UAE’s first solar-powered gas station opens in Dubai
A government oil company in the United Arab Emirates says it has opened the country’s first solar-powered gas station in Dubai. The Dubai-owned Emirates National Oil Company said on Wednesday the service station on the city’s main Sheikh Zayed Road thoroughfare is covered with solar panels that can generate up to 120 kilowatt hours. ENOC says that is about 30 percent more energy than the station needs, so the excess power is directed back into the city’s electric grid. Although it is OPEC’s fourth biggest oil producer, the UAE has made a push to turn itself into a hub for renewable energy. It is building multiple solar farms and hosts the global headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency. Pat O’Donnell Jersey
Pollution tapers solar yield by 25 per cent: Study
India is making a big push for solar energy, with power capacity expected to double this year. But some of the gains, especially in north India, could be offset by a growing problem: air pollution. A new study, the first of its kind in India and one of a handful globally, has found that dust and particulate matter (PM) may be reducing the energy yield of solar power systems in north India by 17%-25 % annually. Half this reduction comes from dust and particles deposited on the surface of solar panels and which forms a physical barrier to light entry, said Duke University professor Mike Bergin, who led the study. Researchers allowed panels to accumulate dust for a month. Most importantly, half the decline in energy yield came from ambient pollution-haze that reduces the amount of sunlight reaching the ground, a phenomenon known as solar dimming. “This study thus shows that improving air quality can lead to a big improvement in solar energy yield,” said Bergin. “Cleaning panels is not enough.” Solar energy is the linchpin of the India’s renewable energy mission with a target of 100GW of solar power capacity by 2022. The Indian government offers many concessions and incentives to developers. Solar power plants depend on the availability of sunlight, or solar irradiance. Anything that obstructs sunlight from photovoltaic panels-whether cloudy skies or sand on the panels-reduces potential energy generation. Some studies have looked at the impact of dust, especially in Middle Eastern countries. A 2016 study from Baghdad, for instance, found an 18.74% decline in efficiency for solar modules left uncleaned for a month. Another 2014 paper from Colorado, USA found that 4.1% light transmission was lost for every g/m2 of dust accumulated on the photovoltaic plate. But air pollution has received less attention. In one rare study, researchers investigated the power output of ten photovoltaic systems in Singapore during a haze episode in 2013 due to forest fires in Indonesia. They found that poor air quality caused yield losses of 15-25% in a 10-week period. Loss of irradiation in a single day peaked at nearly 50%, said Andre Nobre, lead author and head of operations at Cleantech Solar in Singapore. Duane Kuiper Authentic Jersey
Govt giving top priority to addressing bad loans issue:Jaitley
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has asserted that the government was giving top priority to addressing the issue of bad loans while acknowledging that the problem of non-performing assets was “adversely impacting” the Indian banking system. Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations here, Jaitley termed the resolution of the Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) as the “one very big challenge” going forward and the government’s “top priority” at the moment. He said the magnitude of the NPAs problem was that essentially it was about 20 to 30 big accounts. “It’s not a problem spread over hundreds of thousands of accounts…And it’s not impossible for a large economy like India to resolve 20 to 30 accounts. So it’s not an insurmountable problem. I think it’s just persisted too long, but it’s certainly adversely impacting us,” he said. “So if you were to ask me, there are a series of reforms/changes which we’ve successfully made. This is one hurdle which we are now required to jump, and that’s where our current focus is,” he said yesterday. However, Jaitley said there was one constraint the government was facing. “It’s not a constraint on the leadership quality in the bank, but it’s a constraint on the environment in which the bank bureaucracy functions. I have seen that the banks are not bold enough to take their decisions because…our anti- corruption law is still a pre-liberalisation law,” he said. Jaitley emphasised that one of the fundamental flaws in the anti-corruption law has been that erroneous decision- making, which may be taking hair cuts in order to settle, gets identified as an act of corruption. The parliamentary committee has unanimously recommended that this be corrected, he said. “And this is at the final stage now. The recommendation of a larger consensus parliamentary committee has come. Hopefully, in the next session we will take this up,” he said. “The bank bureaucracy is going to be — or, for that matter, any bureaucracy or a public servant dealing with economic decisions, then they can decide on commercial considerations rather than be constrained as to the future consequences of their action itself,” Jaitley said. “So the decision between a possible commercial decision being treated as an act of corruption, I think that the law has to eliminate that possibility,” he said. The Reserve Bank of India has come out with several guidelines and schemes under which the banks have been empowered, Jaitley said. Outlining these schemes, Jaitley said there was an insolvency law in place and there was another action which the government has in the pipeline in order to resolve this. “Essentially, it would also mean that the defaulting companies will have to find partners, will have to go in for either change of managements, they’ll have to get investors. And some precipitative action will be taken. This may also involve some hair cuts by the banks, which would be a bona fide commercial consideration,” Jailtey said. He noted that Indian banks, particularly public sector banks, have conventionally lent for both infrastructure and industry, rather than just retail lending. “Now, during the boom period and thereafter, there was lending in several sectors. And because of the global downturn and those sectors being impacted, you found an adverse impact on some of those sectors,” he said. Further, he stressed that as a combined impact of the GST, demonetisation and several other steps, the government has taken, revenues in India are increasing quite rapidly. “In fact, in the last three years, despite global slowdown, India has consistently seen 15 to 18 per cent annual revenue growth, which is quite significant. “And therefore, I do see over the next several years this revenue growth, particularly as the result of GST and the anti-evasion measures we’ve been taking, rapidly increasing,” he said. Clay Buchholz Authentic Jersey
