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					</table><p><a href="https://www.argentina.gob.ar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Argentina&#8217;s government</a> has awarded 20 of battery energy storage projects with a collective capacity of 700.5 MW under its Alma SADI tender.</p>
<p>The latest procurement is aimed at strengthening the national electricity system and reducing power outages.</p>
<p>The battery storage projects were submitted by five domestic companies and would require an estimated investment of $700 million.</p>
<p>The projects will be deployed across seven regions: Buenos Aires Province; Northwest Argentina; Northeast Argentina (Chaco, Formosa, Misiones); Corrientes; Litoral Entre Ríos; Litoral Santa Fe; and Pampa.</p>
<p>The projects were awarded under the national and international Alma SADI tender, which seeks to install battery storage facilities at critical nodes of the Argentine Interconnection System (SADI) to provide operating reserves and improve grid reliability.</p>
<p>The winning companies were Genneia (seven projects), DQD Energy (eight projects), 360 Energy Solar (three projects), and Aluar and Intermepro with one project each.</p>
<p>According to the Argentine government, the tender attracted 235 technical proposals from 37 companies totaling more than 8.3 GW of battery storage capacity, representing nearly 12 times the procurement target of 700 MW.</p>
<p>Earlier in the process, the government said the level of participation reflected strong private sector interest in investing in Argentina&#8217;s energy infrastructure.</p>
<p>The government said battery storage systems can respond rapidly to changes in electricity demand, provide dispatch flexibility, and supply operating reserves to improve system security and reduce the likelihood of service interruptions.</p>
<p>The Alma SADI tender follows Argentina&#8217;s earlier ALMA GBA battery storage initiative. According to the Secretariat of Energy, the ALMA GBA initiative awarded 713 MW of battery storage capacity in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area, exceeding its original procurement target.</p>
<p>Last February, the Energy Secretariat <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/argentina-launches-500-mw-battery-energy-storage-tender" target="_blank" rel="noopener">launched</a> a global tender for 500 MW of battery energy storage projects at critical nodes in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires.</p>


Argentina Awards 700 MW Battery Storage Projects Under Alma SADI Tender


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					</table><p>The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (<a href="https://mnre.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MNRE</a>) has invited proposals from States and Union Territories for implementing the skilling, upskilling, and reskilling component under the National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM), aimed at creating a trained workforce for the hydrogen value chain.</p>
<p>The NGHM was <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/cabinet-approves-%E2%82%B9197-billion-hydrogen-mission" target="_blank" rel="noopener">launched</a> on January 4, 2023, with an outlay of ₹197.44 billion (~$2.25 billion), seeking to make India a global hub for green hydrogen production, usage, and export.</p>
<p>Proposals can be submitted by State Renewable Energy Departments, State Skill Development Missions, Industrial Training Institutes, National Skill Training Institutes, and other eligible institutions, either independently or jointly.</p>
<p>Submissions must include a workforce demand assessment, institutional readiness, identification of training centers for short-term training (STT), recognition of prior learning (RPL), training-of-trainers (ToT), and industry partnerships for on-the-job training and placement.</p>
<p><strong>Eligibility and Selection Framework</strong></p>
<p>Project implementing agencies (PIA) eligible to participate include government bodies, private firms, NGOs, and industry associations with a minimum of three years of existence and at least one year of experience in the hydrogen value chain.</p>
<p>Bidders must have a turnover of at least 25% of the project cost, a positive net worth for the last two years, and must not be blacklisted.</p>
<p>Selection will be based on technical expertise (30%), financial strength (20%), compliance (20%), innovation and technology (20%), and workforce commitment (10%).</p>
<p>For trainees under the RPL component, eligibility includes Indian nationals aged 18 to 50 years,work experience, and employer validation.</p>
<p><strong>Scope and Components</strong></p>
<p>The program covers four key interventions: short-term training, upskilling through RPL, establishment of Centers of Excellence (CoEs), and integration of a long-duration hydrogen curriculum into schools, ITIs, polytechnics, and higher education institutions.</p>
<p>The scope includes skill gap analysis, creation of a national skill registry, development of qualifications packs, training manuals, and digital learning content, and mechanisms for identifying and monitoring training partners. Industry participation is mandatory, particularly for on-the-job training and placement linkages.</p>
<p><strong>Financial Framework and CoE Development</strong></p>
<p>Training costs will follow PMKVY 4.0 norms, with payments to PIAs structured as 80% after result approval and 20% after certification and reporting. A total budget of ₹50 million (~$533,156) has been allocated for up to five Centers of Excellence (CoE), with a maximum funding of ₹10 million (~$106,631) per CoE covering 70% of project costs.</p>
<p>The funding will support equipment, infrastructure, and digital learning, while land and buildings are excluded. Each CoE will operate for five years, with a possible two-year extension, and is expected to train over 500 candidates annually and develop hydrogen labs, certified trainers, and industry partnerships.</p>
<p>Last August, MNRE <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/mnre-issues-guidelines-for-green-hydrogen-use-in-residential-sector" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issued</a> revised program guidelines for implementing pilot projects using green hydrogen and its derivatives in the residential, commercial, and decentralized sectors, which were not mentioned in earlier programs.</p>


