http://www.thesynergyonline.com/powersectornews.htm

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 03 2012

 

 

 

Thesynergyonline Economic Bureau

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 01 :
KANDEH Yumkella, Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and Chair of UN-Energy, on Wednesday urged countries across Asia to commit to achieving sustainable energy for all by the year 2030 by increasing access to energy, improving energy efficiency and increasing the use of renewables.

Yumkella, who also co-chair's the UN Secretary-General's High-Level group on Sustainable Energy for All, told participants at a conference here that new commitments and investments in sustainable energy were critical for Asia's development.

"Reaching the goal of sustainable energy for all will require action by all countries and all sectors to shape the policy and investment decisions needed for a brighter energy future. Industrialized countries must accelerate the transition to low-emission technologies.

Developing countries, many of them growing rapidly and at large scale, have the opportunity to leapfrog conventional energy options and move directly to cleaner energy alternatives that will enhance economic and social development," said Yumkella at the 12th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit, organized by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

Globally, one person in five lacks access to modern electricity and twice that number, three billion people, rely on wood, coal, charcoal or animal waste for cooking and heating. In developed countries, the problem is a substantial waste of energy.

In order to spur economic growth, address global inequities and preserve the environment, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has established the Sustainable Energy for All Initiative. The Secretary-General has set three complementary objectives to be achieved by 2030: to ensure universal access to modern energy services; to double energy efficiency; and double the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.

In order to achieve these objectives, the Secretary-General is calling on all stakeholders to make global commitments to action which will drive real change on the ground.

To help guide this Initiative, the Secretary-General has appointed a high-level group of eminent global leaders from business, finance, government and civil society to mobilize and facilitate commitments to action which will help drive change on the ground, in corporate board rooms, and in policy discussions around the world. The High-Level group's other co-chair is Charles Holliday, Chairman, Bank of America Corporation.

"Now more than ever, the world needs to ensure that the benefits of modern energy are available to all and that energy is provided as cleanly and efficiently as possible. This is a matter of equity, first and foremost, but it is also an issue of urgent practical importance," said Yumkella.

Other participants in the Asian regional rollout of the Sustainable Energy for All initiative in New Delhi today included Farooq Abdullah, Minister of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, and member of the high-level Group on Sustainable Energy for All; Peter Bakker, President, World Business Council on Sustainable Development; Patrice Couer-Bizot, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, India; Bindu N. Lohani, Vice President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development, Asian Development Bank; Rajendra K Pachauri, TERI Director-General; David Sandalow, Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs, U.S. Department of Energy; and Erik Solheim, Norwegian Minister of Environment and International Development.

 

Thesynergyonline Power Bureau

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 30 :
INDUSTRY body ASSOCHAM has sought exemption from basic customs duty and countervailing duty for thermal or steam coal which increase the power tariff by 25 paise per unit and go against the basic tenets of ensuring long-term fuel sustainability and energy security.

The power sector is one of the highest taxed due to non-availability of any input tax credit on excise, countervailing duty, value added tax and service tax, it said.

The imported coal is subject to imposition of 7.55 per cent customs duty for imports from Indonesia and 10.83 per cent for imports from other countries.

In addition, there is countervailing duty of five per cent. This distorts the field in favour of domestic coal based projects and discourages investments in imported coal based projects, said ASSOCHAM secretary general D.S. Rawat in communication to the finance ministry.

"Higher power tariff tends to have recessionary impact due to cascading effect on all goods and services. Major countries like the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and Brazil do not levy any customs duty on import of thermal coal."

Moreover, it becomes obligatory for environment stipulations to import high quality coal for blending with lower grades of indigenous coal. With shortage of energy available to fuel power plants, one of the key challenges is to ensure that power is accessible at affordable costs.

Mr Rawat said business risk profiles of independent power producers resorting to coal imports are adversely affected due to volatility in prices of imported coal, unpredictable long-term pricing arrangements, volatility in shipping rates and exchange rates, logistical and infrastructural constraints for moving imported coal from ports to power stations.

"To bridge the gap in demand and supply, the emphasis is clearly on importing thermal coal or acquiring new mines abroad. It is anticipated that shortage of domestic coal will continue to persist over the medium term as the additional coal generation programme is not likely to catch up with the growing demand led by aggressive capacity addition to align with economic growth targets."

It is imperative for Indian economy to maintain a steady and accelerated rate of growth amid global recessionary trends for which the power sector has to play its legitimate and designated role, he said.

Thermal generation (coal, lignite and gas) continues to play 65 per cent share of generation capacity with domestic coal supply not sufficient to meet the requirements.

 

Thesynergyonline Power Bureau

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 19 :
COASTAL Energen , the power generating flagship company of the Coal & Oil Group, announced the progress of its 1200mw Mutiara Thermal Power Plant in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu with COD slated within 2012-13. The plant intends to address the severe power shortage in Tamil Nadu.

The plant is located at Melamarudur Village, Ottapidaram Taluk in Tuticorin district. It enjoys close proximity to a major city (Tuticorin), lies within 21 km of a major port, and has excellent road, rail and air connectivity.

The mega project which has commenced out of the 30 which were planned over the past 15 years. The project achieved financial closure in July 2009 with SBI and 16 other banks for Rs 3450 crore . It is currently India's mega merchant power plant.

On the progress of the project Mr Ahmed A R Buhari, founder president and CEO, Coal & Oil Group of Companies said, "The construction activities at the site are in full swing. Eighty percent of the civil infrastructure requirement for the plant is complete with over 5400 skilled manpower working at site. "

"The key milestone activity of boiler drum lifting for Unit 1 was achieved on July 4, 2011 and Unit 2 on October 12 , 2011, " he added.

About 85 percent of boiler, turbine and generator (BTG) equipment has reached the site from Harbin Electric International , China. The balance of plant (BoP) equipment has been contracted with 'AAA' companies such as ABB, Thyssenkrupp, ITT, Aquatech etc. 400 Kv transmission corridor has been provided by PGCIL. About Rs 4000 crore has already been spent on the project.

The state of Tamil Nadu faces acute Power Shortage of between 4000 – 5000 mw.

"In this context we would like to offer maximum power to TANGENDCO (TNEB) as also to several Industries, Commercial establishments, which are operating and planning to set up in TN. We can also offer power to neighboring States,." He added.

"We aim at providing ample power to TN", added Mr Buhari..

Mr B Prasada Rao, CMD, BHEL, receiving the NDTV Profit Business Leadership Award 2011 in the Engineering category, from Mr Pranab Mukherjee, Union Minister for Finance.

 

Thesynergyonline Power Bureau

Sam Pitroda, Advisor to Prime Minister, Government of India settting the tone for Smart Grid Technology at GridWeek Asia 2012 organised by IEEMA and CLASMA at ELECRAMA 2012.

MUMBAI, JANUARY 16 :
AT the inaugural session of GridWeek Asia 2012 organized by Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers' Association (IEEMA) and Clasma Events and co-located at ELECRAMA-2012, Sam Pitroda, Advisor to the Prime Minister, Government of India and Chairman, Indian Smart Grid Task Force, said Monday that the government is planning to set up 'Smart Meter Task Force' that will look into modernizing our primitive ways of calculating power usage.

"It is amazing to see how India – which is a super power in information technology – lags terribly in the power sector. It is really annoying to see our primitive ways of providing power – be it evacuation, grids, meters or even the way we manually calculate power consumption till date. All this has to change and it will change, for this decade has been declared by the Government as the 'Decade of Innovation'," said Mr Pitroda.

