SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL 1 | JANUARY 2023 R.N.I. No: DELENG/2016/74125 | VOL. 7 | ISSUE 5 | TOTAL PAGES 64 | PUBLISHED EVERY MONTH www.saurenergy.com January 2023 | `200

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2 2023 has started off with some sobering news.Even as installations through 2022 almost reached 14 GW of solar , the December numbers at 1300 odd MW continued to be relatively insipid , considering the long road ahead. Thus the closing solar figure of 63 GW by 2022 end faces a huge challenge of adding another 200 plus GW in the coming eight years. Or at least 25 GW per year. With massive contributions like those from Reliance or due to Green Hydrogen yet to start, one would have to be hopeful that reaching this target will be a better journey than the missed journey to 100 GW of solar by 2022. Industry is more hopeful than one would imagine, thanks to the tempering of module prices in the past month, linked to the steep drop in polysilicon and wafer rates. High hopes have been pinned on the commercial and industrial sector. Will those hopes play out in 2023 ? We should know soon enough, perhaps as early as March this year in this fast evolving market. Let’s hope for the best, as it is no longer a matter of just a capacity number, but a much wider impact of our individual, and country level impact on Earth. PRASANNA SINGH Group Editor INSIDE From the Group Editor DISCLAIMER: Editor, Publisher, Printer and Owner make every effort to ensure high quality and accuracy of the content published. However he cannot accept any responsibility for any effects from errors or omissions. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Editor and publisher. The information in the content and advertisement published in the magazine are just for reference of the readers. However, readers are cautioned to make inquiries and take their decision on purchase or investment after consulting experts on the subject. Saur Energy International holds no responsibility for any decision taken by readers on the basis of the information provided herein. Any unauthorised reproduction of Saur Energy International magazine content is strictly forbidden. Subject to Delhi Jurisdiction. GROUP EDITOR Prasanna Singh [email protected] DIRECTOR Prateek Kapoor [email protected] SR. MANAGER - MEDIA SOLUTION Girish Mishra [email protected] DEPUTY EDITOR Namrata Gulati Sapra EDITORIAL COORDINATOR Subhash Yadav DESIGNER Waqar Unis WEB DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Jitender Kumar WEB PRODUCTION Balvinder Singh SUBSCRIPTIONS Harsh Gupta [email protected] Saur Energy International is printed, published, edited and owned by Manas Nandi and published from 303, 2nd floor, Neelkanth Palace, Plot No- 190, Sant Nagar, East of Kailash, New Delhi- 110065 (INDIA), Printed at Swastika Creation 19, DSIDC Shed Scheme 3 Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-II, New Delhi 110020 SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL VOL 7 | ISSUE 05

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Zone Partners up with Snap-E to Set up EV Charging Infrastructure for Fleet Transportation 52 Reports The Power Ministry Report Card For 2022 - Renewables Push, Reforms Lead Agenda 55 People Movements TRevfin Onboards Finance Veteran Sushil Kumar Jain as National Head of Collections

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | JANUARY 2023 5 INSIDE 38 STARTUP Ishan Chaturvedi Co Founder & Director Vareyn Solar COVER STORY 2023’s Great Expectations. 16 Will India Rise To The Challenge? 26 COLUMN Dr. Irfan Khan Founder & CEO eBikeGo Fleet of Solar Ferries to be Introduced in 45 Saryu River in Ayodhya, UP

Storage in Turkey The United Kingdom-based Hive Energy has said that it will be investing $4 billion for the development of solar power projects with energy storage facilities in Turkey. As per reports, the firm will be constructing the projects through joint ventures with two partners based out of Turkey itself. The firm said that the solar power projects would be in the capacity range of 11 MW to 210 MW and cumulatively will have a capacity of 4 GW. German Institution DEG Funds Solar MicroGrids Development in Nigeria Investment is picking up in holds long-term PPAs with investment grade utility off-takers. It produces 1,175 GWh of clean electricity per year, enough to power up to 64,000 US households and offset 508,000 tons of CO2 emissions Atlas Renewable Energy Gets $210 million For 438 MW Solar Project in Brazil Global renewable player Atlas Renewable Energy has secured a loan of $210 million from Brazil’s Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES) to finance its Boa Sorte solar project which is of 438 MW in capacity. Atlas said that this marks the first time that BNDES has executed a US dollar-indexed loan to a renewable energy project. UAE’s Masdar to Develop 1 GW Renewable Energy Projects in Kyrgyzstan UAE renewable energy conglomerate Masdar has announced