UP slow in electrification process: Power Minister
he Centre today rubbished Samajwadi Party’s charge of “discrimination” against Uttar Pradesh in electrification, saying the state had been provided Rs 18,000 crore for the purpose but the amount remained largely unutilised. After Samajwadi Party, which rules UP, forced four adjournments of the Rajya Sabha over the issue, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said the electrification process in the state is the “worst”. The situation is very bad in Uttar Pradesh due to poor and slow implementation of the various programmes by the state government, Goyal said replying to a discussion on electrification of villages in Uttar Pradesh. Only 22 per cent intensive electrification has been done in the state, he added. Dissatisfied with the reply, members of Samajwadi Party, which rules Uttar Pradesh, stormed the Well of the House, shouting slogans like “Give power”. They later staged a walkout. “States can buy as much power they require,” Goyal said. Countering the charge that Centre is not providing adequate funds to UP, he said: “They are seeking more funds… Rs 11,000 crore which has not been utilised by the state government and we have given Rs 7,000 crore more. The situation is bad in UP. Rs 18,000 crore funds have been already provided.” Electricity has reached only 20,419 villages in UP and only 30 per cent of poor households have been electrified, he said, adding villages in the state get power only for 13 and a half hours. As per the 2011 census, there are over 97,800 villages in the state, he said. Goyal also said that the UP government has not paid dues to the tune of Rs 3,872 crore to NTPC and Coal India among others. The minister said the village electrification programme has picked up pace in the country after NDA government came to the power. Naresh Agrawal (SP) expressed dissatisfaction over the minister’s reply and said it was wrong allegation against the UP government. He said the minister’s reply was politically motivated. Earlier, initiating the discussion, Agrawal alleged “discrimination” against Uttar Pradesh and said the Centre was sanctioning less funds to the state than demanded. He charged that the Central government is deliberately defaming the state government in an election year. “The Centre is punishing the people of those states where there is no BJP government,” Agrawal said. Mark Recchi Jersey
Round-the-clock power supply a distant dream for Ghaziabad
The Paschimanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited’s (PVVNL) move to augment power infrastructure in the city under Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) has hit the land hurdle. As a result, plans to construct six 33/11 KV sub stations across the city is hanging fire. “For a long time, we were working on a plan to provide round-the-clock power supply for which we needed to enhance the infrastructure. Unfortunately that is not happening anytime soon,” said PVVNL chief engineer SK Gupta. “There are at least six places where we urgently need to build 33/11 KV sub stations but neither GDA or GMC are in a position to provide land for it,” Gupta added. “Every time we request GDA and GMC we are told that no land is available. This has been happening for the last two months and if this continues, I am afraid it will have an adverse effect on the already declining power situation,” Gupta claimed. Of the six places where the power department needs land, four are in the trans Hindon area whereas the rest are within the city. “In trans Hindon area we need 2,200 to 2,400 sqm of land at Pasonda, near Haj House and at Delhi border while in the city, land is required at Chipiyana and Model Town. In fact we can manage with 1,500 to 1,800 sqm of land but we are not getting even that,” Gupta alleged. The primary reason why the civic agencies are reluctant to part with the land is because the rule says the land has to be given for free and the agencies have reservations over it. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has also set a target to provide 16-hours of power supply in rural areas and 22-24 hours supply in urban areas. This was promised in his party’s manifesto in the 2012 Assembly elections. But as things stand now, 24-hours of uninterrupted power supply at least in Ghaziabad is a distant dream and this is bound to have repercussions for the party in the upcoming Assembly elections. Earl Thomas III Jersey
Centre adding to power sector stress instead of alleviating it
