Volume No. 10 Issue No. 12 EDITORIAL EDITORIAL The demand for green energy continues to grow in India as well as globally, as countries PUBLISHER focus on mitigating climate change. The Covid-19 pandemic is further driving countries Alok Brara to look at sustainable ways of meeting their energy demand by designing economic EDITOR-IN-CHIEF recovery packages that accelerate the shift towards renewables rather than falling back Nandita Sardana Kochhar on fossil fuels. The European Green Deal, Germany’s Green Recovery Stimulus and The Republic of Korea’s New Green Deal are a few examples of this movement. EDITORIAL OPERATIONS Mudita Mehta (Senior Director) Global lenders and financial institutions are also shying away from financing coal- Devangshu Datta (Consultant) based power in a bid to reduce the carbon footprint and build an environment- Shyama Warner (Consultant) friendly portfolio. Japan-based Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. has decided not EDITORIAL to provide support to new coal-fired power projects with effect from May 1, 2020. The Rama Sudhakar Patnaik (Consultant) Japanese Mizuho Financial Group has made similar commitments. US-based Anagha Bhambri (Consultant) JPMorgan Chase announced that it would not provide project financing for coal-fired Sugandha Khurana (Associate Copy Editor) power projects unless they use carbon capture and sequestration technology. Simi- larly, the European Investment Bank plans to stop financing fossil fuel-based projects RESEARCH by the end of 2021. Director: Dolly Khattar Senior Research Analyst: Khushboo Goyal With some of the largest investors in the world increasingly abandoning coal, it is but Research Analyst: Sarthak Takyar natural for companies in the power sector to accelerate the transformation process Research Analyst: Meghaa Gangahar and pivot towards green energy. For instance, early this year, global private equity BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT major BlackRock, which has stakes in various Indian companies such as Coal India Raman Dev Narang (Deputy CEO) Limited (CIL), NTPC Limited, Adani Power, Torrent Power, Tata Power and CESC Ashima Gupta (GM, Advertising Sales) Limited, announced plans to exit companies that earn over 25 per cent of their rev- enues from coal-related businesses, including power plants. As more such announce- DIGITAL MARKETING ments come to the fore, large conventional power players, which were traditionally Rashmi Mahajan (Manager) focused on thermal power, are now actively looking at diversifying their portfolios to DESIGN stay relevant in the future. Joybroto Dass (Art Director) Jaison Jose (Sr. Graphic Designer) Thermal power major NTPC, whose generation portfolio is currently dominated by fos- Manoj Singh (Graphic Designer) sil fuels (over 90 per cent of its total installed capacity of 62.9 GW), is taking significant strides towards meeting its target of adding 32 GW of renewable capacity and ADMINISTRATION accounting for a 30 per cent non-fossil fuel basket by 2032. Bharat Heavy Electricals Jose James, Saroj Kumar Limited (BHEL), the country’s largest equipment maker, is rapidly increasing its pres- CIRCULATION ence in the solar and battery equipment space. Leading private power producers such Mehak Taneja as the Adani Group, Tata Power and JSW Energy are also going green in a big way by PRINTING/PROCESSING working towards ambitious renewable energy targets. Mining majors CIL and IPP Ltd NLC India Limited too have joined the renewables’ bandwagon as they realise the challenges to thermal generation. OFFICE B-17, Qutab Institutional Area, In the years to come, the power sector is bound to witness a massive change in busi- New Delhi 110 016 ness models as more companies move towards clean generation. Pure-play thermal Phone +91-11-4103 4600-01 power producers are likely to be limited, as coal-based power will increasingly play a Fax +91-11-2653 1196 more supportive role. Email: [email protected] Website: renewablewatch.in Image courtesy: Shutterstock images October 2020 ● Renewable Watch ● 3 CONTENTS 16 28 Fixing the Interview with Weak Link K.V.S. Baba Discoms must “POSOCO has a power up to enable critical role in the renewables’ growth energy value chain” 42 52 Spotlight Technology Waste to Energy Focus Monocrystalline PV Technology CONTENTS NEWS BRIEFS 8 FINANCE Green finance: Innovative financial instruments needed 34 TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS to enhance private sector participation Fixing the weak link: Discoms must power up to enable 16 renewables’ growth PERSPECTIVE Clearing the way: Gujarat’s new policy aims to ensure 20 Interview with Dr Shawn Qu: “Energy storage will be 36 land availability, but has strings attached a game changer” Solar pump innovations: Efforts to improve efficiency 22 Bladeless wind