6.4 GW solar auction cancelled: Responding to a petition filed by Tata Power Renewable Energy, the High Court of Andhra Pradesh has quashed the 6.4 GW auction conducted by the state government. According to the court, the request for selection (RFS) and draft power purchase agreement (PPA) documents were not in sync with the Electricity Act, 2003, stated local media reports. The PPA included a clause that said all disputes needed to be settled by the state government, and not by the state or central electricity regulator, which is against the Electricity Act, 2003.
The tender was launched in December 2020 as part of Andhra Pradesh's government's plans to provide 10 GW solar power supply to farmers. It attracted the lowest bid of INR 2.47 per kWh in February 2021 from Torrent Power for 300 MW capacity (see Andhra Pradesh Auctions 6.4 GW Solar PV Capacity). However, Tata Power had petitioned the court against the tender saying it was against the Electricity Act as well as the guidelines of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and the court had ordered a stay (see India PV News Snippets: Tata Power, ITC, AP, Total, SECI).
Goldi Solar to expand capacity: Latest amongst Indian solar manufacturers to announce capacity expansion plans is Goldi Solar. It aims to scale up its current module production capacity of 500 MW to 2.5 GW with a new facility in Gujarat. Under phase I, it will add 1 GW capacity to come online by the end of FY July-September 2022, and another 1 GW under phase II by end of last quarter of FY 21-22, according to a Press Trust of India (PTI) report. The new fab will have a new production line with micro-gap module technology or MGMT, according to the report. It also wants to get into backward integration by setting up a multi-GW solar cell manufacturing line. According to Businessline, Goldi Solar's new fab will produce M10 (182mm) wafer sized modules with 500W in mono-facial and 600W under bifacial category.
Jinchen to supply 2 GW capacity to Adani: Jinchen Machinery of China has signed an agreement to supply 2 GW highly automated production line equipment supply order with India's Adani Solar. In a short statement released, Jinchen said the agreement was signed virtually. This order follows 1.2 GW 210 sized module production equipment order for Jinchen by India's Solex Energy (see 1.2 GW Production Line India Order For Jinchen Machinery).
Financial support for 250 MW solar project: A 250 MW solar power plant in Rajasthan has secured $200 million financial support from the United Nations Office for Project Services' (UNOPS) Sustainable Investments in Infrastructure and Innovation (S3i), Danish Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU) and India's ACME Solar. UNOPS said about a quarter of the total project value will be financed by the trio. S3i will play an operational role in the project with focus on social impact measurement. The investment by IFU falls under the India-Denmark Green Strategic Partnership signed between the 2 nations in 2020. ACME Solar won 250 MW capacity in Rajasthan under a Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) auction of 2019 for the winning tariff of INR 2.48 per kWh.
Austrian company places order with Waaree Energies: Austrian chemicals producer and PV encapsulant supplier Borealis will install its 1st solar PV rooftop array for electricity generation at its own production facility, to be powered by Waaree Energies. The modules will be deployed at Borealis' fab at Monza, Italy. Waaree Energies' modules use proprietary Borealis PV encapsulant technology Quentys. Borealis said the Monza installation is the 1st of several solar projects it has planned to power production operations to meet its target to source 50% of all electricity from renewables by 2030.
Borealis features in TaiyangNews' 2nd Market Survey on Backsheets and Encapsulation 2020 released in October 2020. It is available for free download here.