At Less Than 3000 MW In 2014, India’s Solar Power Capacity Crosses 10,000 MW in Less Than 3 Years
India’s solar power generation capacity that stood at 2,650 MW on May 26, 2014, crossed the 10,000 MW mark on March 11, registering a three time increase in less than three years. “Bright Future: India has crossed 10,000 MW of Solar power capacity today. More than 3 times increase in less than 3 years,” Power, Coal, Mines, New & Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted. The milestone came as India’s largest power producer, NTPC commissioned a 45 MW solar power project at Bhadla in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. In 2016, about 4 GW of solar capacity was added, the fastest pace till date. As much as 14,000 MW (or 14 gigawatt) of solar projects are currently under development and about 6 GW is to be auctioned soon. Soon after assuming charge as the minister for power and RE, Goyal set an ambitious target of adding 100 GW of solar power generation capacity, 60 GW of wind and 175 GW of overall renewable energy capacity by 2022. According to power ministry estimates, another 8.8 GW capacity is likely to be added in 2017, including about 1.1 GW of rooftop solar installations. From the highs of Rs 14-16 a unit, solar power tariffs have fallen to a low of Rs 2.97 a unit. This price was discovered in a recent auction last month for the Rewa solar power project in Madhya Pradesh. Wind Power tariffs too have seen a drastic fall from the levels of over Rs 10 a unit to a low of Rs 3.46 a unit. The reverse bid auction for the 750 MW Rewa solar power park in Madhya Pradesh received bids received at Rs 2.97 by Acme, Rs. 2.974 by Solenberg and Rs 2.979 by Mahindra for a 250 MW unit each. These are the first year tariff bids, with a 5 paise escalation for 15 years (and 33 paisa to be added for the levelised tariff). In the reverse bid auction for wind power, as many as 14 developers submitted bids cumulatively for approximately 2,700 MW. Finally five bidders who bid at Rs 3.46 a unit got successful. This too is a significant fall from the earlier highs of Rs 8-10 a unit In a reverse auction, the bid is won by the company quoting the lowest price/tariff to be charged from customers. Presently, both developers and investors are upbeat on India’s RE sector that has never witnessed such growth before. According to Bridge to India, the reduction in tariffs will spur demand and also force a drastic rethink of how wind power is procured in India. The dramatic fall in solar tariffs, it said, and would change India’s energy landscape dramatically in the years to come. “In our view, cost advantage trumps everything else in the power sector including COP21 commitments, environmental imperative and regulatory support. That makes solar technology the firm favourite for powering India’s future economic growth” Mike Williams Jersey
Use of solar panels for green power generation on the rise in Mumbai
Your city’s switching on the green way. Nearly 60 housing societies and commercial buildings in Mumbai have already started generating their electricity requirement by using rooftop solar power plants. Currently, these housing societies generate about 1,400 units of green power a day. And it goes beyond Mumbai. More than 400 other establishments across the state have set up their own solar energy panels to reduce their need for power generated by using coal. That’s more than 11,500 units of green power across the state. The quantum of power generated in Mumbai alone is a huge relief on the pollution front. The total quantity of green power generated everyday across the state is equivalent to planting 1.75 lakh trees as this amount of green power replaces an equal amount of power that would otherwise be generated by using coal a source of pollution. Statistics put out by the state power regulator estimate that 150 more consumers from Mumbai and more than 1,600 in the rest of the state are slated to replace more than1lakh units of coal power with solar energy within a couple of months once they are provided with special electricity meters which are also known as net meters. A net meter, also called a reverse meter, shows the quan tum of green power and conventional energy utilized by a consumer. It reduces the power bill amount after netting off savings on green power vis-à-vis the power bill payable for use of conventional energy . expGreen energy derived from solar panels is meant for use in common areas of a buil ding. The balance energy which is left unutilized is then put up on the building power grid for common public use. This fetches the consumers a profit of Rs 2 to Rs 3 per unit which is calculated by the net meter. Chief of The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri), Ajay Mathur, says, “Green energy production the solar way will grow rapidly in a few years. After 2026, technology will be so established that people might virtually say no to coal power generated in power plants.“ However, Ashok Pendse, an expert in power-related matters, said there will be certain challenges to retain the cheap value of solar power–like the government and investors will have to retain consistency in generation of solar power in the absence of sunlight, for instance. “Besides, the shadow of highrise buildings on rooftop solar panels can affect efficiency,“ said Pendse. Another expert, Sunil Tongey, said that if a housing society invests between Rs1lakh and Rs 3lakh for solar panels and batteries, the cost can be recouped by three years. The report by TERI states that conventional energy can take care of country’s power supply till 2026, after which renewable energy–especially solar and wind–is expected to increase the country’s power capacity besides nuclear power. Brayden Schenn Authentic Jersey
Airport rooftop solar array joins power grid
