Empowering the Grid to meet Challenges of 24×7 Power To All
Government of India has set a vision of ‘24X7 Power for all’. To realize this vision, Ministry of Power, along with other central agencies, has put special focus on efficient utilization of conventional generation resources and development of 175 GW renewable capacity by 2022. All Central & State Government agencies along with private sector organizations are geared up to develop electricity infrastructure in the country. Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines, Piyush Goyal, shall be presiding over an event, ‘Empowering the Grid to meet Future Challenges’ in New Delhi on 21st December 2016. The event would be organized by Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (PGCIL), under the auspices of Ministry of Power.For optimum use of resources, a strong National Grid has been evolved and a number of high capacity power transmission corridors have been developed to facilitate seamless power transfer from surplus regions to deficit areas. During the event, Goyal would be releasing 3 reports viz., ‘Renewable Energy Integration: Transmission, an Enabler’ and ‘Green Energy Corridors – II’ and ‘Electricity Demand Pattern Analysis’. The first two reports, prepared by PGCIL, cover aspects of comprehensive transmission plan to integrate renewable energy sources into the National Grid and role of Transmission as an Enabler in growing Renewable Energy (RE) penetration scenario. The last report has been prepared by Power System Operation Corporation Limited (POSOCO). The ‘Renewable Energy Integration: Transmission, an Enabler’ report covers the study of balancing and stability issues for 15% & 30% RE capacity penetration and the aspects of Balancing Reserve Analysis with Thermal Power Plants, both gas and supercritical coal, Reservoir type Hydro & Pumped Storage Plants and the Way forward. The ‘Green Energy Corridors-II’ (Part-A) report details about the identified capacity of Solar Parks and transmission infrastructure requirement in various states at Intra-State and Inter-state level. It inter-alia covers the financing options available for rationalization of transmission tariff and the challenges to be addressed to facilitate smooth integration of solar power parks. The ‘Electricity Demand Pattern Analysis’ report covers the analysis of data archived by POSOCO since 2008 with insights towards diurnal, seasonal and yearly demand patterns, decomposition of demand data into seasonal trends at all levels – National, regional and individual State level. The Demand Pattern Analysis may be used by Central and state level planning agencies for Generation, transmission and distribution planning, Identification of areas/sectors with maximum growth and Behavioral pattern of the population residing in that state/ region. It can also be used as valuable input for research by the academia and the industry. Goyal would also be launching ‘Coal Mitra’ – a Web portal for Flexibility in Utilization of Domestic Coal, during the event. The event is expected to be attended by State Energy Secretaries, Head of State Utilities, officials from International Financing Agencies, various CPSE’s, private sector and other Statutory bodies along with Media and Analysts. Taylor Hall Jersey
Piyush Goyal bats for transparency in village lighting
Rural households having no electricity connection despite their village having connected to the grid will now be able to register complaints directly to central and state authorities through a mobile phone application. The application, GARV II launched by Union power minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday will also in the near future give out to the public all details of the electrification contracts given to private players including the work assigned, cost and the deadline in a bid to increase transparency in the government’s village electrification programme and check apathy by local officials. “For places where Internet facilities are not available, information regarding rural electrification projects such as contractor’s name, amount sanctioned by the government and deadline have to be displayed on the working sites in villages,” Goyal said, adding that this will help in better monitoring of the work. The minister said the application provides data on the progress of electrification in 600,000 villages with 170 million people, unlike its earlier version that gave data on only 18,452 villages identified in April, 2015 for electrification. State governments consider every grid-connected village as electrified, even if there is a lack of last mile connectivity. GARV II seeks to address this. Dinesh Arora, executive director of Rural Electrification Corp. (REC) in-charge of the village lighting programme said that a complaint filed through the mobile application will go to state authorities concerned and will alert the central government authorities. “If the complaint is not resolved within a specified period, the system will throw up alerts,” explained Arora. Under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), so far, 61% of the 18,452 villages identified in April, 2015 have been connected to the grid. The focus now is to make sure every household gets access to power. Goyal urged states to make sure that all households whether belonging to below poverty line or not, get access to power. While the poor gets free connections, the minister said that those above poverty line could pay the initial cost in instalments with financial help from central utilities like REC. Carlos Martinez Authentic Jersey
LNG strategies for the EU and India