Effecting quantum changes in policy while maintaining continuity of incumbents is one of the challenges of governance. In all key infrastructure sectors, our country has grappled with this challenge as we have moved from one generation of policy to another. In one of the recent interviews, former revenue secretary NK Singh talked about how telecom policy was migrated to revenue share in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. While this would solve the issue of future telecom licences, the major issue was about migrating existing licences to the revenue-sharing regime. Singh talks how the then Attorney General and telecom minister were “morally” opposed to allow the existing licences to be migrated. PM Vajpayee, realising the magnitude of the problem, immediately ordered for the telecom minister to be changed and a new Cabinet Note to be put up. Needless to say, given the new facts and the implications of stalled telecom story—perhaps also the implication of not cooperating—the Attorney General was only too pleased to change his opinion and recommend revenue sharing. The rest, as they say, is history. All telecom licences were migrated to revenue-sharing model, and today we stand with over 1.2 billion telecom users and some of the cheapest tariffs on the planet. The above story is not just about how policy is to be adapted to incumbents, it is also about how national interest can sometimes be served by helping incumbents come out of stress and make investments in the future. The ministry of power perhaps need to learn an important lesson from such pivotal experiences in governance. There are far too many instances where policy stagnation has resulted in stress in the power sector, and many of the incumbents are not in a position to make any further investments in capacity addition. The implication of this could be grave, and the government needs to wake up to the threat of over 50,000 MW going the NPA way. A conventional thermal power project typically has three legs that needs to work in parallel for the plant to attain viability—coal, a power purchase agreement (PPA) and transmission. Given the breakneck capacity addition in 11th Five-Year Plan (2007-12), most of these linkages have not kept pace with the plant and these assets face the threat of turning NPA. For instance, there is a substantial capacity in the country that has a Coal India Ltd (CIL) coal linkage and a coal mine, but does not have access to a PPA. The capacity with a CIL coal linkage without a PPA is cumulatively about 26,300 MW, and the capacity with a coal mine but without a PPA is about 4,250 MW. Unfortunately, the prerequisite for availing linkage and coal mine coal is a long-term PPA, and states appear in no mood to call for PPAs for coal-based plants. In the past two years, only Andhra Pradesh and Kerala have completed bidding for an aggregate capacity of 3,250 MW. There is no visibility of any more long-term PPA in the near time-frame. If this situation is not corrected, these projects will turn into NPAs soon. It is ironical that Jharkhand, while reneging from PPAs signed with thermal plants citing lack of demand, called for over 2,000 MW of solar bids in the last three months alone. The power ministry has to create an enabling framework for states to procure stranded thermal power, else we are likely to see larger stockpiles of CIL coal and more plants turning NPAs. In the coal-based power sector, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved a landmark list of 78,000 MW (scheduled for commissioning by March 2015) for obtaining coal linkage from CIL. But some of these plants have been delayed beyond their scheduled commissioning, and there are others that have been commissioned but were not a part of the original 78,000 MW. Total capacity, amounting to over 16,700 MW, is lying stranded, waiting for linkage coal to achieve operations. In addition to the two above categories, there is about 14,600 MW of power capacity that has a PPA but no long-term coal source. There is another 9,925 MW of power capacity that has been set up with neither a coal source nor a PPA in place. That this power capacity is becoming stranded comes in the backdrop of NTPC and state distribution companies being freely allowed to sell power from linkage coal in the spot market, and also being provided bridge linkages where their coal mine is taking time for commissioning. NTPC also enjoys the unique privilege of signing PPAs on a regulated tariff basis (without tender) with state-owned utilities long after the national tariff policy deadline of 2011 has expired. This unequal level-playing field for NTPC is the final nail in the coffin. The fundamental issue remains that the policy for a PPA requirement for coal linkages, or an approved restrictive list of coal linkages of 78,000 MW, was drafted in the context of a coal scarcity scenario. We are in an era of coal surpluses, and CIL seems to be contemplating exports. It is imperative that such policies change and ensure that coal, whenever and wherever available, be provided to domestic plants to prevent them from turning NPAs. It is imperative that such policies change and ensure that coal, whenever and wherever available, be provided to domestic plants to prevent them from turning NPAs. The plight of gas-based power developers is no different. The policy for gas-based power projects (providing power system development fund support) was announced with great fanfare in 2015—subsidy was announced on imported LNG, provided states agreed to buy the power. An absurd stipulation of requiring the developers to commit to “zero” return on equity was also agreed to by the industry, and bids were called. However, after the bids were completed and the states consumed the power, and after submitting the due documentation by the developer to obtain the subsidy, the government failed to release the subsidy in time. Out of the blue, and after about four months of delay
