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India surpasses 5GW solar deployments says energy ministry

India approves US$660 million increase to rooftop solar budget

IRENA estimates US$1.3tn GDP boost from doubling of renewables by 20303

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Indian auction frenzy restrained in SECI’s 500MW Maharashtra tender 3

India surpasses 5GW solar deployments says energy ministry 3

Indian solar tariffs reach ‘surprise’ new low of INR4.34/kWh 4

IREDA to issue US$257 million in tax-free bonds 4

Cracking the India solar nut 4

IFC supporting Madhya Pradesh to attract US$750 million investment for 750MW PV plant 5

Rays Power Infra to perform EPC for 80MW from Uttarakhand solar tender 5

IRENA estimates US$1.3tn GDP boost from doubling of renewables by 2030 6

Essel Infra and GCL sign MoU for 5GW module manufacturing capacity in Andhra Pradesh 7

Delhi utility BSES to procure 700MW of clean energy including solar 7

Wind specialists Suzlon and Gamesa each building PV in India, Yamaha inaugurates 4MW rooftop project 8

Delhi rail company signs MoU with SECI for 500MW of solar 8

Indian energy ministry pushes for renewables exemption from new tax laws 9

India to install 4.8GW utility-scale solar in 2016, southern states to dominate 10

RenewSys India orders 100MW solar cell line to expand Hyderabad facility 10

SECI allocates 42.75MW of rooftop solar capacity across India 11

India’s SECI signs MoU with Russian Energy Agency for large-scale PV and manufacturing in India 11

PV cost decreases to ensure strong demand in 2016 and beyond - EnergyTrend 12

India’s SECI tendering for 500MW PV in Andhra Pradesh’s Ananthapuramu solar park 13

India approves US$660 million increase to rooftop solar budget 13

CONTENTS

June 2016, London, UK and Fall 2016, IndiaContact Joanne Duff for more information jduff@solarmedia.co.uk

3

Indian auction frenzy restrained in SECI’s 500MW Maharashtra tender

Technical bid submissions for 500MW of solar capacity in the Indian state of Maharashtra tendered by the Solar

Energy Corporation of India (SECI) showed a significant easing of competition compared to other recent tenders in the country, according to consultancy firm Bridge to India.

Only 14 developers submitted bids for total capacity of less than 1.8GW in this SECI tender, as opposed to the 30 players submit-ting bids for a total of 5.5GW in the recent National Thermal Power Corporation’s (NTPC) tender for 500MW in Andhra Pradesh.

A Bridge to India analysis claimed that the bids are likely to be higher than other recent autcions due to these projects having to be installed outside solar parks, making land acquisition a challenge, especially for larger projects, which would hamper benefits from economies of scale.

The industry may also view SECI as a higher risk off-taker than NTPC. Meanwhile

“hardening of module prices” and the rupee depreciating against the US dollar may also cause an upward shift in the tariff bids, according to the analysis.

The Maharashtra projects will have a fixed tariff of INR 4.43/kWh (US$0.066), which is far lower than the previous rate of INR 5.43/kWh. There will also be Viability Gap Funding (VGF) of up to INR 10 million per MW. Furthermore, 50MW of projects are reserved for modules under the domestic content requirement (DCR) with a VGF of up to INR 13.1 million per MW.

Bridge to India also expects a similar lower-ing of competition for SECI’s three upcoming tenders in Uttar Pradesh (440MW) with its low irradiation, in Gujarat (250MW) with its high solar park charges, and in Andhra Pradesh (500MW).

Despite the lower competition in the SECI bids, India still managed to reach another record low solar tariff last night, with Finland-

based developer Fortum winning 70MW in Rajasthan at INR 4.34/kWh, with nine other developers willing to bid lower than the previ-ous record of INR 4.63/kWh from SunEdison (500MW) and Softbank’s JV SBG Cleantech (350MW) in Andhra Pradesh.

PV Tech investigated the intense com-petition in India’s solar auctions in a recent analysis.

Jan 19

Despite the subdued insterest in Maharashtra, India saw record low tariffs last night in Rajasthan. Credit:

Yogendra

India surpasses 5GW solar deployments says energy ministry

India crossed the 5GW mark for installed solar capacity this week, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of New and

Renewable Energy (MNRE).Cumulative installed capacity now stands

at 5,130MW, with deployments of 1,385MW in the current financial year.

The leading states for deployment are:• Rajasthan 1,264MW• Gujarat 1,024MW• Madhya Pradesh 679MW• Tamil Nadu 419MW

• Maharashtra 379MW• Andhra Pradesh 357MW

The news comes shortly after consultancy firm Bridge to India released figures show-ing that India will install 4.8GW of utility-scale solar capacity in 2016, up 140% from 2GW in 2015.

