Indian Spot market power prices flat in December
Spot market power price remained flat at Rs 2.32 per unit last month, same as the previous month and about 10 per cent less over prices of Rs 2.56 per unit in December, 2015. The Day-Ahead Market at India Energy Exchange witnessed transactions of 3101 million units in December despite low demand due to the cold wave in North and congestion in Inter-State Transmission Network, an official statement said. With the average daily purchase bid of 119 MUs and average daily sell bids of 229 Million Units, the market remained highly liquid and thus the prices were buyer friendly. Large industrial consumers consumers were key buyers in the market followed by distribution companies, it said. Unavailability of transmission corridor continued to be a deterrent and led to market splitting and price variations. Jay Bouwmeester Womens Jersey
Kerala State Electricity Board: Dip in reservoirs to intensify drought
This summer, parched Kerala will get only half the normal supply of water for irrigation and drinking purposes from the reservoirs of Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), a top official cautioned. The water discharged from the hydro-electric power stations are used in the summer months for the consumption of people and for the survival of farms in drought-prone areas of the state. On this New Year day, across its 16 dams, KSEB had only enough water left to produce 1,923 million units of electricity.On the same day last year, the figure was 2,738 million units. “The low water levels in the dams hint at the severity of the drought Malayalis are going to face this year. KSEB might be able to release only 50% of the quantity of water it had given to the irrigation department last year,” said a top official with the KSEB. According to him, Idukki dam had been discharging 3.6 million cubic metres (mcm) of water on a daily basis last summer, which will be down to 1.8 mcm this summer. “This drop in quantity will affect the irrigation of Muvattupuzha and Piravom areas of Ernakulam district, as the people in these areas had been depending on water from Idukki reservoir during summers,” the official said. “Similarly , the water from Idamalayar, Pallivasal and Sengulam projects reach the Bhoothathankettu reservoir, which again irrigates the nearby areas of Ernakulam district. This year, the total supply from these projects will come down to 2 mcm per day, compared to last year’s figure of 4 mcm per day ,” the official said.Chalakudy area of Thrissur district will face severe water shortage as the water level is down at the Sholayar reservoir. As Kakki dam’s water level is also low, some parts of the Pathanamthitta district will be affected. While water scarcity during this summer is an unsolved problem, KSEB has sorted out the expected drop in electricity generation from the hydroelectric projects. “Our strategy is to meet 90% of state’s electricity demands through imports from other states and the rest with domestic generation,” the official said. KSEB expects the electricity consumption to go up to 2,000 million units (mu) during January and 2,100 – 2,200 mu during February . This will go up to 2,300 mu by April. The board is planning to use the existing storage of water in its reservoirs and the expected inflow from summer rains to generate enough hydro-electric power to cover the lean months. During January , KSEB is targeting to produce be 8 million units of hydel power on a daily basis. This will go up to 9 muday during February , 12 muday for March and 11 muday for April and May .