that it has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Energy, Kyrgyzstan, to develop a pipeline of renewable projects in the Central Asian country, with a capacity of up to 1 gigawatt (GW). Bangladesh Warms Up To Jinko’s N Type Modules In the country’s first ever N Type installation featuring Jinko’s Tiger Neo panels, Oslo’s Aluminium and energy major Hydro and World Wide Wind, a startup which offers solutions in floating offshore as well as offshore and onshore projects, have united forces to construct an offshore floating wind turbine made from aluminium. Hydro is among the largest aluminium firms in the world. The two Norwegian firms have signed a letter of intent towards this. EDF Renewables, Luminous Energy to Build 800 MW Solar Project in UK EDF Renewables and Luminous Energy have announced their plans for the development of a solar power farm coupled with battery based energy storage infrastructure in the east Midlands region of the United Kingdom. The two companies will also undertake a public consultation process before the execution. US based Enfinity Global Acquires 400 MW of Operating Solar Projects US-based renewable energy firm Enfinity Global has announced that it has completed the acquisition of a 400 MW operational utility-scale solar portfolio marking a further expansion in the US market. Enfinity Global said that the portfolio reached COD within the last five years and that it INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | JANUARY 2023 7 Africa and the developed world seems to be making efforts to ensure that the continent is not bereft of access to green energy. The ace development finance institution of Germany, Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), is now funding the USA-based Husk Power Systems with $750,000 to build eight community solar micro-grids in Nigeria. Brazil’s WNI Smart Energy to Switch on 15 Solar Plants Brazilian firm WNI Smart Energy, which is the solar arm of Curitiba’s WNI Technology Group, is looking to set in motion 15 new solar plants in Brazil this quarter. The WNI Group provides energy solutions and smart energy by way of photovoltaic systems among other businesses. The WNI Smart Energy arm of the Group offers design, installation, monitoring, operation, maintenance and support of photovoltaic power generation systems for individual customers as well as firms. Australian Renewable Energy Agency Awards $30 Million For Cheaper Solar Gains The researchers of University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney have been awarded about $30 million under the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) Research and Development (R&D) Program to support research and development (R&D) and commercialisation activities to significantly reduce the cost of solar. The funds are a share of $41.5 million award by ARENA. INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS Tunisia Comes Up With Solar Power Tenders Of 1 GW Tunisia is catching up on its renewable energy targets to decarbonise its economy and add to the global efforts for tackling the challenge of climate change. In a fresh development, Tunisia’s Ministry of Energy, Mines and Renewable Energies has launched two new tenders for the development of solar PV projects of cumulative capacity of 1 GW. Manufacturing Major CSSC Haizhuang Unveils 18-MW Turbine Model, Largest for Offshore Installations CSSC Haizhuang, a firm based in Chongqing in southwest China, has unveiled the components of the world’s largest and mostpowerful wind turbine in making: H260-18.0 turbine. It is greater than many 16-MW turbines that have been developed by manufacturers in China. CSSC Haizhuang is a subsidiary of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) and a manufacturing giant. Sungrow to Supply Inverter Solutions to 814 MWac Project in Qatar Global leading inverter and energy storage system solution conglomerate Sungrow has announced that it will be supplying inverter solutions for a large solar power project in the Middle East. As per the announcement, it has signed a contract recently with Samsung C&T’s Engineering & Construction Group to supply its MV-integrated 1500V string inverter solution SG320HX to an 814 MWac PV project in Qatar. Chinese Manufacturer Huasun Launches 715 W HJT Solar Module Chinese solar product manufacturer Huasun has launched a new bifacial, dual-glass heterojunction (HJT) solar panels meant for ground-mounted PV applications. Huasun said that the new solar module is of 715 W and has been certified by TÜV SÜD Group. Spain’s Iberdrola Has Brazil For Its First Floating Solar Project The first floating solar power facility of global energy conglomerate Iberdrola will be coming up in Brazil soon. Iberdrola group has announced its plans to install the its first floating photovoltaic plant in the world in Brazil, through its subsidiary Neoenergia. Altus Buys 220 MW Solar Portfolio from RE Equity Firm TGC in USA Connecticut based renewable energy infrastructure