Kalpakkam nuclear power station to be shut for three days due to Vardah
The atomic power station at Kalpakkam, located 75km from Chennai, has shut down both its units due to cyclone Vardah. They will be back into service in about three days, said Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) station director R Satyanarayana on Tuesday. On Monday, both the units were functioning normally till power lines tripped one by one, said a press release, adding: “Yesterday, both the units were operating normally and generating power of 180MW each. On receipt of cyclone warning, all preparatory actions have been taken and the Station Cyclone Protection Committee has been activated to continuously monitor and oversee the arrangements.” As the wind speed was very high that is 100km per hour, the 230KV power lines tripped one by one, it said, adding, “as the power evacuation from station was not possible, both the units were brought to safe shut down state. After normalization of all 230KV power lines, the units will be brought back into service in about three days.” Eddie Vanderdoes Authentic Jersey
Leveraging the sun to power India’s future
In 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi first placed solar energy at the core of the energy mix that would fuel India’s economic growth, scepticism abounded: how will the government deliver? Isn’t the target of 100 gigawatts (GW) of solar energy, later revised to 175GW of renewable energy, by 2022, too ambitious? Also, isn’t solar energy expensive? How will India’s poor afford it? Just about two years later, the answers are emerging—slowly but steadily. This past Friday, the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) called for bids to install 1GW of rooftop solar power projects on central government buildings—its largest tender yet in this segment. India is already home to the world’s largest single-location solar power plant which has been set up by the Adani Group at Kamuthi in Tamil Nadu. The 648 megawatts (MW) project, built in a record time of eight months, dislodged California’s 550MW Topaz Solar Farm in September to secure the top spot and propel India past the 10GW total capacity threshold. Indeed, huge advances have been made in the past few years—in terms of solar energy specifically and renewable energy in general. According to a Bloomberg New Energy Finance report, the solar sector has had an impressive compound annual growth rate of 59% in the last four fiscal years and its installed capacity at the end of the FY2016 was pegged at 6.8GW. Similarly, the share of renewable energy in India’s total energy mix has also increased from 12.5% in FY2013 to 14.1% in FY2016. Yes, this also shows how fossil fuels still make up the majority of India’s energy basket but let’s not ignore how quickly renewables are catching up. With a cumulative CAGR of 15%, renewables are growing at a faster rate than coal power plants, which are increasing at 12.5%. Now, place this against the backdrop of India’s large untapped renewable energy potential—according to the government-developed India Energy Security Scenarios, India can achieve 479GW of solar power and 410GW of wind power by 2047—and it is possible to see how, if India plays its cards correctly, solar and other forms of renewable energy may eventually drive economic growth. Specifically, India seems to be on track to achieve its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution, promised as part of the Paris pact to fight climate change, to get at least 40% of its total installed power from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030. In terms of pricing, SECI breached new frontiers yet again in November with a record low tariff offering of Rs3 per unit. The winning firm at the reverse auction—Gurgaon-based Amplus Energy Solutions Pvt. Ltd, which will be installing a total of 14.5MW of solar rooftop plants across the country—has promised these rates specifically for Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Puducherry. At one level, low tariff offering doesn’t come as a surprise—this figure has been consistently falling since 2010 when it was pegged at Rs17.91 per unit; over the past few years, it had somewhat stabilized at about Rs5 per unit when the US-based SunEdison, one of the world’s largest renewable energy firms and which has now filed for bankruptcy protection, shook up the market in late 2015, offering to sell power at Rs4.63 per unit to win NTPC Ltd’s contract for a 500MW solar park in Andhra Pradesh. Months later, in January, Finnish company Fortum FinnSurya Energy Pvt. Ltd went a step ahead and quoted Rs4.34 per unit to secure the contract for 70MW solar plant at NTPC’s Bhadla Solar Park in Rajasthan. What these low rates now mean for consumers is that solar energy, which until recently was too expensive for large-scale use in a developing country, is now on track to compete with cheap fossil fuels. Today, India’s cheapest electricity tariff is at around Rs1-2 per unit. This rate is for the farm sector which is followed by the residential sector and then the commercial