Renewable energy in India : News & Updates

India's top explorer ONGC looks at acquisitions for 10GW renewable aim​

NEW DELHI, Aug 14 (Reuters) - India's top explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC.NS) is looking at acquisitions in order to have 10 gigawatts (GWs) of renewable energy capacity by 2040, Chairman Subhash Kumar said.

"Renewable seems to be making lots of business since today and we are looking at the possibility of inorganic investment in renewables," Kumar told an analysts' conference, after the company's June quarter earnings.

India has set up ambitious target to raise its renewable capacity to 450 GWs by 2030 from the current 100 GWs to cut dependence on thermal power generation and reduce pollution.

ONGC has signed a memorandum of understanding with the country's top utility NTPC Ltd (NTPC.NS) to study the setting up of offshore wind and other renewable energy projects in India and overseas.


Kumar said his company is looking to rope in foreign partners for exploring new areas, including its deepwater oil and gas block in the east coast to monetise the reserves quickly.
 
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Solar PV Module Manufacturing in India​

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021
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Source: MNRE

Recently India crossed the 100 GW mark of installed renewable energy capacity, and now stands at “4thposition in the world in terms of RE capacity, 5th in solar and 4th in wind capacity.” Majority of solar capacity installation depends upon import of cells and modules given limited manufacturing capacity in India. Recognizing this and with expected potential of future capacity growth, the central government announced a ‘Performance Linked Incentive’ scheme for achieving manufacturing capacity of Giga Watt scale in High Efficiency Solar PV modules.

Nevertheless, India currently has 8.2 GW per year manufacturing capacity, with the largest number of facilities located in the state of Gujarat, followed by West Bengal, Telangana and Karnataka. Largest module manufacturing at a single location is 1.1 GW facility owned by Mundra Solar Pvt Ltd.

Solar PV Module Manufacturing in India
 
LOL at this:

India's 450GW target listed in US 'Energy Compact' as climate goal

The Americans are advertising our renewable energy push as their work in the UN. What exactly is their contribution ? Funding ? Not gonna happen. Tech transfer ? They would rather sell us stuff than do TOTs. Even in selling solar panels China is way ahead. Our own production capacity for solar panels is growing quickly.

We have signed an agreement for a joint working group on Solar energy with the US in September 2021. And with in a month our national goal set by our PM became an US environment/climate commitment in the UN. The absolute state of affairs. This joint working group is likely another talk shop nothing will come from it.

Remember US-India joint working group on Jet engine tech, aircraft carriers, drones etc. ? What was the tangible outcome from those groups ? Nothing. We will get nothing tangible & they will parade themselves as the messiahs that helped transform India's energy sector.
 
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View: Solar installation surge puts India on track to cap coal-fired power as early as 2024

By Tim Buckley & Dr Charles Worringham
Last Updated: Oct 12, 2021, 10:06 AM IST
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Solar power station in India. (Representative picture).
Synopsis
Coal has effectively become India's swing producer of electricity, rising to new peaks in periods when demand is high and renewable power low, but slumping deeply when demand falls and renewable energy's contribution rises.

If India keeps installing solar capacity at the rate it's achieved for the last three months, coal-fired power could peak in the 2023-24 financial year, and increased solar generation alone could meet the country's growing electricity requirements in subsequent years.

India's electricity demand has surged and slumped in recent months as the economy revives in fits and starts, but the fact is that coal-fired power is increasingly sensitive to the performance of renewable energy.

Coal has effectively become India's swing producer of electricity, rising to new peaks in periods when demand is high and renewable power low, but slumping deeply when demand falls and renewable energy's contribution rises.

In recent months thermal generation has swung between a daily low of just over 2.0 TWh on August 1 (when renewable energy and hydroelectricity provided 38% of India's electricity), to as high as 3.2 TWh just over two weeks later when renewable energy and hydro made a smaller though still impressive 25% contribution to the grid.

