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Sustainability Outlook Headlines
Vestas Wind A/S : Wind turbine maker Vestas suspends 2020 outlook amid coronavirusVestas, the world's largest maker of wind turbines, suspended its 2020 outlook on Tuesday as measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus disrupted its manufacturing, supply chain and installations at wind parks. The suspension comes at a time when demand for renewable power has been growing in tandem with global efforts to combat climate change, and Vestas is currently facing its busiest period ever. "Unfortunately, the pandemic continues to spread and with no clear prognosis on when key wind markets such as the USA, Brazil and India will recover, we are suspending our guidance due to... Read more.. Date : Apr 8 Source: Market Screener
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Covid-19: Mahindra Logistics launches free emergency cab servicesMahindra Logistics Ltd (MLL) on Tuesday said it has launched free emergency cab services to extend its support in the fight against Covid-19. It said there will be a special fleet for non-medical emergency transportation. "MLL...today announced that its enterprise mobility business, Alyte will provide emergency cab services for those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic," the company said in a statement. It said the services will be provided free of cost and have already started in Hyderabad from Tuesday. Alyte will provide these services through a dedicated fleet, including electric vehicles... Read more.. Date : Apr 8 Source: Business Insider
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Organic Textile Production Booms As Consumers Demand Sustainable FashionThe Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), the international certification for organic textiles, saw the highest growth in certified operations last year. The news comes as the wider textile industry experiences major shifts towards more sustainable and organic manufacturing processes, driven primarily by changing consumer tastes for more eco-friendly products. Fashion labels, from fast fashion to outdoor apparel are now all collectively incorporating organic textiles more than ever before, alongside other recycled materials. GOTS recently reported that the number of organic facilities... Read more.. Date : Apr 8 Source: Green Queen
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Great Barrier Reef suffers worst-ever coral bleaching: Scientistsustralia's Great Barrier Reef has suffered its most widespread coral bleaching on record, scientists said Tuesday in a dire warning about the threat posed by climate change to the world's largest living organism. James Cook University professor Terry Hughes said a comprehensive survey last month found record sea temperatures had caused the third mass bleaching of the 2,300-kilometre (1,400-mile) reef system in just five years. Bleaching occurs when healthy corals become stressed by changes in ocean temperatures, causing them to expel algae living in their tissues which drains them of their... Read more.. Date : Apr 8 Source: India Today
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Deemed usage charge for not honouring green PPAsIn a move aimed at providing relief to renewable energy producers, the government has said distribution companies that do not honour their power purchase agreements will be charged for 'deemed generation.' Discoms that curtail the use of renewable energy will have to pay solar and wind power developers for the electricity deemed to have been generated, the ministry for new and renewable energy said in a notice. The only exception would be on account of issues arising due to grid safety, the ministry said. “Some of the discoms are still resorting to RE curtailment without any valid reason... Read more.. Date : Apr 7 Source: ET Energy World
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MNRE Issues Draft Guidelines for Installation of Innovative Stand-Alone Solar PumpsThe Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) had issued updated specifications for stand-alone solar pumps in July last year. And since then it claims to have received representations from innovators claiming that by using different design/software for the stand-alone solar pump they can achieve performance better than specified by the Ministry in a cost-effective manner. At present under the MNRE schemes – stand-alone solar pumps fulfilling MNRE specifications can be installed, however, in order to promote innovation in technology, the Ministry has decided to permit installation of... Read more.. Date : Apr 7 Source: Saur Energy International
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3,000 Mw of solar and wind energy projects face delays on Coronavirus lockdownIndia could face over 21.6 per cent or 3 Digawatts (GW) of solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind installations being delayed as a result of the country’s lockdown, according to Wood Mackenzie. The research and consultancy firm said in a statement the timing of the lockdown is unfortunate as the first quarter is typically one of the busiest periods for wind project installations. "The lockdown will delay some projects until summer, and if the lockdown is extended past April, wind farm construction could be further delayed into the monsoon season, where wind installations are typically at their... Read more.. Date : Apr 7 Source: ET Energy World
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IEX says average spot power prices down 21% in MarchIndian Energy Exchange (IEX) said electricity prices in spot market declined by 21% in March 2020 even as there was a 18% surge in trade volume. IEX saw a trade of 4,291 million units (MU) - the Day-Ahead Market (DAM) traded 3,971 MU during March 2020 and saw 18% year-on-year (YoY) growth while the Term Ahead Market (TAM) traded 320 MU and recorded 30% YoY growth, IEX said in a statement. The southern distribution utilities continued preference for TAM contracts. The total sell bids in day-ahead market were 12,207 MU and the buy bids at 4,545 MU. The sell-bids being over 2.5 times the buy... Read more.. Date : Apr 7 Source: Business Standard
