‘US challenging India’s solar policy sent message to world’
The US successfully challenged India’s local content conditions in its solar policy which sent a message to the rest of the world that it would not tolerate “new form of protectionism”, outgoing American Trade Representative Mike Froman said today. Further, this also helped the US to get India to open up its market worth $1 billion, Froman said in an exit-memo released by the White House on eight years of the outgoing Obama Administration. USTR, he said, filed as many as 24 cases against other countries before the World Trade Organization. The US has focused in particular on bringing cases which have broad, systemic benefits, he argued. “Challenging India’s local content requirements was not just about increasing solar panel exports to India, but was intended to send a message to governments all over the world that the United States would not tolerate this new form of protectionism to exclude our products from their markets, contrary to their WTO commitments,” Froman said. Similarly challenging China’s use of export restrictions on rare earth materials not only provided important relief to US manufacturers dependent on those materials as inputs, but also provided an opportunity to send a message to China’s government and other governments not to use such restraints in any sector to gain a trade-distortive advantage over US competitors, he said. Of the 24 enforcement actions, 15 have targeted China’s unfair and WTO-illegal policies, ranging from illegal barriers to auto imports, agricultural subsidies to grain producers, discriminatory taxes, barriers to services trade, and barriers to US exports of high-tech steel, Froman said. “We also brought economically significant cases against India’s illegal, non-science-based ban on US poultry, European subsidies to civil aviation, and Argentina’s import restrictions,” he said. “Our trade enforcement successes have positively affected billions of dollars of US exports,” Froman said, adding that the US’ case against China for illegally imposing anti-dumping duties opened up that market to USD 5 billion of auto and auto parts exports. “Our case against India’s local content requirements for India opened up an estimated USD 1 billion market. And our case against China’s illegal duties on US poultry is worth an estimated USD1 billion,” Froman wrote in his exit memo. Paul Molitor Authentic Jersey
IFC invests in Hero Future Energies to significantly scale up renewable capacity in India
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is picking up equity stake in Hero Future Energies, the renewable energy arm of the Hero Group. The investment will help the company expand its renewable energy capacity, provide jobs and facilitate private sector development in renewable energy, IFC said in a statement released on Thursday. IFC, together with IFC Global Infrastructure Fund, a private equity fund managed by IFC Asset Management Company, will invest $125 million in equity, enabling the company to set up 1 GW of greenfield solar and wind plants in the next 12 months across India. “Joining hands with IFC, will help Hero Futures achieve new goal of 2.7 GW renewable energy capacity by 2020” said Rahul Munjal, chairman & managing director at Hero Future Energies. At ptresent, Hero Future Energies has presence in 12 states in India with a capacity of over 360 megawatt having solar, wind, and rooftop installations. Sunil Jain, chief executive officer, Hero Future Energies commented, “This partnership will fuel our ambitions to tap into the incredible opportunity that lies in both domestic and overseas markets as well as new technologies namely storage, hybrid projects among others. This association is also a validation of our core strengths in timely project delivery, unwavering focus on health safety and environment standards, developmental capabilities, stringent asset quality standards and design and engineering skills. We will also aggressively focus on expanding our promising rooftop solar portfolio.” Over 40% of India’s population lacks access to reliable electricity. The country’s growing energy sector will require $250 billion in investments over the next five years, most of which will have to come from the private sector. With 80% of the country’s energy needs still being met through thermal power, renewable energy is increasingly seen as the solution for bringing universal energy access. In 2014, the Indian government announced a plan of setting up 175 GW of solar and wind energy by 2022. “With this partnership with Hero Future Energies, IFC is helping accelerate the transition of the renewable energy generation business to mainstream power sector. Through the Global Infrastructure Fund, IFC is also bringing in the support of international institutional investors,” said Mengistu Alemayehu, regional director, IFC South Asia. “Such a development will boost confidence of other large business groups and international investors to contribute to India’s ambitious renewable energy targets and make a significant difference in ramping up renewable-energy capacity in the country.” “IFC is a pioneer in renewable energy in India, investing in the sector since 2009. Portfolio companies today have set up over 3 GW of different forms of renewable-power projects in the country. IFC’s advisory team is helping the state of Madhya Pradesh set up a 750-MW solar-power project in Rewa, which will be the largest single-site solar plant in the world when completed. India is IFC’s top country exposure, globally. IFC’s committed portfolio in India is over $5 billion as of June 30, 2016. In FY16, IFC committed $1.1 billion in new investments in the country. In addition to strengthening local capital markets in India, IFC is focused on boosting financing in infrastructure and logistics, promoting financial inclusion, helping create conditions to attract increased private capital, and helping structure public-private partnerships. Brett Hundley Authentic Jersey
