India to touch 15 GW solar power production by March 2017
India is expected to add 6 GW of solar production this fiscal to take the total solar power generation capacity to 15 GW by March 2017, said a senior official of solar energy equipment association. Speaking to the journalists in Hyderabad on Thursday, Surender Pal Singh Saluja, president of Solar Energy Equipment Manufacturers Association of Telangana (SEEMAT) and chairman of Premier Solar Systems, said, “We currently have an installed capacity of 8-9 GW and will be adding another 6 GW to take the total to 15 GW by March 2017. This is in line with the government’s ambitious National Solar Mission to attain a solar power generation of 100MW by 2022.” He was speaking on the sidelines of announcement of UBM’s Renewable Energy India 2016 in Noida to be held from September 7-9. India is also likely to double its module and cells manufacturing capacity to 10,000 MW and 2,000 MW in the next couple of years. However, “lack of easy and cheap funding, expectations of a high GST rate and increasing cheap imports from China and Taiwan is hurting the domestic industry,” said Singh. While the industry, after a lot of tax exemptions, on an average pays 5% tax, the Goods and Services Tax is likely to be over 18 per cent that could sound the death knell for the domes and render it uncompetitive, said another industry representative, who did not want to be named. “We have also been approaching the government for exempting solar from GST ambit,” said Singh.
Adani’s Udupi power plant to add 1600 MW by 2020
Udupi Power Corporation Ltd (UPCL), a subsidiary of Adani Power Ltd, will produce an additional 1,600 MW of power at its thermal plant in Udupi by 2020, according to Kishore Alva, Executive Director (Project Development and Corporate Affairs). At present, the plant produces 1200 MW of power. Speaking to a few media persons from Mangaluru, who were taken on a visit to the thermal power plant in Udupi on Wednesday, Alva said the company has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Karnataka Government to set up 2X800 MW coal-based power plant in Udupi with an investment of ?11,500 crore, in its second phase expansion. Stating that the expansion is in the preliminary stage of land acquisition, he said the project is expected to be completed by 2020. UPCL is paying a compensation of ?40 lakh per acre for the land losers. The expansion requires around 725 acres of land. At present, the company has two units of 600 MW each spread across 590 acres in Yellur and Santhuru villages of Udupi district. Set up at a cost of ?6,000 crore, the commercial production from the unit-1 began in 2010 and unit-2 in 2012. The power generated at UPCL is evacuated through 220 kV and 400 kV transmission lines and is supplied to five electricity supply companies owned by the Karnataka government in the State. Jetty at NMPT He said UPCL maintains its own jetty at New Mangalore Port to handle imported coal. The port handles around 3.5 million tonnes of coal for UPCL a year. The company uses the Konkan Railway network to transport coal from New Mangalore Port to the thermal plant in Udupi. Alva said about ?500 crore will be invested for the development of an additional jetty at New Mangalore Port. It will add another six million tonnes of annual handling capacity in the next three years. UPCL has a 15-year agreement with the coal mining companies in Indonesia and Australia for sourcing coal, he said. Wil Lutz Womens Jersey
Power discoms’ turnaround will hinge on efficiency gains, tariff hikes: Fitch
The success of the Indian government’s ambitious power distribution reforms programme including the Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) will depend upon efficiency gains registered by the utilities and frequent tariff revisions, research firm Fitch Ratings has said. The Singapore-based ratings firm said in a special report published today the voluntary rehabilitation scheme UDAY for financial and operational turnaround of distressed state distribution utilities has already seen a large number of important states signing up for the programme. “However, the immediate relief provided by interest-expense reduction, while beneficial to the cash flow positions of the discoms, is inadequate to turn these entities profitable. Achieving this goal by March 2019 as per the plan is highly predicated on the ambitious efficiency improvements, coupled with tariff increases that are politically sensitive in India,” Fitch said. UDAY, launched in November 2015, is more comprehensive than previous packages which had focused primarily on debt restructuring. The merits of UDAY include its four-pronged strategy that targets not only a reduction in interest burden but also operational efficiency improvement, reduced cost of power purchased, and financial discipline. There are also financial implications for states signing up for UDAY that do not meet the agreed targets under the programme. Twenty states and one union territory have given in-principle approval so far for