But while the variable nature of renewable energy is well known and the financial fortunes of coal-fired power are increasingly tied to its generation level, it is a recent change in a different number that may prove decisive in determining how soon coal's contribution to India's electricity reaches its peak. That number is the rate at which the country is installing new solar capacity.

Calendar year 2020's pandemic conditions saw new solar installations fall to an average of just 411 MW per month, compared to 665 MW per month as the average since January 2017. But since May this year there has been a very strong rebound. A total of 1,248 MW of solar capacity was added in June, followed by an additional 1,605 MW in July, rising again to 1,672 MW in August.

This average of 1,508 MW per month for the last quarter does more than simply double the long-term installation rate - it shows just how close India could be to capping thermal generation. If this installation rate continued, solar capacity would reach 109 GW by March 2024, generating some 87 TWh of additional power annually, enough to meet all of India's electricity generation increase, based on the latter's 5.7% annual growth rate over the decade to 2019.

Some other adjustments would be needed if coal-fired power were to peak and subsequently decline. Daily peak demand has been rising faster than daily energy, meaning that thermal plants would increasingly have to be deployed to meet the daily peak, as would hydroelectric generators, without increasing their overall output.

Additional pumped storage and India's first set of grid-scale batteries would also support the peak, along with the development of a time-of-day pricing structure to incentivise demand response management by industry and consumers.

Whether the actual installation rate matches, falls short of, or exceeds this rate will come down to the determination of the Indian government. The current rate would comfortably meet the 60 GW ground-mounted component of the 125 GW renewable target for 2022, but not quite match the average rate needed to hit the 280 GW solar component of the 450 GW 2030 goal.

What the last few months clearly demonstrate, however, is India's ability to now accelerate the installation of grid-scale solar fast enough to cap coal-fired power before the middle of the decade and potentially to see a gradual coal generation decline from that point on.

The recent lift in rooftop solar installs, along with increased development of wind and rounding out those nearly completed hydro power projects to which India is committed could make our timeline here conservative indeed !

 
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Ambani’s new energy business is on an investment spree to create Jio-like success

By Niharika Sharma
October 13, 2021
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(File Photo)

Reliance New Energy Solar (RNEL) is a four-month-old in a hurry. From two $1.14 billion acquisitions announced a few days ago to two more big-ticket deals in the past few hours, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries (RIL) has been on an investment spree.

Today (Oct. 13), the company formed in June this year announced a $45 million investment in German firm Nexwafe.


“(It) will accelerate product and technology development for NexWafe, including completion of the commercial development of NexWafe’s solar photovoltaic products on prototype lines in Freiburg,” said a midnight RIL press statement.

Moments later, it issued another release: RIL and Denmark-based Stiesdal had signed a cooperation agreement for technology development and manufacturing of Stiesdal’s HydroGen Electrolysers in India.




Electrolysers use electrolysis, the process of separating elements from their compound using electricity, to split water and produce hydrogen and oxygen.

The serial deals seem to be replicating the 2020 pattern set by RIL’s tech subsidiary Jio Platforms. It is also aligned with Ambani’s vision to set up a 5,000-acre green energy giga complex named after his father in Jamnagar, Gujarat.

RIL moves aligned with giga factory plans

The Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex will include four factories focused on the clean energy business. These include a battery-making unit and an integrated solar photovoltaic plant.

Referring to the Stiesdal deal, Ambani said, “It is an important step towards fulfilling our commitment to accelerate India’s transition to green energy benefitting from our vast solar energy sources and scaling up innovative and leading technologies to meet this objective.”

Industry experts, meanwhile, believe RIL’s plans have now firmly placed the spotlight on the clean energy sector.

“It’s very encouraging to see how big corporates in India are making commitments and channeling investment into the clean energy space,” Vibhuti Garg, energy economist at the US-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, had earlier told Quartz.

However, can RIL’s push in the area repeat a Jio-like success ?

