New solar model to carry on harvesting
The final year automobile engineering students of Rajiv Gandhi Government Polytechnic here, have developed a low cost-lightweight, environment-friendly manually operated solar paddy harvester (MOSPH) suitable for small farmers. The model has been developed under the guidance of in-charge, head of department, D Devarasiddappa. “The entire power source is packed and placed inside a bag. The harvester can be operated easily with power source unit carried on shoulder,” Devarasiddappa said here. The added advantage of the system is that it can also be used for domestic lighting when not being used for harvesting, he said. The overall cost of the developed model is approximately Rs. 14000. Unlike conventional paddy harvesters that require fossil fuel, MOSPH utilizes abundantly available solar energy to produce the required electrical energy to operate the paddy harvester. The model would be displayed at National Innovation Talent Contest for Polytechnics (NITCP) at NITTTR, Kolkata which is being sponsored by Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, Mumbai. A team of four students would participate in the event. Paul Richardson Authentic Jersey
Power capacity addition slows in Gujarat
Subdued demand coupled with surplus electricity availability has slowed down the addition of new capacity for generating power from conventional sources of energy such as coal and gas. The installed electricity generation capacity of non-renewable energy sources in Gujarat grew by just 0.7% in 2015-16. The growth was 6.2% and 5.2% in 2013-14 and 2014-15 respectively. According to data from the Union power ministry data, Gujarat’s installed power generation capacity from non-renewable energy sources stood at 20,765.82 MW in 2015-16 as against 20,611.30 MW in 2014-15, an annual addition of 154.52 MW. Power sector experts attribute the sluggish demand of power coupled with surplus electricity generation to slower growth in addition of new capacity for conventional power. “The power sector across the country is passing through tough times. Demand for power has not grown in proportion with new capacity added in the last few years. As a result, capacity addition has slowed down noticeably,” said K K Bajaj, a city-based energy expert. Melvin Gordon Womens Jersey
Tangedco under pressure to buy power from private producers
Independent power producers (IPPs) in Tamil Nadu are pressurising the government to instruct Tangedco to evacuate power generated by them at Rs 5.50 per unit, which is much higher than the cost of electricity in power exchanges. Tangedco officials told TOI that IPPs were putting pressure through various ‘sources’ to evacuate power from them. But Tangedco has to go by the merit order released by TNERC on evacuating power, which says it has to utilize its potential fully before purchasing power from other sources. The utility also has to prefer cheapest sources to fulfil its needs. There is also pressure on the discom to import coal. The corporation has stopped import of coal to cut down costs and a section that was hugely benefitted from coal imports in the past is up against the corporation. “The total capacity of all IPPs within the state is around 4000MW. Most of them use coal as fuel. The maximum capacity per unit is 600MW. Power from these companies will be evacuated only when the demand exceeds 14000MW. Only during summer the demand crosses 15,000 MW,” a senior Tangedco official told TOI. As per the merit order issued by the TNERC, power at lower cost will come from Tangedco’s own units as it gets coal from Coal India Limited. “The cost at which we generate power comes to Rs 3. We will have to evacuate the entire capacity from our units and then look at other sources. Similarly, the cost is pretty cheap when we buy form Central units. Wind power between May and September costs less than Rs 4 per unit and nuclear power is available at Rs 4.50 per unit,” said the official. “We have invested several crores to set up our thermal units and we cannot keep the units in limbo. We are not pressurising Tangedco, but we are only asking Tangedco to evacuate power generated by us,” said MD of an IPP. Tangedco sources said the utility was all set to break even this year because of not purchasing power from IPPs. Except for the total outstanding debt, the Tangedco’s financials have been looking better in the last few years. “After a record loss of Rs 13,985.03 crore in 2013-14, the loss came down to Rs 5,000 crore in 2015-16. This year we have saved Rs 2,000 crore owing to stopping coal import,” the official said. Carl Soderberg Womens Jersey
Greece plans trading exchange to help reform power market