The Government reckons that India needs 100 million meters and towards this end, the Smart Meter Task Force will be entrusted the task of introducing Rs 1000 – 1500 low cost Meters. "We need a 2-chip meter that can be connected through GSM technology.

Basically, a dumb meter that is smart enough. These low cost meters will feed critical data into the smart grids that are considered to be the panacea for our primitive power sector," Mr Pitroda added.

Mr Pitroda said that the UPA government is committed to democratizing information and towards this end two major steps have already been taken.

One, the Government has initiated a National Knowledge Center wherein 1500 nodes will capture data across sectors and feed into a central node. Of these 750 nodes are already connected and the balance 750 nodes will be operational in the next 12 months, he informed.

Two, mammoth number of 250,000 Panchayats (local governments) will be connected through optical fibre enabling faster and better education, health services, public services and governance etc, he further informed.
"The Government has earmarked US$ 5-6 billion for one-of-its-kind project in the world, Mr Pitroda added.

According to Mr Pitroda, the Government has set up US$ 1 billion venture fund to foster 'Innovation' across sectors and States.

"We have set up a national innovation center that will oversee state innovation centers and 100 sectoral innovation houses. All these efforts beautifully tie-up into the smart grids. Today power is our biggest bottleneck for 8 percent GDP growth. It is a larger challenge that many of us don't realize considering that Power has to reach to the bottom of the pyramid and that too cheap power. Only Smart Grids – that too India specific model of Smart Grids – can solve our problems. The Western model is not scalable, affordable and workable."

ELECRAMA hosted the maiden GridWeek Asia which is an extension of the annual GridWeek conference held in Washington, D C, USA The smart grid potential in Asia – a rapidly growing market – is expected to reach US$22 billion by 2020.

Globally, recognized as the must-attend smart grid gathering, GridWeek is the only event that attracts the complete diversity of Smart Grid stakeholders to explore smart grid's impact on the economy, utility infrastructure, consumers and the environment, while answering the industry's most pressing questions.

India is experiencing rapid growth in gross domestic product (GDP), with an expected growth rate of over 8 percent per anum this decade, which is fueling the need for expedited infrastructure development. India's total installed generation capacity is close to 175,000 megawatts and the country requires an additional 100,000mw of generation capacity in the next six years with the corresponding investment expected at well over US$500 billion in the electricity sector.

Mr. B. Prasada Rao, CMD, BHEL felicitating Mr. S. Sundareshan, Secretary, Department of Heavy Industry, on the occasion of BHEL's Foundation Day at a function organised in the BHEL township, Noida

                    

 

 

 

Thesynergyonline Power Bureau

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 15 : THE Chairman and Managing Director, Power Grid Corporation of India  (POWERGRID),Mr R  N Nayak, CMD, PowerGrid , signed MoU with Mr A P Choudhary, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) on  Wednesday in New Delhi, to set up a joint venture company for manufacturing of transmission line towers and tower parts including research and development of new high- end products.

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam – Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (RINL-VSP), known as Vizag Steel, a Central PSU is the shore- based integrated steel plant in India with modern technology having an annual capacity of 3 million tonne of liquid steel and a turnover of over Rs 11,500 crore produces various grades of long products like TMT rebars, wire rods, rounds, structurals, squares etc which are widely used in infrastructure projects.

RINL is now doubling its capacity to 6.3 mtpa at a cost of Rs. 12,500 crore which will be operational by end of current year.

RINL-VSP  produces special grades of steel of about 78 percent of its total production meeting the requirement of high grade steel for projects of National importance which include Metros, Indian Railways, power sector, nuclear complexes and several others.

PowerGrid owns and operates a transmission network of about 87,878 ckm and 141 nos. of EHV & HVDC Substations. The Company consistently maintains a system availability of over 99.93 percent, and wheels about 51 percent of total power generated in the country.

PowerGrid  has reported a net profit of Rs 2,697 crore for FY 2010-11, a 32 percent rise compared to last financial year. Turnover of the company rose to Rs 9,100 crore, up by 21 percent year-on-year. The company’s total fixed assets as on  March 31 , 2011 is Rs. 50,352 crore.

 

Thesynergyonline Power Bureau

The competition was held under the National Campaign on Energy Conservation undertaken by the Ministry of Power and Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE).

This year, the competition saw a record participation from 58,848 schools and 20.7 lakhs students from India.
  
Congratulating the children, the Prime Minister said, “Children are the best agents of change and we need to equip them with information and knowledge on energy conservation and energy efficiency.

Commenting on the importance of energy efficiency, Dr Manmohan Singh said, “I am happy to note that policies, programmes and schemes are now in place to promote energy efficiency in appliances, buildings and industry; and that the implementation of these initiatives have resulted in savings of about 9000mw of avoided capacity generation.

He congratulated all the awardees for being the industry champions and having taken a significant step towards energy conservation and energy efficiency.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Shinde said, “The response from industrial and commercial units has been very encouraging, as is evident from the increasing participation level (from 123 in Year 1999 to 644 in Year 2011).

The participating units for the year 2011 have collectively invested Rs. 2201 crore in energy conservation measures, and achieved a monetary savings of Rs. 2390 crore, implying a payback period of 11 months only, once again proving the fact that energy conservation is a least cost option”.

The  Minister of State for Power, Mr K .C. Venugopal, said: “The Energy Conservation Awards play an important role in recognising the companies, organisations and units that drive, practice and achieve energy conservation.

The recipients of these awards have emerged as role models in the industry and inspire others to get comfortable with the idea of energy conservation.”

While Mr K.C.Venugopal, Minister of State for Power, was the guest of honour at the awards ceremony, the other delegates who were also present included Mr P Uma Shankar, Union Power Secretary; Mr Ashok Lavasa, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Power; Mr Devinder Singh, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Power; Dr. Ajay Mathur, Director-General, BEE, and Mrs Abha Shukla, Secretary, BEE. BEE coordinates the Energy Conservation Awards Scheme of the Ministry of Power.

Commenting on the Energy Conservation Awards, Mr P Uma Shankar, Union Power Secretary, said, “The progressive industrial units and other establishments have already realized the cost effectiveness of energy conservation measures.

Honouring their efforts on National Energy Conservation Day sends a message to thousands of other industrial units and establishments that may have not yet fully utilized their cost effective potential through energy conservation. It is hoped that National Energy Conservation Award Scheme would help in motivating the other energy consumers in joining and promoting of a nationwide energy conservation movement.”

Calling for an inclusive approach to energy conservation, the Prime Minister called for greater involvement of the citizens: “We need to recognize that governments or institutions alone cannot achieve the targets - it needs the involvement and active participation by each and every citizen of the country through adoption of sustainable practices.”

The awards scheme has been in operation since 1991 and the awards are given out every year on December 14, which is celebrated as National Energy Conservation Day.

The awards have been a source of motivation for the participating units to undertake serious efforts in saving energy. Since the awardees suggest the potential for large-scale replication, they raise awareness that energy conservation plays a big part in India’s response to reducing global warming through energy savings.

The participating units of the 2011 Awards have collectively invested Rs 2201 crore in energy conservation measures.
These efforts have resulted in an annual saving of 3421 Million kWh of electrical energy, which is equivalent to the energy generated from a 504 MW thermal power station at a plant load factor of 0.775.

