IT-enabled power distribution to save Rs 10,000 crore annually
Government aims to save as much as Rs 10,000 crore annually by leveraging information technology to ramp up its power distribution network in urban towns by January 2019. Moving in this direction, the Power Ministry is likely to award the works to have IT-driven power distribution in as many as 2,636 towns across the country by December this year. The entire work will take at least two years after the award of works. “The detailed project report for making IT enabled power distribution system in 2,636 urban towns will be ready in two months. Power Ministry will be able to award the work by December this year. It will take two years to complete the task thereafter,” a senior official told PTI. The official further said: “This requires an investment of about Rs 1 crore in each town because the Centre with state governments have already created other required infrastructure like data and customer centres under the Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (R-APDRP).” “As per our latest study, the estimated savings across 76 such towns with IT enabled power distribution system across 14 states was Rs 185 crore. If we extrapolate that to 1,226 towns which have gone live online, then it comes to around Rs 5,000 crore every year. Once all 4,041 urban towns will be linked online, the savings would be to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore annually,” the official added. R-APDRP had covered 1,405 urban towns in the country but out of these 1,226 were made to have IT enabled power distribution system. IT enabled power distribution systems helps discoms reducing aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses. This aids them to monitor the feeders online. Besides IT driven power distribution system provides consumers a host of services like online bill payment, applying for new connection and knowing status of power supply situation in these towns in real time basis. As part of the project, as many as 48 engineers designated as Urban Vidyut Abhiyantas (UVAs) were roped in July this year to assist the discoms, facilitating better consumer connect and monitoring of Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS). Nick Leddy Womens Jersey
Smart grids reduce power generation shortfall
Computer-assisted smart power grids help reduce power generation shortfall, and result in improved delivery and more efficient billing, a study in Britain has concluded. “A smart grid is a complex modern electricity system which utilises sensors, monitoring, communications and automation, to improve the electricity system,” the researchers wrote in the study. “Smart grids fundamentally change the way in which we generate, distribute and monitor our electricity. They dramatically improve the efficiency, flexibility and reliability of the existing electricity infrastructure,” the researchers said. Carl Chalmers, Michael Mackay and Aine MacDermott of Liverpool John Moores University, in England, explained in their research, published in the International Journal of Smart Grid and Green Communications, the advantages of a smart grid over the traditional energy grid. They said smart grids use a vast interconnected infrastructure that allows two-way communication and automation throughout the entire grid — from generator to consumer and back — striking out the possibility of a malicious manipulation into the metering system for the sake of sabotage, criminal or online military/terrorist action. The researchers, however, suggested that after knowing the possible worst-case scenario with regard to the smart grid and smart meters, countries must put in place security measures to protect the infrastructure. The research team noted that critical infrastructures present a tempting target for terrorists, military strikes and hackers wanting to cause disruption, steal information or incapacitate a country remotely. Edinson Volquez Womens Jersey
States to Get Centre’s Financial Support for Free Power Scheme
The Centre will extend financial support to states to enable them to offer new electricity connections free of cost to everyone. At present, electricity connections to only below poverty line (BPL) families are offered for free. A senior government official said the Union power ministry has proposed to extend the free connections scheme to all in line with the Centre’s goal to achieve 24×7 power for all by March 2019. Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) is working on a scheme to provide long-term loans to states that agree to offer free new electricity connections. The scheme will be a key issue for discussion when Union power minister Piyush Goyal meets state power ministers during the two-day conference of power ministers starting October 7 in Gujarat. REC is working on a scheme for financing the power distribution companies so that they could release new electricity connections to households. The scheme covers funding of expenses like laying of lines to give access to electricity, installation of meters and other accessories. As per the plan, the distribution companies will have to get new connection plans approved by REC, which will reimburse expenses incurred by power utilities in giving electricity access to households. “It will be an optional scheme for the states. Some states may not see merit in providing free power connections to remote areas that are not connected to the electricity grid. We would encourage such states to at least offer electricity connections on easy monthly instalments of as low as 100 per month for 4-5 years,” the government official said. The Centre has shifted focus to 100% household electrification in all states from the rural electrification programme where a village is declared electrified if 10% of households and all public places have electricity access. It has asked all states to assess the number of unelectrified households and cost estimate for creating the necessary infrastructure to provide the electricity access. As per preliminary estimates, there are 5.98 crore unelectrified households in India. The government targets to provide access to electricity connections to all Indian citizens by December 2018, while it aims to make power available 24*7 to all by March 2019, ahead of the earlier target of March 2022. Sebastian Janikowski Jersey
