Solar energy can help in poverty alleviation: Power minister Piyush Goyal
Solar energy can help in poverty alleviation programmes as it can provide income to a large number of people having land but no income from it, Power Minister Piyush Goyal has said. “Solar can add value to poverty alleviation efforts and deeply impact education for children. Several people with land rights have no economic return, solar can provide them income,” Goyal said at a session of World Future Energy Summit 2017 at Abu Dhabi. Goyal is leading a 20-member official and business delegation in the Summit. The minister is of the view that solar is an economically sound business proposition. The spread and success of the solar story will happen on its own merit. The whole world is conspiring to make this happen. According to a statement released by industry body FICCI, Goyal also said that the International Solar Alliance can play an important role as a catalyst to bring the recipients of technology and capital. “It is the fastest launch of an international organisation from concept to launch. Technology will play a crucial role. We need consumers, policymakers, private sector, and academia to come together in a partnership to make the ISA a successful platform”, he added. The minister also said, “India s energy security is going to define our energy mix. It is in India’s interest to enhance renewable energy not just for combating climate change but for its own energy security. Getting out of feed in tariff and into competitive bidding has strengthened the system. This is great for investors looking for transparent systems.” “We have looked at ameliorating counter party risk for distribution companies through a payment security mechanism. Even on a day to day basis, renewable energy will become very attractive compared to fossil based energy,” he added. Goyal further said, “For new investments, the environment is a lot more exciting and attractive. Investors present at the roundtable suggested three measures by government to provide comfort one, land acquisition; two, connectivity in transmission, and three, assurance that projects will not get delayed due to power purchase agreements.” Will Fuller V Womens Jersey
Duty casts a cloud over solar panel makers in export zones
Eleven solar panel manufacturers in export oriented zones are on the verge of shutting down and another four have already downed shutters saying the import duty structure has rendered them uncompetitive in the local and export markets. “If export oriented units sell their panels in the domestic market, they become un-exempt from duty exemption while their counterparts from Special Economic Zones and Domestic Tariff Areas’ remains exempt from such duties.This has resulted in a large number of units in export oriented units on the verge of closing down their operations while some has already been shut because they have been rendered uncompetitive,“ said Subrata Mukherjee, director at Sova Power and founding member of the All India EoU Solar Manufacturers. “There are around 46 solar panel manufacturers in India of which 11 are in export oriented units and they are the ones not being able to compete with their counterparts in other zones. Some 4-5 have already shut operations,“ said Vineet Jain, director at Green Brilliance Energy. According to Cecil Anthony, director at Synergy Electric and a member of the Association that has been recently formed, the market price for solar panel of one watt is around Rs 30 of which the cost of materials including cost of assembly and other raw materials come to around Rs 25 a watt. “We are being asked to pay a duty of Rs 2. Another Rs 2.75 is needed for paying for manpower, admin and power costs. Leaving us with 75 paise per watt which is not enough to pay finance costs,“ said Anthony. Sujit Saha, general manager at Sova Solar said: “As a result of the customs duty cost of solar modules produced at EoUs have increased by 25% in comparison to their counterparts in other zones. It is killing the firms at EoUs. In fact we have two units one at an EoU the other at a SEZ. The unit at the EoU has already suspended operations. “If this goes on for long rest of the 11 units would have to down shutters,“ said Anthony. “We have made several representations to the power ministry as well as the ministry of new and renewable energy. They have agreed to the fact that firms at EoUs should be treated at par with their counterparts in other units. However, there has been no notification or clarification on this front. In fact, the customs department has already sent us a show-cause notice asking why won’t these units at EoU pay the customs duty because the law requires them to pay the duty,“ said Saha. C.J. Anderson Womens Jersey
India as a solar power bright spot helps fill Japan, China slowdown
