solar power market 2015
TRANSCRIPT
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INR 300Volume 04. # 3. March 2015
INDIAN STATES SPECIAL
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INDEXNEWS AT GLANCE
State....................................................................................................................................................................Page 5
National..............................................................................................................................................................Page 4
EXPERT SPEAK
Interview with Mr. Basant Jain, CEO, Mahindra Susten..................................................................Page 6
Interview with Mr. Rajesh Singh, General Manager - Operations, RenewSys India Pvt Ltd.........................................................................................................................................................................................Page 8
Interview with Sri M. Kamalakar Babu,Vice Chairman & Managing Director, New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Ltd., (NREDCAP).....Page 10
Interview with Shri G.V.Balaram, Managing Director, Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd..........................................................................................................................................Page 10
Interview with Mr. BK Dosi, IAS , Managing Director, Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation.....................................................................................................................................................Page 11
INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
15 MW Solar Power Park: A Success Story.........................................................................................Page 7
The Second Solar War Frontier: Utilities..............................................................................................Page 9
Recognising Most Successful Women in Renewable Energy Industry...................................Page 14
Rooftop Revolution Can Help Overcome India’s Power Outages ..........................................Page 18
Priority Sector Lending: The Game Changer?.................................................................................Page 19
Maharashtra: The Emerging Indian Renewable Energy Investment Destination. .............Page 21
Solar industry sees a 140% jump in investments in 2014..........................................................Page 22
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
has asked all states to come out with a solar
policy, a move that will help centre meet its
clean energy target. All the states have been
requested to come out with solar policy.
The MNRE has sent a draft model solar ener-
gy policy to all the states of which 14 states
have issued solar policies.
The Minister for Power, Coal and Renewable
Energy Piyush Goyal said that the Ministry has
sanctioned 348 MW grid connected rooftop
projects to various states in the country.
”An estimated potential of 897 GW has been
identified from various renewable energy
sources in the country which includes 749
GW from solar, 103 GW from wind, 25 GW
from bio-energy and 20 GW from small hydro
power,” he said.
He further added that to make India a hub for
renewable energy manufacturing, the ministry
has been promoting private investment in the
sector through an attractive mix of fiscal and
financial incentives.
He added that the MNRE has proposed grid
power of 175 GW from various renewable
energy sources by 2022 and this includes 100
GW from solar, 60 GW from wind, 10 GW from
bio-power and 5 GW from small hydro power.
Goyal has also informed that World Bank had
shown interest to finance solar park in Andhra
Pradesh.
Goyal confirmed that the World Bank has
“shown interest” in financing a solar PV proj-
ect in the state of Andhra Pradesh, and it was
also revealed this week global service net-
work giant PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
has been brought on board by the Indian
government to draw up a roadmap for the
scale-up of the country’s solar footprint.
PwC will assess India’s PV potential and cri-
tique MNRE’s current energy policies in an
effort to fully determine a realistic power
demand projection for the country. The ana-
lysts will also evaluate grid parity projections
and the assess the capability of India’s grid,
power evacuation systems and wider net-
works in handling rapid expansion to 100 GW
of solar feed-in, which is the government’s
stated aim for 2022.
With a little more than 3 GW of cumulative
solar PV capacity currently installed, India will
have to add more than 12 GW of new solar PV
capacity annually in order to reach its current
solar target.
Indian central govt pushing UT’s to go
green
To popularize the use of solar energy, the
Union government is going to make it manda-
tory for all UTs and states to use 10.5% of their
total power consumption form
s o l a r .
This will be discussed in the parliament in the
current or the forthcoming session.
Santosh Kumar, Director, Science and
Technology department, UT said that the
government has plans to set a target of one
lakh megawatts by 2022.
Power consumption was recorded at around
1420 million units last year, which will increase
in the future according to the sources in
Chandigarh administration.
Chandigarh would need around 150 mega-
watts from solar energy and the city is far
from achieving it, going by currently available
data of power consumption.
Chandigarh administration increased its plan
target from 10 MW to 30 MW in the solar mas-
ter plan for 2022. The UT has also chalked-
out a plan to install five megawatts of solar
energy at major government buildings of the
city in the 2015-2016 financial year to meet
the newly-set target.
Measures To Ease Financing
Goyal also revealed that India and the US
have agreed on a number of initiatives which
were discussed during US President Obama’s
visit to India in January. These include the
setting up of an “Innovative Finance Forum”,
establishment of “PACESetter Fund” to sup-
port innovative clean energy access project,
and expansion of the current “Partnership to
Advance Clean Energy” (both Research and
Development).
By the end of February, grid connected solar
power in India had risen to 3.38 GW while the
total grid connected renewable energy instal-
lations (excluding large hydro) had reached
34.35 GW.
Sometime back, India had released a list of
commitments from Indian banks and financial
institutions (FIs) to invest $57 billion in green
energy projects.
The Indian Government’s aggressive policies
and ambitious capacity addition targets have
helped it jump to the best rank in market
attractiveness in the renewable energy sector
in at least about two years.
The latest edition of Ernst & Young Renewable
Energy Market Attractiveness Index focuses
on India as the government has not only
substantially increased the capacity addition
targets but also backed them with clear policy
initiatives.
India has been ranked the 5th most attractive
market overall. A quick glance through the
archive of the Quarterly Market Attractiveness
Index report shows that this is India’s best
standing since at least May 2013.
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NEWS
NATIONALCentre and states need to work together if India has to achieve its solar energy target
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has asked all states to come out with a solar
policy, a move that will help centre meet its clean energy target. All the states have been
requested to come out with solar policy. The MNRE has sent a draft model solar energy
policy to all the states of which 14 states have issued solar policies. The Minister for Power,
Coal and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal said in a written statement in the Lok Sabha
said that the Ministry has sanctioned 348 MW grid connected rooftop projects to various
states in the country.
He further added that to make India a hub for renewable energy manufacturing, the minis-
try has been promoting private investment in the sector through an attractive mix of fiscal
and financial incentives. He added that the MNRE has proposed grid power of 175 GW
from various renewable energy sources by 2022 and this includes 100 GW from solar, 60
GW from wind, 10 GW from bio-power and 5 GW from small hydro power. Goyal has also
informed that World Bank had shown interest to finance solar park in Andhra Pradesh.
Government Wants To Build Low Cost Housing Using Renewable And Indian Origin Products
Union Minister for science and technology, Harsh Vardhan, has urged scientists and tech-
nologists working on developing low cost buildings and structural material that they have
got to bear most of the burden of implementing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of
a roof above every head by 2022.
The construction technologies, high science products and specialized services developed
by SERC would form an essential component for the PM’s project and therefore he urges
the community of scientists to ensure affordability as well as safety. Addressing the staff
of the CSIR- Structural Engineering Research Centre (CSIR-SERC), a Laboratory of the
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Harsh Vardhan said that more than ever
before we need low cost technologies for rapidly filling up the demand-supply deficit.
Dr.Harsh Vardhan lauded the 2007 achievement of re-engineering the navigational pan of
the Pamban Railway Bridge over the Palk Strait which connects Rameshwaram to main-
land India. And while commenting about the project he said that this is a project which
ought to be emulated all over the world, it’s over a century old but rock solid.
India’s Renewable Grid Capacity Increased More Than Three Times Between April 2014- Feb 2015
The statistics given by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) shows India’s
cumulative-grid connected solar capacity has reached 3,382.78 MW at the end of
February. The data provided by MNRE shows that India has installed 750.77 MW of new
photovoltaic (PV) facilities since the start of this fiscal year in April 2014, while its goal for
the year is to add 1100 MW of new plants.
On the wind energy front, India has deployed 1512.8 MW of capacity in April 2014-February
2015, bringing the total cumulative to 22,644.63 MW. Meanwhile, the cumulative installed
small hydropower capacity at the end of February stood at 4025.35 MW with the addition
of 221.6 MW of facilities in the 11 months.
India aims to add 175 GW of renewable power capacity by 2022, of which 100 GW of solar
and 60 GW of wind. Presently, renewable account for about 6.5% of the Asian country’s
total power mix. This share is aimed to reach 12% in the next three years.
Indian Govt Hires PWC As Solar Energy Consultant
The India government has announced that PricewaterhouseCoopers has been hired to
formulate a plan to scale up solar energy capacity in India. PwC will be able to assess the
country’s power scenario and demand and will also evaluate the possibility of attaining
grid parity and assess the robustness of the current power evacuation system to meet the
government’s ambitious plan of 100 GW of solar capacity by 2022. To meet the country’s
solar energy target, the views of relevant stakeholders will be taken into account. Various
promotional policies both at the central and state levels can be associated with the growth
in the solar power sector. The National Solar Mission has been driving solar installations
within the country since its launch in 2009. The current installed solar power capacity
stands at about a tenth of the total renewable capacity and just 1% of the total power
capacity of the country. If India achieves the targeted installed solar power capacity then
it would be contributing about 25% of the total installed capacity and for that it will have
to add up 12GW capacity every year which seems to be very challenging.
End user solar consumer product market in india is worth USD 1 billion
The Joint Secretary of India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Tarun Kapoor said
that the largely untapped market for the off-grid solar products and equipments in India
is to the tune of Rs 4000 crore to Rs 5000 crore. According to him more than five crore
households in India need the off-grid products. He says that we need to eliminate the ker-
osene lit lamps and once the consumers start getting more choice in terms of product not
only will the market for solar products will pick up but also make the products affordable.
Kapoor said that the substandard products in the company attract consumers due to
low prices but are very poor in efficiency and that the government is on its part taking
measures to arrest the spread of such products. The new government envisions to har-
ness solar power to enable every home to run at least one light bulb by the year 2019. The
‘100 thousand solar lantern project’ is a step toward resolving one of the existing social
concerns.
India’s Share of Solar Energy
With an installed capacity of about 3000 MW solar power, the share of solar energy is
about 2% in the power sector of the country. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
(MNRE) has proposed to scale up Grid Connected Solar Power targets from 20,000 MW
to 1,00,000 MW by 2022. The target includes 40,000 MW roof-top solar photovoltaics,
57,000 MW large solar projects and 3,000 MW already installed.
The Minister further stated that India already has installed capacity of over 34 GW from
various renewable energy sources which is 13% of the total installed capacity of power
generation in the country. As per Global Status Report, REN 21, India’s global position in
renewable energy capacity installation is 5th in the world. The investment in renewable
energy are mainly by private sector. The Government has approved an outlay of Rs. 33,003
crore for Ministry of New and Renewable Energy for promotion of new and renewable
energy during 12th Plan period. This includes Rs. 19,113 crore as Budgetary Support and Rs.
13,890 crore from Internal and Extra Budgetary Support (IEBR). MNRE has organized First
Global Renewable Energy Investors Promotion Meet (RE-INVEST 2015) during February
15-17, 2015 in New Delhi. As part of RE-INVEST 2015 initiative, 387 companies/firms (both
private and public sectors) have submitted Green Energy Commitment Certificates (GEC),
aggregating to about 270 GW power generation capacity during the next five years.
Green Energy Corridor Project
A Green Energy Corridor project for evacuation of renewable energy from generation
points to the load centres by creating intra-state and inter-state transmission infrastruc-
ture is under implementation in renewable resource rich states for the likely renewable
power capacity addition during 12thFive Year Plan period, i.e., by March 2017. TThe intra-
state transmission component of the project is being implemented by the respective states
and the Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) is implementing inter-state transmission
component.
Potential of Renewable Energy in Desert Areas
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) had assigned a study to the Power
Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) to identify likely renewable power potential in
desert regions in the states of Rajasthan (Thar), Gujarat (Rann of Kutch), Himachal
Pradesh (Lahul&Spiti) and Jammu & Kashmir ( Ladakh). The Minister further stated that in
December 2013, the PGCIL had submitted a study report titled “Desert Power India- 2050”
assessing renewable power potential, transmission infrastructure requirement, balancing
reserve etc in the identified desert regions. The report has assessed the total available
potential of 315.7 GW of solar and wind power in these regions. The report has further
estimated that the investment requirement for harnessing the available potential upto
2050 would be Rs 43,74,550 crore.
