In our last few bulletins, we have written extensively upon the recent challenges faced by the RE sector. Here, we take a look at what to expect in 2018. The year has obviously started on a shaky note with the
Safeguard duty recommendation has solar sector on tenterhooks
15 January 2018 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Last week, we wrote a special bulletin about safeguard duty and its implications for various ongoing and under tender projects. The Director General of Safeguards’ recommendation for provisional duty of 70% has put the industry on tenterhooks. Investors, developers, contractors and...
Safeguard duty – Indian government scores an own goal
12 January 2018 | Vinay Rustagi
India’s Director General of Safeguards (DGS) has proposed a provisional duty of 70% for a period of 200 days on solar cells and modules. It has issued its recommendations in a preliminary report, completed within just a month of submission of the...
MNRE in a hyperactive mode; Indian manufacturers want safeguard duty
08 January 2018 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Last few weeks have seen feverish activity in the RE sector with several bold announcements from the new MNRE leadership, keen to
Bidding frenzy continues in the renewable sector
29 December 2017 | Mudit Jain
Three major auctions were completed last week – two for solar projects by SECI (Bhadla solar park 500 MW and 250 MW respectively) and one for wind projects by Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam (GUVNL, fully owned by Gujarat government) (500 MW). The solar projects were won by Hero Future (300 MW), Softbank (200 MW), Azure (200 MW) and ReNew (50 MW) at tariffs between INR 2.47-2.49/ kWh (USD 0.04), a...
2017, a year of some ‘highs’ but many ‘lows’
18 December 2017 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
As the year 2017 comes to an end, we take stock of the progress made by the Indian renewable energy sector. It was an eventful year, during which annual capacity addition is estimated to touch record levels of 10.9 GW (+66% over 2016) including utility scale solar (9 GW, +110%), rooftop solar (887 MW, +60%) and wind (4 GW, +11%). Utility scale solar capacity addition actually exceeded our...
ISA makes slow progress
15 December 2017 | Surbhi Singhvi
International Solar Alliance (ISA), launched by India and France at COP 21 summit in November 2015, finally became a recognized organization under United Nations charter on December 6, 2017. It has initiated three programs so far – scaling solar applications such as solar water pumps and lighting systems for agricultural use, ensuring sufficient flow of affordable finance and promoting...
Uttar Pradesh announces a generic solar policy
11 December 2017 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
The UP state government has approved a new solar policy with a target of developing 10,700 MW of total solar capacity in the state by the year 2022. 60% of this target (6,400 MW) is proposed to be developed through utility scale projects and...
Rooftop solar losing steam
04 December 2017 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
BRIDGE TO INDIA has released the latest edition of its India Solar Rooftop Map report. As per the report, India added new rooftop solar capacity of 840 MW in the 12 months ending September 2017. Total installed capacity as of September 2017 stood at 1,861 MW. The sector has grown at a CAGR of 83%...
Public sector investment crowding out private investors
28 November 2017 | Surbhi Singhvi
Since 2014, around 29 GW of utility scale solar tenders have been issued in India. Most of this capacity (81%, 23.5 GW) has been tendered by NTPC, Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI), distribution companies (DISCOMs) and other public sector entities for project development by private sector. But there is also a sizeable 19% (5.5 GW) tendered in the form of EPC contracts, where...