During this year, the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka are expected to contribute nearly 80% of all new capacity additions.

Jan 15

Solar Beas project. Credit: MNRE

June 2016, London, UK and Fall 2016, IndiaContact Joanne Duff for more information jduff@solarmedia.co.uk

4

Indian solar tariffs reach ‘surprise’ new low of INR4.34/kWh

India’s fiercely competitive solar auctions have driven bids down to another surprise low with Finland-based developer Fortum Finnsurya

Energy winning 70MW capacity in Rajasthan at a price of INR4.34/kWh (US$0.064), which is a drop of more than a 6% from the previous Indian record of INR4.63/kWh.

Four developers won capacity, each with bids reaching significantly lower than anything seen in the country’s solar auctions so far.• For tum F innsurya Energy (70MW),

INR4.34/kWh• Rising Sun Energy (2x70MW), INR4.35/

kWh• Solairedirect Energy India (2x70MW),

INR4.35/kWh• Yarrow Infrastructure (70MW), INR4.36/

kWhThe previous record tariff was INR4.63/

kWh awarded to PV developers SunEdison (500MW) and SoftBank’s JV with Foxconn and Bharti Enterprises (350MW) in two sep-arate auctions for capacity in solar parks in Andhra Pradesh.

In this latest Rajasthan auction, there were five other companies, who were also willing

to bid lower than the previous records includ-ing ACME Solar, Hero Solar Energy, Energon Soleq India power Resources, Reliance CleanGen and NEEPCO.

Jasmeet Khurana, associate director, con-sulting, at Bridge to India, told PV Tech that the results were “surprising” yet again – add-ing “we never expect the prices to go to these levels, but clearly with so many compa-nies bidding in this range there must be some rationale behind it, which we fail to under-stand as of now.”

In a recent in-depth analysis, PV tech investigated the potential strategies being used to drive prices down in India’s ‘cutthroat solar auctions’.

Bridge to India had already forecast that bids under the National Solar Mission (NSM) for capacity within solar parks would go lower in Rajasthan than in Andhra Pradesh due to the state’s higher irradiation levels, lower solar park charges and increased competition, however, Khurana said the latest bids came in far lower than expected.

Furthermore, these Rajasthan project sizes are far smaller, which means they don’t bene-

fit from the same economies of scale of those projects in Andhra Pradesh. This suggests the latest bids are even more aggressive.

Jai Sharda, founding partner at research body Equitorials, told PV tech that the trend of decreasing prices is in line with the expec-tations of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) for a 5-8% decline in the cost of solar power in India, however “the pace of decline in prices is much faster than anticipated”.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) recently announced that India had surpassed 5GW of cumulative installed PV capacity, with Rajasthan leading individual state deployment figures.

Jan 19

Flickr: Arian Zweger

IREDA to issue US$257 million in tax-free bonds

State-owned firm the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) is to issue INR17.2 billion (US$257 million)

in tax-free bonds from today for the financing of renewable energy projects in the financial year

2015/16.The bonds will have a face value of INR1,000

each.The issue opens on today 8 January and

closes on January 22 and there is an option for

early closure.The Asian Development Bank (ADB) recently

announced it will provide IREDA with a US$200 million loan as part of IREDA’s plan to add 990MW of renewable energy capacity in India.

Jan 08

Cracking the India solar nut

India’s 100GW solar target has unsurprisingly attracted huge interest from foreign players, but the market is not an

easy one for outsiders to access. Reporting back from Intersolar India, held in Mumbai in November, Tom Kenning explores some

of the key barriers to entry for overseas investors.

Dec 2015

June 2016, London, UK and Fall 2016, IndiaContact Joanne Duff for more information jduff@solarmedia.co.uk

5

IFC supporting Madhya Pradesh to attract US$750 million investment for 750MW PV plant

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, is supporting the government of the In-

dian state of Madhya Pradesh to implement a 750MW solar plant near Rewa.

The IFC plans to help attract around US$750 million of private investments, while also being supported through its partner-ship with the government of Australia’s Department of Foreign Trade.

Once complete, the Rewa project is likely to be the largest single-site solar power pro-ject in the world.

Anthony JC de Sa, chief secretary, Madhya Pradesh, said the government had made around 1,300 hectares of land avail-able for the project. Meanwhile Power Grid Corporation is constructing a transmission substation within the project boundary.

Madhya Pradesh Urja Vika Nigam (MPUVN) and the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) have created a joint venture compa-ny, named Rewa Ultra-Mega Solar Power Limited, in order to develop the project.

The IFC will also be working closely with the New and Renewable Energy Department

of the state government and MPUVN for the project.

The plant will help the Madhya Pradesh state to reach its Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO), which is a mandate to pur-chase a certain percentage of power from renewable sources.

