India PV News Snippets

• MNRE is taking measures to simplify rooftop solar scheme of the country, to enable adoption by households
• Apollo Tyres has invested INR 93 million in CSE Deccan Solar of Cleantech Solar, to secure solar power for its Chennai fab
• ReNew Power and Fluence will launch an energy storage JV in H1/2022 to capture growing market for BESS in India

To encourage wider adoption of rooftop solar, MNRE has simplified the scheme; Apollo Tyres has acquired 27.2% equity in Cleantech Solar subsidiary; ReNew Power & Fluence announce energy storage JV.

Rooftop solar scheme simplified: The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) will simplify India's rooftop solar scheme to ensure wider adoption of solar. Households will be at liberty to choose an installer of their choice and not necessarily through the ministry listed vendors. They can inform the distribution company (discom) about the installation by sharing a photograph of the system deployed through a letter or application or on the designated website. The discom will ensure net metering will be provided within 15 days of being informed. The subsidy to be given by the Govt. of India – which is 40% for rooftop systems of up to 3 kW capacity and 20% beyond that up to 10 kW – will be credited to the account of the householder by the discom within 30 days of the installation, stated the MNRE.

Apollo Tyres invests in Cleantech Solar subsidiary: Tyre maker Apollo Tyres has invested INR 93 million ($1.25 million) to acquire a 27.2% equity stake in CSE Deccan Solar, a subsidiary of Cleantech Solar. The transaction will ensure its largest manufacturing facility in Chennai to get 40 million units of clean electricity annually, starting from July 2022. The Chennai fab produces around 900 MT of tyres per day for passenger vehicles and light, medium & heavy commercial vehicles. The company added, "Considering that solar power gets produced only for few hours every day, and there is no storage facility available, the company opted for an offtake of an optimum quantity, which is about 20% of the total requirements in Chennai."

ReNew Power & Fluence' storage JV: Indian renewable energy company ReNew Power has entered an agreement with US based energy storage company Fluence to launch a joint venture (JV) to address India's energy storage market demand. An AES and Siemens JV, Fluence will bring out the Indian JV with ReNew in H1/2022. The new company will have ReNew as its 1^st customer for 150 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) at its 300 MW Peak Power Project and a 400 MW Round-the-Clock (RTC) Power Project with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).