private equity firm, True Green Capital Management has announced that it has signed a binding agreement last week with Altus Power to sell a portfolio of approximately 220 megawatts (MW) of distributed solar assets. The value of the deal is revealed as $293 million. TGC and Altus Power expect the transaction will close in early 2023. Trina Solar Maintains Its Top ranking in Bankability ratings Leading solar and tracker firm Trina Solar has maintained its AAA status for the third consecutive quarter in the PV ModuleTech bankability rankings released by PV Tech for Q4 2022. The company’s continued presence in the highest category validates its ongoing high performance level in manufacturing capacity, technology innovation, product shipments and financial status and its position among the industry leaders in each of these areas. Canadian Solar Will Supply 550mwh BESS To Pulse Clean Energy For UK Projects Global renewable major Canadian Solar has announced that CSI Energy Storage, part of its subsidiary CSI Solar, has been selected to provide up to 550 MWh of SolBank energy storage products to Pulse Clean Energy. The products will be used in various UK-based energy projects. Hannon Armstrong (HASI) Invests 1.3 GW Renewables of AES Corp in USA Climate solutions investor Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital (HASI) has announced the close of two new programmatic investments in gridconnected renewable energy assets developed, owned and operated by the AES Corporation. The US based HASI is a public company that provides capital to assets developed by companies in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and other sustainable infra markets.

8 SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | JANUARY 2023 MNRE Does Away With Reverse Bidding For Wind Energy, Targets 8 GW Tenders Every Year POLICY A new directive from the Ministry of New And Renewable Energy (MNRE) has confirms a long pending demand of the wind energy sector in India. The central government is looking to issue tenders inviting bids for 8-GW of wind power projects every year until the end of this decade (2030). The directive said that there will also be a new bidding process in place, the key feature being the removal of reverse bidding, as demanded by many sections of the industry. It is good to see the government acknowledge a past error, and make an effort to fix it. The Wind Energy sector continues to be potentially a strong success story for India, and a clear trajectory of bids and demand is the least the industry deserves to make the right investments. The MNRE communication with NTPC, NHPC and SECI, held that the old bidding process is done away. The new bidding method will be ‘single stage two envelope closed bid.’ A committee has also been set up by MNRE that will examine bid proposals and also help in faster addition of renewable energy capacity in the wind sector. The adoption of a new bidding process is based on the recommendation of the committee, said MNRE. The directive mentioned, “Bids for a cumulative capacity of about 08 GW will be issued each year from 1st January, 2023 onwards up to 2030. ln order to ensure that wind energy capacity comes up in all the 8 windy states; every bid will be a composite bid-comprising of state specific sub-bids for each of the 8 windy states.” According to MNRE, the green energy from the wind capacity in each sub-bids in a state shall be pooled and procurers will get that at pooled as per the notified Electricity (Amendment) Rules, 2022. This means that the reverse auction procedure is scrapped as far as wind power is concerned and the tariffs for energy will be pooled-in across states. MNRE said that under the new ‘single stage two envelope closed bid’ system, a bidder will have to submit one envelope that will have the technical bid and the second envelope that will have the financial bid. The implementing agencies will open the technical bid envelope first which will be qualifying in nature. This means that those who qualify in the first bid will have their financial bids opened in the second round. The MNRE directive said, “The bids will specify the capacity to be installed. One sub-bid will be specific to one state. The cumulative size cap in any of the B states in one year will not be more than 2-GW every year.” Also, the implementing agency could also determine minimum and maximum size of the bid considering the wind renewable purchase obligation targets of the states. India has added 166-GW of renewable energy by the end of 2022 which is short of its original plan of achieving 175-GW. The growth of wind energy has slowed down noticeably in the past few years; it was just about 42 GW. Hence, the MNRE seems to be changing its gear as it looks to the larger national target of achieving 500 GW of installed renewable energy by 2030, which has space for wind energy of almost 160 GW. Recently, a draft policy for offshore wind energy was also introduced by the government.

