Haryana Government to set up renewable energy project at Jhajjar
While China Light & Power has offered to join hands with the Haryana Government in setting up a Rs 500-crore renewable energy project at Jhajjar, global majors, including United Technologies, Carrier, Everstone Logistics and CISCO have evinced keen interest in making investments in such fields as logistics, development of smart cities and sustainable solutions, and setting up a skill development centre. The offers were made when the chief minister, Manohar Lal, who is leading a nine-member delegation to project Haryana as a preferred investment destination, had one-to-one and back-to-back rounds with captains of industry and leading investors in Hong Kong today, and in Singapore, last night. The delegation has reached Hong Kong from Singapore. A senior level team from China Light & Power comprising CEO Richard Lancaster, chief financial officer, Geert Peters, and managing director India, Rajiv Mishra, met the chief minister in Hong Kong this morning. They discussed a proposal for setting up a renewable energy project at Jhajjar with an investment of Rs 500 crore. They were told that a very good opportunity awaited them to utilize non-arable land in the state for setting up projects. A team from United Technologies also met the chief minister and discussed proposal for developing smart city sustainability solutions relating to building security and controls. Carrier made a proposal to set up a skill development centre in Haryana jointly with the state government for providing skill training to the youth. A high-level Carrier team said work on expansion of their existing facility in Haryana would begin soon, Eric Chu, executive general Manager, HVAC, Hong Kong & Macau; Gary Chuk, director, Building Controls and Integrated Solutions, HMTG; and, Paul Tsui, General Manager Sustainability Solutions, Carrier Hong Kong, attended the meeting. Later, the Chief Minister addressed captains of industry and leading investors at the Invest Haryana Road Show in Hong Kong. It was attended by more than 100 delegates from Hong Kong who belonged mostly to the banking and financial sector. The key sectors which offered vast investment scope included skill development, healthcare, infrastructure, transport, smart cities, renewable energy etc. Later, Sudhir Rajpal, principal secretary, Industries, made a presentation and shared details of the bankable projects with safe returns on investment. He also shared details of the projects like Global City, MRTS between Gurugram Manesar Bawal, Logistics Hub, Aviation Hub, Global Economic Corridor along the KMP Expressway, Smart city Gurugram, Faridabad and Karnal. Jeremy Hellickson Jersey
India’s top energy research bodies come together to develop next-gen fuel resources
In a first of its kind move, India has brought forward its top energy research agencies which are working together to develop the next generation of fuel resources for cutting edge commercial applications. The three state-owned research bodies include the Indian Railways’ alternate fuel arm Indian Railways Organisation for Alternate Fuels (IROAF), Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP) Dehradun and National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) which are working to develop solar-assisted Biomass Pyrolysis technology for production of methanol as an alternate fuel. In addition, IROAF is separately experimenting with Hydrogen-powered fuel cells for power generation. BIOMASS PYROLYSIS Delhi-based IROAF has been tasked with exploring new avenues to fuel the national transporter which has set a target of reducing its annual energy bill, including electricity and diesel, of over Rs 30,000 crore by Rs 41,000 crore over the next decade. “An alternate route of Methanol production is by using biomass, wood and waste products. Currently, people use the catalytic route (enzymatic route) for this. We aim to do this through biomass pyrolysis,” Ravinder Gupta, Chief Administrative Officer of IROAF told ETEnergyWorld in an exclusive interview. Pyrolysis refers to thermal decomposition of biomass occurring in the absence of oxygen. The process pyrolysis results in by-products including bio-oil and gases like methane, hydrogen, carbon-monoxide and carbon dioxide, among others. “We have formed a joint working group at IROAF with IIP, Dehradun and NISE. We are putting our heads together to develop a solar-assisted biomass paralysis plant in the first stage and eventually look at the possibility of obtaining methanol,” Gupta said. IROAF aims to use solar energy to convert wood and bio-waste into wood-oil and IIP is currently conducting research on how to convert wood-oil into methanol. According