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Renewable Energy

Lightsource Eyes At Least 1 GW Solar Power Capacity In India

written by saurabh

UK-based Lightsource has come out with plans to set up large-scale solar power projects in the budding solar power market of India over the next few years.

Talking to Indian media outlets, Lightsource Renewable Energy Ltd Managing Director and Head India Operations Rupesh Agarwal said that his company is looking to invest Rs 6,500 crore (US$960 million) over the next 2-3 years in India to set up at least 1 GW solar power capacity.

Lightsource had recently secured rights to develop 50 MW solar power project through competitive bidding in Maharashtra.

During Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2015 visit to the UK, Lightsource had signed an agreement to invest US$3 billion to set up 3 GW solar power capacity in India over the next few years.

Rupesh Agarwal also stated that 1 GW is the minimum that the company is looking to develop in India but can increase this capacity based on the auctions being conducted by various states and the central government.

11/28/2016 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Solar Power Tariffs In India Fall To Fresh Low Of US¢5.9/kWh

written by saurabh

Highly competitive bidding has resulted in the revision of feed-in tariff for solar power projects in India.

The Solar Energy Corporation of India has allocated 750 MW capacity in the state of Rajasthan at record-low tariff of Rs 4.00/kWh (US¢5.9/kWh). The auction was held under the Viability Gap Funding scheme wherein competitive bidding takes place for the capital cost support instead of tariffs.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy had recently changed the tariff structure for projects under the VGF scheme. Earlier, VGF projects had a uniform rate of Rs 4.43/kWh (US¢6.6/kWh). Now, states that have seen bids falling below Rs 4.50/kWh (US¢6.7/kWh) will have uniform VGF tariff of Rs 4.00/kWh (US¢5.9/kWh) while all others shall have tariff of Rs 4.50/kWh (US¢6.7/kWh).

So far, only the state of Rajasthan has seen tariff bids falling to below Rs 4.50/kWh (US¢6.7/kWh). The latest auction was for two phases of the Bhadla solar power park.

The lowest tariff bid in India till date stands at Rs 4.34/kWh (US¢6.4/kWh). The bid was secured by Fortum for a 100 MW solar power project as part of the Bhadla solar power park.

11/28/2016 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Phanes Group Plans 300 MW Solar PV Capacity In Nigeria

written by saurabh

Nigeria continues to attract foreign investment in its budding solar power market.

Dubai-based Phanes Group has announced plans to set up 300 MW solar PV capacity in the African country over the next three years. The capacity shall be divided into projects of 100 MW each.

The first project will be located in the Sokoto region while the other two will come up in Kadnuna and Kebbi. First phase of the first project (50 MW) is expected to be commissioned by Q1 2018. Power generated from the projects will be sold to local utilities through long-term power purchase agreements.

A number of companies recently signed agreements with the Nigerian government to set up utility-scale solar power projects. Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading signed long-term agreements for more than 1,000 MW of solar power projects.

The development of solar power projects in Nigeria has full support and regulatory backing of the government. Last year, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission approved feed-in tariff regulations for renewable energy sourced electricity. As per the provisions of the regulations, electricity distribution companies will be required to source at least 50% of their total procurement from renewable energy sources. The Commission has also mandated that the balance 50% electricity would have to be sourced from Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company.

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11/28/2016 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Gamesa Wins 304 MW Wind Energy Order In India

written by saurabh

Gamesa seems set to maintain a leading position among wind turbine manufacturers in India as it received fresh orders.

Gamesa has reported that it received five orders to supply wind turbines with cumulative capacity of 304 MW in India. The company will deliver the turbines, commission them and be responsible to operate and maintain the projects.

The orders will cover supply of 80 units of G114-2.0 class S turbines (160 MW) and 72 units of G97-2.0 MW class S (144 MW) turbines, both of which were specifically configured for the Indian market with the aim of maximising turbine performance at low wind speed sites. These projects are slated for commissioning during the first quarter of 2017.

Gamesa has been operational in India since 2009 and has installed more than 3,000 MW of wind energy capacity. The company has also been the leading original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in the country of the last three years, leading several Indian and foreign competitors.

