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AutoNxt Secures Pre-Series A Funding to Finance Electric Tractor Launch

Daily News Wrap-Up: REC Records Highest-Ever Loan Approvals in FY24


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					</table><p>Aluminum manufacturer <a href="https://www.hindalco.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hindalco Industries</a> will set up a ₹8 billion (~$95 million) plant near Sambalpur in Odisha to exponentially increase its manufacturing capacity of aluminum foil used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles (EV) and energy storage systems.</p>
<p>The company, which is a subsidiary of the Aditya Birla Group, expects to initially produce 25,000 tons of the foil widely used in lithium-ion and sodium-ion cells.</p>
<p>The project will be powered by a 25 MW solar power project and access additional solar energy from a 400 kV national grid connection.</p>
<p>The new facility is scheduled for commissioning in July 2025 and will supplement Hindalco’s existing battery foil manufacturing facility at Mouda in Maharashtra.</p>
<p>The Mouda facility is already in the process of qualifying with lithium-ion cell manufacturers in India, Europe, and the United States.</p>
<p>By 2030, India is expected to see the demand for battery-grade aluminum foil in India grow manifold to 40,000 tons, primarily due to the mushrooming growth in gigafactories for advanced cell manufacturing, the company said.</p>
<p>“We are seeing fast traction in battery materials demand, driven by an impressive outlook for the EV and grid storage sectors. Raw material localization is critical in such strategic sectors. Hindalco is thus making various investments in battery materials and technologies towards building Atmanirbhar Bharat. Investment in this new battery foil mill is another such step in this direction,” said Satish Pai, Managing Director at Hindalco.</p>
<p>Cell makers primarily use high-performance aluminum foils as a current collector for the cathode materials.</p>
<p>Hindalco is developing such foils to increase mechanical strength, fine-tune the thickness, and enhance the surface characteristics of these advanced application foils. It is also developing new coatings on the battery foils that will boost performance by delivering better adhesion, lower resistance, and reduced corrosion.</p>
<p>Aluminum anodes <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/aluminum-anodes-show-promise-powerful-batteries" target="_blank" rel="noopener">showed</a> promise for cheaper, safer, and more powerful batteries that offer higher density and longer driving ranges for EVs, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology recently found.</p>
<p>Hindalco Industries <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/ayana-supply-100-mw-rtc-renewable-hindalco-odisha" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> a power purchase agreement with Ayana Renewable Power for the supply of 100 MW of round-the-clock renewable power to its smelters in Odisha.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/staff/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Staff</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"></div></div><div class="clearfix"></div></div></div>

Hindalco to Set Up ₹8 Billion Battery Foil Manufacturing Facility in Odisha


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					</table><p>Here are some noteworthy cleantech announcements of the day from around the world:</p>
<p><strong>Suzlon will </strong><a href="https://www.bseindia.com/xml-data/corpfiling/AttachHis/5286d53a-d905-4f35-8390-2b12fd966e09.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>develop</strong></a><strong> 144.9 MW wind power projects for the Aditya Birla Group. </strong>The turbine manufacturer will install 69 units of wind turbine generators with a hybrid lattice tubular tower and a rated capacity of 2.1 MW each. Green power from the project will go for captive use for their manufacturing facilities and other needs. A project of this size can provide electricity to 94,000 households and curb 372,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year. The project is located at sites in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh and is expected to be commissioned in 2023.</p>
<p><strong>NTPC </strong><a href="https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1868465" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>signed</strong></a><strong> a memorandum of understanding with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and its subsidiary Mitsubishi Power India to demonstrate the feasibility of hydrogen co-firing. </strong>The hydrogen will be blended with natural gas in MHI 701D gas turbines installed at NTPC&#8217;s 663 MW Auraiya gas power plant in Uttar Pradesh. Auraiya power plant has four gas turbines operating in combined cycle mode. The companies will collaborate to carry out the study and identify key actions for introducing hydrogen co-firing at the Auraiya power plant. The study will identify key actions for co-firing for various percentages of hydrogen, e.g., 5%, 15%, 30%, 50%, and 100%. NTPC will supply the hydrogen required for the project.</p>