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10 SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | JANUARY 2023 Amendments in Electricity Rules Add Clarity On Energy Storage, Open Access Charges POLICY I n a notification on changes to the Electricity Rules for Consumers, the government has sought to add a level of clarity on charges payable by consumers, as well as the status of energy storage systems. Limit To Open Access Charges The notification starts off by establishing a limit of 20% of the cost of supply on the surcharge as determined by the State Commission under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 86 of the Electricity Act,2003 shall not exceed twenty per cent of the average cost of Supply. The clarification is an obvious effort to counter the levying of unreasonable charges by many discoms to dissuade consumers from shifting to other power sources, for instance. While the rules do not specific it as such, industry in particular will hope for clarity on this limit being applicable to all the omnibus charges added on by discoms. For renewable players, the next key element of the changes is the clarifications related to energy storage systems. The focus here is on enabling clear policy for independent energy storage system providers, as well as allow for better utilisation and possibly, construction of larger energy storage systems. Thus, the rules specify that “The Energy Storage System can be developed, owned, leased or operated by a generating company or a transmission licensee or a distribution licensee or a system operator or an independent energy storage service provider and when an Energy Storage System is owned and operated by and co-located with a generating station or a transmission licensee or a distribution licensee, it shall have the same legal status as that of the owner: Provided that if such an Energy Storage System is not co-located with, but owned and operated by, the generating station or distribution licensee, the legal status shall still be that of the owner but for the purpose of scheduling and dispatch and other matters it shall be treated at par with a separate storage element. The developer or owner of the Energy Storage System shall have an option to sell or lease or rent out the storage space in whole or in part to any utility engaged in generation or transmission or distribution; or to a Load Despatch Centre: Provided that the owner of the Energy Storage System may use part or whole of the storage space himself to buy and store electricity and sell the stored electricity at a later time or date. The independent energy storage system shall be a delicensed activity at par with a generating company in accordance with the provisions of section 7 of the Act: Provided that if the owner or developer or lessee or tenant or user seeks to operate the Energy Storage System as an independent energy storage system, it shall be registered with the Authority and the capacity of such Energy Storage System shall be verified by the Authority.” Among others, clear timelines have been set for responses from the central Electricity Regulatory Commission for petitions linked to pricing and permissions, before they can be escalated to the APTEL

12 SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | JANUARY 2023 Modi Cabinet Approves Rs 19744 cr For Green Hydrogen Initiatives POLICY The government’s Green Hydrogen Mission for India got a shot in the arm with the formal approval of Rs 17,490 crore for the same by the Union cabinet today. The allocation is expected to be used for a special PLI (Performance Linked Incentive) scheme for manufacturing a base for electrolysers and other related equipment for green hydrogen manufacturing in India. The PLI route has become the preferred route for incentivising firms towards the governments make in India push, after meeting significant success in the electronics and more recently, solar sector too. The National Hydrogen Mission was announced in Budget Speech of FY 2021-22 to produce the hydrogen from green energy sources. The scheme was announced putting Green Hydrogen at the heart of India’s energy security and climate change and jobs in clean energy. Announcing the initiative formally, Anurag Thakur, Minister of Sports, Youth Affairs and Minister of Information and Broadcasting, said that by 2030, 5 million tonnes of green hydrogen will be produced annually by establishing electrolyser capacity of 60 to 100 GW, along with incentives for producing this equipment. Incentives will be available till 2029- 30 on electrolyser manufacturing, and secondly on Green hydrogen output. Rs 1466 crore has also been provided for pilot projects. An empowered group of experts will also be set up to advise on technical issues. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) will get a Mission secretariat with the professional director. According to a report by TERI, in 2020, India’s hydrogen demand stood at 6 million Tons (MT) per year. $2 per kg has become the holy grail for Green Hydrogen costs to end users, from the existing range of $6 to $8. At that level, both demand and export opportunities out of India are expected to be huge, and a high contributor to make the country energy independent by 2047 as targeted. While firms like Ohmium have already started making electrolysers in India, a huge push is expected from the likes of the Reliance and Adani Groups, among others, to manufacture the full equipment supply chain here as the country bets on Green hydrogen to clean up energy intensive industries, besides other areas like replacing gas use where possible. Green hydrogen manufacture is also expected to account for a significant chunk of the 280 GW plus of solar power capacity targeted by 2030, with NTPC itself allocating 5 GW of its 60 GW renewable capacity for green hydrogen and ammonia. Multiple other developers have also announced plans to get into the segment, so expect a lot of announcements going ahead.

