[SMM analysis] Annual production capacity of 80 Indian module companies on ALMM is 37.7GW

On March 22, India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) updated the Approved List of models and manufacturers (ALMM) on its official website. The last ALMM was updated on February 26.

The newly released ALMM list includes 80 Indian local photovoltaic module manufacturers, but still does not include any Chinese photovoltaic module manufacturers. The total production capacity displayed by all companies in the new list is 37,694MW, which is approximately 1,175MW more than the previous list.

A new company has been added to the list, TP Solar Limited, a subsidiary of Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited (TPREL). It is a new photovoltaic cell and module manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu, India, with a total production capacity of 4.3 GW. The company's first photovoltaic module was put into production at the end of 2023, and mass production will begin in early 2024. The module production capacity counted by TP Solar on the list shows about 2.5GW.

In addition to newly added enterprises, other enterprises have also been included in the increase in production capacity. Goldi Sun Private Limited, headquartered in Surat, India, has a total module production capacity of approximately 3GW. In the previous ALMM list, the production capacity was shown to be 1.233GW. In the new list, Goldi Sun's production capacity has increased to 2.209GW, an increase of 976MW.

Another company, Solex Energy Limited, headquartered in Gujarat, is one of the oldest photovoltaic module manufacturers in India, with a total module production capacity of nearly 1.5GW. In the previous ALMM list, the production capacity showed 249MW. In this new list, Solex Energy's production capacity has increased to 581MW, an increase of 332MW.

In addition, one module manufacturing company has been removed from the new ALMM list. The company is Lubi Electronics, which is located in Gujarat and has an original production capacity of 133MW.

According to the latest ALMM list, there are a total of 8 Indian module manufacturers with an annual production capacity reaching gigawatts. Waaree Energies is the only module company with a production capacity of more than 10GW, ranking first with an annual production capacity of 10,775MW. Mundra Solar ranks second with an annual production capacity of 4,100 MW, and Tata Power and its subsidiary TP Solar rank third with a total annual production capacity of 3,112 MW. Other module companies ranking in the top five in annual production capacity include ReNew (annual production capacity 2842MW) and Goldi Sun (annual production capacity 2209MW). The top ten module companies have a total production capacity of approximately 28,194MW.

On the same day, MNRE also updated the minimum module efficiency thresholds for end-use categories allowed to be included in the ALMM list. Only models from PV module manufacturers that comply with British Industrial Standards (BIS) standards and have the following minimum module efficiencies are eligible to join the ALMM list. This module efficiency update is detailed based on technical routes. Crystalline silicon technology modules and cadmium telluride thin film technology have different minimum efficiency requirements.

The introduction of the ALMM list aims to protect India's local module production, support the expansion and improvement of the photovoltaic supply chain, and limit reliance on imported modules. The ALMM list was originally scheduled to restart on April 1, but now MNRE has officially announced the restart time. In January and February this year, India was affected by the expected policy changes of ALMM's imminent restart, and maintained a high growth rate in order to meet the demand for Indian photovoltaic projects. However, the uncertainty of the restart of the ALMM list has intensified the wait-and-see sentiment of Indian developers. Although the import of Chinese modules continued to remain high before the policy is launched, the growth rate may gradually slow down as time goes by.