Power Minister Piyush Goel Approves Rs 450 Crore For Power Sector In Gurugram
Union Ministry of Power has accorded principle approval of Rs 450 crore for the Rs 1,350-crore scheme aimed at the development and modernisation of power sector in Gurugram. An amount of Rs 272 crore has already been approved under the scheme. This was disclosed by union minister of State for power, coal, new and renewable energy, Piyush Goyal while interacting with the media persons soon after the meeting with Chief Minister Manohar Lal in New Delhi late last evening. He said that commendable work has been done towards strengthening the power sector in Haryana. In reply to a question, Manohar Lal said the process for the improvement in power sector would be continued in a planned manner and all out efforts would be made to achieve all the targets set by Ministry in this regard in a time bound manner. Piyush Goyal said that the Aggregate Technical and Commercial losses in Haryana last year have only been 5 per cent. Apart from this, both the power production and distribution sectors in the State are running into profit. The power cuts in urban areas have been reduced up to the extant of 75 per cent, he added. He said Haryana is the first state in the country to expedite the process of installation of smart meters. This year Haryana has set a target to reduce line losses up to 20 per cent, he said. Earlier in the meeting, the chief minister and union minister Piyush Goyal discussed in detail various important issues regarding strengthening and modernisation of power sector in the State. Discussion were also held on various works so far been done in this direction. They also discussed the issue of purchase of coal. Nat Berhe Authentic Jersey
Local solar manufacturers seek ‘Safeguard Duty’
Badly hit by a shrinking market and idle capacity, local manufacturers of solar cells and modules have decided to approach the government again seeking to impose a ‘safeguard duty’ on imported equipment. They had petitioned the Ministry of Trade and Commerce in early June seeking an anti-dumping duty on solar imports but have not received any response so far. They now plan to petition the Director General of Safeguards in the same ministry to impose a duty of 10 US cents (RS6.50) per watt on imported cells and modules. Solar manufacturers are getting desperate as they say they have been marginalised in the country’s ambitious solar energy programme. In 2016-17, as much as 5,525 MW of solar projects were set up in country, but about 90% of the solar cells and modules used were imported, mainly from China, Malaysia and Taiwan. Thanks to the scale of the manufacturing units in those countries and supportive government policies there, they can provide solar cells and modules at prices 10-20% cheaper than their Indian counterparts. India’s imports of solar cells and modules rose 36% in 2016-17 to $3.2 billion. Total domestic module manufacturing capacity is 8,113 MW of which 5,286 MW are operational. But actual manufacturing in 2016-17 was 1,000-1,500 MW, due to lack of demand. Previously, the local industry was guaranteed at least partial off-take thanks to the ‘domestic content requirement’ (DCR) in theNational Solar Mission, under which some solar projects had to be compulsorily built using local cells and modules, with higher tariffs permitted for the power they produced. But with the WTO having ruled last year that DCR amounted to an unfair trade practice, no fresh DCR projects are being initiated. Imposing anti-dumping, or safeguard, duty on imports will raise the cost of solar installations and thereby increase tariffs. Solar tariffs have been falling steeply in the past two years, and protective steps may reverse the trend. But, local manufactures see the impact to be limited. “If, say, a 20% safeguard duty is imposed, it will add about 11% to the total project cost, raising the tariff from `2.44 to around `2.70-3 per kwH, which is not all that much,” said a leading manufacturer, defending the petition. “Safeguard duty is allowed for a maximum of five years, which will give local industry time to find its feet.” Overseas manufacturers, as well as solar developers, do not agree. “Dumping is an unfair trade practice, and if it is taking place, local manufacturers have a right to petition against it,” said Sujoy Ghosh, India CEO of US-headquartered First Solar, which makes solar equipment and sets up projects. “But safeguard duty creates entry barriers for global manufacturers even when they are transacting in a fair manner.” George Iloka Authentic Jersey
India’s Solar Power Capacity To Be 22 GW By March: Piyush Goyal