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14 SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | JANUARY 2023 POLICY Delhi Solar Policy 2022- A Model For All MegaCities? The draft Delhi State Solar Policy is finally out for public comments, with a deadline of February 3 for responses. At the outset, the policy sets some ambitious goals for itself. A total of 6000 MW of installed solar capacity which shall include 750 MW of rooftop solar within the State and 5250 MW of utility scale solar from outside the State. This would ensure that 25% of the annual electricity demand of Delhi shall be met through solar energy. The city state, which has also one of the highest EV additions in the country now, certainly has a very strong case and need for a higher share of renewable energy. To achieve these lofty goals, the draft makes the case for much that is old, and some new initiatives too. Readers will see new terms like Group Net Metering, Virtual Power Plants, P2P trading, Community Solar and even a Hybrid RESCO model in this policy document, a welcome sign on the face of it. Tackling Key Challenges: Rooftops For Rooftop Solar Rooftop solar, where the city has managed just over 200 MW after years of trying, comes in for special mention. The policy cites issues such as limited availability of capital for consumers, constrained roof space for deployment of RTS systems, limited awareness and complicated process of net metering application for underperformance. To tackle it a broad range of new options are proposed. It starts with options for consumers who simply do not have rooftops. Here, the Delhi Solar policy proposes Group Net Metering. This is for consumers with multiple buildings and service connections, constrained roof space in one property or electricity service connection can benefit from any excess solar energy generated on any other property (one or more), provided these connections are in the same DISCOM territory. DISCOMs shall facilitate this via Group Net Metering (GNM). A second option of Community Solar. Under Community Solar, consumers who do not have a suitable roof for installing a solar system (e.g. residential consumers who live in apartments, consumers with small or shaded rooftops) will be able to benefit from solar energy through the facility of ‘Community Solar’. In Community Solar, individual consumers can be beneficial owners of a part of a larger solar system. Going beyond this, the document envisages the start of Peer to Peer Trading (P2P) of solar energy. Here, consumers who are planning to or have already adopted solar will have the opportunity to sell their excess electricity generation from their rooftops in real time via a P2P energy trading platform. The platform will serve as an online marketplace and will enable the buying and selling of rooftop solar PV energy between two or more gridconnected parties in the same DISCOM area. Incidentally, this is a model that has already been tried and accepted well in Bangladesh, where solar startup Solshare has led the way. Capital Constraints The RESCO model, where consumers effectively pay for the electricity generated on their premises from equipment installed and financed by the developer is given a fresh push in the new policy. Besides a one time registration with the discoms, developers will not have to get empanelled anywhere under the proposed policy. Apart from TYPE OF CONSUMER MONTHLY GBI (INR PER KWH) Residential: Maximum up to 3kW 3 Residential: Above 3 kW, and up to 10kW 2 Group housing societies/ Residential Welfare Associations: Upto 500kW (at 10kW per house) 2 Commercial and Industrial (for the first 200 MW deployed) 1 net metering benefits, MNRE capital subsidy for Group housing societies/residential consumers and Delhi’s Generation Based Incentives (GBI) shall be available for all eligible consumers who adopt RESCO model. It has also proposed mandating IPGCL to aggregate demand and issue a centralized tender under both the CAPEX and RESCO model, preferably through RESCO for all Delhi govt. buildings and properties over 500 sq.m. And then there is the proposed Hybrid Resco Model. This model aims to combine the net-metering agreement between the consumer and DISCOM with a PPA agreement between a RESCO developer and the DISCOM. The model has significant benefits for consumers, as they can adopt RTS without any upfront cost, receive net-metering benefits under one bill from DISCOM, and also slide to a lower tariff slab. This model is also beneficial for developers as they sign a PPA with the DISCOM Generation Based Incentives Proposed For a 5 Year Period