Rajendra Shukla, minister of energy, mines and minerals for the government of Madhya Pradesh, said: “Successful implementation of the Rewa ultra-mega power project will be a key milestone for Madhya Pradesh’s out-standing efforts and leadership in renewable energy and the central government’s remark-able vision on solar power.

“The project will provide competitively-priced renewable power to state and central entities. IFC’s global expertise in PPPs, lead-ership in renewable energy, and convening power with investors, will help us implement this unique project.”

Last year Shukla, announced the tender-ing schedule for the 750MW Rewa solar park, which is divided into three 250MW plants.

Himanshu Joshi, executive engineer of the New and Renewable Energy Office of

Madhya Pradesh told PV Tech that final bid-ding will take place in February 2016 with winners to be announced in March. He expects full commissioning in 2017.

As of 30 June last year, the IFC had already committed more than US$5 billion in India, according to the body.

Gaetan Tibhergain, principal investment officer at the IFC, recently described India as having the “gold medal” of the world in terms of solar pricing and claimed there are no other countries where project costs are so attractive right now.

Jan 18

Madhya Pradesh government is lookig to fulfil its RPO. Flickr: Christopher Kray

Rays Power Infra to perform EPC for 80MW from Uttarakhand solar tender

India-based EPC company and solar de-veloper Rays Power Infra will perform EPC services for 80MW from the solar tender of

Indian state Uttarakhand.The firm bagged the deals under co-

development and pre-bid EPC t ie-up models in preparation for the financial bid-ding that took place in Dehradun in October last year.

Ketan Mehta, director of Rays Power

Infra, said: “The allocation of 80MW from a total capacity of 170 MW of the Uttarakhand solar tender to Rays Power Infra demon-strates the excellent market confidence our brand commands. We have steadily consoli-dated our portfolio and won the confidence of not just our loyal clients, but other stake-holders of the renewable energy sector in India, which includes government interests.”

The Uttarakhand tender was for the

development of 170MW of PV overall. Out of this Rays Power was also awarded 25MW of capacity acting as a developer.

Rays Power won projects with the lowest bid of INR5.57/kWH (US$0.085) as well as the highest winning bid of INR5.98/kWh.

India-based project developer ACME Solar Holdings won the highest capacity of projects in the auction with four projects totalling 50MW combined.

Jan 06

June 2016, London, UK and Fall 2016, IndiaContact Joanne Duff for more information jduff@solarmedia.co.uk

6

IRENA estimates US$1.3tn GDP boost from doubling of renewables by 2030

Doubling the share of renewable energy worldwide would boost global GDP and improve human welfare, according

to analysis published on the eve of the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.

A report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimates that a scale-up up of renewables to 36% of the global energy mix by 2030 would lead to a US$1.3 trillion, 1.1% increase to GDP and a range of socioeconomic benefits including increased employment.

Previously, efforts to reduce carbon emis-sions had been painted by some as inevitably equating to a fall in living standards. But the IRENA report, said to be the first of its kind to provide a global estimate of the macro-economic benefits of renewables, suggests otherwise.

“The recent Paris Agreement sent a strong signal for countries to move from negotiation to action and rapidly decarbonise the energy sector,” said Adnan Z. Amin, IRENA director-general. “This analysis provides compelling evidence that achieving the needed energy transition would not only mitigate climate change, but also stimulate the economy, improve human welfare and boost employ-ment worldwide.”

Beyond the global GDP f igure, the IRENA report, ‘Renewable energy benefits: Measuring the economics’, also analyses country-specific impact. It found that Japan would see the largest positive GDP impact (2.3%) but Australia, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea would also see growth of more than 1% each.

The report also found that human welfare would improve. Using a combined meas-urement of welfare that includes factor such

as health, education greenhouse gas emis-sions and employment, IRENA calculated that a 36% share of renewables would mean an overall 3.7% improvement across all of these metrics.

Employment in the renewable energy sec-tor would also increase from 9.2 million global jobs today, to more than 24 million by 2030, the report said.

A transition towards greater shares of renewables in the global energy mix would also cause a shift in trade patterns, as it would more than halve global imports of coal and reduce oil and gas imports, benefit-ing large importers like Japan, India, Korea and the European Union. Fossil fuel exporting countries would also benefit from a diversified economy.

“Mitigating climate change through the deployment of renewable energy and achiev-ing other socio-economic targets is no longer an either or equation,” said Amin. “Thanks to the growing business case for renewable energy, an investment in one is an investment in both. That is the definition of a win-win scenario.”

Over the weekend, ahead of the launch today of the WFES, IRENA held its sixth assembly, the first intergovernmental meet-ing since the COP21 climate talks in Paris in December. The organisation said the event provided an opportunity to build on the momentum from Paris and take “concrete steps” to accelerate the global energy transi-tion.