In a turnabout, Karnataka electrified with surplus power
Reeling under severe shortage of power until a few months ago, Karnataka is all of a sudden left with the bounty of surplus power. The surplus generation has left the energy department in a dilemma of whether to make arrangements for purchase of power to cope with the summer crisis or manage with its own. On Friday, power generation in the state was augmented after Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) successfully commissioned the third unit of Ballari Thermal Power Plant (BTPS) at Kuditini in Ballari. It can generate 700 Mw of power, and has been billed as the only generating unit owned by the state with such a huge capacity. Now all three units of BTPS are capable of generating about 35-40 million units of energy per day. Energy minister DK Shivakumar told Bangalore Mirror that the commissioning of the unit, though delayed by several months, was a major milestone for the department. “The unit alone is capable of generating 700 Mw. At this stage, the state is surplus with power and we are hopeful of overcoming the power crisis this summer.” Addressing media persons in Ballari, G Kumar Naik, MD, KPCL said, “The unit had raised expectations due to its huge generation capacity. At the time of the trial, the unit clocked a generation of 711 Mw of power.” The required coal for the third unit will be supplied from West Bengal. The state has allocated 2.34 TMC of water from the nearby Narayanpur dam for the unit. Leo Komarov Womens Jersey
Kudankulam could work on next-gen N-fuel in near-term: Russia
The Russian-built Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu could, in the near future, be operating on the newer generation TVS-2M fuel assembly, which offers increased uranium capacity, improved heat reliability and enhanced operational safety, a senior Russian official has said. “Today we can offer our Indian colleagues a more modern design of nuclear fuel — TVS-2M — with improved economic and technical characteristics,” Oleg A. Grigoryev, Vice President of TVEL, the fuel company run by the ROSATOM national atomic energy corporation, told IANS in an e-mail interview from Moscow. “Negotiations on this issue are already underway with Indian partners. We are ready to change KNPP’s fuel as soon as possible according to all requirements of the Indian Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) for greater reliability and security of fuel assemblies,” he said. Currently, the first two 1,000 MW units are operational at Kudankulam. Four more are in the pipeline. According to Grigoryev, the only restriction on supplying the advanced nuclear fuel assemblies is the existing agreement over the UTVS fuel now being supplied. “The only restriction for this project is time. As soon as the UTVS fuel has been used, the station will operate on the new fuel,” Grigoryev said. TVEL accounts for around 17 per cent of the global nuclear fuel market. The company supplies fuel worldwide for research, transport and commercial power reactors. TVEL’s fuel development programmes for Russian-designed VVER light water reactors in Russia and abroad aim to increase their service life and cost-effectiveness. “After transfer to TVS-2M the customer will not face additional difficulties. The new fuel will save (create) 60-70 operational days in around three years (due to reduced downtime),” the Russian said. Grigoryev also spoke of “localisation” of production. “We are ready to support the efforts of our Indian partners in the localisation of the production of nuclear fuel in India. But it should be understood that the plant should be cost-effective,” he said, echoing the argument of Chinese solar module manufacturers, for instance, who have to grapple with India’s domestic component requirements under the National Solar Programme. “We have repeatedly carried out economic calculations and estimated the number of plants to which fuel has to be supplied to make it profitable. The result, together with regional and country-specificity, ranges from 10 to 12 units,” Grigoryev said. “We hope that in the next 10 years the first components produced in India will be used in the fuel for Indian nuclear power plants,” he said, adding, however, that preparations need to start right away “to work on adaptation of Indian legislation to Russian standards, to teach Indians who will be engaged in manufacturing.” Russia has offered India a new range of reactor units — the VVER-Toi (typical optimised, enhanced information) design — for the third and fourth units of the Kudankulam project. In this connection, former Atomic Energy Commission chairman and ex-secretary Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) M.R. Srinivasan said TVEL has supplied fuel for KNPP and fuel pellets for India’s Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors. “India will work with TVEL on localisation of nuclear fuel. This could be achieved in about five years,” he said. “There will be more localisation for KNPP units 3, 4, 5 and 6. Cooperation between India and TVEL will grow in the coming years,” he added. An inter-governmental agreement between India and Russia was signed in December 2008 for setting up Kudankulam’s units 3 to 6. The ground-breaking ceremony for construction of units 3 and 4 was performed earlier this year. According to Grigoryev, India plans to increase the number of Russian design reactors to 12 in the next 10-15 years. Chad Kelly Womens Jersey
