Ministry of Defense pushes for use of solar power
The defence estates department of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is set to make off-grid solar power provisions mandatory for large buildings. These provisions are likely to carry incentives in the form of rebates and space exemptions. These rules could be applicable in the cantonment areas, implied by their inclusion in the recently-released draft of the new building bylaws of defence estates. The bylaws are expected to take effect in the first quarter of 2017, after public comment and approval by the MoD. “A lot of our officials and members had wanted to include these provisions as new bylaws, and so it is heartening to see the Centre include such provisions in the new bylaws, especially when the government has been investing in solar power on an unprecedented level. It involves a public interest as well, as it reduces electricity consumption on the regular grid,” said a senior official of the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB). The PCB itself is already setting up backup off-grid solar power facilities for its buildings, most notably in its Shankarsheth Road headquarters as well as in the schools run by it. The required photovoltaic cells are largely being subsidized by the Centre. If the current draft is approved, buildings on land more than 100 square metres in area will have to compulsorily make provisions for solar power, while smaller properties will be “encouraged” through tax rebates and exemptions of building rules. “Through a series of rebates and space exemptions, we will set up the conditions for them so that they can set up photovoltaic cells on their rooftops as well,” said an engineering department official of the PCB. Some cantonment boards are also expected to tie up with solar energy firms which have agreements with the Centre to provide off-grid solar facilities at subsidized rates. Almost all of those subsidies are being paid out through the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). Patrik Nemeth Jersey
PowerGrid to electrify 761-km rail track at Rs 889 cr
Power Grid Corporation will electrify 761 km of rail lines in the country at a cost of Rs 888.96 crore as part of Indian Railways’ plan to energise 24,000 km track in the next five years. “The Ministry of Railways has allotted 761 kms of railway route electrification work at cost of Rs 888.96 crore to Power Grid Corp (PGCIL),” a senior official told PTI. The letter of allotment was handed over to the power ministry Joint Secretary (transmission) Jyoti Arora and PGCIL Director Ravi P Singh by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu during the international conference on Decarbonization of India Railways Mission Electrification held in the capital, the official said. Among the four stretches to be electrified by PGCIL are Pune-Miraj-Kolhapur 326 km at a cost of Rs 513.07 crore, Chhindwara-Nainpur-Mandla Fort 183 km at Rs 90.71 crore, Londa-Miraj 189 km at Rs 208.15 crore and Mansi-Sahrsa-Dauram Madhepura 63 km at Rs 77.03 crore. The electrification project will help the government cut down crude import and also ensure faster movement of trains on these tracks. At present, around 35,000 km of rail track remains unelectrified. The electrification of tracks is expected to help the Railways save around Rs 10,000 crore annually. Indian Railways consumes around 2.8 billion litres of diesel annually, at a cost of around Rs 18,000 crore — nearly 18 per cent of its working expenses. Earlier this year, Power Minister Piyush Goyal had talked about the government’s plans to rope in PGCIL for meeting the tall order of electrifying 35,000 km of tracks. Goyal had also said PGCIL would do a pilot of 1,000 km to assess its capability. Indian Railways has planned to electrify 24,000 km of rail track in the next five years to reduce dependence of fossil fuel. According to the minister, the electrification of entire rail tracks in the country will lead to power consumption going up by 7 billion units. Trevor Daley Womens Jersey
WBERC allows marginal power tariff hike to CESC
West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission (WBERC) has allowed only four paisa increase in average tariff per unit of power for financial year 2016-17 against 38 paisa rise allowed in the multi-year tariff order, a decision which would hit power utility CESC Ltd. The West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission has fixed average tariff of Rs 7.02 paisa per unit in 2016-17 over last year’s Rs 6.98 paisa, up four paisa. “In the multi-year tariff order issued earlier we had given an average tariff of Rs 7.36 per unit. But, given the latest developments, we have revised it lower to Rs 7.02 paisa,” WBERC Chairman R N Sen told PTI. Sources at the RP Sanjiv Goenka group firm CESC said the order is part of the fine tuning of tariff for 2016-17 as part of multi year tariff order by the regulator. An analyst predicts a negative revenue impact of Rs 30-40 crore a year. Conor Timmins Womens Jersey
Peak power supply shortage below 1,000 MW for four days