 

Thesynergyonline Economic Bureau

NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 09 : THE Power Summit 2011, organised by BloombergUTV, India's premier business channel, opened the second day with the inaugural address by the chief guest, Mr Sriprakash Jaiswal , Union Minister of Coal . The theme of the 3-day summit is "Future Power, Future Strategies – A New Paradigm."

Mr Jaiswal in his inaugural address, asking coal companies to fast track the production mechanisation, said "Coal companies have been slow in appropriate mechanization. They need to fast track the mechanization process. The coal sector in India is yet to be opened for private investments in commercial coal-mining. The coal production is a big challenge. India has to be dependent for few more years for import of coal."
 
Speaking on the challenges in the sector Mr Sriprakash Jaiswal further added, "The energy issues with environmental concerns are more challenging. The proper maintenance of system for transportation is required. Critical areas in enhancing coal production are road infrastructure, railways, timely acquisition of land, large scale import, handling imports carefully".

He also asked the Ministry of Power to target for higher growth of energy to minimise the gap between demand and supply.

Mr Dipesh Dipu, Director – Energy and Resources, Deloitte, speaking at the Summit said, "A serious problem that plagues the industry is the availability of coal as well as the facility to transport whatever is available. There are a large number of coal blocks in the country which have not been tapped primarily due to rail connectivity. The Government should look at auctioning these coal blocks and provide them with appropriate connectivity to railway networks."

Mr Pradeep Singh, VC and MD, IDFC Project, speaking in a panel discussion on 'Challenges faced by Independent Coal Power Producers' said, "There is enough coal for your and my lifetime; point is to get it out. Private sector should not be given the right to handle the natural resources. It is the right of the government and the private sector should be given the right to refine and supply them"

Mr R T Agarwal, Director, Finance, Power Grid Corporation of India said, "There are certain areas where there is availability of coal, but distribution companies are not willing to buy it.  There is affordability in the market but not connectivity in the buyer and seller."

Dr Rahul Walwalkar , vice president, (Emerging Technologies), Customized Energy Solutions, said ''Successful reforms have taken place on the generation side, but the problem lies in distribution reforms. An open access is the most possible solution for the distribution and transmission issues faced by the industry''

Mr Anil Daulani, Business Head , Utilities, HCL Infosystems , said, "India is a large country and reaching all its corners has its own challenges and, in most cases, the problems are very local. These can be addressed through PPP and franchise models and there is enough technology available in the country to support this. What also is critical is that the Government puts in place appropriate regulatory framework before allowing any of these models to be implemented."

 

Thesynergyonline Power Bureau

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 07 : BloombergUTV, India's premier business channel, on Wednesday kicked off 'The Power Summit 2011', a three- day summit on "Future Power, Future Strategies – A New Paradigm"at the Taj at the Taj Mansingh in New Delhi.

The chief guest, Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde, Minister of Power, in his inaugural address said, "India's need for power is growing given the fast paced economic growth and industrial revolution. Going forward, private players will have a big role to play in the production of adequate power and increased investments will be needed in the sector."

"There is need for modernisation and augmentation of thermal power and the power segment is fully open to private investors. Six projects are already completed in recent times and there is an expected investment of Rs 19000 crores," he added.

Mr Shinde further added, "Private sector participation which was 10 percent at the end of 10th Plan has gone upto 30 percent at present and will be more than 50 percent in the 12th Plan. As a result of these initiatives, we have added more than 60,000mw in the last five and a half years.

"More than 80,000 MW capacity is under construction at present for benefit during 12th Plan," he added.

The Power Summit 2011 has brought together eminent thought leaders, policy makers, innovators, power business decision makers and investors to discuss India's energy challenges and explore processes and systems to counter various challenges faced by the sector.

"Deepak Lamba, Business Head – BloombergUTV, speaking about the inaugural day of the Power Summit 2011 said, "The Power Summit is our fourth initiative, after 'The Airport Summit', 'The Ed Tech Forum' and 'Innovation for BFSI in Technology', all sectors critical to the growth and development of the country. The growth of the power sector is of paramount importance if India has to sustain its inclusive momentum of development by maximizing its power generation capabilities to ensure that the impetus of industrial development is not stagnated.

"The Power Summit 2011 will take a look at where and how is India poised in its quest to meet the growing demand for power as well as bring to fore the these challenges faced by the industry and take a close look at where we stand today with respect to achieving the "Power To All" vision," he said.

Mr Lamba further added, "BloombergUTV's Summits and Conferences have been welcomed by the bureaucracy and the industry alike proving that we are indeed on the right track. BloombergUTV, as a leading business channel, is committed to offer the viewer programming that is very concise, cohesive with incisive data, news, analysis and insights."

Mr Jayant Deo, MD & CEO of Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) speaking at the Summit said, "Private players in the sector are facing a lot of problems. One of the biggest issues faced is the large amounts of power usage by the consumers without any records."

Mr Gajendra Haldea, Advisor, Deputy Chairman Infrastructure speaking about the issues in the power sector said, "India's power sector is in a crisis and this can be resolved by introduction of competition in the power sector which will also help reduce tariffs. The most important issue is re-structuring and opening up of the sector. If re-structuring is implemented it will attract domestic and international investors into the sector and power shortage would be a thing of the past.''

Mr Rahool Panandikar, Principal - The Boston Consulting Group, however, had a different point of view. He said, "FDI has not been very successful in the power sector and that has created a constant capital crunch in this sector. The Indian Government would have to take a closer look at the policies and make them more investor friendly."

The Union Minister of Coal Mr Sriprakash Jaiswal will start the second day's proceedings tomorrow with a key note address on "Fossil Fuel Rule in India". This will be followed by a panel discussion on Challenges faced by Independent Coal Power Producers.

The panel will comprise the Union Minister of Coal Mr Sriprakash Jaiswal; Mr Dipesh Dipu, Director - Energy and Resources, Deloitte; Mr ICP Keshari, Joint Secretary - Ministry of Power; Mr Pradeep Singh, VCMD - IDFC Projects and Mr Lajpat Shrivastav, CEO - Moser Baer.

Thesynergyonline Power Bureau   

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 06 :
THERE will be no relief for existing coastal power project developers including ultra mega power projects (UMPP) due to hike in prices of imported coal from countries like Indonesia and Australia, said Union Power Minister, Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde at an ASSOCHAM conference on Tuesday.

“However, the government will initiate some corrective measures to reduce the burden on the consumers resulting from the enhanced price of imported coal,” said Mr Shinde while addressing a conference titled ‘Distribution Reforms In Power Sector’ organised by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

“We have added over 60,000 mega watts (mw) of power during the course of over past five years and synchronised a capacity of about 16,000 mw.

Over 12,000 mw of capacity was commissioned in 2010-11, the highest capacity addition in a single year,” said the minister.

“Contribution of private sector in capacity addition was a meager 10 per cent at the end of the 10th five year plan and has gone upto about 36 per cent and the government is hoping for over half of investments in power generation to come from private sector during the 12th Five Year Plan,” said Mr Shinde.

“Mere unbundling of power utilities will not be enough for improved performance. Effective corporate governance and professional working of commercial entities are also necessary to ensure better results,” said Mr Shinde.

The minister also said that for development of electricity distribution sector, the DISCOMS are being encouraged to use IT for energy audits and accounting to carry out system strengthening and technological upgradation of distribution network to control power pilferage and theft.