<p><strong>Mainstream Renewable Power </strong><a href="https://www.mainstreamrp.com/insights/mainstream-signs-site-lease-agreement-with-electricity-company-eskom/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>signed</strong></a><strong> a lease agreement with South Africa&#8217;s national electricity company, Eskom, for a 1,650-hectare site where it plans to build and operate renewable energy</strong> projects. The lease agreement, which will run for 25-30 years, is part of a new initiative by Eskom to make land available around existing power stations with sufficient grid capacity to fast-track the connection of large quantities of renewable energy to the national grid. This agreement is one of four similar agreements signed by Eskom, which will contribute hundreds of megawatts of renewable energy to the national grid. The land is located next to the Majuba and Tutuka coal-fired power stations in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa.</p>
<p><strong>Iberdrola&#8217;s renewable energy production <a href="https://www.iberdrola.com/press-room/news/detail/iberdrola-renewable-energy-production-exceeds-55500-gwh-in-the-first-nine-months-thanks-to-onshore-wind-energy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">exceeded</a> 55,500 GWh in the first nine months of 2022. </strong>The company has increased its installed renewable capacity by almost 2,000 MW in the last twelve months to over 39,000 MW. With this advance, the company has almost 60,000 MW worldwide. In Brazil, the company has installed 560 MW of green capacity as it is developing the Otis onshore wind farm complex, comprising 12 farms with a total installed capacity of 566.5 MW at the end of construction. In the United States, the company has installed 524 MW comprising 295 MW of onshore wind and 229 MW of solar in the last 12 months.</p>
<p><strong>Realtor Excel Realty N Infra is </strong><a href="https://www.bseindia.com/xml-data/corpfiling/AttachLive/f180b182-1d8f-4e6d-989a-fc99d78bab70.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>planning</strong></a><strong> to diversify into the solar power segment through a planned joint venture with Seven Greens Solar Systems. </strong>The company also plans to become a beneficiary of the PLI Program to boost the manufacturing of high-efficiency solar modules.<strong>  </strong>The company expects to double its turnover after entering into the joint venture. The company also intends to double its gross profit.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/arjun-joshi/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Arjun Joshi</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><div class="designboxt">
<p><img class="alignleft" style="border-radius: 50%;height: 50px;margin-top: -4px;border: 1px solid #00b451" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Arjun-Joshi-1.png" width="50" /></p>
<p><strong style="text-decoration: underline">Arjun Joshi,</strong> Staff reporter at Mercom India<br />
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/arjun-joshi/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Arjun Joshi.</a></p>
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<p><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Arjun-Joshi-1.png" width="86" height="102" /><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/arjun-joshi/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong style="color: #00b451">Arjun Joshi</strong> </a>is a staff reporter at Mercom India. Before joining Mercom, he worked as a technical writer for enterprise resource software companies based in India and abroad. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism, Psychology, and Optional English from Garden City University, Bangalore. <a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/arjun-joshi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Arjun Joshi.</a></p>
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Daily News Wrap-Up: Suzlon to Develop 145 MW of Wind Projects for Aditya Birla Group


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					</table><p>Aditya Birla Group’s aluminum and copper flagship <a href="https://www.hindalco.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hindalco Industries</a> has inked a commercial agreement with Greenko Energies, a subsidiary of the <a href="https://www.greenkogroup.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Greenko Group</a>, to deploy a captive renewable energy project for the supply of 100 MW round-the-clock (RTC) carbon-free power to Hindalco’s Aditya Aluminum Smelter in Odisha.</p>
<p>The offtake arrangement will be for 25 years.</p>