India’s gas consumption is lower than the EU’s, but it too, like the EU, relies heavily on imports. With LNG likely to remain a key part of India’s gas supplies in the future, and given recent changes in the global market, what is the future potential of LNG imports for the EU and India? What are the best energy policies for the two regions? India and the European Union (EU) share a common fate in terms of fossil fuels: both are poor in proved indigenous reserves and need substantial amounts of imports to fill the gap between domestic production and consumption. This is also true for natural gas. Given recent changes in the global market for liquefied natural gas (LNG)—including flexibility of trade and falling prices—what is the potential of LNG imports in the future for the EU and India? What are the LNG strategies that the two regions can consider? In the EU, the gap between domestic production in 2014 was around 255 billion cubic meters (bcm). [1] It is mainly covered by imports of piped gas, roughly two-thirds of which come from Russia and Norway. In recent years, LNG accounted for 10% of total gas imports, [2] far below the EU’s 2015 total regasification capacity of 195 billion cubic meters per year (bcma). [3]. Although the EU’s demand for gas peaked in 2010 and has decreased since, the need for additional imports is likely to rise in the future due to more rapidly decreasing domestic production. LNG could play an important role, not only in filling the supply gap, but also in reducing the dependence on imports from Russia. India’s gas consumption, at 50.6 bcm, is much lower than the EU’s, but with production only at 31.7 bcm, [4] it too relies to a large extent on imports. For natural gas, the supply gap in 2014 amounted to around 19 bcm. [5] In the absence of import pipelines, India exclusively relied on LNG imports to its four existing terminals with a total capacity of around 35 bcma. [6] Although India’s gas demand peaked in 2011, it is still projected to more than double until 2030 due to population and economic growth, and poverty reduction. [7] Without the development of substantial domestic gas fields, this means that the supply gap will increase in the future, raising the question where the gas for India will come from. Given the political difficulties associated with building import pipelines in the region to access Caspian or Iranian gas (through Afghanistan or Pakistan), LNG is likely to remain a key pillar of India’s gas supplies in the future. The new EU LNG strategy The EU’s energy policy is based on three pillars: security, competitiveness, and sustainability. Against this background, the European Commission proposed a strategy for LNG and gas storage in February 2016. [8] In terms of security, the strategy aims to diversify import sources and routes, with a particular focus on Eastern Europe. Given that some 95% of existing EU LNG import capacity is in Western Europe, the EU needs to explicitly aim at improving access to LNG particularly in Eastern European countries currently dependent on only one import source. In terms of competitiveness, the strategy proposes a three-pronged approach. First, it focuses on infrastructure, which is not only needed to complete the EU’s internal gas market but also to improve access to international LNG markets either directly or through other member states. Within this context, the Commission also highlights the role of gas storage in optimising gas infrastructure use and in balancing the system. Second, it urges the completion of the internal gas market in order to send the right price signals for both LNG imports and for required infrastructure investments. And third, the strategy calls for closer cooperation with international partners, both suppliers and major consumers of LNG (including India), in order to remove obstacles in the trading of LNG and to advance towards free, liquid, and transparent global LNG markets. Regarding sustainability, the EU LNG strategy highlights the potential of LNG in transport, in particular as a means to decarbonise shipping and heavy duty vehicles (such as trucks). It also points to the possibility of using small-scale LNG to replace more polluting fossil fuels in the heat and power sectors, for example in remote or off-grid locations. Elements of a successful LNG strategy [9] Current global market dynamics could support further diversification towards LNG. Increasing the flexibility of LNG trade, decreasing LNG prices and LNG charter rates, and a reduction in Asia-Pacific import prices could all reinforce the economic viability of a LNG strategy. This is true for the EU as well as for India, and these trends are expected to continue as more LNG enters the market, mainly from new suppliers such as Australia and the U.S. However, in order to be effective and to avoid mismatches between investments and market reality, a LNG strategy should be part of a broader natural gas and energy strategy. This latter strategy should not only consider issues related the security of gas supplies, but also take into account potential future developments of gas demand—also within the context of Paris Agreement on climate change. A LNG strategy should thus seek to define a space for LNG in the overall demand equation, taking into account the whole energy system and interactions between different energy sectors (for example, between gas and power markets, and gas and the transport sector). This will help avoid inefficient investments, as was the case in Europe in the recent past driving down utilisation rates of EU LNG terminals to 19% in 2015. [10] As important, the key to a successful LNG strategy is to develop sufficient infrastructure. Low utilisation rates of EU LNG terminals can be explained by decreasing gas demand, but partly also by the fact that there are not enough interconnections between EU countries (for example, between Spain and France). In order to fully exploit the benefits of LNG, a system of interconnectivity requires three essentials: (i)
LPG subsidy: Tax dept to share data on taxpayers earning over Rs 1 million with Oil Ministry