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | JANUARY 2023 15 POLICY The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has indicated irregularities with reference to adherence of DSM Regulations (Deviation Settlement Mechanism), 2022. The regulatory body has pointed that grid connected entities are showing a tendency to overschedule in order to avoid payment of deviation charge for overwithdrawal or under-injection. Consequently, the system frequency has remained high for a significant period of time with the generators showing a tendency for over-injection and DISCOMs underdrawing. The DSM Regulations, 2022 aims to ensure that all grid connected entities follow schedules. It also stipulates that in case of any aberrations, that should only be inadvertent, are to be managed by the system operator through deployment of ancillary services. Further, the CERC has advised that the generators as well as the DISCOMS need to step up regular plant maintenance while also providing mandatory primary response (for generators) along with engaging in scientific demand forecasting for DISCOMs. That apart, it has also recommended that the system operator carry out estimations for the need for and procure adequate reserves while deploying them prudently with a view to avoid frequency fluctuations. In times of high frequency, the Secondary Reserve Ancillary Services (SRAS) down and RRAS down (till TRAS comes into force) must be deployed for frequency improvement. With the system frequency remaining high for long periods, the applicable DSM rate have also peaked. The CERC has sounded a note of caution about the wide frequency fluctuations typically over the last couple of weeks. Grid-India, which is the system operator, has also shared that it finds it challenging to maintain system frequency in the absence of adequate support from grid connected entities. To address this, the Commission will be stepping in keeping in mind the interest of grid security to induce grid participants to stabilise grid frequency. With this view, the CERC has invoked its powers under Regulation 12 of the DSM Regulations, 2022 to address the challenge as highlighted by GridIndia. The said Regulation states that the regulatory body is authorised to issue practice directions when a difficulty arises with respect to executing regulations, “ If any difficulty arises in giving effect to these regulations, the Commission may on its own motion or on an application filed by any affected party, issue such practice directions as may be considered necessary in furtherance of the objective of these regulations.” To stabilise the high DSM rates, the Commission will now be putting a cap on the normal rate of charges for deviation. Accordingly, the Commission has imparted the decision that the normal rate of charges for Deviations for a time block as specified as per DSM Regulations, 2022, shall be subject to the cap of Rs 12 per kWh, until further orders. The CERC has pronounced that in cases, where the system frequency is at 49.90 Hz or below in a time-block, “The general seller other than an ROR generating station or a generating station based on municipal solid waste shall be paid back from the Deviation and Ancillary Service Pool Account @ 150% of reference charge rate for deviation by way over injection in such time block.” CERC Puts Cap of Rs 12 per kWh on Normal Rate of Charges for Grid Deviations with assured off-take and payment security. Under this model, the RESCO developer gets paid directly by the DISCOM via the PPA. The DISCOM, in turn, bills the consumer for solar power consumed at the PPA rate, as part of a single unified bill for energy consumed (i.e. for solar energy consumed and for electricity imported from the grid). The PPA tariffs for hybrid RESCO shall be discovered through a competitive bid process, and shall be approved by DERC. Besides the MNRE subsidies, the state policy adds a Capital subsidy for raised mounting structures for residential customers GNCTD will provide a subsidy for raised mounting structures at the rate of Rs 2,000 per kW upto a maximum of Rs. 10,000 per consumer. Raised structures which have a minimum ground clearance of greater than 6 feet will qualify for this subsidy. The subsidy will be passed through their first electricity bill post commissioning of the RTS system. A state portal as envisaged in the national policy of MNRE is also planned, with a single window clearance for consumers opting for capex based plants. All discom procedures will also be standardised. Exemption from inspection of solar plants up to 500 KVA capacities from Electrical Inspector in line with Ministry of Power notification dated 16.05.2016 has also been proposed. A free solar assessment of any property within 7 days of a request is also promised to provide consumers a better understanding of solar potential. The policy promises that GNCTD (Government of the national capital territory of Delhi) shall ensure that taxes and duties are not levied on generation from RTS, whether for self-consumption or supplied to the grid. Besides this, once notified with changes, the policy promises to activate relevant bodies and agencies to execute the same within a period of 60 days, be it the discoms, GNCTD, or others.

