Clean Energy Tech Firm Ecozen Raises $30 Million for Global Expansion

SJVN Green Energy Invites Bids to Source Land for 200 MW Solar Projects in Assam

Avaada Inks ₹45 Billion Refinancing Deal for Four Solar Projects in Rajasthan

Daily News Wrap-Up: Application Process for ALMM Inclusion and Renewal

Australia Adds 5.9 GW of Renewable Capacity to the Grid in 2023

POWERGRID Wins Contracts to Evacuate 18 GW of Renewable Energy

MNRE Seeks Feedback on Guidelines for PM-Surya Ghar Rooftop Solar Program

Apple Partners with CleanMax to Power India Operations with Renewable Energy

Explainer: Application Process for ALMM Inclusion and Renewal

EU Member States Sign Solar Charter to Boost Domestic Manufacturing


					<table id="amazon-polly-audio-table">
						<tr>
						<td id="amazon-polly-audio-tab">
							<div id="amazon-ai-player-label">Listen to this article</div>
							<div id="amazon-ai-player-container">
			<audio class="amazon-ai-player" id="amazon-ai-player" preload="none" controls   controlsList="nodownload" >
				<source type="audio/mpeg" src="http://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/amazon_polly_47777.mp3?version=1673932914">
			</audio>
		</div>
							<div id="amazon-polly-subscribe-tab"></div>
							<div id="amazon-polly-by-tab"></div>
						</td>
						</tr>
					</table><p>Norway’s development finance institution <a href="https://www.norfund.no/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Norfund</a> said it will invest about NOK 600 million (~$60.5 million) in the Indian solar and agricultural waste-to-energy company <a href="https://www.sael.co/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SAEL</a>.</p>
<p>The investment will help SAEL support its target of growing its renewables portfolio to 3 GW by 2028 by adding 100 MW of new biomass and 400 MW of new solar capacity annually to its existing portfolio of 600 MW.</p>
<p>SAEL has developed a new business model under which crop remains are used as fuel in waste-to-energy projects. The company has over 20 operating and under-construction projects using clean energy sources like solar to convert waste into energy.</p>
<p>The focus of the investment is centered on helping New Delhi and the surrounding states minimize air pollution that worsens as the fine particulate matter in the air increases.  Stubble burning by farmers to remove crop residue has been one of the reasons for an increase in particulate matter in the air.</p>
<p>The investment will help SAEL mitigate 2.8 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.</p>
<p>Chairman and Managing Director of SAEL Jasbir Awla said, “By collecting the crop stubble to be used as fuel in our waste-to-energy plants, we contribute to combating one of our nation’s greatest health issues, while at the same time creating local employment and extra income to farmers and local entrepreneurs. This partnership with Norfund will fast track implementation of these projects, making us one of the leaders in this space.”</p>
<p>Mark Davis, Executive Vice President of Renewable Energy at Norfund said, “We are thrilled to be able to contribute with the necessary financing for SAEL to reach its ambitions and contribute to reducing climate emissions and local pollution while contributing to meet India’s energy needs.”</p>
<p>Earlier this month, Norfund and Norway’s largest pension fund KLP <a href="https://mercomindia.com/norfund-klp-acquire-49-stake-renews-transmission/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> an investment of NOK109 million (~$10.85 million) for a 49% ownership stake in ReNew Power’s Karnataka-based transmission project. Norfund will help ReNew by contributing to the connection of 2.5 GW of clean power in South India being connected to the country’s grid.</p>
<p>Last August, Norfund and KLP inked an agreement to <a href="https://mercomindia.com/norways-climate-investment-49-stake-solar-project-rajasthan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acquire</a> a 49% stake in a 420 MW solar power project in Rajasthan.</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>
</div>
<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>
</div></div><div class="clearfix"></div></div></div>