CERC access rate hike plan clouds power market
The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has proposed to increase the short—and medium-term transmission corridor charges (STOAs and MTOAs) for open access by 35% and 25%, respectively, from the current levels. While the regulator says this would compel participants to move towards long-term access (LTA), which is critical for efficient planning of transmission networks, many stakeholders including power exchanges, private transmission companies and generators contend that the move could deal a blow to the thriving short-term electricity market. LTAs, they say, are not happening because states’ power demand hasn’t grown as anticipated. The CERC invited public comments on the draft regulations and is believed to be working on the final version. Transmission planning in the country is done by the central transmission utility (CTU), Power Grid Corporation. Network planning relies heavily on the generators’ requests for LTA. These applications provide the CTU with critical input on the upcoming generation and demand for the same. However, in the last few years, the demand for short-term and medium-term power has spiked. The volume of short-term transactions has increased from 24.69 billion units (BUs) in 2008-09 to 63.96 BUs in 2014-15. However, the price of electricity in short-term transactions has come down from about R7.29 per unit to R4.28 per unit over the same period; in May this year, the price was even lower at R2.50 per unit. “(The volume of short-term transaction could rise further in future). In this scenario, it is likely that generators may not apply for LTA and evacuate power under STOA/MTOA or it is likely that there is less long-term PPAs (power purchase agreements) leading to lack of LTAs, thereby inefficient transmission planning,” the draft regulations said, explaining the rationale behind jacking up charges for STOA and MTOA connections. Currently, the charges for all types of connection are the same. While the duration for LTA is from 7 to 25 years, MTOA is given for 1-7 years. The STOA is for any duration less than a year but no specific capacity is built to cater to STOA, instead margins available in LTA are used for the same. While officials from Power Grid and its subsidiary Posoco, which manages the national and regional grids, defended the CERC’s proposal, electricity exchanges, private transmission players and generating companies are critical of the move. “With more power being contracted on short- and medium-term basis, any increase in charges for open access would be a regressive step. Instead, the CERC should be looking forward to considering access on the basis of general network access (GNA) — with long, medium and short term rolled into one system — from point of injection to point of any drawal, in the true sense of a unified grid,” Ashok Khurana, director general of Association of Power Producers, told FE. GNA is a transmission network planning process whereby the operator doesn’t necessarily need the information about actual generation and demand but can design and build a system through forecasting while ensuring enough redundancy in the system to avoid any congestion. The proposal, according to industry sources, also contradicts the CERC’s own observations on transmission planning and the Electricity Act, which calls for non-discriminatory open access to be provided to all the consumers. “The CERC has also said that transmission planning was possible without prior knowledge of points of injection and drawal using the GNA especially after 2016-17, once a strong all-India network had emerged but the proposal contradicts the earlier stand,” Purnendu Kumar Chaubey, vice-president, Kalpataru Power Transmission, told FE. On condition of anonymity, an official from the electricity exchange said that charging a premium for STOA and MTOA was unjustified as there are no separate capacity created for these connections. While transmission corridors are made according to LTA requirements, other connections only use the underutilised capacity, thus generating revenue for the operator. The official added that STOA and MTOA were dominating the connections as most states do not require long-term PPAs. The thriving market for STOA and MTOA is a result of tepid electricity demand. While the Central Electricity Authority had estimated that the power demand would be around 200 GW by 2017, the same has been hovering around 150 GW. Tre Flowers Authentic Jersey
Power demand touches record level of 11,400 Megawatt in Madhya Pradesh
Power distribution companies of Madhya Pradesh recorded all-time high power supply in December. The demand for power went above 11400 megawatt (MW), highest ever in the state’s history. Sources from power discoms say on December 23 the demand for power reached 11,421 MW, the highest recorded demand against which 21.92 crore units of power were supplied, the highest in the state so far. The increase in demand was attributed to agricultural sector for on-going Rabi season. The demand has not come below 11,000 MW since December 12, said official sources. When the power demand was at its peak, the Sasan Utra Mega Power Project and other individual power producers only contributed to around 2,126 MW, which makes up 20% of the demand, sources said. Of this, maximum power was obtained from the Sasan and individual power producers’ contribution was negligible. Around 3,000 MW was contributed by the state- owned thermal power stations and 3,100 MW was supplied by state’s share from central pool, sources added. Hydel projects have contributed around 1,400 MW and unconventional sources’ share accounts for 600 MW. This apart, the state also received 1200 MW power through power banking, said sources. Trey Hopkins Womens Jersey
