New Record Low Solar Tariff of Rs.3.30/kWh Logged at Rewa Solar Park Auction in Madhya Pradesh, India
In the recently concluded 750 MW Rewa Solar Park auction in Madhya Pradesh, bids reached a new record low of Rs.3.30 (~$0.494)/kWh (levelized tariff over 25 years) over a rupee lower than the previous low tariff of Rs.4.34 (~$0.065)/kWh, which was recorded in the state of Rajasthan in January 2016. The winning bid for first year tariff hit a new low at Rs.2.97 (~$0.0444)/kWh and will escalate by Rs.0.05 (~$0.0007) over 15 years, bringing the levelized tariff to Rs.3.30 (~$0.494)/kWh over 25 years. In an extremely competitive auction, bids submitted were 10x the tendered volume at 7,500 MW for a tendered capacity of 750 MW. Last year the state government of Madhya Pradesh approved extending a payment guarantee for the Rewa Solar Park. The guarantee will ensure against any payment default to projects inside the solar park, stated an Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigan (MPUVNL) official. The official also added that the solar park is a joint venture of Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and MPUVNL. The payment guarantee and deemed generation benefit were contributing factors in attracting these low bids. The implementing agency (MPUVNL) did not put an upper limit capacity for bidders – any bidder was able to bid for the entire capacity (750 MW). ACME Solar won with the lowest bid to develop a 250 MW project (Unit-2) quoting a tariff of Rs.2.970 (~$0.0444)/kWh for the first year and a levelized tariff over 25 years of Rs.3.30/kWh (~$0.0494)/kWh, followed by Solenergi which won a 250 MW project (Unit-3) quoting a first year tariff of Rs.2.974 (~$0.0444)/kWh at a levelized tariff of Rs.3.304 (~$0.0495)/kWh. Mahindra Renewables was the other winner for a 250 MW project (Unit-1) with a first year tariff of Rs.2.979 (~$0.0445)/kWh and a 25 year levelized tariff of Rs.3.309 (~$0.0495)/kWh. Sembcorp Green Infra, SBG Cleantech, Hero Future Energies, Enel Green Power, Solairedirect, ReNew Power, Azure Power, Adani, and Canadian Solar were some of the other developers who participated in the auction. “We saw record low bids largely because of our progress made on the solar park infrastructure, unlike other solar parks where projects were tendered during initial stages of park development. We in Madhya Pradesh waited to create conducive infrastructure, and the results are here for everyone to see,” said an official at MPUVNL. Another official at MPUVNL believes that this low tariff is feasible. “The low tariff is not a surprise as these projects are viable for developers at these costs. If you factor that all of these projects are in the same location, developers have eliminated a lot of extra work [costs] compared to, for example, a situation where the same capacity is divided into 15 projects that would have included expenses like temporary transmission and infrastructure costs related to each project. This is not the case here,” stated another official at MPUVNL. The construction of a transmission substation within the solar park has also led to heightened interest among developers said a government official. This substation will take care of all evacuation from the park. Inefficient evacuation infrastructure was one of the major problems faced by developers in other solar parks, according to the recent Mercom Quarterly India Market Report. “Although this is the lowest tariff ever recorded in India, this auction has several special attributes which makes it hard to directly compare with previous low bids. The size and location of the projects, payment guarantees, deemed generation benefit, longer construction timeline, the recent solar module price crash, and yearly tariff escalation for 15 years – all make the low bids unique,” said Raj Prabhu CEO of Mercom Capital Group. “The fear is that media, government officials and analysts will hype up the low bids and other states will then start pressuring developers to match bids from the Rewa auction tariffs, which has happened in the past. A positive takeaway from this auction is it demonstrates that if you remove some of the developer risks by offering payment guarantees and deemed generation benefits in a park with a solid infrastructure, tariffs have room to come down. However – mostly thanks to Chinese module prices declining by about 30 percent over the last year – without which any bids to build projects below Rs.4.0/kWh would have been almost impossible,” he further commented. Even though direct tariff comparison between countries is challenging due to many variables, the new low tariff of Rs.3.30 (~$0.0494)/kWh, a record low for India, is still not the lowest tariff in the world (see chart below). IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is extending its global expertise to structure and implement the transaction to help attract private investments of about $750 million (~Rs.50.2 billion) for the development of the 750 MW Rewa Solar Park. Morgan Burnett Authentic Jersey
How Jaitley may have got it right on petroleum subsidy
Finance minister Arun Jaitley’s expectation of benign crude oil price for the next financial year, which got reflected in this year’s budget numbers for petroleum subsidy, has found support from the latest developments on key factors impacting global oil prices. Jaitley has budgeted for a petroleum subsidy of Rs 21,909 crore for 2017-18, a less than 1 per cent increase over the revised estimate of Rs 21,770 crore for current fiscal. This came despite the nearly 25 per cent jump in oil prices since 30 November when the global cartel OPEC announced its historic production cut. US-based Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported last week US crude oil inventories rose to 508 million barrels between January 27, 2017 and February 3, 2017, the second-highest weekly inventory stockpile since 1982. US shale output rose to highest levels since April 2016, in the same period. “Gradual increase in retails prices of Kerosene and LPG will save subsidy for the GoI by around Rs 50 bn in FY18 as per ICRA’s estimates. After factoring in the benefits from the above, the subsidy provided in FY18 budget will be sufficient till a crude price of around $60 per bbl,” said K Ravichandran, Senior Vice President at ratings agency ICRA. He added the centre could have expected that crude prices will not increase materially from the current level. “This is due to counter balancing factors at play including additional US production which will more than compensate for voluntary cut by OPEC members in the near term, leaving the markets adequately supplied,” he said. Also, experts say US president Donald Trump’s energy policies towards increasing drilling as well as production activities will undermine OPEC’s efforts to restore prices. While Russia — one of the biggest oil producers — has agreed to cut production by more than 500,000 barrels per day in the first two quarters of 2017, analysts predict Russia’s oil output will reach record levels from the second half of 2017 to capitalize on increased oil prices. Further, Libya and Nigeria, which were exempted from making cuts in oil production, have aggressively increased production. Libya alone has raised output by more than 100,000 barrels per day since the OPEC deal was announced. Jarred Tinordi Womens Jersey
Sri Lanka off-shore oil block re-offered for development
Sri Lanka is calling offers to develop an off-shore oil block in the North West of the island where some gas-condensate discoveries have already been made. Sri Lanka’s Petroleum Development Secretariat said it seeking expressions of interest to survey and develop the 2,924-sq km block. Cairn India did seismic surveys and dug three wells, of which two showed evidence of petroleum. However the firm did not develop the wells when oil prices collapsed after a global commodity and economic bubble fire by the US Federal Reserve burst, and the block was returned to Sri Lanka amid doubts about its commercial viability. Cairn won the block in 2007 at the height of the last commodity bubble. In the Mannar and Sri Lanka’s north oil exploration also happened in the 1970s, after the first oil shock and commodity bubble fired by the Fed, forcing the dollar off the gold standard. Sri Lanka also saw some oil exploration in 1981, during the second oil shock and commodity bubble, which ended when Fed Governor Paul Volcker tightened policy and ended it, creating the so-called ‘great moderation’ period. Sri Lanka is now offering the block at a time when oil prices are low. Stanley Cup Womens Jersey
Bengaluru airport is busiest in South, clocks 22.5 percent growth
With an overall growth of 22.5 per cent in 2016, Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) continues to be the busiest airport in South India. In 2016, KIA had 22.18 million passengers. KIA also witnessed the highest single day traffic with 75,515 passengers on December 21. This was the highest since KIA started operations in 2008. Also, air traffic movement increased by 19.9 per cent, with the airport now connecting 45 airlines to 66 destinations in India and abroad. The airport saw a record-breaking two million passengers travelling in November 2016 and an all-time monthly high of 2.15 million passengers in December 2016 – the single highest traffic in a month for any airport in South India. Earlier in the year, KIA had reached the landmark of welcoming its 100 millionth passenger in 2016. Cargo movement saw a 9.4 per cent growth in 2016. G V Sanjay Reddy, Managing Director, KIA, said, “It was another strong year for us at the airport. Despite many challenges, we have grown exponentially in terms of passenger traffic. Our cargo business has seen an incremental growth which reaffirms our growth strategy to develop our airport as the cargo hub of South India,” he said. In 2016, the total cargo was 3,14,060 million tonnage compared to 2,87,198 in 2015. Keenan Allen Jersey
Chandigarh:Limited watch hours at international airport may hit 70 per cent civil operations, fear officials
Around 70 per cent of the civil operations at Chandigarh International airport may be affected if the Indian Air Force (IAF) launches runway upgrade work by limiting the watch hours to between 5am-1pm. Airport Authority officials also believe that two international flights operating from Chandigarh Airport could also see a temporary closure as it is “impossible” to get slots in Dubai and Sharjah, as per the feasibility of the Chandigarh airport. Air Traffic Control (ATC) at the Chandigarh Air Force Station had recently issued a letter to all the commercial airlines operating from Chandigarh that the ATC anticipates starting the work for resurfacing, extension and widening of the runway and taxi tracks on the Chandigarh airfield from the month of April. The letter had said that the runway would remain open for commercial airlines only between 5 am till 1 pm during the resurfacing work. The letter was, however, later withdrawn. Last week, the Central government gave an assurance to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, saying that there would be no curtailment of flight operations at the airport because of re-carpeting of the runway in the months of March and April. A senior Airport Authority of India official told Chandigarh Newsline on Wednesday that if the IAF comes up with the same plans and limits the watch hours, the decision would hit the airport’s operations badly. “They have given assurance in the court. But, if in the coming days they come up with such a plan again, the AAI won’t agree to it as it would cause huge inconvenience to the general public. Several flights won’t agree to operate at the airport within those limited hours,” said the official. He added that two international flights are unlikely to operate, as it won’t be easy to get the slots in Dubai and Sharjah. Cortez Kennedy Jersey
On Govt table: Plan to name, rename airports after cities, not people