sector. But while these are of course promising figures, there is still a long way to go. The low tariffs, for example, are a double-edged sword. Driven by aggressive bids from firms desperate for a toe-hold in this sunrise sector, they have fuelled concerns about viability and project financing, especially for those below the Rs5 per unit threshold. SunEdison, in fact, has put its India assets on the block (some of which were incidentally picked up by Amplus). Moreover, India still has to make available the necessary capital for developing renewable energy infrastructure—the former Planning Commission had estimated under the 12th Five Year Plan that more than a trillion dollars will be required—and it will have to work every option on the table (from domestic industry to international donors) to fund this turnaround. Similarly, several structural issues in the distribution of power need to be addressed. India’s installed capacity of 275GW is already in excess of its demand of 140GW. Yet, there are still parts of the country where there is no electricity while in many others, power cuts are the norm. This is due to a variety of factors such as coal supply shortage, transmission losses and the poor health of power utilities. As renewables enter this mix, they will have to be integrated into the existing system and structure. As a NITI Aayog expert group report notes, “A probable re-engineering of institutions, the redefinition of policies, the re-tuning of power systems, and the replacement of old habits with new ones” will be required. This fundamental re-structuring of the country’s power and energy infrastructure will be its biggest challenge. Alex Tuch Womens Jersey
Is solar sector truly achieving grid parity?
Amplus Energy Solutions won projects across ten states in the bids conducted by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for rooftop solar power. The tariff offered for projects in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry and Chandigarh was the lowest in history—Rs 3 per unit of electricity. And in six other states, tariff rates between Rs 5 and 6 per unit were offered. The bidding comes at a point where grid parity of renewable energy is being hailed as a turning point of electricity scenario in India. Grid parity is a situation when generating electricity from alternative sources of energy like renewables costs more or less the same as conventional sources. This means renewable energy sources can generate electricity at the rate similar or equal to thermal power generation. Unfortunately, the Rs 3-per-unit-tariff is certainly not a step in that direction. The price can be achieved because the government is offering subsidies worth 70 percent of the capital cost, ranging from Rs 38,500 to Rs 52,500 in the capital expenditure model. There is a direct infusion of subsidy for every kilowatt (kW) in the rooftop solar sector. But even the solar sector, in general, has witnessed tariff rates fall to an all time low. This is because of reverse bidding rather aggressive reverse bidding in central and state solar project auctions that has yielded tariff offer of around Rs 4.34 per unit in January by Fortum Finnsurya Energy, a Finland-based company operating out of Rajasthan. It was beaten less than a month ago by tenders worth 750 MW of solar at Bhadla Solar Park in Rajasthan which benchmarked by the tariff at Rs 3.93 per unit of power generation. Again, this low benchmark cost is for a 750 MW that would receive viability gap funding (VGF) of 30 per cent. VGF is a capital subsidy to bridge the gap between the project cost dictated by the prevailing electricity rate and the price quoted by a developer. Can we deem this achievement as grid parity when the realisation of a low tariff is under the capital subsidy provided by the government when most of these projects have not seen a financial closure because banks do not consider these projects financially viable? Not just direct capital subsidy Apart from the capital subsidy for rooftop and VGF for larger solar projects, the government offers a tax benefit called accelerated depreciation (AD) to all the projects that are not entitled to a direct capital subsidy. AD is the depreciation of fixed assets at a fast rate early in their useful lives. This AD is tax rebate that the project enjoys for the first few years of operation. This form of incentive is provided by the government to increase investment in any particular sector. One of the primary reasons for the development of wind sector in India is AD. Seventy percent of the 28,279.40 MW installed wind power is based on AD. The impact of AD was felt when the government discontinued the rebate in 2012, and the entire sector saw stagnation. By intense lobbying, it was reintroduced for the development of wind sector, and now the capacity installed has bounced back. Subsidised grid parity versus unsubsidised grid parity India has set a target to achieve 175 gigawatts (GW) renewable energy capacity by 2022. Out of this, 100 GW has been allocated to solar and 60 GW to wind. This ambition was raised in July 