What Ambani did with Jio Platforms

In 2020, Jio Platforms raised over 1.52 lakh crore rupees ($20 billion) from investors, including Google and Facebook.

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This helped it go debt-free in only 58 days and emerge as the strongest player in some significant sectors in India.

Built on the success of Reliance Jio, RIL’s telecom venture Jio Platforms dabbles across most new-tech segments: cloud, media, digital commerce, financial services, gaming, education, healthcare, agriculture, e-governance, and smart cities.

For RNEL, there is a similarly wide board to play. And the company seems to be placing its pieces well.

Ambani’s new energy business is on an investment spree to create Jio-like success
 

India adds 6,530 MW solar, wind capacities during July 2020-June 2021​

India added a total of 6,530 mega watt (MW) of solar and wind capacities between July 2020 and June 2021, a report said on Wednesday.

At 6,530 MW, the addition was a rise of 3 per cent compared to the year-ago period, the Bridge to India report said.

"Total utility scale solar and wind capacity addition in the 12-month period between July 2020-June 2021 was 6,530 MW, a nominal 3 per cent year-on-year increase," it said.

Gujarat added 2,256 MW capacity, the highest capacity during the said period, followed by Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh which added 1,438 MW and 822 MW, respectively.

Vinay Rustagi, Managing Director, Bridge To India, said: "India's renewable sector has shown remarkable resilience in the face of multiple challenges last year. But investor confidence is still downbeat because there is tremendous policy uncertainty all around and execution risks are rising. It would be great to see more proactive support from the government for the distributed renewable market, which is likely to be hit the hardest."

Bridge to India is a leading consulting and knowledge services provider in the Indian cleantech market.
 
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Self-Reliance In Battery Manufacturing: Govt Invites Global Bids To Build Giga-Scale Advanced Chemistry Cell Making Units

By India Infrahub
Oct 24, 2021 02:38 PM
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A Representative Image. Lithium iron phosphate battery (Pic Via Wikipedia)

Snapshot

  • Advanced Chemistry Cells (ACC) are the new generation of advanced storage technologies that can store electric energy.
  • There is a negligible investment in manufacturing and value addition of ACCs in India.
  • All the demand for the ACCs in India is currently being met through imports, particularly from China and Taiwan.
  • Thus, the union government has invited global bids to set up greenfield giga-scale ACC manufacturing units in India.
  • The sector can attract a direct investment of around Rs 45,000 crore and import substitution of around Rs 20,000 crore every year.
The union government has invited global bids to set up greenfield giga-scale Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) manufacturing units in India to make the country self-reliant in battery consuming sectors like consumer electronics, electric vehicles, advanced electricity grids, solar rooftop etc.

ACCs are the new generation of advanced storage technologies that can store electric energy either as electrochemical or as chemical energy and convert it back to electric power as and when required.

While several companies have already started investing in battery packs, though these facilities' capacities are too small compared to global averages, there still is a negligible investment in manufacturing and value addition of ACCs in India.

According to the bid document accessed by News18, each bidder would have to commit to set-up an ACC manufacturing facility of a minimum five GWh capacity with Value-Addition of a minimum of 25 per cent within two years and a minimum of 60 per cent within five years.

The selected firm will establish the project with a minimum of Rs 250 crore per GWh, which will exclude the cost of land, the bid document says.

Either local or foreign or a consortium can execute the project of setting up ACC manufacturing units.

Reportedly, the government will facilitate an enabling ecosystem for the same, including signing tripartite agreements between a company, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of the Centre, and the state governments. The bids will be opened in January next year.

India's Dependence On Imports

All the demand for the ACCs in India is currently being met through imports, particularly from China and Taiwan.

In 2019-20, India had imported Lithium-ion and Lithium (primary cells and batteries) worth Rs 8,818 crore and exported the same worth of just Rs 69 crore.