The AT&C losses have been brought down to the levels of about 27 per cent as in 2009-10 from nearly 39 per cent in 2001-02. They are further likely to drop to about 15 per cent with applications of modern technology. For this, the government has launched Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (R-APDRP), said the minister.

“The accumulated losses of discoms reached about Rs 70,000 crore in 2008-09 and may cross Rs 1 lakh crore in the next two years if adequate steps are not taken,” said Mr Satish Jindal, co-chairman, ASSOCHAM National Council on Power.

“Continued unviability of the distribution segment reflected in very high transmission and distribution losses is a major problem in the domestic power sector,” said Mr R.N. Dhoot, president-elect, ASSOCHAM.
“A robust and competitive environment is imperative for sustainable development of the power sector.”

Among others who spoke during the conference were: Mr Gopal Saxena, CEO, BSES Rajdhani Power ; Mr K. Raja Gopal, CEO, Lanco Infratech ; Dr Pramod Deo, chairperson and CEO, CERC and Mr D S Rawat, secretary general of ASSOCHAM.

 

 

Thesynergyonline Power Bureau

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 05 :
BloombergUTV, India’s premier business channel, has  announced hosting ‘The Power Summit 2011’, a three-day summit addressing the theme “Future Power, Future Strategies – A New Paradigm” to be held at the Taj Mansingh in New Delhi from December 7 to 9,  2011.

The Power Summit 2011 will bring together eminent thought leaders, policy makers, innovators, power business decision makers and investors to discuss India’s energy challenges and explore processes and systems to counter various challenges faced by the sector. The summit will feature thought provoking deliberations on the latest innovations, burning issues surrounding future energy, along with cutting-edge information on global practices in this sector.

The speakers at The BloombergUTV Power Summit include eminent guests of honour like Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde ,  Minister of State for Power , Mr Prakash Jaiswal, the  Minister of State for Coal, and Dr Tarun Kapoor , Joint Secretary - National Solar Mission.

Other key speakers and panelist include senior level bureaucrats from the Ministries of Power, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and Infrastructure, as well as state run organisations like CERC, NTPC and senior executives from the Corporate World.

 

Thesynergyonline Power Bureau

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 05 :
IN a significant development, North Delhi Power Limited (NDPL), a joint venture subsidiary of Tata Power and Government of Delhi, which distributes electricity in its licensed area of North and North West Delhi, has been rechristened as “Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited”.

“The new name signifies our renewed commitment to continue providing our consumers with excellent services as we enter the tenth year of our operations” Said, Adi Engineer, Chairman, Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (formerly NDPL).

We have had a trailblazing journey, and in just over nine years, NDPL has turned around the power distribution scenario in Delhi. The name change at this juncture exhibits commitment of joint ventures partners, Tata Power and Government of Delhi to take the distribution reforms to the next orbit,”said Sunil Wadhwa, Managing Director, Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (formerly NDPL).

Mr Anil Sardana, Managing Director, Tata Power, said, “ Our distribution JV in Delhic is a benchmark in public private partnership in distribution. We look forward to its continued success. We would ensure that the Team at Delhi venture beholds ‘Tata Power’ brand with continued responsibility and high standards of governance.”

The company, under the new name, continues to operate in its area of distribution as per the current structure of 51:49 shareholding as a joint venture between The Tata Power Company Ltd. and Government of Delhi. The change of name has been approved by the Board and Shareholders of the joint venture company and also been approved by the Registrar of Companies, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India.

 

 

Thesynergyonline Power Bureau

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 01 :
BHARAT Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has made its maiden entry in the Ukrainian market with an order for a steam turbine generator (STG) package. The contract for 27 MW STG package has been placed on BHEL by one of the world's leading steel majors, ArcelorMittal group.

Valued at nearly Rs.40 crore, the power generating equipment will meet the captive power requirements of ArcelorMittal's steel plant at Kryviy Rih in Ukraine.

BHEL's scope of work in this contract includes design, engineering, manufacture, supply and supervision of erection and commissioning of 27mw steam turbine and generator package including the state of the art Controls and Instrumentation (C&I).

The project is to be executed by the company in a schedule of 18 months. The steam turbine generators and the C&I systems are to be manufactured at the BHEL's Hyderabad plant and Electronics Division, Bangalore respectively.

 

 

 

Thesynergyonline Power Bureau

NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 29 :
AMIDST rising energy prices and a growing concern over global environmental and ecological issues, adoption of Renewable Energy sources is the primary objective of the Energy Industry and Government. India has been projected to face perpetual shortfall in meeting the energy demand.

The focus of renewable energy has tended to be on electricity, and hence bio energy does not attract the same mindshare as the new technologies like wind and solar. However, bio energy also plays a key role in cooking/heating and has future potential in transport. Realising this fact, CII today organized "Bio Energy Summit 2011".

Focusing on the importance of bio energy, Mr Pramod Chaudhari, co-chairman, CII National Committee on Renewable Energy & Chairman, Praj Industries in the course of his welcome remarks stated that India has got large ambitions for developing a strong domestic bio-energy industry, strengthened additionally by the potential of this sector to positively impact the lives of the farmers.

Therefore the bio-gas technologies whether it is in the form of cooking gas through biomass digester or electricity generated through biomass gasifier based producer gas engines or direct fired boilers through steam turbines can play an important role in country's energy security.

Dr Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister, MNRE and chief guest for the occasion stated that developing India requires energy for economic growth and job creation. Similar to National Solar Mission, MNRE is working on developing the national bio energy Mission which will provide a concerted push for the sustainable development of this sector. Grid parity amongst states is not equal and connectivity to remote locations is a major issue.

The Government of India is supporting the states for grid up-gradation. The Ministry seeks industry's feedback on supports required and wants industry's to bring innovative new technologies that would empower rural areas.

The minister appreciated CII's role in this regard and expected CII to continue its efforts towards providing a platform for national and international industrial interactions for capacity building and policy interface.

It is being reported that National Committee on Renewable Energy of CII, under the guidance and support of Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology has carried out a survey based technical study report on "Technology Assessment of Bio-Industrial Products in India" with real time data from the industries and other stakeholders' domain to identify different bio-based chemicals and fuels and assess the technology interventions required to ensure a sustainable growth of the same in India. The report is expected to be released soon.

The guest of honor Mr G B Pradhan, Secretary, MNRE in his remarks stated that the most critical aspect in promoting bio energy projects is the associated business model. He laid special emphasis on the ground reality that unless there is a sustainable business model, promoting any technology is tough even though the potential might be enormous. He further mentioned that the potential can also be increased further with an assistance of growing business. He also remarked that CII is the best suited to address this issue and play a crucial role in pining downs the national Bio Energy Mission to a business model.

Mr K Krishan, Chairman, CII Task Force on Bio-Energy & Chairman, MPPPL Renewable Energy Pvt Ltd emphasized in his remarks that energy security and energy access are the most important current issues in this sector. Hybrid solutions which combine Bio Energy with solar, wind and hydro look promising sustainable solutions. He further mentioned that the industry today have to think to have an integrated environment, bio and energy management strategies to become more sustainable.

While, this sector is receiving increasing investments in recent years, however, the development of Bio energy in India is being confronted with several teething challenges, especially with regard to dilemmas related to policy development, commercial sustainability, feedstock availability, availability of appropriate technologies, appropriate financing and market linkages.

During the Bio Energy summit, CII has recommended to rationalize pricing of fuels and tariffs to reflect economic cost of supply, reduce cross subsidies, flexibility to capture changing fuel prices in a competitive market. It was also suggested that MNRE and Ministry of Power should interact closely with the "Forum of Regulators" to ensure that Biomass/Biogas tariffs fixation is in context to "displaced costs" of electricity generation firing imported coal/LNG.

