A World Solar Bank and India’s Solar Ambitions. Updated On Tue, Jun 30th, 2020 by Saurenergy In the past week, talk of a World Solar Bank, midwifed by the International Solar Alliance (ISA), Prime Minister Modi’s biggest foreign policy initiative has picked pace again. The ISA, whose overarching mandate can be considered the raising of 1 trillion dollars to build, spread and sustain solar energy worldwide, with special attention to the […] Read more
Can Repowering Deliver 10 GW of Wind Energy for India? Updated On Mon, Jun 29th, 2020 by Saurenergy A wind energy deal late last week has provided food for thought to policy makers in India too. A collective, or cooperative of close to 200 farmers in the Netherlands have managed to get funding to build one of the largest onshore wind farms in the country. the money will be used to replace over […] Read more
With Phased Duties on Solar Imports, Government Hopes for Orderly Transition Updated On Thu, Jun 25th, 2020 by Saurenergy At his press conference today, Power Minister R.K. Singh confirmed that duties, possibly starting at 25 percent, will be imposed on module imports from August 1. He wasn’t absolutely certain on duties for cell imports, but indicated they would be treated at a lower rate, possibly 15 percent. It is also not clear if customs […] Read more
R.K. Singh Demolishes ‘Canards’ Against Power Reforms At Presser Updated On Thu, Jun 25th, 2020 by Saurenergy At a virtual press conference today, Power Minister R.K. Singh launched a scathing broadside against what he described as the ‘canards’ being spread by vested interests to delay or block the passage of key power reforms, proposed in the upcoming Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2020. Getting down to the theme straightaway, Mr Singh highlighted how India, […] Read more
India Short Circuits Power Sector Imports, As China Shadow Looms Updated On Tue, Jun 23rd, 2020 by Saurenergy With material from China practically stuck at ports, ever since last week, when a border skirmish went out of control leading to fatalities on a hitherto ‘peaceful’ border, Power Minister R.K. Singh formally outlined a series of steps today, to combat the ‘risks’ of imports in the ‘strategic’ power sector. The measures, while stopping short […] Read more
Dark Clouds Gathering Over C&I Segment, Says ICRA Updated On Fri, Jun 19th, 2020 by Saurenergy In a report carried by wire agencies, ICRA’s (Formerly Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency of India) sector head and VP Girishkumar Kadam has been quoted as saying that renewable energy developers, based on third party or group captive off-take remain exposed to regulatory risk. The segment, called the C&I or commercial and industrial segment […] Read more
5 Reasons Discoms Should Consider This For Financial Distress Updated On Mon, Jun 15th, 2020 by Saurenergy That a financial crisis is pretty much business as usual for discoms in India has been well documented on this site, and elsewhere. Many solutions have also been suggested, most of which seem to fall short of actually settling the matter. So here is one we would like to suggest, without quite getting into the […] Read more
Bengal Chief Minister Joins Building Chorus Against Electricity Act Amendments Updated On Mon, Jun 15th, 2020 by Saurenergy The Electricity Act Amendment Bill (2020), slated for a possible introduction in the coming session of parliament, faced a predictable salvo yesterday. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banejee termed its provisions ‘anti- federal’ and even ‘inhuman’ to be brought up at a time when the pandemic is raging. In a strongly-worded letter to Prime Minister […] Read more
Covid, Consumer Focus Lead to ‘Regressive’ HERC Tariff Order for 2020-21 Updated On Thu, Jun 11th, 2020 by Saurenergy In its tariff order for the year 2020-21, the order of the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Comission throws up some issues which will be watched very carefully from here on. For the solar and broader renewable energy sector of course, the most serious hit is the waiver of the state’s RPO (Renewable Purchase Obligation) backlog till […] Read more