to Gupta, the Indian Railways will have to develop a dual-fuel engine for converting existing locomotives to run on Methanol. FUEL CELL The Indian Railways’ fuel arm is also experimenting with hydrogen-powered fuel cells on a pilot basis. A fuel cell is a device in which hydrogen is used to generates electricity through a chemical reaction in the presence of Oxygen with water as a by-product. The device finds application in the electric vehicle industry. “We are also working on fuel cell technology. Hydrogen-run fuel cells have also become affordable. On an experimental basis, we are going to fit a hydrogen fuel cell for powering guard vans attached to trains as a standby. Fuel cells can generate power up to 300 kilowatts,” Gupta said. The use of fuel cells to power electric vehicles has risen of late. Global automobile giants including Honda, Toyota and Hyundai have reportedly leased a few hundred fuel cell-based vehicles over the past three years, and expect to lease over 1,000 in the current year. The Indian auto industry lobby Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has also called for developing the fuel cell technology to meet the government’s target of shifting completely to electric vehicles by 2030. Jerry Hughes Womens Jersey
Believe it or not! Petrol could be below Rs 30 a litre in 5 years
In five years, you could be buying petrol at less than Rs 30 a litre. Emerging technology is going to reduce the world’s dependence on petrol so much that prices will plummet. That’s the prediction by Tony Seba, an American futurist who is famous for predicting a boom in solar power when the prices used to be forbiddingly high, 10 times the prices today. Seba is a serial Silicon Valley entrepreneur, and an instructor in Entrepreneurship, Disruption and Clean Energy at Stanford’s Continuing Studies Program. Seba’s prediction on solar energy came true, but will he be right about the future of oil too? It seems highly likely if you look at what prompts Seba. According to Seba, the rise of self-drive cars would bring down oil demand sharply which could reduce the price of oil to $25 a barrel. “Oil demand will peak 2021-2020 and will go down 100 million barrels, to 70 million barrels within 10 years. And what that means, the new equilibrium price is going to be $25,” Seba said while speaking to CNBC. Seba says people would not stop using the old-style cars but the self-drive electric vehicles will become a much larger part of the sharing economy. These electric vehicles will be cheaper to buy as well as run. Seba had earlier said that by 2030, 95% of people won’t own private cars which would wipe off the automobile industry. He also predicted that electric vehicles would destroy the global oil industry. Recently, Union power minister Piyush Goyal said India was looking to have all-electric car fleet by 2030. He meant not a single petrol or diesel car would be sold in the country after 15 years. If you look at rapid advances in technology and business, you will find Seba convincing. No one doubts that soon electric cars will become a mass trend. Add to this the innovation in travel business such as Uber and rideshare apps. The future these two trends indicate looks like this: most people will prefer shared electric vehicles to owning cars while most of those still buying cars would go for electric ones. “Imagine a Starbucks on wheels. Essentially transportation is going to be so cheap, it’s going to be essentially cheaper for Starbucks to run around and take me to work, which is, you know, 60 kilometers away, and give that transportation for free, in exchange for going to buy coffee in that hour of commute,” Seba said while speaking to CNBC. The dim future of oil will also have a major geopolitical impact: the economies that depend mostly on oil will be hit badly. Many Arab countries will lose much of their influence and power. David Andrews Womens Jersey
India, Japan Joint Venture To Build Gas Import Terminal In Sri Lanka
India and Japan will jointly set up a $250 million liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Sri Lanka, the first collaboration between the two nations to counter China’s growing influence in the Island nation. Petronet LNG Limited, India’s biggest gas importer, last year proposed to set up a 2-million-tonne (MT) liquefied natural gas import facility on the coast of Sri Lanka to meet its energy needs. Sri Lanka, however, wanted Japan to have a role in it. “An agreement has been reached between the governments of India, Sri Lanka and Japan to set up the LNG terminal as a 50-50 joint venture by Petronet and a Japanese company,” Petronet Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Prabhat Singh said. Japan is yet to