SunEdison, the St. Peters, Missouri-based solar energy company, has dropped a 20 megawatt (MW) project in India on supply concerns, said a report from Bloomberg.
Dropping the project may cost the company Rs. 2 crore ($333,000) bidding deposit, Bloomberg said citing Pashupathy Gopalan, managing director of South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
SunEdison says local cell makers are not able to boost supply in time.
According to Gopalan, local cell factories need to double operational capacity to fulfill orders. Above this, domestic panel makers also raised prices since bidding, he added.
SunEdison is one of the biggest winners in the recently held auction for projects under batch one, phase two of NSM. SunEdison, ACME and Azure Power have won 100 MW each in the auction. SunEdison plans to build a separate 30-megawatt project it won.
SunEdison’s decision to withdraw from the project hints at an impending debacle which Indian solar manufacturers might face due to the competition from solar imports. This happens at a time when the U.S has declared open war against India in the WTO for unlawfully restricting American imports.
Indosolar, Moser Baer India and Tata Power Solar Systems are the leading cell makers in India in terms of production capacity. Tata Power Solar said the industry can supply the projects as long as orders are placed by the end of April.
More than three-quarters of India’s solar capacity has been allowed to use imported equipment. FirstSolar is one of the biggest suppliers in this category.
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