Norfund to Invest $60 Million in Indian Waste-to-Energy Company SAEL

<p>The International Finance Corporation (<a href="https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/corp_ext_content/ifc_external_corporate_site/home" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">IFC</a>), a member of the World Bank Group, announced that it has joined hands with the Agriculture Bank of Egpyt (ABE) to help Egyptian farmers access funding to purchase solar irrigation systems.</p>
<p>The partnership will help Egyptian farmers switch to solar irrigation systems and reduce their dependence on diesel-powered generators and boost their productivity.</p>
<p>IFC said farmers could potentially save around 14 billion Egyptian pounds (~$ 875 million) annually in diesel fuel costs by using solar power for water pumping.</p>
<p>&#8220;Our partnership with ABE will help provide clean energy to farmers at an affordable cost while helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Supporting the development of renewable energy and expanding access to finance are priorities for IFC in Egypt,&#8221; said Walid Labadi, IFC Country Manager for Egypt, Libya, and Yemen.</p>
<p>According to its press statement, IFC will help the bank build capacity, and design new financial products for Egyptian farmers to purchase and install solar irrigation pumps as most of them do not have direct access to grid electricity.</p>
<p>&#8220;Expanding the use of solar energy technology among farmers is part of our strategy to support agriculture and rural development in Egypt. It will also contribute to the country&#8217;s 2030 strategy to encourage agricultural investments and rationalize the use of resources, including energy, in the sector,&#8221; said  Sami Abdel Sadek, Deputy Chairman of the Agriculture Bank of Egypt.</p>
<p>IFC said that the partnership is part of its broader advisory work to strengthen clean technology and assist entrepreneurship in Egypt.</p>
<p>Notably, the Indian government has launched KUSUM, a massive program to help solarize the agricultural sector. The government <a href="https://mercomindia.com/kusum-1-75-mn-solar-pumps-solarize-1-mn-water-pumps/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">launched</a> the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) in February last year. The objective of this innovative program is to help farmers achieve financial stability and water security.</p>
<p>Mercom recently <a href="https://mercomindia.com/amendments-for-kusum-program-to-scale/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">published</a> an article discussing some amendments that are likely to expand the scale and efficiency of the project.</p>
<p>Image credit: <a href="https://pressroom.ifc.org/all/pages/PressDetail.aspx?ID=26078" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">IFC</a></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/harsh-shukla/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Harsh Shukla</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><p><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Harsh-Shukla-293x300-1-new.jpg" width="99" height="102" /><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/harsh-shukla/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong style="color: #00b451">Harsh Shukla</strong> </a>is a staff reporter at Mercom India. Previously with Indian Express, he has covered general interest stories. He holds a Masters Degree in Journalism from Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune.</p>
<p><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/harsh-shukla/">More articles from Harsh Shukla.</a></p>
</div></div><div class="clearfix"></div></div></div>

IFC to Help Egyptian Farmers Switch to Solar Irrigation Systems

<p>The Solar Energy Corporation of India (<a href="https://www.seci.co.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">SECI</a>) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency (<a href="https://oredaodisha.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">OREDA</a>) to develop solar energy projects in the state.</p>
<p>According to the MoU, OREDA and SECI will develop grid-connected agro-photovoltaic projects in Odisha. In agro-photovoltaic projects, the same land is utilized both to harvest solar energy and to carry out agricultural activities.</p>
<p>SECI said that the agricultural land would be taken up under the ‘Annual Lease Model’ from interested farmers. The government will directly execute the lease deed for a period of 25 years with the farmers without involving any brokers, SECI added.</p>
<p>According to SECI, this will directly benefit farmers as they can carry on farming activities on the leased agricultural land while earning a determined lease amount of ₹20,000 (~$ 269.83)/acre annually from the government.</p>
<p>SECI added that it is currently developing a 40 MW ground-mounted solar project in Kantamal tehsil of Boudh district and another 40 MW floating solar project on the Hirakund dam in Sambalpur district of Odisha. Mercom earlier <a href="https://mercomindia.com/world-bank-seeks-consulting/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> that the World Bank had floated an expression of interest seeking consulting firms to help explore the potential of this floating solar project in Odisha.</p>
<p>Last month, the Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency <a href="https://mercomindia.com/odisha-solar-tender-konark-town/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">invited</a> bids for a 10 MW solar power project in the Junagarh block of Kalahandi district. Earlier this year, NHPC Limited also <a href="https://mercomindia.com/nhpc-develop-floating-solar-odisha/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">signed</a> an MoU with Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha Limited. As part of the MoU, both the parties would collaborate to form a joint venture company to develop floating solar projects of nearly 500 MW in the state.</p>
<p>Odisha has been opting for innovative ways of encouraging solar power in the state; solar <a href="https://mercomindia.com/odisha-floats-tender-supply-10-solar-cold-storage-units/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cold storage</a>, manufacturing <a href="https://mercomindia.com/tuticorin-port-madhya-pradesh-odisha/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">hubs</a>, and off-grid applications such as solar trees, solar drinking water kiosks, and off-grid solar power projects with battery storage (<a href="https://mercomindia.com/odisha-konark-sun-temple-solar-powered/">Konark</a>).</p>
<p>According to Mercom’s <a href="https://mercomindia.com/product/india-solar-project-tracker/">India Solar Project Tracker</a>, Odisha has installed around 417 MW of solar projects, with another 55 MW of solar projects currently in the pipeline.</p>
<p>Image credit: By Akmu.cazri &#8211; Own work, CC <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73564699" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BY-SA</a> 4.0</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/harsh-shukla/" class="vcard author" rel="author"><span class="fn">Harsh Shukla</span></a></div><div class="saboxplugin-desc"><div itemprop="description"><p><img class="alignleft" src="https://mercomindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Harsh-Shukla-293x300-1-new.jpg" width="99" height="102" /><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/harsh-shukla/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong style="color: #00b451">Harsh Shukla</strong> </a>is a staff reporter at Mercom India. Previously with Indian Express, he has covered general interest stories. He holds a Masters Degree in Journalism from Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune.</p>
<p><a href="https://mercomindia.com/author/harsh-shukla/">More articles from Harsh Shukla.</a></p>
</div></div><div class="clearfix"></div></div></div>

SECI and OREDA Come Together to Develop Agro-Photovoltaic Projects in Odisha

farmer

Get the most relevant India solar and clean energy news.

RECENT POSTS