Markets

Waste-to-energy, battery lifecycle solutions and hazardous waste management will make up an increased share of Fortum’s business in future. While solar will continue to be a mainstay for the Finnish clean energy company in India, Fortum wants to deepen its presence in the electric vehicle space with smart solutions, according to Sanjay Aggarwal, the company’s India MD, and Juha Suomi, area director for Asia, who spoke exclusively to pv magazine.

The procurement – for PV capacity at the Dholera Solar Park – attracted bids for just 300 MW as developers shunned a tariff ceiling of Rs2.75/kWh.

Policy certainty and more financial subsidies would incentivise the market, as would support for domestic manufacturing and simplifying the net metering application process.

After two decades of growth, the amount of newly installed renewable energy capacity is no longer rising and, despite a 7% growth in electricity generation from clean energy sources, global energy-related carbon emissions have risen 1.7%.

The German EPC contractor is also building a 250 MW AC ground-mounted solar farm in Karnataka. Overall, with an already installed capacity of more than 370 MWp and other projects under implementation, it expects to cross 1 GW of installed capacity in India by the year end.

KKR has also applied to become a co-sponsor of the power infrastructure investment trust and plans to acquire additional 15% stake in it. The deal marks KKR’s first infrastructure investment in Asia.

The company has identified renewables, transmission and distribution, and value-added businesses such as rooftop solar, smart metering, electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and micro grids in rural areas as key growth areas.

The Chinese string inverter giant was the world’s biggest supplier for the fourth year in a row, despite ceding 4% of its global market share, according to analyst Wood Mackenzie. Asia-Pacific was again the largest inverter market, accounting for 64% of global shipments.

Reduction in solar park charges was not enough to attract developers in the same numbers that flocked to a separate 500 MW exercise two months earlier. The Raghanesda Solar Park continues to be a headache after a previous attempt was cancelled because the tariffs were deemed too costly.

Founded in 2006, Bengaluru-based Orb is a rooftop solar provider that manufactures panels and provides finance for SMEs through a collateral-free loan that matches the payback period for its solar systems. Orb has sold more than 160,000 units in India, with cumulative installations of around 65 MW of PV rooftop capacity.