The company also secured its largest solar EPC contract in India recently through which it will set up 130 MW capacity across two states.

11/28/2016 0 comment

Renewable Energy

India To Launch $2 Billion Renewable Energy Equity Fund

written by saurabh

The Indian government will soon launch an equity fund to push renewable energy investment.

According to media reports, the Indian government is planning to launch an equity fund worth $2 billion to boost renewable energy development. The initial funding of $1 billion will be available starting next financial year, April 2017.

The Clean Energy Equity Fund (CEEF) will see contribution from the central government as well as some state-owned companies. Around $600 million will be contributed from the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, under the Ministry of Finance; the balance will be contributed by state-owned companies NTPC Limited, Rural Electrification Corporation and Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA).

These companies, and several others, have already raised several million dollars through green bond issues which might be directed to the CEEF.

The government is expected to tap foreign investors to further increase the size of the fund. Pension and insurance funds will be targeted for this fund expansion.

The Indian government is looking to raise funds from as many sources as possible. It has tapped the green bonds market, international development banks and national banks and financial institutions. India has set a target to have installed renewable energy capacity of 175 GW, including 100 GW solar power and 60 GW wind energy capacity.

11/15/2016 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Indian Industrial Conglomerate Proposes 600 MW Solar Power Park

written by saurabh

Private sector companies in India are now being attracted towards the development of large-scale solar power projects in the country.

According to media reports, a Kolkata-based industry conglomerate has proposed to set a 600 MW solar power park in the state of Odisha. Sonthalia Group has proposed to the Odisha government to provide it with 1,250 hectares of barren land on lease for the development of the project.

The Group hopes to sign a memorandum of understanding with the state government for the project, possibly giving it some leeway on the tariff – which otherwise would likely have been discovered through competitive bidding. The Group also hopes to sell power generated from the solar park to the state utility through a long-term power purchase agreement.

The state government has been urged by the Group to forward this proposal to the central government which may then recognise it under the ultra mega solar power projects scheme. This would enable the Group to avail various benefits offered by the central government.

The Odisha government is already working on an approved 1 GW solar power park. The 1 GW project will be spread over 5,000 acres of land. The state would acquire 20% of the electricity generated while the developers shall be free to sell the balance in open market.

Several foreign and Indian developers, including SoftBank-led SB Energy, SkyPower Global, Azure Power, Panchvaktra Holdings, Orange Renewable and Shapoorji Pallonji, have expressed interest in developing projects at the solar power park.

As per state renewable energy policy, Odisha plans to add 3 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022. The capacity addition target includes 2.3 GW of solar power, 350 MW wind energy, 150 MW of small-scale hydro power, 180 MW of biomass-based power, and 20 MW of municipal solid waste-based power capacity.

11/15/2016 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Taiwan Plans Renewable Energy Investments In Indonesia

written by saurabh

Taiwanese investors may soon set up renewable energy projects in Indonesia.

A delegation of investors from Taiwan recently met the officials of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Indonesian government to discuss an investment plan in the renewable energy sector. Taiwan Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Wei-Fuu Yang said that investors from his country are planning to invest in solar power and biogas sectors in Indonesia.

Over the last few months the government has taken several measures to promote investment in the renewable energy sector, including the implementation of a single-window approval system.

Indonesia plans to boost the share of renewable energy sources in the total energy mix to 19% by 2019 and to 25% by 2025, up from its current share of renewable energy sources of between 5% and 6%.

Indonesia recently announced feed-in tariffs for solar PV power projects in the range of US¢14.5/kWh and US¢25.0/kWh. The tariff vary from region to region. Java and Sumatra have been assigned the lowest tariff of less than US¢20.0/kWh but the levellised cost of energy is even lower at around US¢8.8/kWh.

10/31/2016 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Developers Plan 120 MW Solar Power Capacity In Kenya

written by saurabh

Foreign investors continue to flock to Kenya as the government opens up the renewable energy sector for expansion and prepares radical changes to the project allocation policy.

Radiant Energy, Eldosol Energy and Alten Energy Solarfarms have announced plans to set up three projects of 40 MW capacity each in the Uasin Gishu county, eastern Kenya. All projects are expected to come up under the feed-in tariff scheme that allows developers to earn a highly attractive rate of US$12.0/kWh, nearly six times the current lowest solar PV bid globally.

