Blogs
MNRE announces a dizzying plan for the sector
27 November 2017 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has announced a new RE rollout plan entailing 91 GW of new solar and wind project tenders by March 2020. It is an ambitious attempt by the new MNRE administration to address private sector concerns about slowing project pipeline and lack of a...
Trade barriers alone unlikely to pole vault domestic manufacturing
23 November 2017 | Jyoti Gulia
The Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duty (DGAD) is currently completing an investigation into imports of solar cells and modules from China, Taiwan and Malaysia subsequent to a petition filed by The Indian Solar Manufacturer’s Association (ISMA). The petition is similar to an
Should India reduce the 175 GW target to make it more realistic?
20 November 2017 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Recently, there was a news report that the Indian government wants to issue a single 20 GW solar tender to boost solar project development and domestic manufacturing. R.K. Singh, the new Minister for Power and New and...
Renewable M&A still stuck in second gear
13 November 2017 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
M&A activity in the Indian renewable sector has been building up for some time but actual deals have been slow to materialize. Last month, Equis announced the sale of its 4.7 GW Asia pacific renewable IPP business to a consortium comprising Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), China Investment Corporation and Public Sector Pension Investment Board of Canada. The Equis portfolio...
Adoption of new bidding guidelines slowing down tenders
08 November 2017 | Shaurya Bajaj
There has been a significant lull in announcement of utility scale solar tenders from the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). It has announced only one tender – Bhadla 750 MW – this year in comparison to around 5 GW of new tenders in 2016. There have been expectations of new tenders totalling in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar but none of these have...
Bad habits haunt the RE sector
06 November 2017 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
For more than 2 years, there have been persistent concerns that aggressive bidding in solar auctions is storing up trouble for the sector. Fortunately for the sector and the winning bidders, equipment costs kept falling more sharply than market expectations – 20% and 25% in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Developers have ridden the wave of falling costs and project delays to make handsome...
SAUBHAGYA scheme, old wine in new bottle
30 October 2017 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
The Government of India has launched SAUBHAGYA scheme for providing universal electricity access to all households in India by March 2019. The government estimates that there are 46 million unelectrified households in India at present and this scheme will primarily...
Changing demand-supply landscape in the Indian solar market
23 October 2017 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
The Indian solar market is being tested to its limits. GST has increased execution costs. Module prices have shot up when bidders were factoring in another 20% price decline by the end of this year. Chinese module suppliers are even
First utility scale storage project in India takes off
16 October 2017 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
NLC India Limited, a government of India owned coal mining company, recently completed auction for a 20 MW solar project integrated with 28 MWh storage capacity in Andaman & Nicobar Islands. This is the first utility scale storage tender in India to announce results. The tender includes provision of complete EPC and O&M services for twenty-five years. Mahindra Susten won the auction with...
Wind joins pricing race with solar
09 October 2017 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) completed a 1,000 MW wind project auction last week. Tariffs fell to a new low of INR 2.64 (US¢ 4)/ kWh. Winning bidders include ReNew (INR 2.64, 250 MW), Orange Power (INR 2.64, 200 MW), INOX Wind (INR 2.65, 250 MW), Sembcorp Green Infra (INR 2.65, 250 MW) and Adani (INR 2.65, 50 MW).
This auction comes 7 months after the
Renewable developers line up for public offerings
03 October 2017 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Acme Solar and Sembcorp have announced plans to access capital markets for raising equity capital. Acme has filed preliminary papers for an INR 22 bn (USD 336 mn) initial public offering (IPO) with Securities...
US trade case resonates in India
25 September 2017 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
The US International Trade Commission (USITC) has unanimously agreed that solar imports have caused “serious injury” to local manufacturers. Suniva and SolarWorld are calling for duties of US¢ 40/ Wp on imported cells and a floor price of US¢ 78/ Wp on modules. But USITC may consider all possible remedies including new tariffs, minimum prices or import quotas. Solar industry in the...
