Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Maharashtra: MSEDCL ups its price to woo solar power makers

In view of the poor response to its tender for buying 1,350MW solar power, state discom MSEDCL has increased the maximum price to attract producers. The company had floated tenders for buying 1,350MW with a cap of Rs3.15 per unit but got bids for only 5MW. Now it has increased the cap to Rs3.30 per unit and floated the tender again. The developers will have to set up solar projects, including the transmission and distribution network, up to the delivery point at their own cost. It will also include acquiring necessary approvals, permits and clearances. The projects would be selected... Read more..

India needs 50 GWh of battery storage within 2.5 yrs for planned EV transition: NITI Aayog official

India will need 50 gigawatt hour (GWh) of battery storage capacity over the next two-and-a-half years to support the projected growth in renewable energy and meet the national electric mobility target, a senior NITI Aayog official said. “If India moves on the projected path of adoption of electric vehicles and the battery storage, adoption of the renewable sources of energy, the requirement for the next 2.5 years should be 50 GWh of the battery storage (sic),” Aayog’s Principal Consultant for mobility Anil Srivastava said speaking at India Energy Forum-Renewable Energy Summit here.... Read more..

Amazon India to add 10,000 electric vehicles to its delivery fleet by 2025

Amazon India on Monday said its fleet of delivery vehicles in the country will include 10,000 electric vehicles (EVs) by 2025. The move follows successful pilots across different cities last year, learnings from which have helped Amazon India create scalable and long-term EV variants to build this fleet, the online retailer said. These EVs are in addition to the global commitment of 100,000 electric vehicles in the delivery fleet by 2030, announced in the Climate Pledge signed by Amazon. Amazon India aims to reduce carbon emissions and the environmental impact of delivery operations with... Read more..

Jaipur-based EV Startup BattRE in talks with 10 venture capitalists to raise funds

Jaipur-based electric vehicle (EV) startup BattRE Electric Mobility is currently in talks with 10 venture capitalists to raise Rs 7 crore in a funding round scheduled in March, Chief Executive Officer Nishchal Chaudhary told ETEnergyworld in an exclusive interview. "We have so far invested around Rs 2.5 crore and plan to raise $1 million in a funding round in March this year for the next phase of growth," Chaudhary said. He also added that the company is likely to close this financial year with a revenue of Rs 11 crore and the revenue is expected to jump to around Rs 100 crore next fiscal... Read more..

Tata Tigor EV Becomes the Most Sold Electric Car in India, Clocks 669 Units Between April-December

As India extensively pushes for electric vehicles in the country, manufacturers are scrambling for a piece of the pie to establish their stand. New entrants such as MG Motor will launch its second model in India in the form of the ZS electric SUV. Last year from April to December, however, Indian auto giant Tata Motors led the electric revolution with the Tigor EV as it sold 669 units of the car. The Tata Tigor EV was initially launched for Government fleet but was launched for personal use last year. The extended range version of the electric sedan came with a range of 213 km, certified... Read more..

Keppel unit to provide technology for waste-to-energy plants in India

KEPPEL Seghers Belgium, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Corp's infrastructure arm, has secured contracts worth more than 12 million euros (S$18 million) to supply technology and services to waste-to-energy plants in India. Keppel Corp said on Monday that Belgium-based Keppel Seghers will provide the core equipment, design and technical services for the plants' air-cooled grate and vertical boiler. The contracts were signed with Abellon Clean Energy, which owns the plants and is based out of Gujarat in India. When completed, the facility can effectively reduce the volume of waste that... Read more..

Climate change threatens around half of world GDP, says WEF study

Flagging huge risks to the economy from dangers of biodiversity loss and climate change, a WEF study on Sunday said businesses are more than dependent on nature with an estimated exposure of $44 trillion or half of the world GDP. Releasing the Nature Risk Rising Report ahead of its 50th Annual Meeting, the World Economic Forum said about 25 per cent of our assessed plant and animal species are threatened by human actions, with a million species facing extinction, many within decades. China, the EU and the US have the highest absolute economic value in nature-dependent industries. An... Read more..

India’s renewable energy generation registers lowest growth in 4 years

India’s renewable energy generation grew at a dismal pace of 5.22 per cent in the first eight months of the current financial year (April-November 2019), the lowest rate of growth in the past four years since 2015-16, according to fresh data sourced from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), an arm of the power ministry. The combined generation from solar, wind, small hydro and biomass and bagasse based power plants stood at 93.69 billion units (BUs) in the April-November period, the CEA’s monthly Executive Summary report for November 2019 showed. This is against 89.04 BUs of green... Read more..

SC seeks Centre’s reply on PIL for converting public transport, govt vehicles into electric ones

The Supreme Court on Friday sought response of the Centre on a PIL seeking implementation of its policy on gradually converting all public transport and government vehicles to electric vehicles to curb air pollution and carbon emission. A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde took note of the plea filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, an NGO, alleging that the government has not done enough in pursuance of its own policy of converting public transport and government vehicles into electric vehicles. The bench, which also comprised justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant, issued... Read more..

India to come up with S&T Innovation Policy soon

India in next six months will draft a National Science and Technology Innovation Policy to devise country’s strategy to tackle emerging challenges, said Dr K VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Prime Minister on Thursday. “The last time, we had a policy on science was in 2013, which was drafted by the Science Advisory council, of which I was a member. It was good, but there were some issues which had to be rectified. The new Science and Technology Innovation policy which we plan to bring now, would be more forward looking," said Raghavan. The new policy to be helmed by the... Read more..

TVS Electric Scooter Spotted On Test

A highly camouflaged electric scooter prototype has been spotted undergoing test runs near TVS Motor Company's factory in Hosur, Tamil Nadu. According to a report, the prototype scooter spotted and filmed by an enthusiast, has the characteristic whine of an electric motor, and has even published a video of the prototype scooter undergoing test runs. And from the video, it's clear that the camouflaged test mule resembles the sharp and sporty styling of the TVS Creon concept which was showcased at the Auto Expo 2018. While the front apron of the test mule looks similar to the Creon concept,... Read more..

Maharashtra: MSEDCL proposes astronomical GSC for solar rooftop

Even as solar rooftop consumers were celebrating the relief given to them by Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC), MSEDCL has dropped a bombshell. It has proposed astronomical grid support charges, which will make solar power costlier than its own power.

The discom, it seems, is hell bent on scuttling the nascent solar sector in the state. MERC will have to once again reject its petition to save solar consumers.

MERC had recently dismissed the discom’s petition to make net billing compulsory instead of net metering. It had, however, allowed MSEDCL to levy grid... Read more..