For the last four days in consecution, peak power supply shortage in India has been consistently below 1,000 MW for the first time ever. This, however, has been a result of falling demand over the same period which also resulted in half the power offered for sale at power exchanges remaining unsold. Recently, there have been instances of power deficit being less than 1000 MW but those have been one off instances. Between October 29 and November 1, the peak demand deficit hovered between 649 MW and 830 MW. In fact, this year peak demand shortages hovered below 2000 MW even when demand had touched 150,000 MW. In contrast, the defcit used to be at least 5000 mw last year. “In papers we are close to attaining zero power deficit and large number of states record zero deficit for days on, however, distribution companies are still to buy the adequate volume of power for everyone. Financial crunch with discoms have been a stumbling block in attaining a real zero deficit. The centre’s scheme UDAY is a step to solve the issue,” said an analyst on condition on anonymity. According to data released by the National Load Despatch Centre – the pan India body that takes care of power flow in the country, demand declined from about 130,000 mw to 1,30,000 during the four days in which power deficit fell below 1000 mw. In fact, during these four days, only about 50% of the power offered for sale at the power exchanges found buyers even at prices as low as Rs 2 per unit or less. Marshall Newhouse Jersey
BSES gears up to meet Delhi’s winter power demand
New Delhi, Peak power demand in Delhi this winter is expected to be around 4,500 MW-4,600 MW and the two BSES discoms in the national capital are gearing up to ensure adequate electricity is available during this period, the company said on Thursday. “Last year, power demand had peaked at around 4,125 MW. Besides long-term arrangements, we are also using advanced techniques like Banking and Backdown to dispose off surplus power and making arrangements to get power during summer months,” a statement here said. “In case of any unforeseeable contingency, BSES discoms will buy short-term power from the exchange which is available at economical rates,” it added. South and central Delhi areas, which come under BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd. (BRPL), had seen the peak power demand of 1,829 MW last winter, that is expected to cross 1,900 MW this winter. “To reduce night surplus power, BRPL will bank surplus of around 200 MW with states like Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Meghalaya,” a BSES official said. In east Delhi, the area under BSES Yamuna Power Ltd. (BYPL), peak demand had reached 890 MW during last winter and is expected to touch 950 MW mark during the coming winter months, according to the company. ” BYPL has arranged for an additional 150 MW from Punjab for December and January. To reduce the night surplus, BYPL will supply around 175 MW to Bihar between December and March,” the statement added. Phil Simms Womens Jersey
Uttarakhand electricity regulator wants Power Corpn to get long-term supply deals
The central as well as Uttarakhand government had envisioned round-the-clock supply of electricity to consumers. However, with the increase in demand and absence of capacity addition, the state has been witnessing shortages even in summer months, when hydro-electric supply levels are high. Keeping this in mind, the Uttarakhand Electricity Regulatory Commission (UERC) has been pushing Uttarakhand Power Corporation Ltd (UPCL) to enter into long-term commitments with electricity generators. At present the installed capacity of the generating stations under the control of Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam (UJVN) is about 1,250 megawatt (MW), while actual generation is almost 900 MW in summer. Power available from central generating stations is about 700 MW and peak demand during summer months in the state is around 2,000 MW, thereby resulting in shortage of about 500 MW. For the first time, UERC has approved UPCL to enter into long-term (25-35 years) power purchasing agreements (PPAs) with thermal (gas) and hydro generators. Significant reforms are taking place in the power sector and funds are available to the distribution companies both from the central and state governments to improve power network, reduce losses and ensure quality and reliable supply of power at affordable prices. It is learnt that having taken care of the gap in demand and supply of power, UERC now intends to focus on ensuring that the consumers get optimum services from UPCL both in terms of quality and reliability of supply and other commercial issues pertaining to billing and metering. The commission has now decided to get this monitored by the state government. In this regard, a meeting was held in UERC’s office on Thursday under its chairman, Subhash Kumar, with the commissioner of Garhwal and district magistrates of all districts in Garhwal region, besides chief engineers, superintendent engineers and executive engineers from UPCL. Al Davis Jersey
Energy projects worth Rs 29,000 crore stuck in Vishakhapatnam
Two major projects in the energy sector with a combined investment of around Rs 29,000 crore by power PSU National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Trina Solar (Singapore) Science and Technology Energy for Visakhapatnam district are in limbo for almost a year now due to various obstacles. While NTPC had planned to set up a 4,000 MW super thermal power project at Pudimadaka, about 60 kms south of Vizag city at an investment of Rs 26,000 crore, Trina Solar was expected to set up a Rs 2,800-crore high efficiency solar cell and module production project at Atchuthapuram in the district. According to sources, even though NTPC had held a public hearing in August last year, the project is yet to take off as a decision is pending on coal allocation for the proposed thermal power plant. Sources said while Union power and coal minister Piyush Goyal had promised fuel linkage from domestic coal mines, a formal order on it is yet be issued due to which the project has not moved ahead. “Earlier, there were plans to import coal for the project planned at Pudimadaka, but later it was decided to use domestic coal. We need high GCV coal for higher productivity and we are expecting coal linkage from the Raniganj coalfield in West Bengal as it has high GCV (gross calorific value),” an NTPC official said. The sources said environmental clearance for the project and awarding of tenders can be completed only after the coal linkage is finalised for the project. NTPC Pudimadaka super thermal power project is expected to be developed on an area of around 1,500 acres. Meanwhile, Trina Solar had inked a memorandum of understanding to set up a Rs 2,800 crore plant at Atchutapuram, which would provide employment to around 3,500 people. Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) sources said Trina Solar had been allotted around 90 acres for the project. Trina Solar had planned to set up a high efficiency solar cell and module production project in two phases with a capacity of 700 MW cells and 500 MW modules in the first phase and subsequently expanding it to 1.4 GW cell and 1 GW module capacity in the second phase. “The foundation stone for the project was laid in January earlier this year but the company is expecting more incentives from the state government including a dedicated power line before moving forward. It also wants the government to develop the plot by increasing the height of the land by half a metre. The project is proposed on around 90 acres and to increase the height will be very costly,” said an APIIC official. He said the state government has already issued various incentives as per the AP electronics policy. J.T. Brown Womens Jersey
Adani, JSW and SembCorp in race to buy BC Jindal group’s Odisha power plant
Jindal India Thermal Power Ltd (JITPL), a part of the BC Jindal group, is in talks with prospective buyers to sell its 1,200MW thermal power plant in Odisha, three people familiar with the development said. The plant in Odisha’s Angul district has so far received competing offers from Singapore’s SembCorp, Adani Power and JSW Energy, one of the three people cited above said, requesting anonymity. “The sell side mandate was given to EY around three months ago following which SembCorp has made an upfront cash offer of close to Rs1,600 crore for the equity component of the project,” said the person cited above. “JSW and Adani have offered a higher price of more than Rs2,000 crore, but the offer involves an upfront cash payment of around Rs500 crore to Rs600 crore towards equity and the remaining upon fulfilment of certain conditions linked to singing of power purchase agreements and coal linkages,” the person said. “JSW is keen to replicate the same structure it followed while buying JSPL’s (Naveen Jindal-led Jindal Steel and Power Ltd’s) 1,000MW thermal unit this year, where it paid Rs500 crore cash advance while tying up the rest of the payment to pre-defined conditions regarding fuel security and power offtake,” the person added. Emails sent to Adani group, SembCorp and EY did not elicit any response at the time of going to press. A JSW Energy spokesperson denied that the company is in talks to buy the asset. “Your query is completely speculative and baseless. The company reiterates that there is no truth and categorically deny any discussion by JSW Energy with them,” the spokesperson said. JITPL is controlled by listed firms Jindal Poly Investments Ltd (JPIL) and Jindal Photo Ltd (JPL) through Jindal India Powertech Ltd, a holding company owned by JPIL and JPL. “The promoters have been in talks to sell the unit in the past too, but a deal did not materialize due to valuation mismatches. However, things are likely to be different this time because JITPL needs some immediate cash infusion to pay lenders and is already behind its repayment schedule,” the second person said, also declining to be named. “Also, a section of minority shareholders want the promoters to divest from power and focus on the core poly films business,” the person added. An email sent to JITPL and BC Jindal group did not receive a response. The Angul project was completed at a cost of Rs7,537 crore with overall debt of Rs5,900 crore and an equity of Rs1,637 crore. Industry analysts said that if the SembCorp offer is accepted, JIPL and JPL could get Rs600 crore and Rs160 crore, respectively, of the proceeds and another Rs685 crore to Jindal Poly Films Ltd, the listed operating entity of the group. JITPL currently has long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) for 256MW capacity (156MW with Odisha Gridco and 100MW with Kerala State Electricity Board Ltd) and has also executed a 12-year PPA with Tata Power Trading Corp. Ltd (TPTCL) for a capacity of up to 900MW at a guaranteed base tariff of Rs2.70 per unit. Concerns over fuel supplies, high interest cost and absence of long-term PPAs among thermal power producers in India has led to distress among several power companies and has led to many assets changing hands. In July, Sajjan Jindal-promoted JSW signed a definitive agreement to acquire Jaiprakash Power Ventures’ 500MW thermal plant at Bina in Madhya Pradesh at base enterprise value of Rs2,700 crore. In April last year, Adani Power completed the acquisition of Lanco Infratech’s Udupi Power plant for Rs6,300 crore, one of the largest takeovers in the country’s thermal power space. Irving Fryar Jersey
India Wavers on Emissions as Power Plants Balk at Price Tag