“The energy transition makes social, eco-nomic and environmental sense and we have the needed renewable technology to provide cost-effective, reliable energy today,” said Amin. “We also now have a strong political

signal and global commitment thanks to the Paris Agreement. Now, we must join hands to implement the policies and programmes that can drive investment, build capacity and strengthen international cooperation to further support the energy transition. That is what the Assembly will help achieve.”

In re lated news, IRENA yesterday announced loans worth US$46 million to help fund four renewable energy projects in Africa and the Caribbean. They are:• Antigua and Barbuda: A 4MW wind and

solar project will receive US$15 million to provide energy to desalinate water and increase climate resilience.

• Burkina Faso: A 3.6MW solar PV mini-grid project will receive US$10 million to pro-vide modern energy services to more than 12,000 local families.

• Cabo Verde: A 2MW hybrid grid-connected solar PV and wind project will receive US$8 million to provide a 100% renewable ener-gy solution for the Island of Brava.

• Senegal: A 2MW solar PV mini-grid project will receive US$13 million to supply electric-ity to rural villages.

Jan 18

UN Secetary General Ban Ki Moon address the WFES in Abu Dhabi. Source: IRENA.

June 2016, London, UK and Fall 2016, IndiaContact Joanne Duff for more information jduff@solarmedia.co.uk

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Essel Infra and GCL sign MoU for 5GW module manufacturing capacity in Andhra Pradesh

A consortium between India-based inte-grated utility and solar developer Essel Infra and China-based PV material

manufacturer Golden Concord Holdings (GCL) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Andhra Pradesh government to invest US$2 billion in developing 5GW of module manufacturing capacity by 2020 in the Indian state.

The module manufacturing facility would cater to both the domestic and overseas PV markets, said and Essel Infra release. The project will also create 15,000 skilled jobs. The announcement was made during the recent Partnership Summit at Visakhapatnam.

The Essel and GCL consortium are also planning to build and operate a smart indus-trial park, along with a LNG Terminal, involving further indirect investment of more than US$10 billion by encouraging Chinese and other Indian manufacturers to setup multiple manufacturing facilities for various industries within the park.

Shu Hua, vice chairman of the GCL Group said: “We are very excited to be a part of the ‘Make in India’ campaign of prime min-

ister Narendra Modi. GCL looks forward to contributing towards the progress of this wonderful country by not only bringing in investments but also the latest available tech-nologies of PV industry.”

Subhash Chandra, founder and chairman of Essel Group, said: “Renewable energy is the key for the economic growth of our coun-try. It will aid clean energy initiative of the government. Taking the lead, Essel Group intends to facilitate India’s green energy requirement by delivering sustainable energy and creating value to empower people, com-munities and businesses.”

While utility-scale PV deployment stole the headlines in India last year, 2016 has already seen a number of annoucements regarding the manufacturing sector.

PV component and module manufacturer RenewSys India (RIPL) ordered a 100MW solar cell l ine from unnamed European manufacturers in order to expand its own manufacturing facility in Hyderabad.

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) signed an MoU with the Russian Energy Agency for both ent i t ies to

develop utility-scale solar PV plants and man-ufacturing facilities in India between the years 2016-2022.

Meanwhile last December the Government of India said it was considering support-ing polysilicon, ingot and wafer production in India as part the ‘Make in India’ programme. There are currently no polysilicon, ingot and wafer manufacturing facilities in India.

Jan 15

Chandrababu Naidu chief minister of Andhra pradesh. Credit: Chandrababu Naidu

Delhi utility BSES to procure 700MW of clean energy including solar

Delhi-based private distribution company (Discom) BSES, which is backed by In-dian conglomerate Reliance Infra, plans

to procure 700MW of clean energy including solar power using a reverse auction process.

BSES, which also operates in Mumbai, is tendering the renewable energy capac-ity in order to meet its Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) target. The RPO mandates Discoms to purchase a certain amount of their energy from renewable sources.

The company aims to procure electricity at

under INR 5/kWh (US$0.075), which is signifi-cantly lower than the lowest bid of INR6.19/kWh it received after floating a tender in November 2014.

BSES wrote to Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission to withdraw this earlier tender having found the price too expensive. After seeing solar prices plummet through reverse auction processes of late, it has now decided to hold its own reverse auction for both solar and non-solar power.

BSES claims this will be the largest private

sector “green” bid in India under guidelines of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

It also claims this process could translate into savings of around INR2 billion for the consumer.

A BSES spokesperson said: “This will open a new avenue of procuring power at competi-tive rates from renewable sources. The whole process is ultimately going to help consum-ers in getting a cleaner energy at competitive rates and keep the retail tariffs low.”

