Ahead of Modi visit, US announces $7.5 million to advance India’s power grid
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US, the Trump administration said today it will spend $7.5 million to help advance India’s power grid, as part of the two countries’ commitments to ensuring access to affordable and reliable energy. The Ministry of Science and Technology and industry will match the commitment of US’ Department of Energy, bringing the total commitment to $30 million, officials here said. “This new consortium demonstrates the US and Indian commitments to ensuring access to affordable and reliable energy in both countries,” Energy Secretary Rick Perry said. “We know that continued grid innovation will promote economic growth and energy security in the United States and India,” he said. The initiative, part of America’s commitment to fostering the reliable, resilient and secure delivery of electricity, was needed for the strong US national security, economic growth and global leadership, as well as furthering Department of Energy (DOE)’s collaboration with India under the US-India Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE), officials said. The US-India collaboration for smart distribution system with storage (UI-ASSIST) was selected as the new consortia for Smart Grid and Energy Storage under the US-India Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center (JCERDC), the DOE said in a statement. To help pave the way to a more advanced distribution grid that will allow greater use of distributed energy resources such as microgrids and energy storage, the new consortia will bring together experts from academia, DOE’s national laboratories and industry, it said. Together with their counterparts in India, the center will conduct research and deploy new smart grid and energy storage technologies that will modernise the grids of both the nations to make them “smarter”, while increasing resilience and reliability, the DOE said. Through JCERDC, the US’ world class installations and national laboratories will contribute their expertise and capabilities as India expands energy access to its remote areas, improves its grid reliability and resilience, and strengthens its energy security. The US participants will gain insight from India’s grid modernisation efforts – a potential export market for US equipment worth billions of dollars – and promote researcher access to India’s grid operational experience, it said. UI-ASSIST’s US team, led by Washington State University, is comprised of MIT, Texas A&M University, University of Hawaii, Idaho National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Snohomish County (WA) Public Utility District, Avista, Burns and McDonnell, ETAP Operation Technology, ALSTOM Grid/GE Grid Solutions, Clean Energy Storage, ABB, Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA). The Indian team, led by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, includes partners from IIIT Delhi, IIT Madras, IIT Roorkee, IIT Bhubaneshwar and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) New Delhi. Vernon Hargreaves III Womens Jersey
Indonesian firm interested in building crude oil refinery in Nigeria -NNPC
Indonesian engineering firm PT Intim Perkasa has expressed an interest in building a refinery in Nigeria, the West African country’s state oil company said on Wednesday. Nigeria has been seeking investment in the sector to reduce reliance on imported oil products that consume a large portion of the OPEC member’s scarce foreign currency reserves. Its existing, ageing refineries produce hardly any fuel after years of neglect. A representative of PT Intim Perkasa Nigeria Ltd, a subsidiary of the Indonesian company, indicated an interest in building a modular refinery in the southern Akwa Ibom state, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said in an emailed statement. It would have a refining capacity of 10,000 barrels per day,said NNPC spokesman Ndu Ughamadu in the statement. Nigeria currently has a refining capacity of 445,000 barrels per day (bpd). “We have embarked on an ambitious plan to fast-track programmes to restore our capacity utilization from 30 per cent to a minimum of 90 per cent in the next 24 months,” said Maikanti Baru, NNPC group managing director. “To do that, we are working on securing financing from third parties, not just funding, but also technical expertise,” headded. Kentrell Brice Womens Jersey
Iran starts gas exports to Iraq, Iranian official says in IRNA report
An Iranian oil official said Wednesday that Iran has begun exporting gas to Iraq, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). Exports had started at approximately 7 million cubic metres per day and would eventually reach up to 35 million cubic metres per day, said Amir Hossein Zamaninia, the deputy oil minister for trade and international affairs, according to IRNA. Iran signed two contracts to export gas, to the Iraqi capital Baghdad and the southern Iraqi city of Basra, IRNA reported. Nail Yakupov Womens Jersey
Russian oil company Rosneft to sell petroleum in India
