EQ Magazine PART A Nov 2017 InterSolar Special Edition

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I N T E R N AT I O N A L

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FirstSource Energy India Private Limited

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TRENDS & ANALYSIS

SAUMYA BANSAL GUPTA saumya.gupta@EQmag.net

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C ONTEN T

VOLUME 9 Issue # 11

Disclaimer,Limitations of Liability While every efforts has been made to ensure the high quality and accuracy of EQ international and all our authors research articles with the greatest of care and attention ,we make no warranty concerning its content,and the magazine is provided on an>> as is <<basis.EQ international contains advertising and third –party contents.EQ International is not liable for any third- party content or error,omission or inaccuracy in any advertising material ,nor is it responsible for the availability of external web sites or their contents

38 DISTRIBUTED SOLAR Billions Change 2 Offers First Look New Life Changing Inventions Solving Worlds Biggest Problems

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SOLAR PV MANUFACTURING Singulus Technologies enjoying continuing success with production systems for high-efficiency cells

RESEARCH & ANALYSIS 7 Trends Shaping the Global Solar PV Monitoring Market

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Saudi Arabia to spend $500 bn on futuristic city with fully green power

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The data and information presented in this magazine is provided for informational purpose only.neither EQ INTERNATINAL ,Its affiliates,Information providers nor content providers shall have any liability for investment decisions based up on or the results obtained from the information provided. Nothing contained in this magazine should be construed as a recommendation to buy or sale any securities. The facts and opinions stated in this magazine do not constitute an offer on the part of EQ International for the sale or purchase of any securities, nor any such offer intended or implied Restriction on use The material in this magazine is protected by international copyright and trademark laws. You may not modify,copy,reproduce,republish,post,transmit, or distribute any part of the magazine in any way.you may only use material for your personall,Non-Commercial use, provided you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices.If you want to use material for any non-personel,non commercial purpose,you need written permission from EQ International.

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RESEARCH & ANALYSIS AI For EnergyA Huge Opportunity, But Still Early Days

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INDIA More green energy should power India: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India

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TECHNOLOGY JinkoSolar Breaks Multiple World Records of Silicon Solar Cell and Module Technology

ELECTRIC VEHICLES Stella Vie wins World Solar Challenge 2017

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FEATURED Lightsource Establishes India Solar Partnership with UK Climate Investments

ELECTRIC VEHICLES Swedish Company Commercialises Hybrid Charging Station

ENERGY STORAGE

Battery Storage, Smart Grid, and Eff iciency Companies Raise Over $1.2 Billion in VC Funding in 9M 2017, Reports Mercom Capital Group

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POLICY & REGULATIONS CERC Clarifies Use Of Connectivity Granted To Parent Company

By Subsidiary

RESEARCH SIX ‘Q’s ON ASIA’S ENERGY TRANSITION FOR APAC SUMMIT

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RESEARCH & ANALYSIS Infrastructure Investments To Rise To Rs 50 Lakh Cr In Fy1822, Says Crisil, Suggests 5 Steps To Ensure Results

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EQ NEWS Pg. 07-35 POLICY & REGULATION Heraeus Introduces New Front Side Silver Paste Designed For Dwc Multicrystaline Solar Cells At Pv Taiwan

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PRODUCT Pg. 70-76

POLICY & REGULATION Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission

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Huawei is a leading global ICT and network energy solutions provider that innovatively integrates digital information technology, Internet technology, and PV technology, combining with design concepts of Simple, Digital, and Smart O&M to promote an industry-leading FusionSolar Smart PV Solution. It greatly optimizes initial investments, reduces O&M costs, raises energy yield, and increases ROI of the PV plant. By optimizing and innovating the entire process, from power plant design, construction to O&M, Huawei realizes its core value of “Higher Yields, Smart O&M, Safe and Reliable”. After two years of development, Huawei inverter shipment surpasses 2GW in India 2017, and ranked No. 1 globally for two consecutive years, 2015 and 2016.

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BUSINESS AND FINANCE

ACME Solar files IPO papers with Sebi to raise Rs 2,200 crore Renewable energy firm ACME Solar Holdings has filed preliminary papers with Sebi to raise Rs 2,200 crore through an initial public offering, according to draft papers filed with the markets regulator.

Adani Enterprises to demerge renewable energy biz Adani Enterprises announced plans to demerge its renewable energy business into associate company Adani Green Energy Ltd as part of simplifying overall business structure.

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ost demerger scheme, which has been approved by the boards of the two companies, Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) would be listed on the exchanges. Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) has a renewable energy portfolio of 2,148 MW in India. Announcing the scheme of arrangement for demerger of the renewable power undertaking into AGEL, Adani Enterprises said it would “simplify the business structure“.

The scheme would provide the shareholders of AEL direct shareholding in AGEL, “listing of the largest renewable Power Independent Power Producer (IPP) having a total portfolio of 2,148 MW in India, according to a statement. The renewable power undertaking includes businesses of development of renewable power projects, generation of renewable power and trading and supply of solar and wind energy equipment. Under the proposed scheme, AGEL would issue 761 new equity shares for every 1,000 equity shares of AEL. The existing equity shares held by AEL in AGEL will be cancelled pursuant to the scheme, the statement said. Subject to various regulatory approvals, the demerger is expected to be close by the first quarter of 2018. The date for the scheme has been fixed at April 1, 2018.

“The transaction is expected to unlock the value of renewable power undertaking currently embedded in the value of AEL by eliminating holding company discount and providing financial flexibility for raising capital for sustainable growth of renewable energy business,” AEL said in the statement. Pursuant to the demerger, AGEL would be listed on the BSE and the NSE. “It may, however, be noted that transaction may be completed earlier or later and the aforesaid period of first quarter of 2018 is only an indicative timeline and is subject to timely receipt of all applicable regulatory and statutory approvals,” it said.

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unds raised through the issue would be used to pay debt and to finance the company’s 200 MW solar power project in Rajasthan and for other general corporate purposes. Besides, the company is considering a pre-IPO placement of up to 52,22,079 equity shares to certain investors for up to Rs 500 crore. ICICI Securities, Citigroup Global Markets India and Deutsche Equities India will manage the company’s initial public offer (IPO). The equity shares are proposed to be listed on BSE and National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Source: PTI

PFC board approves PFC Green Energy merger with parent State-run Power Finance Corp (PFC) today said its board has approved the proposal for merger of its wholly-owned subsidiary PFC Green Energy with the company.

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he board in its meeting on September 29 approved the merger scheme which is conditional upon and subject to the sanction by the corporate affairs ministry, PFC said in a BSE filing. PFC is a leading power sector public financial institution and a non-banking financial company which provides fund and non-fund based support for the development of Indian power sector. PFC Green Energy Ltd is also engaged in similar nature of business focusing on renewable and green energy.

PFC said that the amalgamation will help to consolidate similar nature of business at one place and effectively manage both firms as single entity. There will no change in the shareholding pattern of the listed company, it said.

Source: PTI

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Source: PTI

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BUSINESS AND FINANCE

AIIB Partners on New Investments to Improve Energy Connectivity and Facilitate Private Equity Investments The Bank will invest in a private equity fund and a project to support power transmission in India. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) continues its collaborative approach to address the infrastructure gap in Asia by investing US$150 million in the IFC’s Emerging Asia Fund and co-financing a project with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to improve energy connectivity in India by strengthening its power transmission system.

Mr. D.J. Pandian Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, AIIB

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“To mobilize sufficient funds to address the huge infrastructure needs across Asia, multilateral development institutions must collaborate with each other and a range of other partners. We will continue to welcome opportunities to combine our investments and talent with other international financial institutions to drive positive economic outcomes for people in the region.”

ligned with its commitment to promote cooperation and partnership with other multilateral development institutions, AIIB will become one of the major investors in the IFC Emerging Asia Fund. This fund will have positive economic impacts on emerging markets by promoting job creation through the availability of capital and expertise. The fund, managed by the IFC Asset Management Company, will among other things, help promote the private equity asset class in emerging markets, such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

The Bank’s Board of Directors also

approved a US$100 million loan for the Transmission System Strengthening Project in the Republic of India to enhance energy connectivity and make substantial contributions to a reliable electricity supply in south India. In partnership with the ADB, this project will construct and install five transmission lines that will help optimize the overall electricity system, improve the generation mix, and better utilize renewable energy resources. Since launching in 2016, AIIB has approved US$3.49 billion in financing for 21 infrastructure projects in 11 countries.

16 of the projects are co-financed with other multilateral development banks and the remaining five projects are led independently by AIIB. Source: aiib.org

NTPC signs Term Loan of Rs. 3000 crore with ICICI Bank Ltd. NTPC signed a term loan agreement for Rs.3000 Crore with ICICI Bank Ltd on 29.08.2017. The loan has a door to door tenure of 15 years and will be utilised to part finance the capital expenditure of NTPC. The loan agreement was signed in the presence of Shri K.Biswal, Director (Finance), NTPC Ltd.

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China welcomes European Union decision on solar panel import prices

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hina’s Ministry of Commerce said a European Union move to reduce the minimum price imposed on imported Chinese solar panels as a “positive step” and that it hoped that duties would end as soon as possible. The EU announced on Sept. 16 that it would progressively reduce the minimum prices that Chinese solar panel makers are allowed to sell their products for in Europe. The prices will be cut every three months, first on Oct 1 and finally on July 1 next year. Chinese companies that sell below these set minimum prices are subject to import duties of up to 64.9 percent. EU member states cleared an 18-month extension of import duties on Chinese solar panels in February.

The European Commission said at the time that it envisaged a gradual phase-out of the duties over the period. China’s ministry said that it hoped the EU. would terminate all antidumping and anti-subsidy tariffs against Chinese solar panel imports as soon as possible. The European Union faces a delicate balancing act between the interests of EU manufacturers and of reducing the cost of solar power generation, while also being concerned about the response from Beijing, seen as a possible ally in fights against protectionism and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The EU and China came close to a trade war in 2013 over EU allegations of dumping against Chinese solar panel exporters. The minimum price reduction has been attacked by both sides. EU panel manufacturers say it will kill jobs in the sector, while EU importers and others in the industry say it will not cut prices enough.

Source:Reuters

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BUSINESS AND FINANCE

Avendus launches category III AIF – Avendus Phoenix Fund Avendus Phoenix Fund, a closed ended fund with a minimum capital commitment of Rs 1 crore from investors, comes amid rise in order flows and increasing use of capacity across sectors.

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vendus Wealth Management, an arm of Avendus Capital, on Monday announced the launch of its first Category III alternative investment fund to invest in listed companies with demand traction and a growing order book. Avendus Phoenix Fund, a closed ended

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fund with a minimum capital commitment of Rs 1 crore from investors, comes amid rise in order flows and increasing use of capacity across sectors like roads, transmission and distribution of power, construction and renewable energy, Avendus said in a release.

“The fund will look to invest in listed companies where there is demand traction and a growing order book which will lead to assets sweating better and drive revenue and profitability growth.

Given a slowdown in the economy as it adjusts to the GST and demonetisation effect, this is an appropriate time to launch the fund, as the economy will not only come back to normal stream but continue to grow at higher single digits for the foreseeable future.”

-Aniruddha Naha, MD, Avendus Wealth Management The amount accumulated under the fund would be invested in 15-20 companies. Alternative investment fund (AIF) is a privately pooled investment vehicle which collects funds from sophisticated investors, whether Indian or foreign, for investing it in accordance with a defined investment policy.

AIFs under category III employ diverse or complex trading strategies and may employ leverage including through investment in listed or unlisted derivatives. Various types of funds such as hedge funds, PIPE Funds are registered as Category III AIFs. Source: PTI

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BUSINESS AND FINANCE

First Investment Agreement signed between NIIF and a wholly owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority

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Pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India and the Government of United Arab Emirates (UAE) to mobilise long term investment into National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), the first investment agreement between NIIF Master Fund and a wholly owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) has been signed. The investment from ADIA Group would be 1 billion USD.

s a part of the agreement, ADIA will become the first institutional investor in NIIF’s Master Fund and a shareholder in the NIIF’s investment management Company. Six domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) viz. HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Limited, HDFC Asset Management Company Limited, Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited, ICICI Bank Limited, Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Limited, Axis Bank Limited will also be joining the NIIF Master Fund alongwith ADIA apart from Government of India.

Commenting on the development, Secretary Economic Affairs, Shri Subhash Chandra Garg, said: “This is a significant milestone in operationalisation of NIIF. This Agreement paves the way for creating significant economic impact through investment in commercially viable infrastructure development projects “.

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he NIIF was created, after a decision by the Union Cabinet on 29.7.2015 and was envisaged to be established as one or more Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) under the SEBI Regulations. The proposed corpus of NIIF is Rs. 40,000 Crores (around USD 6 Billion). GOI’s contribution to the NIIF shall be 49% of the total commitment at any given point of time.

NIIF has been mandated to solicit equity participation from strategic anchor partners, like overseas sovereign/quasi-sovereign/ multilateral/bilateral investors. wo companies viz. NIIFTL, the trustee of the fund and NIIFL, the investment management company were incorporated in 2015. A Governing Council has been set up under the chairmanship of the union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley to act as an advisory council to NIIF. few investors viz. Government of UAE, RUSNANO, QIA, RDIF and Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport & Urban Development (JOIN) have signed MoUs with the NIIF. In addition, DEA has signed terms for cooperation on the NIIF with the US Treasury and the UK Treasury. An India-UK Green Growth Equity Fund (GGEF) has been announced in April 2017. The fund shall be set up under the fund of funds vertical of NIIF, and shall have anchor commitments of GBP 120 million each from Government of India (through NIIF) and Government of UK.

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JBIC Provides First Project Finance for Solar Power Generation Project in India

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he Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC; Governor: Akira Kondoh) signed, on September 11, 2017, a loan agreement for project finance*1 with SBG Cleantech ProjectCo Private Limited (“SBG Cleantech”), an Indian corporation in which SoftBank Group Corp. (“SBG”) has an equity stake, for a solar power generation project in India. The loan is co-financed with Mizuho Bank, Ltd. and a portion of the loan provided by Mizuho Bank, Ltd. will be insured by Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI). Under this project, SBG Cleantech will construct, own and operate a solar power generation plant with a total generation capacity of 350MW at the solar park to be built in Kurnool district, the state of Andhra Pradesh in the south of India.

SBG Cleantech also sells the generated electricity to NTPC Limited, India’s state-owned power generation company, for 25 years. This project is the first overseas solar power generation project invested by SBG. Through providing funding support to this project, JBIC will contribute to maintaining and increasing the global competitiveness of Japanese companies, as well as to curbing greenhouse gas emissions in India. This project has started operating under the government’s solar power initiative. On September 1, 2014, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the “Japan-India Investment Promotion Partnership” under which Japan will provide JPY3.5 trillion of public and private financing to India over the next five years. This project is also in line with the objectives of the initiatives undertaken by both governments.

In response to those initiatives between Japan and India, JBIC has made efforts to increase investment opportunities for Japanese companies, by conducting discussions with the government of India twice since May 2016 in order to promote Japanese investments in the electricity power generation business in India.

This project is the first project that has been realized afterthese efforts under the bilateral strategic partnership between the two countries. As Japan’s policybased financial institution, JBIC will continue to provide financial support to assist Japanese companies in developing overseas businesses, by drawing on its various financial facilities and schemes for structuring projects, and performing its risk-assuming function.

Source: jbic.go.jp

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RESEARCH

BOTTOM-UP ANALYSIS: GLOBAL INSTALLATIONS OF 96.5 GW

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aking into account production and shipment time lags as well as inventories in the value chain, Bernreuter Research estimates that 100 GW of crystalline solar cells plus 5 GW of thin-film modules produced will translate into 95 to 97 GW of PV installations in 2017.

NEW PV INSTALLATIONS APPROACHING 100 GW IN 2017 The newly installed photovoltaic (PV) capacity worldwide will exceed 95 gigawatts (GW) in 2017, according to the latest forecast of Bernreuter Research.

“Supply of the feedstock polysilicon would even allow PV installations to reach 100 GW if inventories were strongly reduced,” says Johannes Bernreuter, head of the market research firm and author of the Polysilicon Market Outlook 2020.

POLYSILICON SPOT PRICE WILL FALL BY THE END OF 2017

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ernreuter Research expects a global polysilicon output of 460,000 to 465,000 metric tons (MT), including 30,000 MT of electronic-grade material for the semiconductor industry, in 2017. “As sawing solar wafers with diamond wire instead of using slurry is reducing the specific silicon consumption more and more, polysilicon supply will be sufficient to produce 100 GW of crystalline solar cells without overly depleting inventories,”

BERNREUTER

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he analyst predicts that the polysilicon spot price will fall from around 16.60 US$/kg currently to a range of 14 to 15 US$/kg by the end of the year when capacities presently under maintenance have returned to operation. Should China, however, impose higher duties on polysilicon imports from South Korea in November, the spot price would be driven up again.

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“Several gigawatts of solar module shipments into the United States will be stockpiled for installation in 2018 to avoid impending tariffs on cell and module imports in the trade case brought up

by Suniva and SolarWorld Americas,” explains Bernreuter.

The supply-side analysis of Bernreuter Research is supported by its bottom-up assessment of PV demand in 85 countries, which results in global installations of 96.5 GW in 2017 – up 30% from more than 74 GW in 2016. Another indicator points in the same direction: By extrapolating global demand from the aggregate shipment guidance of the four major module suppliers Jinko, Canadian Solar, JA Solar and Hanwha Q Cells, Bernreuter Research has arrived at a similar result for 2017.

MASSIVE INSTALLATION BOOM IN CHINA

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he strong PV growth is mainly propelled by the massive installation boom in China, which no analyst anticipated at the beginning of this year. After 42 GW were already connected to the grid in the first three quarters, Bernreuter Research expects that new PV installations in China will exceed 50 GW in 2017 It is India that has already been feeling a negative effect of the rampant Chinese demand: High module prices and canceled module shipments from China, among other factors, have slowed down the momentum of installations on the subcontinent since the middle of the year.

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RESEARCH

Most powerful micro-scale solar cell yet developed Scientists have developed a micro-scale biological solar cell that generates more power than any existing cell of its kind.

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microfluidic lab-on-a-chip system that generates its own power is essential for stand-alone, independent, self- sustainable point-of-care diagnostic devices to work in limited-resource and remote regions, said Professor Seokheun Choi, from Binghamton University in the US. Miniaturised biological solar cells (micro-BSCs) can be the most suitable power source for those applications because the technique resembles the earths natural ecosystem.

Researchers created a microscale microfluidic biological solar cell that can attain high electrical power and long-term operational capability, which will provide a practical and sustainable power supply for lab-on-

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“Micro-BSCs can continuously generate electricity from microbial photosynthetic and respiratory activities over day- night cycles, offering a clean and renewable power source with self-sustaining potential. However, the promise of this technology has not been translated into practical applications because of its relatively low power and current short lifetimes,” said Professor Seokheun Choi.

a-chip applications.

The bio-solar cell generated the highest power density for the longest time among any existing micro-scale bio-solar cells, according to a study published in the journal Lab on a Chip.

“The device will release biological photo-energy conversion technology from its restriction to conceptual research and advance its translational potential toward practical and sustainable power applications for point-of-care diagnostics to work independently and self-sustainably in limited-resource and remote Source: PTI regions,” said Choi.

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ENERGY STORAGE

Enel to Seek More Deals in Energy Storage Business, CEO Says Enel SpA is seeking acquisitions in the energy storage business, as developments in battery technology are set to play a key role for the wider adoption of renewable sources.

Europe’s biggest utility by market capitalization sees the U.S., Europe and Latin America as the markets with the most potential, Chief Executive Officer Francesco Starace said in an interview.

“Technologies are fast approaching the point where batteries will be commercially attractive,” Starace said on Oct. 17 on the sidelines of the Open Innovations forum in Moscow. “There are parts of the world where it’s already convenient.”

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hile green power sources are increasingly seen as alternatives to traditional electricity, the challenge for utilities is to develop sufficient storage capacity to minimize “intermittency” and storage issues associated with solar panels and wind plants. Global storage capacity will then need to triple to 15.7 terawatthours by 2030 from around 4.7 this year, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.

Rome-based Enel, which made a string of acquisitions in the sector this year, is expected to close a new deal this month in the energy management business, according to a person close to the company who asked not to be named because discussions are private. Enel has already announced a number of deals this year, including the acquisition of software provider EnerNOC in August and of the Tynemouth standalone battery energy storage system project in Newcastle, U.K. in May.

A number of the company’s investors have said they approve of the approach, citing further growth potential.

MR. CAMILIO AZZOUZ, INVESTMENT ANALYST AMBER CAPITAL UK LLP IN LONDON

Camilio said in an interview “We are ‘constructive’ on names that are positioned along networks, clients and renewables, which we believe hold strategic value into any mergers and acquisitiondriven corporate landscape reorganization. We see the Americas as an ongoing key growth driver for the sector - a region where we expect more corporate activity driven by European utilities.”

