WoodMac analysts say the amount of new battery manufacturing capacity added in the nation this year could fall by as much as 10% because of the outbreak. With Tesla’s Shanghai gigafactory affected by the extended new-year-holiday shutdown, the analyst warned of potential supply shortages for Australia and the U.S. and U.K.

Panellists including a government representative and a member of the chief policy thinktank used by Narendra Modi agreed coal will continue as the staple source of Indian power into the mid century and technology should be employed to ‘clean’ it.

With electric vehicles making up only 3% of the global car market last year, analyst WoodMac says battery packs need to be cheaper and lighter and range anxiety must be addressed to change the habits of drivers.

Norwegian analyst Rystad Energy has predicted the stop on PV tenders in Karnataka will see Rajasthan become India’s leading solar state this year. The market research firm expects India to add only 10 GW new solar in 2020, however, and the same figure in 2021.

The annual global outlook report for solar published by IHS Markit notes there was no real uptick in the amount of new capacity added last year, compared with the returns seen in 2018. That is likely to kill any hope India has of overtaking the U.S. as the world’s second biggest solar market in 2020.

As Germany shuttered another of its nuclear power plants on New Year’s Day, Narendra Modi’s office was said to be considering a proposal which would make coal more competitive with renewables in India.

TES issued a press release announcing the new facilities that is light on detail but claimed the plants would position it as ‘a leader’ in battery recycling. The company also announced an intent to move into the reuse of spent electric vehicle batteries in commercial and residential applications.

EU industry body EUROBAT has called for the bloc to adopt a battery industrial strategy and has pushed the claims of domestic manufacturers in the same manner as India has, as the race hots up to dominate the global energy storage market.

The Chinese thin-film manufacturer and compatriot carmaker Joylong Automobile applied thin film cells to the roof of a small commercial vehicle which was tested for a month. Hanergy says its K-Car could offer an effective daily range of 50-100km without charging.

The Chinese manufacturer claims to be the first company in the nation to supply that volume of solar modules. The news is unlikely to be welcomed by a government desperate to foster its own solar manufacturing sector.