MNRE Invites Proposals for Skilling of Green Hydrogen Workforce


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					</table><p>NTPC Green Energy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of <a href="https://www.ntpc.co.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NTPC</a>, has invited proposals from banks for a green term loan of up to ₹90 billion (~$1 billion) to repay debt obligations towards NTPC against the acquisition of 15 renewable assets.</p>
<p>NGEL intends to repay the outstanding liability of ₹82 billion (~$990 million) and further intends to raise additional funds of approximately ₹8 billion (~$97 million) to clear the balance capital expenditure payments of projects which are yet to achieve commercial operation date.</p>
<p>The last date for the banks to submit the proposals is March 6, 2023.</p>
<p>The minimum loan to be offered by the banks or financial institutions is ₹10 billion (~$121 million).</p>
<p>The tenor of the loan is 15 years or more with a moratorium of 6 months from the date of the first drawl.</p>
<p>NGEL will repay the loan in equal half-yearly installments.</p>
<p>The proposals will be evaluated based on the lowest quoted rate of interest, irrespective of any benchmark.</p>
<p>NGEL aims to bolster NTPC goals by helping the latter’s renewable operational capacity reach approximately 12 GW by 2025 on a consolidated basis and further scale up to achieve 60 GW capacity by 2032.</p>
<p>To support the company’s green targets, NTPC incorporated NGEL in April last year and <a href="https://mercomindia.com/ntpc-to-transfer-15-renewable-assets-worth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inked</a> a business transfer agreement with the latter to transfer 15 solar and wind projects. The projects have a combined capacity of 2.8 GW.</p>
<p>Of the 15 renewable projects, 13 projects with 2.2 GW capacity are fully operational and the remaining two projects totaling 600 MW have attained an operational capacity of 350 MW.</p>
<p>The net worth of the 15 renewable energy assets is ₹13.7 billion (~$171.8 million) as of March 31, 2022, which is 1% of the net worth of NTPC, i.e., ₹1.4 trillion (~$17 billion).</p>
<p>The consideration for the transfer of the renewable energy assets has been set at ₹100.7 billion (~$1.26 billion) based on the book value as per the audited financials as of March 31, 2022, payable through a combination of cash, equity shares, and debt liability.</p>
<p>Earlier this month, NTPC <a href="https://mercomindia.com/ntpc-bids-raise-750-million-external-commercial-borrowing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">invited</a> bids to raise external commercial borrowing in the form of Tokyo Overnight Average Rate-linked unsecured term loan in Japanese Yen (JPY) equivalent to $150 million (~₹12.4 billion) plus a greenshoe option of JPY equivalent to $600 million (~₹49.6 billion).</p>


NTPC Subsidiary Invites Proposals for Green Term Loan of ₹90 Billion

<p>The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (<a href="https://mnre.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MNRE</a>) has announced the formation of a Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cell to process the FDI proposals.</p>
<p>According to the FDI policy, a non-resident entity can invest in India, subject to the FDI policy except in those sectors or activities which are prohibited like defense, space, atomic energy.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://mercomindia.com/india-tweaks-fdi-policy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">revised policy</a> now says that any investment by an entity of a country that shares a land border with India or where the beneficial owner of investment is a citizen of any of those countries will need government approval. Earlier, only Bangladesh and Pakistan were under this category, which has now been expanded to all neighboring countries sharing the border with India. India shares land borders with seven neighboring countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Nepal, Myanmar, Bhutan, and Afghanistan. Now, the FDI proposals involving investments from these countries will be processed by the concerned administrative ministry or department.</p>
<p>The cell formed under the MNRE would consist of Amitesh Kumar Sinha, joint secretary (solar), and Ruchin Gupta, MNRE’s Director.</p>
<p>Recently, the <a href="https://commerce.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ministry of Commerce and Industry</a> in April 2020, revised its FDI policy to curb “opportunistic takeovers or acquisitions” of Indian companies amid the ongoing pandemic caused by the coronavirus.</p>
<p>In India, the majority of renewable expansion has been made possible with the help of FDI.</p>
<p>Earlier, Mercom <a href="https://mercomindia.com/renewable-industry-attracts-1-27-billion-fdi/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> that the foreign direct investments in India’s renewable sector stood at $1.27 billion (~₹96.96 billion) for the first nine months of the financial year (FY) 2019-20. The sector received $1.45 billion (~₹110.53 billion) in the entire FY 2018-19. If we look at the past few years, the sector has been witnessing a steady increase in the inflow of FDI. For instance, it increased from $783.57 million (~₹59.89 billion)in 2016-17 to $1.2 billion (~₹92.06 billion) in 2017-18 and then to $1.44 billion (~₹110.53 billion) in 2018-19.</p>


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