Click here to open the document.

Founded in 2011, FJS Energy LLC, USA, aims to work around the Buddhist Circuits starting with Rajgir-Nalanda and Bodhgaya in the first phase and then taking up Vaishali and other places.

Read more here.

Read more here.

Punjab non-conventional energy minister Bikram Singh Majithia said more than 30 companies participated in the bidding process and total bids for 270 MW were received against targeted allocation for in-house capacity of 300MW of solar power projects.

Read more here.

A priest at the temple, Shivasri Vagesha told that they decided to use solar energy for sustaining the regular activities in the temple.

” The electricity generated is useful for all parts of the temple and used for all the appliances such as tube lights, focus lights and fans. This is the first temple that runs on solar energy,” said Vagesha.

Read more here.

Read more here.

The Cabinet Sub-Committee on Power fixed the benchmark price at its meeting today.

The state government has invited bids from interested parties for generating solar power in view of the unprecedented electricity crisis.

Read more here.

Those who want to put up solar power projects will now be asked for bid for ‘viability gap funding’ that would be given by the Government.

The Government intends to provide viability gap funding for 750 MW of capacity.

The selected developers will now work backwards and determine how much of funding they would require from the government in order that they could sell electricity at Rs 5.45 a unit. (For those who wish to avail themselves of the ‘accelerated depreciation’ benefit, the tariff will be Rs 4.95 a unit.)

Read more here.

Read more here.

Standing with a 50 mw installed capacity & more orders in the books Refex aims a portfolio of 150 mw peak power capacity (MWp) installations in FY 13 –14.

According to Anil Jain, MD, Refex Energy, “In 2010 there was hardly any production and the installed capacity of Solar PV plants that were grid connected was around 13 MWp and if we include off-grid, the figure would not go beyond 30 mwp. The scenario has completely changed today with the initiation of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, state initiatives, stringent rules being established in the Power Purchase Agreements and provision of subsidies. Solar PV plants have taken a big leap forward and are all set to fulfill a target of 1,500 MW by March 2013.”

Read more here.

The minimum project size would be 5 MW and maximum of 50 MW. The tenure for PPA will be 10 years, which could be further extended to 15 more years.

RfP document could be found here.

“The SPO will be administered by Tangedco,” Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC), said in its recent order.

The implication of this is that the decks have been cleared for the State Government to crack the whip on ‘obligated consumers’ who do not meet the SPO (which they can do either by putting up their own solar plant or buying solar power from either Tangedco or others.)

Read more here.

Read more here.

The average range quoted for one unit varied from Rs 7 to close to Rs 9 a unit.

The State Government had appointed APTransco as a nodal agency for the solar bidding process directing it to invite interest to develop 1,000 MW of solar photovoltaic farms within a year of finalisation of the process.

APTransco received close to 300 bids from 184 bidders with a proposal to develop 1,354 MW. Alfa Infra Projects with 80 MW and Lanco Solar with 60 MW bid for highest capacities at several locations. Madhucon Sugar and Power, Azure Power, Pennar Industries, Premier Solar, Hetero Drugs, Astonfield, NSL Renewables, are among others in fray for setting up solar PV units.

The proposals will be evaluated location-wise and various offers studied. Based on the lowest bid or after arriving at average price, bidders will be finalised. In places where the lowest bidder has not taken up the entire capacity allocated there, others will get a chance, according to a participant who was placed L2 in one of the locations.

Read more here

The total number of plants include one 2.5 MW solar thermal plant and 131 photovoltaic plants, of which 65 comprise locally made solar modules.

Meanwhile, the MNRE add that bids for photovoltaic tariffs under the first and second phases of India’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) averaged Rs. 12.16/kWh and Rs. 8.77, respectively.

The table below presents the solar power capacity installed in the various Indian states over the last three years, according to MNRE:

A pre-bid conference in this regard will held tomorrow, a spokesperson of the Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) said, adding the projects for 300 MW photovoltaic (MWp) power would be set up under build-own-operate (BOO) basis.

Read more here.

161 locations have been identified by Andhra Pradesh Power Transmission Company where solar projects may be developed. Though maximum project size at each location is 20MW, although developers can apply for an aggregate capacity of up to 200 MW.

Both southern states are facing huge power deficits. Tamil Nadu, with a power deficit of 4 GW, has drawn up an ambitious plan to add 3 GW through solar by 2015. Likewise, Andhra Pradesh has a deficit of at least 2 GW and released its solar policy last September, but is yet to specify any target.

