Much has been said about solar energy development in India. A lot has been talked about but there was not a lot of movement in terms of solar installations in India in Q3 2012. However, about 1.1 GW of projects are due to be installed in the next six months, including around 275 MW of photovoltaic projects in Gujarat with a December 31 deadline, and 340 MW of photovoltaic projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), due by March 2013.
A further 27.5 MW of CSP projects, which were part of the JNNSM Migration scheme, are due to be completed by February 2013, along with 470 MW of JNNSM Batch II CSP projects, which are due by next May. As of last month, the cumulative solar capacity stood at 1.045 GW.
The market is eagerly awaiting the Phase II policy announcement, which is expected sometime towards the end of this year, according to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
A recently released draft tariff determination for 2013 to 2014 by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) gave a general sense of where tariffs are headed in the next phase. CERC’s draft indicated a starting bid of Rs. 8.75/kWh (~US$0.16, €0.13) for photovoltaic projects (Batch II projects were Rs.15.39/kWh). It is important to note, however, that starting bids are just a starting point, whereas actual bids have ended up almost 30 to 50 per cent lower in the past.
Aadeetya S