<p>The two companies will collaborate to develop 375-400 MW of solar and wind power capacity, ultimately aiming mitigation of around 680,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.</p>
<p>Greenko will design, construct, partly own and operate the solar and wind facilities while extending appropriate storage capacity from its hydro pump storage project in Pinnapuram, Andhra Pradesh, to ensure continuous power supply to Hindalco’s smelter in Odisha.</p>
<p>The project is claimed to be among the first in the global aluminum sector, with operations relying on 85% solar and wind power. Hindalco is the first Indian aluminum company to implement such a carbon-free power supply arrangement round-the-clock for smelting.</p>
<p>Aluminum smelting is a concentrated process that requires reliable and uninterrupted power. A round-the-clock power supply will help Hindalco run its smelter without any dependence on grid electricity.</p>
<p>Hindalco’s Managing Director Satish Pai said, “We have made climate action integral to our business, and our expansion plans have been shaped by our ESG (environment, social, and governance) focus. The agreement with Greenko is a significant step toward reducing our carbon footprint and cementing our status as the world’s most sustainable aluminum company. We are guided by our long-term commitment to becoming net carbon-neutral by 2050.”</p>
<p>The two companies will soon sign a power purchase agreement and other supplementary agreements.</p>
<p>Greenko’s CEO and Managing Director Anil Kumar Chalamalasetty said, “At Greenko, we firmly believe that clean energy sources backed with competitive and proven storage technologies like hydro pump storage project offer a competitive, reliable, and sustainable alternative to consumers to support their decarbonization journey. For instance, in this case, the RE project, along with Greenko’s PSP, will ensure firm and predictable supply even at individual time block level without any banking support from the grid, unprecedented for RE projects globally, thereby committing very high reliability to Hindalco.”</p>
<p>Last month, Hindalco <a href="https://mercomindia.com/daily-news-wrap-up-hindalco-phinergy-aluminum-air-batteries/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inked</a> a memorandum of understanding with Phinergy, an Israeli metal-air battery technology firm, and IOC Phinergy, for pilot production of aluminum plates to be used in the aluminum-air batteries.</p>
<p>Greenko Group said it had <a href="https://mercomindia.com/daily-news-wrap-up-greenko-construction-renewable-energy-storage-project/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commenced</a> the construction of its 5.23 GW integrated renewable energy storage project in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool district with an investment of over $3 billion.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/gourav-mishra/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Gourav Mishra</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><div class="designboxt">
<p><img class="alignleft" style="border-radius: 50%;height: 50px;margin-top: -4px;border: 1px solid #00b451" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/WhatsApp-Image-2022-04-06-at-6.37.25-PM-1-1.jpeg" width="50" /></p>
<p><strong style="text-decoration: underline">Gourav,</strong> Staff reporter at Mercom India<br />
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/gourav-mishra/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Gourav.</a></p>
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<div class="authorboxn"><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/WhatsApp-Image-2022-04-06-at-6.37.25-PM-1-1.jpeg" width="89" height="102" /><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/gourav-mishra/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gourav</a> is a staff reporter with Mercom India with over six years of experience in various roles with NewsX, The New Indian Express, IBTimes India, and U.S., Republic, and Analytics India Magazine. Gourav has a Master&#8217;s in journalism from Jain University, Bengaluru. <a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/gourav-mishra/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Gourav Mishra</a></div>
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Greenko to Supply 100 MW Round-the-Clock Renewable Power to Hindalco in Odisha

<p><a href="https://www.adityabirla.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aditya Birla</a> (ABREL SPV 2), <a href="http://www.hindujarenewables.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hinduja Renewables Energy</a>, and <a href="https://sjvn.nic.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SJVN</a> were winners in Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam’s (<a href="https://www.guvnl.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GUVNL</a>) auction to develop 500 MW of solar projects under Phase XIV with a greenshoe option of an additional capacity of up to 500 MW (Tranche-XIV).</p>