Industry experts said AP handled its bidding process better, giving more leeway in terms of pricing and project completion. Also, APTransco’s reputation for clearing payments is much better than that of its counterpart in Tamil Nadu, Tangedco.

Subsequently, the state revised and reissued it tender to receive the bids on February 7, making changes in provisions for ‘letter of credit’ and pushing back the execution deadline to 12 months from six. Tamil Nadu, though, stuck to its original project deadline of eight months, despite some developers giving the feedback that it was a stiff task.

AP also adopted the lowest bid price model – popularly known as ‘L1′ – for its tender like Tamil Nadu, but each location in the state will separately arrive at the bid price, which will be compared with the benchmark price. On the other hand, Tamil Nadu has a single ‘L1′ price for the whole state.

Read more here

Essel Mining, which wants to put up a 10 MW solar photo voltaic plant and supply the power to Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation, has quoted Rs 6.45 a kWhr.

(Although, in a similar tender in Tamil Nadu a bidder (Mohan Breweries) had quoted Rs 5.97 a unit, Tamil Nadu’s tender has a 5 per cent annual escalation for 10 years.)

Rajasthan’s tender for purchase of solar power from 100 MW of capacity has attracted 23 qualified bidders with total bid capacity of 185 MW. The highest rate quoted is Rs 8.25 a KWhr. Seventeen of the bidders have quoted rates less than Rs 8, and 12 of them Rs 7.50 or below. Four bidders have offered to sell solar-generated electricity at rates of Rs 7 or below.

However, the bidders will be asked to match the lowest price (L-1, which is Rs 6.45).

Solar power tariff has been plummeting, from an average rate of Rs 12.16 a unit for 140 MW under the National Solar Mission Batch I bidding, to Rs 8.77 a unit for 340 MW in Batch II to further lower levels in various State tenders.

Source: Hindu Business Line; read more here.

The US action targets India’s national solar program, the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission.

That program, launched in 2010, appears to discriminate against US solar equipment by requiring solar energy producers to use Indian-manufactured solar cells and modules and by offering subsidies to those developers for using domestic equipment instead of imports, the US trade office said.

US lawmakers praised the action, which they said addressed a trend seen in China, Argentina and other countries.

“India isn’t playing by the rules, and USTR is right to go to the WTO to hold it accountable for its local content requirements,” House of Representatives ways and means committee chairman Dave Camp said.

Indian government officials were not immediately available in Washington or WTO headquarters in Geneva for comment.

India has argued its solar policy measures are legal under WTO government procurement rules that permit countries to exempt projects from non-discrimination obligations.

Read more here.

A possible deterrant is the state’s insistence that no more than 20 MW can be generated from each location, although developers can apply for an aggregate capacity of up to 200 MW.

The AP procurement process will also be the first to feature financial incentives to encourage developers to get schemes up and running before their scheduled start date. Successful bidders will have seven months from signing PPAs to achieve financial closure and a year to commission photovoltaic plants.

The state  is applying a one-year lock-in, ensuring developers cannot sell a majority stake in their companies within a year of starting their schemes as commentators predict big international players will be acquiring Indian companies as a way of getting around domestic content requirements.

It is hoped the Andhra Pradesh scheme – managed by the Andhra Pradesh Power Transmission Company – will be more successful than the recent bidding in Tamil Nadu which saw only 499 MW of a hoped-for 1 GW of solar electricity commissioned.

Read more here.

US major Sun Edison submitted bids for a total of 50 megawatts through four separate bids while Welspun and Lanco bid for 30 megawatts and 25 megawatts, respectively.

The remaining nearly 400 megawatts bid was distributed across small projects  with limited participation of foreign players.

According to Headway Solar experts, major reasons for lukewarm response:

• Small time window to prepare bids. Many foreign players could not participate due to holiday season.
• Short time period for commissioning.
• Payments risks evident from wind sector’s delayed payments in Tamil Nadu, casting doubts on bankability of projects.
• Below expectations incentives under the policy and risk prone policy guidelines.
• Low project IRR forecasts due to high competition

Overall, 8 master plans are said to have been approved for eight cities – Agra and Moradabad from Uttar Pradesh; Thane and Kalyan-Dombivli from Maharashtra; Indore from Madhya Pradesh; Kohima from Nagaland; and Aizawl from Mizoram and Chandigarh – and the development of projects is reportedly underway. A further 20 draft master plans have been developed.

