Airox Nigen to produce PV modules: Indian industrial gasses company Airox Nigen has announced its foray into solar PV module manufacturing under the brand name Ahaan Solar. It plans a 2 GW solar module factory in Haryana’s Rohnat in a renewable energy park on which it broke ground recently. This TOPCon factory will start with an initial 600 MW capacity set to come online by mid-2025. The full 2 GW capacity is planned to be achieved by 2026-end. It will use domestically manufactured solar cells. The company is also building a 3 GW Aspire Hydrogen plant to manufacture electrolyzers. Both these ventures will operate under AIROX NIGEN-Green Hydrogen & Industrial Gas Solutions as their parent company. Mahindra raises finance for 560 MW: Mahindra Susten subsidiary Martial Solren has raised INR 14.48 billion ($170.6 million) from HDFC Bank and Axis Bank to develop 560 MW of solar power project capacity in Gujarat and Rajasthan. It is developing these projects under long-term power purchase agreements (PPA) with key offtakers. On completion, this capacity is expected to generate close to 900,000 MWh annually. 2 GW EPC contract: Waaree Group’s EPC arm Waaree Renewables Technologies Ltd (WAAREERTL) has secured the term sheet to provide EPC services for a ground-mounted solar PV project with 2.12 GW DC capacity. It will be built for INR 12.33 billion ($145.3 million). Another group company, Waaree Forever Energies Private Limited, has received a letter of award (LoA) for the development of a 170 MW solar power plant in Madhya Pradesh. The order has been placed by Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited (RUMSL) to connect the project to the Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS). It will supply clean energy to the Madhya Pradesh Power Management Company Ltd. and the Indian Railways. Additionally, the group has also received a 1 GW solar module supply order from a ‘renowned customer’ in the business of renewable energy development. It will attempt to deliver the same within FY 2024-25 and FY 2025-26. NABL accreditation: Waaree Group’s solar PV manufacturing arm Waaree Energies Ltd. has secured National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accreditation for its PV Module Test Lab (PMTL) in Chikhli, Gujarat. It says this accreditation affirms the lab’s competence in delivering precise and reliable results across a wide array of testing parameters. The PMTL performs over 48 tests, including thermal cycling, damp heat, mechanical load, and potential-induced degradation. This is the company’s 2nd NABL accreditation, as its Tumb-located factory was the 1st in the group to achieve this. “With advanced testing capabilities now extended to our Chikhli facility, we can certify even larger volumes of solar modules domestically, reducing reliance on foreign labs and saving valuable resources,” said Waaree Energies CEO Dr. Amit Paithankar. SolarSquare’s fundraise: Rooftop solar solutions provider SolarSquare has raised $40 million in a Series B fundraise to expand its operations across 50 cities in the country, up from the current 20 cities it is currently present in. The funding round was led by venture capital firm Lightspeed, with participation from Lightrock, and its existing investors Elevation Capital, Chris Sacca’s Lowercarbon, Nithin Kamath’s Rainmatter, and Gruhas Proptech. Its previous funding round of INR 1 billion also had Elevation Capital and Lowercarbon as its funders (see India PV News Snippets).