<p>Aditya Birla won 300 MW, and Hinduja Renewables Energy won 120 MW, both quoting a tariff of ₹2.30 (~$0.0296)/kWh. SJVN was awarded 80 MW out of the quoted capacity of 200 MW at ₹2.31 (~$0.0297)/kWh.</p>
<p>GUVNL intends to procure solar power to fulfill its renewable power purchase obligation (RPPO) and meet the requirements of distribution companies (DISCOMs).</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/GUVNL-500-MW-solar-auction.png"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-36612 size-full" src="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/GUVNL-500-MW-solar-auction.png" alt="GUVNL 500 MW solar auction" width="620" height="248" srcset="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/GUVNL-500-MW-solar-auction.png 620w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/GUVNL-500-MW-solar-auction-300x120.png 300w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/GUVNL-500-MW-solar-auction-600x240.png 600w" sizes="(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px" /></a></p>
<p>The tender was <a href="https://mercomindia.com/guvnl-rfs-to-buy-power-from-500-mw-solar-projects-with-greenshoe-option/">floated</a> in April this year.</p>
<p>Speaking to Mercom, Surajit Chandra, GM-Business Development, Aditya Birla Group, said, “This project had the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) applicability. We have done our research, and ₹2.30/kWh (~$0.0296)/kWh) seems like a viable and feasible tariff option to us. We have a great offtaker in GUVNL, and we have bid in almost every GUVNL auction. The auction has a greenshoe option which will be allocated later on by GUVNL.”</p>
<p>Successful bidders will be responsible for approvals, permits, and clearances, including connectivity and land registration.</p>
<p>The project should be designed to deliver energy at the Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation (GETCO) periphery. Successful bidders will be responsible for getting the grid connectivity with GETCO or the central transmission utility (CTU).</p>
<p>Solar projects will be allowed to be set up in the existing grid-connected wind farms subject to the availability of spare capacity for renewable energy integration at corresponding GETCO or CTU substations.</p>
<p>Such projects must also comply with the clauses in the request for selection document and are subject to GETCO or CTU’s agreement for utilizing the connectivity granted to wind farms.</p>
<p>Gujarat Energy Development Agency will act as the state nodal agency. It will facilitate the required approvals to achieve the commissioning of the projects. GETCO and CTU will help set up the transmission system to evacuate power from the project.</p>
<p>In January this year, GUVNL <a href="https://mercomindia.com/guvnl-invites-bids-procure-power-500-mw-solar-projects/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">invited</a> bids from developers to purchase power from 500 MW of grid-connected solar power projects (Phase-XIII). Fortum Power (Alpha Energy), SJVN, Hinduja Renewables Energy, and UPC Renewables (AMSA Solar Energy) were <a href="https://mercomindia.com/fortum-sjvn-hinduja-upc-winners-guvnls-auction/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declared</a> winners in the auction.</p>
<p>According to Mercom’s <a href="https://mercomindia.com/product/india-solar-tender-tracker/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">India Solar Tender Tracker</a>, GUVNL has floated tenders for 8.15 GW of solar projects.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/rakesh-ranjan-parashar/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Rakesh Ranjan</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><div class="designboxt">
<p><img class="alignleft" style="border-radius: 50%;height: 50px;margin-top: -4px;border: 1px solid #00b451" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Rakesh-Headshot-crop-2.jpg" width="50" /></p>
<p><strong style="text-decoration: underline">Rakesh Ranjan,</strong> Staff reporter at Mercom India<br />
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/rakesh-ranjan-parashar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Rakesh Ranjan.</a></p>
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<p><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Rakesh-Headshot-crop-2.jpg" width="77" height="102" /><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/rakesh-ranjan-parashar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong style="color: #00b451">Rakesh Ranjan</strong></a> is a staff reporter at Mercom India. Prior to joining Mercom, he worked in many roles as a business correspondent, assistant editor, senior content writer, and sub-editor with bcfocus.com, CIOReview/Silicon India, Verbinden Communication, and Bangalore Bias. Rakesh holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). <a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/rakesh-ranjan-parashar/" rel="noopener noreferrer">More articles from Rakesh Ranjan.</a></p>
