Of the 1,100 MW of solar power projects awarded to various developers under the National Solar Mission, projects of a total capacity of 221 MW have been completed, according to the Minister of New and Renewable Energy, Dr Farooq Abdullah. But this number is “subject to verification of documents,” the Ministry has told Parliament.

The real wind energy potential in India is well over 2 million MW, according to a recent study of the US based Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

After re-assessing the land that can be used for wind power development, so as to take into account previously excluded lands, Lawrence Berkeley has come to the conclusion that the true potential of wind energy in India is between “20 and 30 times higher than the current official estimate of 102 GW.”

It was previously thought that only 2 per cent of lands in windy areas could be used for putting up wind power projects.

The National Green Tribunal has allowed AIM-listed OPG Power Ventures Plc to go ahead with its 300-MW power project at Kutch, Gujarat, subject to the condition that the project developer would “adhere to the terms and conditions laid down in the Environmental Clearance granted by the Gujarat State Level Impact Assessment Authority.”

The company's Managing Director, Mr Arvind Gupta, told Business Line on Sunday that there was never any doubt that the company would strictly comply with the EC conditions.

Sterlite Industries has completed taking 23 out of the 30 environment protection measures mandated by the Supreme Court for its copper smelter plant at Tuticorin, officials of the company told visiting journalists on Saturday.

The plant has come under focus lights after the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board had ordered it shut citing grounds of pollution, which was subsequently stayed by the Supreme Court on the condition that the company would undertake specific environment protection measures.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is working on a special policy for roof-top solar units, Mr Tarun Kapoor, Joint Secretary, MNRE, said today.

Speaking at Intersolar India, a conference of the solar industry here, and also at a press conference later, Mr Kapoor said that the government is “working on several options”. To aid policy formulation, a “brainstorming meeting” of all the electricity distribution companies (discoms) will take place in New Delhi on the 20th of this month.

It is common in the renewable energy industry that each power generating project is under a separate special purpose vehicle.

Bankers are more comfortable to lend to a ring-fenced project that they have assessed as viable, rather than to a holding company that may have a plethora of projects.

Thus, you have a renewable energy company with a dozen subsidiaries, all ‘private limited companies'.