UDAY. Of these, 16 have already signed up for the scheme. “Participation by a number of states which are not ruled by the key ruling political party at the centre – the Bharatiya Janata Party – reflects the various merits and wider acceptance of the package. The committed states and UT accounted for almost 77 per cent of the total 2013-14 net cash losses reported by discoms and around 58 per cent of the total debt outstanding at end-September 2015,” the report said. These states house about 56 per cent of India’s total installed capacity. Tamil Nadu stands out among those which have not opted for UDAY and accounted for 25 per cent of 2013-14 net cash losses of all discoms. The Fitch report also states the debt-restructuring slated within the scheme will provide some immediate breathing space following the transfer of 75 per cent of outstanding debt to the states and capping the interest cost on the balance. However, discoms in as many as 12 of the 16 committed states reported cash losses in 2013-14. The aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) loss in the Indian power sector is very high – ranging from 11 per cent to 71 per cent. UDAY aims to get the discoms to cut these losses significantly — more than 50 per cent in many cases — through 2018-19. The savings benefits from lower AT&C losses alone account for around half of the total savings on average for the states that have committed. For the majority of states, tariff increases are required to reach break-even status even after the other savings to which they are committed. A meaningful improvement in discoms’ economics will especially benefit power generation companies through higher utilisation and timely clearance of dues. The current low capacity utilisation of power plants is driven primarily by stressed discoms, which are unable to buy electricity because of weak financial positions. Fitch said financially stronger discoms will support India’s drive for renewables and financings of those projects. Charles Haley Authentic Jersey
Delhi may see 445 mw of power supply shortage
Aravali Power Company has served a power supply regulation notice to Delhi distribution companies, BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd (BRPL) & BSES Yamuna Power Ltd (BYPL) for non-payment of dues. The regulation will deprive Delhi of 445 MW of power midnight of September 5. Power allocated to these DISCOMs from Aravali Power Company is 445 MW and the average monthly energy bill is around Rs 87 crore for the current fiscal. “Payments by the DISCOMs have become irregular for quite sometime. The matter was brought before the Supreme Court of India, who in their judgement dated 26.03.2014 directed the DISCOMs to ensure payments of all current energy bills with effect from January 2014. However, despite clear directions of the Supreme Court, dues continued to accumulate. On Thursday, the outstanding amounts are Rs 961.58 crore,” said Aravali Power in a statement on Thursday. “In a meeting held by Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) both BRPL & BYPL had given plan for liquidation of outstanding dues based on which regulation notice issued by Aravali Power earlier was withdrawn. Aravali Power has to pay in advance to its fuel suppliers which constitute about 70%-80% of its monthly energy bills. If the above situation continues, APCPL being a single power station company is unable to meet any of its commitments including payment to fuel suppliers, debt servicing requirements and even payment of salaries to its employees,” the company said. Under the circumstances, Aravali Power has no other option but to regulate power to the DISCOMs. A notice for regulation of power supply has been served to BRPL & BYPL which will deprive Delhi of 445 MW of power. Dustin McGowan Jersey
BSES says power regulation notice not to impact supply to Delhi
Reliance Infrastructure-backed BSES has said its two distribution companies have sufficient power at their disposal and the power regulation notice from Aravali Power will not have any impact on the power supply situation in Delhi. Aravali Power, a joint venture company with 50 per cent share of NTPC, 25 per cent of Haryana Power Generation Corporation and 25 per cent of Indraprastha Power Generation, today served a notice to BSES Rajdhani and BSES Yamuna for regulation of 445 Megawatt from midnight Sep 5. The power company said the total outstanding amount from BSES Rajdhani and BSES Yamuna was Rs 961.58 crore as on date which has led to difficulties for Aravali Power in paying to coal suppliers, servicing debt and giving salaries to employees. “BSES is under huge financial stress due to non liquidation of regulatory assets estimated to be over Rs. 16,000 crore as on March 31, 2016. As compared to this, dues payable by BSES to Aravali Power Company Private Limited (APCL) are around Rs 900 crore,” BSES said in a statement. The company further said the payment of dues to power utilities by BSES discoms is sub judice in the Supreme Court. “The judgement in the matter is reserved since February 2015. We are awaiting the Supreme Court judgment, which will clear the path for recovery / liquidation of regulatory assets,” it said. Aravali Power Company, Jhajjar has been supplying power to the BSES DISCOMs in Delhi, viz BSES Rajdhani Power and BSES Yamuna Power since March 2011. The power allocated to these discoms from Aravali Power is 445 MW (372 MW and 73 MW respectively) and average monthly energy bill is presently of the order of Rs 87 crore (Rs 73 core and Rs 14 crore respectively) for the current financial year. Tedy Bruschi Authentic Jersey