Report on removal of 25MW renewable cap on hydro projects soon
A report on removing the 25 MW cap for hydro power projects to treat it as renewable would be put out soon for public consultation. “India’s renewable energy capacity could touch 225 GW by 2022 if hydroelectricity is added to the renewable category as is being done the world over,” Goyal told after his visit to the city and Limkheda in Dohad yesterday. “It is only in India where hydro projects below 25 MW are considered renewable and those above are considered non-renewable. I had asked officials to look into removing this distinction,” he said. The report is almost complete and will soon be put out for public consultation, he said. The minister visited Limkheda for reviewing arrangements for the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow for launching several tribal welfare schemes, including providing drinking water facilities. During his visit to Vadodara, Goyal met officials of the state government and Gujarat Urja Vidyut Nigam which along with Union Power Ministry will host the international Switch conference on energy sector here from October 6 to 10. A comprehensive policy to promote hydropower generation is likely to be announced soon with viability gap funding for projects, compulsory hydropower purchase obligations for distribution companies and a set of good practices that states have to follow. The idea is to address factors that drive hydropower costs up way above those of other sources of power and give policy support in its market development. The ministry will also expand the scope of power distribution companies’ renewable power purchase obligations to include hydropower from projects with a capacity greater than 25 MW. At present, only power from those with less than 25 MW is considered renewable. Goyal had earlier said that the new hydropower policy will be comprehensive. “It will explore the possibility of providing to hydroelectric projects beyond 25 MW the benefits that are at present available to renewable energy,” he said. Robert Alford Womens Jersey
Piyush Goyal asks electrical equipment makers to ensure quality
Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal on September 15 asked electrical equipment manufacturers to ensure quality to face competition from China, Korea and other countries. The minister also sought support from Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers Association (IEMMA) for “exposing those who use second-grade sheets, recycled copper or any of these products which damage the life, quality or accuracy of electrical equipment, and bring bad name to country.” Goyal was in Vadodara to take stock of arrangements being made for holding of first ever Switch global expo on energy sector. One of the largest electrical expos in the country, Switch is to be held from October 6 to 10. It represents one of the biggest networks of electrical manufacturers, innovators, technologies and partners in the industry. The event is being organised by Power Ministry in collaboration with Gujarat government and Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL). Addressing reporters, he said, “I brought to notice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi the incidents of electrical transformers catching fire in various parts of country, which may be due to over loading”. He said that PM opined that substandard quality of the equipment was responsible for the damage. Goyal said Ministry of Power, Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and Power Grid have come together to ensure that electrical equipment of poor quality are not produced. “This message has gone to entire industry that this government will not at all tolerate any compromise on quality. Power Secretaries of states may note that because we fund a lot of these schemes that are happening in states, all of India is one. We want best quality in states as well,” he added. He said as many as 24 countries have already confirmed their participation in Switch expo. Power Ministry will hold a two-day conference of state Power, Coal and Mines ministers after Switch expo. “The NDA government at Centre effectively increased transmission capacity to south India which has perennially faced shortage of power by 71 per cent in last two years,” Goyal said. “In the next 18-24 months, we will expand it (transmission capacity) further. So effectively in three years of Modiji’s government we would see 400 per cent (four-fold expansion) in transmission capacity to south India,” he added. Vincent Lecavalier Womens Jersey
Increased efficiency and timely tariffs revision critical for UDAY’s success: ICRA
