India Solar PV News Snippets

Luminous Power's solar panel factory online; MNRE brings back ALMM in force; AmpIn Energy raises €25 million from the Austrian Development Bank; Alpex secures land for module factory; AGEL brings online solar projects in Gujarat & Rajasthan. 

Luminous launches maiden solar fab: A unit of Schneider Electric, battery and inverter company Luminous Power Technologies has commissioned its solar module production fab in India's Uttarakhand. Located across 10 acres in Rudrapur, the state-of-the-art plant has an annual production capacity of 250 MW, with potential to expand up to 1 GW nameplate capacity. The company claims it is India's 1st plant to have an auto sorter facility. It was officially inaugurated by the company's brand ambassador and Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar. Luminous announced its plans to venture into solar panel production in January 2023 to cater to residential and commercial applications. Back then, the company had said the fab will be fully robotic and use 100% solar energy. 

ALMM is back: The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has officially brought back the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) in force from April 1, 2024, as announced previously. The order was in abeyance for FY 2023-24 to enable developers source modules for their projects. In the new notification released, the ministry specifies that it will separately examine each project where the solar modules were received at the project site by March 31, 2024, but did not get commissioned by that day for reasons beyond the control of the renewable power developer. Earlier this year, the ministry had quashed all rumors of the continuation of the ALMM from April 1 while providing exemption to projects at an advanced construction stage that have placed orders before March 31. However, it was later put on hold without offering any reasons (see India Solar PV News Snippets). 

In an order last week, the ministry also specified the minimum module efficiency required for modules certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to enlist under ALMM as the following:  

• For utility-scale projects, 20% for crystalline silicon technology, and 19% for cadmium telluride (CdTe) modules, 
• For rooftop solar and solar pumping projects, 19.5% and 18.5%, for crystalline silicon and CdTe; and 
• For solar lighting facilities, 19% for crystalline silicon and 18% for CdTe technology. 

Austrian funding for Indian company: The Development Bank of Austria (OeEB) has approved €25 million ($27 million) investment for Indian renewable energy company AmpIn Energy Transition. Formerly known as Amp Energy India, AmpIn plans to use the bilateral credit line to support the growth of its existing renewable energy portfolio. It will also use the proceeds to establish its 1 GW solar cell and module production fab in India's Odisha. In November 2023, AmpIn said it will invest INR 31 billion to expand its renewable energy business, and 1.3 GW integrated solar cell and module fab in Odisha (see India Solar PV News Snippets). 

Alpex gets land for factory: Alpex Solar Limited has been allotted around 7 acres of land in Mathura's Kosi Kotwan on National Highway 19, by the Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Authority (UPSIDA). Worth INR 150.4 million ($1.8 million), the land will host Alpex's solar panel and module manufacturing factory. The company said it will release the 1st tranche of payment towards the allocated plot of land shortly. It won this industrial plot of land in an e-auction process of UPSIDA. Alpex already operates a state-of-the-art plant in Greater Noida with 848 MW annual capacity, extendable to 2 GW. The company recently completed its initial public offering (IPO) to fund its manufacturing expansion (see India Solar PV News Snippets). 

AGEL commissions more solar projects: Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) has announced the commissioning of 775 MW solar power capacity in Gujarat's Khavda. It has realized this capacity in the form of 11 projects of varying sizes. Additionally, it has announced energizing 212 MW solar PV capacity at Khvada in Gujarat and Phalodi in Rajasthan through its wholly-owned subsidiaries.