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India’s power demand fell by 32000 MW within minutes on April 5India witnessed a plunge in the demand of power last night when people illuminate diyas and candles, and shut the lights off after Prime Minister Narendra Modi advised them to do so. This has been confirmed by the power ministry. R.K Singh, Minister of State Power and New & Renewable Energy, posted on Twitter: “Demand in the grid came down by 32000 MW within a few minutes but the frequency and voltage were maintained within the normal range. The drop in national demand by 32000 megawatts shows a huge response of the nation to the call of the Prime Minister.” He further stated that his... Read more.. Date : Apr 7 Source: The Hindu Business Line
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Yamuna cleaner, fuller due to lockdown? NGT panel asks CPCB, DPCC to find outhe National Green Tribunal-appointed Yamuna Monitoring Committee has asked the Central Pollution Control Board and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee to ascertain the impact of the lockdown on the water quality of the Yamuna and submit a report within a week. The directions come in the wake of several people sharing pictures of a fuller and cleaner Yamuna on social media, attributing the reduction in pollution levels in the river to the 21-day lockdown enforced to contain the spread of deadly Covid-19. "We have asked the DPCC and the CPCB to get the Yamuna's water quality tested and... Read more.. Date : Apr 7 Source: India Today
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Maruti Suzuki sells over 7.5 lakh BS6 cars‘Forewarned, forearmed; to be prepared is half the victory’ is a quote by a 17th Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes and that’s quite relevant in the automotive industry context too. In the context of the stringent BS6 emission regulation which came into effect on April 1, the industry was forewarned, and it had to arm itself adequately by March 31. Maruti Suzuki is one carmaker that got on to it early enough. As a result, it sold over 7,50,000 BS6 vehicles before the new emission regulation came into force. In comparison, the passenger vehicle industry leader sold 6,59,000 BS4 passenger... Read more.. Date : Apr 7 Source: Auto Car India
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Economic decline due to Covid-19 will not help govt’s tackle climate changeThe world is going to experience a modest decline in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for the first time in 75 years but the dip is unlikely to result in any stabilisation in CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere, which leads to climate change, experts said. The economic decline because of the Covid-19 pandemic is likely to give governments an idea of the magnitude of transformations needed in the coming decades to deal with climate change, scientists said. The impact of Covid-19 on CO2 emissions will be temporary and there is likely to be a strong rebound effect when governments try to make... Read more.. Date : Apr 7 Source: The Hindustan Times
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MNRE Asks States to not Halt Payments for RE GeneratorsThe Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has asked states to continue to buy power from renewable energy producers and clear their dues “on a regular basis as was being done prior to the lockdown”. The MNRE on April 1, 2020, wrote to all states and electricity distribution companies (Discoms) after renewable energy producers complained that some states were curtailing purchase and payment for electricity generated from sources such as solar energy. In the letter, the ministry said the power ministry has recently issued instructions providing for a moratorium to Discoms for making... Read more.. Date : Apr 3 Source: Saur Energy International
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New Development Bank invests $100m in IndiaThe New Development Bank (NDB) has approved a $100 million (£80m) investment in India. The funding aims to catalyse the private sector to further boost affordable housing and green infrastructure in the South Asian nation. The bank’s project pipeline for 2020 covers sustainable development projects in all its member countries. The NDB board has also approved a funding of $400,000 (£321,420) for the Kaliningrad Sea Port Project in Russia, in a bid to improve its infrastructure. Date : Apr 3 Source: Energy Live News
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Need for green clearance way to achieve sustainable development, says SCThe need for environment clearance for a project must be seen as a measure to achieve sustainable development, the Supreme Court has said. The court ruled that the “concept of an ex-post facto EC (environmental clearance) is in derogation of the fundamental principles of environmental jurisprudence”, “detrimental to the environment, and could lead to irreparable degradation”. The reason why a retrospective EC or an ex post facto clearance is alien to environmental jurisprudence is that before the issuance of an EC, the statutory notification warrants a careful application of mind, besides... Read more.. Date : Apr 3 Source: The Indian Express
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About 15% EV dealers to shut shop post lockdownMore than 200 dealers or 15% of the 1,400 odd electric vehicle dealerships across the country will likely shut down once the Covid-19 lockdown is lifted, said the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV), the apex body for the EV industry. EV manufacturers say most dealerships of two wheelers and e-rickshaws, particularly in tier -3 or 4 towns, are owned by first time entrepreneurs who don’t have the financial bandwidth to survive this crisis. Typically it is much cheaper to put up an EV dealership with overheads being as low as Rs 3-Rs 5 lakh. But that also means these small... Read more.. Date : Apr 3 Source: The Times of India
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COVID-19 and Indian PV: Energy demand plunge could indirectly boost C&I solarThe 20% reduction in energy demand seen in India due to the COVID-19 lockdown could draw out favourable conditions for solar firms working in the commercial and industrial (C&I) sector, according to a prominent Indian developer. Along with national energy demand plummeting, consumers are also more likely to default on payments at present, Adarsh Das, co-founder and CEO of Indian rooftop solar developer SunSource Energy, told PV Tech. This is expected to significantly hurt India’s distribution companies (Discoms), most of which are already in the red. “We predict an increase in the... Read more.. Date : Apr 3 Source: PV Tech