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Aditya Birla, Hinduja Renewables, and SJVN Winners in GUVNL’s 500 MW Solar Auction

<p><a href="https://www.herofutureenergies.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hero Future Energies</a>, <a href="https://www.sbenergy.co.jp/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">SB Energy</a> (SoftBank), and <a href="https://www.adityabirla.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Aditya Birla</a> emerged as the top utility-scale solar project developers in India in terms of installed capacity in the first half (1H) of the calendar year (CY) 2020, according to Mercom’s recently released report <a href="https://mercomindia.com/india-solar-market-leaders-1h-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">India Solar Market Leaderboard 1H 2020</a>.</p>
<p>Together, these three solar developers accounted for nearly 64% of total large-scale installations in 1H 2020. Due to lower installation levels in the 1H of 2020 attributable to the COVID pandemic, just a few large installations have propelled some developers to the top of the leaderboard.</p>
<p>The top ten utility-scale solar developers accounted for 94% of the total installations in the first half of 2020. The total large-scale capacity additions stood at 1.01 GW in 1H, out of which the top ten installed 954 MW.</p>
<p><a href="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Leading-Utility-scale-Developers-in-India-1H-2020-Jan-Jun.png"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-22544" src="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Leading-Utility-scale-Developers-in-India-1H-2020-Jan-Jun.png" alt="Leading Utility-scale Developers in India 1H 2020 (Jan - Jun)" width="376" height="285" srcset="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Leading-Utility-scale-Developers-in-India-1H-2020-Jan-Jun.png 376w, https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Leading-Utility-scale-Developers-in-India-1H-2020-Jan-Jun-300x227.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 376px) 100vw, 376px" /></a></p>
<p>As per the report, Hero Future Energies, SB Energy (SoftBank), and Aditya Birla installed 300 MW, 250 MW, and 103.75 MW of solar capacity in the first half of the year.</p>
<p>With 1.01 GW installed, utility-scale solar installations represented 78% of the capacity additions in 1H 2020.</p>
<p>Other names on the leaderboard included Juniper Green Energy, Adani, Engie, ReNew Power, ACME Solar, NLC India, and Singareni Collieries.</p>
<p>In terms of cumulative capacity, Adani continues to be the top large-scale project developer, as of June 2020.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.adanigreenenergy.com/about-us">Adani Green Energy</a> was also rated the top solar developer in the world based on its operational, under-construction, and awarded projects, according to Mercom Capital Group’s <a href="https://mercomcapital.com/product/top-10-leading-global-large-scale-solar-pv-developers-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Global Large-Scale Solar PV Developers Report</a> released in August.</p>
<p>The first half of the year was severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the slowdown of solar installations in the country.</p>
<p>In the CY 2019, ReNew Power, NLC India, and Azure Power were the <a href="https://mercomindia.com/renew-nlc-azure-top-utility-solar-developers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">top</a> utility-scale solar project developers.</p>
<p>According to Mercom India <a href="https://mercomindia.com/product/mercoms-india-solar-market-share-tracker/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Market Share Tracker</a>, the top ten solar developers have more than 1 GW of projects in the pipeline. With a large chunk of project development pushed to later quarters, 2021 is set to be a massive year for solar.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/rakesh-ranjan-parashar/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Rakesh Ranjan</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><div class="designboxt">
<p><img class="alignleft" style="border-radius: 50%;height: 50px;margin-top: -4px;border: 1px solid #00b451" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Rakesh-Headshot-crop-2.jpg" width="50" /></p>
<p><strong style="text-decoration: underline">Rakesh Ranjan,</strong> Staff reporter at Mercom India<br />
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/rakesh-ranjan-parashar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Rakesh Ranjan.</a></p>
