New Delhi: Power project developers in India, sourcing solar modules from China, plan to declare force majeure on meeting project completion deadlines because of supply disruptions caused by the coronavirus outbreak, multiple people aware of the development said.
Chinese vendors have alerted Indian developers about delays in production, quality checks and transport of components due to the outbreak, the people said. Modules account for nearly 60% of a solar project’s total cost. Invoking the force majeure clause enables a developer to cite disruption from an unforeseen event—in this case the flu epidemic—to justify the delay.
“It’s a force majeure event beyond control and in all fairness, relief should be extended to developers,” said Sanjay Aggarwal, managing director of Fortum India Pvt.