Two states to join UDAY scheme on Wednesday: Power minister Piyush Goyal
Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said two more states will join the Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) on Wednesday and the third a week thereafter. “Almost the entire country has now joined UDAY. Tomorrow (Friday), two large states will join the scheme, followed by one more very large state after one week,” he said. He did not name the states. “Thereafter, about 90-95 per cent of the national electricity utility debt of the discoms will come under UDAY. Maybe, one or two states will be left. I urge those states to join the scheme,” he said after addressing a Confederation of Indian Industry National Council meet. He claimed there was no shortage of power anywhere in the country. Asked whether the government will scale down coal production in the light of surplus power and coal, the minister said: “It is a dynamic situation. We continuously keep monitoring on how the demand-supply situation evolves. Power production has grown over 8.5 per cent in November. I would like to make sure we never relapse into coal shortage situation.” Loui Eriksson Authentic Jersey
India likely to add more than 9 GW solar capacity in 2017: Mercom
New solar capacity addition in India is expected at over 9 GW during the current calendar year 2017, according to Mercom Capital Group, a global clean energy communications and consulting firm. The calendar year 2016 saw solar installations at about 4 GW as against 2.3 GW installed in 2015. “We are forecasting installations to reach over 9 GW in 2017, which would put the Indian solar sector in the big league along with China, the US, and Japan. However, there are significant headwinds in terms of transmission and evacuation issues that could threaten the pace of growth,” said Raj Prabhu, CEO and co-founder of Mercom Capital Group. The share of solar generation continues to grow with 16.7 per cent of new power generating capacity added in 2016 (as of November 2016). Cumulative solar capacity, including large-scale and rooftop projects in the country, reached 9.6 GW. The top 10 states — Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh — account for about 90 per cent of all solar installations and pipeline. Indian government agencies have announced solar tenders of about 3,781 MW during the September-December 2016 period and auctioned about 1,311 MW. However, auction activity has slowed over the last three months. The project development landscape has changed significantly over the last quarter, due largely to Chinese module price declines. The average selling prices (ASPs) of Chinese modules in India have declined by approximately 10 per cent since August and by about 30 per cent over the last 12 months. This decline in prices has provided a much-needed boost to developers that won projects at low bids and were struggling to make project economics work, it said. Currently, the major concerns for the industry are related to transmission, evacuation, curtailment, timely payments and the outcome of the goods and services tax (GST). “Solar park development is experiencing some setbacks due to incomplete infrastructure,” felt Prabhu. “In some cases, developers are incurring expenses to clean the land, build roads, and are waiting for power to be evacuated after commissioning. All of this is having a negative effect on project cost and profitability,” he added. Mercom pointed out that demonetisation had caused a temporary setback in the industry. Richard Rodgers Jersey
Power transmission investment likely to be at ~2 lakh crore: CEA
Indicating significant growth in the power transmission sector, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has estimated an investment of Rs 2.6 lakh crore till 2022. These and other estimates form the base for a draft National Electricity Plan-Volume II, which would be the basis for investment and policy planning in the sector. Inter-regional capacity addition during the 13th plan (2017-22) is estimated at 45,700 Mw, from the present 63,650 Mw by the plan end, said CEA in the draft. The investment figure, it said, included an estimate of Rs 30,000 crore in transmission systems below 220 kv. About Rs 1.6 lakh crore would come from states and the other Rs 1 lakh crore from Power Grid Corporation of India. The government is planning to increase the size of projects and scope of work in transmission. Inter-state lines with capacity of around 56,000 Mw are being planned by the end of the 13th plan. In the first volume, CEA had said more more thermal power GENERATION capacity wasn’t needed but supply needed to be more accessible and affordable. And, that renewable energy generation would be 20.3 per cent and 24.2 per cent of the total energy requirement in 2021-22 and 2026-27, respectively. CEA says the already planned transmission corridors between regions is sufficient to cater to variable dispatches at peak times, with provisos. The estimate is that India would need 100,000 circuit km (ckm) of transmission lines and 2,00,000 MVA transformer capacity of substations at 220 kv and above voltage was expected to be added in the 13th plan. It has suggested that investment be invited through competitive bids. “It is expected that a total of 107,454 ckm of transmission lines and 287,836 MVA of substation transformation capacity additions are likely to be achieved during the 12th plan,” it has said. Various high capacity transmission corridors are in various stages of implementation and most are likely to be commissioned by 2021. Darren Sproles Jersey