Greece plans to launch a power trading exchange next year to reform its electricity market in line with European plans for an interconnected energy grid which will help cut costs and improve energy security, it said on Tuesday. Greece’s wholesale electricity market is currently based on a mandatory pool system. Power producers may enter into bilateral contracts but those are constrained within the pool. The trading exchange would help boost competition, secure transparency in power sales and eventually lower prices for households and businesses, Energy Minister George Stathakis told a news conference. “We are hopeful that the transition to the new model will take place… in mid-2018,” he said. Greece and the European Commission have been preparing a study, expected to be ready by the end of the year, on how the new market will operate, he said. The country’s market operator (LAGIE) and the Athens Stock Exchange agreed last week to jointly help set up the exchange, which will be based on a day-ahead, an intraday, a forward and a balancing market. Initially, they plan to set up a clearing house. Chief Executive Officer at LAGIE, Michael Philippou, said the aim was also to boost liquidity for businesses which would be siphoned into investments. Under its bailout with euro zone lenders and the International Monetary Fund signed in 2015, Greece has agreed to open up its electricity market. Last year it launched power auctions to help cut the dominance of state-controlled power utility Public Power Corp. (PPC), which controls about 90 percent of the country’s retail market. The effectiveness of the measure has been a sticking point in drawn-out negotiations between Greece and its creditors for the conclusion of a bailout review, which is crucial for new funding for the cash-strapped nation. Rashard Robinson Authentic Jersey
After 8-year-long legal tussle, Centre to pay Rs 63.20 billion as oil royalty to Assam
The Centre on Wednesday agreed to pay Rs 63.20 billion to the Assam government as crude oil royalty as part of an out-of-the-court settlement after eight years of protracted legal battle. The amount will be paid by the central government to the Assam government over a period of three financial years commencing 2016-17. Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, finance minister Arun Jaitley and petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan for the “proactive and bold steps” which led to the out of the court settlement. “The Central and state governments were fighting in courts over the oil royalty issue since 2008 when both the governments were ruled by the Congress. “But within nine months of the BJP government coming into power in Assam, we have resolved the dispute and the central government agreed to pay Rs 63.20 billion as oil royalty. We are thankful to the Modi government,” Sonowal told PTI here. While in 2016-17, the central government will pay Rs 9.48 billion; in 2017-18 it will pay Rs 28.44 billion and in 2018-19 will pay Rs 25.28 billion. This is in addition to the Rs 14.50 billion already received. The Oil India Limited produces 3.2 million tonnes crude oil in Assam annually, while Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited produces 1.1 million tonnes crude oil every year in the state. The OIL and the ONGC have been paying royalty to the central and the state governments in terms of statutory provisions of oilfields (Regulations and Development) Act 1948 and Petroleum and Natural Gas Rules, 1959. The Petroleum Ministry on October 30, 2003 had directed upstream companies, including ONGC, to give discount in price on sale of crude oil to the Oil Marketing Companies. The notional price of the crude oil produced by upstream companies is initially derived on the basis of the average international price and then discounts are fixed as decided by the central government. Case Keenum Authentic Jersey
Petronet LNG’s impressive showing
Shortage of domestically produced gas leading to better demand prospects for liquefied natural gas, or LNG, is what has fundamentally propelled Petronet LNG’s stock. Shares of Petronet LNG Ltd have increased an impressive three-fifths so far this fiscal year. Shortage of domestically produced gas leading to better demand prospects for liquefied natural gas (LNG) is what has fundamentally propelled the company’s stock upwards. The LNG importer’s profit growth has been robust each quarter so far in fiscal year 2017 and the December quarter results are no exception. Net profit increased spectacularly, more than doubling compared to the same quarter last year to Rs 3.97 billion. Operating profit increased 114% year-on-year to Rs 6.07 billion. The Petronet LNG management told analysts in a conference call that the Dahej (Gujarat) capacity expansion to 15 million tonnes (from 10mt) was fully operational during the December quarter. The company said that the volume of 187 trillion British thermal units regasified at the Dahej terminal in December quarter is a marginal increase over the September quarter and a 36% increase over the December 2015 quarter. However, Petronet LNG’s Kochi (Kerala) terminal continues to operate at miserably low utilization levels—6% during the December