India may be a bright spot for global solar markets this year as it adds capacity at a record pace, becoming one of the top regions for panel producers struggling with rock-bottom prices. India is expected to add nearly twice as much new solar as last year, outpacing once-booming Japan, according to forecasts by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). China, the world’s largest renewables market, will see solar growth dip by about a fifth after peaking in 2016, London-based BNEF predicts. Bolstered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious clean-energy goals, India’s rising appetite for solar power spells good news for Chinese solar cell and module manufacturers including Trina Solar Ltd and Hanwha Q Cells Co. It comes after the global spot market price for solar panels fell to a record low amid slowing demand elsewhere. India pipped Japan to become the top importer of solar cells and modules from China for three out of 10 months last year and the trend will continue in 2017, says Xiaoting Wang ofBNEF. “India will account for 10 to 13% of global new build in the next couple of years, and its market fluctuation will have an important impact on the short-term supply-demand relationship and therefore the pricing environment,” Wang said. India and Latin America are among key growth markets for solar panels, Trina Solar chief executive officer Gao Jifan said in an interview this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The world’s second-most populous nation is likely to add about 8.9 gigawatts of new solar in 2017, nearly twice the 4.5 gigawatts last year, according to BNEF’s most conservative estimate. Japan’s new solar capacity may drop to about 6 gigawatts from 8.9 gigawatts in 2016, while China is estimated to fall to about 21.6 gigawatts from about 26.5 gigawatts last year. To be sure, India’s solar capacity is still small compared with China, the world’s largest solar market, and Japan. agencies While India races against time to meet Modi’s goal of installing 100 gigawatts of capacity by 2022, China scaled back its target by 27% to 105 gigawatts by 2020 under its 13th five-year plan amid stagnating electricity demand and a slowing economy. The five-year plan marks the beginning of a new era of reduced investment in renewables, BNEF said in its China Outlook for the second half of 2016, adding that it expects 2016 to be the near-term peak for new installed solar capacity in the world’s second-largest economy. According to BNEF chairman Michael Liebreich, one of the “less welcome” developments of 2016 was that wind and solar investment fell from their peaks in both China and Japan. “This came as a major jolt to the sector, after many years of seemingly inexorable growth,” Liebreich said in his yearly review for 2016. Japan’s solar installations for 2016 are estimated at 8.6 gigawatts to 9.2 gigawatts, lower than in 2015, according to BNEF’s forecast. The drop comes as the country scales back generous incentive tariffs. China and Japan are now planning to adopt auctions. While India has conducted auctions since 2010 to build solar projects, Japan has promised to introduce the mechanism this year in a bid to lower the subsidies developers receive. Japan’s new solar installs peaked in 2015 when the country added 11.5 gigawatts of capacity, according to BNEF data. China, which has built most of its solar capacity under feed-in-tariffs, or government-set prices, is reducing these preferential tariffs and encouraging auctions to lower solar prices. Malcolm Subban Womens Jersey
Winter power demand hits new high
Winter heating to counter a severe cold wave sweeping across north India has driven up power demand beyond what was seen in previous years, sending power distributors in the region scurrying to negotiate arrangements to prepare for contingencies. Delhi’s peak power demand this winter is expected to be around 4,500-4,600 mega watt (MW), compared to around 4,125MW a year ago, according to a spokesperson for two units of BSES promoted by Reliance Infrastructure Ltd supplying power in the National Capital Region (NCR). Peak winter power demand in NCR which has steadily risen from 3,678MW in 2010, has already crossed last year’s winter peak. Last summer, peak demand had touched 6,188MW in the capital on 20 May, about a quarter more than the peak summer demand around the same time a year ago. Energy demand peaks in mornings and early night hours compared to the average level of supply and forms a component in the electricity tariff to the consumer. It makes sense for a consumer to keep her peak demand lower as power generation companies have to invest in extra capacity required to service the peak demand which remains idle at other times. According to Praveer Sinha, chief executive officer and managing director at Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd, Delhi may see a rise in winter peak power demand as compared to previous years due to the persistent cold wave. “We all are experiencing a dip in the temperature to the coldest minimum since 2013, which has led to the increase in demand. At Tata Power-DDL, we have made prior arrangements to meet the rising demand…We have tied up through long-term power supply, banking as well as procurement on short term though the exchange,” said Sinha. Power banking is a barter system of supplying excess power available to a distribution company to a counterpart which can be sourced back at another season at no cost. Distribution firms serving in plains strike such deals with those in hill states where power demand is more in winter and less in summer. “Besides long-term arrangements, we are also using techniques like banking and backdown to dispose of surplus power and making arrangements to get power during summer months. In case of any unforeseeable contingency, BSES discoms will buy short-term power from the exchange which is available at economical rates,” said the company