India’s solar capacity may double to 18 GW this year
Solar energy capacity in India could nearly double to 18 gigawatt (GW) this calendar year as large projects get commissioned, despite the short-term hurdles of power curtailment and weak tendering in some states, according to sector experts and power producers. India had a total of 9 GW of solar capacity, including rooftop projects, as of December. During 2016, the country added about 4 GW of solar capacity—the fastest pace till date. A large number of projects are expected to be completed in the current year. During 2017, the solar sector is likely to add close to 9 GW of capacity—taking its overall capacity to 18 GW and the country into the league of nations such as China, the US and Japan in terms of solar capacity, according to consultancy Mercom Capital Group Llc. A total of about 14.2 GW of solar projects are currently under development and tenders for about 6.3 GW are still to be auctioned, Mercom Capital said in a 4 January report. Bridge to India, a renewable energy-focused consultancy, expects India’s solar market to grow by 90% in 2017 and reach about 18 GW in total capacity. It expects the country to add a total of 8.8 GW of solar capacity in 2017, including about 1.1 GW of rooftop solar installations. The sector is beginning to see the actual effects of the ambitious target adopted by the government, said Vinay Rustagi, managing director, Bridge to India Energy Pvt. Ltd. “The large capacity addition this year is purely a case of how timelines work for these projects. Because the government was formed in 2014 and they announced the new target in 2015 and the bulk of the large tenders started coming out toward the end of 2015. So these are the projects which will start getting implemented and commissioned in 2017.” Rustagi, however, said the expected capacity addition is much lower than the government’s own target of 12GW for fiscal 2017 and 15GW for fiscal 2018 and also lower than what the tendering pipeline suggests. India has a target of setting up 100 GW of solar and 60 GW of wind energy capacity by 2022. The growing energy sector requires $250 billion in investments to reach this target. A cause of worry for the sector has been several instances of state power distribution utilities (discoms) unplugging their generating capacity from the grid and delaying both payments and the signing of power purchase agreements (PPAs) with renewable power producers. To add to this, project auctions have slowed over the past three months. According to industry statistics, government agencies auctioned only about 1,300 megawatt (MW) of the planned tenders for 3,700 MW during the September-December period. “There is a very clear laid-out path in terms of achieving the 100 GW of solar capacity. There were a spate of tenders, which came up in earlier part of last year until September, then there was a lull for two-three months, but tenders have picked up again and there are a lot of bids currently lined up. We are very confident that this growth will continue,” said Ravi Seth, chief financial officer, ReNew Power Ventures Pvt. Ltd, one of the largest renewable energy producers. Incomplete infrastructure at solar parks in India has been hurting the development of some large-scale solar projects. A sharp fall in solar module prices, however, has helped renewable energy producers, who have won solar projects at aggressive tariffs. Despite these hurdles, a large number of overseas investors including pension funds and infrastructure-focused funds have committed sizeable investments in the sector. On Thursday, World Bank arm International Finance Corp. said it bought an equity stake worth $125 million in Hero Future Energies, the renewable energy arm of Hero Group. “There are significant headwinds in terms of transmission and evacuation issues that could threaten the pace of growth,” said Raj Prabhu, chief executive and co-founder of Mercom Capital. Greg Van Roten Authentic Jersey
New ‘UDAY’ for 2 discoms as Telangana takes over Rs 8,923 crore debt burden
