Mr. Rao assumes charge as Coal India CMD

S Narsing Rao, the former chief of Singareni Collieries, today assumed the charge of Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of state-owned Coal India (CIL).

"S Narsing Rao took over as Chairman, Coal India on and from April 24, 2012," the company said in a statement.

Rao took over from Zohra Chatterji, Additional Secretary, Coal Ministry, who was holding additional charge of CMD of CIL since February 1, 2012.

After assuming the charge, Rao said, "The immediate priority is to augment coal production and step up the coal supplies."

Before taking the charge of CIL, Rao, a 1986-batch IAS officer of the Andhra Pradesh Cadre, was CMD of Singareni Collieries (SCCL).

The new chief has taken over the top job at a time when the Maharatna firm is battling problems, including delays in regulatory clearances to enhance production and concerns by investors that it lacked leadership.

The top post has been lying vacant after former Chairman and Managing Director Partha S Bhattacharyya retired on February 28, 2011. Soon after his retirement, the government had given additional charge of CMD to NC Jha, director - technical.

After Jha's retirement on January 31, 2012, the charge was given to Chatterji.

CIL which accounts for over 80% of the domestic production and produced 435.84 million tonnes of coal in the last fiscal against a revised output target of 447 million tonne.

 

 

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RE Energy business to be USD 349 Billion by 2020 as per Grant Thornton…

According to reports, the global business for cleantech energy will be as big as $ 349.2 billion in 2020, compared with $ 188 billion in 2010, says Grant Thornton, the consultancy firm.

In a recent report, Grant Thornton observes that cleantech business is no longer something that companies do in order to be seen as doing the right thing. Today’s drivers of cleantech businesses are cost reduction opportunities, the report says.

The business is already growing. While not yet being “a cash generating adult like oil and gas”, cleantech business has shown that it can stand on its own feet, the report says.

The global market for solar photovoltaics, for example, has expanded from $2.5bn in 2000 to $71.2bn in 2010, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39.8 per cent, according to Clean Edge. During that period, the global market for wind power expanded from $4.5bn in 2000 to more than $60.5bn, a CAGR of 29.7 per cent. Other cleantech sectors — eg. hybrid electric vehicles, green buildings and smart grids — have seen similar growth rates.

Grant Thornton India’s Associate Director, Mr Vivek Vikram Singh, says in the report that the coal cess, which will accumulate to around $600 million a year, would be reinvested in clean tech sector. He observes that even during the recession, the renewable energy sector was optimistic.

Mr Singh is also optimistic about M&A deals in the clean tech sector. M&A and PE deals totalling about $400 m have happened in the cleantech sector, which he says, “is very promising, given that this is a sunrise sector.”

While right now the cleantech sector is more a private equity play, M&A activity will pick up in the future, he says

 

 

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Mr. Das, Professor of IIT Delhi, devised Hydrogen as an automobile fuel…

Power India found that Mr. L. M. Das, professor, Centre for Energy Studies, IIT Delhi has developed an alternative to petrol and diesel in the form of Hydrogen as an automobile fuel for engines.

 

Professor Das said:

“Hydrogen can be made from both renewable and non-renewable sources. It’s made from water. On combustion, it gives back water. The noxious emission from burning petroleum products is almost completely absent here,”

 

Conventional engines aren’t designed to burn hydrogen, a highly explosive gas.

Professor Das perfected a special electronic ignition system that feeds the engine tiny quantities of gas. After testing it for years in labs like the one at IIT Delhi, Das took it on road.

Fifteen such three wheelers have been safely ferrying passengers at Pragati Maidan in Delhi for the past four months.

Just one kg of gas is enough for 70 km. Fuelled by a company called AIR products, they’re the only successful hydrogen powered engines in the world.

 

“Abroad, they concentrate on fuel cells. But in India, internal combustion engines have already been operated on CNG. So graduating from CNG to hydrogen would be easier,” said Professor Das.

 

Professor Das’s family is very proud. An international consortium will take the work forward and it’s received a $500 million grant from the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation. Das himself won an award from Lockheed Martin and India’s Department of Science and Technology in 2012.