CERC norms for Biomass Price escalation needs to be adopted by all SERCs. Generation Based Incentives should be extended to Biomass & Biogas Power Plants, which would be over and above the benchmark feed-in tariff to be adopted by States. Production based subsidy in the form of incentives or excise duty exemption or tax relief should be offered to make biomass based biofuels more viable and sustainable in longer run.

 

Thesynergyonline Power Bureau

NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 11 : INDIAN electrical equipment industry has registered a moderate 9 percent growth in the first half (H1) of the current financial year, 2011-2012 as against 14 percent in the corresponding first half of 2010-11, according to data compiled by the Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers' Association (IEEMA).

Sequentially, second quarter (Q2) FY'12 growth has decelerated to 4.14 percent from 13.82 percent clocked in the first quarter (Q1) of FY'12.

On the contrary, current export-import trends based on select major ports trade data indicates alarming growth of almost 20 percent in imports; especially from China, South Korea, Germany and other EU countries.

The growth represents an absolute increase in output over similar period of last financial year and may differ from the growth in value terms according to IEEMA. IEEMA has based these growth figures, after rigorous analysis, on the production and sales data (in volume / quantity terms) collected from its member organizations, which represent 95 percent of the entire sector.

Mr Ramesh Chandak, president IEEMA and Managing Director, KEC International said, "The adverse domestic economic situation due to high inflation, high interest costs, credit squeeze et al is having a significant impact on the growth of the industry; apart from intense overseas competition. All product sectors have shown decline in their growth momentum from first quarter (Q1) of FY'12."

He added, "Heavy Industries Minister Praful Patel recently said that his Ministry supports the recommendations of the Maira committee which has suggested 14 percent import duty on power generation equipment to strike a balance between protecting local manufacturers and the need to import equipment to boost power production."

"We all know that Chinese imports are relatively cheaper because equipment makers from China benefit from low interest rates and an undervalued currency, which in itself lends to cheaper exports. If this (14 percent import duty) is levied, it will create a level playing field for Indian manufacturers to compete with imports. India now has adequate domestic capacity to fulfill the anticipated annual demand for power generation capacity augmentation, which was not the case earlier," he added.

In the transmission lines sector, transmission line towers have clocked a negative growth of 9.4 percent despite a moderate growth in export orders. This indicates delays in completion of orders due to various difficulties faced by the industry.

Conductors have seen revival and witnessed a growth of 2.9 percent in H1 FY'12 despite a negative growth of 4.1 percent witnessed in Q1 FY'12. The growth in ACSR Conductors indicates momentum in the power distribution segment.

In the transformer sector, power transformers have maintained growth momentum by having a growth of 14.8 percent in H1 FY'12, well supported by exports.

The order book position of power transformers also looks healthy with major order growth visible for 'above 200 MVA' category. However, growth of distribution transformers segment has slipped to (-) 2.8 percent in H1 FY'12 with
almost three times rise in imports; mainly sourced from Hungary, Germany and Croatia.

Switchgear and Controlgear segment has witnessed a low growth of 2.5 percent in H1 FY'12. There has been a good growth only in miniature circuit breakers (MCBs) and air circuit breakers (ACBs) in the low voltage segment.

While, there is stagnancy in growth in the medium voltage segment, high and extra high voltage segment has witnessed a surge in demand of about 20 percent due to increased supply to power transmission projects. Imports of high voltage Switchgear products like fuses, breakers, isolators, surge arresters, etc. have seen a jump of more than 50 percent in value terms during H1 FY'12.  

 

Thesynergyonline Power Bureau

POWERGRID continuing with appetite to acquire higher/latest technology has signed an agreement with Hydro Quebec, Canada for demonstration of their Robotics technology on its transmission lines.

Three-axis robotic arm of the equipment has been designed to reach the conductors of a typical transmission line bundle. One end of the arm is equipped with a pointable camera and the other can hold a variety of tools for tasks such as: High quality visual inspection, Infrared inspection, Checking the condition of splices by measuring their electrical resistance, Tightening and loosening bolted assemblies, Temporary repair of broken conductor strands.

The robotics is being used for visual inspection and some operations inside a nuclear reactor. It allows inspection of components that have not been visible since the reactor was initially commissioned.

The AARM robotic system is used in nuclear reactors to perform remote control operations. Robotic manipulators have been used in nuclear reactors for various inspection and service operations.

These inspections allow the power plant operators to maintain their confidence in the integrity of the nuclear reactor and confirm that the life-extending process of re-tubing should continue.

The demands of a robotic system in the nuclear industry have been growing to ensure the safety of workers from an irradiation and nuclear facilities by detecting an unusual condition through an inspection at an early date and to maintain it efficiently.

In power plants robotics is being used for condition assessment of power generation equipment such as gas turbines, steam turbines, generators, pipe works etc. Work is in progress for designing and constructing a specialized welding robotic system for recovering material damage on hydraulic turbine blades.

The robotic prototype to automate the welding process with the purpose of repairing hydraulic turbine blades eroded by cavitation, pitting and cracked by cyclic loading, reducing human risks and increasing the efficiency of the process.

Further, the company plans to deploy helicopter for aerial patrolling of transmission lines and use robotics technology for condition monitoring of transmission line conductors and other accessories.

The company plans to add about 50000 circuit kilometers of transmission lines in next five years. Its transmission system availability is more than 99.5 percent for last five years and was 99.80 percent in 2010-11.

 

 

 

Thesynergyonline Power Bureau

NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 10 :
APEX  chamber ASSOCHAM on Thursday urged the Government to encourage private sector investments and aim at adding 135 gigawatt of power capacity during the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) as initial projections show that capacity addition through public funding could be in the range of 60 to 65 GW.

 In the 11th Plan, a target of 78.7 GW was fixed but the Planning Commission estimates indicate that actual realisation may not exceed 50 GW – or 63.53 per cent – due to slippages in public sector projects.

The shortfall is primarily due to poor project implementation, inadequate domestic equipment manufacturing capacity and slowdown due to lack of fuel – primarily coal.

Another key issue that may aggravate the power crisis could be heavy dependence on thermal projects, said The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) in its latest Eco Pulse Study. Over 65 per cent of installed capacities are in thermal mode followed by hydro, renewable and nuclear energy.

The study said that creating 100 GW (1 GW = 1,000 MW) of power generation capacity will require Rs five lakh crore – going by the present industry norms. So state governments must reduce power distribution losses and explore other possible sources like nuclear energy and hydro power, it said while urging the Centre to speed up environmental and land clearances for new projects.

‘If states do not rectify such key infrastructural issues, they are bound to lose out on large-scale investments,” secretary general D.S. Rawat. More than one-fourth of power produced in the country is lost in transmission and distribution.

This has got an important bearing on cost and quality of power. If properly addressed, this could become an augmenting factor for the Indian industry and add to its competitiveness.

“The government should give incentives not only to encourage investments from private sector but also for improving operational efficiencies and exploring alternative energy sources. A realistic roadmap for capacity creation in power generation, transmission and distribution is required immediately,” he said. Annual losses in power sector total up to Rs 70,000 crore due to faulty distribution utilities.