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<p><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Rakesh-Headshot-crop-2.jpg" width="77" height="102" /><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/rakesh-ranjan-parashar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong style="color: #00b451">Rakesh Ranjan</strong></a> is a staff reporter at Mercom India. Prior to joining Mercom, he worked in many roles as a business correspondent, assistant editor, senior content writer, and sub-editor with bcfocus.com, CIOReview/Silicon India, Verbinden Communication, and Bangalore Bias. Rakesh holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). <a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/rakesh-ranjan-parashar/" rel="noopener noreferrer">More articles from Rakesh Ranjan.</a></p>
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Hero, SB Energy, Aditya Birla: Top Utility-Scale Solar Developers in First Half of 2020

<p>Lowest (L1) tariff of ₹2.44 (~$0.0338)/kWh has been quoted in the recent auction held by Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (<a href="http://www.gseb.com/guvnl/index.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GUVNL</a>) for 500 MW of grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) projects.</p>
<p>“Aditya Birla Renewables emerged as the L1 bidder by quoting a tariff of ₹2.44 (~$0.0338)/kWh to develop 100 MW of solar PV capacity. Giriraj Renewables (Avadaa) also quoted ₹2.44 (~$0.0338)/kWh to develop 300 MW. Azure Power was the other winner quoting ₹2.45 (~$0.0339)/kWh to develop 500 MW but will be awarded 100 MW through the bucket filling method,” a GUVNL official informed Mercom when contacted.</p>
<p><a href="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/guvnl.png"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-11337" src="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/guvnl.png" alt="Aditya Birla Quotes Lowest Tariff of ₹2.44/kWh in GUVNL’s 500 MW Solar Auction" width="549" height="334" srcset="https://cms.mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/guvnl.png 549w, https://cms.mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/guvnl-300x183.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 549px) 100vw, 549px" /></a></p>
<p>The official further stated GUVNL’s satisfaction with the auction result, adding that the letter of award will be issued within a week to the winning bidders.</p>
<p><a href="https://mercomindia.com/gujarat-solar-500mw-ender-oversubscribed-4-times/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mercom previously reported</a> that technical bids aggregating 1,925 MW had been submitted against the tendered capacity of 500 MW in GUVNL’s 500 MW tender.</p>
<p>This was a successful retendering of 500 MW solar projects by GUVNL. Earlier, GUVNL’s reasoning behind the cancellation of the auction and retendering the capacity was the huge gap between tariffs quoted in successive GUVNL solar auctions.</p>
<p>In all, 13 bidders had submitted technical bids out of which nine participated in the financial bidding. Surprisingly, not many bids showed the effect of safeguard duty. The tariffs quoted in the auction ranged between a high of ₹2.88 (~$0.0399)/kWh and a low of ₹2.44 (~$0.0338)/kWh.</p>
<p>After many twists and turns in the case, the Ministry of Finance recently issued an instruction asking the custom authorities to finalize all the provisional assessment and <a href="https://mercomindia.com/government-asks-customs-collect-solar-safeguard/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">collect safeguard duty</a> as per its earlier notification dated July 30, 2018.</p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://mercomindia.com/safeguard-duty-25-percent-solar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> notification</a>, the government had levied 25 percent safeguard duty on solar modules and cells imported from China and Malaysia. The new Supreme Court order had made it amply clear that this safeguard duty will be levied effective July 30, 2018.</p>
<p>Image credit: Vector Green</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/saumy/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Saumy Prateek</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><div class="designboxt">
<p><img class="alignleft" style="border-radius: 50%;height: 50px;margin-top: -4px;border: 1px solid #00b451" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/saumy-edited-1.png" width="50" /></p>
<p><strong style="text-decoration: underline">Saumy Prateek</strong> Staff reporter at Mercom India<br />
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/saumy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Saumy Prateek</a></p>
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<div class="authorboxn"><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/saumy-edited-1.png" width="79" height="102" /><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/saumy/" rel="noopener"><strong>Saumy Prateek, </strong> </a>is a senior staff reporter with MercomIndia.com covering business and energy news since 2016. Prior to Mercom, Saumy was a copy editor at Thomson Reuters. Saumy earned his Bachelors Degree in Journalism &amp; Mass Communication from the Manipal Institute of Communication at Manipal University.<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/saumy/">More articles from Saumy Prateek.</a></div>
