印度太阳能任务的第一批项目融资最后期限已经过去。没有达到资金要求的项目将被取消。
此外，新能源与可再生能源部（MNRE）的发言人对Mercom资本集团表示，将根据被取消项目的规模增加下一轮项目的产能。例如，如果一个50MW的项目被取消，那么下一轮项目的产能将为300MW加上50MW。Mercom资本集团是一家清洁能源通信咨询公司，在美国和印度都设有办事处。
没有处罚
NVVN表示，不能取得项目资金的开发商仍允许在下一轮招标中再次申请，不会面临任何处罚或限制。
MNRE最近召开会议，将行业内对政策的提案进行审查。在此次会议的成果基础上，新的政策方针将采纳部分业内意见，并将于7月最后一个礼拜宣布。
豪赌反向竞拍
印度太阳能任务下的第一批太阳能项目的融资最后期限已经过去。虽然最终的项目数字尚未公布，但看来大约有一半的项目未能获得资金支持。
截至到2011年第二季度，印度的太阳能产业都在焦急等待7月9日这个截止日期的到来，在此日期之前，在尼赫鲁国家太阳能任务（JNNSMs）第一期的第一批太阳能项目的开发商应该为其项目筹集到资金支持。
在新能源和可再生能源部（MNRE）秘书公开表示在7月9日前没有筹集到资金的项目将会被取消而不会获得延期机会后，这个最后期限变得更加引人注目。
然而，虽然开发商们被要求在月初筹集到项目资金，但是要求他们提供资金证明的日期却是7月24日。总的来说，从签署购电协议（PPA）开始，他们有六个月的时间筹集项目资金。
MNRE表示，大约有一半的项目未能在截止日期之前完成资金筹备。MNRE的一位资深官员表示，只有17个光伏发电项目以及2个太阳能光热（CSP）项目提供了融资细节。而在第一批批准的一共有30个光伏发电项目，共150MW，7个CSP项目，共470MW。
反向招标
去年八月，由于项目申请数量太多，印度废除了上网电价政策，取而代之的是反向招标机制。不管申请者之前有没有开发类似项目的经验，最低竞价者将得到投标的项目。
这导致部分开发商大举参与竞标。新能源和可再生能源联合部长Farooq Abdullah表示，在招标过程中，他很震惊的看到价格从18卢比（0.40美分）降到了12卢比（0.27美分）。
自从新的政策表明了“欢迎积极投标。无需经验要求”的方针以后，形势已经变得相当令人不安。
在Mercom资本对JNNSM项目的初步分析中，该集团明确列出了该政策可能带来的风险，现在这些有争议的问题都成为融资困难的罪魁祸首。
此外，由于第一期第一批项目的结果不尽如人意，MNRE现在决定推迟第一期第二批项目的招标公告至2011年年底。
加速
MNRE最近还为300MW的光伏项目的选择标准征集意见。但在此之前，MNRE也曾征集过意见，而MNRE的负责人则表示他们想要将每个开发商的项目规模从5MW提高到最高20-25MW，这表明NMRE早已打定主意增加项目规模。
为了促进太阳能项目的进展避免延误，印度环境和森林部最近宣布，光伏发电以及CSP项目将不需要取得环保许可证。此举将在短期内对开发商有所帮助。然而，他们最好能自愿进行环境研究，以避免将来可能出现的问题及不利影响。
为了让太阳能产业积极发展，政府已经通过1亿200万美元的总预算支持，如果国有公用事业拖欠货款，这笔资金将作为赈济补偿给项目。印度大多数国有公用事业都经营亏损，依赖中央政府的补贴生存。
在其他方面，中央电力监管委员会提出在2012-2013年降低太阳能可再生能源的信贷（REC）价格，建议了222美元/兆瓦时的最低价以及308美元/兆瓦时的最高价，这代表了从2010年到2011年，价格下降了18%。
混乱
JNNSM决定用反向招标来代替上网电价，使得印度各地区的太阳能计变成更加混乱。由于大部分地区的政策在2011年3月31日到期，所以许多地区正在制定新的光伏政策。
有些地区将采用和JNNSM相同的反向竞标方案。但值得注意的是，Gujarat、Karnataka、Madhya Pradesh以及Maharashtra地区则采用上网电价机制。
总之，现在最值得关注的问题是，这一批项目中到底有多少获得了资金资助。如果有大量项目没有获得资资助，无疑在市场方面清楚的证明，目前的政策机制是“无利可图的”，需要立即修正以重建金融界对太阳能产业的信心。
