Vol.

III s Issue-21 t 1

Vol. III s Issue-22

August 2014

I N S I D E
Mr. Rajinder Kumar Kaura
Conferred Prestigious Award

SESI G.C. Member invited as

Speaker in Myanmar
Green Energy Summit-2014

Renewable News

Editor: Jagat. S. Jawa

Mr. Rajinder Kumar Kaura

Conferred Prestigious Award
Energy and Environment Foundation, New Delhi has conferred the "Energy and
Environment Foundation Global Excellence Award 2014" in the Renewable
Energy
Sector
to Mr. Rajinder
Kumar
Kaura,
Vice
President,
SESI and CMD,
Bergen Group of
Companies.
The
above prestigious
award was given to
him by Mr. Upendra
Tripathy, Secretary,
Ministry of New
and
Renewable
Energy, Govt. of
India during the
5th World Renewable Energy Technology Congress and Expo - 2014 held on
21-23 August, 2014 at New Delhi. SESI is proud that the above award was
conferred on one of our esteemed member.

Design & Printed by: Celluloid - 9873798727

SOLAR ENERGY SOCIETY OF INDIA

(Indian Section of the International Solar Energy Society)
2nd Floor, Central Board of Irrigation and Power Building
Malcha Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi - 110 021
Tel: 011-65649864, Telefax: 011-40537412
E-mail: dg_sesi@yahoo.co.in, info@sesi.in,
Website: www.sesi.in
Disclaimer: The information presented in this newsletter has
been gathered from various original and public sources.

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SESI G.C. Member invited as Speaker in Myanmar

Green Energy Summit-2014
Mr. K.C. Dhimole, Member, Governing Council of Solar Energy Society of India had participated as an invited speaker
in Myanmar Green Energy Summit during 5-6 August, 2014 at Myanmar. The topic of Mr. Dhimole was Green Energy
Opportunities in Myanmar. His lecture was well received and Mr. Dhimole got lot of enquiries about SESI also.

INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON RENEWABLE ENERGY (ICORE) 2014

POWERING NATIONAL GROWTH THROUGH SOLAR
8-9 December, 2014
Manekshaw Center, Delhi Cantonment, New Delhi
Tel: 011-65649864, Telefax: 011-40537412
E-mail: dg_sesi@yahoo.co.in, info@sesi.in,
Website: www.sesi.in

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Tata Power explores

renewable energy
opportunities

be developed by Astonfield while the

second project, to be located in Union
Flacq, will be developed in partnership
with Alteo Energy.

Tata Power is looking for opportunities in India as well as overseas, including in the Middle East and Africa. The
private power utility has an installed
generation capacity of more than 8,580
MW, with around 1,170 MW coming
from clean energy sources. The company was looking for opportunities
in the renewable energy space, both
within India and outside. Besides India, opportunities are being eyed in
the Middle East, South East Asia and
parts of Africa. Out of current renewable capacity, hydel projects make up
for about 447 MW while wind plants
account for around 460 MW. The company aims to have 18,000 MW capacity by 2022, with 20-25 per cent contribution coming from clean energy
sources. Among others, the company
is executing two wind power projects
in South Africa, together having more
than 220 MW capacity. These are being implemented through Cennergi
(Pty) Ltd -- a joint venture between
Tata Power and Exxaro Resources.

Delhi schools try out

solar power

Astonfield Renewables
bags 4 MW solar power
projects in Mauritius
Astonfield Renewables has won an
order for two solar power projects with
4 MW capacity in Mauritius under the
government's 10 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) programme. The firm's bid
emerged among the top three of the 56
submitted by leading solar PV developers across the globe, the company said.
The company plans to invest about
$8.2 million to develop the projects,
with two major local banks vying to
provide the financing. The first 2 MW
project to be located in La Gaulette will
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In a bid to increasing the use of solar

power, several public schools are considering setting up roof-top solar power
plants. The environment department of
Delhi government has already installed
these in four government schools
Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalayas in Mayur
Vihar Phase I, Mangolpuri, Jwalapuri
and RK Puram, Sector 12which will
produce 10 kilowatt each. After attending a workshop by TERI, some other
schools are also considering this option. Springdales School, Pusa Road,
principal, Ameeta Mulla Wattal says
she's been trying to go solar for about
five years but it hasn't worked out. The
projects at government schools will be
funded by a mix of government agencies30% by Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy and 70 per cent
by Delhi government. The Delhi State
Industrial And Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd will provide
technical support.

GE invests in three wind

projects in India
GE Energy Financial Services, part
of conglomerate GE, has undertaken
investments in three wind energy projects in India, the company said. These
wind farms, being constructed by Atria
Power, have a combined capacity of
126 MW. One 25.6 MW project is
located in Andhra Pradesh and is expected to start commercial operations
in September. The two other projects
-- each having 50 MW capacity -- are
located in Madhya Pradesh. These are
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anticipated to start generation in December and June 2015, respectively.

The company is one of the leading investors in wind power, with projects
spanning nine countries and a capacity of more than 13 GW in operation
or under construction. The three wind
projects would use GE 1.6-87.5 wind
turbines to generate 76 MW of the total
capacity.

BHEL to expand its

solar power capacity in
Karnataka
The Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd
(BHEL) has bagged Rs. 68 crore worth
order for setting up a 10 MWp (mega
watt peak) grid-connected solar power
plant for the Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd (KPCL). The solar power
plant will be set up at Shivanasamudra,
Belakavadi village in Mandya district.
BHELs scope of work in the turnkey
contract envisages design, engineering, manufacture, supply, erection,
testing and commissioning of the 10
MW solar power plant including grid
inter-connection, operation and maintenance of the plant for three years,
the company said. BHEL has executed
similar projects for the KPCL that include a 3 MWp Grid Connected Solar Power Plant near Raichur and a 5
MWp Grid Connected Solar Power
Plant at Belakavadi village near Shivanasamudra in Karnataka. By placing
the present order for 10 MWp Solar Power Plant, the KPCL has once
again shown its confidence in BHEL.
BHEL has become a leading player in
the field of solar photovoltaics in the
country by successfully commissioning a number of large size solar power
plants in different parts of the country.
The mega watt-size solar power plants,
ranging from 2 MW to 10 MW rating,
set up by the company in Maharashtra,
Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and

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Uttar Pradesh, besides Karnataka, are

operating successfully and generating
environment-friendly, clean power and
supplying the same to the main grid.
BHEL is also installing its single largest 15 MW grid-connected solar power
plant for NTPC at Singrauli in Madhya
Pradesh. This apart, the company is
also executing a number of orders for
solar power plants, totaling to 25 MW
for various customers including the
Neyveli Lignite Corporation, Electricity Department of Daman & Diu and
Orissa Power Corporation Limited.

Domestic solar cell

makers set to vie with all
countries save China
Solar power project developers'
threat to import solar cells from countries such Japan, Korea, Singapore and
others is music to the ears of Indian
solar cell manufacturers. The manufacturers are of the view that it's better to compete with these countries
than "non-market" economies like
China. Delhi-based leading solar cell
manufacturer said with the developers
choosing countries such as the European Union, Korea, Japan and Canada, it
would be a competitive market. Power
project developers had earlier said if a
dumping duty is imposed on cheaper
imports, the solar power cost would go
up and the government's aim to bring
down solar power price would fail. India slapped dumping duty on solar gear
imported in the country from the US,
China, Malaysia and Taiwan, in order
to safeguard the domestic manufacturing of the same. The DirectorateGeneral of Anti-Dumping (DGAD), in
its final findings, recommended antidumping duties of up to $0.48 per watt
on solar cells coming from the US and
0.81 per watt on Chinese. The ministry
of new and renewable energy and project developers are apprehensive that
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this would double up the cost of solar power generation. The developers,
however, wrote to the government that
they would still depend on imports,
though from another set of countries.
The domestic manufacturers are of the
view that the cost of solar power would
remain at Rs. 7.5 per unit by 2020 if indigenous solar cells are used. The current cost of solar power in the country
is the Rs. 6.5-8 per unit. The industry is
also hopeful of scaling their current capacity by 300 MW from current 1,260
MW, by the year-end. According to the
data shared by the solar power producers, the cost of the Chinese solar cells
is around 58-61 cents per watt, which
is set to go up to $1.20 per watt, once
the dumping duty is imposed. Indigenously manufactured cells cost 44-48
cents per watt. Power producers said
the cost of cells coming from the US,
Singapore, Canada, Japan and European Union would cost between 75-90
cents.