 

The only problem is, making the hydrogen that drives the machine is still expensive. Mahindra is running a pilot project in Delhi and if that’s successful, you could see one of these vehicles on a street near you.

 

 

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Alstom–Bharat Forge JV got an EPC Contract for NTPCs Solarpur, Maharashtra project…

Power India found that National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) has awarded an Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply, Erection and Commissioning contract to Alstom Bharat Forge Power Limited (ABFPL – A Joint Venture between Bharat Forge Ltd and Alstom Projects) for 2 X 660 MW Supercritical steam ‘turbine generator islands’ (TG Islands) for NTPC’s upcoming project at Solapur, Maharashtra.

 

Power India further found that, ABFPL had also emerged as the lowest bidder in NTPC’s bulk tender for supply of 11x660 MW super critical TG islands last year.

As part of this bulk tender, besides this award for Solapur Project, as per the tender conditions, ABFPL may also get an additional order for 3 units for the Nabinagar Project from Nabinagar Power Generating Co. Pvt. Ltd (NPGCPL), a JV between NTPC and Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB).

 

An LoI for this proejct is already with ABFPL.

Supercritical plants use steam with very high temperatures and pressure, resulting in a much higher efficiency than conventional coal-fired plants. This results in lesser consumption of coal and lower emissions per unit of power produces.

ABFPL's state-of-art manufacturing facility with an annual capacity of 5000 MW is expected to be commissioned at Mundra in Gujarat by 2013.

Once completed, this largest integrated manufacturing facility for power equipment in the private sector will play a crucial role in the expansion of generation capacity in India.

This will address the rising electricity demand for India's rapidly growing economy and will also demonstrate the partner's resolve to make India a global manufacturing hub for technologically advanced power equipment

 

 

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Goldwind launched GW93/1500 wind turbine (IEC Class V) suitable for “ultra low” wind sites…

Power India found that Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co., Ltd. (Goldwind) has launched its new wind turbine GW93/1500 (1.5 MW) which has been designed specially for “ultra-low” wind speed sites such as available in India etc.

 

The new turbine is having rated capacity of 1.5 MW and rotor diameter of 93 m (larget among the comparable products in China as claimed by Goldwind) equipped with permanent magnet direct drive (PMDD) technology.

 

Some of the special features as captured by Power India are:

• The turbine is of IEC Class V
• Which means the turbine is capable to generate power at the sites having wind speed in the range of 5.5 m/s to 6.5 m/s
• The turbine uses a permanent magnet generator and a full-power converter with “grid friendly” properties.
• The turbine meets national grid connection requirements and meets zero voltage ride-through standards.
• According to its designed capacity, the GW93/1500 series can generate power of more than 2,000 standard hours per year based on an annual average wind speed of 5.5 m/s (with reference to the standard air density and Rayleigh distribution).

 

The product will be officially launched in Xi’an, Shan Xi on April 20 and the company plans to install its first prototype in Zhucheng, Shandong at the end of this month.

 

Goldwind is the latest turbine developer to tap into the low wind speed turbine market, which is growing rapidly, as high wind speed sites, particularly in India and Europe, are set to become increasingly scarce, and developers look to exploit low wind speed sites close to highly populated areas.

 

As wind power technologies improve, the available resources in low wind speed and ultra-low wind speed areas have significant potential. There are also many ultra-low wind speed areas in close proximity to urban with strong grid capacity.

Goldwind seeks to maximize value for its customers. With its strong global R&D platform and innovative technologies, Goldwind has developed customized wind turbine series to accommodate diverse operating environments.

 

In addition to the ultra-low wind speed series, Goldwind offers low wind speed, high altitude, low temperature, high temperature, offshore and tidal PMDD series. Goldwind has utilized these specialized series in several projects overseas including a high altitude project in Ecuador, a low wind-speed project in Chile, a high temperature project in Pakistan and a low temperature project in Minnesota, USA.