India set target of capacity addition of 29,800 MW during 12th Five Year Plan
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has set a target of capacity addition of
29,800 MW from various renewable energy sources during 12th Five Year Plan period. This
was stated by Sh. Piyush Goyal, Minister of state for Power, Coal & New and Renewable
Energy (Independent Charge) in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today.
The target comprises of 15,000 MW from wind, 10,000 MW from solar, 2,100 MW from
small hydro and 2,700 MW from bio-power. During the period 2012-13 to 2014-15 (upto
31.01.2015), an aggregate capacity of 9124 MW of renewable energy projects have been
installed in the country.
5 www.solarquarter.com
NEWS
Punjab to offer farmers a shot at 500MW solar projects
To meet the growing challenges of land scarcity, alarming ground water table situation
and depleting soil health in the state, Punjab government is going to launch a solar power
generation scheme for the farmers. The scheme will offer the land-owning farmers ‘solar
power projects’ ranging 1 MW to 2.5 MW.
The initial target is fixed at generation of 500 MW power under this scheme. The scheme
has been specially designed to meet the growing challenges of land security, high cost of
land, alarming ground water table situation and depleting soil health. It will have multiple
purposes of generating clean and green energy, meeting the challenge of land scarcity
as well as developing the entrepreneurial skill amongst them thereby enhancing their
income.
It has become important for agricultural production in state to explore more avenues to
enhance the income of farm sector. It’s time now that the farmers develop entrepreneurial
skills which will give them further confidence for setting up of agro-industries/food pro-
cessing industries.
Rooftop solar power units to get boost in Maharashtra
The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) has finally come out with a
draft notification for allowing grid connectivity to rooftop solar power generation sets. The
notification published on March 9 has cited recommendations of the working committee
which was formed on MERC’s directives. The committee had submitted its report seven
months ago. Now, MERC has called for objections, if any, by March 31 to the draft noti-
fication which has opened avenues for common man’s participation in promoting green
energy in a big way. If these provisions get final approval, one can install solar PV units to
generate power at home, offices and even factories and get net metering so as to connect
with the grid.
Rays Power Infra bags 37 MW Solar EPC orders worth Rs 240 cores in Telangana and Karnataka
Rays power Infra Pvt. Ltd., one of the biggest Solar Engineering, Procurement &
Construction (EPC) companies in India, today, announced bagging of 37 megawatt (MW)
solar EPC projects worth Rs. 240 crores in the states of Telangana and Karnataka. The
company has won solar capacity projects at an average Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)
price of Rs 6.7 per unit.
Out Of the total 37 MW won by Rays Power Infra, 5 MW will be set up in Karnataka for a
Gujarat-based organisation at a competitive price of Rs 7.1 per unit. The remaining 32 MW
will be implemented in Telangana. Of which, 10 MW was won by the Rays Power Infra as
an IPP(Independent Power Producer) and the rest 22 MW will be implemented on behalf
of three different organisations that includes a food processing company, a jewellery brand
and a reputed production house at an average PPA price of Rs 6.6 per unit.
Commenting on this, Mr. Sanjay Gupta, Director, Rays Power Infra Pvt. Ltd. said, “We are
proud to have bagged projects in Telangana and Karnataka which strengthens our foot-
hold in Southern market. Rays power Infra has emerged as one of the successful bidders
and with our expertise in the Solar power sector, we aim to deliver with quality standards.
We look forward to tap newer opportunities in the power business and thereby, further
enhance our business portfolio. IPPs are playing a vital role in achieving goals of the
MNRE(Ministry of New and Renewable Energy), with special regard to the JNNSM target
of 100 GW within ten years.”
Tamil Nadu to Buy 3,000 MW Solar Energy; 200 Firms Express Interest
The State government is trying to procure 3000 MW of solar power by the end of 2015
and more than 200 firms have shown interest in signing Power Purchase Agreements
(PPAs) for 2000 MW so far, says the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), Tamil Nadu
Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited, M Saikumar.
Speaking on Tuesday at the commissioning of a rooftop solar power plant at Ramakrishna
Mission, Mylapore, Saikumar said the present cost of solar power, which was more than Rs.
7 a unit, would come down to Rs. 5.45 by next year.
Another senior TANGEDCO official said the PPAs for around 200 MW of solar power had
already been signed in the last 10 days. These power plants were likely at Ramanathapuram,
Virudhunagar and Tuticorin districts, the official added.
The power company also conducted load flow studies - a numerical analysis to determine
the voltages, currents and power flows in a system under a given load condition - for
around 2000 MW and had given letters of intent to these developers, the official said.
The PPAs, he added, could be signed after the deposit was paid.
1,000 Gujarat farmers to get solar pumps for irrigation from state gov-ernment
The Gujarat government has decided to provide solar-powered water pumps to 1,000
farmers to reduce usage of conventional power and to ease its financial burden due to
subsidy on electricity provided for irrigation.
The project will be implemented under the aegis of Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd
(GUVNL) and four distribution companies (DISCOMS) - Daxin Gujarat Vij Company Ltd,
Madhya Gujarat Vij Company Ltd, Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Ltd and Uttar Gujarat Vij
Company Ltd, according to a state government notification issued last month.
The purchase of solar-powered water pumps will be initiated in the coming days through
tenders, GUVNL’s chief engineer (technical) YD Brahmbhatt told PTI. These submersible
pumps will be of 3 to 5 horse power (HP) and cost Rs 6 lakh per unit to the government,
totalling Rs 60 crore for 1,000 pumps, he said.
As per a recent notification issued by state energy and petro-chemicals department, the
solar pumps are necessary as 20% of total electricity produced in the state is being used
for agriculture purpose, which ultimately increases the financial burden on government in
the form of subsidy.
The government is also worried about the long list of pending applications seeking power
connections for irrigation. The state government has to incur huge expenditure to set up
basic infrastructure for providing new power connections for agriculture purpose, stated
the notification announcing the commencement of the project.
“These solar-based water pumps will be given to those who have already applied for regu-
lar agriculture electricity connection as on March 31, 2014. At present, we are going to dis-
tribute 1,000 such pumps across the state with the help of DISCOMS,” said Brahmbhatt.
“However, farmers will have to pay a nominal price, which is Rs 1,000 per HP for tribal
farmers and Rs 5,000 per HP for other farmers. Thus, it will come to just Rs 15,000 for
a farmer opting for a 3 HP pump. The pump supplier will have to bear the maintenance
of these pumps for 5 years. The life span of these pumps is estimated to be 20 years,”
Brahmbhatt said.
Discoms want more time to adopt green power commitments
According to reports, the Centre might be pushing for more renewable energy, but Delhi’s
power distribution companies do not appear to be in any hurry.
While Tata Power Delhi has said in its public notice for determining the 2015-16 tariff that
renewable purchase obligations (RPO) should be deferred for the next four-five years, the
Reliance discoms—BSES Yamuna and BSES Rajdhani—wants it to be waived off for at
least two years. All three discoms said this was critical to control rising power purchase
costs and keep tariffs in check.
The scheme, which became a part of the tariff from the financial year 2012-13, makes it
obligatory for the discoms to source a fixed percentage of the total power from renewable
sources. The targets, which started with 3.4% in 2012-13, increased to 7.6% in 2015-16.
However, the Delhi discoms have never met the targets, resulting in an accumulated RPO.
Last year, too, they had made a similar request.
The BSES discoms said immediate implementation of RPOs, it said, will increase the tariff
as power purchase cost is the main component of retail tariff. Tata Power Delhi said it
would start getting solar power by 2018-19.
Vijaywada Municipal Corporation plans INR 250 cr solar cityAs directed by the state government, the Vijaywada Muncipal Corporation has drawn up
a Rs. 250 crore plan to turn the city into a Solar City. As a first step in the implementation
of the plan, the VMC would install roof top solar panels at its main office and council hall
and its buildings at the Ajitsingh Nagar Sewage Treatment Plant. The central and state
governments have started releasing funds and have already released 1.5 crore to the VMC
to install 500 KW solar panels on some of its select buildings.
Of the 12 million units of power consumed daily by various consumers in the city, the
VMC’s share is 0.87% whereas the households consume 58.3%, commercial buildings
39.4% and industries 1.5%. The VMC authorities are keen on harnessing the solar energy
and reducing the power bills and hence have taken up the ‘Solar City’ project with the aim
of reducing by 10 percent the consumption of electricity.
STATE
6 www.solarquarter.com
being executed currently and we have
been trusted by the leading developers in
the Indian solar industry like First Solar,
Renew Power, and Today Homes etc for
their projects, which is testimony to our
strong execution capabilities and quality.
In which states Mahindra Susten
is planning to invest in solar seg-
ment in India in next three years?
We have no preference towards any
specific state and opportunities are fil-
tered through our in-house 30 param-
eter investment criteria. We are con-
tinuously analyzing the available
options across states on the basis of
applicable parameters, setting up real-
istic targets and outlook for devel-
opment in the respective states.
To summarize, we evaluate all poten-
tial opportunities as per our inter-
nal assessment requirements and
decide on the basis of the same.
Can you please tell us something
about your ongoing projects?
We currently have over 250 MW at
various stages of execution across
several states in India, namely Tamil
Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and
Madhya Pradesh. Apart from this, we
also have a healthy order book of utility
scale projects and ~ 4 MW of distrib-
uted solar projects for the next year.
We are confident of sticking to our
track record and completing all the
projects on time, while maintain-
ing the highest quality standards.
What can help ease financ-
ing for the solar energy projects?
We need to make good use of the pri-
ority sector lending and infrastructure
Your company has recently re-branded
itself from Mahindra EPC to Mahindra
Susten, please tell us more about it.
With over 350 MW of projects, half a
million sq. ft. of Industrial construc-
tion, and a growing product line, we at
Mahindra Susten are proud of having
positively impacted millions of lives. The
new name represents our ambition to
innovate and deliver sustainable offer-
ings for a cleaner and smarter future.
The name ‘Susten’ is derived from two
words, ‘Sustainability’ and ‘Enabler’ and
reflects the aspiration of the company
that seeks to positively impact more
lives and emerge as a thought leader
in the sustainable engineering space.
Tell us more about the services you
are offering in India. What is the com-
pany’s current order book position?
Mahindra Susten (Formerly known as
Mahindra EPC) is India’s largest Solar
EPC Company and a portfolio company of
Mahindra Partners, the $ 900 mn private
equity division of the Mahindra Group.
The company offers diversified services
within the renewable energy and clean
tech space. A leading player in the Indian
solar energy sector, with 100 MW com-
missioned to date and over 250 MW
under execution, services span across
turnkey solar EPC services - both utility
scale solar projects and distributed solar
which includes rooftop solar, solar DG
hybrid solutions, solar products, solar car
charging stations, & telecom tower solar-
ization, solar PV O&M and analytics.
The company also offers engineering
services, energy management services
and industrial construction solutions.
The solar development arm of the
company currently has 40MW of solar
PV assets operational in the state of
Rajasthan, another 50 MW under
development and is looking at rap-
idly scaling up the asset portfolio.
The company has over 250 MW of orders
We currently have over 250
MW at various stages of execution across several states in India, namely Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.”
“At Mahindra Susten, we have committed ourselves to develop 1 GW of clean energy projects over the next 5 years”Below are the excerpts of our recent interview with Mr. Basant Jain, CEO, Mahindra Susten.
FEATURE INTERVIEW
debt funds for solar energy penetration.
At present, this is not available forutility
scale solar projects in India; priority sector
lending and IDFs are widely implemented
tools that could lead to large scale
funding and lower the cost of capital.
Priority is available for off-grid solar and
solar water heaters as of today, including
large scale, utility scale grid-connected
solar projects to the qualified priority sec-
tor list which would allow banks to lend
with lower interest rates. An increase of
a few percentage points could also mean
a substantial corpus for the RE sector.
IDFs can act as a medium to send
debt financing into infrastruc-
ture projects with better terms.