AP can emerge as a solar

hub: Piyush Goyal
Andhra Pradesh (AP) could emerge
as a hub in solar power generation in
the near future with the pro-active approach of the state government, Union
Power Minister Piyush Goyal said.
Goyal said that a committee has been
set up to go into the contentious issues between Telangana and Andhra
Pradesh on power sharing.

Suzlon Energy's board

approves Rs. 50 bn fund
raising proposal
Suzlon Energy's board has approved
a proposal to raise up to Rs. 5,000 crore
through the issue of securities. The
board also gave its nod for increasing
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tal from Rs. 1,100 crore to Rs. 1,500

crore. All these proposals are subject to
nod from shareholders. The wind turbine maker said its net loss narrowed
to Rs. 750.74 crore in the three months
ended June 2014, mainly on the back
of higher income.

MNRE scheme to power

un-electrified Odisha
villages through solar
The Odisha government has set in
motion the task to identify un-electrified villages to be powered through solar power. The work is being taken up
as per a pilot scheme to be launched
by the Union ministry of new & renewable energy (MNRE). Under this
scheme, solar PV (photo voltaic) based
home systems would be provided to
every household in two villages/hamlets in every Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha
constituency. Each household will be
provided with a 10-200 W peak solar
PV system enough to provide power
to 3-5 LED lights,1-2 fans, provision
of mobile charging and running other
small appliances at the discretion of the
household. Each system is estimated
to cost Rs. 50,000. While MNRE will
bear 60 per cent of the cost, state governments are being persuaded to provide 30 per cent subsidy. The balance
10 per cent will be contributed by the
beneficiary. Though Odisha has a huge
potential for renewable energy sources,
especially solar power, it has remained
largely un-utilized. Renewable energy
potential in Odisha has been assessed
at 11820 MW, with solar energy having the highest potential at 10000 MW
among all green energy sources. The
potential for solar photo-voltaic source
is the highest at 8000 MW followed by
solar thermal and wind power at 2000
MW and 910 MW respectively. So far,
solar power projects of 13 MW have
been commissioned in the state while

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new projects with a total capacity of 30

Mw are under various stages of implementation. Investments to the tune of
Rs. 2500 crore are expected to flow to
Odisha in the renewable energy sector
during the 12th Plan Period (2012-17)
as the state has targeted capacity augmentation of 350 MW from solar, wind
and bio-mass sources in the period.

Chennai Angels invests

Rs. 30 mn in Fourth
Partner Energy
The Chennai Angels said it has invested Rs. 3 crore in Fourth Partner Energy
(4PEL), a Hyderabad based company
focussed on distributed solar power.
This round of funding will help 4PEL
enhance its capabilities. The company
has completed over 300 solar installations across the country with marquee
public and private sector companies.
Having built an end-to-end capability
including design, turnkey execution,
servicing and financial structuring of
captive solar assets, 4PEL is well positioned to take a leadership role in a
disruptive market segment. India faces
significant power shortages and distribution is the weakest link in this value
chain. With this backdrop, and given
the extent of available sunlight, solar
energy is a compelling alternative. It
is a unique power source which can be
generated and consumed locally.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was replying to a debate on the Finance Bill.
The scheme, which had benefited the
wind energy sector, was withdrawn by
the earlier government in 2012. At the
end of March, the installed wind power
generation capacity stood at more than
21,000 MW.

UK looks to deepen
partnership in energy
sector with India
United Kingdom (UK) is looking to
strengthen and deepen its partnership
with India in the energy sector, a top
UK official said. UK's Secretary of
State for Energy and Climate Change
Edward Davey also said that India can
play a crucial part in addressing global
climate change issues. Speaking at an
event organized by Indian Council for
Research on International Economic
Relations (ICRIER) here, he said UK
is looking to "strengthen and deepen"
its partnership with India in the energy
sector to ensure security and prosperity. According to him, India can also
play a crucial role in solving global climate change issues. There is a need for
early action to tackle climate change
issues, he said. United Kingdom is already engaged with India on various
initiatives pertaining to climate and
energy matters.

Govt restores accelerated

depreciation scheme for
wind energy

Govt to set up ultra

mega solar projects in
Rajasthan, Gujarat, MP,
J&K

In a relief to wind energy projects,

the government has restored the accelerated depreciation scheme for the
sector. Generally, accelerated depreciation refers to calculation that allows
for higher deductions towards deprecation in the early life time of an asset.

Government has plans to set up ultra mega solar power projects in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and
Jammu and Kashmir. Minister of State
for Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal
said that the government is promoting generation of renewable energy by

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providing various fiscal and financial

incentives such as capital and interest subsidy, concessional excise and
customs duties to encourage Indian
and foreign investors to invest in new
renewable energy sector. The Minister said an amount of Rs.147.88 crore
has been sanctioned for installation of
19,449 solar pumps under Jawaharlal
Nehri National Solar Mission and so
far 11,626 pumps have been installed
in the country. Goyal said the government has provided Rs 400 crore for
installation of one lakh solar water
pumping systems for irrigation and
drinking water purposes in 2014-15
budget. The Minister said the government has plans to set up solar parks in
Jammu and Kashmir and West Bengal
and was waiting for the state governments' help to get lands.

Waaree Energies to
install solar thermal
system at Mount Girnar
in Gujarat
Indias leading solar energy solutions
company Waaree Energies Limited has
received an order to install a 15,000 litres per day solar thermal system for a
customer in the beautiful Girnar mountain range of Girnar in Gujarat. To be
installed at the Devchand Dharmashala, the system will help reduce pollution caused by other fossil fules in Gir
area, that is also a home to the largest
lion population in the country. The solar thermal system will be based on BIS
approved flat plat e collector to achieve
temperatures of 60 degree C. Speaking
at the occasion, Mr. Nikunj Shukla,
SBU Head of Solar Thermal Division at Waaree, said This will be our
third installation at Junagadh for Waaree Energies. This system will reduce
a lot of air pollution which is caused
due to burning of diesel,firewood and
coal. Ours is a proven technology with

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a payback period of less than 3 years.

This ensures repeat business for us.
Girnar, the mountain and its range are
considered sacred and its an important
pilgrimage site for both Jains and Hindus, who gather here during the Girnar Parkrama festival. There are five
important jain temples and few other
hindu temples, which attract thousands
of devotees every year. A lot of these
pilgrims stay at dharamshalas on the
foot hills of Mt Girnar.

Govt trying to address

issues in renewable
energy sector
The government is trying to address
issues in the renewable energy sector
by balancing all interests and ensuring
that consumers get power at an affordable price, Minister of State for Power,
Coal and New and Renewable Energy
Piyush Goyal said. The minister said
that the country's energy security concerns need to be addressed. According
to the minister, the government is trying to balance all interests ensuring finally that consumer gets quality power
at affordable price. The renewable energy sector is grappling with various
issues. These include non-compliance
by entities in following the renewable
purchase obligations in the power sector. Various efforts are underway to
boost the domestic renewable energy
sector. Currently, India has an installed
renewable power generation capacity
of more than 31,600 MW.