Rosneft, a Russian oil company, will enter retail petrol market of India, the country’s Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Sunday. According to the official, in the past fiscal year, Rosneft invested about $13 billion in a local oil refining company Essar. “I the near future, we expect the closing of an acquisition of Essar Oil Ltd oil refinery by the international consortium headed by Rosneft, which also owns a network of 2,700 gas stations across India. Deregulation of pricing in the retail market of India has opened up the prospect of efficient growth in retail sales. The company plans a significant expansion of the network”, a representative from Rosneft told Life TV Channel. Terry Sawchuk Authentic Jersey
Cairn Energy expands hunt for oil and gas to Mexico
CAIRN Energy is moving into frontier exploration territory off Mexico as the oil and gas firm looks to repeat the success it has enjoyed off Senegal. Edinburgh-based Cairn was awarded interests in two big chunks of acreage off Mexico in what was only the second licencing round completed by the country. The awards will allow Cairn to continue with a strategy which involves focusing its exploration effort in areas where there has been relatively little drilling. Chief executive Simon Thomson said: “We are delighted with these awards which we believe provide an exciting opportunity to build a strategic portfolio over time in this highly prolific yet under-explored region.” While Mexico is rich in oil and gas the country’s waters have seen little activity by international standards. State-owned Pemex had a monopoly on oil and gas production until the country decided in 2014 to open the market to private investment. Mexico completed its first licensing round only last year, after deciding it needed to attract international expertise to help make the most of its resources. The decision to award Cairn the shallow water licences in the southern Gulf of Mexico provides a vote of confidence in the firm on the part of the country’s government. The round attracted interest from a range of majors including Total and Royal Dutch Shell. Cairn is partnering Italian giant Eni and Mexican exploration and production firm Citla on one of the licences it won. It is operating one of the licences, with Citla as its partner. The companies beat Eni in the bidding for that licence. Cairn said it expects drilling to start on both licences in the 2019-20 period. The move into Mexico comes after Cairn burnished its credentials as an explorer by making two big finds off Senegal in 2014. There had been little activity off the country, which is now attracting interest from giants. Since taking charge in 2011, Mr Thomson has built a portfolio that combines potentially transformational exploration in frontier areas with lower risk development activity in the North Sea. Cairn achieved renown by making bumper finds in India under founder Sir Bill Gammell. On Monday Cairn said India’s authorities want to stop the firm getting $104 million dividends due to it pending resolution of a tax dispute. Brett Hundley Authentic Jersey
BPCL seeks 70,000 tons petrol to plug supply gap
Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd is seeking gasoline in a rare move, due to a scheduled, month-long shutdown of a crude unit and a continuous catalytic reformer (CCR), sources said on Wednesday. BPCL will shut a 100,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) crude unit for a month from July 29 and the CCR from August 6 at its 190,000-bpd Kochi refinery in Southern India, sources with knowledge of the plan said. The state-owned refiner is seeking 70,000 tonnes of 91.5-octane gasoline with a maximum 0.004 percent sulphur content in two equal lots for Aug. 8-10 and Aug. 20-22 arrival at Kochi, a tender document showed. It has an option to buy an extra 35,000 tonnes for Sept. 3-7 arrival at the same port through the same tender which closes on June 29, with offers to stay valid until July 3. BPCL’s unusual move to seek petrol came at a time when India’s top refiner Indian Oil Corp plans extensive maintenance work at its key refineries. Nate Gerry Authentic Jersey
Petronet in talks to buy stake in GSPC’s Mundra LNG terminal
Petronet LNG Ltd, India’s biggest importer of liquid gas, is in talks to buy 25 percent stake in Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation’s (GSPC) almost- complete Rs 45 billion Mundra LNG import terminal in Gujarat. The 5-million ton a year import terminal, the third facility in Gujarat for import of natural gas in its liquid form in ships, is nearing completion and GSPC is keen to shed some of its stake to lighten its debt burden. GSPC first offered its 50 percent stake in the project to state refiner Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), but the company was willing to take no more than 25-26 percent. So now, GSPC is talking to Petronet for selling 25 percent stake, sources privy to the development said. The Adani group holds 25 percent interest in the LNG import terminal. GSPC LNG, a unit of GSPC, will hold 25 percent stake, similar to IOC and Petronet once the deal concludes, they said. While Petronet LNG CEO and Managing Director Prabhat Singh did not respond to calls made for comments, GSPC could not be immediately reached for comments. With a view to expanding its gas business, IOC is keen to buy a stake in the Mundra terminal. Petronet, too, is keen to raise its import capacity. Petronet operates a 15-mt a year LNG import