Jan 07

June 2016, London, UK and Fall 2016, IndiaContact Joanne Duff for more information jduff@solarmedia.co.uk

8

Wind specialists Suzlon and Gamesa each building PV in India, Yamaha inaugurates 4MW rooftop project

Pune-headquartered wind turbine manu-facturer Suzlon is to build 210MW of solar energy capacity in the Indian state

of Telangana.Suzlon has received letters of intent (LOIs)

from state utility Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Limited (TSSPDCL), having won six separate projects through a competitive bidding process in April last year.

The port fo l io inc ludes pro jects of 1x100MW, 1x50MW and 4x15MW, with the plants to be commissioned in 2016/17.

Suzlon will sign six power purchase agree-ments (PPAs) this month with the state utilities for a 25-year period.

Tulsi Tanti, chairman of Suzlon Group said: “Solar and wind are complementary, hence we will leverage our project execution capa-bilities and end-to-end solutions to deliver solar projects. With a strong backing of skilled workforce, excellent operations and mainte-nance service network, current infrastructure and 20 years of experience in building the wind business, I am confident that our maid-en solar journey would be a success.

“We are also working on integrated renew-able energy solutions by combining wind and solar projects at a single location.”

Suzlon has a presence in 19 companies globally with cumulative installations of 15GW of wind capacity.

In December last year, Suzlon and Axis Energy Group signed a provisional agreement with the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh to develop up to 4GW of solar, wind and hybrid renewable energy projects. The projects will be set up in the Anantapur and Nellore dis-tricts over the next five years.

Spanish wind power specialist, Gamesa is also to build three solar PV plants with a combined capacity of 23MW for New Era Enviro Ventures in Telanagana.

Gamesa will provide EPC services for the three plants of 5MW, 8MW and 10MW capacity in the towns of Bujarampet, Mankondur and Ellanthakunta.

New Era Enviro will be responsible for the supply of solar panels and structures. Commissioning is scheduled for Q1 this year.

This is the second solar order received

by the company, following its entry into the PV sector in July last year with a project of 10MW, which is already in operation.

India Yamaha Motor (IYM) is also reported to have inaugurated a 4MW rooftop PV plant at its facaility in Suraipur, Uttar Pradesh, India, according to Indian newspaper Economic Times. It was installed by local developer Amplus Energy. Installation is due for comple-tion by April this year.

On Twitter, Mudit Jain, consultant at analyst firm Bridge to India, said that this project was funded by I Squared Capital.

Jan 15

Both wind specialists will put up PV capacity in Telangana. Flickr: Sanyam Bagha

Delhi rail company signs MoU with SECI for 500MW of solar

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has signed an MoU with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to work

together on developing an initial 500MW ca-pacity of off-site solar projects over three years.

DMRC is aiming to mitigate the effects of regular increases in grid tariffs.

Both entities will source additional power from other developers and generators, which

are not on DMRC sites. DMRC will enter into long-term power purchase agreements with the project developers, but SECI will be responsible for ownership and operation of the projects.

An action plan and a joint development team consisting of senior officials from both organizations will be formed to carry out the plans.

Jan 08

DMRC is aiming to mitigate the effects of regular increases in grid tariffs. Credit: SECI

June 2016, London, UK and Fall 2016, IndiaContact Joanne Duff for more information jduff@solarmedia.co.uk

9

Indian energy ministry pushes for renewables exemption from new tax laws

India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) put in a request with the Department of Revenue for renewable en-

ergy to be exempted from some effects of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill, should it be passed in parliament, MNRE joint secretary Tarun Kapoor has confirmed to PV Tech.

The GST is a comprehensive nation-wide tax levy on the manufacture, sale and con-sumption of goods and services, which is planned to come into force from 1 April this year. One of the key aims is to bring India’s market under one umbrella and to integrate the economies of India’s many different states.

However, there are industry concerns about the effect of the GST on renewable energy prices, because of changes in how import duties are levied on bringing equip-ment into India and how taxes on sale of equipment are levied on goods traded within India.

Tarun Kapoor said that if the GST is introduced, the cost of solar and other renew-ables would go up as a result of the higher taxes to be paid.

He added: “In the GST there is a provi-sion for some items to be exempted, so we have asked for renewable energy to be in the exempted list.”

However, Kapoor also said it is not entire-ly clear yet what the full effects that the GST might have on the renewable energy industry – adding: “There might be advantages some-

where to manufacturers.”MNRE commissioned a study to assess

the effects of the GST on the renewables industry. A local report from the Economic Times of India recently found that the MNRE had shared findings of the report with the Department of Revenue, forecasting a 12-16% increase in the costs of grid-con-nected solar projects in India and a 16-20% increase for off-grid solar.