Customers from around the world have recognized Goldwind’s PMDD wind turbines many advantages, including low maintenance requirements, strong low voltage ride-through capability, high availability rate and high power generation efficiency.

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Solar Power Clothes on its way to power mobile phones, tablets, GPS etc..

Power India found that a team of designers is developing solar power clothes from natural fibres that will be able to charge number of devices including mobile phones, tablets, GPS units etc.

 

The team consists of Eulanda Sanders and Ajoy Sarkar (of Indian origin) in Colorado State University’s Department of Design and Merchandising along with four of their students are making prototypes for solar-charging apparel that can be worn while biking, snowboarding, skiing or hiking. 

 

Clothing with solar panels has been developed before, but these duds usually rely on petroleum—based materials rather than natural fibres, Discovery News reported.

A prime example is California-based Silvrlining’s GO Solar Power Collection, which puts solar power into microsuede sportswear. While certainly cool-looking, the director’s jacket costs 1,180 dollars.

 

Instead, Sanders and Sarkar want to produce clothes from cotton and linen that are safe and strong enough to handle the elements. According to the university, the group was able to modify natural materials to make them more durable. From there, they incorporated flexible solar panels within the apparel.

 

Their goal with these greener clothes is ultimately to make solar clothing that’s not only comfortable and cool looking but also highly functional and easy to clean. With help from a 15,000-dollar grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the CSU group has already made several prototype jackets and a vest. This weekend, that apparel will go on display at the EPA’s National Sustainable Design Expo in Washington, DC. The team has also entered a sustainable design competition there, competing with entries from across the nation. Winning means a shot at taking their solar clothing to the market.

 

 

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MNRE constituted Offshore Wind Energy Steering Committee for developing offshore wind projects…

Power India found that, the Ministry for New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) after waiting for long has finally constituted an Offshore Wind Energy Steering Committee (OWESC) to steer the offshore wind power development in India.

 

We believe that the move was in line with the recommendations from various industry experts such as E&Y etc as captured by Power India.

 

The said committee was set up under the chairmanship of Secretary, MNRE to develop the offshore wind project in India in a direct and focused manner especially in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

 

This committee will work out a roadmap for offshore wind power development in the country. It has been pointed out in various studies carried out by C-WET and others which suggested offshore wind power potential in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

 

A Technical Committee has already been constituted to analyse the available data with various agencies for preliminary assessment of potential including identification of pockets for offshore wind power development.

 

The Offshore Wind Energy Steering Committee will focus on issues like allotment of offshore wind sites which requires multilayer clearances, coordination with various government departments/agencies such as Environment, Shipping, Defence, Maritime and Civil Aviation. The Committee will include various stakeholders including government department/agencies.

 

According to the terms and reference of OWESC, it will provide policy guidance for tapping offshore wind energy potential on sustained basis; approve plans and proposals relating to offshore wind energy development in the country; develop policy framework/guidelines for offshore wind resource assessment through public/private entities and guidelines for awarding the sites to private sector for establishing offshore wind power projects.

 

It would also work to create an institutional mechanism for inter-agency coordination for integration of offshore wind power with established uses of the sea; evaluation of the potential partners (private/public sector) for setting up of pilot offshore wind power projects of 100 m size in a period of 2-3 years and evaluation of Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode for offshore wind energy development.

 

 

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Kundankulam Nuclear Power Project’s First unit of 1000 MW to be commissioned by end May 2012…

Power India found that first reactor of 1000 MW of the Kundankulam Nuclear Power Project will be commissioned by end of May 2012.

 

According to Mr. V. Narayansamy, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO):

“Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) officials were at the Kudankulam project site and inspecting the plant. The first reactor of 1000 MW will be operational within 40 days from today. AERB was expected to give its certification to the plant in about a week after which uranium -- the fuel for power generation -- will be loaded in the plant.  We will have a trial run for 20 days after which the first reactor will start generating power."

 

Further as said by Mr. Narayanasamy,  the second unit of 1000 MW was expected to be commissioned within two months of the first one.