Source: Bloomberg

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ROOFTOP & OFFGRID

Ultimate Sun Systems installs 150 KW roof top solar plant in Gurugram

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s part of the project, six towers were covered at the premises, 469 solar PV rooftop panels, six 20kW and two 15 kW String Inverters were installed which will generate around 2.25 lac units of electricity every year, resulting in annual savings of more than 15 lacs for the residents.

Gurugram (Haryana): Ultimate Sun Systems Pvt. Ltd., an ‘MNRE Channel Partner’ company in the field of renewable energy solutions on Tuesday announced that it has successfully completed the installation of a 150KW roof top solar plant at Hewo Apartment -I, Sector 56, Gurgaon, fow which 30 percent subsidy was sanctioned by state nodal agency HAREDA (Haryana Renewable Energy Department Agency) As part of the project, six towers were covered at the premises, 469 solar PV rooftop panels, six 20kW and two 15 kW String Inverters were installed which will generate around 2.25 lac units of electricity every year, resulting in annual savings of more than 15 lacs for the residents. The plant is equivalent of planting more than 6000 teak trees and will reduce carbon emissions in the atmosphere by over 4000 tonnes.

“We are glad to be a part of HEWO’s move to clean and cost efficient solar power.

This residential plant will produce enough energy to power all the common areas of the housing society like for example, the club room, street lights, corridor lights, reception area of all towers, elevators, and so on. It is a complete end-to-end solution that we are providing.”

- Mr. Himanshu Yadav, Director - Strategy, Ultimate Sun Systems Source: ANI

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ROOFTOP & OFFGRID

Pepsi lights up Gurugram roads with solar bulbs In a bid to light up Gurugrams darkest streets, Pepsi extended its Liter of Light programme to the area, a company statement said.

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he project promises to bring about a huge change by taking used Pepsi bottles and turning them into solar powered light bulbs.

The lighting solution has been implemented in eight locations across the Gurugram-Sohna Road, Jharsa Road in Fazilpur village, Sector 15, Khansa Road, Bio Diversity Park, Sector 31 and Sector 39. The initiative, also supported by the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram, will lead to a reduction in the total amount of energy consumption in these areas as the lights being used are solar powered light bulbs, the statement said.

Created with used PET bottles, these lights are made of plastic filled with bleach and water and fixed to poles refracting sunlight during the daytime.

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Mr. Raj Rishi Singh Director, Marketing, Pepsi, PepsiCo India

“Pepsi is committed to improving the lives of the communities within which we operate.

This Diwali, we attempted to make the streets of Gurugram safer and helped add more hours to a day. Liter of Light is the truest celebration of Pepsi’s iconic bottles and we look forward to scaling up the programme in the coming years to add more brightness to lives across the nation.”

Source: IANS

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ROOFTOP & OFFGRID

THIN Film Solar Roof top system using CiGs modules at IOCL R&D centre Faridabad-10 kW

CleanMax Solar partners with IIT (BHU) as its sustainability partner Varanasi, the premier technology engineering institute, in partnership with CleanMax Solar has commissioned a large-scale, Rooftop solar power plant across multiple building rooftops at its campus in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

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ith a cumulative solar capacity of 1.5 MW, the initiative meets an impressive 30 percent of the institute’s power requirements and allays over 2000 tons of carbon dioxide annually. Based on the ‘Pay as you go’ OPEX model, CleanMax Solar will provide solar power to IIT-BHU, at tariff rates that are cheaper than the grid tariff, thereby saving the institute over Rs. 28 lakhs per annum, as compared to conventional sources of power.

“We are very proud to be associated with a distinguished institute like IIT (BHU) as its preferred sustainability partner. Through our partnership, we are helping IIT (BHU) to reduce their carbon footprint and electricity costs simultaneously. This is a very compelling proposition to institutes like IIT (BHU), and we hope to replicate it for other premier institutes across the country. As India’s largest Rooftop Solar Developer with 24 percent market share (Source Bridge to India Report 2017), CleanMax Solar has catered to educational institutes, large scale corporates and industrial clients, to help achieve their sustainability goals and reduce their operating costs. Through such partnerships, we hope that the next generations of professionals will be inspired to implement such systems across their individual fields of function.” said MD, CleanMax

Solar, Kuldeep Jain.

“IIT (BHU) believes in moving towards sustainable energy as our source of power. By commissioning the solar plant in association with CleanMax Solar, we are proud to be contributing towards the national goal of becoming a solar powered nation.

The institute is expected to save around 28 lakh Rupees per annum, a significant operating cost reduction. As an educational institute, we also hope to create awareness about the solar technology besides being an environmentally conscious citizen,” said Prof.

Rajeev Sangal, Director (IIT-BHU).

Source: ANI

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Name of the project: 10 kW Rooftop system using THIN FILM CiGs Modules Plant Owner: Indian Oil Corporation R&D Center at Faridabad On 10th October 2017 a rooftop solar system was commissioned on the roof of R&D center of IOCL Faridabad.

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he system is designed and Installed by M/s Erigeron Energy Pvt. Ltd. a Gurugram based company. IOCL in their special initiative to study the performance of various kinds of technology of solar modules had awarded a 10 kW rooftop Solar system to Erigeron Energy to be installed on the roof of their R&D center, Faridabad. After bagging the order, Erigeron Energy decided to use SOLIBRO make CiGs THIN film Modules from Germany with SMA inverters. A sturdy structure was designed using STAAD analysis to withstand a wind load of 150 kM/Hr. Over this structure solar modules were installed keeping in view the easy regular cleaning of the modules.

The system is expected to produce about 15000 units of green energy every year, Mr. Suresh Kumar Gupta, Managing Director of Erigeron Energy who are specializing in roof top solar system said that his company loves to take the challenges likes this and is very satisfied that system could be finally commissioned as per IOCL quality norms. This is on-grid system without ant battery backup.

Mr. Bhatia expressed his happiness on successful commissioning of the solar system and wanted that more & more people go for it and save mother earth by cutting down on your CO2 footprints.

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ROOFTOP & OFFGRID

United Breweries, CleanMax join hands for sustainable brewing Bengaluru (Karnataka) , Oct. 30 : United Breweries Limited (UBL), has joined hands with CleanMax Solar to adopt large-scale rooftop and ground mounted solar power for ten of their breweries across India.

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ith a total solar capacity of four mega watt peak across six of UBLs large facilities in the first phase, the initiative will make a large reduction in its United Breweries' carbon footprint, and have annual cumulative savings in their overall electricity costs. The first phase of the initiative comprises installation of rooftop solar plants in six breweries, of which three - Taloja (Maharashtra), Aurangabad (Maharashtra), and Mallepally (Telangana) are already operational, and another three at Kothlapur (Telangana), a second brewery in Aurangabad (Maharashtra) and Srikakulam (Andhra Pradesh) are currently under construction.

Once fully operational, the solar plants are expected to generate over 60 lakh units of electricity per annum cumulatively, thereby abating 5600 tons of carbon dioxide annually.

"We are proud to be associated with United Breweries Limited and assist them in reducing environmental impact across their manufacturing operations. Our hassle free and zero investment OPEX model is enabling United Breweries to meet anywhere from 10 to 30 per cent of their power consumption through solar power at these breweries, at a significant discount to grid electricity prices. Since 2011, CleanMax Solar has been working with industry leaders like United Breweries Limited to achieve their sustainability goals with our world-class solar power facilities.

We are delighted to see breweries looking at a renewable future and will continue extending our expertise and support towards the same. As sustainability partners to some of India's largest MNCs and corporate houses, CleanMax Solar has commissioned more than 200 projects across India in sectors ranging from food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, automotive manufacturing, education, and others," said Co-Founder CleanMax Solar, Andrew Hines.

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"As India's leading brewer, we believe in demonstrating leadership in all areas, including sustainable manufacturing. Our collaboration with CleanMax Solar is aimed at reducing environment impact while simultaneously adhering to the highest quality and safety standards in the execution of our projects. We look forward to extending this initiative to our other facilities. It is our commitment to increase our renewable energy adoption to 50 percent in next three years from the current level of 15 percent of our total energy consumption," said Managing Director of United Breweries Limited, Shekhar Ramamurthy.

Jakson, firm behind solar panels on rail coaches, plans 1 GW manufacturing unit Jakson is also known for the large diesel-based power generating sets that power electricity in malls, shopping complex and residential apartments.

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he Noida-based Jakson Group, the firm behind the solar panels installed on the roof of coaches of the country’s first solar-powered diesel electric multiple unit or DEMU, plans to increase its solar manufacturing capacity manifold, according to its Vice Chairman and Managing Director Sundeep Gupta.

The company plans to have manufacturing capacities of 1 GW solar modules and 250 MW solar cells by 2020 at a site in Gujarat. The company plans to invest Rs 700 crore in setting up the two-phase project.

The company is currently exploring two to three sites for the Gujarat plant.

“In the first phase, a capacity of 500 MW of solar modules would be set up. In the second phase, another 500 MW of solar module manufacturing and 250 MW of the solar cell would be established,” Gupta said. www.EQMagPro.com

Climate CHANGE

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his will mark a major scale-up in the manufacturing capacity of the company which currently has a capacity of only 70 MW solar modules, components and other solar products at Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh.

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akson is also known for the large diesel-based power generating sets that power electricity in malls, shopping complex and residential apartments.

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he company operates in four key business areas – power generation and distribution, solar, EPC and defence. The power generation business includes sales of diesel gensets, construction of diesel power plants, sales and distribution of original Cummins spare parts and authorized country distributorship of Cummins products in Bangladesh.

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akson’s solar business comprises independent solar power plants, solar EPC for both land-based and rooftop solar power plants, manufacturing of solar modules and solar products. The group also owns and operates three solar independent power plants with a total installed capacity of 60 MW.

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xports to Africa from the proposed Gujarat plant is one of the key business opportunities that the company is eyeing once the plant gets commissioned.

“We are setting up the plant in Gujarat as we also expect to export a good part of our production, especially to African countries,” Gupta said. The company recently received some orders from African countries for solar EPC. Jakson is currently executing a 100 MW land-based solar project for NLC (formerly Neyveli Lignite) in Tamil Nadu and several rural and urban electrification projects in Jharkhand and Maharashtra.

Source : MoneyControl

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Fitch: U.S. decision on Paris doesn’t matter for renewable growth Gains in renewable energy means parity with traditional sources of power in some cases. The U.S. plan to withdraw from the multilateral Paris climate agreement doesn’t matter for the pace of growth for renewables globally, Fitch Ratings said.

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tch Ratings said in a report published late Thursday that power generation from renewable resources has nearly quadrupled in the last decade and expanded more than six times to 770 gigawatts at the end of last year.

Germany has one of the greener economies in the world and European Union members bloc-wide could spend as much as $225 billion on climate measures over a six-year period, which started in 2014. European officials said the effort to advance a low-carbon economy had con-

siderable economic support.

A framework through 2020 calls for about 20 percent of the EU budget to be used on climaterelated issues. Eurostat, the record-keeping arm of the EU, reported a preliminary bloc-wide estimate for carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels declined 0.4 percent compared with last year.

Fitch Ratings said gains in renewable energy had been supported by government subsidies and other incentives, though renewables are gaining parity in terms of price when weighed against traditional power sources.

“This suggests that renewables growth is becoming self-sustaining and that the U.S. plan to withdraw from the Paris climate accord will not affect sector growth,” the report read.

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.S. President Donald Trump has aligned his energy policies closer to oil and coal, after casting doubts about the causes of climate change while on the campaign trail last year. His administration is reviewing its role in the multilateral Paris climate deal, which if abandoned, would leave the United States and Syria as the only two countries in the world sitting outside the agreement.

The non-partisan Government Accountability Office this week said the U.S. costs associated with damage attributed to climate change could run up to $35 billion per year by 2050. That assessment followed a report from the United Nations that said it may be less costly to invest in ways to keep climate change at bay than to spend on disaster recovery.

Fitch said some of the gains in renewable energy may be lopsided, but cost improvement and efficiency should continue.

“The most disruptive changes are likely to come through advances in technology, and the speed at which changes occur may be much faster than anticipated,” the report read. “Game-changing events such as those caused by geopolitical factors or significant climate change events could also affect the industry.”

Source : UPI

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Electric Vehicles To Boost Electricity Demand In Next Decade

India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) estimates that had all the vehicles been electric in financial year 2016-17, around 50,000 crore units of incremental electricity demand would be from road transport. This is in comparison to the actual electricity supply of 1.43 lakh crore units, including captive supply of 19,700 crore units in FY17 as per Central Electricity Authority.

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lthough the electric vehicle market and its ecoAdoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and EVs in India. As system are at a primitive stage, the EV market is per Press Information Bureau, 148,275 electric/hybrid vehicles prepared for an eventful journey and the agency have received support under this scheme until 30 June 2017. expects the government’s thrust to be reminisEV penetration is dependent upon the range of EVs, battery cent of the renewable power sector. cost, battery life and infrastructure for charging, battery swapThe estimated electricity requirement for ping and battery disposal. Rapidly dropping battery costs have EVs has been arrived at using diesel and petrol consumption led to increased adoption of EVs in China and the U.S. The data for FY17 and share of fuel usage across vehicle categocomprehensive long-term strategy of the government in terms ries provided by the Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell in of deployment targets, charging infrastructure, gaps in battery its reports Industry Performance Review supply chain, regulatory concerns on March 2017 and All India Study on Sectoral motor vehicle and electricity supply sides Demand of Diesel and Petrol 2013. Fuel efand incentives for manufacturing, among ficiencies of commercially available electric others, would aid the advent of EVs. and gasoline vehicles have been assumed Energy Efficiency Services Limited for the analysis. is finalising suppliers through the tenAnnual electricity requirement for road dering process for 10,000 EVs with a transport in the forthcoming decade will five-year warranty to replace a portion of depend on the extent of adoption of EVs, government-owned vehicles. The lowest increasing transportation requirement, impurchase price of these EVs inclusive of provement in efficiencies of EVs and share Goods and Services Tax was quoted at of various transportation modes. One third Rs 1.12 million (source: pib.nic.in). Ind-Ra of the 50,000 crore unit of the estimated expects the cost of EVs to reduce with an energy for road transportation in FY17 is increase in production.

A member of the media walks past a attributable to two wheelers and cars had EVs may provide a boost to the solar Tata Motors Ltd. electric bus during all of them been electric. Ind-Ra observes rooftop sector, particularly domestic custhe launch. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg the government’s repeated focus on reductomers, who may be incentivised to secure ing oil imports and believes that this focus on oil replacement energy for transportation. The agency also believes that the is likely to continue in the long term. NITI Aayog draft threeEV segment would open up an opportunity for a new kind of year energy policy highlights the potential for electrification in public-private partnership such as building infrastructure for transportation, cooking, agriculture and industries. In the curcharging points. Business models and regulatory frameworks rent demand starved situation, indicated by a plant load factor will emerge and evolve in this domain.Several companies of around 60 percent for coal plants in FY17, any sign of growth in the power sector, including JSW Energy Limited, NTPC in electricity demand will provide hope to energy generators.

Limited (‘IND AAA’/Stable), Power Grid Corporation of India Transformative Mobility Solutions For All, a collaborative Limited, Tata Power Company Ltd.’s (‘IND AA’/Stable) distribureport by NITI Aayog and Rocky Mountain Institute, highlights tion utilities in Mumbai and Delhi, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. ways of incentivising EVs, sharing and encouraging mobility as (‘IND AA+’/Stable), have exhibited interest in the production of a service concept. Currently, the government incentivises purEVs, charging infrastructure and storage solutions.

Source: bloombergquint chase of electric and hybrid vehicles under the scheme Faster

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES

MOIL need to contribute Manganese for use in batteries of electric vehicles and Tungsten for Defence Manufacturing

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OIL must make significant contribution to Make in India by developing technology to meet Manganese requirement of batteries to be used in Electric Vehicles etc., said Steel Minister Shri Birender Singh while chairing mid-year review meeting of MOIL, a PSU under Ministry of Steel. The Minister asked the PSU to plan for building capacities in tungsten mining and production for strengthening manufacturing capabilities for defense production in India. The meeting was attended by Secretary, Steel Dr. Aruna Sharma, senior officials from Ministry of Steel and top management of MOIL. Shri Singh further said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;MOIL should strategically plan for forward integration to leverage its leadership position of Manganese Ore production in India. The company can think of acquiring or taking majority stake in ferro-alloy production

facilities, in addition to expansion efforts.

There is huge potential for e-rickshaws, e-tempos and e-cars in India, which MOIL must be prepared for harnessing.

In fact, the company should innovate to find new uses of Manganese Ore, apart from steel making, dry cell batteries and paints. R&D efforts should aim for development of new technologies rather than updating or buying technologies from others. The company need to work on utilizing every grade of ore gainfully including the lowest quality ore. Steel Ministry will support every R&D initiative

aimed at self-sufficiency and indigenisation. Mineral exploration activities need to be speeded up for strengthening the resource base in India.Shri Birender Singh added that MOIL can also examine the feasibility of using alternate modes of ore transportation, which could be environment friendly and cost effective. For closure of mines, sand requirement can be met by innovative means like collaboration with local farmers. MOIL should aim to become the industry leader in innovation and technology development to such a level that other companies from abroad look upto MOIL for technology support. In view of increase in requirement for manganese for steel production capacities upto 300 million tonnes and insufficient availability of the ore in India, MOIL must also explore the possibility of acquiring or taking stake in manganese ore assets abroad the Minister said. Source: pib.nic.in

"Recruitment of professional Solar PV material sales staffs Pan India"

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INDIA

Fortum is committed to solar power in India

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s Fortum has communicated in its stock exchange release on 12 April 2016, the company seeks to allocate of its planned growth capital in the range of EUR 200–400 million in solar projects in India. In addition, Fortum will consider seeking possible partnerships or other forms of cooperation, which would on longterm create a more asset-light structure.

The media has recently speculated whether Fortum is planning to withdraw from solar power in India. “We remain committed to develop solar power and explore new opportunities and this has not changed. We can consider to take financial investors alongside us to our operating renewables assets.”

- Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal, MD, Fortum India Pvt. Ltd. Fortum has currently an 85-MW solar capacity in India, with three solar power plants in the states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradhesh. The 100-MW solar power plant in Karnataka, India will be commissioned in the near future.

Murthy pitches for subsidies to clean energy firms

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ecalling his mothers ordeal of cooking on woodstove, Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy today said the government should provide subsidies to businesses which sell clean energy products like cookstoves in rural India. He also said India should focus more on providing better healthcare facilities, education, nutrition and clean energy to its vast population. "If country like India has to indeed redeem the dreams of Mahatma Gandhi, then India has to work on health, education, nutrition and clean energy," Murthy said at an event organised by Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. The iconic co-founder of infosys also said that he has seen the impact of not having clean cookstoves. "I come from a family of lower middle class. My father was a high school teacher.

We were 8 children. My siblings and I have watched our mother cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner using woodstove and the poor lady had to work very hard. "It was very very tiring for her. We have seen her suffer," Murthy recalled. Pitching for government subsidies for companies that make clean energy products like cookstoves, he pointed out that businesses in India are not focusing on clean energy. Speaking at the same occasion, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said the government has provided 30 million LPG connections so far and aims to provide 80 million LPG connections by 2020. " 26

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The Executive Director, International Energy Agency (IEA), Dr. Fatih Birol calls on Minister of State (I/C) for Power and New and Renewable Energy, Shri Raj Kumar Singh, in New Delhi on October 25, 2017.

Encourage members to increase renewables in energy mix: Singh The International Energy Agency (IEA) should encourage its member countries to increase share of renewables in their energy baskets, Power Minister R K Singh.

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r. Fatih Birol, Executive Director, International Energy Agency (IEA), called on the Union Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Shri R.K. Singh, here today. The two dignitaries discussed the role of India on the emerging Global energy stage, the steps that the country is taking to boost clean energy dependence of its economy; and the role that India can play in reducing global carbon footprint by using the IEA platform. The four main areas of focus of IEA are energy security, economic development, environmental awareness and engagement worldwide.

During the interaction, Shri R.K. Singh noted that energy is the basic need for any economy for bringing its citizens out of poverty, generate livelihood and improve the general standards of living.

India, with 1/6th of World’s population, still has very low per energy consumption and emissions intensity, when compared to the World average value.

The scope of India’s Energy sector expansion is huge, Shri Singh added.

"The cost of energy generated through clean energy sources such as solar and wind have drastically come down in the last 3 years and ‘Renewable Energy (RE) is the Energy of the Future’. India is taking huge strides in the RE sector and has taken a lead on the global stage by launching the International Solar alliance.

IEA should encourage all its member countries to increase the share of RE in their respective energy baskets" said Shri Singh.

“India is moving to the centre of the Global Energy Stage”, said Dr. Birol sighting IEA’s flagship World Energy Outlook (WEO). Dr. Birol is responsible for the WEO publication, which is recognised as the most authoritative source for strategic analysis of global energy markets. He is also the founder and chair of the IEA Energy Business Council which provides a forum for cooperation between the energy industry and policymakers.