However Kapoor said that MNRE has not yet gone through all the details on the effects of the GST.

There also another plan in India, which is separate from the GST, to rationalize India’s corporate taxes and bring that down from 33% to 25% and this requires removal of some tax exemptions and holidays that the solar industry benefits from.

Mudit Jain, consultant at analyst firm Bridge to India, told PV Tech that under this plan, the benefits under Section 80IA of the Income tax Act, which provides a 10-year income tax exemption for solar projects, could be removed and this would “impact all solar projects”.

However, as the Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT), a minimum tax for most India-based companies, is already applicable, Jain fore-casts that the net impact on solar tariffs will only be around 4-5% or less.

Accelerated depreciation benefit, which is also threatened by this plan, often results in cost benefits to the tune of 12-15% for solar

tariffs, added Jain. However, under the fierce-ly competitive bidding processes for solar capacity seen in recent months, the market is increasingly witnessing a trend where bidders are not opting for this benefit.

For example, major PV players such as SunEdison, Softbank, Renew, Mytrah and Skypower are all winning solar auctions without claiming accelerated depreciation benefits.

Jain Said: “Removal of accelerated depre-ciation benefit will not impact most big tenders. However, the private PPA-based market will certainly take a hit as this mar-ket is dominated by accelerated depreciation investors.”

Bridge to India recently forecast that India would install 4.8GW of utility-scale solar in 2016, up from 2GW in 2015.

Jan 13

MNRE joint secretary Tarun Kapoor says the effects of the GST are still unclear. Credit: Intersolar

June 2016, London, UK and Fall 2016, IndiaContact Joanne Duff for more information jduff@solarmedia.co.uk

10

India to install 4.8GW utility-scale solar in 2016, southern states to dominate

India will install 4.8GW of utility-scale solar capacity in 2016, up 140% from 2GW in 2015, according to the latest market update

from consultancy firm Bridge to India.During this year, the southern states of

Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka are expected to contribute nearly 80% of all new capacity additions.

The utility-scale market is also on track to meet its targets for the next financial year, said Bridge to India. This is due to a strong pipeline of state-level projects set to be com-missioned through the year.

India to install 4.8GW utility-scale solar in 2016, southern states to dominate

Quarterly installations for 2016. Credit Bridge to India

A significant amount of capacity from gov-ernment allocations is also expected in Q1 2017. The burst of government allocations in early 2017 is due to delays in new alloca-tions from state-owned companies National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and the

Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).This means most capacity under the

National Solar Mission (NSM) will only get commissioned within the first half of 2017. In any case, this may assist the government in reaching its target of 7.8GW for utility-scale projects for 2016/17. The annual capacity is also expected to be increased to 10GW in 2017/18.

Bridge to India warned that this momentum may be difficult to keep up once govern-ment allocations dry up and states become responsible for utility-scale growth.

Evacuation of power and grid stability were cited as key bottlenecks in the future, and therefore the speed of implementing the country’s green energy corridors between states would be critical.

India installed 2GW in 2015, less than Bridge to india’s predicted 2.45GW, due to delays in projects in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Punjab.

The 2GW commissioned in 2015 were comprised of:• 700MW under central government alloca-

tions• 850MW under state allocations• 450MW under other heads, including pri-

vate initiativesPV Tech recently published a detailed

insight into the strategies behind ‘India’s cut-throat solar auctions’, which saw record low tariffs this year.

Jan 12

Welspun's Neemuch project in India. Credit: Welspun

renewables

RenewSys India orders 100MW solar cell line to expand Hyderabad facility

PV component and module manufacturer RenewSys India (RIPL) has ordered a 100MW solar cell line from unnamed

European manufacturers in order to expand its own manufacturing facility in Hyderabad.

The new line, to be shipped in 2016, will expand RIPL’s solar cell manufacturing capac-ity to 130MW.

Furthermore, RIPL plans to order another 100MW line from the same vendors by the third quarter of this year and then to gradually reach a total capacity of 500MW.

The lines will be installed at the 20-hectare Hyderabad facility, where 80MW of module manufacturing capacity is already in place. This module manufacturing capacity is also

due to be expanded to meet demand from OEM customers and for exports.

RIPL is also discussing expansion of its manufacturing of EVA encapsulant and back-sheet solar products at its Bangalore facility.

RIPL stressed that these expansion plans and investments are “based” on government policies including capital subsidy and the Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) which mandates developers of certain PV projects under India’s National Solar Mission to use locally sourced components for their solar pro-jects.

In a statement RIPL said: “The Indian solar industry needs ‘handholding’ and time to build capacity and become competitive.”

At intersolar India in November last year, Gyanesh Chaudhary managing director and chief executive of India-based module manu-facturer Vikram Solar, claimed that India’s solar programme needs to be self-sufficient, and therefore far more effort needs to be put into supporting the domestic manufacturing sector.

