Energy Storage

Electric car sales in India declined by 40 per cent to a mere 1,200 units in the financial year 2018 over the financial year 2017, while electric two-wheeler sales rose 138 per cent to 54,800 units during the same period—according to research and consultancy group Wood Mackenzie.

The fate of the clutch of 500 MW-plus projects due to break ground this year could determine whether such ambitious schemes have a viable future, says Wood Mackenzie in its solar 2019 forecast. And the Indian market should brace for consolidation, add the analysts, because of aggressive reverse-auction tariff pricing.

Although the solar industry sees itself as young, its assets are aging. Owners still struggle with the complexity of making the best use of big data analysis to improve plant efficiency and profitability. Ragna Schmidt-Haupt, of Everoze, examines why this has not changed, and what can or should be improved. Artificial intelligence, advanced data analytics, automated assessments and smart monitoring software – holistic solar asset management starts here.

Government-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited will set up a network of solar-based electric vehicle chargers along the entire 250 km stretch of road between Delhi and Chandigarh, allaying range anxiety among EV users.

Tecchren Batteries will establish a 200 MWh LiFePO4 battery manufacturing unit at Sri City in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Set up after an investment of Rs446 crore, the unit will produce approximately 700,000 li ion batteries per year.

Known as the “roof of the world,” the scenic Ladakh region in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir will soon host the world’s largest single-location PV plant.

The new ‘cerenergy’ system that has been developed in Germany can operate without air conditioning by using vacuum insulation even in extreme temperatures. With no rare earths required for manufacture, the product’s basic material is salt.

In his keynote address at a Make in India session at the Energy Storage India 2019 event in New Delhi, the minister for commerce and industry urged the storage sector to make products that are useful in an Indian context.

The sixth international conference and exhibition on energy storage, electric vehicles and microgrids in India kicked off today in New Delhi. Innovation and Make in India were the central themes.

More flexible prices during peak periods would incentivize the use of energy during times of lower demand and reduce the burden on the grid, according to a report by IEEFA. Day-ahead market pricing would better incentivize variable generation to ‘kick in’ at times of peak demand.