Mercom’s India Solar Market Leaderboard 1H 2023 has unveiled solar market leaders in the first half (1H) of the calendar year 2023, with several Indian companies securing spots in the top ten rankings for the first time. The report highlights significant market share changes across ten categories in the past year, offering insights into companies gaining momentum and those who fell behind.

Global corporate funding in the energy storage sector witnessed a 31% year-over-year decrease during the first nine months (9M) of 2023, with a total of $15.2 billion raised across 94 deals. This contrasts with the $22 billion secured by the sector through 93 deals in the same period last year. The findings were revealed in Mercom Capital Group‘s recently released report titled 9M and Q3 2023 Funding and M&A Report for Storage and Grid.

The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has amended the CERC (Sharing of Inter-State Transmission Charges and Losses) Regulations, 2020, to provide a structured framework to address delays, promote accountability, and streamline the billing process. Effective from November 1, 2023, these amendments will be known as CERC (Sharing of Inter-State Transmission Charges and Losses) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2023.

REMC Limited, a joint venture of Indian Railways and RITES, on behalf of Indian Railways, has invited bids to procure 750 MW of round-the-clock power from grid-connected renewable projects with or without storage across India for 25 years. The last day to submit the bids is October 30, 2023. Bids will be opened on November 2. Bidders must submit an earnest money deposit of ₹980,000 (~$11,773)/MW of the quoted capacity.

PMI Electro Mobility Solutions, an electric bus manufacturer based in Delhi National Capital Region, has secured a ₹2.5 billion (~$150.29 million) investment from Piramal Alternatives through the Performing Credit Fund (PCF) in the form of convertible securities to advance green mobility efforts, facilitating innovation, technological integration and business expansion. PMI’s 2,500 electric bus order book is expected to grow further with the help of the investment from Piramal Alternatives, a mid-market sector-agnostic capital support fund supported by the Piramal Group.

Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation has floated separate tenders for installing 11 electric vehicle charging stations around different bus and railway depots in the state. The last date for the submission of bids is October 30, 2023. Bids will be opened on November 1. The validity period for this deposit is 120 days starting from the date of opening. The specified timeframe is three months beginning from the date of the written work order.

The Grid Controller of India has issued the procedure to implement the uniform renewable energy tariff for the central pool of projects connected to interstate transmission systems (ISTS). The procedure was issued as a follow-up to the announcement in August last year when the Ministry of Power proposed establishing central pools of ISTS-connected renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, hybrid, and storage. Intermediary companies could use these pools to purchase power for distribution and retail supply to multiple states at a uniform tariff for each pool.

IndiGrid 2, a wholly owned subsidiary of India Grid Trust along with Amperehour Solar Technology, has received a letter of award from BSES Rajdhani Power for the design, supply, testing, installation, commissioning, operation, and maintenance of 20 MW/40 MWh Battery Energy Storage Systems in Delhi. The consortium will envisage the project on a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer basis for a period of 12 years. It expects to generate an annual revenue of ₹20 million (~$240,392).

The engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) arm of Shapoorji Pallonji Group, Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy’s consolidated net loss was reduced by 82% year-over-year (YoY) to ₹540 million (~$6.5 million) for the second quarter of the financial year 2023-24 from a loss of ₹2.99 billion (~$36 million) due to higher contribution from the domestic EPC business segment. The company reported a total revenue of ₹7.6 billion ($91 million), marking an 88% YoY increase. The revenue generated from the domestic EPC segment was ₹5.67 billion ($68 million), a 244% YoY growth. In contrast, the international EPC segment experienced a 29.5% YoY decline in revenue.

The Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) has invited bids to set up public charging stations through a public-private partnership on the expressways in the state. UPEIDA has planned to establish public charging infrastructure on the Yamuna Expressway, Agra-Lucknow Expressway, Bundelkhand Expressway, Purvanchal Expressway, and Gorakhpur Link Expressway.

The Australian Government has announced an AU$2 billion (~$1.26 billion) expansion in financing critical minerals, including rare earths. This expansion of the funding facility, announced by Prime Minister Albanese after the meeting of the Australia-United States Taskforce on Critical Minerals, takes the government’s value-adding investments in Australian resources to AU$6 billion (~$3.79 billion).