Source : PTI

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INDIA

Sushil Bhagat Joins as Chief Financial Officer of Azure Power Azure Power (NYSE: AZRE), a leading independent solar power producer in India, announced the appointment of Sushil Bhagat, former CFO of Hindustan Power Projects Ltd. (HPPL), as the new Chief Financial Officer of Azure Power.

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ushil Bhagat comes on board with over 30 years of experience of working with corporate and investment banking and then transitioning to HPPL where he worked extensively on fund raising and inorganic growth opportunities. As a previous investment banker, he raised $12+ billion of funds and led complex advisory and M&A assignments across all infrastructure sectors.

Subsequently, he has headed finance, commercial and strategy functions at Coastal Projects and helped it achieve an enterprise value of over $4 billion in six years. Sushil has supervised 1,200 MWs of thermal and 400+MWs of solar power assets while at HPPL. He has also served in various corporate leadership roles at Coastal Projects, Wachovia, Axis Bank and State Bank Group.

S.K Gupta, former CFO of Azure Power has been appointed Executive Vice President – O&M and will head the O&M business unit to manage the company’s fast-growing fleet of assets.

Speaking on this occasion, Inderpreet Wadhwa, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Azure Power said, “We are pleased to welcome Sushil Bhagat as the CFO of Azure Power. Given his proven track record, we are confident that he will be a strong leader for our business and a great addition to the management team. We are also excited to have S.K Gupta take over the O&M business unit. He brings a wealth of experience to optimize our significant and fast growing portfolio.”

Commenting on his appointment, Sushil Bhagat said, “Azure Power is an established leader in the solar industry in India that offers an attractive value proposition for Indian power customers by utilizing the best technology with unmatched word-class execution, expertise and experience. I look forward to growing the Azure Power platform to the next level.”

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EESL achieves further reduction in smart meter price; conducts reverse auction of last week’s tender ITI Limited emerges as the L1 bidder with the lowest quote of Rs. 2503 per unit for 50 lakh smart meters, followed by Genus Power and KEONICS l 8% lower price per unit achieved than previous tender l The total procurement cost of 50 lakh smart meters has been reduced

by Rs. 132 crores due to reverse auction l

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nergy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) has achieved a further price reduction in the procurement of 50 lakh smart meters, basis a reverse auction of the tender conducted last week. ITI Limited has emerged as the lowest bidder (L1 bidder) in this reverse auction, followed by Genus Power and KEONICS. ITI Limited quoted the lowest price of Rs. 2503, per single phase smart meter. L&T had emerged as the lowest bidder in the first round of bids conducted last week, where the company had quoted Rs. 2722. Through the reverse auction, the price of the single phase smart meter has come down from Rs. 2722 to Rs. 2503 which is a reduction of 8% from the previous tender quote. The lower price discovered through reverse auction will further benefit the end consumers. Seven companies including L&T were invited for the reverse auction, as per tender terms and conditions where L&T has been outbid by ITI Limited, Genus Power and KEONICS. As per government guidelines, EESL will invite Genus Power and KEONICS, who have emerged as the L2 and L3 bidders respectively, to match the L1 price. Should the said parties match the L1 price, EESL will split the procurement of the single phase smart meter between three parties in a ratio of 50:30:20. The meters will be installed over a period of 3 years in a phased manner in Uttar Pradesh UP) and Haryana. The procurement conducted by EESL, a company under the administrative control of Ministry of Power, Government of India (GoI), is the world’s largest single Smart Meter procurement. 40 lakh smart meters will be deployed in UP and the remaining 10 lakh in Haryana. Smart meters are a part of the overall Advanced Metering Infrastructure Solutions (AMI) aimed at better demand response designed to reduce energy consumption during peak hours. The overall AMI solution will also have a system integrator who will be responsible for meter installation, data storage on cloud, preparing dashboards, etc. The bids for the system integrator is expected to open on October 31, 2017. EESL is procuring the smart meters and services of the system integrator with 100% investment and the Utilities will make zero-investment. The repayment to EESL will be through savings resulting from enhanced billing efficiency, avoided meter reading costs, etc. It is said that the average cost of meter reading is Rs. 40 per meter, which will be completely avoided. EESL is driven by the objective of facilitating faster adoption of future-ready technology solutions while balancing economic development and environmental sustainability. EESL is committed to enabling a complete transformation of the energy infrastructure in the country with unique solutions.

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INDIA

More green energy should power India: Modi PM was addressing several thousands of people at the grounds, who had gathered for a mass recital of Soundarya Lahari, a set of shlokas (verses) composed by eighth century Indian philosopher Adi Shankaracharya.

Bengaluru, Green energy like solar power would power India as 175 gigawatt (GW) of electricity is expected to be generated from renewable sources, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

Changes to Electricity Act propose penalty norms for PPAs, RPOs The proposed electricity amendment bill will include penalty provisions, stricter enforcement of power purchase agreements (PPA) and renewable purchase obligations (RPO), Power Minister R.K. Singh said.

“We will deal with the issues of PPA (power purchase agreement) and RPO (renewable purchase obligation) among others in the Electricity Amendment Bill,” Mr. Singh told reporters on the sidelines of an investors’ forum organised by the industry chamber Assocham.

“By 2022, when India will be celebrating 75 years of independence, 175 GW of renewable energy will be generated. The government is working towards meeting 40 per cent of the country’s energy needs from renewable sources like solar and wind by 2030,” said Modi at a public function in the Palace Grounds.

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odi said over Rs 11,000 crore were spent by the current Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the renewable energy sector in the past three years, against a mere Rs 4,000 crore by the Congress-led UPA. India is capable of generating a total 750 GW of energy if it puts all of its resources to work, Modi said, adding: “We need to work towards that.” He said people could save hugely through over 27 crore LED bulbs distributed to households across the country as part of the Ujala scheme. “LED bulbs earlier cost Rs 350 and through Ujala scheme they cost just Rs 40-45. Around Rs 7,000 crore was saved in the country by this price cut.

These bulbs also helped in cutting down the electricity bills for the households. With just a different approach, we could make a huge difference,” he said. Asserting that the future is not of diesel and petrol, Prime Minister said startups should look at innovations that help the country’s population. Through Ujjwala scheme, over three LPG connections have been distributed to the poor in the country, he said.

“This has contributed to a positive difference in the lives of the rural women, but also to gave way to a cleaner environment.” “Bengaluru is the land of startups. I invite entrepreneurs to join in a movement in creating solar-based stoves that are inexpensive. Innovation should be in that direction that can help Indian population,” Modi said.

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e are going to change the law and provide that any PPA which is signed, will be honoured. If they don’t honour it then there would strict penalties. So the uncertainties will go,” he said.

“We will also bring it to the law making it necessary for all discoms to tie up for PPAs to cover the requirement of power in the area which they serve. They must have tied up PPA to cover 100 per cent of that requirement before their licences can be renewed.

“You cannot get a monopoly licence to distribute power in certain area without tying up PPA for 100 per cent requirement,” he added.

With electricity demand growth in India not keeping pace with the excess capacity addition and with tariffs falling, producers are facing offtake issues on power that they have not already tied up for sale through long-term PPAs. In this connection, JSW Energy Chief Executive Prashant Jain told a news channel recently that while the company had tied up for the offtake of about 65 per cent of its power generation through long-term PPAs, it is facing challenges about disposal of its remaining “untied capacity”.

Regarding the renewable purchase obligations of discoms, Singh said: “The bill will also provide that RPOs will be obligatory, a statutory legal compulsion. We are going to world saying our 40 per cent of power would be from renewables.”

Declaring he will try to move the amendment bill in the upcoming winter session of Parliament, Singh said it also proposes imposing stricter penalties for non-payment of electricity bills. Source: IANS

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Power Minister addresses the 3rd Global Investors’ India Forum

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nion Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Shri R. K. Singh addressed the 3rd Global Investors’ India Forum, here today. The theme of the event was ‘Ideate, Innovate, Implement and Invest in India’ and it was attended by global industry stalwarts.

Addressing the august gathering, Shri Singh said that looking at the future of growing power consumption in India, it is expected that the per capita energy consumption would expand at a breakneck

“Electricity is the future of economic growth in India.

This growth cannot take place without Industry participation in Energy Sector”, says Shri R.K. Singh speed, tripling in the next 5-7 years. The Minister assured the members of Industry that the Government would extend all possible support and remove all impediments in the path of investments in the power sector. “Electricity is the future of economic growth in India. This growth cannot take place without Industry participation. I invite you to come and invest in India’s Energy sector”, Shri Singh said. Speaking further on his vision for revamping of Power sector in India, the Minister said that his Ministry is in the final stages of codifying laws on a number

Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited (TPREL) commissions 30 MW solar power plant at Palaswade, Maharashtra Tata Power, India's largest integrated power company announced the commissioning of a 30 MW solar power plant in Palaswade, developed by its wholly owned subsidiary, Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd. (TPREL).

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he plant will produce over 62million KWH annually (over 6.2 crore units) of solar power, covering the annual energy needs of over 14000 Indian households.The solar plant, spread over 140 acres, is located at Palaswade village in Maan taluka, in Satara district, Maharashtra. The newly commissioned solar plant adds to its growing renewable energy portfolio. The plant will be maintained in an ecofriendly manner using rain water harvested trough the construction of check dams, asMaan taluka is a waterscarce drought-prone region in Maharashtra. The additional water collected will be made available for irrigation and other uses that will benefit the local community. The 30 MW solar plant uses domestically manufactured Crystalline Silicon Photo-Voltaic modules.

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of fronts including State Governments/ DISCOMs honouring of Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and penalties for delinquencies; all DISCOMs to have tied up PPAs to cover 100% power requirements including peak loads before licenses are renewed; the Renewable Purchase Obligations to be made statutory; making Smart Meters mandatory and penalties to be imposed for nonpayment of electricity bills, inter alia. Shri Singh also informed the gathering that in the near future, to keep pace with this rapid change in the Renewable Energy Sector, Industry needs to partner with the Government in investing in Green Energy Corridors, Battery Storage Technology, Grid Improvement, Electric Vehicles Programme etc. The Minister invited the Industry stalwarts to devise the future strategy to achieve the above goal, in coordination with the Government. “Our time has come to lead the World in Clean Energy, the Industry must not be left behind in this endeavour”, Shri Singh added. The event was organized by the ASSOCHAM and witnessed the participation of Global Industry stalwarts, who engaged in an intense discussion with the Minister; and senior officials of the Ministry.

Speaking on the commissioning, Mr. Rahul Shah, CEO, Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd, said, "We aim to create a focused renewable energy business in TPREL with a sustained growth trajectory. The commissioning of the 25 MW solar plant in Gujarat marks a milestone in our drive, to grow our portfolio of clean and renewable energy generation. We would like to thank the Government of Maharashtra, Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Limited, Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited, Maharashtra Energy Development Authority, the local community and authorities and all our stakeholders for the support extended in setting up this solar power project at Palaswade. We are proud of our staff for proactively caring for the community through the construction of check dams to harvest, use, and make rain water available to the community.”

The commissioning of the 30 MW Solar Power plant in Palaswade further underlines Tata Power’s emphasis on the development of clean energy generation from renewable sources to balance the carbon emissions from fossil fuel based generation capacity while contributing towards the energy security of the country.

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SOLAR PROJECTS

Azure Power Wins 250 MW Solar Power Project with AAA Rated NTPC

Allocated 100% of the total capacity in a recent auction by NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN) Over 580 MWs of high quality solar projects won recently increasing Azure Power’s portfolio by over 50%

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zure Power a leading independent solar power producer in India, announced that it has won a 250 megawatt (MW) solar project in an auction conducted by NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN). NVVN is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Government of India’s largest power utility, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), which received a AAA debt rating from CRISIL, a Standard & Poor’s Company. Azure Power will provide power to NVVN at a tariff of INR 3.14 (~US$ 0.05) per kWh for 25 years and the solar PV project(s) can be located anywhere in India, which will be outside a solar park. With this win, Azure Power will now be the largest provider of solar power to AAArated NTPC and its subsidiaries.

Mr. Inderpreet Wadhwa, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Azure Power said, “Our long history of superior solar power operations with NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam right from the inception of National Solar Mission has contributed to our success of procuring the one of the largest solar power contract auctioned

by NTPC. We are delighted to make a contribution towards the realization of our Hon’ble Prime Minister’s commitment towards clean and green energy, through solar power generation.”

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Orange Renewable Commissions 140 MW Solar Projects in the State of Gujarat and Maharashtra Orange Renewable, a 100% subsidiary of Singapore-based AT Holdings Pte. Ltd successfully commissioned a total capacity of 140 MW Solar PV Projects in the state of Gujarat and Maharashtra.

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he projects with respective capacity of 40 MW (Charankar Solar Park, Gujarat) and 100 MW (Dhule, Maharashtra) were bagged through a competitive bidding process in 2016 conducted by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), the nodal agency for implementation of MNRE schemes for developing grid connected solar power capacity through Variable Gap Funding (VGF) model in the country. The VGF scheme is

Mr. Hemant Tikoo Executive Committee Member, Orange Renewable “The successful commissioning of our projects testifies our commitment and our relentless pursuit to accomplish the company’s roadmap for future growth.

It is immensely gratifying to bring value and positive impact on the lives of many through sustainable clean energy solutions.” a part of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) to set up grid connected Solar PV Projects in India.

Commenting further, Mr. Naresh Mansukhani, CEO, Solar Business said, “We are delighted with this new development that indisputably demonstrates our focus on project development and execution capabilities in building clean energy assets.”

Orange Renewable is estimated to generate power supply for approx. 1,75,000 homes and GHG reduction of approx.

1,744,232 tCO2.

The projects are deployed using best-in-class technology from the super league suppliers, state-ofthe-art engineering and special focus on safety and quality.

Siemens Gamesa wins first order for a hybrid wind-solar project in India

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t also is the country’s first large commercial hybrid project. The scope includes connecting a 28.8-MW solar facility to an existing 50-MW wind farm. Siemens Gamesa has been mandated to develop India’s first large commercial hybrid wind-solar project, where a 28.8-MW solar facility will be connected to an existing 50-MW wind farm. This is the first project of its kind for the company and evidences its determination to explore business opportunities that add value for its customers. Under the terms of the agreement reached with one of the country’s leading independent operators, Siemens Gamesa will provide an end-to-end turnkey solution. Specifically, it will handle the design, engineering and commissioning of the new solar

plant (including the supply of photovoltaic inverters made by Gamesa Electric) and its hybridisation with an existing wind farm, equipped with the Siemens Gamesa turbines. The project, located in the in the state of Karnataka, is scheduled to be up and running by the end of 2017.

“This is a very important milestone for our company.

We are truly proud to be rolling out this new hybrid solution – namely the optimal combination of solar and wind power technology – on a commercial scale”, underscored Ramesh Kymal, CEO of Siemens Gamesa’s Onshore business in India, going on to add, “With a market potential of around 15 GW in India, our customers are increasingly interested in this type of integrated renewable system”.

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SOLAR PROJECTS

JinkoSolar Breaks Multiple World Records of Silicon Solar Cell and Module Technology JinkoSolar Holding Co., a global leader in the solar photovoltaic industry, today announced that it has broken multiple solar technology world records. In an attempt independently verified by the Chinese Academy of Science Testing Laboratory, JinkoSolar broke the existing world record by achieving conversion efficiency of 22.78% on P-type monocrystalline PERC solar cells.

Rays Power Infra signs PPA with TANGEDCO for 100 MW in Tamil Nadu New infrastructure and sub-station connections built by the company will prevent grid outages.

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ays Power Infra, a leading solar EPC company in the country, has announced its PPA with TANGEDCO (Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited) for the development of 100 MW through solar power solutions in Tamil Nadu. This project will provide power at an attractive rate of INR 3.47 per unit to TANGEDCO. This is part of the 15,000 MW, INR 11,369 crore inter-state power corridor promoted by the Government of India that is expected to be ready by May 2019. This will ensure a robust renewable energy evacuation network and is expected to remove any potential problems in the power grid of the region. The project shall also be connected to a 400 kV substation to ensure that there are no grid outages.

Commenting on the PPA, Mr. Ketan Mehta, Chief Executive Officer, Rays Power Infra said, “Tamil Nadu is an increasingly important market for us, especially given the level of interest and support for renewable energy projects in the region. Signing this PPA is a watershed moment for us, as it will help us tap into the existing solar potential of the state, while making use of the best of our innovative technology and our skilled manpower. We look forward to executing this project on time and delivering the best to TANGEDCO.”

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his marks the second time in 2017 that JinkoSolar has broken a world record in solar cell conversion efficiency after achieving the 22.04% conversion efficiency record on P-type polycrystalline PERC solar earlier in the year. These recent milestones follow JinkoSolar’s earlier successes verified by TUV Rheinland where the company achieved a P-type 60-cell monocrystalline module output of 356.5 W and a P-type 60-cell polycrystalline module output of 347.6 W. JinkoSolar’s improvement in P-type PERC solar cell conversion efficiency was enabled by the application of several advanced cell technologies, including high quality P-type silicon wafer and bulk passivation technology, multi-layer ARC technology, selective emitter technology, and fine-finger metallization technology.

Among the various techniques utilized, the application of the selective emitter structure and fine-finger metallization significantly minimized the energy losses caused by recombination. The open circuit voltage and conversion efficiency of the solar cell was also greatly improved as a result. The utilization of advanced multi-layer ARC technology, an innovation developed by JinkoSolar, made further contributions to the efficiency increase. Ultimately, the solar module power output improvement was achieved by cell efficiency increases, cell-tomodule electrical optimization, and internal light management techniques.

n the completion of this project, Rays Power Infra will greatly increase its total portfolio of commissioned projects to over 500 MW in India, and will make substantial progress in meeting its target of generating 300 MW of power through its solar power projects in the next financial year. Rays Power Infra continues to use its extensive project experience and industry-leading technical expertise to provide innovative, eco-friendly, and cost-effective solar power technology driven solutions to its customers.

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TECHNOLOGY

Transparent solar cells could be massive power source: study Transparent solar materials applied to windows can harvest as much energy from invisible light waves as bigger, bulkier rooftop solar units, scientists say. Widespread use of such highly transparent solar applications, together with the rooftop units, could drastically reduce the use of fossil fuels.

"Highly transparent solar cells represent the wave of the future for new solar applications," said Richard Lunt, from Michigan State University in the US. "We analysed their potential and show that by harvesting only invisible light, these devices can provide a similar electricitygeneration potential as rooftop solar while providing additional functionality to enhance the efficiency of buildings, automobiles and mobile electronics."

Mr. Kangping Chen Chief Executive Officer JinkoSolar “Driven by the rapid development of the solar technical and commercial landscape in recent years, JinkoSolar has utilized its technical leadership as a springboard to make jumps in the global industry. We’ve also greatly strengthened our leadership position in terms of photovoltaic research and development with an advanced manufacturing process, faster mass production speeds, and better quality control than our peers. These advantages have allowed JinkoSolar to reach unprecedented heights in terms of module shipment numbers.

JinkoSolar remains committed to advancing its research and development program. We plan to apply what we’ve learned from our successful world record attempts in a test production environment.

We will then rapidly seek the mass application of our new technologies to further bring down the cost per watt of our modules. I am confident that JinkoSolar will become the industry leader in both research and development and advanced manufacturing.”

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esearchers pioneered the development of a transparent luminescent solar concentrator that when placed on a window creates solar energy without disrupting the view. The thin, plastic-like material can be used on buildings, car windows, cell phones or other devices with a clear surface. The solarharvesting system uses organic molecules developed by Lunt and his team to absorb invisible wavelengths of sunlight. The researchers can "tune" these materials to pick up just the ultraviolet and the near-infrared wavelengths that then convert this energy into electricity. Moving global energy consumption away from fossil fuels will require such innovative and cost-effective renewable energy technologies. Only about 1.5 per cent of electricity demand in the US and globally is produced by solar power.

However, in terms of overall electricity potential, there is an estimated five billion to seven billion square meters of glass surface in the US. With that much glass to cover, transparent solar technologies have the potential of supplying some 40 per cent of energy de-

mand in the US - about the same potential as rooftop solar units.

Lunt said highly transparent solar applications are recording efficiencies above five per cent, while traditional solar panels typically are about 15 per cent to 18 per cent efficient. Although transparent solar technologies will never be more efficient at converting solar energy to electricity than their opaque counterparts, they can get close and offer the potential to be applied to a lot more additional surface area, he said. Right now, transparent solar technologies are only at about a third of their realistic overall potential, Lunt added.

"Traditional solar applications have been actively researched for over five decades, yet we have only been working on these highly transparent solar cells for about five years.

Ultimately, this technology offers a promising route to inexpensive, widespread solar adoption on small and large surfaces that were previously inaccessible," Lunt added.

Source : PTI MHN MHN

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SOLAR PV MANUFACTURING

Nimma to promote Solar PV modules Manufacturers in India

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A Group of small and medium size solar PV module manufactures has formed an association “North India Module Manufacturer Association” (NIMMA) under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 to promote and voice the concerns of this segment. NIMMA will act as an umbrella association for solar module manufacturers and will work towards maintaining a healthy business environment by providing necessary support to its members.

