India to admit solar panels made with locally-produced cells, wafers and polysilicon under ALMM; ONGC has acquired PTC's renewable energy subsidiary; TPREL to build captive solar plant for Supreme Petrochem; SECI exceeds signed PSA capacity of 50 GW; Zuvay announces TOPCon cell production.
Razor sharp focus on India-made solar panels: The Indian government has announced that it will register only those solar panels that are manufactured with Made in India cells, wafers and polysilicon under the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) over the next 3 years to 4 years. The Minister for New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) RK Singh was quoted by local media as saying that within 2 years, the administration will bring in a policy to protect only those modules that are made with domestically manufactured cells. It will be followed by a policy that supports locally produced wafers and polysilicon.
Used for solar power projects related to the government projects, ALMM registers India made models and manufacturers of solar modules under List-I, while solar cells are to be registered under List-II. The ALMM list for solar cells has not been issued as yet. Currently, due to the lack of enough capacity for domestically produced modules, the ministry has exempted ALMM compliance for solar projects commissioned till March 31, 2024 (see India Provides Relief From ALMM Obligation).
PTC divests stake in RE business: PTC India Limited has divested its 100% stake in its subsidiary PTC Energy Limited (PEL) to another state-owned firm Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC). According to PTC's website, PEL is active in the renewable energy space having set up wind power projects mainly so far. Having bought it for an equity value of INR 9.25 billion ($111 million), ONGC said the acquisition is in line with the company's vision to expand its business in renewable energy. ONGC currently counts its installed renewable energy capacity comprising wind and solar power plants as 189 MW.
TPREL bags another solar PDA: Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited (TPREL) has announced a power delivery agreement (PDA) for a 12.5 MW group captive solar project with Supreme Petrochem Limited. It will be installed in Achegaon in Maharashtra. The industrial chemicals and solvent supplier hopes to bring down its carbon emissions by 20,075 metric tonnes/annum with this project that's estimated to generate around 27.5 million units/annum. TPREL will deploy the project through a special purpose vehicle (SPV), TP Saturn Limited. Recently, TPREL announced a PDA with Endurance Technologies for 12.5 MW captive project, also in Maharashtra (see India Solar PV News Snippets).
SECI achieves a milestone: The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has exceeded the milestone of 50 GW aggregate capacity signed under power sale agreements (PSA) where it is the intermediary procurer. The total PSA capacity it has signed so far now stands at 50.29 GW, according to the MNRE.
Zuvay's TOPCon cell: Zuvay Technologies of India recently announced the roll-out of what it calls is India's '1st' TOPCon solar cell in mass manufacturing. The company says it provides turnkey solar wafer, cell and module manufacturing solutions as well as inverters and charge controllers for solar power generation.