facility at Dahej in Gujarat and has another 5-mt a year terminal at Kochi in Kerala. IOC, the country’s largest oil company, is building a 5- mt a year LNG import terminal at Ennore in Tamil Nadu by 2018-end. Besides the Dahej liquefied natural gas (LNG) import facility of Petronet, Gujarat has another 5 mt terminal of Shell at Hazira. Initially, GSPC was to hold 50 percent stake in the Mundra LNG terminal and Adani 25 percent. The remaining 25 percent was to be offered to a strategic partner. IOC as also India Gas Solutions Pvt Ltd — the equal JV between the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries and Europe’s second-largest oil firm BP — and state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) were short-listed to pick 25 percent stake earmarked for the strategic partner in the project. Initially, eight firms, including state gas utility GAIL India, had expressed interest in buying the stake, but only three were finalised. Sources said GSPC has now rejigged the entire stake sale, by offering half of its stake to IOC and another 25 percent to Petronet. GSPC is looking at a partner which can bring in LNG or consume the imported liquid gas, sources said. The Mundra terminal, which is to be financed in a debt to equity ratio of 70:30, is expandable up to 10 mt per annum in the near future. Patrick Sharp Womens Jersey
Strict action for not refunding taxes, levies on cancelled flight tickets: Aviation minister Gajapathi Raju
Aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju today warned airlines and travel portals of “strict action” if they did not refund taxes and levies to passengers for the cancelled tickets. Civil Aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, in a series of tweets, said the practice of not refunding taxes and levies to passengers for a cancelled ticket was “against” the existing DGCA regulations and that he had received several complaints in this regard. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had last year put in place new passenger-friendly air ticket cancellation rules. The rules make it mandatory for airlines to provide an unambiguous detail of the refund to a passenger. “I’ve received complaints that no refunds are being given by airlines/travel portals against cancellation for several ticket categories,” Raju said in a tweet. “This is against existing DGCA regulations. All Govt. (sic) taxes and levies have to be refunded under all circumstances,” he said in another tweet. “Instances of such violations should be brought to the notice of DGCA and it will take strict action,” the minister tweeted. Donte Jackson Jersey
Will Modi keep his Paris pledge or dump it like Trump did? These 3 factors will decide:View
As soon as Donald Trump withdrew the US from the Paris Agreement on climate change, eyes turned eastward. Even as the US reneges on its promises, the argument now goes, China and India will show leadership instead; they at least are committed to low-carbon growth. I wouldn’t be so sure, at least where India is concerned. It is true that the Indian government has reiterated its Paris pledges. But Trump’s decision has nevertheless opened a door for India to revise its own very stringent commitments as and when they become problematic. While they haven’t yet reached that point, they may well do so, and soon. The positive story about India and climate change rests on the idea that, although the country remains heavily dependent on coal-based power plants, it may add to its stock of such plants much more slowly than was earlier anticipated. In fact, given that coal plants that will produce more than 50,000 megawatts of electricity are already being constructed, the government’s most recent energy plan estimates that no additional coal-burning capacity will be needed between now and 2027. Questions are rightly being raised about whether it’s profitable any longer to invest in new coal plants in India. But here’s the problem. All such studies make a couple of very big assumptions about the future — assumptions which, given Indian history, are dangerous. Here’s the first assumption: that India will meet its targets for generating renewable power. The government wants to build 100 gigawatts of solar capacity by 2022. At best, this year, it will install around 10 gigawatts — and this has been a very good year. In fact, so many companies have been bidding furiously for solar power plants recently that auctions have produced unsustainably low per-unit prices for renewable energy. What happens if the bubble bursts over the next few years, and some of these companies start going bankrupt? Won’t investors be turned off then? And, if so, where will the remaining thousands of megawatts of solar power capacity come from? The second worrying assumption is that new coal power plants won’t produce electricity at a lower cost than new renewable energy projects. To ensure that happens, the government would have to enforce onerous environmental regulations and, of course, plant owners would have to believe they can’t quietly ignore those regulations once their facilities are up and running. This is, effectively, circular reasoning. One can’t assume that India will meet its Paris targets because of the price of coal, since ensuring that coal will be expensive assumes that