Internationally, we see a lot of success-
ful steps which can be adapted to pro-
pel India’s solar industry and initiatives
ahead. For e.g. in China, the renewable
energy laws, renewable power quotas,
and priority dispatch sees clear enforce-
ment. This is also backed by High FiTs ~
RMB 1 ($ 0.164) / kWh. In the US, loan
guarantees are available for early proj-
ects, enabling lower interest rates for
investment into RE. There are also the
clean energy banks which are allowed to
raise capital through various means like
issuing bonds and selling equity, exclu-
sively to support green energy projects.
Are you satisfied with the new gov-
ernment’s initiatives for the renew-
able energy sector? What more
needs to be done on the policy front
to make the sector more attractive?
At the outset, let me congratulate the
government which is ably led by Mr.
Narendra Modi for its vision and spotting
the opportunity for making India energy
secure and independent of fossil fuel
based fluctuations. We agree that the
target is ambitious and there is a lot of
speculation in the industry regarding the
achievement of 100 GW. But, in our opin-
ion, although it is ambitious with a few
strong steps we can achieve the same.
In order to achieve this fast track
growth and meet the targets set by
the government, power evacuation
infrastructure development, creation
of land banks, providing support for
access, right of way and easing land
acquisition is of prime importance.
The MNRE is contemplating development
of solar parks wherein the above required
facilities are expected to be readily avail-
able to solar developers. This will provide
a much required boost to implement
fast track execution of the projects.
How is Mahindra Susten plan-
ning to achieve solar targets
of 1 GW MW till March 2020?
At Mahindra Susten, we have com-
mitted ourselves to develop 1 GW of
clean energy projects over the next 5
years. This is an estimated investment
of about Rs 4500 Crores.We are cur-
rently in the process of finalizing the
road-map with realistic targets and mile-
stones, where we will evaluate all poten-
tial opportunities as per our internal
assessment guide, to achieve the stated
target of 1 GW clean energy by 2020.
We believe our vast experience across
the solar value chain, (like Solar
development, Turnkey EPC, Design,
Engineering, Procurement, Construction
and O&M), business values, focus on
quality, track record of high perform-
ing plants, and trusted relationship with
the financers will ensure our success.
In the last 3 years, we have delivered
over 100 MW capacity and our team
size expanded to 410 employees. In
addition, we have incubated new busi-
nesses, patented new technologies and
increased our offerings in the Clean-
tech space in our endeavour to Rise.
IDFs can act as a medium to send
debt financing into infrastructure projects with better terms.”
We have incubat-ed new business-
es, patented new tech-nologies and increased our offerings in the Clean-tech space in our endeavour to Rise.”
7 www.solarquarter.com
short time span of 70 days and the entire 15
MW was commissioned and completed in 82
days from start to finish.
Salient features of the project:
Power evacuation is through a 33 kV dedicat-
ed feeder connecting Periyarnagar substation
through a 33 /110 kV Transformer.
This project is one of the few truly modular
energy parks with the composition of 5 x 33
kV to feed:
15 MW Solar Power Park: A Success Story
SWELECT Energy Systems Ltd, a lead-
ing Solar Power Systems Integrator and
Manufacturer of Solar PV modules and Power
Converters, has commissioned a 15 MW Solar
Energy Park at Vellakovil, Karur District, Tamil
Nadu in April 2014.
The 15 MW park is a modular energy park
where in SWELECT owns 12MW of the plant
and remaining 3 MW capacity of the installa-
tion is owned by Yajur Energy Solutions Pvt
Ltd and Amex Alloys Pvt Ltd, a leading steel
foundry in Coimbatore. The first phase of the
project (12 MW) was commissioned in a very
The 15 MW park is a modular energy park where in SWELECT owns 12MW of the plant
• 1 x 10 MW
• 1 x 2 MW
• 3 x 1 MW Energy generating systems,
with separate metering for each of the parks
and a final metering for the entire 15 MWp.
This a very unique concept which has been
installed for the first time in India. This kind of
a modular park concept has proven beneficial
to the park owners since the main infrastruc-
ture of roads, cleaning, transmission line etc
and the Operation and Maintenance of the
plant are shared by the owners thus reducing
their overall cost for the individual developers.
The following options were made available to
the Industry:
• Combination REC + PPA with TANGEDCO
• REC + Captive consumption
• REC + Energy Wheeling Agreement option
• REC + private PPA / third party sales of
Power
The Solar panels used are high efficiency
250 Wp panels with 30 year life span, triple
IEC certification and Chubb insurance for the
power generation.
Here 900 kW SMA high efficiency outdoor
inverters have been used. The entire installa-
tion is outdoor type with sandwich type bus
bars interfacing the LT side to the transform-
ers and power evacuation has been done at
the 33 kV level. All the inverter stations are
outdoor type thus reducing the civil cost.
Overall this installation has the best of tech-
nology installed at the most optimized cost.
INDUSTRY INSIGHT
8 www.solarquarter.com
“The new government at the centre is trying to address these issues systematically and fixing ambitious targets to create demand”
EXPERT SPEAK
With your vast experience could you please
narrate the company’s growth story in
Indian solar sector?
We belong to the ENPEE group of companies,
an international conglomerate having over
50 years of business experience in diver-
sified fields of industry. We have been in
the flexible packaging business for decades
with vast expertise in Polymer processing.
Manufacturing of PV EVA Encapsulants and
Backsheets was just the extension of prod-
ucts in the line of our expertise. Based at
Bengaluru, our state-of-the-art clean room
manufacturing facility employs state-of-the-
art European technology.
During the recent downward trend experi-
enced by the solar industry, Indian industry
passed through double trouble. Firstly, for
facing low demand caused by disparity in
local taxationlows and lack of clarity in solar
policies; and secondly, for their price un-
competitiveness on the global platform.
As we too were not spared, it was difficult for
us to fill-up capacities reasonably during the
first two years since our inception in March
2012. But, in-spite-of these unfavourable con-
ditions, we kept on strengthening our base by
adding new customers, developing innovative
products and providing in-house R&D and
technical support to the industry.
The new government at the centre is trying to
address these issues systematically and fixing
ambitious targets to create demand. Once
demand is created, positive growth starts.
The changes are already visible since the last
two quarters and demand has started grow-
ing. Due to our consistently high quality and
innovative product development capabilities,
we have acquired a major market share of
EVA Encapsulant and Backsheets in India and
increased sales in the European market.
We have learnt from all the years of business
experience that every industry grows in a
natural cyclical path, to be successful; one
should have a long-term vision and put in hon-
est efforts. The time to market is very crucial.
We have found the Indian solar industry to be
no different.
What is the company’s current order book
position?
We have adequate capacities in place and
keeping in line with Government policies, we
have plans to grow this business even further
to meet up to the market demand and the
high expectations of our customers.
Can you talk a bit about the companies for
whom you act as the major distributor in
the market?
Currently we are supplying to over 100 mod-
ule makers in India and Europe. I am unable
to mention the names but most of the big
domestic module makers are buying over
90% of their requirements from us.
RenewSys is a global manufacturer, how
Indian market is different from others? Is
Indian market still price sensitive?
Although we have diversified businesses
spread globally, the manufacturing facility for
solar components is based in India as of now.
We have global sales and service offices and
warehousing facilities. We are very active
in European and Japanese markets and are
looking seriously at USA.
Though the quality consciousness and manu-
facturing standards of Indian companies had
already been better than many companies of
eastern countries, we have been observing a
positive shift in the thought process of Indian
companies further where they are becom-
ing more quality conscious, started bench
marking stringent standards and giving more
importance to the quality suppliers. Western
overseas companies by and large have better
infrastructure, automated lines, more system-
atic approach on product development and
productivity.
Excepting DCR marketfor Cells and Modules,
Indian market is still highly price sensitive due
to the presence of many overseas suppliers
specially the Chinese.
Could you please let us know about your
latest innovative product launches?
We have developed many innovative products
during the last six months. To mention a few,
PID resistant EVA Encapsulant in Fast Cure
& Ultra-fast recipes and Low UV Cut EVA
Encapsulant for CSI modules, Ultra-Thin EVA
Encapsulant for MWT modules; Aluminium
Foil and Copper Foil based Backsheets for
Conductive CSI, Thin-Film and MWT mod-
ules; Black backsheets for Roof-top instal-
lations and Extremely high partial discharge
Backsheet for 1500 VDC system voltage
modules.
Lastly, what are your expectations from the
government for 2015?
Solar component manufacturing sector got
customs and excise duty exemptions on few
input raw materials and finished goods in
the previous budget;but,the same is currently
being monitored by DIETY.
These exemptions should be regularised in
tariff books for the simplicity of working. In
addition, these exemptions have been given
foronly specified inputs mentioned in the
notification. The solar technology being new
and highly dynamic, the input materials get
changed very often. The process of inclu-
sion of newer materials in the exemption list
should be made easy.
Indian solar companies are still un-compet-
itive against many overseas manufacturers.
The DCR scheme must be continued on the
existing products/components and should
also be extended to other components like
EVA Encapsulant and Backsheets for survival
companies in business.
Corporate tax should preferably be lower on
solar industry because this industry is cur-
rently at very nascent stage needing fund for
the sustainable growth.
Though the qual-ity consciousness and manufacturing stan-dards of Indian com-panies had already been better than many companies of eastern countries, we have been observing a posi-tive shift in the thought process Indian compa-nies.”
During the recent downward trend expe-rienced by the solar industry, Indian indus-try passed through double trouble. Firstly, for facing low demand and secondly, for their price un-competitive-ness on the global plat-form.”
The DCR scheme must be continued on the existing prod-ucts/components and should also be extended to other components like EVA Encapsulant and Backsheets for survival companies in business.
About RenewSys India Pvt Ltd
Based at Bengaluru, India, RenewSys has
acquired a major market share of EVA
Encapsulant and Backsheets in India and
successfully entered European markets due
to its consistently high quality and innovative
product development capabilities.
Leveraging the decades of polymers exper-
tise and hi-tech R&D capability, the com-
pany has developed various innovative EVA
Encapsulants and Backsheets during the last
three years. In addition to regular encapsu-
lants, the company has developed ultra-fast
cure and PID resistant encapsulants with
varying UV cut-offs needed in the market. Its
PID resistant EVA encapsulant is considered
better than competitors’ as it exhibits less
than 1% power loss when tested as per IEC
standard. Its latest innovation is the ultra-thin
encapsulant for MWT modules, developed
specially for saving silver paste and thus
reducing the BOM cost. The company has
also developed a wide range of backsheets
suiting various PV module technologies like
C-Si, Thin Film, MWT. The backsheet range
includes Fluoro, non-Fluoro, Aluminium and
Copper foil based backsheets in white and
black colours.
In line with demand, the company is doubling
its EVA Encapsulant capacity in April ‘15. The
existing backsheet capacity of the company
is 1800 MW.
RenewSys is actively considering investing
in cell-making and is open to discussion on
possible partnership proposals from inter-
ested companies.
Mr. Rajesh SinghGeneral Manager - Operations
RenewSys India Pvt Ltd.
9 www.solarquarter.com
INDUSTRY INSIGHT
After years of battling with industry pessi-
mists, solar power has finally arrived. And it
has started to have an impact on the overall
energy industry, with its disruptive effects
now being felt by many large energy utilities
globally.
With the average cost of solar power down
by 60 percent since 2010, the industry is
responding to market demand. According
to a study from researchers at Cambridge
University, photovoltaics will soon out com-
pete fossil fuel energy even if oil prices drop
to $10 a barrel.
And utilities now need to adapt to this
changing scenario or will find it increasingly
difficult to survive. With new evolving flexible
solar energye business models, the utilities in
their existing shape and size will become too
bulky to compete in the race.
Also adding to their pain is the fact that
the consumers, especially large corporates,
are now increasingly aware of their carbon
footprints and are actively trying to be more
environmental friendly.
A Radical Shift
For years, the Indian urban consumers and
the industries have been footing the bill
for inefficient grid operations and political
subsidies. The result - DISCOMs today are
burdened with enormous debt and are in no
position to invest in better technology. Add
to this the power shortage in the country
which seems to find no end. With energy
being the backbone and a major raw mate-
rial cost for the industries, this has made the
Indian manufacturing non-competitive in a
global landscape.