Solar power presents huge refinancing opportunity: India Ratings
India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) estimates a possible refinancing opportunity for more than Rs 56000 crore out of the total debt of Rs 1.73 lakh crore across various infra sub-sectors in its portfolio till FY19. Of this, solar is expected to be in the forefront in terms of the number of deals with refinancing to the tune of 33%, followed by 27% in the highway sector. Also, there could be a shift in the type of instruments issued for the purpose of raising capital in the sector, largely to the capital market instruments, namely bonds, from the conventional term loans. Ind-Ra believes that the renewable energy sector, especially solar energy, would reduce its borrowing costs further by at least 100bp through bond issuances or bank loans. Around 45% of the potential refinancing candidates in Ind-Ra’s portfolio are from the renewables space. The sector is also likely to be benefited from the government’s thrust on the development of the second phase of 20GW solar energy and evolving payment security mechanisms. However, the limited improvement in the current issues such as grid curtailments, receivable days, plant load factor volatility could hinder the refinancing prospects for renewables. Ind-Ra estimates that around Rs 6000 crore could be refinanced by the first four infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) which are likely to hit the primary markets in FY18. InvITs would enable infrastructure developers to deleverage their balance sheets and refinance remaining debt at lower costs. Deleveraging would provide a fillip to the coverage metrics of solar modules housed under InvIT structures and refinancing will further improve credit profiles. James Develin Womens Jersey
Clear dues forthwith or supply will be shut off, NTPC warns Tangedco
Power giant NTPC has issued notices to Tangedco as well as discoms in Karnataka and Telangana for not paying dues of 1,379.77 crore. Power generated by three units of 500MW each by NTPC-Tangedco joint venture NTPC TN Energy Company at Vallur has provided power to these discoms but since November last year the companies have not paid dues to NTPC. Tangedco has the highest due of 1,156.05 crore. The joint venture company has warned that supply would be cut if the money is not paid forthwith. “As per terms of the power purchase agreement (PPA), payments for energy bills are to be made by the due date. However, Tangedco has not been making the payments as agreed,” said NTECL chief executive officer M Siva Rama Krishnan in a notice addressed to Tangedco on Tuesday. The company has threatened to shut off power to Tangedco from April 26 if the dues are not settled. Similarly, the joint venture company sent notices to the Hubli Electricity Supply Company, the Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company and Transmission Corporation of Telangana. The two discoms of Karnataka owe 89.57 crore and Telangana 134.15 crore. Nearly 70% of the power generated by the three units is being purchased by Tangedco at 5.51 per unit. “We have a 60-day credit facility with NTECL. Around 400 crore is overdue. We will clear the amount at the earliest. We have also invested 250 crore in the equity of the joint venture company,” a senior Tangedco official told TOI. The Tamil Nadu discom has stopped purchase of power from NTECL as the cost of power is pretty high. It is also upset that unlike other power companies, NTECL does not offer any discount in the per unit price of power. Enos Slaughter Authentic Jersey
Government halves the size and financial aid for its largest-ever rooftop solar project
The renewable energy ministry has halved the size of its largest-ever rooftop solar tender and also cut the financial assistance offered for it. Ashvini Kumar, managing director of state-run Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), which had released documents related to a tender for installation of 1GW of rooftop solar plants across buildings of 12 central ministries, told ET the tender size has been reduced to 500 MW. He did not provide any more details. The 1 GW project would have doubled India’s rooftop solar capacity from 1020 MW as of end October 2016. The tender also incentivised speedy completion of projects by linking the government’s financial assistance to it. For instance, in all states, apart from the special category ones, developers would get Rs 18,750 per KW as assistance if they completed at least 80% of the project within 15 months. Projects in special category states —mostly the hill states —would get Rs 45,000 per KW under the same terms. The figure was progressively lowered, depending on the extent of completion, while those who failed to get at least 40% of their project done in 15 months would get no assistance at all. An official who did not wish to be named, said, the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) has now earmarked Rs 1,040 crore as the total amount that will be available as financial assistance for the project. It has also slashed the assistance offered across the board — for instance, those completing 80% of their project in 15 months will now get Rs 16,250 per KW in the general category states and Rs 39,000 per KW in the special category ones. The actual assistance may be even less as the ministry has ruled that it should be no more than 25% of the benchmark cost of the project in general-category states and 60% in the special-category ones. The benchmark cost will be the lowest cost quoted during the bidding process. “It is true that developers are unhappy with the changes,” the official said. “Calculation of the roof area has been done aggressively,” said Sunil Bansal, general secretary, Rajasthan Solar Association. A developer who did not want to be named, said, “There is nobody at SECI at present to take ownership of rooftop development.” SECI’s Kumar refuted both allegations. Of the 500 MW, 150 MW will be set up under the capex model (where the building owner also owns the solar project) and 350 MW under the resco model (where the building owner leases the roof to the developer). According to SECI calculations, there is space available to set up 1,105.31MW of solar plants across 12 ministry building rooftops. Some ministries own staggeringly large rooftops —the SD Agricultural University in Palanpur, Gujarat, for instance, has enough rooftop space to install 375.67 MW of solar modules. Nolan Cromwell Jersey