quarter. Pipeline infrastructure problems have adversely affected utilization levels at the Kochi terminal and that has been a worry. “On the Kochi pipeline issue, Petronet LNG management shared that work on the first phase (Kochi-Mangalore pipeline) has started,” point out analysts from IIFL Institutional Equities in a report on 15 February. According to the brokerage firm, once this line is complete, utilization of the Kochi terminal would increase to 40%. However, further ramp-up in utilization would depend on completion of Kochi-Bangalore, the second pipeline, which is likely to be completed only by 2019. Needless to say, developments on this front will be an important trigger for the stock. It helps that spot LNG prices are expected to remain subdued in the coming years on account of higher supply in global markets thanks to capacity additions. The Petronet LNG stock’s remarkable appreciation reflects that it captures this good news including the recent commissioning of expanded capacity. But further outperformance could be difficult. Incremental expansion at the Dahej terminal to 17.5mt is expected to be completed by fiscal year 2019. “Given we already assume further capacity expansion benefit of 2.5mmt with full utilization by FY19/FY20 and earnings growth post-FY20 would be minimal, we expect stock would be de-rated going forward,” wrote analysts from Elara Securities (India) Pvt. Ltd in a report on 14 February. Currently, one Petronet LNG share trades at about 17 times estimated earnings for the next fiscal year based on Bloomberg data. Derrick Henry Jersey
Oil giant: Govt mulls merging HPCL or BPCL with ONGC
The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation may take over either Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd or Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd if the Centre’s idea of an ‘integrated oil major’ materialises. An official involved with the development said the plan is to transfer the government’s holding in one of the companies to ONGC, making the latter the holding company. This will enable the creation of an integrated oil major. The Centre holds 51.11 per cent stake in HPCL, and 54.93 per cent in BPCL. “The other oil companies — Oil India, in the upstream sector, and Indian Oil Corporation in the downstream sector — will operate unchanged,” he added. The concept of the holding company was first proposed in 2005 by a committee headed by V Krishnamurthy. The committee, while concluding that the merger of oil PSUs may not be an advisable option, had suggested two alternatives, namely, creation of a holding company or a coordination body. According to RS Sharma, former Chairman and Managing Director, ONGC, a holding company concept may work out better. Sharma, who also is Chairman of FICCI Hydrocarbon Committee, said creating a holding company will result in optimisation of resource-sharing and upfront cost-savings of 10-15 per cent. The total market capital of listed oil-sector PSUs is over ?7000 billion. The holding-company mechanism will also yield huge disinvestment proceeds to the government, Sharma said, adding that this concept will result in minimum disruption to the existing corporate structure. Danton Heinen Jersey
Bengal decides to enter into joint venture with GAIL
West Bengal government today decided to enter into a joint venture with the Gas Authority of India Limited to supply natural gas to every household in greater Kolkata. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee gave her approval to the joint venture at a meeting of the Cabinet’s standing committee on industry held at the state secretariat today, state finance minister Amit Mitra said. “It’s been a long time since we are talking about city gas supply and now today the decision has been taken by the chief minister,” Mitra told reporters. He said that GCGSC, which is a 100 per cent state-owned company, will have an equity of 26 per cent while GAIL will hold 74 per cent stake for the Rs 3,000-crore project, the minister said. GAIL would invest for the project while the state government would provide various assets like the land and infrastructure support, he said. The minister said that urban areas would first have the supply and thereafter it which would be supplied all over the state including the small towns. The pricing of the gas was yet to be decided, he said. In another important decision, the government as part of its city beautification drive has taken a decision to pass on the innumerable electrical wires, cables, telephone lines hanging overhead via underground ducts. According to a source at the secretariat, a committee under Chief Secretary Basudeb Banerjee has been formed for the purpose. It was also learnt that at today’s meeting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asked her ministers to be at their respective areas during the upcoming Holi and Shiv Ratri festivals to avoid any untoward incident. Greg Lloyd Authentic Jersey