IMMA will assist its members to develop, promote and improve the product and manufacturing standards, joint marketing strategies and will take up the concerns of its members with the concerned authorities. The Association will also work as a nodal platform for the development and process of scientific and economic research regarding development and manufacturing of solar PV module.

“We found that the existing solar associations in India are finding it difficult to cater to the needs of small and medium size solar modules manufacturers, who have some unique problems and issues. As such a need was felt for an organization, which can address the issues faced by small and medium size module manufacturers.

NIMMA is the end result of the same,” said Mr. Manish Gupta, President, North India Module Manufacturer Association (NIMMA).

N

IMMA is committed to promote solar energy by suggesting solar friendly policies and spreading awareness. NIMMA will also work closely with government authorities and with other national and international solar organizations in this regard. It will also organize and arrange meetings, seminars and workshops to promote and exchange views among member companies at regional and international levels.

“Currently, we have 25 members representing solar modules manufacturing capacity of around 1000MW. NIMMA membership is open to existing and prospective solar module manufacturers of North India,” - said Mr. Manish Aggarwal, Vice President, North India Module Manufacturer Association (NIMMA).

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FEATURED

SBI-WB Sanction Rs 2,317-Cr for 575 MW Rooftop Solar Projects to Hinduja, Adani, JSW, Tata, Azure, Cleantech & Hero

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o boost clean energy, State Bank and the World Bank today announced Rs 2,317-crore credit facilities to seven corporates, including Adani Group and Hinduja Renewables, to finance grid connected rooftop solar projects which will together generate 575 mw. JSW Energy, Tata Renewable, Azure Power, Cleantech Solar and Hero Solar Energy are the other companies that have been given sanction letters under the joint programme which will together generate 575 mw.

“Under this arrangement, signed last year, the World Bank will provide dollar funding and based on that, we will provide rupee funding to corporates,” SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar told reporters here.

SBI has so far funded 43 projects worth Rs 2,766 crore under the programme. These 43 projects will add 695 mw of solar rooftop capacity to the grid.

SBI has availed of USD 625 million line of credit from the World Bank for onlending to viable grid connected rooftop solar projects undertaken by PV developers or aggregators and end-users, for installing rooftop solar systems on commercial, institutional and industrial buildings. Financing is being provided to those with sound technical capacity, relevant experience, and creditworthiness, meeting SBI standards, Kumar said.

The banks renewable energy loan portfolio stands at Rs 12,000 crore. PTI HV BEN NSK

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FEATURED

Lightsource Establishes India Solar Partnership with UK Climate Investments

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ightsource Renewable Energy and UK Climate Investments, part of the Green Investment Group within Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets, have entered in to a partnership platform to fund the development, acquisition and ownership of large scale solar power generation assets in India. UK Climate Investments and Lightsource will jointly target the greenfield development and acquisition of operational utility scale solar assets in India with the shared ambition of seeding a platform that can create high-quality de-risked investment opportunities in one of the world’s fastest growing solar markets.

It will mobilise the large scale deployment of institutional capital through Lightsource. The seed asset for the partnership will be Lightsource’s 60MWp project in the Indian state of Maharashtra, which reaches financial close simultaneously with this announcement. Participating in a competitive tender process in 2016, Lightsource secured the project in a competitive 450MW tender from the Indian State, managed by Solar Energy Corporation India “SECI”. Over 200,000 solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, will be ground mounted across 240 acres. Upon completion, the solar farm will generate enough clean electricity to power around 20,000

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homes. While UK Climate Investments will provide 49% of the equity for the construction of the first project, it has earmarked up to GBP30m in aggregate for this project and for a broader partnership with Lightsource to develop and construct up to a total of 300MW of PV projects. Third party funding and commercial project finance debt will support the initial and subsequent projects. This equity

investment is the first by the joint venture, which uses official development assistance from the International Climate Fund to leverage private investment into low carbon projects in India and Africa. As part of the agreement, Lightsource will provide operations and asset management services for the platform in the long-term; building on the company’s experience providing these services in Europe.

Nick Boyle, CEO for Lightsource said: “The UK Climate Investments partnership, and our first Indian project reaching financial close, are significant milestones in the growth of Lightsource.

This project is a testament to the strength of the team we have in India, supported by a global project finance and operational capability, that have made this project a success. UK Climate Investments are a fantastic partner for us to seed the foundations of a large solar and smart energy investment and operating platform in India.”

Martin Stanley, Global Head, Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets commented; “This first investment for UK Climate Investments will provide the necessary sponsor support for the first project in a very promising series of potential solar investments in India, in line with UKCI’s investment mandate. Working with the UK’s leading solar developer, we will look to stimulate a positive transformational impact by bringing industry-leading best practices of risk mitigation and management to the local market.”

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MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA

Africa50 Reaches Financial Close for Solar Plants in Egypt

Mr. Akinwumi Adesina President African Development Bank and Chairman of Africa50

Africa50, the infrastructure fund for Africa, Scatec Solar and Norfund have signed the long-term financing documentation for the 400 MWDC utility scale photovoltaic (PV) power plants in Egypt for which they had previously entered into a Joint Development Agreement (JDA). The project, which was developed under the second round of the Egyptian Feed-in Tariff Program, reached financial close on October 27.

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ith a 25% stake, Africa50 is contributing equity to fund construction alongside Scatec Solar and Norfund, leveraging total funding of around US$450 million.

Senior debt will be provided by EBRD, FMO, the Green Climate Fund, the Islamic Development Bank, and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector.

The plants are supported by 25year power purchase agreements with the state-owned Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC), backstopped by a sovereign guarantee. Access roads and interconnection facilities (substations and a 12-km high voltage line) have already been funded

collectively by the Benban project developers under a cost sharing agreement with EETC and the New and Renewable Energy Agency.

The plants will benefit from Egypt’s strong and consistent irradiation.

The investment supports Egypt’s ongoing reform of the power sector, which focuses on cost effectiveness, expanded and diversified generation, and increased private sector participation. At present, Egypt’s generation capacity is still more than 90% thermal. The six plants will generate around 900,000 MWh of clean PV electricity annually, avoiding emissions of more than 350,000 tons of CO2. In addition, the partners are committed to training and using local workers for plant construction and operation as much as possible.

“This is an important milestone for Africa50. The project is the fund’s first early stage investment through its Project Development arm to be converted into a longterm equity investment made by its Project Financing arm.

This investment contributes significantly to AfDB’s High 5 priority of increasing access to power in Africa and demonstrates how Africa50 can use its capital to leverage substantial resources from other partners to fund much needed infrastructure.”

Africa50 CEO Alain Ebobisse added: “This project is a good example of how Africa50, working with effective partners such as Scatec and Norfund, as well as the Egyptian authorities, can facilitate infrastructure project development in Africa. We are pleased to help Egypt, an important shareholder, diversify its power generation mix while lowering greenhouse gas emissions.”

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MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA

Saudi Arabia to spend $500 bn on futuristic city with fully green power Saudi Arabia is getting into the city-building business with a new mega-city that will span three different countries and be powered completely by alternative or green energy.

The country’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, announced the $500 billion plan, which will create a futuristic city in the northwestern region of the country.

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ubbed Neom, the mega city will cover 26,500 sq km in total, spanning territory within Egypt and Jordan as well. The city is set to be the world’s first independent economic zone, operating with its own laws, taxes, and regulations. Neom will be powered completely by renewable energy from solar and wind panels, with its transport system also running on 100 per cent green energy. Some other things will be different, too. The flashy promotional video features women running in sports bras and working side by side with men, often without the head-covering hijab.

Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said he wants to turn Saudi Arabia into a more moderate version of Islam, and it recently for the first time allowed women to drive cars.

Until last month, Saudi Arabia was the only country where women were not allowed to drive. Male guardians in the kingdom still have the final say on whom a woman can marry and even where she travels.

The new city will also see

vertical urban farms, seawater farming, and solar-powered greenhouses that will help provide residents with fresh food supplies. The zone will also be a space to test out new technological advances like passenger drones and selflearning traffic systems.

Located next to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, the massive city will also provide a serene landscape composed of more than 290 miles of coastline and vast desert terrain.

The city’s coastline includes a variety of untouched beaches and coastal reefs and its valleys are cradled by mountains, creating a more moderate climate than that of nearby areas.

Plans also include the creation of sports and visual arts venues, a variety of marinas and waterside restaurants, record-breaking theme parks, natural parklands, a water park with a wave pool where Olympians will practice, and what officials say will be the world’s largest garden.

The move comes as the world’s largest oil exporter looks to boost its economy after falling oil prices.

Construction is already set to begin, with the first phase planned for completion by 2025. The progress of Neom can be followed development through an interactive map on the project’s website.

In his speech, Prince Mohammed bin Salman stressed that he would push for the social reforms. “We were not like this in the past,” he said. “We want to go back to what we were: moderate Islam. On Neom, the prince told a crowd in Riyadh. This place is not for conventional people or conventional companies. This will be a place for the dreamers of the world.”

Most Saudis hold jobs with the government, and the publicsector wage bill makes up about half of the country’s total expenditure. By 2030, Saudi Arabia wants to trim that by about 20 per cent, which would mean that there’s a need for rapid private-sector growth.

Source: domain-b

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RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS

Infrastructure Investments To Rise To Rs 50 Lakh Cr In Fy1822, Says Crisil, Suggests 5 Steps To Ensure Results Investments in India’s Infrastructure sectors will grow to Rs 50 lakh crore in the five fiscal years to FY22, up over a third from the previous five years, Crisil said, predicating the estimate on average GDP growth of around 7% during the period.

We have recommended 34 sick PSUs for strategic disinvestment...

All infrastructure projects owned by the government should be offered for O&M by private players through transparent competitive bidding.

- Mr. Amitabh Kant,

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CEO, NITI AAYOG nvestments in India’s Infrastructure sectors will grow to Rs 50 lakh crore in the five fiscal years to FY22, up over a third from the previous five years, Crisil said, predicating the estimate on average GDP growth of around 7% during the period. However, the rating agency stressed the need for deepening the infrastructure financing ecosystem in the country and suggested five specific steps for the same, including faster execution of the National Infrastructure Investment Fund and a well-calibrated Bond Guarantee Fund to address the sluggish bond market participation in the infrastructure sector. Significantly, the share of private investments in infrastructure, which has been stagnant in recent years, will continue to be rather subdued — private players’ share in overall infrastructure investment will be just around 28%, the agency predicted.

Unveiling “Crisil Infrastructure Yearbook 2017”, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said there was an urgent need for private sector investments to “come back”. State-level initiatives were required for this, he said.

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RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS

P

Infrastructure Investments Lakh Crore)

10.2 11

5.5 0.8 0.9 1.0

1.1 1.9

Railways

7.4

10 7.6 4.6

8.0 2.0 3.8

7.8 Power

FY07-12 FY13-17 RE FY18-22

Niti Aayog CRISIL projection

12.7 14.7

(

Urban

Road & highways

Ports & aviation

Others

Source : CRISIL, Niti Aayog, RE= revised estimate

CRISIL InfraInvex Investment attractiveness score (Scale=10 )

0

2

Power Transmission Renewables Highway & Roads Ports & Shipping Aviation Power Distribution Railways Thermal Generation Urban Infrastructure

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ccording to Crisil, the power, highways, transport and urban sectors would account for 77% of the infra spending in the FY18-22 period, which will see infrastructure investments of 5.5% of the gross domestic product.

The sectors that will see rapid growth in investments in the five-year period are railways (Rs 8 lakh crore versus just Rs 3.8 lakh crore in FY13-17) and urban infrastructure (Rs 5.5 lakh crore versus

4

6

5.4 5 4.9 4.5

8

7 6.9 6.6 6.1

10

8.1

Rs 1.9 lakh crore). Crisil suggested that public sector banks must be nudged to securitise assets from their infrastructure portfolio and called for fast-tracking of the much-delayed corporate bond market reforms, particularly with respect to enhancing investment limits for foreign investors, developing primary bond market akin to that of the primary equity market and revisiting infra bonds to attract retail investors.

It said: “To some extent, the twin balance sheet challenge in infrastructure can be attributed to unravelling of key risks, including policy inconsistency… Action on the demand side including comprehensive re-tooling of PPP (public-private partnership) frameworks and creation of bankable projects are of vital importance in the road ahead.”

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ower, roads, telecom, irrigation and railways accounted for about 83% of the Rs 61 lakh crore investments in infrastructure over the past 10 years. While power transmission, renewable energy and highways are the most attractive sectors for investment in infrastructure, railways, thermal power generation and urban infrastructure have been identified as the weakest on this front, in what underlines the need for making projects more attractive to investors in these areas.

The main growth drivers for power transmission was the $3.5-billion investment in green energy corridor by FY22, the doubling of inter-regional transmission capacity between FY17 and FY22, and assured revenue streams. Government policy support towards attaining the target of 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022 and availability of private financing made renewables an attractive sector according to Crisil.

Roads and highways are attractive to investors on the back of strong NHDP/ Bharatmala pipeline, sharp increases in budgetary outlays, revival of stalled projects and reduction in delays in project completion.

However, policy inconsistency, shortage of fuel availability and lack of power purchase agreements are hurting the thermal power generation industry.

Subdued traffic growth and freight challenges, safety concerns, slow pace of monetisation of real estate assets and organisational revamp are some of the reasons that are putting off investors from railways.

Lack of operations and maintenance cost recovery and slow execution on ‘smart cities’ projects are some of the main drags for urban infrastructure.

Holding the government, commercial banks and the private sector responsible for less-thanoptimum level of infrastructure investments, Kant said that “the government has put out a number of projects without proper preparation” while the private sector “indulged in aggressive bidding and backed out of projects” without performing sufficient due diligence and commercial banks did not correctly appraise projects.

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DISTRIBUTED SOLAR

Billions Change 2 Offers First Look New Life Changing Inventions Solving Worlds Biggest Problems New Billions in Change Documentary Debuts Sept. 29 at BillionsInChange. in, Introducing Never-Before-Seen Inventions that Will Enable Billions of People to Escape Poverty and Enjoy Healthy, Productive Lives

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ndian-born billionaire, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Manoj Bhargava believes those with wealth have a duty to serve those with less. He has committed over 99 percent of his fortune to improving quality of life for the ‘unlucky half of the world,’ namely by funding the development and deployment of inventions that help people meet their basic needs.

Bhargava’s unique approach to philanthropy was originally chronicled in the 2015 documentary film, Billions in Change, which featured four solutions created by Stage 2, Bhargava’s invention shop in Farmington Hills, Michigan (USA), dealing with energy, water, and health.

“Lights, clean water and nutritious food are the foundation of health, education, and livelihood,” says Bhargava. “Without them it’s impossible to live a productive life and care for your family,”

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DISTRIBUTED SOLAR

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illions in Change 2 is the followup to the first documentary, and unveils five wholly new inventions that directly address those fundamentals. “That was the story of what we’d been doing,” Bhargava says referring to the original film. “This is the story of what we’ve done.” All of the solutions featured in Billions in Change 2 have been field-tested, and all will be life-changing for those who use them. The HANS™ PowerPack and HANS™ Solar Briefcase address a problem that plagues nearly 3 billion people worldwide: lack of reliable access to electricity. For a rural household, school, or small business, the combination of the HANS™ Solar Briefcase and HANS™ PowerPack will meet most electrical needs. Together, they are like a miniature power station, except there’s no fuel to buy and no pollution.

The HANS™ PowerPack is a lightweight, portable power device that allows people to easily generate and store electricity for basic uses, such as lights, fans, and mobile devices. It includes a spotlight and room lighting, a USB port, and a 12-volt outlet for running small electronics. It can be recharged for free using the built-in solar panel, the HANS™ Solar Briefcase, or the HANS™ Free Electric bike (featured in the original Billions in Change film). It can also be plugged into a regular wall socket and charged off the grid. For those who receive electricity 2-3 hours per day, the HANS™ PowerPack can be charged when the utility is sending power, and then used during outage periods. The HANS™ PowerPack is constructed from the same material used to make bulletproof glass and comes with a 12year warranty, so it’s made to last.

The HANS™ Solar Briefcase is a lightweight, portable, and simple-touse set of solar panels designed for charging the HANS™ PowerPack from virtually anywhere on Earth. Created with portability and durability in mind, the HANS™ Solar Briefcase avoids the serious problems that make glass rooftop panels impractical.

Stage 2 developed two new RainMaker inventions for the billions of people who either lack access to safe drinking water, or live in areas threatened by shrinking water supplies.

The RainMaker for Brackish Water is a water filtration unit for use at the village level, which takes the salts and other minerals out of brackish water so it can be used for both drinking and agriculture. The device simply attaches to the water source, uses minimal electricity from a small generator, and begins working immediately.

The RainMaker for Grey water is a small, self-contained unit that uses a series of filters to purify any type of dirty water—river water, sewage water, bacteria-filled water, well water.

It also is intended for use at the village level and can be installed and used immediately. If electricity is not available, RainMaker for Grey Water can be used with a manual pump or a bike pump.

The fifth invention, Shivansh Fertilizer, will help the billions of rural farmers who are unable to make a living and take care of their families because of the debilitating expense of chemical fertilizer. Shivansh Fertilizer is a simple-to-follow and cost-free method of making fertilizer using whatever is laying around the farm—dry plant materials, fresh grass, crop residues, animal manure. After 18 days and relatively little maintenance, the result

is a nutrient-rich soil amendment. Integrating this fertilizer into a field brings dead soil back to life within just one planting season. This fertilizer method was discovered and refined through work sponsored by The Hans Foundation, one of the largest charitable organizations in India and also funded

by Bhargava.

In Billions in Change 2, Bhargava describes how some of the new devices evolved from solutions featured in the first documentary. He also reveals his own Darwin-like philosophy when it comes to the invention process: “If something works, I’m there. If it doesn’t work, it’s out,” says Bhargava.

In the months following release of the first Billions in Change documentary, the team at Stage 2 worked tirelessly to refine the products featured in the film in order to start production and distribution. They conducted multiple rounds of field-tests, they made improvements, they retested, they navigated bureaucracy and red tape, and in some cases they went back to the drawing board and started over because they discovered that they could make something better.

“I wish I was smart enough to go right to the end, it would save a lot of money. But unfortunately we have to go through all the stuff that didn’t work, all the stuff that was marginal, and then finally get to something that we say, ‘Yes, we have it!’ -says Manoj Bhargava

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RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS

AI For Energy:

A Huge Opportunity, But Still Early Days AES and others are actively exploring how artificial intelligence can improve the electricity system.

When Chris Shelton, chief technology officer for electricity giant AES, takes the stage at a tech conference in San Francisco this week, he’ll be the rare name in energy. The rest of the lineup looks more like traditional Silicon Valley tech: Google, Nvidia, Facebook and others.

Mr. Chris Shelton, Chief Technology Officer AES Energy Storage

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helton is headed to San Francisco for the AI Summit to talk about what he described to GTM as “one of the most exciting things out there” -- which is how the energy sector will be using artificial intelligence. Though, Shelton contends, it’s still early days when it comes to how the sector will embrace AI in practice. According to Shelton, AES is exploring how AI can improve awareness, efficiency and maintenance of the company’s grid systems and assets like solar farms and gas plants. It can also help AES make better predictions of how those systems and assets will operate.

AES manages 36 gigawatts of energy capacity across 17 countries and employs 19,000 people. The company, which generated $14 billion in revenue last year, is also building another nearly 5 gigawatts of energy capacity and has been growing its energy storage division focused on selling battery systems.

That such a large player is moving swiftly to embrace AI shows just how big of an opportunity the technology could be for the energy industry. Tech giants like GE and IBM are building prediction and maintenance systems for electricity, while many startups have emerged to tackle more niche energy issues like lowering the cost of selling solar panels or making office buildings more comfortable and efficient.

While Shelton is quiet on many of AES’ AI details - due to the early nature of the initiatives, he said- he describes some of the company’s interest in AI systems around advanced neural network design, natural language processing and machine intelligence. Artificial intelligence is not a single technology, but a suite of data science tools.

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RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS

W “The technology is fascinating because we can overlay it on our existing assets,” said Shelton.

Assets, like a solar or battery farm, produce a lot of data, he explained, and AI tools can take all that data and use it to run the farm more efficiently at a lower cost, or to produce more power. AES is both partnering with -- and looking to partner with -- AI vendors like GE, which it has worked with in the past. At the same time AES is also building its own AI technology, similar to its investment in systems for lithium-ion batteries, said Shelton, who helped spearhead AES’ energy storage business. “We’re ready to be patient with the technology, like we [were] with lithium-ion.”

ith the increase of digital technology used at all points on the electricity grid, artificial intelligence is expected to be increasingly used to manage, optimize and maintain the grid and power plants. Analysts at Navigant predict that power companies will turn to AI for increased reliability, safety, cyber security, efficiency and better customer experiences.

Companies like Alphabet's Nest have been using AI to offer better energy experiences for some time.

Nest’s thermostat lowers the temperature of a home and reduces energy consumption after using AI to learn its occupants' habits. Startup Comfy delivers a similar service for office buildings, but by using a combination of AI and an app for office workers.

