According to the "India Solar Open Access Market Report for the Second Quarter of 2024" released by Mercom, India added 3.6GW of solar open access capacity in the first half of 2024, an increase of 153% from 1.4GW in the first half of 2023. The newly installed capacity in the first half of this year exceeded the total installed capacity in any previous year.
As of June 2024, India's cumulative solar open access installed capacity is 16.3GW. In the second quarter of 2024, India added about 1.8GW of solar open access capacity, a slight decrease of 2.5% from the previous quarter and a year-on-year increase of 152%. Due to the suspension of the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) orders from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of 2024, developers imported a large number of components during this period, which promoted the installation of projects in the first half of 2024.
The re-implementation of ALMM in the second quarter of 2024 has affected project costs and PPA tariffs, as open access developers must use Indian domestic modules from the list. In the second quarter, the average price of Indian mono PERC modules was 23.3% higher than that of Chinese mono PERC modules.
A total of nearly 2GW of projects originally scheduled for commissioning in the second quarter were delayed as some open access developers hoped to announce an exemption from the ALMM decree after the general election. In the absence of the ALMM decree, a total of more than 5GW of solar open access projects originally scheduled for commissioning in 2024 were postponed to 2025.
Currently, the price of components in the ALMM list has dropped significantly, and according to the updated list, the list capacity has reached 56.5GW by the end of September 2024. However, component quality and timely availability remain concerns for developers and EPC companies. Some developers claim that they are sourcing cells and reaching charging arrangements with manufacturers to ensure component quality and timely commissioning of projects.
Several developers believe that ALMM will no longer be a challenge if manufacturers can ensure timely delivery and reduce component prices in the next few quarters.
Source：https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/HbZObGEaRdl1FLYCIwiPFQ