Chaudhary claimed that if the cost of capi-tal was removed in India, it would have the most competitive manufacturing in the world. However the current tariff-based bidding is not geared towards the domestic programme and Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, becasue many of the winning PV developers in the non-DCR auctions are not using services from India.

Jan 06

June 2016, London, UK and Fall 2016, IndiaContact Joanne Duff for more information jduff@solarmedia.co.uk

11

SECI allocates 42.75MW of rooftop solar capacity across India

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has awarded 42.75MW of rooftop solar capac-

ity across India to multiple bidders.The original tender was for 50MW,

but not all capacity has been allocated. The awards are for the design, manu-facture, supply, erection, and testing and commissioning including warranty, operation and maintenance of the roof-top PV systems.

Pr ice bids were opened on 7 December 2015. Letters of allocation were issued to the following bidders for capacity of 1MW or above in various states:

Jan 06

State and Tariff INR/kWh

Developer and Capacity

Delhi 5.39Pasithea Inrastructure 5MW, and Jakson Engineers 5MW

West Bengal 5.49Pasithea Inrastructure 5MW, and Rays Power Experts 5MW

Karnataka 5.59Clean Max Enviro Energy Solutions 1MW, and Dexler Holding 1MW

Gujarat 5.68Welspun Renewable Energy 1MW, and Hero Solar Energy 1MW

Uttar Pradesh 6.1Clean Max Enviro Energy Solutions 2.5MW, and Genus Innovation 2.5MW

Maharashtra 5.59Clean Max Enviro Energy Solutions 1MW, and Hero Solar Energy 1MW

NER States and UT's 6.491

Rays Power Experts 5MW

Other developers that won smal ler capaci t ies inc luded Madhav Infra Projects, Amplus Energy Solutions, Ujjas Energy, Hassan Marketing and Ganesh Décor India.

India’s Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs recently approved scaling up the budget for grid-connected rooftop solar in the country from INR6 billion (US$90 million) to INR50 billion up to 2019/20, but this will not apply for commercial and indus-trial establishments inthe private sector.

India’s SECI signs MoU with Russian Energy Agen-cy for large-scale PV and manufacturing in India

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Rus-

sian Energy Agency (REA) for both entities to develop utility-scale solar PV plants and man-ufacturing facilities in India between the years 2016-2022.

Under the agreement, a 500MW pilot pro-ject would be constructed.

The two entities will draw up a roadmap for developing the projects and manufacturing hubs and will also establish a working group to determine future steps.

REA will contribute state-of-the-art technol-ogy and low-cost financing, while SECI will help to acquire Indian government clearances

and permits.The MoU was signed by REA director

general A.V. Tikhonov and SECI managing director Ashvini Kumar.

A SECI statement said that the plans would boost India’s ‘Make in India’ programme, which was launched last year and seeks to turn India into a worldwide manufacturing powerhouse.

For example, the government of India recent ly announced i t was consider-ing supporting polysilicon, ingot and wafer production in the country as part of the pro-gramme.

There were local reports in the summer of 2015 that Russia-based oil company Rosneft

was also planning to invest heavily in solar power in India aiming to set up between 10-20GW of PV, but this has yet to be con-firmed.

Jan 04

The MoU was signed by REA director general A.V. Tikhonov and SECI managing director Ashvini Kumar. Credit: SECI

June 2016, London, UK and Fall 2016, IndiaContact Joanne Duff for more information jduff@solarmedia.co.uk

12

PV cost decreases to ensure strong demand in 2016 and beyond - EnergyTrend

A projected 15% decrease in the installed cost of PV over the next two years will continue to drive demand worldwide,

according to new analysis.Taiwan-based EnergyTrend has reported

significant ongoing decreases in PV system costs in the past year, a trend that is set to continue and to spur growing demand for solar.

One highlight in the past year identified by EnergyTrend is the US. Here the average installed cost of utility-scale PV systems in the third quarter of 2015 was down 17% year on year to US$1.38/W.

With increased deployment and new technological advances, EnergyTrend pre-dicts installed costs could drop to around US$1.15/W in 2016 and by 15% by the end of 2017.

Such a decrease would drive down the key levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) metric to under US$0.07/kWh in some areas, although

this would depend on specific local condi-tions such as labour costs, daylight hours and available subsidies.

Nonetheless, EnergyTrend concludes that the overall picture for PV is of increasing com-petitiveness with fossil fuels, particularly coal, and a consequent increase in demand.

Installation targets of major markets and LCOE for utility-scale systems. Source: EnergyTrend, Jan 2016

EnergyTrend analyst Patrick Lin said that policies in major markets including the US, China and India would cause a gradual decline in module prices in 2016, in paral-lel with price declines for other components, such as inverters and other related consuma-bles.