Funding for projects by Radiant Energy, Eldosol Energy have been approved by the European Investment Bank for funding and a final agreement for loan disbursal is expected to be signed soon.

All three companies are expected to be among the last beneficiaries of the feed-in tariff program.

According to media reports, the government will soon replace the existing feed-in tariff program with competitive auctions. The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is currently working on a regulation to enable this change which should be ready for implementation within 3 months.

ERC believes that competitive auctions will force project developers to reduce tariffs, which would ultimately benefit the end consumers. At present, the feed-in tariff program awards projects to developers at fixed rates with built-in profit margin. Competitive auctions will force the developers to give away some of that margin.

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10/31/2016 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Solar Fuels India’s Renewable Energy Capacity Addition This Year

written by saurabh

Solar power capacity addition during the current financial year in India has exceeded that of wind energy.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy recently released the new capacity addition data for first half of the ongoing financial year i.e. April to September 2016. Total grid-connected renewable energy capacity added this financial year till 30 September was 3,164 MW with the total operational renewable energy capacity at 45,917 MW.

Grid-connected solar power capacity added during H1 FY2016-17 is 1,750 MW, sharply higher than the wind energy capacity added during the same period – 1,305 MW. However, the solar power capacity addition is much higher for the entire financial year at 12 GW while the for the wind energy sector is just 4 GW.

The total renewable energy capacity added during H1 2016-17 is nearly twice that added during the same period last year.

Both, wind energy as well as solar power had managed to beat their respective targets last year. More than 3.4 GW wind energy capacity was added to the grid as compared to the targeted addition of 2.4 GW. Similarly, more than 3 GW of grid-connected solar power capacity was added against the target of 800 MW only.

The ministry has set a target to add 16,600 MW renewable energy capacity during the current financial year. Thus, more than 13,400 MW capacity is yet to be added in the balance financial year to achieve the target.

10/31/2016 0 comment

Renewable Energy

India To Get Offshore Wind Energy Within 5 Years

written by saurabh

India’s first offshore wind energy project could be operation in a period of three to five years, an international renewable energy group has stated.

Officials of the DNV GL group recently stated that commercial operations of offshore wind energy projects would start in India over the next three to five years. Group Executive Vice President and Regional Manager Mathias Steck stated that his company is working with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to prepare a roadmap for the development of offshore wind energy market in India.

Development of offshore wind energy in India is being funded by the Facilitating Offshore Wind in Industry (FOWIND) programme sponsored by the European Union. FOWIND has done several reports on offshore wind energy potential in the states of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.

A 100 MW pilot offshore wind energy project is expected to be operational in about three years.

In 2015, the Indian Government approved its new national offshore wind energy policy to promote and streamline the process of implementing offshore wind energy projects. As per the policy, the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) will be the nodal agency for implementation of wind energy projects, while the National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE) will be responsible for allocating project sites.

Apart from a pilot project backed by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, private company Suzlon Energy is also working on a 600 MW offshore wind energy project in Gujarat.

The ministry had also announced plans to issue tender and hold competitive auction to allocate project sites this year, however, no such activity has so far been seen from the government.

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10/31/2016 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Fotowatio Wins 300 MW Solar In Mexico Auction At US¢2.69/kWh

written by saurabh

Spanish renewable energy project developer Fotowatio Renewable Ventures recently a major win in the competitive auction held in Mexico few weeks back.

Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) announced that it has been awarded a 300 MW solar power project in the second competitive auction held for renewable energy project in Mexico in September this year.

The company managed to secure the project at one of the lowest levels across the world as the Mexican auction was highly competitive. FRV placed a successful bid of US¢2.699/kWh for the solar power project. The lowest-ever solar power bid for a project remains US¢2.42/kWh by JinkoSolar-Marubeni consortium for 800 MW phase 3 of Dubai solar power park.

