Syed Ali
Investment into India’s solar sector is
expected to be lower over the next few
quarters. According to Mercom Captial
Group, investments into the solar
sector are likely to slow down as project
installation levels are expected to
be subdued due to an anticipated rise
in solar component prices as a result of
the safeguard duty (SGD) imposed by
the government.
At the end of July India’s Ministry of
Commerce, through the Directorate
General of Trade Remedies (DGTR),
imposed a SGD of 25 per cent on solar
cells and modules imported from China
and Malaysia for the next two years.
“A slowdown in solar installations
and the uncertainty around the safeguard
duty case correlate with the
lower procurement of cells and modules,
thus negatively affecting import
activity,” said Raj Prabhu, CEO of
Mercom Capital. He added that the
downward trend is likely to continue
for a few more quarters.
Second quarter solar imports from
China slumped by 67 per cent quarteron
quarter to $331 million, but the
country remains the single largest exporter
of solar cells and modules into
India. Chinese companies accounted
for nearly 75.9 per cent of the total
imports, while in the previous quarter
that share was over 90 per cent. Taiwan
was responsible for 8.3 per cent of all
solar imports into India, valued at $36
million, followed by Vietnam with a
3.8 per cent share and Canada with 3.6
per cent.
The imposition of SGD is also expected
to impact solar tariffs and have
far reaching consequences on India’s
commitment to the Paris Agreement
and the National Solar Mission.
Mohit Prasad, Power Analyst at
GlobalData, said: “With the major solar
PV installations driven by imports from
China, imposition of SGD would be
detrimental to indigenous manufacturers
due to escalation in the deployment
cost of solar projects. The upcoming
bids for solar PV plants are expected to
witness higher bid tariffs, which ultimately
will impact India’s commitments
under the Paris Agreement.”
In 2015, India committed to the Paris
Agreement whereby reduction of
CO2 emissions by 33-35 per cent from
2005 levels was targeted. In line with
the commitment, the country established
a target of achieving 100 GW of
solar power generation by the year
2022. As a result, the demand for solar
cells and modules increased from
1476 MW in FY2015 to 10 573 MW
in FY2018, while the production of
the domestic industry increased from
170 MW to 842 MW.
6
THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - SEPTEMBER 2018
Asia News
Safeguard duties on solar
modules will hit sector
investment
n Duties imposed on China and Malaysia n Imports from China slump 67 per cent
Vietnam faces power shortage
Vietnam is facing a potential electricity
shortage during 2020-2030, according
to the Ministry of Industry
and Trade.
Deputy Minister of Industry and
Trade Hoang Quoc Vuong stressed
that power shortages may start in the
beginning years of the period, with
severe deficiency predicted in 2022.
In addition, load growth could be
higher than forecast.
Forecasts by Electricity of Vietnam
(EVN), presented at the Vietnam Energy
Forum last month, showed that
to meet the quick increase in electricity
demand from now to 2030, the
power sector needs to ensure an output
of 265-278 TWh of electricity in 2020
and 572-632 TWh in the following ten
years.
Electricity demand expands between
10.3-11.3 per cent during 2016-
2020 but slows down to 8-8.5 per cent
during 2021-2030. However, it is still
a tough task for the sector to ensure
sufficient electricity, especially when
many power projects have been delayed.
According to former Minister of Science
and Technology Nguyen Quan,
ensuring energy security is hard, particularly
when the country has suspended
nuclear power projects but
the development of other sources of
energy, especially renewable energy,
is hindered by the many unsolved
problems.
The low feed-in tariff for wind power
is causing a delay in wind power
projects all across the country, as investors
wait for prices to increase so
their plants can become profitable.
Some are now turning to developing
solar power projects instead, but it
remains unclear whether the country
will be able to fulfil its potential.
The solar boom began when the
Vietnamese government’s Decree
No.11/2017/QD-TTg on mechanisms
for encouraging the development of
solar power in Vietnam was released.
South Australia embraces energy storage
South Australia is looking to increase
its energy storage capacity following
the startup of the world’s largest lithium
ion battery last year.
Three huge projects integrating battery
storage with utility-scale renewable
energy installations are in the
pipeline in New South Wales, to be set
up through Australian developer CWP
Renewables.
The three projects, one of which has
just been given local government approval
and the other two still at the
proposal stage, are part of the Grassroots
Renewable Energy Platform, a
portfolio of investments by CWP and
private investment management company
Partners Group to deliver 1.3 GW
of renewables to Australia’s market.
In August, CWP announced that the
New South Wales Department of Planning
and Environment approved an
approximately 200 MW solar-plusstorage
project, to be co-located with
the 270 MW Sapphire Wind Farm to
create a hybrid wind-solar-storage facility.
Construction of the wind farm
began in January 2017, while the rest
of the project should be completed in
about 14 months, with an anticipated
start early next year.
The company has also prepared an
outline of two other projects along
with preliminary environmental assessment,
and will now lodge its proposals
with the New South Wales
Department of Planning and Environment.
Environmental Impact Statements
for the solar-plus-storage
schemes, with respective capacities of
around 600 MW and 200 MW.
The 600 MW solar plus storage plant,
to be located at Parkesbourne, near
Goulburn, New South Wales (NSW),
will be sited on freehold land covering
an area of about 2000 ha (20 km2).
Meanwhile, the 200 MW Glenellen
solar and storage park would be built
on cleared land northeast of Jundera,
within the Greater Hume Shire, close
to an existing substation.
In a separate development, Sanjeev
Gupta’s global GFG Alliance unveiled
details of the first part of his $1 billion,
1 GW dispatchable renewable energy
programme. The Cultana solar project
in South Australia’s Upper Spencer
Gulf will include 780 000 solar panels
capable of generating 600 GWh of
electricity per year, enough to power
96 000 homes while offsetting 492 000
tonnes of carbon dioxide every year.
Construction is expected to begin in
early 2019.
The announcement strengthens Gupta’s
position in South Australia, which
began last year when the British billionaire’s
company, Liberty House,
purchased the struggling Whyalla
Steelworks from Arrium. GFG Alliance
then purchased a 50.1 per cent
stake in South Australian renewable
energy company ZEN Energy to form
SIMEC ZEN Energy before launching
its 1 GW bid in October 2017.
n Planning approval has been granted
for the 300 MW Rodds Bay solar farm.
The project, which will be located
near the coast in Queensland, is set to
become Australia’s largest solar power
plant to date. According to energy
developers Renew Estate, the installation
will be able to power around 88
000 homes. Construction will take
place later this year and it is expected
to be up and running by the start of
2020.
Since then, the list of solar power
projects registered by foreign investors
in Vietnam has been growing
consistently.
The ministry has approved more
than 70 new projects to be put into
operation before June 2019, with a
total capacity of over 3000 MW. This
amount far exceeds the estimated
installed solar power capacity of 1000
MW until 2020 in the original master
plan.
Under the Prime Minister’s Decision
11, solar power installations that
reach their commercial operation
date (COD) by June 30, 2019 are entitled
to a feed-in tariff of 9.35 cents/
kWh for a period of 20 years.