美国进出口银行为印度太阳能产业提供5亿美元贷款
就在笔者截稿前，美国进出口银行宣布为两个印度光伏项目提供总值2500万美元的贷款。加上之前的贷款，美国进出口银行总共为印度太阳能项目提供了5亿美元的贷款，这些项目的装机容量达315MW。
此举印证了美国承诺深化与印度的经济纽带的承诺，而可再生项目则拥有优先权，美国进出口银行希望借此投资推广银行的金融产品，同时促进对美国商品及服务的购买力。
这2500万的贷款中有1600万美元给了Azure Power Rajasthan，用以从First Solar公司购买薄膜组件。920万美元给了Punj Lloyd Solar Power，用以从Abound Solar购买组件。这两个项目的装机容量都是5MW。
Azure光伏电站是尼赫鲁国家太阳能任务（JNNSM）项目中第一个公用事业规模的电站。美国进出口银行是在此任务下第一个批准太阳能项目的国际金融机构。First Solar的James Brown表示，对于任何太阳能项目来说，资金都是至关重要的。“与美国进出口银行合作加速了可再生能源的部署规划，并满足了我们的客户对清洁、可再生的太阳能能源日益增长的需求。”
虽然在JNNSM项目下的许多太阳能项目因为缺乏资金担保而将被取消。但是Punj Lloyd Power Project显然不用担心这种情况的发生，此次它将从美国进出口银行获得920万美元的贷款。该项目位于拉贾斯坦邦，占地62.5英亩。Punj Lloyd Group的董事长Atul Punj表示：“我们很高兴能得到美国进出口银行的支持，为我们的项目实现资金保障。”
美国进出口银行的董事长Fred P.Hochberg目前正在印度，他强调印度市场对美国太阳能产业的出口有非常大的发展潜力。“那些可以创造就业机会并有助于满足印度不断增长的能源和基础设施需求的项目将有非常多的投资机会。”
能源基础设施问题也在美国进出口银行与印度官方的讨论议程中，Hochberg将在孟买会见来自印度基础设施发展金融公司的代表。而目前美国国务卿希拉里克林顿也在印度进行战略对话讨论。而在孟买，Hochberg还将讨论在去年11月与Reliance Power签署的一个50亿美元项目的谅解备忘录（MoU）。
卡纳塔克邦出台太阳能新政策
而就在7月初，印度西南部地区卡纳塔克邦发布了新的太阳能政策。目标是到2016年安装350MW的太阳能项目。
其中200MW的太阳能项目将直接出售给该地区的电力供应公司，就是俗称的ESCOMS。为达到这个目标，政府设定每年完成40MW的项目，一直到2016年，因此让开发商更有把握按时完成项目。但光伏发电项目和太阳能热发电（CSP）项目间的分割比例尚未公布。
同时，约50MW的捆绑式太阳能热发电项目将分配给国有公用事业。在这种情况下，公用事业将把卡纳塔克邦外的热发电项目与地区内的太阳能发电项目结合起来。
在卡纳塔克邦，地区内外电力的捆绑数额是非常巨大的，一般是将地区内的太阳能发电能源与地区外的传统电力能源捆绑在一起。卡纳塔克邦的电力极度缺乏，并能够通过这一机制补充太阳能热发电供应。这些项目是为卡纳塔克邦和联邦政府所有的公用事业保留的，因为这些企业相对来说更容易进入火电的电力购买协议（PPAs）。
国家热电公司（NTPC）是印度最大的电力公用事业单位，将成为这个50MW项目的主要开发商。该公司对可在生能源有很大的扩张计划，并有能力将太阳能电力与其自产的火电捆绑起来。
余下的100MW将包含可再生能源证书（REC）机制下的项目。新政策规定，此类项目将不会享受补贴优惠。但在以平均购电成本（APPC）向公共电网出售电力的时候，这些项目将获得可再生能源证书。同样的，光伏发电项目和太阳能热发电（CSP）项目间的分割比例目前尚不得而知。
2010至2011年，印度各地区间的平均购电成本在0.02到0.04欧元/千瓦时之间不等。
可再生能源购买义务
卡纳塔克邦最近提出了可再生能源购买义务（RPOs）的规定。邦内的ESCOMS以及相关消费者现在必须确保其能源消费总量中的0.25%来自太阳能发电。或者他们可以购买可再生能源证书来完成他们的义务。此举将为在REC机制下发展的这100MW的项目提供一个需求保障。