spokesperson. BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd will bank the surplus of around 200MW with states like Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. BSES Yamuna Power Ltd (BYPL) has arranged for an additional 150MW from Punjab for December and January. To reduce the night surplus, BYPL will supply around 175MW to Bihar between December and March, said the spokesperson. This year, winter came late in the north and central parts of India. Two sets of cold waves, first between 11-15 January and the second between 18-19 January led to a severe fall in temperature across many parts of north and central India. In the first spell, Delhi’s minimum temperature dropped to 3.4 degrees Celsius on 12 January, the lowest in January in three years. Churu in Rajasthan recorded a minimum temperature of -1.9°C, seven degrees below average, making it the coldest city in the country on 12 January. According to India Meteorological Department, another cold wave will grip the northern parts of the country in the next few days which would lead to a fall in temperature. Isolated parts of North Rajasthan and south Haryana will continue facing cold waves during this period. Patrick Kane Authentic Jersey
Higher coal prices, clean energy cess wiped out UDAY gains: Analysts
Power procurement costs have risen as higher coal prices and clean energy cess have wiped out gains from government moves to reduce costs under the Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme, analysts said. “As part of the government’s initiative, availability of coal and utilisation rates have improved, resulting in savings for power firms along with rejigging of sources of coal that has also resulted in reduction in transport costs for coal,” Sudip Sural, senior director, CRISILBSE -0.05 % Ratings said. “On the other hand extraneous factors outside the control of ministry of power, like increases in clean energy cess, domestic and international coal prices rise and hiked railways tariffs have outweighed generation cost reducing measures,” he said. Coal India BSE 0.11 % raised production and sales by 8 per cent, railways improved rakes availability helping some power plants become flush with stocks. However, this increased availability was not enough for all thermal power plants, industry executives said. “In fact, plants that have been put up after 2009 have been running at less than 50 per cent capacity utilisation levels,” he said. At lower capacity utilisation cost of generation tends to rise,” said a senior power sector official. If cost of procurement rises, state utilities will have to take hike in power tariffs and in 2016 it was estimated that for every unit of power sold to utilities a fraction of the cost does not get collected. According to UDAY this gap needs to be zero by 2019. Nevertheless, fresh power generation project to the tune of 24,000 MW are at risk. Of these 13,000 MW of projects according to CRISIL are facing commissioning risks because of weak sponsors. These projects have faced significant delays leading to cost overrun. In fact some 10,500 MW projects have not seen 50 per cent progress. The situation has exacerbated as some of these projects do not have power purchase agreements. Tevin Coleman Authentic Jersey
Argentina says 89 companies have offered to build electricity generation projects
Argentina’s energy ministry said on Tuesday that 89 companies are interested in building 196 projects to generate electricity as the government tries to attract private investment to lift the country out of recession. If built, the projects would generate 34,834 megawatts of energy, the ministry said. A government source said they would bring in $30 billion in investment, although not all projects would be awarded. The project presentations will be analyzed and an auction will be held in the first half of the year before contracts are signed, the statement said. Center-right President Mauricio Macri is trying to attract private investment to build roads, trains, transmission lines and other infrastructure to boost Argentina’s economy. The energy ministry statement said the energy projects would reduce the cost of energy on the local market. In October the government said it expected investment of $1.8 billion from 17 renewable energy projects it awarded in an auction. It had received 123 bids in September, as companies looked to build wind, solar and biogas projects. Nick Holden Jersey
Big Investment of $1.77 billion Flowed as FDI in India’s Renewable Energy sector: Report
India witnessed a total of $1.77 billion equity investment in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the non-conventional renewable energy (RE) sector between April 2014 and September 2016, the Modi government said in an “Achievement Report” of its flagship Make in India initiative. As per the data available, a majority of the bigger investments have come from Mauritius, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Japan, Germany, Spain, US and Seychelles. Under automatic route for projects of renewable power generation and distribution, 100 per cent FDI is allowed subject to provisions of the Electricity Act, 2003. According to the report, the renewable energy sector has witnessed the highest-ever solar power and wind power capacity addition since April 2014. In the last two years, the world’s largest 648-Megawatt solar power plant was commissioned in Tamil Nadu, a 157 per cent increase in solar power capacity addition was achieved, highest ever wind power capacity addition of 3,300 MW was carried out in 2015-16 and 34 solar parks of aggregate capacity of 20,000 MW were sanctioned for 21 states, the report said. The report also added Rs 356.63 crore were released to Solar Energy Corporation of India for projects and over 31,000 solar water pumps were installed in 2015-16 and 501 MW grid connected solar rooftop projects have been installed in the country. Jake Elliott Authentic Jersey
