Page 10 - Solar Power

Tata Steel commissions floating solar power project in Jamshedpur works

Tata Steel on Friday commissioned a 10.8-MW capacity floating solar power project on the upper cooling pond of its Jamshedpur plant in Jharkhand. A total of 20.34 MW of solar projects have been commissioned in various facilities at Tata Steel in Jamshedpur, the company said in a statement. The floating solar project was commissioned by Tata Power under an agreement with the steel major for the installation of a total of 41MW with a combination of rooftop, floating and ground-mounted solar panels across its locations. Earlier, rooftop solar projects at the central warehouse, cold rolling mill, wire rod and hot strip mills, totalling 7.65 MW and a 2 MW ground-mounted solar project at Sonari Airport have already been commissioned.

India need subsidies to meet renewable energy targets: Energy Vault exec

Renewable electricity available at any time of the day and night "is sort of a holy grail," Piconi said. "It's not achievable with the current technologies, because they are not economical."

AmpIn Energy to set up 33 MW solar plant in Maha, signs pact with Varroc

AmpIn Energy Transition will set up a 33 megawatt solar power plant in Maharashtra to supply green energy to auto-components maker Varroc. A power purchase agreement (PPA) has been signed between the two companies in this regard, AmpIn said on Wednesday. "AmpIn Energy Transition and Varroc announce a partnership to harness 33.1 MWp of solar power for Varroc's manufacturing facilities in Maharashtra. The collaboration leverages AmpIn's solar portfolio in Maharashtra, inclusive of its state-of-the-art 105 Megawatt peak (MWp) solar park situated in Parbhani," the statement said. The company did not disclose the value of the project. The initiative is expected to fulfill 65-75 per cent of the power needed across seven manufacturing units of Varroc. The plant is anticipated to help reduce 43,296 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, Pinaki Bhattacharyya, CEO and MD of AmpIn, said. Tarang Jain, MD of Varroc, said, "through this alliance, we envisage a significant reduction in our carbon ...

Over 200 organisations call for tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030

A group of over 200 climate and energy organisations from around the globe issued an open letter on Monday, calling on world leaders and Parties to the Paris Agreement to set a global target of tripling renewable energy capacity to at least 11,000 gigawatts by 2030 at the upcoming COP28 in the UAE. This call to action coincides with the UN General Assembly and New York Climate Week. The coalition of organisations, including Adani, American Greenpower, Ember, and the Energy Transition Commission, emphasised that achieving this goal, combined with increased energy efficiency, is the most rapid and cost-effective way to decarbonise the global economy and mitigate climate change. "Last year, power sector emissions reached an all-time high and the UN assessed that no country is currently on a credible pathway to (limiting global warming to) 1.5 degrees Celsius. It is clear that we need a profound course-correction of the energy system in this decade and time is running out," the open ...

UK firm secures lucrative order to supply Indian solar facility in Gujarat

A small cleantech firm in south-east England has secured a GBP 4 million order to supply its technology to a projected 2.0-gigawatt solar facility in Mundra, Gujarat, according to a top company official. Gas Recovery and Recycle Limited (GR2L), an MSME (micro small and medium enterprise) business in Surrey, claims to have developed, patented and exported cutting-edge technology to reduce the energy consumption, carbon footprint and cost of manufacturing solar panels. It was backed by UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK government's export credit agency, with a GBP 475,000 guarantee issued under its Bond Support Scheme that helped secure the Indian order. Building on our existing export successes, support from Lloyds Banks and UKEF helped us to secure this latest growth opportunity and further develop our established international presence. I look forward to commissioning our machinery by the end of 2023, said Rob Grant, CEO and founder of GR2L. With production of brand-new argon creati

Green funding: SBI to bundle home loans with rooftop solar installations

The country's largest lender SBI plans to bundle and make home loans with rooftop solar installations mandatory for residential projects funded from the bank's long term climate action funds drawn down from multilateral agencies. The SBI, which has a home loan book of over Rs 6.3 lakh crore as of June, has outstanding forex loans of USD 2.3 billion from multilateral lenders, including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and KfW of Germany. "We are planning to make it mandatory for builders to make rooftop solar installations if the project is funded from our green funds," Ashwini Kumar Tewari, a Managing Director in charge of international banking, information technology and associates & subsidiaries at SBI, said. "We are, in fact, planning to make it a bundled deal for home loan applicants going forward," Tewari told reporters here on Thursday on the sidelines of the final day of the global SME summit organised by Sidbi. These loans come with 10-year or 20-year tenors ...

