Australia offers to help India with rooftop solar plants

Australia can help expand the spread of rooftop solar plants in India, Australia's Oueensland state Minister for Energy Mark Bailey said on Tuesday.

According to India's power ministry, Bailey told Power and New and Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal at a meeting here that Queensland has the necessary expertise to help India expand rooftop solar penetration as three out of its 10 households have solar panels.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, Minister for Natural Resources Anthony Lynham also attended the meeting.

The Indian government has set a target of building 100 giga watt (GW) solar capacity by 2022.

Goyal is in Australia leading the Indian side at the ongoing India-Australia Energy Security Dialogue from February 8-11, focusing on sharing Canberra's expertise in liquefied natural gas (LNG), renewable energy and clean coal technology.

"Australia's strong track record in mine health and safety is world class and can be shared with India," India's power ministry cited Lynham as saying at the meeting.

In response, Goyal said: "India's manpower and Australia's technology can come together to combine the best of both worlds."

Declaring Queensland's willingness to export its expertise in mining, state's Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said they were keen to ensure that the Great Barrier Reef (off Queensland) was not damaged in any way.

The Gautam Adani-led Adani Group's proposed $16.5 billion project for developing the Carmichael coal mine and associated railway line and port in Queensland is currently held up owing to environmental litigations and delay in getting the mining lease.

The Adanis have also applied for setting up a large solar power project in the province.

On the first day of the dialogue on Monday, India and Australia decided to form a sub-group, composed of senior officials of government and industry from both sides, to prepare a roadmap to help provide cheap liquefied natural gas (LNG) for Indian power plants running below capacity due to lack of fuel availability.

Original Post: Indo-Asian News Service

India Seeks Soft Bank Push for Modi'sSolar Goal

India has closed bids for a third of its target of tendering 15,000 megawatts (MW) of solar projects this fiscal year, a government official said, and is expecting interest from investors such as SoftBank to lift the industry.

The tenders are part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious plans to raise solar capacity five fold to 100,000 MW by 2022 to meet India's growing power needs, create jobs and fight climate change without committing to an emission target.

"We are creating the base for big companies like SoftBank and Foxconn to participate," Upendra Tripathy, new and renewable energy secretary, told Reuters on Monday. "We want big players to come in, costs to come down and targets to be met."

Japan's SoftBank this month announced plans to set up a company to invest $20 billion (roughly Rs. 1,32,512 crores) in India's renewable energy industry, with Taiwanese iPhone maker Foxconn and India's Bharti Enterprise as minority partners. SoftBank's executives have met both Modi and Tripathy.

Indian resources conglomerate Adani Group has all but ended a deal with U.S. company SunEdison for a solar equipment plant, only to start talks with Softbank and Foxconn for investments, sources said.

So far this fiscal year India has closed tenders for about 5,000 MW of solar power and is seeking bids for 5,000 MW more, Tripathy said.

Government-controlled companies Solar Energy Corp of India and NTPC Ltd have issued most of the tenders, along with states such as Madhya Pradesh in central India. SkyPower, Acme Solar, Suzlon Energy and SunEdison have been among the winners.

Tripathy said though companies were keen to invest and solar power was already competing with fossil-fuel derived electricity, central and state governments would have to make it easier for businesses to buy land.

Source: NDTV.com