India’s solar power generation capacity would nearly double to 22 GW by the end of current fiscal and more wind power auctions would be conducted in the coming months, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said today. India has set ambitious target of having 100 GW of solar energy and 60 GW of wind power capacities by 2022. “Solar Power generating capacity would be around 22 GW by the end of this fiscal (from over 12 GW at present),” Goyal told reporters here after releasing a report on integration of renewables in the electricity grid. On wind power, he said: “The auction has already been conducted for 1 GW where tariff has come down to Rs 3.46 per unit (earlier this year). One tender for another 1 GW is also in process, which would be completed soon. The bidding activity would also continue in coming 3-4 months and it would get the same encouragement as in case of solar.” Earlier last month, solar power tariff had dropped to all time low of Rs 2.44 per unit in the auction conducted for Bhadla solar park. ACME Solar Holdings had emerged as the lowest bidder by quoting Rs 2.44 per unit tariff for 200 MW followed by SBG Cleantech One at Rs 2.45 per unit for 500 MW capacity. Similarly, the 1 GW wind power auction also evoked good response as the tariff dropped to Rs 3.46 per unit in an auction conducted by the Solar Energy Corp (SECI). Goyal said, “It is time for the people of India to get ready and embrace the change with a ‘New Mindset’ of a ‘New Grid’ for a ‘New India’, which is ready to integrate large amount of renewable energy.” The minister had yesterday told reporters after a roundtable with hydro power producers that government will soon bring out a hydro power policy to revive the stalled projects. Asked about peaking power policy where instead of load shedding, the discoms can supply power at higher tariff than contracted rates during peak hour, the minister had said, “There is no peaking power policy on the unveil.” On stressed power plants of Tata, Adani and Essar that run on imported coal, he had said: “There was a lot of constellation about what would happen to these plants and to the availability of low cost power to some other states. Nothing has come out as yet. “I had suggested that these imported coal based plants may also look at technical solutions to try to use more domestic coal because under SHAKTI scheme we would soon come out with a policy which will allow import based coal based plant to bid for domestic coal.” There was a buzz that Gujarat government did not want to take over majority stake at these plants being offered to the state at just Re 1, because of political reasons. Gujarat will go for assembly poll by this year-end. Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam sources confirmed however that the proposals of these power producers are still under consideration. Justin Bethel Jersey
Hydrocarbons Sector: Next Bidding Round For Discovered Small Fields In Oct
Giving a major boost to new entrants in the hydrocarbons sector, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is set to launch the second round of bidding for discovered small and marginal fields (DSF) in October. This will happen simultaneously with the Open Acreage Licensing (OAL) rounds. The OAL policy was officially launched on Wednesday by Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. “We are planning to come up with DSF II, in order to attract more fresh players and start-ups to the sector, as big companies may not be keen on small blocks and their focus would be on OAL. This will be kicked off from October, happening along with the OAL rounds,” said an official source close to the development. In the first round of small field auction, of the 22 companies that were successful in grabbing blocks, 15 were newcomers. A majority of the bidders were keen on onshore blocks, with 31 of the 46 blocks getting successful bidders. According to the strategy chalked out by the petroleum ministry, small field rounds are likely to be over by the end of March 2018. Meanwhile, those players who were awarded the blocks in the first round of DSF have started getting mining leases. “We have already got the mining lease for one of our blocks. With all the clearances in place, we expect to start production within three years time. We are also looking forward to OAL rounds and DSF II,” said P Elango, managing director of Hindustan Oil Exploration. For the blocks awarded under DSF so far, the expected in-place reserves are 40 million tonnes of oil and 22 billion cubic metres of gas, to be monetised over 15 years. “In our case, we will have to get the mining lease, and it needs to be renewed. We expect that it is likely to happen within a month,” said D S Rajput, managing director of Dubai-based South Asia Consultancy FZE, only foreign entity to have got a block in DSF. He added his company would be bidding for more blocks in the second round of DSF. Elango, who formerly spearheaded the operations of Cairn India, said, “In OAL rounds, a lot of foreign and big players are likely to participate. The major advantage that I see is that the explorer will also have an idea about the adjacent areas as well. Moreover, pricing freedom will be the biggest advantage compared to the NELP rounds.” The blocks awarded in the DSF round expects a cumulative peak production of 15,000 barrels of oil a day and two mscmd (million standard cubic metres a day) of gas over the economic life of the fields awarded. The estimated total revenue is a little over Rs 46,000 crore. Logan Thomas Authentic Jersey
Not that courageous to invest in Air India: Anand Mahindra