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Covid-19 will result in greater income inequality and unemployment, says Kaushik BasuCoronavirus will go, but the kind of world it will leave behind will be a very different one than now. There are widely varying views on how the new world will look, with each expert looking at it from his or her perspective. Dr Kaushik Basu, Professor of Economics at the Cornell University, US, and former Chief Economic Adviser to Government of India, believes that income inequalities will rise after the coronavirus episode. He feels, “we will come out into a much more automated world.” These months of working from home “will cause a jump in our level of comfort” with technologies such as... Read more.. Date : Apr 3 Source: The Hindu Business Line
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COP26 postponed until 2021The UK government has today confirmed that the UN climate change conference, COP26, due to be held in Glasgow in November has been postponed until 2021. Helen Clarkson, CEO of the international non-profit The Climate Group, says: “The postponement of COP26 is, of course, sad but the UK Government and UN Climate Change have made the right decision in the circumstances. A huge international diplomatic effort is required to secure greater national commitments to deliver on the Paris Agreement and that is incredibly challenging right now. In the meantime, we know our networks of businesses and... Read more.. Date : Apr 2 Source: The Climate Group
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Amid lockdown, India switches to BS-VI emission normsDespite the lockdown, India on Wednesday officially moved to a regime of tighter emission norms for motorised two- and four-wheelers. At fuel stations, only the low-sulphur fuel that complies with Bharat Stage-VI emission norms will be sold; so will cars at stores, whose engines meet the stricter norms. Indian Oil Corporation started selling BS-VI fuel around March 17 at its 28,500 fuel stations, an official said. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited said on Twitter that it had rolled out BS-VI fuel across its network of over 16,000 fuel stations. The fuel outlets of Hindustan Petroleum... Read more.. Date : Apr 2 Source: The Hindu
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Maharashtra: Solar sector welcomes MERC’s new tariff orderMaharashtra Solar Sangathan, an umbrella association of over 1,000 solar system manufacturers in the state, has welcomed the latest tariff order issued by Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) for rooftop solar power units. While the power regulator has exempted the rooftop units from Grid Support Charges (GSC) till the cumulative installation of 2000 MW, the association has said the decision will give a breather to the rooftop solar industry, which was said to be in uncertainty for the past six months due to alleged policy paralysis. The association, however, has raised an... Read more.. Date : Apr 2 Source: ET Energy World
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Covid-19 lockdown: States stop renewable power purchase, hold back paymentsFollowing the lockdown and fall in electricity demand, several states are now curtailing renewable power purchases and have also issued notices on non-payment to generators. These states have invoked Force Majeure clause in their power purchase agreements (PPA) with renewable projects to nix power supply and payment. While Punjab has told renewable power producers to run their units at their own cost and risk, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have refused payment and have stated that they are curtailing renewable power. Renewable power including solar, wind, small hydro and... Read more.. Date : Apr 2 Source: Business Standard
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SECI Extends Bid Deadline for 14 MW Solar Plus BESS AgainThe Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has extended the bid submission deadline for its tender for the development of 14 MW of solar power projects along with 42 MWh of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) at Leh and Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir under the Prime Minister Development Package (PMDP)-2015, for a second time in less than a month. As per the SECI notification, the last date for bid submission has been extended from April 16, 2020, to June 1, 2020. And, the techno-commercial bids will now be opened on the new bid deadline. In its notification, SECI stated that “it’s evident... Read more.. Date : Apr 2 Source: Saur Energy International
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NTPC set to expand green energy play with latest acquisitionsNTPC will increase its renewable energy play with its acquisition of the government’s stake in North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd (NEEPCO) and THDC India Ltd (THDCIL). Last week, the Centre raised ₹11,500 crore by divesting its 74.49 per cent stake in THDCIL, in addition to completely selling off its stake in NEEPCO. THDCIL is a 75:25 joint venture between the Government of India and the UP government. “Apart from adding to the equity and earnings, NTPC will benefit from a 5 per cent capacity addition. With these acquisitions, NTPC will tap the hydro opportunity and is on road... Read more.. Date : Apr 2 Source: The Hindu Business Line
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CCI approves JV between Adani Green Energy and Total S.A. in power generationThe Competition Commission of India (CCI) approves the formation of Joint ventures between Adani Green Energy Limited and Total S.A. in the business of power generation through solar energy in India. The proposed combination envisages Adani Green Energy Limited transferring certain of its subsidiaries to a newly incorporated company (JV). Subsequently, Total S.A. would directly or indirectly acquire 50% of the equity share capital of the JV. Total S.A. is the ultimate parent entity of the Total Group. Total Group is an international integrated energy producer with operations in every... Read more.. Date : Apr 2 Source: Devdiscourse
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