Availability of regular power supply has become a key determining factor for investment flows into various states. Some re-thinking needs to be done on the tariff front as well so that private and government-owned utilities can at least recover their running costs. Power companies should also be encourage to improve their operational efficiencies through innovative means, said Mr Rawat.

The ASSOCHAM study said the recent shortfall in coal supplies to power stations has severely crippled industrial activity in the country. Almost half of 89 power stations have supplies of less than seven days and one-third of them have supplies of less than four days.

India faces a coal shortage of 142 million tonnes with the demand rising from 554 million tonnes to about 696 million tonnes in the current financial year. The gap has to be met by imports.

On the other hand, electricity demand is projected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 7.5 per cent during the 12th Plan. A long-term estimation for future energy requirement is critical for a nation as capacities cannot be created overnight.

Therefore, planning needs to be done so that provisioning of adequate investments, efficiency improvements, raw materials and clearances can be taken care of, said the study.

Thesynergyonline Power Bureau

The event featured addresses by Dr Farooq Abdullah – Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, who was the chief guest at the event, Sir Richard Stagg, KCMG, CMG – British High Commissioner, Tulsi Tanti, Chairman and Managing Director, Suzlon Energy , Bernard McNelis, co-founder and Joint MD of ITP Group and Chandrasekar R, Group CEO, ITP Group.

Mr Chandrasekar R – Group CEO, ITP Group, said  on the occasion, "ITP group has  a focus on sustainable development and growth. The Indian office of ITP was started in 1997 and has worked on multiple projects in the renewable energy and climate change space. ITP India is the recipient of the prestigious ‘Ashden Awards’, also known as the Green Oscars, for a project undertaken in Uttaranchal for the enhancement of the area’s watermills. The group besides providing  advice  also implements the advice on behalf of its clients”.

ITP’s celebration was co-hosted by Sir Richard Stagg KCMG, CMG - British High Commissioner, who said, “It is a privilege for the UK government to have ITP celebrating their 30th anniversary in Delhi and in many ways the company has been ahead of the curve in preparing for the world in which energy became scarce and the impact of climate change became clear”.

Dr Farooq Abdullah, said, “Many islands will disappear if we don’t act quickly, Maldives will just be a name. All of us have to act, not only India, but the whole world has to act gradually and forcefully to reduce carbon emissions”.

ITP also hosted a panel discussion titled ‘Forecast 2030: The future of renewable energy over the next two decades’.

The panel discussion saw industry leaders from the government and corporate sector discussing the future of renewable energy and the panelists included: Mr. Chandrasekar  R, Group CEO, ITP Group;  Mr. Suresh Prabhu, former Union Cabinet Minister, Dr. S. P. Gon Chaudhuri, Advisor Energy, Government of West Bengal, Mr. K Subramanya, CEO, Tata BP Solar, Mr Sumant Sinha, Chairman and CEO, ReNew Wind Power and Mr Owen Jenkins, Counsellor, Climate Change and Energy, British High Commission.

Mr Chandrasekar relaunched the brand of ITP Group. ITP Group, which was till now known as IT Power, has been a leader in the field of sustainable development for the past 30 years.

Thesynergyonline Power Bureau

MUMBAI, OCTOBER 24 : POWER Grid Corporation of India (PowerGrid) , 'Navratna' company and the 'Central Transmission Utility (CTU)' of India, has posted a net profit of Rs 709 crore for the second quarter of FY 2011-12 (July-September, 2011), an increase of 9 percent against Rs 651 crore reported in the corresponding quarter ended September 30, 2010.

The total income for July-September, 2011 rose to Rs 2459 crore , up 11 percent from Rs 2223 crore in the corresponding July-September , 2010.

For the first six months of FY 2011-12, the total income and net profit are Rs 4800 crore and Rs 1414 crore respectively.

The company had registered a net profit of Rs 2697 crore over a turnover of Rs 9100 crore in the FY 2010-11, registering a growth of 21 percent in turnover and 32 percent in net profit compared to FY 2009-10.

The company has paid a dividend of Rs 810 crore for the fiscal 2010-11.

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

The awards were presented by the Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh, at a function held in New Delhi.

Thirteen employees of BHEL, from its various units located in India, shared 8 Shram awards including two Shram Bhushan, two Shram Vir and four Shram Shree awards for the years 2008-2010.

Thesynergyon;ine Corporate Bureau

lNEW DELHI, OCTOBER 10 :
SINGARENI Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) has placed a major order on Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) for supply and installation of the main plant package for a power project in Andhra Pradesh, involving two thermal power generating units of 600 mw each.
 
Valued at Rs.4,071 crore, the contract envisages setting up a 2x600 mw thermal power generating unit for SCCL’s upcoming coal-based super thermal power project, located at Adilabad in Andhra Pradesh.
 
BHEL’s scope of work in the contract envisages design, engineering, manufacture, supply, erection, testing and commissioning of steam turbines, generators and boilers, along with state-of-the-art controls and Instrumentation (C&I) and auxiliaries including associated civil work.

ELECRAMA-2012 TO ATTRACT OVER 4,000 FOREIGN BUYERS

Thesynergyonline Economic Bureau

NEW DELHI, OOCTOBER 04 :
THE electrical transmission & distribution equipment exhibition , ELECRAMA-2012, to be organized by IEEMA in January 2012 at Mumbai, will attract over 4,000 foreign buyers from across the world. These would include procurement officials from power utility companies, power equipment / technology marketing companies and consultants looking to source from India, etc.

At a preview of ELECRAMA-2012 for foreign diplomats in India, attended by representatives of more than 50 countries, it was announced that with the support of the Department of Commerce, Government of India, a Reverse Buyer-Seller Meet (RBSM) called ChangeXchange for Indian SMEs is to be organized by IEEMA concurrently with ELECRAMA-2012 under which over 350 foreign buyers from Africa, Latin America, CIS, and ASEAN countries will be hosted.

The RBSM (Reverse- Buyer – Seller - Meet) will be an excellent forum for meeting foreign buyers who plan to source electrical products and equipment from India. ChangeXchange will handhold the meetings of hundreds of foreign buyers and Indian sellers with the objective of providing Indian electrical equipment manufacturers a platform to reach out to the potential global markets and foreign buyers.

Mr P Uma Shankar, Secretary Power, Government of India, said, "Government of India has great pleasure in supporting ELECRAMA 2012, the largest exhibition of power community - An exhibition which showcases Indian strength in T&D. It will also showcases the different technologies available around the world."

Mr Ramesh Chandak, President IEEMA, said, "To sustain the envisaged annual GDP growth rate of 8-9 percent over the next 20 years, it has been estimated that India will require to increase its electricity generation capacity by around 5 times, i.e. from around 180 GW presently to over 8800 GW by 2032.

This would require matching upgradation and enhancement of the electricity transmission and distribution (T&D) segment. Given this scenario, there is tremendous opportunity for growth of the domestic electrical equipment industry including SMEs."

Prof Festus Kaberia, High Commissioner of Kenya in India, stated: "As India is fast becoming a major global R&D hub for the power sector, offering of right technology at right price and free market access for exchange of global trade has made India the most favored destination. Being an established exporter of electrical equipment globally, India is playing a key role in establishing power projects – generation, transmission and distribution in Kenya."

India is Kenya's sixth largest trading partner and the trade between the two countries during the period January to April 2011 has reached approximately US$ 650 million. ELECRAMA-2012 is to be organized in Mumbai early next year and Kenya will be suitably represented by industry leaders, power utilities and other stake holders.

