Topaz and Appolon eye India’s first bifacial module plant
10 March: Indian firm Topaz Solar has signed an MoU with French firm Appolon Solar SAS to set up a bifacial solar module manufacturing facility in India.
Topaz will have 100MW of bifacial capacity along with 400MW of mono-facial modules in the first phase of a planned 1.2GW module facility in the state of Orissa.
A Topaz press release stated: “The MoU with Appolon Solar SAS will be for technical knowhow, complete turnkey machinery for bifacial solar modules manufacturing plant (which is first of its kind in India) and support for selling modules back in Europe.”
The agreement was signed during the International Solar Alliance (ISA) founding ceremony last weekend, which also saw the likes of Indian firm Vikram Solar tie up agreements with another French institute CEA.
NTPC tenders 2.75GW of solar in India
12 March: Indian utility NTPC has tendered 2.75GW of grid-connected solar projects spread across solar parks and the Interstate Transmission System (ISTS).
Out of two issuances, the first was for 750MW capacity (minimum bid 250MW) located in the Ananthapuramu Solar Park in the state of Andhra Pradesh, with a bid-submission deadline of 12 April.
In another issuance, 2GW of capacity (minimum bid 50MW) is up for grabs across India connected to the ISTS, with a 23 April bid-submission deadline.
NTPC will sign 25-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) for the projects and there is no ceiling tariff.
Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has also issued 5GW of ISTS-connected projects this year.
CECEP bags 35MW module supply deal in India
12 March: CECEP Solar Energy Technology has secured an order for 35MW of solar modules for an Indian solar project
Grid-connection of the project is expected this month. CECEP will supply its Full Power Series 325W modules.