Developing AI tools for energy companies could be a major opportunity for startups and traditional tech vendors alike. Expect both new entrants to emerge with brand-new, focused applications, and for AI players like Google, GE and IBM to use data tools from the web and consumer internet for energy services.

Shelton said AI really started to catch AES’ attention about a year and a half ago. But he expects the technology to be able to be deployed pretty swiftly, particularly compared to how long it takes power companies to install large physical assets on the power grid.

Today, though, AI for energy is just getting started.

“It’s similar to the dawn of the internet” in some ways, he said, noting that it could fundamentally change the way energy systems are built and operated.

Source : Greentech Media

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RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS

Trends Shaping the Global Solar PV Monitoring Market

by Cedric Brehaut

A recent report from GTM Research identifies worldwide trends in the monitoring and control of solar PV systems.

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he world of supervisory controls and data acquisition systems (SCADA) is evolving at a rapid pace to meet the changing needs of the PV industry around the world. The latest edition of GTM Researchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual report on the topic, Global PV Monitoring 20172022, identifies the trends that shape and sometimes shake this small yet increasingly critical component of modern PV plants.

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RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS

PV monitoring is commoditized

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asic monitoring functions are now commoditized and subject to price pressure in most markets.

Clients assume that any monitoring solution will reliably collect information and present it in a useful and intuitive interface. Offering such functions is no guarantee for success, and doing them well does not command a price premium. On the other hand, any shortcoming with these core functions can quickly result in loss of market share and lasting brand damage.

Monitoring platforms must improve plant returns

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ncreasing production and reducing operating costs remain the key battlegrounds for differentiation in the utility and industrial segments. All monitoring vendors support alerting and performance deviation analysis, which thus is not differentiated. More vendors seek to stand out by leveraging new technologies like machine learning to provide better fault detection and diagnosis, as well as to enable fault prediction.

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Control functions remain differentiated

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ontrol functions drive higher prices and margins, especially in the utility segment where advanced grid integration functions often require complex SCADA systems. Even in distributed generation segments, in markets favoring self-consumption (like Germany and Australia) or imposing grid export limits (like Hawaii), these features are core to the functionality of the PV system itself. For example, in self-consumption markets, the focus is to increase local usage of solar-generated energy and to reduce grid imports. To this effect, some monitoring systems offer automatic optimization of energy expenditures via control of home or business appliances, and via integration with energy storage systems.

4. Fleet operators want process integration

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ight business process integration between monitoring systems, computerized maintenance management systems, and asset management software is a key requirement from fleet owners and operators around the globe, whether via a single platform or multiple point solutions integrated together.

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The utility PV monitoring market is becoming global

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hile most residential and commercial monitoring markets still favor local vendors, globalization is accelerating in the utility segment, where large portfolio investors own plants in multiple countries and often standardize on a single data platform.

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Major inverter vendors are strong competitors

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onitoring hardware is now commonly built inside residential and commercial inverters. Software packages from major inverter providers like SMA, SolarEdge and Enphase are increasingly feature-rich, especially for self-consumption and energy storage integration, and commonly offered at a low (or for no) price. As a result, independent software vendors must find areas of differentiation, especially in self-consumption markets where the homeowner is now the main user of monitoring (vs. the installer) and does not value inverter independence or fleet-level functions.

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Monitoring adoption rates are increasing in every market

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elf-consumption drove residential monitoring adoption rates from 10 percent to practically 100 percent in Australia. Japanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new FIT rules mandating that PV systems have a maintenance plan should drive monitoring adoption rates up in the residential and commercial segments. Free or near-free solutions offered by inverter firms are also pushing higher adoption rates for residential and commercial PV.

For more global and country-bycountry PV monitoring trends, as well as market size and forecasts to 2022 and competitive landscape analysis by segment (residential, commercial, industrial, utility) and key country, please refer to GTM Researchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new report Global PV Monitoring 2017-2022: Markets, Trends and Leading Players.

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Swedish Company Commercialises Hybrid Charging Station While the buzz around electric vehicles is growing stronger by the day, switching towards cleaner mobility cannot be a viable solution without investing in cleaner energy production. Sweden-based clean energy solution company InnoVentum is focussing on just that â&#x20AC;&#x201C; developing sustainable energy solutions like Giraffe 2.0.

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES

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he Giraffe 2.0 by InnoVentum is a combined carport and charging station that harvests green energy from the wind and sun to power your EV. It is made of renewable (wood) and recycled (metal) materials ensuring the green power stations are as eco-friendly as possible.

According to the company, the trees that are used for the structure have absorbed several tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere before their wood takes the unique shape of a Giraffe – all this carbon dioxide is preserved within the structure for decades, making a positive contribution to the climate.

To give consumers flexibility, it combines the power station with the EV charger required, making it possible to charge a car in a couple of hours. It can also be connected directly to the utility grid and power one’s house or install an off-grid Giraffe 2.0 where grid-distribution is not available making it a attractive future-ready investment. The installation generations can charge the EV for running more than 225km per day – and in a year it produces enough energy for a car to be driven twice around the world.

According to the company, the hybrid energy station, offers two advantages – continuity of power production: complementary wind and solar technologies provide energy day and night, summer and winter and power density for space efficiency: the power production per square meter of footprint is doubled compared to solutions of the same size relying only on sun, or only on wind.

Additionally, the usage of wood further ensures silent operation thanks to the fibres in the timber structure absorbing vibrations and noise. The Giraffe 2.0 solution retails for 55,000 euro (Rs 42 lakh) and can be installed anywhere in the world. Source: autocarpro.in

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Technical Specifications PARKING SPACE

TWO CARS

Annual energy output (at 6 m/s wind)

13,850 kWh

EV mileage per year

45,000km x 2 cars

Footprint

24.6 m2

Dimensions (width x length x height)

4.1m x 6.0m x 12.0m

Energy Density (kWh / m2 footprint)

560 kWh / m2

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RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS

SIX ‘Q’s ON ASIA’S ENERGY TRANSITION FOR APAC SUMMIT Two years ago, when Bloomberg New Energy Finance held its first APAC Future of Energy Summit in Shanghai, the theme was the three “T”s – trade, technology and transition. On November 28-29, when we hold our latest Summit in the world’s most populous city, those three will still be vital, but some of the most urgent discussion will be about six “Q”s.

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In the space of those two years, the energy transition has moved into full swing in Asia, with power markets liberalizing, renewable energy integration a topic of heated debate and governments forced to legislate the right energy mix in order to balance environmental and security concerns. In clean energy, Asia-Pacific is about to record its fifth successive year of substantially out-investing both the Americas and Europe, Middle East and Africa. This rapid progress is leading people to ask some uncomfortable questions about the next phase. These include the six “Q”s below, encompassing everything from rates of return in the “belt and road initiative”, to the form of electrification in developing economies, from the location of future battery manufacturing, to the pain of moving away from combustion vehicles, from how to design markets to ensure grid stability, to whether Asia could experience a natural gas revolution.

Energy Politics and Trade

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sia’s trading economies have long sought opportunities abroad. Japanese companies began exporting their products not long after the country had rebuilt its economy after World War II. They were later joined by firms from other rapidly industrializing economies such as South Korea, Taiwan and, finally, China. What began as exploiting a competitive advantage to sell lower-cost and, gradually, better-quality products to overseas consumers soon evolved to other forms of foreign direct investment, which included acquiring assets, relocating manufacturing facilities to lower-cost locations and, more recently, acquiring foreign companies and technology. This progression – from the selling of mass manufactured goods to the acquiring of assets, companies and technologies – is now being

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Mr. Justin Wu Head of Asia-Pacific, Bloomberg New Energy Finance played out in the energy sector as well. Nowhere is this more apparent than in China’s ambitious “belt and road initiative”, a sprawling plan to invest over $1 trillion in energy and infrastructure in more than 50 developing markets across most of the Eurasian continent and East Africa. The idea has recently gained further prominence following an elaborate forum in Beijing in May 2017 attended by 29 heads of state including Russian President Vladimir Putin and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde. At the end of the event, 30 countries signed a communique pledging to support trade openness and promote greater connectivity between nations – the language could not be starker against the rising tide of economic nationalism in parts of the West. As of the end of 2016, China had already directly invested more than $14.5 billion in these countries, a third of which went into energy projects. The country’s two national policy banks, the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China, announced in May this year special lending schemes worth more than $55 billion to support this initiative. With a focus on developing countries from which the vast majority of future global energy demand growth will come, China’s priorities through this initiative could fundamentally transform the future of the world’s energy landscape. However, an ambition this vast and encompassing is not without its flaws. India, a recipient country on the “belt” and a geopolitical competitor, boycotted the forum in protest when the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, named a marquee program of the initiative, included projects in the disputed Kashmir region. “Connectivity projects must be pursued in a manner that respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity [of countries],” the Indian government said in a written statement.

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RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS

But a more immediate question (our first “Q”) is whether these projects will generate reasonable returns for Chinese investors and lenders, who are also eager to seek growth opportunities abroad as domestic energy demand slows. Data on this are very sparse at the moment but, in conversations with BNEF, China’s overseas investors have listed hazards that would be familiar to any power sector investor – off-taker risk, currency fluctuations, supply chain disruptions, shortage of experienced labor. No wonder many Chinese energy investors actually prefer the more developed markets of Western Europe, North America or Australia. When it comes to overseas investment, politics will have to come second to returns.

At the BNEF APAC Summit, we will examine China’s ambitions through our plenary session on overseas investment, and in-depth during the breakout sessions on a range of target markets such as India, Sub-Saharan Africa, Australia and Vietnam. We will also host a luncheon on multilateral banks, with speakers from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the Silk Road Fund.

Another question is exactly what energy projects are being built in these countries. Chinese companies are developing nearly 25GW of coal power projects in these emerging markets, even as coal projects continue to be cancelled at home due to environmental concerns. China’s national oil companies have invested more than $200 billion in these countries, mostly in oil and gas infrastructure designed to help boost exports of these fossil fuels to China.

As a government backed initiative, at a time when state-owned energy companies (the vast majority of them involved in coal or oil related businesses) face a slowdown at home, overseas investment offers a way out to potentially new markets. Chinese firms are also not alone in their overseas ambitions: Japan’s electric utilities currently own 17GW of generating capacity abroad, a number they are planning to triple to 50GW by 2030.

Falling electricity demand and growing competition due to retail liberalization are pushing Japanese utilities to seek better returns elsewhere. Most of this has been in the rapidly developing markets of Southeast Asia, with Thailand accounting for nearly a quarter of all investment so far. But like the Chinese firms, fossil fuels also feature heavily in

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Japan’s overseas investment, and 73% of the 17GW is gas generation. Japanese utilities, equipment makers and banks are also not shy about exporting or financing “clean coal” technologies to emerging markets.

The overseas ambitions of East Asian firms are about energy access and bringing development to these markets.

But in many ways, they are bringing the energy system of yesterday to these countries – centralized fossil fuels generation coupled with high-voltage transmission grids. A key question (and our second “Q”) is whether electrification in these developing countries will take this same course, or will it follow a far more distributed path involving micro-grids and small-scale generation?

Battle of the Batteries

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ack in 2005, the top 10 solar manufacturers in the world were a diverse bunch. Their manufacturing capacity was only a fraction of what today’s top 10 can produce, and they hailed from Japan, Spain and Germany – with only one from China. In 2017, all 10 of the world’s leading solar manufacturers are Chinese and 80% of the world’s modules are made by Chinese firms, who are now the most technologically advanced and efficient in the world.

The rest have all become a distant memory. The 28% experience curve – the decrease in the cost of a solar PV module for every doubling of its production capacity – is almost entirely thanks to China’s manufacturing prowess. This is perhaps the most important number in energy today, one that enables us to talk about everything else in the clean energy transition, from changing utility models to distributed energy, to solving the world’s climate crisis, to forecasting a future dominated by solar energy.

At the APAC Summit this year, we want to pose a very simple question (our third “Q”). Will we see the same thing happen to battery manufacturing as we saw in solar manufacturing a decade ago? Just over half of today’s lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing capacity is in China, with the rest mainly in Korea, Japan and the U.S. Amongst the top 10 suppliers today, South Korea’s LG Chem still holds the pole position in terms of commissioned manufacturing capacity, followed closely by China’s

BYD. With the pending transfer of AESC from Nissan and NEC to Beijingheadquartered private-equity firm GSR Capital for about $1 billion in December 2017, half of the world’s top 10 lithium-ion battery cell suppliers will be Chinese-owned. The next four years will only see Chinese dominance in batteries increase. By 2021, global lithium-ion cell manufacturing capacity is expected to double and Chinese firms will own 76% of it. Despite the ambitious announced capacity increases from LG Chem and the Tesla gigafactory, Chinese expansion will easily overtake all of this, driven by nearly five dozen governmentapproved lithium-ion battery manufacturers and many more emerging firms in an extremely competitive market. We will hear from some of these emerging Chinese players about their future plans in the Wednesday afternoon session on battery manufacturing.

The fate of batteries is closely tied to that of electric vehicles (EVs), which are expected to become the leading source of demand for lithium-ion battery packs in the next few years, overtaking consumer electronics. China became the world’s largest EV market in 2016, selling nearly twice the number of new electric vehicles as the second-placed U.S. Most Chinese battery manufacturers have focused on the domestic EV and the much smaller stationary energy storage markets, and government policy has helped them capture them at the expense of foreign competitors. The transition towards batteries and electric vehicles also raises some existential questions for Asia’s economies.

Together, they amount to our fourth “Q”.

Could China, a country not known globally for its automobiles, become a leader in this space in the future? Could BYD, BAIC or Geely become the next GM, BMW or Toyota? What about Japanese automakers that have built manufacturing bases in Southeast Asia – would a transition away from internal combustion engines undermine those economies?

And what about India, which wants to lessen its dependence on imported Middle Eastern oil by adopting electric vehicles. Would it trade Iranian oil for Chinese batteries? We will hear from some of China’s EV manufacturers on Tuesday morning in our session on “Electric vehicles: the home field advantage”.

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RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS The growth of EVs, though, is not only tied to individual consumer behavior but also to that of new technologies and platforms such as autonomous driving and ride-hailing apps. Well known is Uber’s exit from China in 2016, when it decided to sell its China operations to rival Didi Chuxing, after a brief but costly battle that had reportedly cost Uber at least $2 billion. Uber is now locked in another battle with GrabTaxi Holdings, Southeast Asia’s dominant ride-hailing company, in a region that is now the world’s fourth largest internet market with just over half of its 640 million citizens online. BNEF formed a new “Intelligent Mobility” team at the beginning of 2017 to look at how increasingly electrified, shared and connected platforms will impact the future of mobility.

At the Summit, we will present the latest research findings from this group and also hear from Asia’s leading mobility companies.

Should We Call Elon?

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or some parts of the Asia-Pacific region, the energy transition is no longer just a theory. The Australian energy system has seen a growing penetration of renewables in the past few years, but a major blackout in South Australia last year has brought the security and reliability of the whole power system into question. In July, a consortium consisting of French renewable energy company Neoen and Tesla won a government-backed tender to build the world’s largest lithiumion battery in South Australia. In a headline-grabbing move, Tesla CEO Elon Musk promised to build the battery in 100 days or offer it free – BNEF estimates that the system could cost as much as $100 million and, even at that cost, will not come close to solving South Australia’s problems, caused by peak demand significantly exceeding firm power capacity.

But the drama involving Musk did eventually spur a national conversation about system design and the role of energy storage in stabilizing intermittent renewables. This helped lead the Australian government to propose a plan that would include obligating electricity retailers to secure enough dispatchable and low-emission generation to meet the country’s energy goals. In other words, a regulatory intervention that forces the country’s largest utilities to build intermittent renewables responsibly and a potential template for other countries to follow in the future. Our Australia team will be at the Summit to discuss with a panel of Australian regulators how this plan may solve the challenge of renewable energy integration.

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In August, another blackout, this time in Taiwan, affected 80% of its population and led to the resignation of its economy minister and a public apology by President Tsai Ing-wen. Local press featured headlines along the lines of “Should we call Elon?” as the Tsai administration expressed interest in exploring power grid stability options with Tesla. Short it may be in terms of words, but it opens up a huge topic, and is our fifth “Q”.

The question here is about market design. Regulators are trying to find a more cost-efficient way to deliver electricity to consumers, to allow more renewable energy into the system without using more subsidies or causing the entire system to become unstable.

A number of sessions at the APAC Summit will address these issues from different angles. Two sessions on Day 2 will look at the impact of ongoing market reforms in a number of countries on power retailing. In the morning, we will look at emerging business models for this in China and in the afternoon we will discuss corporate renewable energy procurement, and whether regulatory changes will finally allow this to happen in Asia. Another session on the afternoon of Day 2 will tackle the topic of renewable energy credits and alternative ways to subsidize wind and solar, as Asian countries move beyond feed-in tariffs. Finally, on the afternoon of Day 1 we will host a plenary on new utility business models – Asian utilities that are impacted by these ongoing reforms will certainly offer a different perspective than a discussion on utility strategies in Europe. Beyond the headlines, the Taiwan outage also touched on one other issue impacting the energy transition in Asia – the fate of nuclear power. Since the Fukushima disaster of 2011, public opinion in Asia has shifted against nuclear and a growing number of governments have made shutting down reactors a political priority. Tsai’s government had pledged to make Taiwan nuclear free by 2025, replacing it with renewables and gas – the blackout raised some questions about whether this was too soon but did not sway public opinion away from the goal itself.

In May 2017, the election of Presi-

dent Moon Jae-in in South Korea landed another blow to Asia’s already uncertain future with nuclear energy. Moon has pledged to work out a roadmap to phase out nuclear in Korea by 2040, while pushing renewable energy, EVs and gas in order to lower emissions and tackle growing concerns over local air pollution. And finally, just in the past week, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan was re-elected in a landslide. One of the few things that set him apart from his chief rivals, led by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, were the nuclear restarts – he wanted them to continue while she wanted them phased out entirely. Despite Abe’s victory, nuclear restarts remain at a snail’s pace in Japan and the country is gradually seeing an increase in coal and gas generation.

Asia’s growing unease with nuclear energy will be addressed during a session on the afternoon of Day 1 of our Summit. But one would be mistaken to believe that Asian governments are increasingly siding with public opinion against nuclear only due to Fukushima – another reason is the growth of a cleaner and cheaper alternative, LNG. Demand for LNG will grow by 8.8% in 2017, the largest year-on-year growth since the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

Asian countries are all importing more LNG – in the first half of 2017, demand in Japan was up 6% from last year, in China it was up 38%, and in South Korea up 20%. Despite the uptick, LNG will remain oversupplied well into the next decade, resulting in more favorable prices and flexible contracts. An abundance of cheaper and more flexible LNG from allied countries such as the U.S. or Australia has partially undermined the energy security argument for nuclear amongst Asia’s major energy importers.

The lower emissions of gas power is also viewed as an attractive option to replace coal. his brings us to our final and perhaps most important “Q” – could Asia experience a natural gas revolution?

Would LNG enable this to happen? We have invited the chairman of JERA, one of the world’s largest LNG buyers, to join us for a plenary session with other gas buyers and sellers to discuss the outlook for LNG in Asia.

Asia is now very much a part of the energy transition. Governments, firms and customers in the region are living within it and debating its implications every bit as much as those in other parts of the world. At the APAC Summit, we hope to bring you the perspective of not only those living within it, but also those driving Asia’s transition.

We look forward to welcoming you there on November 28-29.

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Stella Vie wins World Solar Challenge 2017 Solar Team Eindhoven has won the 2017 World Solar Challenge Cruiser Class Division in their Stella Vie solar car, with Ericsson’s Solar Navigator platform proving to be a critical factor in success.

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aking just six days, Stella Vie blazed 3,022 kilometers across the Australian outback from Darwin to Adelaide. Supported by a multidisciplinary team of 21 students from the Technical University Eindhoven the Netherlands, the car has proved to the world commercial solar cars are not only viable, but they could soon be a reality. At the heart of Stella Vie is the unique Solar Navigator platform, an innovative application that uses Ericsson’s Connected Urban Transport solution and is powered by Ericsson’s IoT Accelerator platform. The app aggregates in-car data, traffic data and weather data, to perform in-depth analytics and optimize the route. It also takes height profile maps into account, finds the most efficient route and shows drivers how much energy is saved compared to a standard, fossil fuel-powered car. Through the Solar Parking app, which uses height maps, weather data and a parking probability map, drivers are guided to a free parking spot which yields the most solar energy. The latest vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology to warn the driver and anticipate upcoming traffic events, allowing for safer and more efficient driving. It also encourages the user to drive as efficiently as possible by giving feedback through a built-in lighting system, warning the driver by turning red when either braking or accelerating too fiercely and using up battery life. Stella Vie finished the event with a full 80 points of efficiency, over 2 times the amount of second place Bochum (38), with the Arrow team finishing third on 20.6.

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Mr. Chris Selwood Event Director World Solar Challenge (Speaking on the Cruiser Class Division and Solar Team Eindhoven’s win)

“These incredible solar cars have been designed with the commercial market in mind and have all the features you’d expect in a family, luxury or sporting car.