"ELECRAMA-2012 will certainly boost business between Kenya and India and further cement bilateral relations and cooperation in the energy sector," he added.

Dr Ahmed Salem Saleh-Al-Wahishi, Chief of Arab League, also shared his views, stating, "India and the 22 League of Arab Nations are major trading partners, exhibiting significant improvement in bilateral trade which is expected to reach US$ 120 billion by 2014.

As ELECRAMA-2012 is the definitive destination for the power industry, the Arab League nations will surely be part essentially to further business partnership and seek technical cooperation. ELECRAMA-2012 is an integral part of every global stake holder's business plans – especially of the League of Arab Nations, and that this is essentially because of the fact that the Indian power sector has opened new frontiers in technology, opening significant business traffic and is an ideal platform for trade opportunities," he added.

Ms Indra Prem Menon, Chairperson, ELECRAMA-2012, said, "200 transformer manufacturers, 300 global conductor manufacturers and 200 control and system manufacturers and 41 delegations from 130 countries have signed up for ELECRAMA-2012."

Mr Sanjeev Sardana, Chairman, Export Division, IEEMA said, "There is an emerging global reputation of Indian electrical equipment for sourcing of base products and components. Indian electrical equipment industry has been exporting almost 15-20 percent of its product portfolio and our annual exports are around US$ 4.5 billion currently."

 

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau

 

NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 27 : WITH  a final dividend payout of 179 percent, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has paid  equity dividend of 311.5 percent  for fiscal 2010-11, as against 233 percent paid in the year before/ This includes an interim dividend of 133 percent paid earlier.
At Rs 1524.8 crore, this is the highest-ever dividend paid by the company so far.	Mr B P Rao, CMD, BHEl , presenting a cheque for Rs 593.4 crore towards final dividend for the year 2010-11 to Mr Praful Patel, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises in New Delhi on Tuesday.

With this, the company has maintained its unmatched track record of earning profits and rewarding investors by paying dividends uninterruptedly for over three decades without a break.

A cheque for  Rs.593.4 crore towards the final dividend for the year 2010-11 on the equity (67.72 perc ent held by the Government of India, was presented here on Tuesday  to Mr. Praful Patel, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises by Mr. B.P. Rao, Chairman and Managing Director, BHEL, in the presence of Mr. S. Sundareshan, Secretary, Department of Heavy Industry, Mr. Saurabh Chandra, Additional Secretary and  Financial Advisor, DIPP, Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Mr. Ambuj Sharma, Joint Secretary, Department of Heavy Industry.

Directors on the board of BHEL as well as other senior officials of the Ministry of Heavy Industries and  Public Enterprises and BHEL were also present on this occasion.

 

Thesynergyonline Power Bureau

NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 01 : Mr R N Nayak has assumed charge as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Power Grid Corporation of India  on September 01, 2011. Mr Nayak has over 33 years of work experience in the power sector.

He has been working for PowerGrid for more than 20 years and has handled multi-disciplinary functions like engineering, corporate quality assurance and inspection, load despatch and communication, grid management, contracts management, telecom, operation and maintenance, commercial as well as human resource management.

Earlier, he also worked for about 7 years for NTPC and had a stint with SAIL. He has been Director (Operations) of PowerGrid since 2009.

Mr Nayak has been instrumental in introducing many new technologies in the Indian power sector such as EMS/SCADA Projects, ±800kV HVDC and 1200kV UHVAC, which are in various stages of implementation. He has also contributed/presented a large number of technical papers in various reputed International/national journals and conferences.

Mr Nayak is a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from REC, Rourkela (Odisha) and holds an M Tech (Electrical) degree from IIT, Kharagpur.

He has been a recipient of “P.M. Ahluwalia Award” and is a fellow of IEEE. He is also an honoured member in the field of Electrical Engineering of “Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE)”.

 

Mr Mr B P Rao, CMD, BHEL and Mr Kushagra Bajaj, vice chairman, Bajaj Hindusthan , exchanging contract documents for setting up the 1,980 mw Lalitpur Supercritical Thermal Power Station in Uttar Pradesh.

in Uttar Pradesh.

 

Thesynergyonline Power Bureau

NEW DELHI , AUGUST 18 :
SAHARA India Power Corporation in association with Korea East-West Power , a Government of Korea undertaking, will be setting up 6000mw of power plants through mega projects in India.

Mr. Ashok Bhargava, Chief Executive Officer( CEO), Sahara India Power Corporation and Mr Lee Gil Gu, president and CEO., Korea East-West Power have signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA).

The companies have entered into an agreement to jointly participate in tariff- based bidding for ultra mega power projects (UMPPs) and other opportunities in India to add upto a total capacity of 6000 mw.

This is a further extension of an earlier tieup between Sahara India Power Corporation and Korea East-West Co for setting up of 2X 660 mw (1320mw) power plant in Titlagarh based on Supercritical Technology, with an investment of around Rs 8000 crores.

In this context, a delegation led by Mr. Lee, Gil Gu, president and CEO., Korea East-West Power d. has come to India.

Sahara India Power Corporation and Korea East West Company are bringing to India new and innovative thermal power generation technologies. This can be achieved by optimizing the resources in terms of fuel consumption, heat recovery and waste water resources, recycling. They will explore possibility of integrating power generation modes i.e., Thermal, Hydro, Solar at one location etc. Environmentally the emission levels are expected to be lower than present Indian conditions.

Their advisors and experts are working together to evolve innovative models by following these principles to suit Indian condition for environmentally friendly technology for thermal power generation.

Mr Ashok Bhargava, CEO, Sahara India Power said, "We are delighted to partner with Korea East - West Power in setting up 6,000mw power projects in India. The association will bring in world class high- end technological advancements in power generation and the establishment of 6000mw of power plants through mega and ultra mega projects will help in reducing the power deficit of our nation. We hope that with this we will be able to contribute in the development of the nation."

Mr Lee, Gil Gu, president and CEO, Korea East-West Power, said, "The association with Sahara India Power will bring in international expertise in power generation. India is an important country for us as it is one of the emerging powers of the world and with Sahara India Power as partner our projects will serve the energy requirement in the all round integrated further development of India."

Besides, as part of their visit, Mr Lee, Gil Gu along with Mr Ashok Bhargava had also met Union Ministers of India Government including the Minister of Power, Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde , Minister of Coal, Mr Sriprakash Jaiswal, Mr I. S. Jha , Director (Projects), Power Grid Corporation of India, and Mr T.N Thakur, Chairman and Managing Director, PTC India.

 

 

Thesynergyonline Economic Bureau

NEW DELHI, AUGUST 16 :
FUEL  availability is already beginning to emerge as the biggest risk that the thermal power generation projects in India are facing, said Deloitte in the context of a global report on Empowering Ideas 2011- A Look at 10n of the Emerging Issues in the Power and Utilities Sector. Weak finances of the distribution utilities and the widening gap between their average tariff and cost of supply are other big risk factors in the Indian context.

The report highlights the Top 10 emerging issues from the global perspective. Globally, the Japan earthquake aftermath and the future of Nuclear top the cause of concern. This is the second year in which the energy and resources group of Deloitte Touché Tohmatsu Limited has published its power and utilities report for the year ahead.

Following is a summary of the Top 10 Emerging Global issues and its India-specific relevance and implications.   