State-owned distribution utilities will benefit from the Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme in FY2017 but stricter focus on efficiency and timely tariff revisions is critical for their sustained financial turnaround said ICRA in a recent study. UDAY was launched by the centre to improve performances of the state power distribution companies. Sabyasachi Majumdar, senior vice president, ICRA said: “Discoms will benefit significantly in the near to medium term from measures taken under UDAY. These include lower interest costs arising out of de-leveraging, and reduction in power procurement cost arising out of improved domestic coal availability along with recent policy measures by Government such as flexible utilisation of domestic coal linkage and e-auction process for short term power.” “However, serious focus of utilities on improving their efficiencies, mainly aggregate technical & commercial loss levels, is necessary. This has to be in line with targets set by UDAY. Timeliness and adequacy of tariff hike in relation to the cost of power supply is also necessary. It has to necessarily include periodic rise in fuel and power purchase costs. These factors remain critical in the long run for sustained improvement in the financial position of the discoms,” he said. Till now 16 states and union territories have signed memorandum of understanding for participating in UDAY. De-leveraging and refinancing under the scheme is expected to improve liquidity and profitability profile of Discom’s in the near term. Improved domestic coal availability along with recent policy measures by the government including flexible utilisation of domestic coal linkage and e-auction for short term power remain favourable for discoms. These would reduce cost of power purchase. However, ICRA notes that state electricity regulatory commissions (SERCs) in only 20 out of 29 states have issued tariff orders for FY2017 so far, indicating moderate progress in terms of issuance of tariff orders for the year. Tariff hikes allowed in most states have been modest, ranging between, 0.6% and 8.8%. SERCs in three states have not approved any tariff hike. In two states SERCs have reduced tariff for some categories of consumers. SERCs from Uttar Pradesh and Punjab have issued tariff orders recently however the tariff determination process has witnessed delays. Tariff revisions allowed for FY2017 by SERCs in both the states were lower at 3.18% (for Uttar Pradesh) and a negative 0.98% (for Punjab) for the year, against the stipulated level of 5%-6% under MoUs signed for implementation of UDAY. The respective SERCs in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab cited avoidance of a tariff shock to the consumers as primary reason for the modest tariff hikes. Besides, a limited tariff hike is also on account of stricter norms for efficiency improvement as well as certain other cost items by SERCs, which led to significant disallowance of power purchase cost and other cost overheads. Given that the fuel and power purchase costs cannot be controlled and accounts for 80% of the cost of supply for any Discom, a timely pass-through of variations in power purchase costs to consumers is also critical for the financial health of discoms. Majumdar said: “Fuel and power purchase cost adjustment framework for such a pass-through is yet to be implemented in Uttar Pradesh, despite a large unrecovered revenue gap – a matter of concern. Tariff hike has been limited, unrecovered revenue gap remains quite large particularly for distribution utilities in Uttar Pradesh, also with no clarity on amortization of the same by SERC.” Jake Muzzin Jersey
Power department contract workers seek regularisation
Around 250 contract workers of the electricity department from all over the state on Tuesday demanded regularisation of their services with the Power Minister Milind Naik. The affected workers met Naik at his official residence at Headland Sada, and apprised him about their grievances and demanded regularisation of their services as they are working with the electricity department for the past several years. A worker said that the electricity department has recruited several people in various jobs including linemen, assistant linemen, line helper and others adding, “Our sincere request to the Power Minister Naik is to consider our demand sympathetically and give us preference in jobs.” Meanwhile, when contacted Naik disclosed that he had never made any commitment to contract workers on regularisation of service. He said that he will take up the issue with Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar. Naik also said that the issue of appointments and regularisation of services is the prerogative of the electricity department and he cannot interfere in it. Jason Pierre-Paul Womens Jersey
Discoms looking for new revenue streams in Delhi
As Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) goes through a complicated phase with delayed orders of tariff revision and the appointment of chairman in jeopardy, discoms are looking at other avenues to increase their revenue. The capital’s power regulatory body has proposed changes in its regulations to allow the discoms and Delhi Transco Ltd (DTL), which claim to be under financial stress, to retain a larger share of their non-tariff income. As per the draft regulations floated by DERC, the power utilities may be allowed to retain up to 60% of the revenue earned from other businesses such as consultancy. Discom BSES has repeatedly asked the DERC to liquidate their regulatory assets which they claim have touched Rs 16,000 crore, pending dues that can be recovered by way of increased tariffs. This move by DERC is seen as an attempt to encourage non-tariff income. The proposed amendment in the DERC (Treatment of Income from Other Business of Transmission Licensee and Distribution Licensee) Regulations, 2005, also states that the utilities will be able to retain 40% of the revenue in case capital assets. Philip Rivers Authentic Jersey