He said over 2000 engineers, from India and Russia, were working day and night for the purpose of power generation from the project.

The Rs 15,824-crore project had witnessed eight-month- long protests from anti-nuclear power groups and some locals who had apprehensions on the safety aspects of the plant.

The work on the plant was suspended in October last year soon after the hot-run which a process to test the reactor systems and pipelines using dummy fuel.

 

 

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RPower’s Dhursar Solar CSP Plant received USD 103 Million from ADB…

Reliance Power Limited (RPower)  received around USD 103 Million from Asian Development Bank (ADB – The multilateral lending agency) for its 100 MW Solar CSP Project (Solar Thermal Project) which is being developed at Dhursar, Jaisalmer District of Rajasthan.

 

MR. S. Chander, Director General (Regional and Sustainable Development Department), ADB said on Tuesday:

"I would like to to inform you that ADB has just agreed to extend financing for Reliance Power's 100-MW concentrated solar thermal plant which will be one of the largest solar power generation facilities in India and Asia as well,"

This was announced while Mr. Chander was addressing the inaugural session of the fourth Asia Solar Energy Forum, which is being attended by several public and private sector experts, investors, and companies.

Power India found that the Dhursar Solar Project is expected to be completed on May 2013 and will be having investment of around USD 415 Million.

 

Besides ADB, other bilateral agencies and local lenders will provide funds for the project.

 

The proposed project will be the first Solar CSP (Solar Thermal)  plant built by Reliance Power, which is a listed company of the Reliance ADA Group.

The proposed plant is being set under Govenment of India’s (GoI) ambitions Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (NSM).

Under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (NSM) that started in January, 2010, the country aims to have 2,000 MW of installed solar power generation capacity by 2013, which would be further increased to 10,000 MW by 2017 and to 20,000 MW by 2022.

Reliance Power was one of the successful bidders to develop 470 MW of concentrating solar power capacity under the first phase of the NSM.

The plant will be located near the village of Dhursar in the Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan, which is about 180 km from Jodhpur. The site has one of the highest levels of direct sunlight in the country.

The plant is estimated to avoid more than 2.5 lakh tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year, compared to the energy produced by a conventional fossil fuel plant.
The project will share a transmission line with the Reliance Power's existing 40 MW Dahanu solar power plant which is also partly financed by the ADB.

"This 100-megawatt plant will help meet growing energy demand in India in a way that avoids emission of harmful greenhouse gases," said Michael Barrow, Director, ADB's Private Sector Operations Department.

He further said, "We hope that the success of this project will spur others to invest in the solar energy sector, which has massive potential in India."

According to the Asian Development Bank, it will be one of the largest solar plants in India and the loan marks ADB's first-ever financing for a concentrating solar power project.
Concentrating solar power captures solar energy to convert water into steam, which in turn drives a steam turbine to produce energy. Photo-voltaic plants convert sunlight into electricity through solar panels using semiconductors.

ADB is supporting the development of solar energy in Asia, as part of its goal of promoting environmentally sustainable economic growth.
Under its Asia Solar Energy Initiative, announced in May 2010, ADB aims to commission or support 3,000 MW of solar power capacity in developing member countries by May 2013.

 

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Solar PV Project on Narmada Canal in Gujarat to be inaugurated soon by Narendra Modi…

Close on heels of commencing use of wastelands in northern districts and rooftops in towns and cities, Gujarat is set to potentially use the existing 19,000 km-long network of Narmada canals across the State for setting up solar panels to generate power.

 

Power India in August 2011 captured that work on floating solar panels on Narmada Canal has been started. 

 

First phase of this project knows as Canal Solar Power Project near Chandrasan Village of Kadi Talika in Mehsana has already been commissioned and will be inaugurated by Mr. Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Gujarat CM on 24th April 2012.

 

As captured by Power India, Mr Narendar Modi, last week, has  inaugurated a 600-MW solar power project spread across 11 districts.

 

This included a 214MW Solar Power Park, the largest such generation centre at a single location in Asia. Also, Azure Power, leading independent power producer in solar sector, announced a 2.5 MW rooftops project in Gandhinagar.