Consumers now are looking for better
control on their energy costs. Many large
corporate are setting up their own renew-
able energy power projects, reducing their
dependability on the grids. With most of the
paying consumers choosing to opt out of the
grid, the utilities will be left with low paying
or subsidy driven consumers, making their
survival even more difficult.
Global Pain – Adapt or Perish
Globally this sudden rise of solar power
applications has shaken up the energy poli-
tics. All over the world, traditional electrical
utilities are lobbying, with little or no success,
to impose surcharges on homes and busi-
ness that install solar panels.
Utilities argue that the cost of operation and
maintenance of these grids are only increas-
ing while they are losing their well paying
customers. They also argue that these cus-
tomers still rely on that grid on cloudy days
and at night and the cost of maintaining the
grid must be shared by them. But this argu-
ment too may not be valid for long.
Energy storage is the next frontier in the
solar industry, and we’re finally starting to
see how it will play out. For solar companies,
storage should expand the market and even
provide new revenue opportunities. Storage
can help smooth out the supply of electricity
from the sun to a home or the grid, making
the entire system more reliable and predict-
able.
This is when utility companies raise the price
of electricity because more people are using
solar power and they must maintain the grid.
The price hike causes more people to go to
solar power and so on and so on, until the
utility can no longer survive.
Changes have already started across the
globe. Power companies in Germany and
Sweden are seeing billion dollar losses and
are having to shut down unprofitable fos-
sil fuel power plants because of the rise of
renewable energy and laws that favor it.
With the flexibility offered by solar power
projects, the girds have to be more flexible
too. The existing model of subsidy – based
distribution models cannot save the industry
from the disruptive forces of solar energy.
The recent fall in coal and oil prices has
not reduced the threat, it has at best only
delayed what is imminent. However, the
solar industry needs to continue investing in
its pursuit of improved efficiency. The aver-
age conversion efficiency of the solar cells is
only in the range of 20 - 30%. One can only
imagine what will become of this industry at
80% efficiency.
The Second Solar War Frontier: Utilities Need To AdaptThe existence of today’s utilities is gravely threatened by disrutpive potential of solar industry
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10 www.solarquarter.com
EXPERT SPEAK
We all know NREDCAP is “The Designated
Agency” for Andhra Pradesh. Our readers
would surely like to know about Andhra
Pradesh’s development story in renewable
energy sector.
NREDCAP is one of the few nodal agencies
in the country implementing all renewable
energy programmes and projects under one
roof. NREDCAP is implementing the rural
based programmes like Biogas, Improved
chulhas, SPV street lighting, SPV lanterns ,
Solar thermal etc and also promoting large
scale RE Power projects. The cumulative RE
Power installed capacity in the state as on
31.01.2015, is 1580 MW.
Development in rural areas is as important
as urban areas. What objectives are set by
NREDCAP to conserve energy and promote
use of solar energy in rural areas?
NREDCAP is implementing the rural pro-
grammes like Biogas, improved chulahs to
benefit the rural population to meet their
cooking requirements besides conserving the
fire wood. The Solar programmes like street
lighting, off-grid rooftop systems, SPV pump-
ing systems, SPV lanterns are also being pro-
moted to benefit the rural population. These
programmes are helpful to meet the cooking,
lighting and pumping needs.
Could you please tell us about some of
the special projects undertaken by Andhra
Pradesh in solar sector?
The state is one of the three sites selected by
the GoI to implement the Power For ALL (PFA)
scheme. Under PFA, emphasis has been given
for large scale promotion of Wind and Solar
Power Projects. A.P. State is developing 2500
MW capacity Solar parks in Ananthapuramu,
Kurnool and Kadapa districts and the solar
power projects are expected to be commis-
sioned in the next 18 months period.
NREDCAP is also implementing 1 MW canal
top SPV power project in West Godavari
district. Also promoting 5 MW Canal Bank
based project in the same district, which
“It is proposed to develop Ananthapuramu district as Renewable Energy Hub”
will be implemented by APGENCO. The
APTRANSCO is also building the Green cor-
ridors at wind and solar power potential areas
to strengthen the transmission infrastructure.
It is targeted to add 4000 MW wind Power
and 5000 MW Solar Power during the next
five years period.
Andhra Pradesh itself is a big state with a
massive population. In which part of the
state NREDCAP is planning to allocate
more renewable investments with new
capacities and installations?
The RE Power projects are proposed to be
promoted in the under developed districts
in the state, which will improve the overall
economic activities in these areas. It is pro-
posed to develop Ananthapuramu district as
“Renewable Energy Hub”, taking into consid-
eration the huge potential available for Wind
and Solar power projects.
Could you please tell us about the solar
policy which is newly undertaken by the
Karnataka government?
The Vision of Government of Karnataka is
• To facilitate the creation of an
enabling environment for the large scale
deployment of renewable energy and cre-
ation of a vibrant renewable energy market in
the country addressing energy developmental
challenges like energy security and promoting
holistic economic and social development.
• To achieve this vision Government
of Karnataka has brought out new solar policy
2014-21 during October 2014.
Main objectives of the policy:
1. Achieving 2000 MW of capacity
addition in the Solar sector over the policy
period and turning Karnataka into the most
vibrant and investor friendly state in the coun-
try
2. Creation of suitable environment
for private sector participation in renewable
energy power generation.
3. Facilitating greater private partner-
ship within the sector.
4. Development of 1600 MWs Solar
parks in joint venture with SECI and KREDL.
5. Encouraging roof top solar projects
in the state and to generate a target of
200MWs.
How KREDL is planning to achieve the tar-
get set by the above policy?
KREDL has already taken action to achieve
the target set out under the policy. 200MW
was allotted to different companies in three
phases out of which 74MW have already been
commissioned.
Applications have been received from Land
Owners to set-up 300MW of Solar Grid con-
nected project and recently allotments were
made.
With all the above initiatives, Karnataka State
would have around 1000MW grid connected
solar capacity in the next 18 months. Apart
from this Roof Top Policy announced by Govt.
of Karnataka is evincing a lot of interest
from residential, Industrial and Commercial
Consumers and this will alsoadd to the Solar
Capacity to the Grid (the minimum target
under this category being 200MW).
Another ambitious and innovative scheme
“SURYA RAITHA” has been announced by
Govt. of Karnataka which allows the farm-
ers to convert the existing I.P.Set to Solar
Powered I.P.Set and sell the excess power to
the Distribution Companies (Net metering).
This will revolutionise the agriculture sector in
the days to come. This scheme is the first of
its kind in the Country.
What Karnataka Government is doing to
encourage Renewable energy projects?
To encourage the Renewable Energy Projects,
the Karnataka Government under industrial
policy 2014-19 has considered as:
1. All energy projects including
Renewable Energy projects are proposed to
be treated as manufacturing industry and
are eligible for incentives and concessions as
applicable to manufacturing industries men-
tioned in the policy.
2. It is proposed to simplify land pur-
chase and conversion procedures for all RE
projects including Solar, Wind, Biomass and
Mini hydel projects.
3. 50% of VAT paid on plant and
machinery procured for RE projects will be
reimbursed.
Karnataka itself is a big state with a huge
population. In which part of the state
“Main objectives of the policy includes achieving 2000 MW of capacity addition in the solar sector over the policy period”
KREDL is planning to allocate more renew-
able investments with new capacities and
installations?
Recently MNRE has raised the solar RPO
to 10.5% across the country, accordingly
the Karnataka’s target stands at 6000MW
by 2020. In addition to solar capacity wind
resources are getting added at 400 MW
annually.
To manage all these additional renewable
energy capacities in the grid, Karnataka is
planning to set up Renewable Energy Control
Centre to better manage the renewable
sources and to operate the grid in a stable
manner.
Apart from this, Karnataka power corpora-
tion is planning to setup 1400MW gas based
power plant at Bidadi and another 300MW
gas based power plant at Yelahanka which
will help in absorbing more and more renew-
able energy sources such as wind and solar.
Karnataka already has about 28% of hydro
power plants (installed capacity) which plays
a big role in absorbing intermittent renewable
energy sources.
In addition to this, Karnataka also plans to put
up pumped storage to absorb excess renew-
able energy sources
Shri G.V.BalaramManaging Director
Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited
Sri M. Kamalakar BabuVice Chairman & Managing Director
New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra
INDIAN STATES SPECIAL
11 www.solarquarter.com
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“To give a major push to the solar sector, GoR has come out with the New Rajasthan Solar Policy, 2014 with the vision of setting up solar power projects of capacities 25000 MW”
In order to create awareness among people
towards conservation of energy, protection
of environment degradation through dem-
onstration projects and other methods,
how do you take ahead your responsibili-
ties and duties towards Rajasthan?
RREC has implemented various schemes of
BEE for creating awareness among masses
towards conservation of energy, protection
of environment degradation through dem-
onstration projects like formation of energy
clubs in Institutions, organizing various train-
ing programme to train professionals for pro-
moting Energy Conservation Building Code
under BEE ECBC training programme etc.
RREC organises Rajasthan Energy
Conservation Awards Ceremony every year
(since 2009) on the occasion of Energy
Conservation day i.e. 14th December for rec-
ognition of sincere efforts made by different
categories like Industries, Energy Managers,
Energy Auditors, Institutional, Individuals etc.
towards the Energy Conservation and its
efficient use.
Development in rural areas is as important
as urban areas. What objectives are set by
RREC to conserve energy and promote use
of solar energy in rural areas?
Yes, to develop rural areas as urban areas,
RREC is formulating guidelines for provid-
ing electricity facility to un- electrified vil-
lages through stand-alone Solar Photovoltaic
Systems & Local Solar Grid in compliance of
GoR Budget Announcement 2014-15. In this
schemes system of 37 Wp (Watt peak) and
100 Wp are to be installed in remote un-elec-
trified villages/hamlets with subsidy support
from state government.
Could you please tell us about some of the
special projects undertaken by State of
Rajasthan in the solar sector?
To give a major push to the solar sector, GoR
has come out with the New Rajasthan Solar
Policy, 2014 with the vision of setting up Solar
Power Projects of capacities 25000 MW.
State will promote establishment of Solar
Parks not only in the Govt. Sector but also
in private sector as well as through Joint
Venture Company in which State Govt. will
have upto 50% equity including cost of land.
JV Agreements/MoUs have been signed for
establishment of Solar Parks in the State
through JV Companies for 26000 MW capac-
ity. Further a special provision has been made
in the Solar Policy 2014 regarding “Mega
Solar Power Projects” having capacity 500
MW or more for which fast track approval
system has been provided.
Rajasthan is a big state with a huge popu-
lation. In which part of the state RREC
is planning to allocate more renewable
investments with new capacities and
installations?
The focus of solar investment is likely to be
in the district of Bikaner, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer
and Barmer, looking to good solar insolation
levels, maximum sunny days and availability of
desert land at cheaper rates. As regards wind
power plants, most of the wind power poten-
tial lies in the districts of Jaisalmer, Jodhpur,
Barmer and Southern region of Rajasthan viz
Pratapgarh & Banswara and future expansion
of the wind energy generation is likely to be in
these districts.
Further study of wind power potential is being
carried out at 12 locations of the State and
after the completion of the study, other areas
having wind power potential will be identified. Mr. BK Dosi, IAS Managing Director
Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation
INDIAN STATES SPECIAL
12 www.solarquarter.com
Enabling Potential Solar Investments
EXPERT SPEAK
The growth of the Indian solar sector has been
steady and has seen a holistic,mixed develop-
ments. Overall, there has been a progress in
the sector and defiantly has a bright future.
The solar market in India has started picking
pace due to supportive government policies
and ability of solar energy to be used for
various applications other than generating
electricity.
Technology for solar energy has been playing
a central role for India to be more efficient
and competitive. India is looking forward to
its advancement in the Solar sector as the
biggest green initiative. Indian Prime Minister
Shri. Narendra Modi has ramped up his Solar
investment target to $100 billion by 2022 and
has gone ahead and released the year-wise
roadmap to achieve this goal. The year-wise
details are given below.