The minister added that eligible cities must have a population between 50,000 and five million, although “relaxation” will be given to special category states, including north east states.

Read more here.

Developers, who have to identify a suitable location and arrange permitting, will bid for the tariff they will receive with the lowest price at which a sufficient number of bidders can compete being the agreed price.

Read more here.

The objective of the MNRE’s Solar Mission is to create conditions, through rapid scale-up of capacity and technological innovation, to drive down costs towards grid parity.

MNRE envisages that of this 10GW target, 4GW would be developed under the JNNSM central scheme and 6GW under various state-specific schemes. During Phase II, MNRE expects that around 20,000 villages will benefit from these schemes for off-grid electricity generation projects, to hit its target of 1,000MW of roof-top solar.

The schemes include ‘bundling’, which involves combining solar power with traditional sources of energy like coal, which can be sold to utilities at a cheaper rate than offered by solar power alone.

There is also a Generation Based Incentive (GBI) which increases deployment of rooftop PV systems as well as small power plants. The MNRE is required to offer utilities a set price valid for 12 years.

The majority of project allocations will be completed under the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) offered to private investors in the form of grants from the government. The scheme aims to ensure widespread access to infrastructure provided through a public-private partnership framework by subsidising the capital cost to developers by 20% and thereby reducing the need for government involvement in solar projects.

Furthermore, a ministry division, the Solar Energy Centre, is being renamed as the National Institute of Solar Energy, which will specialise in research and development, resource assessment, training and testing.

Under Phase I, India’s current installed capacity reached 1,050MW by August 2012, just short of 50MW of its 1,100MW target.

Read more here.

While the northwestern state, which has some of India’s most promising terrain for sun power, called for bids last December, it never carried out the auction. Bids this time are due by Jan. 11 and will be opened the same day, according to the documents.

Rajasthan receives on average the most solar irradiation in India after the neighboring state of Gujarat, according to a joint study by the India Meteorological Department and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

Official documents can be found here.

Read more…

Arizona’s underground water is half as salty as seawater, and a study found that it contains dangerous levels of uranium and arsenic.

The Bureau of Reclamation and engineers at the University of Arizona think they have come up with a way to help, by building a self-sufficient, solar-powered desalination plant.

Construction began in mid-August. On completion in 2013, it will produce close to 4000 litres of clean water a day, he says. With sufficient funding, the facility could be the first of a series across the reservation. That could halve the cost of hauling water.

Wendell Ela, the project’s lead engineer, has been testing prototypes for the past year in Tucson. He says the process uses electricity from solar panels to pump contaminated water up from the aquifer and boil it.

The steam then passes through a series of membranes that filter out salt and other contaminants. As it cools, the difference in vapour pressure it creates draws more hot water vapour through the system. Purified water is then collected in an external condenser.

Although commercial desalination plants have been used in the Middle East and Australia since the early 1990s, they rely on reverse osmosis or multistage distillation – processes that are technically challenging and expensive to maintain.

By contrast, the team’s membrane desalination system is ideal for an isolated population that does not have access to an electrical grid, Ela says. It is built using simple, low-tech, off-the-shelf components. The team is aiming to build a system lasting 30 to 40 years that would require only periodic maintenance. “We had to design the system to be within the capacity and budget of the water-users,” he says.

The impact on Navajo life would be profound. If the other planned desalination plants are built in the reservation, they could provide running water to tens of thousands of Navajo who have never had it.

Reference: New Scientist

Minister of New and Renewable Energy of India, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, launched the “Solar Guidelines” database as website (www.solarguidelines.in).

The “Solar Guidelines” web based platform has been developed to facilitate dissemination of proper and desired information to the project developers, administrative institutions, financial institutions and various other stakeholders on the entire value chain from legal-administrative-regulatory frameworks to financial closure. The information on the portal envisages enabling investment and rapid development of the Solar Sector.

The project has been jointly initiated by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH under the International Climate Initiative administered by German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, and the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy . The platform currently presents a comprehensive research for solar power generation projects proposed to be implemented under JNNSM and the scheme of Rajasthan.

3% solar RPO requirement till December 2013
6% solar RPO requirement from 2014

RPO to be applicable to:

1. Special Economic Zones (SEZs)
2. Industries guaranteed with 24/7 power supply
3. IT Parks,Telecom Towers
4. All Colleges & Residential Schools
5. Buildings with a built up area of 20,000 sq.m. or more

This mechanism will require generation of 1000 MW by 2015.

