Rural India Offers a $50bn Opportunity for Clean Energy Innovations

The farming sector alone offers a potential $40bn marketplace, thanks to rice transplanting, pesticide spraying and grain harvesting – says the Council on Energy, Environment and Water thinktank.

Rural Indian communities, and particularly farmers, represent a $50 billion clean energy innovation opportunity, according to a report by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) thinktank, with agriculture alone offering a potential $40bn marketplace.

India’s non-farming rural sector offers an opportunity worth more than $13 billion, with clean energy innovations offering the chance to transform activities such as spinning, weaving, milling, refrigeration and heating.

India’s Renewable Energy Capacity to Reach 140 GW by 2023

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The government is planning to ramp up the country’s green energy capacity base to 175 GW by 2022 from the current 72 GW

India’s renewable energy generation capacity is expected to reach 140 Gigawatt (GW) by 2022-23 and solar power would account for around a half of this followed by wind energy with 40 per cent, research and ratings agency CRISIL said in a report.

The government is planning to ramp up the country’s green energy capacity base to 175 GW by 2022 from the current 72 GW. 

Over $42 Billion Invested in Renewable Energy Sector in India in 4 Years

The country is well on track to achieving 175 GW target of installed renewable energy capacity and trends suggest that the target will not only be achieved but exceeded, MNRE said.

India’s renewable energy sector attracted investments of over $42 billion over the past four years and green energy projects have created over 10 million man-days of employment per annum over the period. These figures are part of the list of 4-years achievements of the Modi government shared by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

India and France Building Strong Clean Energy Partnership

India and France are working to shape a strong development partnership, in the fields of technology, clean energy and infrastructure, said Sushma Swaraj.

India and France are working to shape a strong development partnership, including in the fields of science and technology, clean energy and infrastructure, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has said as she met the country's top leadership and discussed issues of mutual interest from a strategic perspective.

India Ready With Wind-Solar Hybrid Policy, Auctions Concept

India’s renewable energy ministry has finalised a policy that aims to promote the development of large hybrid power plants, combining wind turbines and solar photovoltaic (PV) panels.

Solar and wind resources in India are complementary to each other and the installation of hybrid systems reduces variability, and further optimises the use of land and transmission capacity, the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) explains in the document.

India Has a New Secret Weapon for its 100-GW Solar Goal

Rakshith Kunder is adding more solar panels to the roofs of his warehouses. He isn’t seeking to save the planet, it’s pure economics.

“Solar power costs us just a third of grid power and has also reduced our diesel backup cost,” Kunder, 33, said by phone from the city of Kota, in the southern state of Karnataka. His 3 billion rupee ($46 million) fish-meal and oil-products business requires 2 MW of power and he plans to fulfill half of that through solar installations.

What India’s Solar Tariff Exemption Could Mean for the US Market

New documents show that a few countries with significant solar manufacturing facilities are exempt from Trump’s new solar tariffs, which could help U.S. developers.

The market impact from new solar tariffs announced earlier this week is shaping up to be less severe than it could have been. But while analysts don't expect solar cell and module prices to skyrocket, some big business decisions will be made in the coming weeks and months around the modest price increase -- which has prompted a series of questions around how, exactly, the new tariffs will be implemented. 

Decentralization Is the Cheapest Way to Expand Energy Access in India, Says IEA

India has led the way in expanding energy access to citizens. An emphasis on distributed renewables will strengthen those efforts, according to international energy experts.

India stands out as “one of the largest electrification success stories in history,” accounting for two or every five people newly electrified since 2000, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency.

However, the report painted a future quite different from the centralized grid focus of the current Indian government, saying that decentralized systems, led by solar PV in off-grid and mini-grid systems, “will be the least-cost solution for three-quarters of the additional connections needed” to achieve full energy access before 2030.

India: Changes to Electricity Act Propose Penalty Norms for PPAs, RPOs

The power ministry will include penalty provisions in the electricity amendment bill for stricter enforcement of power purchase agreements (PPA) and renewable purchase obligation (RPO), Union minister R K Singh said on Thursday.

The minister also said that he has a roadmap for reforms in the power sector and he will try to move the amendment bill in the upcoming winter session of Parliament.

"We will deal with the issues of PPA (power purchase agreement) and RPO (renewable purchase obligation) among others in the Electricity Amendment Bill," Singh told reporters on the sidelines of an investors' forum organised by Assocham.

India: Jammu and Kashmir Approve 450MW Rooftop Target and Net Metering

Jammu and Kashmir has approved a draft policy to deliver 450MW of rooftop PV plants by 2022, according to consultancy firm Mercom Capital Group.

The draft law was announced back in October last year seeking to introduce net metering to the state.

The 10-year policy from the Department of Science and Technology of the government of Jammu and Kashmir will account for system sizes between 1-1000kW.

A Jammu and Kashmir Energy Development Agency (JAKEDA) official told Mercom that the policy will ease the burden on the state’s transmission and distribution network.

Last week, JAKEDA also tendered for 37.8MW of grid-connected rooftop solar.

Analyst firm Crisil recently forecast that India would hit 12GW of rooftop by 2022.

