Blogs
Jharkhand shows the perils of participating in state government tenders
30 January 2017 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
In the second half of 2015, Jharkhand Renewable Energy Department (JREDA) had announced India’s then largest tender for allocation of 1,200 MW of ground mounted, grid connected solar projects. The tender size was so large as to meet over 90% of the state’s peak power consumption and over 20% of its overall power requirement. Despite this and the state being power surplus, the tender was...
International developers in a wait and watch mode
25 January 2017 | Vinay Rustagi
India is expected to add new solar capacity of over 9 GW this year as against less than 1 GW just three years ago. The country should join the exclusive top three solar countries club alongside China and USA. There are an estimated 15 GW of projects already allocated and in different stages of development. Growing market has led to a burgeoning investment interest from Indian and...
India’s first wind tender oversubscribed despite offtake uncertainties
23 January 2017 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Earlier this month, Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) received bids for India’s first wind power tender (
750 MW Rewa solar project to break new ground
18 January 2017 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Bids for the proposed and much delayed 750 MW solar power tender in the Rewa district of Madhya Pradesh are expected to be submitted early next week (refer our previous blog) although another extension still seems likely. The project is being tendered by Rewa Ultra Mega Solar (RUMS), a...
MNRE announces financial incentives for DISCOMs to support rooftop solar
09 January 2017 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
In a new policy move, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has announced financial incentives for DISCOMs to support rooftop solar installations (refer). The notification proposes a financial support of up to INR 3.75m (USD 55,000)/MW for up to 1,350 MW of rooftop solar...
India’s solar market expected to grow by 90% in 2017
02 January 2017 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
In our last bulletin in 2016, we presented our summary of key sector developments in India in 2016 (refer). Here, we look at key anticipated themes and developments for 2017. We start the year with a pipeline of around 14 GW of utility scale projects, out of which 7.7 GW is expected to be...
2016 was a great year for the Indian solar industry but the best is yet to come
19 December 2016 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
As 2016 comes to an end, it is worth taking a holistic look at the Indian solar sector to analyse key trends, challenges and outlook. Key highlights include record project volumes – both for capacity addition and issue of new tenders, improving power distribution company (DISCOM) financial position as a result of UDAY scheme, steep fall in equipment prices, improving M&A activity and...
India’s largest rooftop solar tender to see record low tariffs
12 December 2016 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has issued a tender for development of 1,000 MW rooftop solar capacity on pre-identified central government/ department owned buildings (refer). It is the largest such...
India’s solar water pump market struggling to take off
05 December 2016 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
In 2014, India’s Modi government announced a target to install 1 million solar water pumps, equivalent to approximately 3,000 MW, for irrigation and drinking water by 2021 (refer). But...
Government to become a key demand driver for rooftop solar market in India
30 November 2016 | Jyoti Gulia
Rooftop solar market in India has grown at a CAGR of 98% in the last four years. As of September 30, 2016, total installed capacity stands at 1,020 MW (refer INDIA SOLAR ROOFTOP MAP 2016). Growth in this market is being primarily driven by improvement in price competitiveness of rooftop solar power vis-à-vis grid...
Solar developers stay away from Tamil Nadu tender
28 November 2016 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Last month, Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (TANGEDCO) floated a tender for 500 MW of utility scale solar projects. This tender has received limited interest and that too predominantly from smaller developers who have submitted 20 bids totalling just 116 MW. This tender follows an allocation of approx. 1,200 MW in early 2015 where a fixed tariff of INR 7.01/kWh (USD...
Net-metering battles in the US hold crucial lessons for India
21 November 2016 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Rapid growth in the US rooftop solar market and the number of net-metering connections has opened a battle-front between utilities on one hand and solar developers and consumers on the other hand. Utilities are arguing against the rationale of giving customers full retail credit for their excess energy and vigorously challenging the current net-metering framework in many states including
