India Solar PV News Snippets

India's new MNRE head is Pralhad Joshi; GP Eco Solutions issues IPO price; C&I RE JV of InfraCo Asia & Radiance Renewables; $38 million for candi solar; Mercom shares winners list of SGEL and GUVNL auctions.  

Pralhad Joshi takes charge: India's new government recently took oath under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Under Modi 3.0, referring to the 3rd consecutive term for Modi as the Prime Minister, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is now headed by Pralhad Joshi. As the Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy, Joshi will also lead as the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. Joshi takes over from RK Singh.    

GP Eco's IPO plans move forward: Solar energy solutions provider GP Eco Solutions has announced the price band of INR 90 to INR 94 ($1.08 to $1.13)/share for its initial public offering (IPO), set to open on June 14, 2024. The issue will close on June 19, 2024. The minimum subscription lot size is 1,200 equity shares and in multiples of 1,200 equity shares thereafter. The company targets to raise around INR 308 million ($3.69 million). It plans to use the proceeds to meet working capital needs, establish a new factory in Noida and invest in its subsidiary Invergy India Private Limited (see India Solar PV News Snippets).   

RE JV in India: InfraCo Asia of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) and Radiance Renewables of Eversource Capital, have formed a joint venture (JV), Radiance InfraCo Renewables Private Limited, for the Indian market. It will develop a portfolio of greenfield renewable energy generation projects for the commercial and industrial (C&I) segment to help the latter meet their sustainability goals. The JV has an initial capacity target of 110 MW to 150 MW. The creators of the new platform say in its initial phase, the JV is expected to mobilize close to $75 million in private sector capital towards accelerating climate action in India.  

$38 million for distributed solar company: C&I segment focused solar power company candi solar has raised $38 million in funding to accelerate clean energy expansion in India and South Africa. The equity investment round was led by Norfund, Kyuden International, and STOA. Working as a solar EPC, financier and operator, candi's current contracted capacity is 112 MW. In India, it is present in 17 states and 2 union territories, while in South Africa, its presence is spread across 8 provinces. It plans to use the funds to finance an additional 200 MW of business solar projects and other strategic initiatives to expand.  

Auction winners: SJVN Green Energy Limited (SGEL) has announced the winners of its 1.5 GW inter-state transmission system (ISTS) connected wind and solar power hybrid projects auction. AMPIN Energy, Ganeko Solar, Inaayu Renewables, Juniper Green Energy and Datta Power Infra won 150 MW, 300 MW, 60 MW, 150 MW and 70 MW respectively for the same winning tariff of INR 3.41 ($0.0408)/kWh. JSW Neo Energy secured 350 MW and Avaada Energy 470 MW for INR 3.42 ($0.0409)/kWh, each, according to Mercom India Research.  

Mercom says in the Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) auction for 500 MW grid-connected solar power with a 500 MW greenshoe option under phase XXIV, KPI Green Energy secured 120 MW for INR 2.67 ($0.0320)/kWh. The remaining winners include Avaada Energy, Solarcraft Power India 5, NRC Industries, and Hinduja Renewables.  

GUVNL has also declared the results of its 250 MW/500 MWh standalone battery energy storage systems (BESS) auction in Gujarat. It was won by Gensol Engineering for a tariff of INR 372,978 ($4,463)/MW/month.