Blogs
A renewable energy agenda for the next Prime Minister: Part 1
14 May 2014 | Akhilesh Magal
In this two-part blog piece, I propose a renewable energy agenda for the next Prime Minister of India. In the first part, the influence of the current energy consumption patterns on the economy of India is discussed. In the second part, the recommendations and potential solutions are outlined. India’s GDP growth is being restrained by an acute shortage of energy Our energy supply is...
Weekly Update: Anti-dumping duties can kill the Indian solar market
13 May 2014 | Jasmeet Khurana
Sometime before 21st May 2014, the Directorate General of Anti-dumping Duties (DGAD) under the Ministry of Commerce is expected to give its recommendations on the PV cells and module dumping investigations that started on 21st May 2012, based on a complaint by four Indian cell manufacturers. There have been contradictory reports as to which way the results of the investigation may lean...
Training program on ‘Standalone Solar Power Supply Systems’ by GSES
07 May 2014 | Vinay Rustagi
I attended the GSES training programme on Standalone power supply systems in Delhi last week. The five-day training program was focused on technical and operational aspects of off-grid solar PV projects with a guided site visit to a standalone solar plant to give participants an informative tour of a typical PV with batteries installation. Participants included system integrators, MNRE...
Weekly Update: Delays designed to kill solar anti-dumping investigations
06 May 2014 | Jasmeet Khurana
Recent reports (refer) suggest that in view of the large number of solar PV projects under development in India, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has asked the Ministry of Commerce to...
Why opening up ‘Open Access’ is crucial to the success of India’s solar story
01 May 2014 | Akhilesh Magal
Gujarat recently announced a ban on private power consumers sourcing electricity from outside the state (refer). This is detrimental to India’s power sector reforms and hinders with the deployment of...
A renewed thrust for solar? – What to expect from a Congress-led government
29 April 2014 | Karan Raj Chaudri
The election season in India is drawing to a conclusion. Most observers agree that while the overall performance of the UPA-II government has been checkered at best, one area where it has had some degree of success, is solar. The party manifesto takes credit for launching the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (‘NSM’) and aims to lead a renewed push for renewables. Although unlikely as...
Weekly Update: India to invite bids for another 1,500 MW of solar PV under the NSM this year
29 April 2014 | Jasmeet Khurana
BRIDGE TO INDIA understands that Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) plans to allocate 1,500 MW of solar PV projects under the National Solar Mission (NSM) towards the end of this year. These new projects are likely to follow the bundling mechanism, similar to phase one of the NSM and unlike the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) mechanism used for the recent 750 MW of NSM projects, where Power...
Why is India’s renewables sector underachieving?
24 April 2014 | Tobias Engelmeier
India is an ideal market for renewable energy. The country is immensely energy hungry but has a supply shortage: It has coal, but of low quality. There is hardly any gas or oil. Importing fossil fuels is difficult and increasingly expensive. At the same time, it has a vast potential for generating power from the sun, from wind, from small hydropower and from biomass. And yet, according to a new...
Why utilities need to wake up to the distributed solar boom
23 April 2014 | Akhilesh Magal
Utilities across the world have so far overlooked or ignored the wave of distributed generation, based on cheap solar power. This, however, represents nothing short of a revolution: it transfers power (actual and economic) from suppliers to consumers. Utilities are at a crossroads. They can focus on protecting their existing business or on mastering the new opportunities as they arise. They are...
Weekly Update: Is this the time for Indian manufacturing sector to start attracting investments?
22 April 2014 | Jasmeet Khurana
In a recent meeting of members of National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI), Solar Alliance of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Saudi Arabia Solar Association, it was announced that as many as a dozen manufacturers from Gulf countries have shown interest in setting up manufacturing joint ventures with Indian companies (
Weekly Update: Decoding the solar track record of India’s political parties
15 April 2014 | Jasmeet Khurana
The first solar policy in India was released by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state of Gujarat in 2009. This was soon followed by a much more comprehensive National Solar Mission at the central government level by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) headed by the Indian National Congress (INC). Both these policies have laid the foundation for the creation of a solar power...
Weekly Update: Impact of a new government on the solar industry in India: our take
07 April 2014 | Jasmeet Khurana
India has begun voting for a new government today. This largest ever democratic exercise will involve up to 815m citizens. Energy and renewables have not featured prominently in the campaigns to date. Most political analysts believe that, come May, India’s primary opposition, the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), might come into power. As a thought experiment, we assess the likely effect...