Odisha to revise power duty for commercial users
The Odisha cabinet on Monday decided to amend the Odisha Electricity (Duty) Act, 1961, through an Ordinance, revising electricity duty for commercial users. Emphasising that the hike in rates will not affect domestic users, chief secretary A P Padhi said the amendment of the Odisha Electricity (Duty) Act will help the government generate Rs 90 crore of additional revenue annually. As per the ordinance, the government has decided to enhance the upper limit of electricity duty to Rs 2 per unit in case of captive power plants and independent power producers and to a maximum of 15 per cent on ad valorem basis (value of the power and not quantity used) in other cases. At present, the state government levies duty at the rate of 2% for irrigation, 4% for domestic use and 5% for small scale industry. However, irrespective of the categories of consumers, the duty is subject to an upper ceiling of 40 paise a unit. Justifying the decision to bring in an ordinance, Padhi said by the time the assembly would have reconvened, the state government would have lost out on revenue and hence it was decided to amend the act. Though four months of the current fiscal have already passed, the Ordinance would still help the state garner Rs 60 crore out of the Rs 90 crore that had been initially projected, Padhi added. Notifying the Ordinance, a government statement said that considering the inflation and regular growth in energy charges by distribution companies and the need for infrastructure development in power sector, the revision was necessary. The cabinet also gave its nod to an ordinance to amend the Odisha Gram Panchayat Act, 1964, and enable the rotation of reservation of offices of the sarpanch after every term of election. As per the existing provision, the reservation is rotated after every two terms of election. Since the process for panchayat election has already started, an ordinance was necessary, the chief secretary said. Deatrich Wise Jr Womens Jersey
Electricity in 18k villages in 1000 days: PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that his government has set a target to provide electricity connection in 18,000 villages across the country in just 1,000 days. He said he was appalled to see that even after 70 years of Independence, people were forced to lead the life of 18th century in the 21st century. He also lauded the Jammu and Kashmir government for launching a solar energy campaign from Ladakh. At an event to mark the 75th anniversary of the Quit India Movement at the birthplace of revolutionary leader Chandrashekhar Azad here, the Prime Minister recalled those who laid down their lives for the country and said that today people don’t have to die for the nation but have to work for its development. He called upon the people to take a pledge for taking the country forward and referred to the passage of the Bill on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in Parliament in this regard. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also addressed the function. Kenny Moore Authentic Jersey
Surplus power may cause Rs 8,000 crore loss to discoms in FY17
State power distribution companies (discoms) are staring at a net loss of Rs 8,000 crore in the current fiscal owing to purchase agreements in excess of power demand, according to India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra). Ind-Ra’s expectation is based on the assumption that discoms will surrender the power purchase agreements (PPAs) with the highest variable cost by paying the fixed costs based on the agreement, it said in a statement. According to the statement, 18 out of 36 states/UTs are expected to be power surplus in FY2016-17, as per the Central Electricity Authority’s (CEA) Load Generation Balance Report 2016-17. It said that these discoms are likely to surrender some of the excess power they have tied-up in past five to seven years at a loss, thereby further weakening their financial position. The discoms in the western and southern regions are expected to be the worst hit due to PPA tie-ups in excess of the power demand in the region. Ind-Ra estimates losses of around Rs 4,000 crore by discoms in the western region and Rs 2,450 crore in the southern region due to the maximum amount of long term PPA with a provision of fixed tariff in the past. The long-term