ABB India working on

remote monitoring of
solar power plants
Upbeat about the future prospects of
the solar power sector, power and automation technologies maker ABB India
Ltd is working on technology for reS O L A R

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mote monitoring of solar power plants

in order to optimize output of electricity. The company is in talks with various players in the solar power sector
and trying to understand their requirements. The companys solar division
that makes inverters, switch gears and
provides operation and maintenance
solutions for solar power units plans
to focus on emerging roof-top solar
power generation market as it sees big
potential in it in the coming years. The
engineering major also wants to cash
in on its recently launched solar pump
drives which have been re-engineered
for India to meet requirements of uninterrupted and reliable power supply
for the rural market and agricultural
sector. With the union government allocating Rs. 400 crore for such solar
pumps in the budget, the company sees
a scope of 25 per cent rise in sales in
2014-15. With over 300 sunny days a
year, the solar pump drives could help
farmers maximize the benefits of solar
power, while reducing dependency on
the conventional grid power.

Tax sops for wind energy

to boost Suzlon
With government announcing the reintroduction of tax incentives for investors in wind energy, Suzlon Energy is
confident of boosting its India business.
The Pune-based turbine maker expects
additional demand for 1,000 MW of
wind energy installations in the Indian
market that has been adding close to
2,000 MW of capacity annually. Suzlon is confident of bagging orders to
the tune of 2,000-2,500 MW over a period of two years, said Suzlon chairman
Tulsi Tanti. Suzlon has an order book
of close to 5,000 MW to be executed
by 2016-17 in India, Germany, Canada,
Australia, France, UK and Belgium
among others. Currently, Suzlon gets
one fourth of its revenue from the Indian market while the rest comes from
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exports and international business.

Tanti said with improved prospects in
India, Suzlon may earn its one third
revenue from India. According to Tanti, the increased National Clean Energy
cess will make a higher corpus available for investors in renewable energy.
Also, he anticipated increased participation of corporate houses and public
sector units in wind energy to meet targets for corporate social responsibility.

Govt modifies tender

guidelines for projects
under JNNSM
After finding some irregularities in
earlier bidding process, the government
said it has modified tender guidelines
for projects awarded under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission
(JNNSM). An inter-ministerial committee, that was set up by the earlier
government, to examine the irregularities in allocation of thermal power projects to companies under Phase I, Batch
I of JNNSM has made certain suggestions. Minister of State for Power, Coal
and New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal said that although it cannot
be proved whether Lanco had acquired
stake in seven companies, intension to
do so cannot be ruled out as actions in
acquiring low dividend compulsorily
convertible preference shares are suggestions in that direction. Another matter flagged off by the committee was regarding non-availability of information
and transparency from NTPC Vidyut
Vyapar Nigam Ltd (NVVN).

India property developer

plans 100 MW solar
project
D.S. Kulkarni Developers Ltd., an
Indian real-estate company, plans
to build 100 MW of solar capacity

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by 2019 to lock in rising electricity

costs. The Pune-based company will
invest Rs. 9 billion ($148 million)
in the project, which will be built in
Neemuch in central Madhya Pradesh
state, Chairman and Managing Director D.S. Kulkarni said. Kulkarni
expects to generate electricity at
about Rs. 5.5 a kilowatt-hour on average during the 25-year lifetime of
the project. Thats as little as half
the commercial power tariff that the
property developer pays now. The
company has acquired 125 acres
(505,857 square meters) of land and
will begin construction on the first 24
MW this year, he said.

Target of 29.8 GW
of electricity from
renewable sources
The government said it has set a
target of capacity addition of 29,800
MW of power from various renewable energy sources during 12th
Plan period. Minister of State for
Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal said that
Rs. 19,113 crore has been provided
for promotion and generation of renewable energy during the Twelfth
Five-Year Plan period. The Minister said details of power generated
from the renewable energy sources
in public sector undertakings as
well as in the private sector during
2012-13 and 2013-14 are 47.61 billion units and 53.22 billion units
respectively. The Minister further
stated that budget allocation for the
years 2015-16 and 2016-17 will be
done after approval of annual plans
by the government and physical
targets will be fixed accordingly.
He said his ministry had prepared a
strategic plan for New and Renewable Energy Sector in the year 2011
which has indicated a cumulative.
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Gedcol to set up 20 MW
solar plant
Green Energy Development Corporation Limited (Gedcol), the nodal body
appointed by the state government to
generate renewable energy, has identified about 120 acre land at Manmunda
in Boudh district for establishment of
20 MW solar power plant. The land has
been allotted to Gedcol from the industrial park area earmarked by Odisha
Industrial Infrastructure Development
Corporation (Idco). The green energy
firm, an Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC) subsidiary, has already
floated an engineering, procurement
and construction (EPC) tender for the
project. Apart from the Boudh project,
the agency is in the lookout for additional land in Koraput, Kantamal and
Bolangir area for installing about 200
MW solar energy capacity.

India solar-credit
demand rises to 4 month
high in July
Demand for Indian solar-energy
credits rose to a four-month high in
July after a power utility entered the
market seeking to comply with government clean-energy targets. A total
of 6,633 solar credits were sold on
the nations two power exchanges, according to trader REConnect Energy
Solutions Pvt. Thats the most since
March. India requires state-run electricity distributors and large industrial
companies including Coal India Ltd
and Tata Power Co. to get as much as
10 percent of their energy from renewables. Those unable to get enough locally must purchase credits sold over
power exchanges in monthly trading
sessions. The solar credits cleared at
their minimum price of 9,300 rupees
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watt-hour of electricity fed into the

grid. Wind, hydropower and biomass
credits, which trade separately, sold at
their floor price of Rs. 1,500.

India's largest solar

power plant planned in
Madhya Pradesh
Plans are afoot to set up the country's
largest ultra mega solar power plant
(UMSPP) in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa
district. The plant, to produce 700 MW
of electricity, would require an investment of Rs. 4,000 crore, State's Additional Chief Secretary for New and
Renewable Energy SR Mohanty said.
The electricity from the plant would
be available at Rs. 5.40 paise per unit,
which would be the lowest in the country, Mohanty said. The state government would set up the plant as a joint
venture with the Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy, Power Grip Corporation and the Solar Energy Corporation of India, he said. The country's
biggest solar plant with a capacity of
130 MW is situated in Neemuch district of the state. Minister of State
for Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal
said that the government is promoting generation of renewable energy by
providing various fiscal and financial
incentives such as capital and interest
subsidy, concessional excise and customs duties to encourage Indian and
foreign investors to invest in new renewable energy sector.

India is fifth largest

producer of wind energy
India is the fifth largest producer
of wind energy with the sector alone
constituting 68 per cent of the total renewable energy produced in the country, India's ambassador to the UAE T
P Seetharam has said. Annual growth

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rate of renewable energy in India in the

last decade has been about 22 per cent,
said Seetharam, who was earlier this
month appointed India's permanent
representative to International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). India
is one of the 21 members of the Abu
Dhabi-based IRENA and the current
vice-chairman of its council. Seetharam said hydropower, bio-energy and
solar energy are other areas that have
good potential and sharing experiences
and international cooperation is the
way forward to tap this potential. Further, he said that all these require huge
investment. According to him, during
the 12th five-year plan, the projected
investment into renewable is to be four
times above the 11th five-year plan.
The 11th five-year plan had projected
an investment of Rs. 892 billion and
for the current plan it has gone up to
Rs. 3,186 billion. Seetharam said that
renewable energy solutions are relevant to India as they can be generated
in remote areas that are difficult to access from the central grid. Renewable
energy allows you to produce energy
where it is consumed even in remote
areas where you can have wind, solar
or biogas. India recently became the
19th member to designate a permanent
representative to IRENA, an intergovernmental organization that supports
countries in their transition to a sustainable energy future, and serves as
the principal platform for international
cooperation. IRENA promotes the
widespread adoption and sustainable
use of all forms of renewable energy in
the pursuit of sustainable development.

