India

Indian developer Avaada Energy has raised the funds from the Asian Development Bank and European development institutions. The PV business will finance 2.4 GW of the 5 GW of solar capacity it hopes to secure over the next two years.

In the latest tariff spat to afflict the solar world, India’s Directorate General of Trade Remedies will investigate a claim steel products coated with aluminum and zinc are being dumped by Far Eastern manufacturers.

A 10,000-liters-per-day plant in Tamil Nadu offers hope for powering clean water without fossil fuels. However, researchers warn the technology is difficult to scale up because PV panels take up so much space.

India’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector is expected to make a significant contribution to the country’s rooftop PV target of 40 GW by 2022. However, a range of issues — including low public awareness, the scarcity of low-cost financing and the need for rooftop aggregation models — must be addressed before rooftop solar can be aggressively scaled up, according to a new report from Deloitte and the Climate Investment Funds (CIF).

Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments (REIL) has invited bids to set up 1.7 MW (AC) of grid-connected PV projects with battery storage in India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The projects — to be implemented on a turnkey basis on Havelock Island (Swaraj Dweep) and Neil Island (Shaheed Dweep) — will be awarded through competitive bids, followed by a reverse auction.

Amid the hubbub surrounding India’s renewable energy ambitions, few people have likely heard the last wails of a critically endangered great Indian bustard as it chars to death on a power transmission line or fatally collides with a wind turbine.

India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGTR) has concluded that duties ranging from $537 to $1,559/metric ton will be needed to offset the impact of imports of solar ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) sheets from China, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Thailand. The harshest duty — $1,559/metric ton (MT) — has been imposed on sheets supplied by all Saudi manufacturers other than Saudi Specialized Products.

Shapoorji Pallonji Infrastructure Capital (SP Infra) has sold 194 MW of operational solar capacity to Sprng Energy, as a follow-up to its plan to divest part of its portfolio to redeploy capital for new PV projects.

The Indian government is considering the ban in response to complaints about China Sunergy allegedly defaulting on PV module shipments to project developers Acme Solar, RattanIndia and Refex Energy. Last year, German EPC specialist Goldbeck Solar reported a similar experience with the Chinese supplier.

In response to feedback from the domestic renewable energy sector, the Indian government has revealed plans to launch $5 billion of tenders for new transmission lines, starting in phases from this summer.