2015 when India announced its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions to United Nations to show the strides it is willing to make to reduce carbon emissions. To meet these targets and for the development of and to attract investment in wind and solar sectors in India, there have been various forms of subsidies and tax incentives available. The question is with subsidies and other incentives involved, can the achievement of low tariffs be termed as achieving grid parity? Should India wait for a little for the sector to be deemed competitive when thermal power produces cheaper electricity without the backing up of subsidies? When banks do not consider most of these projects economically viable to fund, and they haven’t generated and supplied electricity at this rate, how can this be an achievement for the sector? However, India still has 237 million people who do not have access to electricity. We need to provide these people with reliable and affordable power as soon as possible. And if we have decided that renewable energy is the future of electricity, then we need to accept that today renewable energy is a little more expensive than thermal power without subsidies. We have to pay more for this clean energy and people with better paying capacity would have to share a bigger portion of this burden. Chukwuma Okorafor Jersey
No capacity addition needed for coal-based power from 2017-2022: draft plan
There will be no need for coal-based power generation capacity addition from 2017 to 2022 according to the Draft National Electricity Plan, 2016. The draft floated by the Central Electricity Authority, the government’s power policy ideating and monitoring body, also projects a subdued demand for power with a 20.7 per cent lower peak demand in 2026–27. The study assumes a committed capacity addition of 4,800 MW from nuclear, 12,000 MW from hydro and 100,000 MW from renewable energy sources during 2022-27. According to demand projections for the year 2026-27, “the study for the period 2022-27 reveals that a coal-based capacity addition of 44,085 MW is required. However, as coal based capacity of 50,025 MW is already under construction which is likely to yield benefits during 2017-22; this coal based capacity would fulfil the capacity requirement for the years 2022-27.” The report projects that peak demand is 235 GW at the end of year 2021- 22 which is around 17 per cent lower than the corresponding projections made by 18th Electric Power Survey (EPS) report. It further projects a peak demand of 317 GW at the end of 2026-27 which is around 20.7 per cent lower than the corresponding projections made by 18th EPS report. Interestingly, demand side management, energy efficiency and conservation measures would aid to a reduction in peak demand. The report notes that reduction in peak demand (MW) for utilities will be by 7277 MW in 2016-17, 9436 MW in 2021-22, and 12324 MW in 2026-27. Capacity addition from conventional sources will be 1,01,645 MW. This stands at 115 per cent against the target of 88,537 MW. The report also notes that 56 per cen of the total capacity addition during the 12th Plan will be coming from private sector. Capacity addition for hydro and nuclear (hydro – 5,601MW and nuclear -2,800 MW) in the 12th Plan period will be strained and the report notes that there is “likely to be considerable slippage” and that “factors affecting capacity addition in hydro and nuclear sectors need to be addressed urgently.” Wayne Gretzky Womens Jersey
India to export 220 MW electricity to Nepal
India is all set to export an additional 220 MW electricity to Nepal in a bid to lessen the perennial power crisis in the energy-starved Himalayan nation. Nepal will get 190 MW within three weeks and another 30 MW by another two months. Nepal currently imports 300-320 MW?electricity from India, the Indian embassy said in a tweet. Both governments are working towards increasing this amount by additional 250 MW in next two months. The electricity from India will be imported through various cross-border corridors. Though Nepal has huge potential of generating hydro energy of over 80,000 MW?round the year, it could not harness more than 800 MW as against the winter demand of more than 13,00 MW. The poor rate of production is attributed to lack of political consensus, instability and resource crunch. Nepal is going through power cuts of more than 13 hours a day in winter season, but has been managing the power crisis during rainy seasons as its power stations run in full capacity. After an upgrade of the Muzaffarpur-Dhalkebar cross border transmission line, Nepal and India will be able to export and import more energy. The completion of this power corridor will allow Nepal to significantly increase its energy imports from India. Nepal is currently importing 80 MW from this station. During a meeting in November in New Delhi, the Indian side had agreed to add 220 to 250 MW electricity to Nepal, a senior Nepal government official said. As part of that agreement, India’s Power Trading Corporation had agreed to provide 30 MW electricity round the clock from Tanakpur substation located in far west of Nepal from Uttarakhand. Several cross-border transmission lines are proposed between Nepal and India, and some are already under construction. Patrick Chung Authentic Jersey