Government involvement has helped acceler-
ate the growth of the industry both commer-
cial as well as corporate.
• Incentives and subsidies for busi-
nesses developing solar power on a large
scale to give the sector a major boost. The
Indian government announced a target of
100GW by 2022 with the current installed
power being approximately 2.7GW. The set
target can be achieved with continuous
efforts and funding from the government to
encourage manufacturing as well as instal-
lation from both commercial and corporate
customers
• Rooftop schemes are being devel-
oped and introduced across the country to
encourage the consumer’s push for solar
power. One way to achieve the target set
by the government of - 100GW by 2022 can
be achieved through rooftop solar schemes.
The lack of past government incentives have
been one reason for slow growth in rooftop
solar panel projects, but new legislations and
schemes will have a huge effect on the future
growth
• The rise in manufacturing of solar
panels for both domestic and international
use and selling overseas has resulted in a
massive increase of production within India.
Indian solar panel manufacturers have dras-
tically increased exports to approximately
$270 million (approximately Rs 1,620 crore) in
2013-14 financial year, which is a 152% growth
from 2012-13. Thus, manufacturers are profit-
ing well from the increase in demand both
domestic and overseas. These exports were
predominantly been shipped to the European
market. This year has seen 523 MW installed,
although this growth is not as fast as the pre-
vious years.
Due to the overall global recession there has
been a decline in the demand for some solar
installations and that has brought financ-
ing problems to some solar companies.
Nevertheless the initiatives rendered by the
government towards the solar sector has
helped attracted a lot of positive response.
There is a tremendous amount of potential
growth in both utility-scale and residential
solar in India. The growth in solar sector is
going to bring energy storage into focus, and
this will be an important area of growth in the
years to come.
Keeping in mind the tremendous potential
the sector has, we at Rolta Power Pvt. Ltd.
ventured into the solar power sector with an
installed capacity of 60 MW production line
of PV modules. In addition, we are planning to
expand, its Module capacity to 1 GW and Cell
capacity to 1 GW by 2022.
The company aims to manufacture A+ grade
of solar photovoltaic panels and to work on
a variety of ranges of solar power solutions
like, solar EPC projects, rooftop solar projects
(KW), solar water pumps, solar telecom tower
and may more as per the requirement.
The company offers comprehensive services
for implementing enterprise-level applica-
tions, which is not limited to EPC formula
only. It aims to go beyond EPC services, such
as manufacturing, complete EPC (including
basic design), owner operator solutions, oper-
ations & maintenance, backend paper work
to claim subsidies, and getting government
grants etc. on behalf of the clients.
Dr. Aditya Singh, MD & Promoter, Rolta Power,
adds, “I have faith on the verdict given by our
Hon. Prime Minister, Shri, Narendra Modi, on
the solar industry, hence I am bullish about
this industry”
The government believes that, to encour-
age the development of Solar power across
the states, the State Electricity Regulatory
Commission (SERCs) must specify Solar RPO
targets in their States and to notify RPO
regulation to comply with the same to ensure
its compliance. Public funding catalyzes the
market growth in the Solar sector. Reduction
of high interest rate and facilitating long
repayment tenure will motivate industries in
investing in Renewable energy. Industries are
looking forward for options like soft funding,
subsidy/moratorium on interest,support from
World Bank and easy availability of work-
ing capital. Revenue from Renewable Energy
Certificates (REC) should be considered to
make Solar projects viable. Generation based
incentive will encourage developer to pro-
duce higher quantum of renewable energy,
thereby reducing the national dependency on
non- renewable energy sources.
India gets twice as much sunshine as many
European countries that use solar power.
But the clean energy source contributes less
than 1 per cent to India’s energy mix, while its
dependence on erratic coal supplies causes
chronic power cuts that idle industry and hurt
growth. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
bets on renewables to meet rising power
demand and overcome the frequent out-
ages that plague Asia’s third largest econo-
my. Modi now wants companies from China,
Japan, Germany and the United States to
lead investments of $100 billion over seven
years to boost India’s solar energy capacity
by 33 times to 100,000 megawatts (MW). This
will raise solar’s share of India’s total energy
mix to more than 10 per cent. In Germany, a
leader in renewable energy, solar accounted
for about 6 percent of total power generated
in 2014.
Dr. Aditya Singh, MD & Promoter, Rolta Power, adds, “I have faith on the verdict given by our Hon. Prime Minister, Shri, Narendra Modi, on the solar industry, hence I am bullish about this industry”
If India will be one of the leading solar markets, it should also become a knowledge and technology
leader.
13 www.solarquarter.com
Besides the initiated policy support, the
government should highlight the importance
of a self-sustaining market place. The follow-
ing are the stepping stones to make the shift
towards solar feasible in India.
• Cost reduction in solar should be
the prime focus & to be supported by acces-
sible information on the industry
• Build strong financing environment
backed by robust researches in solar applica-
tions and ample entrepreneurship opportuni-
ties
• India needs to see more of distrib-
uted markets in solar
There should be no domestic manufacturing
protection and no duties and tariffs on solar
equipment or parts thereof. The Indian power
consumer and the Indian tax payer will benefit
from the lowest cost. The market will be a
very scalable, parity driven market, in which
solar competes with other sources of power
(grid, diesel) on price and availability. Instead,
the government should focus on reducing
the lending cost – either through direct loan
subsidies or through reducing the risk (see
next point).
Lowering the cost of debt is the strongest
lever for reducing the cost of solar. The more
transparent and easily accessible information
is, on e.g. policies, land acquisition, debt con-
ditions and options, investment (perhaps a
market place?), generation of existing plants,
technology options, etc., the more competi-
tion and professionalism will drive the market.
If India will be one of the leading solar mar-
kets, it should also become a knowledge and
technology leader. It would be much easier for
India to ask leading cell and module manufac-
turers to set up shop in India once the market
has gained a certain size. India’s edge could
be in solar applications. It could become the
most innovative place for developing the solu-
tions the country needs: hybridization of solar
with storage, diesel gen-sets and the grid;
smart grid and metering technologies at the
distributed level; new online and offline solar
business models.
It is time to open up the market entirely to
entrepreneurs and to international investors.
This requires – in a very general way – a sim-
plification of procedures, such as company
regulations, accounting and taxation regula-
tions and financial regulations. Accelerated
depreciation benefits, for instance, hugely
favor existing conglomerate businesses over
professional, financial investors and start-ups
(why not make them tradable?).
Solar is ideally suited as a distributed, con-
sumer technology to power anything from
factories to households, irrigation pumps,
telecom towers, water purifiers, mobile
chargers or lights. This market could grow
in a more stable, sustainable way than the
infrastructure market, because it would not
hit roadblocks such as land availability, grid
access and local grid imbalances. Once the
market is operational, new capacity could
be added at a much faster rate, because it
does not require allocation processes and
policies. The new net-metering policies are
a step in the right direction. However, to
take off, consumer finance solutions (such
as equal monthly installments), certifications
for suppliers to improve product quality and
a revoking of existing malfunctioning subsidy
schemes are required.
The key objective is to develop solutions
for overcoming Technical, Regulatory and
Financial challenges further unleashing cost
competitive Solar energy. Lack of access
to Capital is a key barrier for growth in this
sector as Solar energy in India costs up to
50 percent more than power from sources
like coal. Rising efficiency and falling cost of
Solar panels, cheaper capital and increasing
thermal tariffs will close the gap within three
years.
Developing actionable Solar deployment
plans and strategies to promote deployment
at residential, community, and commercial
scales from expanding shared or community
Solar programs and local financing mecha-
nisms can help in the exponential growth.
State-of-the art products, solutions and tech-
nology advancements that will drive down the
costs of Solar energy and help India thrive in
the global clean energy race.
The domestic PV manufacturing industry will
benefit once the demand increases. Financing
cost, which has been one of the major chal-
lenges for setting up solar projects, is also
expected to be gradually reduced as a result
of the easing of inflation. Overall, 2015 prom-
ises to be a good year for the Indian solar
sector and the start of a golden era for solar
if all the government is able to convert good
intentions to reality.
The following helps us get a gist of the indus-
try:
• Security and supply issues continue
to motivate government to invest in renew-
able capacity throughout the recession years
• This trend of government interest in
renewable energy development appears likely
to continue
• Growth in this sector appears likely
to continue, with some nations emerging as
technological leaders
Currently, growth in the solar power sector
can be associated with various promotional
policies both at the national and state levels.
The National Solar Mission has been driving
solar installations within the country since
its launch in 2009. The current installed solar
power capacity stands at around 3 GW, or
about a tenth of the total renewable energy
capacity, and just over 1% of the total power
capacity of the country. If India achieves the
100 GW installed capacity by 2022, solar
power would contribute about 25% to the
total power installed capacity.
Article Submitted By Rolta Power.
EXPERT SPEAK
14 www.solarquarter.com
INFLUENTIAL WOMEN IN RENEWABLE SECTOR
Dr. Jaya Singh, Director (R&D and Strategy),
BKC WeatherSys Pvt. Ltd.
Under her leadership, BKC WeatherSys busi-
ness in solar resource assessment has grown
by several orders of magnitude. WeatherSys
is also recognized as a knowledge leader and
the only entity in India that provides solar
forecasting solutions. This has come with
Dr. Singh’s drive to grow the organization’s
strength in R&D, a key differentiator from
other RE companies in India, and her tireless
commitment to excellence and quality. A
sought after speaker at national and inter-
national conferences, Dr. Singh has taken a
lead in showcasing scientific strength and
business acumen in the RE space in India.
At WeatherSys, Dr. Jaya Singh has estab-
lished an environment conducive to learning
and leverages available resources on-site
as well as off-site. She makes the interac-
tions with clients interesting by citing prac-
tical examples and demonstrating effec-
tiveness of the services being provided by
WeatherSys. As a leader and networker,
she has been addressing national and inter-
national forums and successfully influenced
targeted audience. This interactive approach
leads towards better understanding, criti-
cal and independent thinking and ultimately
quality service. She helps not only BKC
professionals but also clients in setting goals
and supports in achieving them.
Anjuli Chandra Chief Engineer, Renewable Energy,
Central Electricity Authority
Anjuli Chandra is a 1978 batch officer of the
Central Power Engineering Services Group
A, who joined Central Electricity authority
in 1979 after obtaining a degree in electrical
engineering from the Thappar Institute of
Engineering and Technology and an MBA
from Punjabi University. She has served
on deputation to the distribution division
of the Punjab State Electricity Board for
about 5 years and on her return to CEA
and served in various capacities including
Director Distribution, Power system project
monitoring, HRD and project appraisal. In
between, she did a three year deputation
from September 2010 to Nov 2013, with the
Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission
(DERC) as Executive Director Engg with
additional charge of Tariff.
In her current position as chief Engineer
RES and climate change with additional
charge of operation performance monitor-
ing division she is monitoring the generation
from renewable energy sources, their grid
integration and generation performance
of all the conventional power plants. She
is also a BEE-certified energy auditor and
has received the CBIP Award for 2006-07
for meritorious performance in power sec-
tor and won an award from the National
Council of Power Utilities in 2012-13 for
her contribution to the sector. Anjuli has
been a member of various task forces and
committees constituted by the Ministry of
Power and the CEA. Chandra has served as
a member of the BIS working group for for-
mulating standards for meters, capacitors
and transformers. In her various positions in
central Electricity authority she has partici-
pated in the formulation of APDP, APDRP
and RAPDRP schemes of GOI, formulat-
ed the Guidelines for APDRP schemes,
Guidelines for specifications of energy
efficient outdoor type single phase and
three phase transformers and Construction
standards for lines and plants of 66 kV and
below.
Chandra credits her stint at the DERC as
her most memorable assignment, owing
to the instrumental role she played in the
implementation of several critical projects.
At the DERC, she was involved in the intro-
duction of time-of-day tariffs in Delhi and
solar renewable purchase obligations, net
metering regulations, demand side man-
agement regulations and has prepared
tariff orders, including the MYT true-up for
the first control period and projections for
the second control period.
