Haryana Power Purchase Center, a joint forum of the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam and Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam, has invited bids for supplying 500 MW of solar power from grid-connected solar projects in Haryana. The last date to submit the bids online is May 24, 2023. Bids will be opened the following day. Bidders must deposit ₹10,000 (~$121.87)/MW plus 18% GST as a bid processing fee. They must also furnish ₹800,000 (~$9,749)/MW as an earnest money deposit.

The Supreme Court of India recently set aside the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) and State Commission orders that allowed wind developers to claim higher tariffs than mutually agreed in the power purchase agreement (PPA) with Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam (GUVNL). The wind developers contented that the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission’s amendment to the renewable energy certificate regulations in 2013 was a valid ground for amending the PPA. GUVNL had filed an appeal with the Supreme Court challenging the decision of APTEL.

The American Clean Power Association (ACP) said that the utility-scale clean energy sector in the U.S. has received investments of over $150 billion since the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law in August 2022. ACP estimated that the amount is equivalent to five years’ worth of American clean energy investments. The funding has surpassed the total investment into U.S. clean power projects commissioned between 2017 and 2021. The past eight months saw the announcement of 46 clean energy manufacturing facilities, including new projects, expansions, or reopening of existing facilities.

The Volkswagen Group is investing roughly €1 billion (~$1.09 billion) to establish a development, innovation, and procurement center for intelligent electric vehicles in Hefei, a city in southern China, as part of its strategy to expand its development capabilities. The center, named ‘100%TechCo,’ will combine research and development teams for vehicles and components, thereby integrating advanced local technologies into product development at an early stage and leveraging synergies in the development process.

SJVN’s subsidiary, SJVN Green Energy, has awarded Bharat Vikas Group India the contract to install a balance of system (BoS) package for a 100 MW solar project in Punjab. The contract is worth ₹1.33 billion (~$16 million) and includes the operation and maintenance of the solar project for three years. The BoS project encompasses all photovoltaic system components, including the photovoltaic panels, wiring, switches, a mounting system, one or many solar inverters, a battery bank, and a battery charger.

Mercom India will bring together industry panelists who will discuss local supply chains and their impact at its ‘Mercom India Renewables Summit 2023,’ an exclusive event on April 26-27 in New Delhi. In a session titled ‘Domestic Manufacturing – Strengthening Local Supply Chains,’ scheduled for April 26, 2023, panelists will discuss critical issues, opportunities, and emerging trends in the industry.

Members of the European Parliament have approved the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which seeks to impose a carbon tariff on carbon-intensive products imported into Europe. CBAM seeks to put a ‘fair price’ on the carbon emitted while producing carbon-intensive goods entering the EU and encourage cleaner industrial production in non-EU countries. Several countries have opposed the EU’s carbon tariff measure for its ‘protectionist’ intent.

Colorado State University researchers said introducing molybdenum disulfide in solar cells can help capture excess solar energy, which is generally lost as heat, thereby improving light-to-energy efficiency conversion. They performed a series of experiments using laser spectroscopy while capturing the hot carriers or highly charged electrons. The team claimed that conventionally used silicon solar cells do not provide ways for such hot carrier extraction phenomenon, which proves to be an efficient method to increase the overall efficiency of the solar cells.