Blogs
Success of the DISCOM package crucial to the future of solar power
09 November 2015 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Last week, the government unveiled its Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY), a scheme intended to find a permanent solution to the financial mess facing the power distribution companies (DISCOMs) in the country. The key planks of the scheme are getting state governments to assume 75% of total debt obligations of their respective DISCOMs and getting banks to reduce interest rates on the remaining...
500 MW of NSM bids in Andhra Pradesh to close below INR 5.37/kWh
02 November 2015 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
First round bid results have been released today for the 500 MW National Solar Mission (NSM) tender in Andhra Pradesh. Bids were submitted for over 5.5 GW by 30 developers with tariffs ranging between INR 5.21/kWh and INR 6.45/kWh. 28 developers have been selected to move to the second round of electronic bidding and the highest qualifying bid to move into the second round stands at INR...
India trying to position itself as a leader in solar power
26 October 2015 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Ahead of the COP-21 meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) in Paris, India is expected to float a grouping of countries called the International Agency for Solar Policy and Application (InSPA), possibly at the ongoing India-Africa Forum Summit (
Telangana strengthens position as a solar leader in India
19 October 2015 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Last week, the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) issued two tenders totaling 400 MW (40 projects of 10 MW each) in Telangana under batch two, phase two of National Solar Mission (NSM). 50 MW of this is earmarked for projects using domestically manufactured modules under Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) guidelines. This tender comes on the back of 2,500...
A Low Carbon World – Are We Finally Getting It?
15 October 2015 | Tobias Engelmeier
As we move closer towards the Paris climate talks, something interesting is happening. Ever more stakeholders seem to be ready to be part of the solution. Negotiations that were earlier bogged-down in zero-sum confrontations suddenly have a new fluidity and a ring of can-do optimism about them. Why? …Actually, the new question seems to be: “Why not?” Creating a low carbon world is seen...
Waiver of interstate transmission charges will boost solar, but only in the short term
12 October 2015 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Mr. Piyush Goyal, Minister for New and Renewable Energy, announced last week that the government plans to waive interstate transmission charges for electricity generated by renewable sources (refer). This waiver...
The Open Access Solar Market in India: Evolution and Challenges
08 October 2015 | Jyoti Gulia
While the large solar policy allocations take all the limelight, there are very interesting niche markets developing in India. These markets are typically driven by favourable end-user economics and require less government support. Depending on the quality of the local grid, on the policy support and availability of on-site space, end consumer could go for open access or rooftop solar solution....
13 GW of solar power projects in the pipeline in India – Southern states leading
07 October 2015 | Jyoti Gulia
India has made tremendous strides in the development of its solar sector in last 18 months. As of today, the country has a solar project pipeline of 13 GW. These are projects, for which either PPAs have already been signed or tenders are issued. Most of these projects should be commissioned by the end of 2016 or early 2017. Southern states are most ambitious and drive solar under their own...
Solar tenders like Indian rail — you can almost bet on delays
05 October 2015 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
The recent National Solar Mission (NSM) tenders have been delayed multiple times before and are again delayed now. This pattern of delays is not new. Only one of the 30 odd bids in India has gone through without significant extensions or delays Main culprits are process delays by implementation agencies and requests for time extension from developers – these delays affect sector...
Is India aiming for 250 GW of solar by 2030?
28 September 2015 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
The process to substantially alter India’s future energy mix seems to have begun. This is very good news for renewables. Prime Minister Narendra Modi re-iterated India’s current target of installing 175 GW of renewables by 2022 at the United Nations General Assembly last week. This would then be equivalent to almost 20% of India’s power generation. Over and above this, and in the context...
High cost of solar parks diluting policy objectives
21 September 2015 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
On paper, the solar parks policy is excellent. It tackles the two major issues of land acquisition and evacuation, reducing developer risk. In theory, this should bring down the cost of solar power. However, after seeing the costs released for the recently announced solar parks in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Karnataka, most developers are of the opinion that they could have quoted...
First NSM bid under the new government oversubscribed by over 10x
14 September 2015 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Bids were submitted last week for 10×50 MW of solar PV projects under the new phase of National Solar Mission (NSM) in Andhra Pradesh. This is the first round of NSM bids since the new government took office in May 2014. This is also the first time that bids have been called for projects to be set up in solar parks being developed under the new Solar Parks Policy. A total of 30 developers...