Juniper Green Energy gets $350 mn investment from AT Capital Group, Vitol

Juniper Green Energy on Wednesday said AT Capital Group and Vitol have invested USD 350 million in the independent renewable energy power producer. The Juniper Green Energy targets to triple its operational capacity to 2.5 GW by 2026 and forge ahead with its ambitious development plans. Sanjay Bakliwal, Director, at AT Capital Group said, "Their impressive project pipeline, combined with their proficiency in EPC and O&M services, aligns seamlessly with our vision for a sustainable and greener future." AT Group is a leading family office, specializing in actively managed businesses and passive financial investments. The increase in investment to USD 350 million comes nearly two years after the initial commitment of USD 200 million from AT Capital Group and Vitol, a company statement said. Mike Muller, Head of Vitol Asia, stated "We are pleased to support Juniper Green Energy's ambitions to deliver a growing renewable power portfolio at a time of increasing demand for power." Vitol

TPREL to set up 12 MW on-site solar project for Tata Motors in Maharashtra

Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd (TPREL) will set up a 12 megawatt (MW) on-site solar project at Tata Motors' commercial vehicle manufacturing facility in Maharashtra. In a statement, TPREL said it has already signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Tata Motors in this regard. "Tata Motors and Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited (TPREL) have entered into a PPA to develop a new 12MWp on-site solar project at Tata Motors' commercial vehicle manufacturing facility in Pune," the statement said. The project will generate 17.5 million units of electricity per annum mitigating over 12,400 tonnes of Co2 per annum. "Signing of 12MWp PPA with Tata Motors underlines our critical step forward on the shared goals for a sustainable future. We are committed to support the energy transition of our C&I consumers through a bouquet of our clean energy solutions," said Ashish Khanna, CEO, Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd. The latest order follows a 28.12-megawatt green energy plant for Sanyo ...

Solar installations see 3.2% growth at 872 MW in January-June: Mercom

Rooftop solar installations in the country grew by 3.2 per cent to 872 megawatt (MW) during January-June period of 2023, Mercom India said. In H1 or first half of 2022, 845 MW of rooftop solar capacities were installed in India, the research firm said. India's cumulative rooftop solar capacity reached 9.6 gigawatts (GW) at the end June 2023, the 'Mercom India Rooftop Solar Market Report' said. In the second quarter, 387 megawatts (MW) of rooftop solar capacity was added, which is 20 per cent higher compared to January-March 2023, and marginally down by 0.5 per cent over April-June 2022. "Rooftop solar did not meet expectations in H1, even with falling component prices and growing demand. We see a much stronger second half as installers holding out for better margins start ramping up installations and meeting demand at a much quicker pace" said Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group. The capacity additions by residential consumers accounted for 54 per cent, industrial consumers 25

India sees record demand for rooftop solar as companies seek clean energy

Companies are on pace to install 4 gigawatts of panels on top of buildings in this financial year ending March 31, nearly doubling the previous record

Tata Power Renewable Energy inks pact with SSMI to set up 28-MW solar plant

Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited (TPREL) has partnered with Sanyo Special Steel Manufacturing India Private Limited (SSMI) to set up a 28.12-megawatt green energy plant in Maharashtra. In a statement on Thursday, TPREL, an arm of Tata Power, said it has signed the Power Delivery Agreement (PDA) with SSMI through its Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) TP Alpha Limited. "TPREL joins hands with SSMI for setting up of 28.125 MW AC (39.375 MWp) captive solar plant in Aachegaon under district Solapur, Maharashtra," the statement said. The plant is expected to produce 61.875 million inits (MUs) of electricity annually, which would meet the energy requirement of steel manufacturing unit of SSMI. It will also help to reduce SSMI's carbon footprint by 42,534 tonnes annually. The project will be commissioned by March 2024, as per the arrangement. This project aligns with SSMI's long term strategy towards climate change by reducing dependency on fossil fuel-based energy, lower the carbon footp

