India to add 2.5 GW solar power in 2015 – forecast upgrade

Solar installations year-to-date is approximately 1,400 MW.

The forecast for solar installations in India for 2015 now stands at about 2,500 MW, it said.

Clean energy consulting firm Mercom Capital Group LLC today upgraded its forecast for Indian solar power installations to 2.5 GW for the full 2015.

Speaking at the CII Annual Power Conference here on Tuesday, Khanna lauded the government of India’s ambitious target of achieving 100 GW solar power capacity by 2022 compared to China’s 100 GW by 2020.

The Madison utility said the project will be built on the coal ash landfill on the site of the company’s power plants in the Town of Beloit, including both the Riverside Energy Center and the Rock River Generating Station. “The Indian solar market is finally on target to be one of the top five markets in the world over the next five years”, Prabhu said. This is despite recent auctions in the states of Telangana and Madhya Pradesh seeing winning bids with record low prices for India.

The state will facilitate de-centralised and off-grid solar applications to meet various energy requirements for domestic goal, according to an official release. Mercom estimates that nearly 60 percent of collected Clean Energy Cess has not been transferred to the National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF). This contrasts with India’s Ministry of New and renewable Energy, which recently announced that it would not subsidise commercial rooftop solar.

“Some of the $3 billion (~$18,900 crore) in unused funds sitting in the NCEF can be used productively to create a “reserve backstop fund” against late payments that will reduce offtaker credit risk, stimulate lending activity, and help lower interest rates”, further commented Prabhu. Many of these issues are being discussed at the top levels of government, as Prime Minister Modi has plans to bring electricity to 400 million homes that now do not have it. Solar developers, manufacturers and investors Mercom spoke with view this as a negative development for the industry. One report found that even with current grid expansion in India, as many as 75 million households may still be off-grid in 2024, which could open the door for microgrids and solar-plus-storage solutions.