As per analytics consultant Global Data, the global demand for lithium is expected to double to 1,17,400 mt by 2024 from an estimated 47,300 mt in 2020. The increase in demand is due to the likely rise in electric vehicle battery production.

Thus import substitution in this sector is more significant than ever, and the Modi government has brought out a national programme to achieve it.

Rs 18,000 Crore Scheme To Propel Domestic ACC Manufacturing

In May 2021, the union government approved the Production Linked incentive Scheme (PLI) to manufacture Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) in the country.

The total outlay of the scheme is Rs 18,100 crore for five years. The PLI scheme 'National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage' envisages achieving a manufacturing capacity of fifty (50) GigaWatt Hour (GWh) of ACC and five GWh of niche ACC.

ACC battery Storage manufacturers will be selected through a transparent, competitive bidding process. The manufacturing facility would have to be commissioned within two years. The incentive will be disbursed after that over five years.

The scheme proposes a production linked subsidy based on applicable subsidy per KWh and percentage of value addition achieved on actual sales made by the manufacturers who set up production units.

Vast Benefits If The Scheme Succeeds

Besides setting up a cumulative 50 GWh of ACC manufacturing facilities in India, the programme can attract a direct investment of around Rs 45,000 crore in ACC Battery storage manufacturing projects and import substitution of around Rs 20,000 crore every year.

Domestic manufacturing may decrease prices, create a manufacturing ecosystem in the sector, and facilitate demand creation for battery storage in India.

Also, the government estimates that the ACCs manufactured under the programme are expected to accelerate EV adoption. Thus, net savings of Indian Rs 2,00,000 crore to Rs 2,50,000 crore on oil import bill reduction is anticipated during this scheme.

Overall, the success of the PLI scheme on ACC can provide impetus to research and development to achieve higher specific energy density and cycles in ACC and promote newer and niche cell technologies.

Self-Reliance In Battery Manufacturing: Govt Invites Global Bids To Build Giga-Scale Advanced Chemistry Cell Making Units
 
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US firm First Solar announces $684mn India investment​

US company First Solar has formally announced an investment of $684 million in Tamil Nadu for a solar photovoltaic (PV) thin film module manufacturing facility that will support 1,000 jobs, with 60% of them women.

The announcement came at the fourth annual meeting of the Indo-Pacific Business Forum (IPBF), a US initiative which was co-hosted for the first time in South Asia. Held virtually this time, the forum advances US vision for an open, interconnected, resilient, and secure Indo-Pacific region.

It is the premier annual US government-sponsored commercial diplomacy event for the region, which was attended by more than 2,300 business and government leaders, the state department said.

Indian companies and entities that participated included Bharti Airtel, the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Tata Steel, the State Bank of India, Wipro and the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum.

The First Solar announcement formalised an investment that the company had teased months ago. It will create a new, vertically integrated solar module manufacturing facility for photovoltaic films, the state department said. The company had earlier stated it plans to go operational from 2023.

Mark Widmar, the company’s CEO, was among the handful of US business leaders Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met during his last visit to the United States in September, for his first in-person meeting with President Joe Biden and the first in-person summit of Quad leaders.

The US Development Finance Corporation (DFC) also announced it will provide $50 million in loan to Northern Arc Capital to expand its loan portfolio with a focus on loans for women-owned business enterprises in India. The loan is part of a co-financing with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, which will also provide a $50 million loan, the state department said.

Other investments announced at the forum were US company Bentley Systems investing $1 billion in acquiring partnering with New Zealand-based Seequent, a global leader in 3D modelling software; Amazon spending $5.25 billion in creating a Cloud Region in New Zealand; DFC to partner with a Nepalese company to raise $75 million fund for small and medium businesses.

“As all nations strive to recover from the unprecedented disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the importance of economic and commercial cooperation and partnership is paramount,” the state department said. “As the world’s largest economy and most generous humanitarian assistance donor, the United States is leading the way in that recovery effort, both at home and abroad.”
 
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