Norway’s Scatec and Acme have put the installation of the 900MW solar project in Rajasthan, India, on hold due to a lack of domestically produced solar panels and the onset of a 40% import duty on PV modules. Scatec owns a 50% stake in the project being developed by Acme. The project was formerly scheduled for commissioning in 2022 and had signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Solar Energy Corp. of India.
Scatec cited the confirmation that India’s import duty requirement was not going to be lifted for some of the projects in its 900MW category. The company says it is uncertain of how quickly it can source modules from India, given the effect the import duty requirement would have on the market. “We expect that over time, production lines for modules in India will approach the same cost level as in China,” it added. “But that needs to be confirmed. Without knowing that, we have decided to move the project from backlog to pipeline,” the company stated.
Scatec had stated that the project has an estimated cost of $400 million, with 75% being provided by debt financing from an Indian state-owned lender.