The government is considering a proposal to rename existing airports as well as future greenfield airports after cities and not personalities, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha has told The Indian Express. He said the proposal of naming airports after cities is being examined by the government and a final view in this regard is expected be taken. “That matter is under investigation. We are evaluating how best to deal with that issue,” Sinha said when asked about the government’s view on naming airports after cities, instead of naming them after personalities. Sources said that internal deliberations have been held on this matter and a view has emerged that the names of airports should be only after cities. The ministry also discussed the idea of renaming existing airports after cities but it is not clear whether a final decision has been arrived at in this regard. The ministry had last year examined the proposal to name the airports by the name of the city in which they are located. This was discussed in light of perceived inconvenience caused to passengers and foreign tourists who may not be familiar with Indian personalities. The government has so far not released any official policy in this regard. A set of policy guidelines with regard to naming of airports are likely to be finalised after these are cleared by the Union Cabinet. The terminals of the airports can be allowed to be named after eminent personalities, as suggested by the respective state governments, sources said. Blake Bortles Womens Jersey
More firms will participate in NMIA project bid: Cidco MD
Cidco is positive that more firms would participate in the bid for the development of its ambitious Navi Mumbai International Airport project, a senior development authority official has said. The bid closes on February 13 and already two extensions have been given for the same. “In the last two bids only one out of the four who had qualified in the first round has submitted the papers. Hence there was a need for the third extension which closes on February 13,” Cidco, managing director, Bhushan Gagrani, told reporters today. “The developers have discussed the matter with the Chief Minister and Chief Secretary and we are hopeful that this time more than two bids will be there. If there is only one bid then the government has to take a call on the same,” said Gagrani. He said development of the infrastructure on the plots for the project affected has been moving on a fast pace and should be ready by May 2017. The allotment of plots to all the affected has been completed, he said and added that the project affected have been accommodated in ten villages. Joe Theismann Authentic Jersey
Delays in new aircraft addition to hit IndiGo’s expansion plan
Delays in adding new aircraft to its fleet have led IndiGo to push back plans of more flights to Gulf countries and Southeast Asia, marking the first such deferment in the expansion of its overseas network by India’s biggest commercial airline by market share. The Gurgaon-based airline, which is seeking to add Qatar and Sharjah to its list of destinations, has told the Civil Aviation Ministry in a letter last month that proposed route additions will be deferred by at least a month. Delays in inducting new aircraft have led the company to postpone the plans, according to the letter seen by ET. “IndiGo is, however, unable to commence operations to Sharjah and Doha and on the Kozhikode-Muscat route in the month of March 2017 as delivery of four aircraft scheduled for the month of March 2017 is now falling toward end-March 2017early April 2017, such that these aircraft will be able to enter into service progressively only by mid-April 2017. As such, IndiGo will be in a position to commence flights on India-Sharjah and India-Doha routes… and KozhikodeMuscat route progressively only be tween 1st April and 15th April 2017,“ IndiGo’s letter dated January 24 says. Jaylon Smith Authentic Jersey
‘Infra projects hang fire, Rs 1,000cr dues pending’
The Telangana government’s decision to tighten purse strings, post-demonetisation, has adversely impacted contractors who had taken up irrigation, road and other infrastructure works in the state. Addressing the gathering at the National Academy of Construction (NAC) campus on Wednesday , contractors sa id that dues worth a staggering Rs 1,000 crore have piled up over the last three years. The event was held to discuss the issue under the aegis of the Telangana chapter of the Builders’ Association of India (BAI), a body of engineering construction contractors. “When the TRS came to power in 2014, the chief mi nister had sanctioned a hu ge amount of money for in frastructure projects, all of which were kicked off at the same time. After demo netisation, it is contractors from Panchayat Raj and R&B who have been worst hit as we are not able to get loans from banks for these projects, after exhausting all our funds. To complete works, we need costly concrete machinery , tippers and other advanced equipment, which can’t be procured without ample funds,” said Soma Srinivas Reddy , Nalgonda chairman of BAI. According to B Sugunakar Rao, state chairman of BAI, while the state government had officially stopped giving them monthly payments since November, 2016, certain pending bills from as early as April and May , 2016, ha ve still not been clea red.”While the go vernment wants to de velop Hyderabad into a global city, it isn’t re leasing funds for the same. The state government has to release funds on a monthly basis and they have stopped doing so from as early as April last year. Not only are we unable to procure equipment to complete works, we are not even in a position to pay workers’ salaries. We need the CM to address contractors’ concerns at the earliest,” said Rao.Members of the association have now decided to wait till February 15, before taking further action. “If all payments are not made, all sanctioned projects will be hampered and will come to a standstill,” Rao warned. Ron Francis Womens Jersey
Compensation for Land Acquisition for NHs
Instructions have been issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to all the agencies implementing the National Highways (NHs) Projects that the amount of compensation for acquisition of land for NHs projects is determined in consonance with the First Schedule to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, with effect from 01st January, 2015. As per section 3G(5) of the National Highways Act, 1956, if the amount determined by the competent authority is not acceptable to either of the parties, the amount shall, on an application by either of the parties, be determined by the arbitrator to be appointed by the Central Government. Matt Prater Jersey