microgrid

With demand for cleaner forms of energy and a greater need for flexibility and reliability in the power supply, the role of battery energy storage is critical. Innovation in battery technology is essential to match demand growth and the shift in technical requirements. Predictions of 400,000 MWh of battery storage required by 2025 means that all battery technologies will play a role in contributing to a clean energy future.

The International Water Management Institute is promoting the Solar Irrigation for Agricultural Resilience (SoLAR) initiative to expand the use of solar irrigation systems throughout Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan. Proponents of solar irrigation pumps say that they can have a strong positive impact on groundwater.

The winning startups will receive lab-to-market incubation support at the Clean Energy International Incubation Centre (CEIIC), which has been set up by the not-for-profit platform Social Alpha with support from Government of India and Tata Trusts in Delhi.

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.

Launched in November 2015, the alliance aims to collectively address key challenges to the scaling up of solar energy in member countries that fall between Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. Out of 121 prospective member countries, over 83 have already joined it in a period of just four years.

TP Renewable Microgrid—the joint venture of India’s integrated power company and the US-based impact investor—is said to become the world’s largest microgrid developer and operator with plans to set up 10,000 microgrids by 2026.

The aim is development of sustainable, integrated solutions for both short- and long-term storage. November 12 is the last date for submitting expressions of interest. Projects are expected to start before December 15, 2020.

“The addition of microgrids creates opportunities for developers to penetrate areas which were not previously explored while allowing the government to meet its renewable energy targets,” says Dr Jayashri Ravishankar—senior lecturer at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney—in an interview with pv magazine.

Integrated power infrastructure offers an emerging investment opportunity in Asia as the region expands and adapts its energy mix to address sustainability and resilience goals. Narsingh Chaudhary and Mitesh Patel, of engineering, procurement and construction business Black & Veatch, tell pv magazine more.

A total of three smart grid field pilots are to be set up—two inside the IIT Kanpur campus and one at two village hamlets in Kanpur—under a U.S.-India collaborative project on smart distribution system with storage. The deadline for EoI submission is August 30.