A rooftop solar plant at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (SVPI) airport commissioned on Tuesday, a statement from airport officials said. “As an initiative towards fulfilment of the government of India’s target for installation of 40GW rooftop solar power plants by 2022, Airport Authority of India (AAI) has commissioned a grid-connected 700kWp rooftop solar plant at Ahmedabad airport. This will be the largest rooftop plant commissioned in Ahmedabad and is expected to give a big boost to renewable energy,” the statement from the city airport director’s office said. The grid-connected rooftop solar system has been installed with a subsidy from the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE). The power from the solar plant will be used to meet the captive requirements of Terminal-1 buildings and the surplus power, if any, shall be fed to the grid under the net-metering arrangement with the distribution companies, the statement said. Anand Kumar, chairman of Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) was the chief guest. Brian Poole Authentic Jersey
Power engineers suggest ways to cut losses, lower tariff
Punjab Power Engineers Association (PPEA) has said if power meters were shifted out of the premises of the consumers in the remaining areas, as had already been done in major parts of the state, the tariff could be reduced further. The association has also argued that state should acquire a thermal plant of supercritical technology to ensure that its Pachhwara mine could be utilized and fixed charges of Rs 2,000 crore, paid to private players, could be saved annually. On Tuesday, a zonal meeting of PPEA here was attended by around 100 engineers from Jalanndhar, Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahr and Kapurthala circles. Addressing a press conference after the meeting, PPEA president Bhupinder Singh said the aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses in Punjab were one of the lowest in the country at 14%. He said losses of neighbouring states were in the range of 30%. Punjab’s losses could be brought down further if remaining meters in high-theft areas were also shifted out, he said, adding that Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) was able to supply uninterrupted 24 hours power supply in the rural areas too. PPEA secretary Abhiraj Singh and another office-bearer Anil K Vij said strong government support and political will were required for the purpose and the AT&C losses could be brought down to around 10%. They said Punjab should acquire a thermal plant of supercritical technology without any delay to ensure that cheap and good quality coal was utilized from Pachhwara mine. So far, the mining rights were not being used and there were chance that the Centre could cancel the mine allocation, they said. Punjab could save fixed charges of around Rs 2,000 crores being paid to private thermal plants as fixed charges and this would ultimately benefit the consumers, the association said. The association members also suggested that the state government should adapt UDAY scheme of the Union government without any delay for financial turnaround of PSPCL. The corporation had already met the set parameters, it added. Enrique Hernandez Womens Jersey
MNRE receives Rs 10,239 cr from NCEF since FY’15
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has received Rs 10,239 crore from the National Clean Energy Fund in the three fiscals to 2016-17. “From FY 2014-15 up to the current financial year, i.e 2016-17, Rs 10,239.18 crore was allocated from the National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy,” Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. In addition to NCEF support, Rs 787.53 crore was received as Gross Budgetary Support in 2014-15 and 2015-16, he said. In 2014-15 and 2015-16, the allocation was fully utilised, Goyal said. During 2016-17, Rs 4,272 crore was provided from NCEF to the ministry. Of this an expenditure of Rs 3,282.30 crore has been incurred till March 15, 2017. For the next fiscal, the minister said, a budgetary allocation of Rs 5,341.70 crore has been made for the MNRE which will be sourced from NCEF. Haloti Ngata Womens Jersey
Teams to check cyber security threat in power sector
The government has constituted Computer Emergency Response Teams to check cyber security threat in the power sector. “Government of India, in line with National Cyber Security Policy, 2013 has created sectoral Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) to mitigate cyber security threat in power systems,” Power Minister Piyush Goyal said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha. The Centre has taken several steps to make power utilities and key stakeholders aware and take precautions against cyber threats. “For cyber security in power systems, four sectoral CERTS, CERT (Transmission), CERT (Thermal), CERT (hydro) and CERT (Distribution) have also been formed to coordinate with power utilities,” the minister said. The relevant stakeholders of Smart Grid have been advised to identify critical infrastructure and use end-to-end encryption for data security. “All utilities have been asked to identify a nodal senior executive as its Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) to lead the process of strengthening organisational systems with respect to cyber security and implement an information security management systems as recommended by rules under the Information Technology (IT) Act 2008…,” the minister said. Lee Roy Selmon Jersey
German spot power price jumps on sharp fall in wind output
European spot power prices for day-ahead delivery rose on Tuesday due to a forecast sharp fall in wind power production and a rise in demand, with the German contract rising sharply. The German baseload contract for Wednesday delivery rose 26.25 percent to touch a one-month high of 38.25 euros ($41.24) per megawatt-hour (MWh). The equivalent French contract added 1.27 percent to 40 euros/MWh. Wind power production from German wind turbines is expected to tumble by over 13 gigawatts (GW) to 4.8 GW day-on-day on Wednesday, according to Thomson Reuters data. Solar power output will fall by 150 megawatts, the data showed. In France, consumption is expected to rise by 1.3 GW to nearly 60 GW on Wednesday as weather forecasts showed temperatures falling by average 1.2 degree Celsius. Michael Thomas Jersey
Bidding behavior in the Indian solar sector not sustainable: Bridge to India
