Renewable Energy Ministry Visits Jinko Solars' China Facility
The visit gives hope that the company will be included in the approved list of models and manufacturers that allows companies to be suppliers for solar power projects in India.
Key officials from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy have visited the solar panel manufacturing facility of Jinko Solar Co. in China, raising expectations of the company's inclusion in the approved list of models and manufacturers that allows companies to be suppliers for solar power projects in India, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The plant visit happened in February and the MNRE officials were fine with the quality and safety requirements, said Manish Narula, India head of Jinko Solar.
"We were expecting the Indian government to include Jinko Solar in the ALMM list on a case-to-case basis before the reimposition of ALMM on April 1. But that did not happen," Narula said.
An official from the National Institute of Solar Energy, the nodal agency under MNRE to inspect manufacturing plants for quality checks before they are approved under ALMM, confirmed the plant visit in February but didn't elaborate on the way forward as it's the mandate of MNRE to approve a particular company.
India needs high-efficiency modules with a 650–705-watt peak capacity that can generate more from the same amount of land, according to Narula. However, that capability is currently held by the world's top five solar panel manufacturers, all of whom are from China.
"India will have to be practical and take realistic decisions by allowing Chinese players on a case-to-case basis, until it achieves the annual operational capacity of 40–50 GW," he said.
The Indian government has approved close to 45 GW of capacity under ALMM, but that is the nameplate capacity and not the operational capacity.
Operational capacity is around 20–25 GW since plants don't operate at 100% capacity and neither do they operate on a 24-hour basis annually, which is the formula used by NISE to calculate the annual nameplate capacity, an industry expert said on the condition of anonymity.
If India has to achieve the 2030 target of 300 GW, it will have to develop 30–35 GW annually.
The majority of operational plants have 450-watt peak panels, whereas Jinko and other large manufacturers provide 620-watt peak panels.