Mrs Chandra believes that transition from
fossil fuel based electricity production to
one that is increasingly based on renewable
sources can be the key to energy security
and sustainability in India. Renewable ener-
gy sector is at a turning point in our country
with plans for huge capacity additions and
that is going to impact the way we look
at power systems in the country. Focus
on grid integration of renewable energy
sources through proper forecasting and
scheduling mechanisms, balancing sources
and voltage support systems would be a
focus area for her.
Another focus area would be on how renew-
able energy and other traditional fuels can
work together such as pairing of pumped
hydro with solar and wind plants, geother-
mal energy with oil and gas, biomass and
waste to electricity plants with solar and
wind etc.
Sindoor MittalDirector,
Welspun Renewables
Sindoor started her leadership journey at
an early age. At 21, she was the young-
est management graduate from ISB,
Hyderabad. Today she is Director at Welspun
Renewables, one of the largest playe in the
Renewable energy sector in India.
Sindoor started the solar business in Welspun
and this business today has become the
largest in India. Sindoor focuses on strategy,
leadership development, fundraising, and
commissioning of the large solar and wind
energy capacities. In her pursuit, Sindoor has
built a high performing team and partner-
ships with global technology companies and
system integrators from the energy sector.
She believes that the combination of a cohe-
sive team with a strong focus on execution
is the key to creating a successful energy
company. Sindoor has taken the mantle to
become the largest renewable energy com-
pany in India and a leader globally.
Sindoor is looked upon as an industry leader
and is a Keynote speaker at multiple forums
In the Renewable energy sector. She recent-
ly was a Speaker at the Global Madhya
Pradesh Investor Summit and shared the
Dias with the Honorable Prime Minister
Narendra Modi. She is an active participant
at the World Economic Forum, Davos.
Sindoor started her career with a $500 mn
private equity fund. Her urge to become an
entrepreneur soon found its way into her
quitting the job and starting her first busi-
ness at the age of 24. In her early years of
business she learnt that attitude is what
defines the winners from the rest and a
relentless desire to make a change in the
world is what sees one through the chal-
lenges that one encounters.
Today she relentlessly pursues this belief
by empowering people and mentoring
them to realize this goal. Apart from her
business responsibilities, Sindoor is keenly
involved in the company’s Corporate Social
Responsibility endeavor, which focuses on
providing education, clean environment, and
health to the communities in which they
work.
Sindoor has been a gold medallist at the
national swimming Championships in India
and was captain of the Indian women’s team
at the Asia Pacific Games.
Shruti BhatiaVice President,
Indian Energy Exchange
She has been in the role since January 2013,
and is responsible for spearheading com-
pany’s work in legislative, policy and regula-
tory domain.
In the last two years, she has been working
closely with internal stakeholders in analys-
ing and evolving company’s viewpoint on
key issues related to power and renewable
energy market and taking those views for-
ward with the external stakeholders i.e. –
the Governments, the Electricity Regulatory
Commissions and other Agencies at both at
Centre and State level.
Besides contribution in the policy domain,
Shruti is also leading external communica-
tions in IEX wherein she is responsible for
designing and implementing brand and com-
munication strategy in print, electronic, digi-
tal and social media. With recent Companies
Act 2013 mandating eligible companies to
spend certain portion of their profit on CSR
activities, Shruti has actively contributed in
evolving CSR Policy of the Company and
will also oversee rollout and implementation
of the same.
A sense of the candidate’s vision/plans for
the future – both personally and for the
organisation for which she works and what
makes her special.
Shruti is a thorough professional with great
passion and commitment for whatever
she undertakes. She has been involved in
the energy sector since 1996 right after
post-graduation in Physics from the
Delhi University, and intends to continue,
strengthen and enrich her association with
the industry.
With almost 19 years of professional experi-
ence in the energy sector, of which more
than 14 years were at the Confederation
of Indian Industry working on the various
energy policy and legislative issues, she aims
to leverage her knowledge and exposure to
contribute to further evolution of the policy
framework and at the same time aspire to
grow and enrich by constantly acquiring new
ideas and accepting new challenges.
15 www.solarquarter.com
INFLUENTIAL WOMENINFLUENTIAL WOMEN IN RENEWABLE SECTOR
Vaishali Nigam SinhaDirector,
ReNew Power
In her current role as Director, she advices the
company on strategic leadership and trans-
formational change and oversees the Human
Resources, Corporate Communications and
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) func-
tions closely at the company. A sense of the
candidate’s vision/plans for the future – both
personally and for the organisation for which
she works and what makes her special.
Vaishali’s vision for ReNew Power includes
integrating CSR into day to day operations,
ensuring no child labor is used in the assem-
bly lines and installation work at sites. She
wants to build a company with a conscience.
She wants to encourage the appointment of
more women in senior and significant roles
across functions. She believes that profes-
sionals like her join boards where they feel
they can contribute to the growth of the
company and also enhance their learning.It
also makes corporate decisions more sensi-
tive and inclusive.
Anita Li, APAC Sales Director,
Jinko Solar Co.
Anita Li has been working in Jinko for more
than 8 years since 2007and she has wit-
nessed the history of development and
growth of the company. She fully devoted
herself to solar industry, and with her great
effort, Jinko has successfully developed its
business around the world. She became one
of the top management for her remarkable
achievements in the company.
Vision and plans for future: As a source of
clean and sustainable energy, solar power
has made PV industry one of the most prom-
ising industries nowadays. It will help us open
a new gate to meet the global demand of
energy. In this sense, it is not only an indus-
try but also a mission for the whole human
race. I hereby commit myself to the cause
of delivering the cleanest, most efficient
and economic solar energy solutions for a
brighter future.
Mrs. Shubhra Mohanka is the Director,
Gautam Solar Pvt. Ltd.
For past 10+ yrs she has led the division for
making solar reach rural unelectrified areas
through tieups with various banks, working
with NGOs etc.
She is from St. Stephens College Delhi and
MBA from MDI Gurgaon. She had previous
work experience of working with HCL.
Recognising Most Successful Women In Renewables Industry
As an initiative to rec-ognize the contribu-tion of women to the renewable energy industry, we are fea-turing some of the most deserving, suc-cessful and influential women in the renew-able energy business – the ones who have been the deal-freez-ers, game-changers and headline makers in the industry.
Nidhi GuptaCo-founder & Director,
Rays Power Experts Pvt. Ltd.
Nidhi Gupta wears the mantle of finance
head at Rays Power Experts. She co-found-
ed the company along with her brother
in 2011 even while she was graduating in
computer engineering from IIMET, Jaipur
(International Institute of Management,
Engineering & Technology). Barely 23 years
old when Rays Experts launched, little did
she know that joining her brother in his busi-
ness will change several lives one day. The
hard work and zest to achieve something
noteworthy in life has helped Nidhi to attain
new heights in her career.
This young female entrepreneur manages
the company’s finances and audits along
with doing daily office errands. She also
looks after the on-ground activities like field
projects, construction work etc. to ensure
smooth execution of the projects. Her cour-
age and motivation keeps the entire team of
120 people at Rays Experts upbeat and on
their feet.
Nidhi is regarded as the backbone of the
company and her resilience and commit-
ment have helped her drive towards over-
coming physical as well as functional chal-
lenges while overseeing solar parks in the
scorching heat of Rajasthan.
Under her supervision, Rays Experts has
achieved a 500 Cr turnover this financial
year, within a mere three years of its incep-
tion. She has utilised her negotiation skills to
sort issues at the local level against strong
opposition during the installation of the first
plant in Bikaner, displaying rare understand-
ing and ability to handle crisis at her tender
age.
She also manages another independent
company where she supervises the vendors
and labourers and has channelized more
than 300 hands to Rays for its project execu-
tions. It is her financial brilliance that today
even though Rays is a profitable venture with
such a high turnover, it remains completely
debt free while owning sizeable assets.
Her aim is to see Rays Experts among the
top Indian companies leading the industry in
the next three years. She strives to make it
the largest solar company in India by creat-
ing the world’s most expansive solar plants.
Deepkamal Kaur Lead-Corporate Communication,
Fortum India
Her primary responsibility is to take initia-
tives in the context of developing efficient
programs around internal and external com-
munications. With 13 years of rich expe-
rience in Corporate Branding, Marketing
Communication, Media & Public Relations,
Advertising, she has worked with leading
corporates across like Oracle Corporation in
India, Delta Electronics, Lanco Solar.
Before joining Fortum, Deepkamal was AGM,
Lanco Solar and used to oversee market-
ing communications including branding,
advertising, public relations etc. Deepkamal
began his career with TBWA Anthem Pvt Ltd
(Public Relations), where she learnt about
the role of communications practice for cor-
porate’s business vision. She has evolved
into a matured communications specialist
gradually, with her networking skills across
private, public and government sectors and
her sense of understanding the industry has
transformed her as a seasoned professional
in the Marketing Communications profile.
At Fortum India, she has played a significant
role in elevating the brand image/perception
among the industry network, government
and media. Today, the company is known for
its energy efficiency and endorsed by central
and various state governments, primarily due
to its branding and communication mecha-
nism.
Fortum, with its legacy towards sustainable
energy, intends to drive its solar expertise
from India. Taking cue from its business
strategy, Deepkamal has starting working
the company’s business team directly and
fuelled messaging that has put Fortum India
in a different league. Recently, she played
an instrumental role in positioning Fortum
India as the first company to inaugurate
plant under Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar
Mission Phase II, with Government of Madhya
Pradesh and Solar Energy Corporation of
India endorsing the Fortum India’s approach
towards developing solar portfolio in India.
Fortum’s purpose is to create energy that
improves life for present and future genera-
tions. What she meant by that is sustainable
and responsible energy production focusing
on low emissions, high resource efficiency
and security of supply.
She strongly believes that Fortum has the
right experience to contribute to the devel-
opment of your energy sector and through
that to facilitate the growth of the Indian
economy. She had done her post graduate
in Marketing Management from Institute of
Management Technology, Ghaziabad. She is
active member of CII & FICCI.
16 www.solarquarter.com
INFLUENTIAL WOMEN
Shachi DeviChief Product Development Officer,
Tata Power Solar
She has been with the organization for 1.5
years. She began her journey at Tata Power
Solar by building the product development
team. She currently is overseeing Distributed
Power Generation, and solar micro grids.
Her focus in there is to find ways to help
make solar power more affordable to the
customers.
An M.Tech from Indian Institute of
Technology, Kharagpur, she has about 30
years’ experience in the energy field, during
which period she has worked across many
roles involving senior positions in various
organizations in technology development,
product development, R&D, and system
solution. Shachi Devi’s passion for solar and
renewable energy comes from her belief that
solar energy is the only source of power that
is available abundantly. She strongly feels
that the true potential of solar energy has
not been harnessed completely and unlock-
ing the same, she believes, could immensely
benefit our society.
With respect to what keeps her motived, is
the challenge of doing new things. Passion
and dedication are her driving factors to per-
form well. She has always led from the front
and worked in challenging environments and
terrains. The immense and numerous chal-
lenges of solar energy give another reason
for her keen interest in the sector.
Talking about her future plans with regard
to the industry, she wants to have solar
power being used in every household at an
affordable price, in the foreseeable future.
Specific to the plans about the company, she
says that Tata is a company that has always
focused on the society, science and infra-
structure. Solar energy, therefore, blends in
very well with the vision of Tata Group. She
says that, presently it is an exciting time for
the solar industry and innovation in this field.
Preeti Taneja Country Head,
HT-SAAE modules and Cells,India
Having completed her B.Tech in Information
Technology in 2012, she started her career
in the Renewable Energy business with a
strong conviction in Green / Renewable
Energy focussed on solar . She is firm believ-
er of giving back to Society and mother
earth and hence she is working in Renewable
Energy sector.
She started her career with IG Solar Pvt. Ltd.
in January 2013 and established precision
EPC business while working in IG SOLAR.
She thereafter took responsibility of Sales
in India of HT-SAAE in 2014. HT- SAAE
has been engaged in the development in
China of PV Solar Technology and space-
craft power system since early 1960’s with
the sophisticated and wide application of
its product in the field of Aeronautics and
Astronautics. The largest Chinese owned
company.