On modules, EnergyTrend highlights the incremental improvements in conversion effi-ciency rates of PV cells as a key driver and also the increasing power of modules, with mainstream multi-Si products expected

to achieve a power output of 265W in the second half of 2016 and their mono-Si coun-terparts reaching 275-280W.

In 2016-17, EnergyTrend said it expect-ed strong growth in regions with abundant sunlight, such as India, Southeast Asia and Central and South American countries.

Jan 05

Countries in sunny regions, such as Chile, are expected to see strong demand for PV in the next two years. Image: SunEdison.

Market/country Installation targetShare of renewable

generationCurrent LCOE (min), $/kWh Current LCOE (max), S/kWh

China 150GW by 2020 20% (non-fossil fuel by 2030 0.08 0.14

Japan 64GW by 2030 22-24% by 2030 0.1 0.14

US - 20% by 2030 0.07 0.12

Germany 66GW by 2030 50% by 2030 0.11 0.17

UK 22GW by 2020 15% by 2020 0.12 0.2

India 100GW by 2022 40% (non-fossil fuel) by 2030 0.08 0.11

Taiwan (current govverment) 8.7GW by 2030 13.3% by 2030 0.09 0.14

Taiwan (opposition party) 13GW by 2025 20% by 2025 0.09 0.14

June 2016, London, UK and Fall 2016, IndiaContact Joanne Duff for more information jduff@solarmedia.co.uk

13

India’s SECI tendering for 500MW PV in Andhra Pradesh’s Ananthapuramu solar park

India approves US$660 million increase to rooftop solar budget

Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has issued a request for selection (RfS) for 500MW of solar PV projects in the

Ananthapuramu Solar Park in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

The tender will be separated into ten 50MW projects according to Mudit Jain, con-sultant at Bridge to India. These plants will come under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) Phase-II Batch-II.

The deadline for submissions was 12 January 2016.

Jain said this will bring SECI’s tally of ten-dered capacity up to 1,690MW out of the

2GW earmarked for the corporation under the NSM.

PV Tech recently published a detailed insight into the major issues and company strategies used in India’s cutthroat solar auc-tions.

For example, Andhra Pradesh recently awarded capacity to developers SunEdison and Softbank for India’s two lowest ever tar-iffs at INR4.63/kWh.

SECI has also signed an MoU with the Russian Energy Agency (REA) for both parties to implement solar projects and manufactur-ing facilities in India up to 2020.

India’s Cabinet Committee on Economic Af-fairs has approved scaling up the budget for grid-connected rooftop solar in the country

from INR6 billion (US$90 million) to INR50 bil-lion up to 2019/20.

The Cabinet, chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi, sanctioned the scheme as part of the National Solar Mission in order to support the installation of 4.2GW of rooftop solar in the next five years.

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) jo int secretary Tarun Kapoor announced plans to increase the roof-top subsidy from 15% to 30% at Intersolar India last November. This subsidy applies to most states, but there will be a 70% subsidy for special category states such as Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

However these rooftop subsidies will not apply for commercial and industrial establish-ments in the private sector because they are eligible for other benefits including acceler-

ated depreciation, custom duty concessions, excise duty exemptions and tax holiday.

Jasmeet Khurana, associate director, con-sulting, at Bridge to India, said on Twitter that state agencies, banks and the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) would be disburs-ing the subsidy to eligible consumers.

Even though MNRE targets 40GW of roof-top solar by 2022, Kapoor also admitted that uptake in India has been slow so far, especially when compared to the booming utility-scale market in the country.

Back in November Bridge to India released its ‘India Solar Rooftop Map 2016’ at Intersolar India, claiming that total installed capacity of rooftop as of 31 October 2015 was 525MW, and estimating that 455MW will be added in the next 12 months. The consul-tancy firm also projects that 6.5GW of rooftop will be installed in India by 2020.

Thus far, 26 states plan to support rooftop through net metering and gross metering pro-grammes.

A government of India statement claimed

that solar rooftop systems in India can gener-ate power at around INR6.50/kWh, which is cheaper than energy from diesel gen-sets.

The stae of Chhattisgarh government has also recently made it mandatory for new buildings of government, semi-government and institutions to have roofotp solar.

Indian integrated solar firm Tata Power Solar recently commissioned one of the world’s largest rooftop PV projects standing at 12MW in the Indian state of Punjab.

Jan 04

Jan 04

Anhra Pradesh has seen record low tariffs bid in last year's solar auctions. Credit: SECI

MNRE's Tarun Kapoor admitted rooftop uptake has been slow so far. Credit: Tata Power Solar

This report was created with articles from the following Solar Media journalists

Tom KenningBen Willis

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