commitments at a fixed cost in PPAs are preventing some state power distribution companies (discoms) from procuring low cost merchant power traded on the power exchanges. The Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission has recently revealed that the losses due to the surrendering of excess power for FY2016-17 is expected at Rs 2,075 crore. The commission has directed the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd to look at ways to reduce this fiscal burden by selling surplus power outside the state. The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) also recently ended the earlier rule of the state government that power producers must generate at 100 per cent capacity and supply only within the state. Generators can now apply for a no objection certificate from the KERC to sell their surplus power outside the state, it said. Many of the long term PPAs have provisioned for Rs 1.25 to Rs 1.75 fixed prices per unit of electricity compared to an all-inclusive cost of around Rs 2.5 per unit (based on actual power rates on power exchanges for FY2015-16). Ind-Ra estimates that spot power tariffs on the exchanges are unlikely to increase beyond the current range of Rs 2.0 to Rs 2.5 per unit over the medium term, which is in line with the CEA’s projections of 1.1 per cent energy surplus and 2.6 per cent peak load surplus during FY2016-17 across India. Tyler Wong Jersey
Greenko to pay $100 million to take over SunEdison’s assets here
Greenko Energy Holdings, which is set to buy SunEdison’s Indian assets, will pay a small premium of less than $100 million (Rs 670 crore) for them in an all cash deal, according to a source involved in the negotiations. This will include the assets held by Terraform Global, one of SunEdison’s publicly held subsidiaries – called an ‘yieldco’ – with which some of them are vested. Greenko will also take over the outstanding debt of both SunEdison and Terraform Global in India, issuing fresh bank guarantees of Rs 200-250 crore. SunEdison, the world’s largest renewable energy company, has been looking to divest its global assets ever since it filed for bankruptcy protection in the US in April this year. It has hired Rothschild Inc to facilitate its divestment process. The company owns around 1400 MW of solar and wind projects in India across several states – about 400 MW operational and the rest under construction. The total outlay of these projects is estimated at around $1.2 billion. Some of the solar assets were acquired through extremely aggressive bidding at auctions, such as the 500 MW project in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, won in November last year, for which the company quoted a tariff of Rs 4.63 per kwH, a historic low at the time. The divestment is complicated by the fact that, since the bankruptcy declaration, Terraform has sued SunEdison in a US court, charging that it diverted funds to pad its balance sheet while claiming they would be used to complete the Indian projects. It was not clear how this will affect Greenko’s acquisition. Pashupathy Gopalan, MD, SunEdison Asia Pacific, and Greenko refused to comment in response to emails sent by ET. Started by two Hyderabad-based entrepreneurs, Anil Kumar Chalamalasetty and Mahesh Kolli, Greenko currently owns around 1000 MW of renewable assets, primarily in wind. But it has been looking for a major foray into the solar business, and was also among the contenders for Welspun Energy’s renewable assets of around 1100 MW, though it was pipped to the post by Tata Power, which bagged them in a S1.4 billion deal in June this year.Greenko is backed by two global sovereign funds – GIC of Singapore, which holds majority stake, and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority which pumped $150 million into the company in June. Jalen Richard Authentic Jersey
Discoms arbitrarily shutting off solar power, government tells CERC
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has complained to the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) that some discoms are not fully evacuating the solar power available to them, resulting in losses for solar developers. Discoms have been arbitrarily shutting off power from solar projects, for varying lengths of time, often during peak consumption hours. “Some load dispatch centres (LDCs) are asking solar projects to back down due to various reasons,” Tarun Kapoor, joint secretary, MNRE, said in an August 2 letter to Shubha Sarma, secretary, CERC. ‘Back downs’, or temporary disconnection of some power sources from the grid, sometimes become inevitable if there is oversupply to the extent that it strains the grid. It is up to the discoms’ LDCs to decide which power source should be blocked. “Solar power projects have ‘must run’ status as there is no fuel cost,” said Kapoor’s letter. “If any backing down is to be done, thermal projects should be asked to back down, so that some fuel is saved.” But