Legal

In a stock exchange filing later today, Reliance Power said it will take all legal steps to challenge SECI’s action that bars the company from participation in future government tenders for three years.

The debarment follows the submission of a fake document by Reliance Power’s arm Maharashtra Energy Generation Ltd (the ‘bidder’), now known as Reliance NU BESS Ltd, in response to SECI’s tender for setting up 1 GW/2 GWh of standalone battery energy storage (BESS) projects.

The U.S. solar panel manufacturer has sent letters to Longi, Trina Solar, Jinko Solar, JA Solar and Canadian Solar saying it believes the companies are infringing on its patents.

Lawyers are doing brisk business as tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar technology moves into the mainstream. A series of patent infringement cases have been launched in the United States and Europe and their impacts are reverberating through the marketplace. How likely is it that winners will emerge?

The World Trade Organization (WTO) Secretariat has criticized China for an alleged lack of transparency in its state support framework and has urged the nation to improve its subsidy notification process.

The European authorities are trying to determine whether two consortia – including subsidiaries of Longi and Shanghai Electric – violated the new EU rules on foreign subsidies when they participated in a procurement process in Romania for a 110 MW solar farm. The European Commission is expected to make a final decision within 110 working days.

India’s apex court has relaxed restrictions on the construction of overhead transmission lines in the potential areas for renewable energy generation in Rajasthan and Gujarat. It has also constituted a new committee to identify measures and safeguards to be adopted in overhead transmission that can help conservation of Great Indian Bustard.

The amended Energy Conservation Bill sets a minimum usage clause for non-fossil fuel by high carbon-emitting sectors such as power, transport, industry, and buildings. It also includes provisions to incentivize decarbonization efforts by allowing carbon trading.

A Spanish court has ruled that Spain’s largest operational PV project – the 500 MW Nuñez de Balboa solar plant – occupies a piece of land that was illegally expropriated. Project owner Iberdrola must now shut down a large portion of the installation.

A shortage of suitable sites is prompting companies to buy up land before deciding on the specifics of project construction, as a junior minister stated more solar is likely to be waved through by 2025.