India’s strong focus on renewable energy has offered windfall opportunity for solar PV manufacturers and suppliers worldwide. Reports suggest that leading solar PV players in the world are reaping profits by selling their products in India.
Thanks to Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), leading solar PV makers in the U.S and China have succeeded in building strong base in the country.
For example, First Solar, a U.S.-based solar PV firm, has been supplying solar panels to various projects in the country, and in a major breakthrough, the company recently signed a deal to build 45MW solar power plant in India.
First Solar signed a power purchase agreement with Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana State Limited, at a levelised tariff of Rs 6.49/kwh for a period of 20 years.
According to Seeking Alpha the slowdown in the U.S solar market has encouraged companies like First Solar to seek business opportunity in international markets such as Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.
Canadian Solar is another major provider focusing on Indian market. The company announced its entry in India in 2011 by signing a PV module sales agreement with Cirus Solar Systems Private Limited, an EPC contractor based in Hyderabad, India.
According to Shawn Qu, chairman and chief executive officer of Canadian Solar, China, Japan, Canada, the U.S. and India will remain healthy markets through 2014. Canadian Solar’s recent PV projects in India include a 2.1MW solar power plant at the Delhi International Airport.
Meanwhile, major Chinese vendors are also contributing significantly to the solar market in India. Companies like Renesola, JinkoSolar and Yingli Solar are active in India.
Recently Renesola signed a contract to provide 10 MW of solar modules to Juwi India Renewable Energies. The modules will power a utility-scale project in Rajasthan, India, to be developed by Atha Group, a corporation operating in mining as well as renewable energy.
In one of the major deals in India, JinkoSolar recently signed a contract with Sunkon Energy in Ghespur, Gujarat, India, to deliver a Photovoltaic Solar project of total 5 MW. JinkoSolar entered Indian market in the late 2012, and by May 2013, the company managed to achieve 80 MW in sales in the country.
Through the ambitious National Solar Mission, the Government of India had set a target to install 3.6 GW of solar power by 2017, but it is now targeting 15 gigawatts of power installation by 2019 and that would require a minimum of 2.5 GW of new capacity installed each year.
According to reports, Solar energy is likely to create 6.7 lakh jobs in India in next 10 years
To further boost the morale of foreign suppliers, the government recently announced it is dropping plans for imposing anti-dumping duty on solar imports. This move, though against the interest of local manufacturers, will help the country achieve JNNSM target and bring investor confidence in the market, according to government sources.
Rajani Baburajan