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced in the assembly on Wednesday that Telangana has joined the UDAY (Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana) scheme, a move will provide much-needed relief to the debt-ridden power discoms. The two discoms in the state are having a long-term debt of 11,897 crore (TSSPDCL – 7,392 crore and TSNPDCL – 4,505 crore) as on September, 2016, and are virtually in a debt-trap, he said. Under the scheme, the state government will take over 75 per cent of the discoms debt amounting to 8,923 crores out of the 1,1897 crore. The balance loan amount of 2,974 crore will be restructured by the discoms by issuing bonds with government guarantee. As a result of taking over the loan, there will be a relief of interest burden of 890 crore per annum to the two discoms and consumers at large. Discoms will be able to raise funds with competitive rates from the financial institutions towards capital expenditures. The chief minister pointed that the government of Telangana is already providing a subsidy of 4,584 crore to the discoms. He said appreciating the performance of the discoms, REC and PFC have reduced the interest rates to 9.95 per cent from 12 per cent resulting in a saving of 200 crore interest per annum and overall 2,000 crore during the loan period of ten years. The chief minister expressed confidence that by 2019, the state will be power surplus with a total installed capacity of 27187 mw, which will include power from Chattisgarh, NTPC, Ramagundam, Yadadri and Bhadradri power stations. Omri Casspi Jersey
Assam’s entry in UDAY club to boost its power health; Estimated benefit of Rs 1,663 cr
Assam joined the UDAY (Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana) club on Wednesday, signing an MoU with the power ministry in New Delhi. The state, along with Telangana, have now taken the UDAY tally to 20. This will enable an operational and financial turnaround of the debt-ridden electricity distribution company, resulting in an estimated overall net benefit of Rs 1,663 crore. UDAY is a scheme to revive loss-making DISCOMS (power distribution companies) and make them vibrant and efficient, giving them the opportunity to break even in two to three years. This is done through four initiatives – improving operational efficiency of DISCOMS, reduction of power costs, reduction in interests costs and enforcing financial discipline on DISCOMS by aligning their operations with state finances. The state will take over Rs 928 crore of the total Rs 1,510-crore DISCOM debt, which is 75% of the debt outstanding as on September, 2015. As part of the scheme, the Centre will not include the debt taken over by the states in the calculation of fiscal deficit of respective states in the financial years of 2015-16 and 2016-17. A spokesperson also said this would amount to annual savings of Rs 37 crore in interest costs to the state. The interest cost on future borrowings is also expected to come down, leading to savings of around Rs 30-40 crore for all UDAY states. Everson Griffen Womens Jersey
Incentives to states progressing under UDAY: Piyush Goyal
The government will consider incentives for states whose power distribution utilities are progressing well under Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojna (Uday). Power minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday asked power ministry to launch two-three schemes to laud efforts of states that have joined Uday and been able to revive their power distribution utilities losses. Assam and Telangana on Wednesday joined Uday, taking the count of states that are part of the discom revival scheme to 20. Tamil Nadu, with Discom losses of Rs 50000 crore, is likely to join Uday next week. Telangana is likely to reap net benefit of Rs 6116 crore to and Assam at Rs 1663 crore through Uday, an official statement said. Tony Esposito Womens Jersey
China to invest $360 bln in renewable power over four years through 2020
China will invest 2.5 trillion yuan ($361 billion) in renewable power generation between 2016 and 2020, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said on Thursday, as the world’s largest energy market pushes to shift away from coal power. The investment will create over 13 million jobs in the sector, the NEA said in a blueprint document that lays out its plan to develop the nation’s energy sector in a five-year period. The NEA repeated its goal to have 580 million tonnes of coal equivalent of renewable energy consumption by 2020, accounting for 15 percent of overall energy consumption. Installed renewable power capacity including wind, hydro, solar and nuclear power will contribute to about half of new electricity generation capacity by 2020, the NEA said. Rickey Jackson Authentic Jersey
Azure Power Commissions Largest Solar Power Project (150MW) in North India
Azure Power, a leading solar power producer in India, announced that it has commissioned the largest (150 MW) solar power project in north India, in the state of Punjab in December 2016. For this project, Azure Power had signed a solar power implementation agreement with Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) under its Solar Policy Phase III. The 150MW solar power plant represents a portfolio of three projects of 50MW each. The weighted average tariff on these projects is INR 5.63 (US$ 8.5 cents) per kWh and the company will supply power to Punjab State Power Corporation Limited for 25 years. Spread across 713 acres of land in Punjab, the project was commissioned ahead of the contracted scheduled date. By leasing project land, Azure Power has created discretionary long term cash flow for the local community. The solar power plant