Later she moved into Managerial role and
spearheaded the sales of the Polysilicon
wafers, cells and modules in India. She has
achieved accolades in a short span of 2 years
of work experience. She is the only Woman
Leader and Sales Manager for a Global MNC
Organization based in Shanghai and has big
foot print in India, prior to be one of the best/
quality manufacturer in China. She enjoys
travelling and meeting new people which she
feels is the biggest challenge as woman in
this field. A very challenging position in the
industry as a young girl. Her association in
the Industry is treated with high respect and
she strives to take her Organization to newer
heights in Indian Market in 2015 and beyond
and establish HT-SAAE’s presence in the
alternative energy business by making it as
cost competitive leader in the coming years.
She wishes to open an NGO soon and is
working on it parallely. She is a firm believer
in women empowerment and wants to see
more women to contribute to India’s growth
and take on responsibilities in a male domi-
nated society.
Maharashtra: The Emerging Indian Renewable Energy Investment Destination
The Maharashtra government is ready to go
green and encourage green energy by setting
a target of an additional 14,400 MW of renew-
able energy by 2019, over 200 per cent more
than the state’s current installed capacity. Out
of the total target, 67 percent will be contrib-
uted by solar and the remaining through wind.
The government has drafted new policy
to enhance solar power and give status to
solar parks, windmills and standalone solar
power projects. The policy has been draft-
ed on the similar lines of Andhra Pradesh’s
newly formed policy. This policy will attract
investors and relax the norms for inter- and
intra-state third-party sale of power. It also
has a clause of first selling the power to
state discoms for meeting the Maharashtra
Electricity Regulatory Commission-mandated
“Renewable Power Obligation”.
The solar projects will be able to participate
either in the competitive bidding process
involving discoms or directly trade power
in the open market either within the state
or outside through “Renewable Energy
Certificates”. The state has also decided to
relive the land acquisition through deemed
non- agricultural permissions.
Plan of action
The state is planning to generate around
2500MW of solar power under the PPP
model. This will be used to fulfil the needs
of the state along with the renewable energy
requirements. The state is also considering
small investors for the solar park status and
will be motivating the private developers to
develop the remaining 5000 MW. More and
more solar power plants and solar parks are
planned to install in the industrial areas, town-
ships and irrigation canals.
The government is also going to lease the
public land for setting up solar projects at pre
decided rents. It has decided to compensate
in the capital cost for installing co- generat-
ing plants. Earlier the Union government had
set a target to produce 1, 75,000 MW power
through renewable sources by 2022. It has
promised grants to states promoting green
power.
In order to lead in the solar charts, Maharashtra
is following the footsteps of Gujarat. With
these plans, policy changes and new initia-
tives taken by the state, there is a ray of hope
that the state will once take back its position
as one of India’s leading renewable energy
market.
An ambitious target of generating 14400 MW
from the non-conventional energy sector has
been set up by the state government. This will
manifold increase from the 2500 MW renew-
able energy target in the previous policy,
which was approved in 2008.
Of the 1400 MW target, 7500 MW is expected
to come in from the solar sector and wind
energy and the baggase-based co-genera-
tion will contribute 5000 MW and 1000 MW
respectively.
Energy Minister Chandrasekhar Bavankule
said that the new policy would be tabled
before the state cabinet soon and that the
state had completed and surpassed the
2500MW target in the previous policy. The
Maharashtra Govt. has been announcing
policies from 1996 onwards to promote gen-
eration of power through clean and non-con-
ventional sources. The Maharashtra Energy
Development Agency promotes the develop-
ment of non-conventional energy resources.
Around 180 MW solar power projects has
been commissioned and there are plans to
take it to about 450MW by the end of the
2015-2016 fiscal year by the Maharashtra
State Power Generation Company Limited
(MahaGenco) which is one of the highest
by state utilities. The MahaGenco also has a
5MW project at Chandrapur and a 125MW
facility at Sakri in Dhule, which is the largest
in the country.
There are plans set up by the Union Ministry
of new and renewable energy (MNRE) to add
capacity to the tune of 29800 MW from the
various renewable energy sources during the
X11 five-year plan period.
Sets new target fo renewable energy which is almost 6 times the previous target
17 www.solarquarter.com
DC CABLES: An important factor in performance of Solar PV Installations
FEATURED
Energy delivered from a Solar PV system is
not only dependent on the efficiency of the
module but also on other system components
like DC Cables, Connectors and Junction
Boxes. While designing the solar farm,
engineers have to factor the losses from
modules to the inverters to calculate the over-
all performance ratio of the farm. Low quality
solar cables and connectors will lead to small
increases in resistance and result in higher
losses of energy (I2Rt). The loss of energy
already harvested, when calculated over a
twenty five year life represents a substantial
loss and would affect the profitability of the
project.
A high quality Solar DC Cable is expected
to perform for the complete lifetime of the
installation which is about twenty five years.
The cost of replacing a defective installed
cable is very high. The replacement costs
increase when factoring in manpower used
for removal, reinstallation and testing of the
system. In addition, there are losses in power
output and revenue generation. The cost of
these cables and connectors is very small
in the total cost. Since the differential cost
of the high quality cables is insignificant, it
makes sense to invest with higher initial cost
and reduce the “total cost of ownership” of a
PV plant.
Solar cables have to withstand a wide range
of environmental conditions – and continue to
do so over a long period. High temperatures,
UV radiation, rain, humidity, dirt and attack by
moss and microbes are all a serious challenge
to solar cables. Cables tested in accordance
with EN, TÜV and UL requirements (120°C;
20,000 hours) can be used at environmental
temperatures of –40°C to +90°C. They should
therefore achieve the target service life of 25
years. Apart from temperature, UV radiation
is the other significant factor. Trials have
shown that untreated material (free of any
colour additive) will lose more than 50% of
its performance capacity within less than six
months. In order to avoid this deterioration,
fine soot particles are added to the plastics
(leading to a black colouring in the sheath).
These particles absorb the UV radiation and
convert it into heat. Optimum UV resistance
can therefore only be achieved by using
black solar cables with enough black carbon
content.
There is a new European Standard EN
50618 being published for Solar DC Cable,
this standard specifies cables for use in
Photovoltaic (PV) Systems, in particular for
installation at Direct Current (DC) side, with
a nominal DC voltage up to 1.5kV between
conductors as well as between conductor and
earth. These cables are suitable for permanent
outdoor use for many years under variable
demanding conditions. Relatively stringent
requirements are set for these products in line
with the expected harsh usage conditions.
To meet the stringent requirements insulation
and sheath in modern solar cables consist
of cross-linked polymers. Two different
processes can be used for cross-linking
– a choice between electron beam cross-
linking and chemical cross-linking. Chemical
cross-linking is a process that cannot be
stopped once it has started. As a result,
chemically cross-linked cables suffer from
the same phenomenon as old car tyres.
They can harden and become porous. By
contrast, electron beam cross-linked cables
are irradiated with beta rays. This improves
the synthetic material. Once the cables have
passed the electron beam, the cross-linking
process is complete. These cables remain soft
and elastic throughout their whole service life.
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link
– which is why LEONI offers high quality
electron beam cross-linked BETAflam® solar
cables. These quality cables are produced in
Switzerland and fulfil all the requirements:
long service life, excellent weather resistance
and security of investment for the operator of
the facility.
LEONI produces and develops compounds
for insulation and jacket materials in-house.
With capacity improvements over a period
of time, it today has the world’s largest beta
beam cross linking facility contributing to
the highest production of solar DC cables.
LEONI first launched UL/TUV dual approved
cables in 2005 and invented 1,000 VAC UL
and 1,500VDC TUV cables which will be
used for solar installations in the future.
LEONI can supply the complete system from
junction boxes for module manufacturing to
cable systems and connectors for Solar PV
installations from its production facilities all
over the world. To support our customers for
fast installations of PV power plants LEONI
has stocks available in India, Europe and USA.
LEONI BETAflam Solar products meet the
highest requirements for solar PV system
providing the same high expectations that
are demanded from the solar modules - which
are longevity and high weather resistance. We
offer BETAflam Solar DC cables, TRAFOflex
UV cable, SOLARpowerAlu-ATA cables,
BETAsolar Junction Box and BETAsolar PV
connectors.
18 www.solarquarter.com
Rooftop Revolution Can Help Overcome India’s Power Outages
India and its chronic problem of power
shortage is as old as the country itself. Ever
since India won its independence, there
has hardly been a time when it has been
independent in power needs.
With a solar revolution now taking place
globally, India needs to make the most of the
opportunity and gain its second independence
– from power shortage. India receives plenty
of sunlight, but is unable to deploy solar
power to its fullest. But there are a handful of
technologies that can deliver reliable power
to the country and rooftop-solar power is one
of them.
Few states in India still deal with the power
cuts everyday which is a big problem. Solar
power is the perfect solution to this problem
since India has its peak production in the
middle of the day providing electricity to
people when they need to cool down. As solar
power scales up, it can eventually eliminate
that mid-day peak as has already happened
in countries with a lot of solar power, like
Germany. Rooftop solar is a cheaper mode
of generating electricity than the electricity
commercial buildings of the grid. Instead of
spending billions of dollars on diesel and
unreliable grid electricity, that investment can
be used to deploy rooftop solar.
INDUSTRY INSIGHT
There is a wide scope for rooftop solar but
the biggest hurdle is that there is lack of
financing. Proper funding of projects is the
current need for the rooftop sector. Banks
show least interest in funding the technology,
even though rooftop is not new for the
country. International banks can create an
impact by providing funds but there are stuck
in the big centralized power plants. To give a
good start to the Indian rooftop solar industry,
a new framework should be developed by the
lenders to invest in small scale solar projects.
In the recent union budget, the money
allocated to the renewable sector was
reduce to Rs 303 crore from over Rs 550
crore in the last budget. With this limited
amount of funding declared in the budget, the
government has anticipated to reduce the
subsidy on the rooftop projects by about half
of the current price. If the subsidy on rooftop
solar power plant is reduced to 15 %, it will in
return help in achieving the solar target.
Around $ 140 billion was invested in the
solar industry and about $ 70 billion was
invested in the smaller scale, distributed solar
projects like rooftop systems. The rooftop
requires investment so many international
organizations are helping to fill the gap. Big
institutions such as the IFC, OPIC, and US
Export Import Bank make investments into
setting up of rooftop solar. This investment
will create awareness in the local lenders and
will help generate interest in the rooftop solar
market.
For a solar rooftop revolution, a little financing
and investment is required. Solar industry is
an emerging market in India and is on the right
track to fulfil the needs of the nation.
Large players are now entering the rooftop
solar space at a rapid rate, with SunRun
preparing for an IPO, and NRG Energy scaling
up its rooftop solar operations. While there
will definitely be increasing market share
competition among the leading rooftop solar
companies, these companies’ should continue
to grow unfettered in the near-term given the
enormous addressable market.
The increasing number of large rooftop solar
companies will likely cause market share
consolidation to accelerate, despite the
proposed inherent advantages of smaller/
regional installers.
SOLAR QUARTER TEAM
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SOLAR QUARTER TEAM
Publishing: FirstView Research & Publishing Pvt LtdProduct Development: Nikita Agrawal, Disha Joshi, Neha BarangaliFor Advertisement bookings and Sponsorships: Contact Vipul Kumar/ Shreya Bhalavat E: [email protected] M: +91 99209 17193
India’s rooftop solar boom is just around the corner
19 www.solarquarter.com
STATE IN FOCUS
Priority Sector Lending: The Game Changer?
Today, the biggest challenge faced by the
Indian solar industry is the high interest rates.
During the starting phase of a project, it is
burdened with high capital costs of solar
energy along with high interest rates which
increases the cost of debt. To resolve these
issues the solar financing policies are not
enough and there is need to ease the finance
for the solar industry. A few financial poli-
cies adopted by central government have
been successful at state level and can help
in improving the finance available for India’s
solar market.
One such policy which has helped improve
the growth of new sectors is the Priority
Sector Lending (PSL) status. The benefits
of priority lending sector is that it can ease
access to capital via mainstream banks, and
to provide agencies like IREDA, SIDBI and
NABARD with clarity on funding in this sector.