Local solar panel makers

may help save $42 bn:
KPMG
A sustainable manufacturing policy
for the solar panel industry could help
save USD 42 billion in forex outgo by
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2030, according to a KPMG report and

the Indian Solar Manufacturers' Association (ISMA). Noting that about
100 GW of solar capacity would be
established in the country by 2030,
the KPMG report said. Currently, India imports more than US $ 30 billion
of electronic goods, including solar
panels, annually making it the fourth
largest item in the import basket, contributing to 23 per cent of its trade
deficit. The KPMG report said that
the solar manufacturing industry has
been facing challenging times because
of various factors including lack of a
level-playing field and various global
factors.

Mytrah Energy to add

300 MW by next year at
Rs.20 bn
Mytrah Energy said it will add 300
MW wind power to the existing 527
MW by the end of next year entailing
Rs. 2,000 crore investment. The investment for additional power generation will be in the range of Rs. 2,000
crore which will be raised through
internal sources, Mytrah said. Mytrah
said renewable energy developers are
paid less than what the coal-based
power companies are paid. The growth
will be much better if the government
makes the price more remunerative.
Mytrah said that by and large policies
of Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are good and Karnataka
has a fantastic policy for wind energy.

Vikram Solar to build

Indias first floating solar
plant
Vikram Solar Pvt., an Indian panel
maker, won a contract to build the
South Asian nations first floating solar power plant on a lake in eastern
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India. The 15-kilowatt pilot plant will

be constructed by December on top of
a 1,400-square-foot (130-square-meter)
platform anchored to the lakebed next
to Kolkatas New Town Eco Park, said
S.P. Gon Chaudhuri, a member of the
governing body of the West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency.
The project will study whether situating
a solar installation above water helps to
boost generation by cooling the panels,
he said. Excessive heat can reduce the
efficiency of solar modules. The project
will also examine the effects of corrosion and evaporation from the lake, he
said. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is financing the project,
which will cost about Rs. 2 million
($32,700) to build and require another 2
million rupees for research, Chaudhuri
said. The 20,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity generated annually will be sold
to the grid at Rs. 8.9 a unit, he said.

Govt aims to add 10

GW per year to lift wind
energy sector
The government plans to rapidly accelerate wind energy generation, adding an ambitious 10,000 MW every
year, or five times the total new capacity that came up in the last fiscal, as the
Modi government takes steps to reduce
India's dependence on costly energy
imports. Wind energy, which had been
overshadowed by solar projects in recent years, got a big boost as the government has restored key tax incentives that had helped India emerge as
one of the top countries in the world in
generating electricity from wind. The
government feels that tax incentives
coupled with conducive environment
will rapidly accelerate wind energy.
According to Indian Wind Turbine
Manufacturers Association (IWTMA)
proposed target is achievable as the
country has capacity to manufacture

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close to 9,500 MW of wind turbines

and it can be expanded in short period.
IWTMA said Indian wind turbine makers with access to best technologies
and services are globally competitive
but they are unable to offer cheaper finance like Chinese firms.

Fulfilment of RPOs to
shape domestic solar
photo-voltaic power
demand: Report
The domestic demand for grid connected solar photo-voltaic power will be
moulded by the extent of fulfilment of renewable purchase obligations (RPOs) by
state distribution companies, according
to a recent report. A report by ICRA said
that discoms will have to buy the obligated share of renewable power determined
by the State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs) in order to ensure that
solar power producers are not at financial
risk. Under the National Tariff Policy
2006, state distribution companies have
to buy renewable power or Renewable
Energy Certificates (RECs) to meet the
obligations. In case of solar power, the
RPO has been fixed at 0.25 per cent in
2012, which is to be increased to three
per cent by 2022. To fulfil the solar RPO
requirements by the end of FY15, solar
capacity addition of over 2,500 MW
would be required in the current financial
year to touch 5291 MW, the report said.
Domestic solar PV installations crossed
the 2,600 MW mark by the end of FY14,
with 1,100 MW of projects being commissioned during that fiscal.

New land act may impact

cost of renewable energy
projects: Govt
Minister of State for Power, Coal
& New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal said the cost of land in reS O L A R

E N E R G Y

newable energy projects such as wind

farms and solar farms/power plants is
of the order of 3 to 5 per cent of the
total project cost. The minister said
that the government has taken various initiatives including setting up
of solar parks on the banks of canals,
ultra mega solar power projects, wind
power projects for which the states
are encouraged to use land including
wastelands depending on availability
and resources. Goyal said that a total
of over 53.22 billion units have been
produced during 2013-14 from nonconventional sources of energy in the
country which includes rural areas.

Incentivise action
on climate change:
Javadekar
Regretting that the responses of
countries were not adequate to combat climate change issue, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said
time has come to "incentivise" action.
The Minister said India has taken a
number of steps on voluntary basis in
pursuance of a sustainable development strategy. India has formulated
its national climate change action plan
with eight missions which are being
strengthened, he said. Javadekar also
said that the country has designed a low
carbon strategy for growth and has set
up ambitious renewable energy targets.
Noting that the government under Narendra Modi is committed to the cause
for a clean and green environment, he
said the Union Budget this year has underscored initiatives to tackle climate
change. Clean energy cess on coal has
been increased from Rs. 50 per ton to
Rs. 100 to reduce more revenue for
clean energy and cross subsidising solar and other renewable energy. A sum
of Rs. 100 crore has been allocated
for national adaption fund for climate
change while Rs. 100 crore has been
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allocated for new ultra modern super

critical coal based thermal power technology, he said.

Jakson Group wins

contract from DMRC to
set up solar plants
Power solutions provider Jakson
Group said it has bagged a contract
from Delhi Metro Railways Corporation (DMRC) to install roof top solar
power plants that will help DMRC
meet its operational requirements such
as lighting of the stations. Under the
deal, the company will set up roof top
solar plants with an aggregate power
capacity of 250 Kwp (kilowatts peak)
at DMRC's three premises -- Pragati
Maidan Metro Station, Anand Vihar
Metro Station and Metro Enclave,
Saket. The power generated by these
plants would be used for DMRC's operational requirements including station lighting and other loads, Jakson
Group said. Jakson Power Solutions is
targeting to commission the three projects within next six months.

PTC India Financial

Services approves loans
of over Rs. 10 bn to power
projects
PTC India Financial Services (PFS)
has approved loans of over Rs. 1,000
crore to power projects, bulk of them in
renewable energy space. PFS approved
project lending of a little over Rs. 1,000
crore to established players with proven track record. Bulk of the projects are
in renewable energy space. Loan of Rs.
540 crore has been sanctioned for solar
projects and
Rs. 265 crore for
wind projects. Hydroelectric projects
have got Rs. 140 crore from PFS and
capital thermal power plants another
Rs. 150 crore. In one of the projects in

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the solar space, PFS is the sole lender

and is lending Rs. 300 crore. The 50
MW project in Madhya Pradesh is a
joint venture between a leading Public
sector company, NEEPCO and a private player chosen after bidding. The
project is likely to come up by January 2015. With NDA government's focus on renewable energy, a number of
projects are beginning to take shape or
are in the process of being constructed. There is keen interest in renewable
energy projects from both public and
private sector companies. India, with
abundant sunshine through the year,
long coastline ideal for wind power and
water resources, is ideal for renewable
energy. While bulk of India's current
power generation is coal based, which
is both polluting and a finite source,
renewable energy promises to significantly cut down pollution levels.

