Energetica India nº91 July August 2020

E nergetica I ndia : How do you see In- dia’s upcoming One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG) program? A nimesh D amani : OSOWOG is a very am- bitious program and is futuristic in vi- sion. Currently, it faces many dynamic elements that go beyond the econom- ics of the program and transcends into geopolitics, infrastructure sharing be- tween member nations, investment con- tributions, and current trends against globalization. These are early days, and there is a lot to be worked out. There is a need for innovation in transmission so that the benefits of the increased asset utilization are not lost in high transmis- sion costs. E nergetica I ndia : Can safeguard duty and BCD will go hand-in-hand? Is this practically feasible as per the current Indian scenario? A nimesh D amani : The government is very motivated to develop a domestic man- ufacturing industry for solar to reduce dependency on imports. However, con- sidering the lack of depth in the supply chain infrastructure, it would be chal- lenging to create domestic competitive- ness against the Chinese. There is a lot of focus and support required from the government in the form of subsidies, interest subvention, tax holidays, and more to build wafer, ingots, and cell capacity in the country. In every 9-10 months, we observe an upgradation in the technology of cells. It requires exper- tise and investment in R&D too. Hence, it is an uphill task to build domestic com- petitiveness. We also must consider the time-lag to build the capacity. Hence, safeguard and BCD if imple- mented together, will sharply raise the cost of solar power and derail the growth of the sector. E nergetica I ndia : What do you think policymakers should do to tackle the current situation? A nimesh D amani : I believe policymakers should focus on building battery man- ufacturing capacity. We are not far be- hind China if we focus on building the ecosystem required for battery manu- facturing today. We could attain global leadership in the segment. E nergetica I ndia : Being a financial ex - pert, in your view, how the financial health of Discoms be improved? A nimesh D amani : The financial woes of the Discom stem from high AT&C losses, cross-subsidy structure, lack of invest- ment in upgradation, and over-arching responsibilities. Firstly, there needs to be a strict imple- mentation of a program to reduce AT&C losses. Discoms need to be heavily pe- nalized for missing targets. Secondly, there is a need for pricing re- forms and to simplify the structure. DBT needs to be implemented, and the in- stallation of a smart meter and pre-paid systems need to be quickly ramped up. Discoms need to move away from a cost-neutral mindset to a profit-making one. Lastly, the role of the Discoms needs to focus more on grid infrastructure oper- ations and maintenance. The opening of the distribution sector is required that allows for multiple players to ensure fair competition and choice for consumers. E nergetica I ndia : Why the government needs to do retendering multiple times, or why many tenders in the recent past remained undersub- scribed? Is this Covid-19 effect or something else? A nimesh D amani : The relentless focus on low pricing for auctions is to be blamed for this. Discoms are reluctant to buy solar power above a certain price lev- el. Such price levels are unattractive for developers; hence, they remain under- subscribed. We have recently seen multiple PPAs being canceled under force majeure by developers. I believe this to reflect proj - ect profitability concerns. Covid-19 has affected international in- vestor sentiments, but many investors are looking at India emerging strongly from Covid-19. Hence, I don’t think it will affect their appetite for India. E nergetica I ndia : As per your analysis, how much time-frame backsheets and modules used in the solar proj- ects started showing defects current- ly in India? What do you think on an average how many projects (approx in %) can sustain for 25-years? A nimesh D amani : Many of the thin-film projects have seen very high degrada- tion within 3-4 years of COD. I believe this trend will be witnessed in Polycrys- talline modules projects too, wherever cost-cutting overtook the need for a quality BOM for panels. On average, we should see 3-5% of utility-scale projects show higher rates of degradation than estimated within the first 10 years. On the residential and C&I rooftop space, we would see a much higher percent- age of project underperforming or fail- ing to last 25 years. Sustaining a project for 25 years is not only a function of project build quality but also of proper and timely mainte- nance. - Manu Tayal energetica INDIA- July-Aug_2020 15 INTERVIEW