The 3000 MW of Solar Power will be achieved through Utility Scale Projects, Rooftops and under REC mechanism as follows:

	Utility Scale (MW)	Solar Roof Tops (MW)	REC (MW)	Total(MW)
	(a)	(b)	(c)	(a)+(b)+ (C)
2013	750	100	150	1000
2014	550	125	325	1000
2015	200	125	675	1000
Total	1500	350	1150	3000

GBI for domestic rooftop consumers:

All domestic consumers will be encouraged to put up roof-top solar installations. A generation based incentive (GBI) of Rs 2 per unit for first two years,Re 1per unit for next two years,and Re 0.5 per unit for subsequent 2 years will be provided for all solar or solar-wind hybrid rooftops being installed before 31March,2014. A capacity addition of 50 MW is targeted under this scheme.
Consumers desirous of availing GBIs I hall necessarily install separate meters to measure rooftop generation.

Development of solar parks

Utility scale solar parks may comprise 250 MW in sizes of 1 to 5 MW, 600 MW in sizes of 5 to 10 MW and 650 MW of sizes above 10 MW. Solar Power projects will be developed through competitive/reverse bidding. Solar Parks with a capacity of about 50 MW each will be targeted in 24 districts.

Competitive bidding

Investments through Joint Ventures by State Public Sector Undertakings will also be encouraged at competitive tariffs.

Guaranteed single window clearance in 30 days

Various statutory clearances that are essential for the development and commissioning   of  Solar  Energy  Projects  will  be  handled  by  TEDA in co-ordination  with  the  concerned  departments/agencies.  Guaranteed single window clearance will be provided through TEDA in 30 days so that the plants can be commissioned in less than 12 months.

Net metering

Net metering will be allowed (at multiple voltage  levels)  to promote rooftop penetration.

Net  metering facility will  be extended to  Solar power  systems  installed in commercial establishments and individual homes connected to the electrical grid to feed excess power back   to the grid with “power credits” accruing  to the Photovoltaic energy producer.

Projects to evacuate power at suitable voltages as suggested below:

Solar PV System Size	Grid Connected
<10kWp	240V
10kWp to <15kWp	240V / 415V
15kWp to <5OKWp	415V
5OkWp to <100kWp	415V
> 100kWp	11Kv

Wheeling and banking charges

The wheeling and banking charges for wheeling of power generated from the Solar Power Projects, to the desired locations for captive use/third party sale within the State will be as per the orders of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission.

Download the Tamil Nadu 2012 solar policy document at:

Tamil Nadu Solar Energy Policy document 2012

Key highlights of phase two of India’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission:

1. Guidelines to be announced in December 2012.
2. Bidding to be based on tariff  (like before) or Viability Gap Funding (still undecided).
3. Last date for RfS likely to be February 2013.
4. Bidding for projects likely to be completed by March 2013.

Key highlights in case viability gap funding in implemented :

1. If viability gap funding is introduced, developers will need to find a customer of power for projects.
2. Cap for project size likely to be increased to 100MW, reducing competitiveness for smaller developers.
3. Power likely to be sold at Rs. 4.5/kWh – Rs. 5.5/kWh. Developers will need to find power consumers themselves.
4. Capital subsidy from Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to be around 2 Crore/MW.
5. Two years might be given for commissioning, considering the time taken for identification of consumers and increased project sizes.

To understand your strategy for project development under Phase 2 of the JNNSM, you may get in touch with us at consulting@headwaysolar.com

To encourage green energy, the Centre is planning a programme under which it will provide incentives, either financial or through a subsidy, to home owners installing a rooftop solar panel for own energy consumption, and who will sell the extra power to the grid during daytime.

The programme also contains a proposal in which a building owner can rent his rooftop to investors to set up a solar power plant.

The plan, which is still in a preliminary stage, says the electricity distribution companies can buy the power from households, either by paying money to the seller or giving subsidy in the seller’s electricity bill.

To introduce the system in India, which is prevalent in many European countries including Germany, there is a need to modify the current Electricity Act as well as develop locally suited technology, Union Minister of Power K C Venugopal told Deccan Herald.

Delhi to be first

The Delhi government is likely to be the first to implement the scheme as the government has started working on the issue. As per the Delhi Government’s proposed policy, residents can get solar power plants installed on their rooftops by signing a power purchase agreement with the company supplying power in their respective areas.