ndia may ease a deadline to cut pollution from coal-fired power plants blamed for causing the world’s worst air quality amid pressure from generators who say it’s too difficult to implement the $37 billion reforms. The deadline to meet all the new standards may be pushed back beyond the original December 2017 target, said S.D. Dubey, chairman of the Central Electricity Authority and head of the panel drafting the road map for power producers to meet the new guidelines. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government proposed the limits on toxic emissions in December 2015. The delay highlights the challenge facing Modi’s administration to provide cleaner air alongside affordable and reliable power to all of the country’s 1.3 billion people. Limiting emissions would take longer than the government’s original two-year deadline and cost as much as 2.5 trillion rupees ($37.4 billion), the Association of Power Producers, a lobby group of non-state generators, said in March. The new goals may be implemented “in a phased manner,” Dubey said in a phone interview. “Particulate matter emissions should be addressed in the first phase. The next step would be sulfur dioxide emissions and later on oxides of nitrogen. That’s the direction we are moving in.” The office of Federal Environment Secretary A.N. Jha, whose ministry originally proposed the standards, didn’t respond to e-mails seeking comment. India’s 187 gigawatts of coal-fired power capacity, which generate more than 75 percent of the nation’s electricity, contribute to the air pollution that makes India home to what the World Health Organization has determined are 11 of the top 20 cities on the planet with the worst air quality. The plants account for 61 percent of its generation capacity, according to the Central Electricity Authority. India must first establish monitoring systems at all plants to establish an emissions baseline, determine what technologies will be appropriate and then install them at the plants, said Leslie Sloss, an analyst with the IEA Clean Coal Centre, a technology cooperation program of the Paris-based International Energy Agency. “The time frame for the new norms is extremely challenging and probably not possible in practice,” Sloss said. “The new norms equate to India complying with emissions standards within a few years that Western economies have worked up to over decades. ” Coal-fired power plants contribute to the release of about 60 percent of India’s industrial particulate matter, as much as half of the sulfur dioxide and 30 percent of oxides of nitrogen, the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment said in a report in December, weeks after the new standards were announced. “The emission norms require capital expenditure, which will lead to an increase in tariffs and burden the already weak financials of state power retailers,” said Sachin Mehta, an analyst at Mumbai-based Centrum Broking Ltd. “The plan is fraught with challenges. It is impossible to meet the current deadline.” NTPC Ltd., India’s biggest power producer, rose 1 percent to 156.50 rupees as of 12:59 p.m. in Mumbai. Non-state generators Reliance Power Ltd. and Adani Power Ltd. fell 1.5 percent and 2 percent, respectively. Kyle Rudolph Jersey
UP GOVT NOT UTILIZED ELECTRIFICATION FUNDS PROPERLY: CENTRAL GOVT
Replying to the letters sent by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav demanding more funds for rural electrification in the state, the Centre has replied that despite all-around support from Central Government, the power situation in Uttar Pradesh continues to remain a matter of concern. According to an official release from the Union power ministry says out of Rs 22,533 crore sanctioned to the state in about 10 years for electrification, only 34 per cent has been utilised by UP government. UP has been asking for additional funds while it is not been able to utilise the existing ones, the statement claimed while added that the Power Ministry has now started a detailed monthly progress review of the all power project in UP with State Power Secretaries and officials. The statement claimed that only three new villages were electrified in 2012-13 and 2013-14. Electrification has reached 1,364 villages during 2014-15 and 2015-16. Further, mere 22 per cent of the 92,323 villages identified for intensive electrification are reported to be energized. The Central Government, through Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) is working in this direction by putting pressure on the state government for taking up works. Under the rural electrification scheme called Deen Dayal Upadhyay Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojna, state governments identify and implement village projects and REC sanctions funds after vetting them. REC’s had last year appointed 309 young local rural electrification engineers at block and district level to monitor the progress of rural electrification in various states. REC Power Distribution will relocate some GVAs from other states to complete assessment of the 1,450 villages in UP by end of this month, it said. In fact, Uttar Pradesh gets top priority in all power projects and that the state has been allotted the maximum of Rs 6,946 crore under the Deendayal Upadhaya Gram Jyoti Yojana. In other projects too, Uttar Pradesh is being given special emphasis by the Central Government. The efforts are on to provide power to all the villages of the state by 2019 and the number of DVAs in the state will be increased. In fact, the progress of ongoing electrification process on a real time basis can be tracked by all the users and stakeholders on GARV mobile app. Earlier UP CM had wrote several letters to the Central power ministry for granting more funds for the projects in the state. Manu Ginobili Jersey