Team Eindhoven are to be congratulated on their achievement to date - clearly the most energy efficient solar car in the field, capable of generating more power than they consume. This is the future of solar electric vehicles. When your car is parked at home it can be charging and supplying energy back to the grid.”

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Policy & Regulations

RAJASTHAN ELECTRICITY REGULATORY COMMISSION

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n exercise of the powers conferred under Section 181 of the Electricity Act, 2003 and all powers enabling it in this behalf, the Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission makes the following Regulations to facilitate large scale grid integration of solar and wind generating stations while maintaining grid stability and security as envisaged under the IEGC/REGC, through forecasting & scheduling and providing commercial mechanism for Deviation Settlement of these generators,

Provided that the charges payable for deviation from schedule by the wind and solar generators which are regional entities shall be accounted for and settled in accordance with the provisions of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Deviation Settlement Mechanism and related matters) Regulations, 2014 as amended from time to time: Provided further that these Regulations may be applied to RE generators with new technologies as considered appropriate by the Commission over the time.

Applicability Of The Regulations:

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For wind power generators supplying power to the Discoms, or to the third party consumers through Open Access (OA) or for captive consumption through OA within or outside the State:

(a) Wind power generators having individual or combined capacity of 5 MW and above whether connected to the State Grid independently or through pooling stations; (b) Wind power generators of any capacity connected to the State Grid through pooling station with total capacity of 5 MW and above.

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For solar power generators supplying power to the Discoms, or to the third party consumers through Open Access (OA) or for captive consumption through OA within or outside the State:

(a) Solar power generators having Individual or combined capacity of 5 MW and above whether connected to the State Grid independently or through pooling stations and/or solar parks; (b) Solar power generators of any capacity connected to the State Grid through pooling station and /or solar park with total capacity of 5 MW and above. www.EQMagPro.com

Policy & Regulations ROLE OF QUALIFIED COORDINATING AGENCY

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The Qualified Coordinating Agency (QCA) as defined at Regulation 2(1)(o) shall be nominated based on consensus and mutually greed terms and conditions amongst the wind and solar generators. The wind and solar generators shall also inform SLDC to this effect. QCA shall be the single point of contact with SLDC n behalf of its coordinated enerator(s) connected to a pooling station for the following purposes: (1) Provide schedules with periodic revisions as per these Regulations on behalf of all the Wind/Solar Generators connected to the pooling station.

(2) Responsible for coordination with STU/SLDC and other agencies for metering, data collection and its

FORECASTING AND SCHEDULING:

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hese Regulations provide methodology for day-ahead scheduling of wind and solar energy generators which are connected to the State grid and the methodology of handling deviations of such wind and solar energy generators.

Appropriate meters shall be provided by STU at the cost of intrastate entities for energy accounting. Telemetry/communication system & Data Acquisition System as may be required by SLDC shall also be provided by the generator concerned for transfer of information to the SLDC.

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orecasting shall be done by wind and solar generators connected to the State Grid or by QCAs on their behalf. The SLDC shall also undertake forecasting of wind and solar power that is expected to be injected into the State grid. The forecast by the SLDC shall be with the objective of ensuring secure grid operation by planning for the requisite balancing resources. The forecast by the QCA or wind and solar generator, as the case may be, shall be generator centric. The QCA or wind and solar generators will have the option of accepting the SLDCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s forecast for preparing its schedule or providing a schedule to the SLDC based on their own forecast. The QCA shall coordinate the aggregation of schedules of all generators connected to a pooling station and communicate it to the SLDC.

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transmission, communication.

(3) Undertake commercial settlements on behalf of the generators, of such charges pertaining to generation deviations only including payments to the State pool account through the concerned SLDC. (4) Undertake de-pooling of payments received on behalf of the generators from the State Pool account and settling them with the individual generators in accordance with these Regulations.

(5) Undertake commercial settlement of any other charges on behalf of the generators as may be mandated from time to time.

(6) All other ancillary and incidental matters

he QCA or the wind and solar generator shall submit a dayahead schedule for each pooling station or each generating station, as the case may be. Day-ahead schedule shall contain wind or solar energy generation chedule at intervals of 15 minutes (time-block) for the next day, starting from 00:00 hours of the day, and prepared for all 96 timeblocks. Provided that the wind and solar generators, as the case may be, having multiple transaction under Power Purchase Agreement and intrastate and/ or interstate Open Access with a common interface meter shall submit schedules with respect to such approved capacities allocated and such capacities alone shall be treated as available capacities (AVCs) for the purpose of transactions under this Regulation.

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chedule of wind and solar generators connected to the State grid (excluding collective transactions) may be revised by giving advance notice to the SLDC. Such revisions shall be effective from 4th time block, the first being the time-block in which notice was given. There may be one revision for each time slot of one and half hours starting from 00:00 hours of a particular day subject to a maximum of 16 revisions during the day.

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ny commercial impact on account of deviation from schedule based on the forecast shall be borne by the wind and solar generator, either directly or transacted via the representing QCA.

METERING, TELEMETRY AND DATA COMMUNICATION:

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ind and Solar generators covered under these Regulations shall be governed by interface metering with a provision for recording and storing all the load survey and billing parameters for every 15-minute time block.

Monthly eter readings shall be forwarded to the SLDC in addition to data acquisition through SCADA for energy accounting.

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ata telemetry shall be adopted at the turbine/inverter or plant level as considered appropriate by SLDC. Wind and Solar generators, represented via Qualified Coordinating Agencies (QCAs), shall mandatorily provide to the SLDC, in a format prescribed by SLDC, the technical specifications at the beginning and whenever there is any change. The data relating to power system output & parameters and weather related data as applicable or any other data as directed by SLDC shall be mandatorily provided by such generators or QCA to the SLDC in real time: EQ

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Policy & Regulations

COMMERCIAL AND DEVIATION SETTLEMENT:

4D

eviation Settlement Mechanism (DSM) specified under these Regulations shall be applicable to all wind and solar generators covered under these Regulations and connected to the State Grid.

W

ind or solar generators connected to the State grid and selling power within the State shall be paid by the buyer as per actual energy supplied irrespective of quantum of energy scheduled by it. However, the wind and solar generators connected to the State Grid and selling power outside the State shall be paid by the buyer as per scheduled generation.

T Q I

he wind and solar generator or the QCA, as the case may be, shall provide SLDC with a schedule based on its own forecast or SLDC’s forecast, and such schedule shall be used as reference for deviation settlement.

CA shall undertake commercial settlements related to deviations on behalf of the generator(s) connected to the respective pooling station(s) on a monthly basis. The deviation accounting and settlement shall take place at the pooling station level before the end of succeeding month. n the event of actual generation of a generating station or a pooling station, as the case may be, being less or more than the generation scheduled as per Regulation 16 above, the deviation charges for shortfall or excess generation shall be payable by the wind and solar generator or the QCA, as the case may be, to the State Pool, as prescribed in Table – I below:

Deviation Charges in case of under or over-injection for sale of power within the State

56

"S. No."

"Absolute Error in the 15-minute time block"

Deviation charges payable to the State DSM pool"

1.

<=15%

None

2.

>15% but <=25%

"At Rs. 0.50 per unit for the shortfall or excess of energy for absolute error beyond 15% and upto 25%"

3.

>25% but <=35%

"At Rs. 0.50 per unit for the shortfall or excess energy beyond 15% and upto 25% + Rs. 1.0 per unit for balance energy beyond 25% and upto 35%"

4.

>35%

At Rs. 0.50 per unit for the shortfall or excess "energy beyond 15% and upto 25% + Rs. 1.0 per unit for shortfall or excess energy beyond 25% and upto 35% + Rs. 1.50 per unit for balance energy beyond 35%."

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P

rovided that deviation charges for under or over injection by wind or solar generator connected to the State grid and selling power outside the tate shall be paid or received as per the framework provided in Appendix – I. The accounting for this purpose shall be done by the SLDC.

T

he QCA shall also de-pool the energy deviations as well as deviation charges to each generator on the basis of the deviation of each generator or any other methodology /criteria mutually agreed between QCA and generators.

O

nce the accounting procedures as above are put in place, all solar and wind enerators shall be treated together as a virtual pool within the State Pool. Deviations for and within this virtual pool shall be settled first at the rates and methodology stipulated above for wind and solar generators.

M

onthly accounts as mentioned above shall be prepared by the SLDC. The wind and/or solar or QCA or SLDC, as the case may be shall separately account the deviations for multiple transactions under PPA and/ or intra-state and/or inter-state Open Access.

T

he State Load Despatch Centre shall maintain separate records and account of time-block wise schedules, actual generation and deviations for all generators, including wind and solar generators.

T

he guidelines in respect of payment mechanism, payment security, curtailment and other matters incidental to these Regulations shall be as provided in the detailed procedure provided by SLDC under Regulation 13 of these Regulations

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Policy & Regulations

MISCELLANEOUS : Power to Relax

5T

he Commission may by general or special order, for reasons to be recorded in riting, and after giving an opportunity of hearing to the parties likely to be affected by grant of relaxation, may relax any of the provisions of these regulations on its own otion or on an application made before it by an interested person.

P

ower to issue directions If any difficulty arises in giving effect to these regulations, the Commission may on its own motion or on an application filed by any affected party, issue such directions as may be considered necessary in furtherance of the objective and purpose of these Regulations.

P

ower to amend The Commission may, at any time, vary, alter, modify or amend any provision of these Regulations.

Framework for deviation charges for under or over injection by generator connected to the State grid and selling power outside the State The wind or solar generators connected to the State grid and selling power outside the State boundary shall be settled as per scheduled generation.

I

n the event of actual generation being less than the scheduled generation, the eviation charges for shortfall in generation shall be payable by such wind or solar generator, or the QCA on their behalf, to the State Pool Account as given in Table below:

Table â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I: Deviation Charges in case of under injection

Deviation Charges in case of under or over-injection for sale of power within the State "S. No."

Absolute Deviation Charges payable to State DSM Pool Error in the 15-minute time

1.

< = 15%

At the Fixed Rate for the shortfall energy for absolute error upto 15%

2.

>15% but <= 25%

At the Fixed Rate for the shortfall energy for absolute error upto 15% + 110% of the Fixed Rate for balance energy beyond 15% and upto 25%

3.

>25% but <=35%

At the Fixed Rate for the shortfall energy for absolute error upto 15% + 110% of the Fixed Rate for balance energy beyond 15% and upto 25% + 120% of the Fixed Rate for balance energy beyond 25% and upto 35%

4.

>35%

At the Fixed Rate for the shortfall energy for absolute error upto 15% + 110% of the Fixed Rate for balance energy beyond 15% and upto 25% + 120% of the Fixed Rate for balance energy beyond 25% and upto 35% + 130% of the Fixed Rate for balance energy beyond 35%

Where the Fixed Rate is the PPA rate as determined by the Appropriate Commission under section 62 of the Act or adopted by the Appropriate Commission under section 63 of the Act. In case of multiple PPAs, the weighted average of the PPA rates shall be taken as the Fixed Rate. The wind and solar generators shall furnish the PPA rates on affidavit for the purpose of Deviation charge account preparation to respective SLDC supported by copy of the PPA. Fixed Rate for Open Access participants selling power which is not accounted for RPO compliance of the buyer, and the captive wind or solar plants shall be the Average Power Purchase Cost (APPC) rate at the National level, as determined by CERC from time to time. For this purpose, the State Commission may also determine any other rate as and when considered appropriate, in that case the same shall be applicable.

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57Â

Policy & Regulations

ASSAM ELECTRICITY REGULATORY COMMISSION

B

ii) Upon grid arrival, MGO shall generate and supply entire electricity generated to the Distribution Licensee at the interconnection point at FiT determined by the Commission. The Distribution Licensee shall have to purchase the entire quantum of electricity generated from such projects at the FiT determined by the Commission in accordance with the National Tariff Policy notified on 28th January 2016.

C

Model for Business Operations:

M A

GO may implement Micro/Mini-Grid projects for supply of electricity in Micro/ MiniGrid areas where grid is not in existence under following operational model or any subsequent model as approved by the Commission in future:

i) MGO who proposes to construct, commission, operate shall apply to the Distribution Licensee before implementation of the Micro/Mini-Grid projects for generation and supply of electricity through PDN in areas where Distribution Licensee’s System doesn’t exist.

i) The MGO may transfer ownership of PDN conforming to the standards of Distribution Licensee’s system to Distribution Licensee with mutual consent based on book value of assets on the date of transfer. ii) The book value of the asset shall be mutually agreeable between the MGO and the Distribution Licensee. However, in case of any dispute the book value of the asset shall be determined by a third party agency engaged for this purpose. The cost for valuation of assets by the third party shall be equally borne by the MGO and the Distribution Licensee.

AERC (Micro/Mini-Grid Renewable Energy Generation and Supply) Regulations, 2017

General Principles &Operational Framework

i) MGO shall be entitled to supply entire quantum of electricity generated from the Micro/MiniGrid projects to the consumers within the icro/ Mini Grid area at mutually agreed tariff with the consumers.

D

i) Upon grid arrival and interconnection of PDN with the grid, the Distribution Licensee shall take over the Billing and Collection activity of the consumers in accordance with the retail Tariff order of the Commission. ii) The Distribution Licensee may engage the MGO as Distribution Franchisee for operation, maintenance and Revenue collection in that area. For this purpose a Distribution Franchisee agreement shall be executed between the MGO and concerned Distribution Licensee. iii) The modalities of operation of the Distribution Franchisee along with detail terms and condition shall be finalized by the Distribution Licensee with intimation to the Commission and shall be a part of the DFA.

ii) The Distribution Licensee shall give no objection certificate (NOC) within 15 days of receipt of the proposal from the MGO, if they do not have any plan for extension of the Grid in the near future and an agreement between Distribution Licensee and MGO shall be executed in this regard. iii) The Distribution Licensee shall prepare a model agreement for execution with MGO and submit to the Commission for approval within 3 months from the date of notification of these Regulations.

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Policy & Regulations

Technical Framework :

Commercial Framework:

Technical Standards for PDN:

Energy Accounting and Settlement

T

supply to consumers before Grid Arrival: echnical Standards for construction of PDN shall be as per the standard followed by Distribution Licensee in accordance with the Central Electricity Authority (Technical Standard for construction of Electrical Plants and lines) Regulations, 2010 as amended from time to time.

MGO shall be responsible for safe Operation and Maintenance of the PDN as per the CEA (Measures relating to Safety and Electric Supply) Regulations, 2010 as amended from time to time.

Technical Standards for Distribution Licensee’s network shall be shared by the Distribution Licensee with the MGO for proper implementation.

State Nodal Agency may appoint third party agency for verification of technical standards of PDN.

M

GO shall mutually decide with the consumers the Tariff for supply and the billing and payment mechanism. The same along with projects details shall be submitted to the Commission at least a month before the commencement of Operation

Energy Accounting and Settlement for supply

Distribution Licensee after Grid Arrival:

Upon Grid Arrival the entire energy generated by Micro/MiniGrid shall be purchased by the Distribution Licensee as per Regulation 4 b(ii).

MGO shall raise monthly bill against the electricity injected to the Distribution Licensee’s system at the interconnection point based on the consumption recorded by the meter during the previous month.

The Distribution Licensee shall make payment of the bill to the MGO within 15 days from the date of issue of the bills.

The other terms and conditions of payment and contract shall be as per the PPA executed between the MGO and Distribution Licensee.

The Distribution Licensee shall raise bill against the individual consumers in the area as per the retail Tariff approved by the Commission.

Technical Standards for

Interconnection with the Grid:

Central Electricity Authority (Technical Standards for connectivity of the Distributed Generation Resources) Regulations, 2013 as amended from time to time shall be applicable for interconnection of the Micro/ Mini-Grid project with the Grid.

The cost for interconnection network from the MRES to the Interconnection point shall be borne by the MGO.

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59

Policy & Regulations

Safety Measures for Micro/MGP :

The installations of electrical equipment must comply with Central Electricity Authority (Measures of Safety and lectric Supply) Regulations, 2010 as amended from time to time.

The MGO if engaged as a Distribution Franchisee shall bill the consumers in the area as per the retail Tariff approved by the Commission.

All the meters shall adhere to the standards and provisions specified in CEA (Installation and operation of meters) Regulations, 2006 as amended from time to time.

MGO shall raise bill to Distribution Licensee for Distribution Franchisee activities as per the terms of the DFA.

Distribution Licensee shall install meter(s) at the interconnection point for energy accounting purpose.

The other terms and conditions shall be covered in the DFA.

The cost for installation of meter(s) at interconnection point shall be borne by the Distribution Licensee.

Renewable Purchase Obligation:

MGO shall install meter as per the following requirements:

The quantum of electricity generated from the MRES shall qualify towards compliance of RPO by the obligated entities.

Generation meter at the Micro/Mini-Grid project to record the generation of electricity; and

Renewable Energy Certificate mechanism:

Meter(s) at each of the outgoing feeder(s) from the Micro/ Mini-Grid project.

Meter(s) at consumers premises to record the electricity consumption of the consumer.

Contractual Framework

Power Purchase Agreement:

F

or sale and Purchase of electricity generated from MRES, MGO and the Distribution Licensee shall enter into a PPA. The Distribution Licensee shall prepare a draft PPA and submit to the ommission for approval within 3 months from the date of notification of this Regulation.

Revocation of Agreements: In case of termination of Agreement(s), the Distribution Licensee and MGO shall follow the process specified in the PPA and DFA (as may be applicable).

Exit Options:

The MGO, who intend to exit from the Micro/Mini-Grid project shall have to serve notice on the Distribution Licensee, State Nodal Agency with intimation to the Commission about his intension of exit prior to 90 days of his exit.

The Exit options will be governed by the Agreement(s) signed by the MGO and Distribution Licensee.

Distribution Licensee may take over the MRES from the MGO as per terms of the agreement and may operate of its own.

60Â

Distribution Franchisee activities:

Metering Arrangement:

Energy Accounting and Settlement for

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November Part A 2017

Applicability of REC shall be based on the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Terms and Conditions for recognition and issuance of Renewable Energy Certificate for Renewable Energy Generation) Regulations, 2010 or as amended from time to time.

Roles and Responsibilities of Stakeholders

State Nodal Agency:

I

In order to facilitate smooth and effective implementation of these Regulations, the State Nodal Agency shall have following roles and responsibilities:

Provide inputs to the Commission for determination of FiT for MRES as and when required; To initiate a process to keep track of Micro/Mini-Grid project development in the State;

To facilitate MGO to operate the Micro/Mini-Grid Project within an applicable supply model;

To support the Commission and furnish information sought from time to time in order to effectively implement the Regulations.

To administer exit requests of MGO; and

Any other matter entrusted by the Commission from time to time

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Policy & Regulations

Distribution Licensee:

Distribution Licensee shall be responsible for the following activities:

Exit Options:

To specify and share the technical standards of Distribution Licensee’s system;

The Distribution Licensee shall provide NOC to the MGO within one month of receiving application from MGO;

The Distribution Licensee shall enter into the PPA with the MGO upon Grid arrival and facilitate inter- connection;

The Distribution Licensee may enter into the DFA (if applicable) with the MGO.

To provide necessary information to the Commission as ask for time to time.

Micro/Mini-Grid Operator:

MGO shall be responsible for the following activities:

Miscellaneous

Payment Security

T

he Distribution Licensee shall prioritize making payments to MGO wherever such payments are due to MGO under the PPA or otherwise.

The cost of power purchased from the Micro/Mini Grid project by the Distribution Licensee shall be recovered and form a part in the ARR and will also qualify for RPO obligation.

Formation of Technical Committee

Technical Committee will be constituted at the state level by the Commission.

The Committee will have representations from State Nodal Agency, Micro/Mini-Grid Operator and Distribution Licensee, not below the rank of Chief Engineer.

The Committee will supervise the overall progress of the proposed activities for effective implementation of the Regulations.

Exit Options:

To specify and share the technical standards of Distribution Licensee’s system;

The Distribution Licensee shall provide NOC to the MGO within one month of receiving application from MGO;

The Commission shall resolve any conflict between MGO and the concerned Distribution Licensee(s).

The Distribution Licensee shall enter into the PPA with the MGO upon Grid arrival and facilitate inter- connection;

Grievance of any consumer shall be redressed as per AERC (Redressal of Consumer Grievances) Regulations, 2016

The Distribution Licensee may enter into the DFA (if applicable) with the MGO.

To provide necessary information to the Commission as ask for time to time.

Grievance Redressal Mechanism:

Power to give directions:

Consumers in the Micro/Mini-Grid area:

Consumers shall be responsible for the following activities:

Exit Options:

Consumers in the identified Micro/Mini-Grid area shall regularly pay the electricity charges to the MGO, based on the mutually agreed tariff.

Upon Grid arrival the consumer shall regularly pay the electricity charges to the Distribution Licensee as per the retail Tariff of the respective categories.

Consumers shall adopt Energy Efficient measures by using Energy Efficient appliances and reduce the overall electricity consumption.

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The Commission may, from time to time issue such directions and orders as considered appropriate for implementation of these Regulations.