The cost of setting up such a plant in an area of 200 square metres will be between Rs 8 lakh and Rs 9 lakh.

According to the policy, house owners can either lease out their roofs to a developer, who will then set up the unit, or pay 30 per cent of the cost of installation.

The remaining 70 per cent will be financed through banks. The cost of generating each unit of power from the rooftop plant will be Rs 17.50 which the owner of the rooftop can sell to any of the power supplying companies.

The plants will be set up using the solar photo-voltaic technology as they can be easily mounted on rooftops, said an official in the Power Ministry.

The Centre which aims to produce 10,000 MW of solar energy in the 12th five year plan ( 2012-2017) with an investment of Rs 50,000 crore, has already set up 61 solar energy monitoring units across the country.

The government has started collecting radiation data from these monitoring centres and accordingly it will encourage setting up solar plants, he said.

While Gujarat and Rajasthan are ahead with installed capacity of 3,000 MW and 1,000 MW solar energy, the Centre wants other states to follow suit.

Power is money

* A house owner can install solar panel on the rooftop to meet his power needs

* He can then sell the extra power generated to distribution companies

* The owner can also rent out the space for setting up a solar power plant

* In return, discoms will either pay in cash or give subsidy in the seller’s electricity bill

According to the officials in the energy department, Devjan– the first Bollywood personality to acquire a private jet for transport to shooting locations, promotions and personal trips– has also expressed interest in setting up Solar PV (photovoltaic) manufacturing unit. The unit will manufacture Polysilicon, Ingots, wafers, PV Cells and PV modules

“The proposals are only in the initial stage as the actor has held discussion with the state officials,” the officials said, adding that Devjan has assured to visit the state to go ahead with the plan.

Chhattisgarh, which shares about 17 per cent of country’s total coal reserve, has decided not to draw further investment in the core sector that includes thermal power. Instead, the state government will encourage the downstream industries. Drawing investment in solar power is high on the agenda of the state government.

The officials say the state has a huge potential for the solar energy. Initially, about 1250 remote unelectrified forest villages, which could not be electrified through the conventional power, were required to be electrified through the solar power. Chhattisgarh has about 44 per cent of the forest area and it requires solar energy to light a lamp in the pocket.reover, the police stations located in the Naxal heartland are also powered with the solar energy. Since the rebels damage the electricity line, the government has planned to ensure power supply in all the police stations in the red zone through the solar energy.

The plant would be selling power to MPEB which in turn will offer it to industries in the city. Association of Industries in MP is acting as a facilitator for the project. Its secretary Vijay Agrawal said, “Currently we are purchasing power from the MPEB for Rs 7 per unit. However, we are likely to buy power to the tune of 40 MW from the company at a subsidised rate of Rs 6 per unit only. Thus, each industry, located at Sanwer Road Industrial area in the city which will buy power from the agency, will be able to cut a cost of nearly Rs 2-3 lakh on power tariff per month.”

Every plant in the area consumes nearly 2-3 lakh units of power in the industrial area. There are 95 industrial units of 33 KV each in Sanwer Road area alone.

President of the Association, Ashok Badjatya said, “The solar energy supply will help us getting power at a cheaper rate and will also provide us assured power supply. Currently, MPEB was already obsessed with its commitment towards rural areas and hence it often disrupts power supply to us which further affects the productivity.”

Managing director of the company Hitesh Doshi is likely to sign an agreement in this connection with TRIFAC during the forthcoming Global Investors’ Summit (GIS).

However, the policy spells out the state’s stand on issues such as banking of power, wheeling and transmission charges, cross subsidy charges and open access.

In other words, a project developer may put up a project of any size in the State. He can either sell the power to the State’s electricity distribution company at the ‘average pooled purchase cost’ that is determined by the state electricity regulatory commission (which is today Rs 2 per unit), or can sell it to any other consumer directly, whether within or outside the State.

On banking of power (or, injecting power into the grid and drawing it back later), the policy says it allows 100 per cent banking. However, any energy injected into the grid will have to be drawn within that calendar year. No drawing of banked power will be allowed between February and June, and during the peak hours—6.30 pm to 10.30 pm. The developer will have to pay 2 per cent of energy as ‘banking charges’.