目前只有200MW的光伏发电项目确定了项目规模，这些项目产生的电力将会出售给ESCOMS，项目规模在3MW到10MW之间。另一方面，太阳能热发电项目的最小规模为5MW，上不封顶。项目规模偏小是由于该地区太阳辐射水平较低。
太阳能政策
虽然卡纳塔克邦出台了自己的政策，但该邦还是会继续支持国家太阳能任务（NSM）等规划。因此，该邦设立了在2013年至2014年完成126MW的太阳能发电项目的发展目标，该目标将由国家太阳能任务和卡纳塔克邦邦自己的太阳能政策共同完成。
卡纳塔克邦可再生能源发展有限公司（KREDL）是与政策相关的中心机构。向ESCOMS售电的项目将通过竞标的形式分配。
KREDL将负责为这些项目的选择请求（RfS）文件起草草案。RfS详细说明了项目拨款的条款及条件，以及开发商提交标书的所需的文件。开发商所需的资金及技术要求在RfS中也有说明。这份文件预计将很快出台。
补贴的最高标准将按照卡纳塔克邦电力监管委员会（KERC）在2010年7月所制定的标准。KERC为2013年3月31日前委托的项目制定了一个规范化的补贴标准，为期25年。光伏发电项目最高补贴标准为0.24欧元/千瓦时，CSP项目则为0.18欧元/千瓦时。在最高补贴标准下提供最高折扣的开发商将得到这些项目。
该新政提倡以开放存取的形式将光伏电力直接售予第三方参与者。此举有助于让用户完成他们的可再生能源购买义务，同时可为卡纳塔克邦的太阳能市场带来更多投资机会。
此外，该新策还允许开发商在11kV及以上的系统注入功率，而国家太阳能任务则要求系统必须在33kV及以上。发展11kV的变电站对于电站来说比33kV的变电站要便宜，后者需要高成本的构件。这将帮助开发商降低项目成本。
2011年印度光伏发电目标700MW
印度计划于今年年底前以22亿美元的成本使该国的光伏发电量达到700MW，印度政府曾雄心勃勃的计划在2022年使该国的绿色电力目标从零提高到20GW。
印度20GW的太阳能计划有望吸引约700亿美元的投资，根据印度政府的规划，印度的光伏产能在2013年可达1300MW，在到2017年达到10GW，剩余10GW将于2022年完成。
印度可再生能源开发署（IREDA）的主席兼常务董事Debashish Majumdar表示：“整个太阳能产业不再担心欧洲市场的动荡局势，因为他们发现印度正在成为一个新的、非常有前途的市场。”国有机构IREDA是印度太阳能融资机构中的领导者。
“到目前为止，每年大家都在担心德国以及西班牙的政策会发生什么变化。”Majumdar表示，他刚刚在慕尼黑参加了一个全球清洁技术峰会。
德国、西班牙、意大利、日本和美国是世界领先的光伏大国。而印度的太阳能产业由于缺乏经验和人力资源，目前仍属于风险创业阶段，但这种不足同时也为具有专业知识和技术的企业如Juwi Solar、施耐德以及Schott Solar等开启了一个巨大的市场。
“国家太阳能任务的第二阶段将为服务供应商，特别是EPC承包商以及能够通过数据分析确定有多少资源可用和可产生多少能源的人创造非常大的发展空间。这些机构将获得大量的业务。” Majumdar补充道，并表示目前还不能确定该市场的规模。EPC承包商负责太阳能电站项目的工程、采购和施工。
如果一切按计划进行，那么即将12月份推出的第一批项目将成为一个指示剂，到2022年，太阳能将满足印度1/8的电力需求。这将有助于限制这个世界第三大碳污染国家对煤炭的依赖，并缓解该国的电力赤字。
但究竟会有多少项目能在第一批的项目中存活下来，第二批项目能否顺利启动，美国能否拯救印度的太阳能产业，一切都还是未知数。
US-India Joint—Save Indian Solar Mission
Solar projects without financing will be cancelled
The funding deadline for the first batch of solar projects under the Indian solar mission has now passed. pv magazine has now learned that the projects which didn’t achieve financial closure will be cancelled.