“I don’t possess that much courage” to invest in Air India, noted industrialist Anand Mahindra has said amid the government deciding to sell stake in the loss-making airline. To revive the carrier, the Cabinet has decided on its disinvestment and the modalities such as the treatment of unsustainable debts of Air India and hiving off certain assets to a shell company would be decided. “I see myself as a generally courageous person… But I confess… I don’t possess THAT much courage…,” Mahindra said in a tweet. He was responding to a tweet on whether Mahindra would invest in Air India. Last week, business leader Sunil Mittal had said that if Air India is to be privatised, then Tatas will be one of the better candidates to buy stake in the airline. While there has been no official word about their plans, Tata group is believed to be interested in purchasing stake in the national carrier. No-frills carrier IndiGo has expressed interest to buy Air India but various other international and domestic airlines contacted by PTI did not offer any comment about their interest. On whether Emirates would look to buy stake in Air India, the Middle East carrier said its strategy is unchanged. “Our business is focused on organic growth and has a pipeline of investments to renew and grow the fleet, expand the global network and continuous innovation of our products and services,” the airline said in an e-mailed statement. “Emirates confirms that it has no plans to acquire a stake in any airline/ airport in India or elsewhere,” it added. Responding to the same query, a flydubai spokesperson said, “this isn’t something that we are exploring and we remain committed to growing our network in India organically”. A Lufthansa spokesperson said it would not comment on speculations. “Jet Airways does not comment on speculation. As a listed entity, all material decisions are taken by the company’s board and duly conveyed at the appropriate time,” an airline spokesperson said. There was no immediate comment on the query from SpiceJet. Queries sent to Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines and South Afircan Airways remained unanswered. Darren Sproles Womens Jersey
Shell’s floating LNG facility sets sail from South Korea for Australia
Royal Dutch Shell’s Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) ship has left a shipyard in South Korea for its destination offshore northwest Australia, the company said on Thursday. Shell’s $12.6 billion Prelude project is expected to start operating next year, the company said, after long delays since the oil major first decided to go ahead with the project in 2011. Once the facility arrives in Australia, it will be secured to the seabed by mooring chains before it can be connected to the gas field and start operating, Shell said. The Prelude FLNG was built by a Technip Samsung Heavy Industries consortium in the South Korean shipyard of Geoje.Royal Dutch Shell’s Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) ship has left a shipyard in South Korea for its destination offshore northwest Australia, the company said on Thursday. Shell’s $12.6 billion Prelude project is expected to start operating next year, the company said, after long delays since the oil major first decided to go ahead with the project in 2011. Once the facility arrives in Australia, it will be secured to the seabed by mooring chains before it can be connected to the gas field and start operating, Shell said. The Prelude FLNG was built by a Technip Samsung Heavy Industries consortium in the South Korean shipyard of Geoje. Drake Caggiula Authentic Jersey
Natural Gas Can Strengthen Indo-US. Energy Linkages
Modi-Trump Summit has successfully open the avenues of natural gas cooperation between the U.S. and India. The scope of this cooperation is based on the premise of the U.S. shale gas boom and technology advancement in hydrocarbons, which can not only help India to increase its domestic gas production but also increase its share of LNG exports to India. This would go a long way in strengthening India-U.S. energy linkages. In the recently concluded Modi-Trump Summit, both the U.S. and India didn’t shy away to put forth core issues concerning their bilateral relationship such as issues of trade deficit and adverse investment climate in India raised by the U.S. and issues of Pakistan sponsored terrorism and H1-B visa voiced by India. While these issues, inter alia were well enunciated in the “Joint Statement of United States and India – Prosperity Through Partnership”, the need for energy linkages between the U.S. and India was also find its places. Such linkages form the basis for their economic prosperity and growth, and natural gas has the key role to play in this. However to establish such linkages, President Trump has sought for removal of barriers for U.S. exports to India, stating that, “It is important that barriers be removed to the export of US goods into your markets and that we reduce our trade deficit with your country. US looked forward to exporting more energy, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) on long-term contracts.” Thus, natural gas exports from the U.S. to India would help meet latter’s natural gas demands, while addressing concerns growing trade deficit of the U.S. with India. The trade deficit of the U.S. with India currently stands at US$24 billion. Given the complementary nature of natural gas dynamics between India and the U.S., its role fits well into their energy cooperation. U.S. natural gas exports as well as its technical support in augment India’s domestic natural gas would help latter to increase its share of natural gas thereby addressing India’s climate change concerns. In this regard, revisiting the cooperation framework under the U.S.