Renewable energy: Address these issues urgently; 2017 could be a tipping point
There is much to celebrate when reviewing the developments witnessed in the renewable energy sector in India in 2016. In 2016 the renewable energy capacity commissioned was higher than thermal capacity addition for the first time. Solar power expectedly dominated the Indian renewable energy space in 2016 – the highest ever annual solar capacity was added (4GW), recording unprecedented low tariffs, and commissioning the world’s largest solar PV power plant with a capacity to produce 648 MW in Kamuthi, Tamil Nadu. The phenomenal growth recorded in the sector in 2016 was despite the disappointment among stakeholders in the renewable energy sector regarding the 2016 budget. Only a little over half of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s (MNRE) budgetary ask for the renewables sector was actually allocated to the sector. Further, the reduction of the accelerated depreciation incentive to 40 percent from the previous 80 percent effective April 2017 created uncertainty in the sector. Expectations from the 2017 Union Budget Some of the key concerns plaguing the rapidly growing renewable energy sector include curtailment of renewable power (particularly wind power), constrained inter-regional transmission capacities, delay in payment to generators, regulatory uncertainties, and delays in signing or non-signing of Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). While some of these could be resolved in the short-term through allocations under the 2017 budget, other hurdles such as constrained inter-regional transmission capacities will require long-term interventions. There is an urgent need to develop and institutionalise innovative financial instruments to underwrite the risks plaguing the renewables sector in India at preferential rates. Instruments tailored specifically to suit the requirements of solar and wind developers, could mobilise the flow of both domestic and international debt and equity, keeping up the pace of deployment even as more fundamental sectoral interventions are put in motion. While several such instruments are currently available in the private market, their cost makes them prohibitive for developers and investors. To address this challenge, the government should consider scaling up the previous budget allocation of Rs 9,200 crore in public enterprises (IREDA and SECI), which aid the growth of the renewables sector. The additional public investment could be leveraged by way of providing low-cost finance, increased issuance of government-backed securities, and the deployment of financial instruments that underwrite risk through these enterprises. The Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) is currently engaging with several national and international stakeholders to determine instruments that enable public funds to create the maximum leverage, given market conditions. Secondly, the government should prioritise the setting up of the first green bank in India in the 2017 budget to facilitate more foreign investment into the sector at concessionary rates. Allocation of the necessary funds for green bank activities in the 2017 budget, setting a precedent for future budgetary allocations, could be a game-changer for the sector. Thirdly, tariffs in 2017 will depend on the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. At present, India’s celebrated solar bids of Rs 4.34 are more than twice the lowest global solar tariffs bids, namely Chile (Rs 1.94/kWh). CEEW’s analysis estimates that solar tariffs could increase up to 10 percent if the existing tax exemptions are disregarded while determining the applicable GST slab for solar components. However, if current exemptions were considered while deciding the applicable GST rates, the increase in solar tariffs would be insignificant. An instrument or mechanism to offset such predicted increase in tariffs could be announced under the 2017 budget. Alternatively, the government could also consider rebooting the accelerated depreciation benefit back to 80 percent. Fourthly, the budget should show ambition in putting India on track to becoming a solar module manufacturing hub, similar to what India has already achieved for the wind sector. The government could push through the Pradhan Mantri Yojana for Augmenting Solar Manufacturing (PRAYAS) initiative, which had been promulgated under the Make in India campaign late last year, and provide much-required financial incentives to promote manufacturing. Fifthly, the government should also emphasise and incentivise the development and deployment of productive use of renewable energy solutions, such as solar pumps and solar sprayers in rural areas by focussing on both the availability and affordability of funds for promoting rural applications of renewable energy, including