Power to Relax:

The Commission may by general or special order(s), for reasons to be recorded in writing, and after giving an opportunity of hearing to the parties likely to be affected, may relax any of the provisions of these Regulations on its own motion or on an application made before it by an interested person.

Power to amend:

The Commission may from time to time add, vary, alter, suspend, modify, amend or repeal any provisions of these Regulations.

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PV Manufacturing

Daqo New Energy Announces Phase 3B Expansion Plan for Its Polysilicon Facilities in Xinjiang Manufacturer of high-purity polysilicon for the global solar PV industry, today announced that the board of directors has officially approved the Company’s Phase 3B expansion plan (“Phase 3B Project”) for its polysilicon facilities in Xinjiang.

P

hase 3B Project is expected to increase the Company’s polysilicon annual nameplate capacity from the current 18,000 MT to 25,000 MT. By adopting additional technology improvement and debottlenecking projects, the Company may be able to further increase its capacity to 30,000 MT per annum by the end of 2019.

The Company expects to complete project design and initial preparation works for Phase 3B Project by the end of 2017, complete constructions and installations by the end of 2018, start pilot production in the first half of 2019 and reach full capacity by the end of the second quarter of 2019.

For the Phase 3B Project, the Company plans to adopt new designs, processes, technologies and equipment that would further improve the quality and purity of its polysilicon products. The polysilicon products of the Phase 3B Project are anticipated to

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reach electronics grade and will be targeting the monocrystalline wafer and semiconductor markets, which have more stringent requirements on polysilicon quality and purity, and therefore have higher entry barriers. The Company may potentially enjoy higher profit margin if it could successfully access these markets with its differentiated ultra-high purity electronicgrade polysilicon products.

In addition to polysilicon quality upgrading, the Company expects to implement new production processes to improve operational efficiencies, which would further reduce our total production cost. Once Phase 3B Project is ramped up to full production capacity, we anticipate the overall total production cost for our Xinjiang facilities could potentially be decreased to US$7.50 per kilogram, benefiting from better operating leverage, adopting new production processes and equipment with higher efficiencies, and achieving greater economies of scale.

Heraeus Photovoltaics Achieves 100 Ton Locally Produced Silver Paste Shipment in Taiwan

T

AIPEI CITY, TAIWAN- October 19, 2017- Heraeus Photovoltaics, the worldwide leading supplier of metallization solutions to the PV industry recently achieved a milestone by shipping its one-hundredth ton of locally produced silver paste in Taiwan this year.

The company is now recognized as the leading provider of silver paste for the Taiwan photovoltaics market. Photovoltaic cells made with 100 tons of silver paste can power around 20% of Taipei’s annual electricity demand.

Heraeus Photovoltaics established operations in Taiwan in 2015 to produce silver paste for the fast-growing solar energy industry. Over that time, it has become the market leader in Taiwan, providing silver paste and ancillary solutions to cell manufacturers in the region. Today, Heraeus has a broad, integrated photovoltaics footprint in Taiwan, encompassing manufacturing, sales and the company’s Applications Engineering Center and Research & Development facility.

“Speed and paste customization are critical industry issues. By having labs and technical experts close to our customers here in Taiwan, we can make requested modifications faster and be even more responsive to the fastchanging photovoltaics market.”

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PV Manufacturing

Gintech, Solartech and NSP to Merge and Establish United Renewable Energy Co., Ltd. to Create a New Winning Model in Line with Taiwan’s Renewable Energy Policies Three Taiwanese solar cell manufacturers, Gintech Energy Corporation Solartech, Energy Corp and Neo Solar Power Corp. jointly announced that their boards of directors have respectively adopted a resolution today to execute a Letter of Intent with the other Companies, representing the three Companies’ intent to merge into one company (the “Proposed Merger”).

T

he three Companies are solar cell manufacturers in Taiwan with their own unique niche and have been contributing to the growth of the solar energy industry for more than 10 years.

Apart from solar cells, each Company also participates in different production segments of the silicon wafer, module, power grid, and other solar energy supply chains.

Faced with a highly competitive and increasingly concentrated market, the Companies believe that Taiwanese manufacturers should come together to form a solar flagship company with a competitive edge on the global market and build a flourishing and prosperous integrated platform.

The Proposed Merger process will be implemented based on an equal and mutually beneficial principle without designating any of the Companies as the acquiring

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From left to the right: NSP President, Gintech President, NSP Chairman and CEO, Gintech Chairman, Solartech Chairman, Solartech President.

or the acquired party. However, in order to comply with Taiwanese laws, the Companies agree that NSP will be the surviving company after it merges with the other two partners. The surviving company will be renamed United Renewable Energy Co., Ltd. (“UREC”) after the Proposed Merger effective date so that all Companies could stand on an equal playing field.

UREC will create a new business model for Taiwan’s green energy industry. In addition to maintaining its leading role in solar cell technology, UREC is built up to become the paragon of vertical integration of the Taiwan industry by enlarging domestic and overseas investment in module, building self-owned high quality module brand, and stepping into power plant development businesses.

The establishment of UREC will allow Taiwan’s solar cell industry to get rid of its role as foundries and further urge the green energy

industry to root and grow strongly in Taiwan. It would also drive the joint development of the related industry chains which will cover energy materials, electromechanical and relevant services.

UREC will create a new business model for Taiwan’s green energy industry. In addition to maintaining its leading role in solar cell technology, UREC is built up to become the paragon of vertical integration of the Taiwan industry by enlarging domestic and overseas investment in module, building self-owned high quality module brand, and stepping into power plant development businesses.

The establishment of UREC will allow Taiwan’s solar cell industry to get rid of its role as foundries and further urge the green energy industry to root and grow strongly in Taiwan. It would also drive the joint development of the related industry chains which will cover energy materials, electromechanical and relevant services.

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PV Manufacturing In the hopes of boosting the competitiveness of UREC and in consideration of the Companies’ plan of industrial upgrade as well as Taiwan’s energy policy direction, the Companies have started to work with relevant government agencies to garner their support. The initial consensus at the moment is to have the National Development Fund under the Executive Yuan and other organizations appointed by the government investing in the Companies under appropriate terms and conditions.

Such investment will mainly be utilized as the Companies’ capital expenditures. The Companies will soon file an official investment proposal with the National Development Fund and other organizations appointed by the government.

Under the government-backed support, the success of UREC will assist the transformation of Taiwan’s energy supply, and the green energy would then be able to become one of the main power supply options other than petrochemical energy.

While the Letter of Intent is not legally binding, the Companies are aiming to have their respective boards adopting resolutions to execute a legally binding merger agreement by the end of December of 2017 and to complete the merger process in the third quarter of 2018. Such decision will be made after thorough research and deliberation among the Companies’ management teams, with the goal of maximizing the benefits for the industry, their employees, partner banks, and investors as well as reaching the objectives set forth in our nation’s green energy policies.

After a comprehensive review of the Companies’ share prices, net values, operational performances, business development and other factors pertaining the

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Companies’ operations, the tentative share exchange ratio of the Proposed Merger will be as follows: one common share of Gintech for 1.39 common shares of NSP; one common share of Solartech for 1.17 common shares of NSP. The foregoing share exchange ratios are subject to change depending on the further assessment of each Company’s obligations and liabilities. The final share exchange ratios will be specified in the definitive merger agreement.

Dr. Sam Hong and Dr. Wen-whe Paare expected to serve,respectively, as the Chairman and CEO of UREC, the surviving company after the Proposed Merger.

With the aim of mutual benefit and reciprocity, UREC welcomes other Taiwanese solar companies to join the integrated platform under appropriate terms and conditions after the Proposed Merger, so as to facilitate the sustainable development and upgrade of Taiwan’s solar power industry.

The Letter of Intent executed by the three Companies on October 16, 2017, while not legally binding, aims to confirm the intention of each partner and the principles of the Proposed Merger. As the negotiations of the Proposed Merger are still underway, the terms (including but not limited to the share exchange ratios and the surviving company) and each parties’ right and obligations are still to be discussed and agreed upon after the signing of this Letter of Intent. Please note that it is possible that the definitive merger agreement for the Proposed Merger will not be signed, and the Proposed Merger might not be closed even if such agreement has been executed.

Heraeus Introduces New Front Side Silver Paste Designed For Dwc Multicr ystaline Solar Cells At Pv Taiwan Heraeus introduces new front-side silver paste designed for diamondwire cut multicrystaline solar cells at PV Taiwan International Photovoltaic Exhibition.

New paste provides greater adhesion and improves conversion efficiency of DWC cells.

T

AIPEI CITY, TAIWAN – Heraeus Photovoltaics, the worldwide leading supplier of metallization solutions to the PV industry, announced the introduction of a new paste specifically designed for DiamondWire-Cut (DWC) multicrystaline solar cells at the PV Taiwan International Photovoltaic Exhibition.

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PV Manufacturing

The SOL9651D series frontside silver paste was developed

by Heraeus in response to the growing industry adoption of DWC multicrystaline solar cells with a specially textured surface.

The launch of the SOL9651D paste series marks another milestone by Heraeus to help solar cell companies improve cell efficiency, address costs and stay ahead of rapid technology developments. For companies that are using DWC cells, SOL9651D is specifically designed to provide a wide range of capabilities and benefits, including:

•

Raising the conversion efficiency of DWC cells by >0.1 %

•

Superior busbar adhesion and reliability on DWC cells with Additive/MCCE/RIE-texturing

•

Ultra-fine-line compatibility for additional efficiency gain on specially textured DWC cells

•

Balanced metallization contact and Voc with efficiency improvement

•

The availability of single, double printing and knotless screen packages

The new glass chemistry was developed to provide excellent adhesion of SOL9651D, which allows customers to optimize their busbar design for better electrical performance and cost reduction, especially on DWC/ Black-silicon texturing. Additionally, this paste series has a wide firing window, which makes the paste specifi-

cally suitable for the application on PERC solar cells. It shows superior adhesion for PERC cell and is compatible for both multi and mono crystalline wafers. As testified by customers, SOL9651D Series has outstanding LID (Light Induced Degradation) performance by reducing the negative impact of irradiation of the charge carrier lifetime.

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Industry analysts expect DWC cells to have 80% market share by the end of 2018. Weiming Zhang, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Heraeus Photovoltaics, noted that the development and production of the SOL9651D paste was accelerated to meet the cell’s technical requirements and deliver superior performance. He said, “When products like DWC quickly emerge to become the de-facto industry choice for cell manufacturers, it is critical that the right paste be ready and capable to deliver. Heraeus SOL9651D ensures manufacturers can avoid speed bumps on their innovation roadmap.”

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Pv Manufacturing

SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES enjoying continuing success with production systems for high-efficiency cells

New orders for SILEX II systems from China and USA.

• 1.Over 30 machines sold since market introduction • 2.Production capacity of 6,400 wafers per hour possible • 3.Ozone-based process yields significant cost savings • 4.Leading market position in field of high-performance solar cells • 5.First projects for vacuum coating systems in preparation.

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T

he three Companies are solar cell manufacturers in Taiwan with their own unique niche and have been contributing to the growth of the solar energy industry for more than 10 years. Apart from solar cells, each Company also participates in different production segments of the silicon wafer, module, power grid, and other solar energy supply chains. Faced with a highly competitive and increasingly concentrated market, the Companies believe that Taiwanese manufacturers should come together to form a solar flagship company with a competitive edge on the global market and build a flourishing and prosperous integrated platform.

The Proposed Merger process will be implemented based on an equal and mutually beneficial principle without designating any of the Companies as the acquiring or the acquired party. However, in order to comply with Taiwanese laws, the Companies agree that NSP will be the surviving company after it merges with the other two partners. The surviving company will be renamed United Renewable Energy Co., Ltd. (“UREC”) after the Proposed Merger effective date so that all Companies could stand on an equal playing field.

UREC will create a new business model for Taiwan’s green energy indus-

try. In addition to maintaining its leading role in solar cell technology, UREC is built up to become the paragon of vertical integration of the Taiwan industry by enlarging domestic and overseas investment in module, building self-owned high quality module brand, and stepping into power plant development businesses.

The establishment of UREC will allow Taiwan’s solar cell industry to get rid of its role as foundries and further urge the green energy industry to root and grow strongly in Taiwan. It would also drive the joint development of the related industry chains which will cover energy materials, electromechanical and relevant services.

UREC will create a new business model for Taiwan’s green energy industry. In addition to maintaining its leading role in solar cell technology, UREC is built up to become the paragon of vertical integration of the Taiwan industry by enlarging domestic and overseas investment in module, building self-owned high quality module brand, and stepping into power plant development businesses.

The establishment of UREC will allow Taiwan’s solar cell industry to get rid of its role as foundries and further urge the green energy industry to root and grow strongly in Taiwan. It would also drive the joint development of the related industry chains which will cover energy materials, electromechanical and relevant services.

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SOLAR Inverters

KACO new energy quarter results at an all-time high.

Dr. Ing. Stefan Rinck, CEO of SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES AG , commented: “We have now already sold over 30 SILEX II and supplied the systems to customers in the USA, China and Europe. In our SILEX II, we offer the solar market a machine with high modularity, enabling us to respond flexibly to a range of process requirements specifically in the production of highperformance solar cells.

This system has secured us a leading market position that we have consistently extended.” Dr. – Ing. Rinck added: “In the market for crystalline cell technology, our focus is on the next‑generation new high-efficiency cells, such as heterojunction solar cells, which market research firms expect will dominate the next investment cycle. We are in the process of also introducing new system concepts into the market and targeting a leading market position for the key production steps in the production of heterojunction solar cells, in the same way that we did with CIGS thin-film technology.”

The SILEX II offers an extensive range of process options and is notable for its high modularity and extracompact design. The SILEX II concept ticks all the boxes regarding capacity, flexibility and stability in the industrial manufacturing of Si solar wafers and cells. Capacities of up to 6,400 wafers or cells are possible. Compared to conventional etching systems, the SILEX II offers significant cost benefits thanks to the use of ozone-based processes. The system has achieved CE certification for the EU, Ul certification for the USA and also TR CU certification for Russia.

Source: SINGULUS

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KACO new energy can look back on a successful third quarter of 2017: the inverter manufacturer received orders for 550 megawatts in the period from July to September. The cumulative inverter power sold so far this year is 1.95 gigawatts.

K

ACO new energy is on track to achieve its ambitious targets for 2017. Recently, the German manufacturer announced the best half-year results in the company’s history, with orders amounting to 1.4 gigawatts by the end of June. And the company has received orders for

RALF HOFMANN

CEO of KACO new energy GmbH.

a further 550 megawatts of inverter power in the third quarter. The current figure of 1.95 gigawatts represents an increase of nearly 70 per cent compared to the same period last year. By the end of 2017, KACO new energy anticipates an overall result of 2.5 gigawatts.

“KACO new energy has consistently reduced its dependence on the German domestic market in recent years. Instead, we have been able to demonstrate continuous growth on the US market, one of the biggest locations in the world for PV. From there, we have successfully extended our reach to the Caribbean and Mexico in particular. Our current focus is on the Asia-Pacific region: We have gained a foothold in India very quickly, and have just established a presence in Taiwan.

After having laid the groundwork, we are about to intensify the activities in Japan also,” “From a global perspective, we are in an extreme growth market, although regionally there are differences and shifts. Against this background, it is very important that, as pioneers in photovoltaics and as a German family business, we are perceived as a stable and reliable partner,” Hofmann continues.

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energy storage

Battery Storage, Smart Grid, and Eff iciency Companies Raise Over $1.2 Billion in VC Funding in 9M 2017, Reports Mercom Capital Group Mercom Capital Group, llc, a global clean energy communications and consulting firm, has released its latest quarterly report on funding and merger and acquisition (M&A) activity for the Battery Storage, Smart Grid, and Energy Efficiency sectors during the third quarter and first nine months of 2017.

Mercom found that, in the first nine months (9M) of 2017, $1.23 billion was raised by Battery Storage, Smart Grid, and Efficiency companies, up from $910 million raised in 9M 2016.

Battery Storage

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n Q3 2017, VC funding for Battery Storage companies dropped to $83 million in seven deals compared to $422 million raised in 10 deals during Q2 2017. A year earlier, $30 million was raised in nine deals in Q3 2016.

In 9M 2017, $563 million was raised in 25 deals compared to $209 million raised in 29 deals in 9M 2016.

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energy storage

The top VC funded Battery Storage companies in Q3 2017 were: Advanced Microgrid Solutions, which raised $34 million from Energy Impact Partners, Southern Company, DBL Partners, GE Ventures, AGL Energy, Macquarie Capital, and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; Romeo Power, which raised $30 million; and Gridtential Energy, which secured $11 million from 1955 Capital, East Penn Manufacturing, Crown Battery Manufacturing, Leoch International, Power-Sonic, The Roda Group, and the company’s chairman, Ray Kubis.

In all, 16 investors participated in Battery Storage funding in Q3 2017 with Energy Storage Downstream companies raising the most.The third quarter saw two debt and public market financing deals in Battery Storage totaling $45 million compared to $107 million raised in seven deals in Q2 2017. In 9M 2017, $174 million was raised in 11 deals compared to six deals that brought in $120 million in 9M 2016. There was one M&A transaction involving a Battery Storage company in Q3 2017 compared to three M&A transactions in Q2 2017. In the first nine months of 2017, there were five transactions (two disclosed), down from nine transactions (two disclosed) in 9M 2016. Two Storage projects were also acquired in Q3 2017.

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Smart Grid

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C funding for Smart Grid companies in Q3 2017 totaled $76 million in 14 deals, compared to $139 million raised in eight deals in Q2 2017.

In a year-over-year (YoY) comparison, $11 million was raised in seven deals in Q3 2016.

In 9M 2017, $380 million was raised in 36 deals compared to $343 million raised in the same number of deals in 9M 2016.

Top VC funded Smart Grid companies included: Particle, which secured $20 million from Spark Capital, Qualcomm Ventures, and previous investors; INTEREL, which raised $11.9 million in funding from Jolt Capital; Roost, which received $10.4 million in funding from Aviva Ventures, Desjardins Insurance, and Fosun RZ Capital; Tritium, which secured $8 million from entrepreneur Brian Flannery; and Innowatts, which raised $6 million from Shell Technology Ventures, Iberdrola Ventures – Perseo, and Energy & Environment Investment.

In all, 28 investors participated in Smart Grid VC funding rounds in Q3 2017, with SG Communications companies raising the most. A total of $11 million was raised in one debt financing deal in Q3 2017 compared to the $9 million raised in one deal in Q2 2017. In 9M 2017, $20 million was raised in two deals compared to $217 million raised in four deals in 9M 2016.

There were six M&A transactions (two disclosed) in Q3 2017. In Q2 2017, there were six transactions (two disclosed). In 9M 2017, there were 19 transactions (five disclosed) compared to 13 transactions (four disclosed) in 9M 2016.

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energy storage Efficiency

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C funding raised by Energy Efficiency companies in Q3 2017 came to $47 million in eight deals compared to $29 million raised in six deals in Q2 2017. In a YoY comparison, $61 million was raised in five deals in Q3 2016. In the first nine months of 2017, $289 million was raised

by Energy Efficiency companies in 28 deals compared to $358 million raised in the same number of deals in 9M 2016.

The Top VC deals in the efficiency category included: Power

Announced debt and public market financing for Energy Efficiency technologies plunged to $615 million in four deals in Q3 2017 compared to the $1.4 billion raised in six deals in Q2 2017. In 9M 2017, $2.3 billion was raised in 13 deals compared to the same amount raised in 11 deals in 9M 2016.

There was one Property Accessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing deal in Q3 2017 for $205 million versus three deals in Q2

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Survey and Equipment, which received $24 million in funding from EnerTech Capital, Investissement Quebec, Cycle Capital Management, Fonds de solidarite FTQ, and BDC Capital; Corvi, which received a $10 million strategic investment from Hero Enterprise; and Deco Lighting, which secured $8 million in funding from Siena Funding. In all, nine investors participated in VC funding in Q3 2017. Within the sector, Efficiency Components companies brought in the most funding.

2017 that raised $668 million. In 9M 2017, $873 million was raised in four deals compared to the $1.3 billion raised in six deals in 9M 2016.

There were two M&A transactions (one disclosed) involving Energy Efficiency companies in Q3 2017, up from just one undisclosed transaction in Q2 2017. For the first nine months of 2017, there were seven transactions (three disclosed), down from 12 transactions in 9M 2016 (four disclosed).

DNV GL launches Battery XT, the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first testingbased verification tool for battery lifetime www.EQMagPro.com

energy storage

DNV GL, the world’s largest resource of independent energy experts and certification body, has created Battery XT, the first testing-based verification of battery lifetime for Li-on batteries.

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ndependent verification tool compiles battery life cycle data and predicts battery degradation under different conditions and duty cycles, providing renewables stakeholders with an objective way to compare the value and reliability of types and brands of energy storage technology. The service incorporates the experience of ten years of research and development in energy storage and has been developed in cooperation with industry stakeholders.