 

Gujarat, which invests nearly Rs 2,000 crore an year on renewable energy, has attracted investments of Rs 9,000 crore so far on solar energy projects.

 

The pilot project has been developed on a 750-m stretch of the canal by Gujarat State Electricity Corporation (GSECL) with support from Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL), which owns and maintains the canal network.

Energy, water security

The pilot project will generate 16 lakh units of clean energy per annum and also prevent evaporation of 90 lakh litres of water annually from the canal. The concept will, therefore, tackle two of the challenges simultaneously by providing energy and water security.

The cost of per megawatt of solar power, in this case, is likely to be much less than the estimated Rs 10-11 crore, as the two banks of the canal will be used to cover the canal by installing solar power panel and the government will not have to spend much on creating basic infrastructure, including land acquisition .

Today, Gujarat has about 458 km of open Main Canal, while the total canal length, including sub-branches, is about 19,000 km at present.

When completed, the SSNNL's canal network will be about 85,000 km long.

Assuming a utilisation of only 10 per cent of the existing canal network of 19,000 km, it is estimated that 2,200 MW of solar power generating capacity can be installed by covering the canals with solar panels.

This also implies that 11,000 acres of land can be potentially conserved along with about 2,000 crore litres of water saved per annum.

 

Pl find below the snapshot of the commissioned project “India’s First 1 MW Canal-Top Solar Power Project”. (Courtesy: SSNNL)

 

 

 

You can download the full snapshots of this “India’s First 1 MW Canal-Top Solar Power Project” at this link.

 

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13 power plants of Maharashtra are among top 478 establishments of the country guzzling major chunk of furnace oil…

Power India found that around 13 power plants of Maharashtra which are supplying power to the state and 30 other industrial units are among the India’s top 478 manufacturing establishment guzzling the major chunk of country’s fuel mainly furnace oil.

Power India further found that, these set-ups have been asked by the union power ministry to reduce their current energy consumption, i.e. oil consumption of 166 million tonne, by 6.6 million tonne by the year 2015.

Normally these industrial setups use oil to generate power in their plants using diesel generators when power is not available. In power plants, oil is used when inferior quality of coal affects generation.

Only plants using more than a specified amount of energy are included in the ministry's list. These plants account for about 1/3rd of the total energy consumed in India, sources said.

Considered a measure to check carbon emissions responsible for global warming and to save precious fuel, this government initiative also imposes penalties on these units if failed to achieve the targets e.g. a Rs-10,154 penalty for missing a 1 tonne oil target. However, there is also an incentive for companies that surpass the energy-efficiency target for 2014-15. For each extra tonne of oil-equivalent saved, the company will get an energy saving certificate, which can then be sold to other companies that fail to meet their targets. The bureau of energy efficiency (BEE) has helped set targets to save precious oil and thus carbon emissions.

Some of the power plants listed for achieving these energy targets are:

Bhusawal, Chandrapur, Khaparkheda, Koradi, Nashik, New Parli, Paras, Parli and Uran of the state, power plants of state government, Trombay power plants of Tata power, and Dahanu generation units of Reliance Infrastructure. Other industrial units in the state which have been asked to achieve oil saving targets include Hindalco, Century, Eurotex, Indo Count, textile mills like Jawahar, Morarjee, P V, Priyadarshini, Raymond, Spentex, Suryalaxmi, and Bombay Dying, BILT Graphic Papers, JSW, Gopani, Sunflag, Ispat, Mukund, Lloyds Metals, RCF, and cement factories like Ultratech, Ambuja, ACC and Manikgarh.

Meanwhile, a source in power sector said several power generating units in the state have to use substandard quality of coal, which is mostly muddy and sticky, and hence there is no option but to use oil to speed up the generation. "Similarly the Industry will not use oil to generate power through diesel or captive generators if a cheaper and efficient power is offered to them 24x7," he said pointing out that such norms would have been more apt if such hurdles had not been there.

 

 

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