will help in electrifying the nearby areas and will create an estimated 1,000 jobs in the locality. Commenting on the occasion, Inderpreet Wadhwa, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Azure Power said, “We are pleased to have started 2017 with the early commissioning of our largest project. Our ability to complete projects ahead of schedule and at scale is a testament to our efficiency and reliability as a trusted solar power producer. We continue to demonstrate our strong project development, engineering, and execution capabilities and are delighted to make this contribution towards realization of our Hon’ble Prime Minister’s commitment towards clean and green energy, through solar power generation. Our sincere gratitude to the Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister and the State of Punjab, for all the cooperation and support, extended., Azure Power has a long history of operating solar power plants in India and currently maintains a leading position in the state of Punjab. Starting with the Awan 2MW project in 2009, Azure Power now has a total solar portfolio of 225 MW in the state, currently making it the largest owner and operator of solar power plants in Punjab. Francisco Cervelli Jersey
Experts forecast India’s solar sector to rank in the top 3 global markets after China and the USA
India’s renewable energy sector especially solar and wind projects have clearly emerged as the two fronts drawing maximum investments with an intact and impressive growth story being predicted by experts. Most experts and consulting firms are betting big on India’s growth story in RE and are predicting that at least 8000- 9000 mw of new solar projects will come during 2017. Mercom Capital Group, a global clean energy communications and research firm, which released its quarterly update on the Indian solar market on Tuesday said solar installations in India are expected to reach over 4 GW in 2016, compared to 2.3 GW installed in 2015. Mercom said its 2017 solar installation forecast of over 9 GW. Cumulative installations including large-scale and rooftop projects in the country have already reached 9.6 GW. On its part, another consulting firm, Bridge to India predicted that along with 1.1 GW (or 1100 mw) of expected rooftop solar capacity, India should add a total of 8.8 GW (8800 mw) in 2017, ranking it amongst the top three global markets after China and the USA. Bridge to India said that with a pipeline of around 14 GW of utility scale projects, about 7.7 GW is expected to be commissioned in the year— a growth of around 90% over 2016. As per Mercom, of the 4 GW to be installed in 2016, 3.7 GW are expected to be utility-scale projects and about 275 MW are expected to be rooftop projects. The country’s solar development pipeline is now more than 14.2 GW with about 6.3 GW of projects tendered and pending auction. “We are forecasting installations to reach over 9 GW in 2017 which would put the Indian solar sector in the big leagues along with China, the United States, and Japan. However, there are significant headwinds in terms of transmission and evacuation issues that could threaten the pace of growth,” said Raj Prabhu, CEO and co-founder of Mercom Capital Group. Bridge to India said that as the Indian market ramps up, it will become a key pillar for demand growth when demand in other leading countries including China, Japan and even possibly the USA is expected to slow down. On the Solar tariffs, it added that these are expected to fall below the critical INR 4.00 (USD 0.06)/ kWh mark making solar power the cheapest new source of power. At the same time, improving financial health of power distribution companies due to UDAY implementation will also help in sustaining renewable energy demand in particular. We expect sustainable demand of 6-8 GW for utility scale solar in the coming years. Mercom has also predicted a overall positive outcome for the power sector following demonetisation move of the Government. India’s share of solar generation continues to grow with 16.7 percent of new power generating capacity added in 2016 (as of November 2016). Solar accounted for almost one percent of electricity generated from April-October (FY2016-2017), 50 percent more than all of FY2015-2016. The Top 10 states account for approximately 90 percent of all solar installations and pipeline; they are: Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh. Authentic Jersey
Incentives to states progressing under UDAY: Piyush Goyal
The government will consider incentives for states whose power distribution utilities are progressing well under Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojna (Uday). Power minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday asked power ministry to launch two-three schemes to laud efforts of states that have joined Uday and been able to revive their power distribution utilities losses. Assam and Telangana on Wednesday joined Uday, taking the count of states that are part of the discom revival scheme to 20. Tamil Nadu, with Discom losses of Rs 50000 crore, is likely to join Uday next week. Telangana is likely to reap net benefit of Rs 6116 crore to and Assam at Rs 1663 crore through Uday, an official statement said. Bennie Logan Womens Jersey