Gensol Engineering bags EPC projects worth Rs 101.6 crore in Dubai

Homegrown Gensol Engineering Limited on Tuesday announced bagging orders for EPC projects worth Rs 101.6 crore in Dubai. The Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) projects have been secured from Dubai Government Workshop Warehouse and Dubai Police, the company said in a statement. "Gensol Engineering announces its first international Solar EPC project in Dubai. Aggregating to a capacity of 14.08 MWp, these projects have a cumulative order value of Rs 101.6 crore, without taking taxes into account," it said. The two turnkey contracts with the Dubai Government Workshop Warehouse and Dubai Police entail design, engineering, supply, construction, erection, testing, and commissioning along with the operation and maintenance of these projects. The Dubai Government Workshop Warehouse project is slated for commissioning in November 2023, while the Dubai Police project is scheduled to go online in June 2024, the company said. "With this, we also venture into international market

Solar capacity addition in India declines 58% in Apr-Jun: Mercom India

Solar capacity addition in the country declined 58 per cent to 1.7 gigawatt in the April-June period, mainly due to land and transmission-related issues, Mercom India said on Monday. The country added 4 GW of solar capacity in the year-ago quarter, the research firm said in 'Q2 2023 India Solar Market Update'. "India added 1.7 GW solar capacity in Q2 of 2023. (New) installations dropped more than 10 per cent quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) compared to 1.9 GW in the January-March period," it said. Capacity additions fell almost 58 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) compared to 4 GW in the year-ago period. Large-scale solar projects accounted for 77 per cent of the capacity added during the quarter, and rooftop solar installations contributed 23 per cent. Over 1.3 GW of large-scale solar capacity was added in the quarter, down 64 per cent y-o-y, and 7 per cent q-o-q. During January-June, new installations were at 3.6 GW, down 53 per cent from 7.6 GW during the same period last year. India's

Commercial production under PLI-ACC scheme to commence this fiscal: Govt

Commercial production under the production-linked incentive scheme for advanced chemistry cell manufacturing -- India's Rs 18,100-crore programme to boost local battery cell production -- is likely to commence progressively in phases, in the current financial year, the Centre said on Thursday. The Heavy Industries Ministry has awarded 30GWh of capacity to three beneficiaries, namely, Ola Cell Technologies Pvt. Ltd, ACC Energy Storage Pvt Ltd and Reliance New Energy Battery Storage Ltd and is in the process of awarding another 20GWh, with a target to achieve 50GWh production by 2030. "To monitor the progress of work of the selected beneficiaries, the Ministry has appointed Engineers India Limited (EIL) as Independent Engineers. The prototype testing is almost complete by these beneficiaries and commercial production is likely to start progressively in phases, in FY 2024," an official statement said. The scheme aims to strengthen the ecosystem for Electric Mobility and Battery Storage

Sales of solar energy kits rise to 5.2 mn globally in second half of 2022

Rooftop solar installation witnessed a tremendous growth in 2022 with sales of solar kits increasing globally to 5.2 million in the second half of the calender year, 20 per cent more than the units sold in the first six months, an official said on Wednesday. "In the past year, we have seen tremendous uptake of solar rooftops," said Ajay Mathur, Director General, International Solar Alliance. Data reveals that 5.2 million solar energy kits were sold globally in the second half of 2022, which is a 20 per cent increase from the first half of the year and 18 per cent higher than the previous peak in the second half of 2019," he said at the South Asia Forum for Distributed Energy (SAFDE) here. "This clearly shows that we have learned to value them as we go. We have also learned to value the off-grid utilisation architecture in parallel," he added. Earlier in the day, the forum was opened by Union Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy, Chemicals and Fertilizers Bhagwant Khuba.