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Lowest Tariff of ₹2.44/kWh Wins GUVNL’s 500 MW Solar Auction

<p>The 200 MW grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) auction conducted by Grid Corporation of Odisha (<a href="http://www.gridco.co.in/View/Home.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GRIDCO</a>) is in troubled waters.</p>
<p>Per a GRIDCO official, “The L2, L3, L4 and L5 bidders have been asked to match the lowest  (L1) tariff of <a href="https://mercomindia.com/l1-tariff-2-79-gridco-200-mw-solar-auction/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">₹2.79 (~$0.0406 )/kWh</a> as the difference between the tariffs is more than ₹0.40 (~$0.0057)/kWh.”</p>
<p>Further elaborating, the GRIDCO official said, “We buy solar power from the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) at ₹2.57 (~$0.036)/kWh, ₹2.81 (~$0.0402)/kWh. Our board is of the opinion that tariff above ₹3 (~$0.0429)/kWh mark is not financially feasible for GRIDCO. If such a tariff prevails, then GRIDCO would scrap the capacities for the other bidders.”</p>
<p>The GRIDCO official further informed that the L1 bidder Aditya Birla Renewables was issued a letter on August 20, 2018. So, we are confident of going ahead with this capacity. Also, this tender had a greenshoe option for 100 MW. We are confident the L1 bidder Aditya Birla will opt for that too.</p>
<p>Talking about the other successful bidders from the auction, the GRIDCO official said, “ACME Power has asked for some more time so that their management can recalculate and see whether they can match the L1 tariff. They recently got a project for ₹2.44 (~$0.0349)/kWh, so we have some hope from them.”</p>
<p>“Sukbir Agro from Punjab has also asked for some more time to arrive at a decision. The other two winners haven’t shown any interest after receiving communication from us,” added the GRIDCO official.</p>
<p>The capacity was tendered by GRIDCO in <a href="https://mercomindia.com/gridco-200mw-solar-tender-odisha/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">April 2018</a>. The tender was <a href="https://mercomindia.com/gridco-solar-tender-oversubscribed-4-times/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">oversubscribed</a> by almost four times.  Per Mercom’s <a href="https://mercomindia.com/product/india-solar-project-tracker/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">India Solar Project Tracker</a>, in the auction, Aditya Birla Renewables had quoted ₹2.79 (~$0.0406)/kWh to develop 75 MW of solar PV capacity. Sukhbir Agro bid ₹3.19 (~$0.0464)/kWh to develop 25 MW, Gupta Power quoted the same tariff to develop 20 MW. Even Eden Renewables quoted ₹3.19 (~$0.0464)/kWh to develop 50 MW. ACME Solar quoted a tariff of ₹3.20 (~$0.0466)/kWh to develop 50 MW.</p>
<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/saumy/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Saumy Prateek</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><div class="designboxt">
<p><img class="alignleft" style="border-radius: 50%;height: 50px;margin-top: -4px;border: 1px solid #00b451" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/saumy-edited-1.png" width="50" /></p>
<p><strong style="text-decoration: underline">Saumy Prateek</strong> Staff reporter at Mercom India<br />
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/saumy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Saumy Prateek</a></p>
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<div class="authorboxn"><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/saumy-edited-1.png" width="79" height="102" /><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/saumy/" rel="noopener"><strong>Saumy Prateek, </strong> </a>is a senior staff reporter with MercomIndia.com covering business and energy news since 2016. Prior to Mercom, Saumy was a copy editor at Thomson Reuters. Saumy earned his Bachelors Degree in Journalism &amp; Mass Communication from the Manipal Institute of Communication at Manipal University.<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/saumy/">More articles from Saumy Prateek.</a></div>
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GRIDCO Asks Bidders to Match Lowest Tariff Quoted at its 200 MW Solar Auction

<p>The Lowest (L1) tariff of ₹2.79 (~$0.0406 )/kWh was quoted in the recent solar auction held by the Grid Corporation of Odisha (<a href="http://www.gridco.co.in/View/Home.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GRIDCO</a>) for the development of 200 MW of grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) auction in the state.</p>