Fifth India-US Energy

Summit to focus on
renewable energy
Renewable energy and energy security would be the focus of the two-day
annual India-US Energy Summit to be
held next month. Noting that energy
security is critical for both the US and
India, Dr R K Pachauri, president of
The Energy and Resources Institute
North America (TERI NA), said the
two countries must work together,
both in energy security as well as on
policy fronts, so as to bring in some
positive changes. The two-day event
from September 30 being organised
by TERI and Yale University is likely
to be attended by top officials and energy experts from both the countries.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is
expected to be in the city to meet President Barack Obama, has been invited
to address the meeting in energy, a subject close to his heart. According to the
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TERI, the focus of the Summit will be

on bilateral cooperation in the energy
sector and related areas.

Goyal announces 2 GW
solar project for Punjab
Minister of state for power, coal and
renewable energy Piyush Goyal said
the Centre has decided to set up a 2,000
MW solar power plant in Punjab on the
request of state's chief minister Parkash Singh Badal. Goyal said state-run
power generator NTPC will buy half of
the 2,000 MW solar power produced in
Punjab. Badal told the Union minister
that his government would soon give a
detailed proposal on its plan to install
100 MW solar panels on rooftops of
government buildings. Goyal told the
chief minister that Rural Electrification
Corporation and Power Finance Corporation will jointly provide Rs. 400 crore
to the state government to install smart
electricity meters in Punjab, adding that
the state will have to provide the remaining Rs. 100 crore for the project.

People's climate march

in Delhi Sep 20 to seek
action
Ahead of the Summit on Climate
Change in New York next month, a
"People's Climate March" will be held
in the national capital Sep 20, to show
political leaders that there is a strong
force of concerned citizens demanding
action on climate change. The Summit
is scheduled for Sep 23. The march is
a global movement with participation
of college students, kids, other civil
society allies, young professionals,
rights groups, resident welfare associations and farming communities. The
group is using the social media to create awareness about the march and to
increase people's participation.
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Import levy could push

solar projects into
litigation: MNRE
The Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy (MNRE) has said that imposing
levy on imported solar cells could result
in higher electricity prices as well as
push many projects into litigation. Rather than hiking the duty, the Ministry is
of the view that reservation for local
content could be increased in the tenders to provide relief for the domestic
equipment makers. To protect the struggling domestic industry, the Ministry of
Commerce and Industry, in May, had
recommended imposing a restrictive
duty in the range of USD 0.11 to 0.81
per watt on solar cells imported from
the US, China, Malaysia and Chinese
Taipei. According to MNRE, it might
happen that all the tenders which have
already been awarded might go into
litigation as they would not deliver in
case higher anti-dumping duty comes.
The higher duty proposal also comes
at a time when MNRE is working on
ways to bolster renewable energy in the
country, including from solar sources.
MNRE said that if a developer goes into
litigation that entity would not be placing orders, and as a result the domestic
industry would not have any benefit.
Many domestic solar manufacturers
have been raising concerns about the
dumping of cheap solar cells into India.
Going by estimates from the Indian Solar Manufacturers' Association, imports
of solar products into India touched Rs.
6,000 crore last year but Indian manufacturers did not even get two per cent
of that business. The recommendation
of the Directorate General of Antidumping and Allied Duties for levying
higher import came after a one-and-ahalf year probe into allegations of cheap
solar cells being dumped into India. A
final decision on the matter would be
taken by the Finance Ministry.

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AP to announce new
solar power policy soon
With NTPC, NTPC Vidyut Vyapar
Nigan Ltd and Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) evincing interest to
develop and facilitate large solar power
parks in Andhra Pradesh (AP), the State
Government is gearing up to come out
with a new policy which will provide
escalation clause to make investments
attractive. A decision to the effect has
been taken by the State Government and
a meeting of developers of solar energy
projects and wind energy companies
was convened to interact with them and
thrash out the irritants. The State, with
the support of the Central Government
is keen to transform AP as a solar power
generation hub, providing all necessary
support through a new solar policy to
be announced soon. To boost the renewable energy sector, the government
plans to facilitate installation of about
5,000 MW of solar power generation
and 4,000 MW of wind generation capacity by 2019. NTPC is set to sign up
with the State for a 1,000-MW park,
NVVNL will facilitate 1,000 MW and
SECI has agreed to support these initiatives and in setting up of another 500
MW, for which bids have been invited.
The State is also poised to secure Rs.
500 crore from the Central Government
to promote solar energy development.
The Government has identified land in
Ananthapur, Kadapa, Kurnool and Chittoor for solar and wind energy projects.

three years. The city-based diversified

company, which is also the world's
second largest home linen maker and
a one of the top heavy industrial pipes
producers, is into the pipes, plates &
coils, steel, infrastructure and energy
and had grossed up over Rs. 18,000
crore in revenues last fiscal. It has two
subsidiaries in the energy space - Welspun Renewables Energy and Welspun
Energy one for the solar and the wind
respectively. The private equity of the
Asian Development Bank had recently
picked around 11 percent in the latter
for USD 50 million.

Solargise buys majority

stake in Grapp Energies
for $200 mn
UK-based solar power firm Solargise
has acquired majority stake in India
based renewable energy firm Grapp
Energies and its subsidiary Green Ripples for USD 200 million. Post this acquisition, the new entity will be known
as Solargise Grapp Energies Pvt Ltd.
Both the companies have presence in
the Indian market for almost 4 years
now and have executed 80 off-grid
solar power projects during this period. Grapp has recently secured over
200 MW project with in Northern and
Western India and EPC orders for over
145 MW. Solargise has committed
to invest in Gujarat and Rajasthan to
build solar power plants, photovoltaic
modules manufacturing and a research
and development facility.

Welspun to invest Rs. 150

bn in solar, wind energy
segments August

Tata Power Solar

commissions plant in AP

Welspun Group, one of the largest domestic solar power producers,

is betting big on the sector and has
plans to invest Rs. 15,000 crore to take
its capacity to 1.75 GW over the next

Tata Power Solar said it has successfully commissioned a 3 MW

solar power plant for Andhra Sugars
Ltd. Built as part of the Renewable
Purchase Obligation (RPO) and for

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their captive consumption, the plant

is based at the Andhra Sugars Limited, Chemicals & Fertilizers Division, Kovvur, Andhra Pradesh, the
company said. Tata Power Solar said
that Andhra Sugars Ltd opted for solar energy to fulfill its renewable obligation.

Madhya Pradesh Signs 75

MW Solar PPAs on World
Environment Day
On the occasions of World Environment Day, realizing the dream of
Solar Energy the Madhya Pradesh
Power Management Co. Ltd (MPPMCL) signed PPAs with 3 private companies for purchase of Solar Power
in the presence of MPPMCLs CEO
Shri Manu Shrivastav. First PPA was
signed with Renew Solar Energy, New
Delhi 50 MW Solar Plant, second PPA
with Bhadresh Trading Corporation
Ltd, Mumbai for 10 MW Solar Plant
and third with KRBL for 15 MW Solar Plant. All the PPAs was signed by
Shri R.D. Saxena, M.D. of MPPMCL
with Mr. Shashank Adhalkha, Renew Solar Energy and Mr. Riken
Bora, Bhadresh Trading Pvt Ltd and
Mr. Avdesh Kumar Sharma, KRBL.
MPPMCL had floated a tender ti invite compnies ot set up solar plant in
the state of Madhya Pradesh under the
competitive bidding route and thus received 24 offers wherein 6 companies
were issued LOIs for 120 MW Solar
Projects. The winning bidders quoted
between Rs. 6.47 per unit to Rs. 6.97
per unit. Renew Solar Energy will
commission a 50 MW Solar Energy
Plant at Vijaypur, Dist. Sheopur and
the commissioning time is 25 months.
The Solar Power will start flowing
from July2016. The company has
signed PPA to supply the solar power
at Rs. 6.97 per unit Bhadresh will set
up 10 MW Solar Plant at Khilchu-

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pur, Dist. Rajgarh which has signed

25 year PPA to supply solar power
at Rs. 6.9 per unit and will be operational from Dec2015. KRBL will set
up 15 MW Solar Plant at Barod, Dist.
Agar which has signed a 25 year PPA
to supply solar power at Rs. 6.949 per
unit and the plant will be operational
within 18 months by Dec2015.