No increase in power tariff for consumers in Haryana
Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) has notified the tariff order for 2016-17, under which there is no increase in tariff for any category, and it has been reduced by 37 paise per unit for consumers of all categories. The salient features of this order state that for LT industry with load up to 50kW, fixed charges where applicable and have been reduced from Rs 170/kW to Rs 160/kW, which would benefit 16,728 consumers. For rooftop solar system installed under the new solar policy, the incentive has been increased from 25 paisa per unit to Re 1 per unit from August 1, 2016. Besides, the wheeling charges for open access consumers have been reduced from 85 paisa per unit to 71 paisa per unit. Rebate of 5%would be allowed for the consumers availing supply through prepaid meters. Chris Godwin Womens Jersey
Punjab:State goes all out to sell excess power, but finds no buyers
In a desperate effort to sell excess power, the state government has made an offer to all power utilities across the country. In the offer, it says that is willing to “dedicate power from two private thermal plants” recently established in Punjab “with an aim to sell its surplus power” for which it is paying fixed charges to these plants without consuming their power. But not even a single utility in the country has come forward to buy that power. Hence, the state is unable to sell the 2,520 megawatts available with it. Highly placed officials within the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) confirmed to The Tribune that Secretary (Power), Punjab, recently wrote to many states to sell and “sign a long-term contract for selling power from two of its private thermal plants”. “The letter mentions that the state power utility was willing to enter into a long-term agreement to sell roughly 2,500 MW — 540 MW (2×270 MW) from GVK Thermal power project near Goindwal Sahib and 1,980 MW (3×660 MW) from Talwandi Sabo Power Limited (TSPL),” they said. KD Chaudhri, chairman-cum-managing director, PSPCL, said that before this offer, the state utility tried as many as 19 tenders offering power at Rs 3.90 per unit, “but no buyer came forward”. “The average rate of power in the open market is around Rs 3 while power generated in Punjab costs us roughly around Rs 3.60. We even floated an expression of interest, but there was no response,” he said. Senior officials confirmed that as per agreements already signed by the state government, they would have to pay fixed charges of Rs 1,510 crore to TSPL while GVK will get 413.75 crore “even if Punjab does not utilise their power”. Punjab bought power at Rs 3.01 per unit earlier this year while power from its own plants was available for Rs 3.60. A senior official looking after power management at PSPCL confirmed that Punjab requires 5,000 to 7,000 MW per month during the non-paddy season and it met a demand of 11,400 MW this paddy season. “The excess power available over and above this requirement should ideally be sold to cut cost for other consumers in Punjab, but the problem is that there is no buyer,” he said. “We became power surplus. But instead of power rates going down, these are escalating for consumers, especially domestic,” said a senior official. Interestingly, the majority of the state-owned thermal plants are shut due to low demand and unions within PSPCL claim that the state utility is planning to shut production permanently in state-owned plants. However, senior officials confirm that units from these plants are shut only when demand is low or “there is paucity of coal”. At present, demand is very low and further declining. Craig Anderson Authentic Jersey
Power prices at five years low
The short term prices of power bought through exchanges has dipped five years low, according to a report by Edelweiss. This has led an increase of 30 per cent in power bough through exchanges in the last 6-9 months. “A recent trend in the short-term power market is that exchange traded volumes (IEX and PXIL) have surged sharply — average 30 per cent year on year jump over the past 6-9 months,” said the report. The average power price have touched lows of Rs 2.16 a unit (down to Rs 2.35 in South). “State discoms have been using this opportunity to buy cheaper power and back down the expensive medium/ long term power,” said Edelweiss. It said private independent power producer (IPPs) with some open capacity (Jindal Power, Derang, DB Power, JP Nigrie, among others) and located closer to coal mines have been supplying in the exchange market possibly earning some spread over their marginal cost — Rs 1.8- 1.9 a unit. Meanwhile, the report said that the onset of monsoon has resulted in decline in power off take over the past 45 days. “This year, rainfall has largely been normal, leading to subdued power demand from agricultural and cooling demand,” it said. Garrett Grayson Authentic Jersey
