Blogs
Round-up of ISIT Day 1
19 April 2012 | Jasmeet Khurana
The India Solar Investment & Technology Summit Day 1 saw 15,000 people gather to view the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi ‘dedicate 600MW of solar power to the nation’ at the inauguration of the Charanka Solar Park near Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The event was held amidst political fanfare in the middle...
Karnataka allocates 80MW of projects under state solar policy
19 April 2012 | Akhilesh Magal
Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd. allocates 20MW of solar thermal and 60MW of solar PV under the Karnataka solar policy Lowest winning bid was submitted at a tariff of INR7.94/kWh CSP loses out to PV on account of project size allocation by KREDL The Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd. (KREDL) has announced the ten winners of the solar bidding it held in November...
Demystifying Performance Ratio (P.R.) and Capacity Utilization Factor (C.U.F.) for a solar plant
10 April 2012 | Mohit Anand
The worldwide standard for measuring a solar plant’s performance is the Performance Ratio (P.R.). However, most project developers, investors and EPC contractors in India use the Capacity Utilization Factor (C.U.F.) as the standard of measuring the performance of a plant. Our team sat down and attempted to demystify these differences. But soon enough, we realized that quite a few people in...
India Solar Compass : April 2012 Edition out now!
04 April 2012 | Jasmeet Khurana
The India Solar Compass is a quarterly analysis report with the latest updates on India solar policy, projects, industry and financing. The key question in the April 2012 edition: ” Is the telecom tower market viable in India?” The...
12 Key market findings from the latest India Solar Compass
02 April 2012 | Jasmeet Khurana
Fourteen projects have been penalized for missing the January 9th 2012 deadline for commissioning under the NSM. They have lost a cumulative amount of INR280m (EUR4.3m) in bank guarantees. The Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) has imposed penalties on 370MW worth of projects for missing the December 31st 2012 deadline for commissioning under the Gujarat solar...
Introducing the India Solar Compass April 2012
30 March 2012 | Jasmeet Khurana
BRIDGE TO INDIA’s quarterly report on the Indian solar market analyzes policy, projects, industry and financing; the key drivers of this market. The latest edition of the quarterly, explores the telecom tower segment as a significant opportunity that will emerge in the market in the coming 5 years. In the April issue, we’re looking at: The last quarter has seen PV projects under both,...
Will Andhra Pradesh be India’s next solar boom state?
27 March 2012 | Akhilesh Magal
Andhra Pradesh receives some of the highest irradiation in India. The state has significant renewable purchase obligations (RPO) stemming from its high power demand. In addition, Andhra Pradesh has India’s best performing state power utility (State Electricity Board, SEB). So far, the state has no solar policy in place but it has nevertheless
Renewable energy policies in India are getting smarter
26 March 2012 | Tobias Engelmeier
India is moving rapidly from direct government support for renewable energies to more market-driven mechanisms. Soon no support will be needed. This opens up the Indian market to growth in a completely new dimension.
Accelerated Depreciation was the early choice for government support for renewables. It allowed the Indian wind power sector to take off
The National Solar Mission – Loopholes and Consequences
22 March 2012 | Tobias Engelmeier
The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) was launched in 2008 with a goal of installing 22,000MW of solar power in India by 2022. The first phase, first batch bidding guidelines stated that a company is allowed to bid for only one 5MW solar PV and 100 MW solar thermal project. This was done to foster competition among project developers. These guidelines were allegedly flouted by...
Solar thermal will now be exempt from import duty in India
16 March 2012 | Jasmeet Khurana
India’s finance minister, Dr. Pranab Mukherjee, declared that solar thermal plant and equipment in India will now be exempt from import duty. “In order to fully realize our potential in the realm of solar energy, solar thermal projects need encouragement. I propose to fully exempt plant and equipment etc. for the initial setting up of such projects from special countervailing duties...
Alex Green Energy wins 25MW at INR 7 per kWh
25 February 2012 | Jasmeet Khurana
In December of 2011, the Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA) had released an invitation for Request for Selection (RfS) for 25MW worth of solar projects in the state. The last date for submitting the bids was February 7th 2012. Our sources reveal that the results of the reverse bidding process have now been finalized. The winning bid is a record INR7 per kWh as a...
What exactly is a ‘Smart’ Grid?
03 February 2012 | Akhilesh Magal
There is a lot of talk on how smart grids are needed to solve intermittency in power generation introduced by renewable sources of energy. But what does a smart grid mean? An excellent paper from Carnegie Mellon University titled The Many Meanings of Smart Grid sums up the different aspects. Image from ecotechninja.com At the level of the customer: 1) Meters that can be read...