identify the company which will form an equal joint venture with Petronet for setting up the terminal. Without giving more details, Mr Singh said the LNG import facility will be set up at Kerawalapitiya on the western coast of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has plans to build a 300 megawatt (MW) gas-fired power plant in Kerawalapitiya, adjoining an existing power plant. The existing plant which uses oil to generate power would also be converted to LNG once the terminal is set up and gas import start. LNG has become significantly cheaper since last year and many countries have begun switching their power plants to LNG. Mr Singh said the LNG terminal, which will import super-cooled natural gas, will take two-and-a-half to three years to build. The LNG terminal in Sri Lanka is part of Petronet’s vision to own 30 MT per annum of LNG import and re-gasification capacity by 2020, Mr Singh said. Petronet already operates a 15 million tonnes per annum import facility at Dahej in Gujarat and has another 5 MT terminal at Kochi in Kerala. Petronet also signed a preliminary agreement to build a 7.5 MT LNG terminal in Bangladesh and is looking at setting up a smaller facility in Mauritius. Mr Singh said Dahej is being expanded to 17.5 MT over the next two years. The India-Japan collaboration comes after a string of Chinese successes in Sri Lanka. China has managed to revive its flagship $1.4 billion Colombo Port City project and is also engaged in expansion of major infrastructure projects it built in the past. These projects include expansion of Hambantota port and Mattala airport. Matthias Farley Authentic Jersey
Ratnagiri Gas demerger: GAIL to own LNG terminal, NTPC to get power plant
Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt. Ltd (RGPPL) in Maharashtra is in the process of a demerger under which the company’s gas import terminal will be majority-owned by GAIL India Ltd and the power plant by NTPC Ltd, a top GAIL executive said on Tuesday. The project—once owned by US energy giant Enron Corp. which went bankrupt in 2001—in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district is now owned by GAIL and NTPC that hold 25.51% stake each; financial institutions hold 35.47% and Maharashtra State Electricity Board has a 13.51% stake. “The demerger is in the process. The LNG terminal will be led by GAIL and will be a subsidiary of GAIL, and the power plant will be led by NTPC,” B.C. Tripathi, chairman and managing director, GAIL India told reporters. On Monday, GAIL said its March-quarter net profit fell 69% from a year ago due to a Rs 7.83 billion impairment charge on the RGPPL plant. Net profit fell to Rs 2.60 billion in the quarter from Rs 8.32 billion a year ago. “In compliance of Ind AS 36, on impairment of assets, GAIL and NTPC carried out an assessment of impairment of investment in RGPPL as on 31 March considering the restructuring of the business. Accordingly, a provision of Rs 7.83 billion has been made,” the company’s press statement said. Tripathi said GAIL will invest Rs 10 billion in building a breakwater facility for the LNG terminal. RGPPL now receives cargoes only between October and May due to the lack of a breakwater to protect vessels from choppy seas during monsoon months. “Last year, we utilized up to 1.5 million tonnes of capacity and going forward, this would be 2.5 million tonnes and once the breakwater is in place, it will be 4 million tonnes of capacity. For breakwater, we have received the bids already and we would be awarding the contracts in a couple of months from now,” he added. GAIL’s capital expenditure for this fiscal is Rs 30 billion and the company is bullish on the petrochemicals segment. It is also working on a 1.7 million tonnes petrochemical plant in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh where GAIL and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd will be partners. This is currently in the developmental stage, Tripathi added. “Last year, we produced 577,000 tonnes of polymer. This was an increase of 40%. This year, we expect to go to almost 750,000 tonnes per annum. The second plant which was running at 40% capacity should go to almost 80-85% capacity this year. GAIL’s subsidiary, Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Ltd in Assam is also running at 85% capacity. In total, GAIL will be marketing 1 million tonnes of petrochemicals this financial year,” Tripathi said. GAIL also plans to spend Rs 15 billion in city gas going forward. GAIL has been authorized to develop city gas supply in seven cities—Bhubaneshwar, Cuttack, Ranchi, Varanasi, Kolkata, Patna and Jamshedpur. These cities will start getting piped gas supply in the next few years. Kenta Maeda Jersey