The PSL will also help to increase employabil-
ity, create basic infrastructure and improve
competitiveness of the economy, thus creat-
ing more jobs.
Priority Sector Lending is an important role
given by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to
the banks for providing a specified portion
of the bank lending to few specific sectors
like agriculture or small scale industries. This
is essentially meant for an all round develop-
ment of the economy as opposed to focusing
only on the financial sector.
Currently the priority sector is reserved uni-
formly at 40 per cent of Adjusted Net Bank
Credit (ANBC) or Credit Equivalent of Off-
Balance Sheet Exposure (CEOBE), which-
ever is higher, for all scheduled commercial
banks. Agriculture has a target of 18 per cent
of ANBC retained. More flexibility has been
recommended for banks to lend the remain-
ing 10 per cent of the overall agriculture loan
target to other farmers, agricultural infra-
structure and ancillary activities as defined
by the Group. To give a fillip to agricultural-
infrastructure and agricultural-processing, no
caps on loan limits have been stipulated.
In addition to micro and small enterprises,
medium enterprises are included within the
ambit of priority sector lending. Other sectors
such as sanitation, health care and drinking
water facilities and renewable energy will
come under the priority sector ambit, as will
incremental loans made to exports, with cer-
tain ceilings.
Reserve Bank of India working group has
now proposed new guidelines for lending
to the priority sector with loans to medium
enterprises, sanitation and renewable energy
sectors coming under the umbrella of the
priority sector.
The panel which submitted the report to the
RBI on March 1, has said the target for lend-
ing to the redefined priority sector should be
retained uniformly at 40 per cent of adjusted
net bank credit (ANBC) or credit equivalent of
off-balance sheet exposure (CEOBE), which-
ever is higher, for all scheduled commercial
banks. However, foreign banks, which will all
now come under the norms, have been given
time to comply with the target.
One more key are the government needs
to target is the evacuation facilities avail-
able for the industry. The existing evacuation
infrastructure is not capable of evacuating
proposed capacity additions. There is a need
to integrate of renewable based generation to
the existing system. A solution to this can be
introduction of Green energy corridor which
will evacuate renewable power from renew-
able rich states to the load centers. This will
reduce evacuation losses.
In order to meet the current target, we need
rigid policies and proper investments in the
coming years to build renewable power
capacity up to 200 Gigawatts by the year
2022. With the union budget announced, we
hope that the government will consider mea-
The industry is eagerly awaiting new measures to ease the financing helping unlock its true potential at
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MARKET UPDATES
PLG Clean Energy Projects (PLGCEP) is
developing 1000 MW (1 GW) of Solar & Wind
Power Plants in India under Build, Operate &
Ownership Model as a Renewable Independent
Power Producer (Re-IPP). PLGCEP has made
a Green Energy Commitment to Mr. Arun
Jaitely, Hon’ble Finance Minister, Govt. of India
for developing a pipeline of 1000 MW (1GW)
of solar & wind power plants between 2015
to 2018.
PLGCEP has held talks & discussions with
Mr. Piyush Goyal, Hon’ble Minister for Power,
Coal & Renewable Energy, Govt. of India &
submitted proposal & investment plans for
developing 1000 MW (1GW) of solar & wind
power plants.
PLG Clean Energy Projects Private Limited
(PLGCEP) is an integrated Independent Power
Producer (IPP) aiming to make Renewable
energy an affordable source of energy world-
wide. The Company has a project pipeline
and project portfolio of1500 MW (1.5GW) of
renewable energy assets in India & has made
an investment of Rs 340 crore till date already.
PLGCEP developed India’s 1st 20 MW Solar
Power Plant in Patan, Gujarat. The turnaround
time to set up the plant was a record of
108 days, the fastest turnaround time in the
world from inception to commissioning of the
PLG Clean Energy Projects To Develop 5GW Renew-able Power Assets in India In 6 Years
project. The state of the art and world class
20 MW solar power plants is generating 36
million units of renewable energy annually
for the country, powering 35,000 households
annually in the state of Gujarat and saving
34,000 tons of Carbon Emission annually for
the world.
The company is currently developing a proj-
ect portfolio of 800MW of Solar Power Plant
Assets, 650 MW of Wind Power Plant Assets
and 50 MW of Bio Mass Power Plant Assets
(total Renewable Assets Portfolio size of 1.5
GW) and aiming to build a Renewable Project
Asset portfolio of 5000 MW (5 GW in the next
6years) by 2020.
An integrated Renewable Independent
Power Producer, PLG Clean Energy Projects
(PLGCEP) has also received an approval from
Govt. of Tamil Nadu to set up a 200 MW Solar
Power Generation Plant with an investment of
Rs 1400 Crores (USD 230 Million).
PLGCEP develops, builds, owns & acquires
Renewable Energy Assets currently being
built in India.
The project will be set up at Ettayapuram
in Tamil Nadu spread over 1000 acres of
acquired private land. The PPA is expected to
be signed earlier next year & the project will
take 12 months for completion.
Project synopsis:
200 MW Solar Power Power Plant in Tamil
Nadu India
Cost of Project: Rs. 1400 Crores (USD 225
Million)
Gross Annual Revenue: Rs. 224 Crores (USD
36.10 Million)
Project Status: Approval received from
Govt. of Tamil Nadu. Land identified. EPC
Contractor L&T Construction, Sterling &
Wilson (top 2 companies in India) shortlisted.
Project is shovel ready.
200 MW Solar Power Power Plant in Punjab
India
Cost of Project: Rs. 1400 Crores (USD 225
Million)
Gross Annual Revenue: Rs. 247 Crores (USD
39.80 Million)
Project Status: MOU signed with Govt. of
Punjab. Land identified. EPC Contractor L&T
Construction, Sterling & Wilson (top 2 com-
panies in India) shortlisted. Project is shovel
ready.
Both the Constructions have begin in March
2015 & project can be completed by March
2016.
The Company has a project pipeline and project portfolio of1500 MW of renewable energy assets in India
& has made an investment of Rs 340 crore till date
ACME Cleantech Solutions Ltd. (ACSL) offers
efficient rooftop solar solutions that are easy
to install, operate and offer cost effective
access to solar energy. The rooftop solar
power installation at Ananda’s Palakoderu,
Bhimavaram Fish Processing Facility, located
430 KMS from Hyderabad and 150kms from
Vijayawada, demonstrates the potential of
solar power, which can be harnessed using
idle roof top space to generate energy and
reduce the organization’s carbon footprint.
Project Overview
Ananda’s Palakoderu, Bhimavaram Facility,
located 430 KMS from Hyderabad and
150kms from Vijayawada, is the fish pro-
cessing unit, recognizes the importance of
having a sustainable energy source that is
economically viable to help meet their energy
needs at this unit. With this clear purpose in
mind, Ananda chose ACSL as the developer
of choice because of their extensive experi-
ence and flawless execution skills by the
team. In 2013, ACSL forayed into harnessing
solar energy through the installation of solar
product solutions. Taking a step ahead in this
Powering Ananda From The Roof Top
direction, Ananda mandated ACSL to install
a 150 kWp solar rooftop plant across 1500
sq. meters of rooftop space that generates
>225,000 kWh of energy per year. The plant is
also equipped with a remote monitoring sys-
tem that ensures smooth functioning of this
plant and to make it is delivering the promised
performance.
Challenges and Solutions
Disruption free execution within strict time-
lines: Ananda had the uncompromising con-
dition of having the project completed and
commissioned within 60 days and without
disruption of business-asusual at Ananda.
Ananda being a fish processing industry could
not have afforded any downtime due to the
critical installation. ACSL being sensitive to
this seamlessly executed the project with
painstakingly detailed planning and providing
buffer for potential delays so that the project
was completed within the stipulated time-
frame and without causing any disruption to
the client’s business activities.
Speedy execution with minimal downtime:
As part of the standard process of commis-
sioning the solar plant, the electrical services
are taken down to connect the solar energy
system to Ananda’s internal grid so that it can
start feeding into the grid. ACSL team’s rigor
in execution made sure this process took just
1.5 hour, post which business was carried out
powered by the solar energy feeding into the
grid.
Impact
Ananda through this solar rooftop installation
now has access to a 150 kWp power plant
that provides access to a reliable, green and
sustainable source of energy. This rooftop
solar plant has added renewable energy to
Ananda’s energy mix and has reduced its car-
bon footprint by 190 tonnes per year.
ACME Cleantech’s 150 kW Project For Ananda Enterprises Private Limited
21 www.solarquarter.com
22 www.solarquarter.com
After three years of downfall, the global solar
investment around the world is picking up. It
was recorded that the overall clean energy
investment jumped by 16% in 2014, the big-
gest y-o-y increase in the near history.
The solar industry has been the biggest ben-
eficiary of the rise in investements in the clean
energy sector. Solar energy has emerged
as one of the best options to meet growing
power demand while cutting emissions. It
has also become one of the favourites of the
investment community yeilding high investor
returns without volatile financial risks.
According to Mercom Capital Group, which
tallied $26.5 billion in solar project investment
from corporate funding sources during 2014.
That’s an 175% increase over 2013, when
Mercom counted just $9.6 billion.
The Chinese investment in renewable sector
increased and reached to 32% to a record
$89.5 billion. This puts China at the top of
the global list of green investments. China
has now overtaken the US which was so far
the largest investor in the renewable energy
Solar Industry Sees A 140% Jump In Investments In 2014
domain.
Another huge investment trend was seen in
the small distributed capacity. This included
projects less than 1 MW, predominantly roof-
top solar. This saw $73.5bn committed in
2014, up 34 % from last year.
In 2014, many big solar projects were financed
around the world. Some of the key highlights
from the investments made last year are listed
below.
• The US investment in renewable was a total
of $51.8bn in 2014 out of which 39% at $8.9bn
was solar’s share. Along with this investment
there was also $12.9bn of investment in small-
scale projects.
• China saw total investment of $89.5bn
and the solar energy investment total was
$30.4bn, which was up 20% from last year.
$7.6bn was spent on small distributed capac-
ity.
• The European countries saw a rise in their
investment. The investment increased by 3%
INDIAN OUTLOOK
Venture capital funding was far and away the biggest contributor to solar’s financing surge
in UK to $15.2bn and 3% in Germany to
$15.3bn, while France jumped 26% to $7bn
thanks partly to the financing of Europe’s
biggest ever PV plant, the 300MW Cestas
project. Big offshore wind deals drove the
figure for the Netherlands up 232% to $6.7bn,
but investment in Italy fell 60% to $2bn, hit by
retroactive cuts in tariff support for PV plants.
• Australia saw a downfall due to delayed
decisions by the government for the solar
project developers; the investment tumbled
35% to $3.7bn.
The highlight of the third quarter was a leap in
Chinese solar investment to a new record of
$12.2bn, up from $7.5bn in Q3 2013 and $8bn
in Q2 2014. China is building a large number of
utility-scale photovoltaic projects linked to its
main transmission grid.
There were other strong investment figures
in Q3 from Japan, at 8.6bn, up 17% from the
same quarter in 2013, with solar again the
dominant renewable energy source. Other
countries showing a bounce in investment in
the latest quarter were Canada, France and
India, while there were significant projects
financed in a number of new markets, includ-
ing Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
Overall, solar power contributed the most
to the total results for 2014, setting a record
for its share of the total. Investments rose 25
percent to $149.6 billion.
Venture capital funding was far and away the
biggest contributor to solar’s financing surge.
Developers secured more than $1.3 billion in
85 deals, more than twice the $612 million
raised in 98 deals during 2013, and the highest
amount since 2011.
Downstream solar companies (i.e. solar
installers and direct consumer distributors)
attracted the largest chunk of VC dollars by
pulling in $1.1 billion across 44 deals. Sunnova
Energy netted nearly half this amount with
$505 million, followed by Sunrun with $150
million, Renewable Energy Trust Capital with
$125 million, Sungevity with $72.5 million, and
GlassPoint Solar with $53 million.
23 www.solarquarter.com
24 www.solarquarter.com
1st Annual Conference On
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