-India Energy Dialogue launched in May 2005 by both the countries would be a good inception. In this way both the countries can reshape their future discourse of energy cooperation. Under this dialogue, there are six working groups formed and oil and gas is one of them. To strengthen their energy cooperation both India and the U.S. have signed couple of open-ended MoUs on unconventional energy resources, such has gas hydrates and shale gas. In December 2008, for instance, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) has signed a MoU on resource exploration hazards and environmental issues associated with Gas Hydrates, Field studies and research for Gas hydrate. Later in November 2010, U.S. Department of State (DoS) and Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPNG) signed a MoU on unconventional gas development cooperation for exchange of knowledge and expertise in shale gas resource characterization and assessment. These deliberations have helped India to move ahead with its shale gas objectives and national gas hydrate plans. On October 14, 2013, Government of India has announced “Policy Guidelines for Exploration and Exploitation of Shale Gas and oil by National Oil Companies under Nomination regime”, allowing two National Oil Companies namely, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited and Oil India Limited (OIL) to carry out shale gas exploration in 50 and 6 blocks respectively in the first phase. While already Indian companies such as Reliance Industries, Indian Oil Corporation and OIL have stakes in U.S. shale projects in U.S. oil and gas fracking technology, the U.S. government can sponsor some more visits for Indian officials and commercial concerns to major fracking regions to share fracking technologies to them with a clear and definitive outcome. In the past, there has been such exchanges of officials from both the sides to discuss regulatory and environmental issues related to shale gas development. However, ‘above the ground’ factors such as, unavailability of sufficient land and water, land right issues, etc., would continue to work as obstacles for shale gas development in India. Shale gas requires vast tract of land compared to conventional oil and gas drilling, which is a challenge in India due to limited availability of land. Moreover, unlike the U.S. the occupier of the land in India is not entitled to any monetary incentive and environment regulation in India are stringent enough to discourage fracking compared to that in the U.S. where under Trump administration its environmental laws have spurred shale oil and gas development. Both the countries are also cooperating under the National Gas Hydrate Plan. While the Expedition-02 of this plan is under way, the U.S.G.S. in association with MoPNG has recently discovered highly enriched accumulations of NGH in the Bay of Bengal, with a potentially producible large accumulation of gas hydrates in the Krishna Godavari Basin, off India’s east coast. This is said to be a game-changer for whole world after it is made economically recoverable and in a safe manner. While both the U.S. and India continues to work together to address aforementioned challenges the former has already opened its door for shale gas exports to nations with whom U.S. has not signed any Free Trade Agreement and India is one of its beneficiary. This has facilitated Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) to sign an agreement for importing LNG from the U.S. wherein from March 2018, it is looking forward to its first LNG imports after it signed a deal for 2.3 million ton LNG supplies over 20 years from Cove Point in 2013. Similarly, it has also signed a contract for 3.5 million ton of LNG with Cheniere Energy Inc’s Sabine Pass project in Louisiana, US, for which supplies will begin in December 2018. Trump administration has further called to greater LNG exports to India, primarily to both diversify its exports and address the concerns of growing trade deficit between India. To give further momentum to reinvigorated energy partnership, both the countries, therefore,
Govt to map all renewable energy sources in the country