Risk management: The new challenge
Risk management is sharply in focus on power projects globally. For investors, it is time to dust off risk registers, carefully vet investment decisions, and bolster the quality of data management. In the Indian context, risk of inadequacies in supply under coal linkages awarded to the projects under construction has increased. Investments planned on imported coal are likely to be impacted due to recent changes in the regulatory and tax regimes in resource rich countries like Indonesia and Australia. The worsening financial situation of distribution utilities in the country is emerging as another significant source of risk for investors across the power value chain.

Renewable energy: Key trends and outlook
Growth in the renewable energy industry continues to gain momentum in spite of uncertain global economic outlook in many parts of the world. In India too several policy and regulatory measures have combined to provide a renewed vigor to the renewable energy sector. Last year experienced the launch of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission and the introduction of Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) this year, is expected to improve the exploitation of renewable energy projects, with wind based projects expected to gain the most over the short-term from such a scheme. 

Driving performance in “smart” utilities: Data analytics to the rescue.
According to estimates, the US alone will spend US $ 60 billion on intelligent smart grid infrastructure by 2030, while two emerging economies, India and Brazil, are also projected amongst the top ten countries for smart grid investments by 2030. Smart meters and smart grids will likely have utilities companies capturing metered data every 10 to 15 minutes during every hour of every day, which will dramatically increase data management processing needs. Utilities that are able to effectively employ data analytics will likely be more successful at addressing their critical business challenges in such an environment.

In India, there are a few pilot projects, mostly with regards to smart meters, being implemented by progressive utilities but large scale penetration will require the establishment of business case for regulatory approvals of smart grid related investments and schemes. The India Smart Grid Forum, formed by the Government of India is in the process of evolving acceptable standards for an orderly adoption of smart grid technologies in India, which is eagerly awaited by the industry.  

Clean technologies: Which ones are leading?
Wind has been leading installation in renewable energy in India. For the FY 2010-11, majority of investment took place in wind with an installation of around 2350 MW (i.e 75% of the total renewable energy installation in FY 2010-11). There is a thrust to development of solar power projects through the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) with the objective of building 20 GW of grid-connected (and 2 GW of off-grid) solar capacity by 2022 and to create an environment for innovation, efficiency improvement and scale. There is significant scope in India to enhance the cleantech portfolios by deploying clean technologies in traditional fuel sources like coal as well as biomass based renewable energy generation.

The future of nuclear: The post-Japan path.
The Fukushima disaster has resulted in a call for enhanced safety standards, across all nuclear installations in the world. Some of the European countries like Germany have taken decisions to move away from nuclear energy completely by 2020. The low probability but high impact nature of such special risks need to be identified and mitigation measures planned.

The Government of India has confirmed its plans to pursue with nuclear power given the India specific energy security related issues. The state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation, has envisaged increasing nuclear capacity addition to 63,000 Mw by 2032 from the present level of 4,700 Mw. The biggest casualty of Fukushima is on the public confidence and opinion about nuclear power. In all democratic countries this will be a big challenge for nuclear. 

Energy efficiency and demand side management:
Energy-saving programs that are administered by electric utilities comprise a rapidly growing sector of the demand-side management industry globally.

There is increased awareness among Indian policy makers on Energy Efficiency and Demand Side Management. One of the missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change is dedicated to energy efficiency and demand side management. Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has initiated several programs for promoting demand side management such as Bachat Lamp Yojna, Efficient Water Pumping System, Energy efficient appliances, etc. Adoption of energy efficient technologies by Indian industry shall receive an impetus with the incentives created under the Perform Achieve and Trade (PAT) regime, which is about to be launched shortly.

An energy resource dilemma: Is natural gas the clear winner?
Globally, gas-fired generation will likely continue on a solid growth trajectory through 2035, although since the early 1990s, the growth has been somewhat slower than the rapid market expansion.

In India, concerns on lower production from the KG basin have added to the uncertain environment around gas-based power generation. Although regasified LNG as a source for power generation has not made economic sense, it will be back in focus for other commercial users of natural gas in the face of dwindling projections on domestic gas.

Reversing course in LNG: From west to east.
Globally, ,more and more Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is on its way to Asia, reversing a trend of only a few years ago when most of the LNG was being imported by the west.

India’s demand for gas is going to increase by at least two times by 2020. With a decline in production from RIL’s KG-D6 basin, domestic production does not seem very promising in the near future. Moreover, geopolitical hurdles to transnational pipelines like Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline and Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline and more recently the Myanmar-Bangladesh-India pipeline have made LNG the only serious source of supplies.

  M&A: Is it time to buy or sell?
By and large, utility mergers are being driven by the challenge of finding growth opportunities within existing utility service territories. With over a trillion dollars of cash in the corporate balance sheets in the United States alone, many companies are seizing the moment to become strategic buyers while others are divesting non-core assets.

M&A activities have remained strong since 2007 in India, as established promoters have looked at acquiring lower-risk projects and also at divesting partial stake to finance future investments. Although the current mood is cautionary amongst all investors, acquisitions driven by considerations of fuel availability shall be a growing trend in the future. Partnerships and acquisitions in the cleantech domain shall also intensify in India.

Trends in carbon: What utilities can do now.
Being one of the fast growing economies, India faces both the challenges of rapid increase in energy need as well as accompanied increase in GHG emissions. Coal dominates the India’s fuel mix and it is unlikely to shift in near future. Increasing supply side efficiencies through adoption of cleaner coal technologies and more efficient means of generation as well as opportunities in sequestration shall assume focus in the medium term and will assume significance in policy measures in the near future.

 

Thesynergyonline Corporate Bureau  

NEW DELHI, AUGUST 11 : A loan agreement for the US $ 648 million World Bank loan for the Vishungad Pipalkoti Hydro Electric Project was signed in the Ministry of Finance on August 10, between THDCIL and World Bank.  The loan includes US $ 638 million for the project and US $ 10 million for the capacity building and Institutional strengthening component. The loan tenure is 29 years. The Vishnugad Pipalkoti Project, a run off the river scheme on the Alaknanda River, is designed to generate 1665 million units annually.

The project is scheduled for commissioning during 2016 thereby contributing valuable 444 mw of peaking power to the Northern grid during XII Plan.

THDC India , a Mini Ratna corporation under the Ministry of Power, is presently having a portfolio of projects with an aggregate capacity of over 10,000 MW under various stages of implementation / investigation in Uttarakhand, Maharashtra and Bhutan. 

Since the commissioning of the 1000 MW Tehri Dam and Hydro Power Plant in 2006-07, THDCIL is a profit making entity.  

The Vishnugad Piplakoti Project is to be funded through internal resources of the corporation, equity support from the Govt. of India and Govt. of UP and the World Bank loan.

THDCIL has implemented many pioneering innovations and good practices relating to technical, social and environmental aspects in the Vishnugad Pipalkoti Hydro Project setting a model for the expeditious implementation of hydro projects, while balancing the social and ecological impacts inherently related with hydro projects.

The main contract for the Project incorporates a geo-technical baseline Report for the management of risks due to geological conditions encountered during execution of underground works. 

THDCIL has planned to set up a 4 mw mini hydro generator downstream of the dam to utilise the flow.

To minimise the effect of blasting in the project area, tunnel boring machine shall be used to drive the Head Race Tunnel. 

In addition, insurance of houses and private buildings above the head race tunnel is being done by THDCIL to address concerns about possible damages due to blasting.

THDCIL has set up third party monitoring mechanism for the implementation of social and environmental activities.

The Corporation also sets aside 2 percent of its profit before tax for CSR activities as non- lapsable fund.