Further, if the energy is sold within Andhra Pradesh, the developer is incentivised with exemptions from wheeling and transmission charges and cross-subsidy charges, electricity duty and refund of VAT on inputs purchased for the project and the stamp duty on the registration of land for the project. However, for sales outside the state, wheeling and transmission charges, as determined by the state’s regulatory commission, applies.

A notable feature of the policy is that even the rooftop and off-grid plants will be eligible for the renewable energy certificates, under the ‘deemed injection’ clause.

To avail themselves of these incentives, project developers have to commission their projects by June 2014, whereupon they would get the incentives for seven years from the date of commissioning.

Industry wants details

The solar power industry finds the policy very friendly in terms of being facilitative, without casting a burden on the state government’s finances. Large cement plants, for instance, can discharge their renewable purchase obligations by becoming shareholders of solar power projects and buying the power. As such, there is likely to be considerable interest from the industry.

However, the Government has made public only the ‘abstract’ of the policy. The industry is keen on the details.

For instance, the technical and financial criteria are still awaited. The industry wants to be clear as to who is eligible to apply. (Uttar Pradesh, for example, said that only those who had done a project in India previously could apply.)

Finally, the industry would like grid-related codes and assurances of availability of the grid. How much of renewable power can the grid take? At which point will the metering happen? What is the policy relating to forecasting and scheduling?

These are some issues that need to be cleared out before people begin to put down money in solar projects in the State.

“While the policy states that one of its objectives is to “promote investments for setting up manufacturing facilities in the state”, the policy does not specify any domestic content requirement. This could make Andhra pradesh a very attractive market for the foreign PV module manufacturers who are backed by attractive financing options,” says Madhavan Nampoothiri, Founder and Director of RESolve Energy Consultants.

But nevertheless, some experts see red in the details.

Higher feed-in tariff

The policy does not provide a higher feed-in tariff, instead gives project developers a host of concessions, such as exemptions from several charge and tax credits on inputs, and encourages them to avail themselves of the tradeable renewable energy certificates.

The RECs can be traded in one of the two energy exchanges in India (IEX or PXIL) and the prescribed minimum price is Rs 9.3 a unit of electricity.

Fantastic, said the industry. For Ardeshir Contractor, Managing Director and CEO of Kiran Energy, the AP policy was a “dream come true.” The IFC and Bessemer Venture Parters-funded company had already been working on putting up a 50 MW project in the State and the policy made their deal sweeter.

But now it is dawning on many that things may not be all that simple. The policy, which relies heavily on the REC mechanism to induce developers to put up projects in the State, goes against the very principle of renewable energy certificates — that the entity will get the certificates only if it does not avail itself of other benefits.

The certificates are issued by the National Load Despatch Centre, a body of the Ministry of Power.

NLDC follows the guidelines of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC).

CERC guidelines

The CERC guidelines clearly say that RECs will be available only to those developers who do not avail themselves of other concessions, such as lesser or exempt wheeling and banking. NLDC is allowed to follow the guidelines of the respective State Electricity Regulatory Commission, too. However, in the case of Andhra Pradesh, again the APERC’s guidelines also say (in Clause 6 (c) that those who get concessions are not eligible for RECs.

The big worry in the minds of investors is whether NLDC will refuse to issue RECs to the solar projects set up in Andhra Pradesh.

“The State solar policy is expected to create a serious conflict with APERC as well as CERC regulation on REC. The State Nodal Agency being appointed by APERC, would naturally follow the guidelines issued by the APERC. This means, solar project developers participating into REC mechanism might not be able to claim all the benefits that are proposed under the State solar policy,” says Vishal Pandya, Director, REConnect, a consultancy that helps companies secure and trade in RECs.

The new allocations will be taken up by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and will follow viability gap funding (VGF).

Under the viability gap funding, the developers will be required to submit the minimum capital required to have a viable solar power plant.

Government will pay this capital incentive and there will be no liability generation based incentive on the government for the future.

The agency intends to enter into a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with BSEB. The proposed PPA rate is Rs 12.50/kWh.

This would be a part of the 50MW project to be set up in a phase-wise manner (10×5 MW). This foreign investment in Bihar will create jobs for local people and boost economic development. “With the setting up of this solar energy plant, Bihar will emerge as a leader in solar energy development among eastern states of India,” said an official.

The project would be executed by ‘Sparkle Solar Bihar I’, a fully-owned subsidiary of Schanti Partners LLC, incorporated in the state of Delaware, USA. The project will use photovoltaic technology. The equipment would be sourced from Sol Focus Inc., a US solar equipment manufacturer.