“As energy storage deployment reaches the gigawatt scale, the market is still challenged to overcome the selfcertification approaches of the past,” said Davion M. Hill, Ph.D., DNV GL’s energy storage leader, Americas.

“No two markets have the same duty cycle and no two batteries have the same performance. This bottlenecks project development because every project requires a unique verification of lifetime. To solve this, we calibrated legacy automotive life prediction models with a minimum dataset. Once tested, batteries can be sized to any duty cycle and developers can scale without waiting on data from suppliers. We have built the world’s only independently created database of Li-on battery performance to help the market deploy faster.”

“As the storage market continues to expand, the ability to manage risk at the point of purchase is becoming increasingly important,” said Rich Barnes, executive vice president and regional manager for DNV GL Energy in North America. “Battery XT will empower stakeholders to make better purchasing decisions based on objective, third-party testing.”

Battery XT offers an independent third-party testing and verification of product warrantees and performance guarantees before making a purchasing decision. Battery XT, which can also provide consulting on battery size and chemistry selection, aims to reduce risk and inform purchases and planning for energy storage asset management. The independent verification enables the industry to test at the lowest cost possible, helping stakeholders save time and money by eliminating the need to address individual, customized testing protocols for each vendor.

DNV GL offers an interactive online demo to illustrate the way Battery XT works. Viewers can try three scenarios—fast charge electric ferry, hybrid genset and solar+frequency—by entering sample information such as system size, temperature and initial state of change, and then running a simulator to show how the factors apply. The full service offered on a per project basis is able to tailor even the most complex duty cycle to the customer and their battery.

Source: SINGULUS

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Policy & Regulations

CERC

CLARIFIES USE OF CONNECTIVITY GRANTED TO PARENT COMPANY BY SUBSIDIARY The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) in Power Grid Corporation of India Limited v. Green Infra Renewable Energy Limited and others, Petition No. 145/MP/2017, had issued directions and clarified the terms for grant of connectivity and whether connectivity approval granted to a company could be utilised by its wholly owned subsidiaries (Order).

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Background :

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ower Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL), notified as the Central Transmission Utility under the Electricity Act, 2003 discharges functions of coordination and planning for the inter-State transmission of electricity. It is also the nodal agency for grant of connectivity and access to inter-state transmission system. PGCIL was faced with a situation wherein several wind power project developers with connectivity to the grid had not developed any project for transmission through the grid and the wind power project developers who were awarded projects had no connectivity to the grid, resulting in under-utilisation of bays. Such under-utilisation had resulted in delays in granting connectivity for developers who had been awarded projects.

Additionally, several companies who had received connectivity approval were developing the projects through wholly owned subsidiaries incorporated for such purpose as permitted under the Request for Selection/ tender documents issued by Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited for setting up of Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Connected Wind Power Projects.

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Policy & Regulations case of more than one subsidiary, the lock-in period specified shall apply from the commencement of supply of power from the last subsidiary.

In all such cases, the parent company with the connectivity approval is required to act as principal generator and undertake all operational and commercial responsibilities for the renewable energy generating station(s), and if the parent company wishes to exit and handover the connectivity to its subsidiaries, one of the subsidiaries shall have to take over as lead generator and be responsible for all such responsibilities.

Comment :

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The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Grant of Connectivity, Long-term Access and Medium-term Open Access in inter- State Transmission and related matters) Regulations, 2009 (CERC Connectivity Regulations) define the applicant (for the purposes of connectivity) as one of the following: (a) generating station with installed capacity of 250 MW and above; (b) hydro-generating station or generating station using renewable source of energy, of installed capacity between 50 MW and 250 MW; (c) one of the hydro-generating station or generating station using renewable source of energy, having less than 50 MW installed capacity, but collectively having an aggregate installed capacity of 50 MW and above; (d) a bulk consumer; (e) any renewable energy generating station of 5 MW capacity and above but less than 50 MW capacity developed by a generating company in its existing generating station; and (f) an authorized Solar Power Park Developer.

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or the purposes of long term access or medium term access, the CERC Connectivity Regulations define Applicant as a generating station including a captive generating plant, a consumer, an electricity trader or a distribution licensee, or a solar power park developer (for long term access only).

Further, there is no provision for transfer of connectivity to any other entity under the CERC Connectivity Regulations.

Order :

T

he CERC observed that while there was no provision in the CERC Connectivity Regulations that permits transfer of connectivity to any other entity, keeping in view that creation of a special purpose vehicle was an option permitted under the request for selection/tender documents and several companies are executing the projects through creation of 100% owned subsidiaries, 100% subsidiary companies should be allowed to utilise the connectivity granted to the parent company.

CERC additionally added a caveat by specifying that in order to prevent trading of connectivity approval, any sale in shares of the 100% subsidiary shall be allowed only after one year of the commencement of supply of power from the subsidiary. Further, in

he Order has clarified the position for a wholly owned subsidiary / special purpose vehicle (SPV) to utilise the connectivity granted to the parent company keeping in view the usual project structures and the flexibility provided under the tender documents to execute the project through an SPV. In view of the CERC Order restricting any sale of shares in the subsidiary company(ies) for a period of one year of the commencement of supply of power from the last SPV, the lock in restriction will need to factored in by the relevant stakeholders intending to utilise the connectivity of a parent company.

The CERC in this Order has issued directions for examination and suggesting amendments to CERC Connectivity Regulations in view of issues raised in the petition including recognition of model of wind park developer in line with that of a solar park developer and review of the connectivity granted, which is expected to aid the wind power project developers and streamline the process of grant of connectivity approvals.

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PR DUCTS Tigo Launches Next Generation SMART App: Lay out, Configure, Commission, and Monitor PV Systems in 5 Minutes on a Mobile Phone Select from more than 2,000 inverter types or add your own on Tigo's SMART App.

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igo ®, pioneer of the Smart Modular Flex MLPE platform, today unveiled Tigo SMART, the next generation mobile application. The seamless integration between Tigo's online monitoring portal and this SMART app improves the experience for Tigo's installer partners who use this platform to design, lay out, register, configure, commission, and monitor customers' PV systems from the field. The app provides the PV system owners with unmatched insight into energy generation as well as the PV system installers with the ultimate set of asset management features - all at their fingertips from a mobile phone.

Key Benefits And Features Of The Tigo Smart App Include: INTUITIVE COMMISSIONING In five minutes, select the solar equipment, design the system, scan the components, and complete end-to-end commission all on the SMART App. BARCODE SCANNING Scan the PV system components' codes directly into the design with a mobile phone camera.

BLUETOOTH (BLE) 4.0 CONNECTION The SMART App automatically detects and communicates with Tigo's Cloud Connect Advanced (CCA) (the universal datalogger); connects without changing the Mobile phone settings; and eliminates the need to manually switch to Wi-Fi. PROMPTED CONFIGURATION STEPS The installation time for installers is minimized thanks to the SMART App's prompted configuration steps during the layout process.

PRODUCTION TRACKING With the highest granularity and visibility in the market, users monitor the module-level production in real-time, day, week, month, year, and lifetime.

INTELLIGENT ALERTS Review detailed alerts at the touch of a button, and receive corrective actions.

LOCALIZED WEATHER CONDITIONS Daily weather displays help define production errors due to clouds, snow, etc.

PERSONALIZED IMAGERY – Customize a system's portal with photos of the PV installation.

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"The user experience for our customers to access and manage their PV systems from anywhere, anytime is very important to us," says Maxym Makhota, VP of Software Engineering & Development at Tigo. "This SMART app builds on Tigo’s history of developing proprietary tools and technology that streamline the entire system lay out, configuration, and monitoring experience."

» The new Tigo SMART 3.0 app is downloadable for iOS and Android through Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Notifications will be pushed to existing Tigo app users once the next generation updates are automatically completed. Learn more with the Tigo SMART App Manual on Tigo's Resource Center.

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PR DUCTS GoodWe Introduces Rapid Shutdown Inverter Series To Accommodate Worldwide Smart Modules with Tigo Offering a streamlined solution through 8 smart inverters with real-time system data via Tigo’s CCA datalogger.

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oodWe, inverter manufacturer and energy storage provider, today announced its partnership with Tigo®, pioneer of the smart modular Flex MLPE platform, to deliver eight smart inverters to its Rapid Shutdown series. Tigo’s Cloud Connect Advanced (CCA) datalogger powers GoodWe inverters as a UL-certified Rapid Shutdown System with all smart modules. These smart inverters include DNS and DT models for residential and commercial PV systems.

By utilizing Tigo’s CCA, GoodWe inverters are offering a streamlined solution that pair perfectly with smart modules.

This enables end users to harness more system data for valuable insights about real-time analysis in GoodWe’s monitoring platform. This solution also enables cost-effective datalogging to collect operating information from the inverters as well as each smart module. Customers save money with an integrated GoodWe inverter because the datalogger is already inside – instead of three separate purchases for a datalogger, additional inverter, and optimizers.

Compared with other optimizer systems, GoodWe offers a new solution which is more affordable, highly efficient and easier to install.

GoodWe’s smart inverters were tested and validated

by Tigo for operational compliance with all TS4 Platform covers. Tigo’s flexible module-level power electronic (Flex MLPE) technology offers fully integrated monitoring via an online platform; scalability for residential and commercial systems; UL compliance for Rapid Shutdown requirements; and compatibility with all smart modules using Tigo’s TS4.

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“We are excited to announce a partner relationship with Tigo using TS4. Our entire range of solar inverters completed the compliance assessment with Tigo’s smart module platform,” said Huang Min, GM of GoodWe. The DNS inverter series (3kW to 5kW) and SDT inverter series (4kW to 10 kW) are now available worldwide.

“GoodWe has already integrated Tigo’s Cloud Connect Advanced into two series of inverters,” confirms Juan Martinez, Product Manager of Tigo. “Together, we continue to offer our customers enhanced value and flexibility.”

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PR DUCTS

Locus Energy Announces Active Monitoring & Clarity Fleet Analysis Offerings Locus Energy announced the launch of a comprehensive, low-cost monitoring, analytics, and fleet management solution for residential solar sites. The offerings, Active Monitoring and Clarity Fleet Analysis, separate out addressable issues, such as capacity losses, from non-addressable issues, such as shading and snow losses, in order to increase system uptime and reduce maintenance costs.

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ocus currently monitors more than 5 GW of solar capacity across more than 130,000 sites and hundreds of different device types globally, with flexible, highly reliable data acquisition services. Leveraging Locus’ expertise as the leading independent residential solar monitoring firm, the new offering ensures that residential sites are well-serviced and performing to expectations.

“We at Locus are very excited to bring these new offerings to market. We’ve invested a lot in our tools to enable remote assessment of system underperformance, and this new solution helps us deliver them easily to customers,” said CEO Michael Herzig.

“Effectively, Active Monitoring and the Clarity Fleet Analysis deliver peace-of-mind to our customers about the performance of every system that has been deployed.”

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PV systems are designed to last for at least 20 years, typically requiring little maintenance; however, this does not mean that issues do not arise. From experience monitoring tens of thousands of sites for nearly 10 years, Locus has observed a 15-20 percent failure rate for PV sites each year. This means that an average site is likely to encounter at least one serious problem over five years and multiple serious problems over its lifetime. Complicating this, PV system issues can be difficult to spot, with shading, snow, and soiling impacting performance, but not generally able to be addressed cost-effectively by often-expensive maintenance.

With Active Monitoring and Clarity Fleet Analysis, Locus continuously assesses fleet performance, employing patent-pending analytic tools to identify potential issues and diagnose the root causes of alerts, such as shading, soiling, snow, and degradation. Locus then works with field service companies to file service tickets and track issues to resolution.

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PR DUCTS GoodWe Introduces New MT Series for Large Distribution Projects Offering a more compact and lighter solution for large-scaled commercial rooftops and solar farms

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eading solar PV inverter manufacturer GoodWe announced that it is now taking orders for its brand new second generation of MT Series string inverters, GW50K-MT and GW60K-MT. Apart from offering a more competitive price, the new MT series inverters are able to provide a continuous maximum AC output power overload of 15% thanks to its boost function, which offers customers a faster return on investment.

The new MT Series features a more compact design with less than 20% volume and lighter weight compared to other conventional models, which greatly simplifies installation and commissioning, saving time and costs.

With capacities of 50 kW and 60 kW, the new transformerless, three-phase GoodWe MT series grid-tied inverters are equipped with four MPPTs ensuring that the outputs of connected modules are able to generate the highest yields even in different PV installation conditions.

“We are pleased to launch our new generation of MT Series inverters which can be successfully deployed on large scale commercial rooftops and ground-mounted solar PV systems,” said Huang Min, CEO of GoodWe. “The compact design of our new MT Series can help further reduce installation costs while its boost function provides higher yield and a quicker ROI.”

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PR DUCTS Sungrow’s SG125HV: the World’s Most Powerful 1500 Vdc String Inverter The SG125HV is the world’s highest power inverter in the string category.

Weighing in at 72kg, so it stays in the two-man installation category. The key specifications for the SG125HV are listed below. The following paragraphs will describe the system design parameters that utilize these specs to connect them with utility scale system design and ultimately, the Virtual Central Solution.

Fig-1: SG125HV Appearance (TOP) and the Virtual Central Solution (BOTTOM)

HIGH EFFICIENCY

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ungrow’s SG125HV was designed to have a power converter platform that was more efficient than previous generations of products. Utilizing 5-level converter bridge, the SG125HV provides extraordinary best-in-class efficiency, further increasing project ROI by maximizing input vs output power conversion efficiency and minimizing loss. The maximum efficiency of SG125HV can reach 98.9%, and the Euro. efficiency is 98.7%. Greater efficiency equals togreater AC power yield.

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WIDE OPERATING TEMPERATURE RANGE

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ungrow’s SG125HV has one of the widest operating temperature ranges available in the industry, with full power available from -25°C to 50°C and operation in power de-rate mode available up to 60°C. The SG125HV is rated for 125,000W at ambient temperatures up to 50°C. At temperatures above 50°C the inverter will ramp down power or ‘de-rate’ in order to maintain control of internal temperature and losses. The de-rated operation will continue until the ambient temperature exceeds 60°C.

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PR DUCTS LESS CABLE COST, SAVE CAPEX

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ungrow’s in-depth project design analysis and Capex economics reviews have determined that in most cases it is overall more cost-effective to have the 1500V DC SG125HV inverter located nearer the AC POC than the PV array field. As previously explained, utility-scale project cabling costs are dominated by voltage drop concerns and longer runs of two cables (DC+/DC-) at 1500V are simply less expensive than running three cables (A, B and C phases) at 600V AC. n order to facilitate the recommended design scheme that uses external (i.e. mounted within or immediately peripheral to the PV array) combiner boxes with longer DC+/DC- ‘homeruns’ back to the inverter located near the POC, the Sungrow SG125HV inverter utilizes a single DC input architecture that allows larger homerun cables or even trunk bus cables to be connected directly to the inverter without the need for fusing or other maintenance-intensive components within the inverter.

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SMALL AND LIGHT TO BRING THE SIMPLE INSTALLATION

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he SG125HV is comparably sized to inverters with half the power rating and was designed to be simple to install. A metal backplate is provided, along with fastening hardware, which gives installers flexibility with mounting options. The inverter can be hung on appropriately-rated strut supports, on concrete walls, or virtually anywhere the mounting bracket can be installed. comparison of the cost to install central inverters with the costs of installing string inverters brings up some significant differences. Aside from the MV transformer, installing the string inverters and related BOS does not involve anything more than just manpower. There is no need for wide access paths or bringing heavy lifting equipment to the site. or string inverters, especially the SG125HV at 72kg, there is no need for massive concrete structures or skid platforms. The inverters can be mounted to existing solar array structures or a relatively simple rack made of Uni-strut. Some shading should be considered as good engineering practice to reduce the thermal load and to reduce the over-all weather impact on the units. o create the Virtual Central Solution, it is not absolutely necessary for all the SG125HV inverters to be mounted right next to each other although it can save in integration costs in the long run. The inverters can be spread out individually or located in groups. This approach can reduce the DC wiring lengths without creating unreasonably long AC wire runs. However, the closer the groups are to each other, the easier it will be to integrate the communication and control system. t is best to parallel the several SG125HV inverters via one or more AC breaker panels. Fused disconnect switches can be used as well. This helps in both circuit protection as well as in providing electrical isolation on the AC side which will facilitate the removal and replacement of individual inverters.

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AC OUTPUT CONFIGURATION

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n an effort to further reduce project Capex and push the inverter’s efficiency to the highest levels, a voltage level higher than 480V AC was required. he SG125HV outputs a nominal 600V AC output voltage which reduces AC output current by 25% when compared to the same amount of power at standard 480V AC. Lower current yields smaller cable costs by the same percentage and greatly benefits project Capex. n addition, the inverter does not require a neutral connection from the primary transformer, so only 3 phases plus a PE ground are connected to each inverter, further reducing cabling costs vs competitors which require a neutral conductor in addition to the three phases cables and PE ground.

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STABLE DISPLAY AND COMMUNICATIONS

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or user convenience, the SG125HV includes an LED HMI display panel to indicate inverter operating status and other system parameters such as Bluetooth connectivity, serial communications status, and fault and ground impedance status. ustomer communications to the SG125HV inverter are done through the serial RS485. Additionally, the inverter allows Bluetooth connection to smart devices enabling the Sun Access App to communicate with the inverter wirelessly to set parameters, check fault codes, etc.

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PR DUCTS Heraeus introduces new front-side silver paste designed for diamond- wire cut multicrystaline solar cells at PV Taiwan International Photovoltaic Exhibition New paste provides greater adhesion and improves conversion efficiency of DWC cells.

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he SOL9651D series front-side silver paste was developed by Heraeus in response to the growing industry adoption of DWC multicrystaline solar cells with a specially textured surface. Industry analysts expect DWC cells to have 80% market share by the end of 2018. Weiming Zhang, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Heraeus Photovoltaics, noted that the development and production of the SOL9651D paste was accelerated to meet the cell’s technical requirements and deliver superior performance.

“When products like DWC quickly emerge to become the de-facto industry choice for cell manufacturers, it is critical that the right paste be ready and capable to deliver. Heraeus SOL9651D ensures manufacturers can avoid speed bumps on their innovation roadmap.” said Weiming Zhang, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Heraeus Photovoltaics

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he launch of the SOL9651D paste series marks another milestone by Heraeus to help solar cell companies improve cell efficiency, address costs and stay ahead of rapid technology developments.

For companies that are using DWC cells, SOL9651D is specifically designed to provide a wide range of capabilities and benefits, including: Raising the conversion efficiency of DWC cells by >0.1% l Superior busbar adhesion and reliability on DWC cells with Additive/MCCE/RIE-texturing l Ultra-fine-line compatibility for additional efficiency gain on specially textured DWC cells l Balanced metallization contact and Voc with efficiency improvement l The availability of single, double printing and knotless screen packages l

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Plasma texturing of crystalline silicon wafer: Image Fraunhofer ISE

The new glass chemistry was developed to provide excellent adhesion of SOL9651D, which allows customers to optimize their busbar design for better electrical performance and cost reduction, especially on DWC/ Blacksilicon texturing.

Additionally, this paste series has a wide firing window, which makes the paste specifically suitable for the application on PERC solar cells. It shows superior adhesion for PERC cell and is compatible for both multi and mono crystalline wafers. As testified by customers, SOL9651D Series has outstanding LID (Light Induced Degradation) performance by reducing the negative impact of irradiation of the charge carrier lifetime.

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SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULE BACKPLANE SERIES SDJ-5A The Factory Direct Selling Price $1.5/SQ.M. Suzhou Top Giant New Material Technology Co., Ltd. Is a backbone of technological innovation-based enterprises, is one of the drafters of the industry standard for national solar energy components from the back.

Company since its establishment 2012, has always focused on the new material of modified plastics, polyester modified, the application of new materials and other high-tech insulating materials R & D, production and sales. The company passed the ISO9001 quality system certification and ISO14001 environmental management system certification. The first product of high-performance environment-friendly solar cells backplane assembly SDJ-5A have been through the national CPVT, SGS, the European TUV and American UL certification. Now has an annual output of 10 million M2 high performance and environment-friendly solar energy components from the back of the produce can dimensions.

SDJ-5A series in the quality of the back board, Has obvious advantages in performance and cost aspects, To solve the current global back-plate industry are the most outstanding difficulties: the high moisture of have the snail phenomenon, low resistance to aging, service life, EVA shift, the phenomenon of degumming and other defects. Products of water-resisting performance, size stability, the performance of the voltage-resistance and insulation resistance of wear resistant surface are better than the present industry product.

Company uphold the aim is “to be the best quality of the products is endless”, Adhering to “walk hand in hand with customers, win-win future” business principles, Always adhere to the innovation and development of the foundation with high quality, high performance-price ratio for the vision of the product, creating a good focus on the sustainable development of green material enterprises.

SDJ-5A certified

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SDJ-5A certified

by UL

SDJ-5A Passed SGS environmental protection test

SDJ-5A certified

by CPVT

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82

EQ

November Part A 2017

www.EQMagPro.com

www.EQMagPro.com

EQ

November Part A 2017

83Â