Power ministry projects fund requirement of Rs 10 lakh crore over five years through 2022
The power ministry has projected a mammoth fund requirement of Rs 10.33 lakh crore over the next five years (2017-22) for completion of the targeted electricity generation capacity during the period. This is a 40 per cent jump over the funding requirement of Rs 6.43 lakh crore estimated in 2012 for meeting the targets of power capacity addition in the current Plan period ending March 2017. The estimate for the five year period between 2017 and 2022 includes Rs 8.59 lakh crore for setting up 72,000 Megawatt (Mw) capacity in the conventional space and an additional 115,000 Mw in the renewable energy sector, apart from Rs 1.74 lakh crore funding for what the ministry calls “advance action” for the period 2022-27. Power ministry projects fund requirement of Rs 10 lakh crore over five years through 2022Power ministry projects fund requirement of Rs 10 lakh crore over five years through 2022 – ImageThe estimates are part of the draft of the National Electricity Plan (NEP) document compiled by the ministry’s technical and planning wing Central Electricity Authority (CEA). The document is prepared every five years for smooth commissioning of the targeted power capacity projects. “The requirement of funds for generation projects for 2017-2022 has been assessed based on total capacity addition of 72,495 Mw consisting of 50,025 Mw of coal and lignite-based power stations, 4,340 Mw of gas-based power stations, 15,330 Mw of hydro generation and 2,800 Mw of nuclear generation,” CEA said in the draft NEP, inviting stakeholders’ comments on the document. CEA said the fund requirement has been assessed based on assumptions of cost per Mw for various types of generation projects based on present day costs and year-wise phasing of expenditure. It clarified the estimate does not include funds required for Renovation and Maintenance of power plants and captive generation projects. For the five year period beyond 2022, the ministry has estimated fund requirement to the tune of Rs 6 lakh crore. “The fund requirement for the period 2022-27 has been calculated based on capacity addition of 1,16,800 Mw consisting of 0 Mw thermal, 12,000 Mw hydro, 4,800 Mw nuclear and 1,00,000 Mw renewable capacity addition,” the CEA said. Power ministry projects fund requirement of Rs 10 lakh crore over five years through 2022Power ministry projects fund requirement of Rs 10 lakh crore over five years through 2022 – Image CEA said the fund requirements for 2022-27 have been assessed based on assumptions of cost per megawatt for various types of generation projects based on escalation of 20 per cent of present day costs, except for solar projects, the cost of which has been retained and year-wise phasing of expenditure. The document also states 70 per cent of the cost of central sector projects and 80 per cent of the cost of state sector projects would be met through debt. For private sector projects, the debt component has been assumed at 75 per cent. The NEP document also states debt for the projects would be sourced through domestic term loans from banks, financial institutions and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC). The government would also source debt from domestic bonds and foreign currency loans in addition to a $1-1.5 billion fund that would be set up through the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd (Ltd) for renewable projects. Pernell McPhee Womens Jersey
Power utility charging excess, say consumers
The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) is demanding excess ‘wheeling’ charges from subsidised customers – farmers and powerloom owners – and the government should stop this, demanded the Maharashtra Veej Grahak Sanghatana, a power consumers body. The MSEDCL, however, claimed that they have been following the directives. (Wheeling charges are charged to transfer electrical power through transmission and distribution lines from one utility’s service area to another’s.) The MSEDCL has been asked by the state electricity regulatory authority to unbundle the charges it collects from consumers – wheeling charges and energy charges – and has allowed the company to charge Rs 1.18 per unit as wheeling charges. “But the company has added the wheeling charge of Rs 1.18 per unit to the existing government subsidised tariff that has led to sharp increase in the rates,” said Pratap Hogade of the Maharashtra Veej Grahak Sanghatana. The company has failed to break up the government subsidy given to agriculture connections and to powerlooms. “For instance, the subsidised energy charge to farmers is Rs 0.55 per unit (though the MSEDCL tariff stands at Rs 2.58 per unit). To this charge, wheeling charge of Rs 1.18 per unit is added, making the tariff Rs 1.73 per unit despite the actual tariff decreasing