Blogs
Weekly Update: Uttar Pradesh announces bids for 200 MW of solar capacity
25 March 2013 | Jasmeet Khurana
Uttar Pradesh has announced a bidding process for a 200 MW capacity (refer to the Request for Proposal (RfP), PPA and Escrow agreement documents). The state has also finalized its draft solar policy. It is now called ‘Uttar Pradesh Solar Policy 2013′ (refer to the
Can solar reduce smog in Delhi?
20 March 2013 | Tobias Engelmeier
Rooftop PV could reduce the capital’s power costs and improve its supply security. These are benefits typically associated with solar. However, the real benefit might lie in reducing Delhi’s chronically high levels of smog. We are only just beginning to understand the economic (let alone social and political) cost of excessive pollution. A look at China helps. Smog in Delhi has reached...
Weekly Update: Punjab announces a bidding process for 300 MW of solar projects
19 March 2013 | Jasmeet Khurana
The Indian state of Punjab has released a request for proposal (RfP) document for allocation of 300 MW of solar PV in the first phase of its state solar policy (refer to the RfP document). Punjab had earlier set a target of 1 GW of new solar capacity by 2022 in its ‘New and Renewable Sources of Energy Policy – 2012′...
Big vs. Small – What is the future for PV in India?
14 March 2013 | Tobias Engelmeier
As the Indian solar market is moving from subsidy-driven PV projects with public PPAs to commercially-driven private PPAs, two trends are emerging to service India’s power customers: large PV plants (e.g. 100 MW), located in high irradiation areas selling power through the grid directly to end-users and local, captive PV plants (e.g. 100 kW). Both might have a role to play in India. Which...
Whatever is happening to CSP in India?
12 March 2013 | Tobias Engelmeier
CSP in India has had a bad run over the last two years. The enthusiastic initial party mood was quickly followed by a collective implementation headache with a number of challenges threatening the viability of projects. Now, further allocations have been postponed. At the same time, the focus shifts from large power plants to hybrid models. India is increasingly able to produce large parts of...
Weekly Update: Karnataka launches bids for 130 MW of solar projects
11 March 2013 | Jasmeet Khurana
Karnataka has announced a second round of allocations under its state solar policy. In the last round that took place one year ago, 80 MW was allocated (refer). Allocations of 130 MW of PV as well as CSP projects are targeted The policy aims to meet the RPOs of distribution companies, and makes no attempt...
Access to the right financing options will be the key differentiator in the Indian market
04 March 2013 | Tobias Engelmeier
BRIDGE TO INDIA has come out with its latest report, ‘Bankability and Debt Financing for Solar Projects in India‘. The report looks at debt financing for solar projects in India from two perspectives: the lender’s point of view and the borrower’s point of view. The lender’s point of view...
Weekly Update: Kerala announces draft solar policy to focus on decentralized solar
04 March 2013 | Jasmeet Khurana
The south Indian state of Kerala has published a draft solar policy (refer). This makes it the ninth Indian state to release a solar specific policy document. The Kerala solar policy has set a target of 500 MW by 2017 and 1,500 MW by 2030 Unlike the NSM, the...
Weekly Update: Expectations of the Indian solar industry from union budget 2013
26 February 2013 | Jasmeet Khurana
The finance minister of India will be presenting the union budget in front of the parliament on 28th February 2013. The budget is will highlight the public fund allocations for the next financial year (April 2013-March 2014). Multiple commerce and industry associations have provided suggestions to boost the solar sector in India. FICCI has released suggestions for methods to reduce the high...
Stabilization of module prices in 2013 will be good for the Indian market
14 February 2013 | Jasmeet Khurana
Globally, most experts have predicted that module prices will continue to fall in the first half of 2013 as a significant overcapacity still exists. Prices from the last two months, however, suggest a contrary trend: a firming up of prices. On the global front, a price index (PV-Insights) has posted marginal week on week...
Weekly Update: U.S. takes India to WTO against Domestic Content Requirement
12 February 2013 | Jasmeet Khurana
The US on Wednesday filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) under India’s National Solar Mission (NSM), which it said discriminates against foreign solar products, including the ones made in the US (
Weekly Update: Kerala moves forward with distributed solar power generation
04 February 2013 | Jasmeet Khurana
Kerala’s Agency for Non-Conventional Energy and Rural Technology (ANERT) has chosen 14 companies to be eligible to set up battery backed 1 kWp projects under the state’s 10,000 rooftop solar power programme (refer). It is expected that more than 4,000...