Indosolar inks single

largest solar cell supply
contract of 60 MW with
Azure Power
Indosolar Limited inks the single
largest solar cell supply contract of
60 MW under Domestic Content
Requirement (DCR) of National Solar Mission signed today with Azure
Power India Pvt. Ltd, at New Delhi.
Mr. B.K. Gupta, Chairman of Indosolar Limited concluded the definitive agreement with Mr. Inderpreet
Wadhwa, CEO, Azure Power India
Pvt. Ltd., at a small and closely held
ceremony. Supplies will commence
shortly and will be completed early
Q1, 2015, keeping in mind the timeline of the National Solar Mission.
This first mega deal to supply high
efficiency cells of 17.4% average efficiency made at our state-of-art facility, is the start of the revival of large
scale domestic manufacturing in India and we express our gratitude to
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE)-Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and Government
of India for providing an enabling
environment to promote Indian manufacturing in this strategic field of
clean energy.- Gupta said Indosolar
will immediately start-up 200 MW
lines already operated and complete
installation of its third super production line of 250 MW to be commissioned by the end of this year.
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IREDA and PFC Green

Energy Limited joins
hands for joint financing
of Renewable Energy
and Energy Efficiency &
Conservation Projects
Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA)
and PFC Green Energy Limited (PFC
GEL) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate joint financing of Renewable
Energy (RE) and Energy Efficiency
& Conservation (EEC) Projects in
the country. The MoU was signed
by Shri Satish Kumar Bhargava, Director (Finance) IREDA and Shri A.
Chakravarti, CEO PFC GEL on 21st
May, 2014 in the presence of Shri K.S.
Popli, Chairman & Managing Director,
IREDA and Shri M.K. Goel, Chairman
& Managing Director, PFC along with
Director (P), Director (F) and other senior officials from both the companies.
The MoU shall facilitate in expediting
financial closure of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Projects.
This shall further enable meeting the
growing fund requirements of Indias
Renewable Energy sector to meet the
ambitious targets set under the 12th
plan period.

Gamesa India inks wind

projects in AP, MP
Gamesa Wind Turbines Pvt. Ltd.,
has signed a repeat order of 80 MW
wind power project with an emerging
independent power producer. Under
the contract, Gamesa would be supplying in two places, 25 units of G97-2.0
MW turbines at Tagguparthi in Andhra
Pradesh and 15 units of G97-2.0 MW
turbines at Dewas in Madhya Pradesh.
The commissioning is scheduled to
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be completed by March 2015. The

company will be responsible for the
full scope of site development, supply and commissioning of the turbines
and operation and maintenance work.
Ramesh Kymal, CMD, Gamesa India, said, We are delighted to receive
such a valuable reapeat order from an
emerging IPP. It clearly proves our
expertise and a strong presence in the
Indian wind industry. We are confident
that our G97-2.0 MW will surely be
able to maximize returns on investment for IPPs.

Tata Power Solar

commissions the largest
rooftop solar plant in
South India
Tata Power Solar has successfully
commissioned a 2 MW rooftop solar
plant for Murugan Textiles, the largest
power loom producer in India. The solar plant is part of their green initiatives,
and is the largest rooftop solar plant in
South India. Dr. Arul Shanmugasundaram, EVP Projects and CTO, Tata Power
Solar, said, Rooftop solar power is increasingly being used as a mainstream
option for power generation. We are
confident that the plant will help them
manage their power requirements better, while setting an example of clean
energy to the entire region. The rooftop solar system, built on top of existing spinning mills and a warehouse, is
situated in a high-wind region and required considerable structural planning
and innovation. Situated across three
buildings, with 800 kWp on just a single building, the plant will help displace
approximately 2,500 tonnes of carbon
dioxide (Co2) per annum. The plant is
designed for captive consumption and,
to avail REC benefits, is connected to
the grid through a dedicated feeder at
11 Kv. Located in Palladam, Triupur
district of Tamil Nadu, the plant is the

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first phase of a 3 MW project and work

on the second phase of 1 MW will begin
early next year.

Policy on rooftop solar

generation for Delhi soon
The Delhi Electricity Regulatory
Commission (DERC) is expected to
notify the proposal for rooftop solar
power generation in Delhi. The initiative envisages individual households
producing solar power for their own
consumption and also decreasing the
peak time load on the power network.
The DERC is in the process of finalizing regulations about its proposal to
introduce net metering for rooftop solar power generation as per the guidelines laid down by the Union Ministry
of New and Renewable Energy. Once
the policy is notified, the Delhi government will initiate putting solar plants
on government buildings, colleges and
hospitals. It may be later followed at
individual level. The Delhi Government is likely to announce productionbased subsidy and other incentives for
solar power generation. So far, Delhi
doesnt have a solar policy, which is
proving to be a deterrent in accessing
incentives for producing solar energy.
If somebody wants to generate solar
power for their own purposes, they
may do so and, if they produce more,
they can have an arrangement with
their power supplier to send the excess
power in the distribution grid, DERC
Chairperson, PD Sudhakar was quoted
as saying. DERC member JP Singh
added, Suppose a household with the
solar unit uses 900 units. If it generates
about 200 units of electricity per month
through the solar unit, it would be able
to bring its electricity bill down significantly. Another implication would
be lessening of the peak time load on
the power network. It would thus also
bring down the power purchase cost.
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The power during peak hours is very

expensive. So if the discoms load during the peak timings is less, then the
power purchase cost would also come
down, which will go a long way in
bringing the tariff down.

Rays Experts bags 500

KW rooftop solar project
Rays Power Experts Pvt. Ltd has
won the tender for the implementation of 500 Kw grid connected
rooftop solar power projects in Rajasthan. The company plans to begin
development in August-September at
Jaipur, Jodhpur and Neemrana cities
in Rajasthan. This particular project
is part of the fourth phase of project
allocations under the rooftop Photovoltaic (PV) projects scheme of the
Solar Energy Corporation of India
(SECI). As per the report released
by SECI, the corporation had invited
RfS for allocation of 50 MW of solar
photovoltaic (PV) rooftop projects
in 21 Indian states in March 2014
under two models-Part-A (CAPEX)
and Part-B (RESCO). Nimit Aggarwal, Director, Rooftop Business,
Rays Power Experts said, India is
blessed with rich solar energy and if
exploited efficiency, the country has
the potential of producing trillionkilowatts of electricity. With the recent budgets emphasis on renewable
energy and initiative of setting aside
Rs. 500 crore for ultra-mega solar
power projects in many states, the future of solar power is very promising.
This was the first time we had bid for
any government tender and we are
honoured to bag the project of SECI
for execution of solar rooftop projects in Rajasthan. Their trust in us has
boosted our morale and commitment
towards development of many more
solar plants and projects across the
nation.
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Government wants strict

RPO Compliance
The Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy (MNRE) wants state electricity regulatory commissions (SERCs)
to exercise their statutory authority on
state distribution companies (dicoms)
to ensure renewable purchase obligation (RPO) compliance. The ministry
has urged the SERCs to look into the
matter accordingly. If wants the SERCs
to direct discoms to make provision for
meeting RPO shortfall in annual revenue requirements. MNRE informed
that the RPO compliance was 3.74 per
cent and 0.08 per cent respectively in
2012-13, aginst stipulated levels of
5.45 per cent for non-solar and 0.45
per for solar. For the year 2013-14,
discoms had made provision only for
50 per cent RPO compliance. This was
discussed in a Forum of Regulators
(FOR) recently. The Ministry argued
that enforcement of RPO by SERCs is
critical to the success of government
initiatives in RE capacity. The Discoms
may keep money aside to purchase renewable energy certificates (RECs)
equivalent to the shortfall. Central
Electricity Regulatory Commissions
former chairman, Pramod Deo, said
that while prescribing RPO, the state
regulators have to consider the impact
on retail tariff.

