INDIA’S SOLAR AMBITIONS

On A Big Solar Mission: How India Slashed Costs, Created 'Bid Euphoria'

Jessica Lillian, 26 April 2012 (Solar Industry)

”Can India build 20 GW of grid-connected solar power by 2022? The country's ambitious Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (NSM), launched in January 2010, has already reached a few eye-catching milestones.

“Project highlights in just the past month include the completion of the 214 MW Gujarat solar park, which is reportedly the largest PV project in Asia, and a 40 MW plant developed by Reliance Power in Rajasthan. On the concentrating solar power (CSP) side, AREVA Solar recently announced plans to build a 250 MW CSP project - the largest of its kind in Asia - in India.”

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”Moreover, the entire global solar sector has taken notice of remarkable per-kilowatt-hour prices achieved by recent projects. A winning reverse-auction bid submitted by France-based SolaireDirect, for instance, offered a $0.15/kWh price for a 5 MW plant…

“The NSM also offers unique opportunities on the manufacturing side. In fact, for U.S.-based thin-film module manufacturers, gaining a market foothold may be easier in India than anywhere else…A full half of the PV projects in the NSM's first batch use thin-film PV, which has just a 14% market share globally…Although domestic-content requirements require crystalline modules used in NSM projects to be manufactured in India, thin film is currently exempt…”