The Income-Tax department will soon begin sharing personal data—like PAN, residential address and mobile number—of a taxpayer earning over Rs 1 million per annum with the Oil Ministry as part of government’s initiative to effectively block subsidised cooking gas to higher income groups. As part of the official deal between the two government departments, the taxman will also share the date of birth, gender, email id, residential phone number and all available addresses of the taxpayer in its database so that the Petroleum and Oil Ministry could zero down on each LPG subscriber who is availing the subsidy beyond the stipulated rules and has not voluntarily given it up. The I-T department will soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Oil Ministry in order to begin this transfer of personal taxpayer data, in a “confidential and safe” manner. The department, till now, used to share such proprietary data with Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA) like police, CBI, ED and others with a rider that they should not share this information with anyone else and use it for their investigation purposes only. The latest move has also been approved by the policy—making body of the department, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), in the backdrop of government’s decision which had said that tax payers with annual income of more than Rs 1 million will not get subsidised cooking gas (LPG). “This tax data with the Oil Ministry will ensure that all those who have income above Rs 1 million per year will automatically be barred from getting subsidised cooking gas cylinders. The data will be processed by the Oil Ministry and only names of those ineligible will be shared with the LPG distributor concerned on field. “While some individuals and households have already given up this subsidy voluntarily after the Government asked them to do so, there are many who have not done so. The government wants to check pilferage in this regard and hence the data is being shared between the two departments,” a senior official said. The official said the transfer of data will begin soon. At present, all households are entitled to 12 cylinders of 14.2—kg each at subsidised rates. The government has asked well—off people in the past to voluntarily give up using subsidised LPG and instead buy cooking fuel at market price. The government, while announcing this decision last year, had said it “has decided that the benefit of LPG subsidy will not be available for LPG consumers if the consumer or his/her spouse had taxable income of more than Rs 1 million during the previous financial year computed as per the Income Tax Act, 1961.” Bernie Parent Authentic Jersey
NGT asks West Bengal to decide on GAIL gas pipeline
The National Green Tribunal (NGT), eastern zone bench, has given the chief secretary (CS) 15 days to decide whether Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) should be entrusted with natural gas distribution in the city through a pipeline by itself or a joint venture company should be set up for this. The gas major plans to complete its 2,539km long pipeline from Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh to Haldia by 2020. It proposes to distribute gas in seven cities, including Kolkata, enroute. Environment activist Subhas Datta had moved the NGT in September last year, to introduce natural gas in Kolkata. The green bench had passed several directions, after which the state government and GAIL have been at loggerheads with technical issues regarding the CNG distribution. In August, the NGT had directed the CS to take up the matter with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and GAIL. When this didn’t happen, the bench directed senior officials including the CS to attend a meeting convened by it on December 7. Nearly 30 people attended the meeting while the CS chose to stay away. On Friday, the bench of justice SP Wangdi and professor PC Mishra expressed displeasure at this. “We didn’t convene the meeting to grace or glorify us. We are keen to introduce green and clean fuel in Kolkata,” the bench observed before going through an affidavit submitted by GAIL. Za’Darius Smith Jersey
Asia set for biggest refining capacity jump in three years
Asia will post its biggest net refining capacity addition in three years in 2017, further boosting demand for crude in the world’s biggest and fastest growing oil consuming region. New and expanded refineries from China to India will offset closures in Japan, adding a net 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude processing capacity in 2017, the highest since 2014, energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie says. The increase amounts to about an additional 1.5 percent of refining capacity on top of Asia’s total installed capacity of nearly 29 million bpd, Thomson Reuters Eikon data shows. “Heavy crude demand in particular is expected to rise in 2017 as more Asian facilities undergo upgrading and new … refineries come online,” said Sushant Gupta, WoodMac’s Asia research director for refining. The rise in capacity will tighten Asia’s crude market as it coincides with planned output cuts by oil producers like the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia in a bid to end oversupply and prop up prices. China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) plans to start a new 200,000-bpd refinery in southern China, while PetroChina aims to start a 260,000-bpd refinery in Yunnan, pending talks with the Myanmar government. Chinese independent refiners are also expected to import an extra 200,000-400,000 bpd of crude, research consultancy Energy Aspects estimates, and an upgrade by Taiwan’s CPC at its Talin refinery will raise crude and condensate demand by 100,000 bpd. Vietnam is due to complete a new 200,000-bpd refinery, while India’s Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd is trialling an expansion in Kochi that will include a new 210,000-bpd crude oil distillation unit. These additions will more than offset a 400,000 bpd decline in refining capacity in Japan by early April due to shrinking local demand, according to Wood Mackenzie. To meet Asian demand, Iraq has already inked new Basra Heavy deals, while Iran expects to complete a pipeline and terminal to export heavy crude West Kharoon next year. Kuwait said it is preparing to restart production from oilfields jointly operated with Saudi Arabia. “We expect a slow ramp up of production from mid-2017. Both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait will have to manage this growth within their agreed OPEC production cuts,” WoodMac’s Gupta said. Still, traders see no outright supply shortage for Asian refineries, as OPEC is shielding most of its Asian customers from the planned cuts. Alternative crude supplies are also available, including heavy crude from Latin America and Angola, as well as shale supplies from the United States. Aron Baynes Authentic Jersey