BIMSTEC needs a ‘power tool’; here’s why it is time for a green energy revolution
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is an international organisation involving a group of countries in South- and Southeast-Asia. These are: Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal. The main objective of BIMSTEC is technological and economic cooperation among South- and Southeast- Asian countries. Recently, BIMSTEC leaders met during the BRICS summit in Goa on October 16, 2016, where they decided to expedite the signing of the BIMSTEC Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on grid interconnection, given the high potential of renewable energy sources in the region, for energy cooperation and promoting regional energy trade. Clean energy resources With the recent ratification of the Paris agreement on climate change by India, the country needs to (i) achieve a 30-35% reduction in intensity (emissions per unit of GDP) in 2030 vis-a-vis 2005 and (ii) source 40% of the electricity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030. Recently, the ministry of power also revised its target upwards, to have 60% of the electricity from non-fossil fuels by 2027. The predominant renewable energy sources are wind and solar. But a problem with renewable energy sources is variability/uncertainty; so, they need back-up generating resources during the non-operating period. These variabilities/uncertainties are best handled with grid interconnection, fast-acting ramp up/down resources like hydro and gas, and large regional power pool. The regional power pool has many potential benefits, including: 1. Reduced or postponed costs: Lower operation costs due to energy exchange and lower investments in power generation due to least cost development of regional energy resources and reduced cost of maintaining power generation reserves. 2. Improved conditions on the supply side: These include reduced coincident peak load of the regional power pool; mutually utilised power generation reserves for interconnected national power grids; increased robustness of power supply to meet unexpected events, such as variability of wind and solar, load growth above forecast and/or delayed commissioning of generation/transmission projects. Amongst BIMSTEC, Nepal uniquely possesses rich natural resources like hydro, wind, solar, etc, which can facilitate the process of having carbon-free BIMSTEC countries. But as far as grid interconnection is concerned, only Bhutan and Bangladesh have been interconnected with India synchronously and asynchronously, respectively, whereas Nepal is operating radially. The regional interchange at present is to the tune of 2,200 MW. The technical, commercial, legal and regulatory issues have been well-settled and trading is working satisfactorily. Similarly, there are many international success stories of electricity power pool amongst countries in Europe, Central America, South America, Africa and East Asia. Powergrid had also prepared a feasibility report for interconnection with Sri Lanka through overhead/undersea cable and also with Myanmar for Tamanti hydroelectric project. Therefore, it would not be difficult to interconnect all the BIMSTEC countries, including Thailand, with proven high-voltage direct current (HVDC) technology wherever the need be. Before introduction of multilateral energy exchange, the first step in regional power pool starts with two neighbouring countries signing for cross-border trading of energy services through a bilateral cooperative framework. This has been successful with four countries, i.e, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh for several years. Thus, establishment of multilateral energy exchanges, though complex with regards to settlement approaches and requirements of greater verification, would not be difficult. One of the main reason for not having large interconnection and regional trading is that every country is working isolated and there is no single agency to integrate them and trade the power. In line with international practices, it is suggested that a dedicated ‘power pool’ for energy trading and a special purpose vehicle for grid interconnections be established amongst BIMSTEC countries to take it forward. The critical success factors in creating power pool are; 1. Common legal and regulatory framework: Governments and the transmission system operators (TSO) of their respective national grids should be able to define a common legal and regulatory framework to facilitate achievement of regional objectives. These involve the preparation of “Intergovernmental memorandum of understanding” granting permission for the utilities to make a contract and providing guarantees regarding obligations resulting from an interconnection contract. As also an “Inter-utility memorandum of understanding” among participating national power utilities defining ownership of assets and key principles to be followed on establishing, putting in place and enforcing rules of practice covering technical planning, operations, and commercial aspects of regional power system integration. graph-6 2. Durable framework for system planning and operation: To maintain flexibility in setting up of a viable, multi-country, organisational structure to leverage the individual and collective capabilities of TSOs (a) have to plan for and implement cross-border interconnections, (b) harmonise the operational rules of practices for their interconnected national power grids, (c) put in place a transparent, fair, and viable commercial framework for cross-border trading in energy services. 