by Rs 0.82 per unit. The actual rise in the tariff should be by Rs 0.36 per unit – totalling to Rs 0.91 per unit for the farmers using power up to 3 horsepower motors,” Hogade said. This is the condition with all other tariffs, where the government is subsidising the charges. “The government has promised subsidy as per earlier tariff, but after the MERC orders of unbundling the same, the new tariff is found to be lower than earlier tariff, excluding the wheeling charges. The consumers are at disadvantage as they are unable to get the benefit of the lower tariff and on the other hand wheeling charges have been directly added to the tariff. Imagine a farmer being charged Rs 0.55 per unit will not have to pay Rs 1.73 per unit, when actual charges come to Rs 0.91 per unit,” said Siddharth Soni, former consumer representative. The Maharashtra Veej Sanghatana has therefore demanded that the MERC and the state government step in and set things right. The MSEDCL officials, however, said that the wheeling charges have been levied only as per the MERC directions. “The MSEDCL has no right to charge as per its whims. We cannot charge anything as we are answerable to the MERC as well as the government. As far as government subsidy and other matters are concerned, we have not increased the charges to these subsidised consumers, but added the wheeling charges as per the directives,” a senior official from MSEDCL said. Jatavis Brown Womens Jersey
SECI Launches Largest Rooftop Solar PV Tender of 1 GW for Government Sector
As a step towards fulfilment of the Government of India’s target for installation of 40 GW rooftop solar power plants by the year 2022, Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has launched a tender of 1000 MW capacity for development of grid-connected rooftop solar capacity for Central Government Ministries/Departments. This is the largest rooftop tender launched by SECI and is expected to give a big boost to the hugely potent rooftop solar power generation segment. The 1000 MW tender, one of the largest globally, is a move to rapidly escalate rooftop solar capacity in the country,and comes in quick succession to SECI’s earlier tender of 500 MW capacity, targeting buildings in the residential/institutional and social sectors. SECI is the leading PSU in the rooftop solar segment, and has already commissioned over 54 MW capacity of rooftop solar projects under multiple government schemes. The 1000 MW tender is especially targeted at utilising the numerous buildings of the Central Government Ministries/Departments. The highlight of this tender is its innovative ‘Achievement-Linked Incentives scheme’ wherein the incentives in terms of capital subsidy shall be provided on the basis of performance achieved by designated Ministries/departments against their committed targets in the given time span. In this scheme the Grid connected rooftop solar systems shall be installed with the financial assistance for MNRE in the form of Incentives. The power generated from the systems shall be used for meeting the captive requirement of the buildings and the surplus power, if any, shall be fed to the grid under the net-metering arrangement of the respective State. Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) has allocated 21 Ministries/ Departments to SECI interalia Ministry of Human Resource Development, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs etc. The ministries have shown great enthusiasm and have assured their commitment with submission of “Green Energy Commitment Certificates” to MNRE for implementation of Grid Connected SPV power plants at the roof of their offices/other buildings etc., as part of their Clean energy initiatives and achieving National target of alleviating Global Warming. Various ministries/department have been sensitized by MNRE/SECI for implementation of Grid connected rooftop systems. MNRE has also collated the demand of the various Ministries/departments for implementation of the systems. Based on the indicative list of sites provided by MNRE and various interested Ministries, SECI is carrying out a potential assessment which shall be provided to the solar PV developers (SPD). The SPDs will be selected state-wise through national competitive bidding process and provision of one Rate / state shall be kept in the scheme. The 1000MW capacity will be distributed between CAPEX and RESCO modes of implementation in the ratio 30/70. In this scheme, SECI in consultation with MNRE, is also introducing a Payment Security Mechanism which is apparently a first in the history of the rooftop programme, with the assurance of all rightful payments to the SPDs under RESCO model. SECI has also tied up with Financial institutes (FIs) Banks such as IREDA and SBI for disbursement of loans with Special Discount Packages to be offered by these institutions to the developers. Mike Cammalleri Authentic Jersey
CAG flags variations in AT&C losses shown by Power Ministry