turbines: Innovations focus on a 40 and costs lightweight, noiseless alternative Driving change: Automobile industry shifts gears to 24 procure renewable energy SPOTLIGHT: WASTE TO ENERGY Solar PV recycling: High potential for reuse of 26 Twin goals: Southeast Asian countries look to WtE plants 42 module waste for waste and energy management Opportunities in waste: Current status of WtE projects 44 COMPANIES and future potential Interview with K.V.S. Baba: “POSOCO has a critical role 28 Channelising waste: WtE programme is evolving, but 48 fundamental challenges remain in the energy value chain” Waste to use: Delhi’s attempts to ease the burden of 50 Greenko: Reinventing itself to become a leader in 30 its landfills the renewable energy space Efficient disposal: Jabalpur sets the bar for waste-to- 51 Havells India: Growing presence in the solar cable market 32 4 ● Renewable Watch ● October 2020 Delivering true value 丨 Higher power, lower LCOE 4IBQJOHUIFGVUVSF 0ODFBHBJO FOMPOHJTPMBSDPN CONTENTS 36 Interview with Dr Shawn Qu “Energy storage will be a game changer” 58 State Focus Kerala CONTENTS energy conversion PEOPLE Ramesh Babu V., NTPC 64 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS: MONOCRYSTALLINE PV TECHNOLOGY Amit Kumar, Indian Energy Exchange Limited 64 Growth spurt: Monocrystalline solar gains ground across 52 leading PV markets PRODUCT RELEASE Monocrystalline advantage: Technology innovations 54 Products in the market 65 pave the way for achieving higher panel efficiency DATA AND STATISTICS Making inroads: Monocrystalline technology makes its 56 Renewable energy statistics: Achievements, by fuel source 66 presence felt in the Indian market CPSU statistics: Renewable energy generation data 67 Biogas statistics: Project deployments, by state 68 STATE FOCUS: KERALA Tender update: Recent issues and bid extensions 70 New frontiers: Kerala explores rooftop and floating 58 solar to optimise space For advertising in the magazine, please email us at WORLD VIEW [email protected] or call +91 8130 919 700 Power networking: Tunisia focuses on grid expansion 60 for integrating renewables FORM IV Publisher: Alok Brara Printer: Alok Brara Owner: India Infrastructure Publishing Private Limited Editor: Alok Brara UP AND COMING Printing Press: International Print-o-Pac Limited, Going to the grassroots: SunMoksha’s smart technologies 62 C-4 to C-11, Hosiery Complex, Phase-II Extension, Noida 201305 help alleviate rural energy poverty Place of Publication: B-17, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi 110 016 6 ● Renewable Watch ● October 2020 UP AND COMING Going to the Grassroots SunMoksha’s smart technologies help alleviate rural energy poverty By Sarthak Takyar eadquartered in Bengaluru, Karna- access to finance and a sustainable busi- sponsors, government agencies, impleme- taka, SunMoksha was set up by Dr ness model is a problem. nters, O&M providers, and remote expe- HAshok Das with a vision to improve rts, for monitoring and timely interventions. energy access for rural and poor commu- To address these issues, SunMoksha nities in non-electrified villages across has developed Smart Nanogrid™ tech- The technology also allows for the utilisa- India. While the national grid has expand- nology, which allows automated remote tion of the existing grid infrastructure to ed at a good pace, several challenges monitoring, management and mainte- improve efficiency. The company partners remain. One, power generation has not nance of microgrids, and demand-supp- with grassroots-level organisations to pro- kept pace with increased grid access. This ly management on mobile devices. It as- vide a scalable and sustainable business is especially evident in rural areas, where sists in dynamic balancing of different re- model. It also partners with technical, vo- electricity demand has been increasing newable energy sources, including solar, cational and business institutions to but villagers do not receive regular supply wind and bioenergy. develop skill-sets and entrepreneurial of electricity. Moreover, there is an ongoing capacity in villagers. debate over the massive investments It also helps with metering, billing and required to build grid infrastructure in order payment, and sending alerts. The softwa- Renewable Watch takes a look at four key to reach remote villages. Apart from the re cuts off power supply automatically if projects implemented by SunMoksha in high upfront investment involved, trans- bills are unpaid, or if a consumer exceeds India… mission and distribution losses add to the the maximum power allocated to them. running costs of grid infrastructure. Often Moreover, the software provides differen- Smart village at Chhotkei village, the grid infrastructure remains idle after it tial tariffs for business, irrigation, and hou- Odisha has been developed,