The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency has incited applications for incentives from solar manufacturers prepared to build high-efficiency module factories under the INR4500 crore ($619 million) production-linked incentive scheme.
Manufacturers establishing any solar technology-based production facilities would be eligible for assistance, offered they commit to advance facilities which manufacture at least solar cells and modules; meet a minimum level of production capacity; and adhere to minimum standards for solar module performance. The latter prerequisite sets standards for module efficiency and level of temperature coefficient of Pmax – which involves the amount of power generation lost for every degree Celsius a panel is above 25 degrees Celsius.
Applicants bidding for incentives must indicate
the yearly scale of compensation they assume, based on the number of rupees they will accept per Watt of product manufactured and how many megawatts of products they expect to sell per year. They would also have to list any resident value addition and any tapering factor to the incentives they are applying for.
Beneficiaries of the separate manufacturing-linked solar plant tender conducted by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy or the Special Incentive Package Scheme proceed by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, cannot also apply for provision from the production-linked incentive program.
Applicants must also encounter minimum requirements related to the size of their business or the volume of equity investment they could commit to each gigawatt of planned production capacity, with the value varying depending on how many layers of the solar production chain their facilities would perform.
India aims to install 175 GW of renewable energy generation capacity by coming year, and 450 GW this decade. Based on techno-economic analysis, the Central Electricity Authority has expected an optimal clean power generation mix would require the nation to add 280 GW of solar capacity by 2029-30. That would mean around 25 GW of solar would essential to be added annually.
The government wants to ramp up Indian PV module manufacturing to hold up such growth. With the country presently hosting only 9-10 GW of solar module annual production capacity, and around 2.5 GW of cell fabrication facilities, India’s solar industry is deeply reliant on imported cells and modules.
.jpg "Overcoming the Hurdles of Scaling a Startup")