Expressing concern over implementation of a scheme meant for reducing Aggregate Technical and Commercial losses, Government auditor CAG has flagged variations in figures for these losses in various documents presented by Power Ministry before Parliament. In its report tabled in Parliament today, CAG also observed there were instances of diversion of R-APDRP funds and overlapping of schemes were noticed in some states. R-APDRP was launched in December 2008 as a continuation of the Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (APDRP). “Variations were noticed in the AT&C losses presented in various documents by the Minter of Power to Parliament. The methodology used for calculating the AT&C losses, though laid down, was not followed uniformly leading to varying estimates of the AT&C losses,” CAG said. The programme envisaged sustainable reduction of AT&C losses, establishment of reliable and automated system for collection of accurate base line data, adoption of Information Technology in the area of energy accounting, mapping all power distribution assets, indexing and metering all consumers for better billing efficiency. CAG stated that as against Rs 28,424 crore provided for the scheme in the XI and XII Plans periods, only Rs 12,415.04 crore was actually budgeted during 2008-09 to 2014-15 which was only 43.68 per cent of the envisaged amount. R APDRP scheme has been subsumed in Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) since December 2014 and no separate budget for R APDRP has been allocated after 2014-15. The actual releases during 2008-15 on R-APDRP scheme were only Rs 8,175.45 crore implying slow pace of scheme implementation. CAG noted that the counterpart funding (by state) was not tied up by many utilities implementing the scheme within the prescribed period. Audit noticed that Power Finance Corp PFC did not maintain records of counterpart funding raised by the utilities from financial Institutions. The CAG said that PFC submitted two sets of UCs (utilisation certificates) to the Ministry of Power. One indicating the total disbursement of central funds made by PFC to utilities and the other indicating the utilisation of funds by the utilities as received from them periodically. It observed that there was a considerable mismatch between both sets of UCs, UCs furnished by PFC indicated disbursement of Rs 8,606.62 crore while UCs from utilities indicated utilisation of a meagre Rs 4,155.88 crore (49.29 per cent of the total funds released) as on March 2016. Michael Roberts Womens Jersey
India focussing on clean energy but West has to do its part: Piyush Goyal
India is the world’s most attractive destination in the energy sector that has the potential to attract a trillion dollars in investment over the next few years, Union power minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday. The minister of state with independent charge for power, coal and renewable energy said that his optimism for the energy sector stemmed from the Narendra Modi government’s climate commitment. India has signed the Paris climate accord and is committed to significantly reducing its carbon footprint. And taking a lead on this mission is Goyal’s ministry of renewable energy. The government has set an ambitious target of setting up 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022. “Solar is a major focus. From 2500 MW in 2014, installed renewable energy is now 8500 MW. We have done three times in two years of what was done in the past many decades,” said the power minister on the second day of the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit. But Goyal’s ministry is working on adding equal weightage to other forms of green power such as wind and hydropower, by easing policies. The government is in the process of giving final touches to a hydropower policy that will address several issues that have plagued these projects, especially land acquisition. He was quick to clarify that India was not responsible for the worsening global warming concerns — even with 17% population it contributes to 2-2.5% of green house gases – but the government was committed to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. “It is an article of faith with the Modi government that we expand renewable energy and reduce pollution as we generate power,” Goyal said. The minister said the developed world had emitted a bulk of the greenhouse gases and based on the “polluter pays” principle, the West had a responsibility to help India. “We hope the West will come up to their promises. So far their efforts have been terrible.” Of India’s total installed power capacity of over 300 GW, about 46 GW is renewable including solar, wind and small hydropower projects. While Piyush Goyal is working overtime to increase the percentage of renewable sources in India’s energy mix, the minister feels that his initiatives will not disincentivise coal-based power projects. “We need coal-based thermal power to provide stable base load in the grid to support renewable sources of power,” said Goyal. Simply put, to avoid instability in power transmission, coal-based power is required to flow through grids, as renewable energy supply depends on weather conditions. Colt McCoy Jersey