The government is preparing a list of all renewable power generation points in the country to aid integration of clean energy with existing sources. The directives for setting up the registry have already been given, according to the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Coal, Power, New and Renewable Energy and Mines, Piyush Goyal. Speaking at the release of a report titled, ‘Pathways to Integrate 175 Gigawatts of Renewable Energy into India’s Electric Grid- National Study’, Goyal said, “The Central Electricity Authority Chairperson has assured me that they will be coming out with a mechanism for the same within a month by which this data will be captured.” This information can be updated through a mobile app if needed and the data will be available for the public, he added. He said that the data base when complete will help integration of clean energy to existing energy sources. The report released by Goyal noted that power system balancing with 100 GW solar and 60 GW wind is achievable at 15-minute operational timescales with minimal reduction in renewable energy output. The report also notes that India’s current coal-dominated power system has the inherent flexibility to accommodate the variability associated with the targeted renewable energy capacities. (Source: Hindu Business Line) India Can Integrate 175 Gigawatts of Renewable Energy into the Electricity Grid, Reveals Study Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy Minister, Piyush Goyal, released the first part of the study “Pathways to Integrate 175 Gigawatts of Renewable Energy into India’s Electricity Grid” at an event organized here today. The second volume, to be released in July, takes a more in-depth look at system operations in the Western and Southern regions. The study, developed under the U.S.-India bilateral program “Greening the Grid”, confirms the technical and economic viability of integrating 175 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy into India’s power grid by 2022, and identifies future course of actions that are favorable for such integration. The Government of India in 2015 had set the ambitious target of adding 100 GW of solar energy and 60 GW of wind energy into the country’s energy mix. The report resolves many questions about how India’s electricity grid can manage the variability and uncertainty of adding large amounts of renewable energy into the grid. The results demonstrate that power system balancing with 100 GW solar and 60 GW wind is achievable at 15-minute operational timescales with minimal reduction in renewable energy output. India’s current coal-dominated power system has the inherent flexibility to accommodate the variability associated with the targeted renewable energy capacities. Some of the key operational impacts that came out of the report were: (1) large-scale benefits of fuel savings and reduced emissions due to increased renewable energy production; (2) existing fast-ramping infrastructure is sufficient to maintain grid balance; and (3) in post-175 GW clean energy scenario, coal plants operating at part capacity will need suitable incentives for flexibility. The study also evaluates the value of strategies to better integrate renewable energy and demonstrates the importance of policy and market planning. A multi-institutional team from India’s Power System Operation Corporation (POSOCO) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)produced the report using advanced weather and power system modelling, under the leadership of Ministry of Power and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) with co-sponsorship from the World Bank Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) and the 21st Century Power Partnership. Speaking at the launch, Piyush Goyal said: “It is time for the people of India to get ready and embrace the change with a ‘New Mindset’ of a ‘New Grid’ for a ‘New India’, which is ready to integrate large amount of renewable energy. It is appropriate time following on Honorable Prime Minister’s meeting with the U.S. President under a robust and focused U.S.-India Energy Partnership. The ministry is extremely appreciative of the continued engagement and support from USAID and congratulates all the stakeholders including POSOCO, NREL, LBNL on the achievement of this outcome. Combined and collaborative efforts such as these are labour and data intensive and detailed and often go unsung but are critical to creating the backbone for a reliable grid.” Highlighting the importance of the study and U.S.-India collaboration on clean energy, Michael Satin, Director of Clean Energy and Environment at USAID/India, said: “USAID has a long-standing collaboration with the Government of India in the area of energy. Energy is a key determinant of growth and India needs sustainable energy sources to continue to grow at 7-8 percent annually. Introducing renewable energy solutions into established energy systems often requires changes to well-established policy, institutions, and market structures. This study will prove to be helpful in scaling up renewable energy in India effectively and sustainably.” The results were based on a number of key assumptions including transmission planning existing within each state but not necessarily on corridors between states; compliance of all coal plants with the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission regulation that coal plants be able to operate at 55 percent of rated capacity; and a better load forecast. Input data, assumptions and study results were validated extensively by more than 150 technical experts from central agencies including the Central Electricity Authority, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (PGCIL), and NTPC; state institutions including grid operators, power system planners, renewable energy nodal agencies and distribution utilities; and the private sector, including renewable energy developers, thermal plant operators, utilities, research institutions, market operators and industry representatives. Other Dignitaries present on the occasion were P.K. Pujari, Secretary Power, R.K. Verma, CEA Chairman, K.V.S. Baba, CEO, POSOCO, I.S Jha, CMD PGCIL and other senior officers from Ministries of Power and MNRE. Elias Lindholm Womens Jersey