India’s government is committed to its Paris targets! And, finally, there’s a third, even more problematic assumption underlying the headlines about India turning away from coal: that India’s economy is a monolith. In fact, even if the central government wants to promote green energy, even if, overall, new coal projects might not make sense, individual new coal projects might. Perhaps only a few such projects can be profitable. But many companies and investors, especially those that have political connections, are sure to be convinced that their project will somehow wind up being the profitable one, if they can only get the right concessions from one or another government authority. In other words, zero new coal capacity might be needed till 2027. But there’s no reason to feel confident that zero new coal capacity will be added. India isn’t like China, or the US, or Australia or Germany when it comes to meeting its Paris pledges. In India, hundreds of millions of people still live without electricity — a big part of what keeps them desperately poor. India also has a shrunken manufacturing sector, partly because electricity is so expensive (relatively) and its supply so variable. No democratically accountable Indian government can ever favor an international agreement over fixing these two problems. Remember this: Coal looks bad in India at the moment because its economy is struggling and because it is so services-intensive. Over the past few years, coal plants have used less and less of their capacity as growth has slowed. In other words, nobody in India has had to make a real choice between growing manufacturing and sticking to the country’s climate commitments. But, if India’s economy does take off, Prime Minister Narendra Modi might indeed be faced with such a choice. Modi — who as a chief minister decried climate deals as infringing on Indian sovereignty — has already gone out on a limb and reversed decades of Indian climate policy in signing the Paris agreement. If he’s ever actually confronted with that choice — one that’s much more real than the one Donald Trump faced — I wouldn’t be as sure as all the headline-writers that he won’t follow Trump’s lead. Cameron Jordan Jersey
Private power transmission cos seek more projects via competitive bids
Private power transmission companies have written to the government seeking greater participation in project execution via tariff based competitive bidding route (TBCB) and have said most projects still are awarded through nomination basis. In separate letters written to the Ministry of Power by the Electric Power Transmission Association (EPTA) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), it has been said that still most projects are awarded on nomination basis which is hurting the private sector. FICCI, in the letter addressed to power secretary PK Pujari, said that that private sector participation in the transmission sector will be key to the growth of this infrastructure segment and added that while generation has increased at 11 per cent over last six years, transmission has grown at only 6 per cent. Since 2009, only 50 transmission projects have been awarded via TBCB route. The industry body further said as of now, around 6.7 per cent of power transmission network in the country is operated by private players while in generation private sector contributes for around 44 per cent capacity. Both the letters have also urged for regular meetings of both empowered and standing committees that decide the awarding of these transmission projects. “Lately, we have seen very infrequent EC meetings and number of projects being cleared for implementation through TBCB route are also limited… This essentially reduces the availability of projects for private sector besides discouraging growth in transmission sector,” FICCI said. It said in the 36th meeting of the Empowered Committee last year, nine projects were awarded each via TBCB and nomination basis while a year before that, 23 of 29 projects were given on nomination. EPTA has also stressed on inclusion on transmission licensees in regional power committees as per norms laid down by the ministry of power. It said that inputs from transmission licensees would “certainly add value to the decision making for planning future projects”. According to (EPTA), since April 2011, around 50 transmission projects have been awarded through TBCB route with an approximate investment of Rs 64,000 crore, which is around 19 per cent of the total investment made in the transmission sector during that time. As per a power sector expert, while a lot of investments were promised in the sector by the government, not many projects have come up so far. In 2015-16, power minister Piyush Goyal had said that investments to the tune of Rs 1 lakh crore was expected in the power transmission sector. But as per report, only 13 projects with around Rs 18,000 crore worth were awarded through the TBCB route, of which Power Grid won four. Separately, the company later said, it has commissioned Rs 30,000 crore worth projects in 2015-16. Last year, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission had issued a statutory advice to the ministry to facilitate development of transmission capacity manner under TBCB route. Akeem Spence Authentic Jersey