decentralised renewable energy systems. Sixthly, energy storage is steadily becoming an indispensable component of solar energy systems, primarily for rooftop and decentralised systems, owing to the intermittent nature of renewable power generation. MNRE had allocated a meagre amount of Rs 18 crore towards research and development and implementation of schemes pertaining to energy storage in the renewable energy sector in 2016. This allocation needs to be enhanced significantly under the 2017 budget to foster innovation in energy storage research. A seventh requirement would be to enable both solar manufacturing and deployment growth at scale. India would need to ensure the availability of skilled manpower through targeted skill development programmes, under the 2017 budget. CEEW-NRDC’s analysis estimates as many as four direct full time equivalent jobs per MW of operational manufacturing capacity could be created in the solar module manufacturing sector. Finally, land-related issues have always troubled the sector. Following up on the Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme announced earlier, the government in the upcoming budget could provide for setting up of nodal agencies, which could act as “land banks” for easy access for developers to obtain required land for renewable projects. The year 2017 could be the tipping point for India’s renewable energy sector. The upcoming budget could provide an adrenaline boost as India races towards meeting its aggressive renewable energy goals by 2022. Sam Reinhart Authentic Jersey
India committed to goals on renewable energy: Piyush Goyal
India is committed to meet its renewable energy goals and is not bothered about US president-elect Donald Trump’s skepticism on policies related to climate change, Piyush Goyal, India’s minister of state with independent charge for power, coal, new and renewable energy and mines, told delegates at the 2017 Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. Goyal was asked whether Trump’s negative stand on global warming will influence India to change its plans of becoming a global hub for renewable energy. “India doesn’t interfere in any other country’s elections and we respect the fact that America has chosen its leader,” Goyal said. “However, clean energy is not something that we are working on because somebody else wants us to do it. It’s a matter of faith and the faith of the leadership in India. Nothing on Earth is going to stop us from doing that.” Although India remains dependent on coal to fuel its energy needs, it aims to scale up its solar power capacity to 100GW by 2022. It is targeting 60GW from wind energy and plans to bring in hydro power, from which it generates 40GW, into the category of renewable energy. By 2022, the country plans to generate around 225GW from clean and renewable sources. When other global industry experts said renewable energy needs private funding to be successful, Goyal said he does not see any challenge in getting finance for renewable energy in India. “Gone are the days when government had to bring in subsidies. We don’t need to convince the industry anymore. We just need to make sure that there are no roadblocks.” The minister said the cost of renewable energy has been gradually decreasing and currently it is at par or marginally higher than what is generated from fossil fuels. Paul Worrilow Authentic Jersey
NTPC expects to cut Chhabra losses by a-fifth
Country’s largest power producer NTPC expects to cut losses from Chhabra power station that it acquired last week to one-fifth by saving on interest outgo and raising operational efficiency. The company is on lookout for more state-run stressed assets for buyouts, sources said. The tariff of the project is expected to come down by Rs 0.05 a unit to Rs 3.84/unit. NTPC Last Thursday announced acquisition of 1000-mw power plant owned by state generating company of Rajasthan. It signed an agreement with Rajasthan Vidyut Nigam to acquire 1000-mw operational stage I of the power plant and 1320-mw stage II of the project that is under construction. In October last year, Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission approved cost of stage-I of the project at Rs 5053 crore. After depreciation, Stage I of the project has been valued at Rs 3,900 crore, of which the debt portion is at Rs 3200 crore and equity at Rs 700 crore. Stage I of the power station comprises of four sub-critical technology based units of 250-mw each operating at highly inefficient parameters. At an interest outgo as high as at 10.75%, the plant was losing Rs 295 crore annually. With NTPC takeover the heat rate– heat generated per calorie of coal burnt — expected to come down to 2400 kcal/Kwh. Coupled with low-cost funding advantage at 8%, NTPC is confident of narrowing losses to Rs 66 crore a year once it starts generating electricity from the project. NTPC is expected to complete the acquisition of stage-I next month. NTPC will provide project management services to Rajasthan generation co mpany for expeditious completion of stage II of the project. The cost of the second stage of the project of two units of 660-mw each is estimated to have risen due to delay to Rs 9750 crore comprising 80% debt and 20% equity. The first unit of 660-mw of the second stage is expected to be commissioned by next month and second unit by June next year. Joseph Blandisi Authentic Jersey