High oil bill: Government exhorts national companies to raise production
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi setting steep target of cutting reliance on imports, the Oil Ministry has intensified monitoring of oil and gas fields given to state-owned firms like ONGC to avoid slippages in domestic output. Modi, in March 2015, had called for cutting India’s dependence on imports to meet oil needs by 10 per cent by 2022, from 77 per cent then. However, India’s import dependence has since only risen to 81 per cent. “Most of our production of oil and gas come from nomination fields with ONGC and Oil India. We have now started monitoring those fields and have given new benchmarks to the national oil companies to increase production,” Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said at an industry event. He said that oil recovery from reservoirs internationally is 35-40 per cent and that for gas is 55-70 per cent. In India, the current recovery factors of ONGC and Oil India for crude oil are as low as 27 per cent and 23 per cent. In case of natural gas, it is 54 per cent and 43 per cent for ONGC and Oil India, respectively,” he said. Pradhan said there is a need for introducing new thoughts, new technologies and remaining ahead of the curve. “I am told E&P sector should have major investment in ‘Internet of Things’. Digital oil fields, all infrastructure linked to the network, ability to monetise micro reserves are the new areas we need to look at,” he said. He cited the example of a marginal oil field in Vienna where sensors and small in-house innovations were used to reduce cost of production. “In contrast, in India, we have practices like having idle rigs and other assets; unscientific inventory and HR management; flaring of gas and remaining which are keeping us behind the technology curve,” he said. The minister called on investors to come and invest in oil and gas exploration and production under liberal fiscal policies like pricing and marketing freedom and minimal government interference in management of contracts. “The government has consciously tried to reduce administrative and regulatory roadblocks and to infuse new technologies. “Going forward, the government remains committed to making sustained and significant efforts to liberalise the sector by simplifying processes, increasing market access and bringing developments in the technology domain with the aim to enhance the efficiency of our oil and gas industry,” he said. Vic Beasley Womens Jersey
IndiGo makes formal offer to buy Air India’s international operations
BENGALURU, JUNE 29: The first official “interest” in acquiring national carrier Air India has come from the most unexpected source, the low-cost IndiGo. On the face of it, IndiGo and Air India are more like chalk and cheese. The former is an ultra low-cost airline while Air India, called the Maharaja, operates like one. In a notice to the BSE, IndiGo’s president Aditya Ghosh on Wednesday said he has written to the Civil Aviation Ministry expressing interest in buying the airline. “…Kindly treat this letter as our expression of interest in acquiring the international operations of Air India and Air India Express. Alternatively, we are interested in acquiring all the operations of Air India and Air India Express,” the letter said. According to the Ministry, this was the first “unsolicited” formal offer for Air India. There have been a few informal offers from both domestic and international airlines too, the Ministry said. An analyst with an international consultancy firm who did not wish to be quoted said Air India is a very valuable company in spite of all the criticism it faces. “Air India acquisition can help an airline become a very strong player. The network it brings to the table with a multitude of connections, hangars, slots, real estate… can play a key role for the airline to get a huge market share in the domestic as well as the international markets,” the analyst said. Buying the international operations would mean getting the Star Alliance tag on a platter and prime slots at airports such as Heathrow — and the Boeing Dreamliner fleet as well. Air India Express is another good buy because it is profitable too. Another airline analyst, Devesh Aggarwal, said there is very little synergy between the IndiGo and Air India. Given the ?52,000-croremountain of debt weighing it down, the government could sell off the three profitable subsidiaries of the airline which will considerably reduce the total debt, the analyst added. For IndiGo, which commands a 41 per cent market share, acquiring Air India will increase its share to over 50 per cent. But the analyst said that it remains to be seen how the airline will raise funds to make this acquisition as the carrier has placed huge orders for aircraft, including 50 ATRs worth $1.3 billion recently. Ian Thomas Authentic Jersey