India to add 13.75 GW of module and 6.9 GW cell capacity by 2022: Study

A recent JMK study said India may add 13.75 GW of solar modules and 6.9 GW cell capacity by the end of 2022. The study stated that the big players in module manufacturing with 1GW+ capacity such as Waree, Adani, Vikram Solar and Premier Energies alone have proposed a cumulative capacity addition of 9 GW modules and 6.4 GW cells.

The study pointed out that in April 2021, Tata Power Solar expanded its cell manufacturing capacity from 300 MW to 530 MW and module manufacturing from 400 MW to 580 MW. Two months later, in June, Premier Energies expanded module manufacturing from 500 MW to 1.25 GW. The research pointed out that this push in manufacturing and expansion should be seen in the light of a government’s push through the imposition of basic Customs’s duty on solar imports and its scheme of Production Linked Incentives (PLIs) to boost domestic manufacturing. 

India’s oil major Reliance to invest $10 bn in plan to shift to green energy

Reliance Industries will invest $10.1 billion in clean energy over three years in a move to become net carbon zero firm by 2035. Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani said fossil fuels, which powered economic growth globally for nearly three centuries, cannot continue much longer. 

Reliance’s announcement follows similar ones from Royal Dutch Shell and BP that have set a goal to become net zero carbon by 2050 amid pressure from investors and climate activists. Reliance will also build solar capacity of at least 100 GW by 2030, covering over a fifth of India’s target of installing 450 GW by 2030. Ambani said a major part of this will come from rooftop solar and decentralised solar installations in villages.

UP DISCOM told to pay up ₹14.59 billion for unmet renewable purchase obligation

Uttar Pradesh’s regulators ordered the state’s power firm, Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL), to deposit ₹72.45 billion (~$978 million) in the renewable purchase obligation (RPO) Regulatory Fund, including ₹14.59 billion (~$197 million) over failing to meet RPO compliance until the financial year (FY) 2020-21 and ₹57.85 billion (~$780.93 million) against projected RPO requirements for FY 2021-22. The DISCOM is supposed to deposit the amount in 10 equal instalments, which will be used to procure renewable energy, including hydropower.

UPPCL said its failure to meet the backlog of non-solar RPO and hydropower purchase obligation (HPO) was because of a delay in the commissioning of some projects on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Biden may ban solar imports from China’s Xinjiang region over forced labour issue

The Biden administration may ban solar imports from China’s Xinjiang region over reports that the country is forcing Uyghur Muslims to produce them under detention. Around half the world’s supply of polysilicon comes from Xinjiang. China has been accused of locking up hundreds of thousands of ethnic Uyghur Muslims in what the US State Department has labeled a “genocide”.

The ban, termed as a withhold release order, would allow Customs and Border Protection to seize at US ports any imports it suspects of being made with forced labor. At the recent G7 summit, the US and seven other nations highlighted the issue in a joint communiqué that called on China “to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, especially in relation to Xinjiang”.

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