This technology is based on Concentrating Photovoltaic (CPV) system, which is PV technology with an optical system that focuses sunlight over a large area onto each cell. CPV technology is the latest in its field, said an expert.

The agency will acquire land privately, without seeking it from Bihar industrial land bank. As per the proposal, the project will lease land directly from the owners for a 30-year term, in lieu of annual lease payments to them.

The financing for the project has already been secured, with a letter of intent from the Export-Import Bank of the US. The letter of intent provides for approximately $30 million in financial support, depending upon various factors, including the extent of US-made solar power equipment.

Southeastern region of Bihar has one of the highest solar insolation rates in the world, with over 330 sunshine days in a year. Kaimur district has robust electricity infrastructure, with grid connectivity and nearby electrical substations. Power lines of 33kV and 132kV and electrical substations are already in place in the district.

Bihar government last year formulated a renewable energy policy, which approved 175MW of grid-connected solar power projects.

These two solar power projects – 50 MW in U.P. and 75 MW in Bihar – will be set up in power purchase agreement with the respective State governments.

The projects would be executed by Alex Group of Companies, in which SGJHL holds a majority stake.

“We have already received permission from respective State governments for these two projects. And, we are hopeful of commissioning the plants in the next two months,” Ashok P. Sahni, Chief Financial Officer, said on Friday.

According to Sahni, work at the two projects is in advanced stages of completion.

He, however, did not divulge the estimated investment in these two projects.

Shree Ganesh recently invested Rs 100 crore to acquire 55 per cent stake each in Alex Astral Power Ltd and Alex Spectrum Radiation Ltd, co-promoted by Surekha Group.

The company recently set up two 25 MW solar power projects in Odisha and Gujarat, and one 5 MW solar power project in Rajasthan.

According to its annual report 2012, the company’s revenue from the solar power business in Gujarat, which commenced commercial production in March, is expected to be Rs 60 crore this fiscal.

• This policy will come into effect from the date of issuance and shall remain in operation up to 31st  March 2017.
• Target capacity of 1000 MW of    solar power will be achieved till March 2017 as follows:

• Time limit for commissioning of Solar PV projects will be within 12 months and 18 months in case of solar thermal    projects from the date of issue of concurrence from the Distribution licensee/utility.
•  Solar power projects will be exempted  from Transmission  /Wheeling  and open access charges for third party sale and captive units.
• ‘Uttar Pradesh Renewable Energy Development Fund’ shall be established for promoting generation of electricity through solar energy as well as other sources of renewable energy. Rupees 100 crores available to the Nodal Agency   under   budgetary   head   “Incentive   scheme   for   Solar   Power Generation” will be made part of this fund to start with.
• No domestic content requirement.

See policy here:

Uttar_Pradesh_Solar_POWER-POLICY-DRAFT-2012

“The project is still in the conceptual stage. We have initiated talks with the IFC to seek its support for the project. We will go ahead with it depending on their response,” said DJ Pandian, principal secretary, energy & petrochemicals department.

At the current costs of Rs8 to 9 crore per MW, the 1,000 MW project could cost anywhere between Rs8,000 to 9,000 crore.
The scale of the project can be gauged from the fact that total solar power generation capacity in the country presently stands at around 1,000 MW, including more than 600 MW in Gujarat alone.

The Centre is eyeing solar power generation capacity of 20,000 MW by 2022 under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. While solar power is the cleanest form of energy, it is also the most expensive, costing four to five times the conventional power. This is solar energy’s biggest drawback, but the state government believes that the price can be brought down to the level of conventional energy.

“We have already managed to bring down cost of solar power from Rs15 per unit to less than Rs10 per unit. With better technologies, there is no reason why prices should not fall further. Our idea is to bring down solar power price at par with the grid, i.e. around Rs3 per unit,” Pandian said further.

The IFC, which is an arm of the World Bank, has said that it is keen to support such a project.

“We have funded quite a few projects in Gujarat, including solar power projects. We are keen to extend the partnership with Gujarat, and are in talks with the government to see how IFC can help in the 1,000 MW solar power project,” Anita George, regional industry director, Asia, infrastructure and natural resources, IFC, told DNA. The IFC official said that the funding agency could tie up with developers to provide funding to them.

“We could also be involved in development of infrastructure and other necessary framework for such a project,” she added.