NTPC weighs pooling of fixed charges for coal & gas projects
India’s largest power producer NTPC Ltd is considering pooling fixed charges for all its coal and gas-based projects in a move that it claims will help maximise output from stations that generate low-cost electricity and reduce consumer tariffs. “As a state-run company, it is NTPC’s responsibility to see that electricity from all our cheaper stations is dispatched first. NTPC will not benefit even a single paisa from the scheme. On the contrary, the entire benefit will be passed on to state power distribution companies,” a senior company executive said on condition of anonymity. “Fixed charges of all NTPC coal and gas-based stations shall be pooled, which means all states would pay at the same rate of fixed charges,” he said. NTPC will make a formal presentation before power ministers and top power officials of all states at a two-day conference scheduled to be held in a few weeks. Industry experts said the mechanism could benefit some states to lower costs but might increase expenditure for some. However, NTPC said the proposal will result in lower power purchase cost of all the states. Post pooling, NTPC proposes to put its lowcost stations on optimum utilisation and use its costlier power plants sparingly in ‘reserve shut down.’ Mel Ott Womens Jersey
NTPC joint venture to cut power supply to 3 states over pending dues
A joint venture of state-run NTPC has decided to snap power supply to three states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Telangana from its Vallure thermal station over non-payment of dues of Rs 1,388 crore. The NTPC Tamil Nadu Energy Company Ltd (NTECL) has issued a notice for regulation of power supply to Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Karnataka to the extent of 1,229 MW from its Vallur Thermal Power Station (1500 MW), for non-payment of long outstanding dues of Rs 1,388 crore, a source said. “The regulation or suspension of power supply shall be implemented from 00:00 hrs of April 26, 2017, and is expected to seriously affect power supply position in these states,” the source said. The NTECL, a joint venture company between NTPC and Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, is engaged in generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. The joint venture was formed for setting up a 1,500 mw coal-based power station at Vallur, Ennore in Tamil Nadu utilising the existing infrastructure facility at Ennore and supply power mainly to Tamil Nadu and also to Kerala, Karnataka and Pondicherry. Sheldon Richardson Womens Jersey
Haryana government exempts solar devices from Value Added Tax levy
In order to give a boost to implementation of the Haryana Solar Policy and also to encourage entrepreneurs to set up ventures for manufacturing solar devices and equipment in the state, the Haryana Government today exempted solar devices and equipment or parts used in installation of solar power projects, from the levy of Value Added Tax (VAT) in the state. A decision to this effect was taken by the Haryana Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of the chief minister, Manohar Lal, here today. At present VAT of five per cent plus surcharge is levied on solar devices and equipment in the state. Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have already exempted solar energy devices from VAT. Exemption of VAT will enable the trade and industry in Haryana to compete with other states where solar energy devices are exempted from VAT. This exemption will cost the state exchequer about Rs 2.30 crore. Solar devices like solar lantern, solar home system, stand along street lighting system, solar water heating system, solar water pumping system, solar cooker box as well as dish type, solar charger or inverter, solar photovoltaic modules, solar collectors, solar dishes, its inverters or power conditioning units, energy meters and alternators purchased for the installation of solar power generation plants both rooftop and ground mounted and spare parts like solar photovoltaic modules, solar collection and solar dishes would be exempted from levy of VAT. Patrick Peterson Authentic Jersey
Delhi’s power subsidy policy helps rich more than poor
Delhi government’s policy to subsidise power for households is undoubtedly among the most generous in the country but it is benefiting the rich more than the poor due to inefficiencies. While poor households on an average get subsidy of around Rs 1,000 per year as they consume less electricity, rich households end up benefiting by Rs 9,000, a Brookings India research paper has said. This is happening due to the combined impact of the eligibility criteria, which is based on how much one consumes, and the high subsidy cut-off point of 400 units a month. As a result, around 80 per cent of households qualify for the 50per cent subsidy paid with taxpayer’s money. “In some months, this goes as high as more than 95 per cent of households. This is beyond cross-subsidies approved by the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission in the tariffs that keep household power prices lower than cost,” the paper written by Brookings India fellow Rahul Tongia said. “Mid-level consumers, ostensibly the middle classes, enjoy more benefits on a percentage basis than the poor. The lowest tier gets under 33 pr cent subsidy on net billing on an average, while those using a little under the limit get over 40 per cent net subsidy,” the paper added. Delhi is one of the richest states in the country and has the highest per capita power consumption for households. Mark Barron Jersey