The construction of the plant will begin in mid-2018 and will become operational in mid-2019, and will create approximately 250 local jobs as part of the construction phase and a further 20 jobs during operations. The plant will also generate enough green electricity to supply approximately 76,100 homes, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 97.7 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

According to National Energy Control Center (CENACE) of Mexico, solar dominated the Mexico’s second power auction with more than half of the total amount of energy awarded to solar PV projects. Under the auction, 4.8 TWh of energy (54%) and 4.9 million clean energy certificates (53%) were provisionally awarded to solar PV projects.

In total, 9.3 TWh and 8.9 million clean energy certificates were awarded to solar, wind, geothermal and hydroelectric projects. Wind energy projects constituted 43% of total energy awarded and 41% of clean energy certificates.

10/31/2016 0 comment

Renewable Energy

US-based Quasar Plans 100 MW Solar Project In Myanmar

written by saurabh

Texas-based Quasar Resources is looking to invest several million dollars to set up power generation assets in Myanmar.

The company plans to invest $300-400 million in Myanmar over the next five years to set up various power projects; this includes a 100 MW solar power project.

The solar power project is expected to come up in the Sagaing region at a total investment of $150 million. The company is yet to secure all approvals required to set up the project and expects to commission the project by next year.

In addition to this solar power project the company is also planning to set up a 64 MW hydro power project as a total cost of $150 million. The project will be set up in the Upper Saedawgyi region.

The solar power project planned by Quasar will be among the first large-scale solar power projects to come up in Myanmar. Thailand-based Green Earth Power had announced, last year, a 220 MW solar power project at a total cost of $275 million.

Myanmar suffers from huge electricity crises as over 70 percent of the people do not have access to electricity. In rural areas, where the majority of the poor live, only 16 percent of households have access to grid-based electricity. The government plans to increase electricity production from the present 2,500 MW to 30,000 MW by 2030.

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10/31/2016 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Kuwait Commissions Its First Solar Power Project

written by saurabh

Kuwait has successfully commissioned its first solar power project possibly ushering in a new phase of growth in the country’s renewable energy sector.

The state-owned Kuwait Oil Company announced that it operationalised 10 MW solar power project at the Umm Gudair oil field. Half of the power generated from the project will be fed into the grid, while other half, presumably, will be used for meet demand at the oil field.

Kuwait Oil Company spent around $99 million on the construction of the project. The company hopes to generate at least 20% electricity from alternative sources by 2020. Kuwait, as a whole, has set a target to generate 15% of its energy from renewable energy sources by 2030.

The country has already taken some measures to that end.

Last year, a contract was signed with Spain’s TSK Group to set up a 50 MW solar thermal power project. The contract is worth $365 million and will see the project start commercial operation in 2017. The project will be set up at Shagaya, 100 kilometres from Kuwait City, and near the country’s border with Saudi Arabia and Iraq. When commissioned, the project will generate enough electricity to fulfil needs of 100,000 homes, and save energy equivalent to 12.5 million barrels of oil every year.

According to the Electricity and Water Ministry, Kuwait plans to generate 4.5 GW from wind and solar power projects by 2030, when the total power demand is expected to increase from its current level of 12 GW to 30 GW. By 2025, the government expects to have an operational renewable energy capacity of at least 2 GW.

10/31/2016 0 comment

Renewable Energy

First Utility-scale Solar Power Project In Senegal Commissioned

written by saurabh

Senegal has commissioned its first utility-scale solar power project, possibly paving way for increased investment in the country’s renewable energy sector.

Paris-based investment company GreenWish Partners has announced that it commissioned a 20 MW solar power project in northern Senegal. The company claims that, apart from being the first utility-scale solar power project in the country, it is also the first solar IPP project commissioned in West and Central Africa.

The project was developed by Vinci Energies in less than eight months. The generation cost of the project is reported to be less than than of the country’s overall energy mix. GreenWish claims that the power generated from the project will offset 25,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and also bring-in $4.9 million savings for the government every year.

The Senegalese Sovereign Fund holds 45% stake in the project and the 2% of the project revenue and all carbon credits generated from the project shall be allocated to the local communities.

Earlier this month, GreenWish also announced plans to set up projects in Nigeria as well. The company stated plans to implement two solar power projects of 50 MW capacity each in northern Nigeria. The total investment for the projects is expected to be around US$130-150 million. The projects are expected to be commissioned next year.

10/31/2016 0 comment

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