IREDA aims Rs 4,350 cr operational revenues in FY24, Rs 5,220 cr in FY25

State-owned IREDA has set a target of achieving Rs 4,350 crore revenue from operations during the current financial year. In the next fiscal, it aims to touch a revenue of Rs 5,220 crore from operations, Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd (IREDA) said in a statement on Monday. In this regard, the company has also signed a performance-based memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). The MoU, in alignment with the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) guidelines, outlines strategic targets that IREDA aims to achieve during the fiscal years 2023-24 and 2024-25. "The government of India has set a revenue from operation target of Rs 4,350 crore for 2023-24 and Rs 5,220 crore for 2024-25. IREDA had achieved a revenue from operation of Rs 3,482 crore in the preceding fiscal year," the statement said. The government, in the agreement, has also defined key performance parameters including return on net worth, return on capital emplo

NLC India signs pact with Rajasthan govt for 300 MW solar power supply

The NLC India on Thursday inked a pact with Rajasthan Urja Vikas Nigam for supply of 300 MW solar power for the next 25 years. A central PSU, the NLC secured 510 MW solar project capacity in the CPSU Scheme Phase-II Tranche-III floated by Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) through competitive bidding. In a statement, the NLC said 300 MW solar project capacity is under execution at Barsingsar, Bikaner District of Rajasthan. The EPC (Engineering, procurement and construction) contract for the project has been awarded to TATA power solar systems. The Power Usage Agreement (PUA) for the 300 MW solar project was signed between NLC India Limited (NLCIL) and Rajasthan Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (RUVNL) on August 17 at Jaipur. The pact is for supply of solar power to Rajasthan for the next 25 years. Power to the tune of 750 Million Units is to be generated annually from the project and total green power generated will be supplied to Rajasthan. "The project will help Rajastha

SJVN inks two agreements to supply 1,200 MW solar power to Punjab

State-owned SJVN Ltd has inked two pacts with Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) to supply 1,200 MW of solar power from its projects, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said here on Thursday. Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam signed two power purchase agreements (PPAs) for 1,200 MW solar power recently. PSPCL had floated tenders for procurement of power from solar projects located in Punjab and other parts of the country. SJVN Green Energy Limited (SGEL), SJVN's arm, proposed the rate of Rs 2.53 per unit for the supply of 1,000 MW and Rs 2.75 per unit for another 200 MW. "Earlier bidding was of Rs 2.59 per unit but it was negotiated and brought at Rs 2.53," he said. For 200 MW the bid had proposed the rate of Rs 2.79 per unit but it was finally agreed at Rs 2.75 per unit, Mann said, adding that the state government will save Rs 431 crore through this negotiation. The rates have been fixed for 25 years and PSPCL will not pay any transmission charges and for transmission losses. La

NTPC Renewable Energy wins bid for 80 MW solar project in Khandwa

NTPC Renewable Energy Ltd on Tuesday emerged as the successful bidder for an 80-megawatt floating solar project at Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh. The energy generated from the project will be supplied to Madhya Pradesh discoms, NTPC said in a statement. NTPC Renewable Energy is a subsidiary of power producer NTPC. "The bidding was conducted on August 8, 2023, by Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited, a joint venture of Solar Energy Corporation of India and MP Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd. The discovered tariff is Rs 3.80/kWh," it said. NTPC Group has 3.3 GW renewable energy (RE) operational capacity, while another 20 GW RE capacity is in the pipeline, including 4 GW energy storage system and the country's first green hydrogen-based piped natural gas blending project. NTPC aims to achieve 60 GW of RE capacity by 2032.

IIT Goa gets solar-powered weather monitoring station under US-India collab

As part of the collaboration between the USA and India, the City University of New York (CUNY) has installed a solar-powered weather monitoring station at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Goa. The weather station at IIT Goa, located at Farmagudi village in South Goa, was installed on Tuesday, paving the way for a series of other such installations in the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat, those linked to the project said. Neal Philip, Professor from Bronx Community College of the CUNY, said the project was funded by the US Consulate General, Mumbai. The project is part of a collaboration between CUNY and IIT Goa. "This is our first project and we are looking forward to more such projects," he said. Philip said it is a solar-powered modular system. "You can have regular weather information, temperature, humidity, solar radiation, UV radiation, moisture, air quality and other things with this station," he said. "It has a lot of facilities other than the normal weather stat