The Indian states of Telangana and Assam have joined the government’s major rescue package for the country’s debt-laden distribution companies (Discoms), on the same day that a web portal and mobile app for the scheme was launched.
India has proposed providing a grant of up to INR3.75 million per MW (US$54,100) to encourage distribution companies to support net metering of rooftop solar on their networks.
India is expected to add more than 9GW of solar PV capacity this year, but its long-term renewable energy future requires adding transmission capacity and removing bottlenecks immediately, according to the latest quarterly solar market update from consultancy firm Mercom Capital Group.
India is expected to become a “key pillar” for solar demand growth, while growth from leading nations including China, Japan and possibly the US declines, according to the latest update from consultancy firm Bridge to India.
Even though monkeys were allegedly wreaking havoc on India’s solar rooftop systems last year, 2016 was remarkable for the Indian PV sector. With solar taking 1% the nation’s electricity share and India set to become the world’s third largest market in 2017 , Bloomberg New Energy Finance has proclaimed that ‘solar is king of Indian renewables’. Add the completion of the world’s largest solar plant to these accolades and you have a good indicator of the South Asian giant’s ambitions. Even India’s biggest oil, steel and mining companies are getting on board the solar rush.
Indian firms Adani and Azure Power have won 50MW solar capacity each in the state of Andhra Pradesh, in an auction with local content rules, according to consultancy firm Mercom Capital Group.
Indian minister for energy and mines Piyush Goyal has said that the whole world laughed at India when it announced its plans to reach 100GW of solar power by 2022. Azure Power progresses on 14MW rooftop for Delhi Metro. Fonroche divests from India to focus on Latin America.
The India government and the US Government’s development finance institution, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), have launched a US$20 million finance initiative to fund renewable energy projects in India.
The top 10 states in India have accounted for 90% of the country's solar pipeline and installations, according to a report from Mercom Capital Group. India has installed over 9GW of large-scale solar capacity and boasts a PV pipeline of 14GW as of December 2016, the consultancy said.
More than 16,000 Indian households across 800 remote villages will be given a solar panel, with an eight-hour battery storage backup, according to the Indian minister for power, coal, new and renewable energy and mines, Piyush Goyal.