<p>The tender was <a href="https://mercomindia.com/gridco-solar-tender-oversubscribed-4-times/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">oversubscribed</a> by almost four times. The capacity was tendered by GRIDCO in <a href="https://mercomindia.com/gridco-200mw-solar-tender-odisha/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">April 2018</a>.</p>
<p>“Barring the L1 bidder, all other participants quoted tariffs above ₹3 (~$0.0437)/kWh”, an official at GRIDCO told Mercom.</p>
<p>“Aditya Birla Renewables quoted ₹2.79 (~$0.0406)/kWh to develop 75 MW of solar PV capacity. Sukhbir Agro bid ₹3.19 (~$0.0464)/kWh to develop 25 MW, Gupta Power quoted the same tariff to develop 20 MW. Even Eden Renewables quoted ₹3.19 (~$0.0464)/kWh to develop 50 MW. ACME Solar quoted a tariff of ₹3.20 (~$0.0466)/kWh to develop 50 MW,” added the GRIDCO official.</p>
<p>This was the first tender that was introduced with a pass-through option back when there were uncertainties surrounding the imposition of <a href="https://mercomindia.com/safeguard-duty-25-percent-solar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">safeguard duty</a>.</p>
<p>When asked if the tariff was quoted considering the recent imposition of safeguard duty, Ravi Khanna, the CEO of Aditya Birla Solar said, &#8220;We haven’t factored in safeguard duty in our quoted tariff. We haven’t reduced even a single paisa in the tariff initially quoted by us in this auction. Our bid is commensurate to the conditions prevalent at the time we submitted the bid. We cannot factor in speculation. At that time safeguard duty case was on, there was no surety whether it will be levied or not&#8221;.</p>
<p><a href="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/gridco.png"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-10883" src="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/gridco.png" alt="Aditya Birla Quotes L1 Tariff of ₹2.79/kWh in GRIDCO’s 200 MW Solar Auction" width="568" height="424" srcset="https://cms.mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/gridco.png 568w, https://cms.mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/gridco-300x224.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 568px) 100vw, 568px" /></a></p>
<p>In all, 14 bidders submitted technical bids aggregating 845 MW. Out of the 14, 12 participated in the financial bidding, informed the GRIDCO official.</p>
<p>The capacities will be awarded in bucket filling order. Therefore, ACME stands a chance of being awarded only 30 MW.</p>
<p>It is being observed that auctions resulting in high tariffs have the risk of being withdraw and retendered. Recently, Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (<a href="http://upneda.org.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UPNEDA</a>) cancelled the auction for the development of 1 GW of grid-connected solar PV projects across Uttar Pradesh, citing high tariffs quoted by developers and <a href="https://mercomindia.com/uttar-pradesh-retenders-500-mw-solar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">retendered 500 MW</a>.</p>
<p>In India, ₹2.44 (~$0.0355)/kWh is the record low tariff, and now off-takers are reluctant to purchase solar power closer of above the ₹3 (~$0.0437)/kWh mark.</p>
<p><em>This article has been updated with a quote from the CEO of Aditya Birla Solar</em></p>
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<div class="saboxplugin-wrap" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemscope itemprop="author"><div class="saboxplugin-tab"><div class="saboxplugin-gravatar"></div><div class="saboxplugin-authorname"><a href="https://cms.mercomindia.com/author/saumy/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Saumy Prateek</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><div class="designboxt">
<p><img class="alignleft" style="border-radius: 50%;height: 50px;margin-top: -4px;border: 1px solid #00b451" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/saumy-edited-1.png" width="50" /></p>
<p><strong style="text-decoration: underline">Saumy Prateek</strong> Staff reporter at Mercom India<br />
<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/saumy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">More articles from Saumy Prateek</a></p>
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<div class="authorboxn"><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/saumy-edited-1.png" width="79" height="102" /><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/saumy/" rel="noopener"><strong>Saumy Prateek, </strong> </a>is a senior staff reporter with MercomIndia.com covering business and energy news since 2016. Prior to Mercom, Saumy was a copy editor at Thomson Reuters. Saumy earned his Bachelors Degree in Journalism &amp; Mass Communication from the Manipal Institute of Communication at Manipal University.<a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/saumy/">More articles from Saumy Prateek.</a></div>
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