India

The stay on the newly-proposed duty imposed by the Odisha High Court will offer relief to developers waiting to collect shipments from port. But companies must agree to pay the tariff at a later date if it is upheld by the judicial system.

As per the court order, Shapoorji Pallonji can retrieve its solar PV panel consignment at Chennai port, which has been cleared by customs, provided it pays the safeguard duty in case the related notification is upheld.

The Government of India will also consider changes to the 25% safeguard duty imposed on solar cell imports from China and Malaysia only after the next hearing in the Odisha High Court, which stayed the levy.

As of July, Acme Solar had about 2.8 GW solar projects at different stages of development across India. Recently, it won another 600 MW of SECI’s 3 GW interstate transmission system (ISTS) tender, at a tariff of INR 2.44/unit (USD 0.036/unit).

The Minister for New and Renewable Energy has waved aside complaints about safeguarding duties by telling India’s upper house the nation’s ambitious four-year solar target is ‘comfortably’ within reach.

With a maximum fixed tariff of $0.0427/kWh under a 25-year PPA, the total capacity available is made up of 10 MW multiples and could potentially all go to one bidder.

Despite safeguard tariffs against certain imports of solar PV products into India, Chinese manufactured modules will remain competitive, says TrendForce. It further anticipates PV demand falling 30% in fiscal year 2018 in India, while cost pressures will mount for EPCs and project developers.

In the first big auction, a day after the imposition of a 25% safeguard duty on solar imports, the winning tariff of Rs 2.79 (US$0.041) at the 200 MW Odisha auction took the industry by surprise.

Greenpeace India, Germi, and the IWMI-Tata Water Policy Program have released a report stating that the Indian government’s latest ambitions to deploy solar water pumps could meet the country’s solar PV target of 100 GW, if done comprehensively. So far the plan goes as far as 28 GW, and still needs legislative approval.

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has approved a grant supporting the technical design and project planning work for IL&FS Energy Development Company Limited’s (IEDCL) 41 MW hybrid wind, solar and energy storage power plant in Andhra Pradesh.