Solar power tariff may not have dwindled due to auctions and increased competition as being claimed by the government but because of falling equipment costs. According to research firm Bridge to India, changes in equipment costs and other factors are responsible for most of the decline and adjusted for these changes, tariffs haven’t trended down in the last 18 months. “As an example, in July 2015, weighted average successful tariff for the Madhya Pradesh 300 Megawatt state tender was Rs 5.35 (US ¢ 8.2)/kWh. But if that bidding were to happen in September 2016 in another state of Andhra Pradesh, the same tender would yield a weighted average tariff of Rs 4.29/kWh because of changes in capital expenditure, cost of debt, irradiation and land and transmission infrastructure costs,” Bridge to India said in a report. It said harmonised tariffs have stayed reasonably stable around the average level and projects tendered by NTPC and located inside the solar park were highly oversubscribed and subsequently had the lowest tariffs. “For other tenders, we see no material relationship between offtake risk and bid results except in some extreme cases – Gujarat (credit rating of A+ by ICRA; tariff discount of Rs 0.32/ kWh) or Uttar Pradesh (credit rating of C by CARE; tariff premium Rs 2.68/ kWh),” it said. Auction based tender process has forced developers to be very aggressive. The industry is trying to bridge the returns gap by improving technical execution and finding innovative, cost effective means of financing. But it is also becoming increasingly common place to build forward-looking, favorable assumptions for solar module prices, debt refinancing and many other parameters. “But the most relevant insight, in our view, is that the average harmonized tariff from our study gives an equity IRR (internal rate of return) of only 14.20 per cent, significantly below the benchmark expectation of 18-20 per cent and that too without any material risk contingencies,” Bridge to India said. The report, however, said steep module price declines pose critical threat to the financial health of module suppliers and a risk for winning project bidders. In general, risk pricing, particularly for capital cost, interest rate, offtake and transmission risks, appears inadequate. T.J. Lang Jersey
Uttar Pradesh power corporation asked to come up with new tariff plan
The UP electricity regulatory commission (UPERC) on Monday initiated the power tariff determination exercise for the new financial year. The electricity regulator asked the UP Power Corporation Limited to submit the new annual revenue requirement (ARR)—the document projecting revenue recovery through sale of power to consumers—for determination of the electricity tariff for the year 2017-18. Commission chairman Desh Deepak Verma said the corporation has been asked to submit the ARR as soon as possible so that the commission can announce a new power tariff. Normally, power tariff increases in at least one or other category of consumers. Last year, SP government, seemingly with an eye on state elections, did not effect an increase in power tariff for residential consumers but passed the burden on industries. With elections over, the new government will take the call on power tariff. UPPCL officials refused to comment but sources said the new ARR will be submitted to the commission only after consulting the new government. UPPCL sources said a team of officials is likely to meet the CM to appraise him about the power scenario before going ahead with the new tariff determination exercise. The power corporation normally submits the ARR with UPERC by the end of every year. It is followed by a tariff plan, which is then computed and endorsed by the commission before announcing it formally in the new financial year. The government did not let the corporation not submit the ARR last year in view of the UP elections despite the commission sending out reminders to the corporation. UPPCL officials said the corporation has to come up with a multi-year tariff plan, for up to at least next there years. Last year, UPPCL projected an ARR of around Rs 55,000 crore even as it promised 24-hour power supply to urban and 18 hours to rural areas. With the BJP government initiating its ambitious scheme of power distribution in UP, the UPPCL may face the challenge of maintaining a balance between power supply and revenue recovery. Byron Jones Womens Jersey
Punjab electricity utility proposes 20 per cent hike in power tariff
Electricity consumers in the state are likely to feel the pinch as the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has proposed a steep hike in tariff to shore up its revenues and improve its financial health. The power corporation has not raised power tariff in the past two years. The corporation has filed a petition seeking 20% hike in power tariff, but a final decision would be taken by the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) after consulting the newly-formed state government. The new tariff may be announced in the next 10 days, said sources. They said PSPCL earnings took a dip as there was no hike in electricity rates in the past two years. Sources said that in its multi-year tariff petition (MYTP) for 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 filed before the PSERC, the PSPCL had sought a 20% tariff hike 2017-18, citing a total revenue deficit of Rs 11,575 crore, including Rs 5,998 crore carried forward from the previous years. In the multi-year tariff petition the PSPCL had shown a deficit of Rs 6,130 crore for 2018-2019 and Rs 6,406 crore for 2019-20. Last year, the PSPCL has sought a tariff hike of 19.72% to bridge the revenue gap. The corporation had estimated the revenue receipt of Rs 26,121 crore against the estimated expenditure of Rs 31,262 crores. However, the PSERC refused to change tariffs but reduced it for the industry. PSERC chairman Dhanbir Singh Bains while confirming the development said that the matter pertaining to tariff hike was under consideration and a final decision would be taken in consultation with the new government. “Once we are clear on the subsidies, we will take the final call,” he maintained. The new tariff was likely to be announced in the next 10 days, the chairman further added. Meanwhile, it is learnt that the present power subsidy bill of the state government has crossed Rs 6,463 crore, of which Rs 5,000 crore is farm subsidy and the rest is being given to other categories of consumers, including industry, dairies and weaker sections of society. At present, the state government has to make a payment of Rs 2,000 crore against the subsidy bill before March 31, failing which it will have to pay bank interest on the outstanding amount remaining.