India PV News Snippets

Tata Power Solar’s 4 GW solar manufacturing plans: Tata Power Solar is in advanced stage of negotiations with the State Government of Tamil Nadu to establish a 4 GW integrated solar PV manufacturing fab worth INR 30 billion ($401 million). A report in local daily The Times of India (TOI) said the company plans to set up the fab in Gangaikondan near Tirunelveli. In April 2021, the company expanded its total solar cell and module manufacturing capacity to 1.1 GW, making it compatible with large size wafers (see Tata Power Solar Expands Solar Cell & Module Capacity).

Solar is India’s top renewable energy source: Citing data from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and its own India Solar Project Tracker, Mercom India Research says solar has become the top renewable energy source for the country. Out of 390.17 GW total power generation capacity installed in the country as of October 31, 2021, renewables including large hydro account for 149 GW or 38.2%. Mercom says solar accounts for 12% of the installed capacity across all sources, and 31.47% of the installed renewables capacity with 46.8 GW.

Adani Solar expands retail distribution business: The solar manufacturing and EPC arm of Adani Group, Adani Solar has launched itself in the retail distribution business for eastern and north-eastern states of India, with KSL Cleantech Ltd as its official channel partner. Adani Solar will sell its off-grid and on-grid solar panels through KSL in the region. This expands the company’s reach to over 1,000 towns. The company aims for explore 130 MW of rooftop solar opportunity in the 2 regions targeting customers in the rooftop, utility scale, residential, commercial & industrial (C&I), and solar pump segments.

Servotech Power bags off-grid solar contract: Solar and LED products supplier Servotech Power Systems has secured an off-grid solar power plant contract from the Uttar Pradesh New & Renewable Energy (UPNEDA). Under the letter of intent (LOI) issued, the company will set up the off-grid plant for various government office buildings in the state. Servotech plans to complete the work by March 2022.

Wartsila and KPMG report on energy storage for India: Finland’s Wartsila and global accounting organization KPMG in a joint study believes India needs to add more than 35 GW of wind and solar capacity on annual basis between now and 2030, supported by at least 2,500 MWh of battery energy storage systems for the country to meet its COP26 commitments. The study titled Electricity market design for efficient procurement of ancillary services in India to address changing system needs counts India needing 38 GW of 4-hour battery storage and 9 GW of internal combustion gas engines (ICE) by 2030 to cost-efficiently and reliably integrate 450 GW of renewables.

“The opportunity value of storage and gas based ancillary reserves is huge. When market based economic dispatch (MBED) is implemented, these technologies will attract even better revenue streams. The steps taken by Ministry of Power (MoP) and Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) are very timely and their scope can be further expanded to help the Indian power system to transition from a coal-centric to a RE-centric power system,” said KPMG’s Executive Director ITA-Lighthouse Dr. Puneet Chitkara.

Hybrid wind-solar power for MG Motors: MG Motors India has entered an agreement with Clean Max Enviro Energy to source 4.85 MW hybrid wind and solar power for its manufacturing facility in Halol, Gujarat. The 15-hour power supply will begin in February 2022 from the hybrid power plant in Rajkot. Clean Max plans to expand the facility to 150 MW by 2022.