Furthermore, a spokesperson at the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) told Mercom Capital Group that the capacity for the next batch of projects will be increased based on the size of the cancelled projects. For example, if 50 MW worth of projects get cancelled then the next batch capacity will be 300 MW plus 50 MW. Mercom Capital Group is a clean energy communications and consulting firm with offices in the U.S. and India.
No consequence
According to NVVN, the project developers that could not get their projects financed will still be allowed to bid again and will not face any consequences. Inexperienced developers can continue to delay and hold up projects though, unless the policy is changed to include stringent qualification requirements.
MNRE recently held a meeting to review policy suggestions from the industry. Based on the results of this meeting, new policy guidelines will be announced in the last week of July and will incorporate some of these suggestions.
Gambles on reverse auction
The funding deadline for the first batch of solar projects under the Indian solar mission has now passed. While the final project numbers have not been released, it appears that roughly half failed to secure funds. Here, Mercom Capital Group discusses the mission’s progress to date.
By the end of the second quarter of 2011, the whole of India’s solar sector was anxiously awaiting the looming July 9 deadline - the point when developers should have secured their funding for the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission’s (JNNSMs) Phase 1, Batch 1 solar projects.
This date gained even more significance after the Secretary of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) publicly stated that projects which did not receive funding by July 9, would not receive an extension, and that project cancellations would follow.
However, while companies had to have secured funding by the start of the month, they were given until July 24 to provide documentation. Overall, they were given six months from the date they signed their power purchase agreements (PPA) to obtain financing.
According to the MNRE, approximately half the projects failed to achieve financial closure by the given deadline. One senior MNRE official said that just 17 photovoltaic projects and two concentrated solar power (CSP) projects provided financial closure details. This is out of 30 photovoltaic projects, worth 150 megawatts, and seven CSP projects, worth 470 megawatts that were approved in the batch.
Reverse bidding
India scrapped its feed-in-tariff policy last August due to an overwhelming number of applications and replaced it with a reverse bidding mechanism where solar projects were awarded to the lowest bidder regardless of their previous experience in developing such projects.
This resulted in some aggressive bidding on the part of project developers. The Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Farooq Abdullah, was quoted as saying he was "really shaken" when he saw the tariff go down from 18 rupees (0.40 U.S. cents) to 12 rupees (0.27 0.40 U.S. cents) in the bidding process.
The situation has been quite disconcerting since the chosen policy basically states: "Aggressive bidding welcome. No experience required."
In Mercom’s initial analysis of the JNNSM program (see pv magazine 9/2010), the group clearly outlined these risks: now these contentious issues are turning out to be the main culprits contributing to the difficulties in achieving financing.
Furthermore, due to the uncertainty in the outcomes of Phase 1, Batch 1 projects, MNRE has now postponed the announcement of bidding for the balance of Phase 1, Batch 2 projects until the end of 2011.
Acceleration
The MNRE has also recently invited suggestions for the selection process for the balance of capacity - 300 megawatts - of photovoltaic projects. But even before suggestions were made, the Director of MNRE was quoted in the media as saying that suggesting that they want to raise the size of projects from the current five megawatts to a maximum of between 20 and 25 megawatts per developer, which suggests that those at MNRE have already made up their minds to increase projects sizes.
In a move to expedite solar projects and avoid delays, the Ministry of Environment and Forests recently announced that both photovoltaic and CSP projects are not required to obtain environmental clearance. This is helpful for developers in the short term. However, it would be prudent for them to voluntarily conduct environmental studies to avoid future problems.
In a positive development for the industry, the government has approved gross budgeting support of Rs. 456 crore (102 million U.S. dollars), which will act as a backstop in the event of payment defaults by the state utilities. Most state utilities in India operate under a loss and depend on central government subsidies to survive.
In other developments, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission has proposed a reduction in solar renewable energy credit (REC) prices for the year 2012 to 2013, proposing a floor price of Rs. 9,880 (222 U.S. dollars) per megawatt hour and a forbearance price of Rs. 13,960 (308 U.S. dollars), which represents a reduction of approximately 18 percent from the 2010 to 2011 prices.
