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India cancels plans for huge coal power stations as solar energy prices hit record low
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of The Independent (One of the UK's leading newspapers)


The Independent (One of the UK's leading newspapers), May 24, 2017
Posted: May 29th, 2017
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/india-solar-power-e...

India has cancelled plans to build nearly 14 gigawatts of coal-fired power stations about the same as the total amount in the UK with the price for solar electricity free falling to levels once considered impossible. Analyst Tim Buckley said the shift away from the dirtiest fossil fuel and towards solar in India would have profound implications on global energy markets. According to his article on the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysiss website, 13.7GW of planned coal power projects have been cancelled so far this month in a stark indication of the pace of change. In January last year, Finnish company Fortum agreed to generate electricity in Rajasthan with a record low tariff, or guaranteed price, of 4.34 rupees per kilowatt-hour. At the time analysts said this price was so low would never be repeated. But, 16 months later, an auction for a 500-megawatt solar facility resulted in a tariff of just 2.44 rupees compared to the wholesale price charged by a major coal-power utility of 3.2 rupees (about 31 per cent higher). For the first time solar is cheaper than coal in India, Mr Buckley said. Measures taken by the Indian Government to improve energy efficiency coupled with ambitious renewable energy targets and the plummeting cost of solar has had an impact on existing as well as proposed coal fired power plants, rendering an increasing number as financially unviable ... because of the prohibitively high cost of imported coal relative to the long-term electricity supply contracts.

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