3. Equitable commercial framework for energy exchanges: Power utilities must exchange a range of energy services such as (a) lowering of generation capacity reserve requirements, (b) ability to achieve scale economics, (c) opportunity to interchange economy energy, (d) increased load and fuel diversity, (e) opportunities of sale of surplus firm energy, (f) emergency support on major breakdowns. It must have a clear, transparent and harmonised set of commercial rules of practice, which are adhered by the interconnected national utilities. It may be observed that this is the right time for India to assume a leadership role for establishment of “BIMSTEC power pool” and a SPV for grid interconnections amongst BIMSTEC countries as a part of MoU, likely to be signed amongst countries during the fourth summit this year in Nepal. Marcus Maye Womens Jersey
India tendered 1.7 GW of solar in December, finds Mercom Capital
India’s impressive 2016 for solar showed no signs of slowing down in the year’s final month, with data from market analysts Mercom Capital Group revealing that more than 1.7 GW of new solar capacity was tendered in December. Accounting for the majority of the new solar capacity offered was the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), the government’s sanctioned solar division that is the driving force behind a push to build 1 GW of rooftop solar PV atop government buildings nationwide. In addition to SECI’s 1 GW worth of tenders, Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) also issued two solar tenders in December for 500 MW and 250 MW, to be set up in Tamil Nadu and Odisha respectively. The remaining capacity offered came from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for 15 MW to be built at the HAL Ojhar Township in Nasik, and 10 MW from Rajasthan Electronics and Instruments on behalf of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) for a project in Gujarat. Mercom Capital said that the 1,776 MW of tendered solar capacity in December was more than double the 755 MW tendered in November. With 2016 ending strongly, thoughts now turn to what 2017 has in store for India’s solar market. The early signs are good, following the news on January 1 that the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) has permitted the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) to issue a further 500 MW tender for solar through competitive bidding. An earlier TANGEDCO tender issued late in 2016 was met with a lukewarm response by developers due to mounting problems in the state concerning late payments and curtailment. TANGEDCO is hopeful that this latest tender can prove more attractive, with reports in the local media suggesting that the utility has sought a procurement price of INR 4.50/kWh ($0.07/kWh). Calvin Johnson Authentic Jersey
Delhi govt yet to pay Rs50 cr to discoms for waiving off electricity bills
The Delhi government’s Power Amnesty Scheme that resolved problems of overcharging or non-payment of bills is long over, but distribution companies claim they haven’t received payments promised by the government. Government data revealed that the scheme which was open for nine months offered waivers in power bills of consumers worth a whopping Rs128 crore. The discoms, that implemented the scheme, were supposed to get compensated for the energy charges they had waived off and this amounted to nearly Rs50 crore for all the three companies combined. “It is seven months since the scheme got over, but we are yet to receive the money. The BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL) and BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) together are to get somewhere around Rs40 crore, whereas the TPDDL needs Rs11 crore,” discom officials said. Sources in the government said that the file is still with power minister Satyendar Jain, who is yet to approve it. A letter accessed by HT dated August 13, 2015 which had asked discoms to implement the scheme from August 30, 2015 read, “The discoms shall provide details of any energy dues waived as a result of the settlement scheme in the case of JJ clusters. The GNCTD will provide subsidy to the discoms on actual basis equivalent to the amount of the energy charges (exclusive LPSC) so waived.” As many as 76,663 people had benefitted from the scheme. Although the discoms earned Rs83.22 crore through resolution of grievances, waivers given to consumers amounted to more than Rs100 crore. Under the scheme, consumers in JJ clusters were charged Rs250 per month for the period for which they had not paid their dues and had the option of paying it in instalments over six months. The late payment surcharge was also fully waived off for them. Besides, all criminal or civil proceedings against those who voluntarily disclosed having tampered with meters were withdrawn. Marcus Kruger Womens Jersey