discoms prefer to back down power from renewable sources, such as solar and wind, since thermal power is usually cheaper. Also, renewable energy supply, by the very nature of sun and wind, is erratic or infirm, unlike thermal power. Though Kapoor’s letter does not name any discom, industry sources said those in Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu were the main offenders. Sunil Bansal, general secretary, Rajasthan Solar Association (RSA), said the problem had been plaguing the state for some time. “In fact, it has been increasing. On average, there are back downs of one hour a day during peak hours,” he said. “That amounts to 1,200 MW of capacity remaining unused.” Among the companies affected in Rajasthan are SunEdison, Welspun, Mahindra, SolaireDirect, Fortum and Reliance Power. “The Rajasthan Power Procurement Centre is shutting down its substations, claiming it is being done for maintenance purposes,” said Bansal. “In fact, they are buying power from the power exchange. Our association has taken it very seriously as it will affect future tariffs. The RSA will soon submit a petition to the Ministry of Power in this regard.” In Tamil Nadu, solar developers are considering approaching the Supreme Court for relief. “We have already petitioned the Tamil Nadu Energy Regulatory Commission (TNERC) through the National Solar Energy Federation of India, but TNERC told us it does not have the power to adjudicate in disputes with discoms,” said one of them. “This problem has been going on for the past two months. There are shutdowns for up to two hours a day, resulting in daily losses of several lakhs.” Companies affected in Tamil Nadu include SunEdison and Adani Green Energy. Thermal power producers are paid a two-part tariff — one part for fixed costs incurred and the other for variable fuel costs. Thus, even if discoms do not take their power, they continue to be paid for their fixed costs. Solar and wind developers do not have this benefit since their entire cost is primarily in installation. “When solar projects are asked to back down they do not even get the benefit of two-part tariff and are not paid anything for the loss of energy they suffer,” said Kapoor’s letter. “This can make solar power unattractive, particularly when projects are being awarded through competitive bidding and tariffs have come down drastically. Some solar power developers have now started asking for two-part tariff for solar also.” Kapoor’s letter noted that the CERC ought to emphasize solar energy’s ‘must run’ status. “Solar developers must be paid full tariff if they are forced to back down in rare cases,” the letter said. “It is requested that this issue is placed before the Forum of Regulators, so that some consensus can be reached on the issue.” Jahleel Addae Authentic Jersey
Power Dept served 15 day ultimatum to address Mokokchung power situation
The Mokokchung Town Lanur Telongjem (MTLT) and the All Ward Union Mokokchung (AWUM) today came out strongly against the Nagaland Government and the Power Department regarding the continuous disruption of electricity supply in Mokokchung town and adjoining areas. A press note from the AWUM served a 15 day ultimatum to the Power Department to provide circuit breaker in the 33 KV and 11 KV feeders immediately. It demanded that Mokokchung town and its adjoining areas be provided a separate line from the power transmission station at Aolijen, Mokokchung. Further, it demanded that Mokokchung town and its adjoining areas be given unlimited power supply except during natural calamities. Despite frequent damages to the main transformer and disruption of power supply/load shedding in Mokokchung town and its adjoining areas, the AWUM said that “till date the public of Mokokchung Town silently, patiently, and with great enthusiasm has been paying the electricity bill regularly.” The AWUM informed it has learnt that “one of the main causes of such problem is that there is no circuit breaker in the main transformers, while the revenue collection from Mokokchung town and its adjoining areas is the highest in Nagaland in terms of revenue collection based on power unit consumed and ration of power consumed.” Stating that the issue of power disruption is a perennial issue, the AWUM cautioned that if any untoward incidents take place due to the department’s negligence, the AWUM will “neither co-operate nor negotiate if such situation arises.” “If this ultimatum is ignored and treated as the previous representations, the first action and the response of the AWUM will be reflected in the functioning of the UEMB as experienced by the department during 2012-2013 in befitting and well organized manner this time,” it further warned. Don’t play with the public: MTLT Meanwhile, the MTLT cautioned that the concerned department “must not play with the public.” It reminded that the MTLT had demanded in 2015 that necessary machineries/equipment be installed to ensure