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Record Low Solar Tariff in India Puts Thermal and Wind Power on Notice

The Rewa 750MW solar tender in Madhya Pradesh, India, saw tariffs plunge to a record low of INR 2.97/kWh (US$0.044) after a lengthy online auction. Acme Solar, Mahindra Renewables and Solenergi Power won 250MW each. The tariff has an escalation of INR 0.05/kWh (US$0.0007) for 15 years, resulting in a levelized tariff of INR 3.29/kWh (US$0.049) for 25 years, 24% below the previous low of INR 4.34/kWh (US$0.065) as seen in NTPC’s Rajasthan tender in January 2016. But adjusted for lower cost of equipment and changes in other parameters, the fall is only about 2%.

India Solar Prices Set to Drop on Competition, Costs

The price paid for solar power in India at auction is set to fall below last year’s record lows for the South Asia nation, driven by plummeting panel prices, falling interest rates and competition among developers seeking a slice of the country’s renewables market.

Prices could dip lower than the 4.34 rupees (6 cents) a kilowatt-hour offered in auctions held in the state of Rajasthan a year ago, according to at least one developer of solar projects in India.

“This year we will see prices fall below 4 rupees a kilowatt-hour for sure and it will be viable,” said Rahul Munjal, chairman and managing director of Hero Future Energies Pvt, the clean-energy arm of Hero Group, one of India’s largest automakers.

2017 Solar Installations in India to Reach 9 GW

New solar installations in India this year will reach 9 GW, according to a new report from Mercom Capital Group.

The final total for new solar capacity in the country in 2016 is expected to be 4 GW, up from 2.3 GW in 2015, according to the report. Cumulative installations, including large-scale and rooftop projects, have already reached 9.6 GW.

The country’s solar development pipeline is now more than 14.2 GW, with about 6.3 GW of projects tendered and pending auction, according to the report.

200 'Power Farmers' to Light Up Uttarakhand, India With Solar Energy

Around 200 individuals in the state will now be known as 'power farmers', thanks to Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (UREDA) that has roped in natives to set up solar power generation plants on their land.

Around 200 individuals in the state will now be known as 'power farmers', thanks to Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (UREDA) that has roped in natives to set up solar power generation plants on their land. These farmers will directly supply the renewable energy to the state government at a fixed price of Rs 4.35 per unit.

Modi Government Issues Fresh Guidelines for Onshore Wind Power Projects in India; Industry Asks for More

The revision of guidelines comes on the back of the government's ambitious target of installing 60 Gigawatt of wind energy in the country by 2022. At present, India has 28.1 GW of installed wind power capacity across the country.

In a significant boost for India's clean energy growth, the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) has finally issued fresh guidelines for onshore wind power projects after a gap of two decades. The new set of rules promises to spur the growth of wind power capacity by addressing all the major issues.

Renewable Energy Regulations to be Unveiled in West Bengal

West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission (WBERC) may unveil renewable energy regulations in a fortnight, paving the way for households and housing complexes to install solar rooftop panels and connect them to the grid.

"We are trying to release the renewable energy regulations in the next 15 days after final consultation with the stakeholders," WBERC Chairman R N Sen said.

Modi Said to Plan $3.1 Billion Boost for India’s Solar Factories

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is planning a 210 billion-rupee ($3.1 billion) package of state aid for India’s solar panel manufacturing industry, according to two officials.

The so-called Prayas initiative, short for “Pradhan Mantri Yojana for Augmenting Solar Manufacturing,” a central-government plan designed to lift India’s installed photovoltaic capacity as well as to create an export industry, according to two senior government officials with direct knowledge of the plan. They asked not to be identified because the policy isn’t yet public.

India’s NTPC to Expand Solar Goal, Slow Thermal Power, BNEF Says

India's largest power generator, which is spearheading Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious clean-energy goals, is expanding its solar target and slowing down development of its coal-based plants on concerns that the cost of renewables will be cheaper than conventional energy.

NTPC Ltd. will expand its target of setting up 10-GW of solar capacity, Chairman Gurdeep Singh told Bloomberg New Energy Finance in an interview. It will also support building of 15 GW of solar capacity by buying power from producers and selling it to distribution companies. It is exploring new opportunities such as solar-equipment manufacturing, solar parks and electric vehicle-charging infrastructure.

Madhya Pradesh Releases Decentralized Renewable Energy Policy

The government of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has introduced its 2016 policy for decentralized renewable energy systems with a particular focus on rooftop solar PV.

The aim is to reduce the burden on conventional sources of energy and lower distribution losses. Meanwhile, consumer electricity bills can be lowered and energy independence increased.

The technology neutral policy still has the major focus on distributed solar PV rooftop systems as they have “the largest potential for mass replication amongst consumers and small independent power producers”, according to the state policy makers.

India To Add 4.8 Gigawatts Of Solar Power This Year

India, with its enormous and rapidly growing population, has a voracious appetite for electricity. Until recently, that appetite has been met by building more and more coal fired generating plants. Coal was cheaper than any other power source. So what if the emissions from all those coal plants slowly poisoned the population? India was on a mission to bring its citizens all the conveniences of the modern world and coal was the answer.