Acme Solar raises $334 million via offshore green bonds
Indian developer Acme Solar’s green bonds were oversubscribed by over three times, and will support it financing twelve projects for a combined 450MW (or 605 MWp) of its operational assets in India.
Covid-19 weekly round-up: Residential systems in Italy will get a 110% tax rebate and UK consumers are being paid to turn appliances on as coronavirus turns the energy world upside down
Plus, Australia’s Greens want renewables front and center of the post Covid-19 economy and Mexican plant owners are overturning a politically-motivated ban on clean energy, however, Indian developer Acme solar says pandemic delays warrant it reneging on the terms of the record-low solar price agreement it signed.
Indian developer wants to walk away from record low solar price
Acme Solar made headlines in 2018 when its offer to accept $0.0322354 per kilowatt-hour generated at a 600 MW solar farm planned in Rajasthan secured the project from federal body the Solar Energy Corporation of India. Now the developer wants to rip up the agreement, blaming Covid-19-related hold-ups.
Oman reveals bidders in 146 MW solar-diesel-storage tender
The state-owned Rural Areas Electricity Company wants to build 11 solar-diesel-storage projects in isolated rural areas. Pre-qualified bidders in the tender include Engie, Canadian Solar, Akuo, Longi, Jinko, GCL, Abengoa, Total and Belectric.
Emerging markets help new faces into list of world’s top EPC providers
Although the Wiki-solar website ranking only gives a snapshot of PV project engineering, procurement and construction contracts outside China, it is nevertheless a useful indicator of the changing shape of the global solar market.
China’s CSUN faces India ban over module contract disputes
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.
Rajasthan solar auction draws electricity price of just 3.5 US cents
Record-setting Acme Solar has secured a third of the latest procurement exercise in the state with a lowest bid of INR2.48/kWh. The tender was oversubscribed by more than 100% as offers came in for 1,620 MW of capacity.
Extent of India’s new utility-scale solar has almost halved in six months
India added 1.2 GW of large-scale projects in the third quarter of 2018-19, taking new capacity in the first half to 1.9 GW. The numbers are down 43% and 44%, respectively, on the same periods of the previous year, according to Bridge to India’s quarterly India Solar Compass.
Azure Power agrees $0.035 tariff for 300 MW project in India
The developer will supply energy to India’s largest utility under a 25-year PPA and can build the project anywhere in the nation, with construction to finish in early 2021.
Low tariff secured for NTPC’s 2 GW Indian solar auction
Amidst the Indian government’s yo-yoing on the 25% safeguard duty, the National Thermal Power Corporation’s (NTPC) auction to develop 2 GW of interstate transmission system (ISTS)-connected solar PV projects attracted a low winning tariff of Rs. 2.59 (US$0.0372) per unit.