16 SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | JANUARY 2023 2023’s Great Expectations. Will India Rise To The Challenge? As we enter into 2023, the ground is set for a momentous shift for solar. But first,the numbers. In the Jan-Dec period, figures from India’s Central Electricity Authority show that the country added 13956 MW of solar capacity, of which just over 11 GW was utility scale solar. This is by far the best ever performance on capacity additions, ever. Of course, a lot of these are catch up installations, delayed due to the pandemic disruptions. For added context, of the 16022 MW of power capacity added during the year, Solar accounted for 87% of the additions, cementing its role as the pre-eminent renewable energy choice for India. Finally, out of total renewable capacity of 120,900 MW, solar today accounts for over 50%, at 63302 MW. Those are the good numbers. On the flipside, the country needed to add much more, to reach its stated target of 175 GW of renewable energy (not including large hydro) by this year. Taking even the financial year ending March 2023 into consideration, that figure of 121 GW above is unlikely to advance much, with 125 GW a small possibility. That will mean a significant 28% shortfall. The culprit? Solar largely, as solar will account for the lion’s share of the missing 50 GW possibly by March 2023. With only 63 GW achieved out of a targeted 100 GW, the 37 GW shortfall in solar, and the reasons thereon, are well known, but more importantly, we finally seem to be moving to tackle those too. Consider how rooftop solar especially painted a dismal picture with just 7.2 GW of rooftop capacity installed as on November 18, 2022. This includes both residential and commercial sectors, and keeping in kind the target of 40 GW from this sector, it is obvious where the issue lies. Reflecting the delays, the timeline for India’s Rooftop Solar (RTS) programme has been recently extended by four years because of slow progress. The original timeline of 2022 was pushed to a later date of March 2026, with no extension and now aims at achieving its target of 40000 MW (40 GW) rooftop solar (RTS) capacity addition by March 2026. Interestingly, there is no increase in the budgetary allocation. But even the record installation numbers from 2021 have not really left anyone pleased, as these numbers reflect a lot of pending projects from the previous two years that were commissioned during the year. More alarmingly, the numbers do not reflect a distinct slowdown in new capacity additions since the second half of the year, a slowdown that continues till December, when only 1336 MW could be added. Those numbers bely any hopes of a quick turnaround that is needed to meet annual targets of 26 GW and above that are needed to meet the country’s 2030 target of 280 GW. The challenges are many, as we found out when we spoke to a cross section of industry. Deepak Pandey, CEO at Invergy, a solar inverter and storage firm, sheds light on why 2022 wasn’t such a good year for solar, “Comparing with last COVER STORY Namit Aneja Key Accounts Leader-North, East India, Nepal & Sri Lanka, Sungrow

SAUR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL | JANUARY 2023 17 Ishan Chaturvedi, Co-Founder & Director, Vareyn Solar adds that “There are multiple reasons for slowing down of new solar capacities addition by end of 2022, especially in the C&I Segment or up-till 5MW.Frequent regulation changes, the addition of anti-dumping duties and fear of covid coming back.” Namit Aneja, Key Accounts LeaderNorth, East India, Nepal & Sri Lanka For Sungrow, the global leader in solar inverters now adds that, “ Surge in demand in regions like US and Europe is also not helping the cause of Indian solar industry because most of the capacities being utilised in those regions with manufacturers giving priority to them considering the price advantage.” However, everyone agrees that heading into 2023, the introduction of the Green Energy Open Access Rules is one policy that has the potential to make a favourable impact this year. The rules allow any consumer with a connected load of 100 kW or above to get renewable energy through open access from any renewable energy generating plant set up by himself; or by any developer. The open access has to be granted within 15 days. The application for open access can be made on https://greenopenaccess. in/ for processing of applications related to green energy open access by the stakeholders including open access participants, traders, Power Exchanges, National / Regional / State Load Despatch Centres, Central/State transmission utilities. The catch? States need to notify their own compliance and local rules and deviations, which most have not done yet. The good news is that leading industrial states like Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu have made the right moves, and backward states like Uttar Pradesh have also come out with their policy, which should encourage uptake going ahead. “Open Access has yet to open up in many states, the major states which have been doing well in solar have seen a saturation in the requirement as many big players have already done the needful for themselves,” points out Ishan Chaturvedi. “The Next big step in openaccess is for the commercial segment, I.e. 0.5MW – 3MW of clients who arecurrently stuck somewhere in the middle as they don’t have the space for arooftop installation nor do they have a favorable investment environment. I feel it would be correct to bet on the expansion of the C&I Segment in the coming time,” sums up Chaturvedi. Smaller but significant states like Delhi have also put out draft solar policies that seem very favorable finally, and post formal notification, these should also lead to a strong uptake in both residential and commercial segments in these regions. Aneja reminds us that “ the potential in C& I segment is huge as if we see the power consumption in C&I segment is approx. 45-50% of total power consumption and uses of RE power is still