Govt promoting
decentralized RE
The Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy (MNRE) is creating awareness
about use of renewable energy in the
country, and helping development of
decentralized renewable systems in
rural areas. This was informed by the
MNRE Minister, Piyush Goyal in the
Parliament. The Ministry is implementing Remote Village Electrification (RVE) Programme for providing

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financial support for lighting and basic

electrification in the remote villages
and hamlets devoid of grid facility.
The RVE scheme is based on proposal
submitted by states for coverage of
left out villages and hamlets from the
Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran
Yojana. The Government is providing
basic facilities to villagers for setting
up renewable energy systems for basic
electricity generation. Central financial
assistance to the tune of 90 per cent of
the costs of systems is provided for
approved projects to the states. The
balance cost of projects is financed
through contribution from state plans,
beneficiaries, or other sources. The
Minister informed that the MNRE is
undertaking various programmes for
promotion of renewable energy. The
Ministry has been organizing awareness camps, capacity building programmes through regional rural banks,
manufacturers & suppliers of solar
systems and state agencies.

Solar to power New Delhi

railway station
In order to meet the rising power demand, Indian Railways is mulling generation of 1 MW of solar power at the
New Delhi railway station by installing
solar panels on the roofs of the platforms. This is part of the Indian Railways initiative of converting a few of
its stations into green buildings. The
project will be developed on a public
private partnership model. The private
partner will install the solar panels and
generate power. The electricity will
be purchased by the railways at a predetermined rate. According to officials,
a consultant has been asked to identify the exact locations at the station
premises, where the solar panels can
be set up. The New Delhi railway station is spread over an area of 6,38,467
square metres, which includes the yard
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area. The total built up area is around

4,21,388 square metres. There are 16
platforms, and around 1 MW of solar
power can be generated. This will meet
at least 25 per cent of the energy requirements at the station.

RE may surpass coalbased power by 2050

The share of renewable energy in
Indias total energy mix may reach 35
per cent by 2050, surpassing coal-based
power generation. The complete realization of the Integrated Plan for Desert
Power Development will help the decade of 2040 to 2050 emerge as the decade when the installed renewable energy capacity in India will be more than
the coal based installed capacity. Under
the Desert Power India-2050 plan, the
aim is to install 455 GW of renewable
energy capacity. At least two-thirds of
this 455 GW renewable energy capacity will be installed in the desert wastelands of India and it will also be spread
in the northern, as well as western parts
of the country. The objective is to harness 5 to 15 per cent of the wasteland
available in these arid regions. The primary emphasis will be on tapping the
solar and wind energy potential. If the
country is able to achieve the target of
installed renewable energy base of 485
GW by 2050, the share renewables will
increase to 35 per cent, while the share
of coal-based power capacity will come
down to 32 per cent.

ONGC plans 6 GW of RE
projects through JV
The state-run company Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is looking for joint venture (JV) partners to set
up 6,000 MW of solar and wind energy
projects. The strategic partnership is being aimed to set up 3,000 MW each of
wind and solar power projects. Under
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this joint venture, an investment of Rs.

3,750 crore will be made and the target
is to set up at least 2,000 MW of the
total planned capacity by 2020. Out of
this 1,500 MW will be set up in the wind
sector and 500 MW will be in the solar
energy space. The PSU firm will like to
have a single integrated firm as a partner
having renewable energy portfolios in
both wind and solar domain. The partner should have requisite credentials and
experience for expeditious roll out of the
planned capacity. The JV will make a
contribution of 20 per cent of the equity
each year for the next five years. ONGC
might infuse its share of required funds
and the JV partner is expected to bring
commensurate investments.

Tata, Reliance bet big

on RE
Two of the countrys biggest power
producers, Tata Power and Reliance
Power, are betting big on developing
renewable energy projects. Both the
power biggies are likely to spend about
Rs.1,500 crore each on clean energy
projects in the fiscal year 2014-2015.
While the focus of Reliance Power will
have a much wider focus area. Over
the next two years, Tata Power plans
to add 800 MW of new renewable energy capacity from solar,wind,hydro
and waste-gases. Anil Sardana, MD &
CEO of Tata Power said that the renewable energy holds the key for them. He
informed that they have already crossed
the 500 MW milestone of renewable
energy generation in India. Reliance
issued a statement which said that currently, their operating renewable portfolio capacity is close to 100 MW and at
least 125 MW is about to be completed.
The company has formulated plans to
play an important role in the renewable
energy segment. The company is optimistic that the time is ripe to provide
boost to the renewable energy space
with special focus on solar PV projects.

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Vol. III s Issue-21 t 15

Griha, Lead partner for

green buildings
In a bid to accelerate the development of high performance buildings in
India and Southeast Asia. The Energy
and Resources Institute (TERI) and the
US Green Building Council (USGBC)
have entered into a strategic collaboration. Recently, TERIs Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment
(GRIHA) and USGBCs Leadership
in Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED) formed a partnership to accelerate green buildings. The partnership
comes on the heels of announcement
from USGBC regarding its expansion
of support for LEED in India. The
partnership will promote the best of
global and Indian practices to ensure
efficiency of design, construction and
operation of high performance buildings. The partnership between GRIHA
and LEED will focus on two key initiatives existing buildings and new
buildings. For existing buildings, the
GRIHA will be implementing and supporting the LEED for rating system. In
case of new buildings, GRIHA projects will have the opportunity to earn
LEED certification and LEED buildings will have the opportunity to earn
GRIHA certification.

World Bank to invest

$ 775 mn in Indias RE
Projects
The World Bank is planning to invest
$775 million in clean-energy projects in
different parts of the country. It is willing to work closely with the Indian government to increase investment in the
renewable energy sector. Ashish Khanna, lead energy specialist at the multilateral funding institution, said that it is
quite encouraging to receive the much
needed support by the new government
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at the Centre with regards to promoting clean energy. Recently, two projects
for investment in the renewable energy
sector were approved. The first one is
US $100 million Himachal Pradesh Development Policy Loan and the other
is a US $200 million Rajasthan Renewable Energy Transmission Investment Programme to be executed by the
Asian Development Bank. According
to Khanna, there has been substantial
increase in renewable energy development in India over the recent years.
However, in order to accomplish the
targets of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) and other
programmes, the government needs to
have a long-term clarity in policy. The
renewable energy projects also need
financial support as well as sustained
promotion of commercial lending from
financial institutions.

Solar three-wheeler ride

to London
Naveen Rabelli, an innovator, will
drive his solar and battery powered
auto rickshaw to London next year.
His auto rickshaw, powered entirely by
battery and solar power, will cover the
nearly ten thousand kilometer distance
passing through 10 countries. He quit
his job in Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.
to innovate this solar powered vehicle. His aim is to spread environmental
awareness by promoting environment
friendly vehicles. The vehicle named
Tejas meaning splendoris equipped
with a new motor, a battery and gear
box. The roof is entirely covered with
solar panels, while cloth drapes protect
its open sides. When fully loaded, the
vehicle weighs twice as a normal auto
rickshaw. Tejas can only be driven for
less than eighty kilometers after battery is fully charged and five hours
exposure to the sun pushes it for another 25 kilometres. So, he would need
many stopovers during his journey. He
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will be accompanied by Kopacka, a

26-year old Austrian film-maker.