Confusion
JNNSM’s decision to use reverse bidding instead of the feed-in tariff has created confusion among state solar programs. Since most state policies and tariffs expired on March 31, 2011, many states are in the process of developing new policies.
Some will be adopting the same reverse bidding program as JNNSM. Notable states with feed-in tariffs are Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and possibly Maharashtra.
In conclusion, it now comes down to how many projects are funded in this batch. If a large number of projects do not receive funding, it will be a clear indication from the markets that the policy in its current form is not "bankable" and an immediate course correction will be required to renew confidence in the financial community.
US Ex-Im Bank hits $500 million in Indian solar loans
The Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) of the United States has announced two new loans for Indian photovoltaic projects totaling $25 million. This is in addition to $75 million in solar transactions in the financial year 2011 through June 30, brings the total of Indian solar transactions to $500 million, worth 315 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity.
Confirming both America’s commitment to deepening economic ties with India and also the priority given to renewable projects, the Ex-Im Bank hopes to promote both the bank’s financial products but also facilitate the purchase of U.S. goods and services.
The two most recent Ex-Im Bank loans are in the form of a $16 million loan to Azure Power Rajasthan, to purchase thin-film modules from First Solar; and also $9.2 million to Punj Lloyd Solar Power, for solar modules from Abound Solar. Both projects have an installed capacity of five MW.
The Azure photovoltaic plant is one of the first utility scale plants under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). Ex-Im Bank is the first international financial institution to approve solar projects under the mission. First Solar’s James Brown said that financing is a crucial part of any solar project and will allow for the purchase of its modules. "Collaborating with Ex-Im Bank accelerates renewable-energy deployment, allowing our customers to meet the growing demand for clean, renewable solar energy in India."
It became clear that many of the solar projects submitted under the JNNSM had not secured finance and therefore will be cancelled. This is not the case for the Punj Lloyd Power Project which will receive a $9.2 million Ex-Im Bank loan. The project, based in the state of Rajasthan, will be situated on a 62.5 acre site. Atul Punj, chairman of the Punj Lloyd Group said, "We are extremely proud to have U.S. Ex-Im Bank's support to achieve the financial closure for our project."
Ex-Im Bank Chairman Fred P. Hochberg is currently in India, where the recent announcements were made, and he highlighted the potential of the Indian market for U.S. solar industry exports. "There are tremendous opportunities for investments in projects that create jobs and help address India’s growing energy and infrastructure needs."
Energy infrastructure is also on the agenda of discussions between the Ex-Im Bank and Indian officials and Hochberg will meet representatives from India’s Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation in Mumbai. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is also in India for strategic dialogue discussions. While in Mumbai, Hochberg will also discuss a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that was signed last November with Reliance Power, for a $5 billion deal to facilitate, in part, the purchase equipment to produce 900 MW if clean energy.
Karnataka's new solar policy
The south-western state of India, Karnataka, has released its new solar policy. Announced on July 1, it is targeting the installation of 350 megawatts (MW) of solar projects by 2016.
Of this, 200 MW worth of solar projects will be developed for direct sale to the different distribution companies in the state, commonly known as ESCOMS. To achieve this target, the government will allocate 40 MW worth of projects every year until 2016, thus providing much needed certainty on the allotment timelines to the developers. The split between photovoltaic and concentrated solar power (CSP), however, has not yet been defined.
Meanwhile, around 50 MW worth of bundled solar thermal power will be allotted to state-owned utilities for development. In these cases, the utilities will mix thermal power sourced from outside Karnataka with solar power that it generates within the state.
The bundling of solar power from within the state with conventional power bought from outside is significant. Karnataka is a power deficit state and will be able to supplement its solar thermal power supply through this mechanism. These projects are reserved for the state and federally-owned utilities, as it is relatively easy for them to enter into power purchase agreements (PPAs) for thermal power.
The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), a public sector undertaking and India’s largest power generation utility will be a key player in developing these 50 MW. It has aggressive expansion plans for renewable energy and a large capacity to bundle solar power with its self-generated thermal power.
The remaining 100 MW will comprise projects under the Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) mechanism. Such projects will not receive the preferential tariff under the policy. Instead, they will generate RECs while selling solar power to the public grid at the average power purchase cost (APPC) of the concerned distribution utility. Again, the split between photovoltaics and CSP is currently unknown.
The APPC varies from state to state and is between INR1.60 to 2.69 (
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