Asia

Encouraged by the state’s investor-friendly solar policy, distributed power producer Amplus Energy Solutions will install 400 MW of solar capacity for R20 billion over three years. In the first phase, Amplus will develop a 50 MW ground-mounted project in Mirzapur district.

The Kolkata-based EPC company says failing to exempt SEZs from the new tariff defeats the point of the existence of such areas, which is to foster domestic manufacturing and industry.

Despite safeguard tariffs against certain imports of solar PV products into India, Chinese manufactured modules will remain competitive, says TrendForce. It further anticipates PV demand falling 30% in fiscal year 2018 in India, while cost pressures will mount for EPCs and project developers.

In the first big auction, a day after the imposition of a 25% safeguard duty on solar imports, the winning tariff of Rs 2.79 (US$0.041) at the 200 MW Odisha auction took the industry by surprise.

Greenpeace India, Germi, and the IWMI-Tata Water Policy Program have released a report stating that the Indian government’s latest ambitions to deploy solar water pumps could meet the country’s solar PV target of 100 GW, if done comprehensively. So far the plan goes as far as 28 GW, and still needs legislative approval.

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has approved a grant supporting the technical design and project planning work for IL&FS Energy Development Company Limited’s (IEDCL) 41 MW hybrid wind, solar and energy storage power plant in Andhra Pradesh.

Inspectors from solar risk management company PI Berlin visited six projects and exposed cost-cutting in installation, non-existent warranties, serious safety concerns and improbable performance figures.

The Indian government has imposed a safeguard duty of 25% on solar imports from China and Malaysia for two years. The Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue) levied the duty based on the final recommendations proposed by the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR). While most industry players are dismayed, believing project costs could “immediately” go up by 15%, others are more optimistic.

Owing to a rapid scaling up of solar capacity, Karnataka has overtaken Tamil Nadu to become India’s top state in terms of installed renewable energy capacity. The state installed 5 GW of new PV capacity in 2017-18 alone—according to a report by the US-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).

Citing high tariff of INR 3.48 ($0.050)/kWh as untenable, the Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA) has cancelled the recent auction for the development of 1 GW grid-connected solar PV projects across the state.