BHEL to foray into solar

in big way
Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd
(BHEL) has decided to make its presence felt in the renewable energy
space, especially solar energy, in a big
way. The power utility major wants to
play a significant role in developing ultra mega solar power projects of 1,000
MW capacities at various locations in
the country. The Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy (MNRE) had unveiled plans to create 4,000 MW of
solar power by setting up 4x1000 MW
solar units. The project is planned to be
built near Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan
in two phases spanning over 7 years.
BHEL is in the process of forming consortium with Hindustan Salts, Power
Grid Corporation, Solar Energy Corporation of India and Sutlej Jal Vidyug
Nigam for setting up the ultra mega
solar projects. BHEL is also planning
to produce silicon wafers that are used
in the making of solar modules. The
investment required for setting up the
manufacturing facility of 500 MW is
estimated to be around Rs. 2,700 crore.
BHEL has already set up a few small
solar power plants, and is also involved
in solar energy research.

Solar panels must on big

buildings in WB
Installation of solar panels is going to
be mandatory in big housing projects
in West Bengal. This will be enforced
under new norms for realtors and plot
owners. Without solar panel installations, the owners of the buildings will
not be issued no-objection certificate
(NOC) from the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB), a wing
of the state environment department.

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The installation of solar panels is one

step towards enforcing green norms.
These norms will be imposed on big
housing projects exceeding 20,000
square metres at the time of sanctioning
building plans. The Kolkata Municipal
Corporation has been asked by the state
environment department to strictly adhere to green norms for big housing
projects. As per the guidelines of the
green norms, installation of solar panels is one of the components for getting
NOC. The environment departments
prime emphasis has been on solar panel
installations. Currently, WBPCB is in
the process of initiating a project where
solar panels will be installed on roofs of
100 schools across different districts of
the state at a cost of around Rs. 3 crore.
Apart from generating clean energy,
the project aims at creating awareness
among the students.

AP to develop 1 GW of
solar power
The state government of Andhra
Pradesh (AP) is planning to develop
1,000 MW solar power project in
Guntur district. The project is being
planned to address the power woes
in the region. According to sources,
the central government may provide
monetary assistance for the project,
which is likely to cost approximately
Rs. 6,500 crore. After the development
of the solar power project, AP will get
major incentives in the form of carbon
credits. The government is also planning to exhibit the project as Green
Power Project with an aim to woo
foreign investors. The Centre will provide funding for the project under the
Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). Andhra Pradesh Power
Generation Corporation Ltd. (APGenco) has also finalized three solar power
projects to be set up at Kadapa, Kurnool, and Anantapur, which will generate
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100 MW solar power. As per estimates,

there is requirement of around 1,000
MW of power to overcome the power
shortage in the region. On completion
of the projects, there will be more than
2,400 MW capacity.

Telangana school
embraces solar power
A government school at Kattangur
village in Nalgonda district of newly
formed state, Telangana, has bagged to
honour of becoming the first government school in the state to be powered
by solar energy. This is seen as an encouraging initiative, as the state is facing acute power crisis. The solar PV
system installed at the Duginevelli ZP
High School is helping save monthly
power bill to the tune of Rs. 1,000. The
power generated by the solar panels is
used to run 18 fans and nine tube light
in the school building. Last year in
July, the school received a 1-Kw rooftop solar PV system from the Non-conventional Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NEDCAP)
on 40 per cent subsidy. The solar PV
system not only helps save money on
power bills, but it is also used to educate students about the renewable energy sources and their benefits. People
want the Duginevelli experiment to be
replicated across other schools in this
newly formed state.

UP amends solar policy

The Uttar Pradesh (UP) government
has amended its solar power policy
and tried to make it more lucrative.
This has been done in order to attract
investors. This amendment in the polity clears way for setting up small solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants of
1 MW capacity by the private players.
The investors also stand to avail the
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incentive provided by the government

for such projects. As per the new policy, the bidding for solar projects with
up to 5 MW capacity and above will be
conducted separately. The state government will bear the cost of wheeling
and construction of sub stations for solar projects in the backward regions of
the state. Power purchase agreements
will be signed by the UP Power Corporation Ltd for a period of 12 years. The
difference between weighted average
tariff and levellised tariff, calculated in
the course of bidding would be borne
by the state government. Only those
solar projects which are viable will be
entitled to avail the incentives. Solar
projects selling power to third party
and projects meant for captive use will
not be eligible to seek incentives.

Clean energy investment

surges in Q2 of 2014
Global investment in the clean energy sector in the second quarter (Q2)
of 2014 witnessed a surge of 33 per
cent over the first quarter, according to
numbers released by Bloomberg New
Energy Finance (BNEF). BNEF states
that the second quarter saw an investment of $63.6 billion, which was 9 per
cent improvement over the corresponding period in 2013. Till date, the record
for a single quarter was $78 billion
which came in the second quarter of
2011. In comparison to second quarter
of 2013, the small-scale solar financing increased 41 per cent in 2014. Solar parks, wind farms and small hydro
dams were the top asset class, which
led to investment of just over $38 billion. Michael Liebreich, chairman of
the advisory board at BNEF, stated that
it has been the new competitiveness of
renewable energy winning through,
driving a surge in demand. China led
the chart with an investment of $19.3

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Vol. III s Issue-21 t 17

billion, followed by Europe and US

with investments of $14 billion and
$10.6 billion respectively. The US,
which has been global leader in many
key fields, is outpaced by China and
Europe in clean energy investment.

Global solar market

growing rapidly
With an increased focus on addressing climate change issues, the global
solar power market is growing rapidly,

12

th

kets soon. In 2014, the global demand

for solar PV is dominated by Asia Pacific, and is estimated to account for
approximately 46 per cent of the annual installed capacity. The report states
that the China, Japan, India, and Australia will continue to be the top four
countries driving regional demand. On
the other hand, Europe still continues
to be the largest solar power market
in the world. By 2020, countries like
Germany, the UK, Spain, France and
Italy have a target to install more than
75 GW of solar PV capacity.

says a new analysis from Frost & Sullivan. The analysis- Global Solar Power
Market reveals that the factors that
are propelling the solar power market
include favourable legislation and the
need to enhance energy self-sufficiency and security. The report states that
the global solar market earned revenues of $59.84 billion in 2013 and estimates this to double to $137.02 billion
by 2020. Currently, the sale volumes
are primarily concentrated in the Asia
Pacific region, which is expected to
witness a growth trend in other mar-

CALL FOR PAPERS

International Congress on Renewable Energy (ICORE) 2014

POWERING NATIONAL GROWTH THROUGH SOLAR

8-9 December, 2014
Manekshaw Center, Delhi Cantonment,
New Delhi

SESI is organizing 12th International Congress on Renewable Energy (ICORE) 2014

during which matters relating to various aspects of RE would be discussed.
Topics proposed to be covered include:
Policy and Programme Implementation on

Solar PV Systems & Technology.

RE.

Off Grid Applications of Solar PV.

RE for Rural Areas.

Solar Thermal systems & Technology.

Small

Hydro

and

other

renewable Electrochemical

Employment

Generation

conversion

&

through Application of nano materials in energy

systems.

Renewables.

Decentralized Generation.

Manufacturing and Equipment

Biomass

energy

storage.

technologies.

and

bio-fuel-conversion Renewable

energy

education

capacity

building & training.

technology.

Papers are invited on the above and other related topics.

Deadlines:
Receipt of half page abstracts with brief profile :
and photo of the authors

22nd September, 2014

Notification of Acceptance
Receipt of Full Paper (s)

14th October, 2014

10th November, 2014

:
:

The abstracts/paper may please be sent through e-mail.

Please contact

S O L Jagat
A R S EJawa,
N E R G Y

S O C I E T Y

Director General
Solar Energy Society of India
2nd Floor, CBIP Building, Malcha Marg,
Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110 021

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