proper power supply to the people of Mokokchung. It stated that “nothing has been done till date. It is high time that the Department be in tune with the changing needs of time and adopt upgradation accordingly.” As per the NO.MES/W-20/ 2015-16/130 dated 21 November 2015, the MTLT revealed that the Sub-Divisional Officer, Electrical Sub-Division, Mokokchung, had submitted the complete requirements to the higher authority. According to the letter, a team of technicians from Crompton Greaves Ltd Calcutta under Mecavo Power Works Dimapur performed survey at the 33/11KV RESS Mokokchung on the November 21, 2015. The MTLT revealed that the 11KV Bus-Bar has been found completely damaged and needs repair. Besides, defective parts were identified at other feeders viz., 33KV Main Incoming, 11KV Bazar, 11KV Ongpangkong, 11KV Yongpang, 33KV Alichen, 33KV Incomer, 33KV Longnak, 33KV Impur and 33KV Longsa. The MTLT demanded that immediate repairs/replacements be taken up in the interest of the public. It also stood by its demand for a new/standby transformer since 2015, stating that Mokokchung consumers are paying bills regularly. “According to the sub-division office in Mokokchung, there is no maintenance fund. The public needs to know how the departmental money is utilised in this case,” it added. It noted that failure to perform prompt action in undertaking the repair works is an indication of governmental and departmental failure. Corey Linsley Womens Jersey
A promising start to Uday scheme with state discoms reducing commercial losses and interest costs
State power distribution companies have sharply reduced commercial losses and interest costs, giving a promising start to Power Minister Piyush Goyal’s Uday scheme that aims to set right electricity distribution, the biggest bottleneck in the sector. The average power generation cost in the country has also come down by 13% to Rs 2.77 per unit in the three-month period ending June from Rs 3.19 per unit during April-June of 2015, a senior power ministry official said. Preliminary data available with states for the first quarter of the current financial year shows that most states have reported reduction in the aggregate technical and commercial losses, which include electricity that goes unbilled due to non-metering and pilferage. The commercial losses in Jharkhand have declined to 31.8% during the threemonth period from 41% before joining Uday, showed the provisional data available with the state. Uttar Pradesh that goes to polls next year has reported a fall in commercial loss to 33% in first quarter of the current financial year from the 34.2% in the corresponding period last year. The commercial losses in Rajasthan have decreased to 27.3% from 28.5%, while Punjab’s aggregate losses have fallen to 16.6% from 15.9%. The interest cost outgo of the state power distribution utilities has also reduced following takeover of debt by respective state governments. The interest burden of Uttar Pradesh power distribution companies has nearly halved to Rs 820 crore during April-June this year against Rs 1,742 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. In Rajasthan, electricity distribution companies paid Rs 1,038 crore towards interest against Rs 1,961 crore in April-June quarter last financial year.Punjab posted Rs 166 crore savings and Haryana Rs 187 crore on interest outgo. These states joined Uday before March this year. At present, power distribution companies of 14 states are part of Uday. Puducherry will be the 15th state to join Uday and is likely to sign agreement next week. The provisional data has been provided by the states to the Union power ministry in review and monitoring meetings. The power ministry reviews progress of the Uday scheme in participating states in its monthly monitoring meetings. Besides, power minister Piyush Goyal has held an exclusive meeting to review its implementation while power secretary PK Pujari has taken four such meetings till date. The scheme is monitored at distribution companies’ level by their chairmen and at state level by chief secretaries or principal energy secretaries. The power ministry is putting in place a mobile application in two months to monitor the progress of Uday under 26 financial and operational parameters. The application will make data on progress in implementation of Uday in various states accessible to all. Uday aims at enabling discoms to turn profitable in the next 2-3 years through four initiatives —improving operational efficiencies, reducing cost of power, interest burden and enforcing financial discipline through alignment with state finances. The scheme mandates states to take measures like compulsory smart metering, upgrade of transformers and meters, promoting energy efficient LED bulbs, agricultural pumps, fans and air-conditioners to reduce commercial losses from 22% to 15% and decrease gap between cost of power and tariffs. Tyler Lockett Womens Jersey