Expert group lists steps to bail out power sector
The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri) has set up the ‘Bangalore Sustainable Development Group’ comprising subject experts from varied field, to come up with all-India based solutions for sustainable development. With Teri organising the World Sustainable Development Summit in Delhi in October, it was decided to form the group in Bengaluru to highlight linkages among key areas of sustainable development by like-minded organisations, said Teri’s senior director P R Dasgupta. In its second meeting held on August 27, experts felt that despite reforms from 1991 and the path breaking Electricity Act, 2003, the power sector had accumulated heavy losses, was short of funds to buy power and diverting state government funds from other activities. As a result, 30% of Indian households are without electricity even today. Power distribution utilities in the country have accumulated losses of around Rs 3.8 lakh crore and their outstanding liabilities is around Rs 5.4 lakh crore. One of the actions suggested is to approach a Constitutional body like the National Green Tribunal to reduce the gross depletion of groundwater as many states are giving free power to agriculture. The experts felt that career professional managers are required to manage power distribution companies. It also recommended to sharply raise penalties for power theft. Other suggestions included, setting up of selection committees to select independent state electricity regulators; changing the culture of appointing retired officers as directors of discoms; setting standards for IP sets and development of smart grid technologies. The group headed by Teri’s fellow emeritus Prof S L Rao meets on last Saturdays of every month. It will submit its recommendations to the government early next year, said Dasgupta. Abry Jones Authentic Jersey
Power trading helps industrial houses bring down costs
To produce electricity or buy it? Industrial houses with captive power plants constantly ask themselves this as power on the exchange can be bought for as low as 2.80, while producing electricity can cost as much as 3.50- 4. Large-scale manufacturing units in the South are currently making use of the cheap excess electricity available on the exchanges, while running their power generation units at half-capacity. “Currently there’s cheap power available on the exchange, but that’s not to say the same situation will continue. Sometime ago I bought electricity for as much as Rs 10-11,” says a top executive at a South Indian cement major. With many states like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chattisgarh producing power in excess, experts say cheap electricity maybe available for a few more months going forward. With wind season strong in South now, power buyers are sitting on a problem of plenty. While power exchanges are a big help, they still cannot cope with the actual demand and supply chain, say experts. “Only 10% of power consumed in India is being bought off the exchange. More than 90% of power is still being bought from state distributors like Tangedco or utility companies like Tata Power,” says James Rajan, director- service unit, South Asia, Wartsila India. “One must also remember that not everyone has the capacity to lift/access power that has been produced. There are also tranmission constraints on the ground,” adds Wartsila’s Rajan. But the power exchange has also proved useful in another regard — handling excesses of captive power plants of industrial hubs. “See sometimes electricity on the exchange trades above 3.50. When that happens, we have sold electricity – but only when it makes economic sense and is above our production cost. I am currently consuming 120 MW by running at 60%-65% of cement capacity. At full capacity, I might require as much as 180 MW. So its all about the market’s supply and demand dynamics,” says the executive from the cement major. Electricity pricing also varies during peak hours and during the day and night. “It can even be as low as 2.20, buying for night consumption. Usually it is cheaper in the night and more expensive during the day and during peak hours or optimal hours of production,” says Rajan. If the power exchange introduces futures contracts for power buyers, pricing could get more competitive, say experts. “Hedging against eventualities will work better for large-scale electricity consumers — provided one plays the market right. It will also give impetus and increase trading frequency,” says Arjun Bharathan, founder of startup Digigrid. Andrew Billings Womens Jersey