transmission

India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has released a document clarifying the rules for state government offtake of solar park capacity, while the World Bank plans to provide US$100 million for solar park infrastructure.

India may soon review its Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) mechanism to give targets more suited to the environment of each state and offer more flexibility, according to energy minister Piyush Goyal.

India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has sent a letter to states regarding the spare capacities in existing substations to accommodate the rapid additions of solar capacity.

The Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency (TEDA) has issued a request for proposals (RfP) for the development of another 500MW of solar park in the south Indian state.

Consultancy firm Bridge to India explains how southern India represents a test case for grid integration of variable renewable energy, accounting for 45% of the country’s total wind and solar power capacity.

As part of India’s Green Energy Corridor scheme, the Ministry of Power has proposed setting up a host of Renewable Energy Management Centres (REMCs) across the country to help integrate renewables as their penetration increases.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US$175 million loan to India’s major network operator and utility Power Grid Corporation of India (Powergrid) relating to solar park transmission.

Despite India tripling solar deployments to reach 10GW in less than three years, the country's ultimate target of 100GW by 2022 will be extremely difficult without better enforcement of the Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO), according to Mercom Capital Group’s latest market intelligence report.

All eyes are on India after the historic solar bids seen in Madhya Pradesh earlier this month, but headline prices won’t solve the more entrenched problems of the sector. PV Tech caught up with Ashish Khanna, executive director and CEO, Tata Power Solar, at the firm’s Noida offices near New Delhi to garner a rational viewpoint from one of the world's pioneering solar manufacturers and India's top solar rooftop EPC player.

Plenty of naysayers have warned about unrealistic bidding and various delays damaging the Indian solar sector, but the head of ACME Solar, one of the largest developers India, approaching 1GW of installed capacity, has a very positive outlook on the industry's future. PV Tech caught up Manoj Kumar Upadhyay, the founder, chairman and managing director of ACME Group at the company offices in Gurgaon, New Delhi, to discuss delayed PPAs, transmission infrastructure, the approaching Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill and a unique point of view on India's Ultra Mega solar power parks.