Blogs
Global Energy Trends and Implications for India [Part 2 of 5] : Uncertain Power and Carbon Markets Change Investment Choices
16 April 2015 | Tobias Engelmeier
The global energy system is in a period of rapid transformation: electricity plays an ever more important role, as do renewables, distributed generation and electric vehicles. Energy efficiency is improving. Emissions are a large and growing concern. New technologies and business models are disrupting and challenging a traditionally risk-averse and slow-moving industry. The International Energy...
Of bonds, green and not so green
14 April 2015 | Vinay Rustagi
A green bond is a green bond is a green bond – is that true? Unfortunately, “green bond” is not a standard, well defined term. Green bonds come in all shades of green, from the lightest tea green to the darkest ocean green, if you like. A good way to evaluate the “greenness”...
MNRE seeking a rooftop solar target of 10 GW by 2018
13 April 2015 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
BRIDGE TO INDIA understands that based on the rooftop solar target of 40 GW of by 2022, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is in advanced stages of working on a central government supported sub-target of 10 GW for rooftop and other small grid-connected solar projects by 2018. This is expected to further be divided into yearly targets of 2 GW, 4 GW and 4...
Global Energy Trends and Implications for India [Part 1 of 5]: Need to Consume Less Oil
09 April 2015 | Tobias Engelmeier
The global energy system is in a period of rapid transformation: electricity plays an ever more important role, as do renewables, distributed generation and electric vehicles. Energy efficiency is improving. Emissions are a large and growing concern. New technologies and business models are disrupting and challenging a traditionally risk-averse and slow-moving industry. The International Energy...
Telangana announces 2 GW of solar
07 April 2015 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
On 1st April 2015, the Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Limited issued a request for selection (RfS) and a power purchase agreement (PPA) for allocating 2 GW of solar PV (refer). This follows the state’s successful allocation of 500 MW late last year and places...
India exploring solar bids in dollar terms to bring down tariffs
31 March 2015 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Based on a recent report (refer), the government seems to be considering to cut solar tariffs in India by offering power purchase agreements through bids in dollar terms. The idea is that the...
500 GW for solar globally in 5 years, 30 GW in India
26 March 2015 | Tobias Engelmeier
According to the researchers at IHS, global solar might hit 500 GW in total installed capacity by 2019. This year, 2015, global solar demand is projected to increase to 75 GW alone, a 66% growth rate against 2014. In 2014, the largest markets were China and Japan. The researchers think that they will also remain the largest markets in the next 5 years. India, in their view, will be only the 6th...
Could India’s coal plans derail the global climate?
24 March 2015 | Tobias Engelmeier
If India were to grow its electricity system based on coal (as China has done), would it derail the global climate? According to our calculations, under a “coal-heavy” scenario, India would need to increase is coal-fired power generation capacity from the 156 GW in early 2015 to 677 GW in 2035. What would be the CO2 implications of such a strategy? Globally, we have used up 58% of the...
MNRE and industry discuss scaling up of rooftop solar market to 40 GW by 2022
24 March 2015 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
On Thursday last week (19th March 2015), the Ministry for New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) called for a meeting to discuss how to best scale up rooftop installations in India to 40 GW (cumulative) by 2022 (refer). It was chaired by Upendra Tripathi, Secretary...
How much power will India need in 2035?
20 March 2015 | Tobias Engelmeier
What is the projected growth of India’s electricity requirements in the next 20 years, i.e. until 2035? In 2012, the country generated 1,050 TWh of grid power. The government now wants to set in motion a process of accelerated industrialization to provide much-needed jobs, sustain growth and drive development. This will raise energy demand. To date, there are few reliable projections on future...
The Future of Solar in India: Three Perspectives
17 March 2015 | Tobias Engelmeier
There has been much talk and an equal amount of confusion about the future of India’s solar market. It is not easy to predict the growth rates or future market character, because the market is neither fully in nor fully outside of the government’s hands. It comes down to what one believes in. I am here proposing three perspectives to take into consideration: The “Vision”, the...
The Real Prize
16 March 2015 | BRIDGE TO INDIA
Over the past weeks, we have provided plenty of analyses of the different solar policies in India in this newsletter. Overall, we are not terribly impressed with them. This is partially because of the weight of expectations the government has put upon itself with its 100 GW target. In fact, growth in the sector is picking up significantly. It is just that this growth is not driven by sustainable...
