Update on REC Trading for the month of November 2013: Non-Solar RECs Up by 105%, Solar RECs down by 20%...

The 9th REC Trading Session of the Financial Year 2013-14 was conducted on 27th November 2013 on both the Power Exchanges, IEX and PXI.

In this session, substantial growth in demand for Non-Solar RECs was observed; the increase in Buy bids has re-infused the faith in the future of REC markets.

However, the Solar REC market has not shown any growth in this trading session, but the increasing participation from the buyers will ensure a promising future for solar market.

In comparison to last trading session of October 2013, the buyer’s participation has substantially increased by 105.08% for Non-solar and decreased by 20.56% for Solar.

This seems to be on account of the RPO enforcements by various State & Central Regulators and expected to create more demand of certificates in the near future.

Analysis of Non-Solar REC Segment

Non-Solar REC Segment
Parameter	IEX	PXI	Total	Trend
Buy Bids	97,743	2,11,185	3,08,928	105%
Sell Bids	27,60,452	13,79,113	41,39,565	7%
Cleared Volume	97,743	2,11,185	3,08,928	105%
Cleared Price	1,500	1,500	1,500	0%
Cleared Volume as % of Total Sell Bids				7.46%
Transaction Amount (Rs. Crs)				46.34

• The Cleared Volume of Non-Solar RECs have been increased by more than 105%
• However, the above was mainly on account of the observed increased of more than 308% on PXI; on IEX a marginal decrease of 1% was observed.
• The Clearance Ratio in terms of Perc over Sell Bids has been increased to 7.45% from 3.88% in the previous month.
• The Market Clearing Price observed was the Floor Price i.e Rs. 1500 per RECs.
• Below charts shall give more clarity this.

Analysis of Solar REC Segment

Solar REC Segment
Parameter	IEX	PXI	Total	Trend
Buy Bids	6,983	371	7,354	-21%
Sell Bids	45,819	15,538	61,357	-10%
Cleared Volume	6,983	371	7,354	-21%
Cleared Price	9,300	9,300	9,300	0%
Cleared Volume as % of Total Sell Bids				11.99%
Transaction Amount (Rs. Crs)				6.84

• The Cleared Volume of Solar RECs have been decreased by around 21%.
• However, the above was mainly on account of the observed decrease of more than 86% on PXI; on IEX,  increase of 6.6% was observed.
• The Clearance Ratio in terms of Perc over Sell Bids has been decreased to 12% from 13.6% in the previous month.
• The Market Clearing Price observed was the Floor Price i.e Rs. 9300 per RECs.
• Below charts shall give more clarity this.

Excel (xls) file for the complete data on RECs (Both Solar & Non Solar) for the current financial year can be downloaded from this link.
Source: IEX and PXI

Read More...

Techno Electric to set up Rs 200 cr transmission grid in Punjab...

 

BSE-listed Techno Electric & Engineering, a leading EPC contractor and independent power producer (IPP), will build a transmission network at Patran, Punjan on build, own, operate and maintain (BOOM) basis.

The Rs 200 crore transmission network will be developed through Patran Transmission Company, a special purpose vehicle (SPV), now 100 per cent acquired by Techno Electric from PFC Consulting.

The 400 KV transmission system comprises of LILO of both circuits of Patiala-Kaithal 400 KV double circuit triple snow bird Line at Patran (5 KM) and 400/220KV substation with 14 bays at Patran, Punjab.

The inter-state network will have a system capacity to evacuate 1,200 mw of power, Techno Electric top officials said. The Kolkata-headquartered company has bagged the contract on the basis of BOOM for a period of 35 years.

Incidentally, Techno Electric emerged as the successful bidder selected through ‘tariff based competitive bidding guidelines for transmission services’, issued by the union power ministry.

“This promises to broaden our portfolio of power transmission projects. After the successful commissioning of the Jhajjar transmission network in Haryana, we are excited to work on yet another project, this time with a 100 per cent SPV under Techno Electric. The order by PFC emphasises on the significance of private participation in building India’s power transmission projects with new capacities and upgraded technology. We look forward to bidding and winning similar projects in the future,” said PP Gupta, MD, Techno Electric and Engineering.

The project will be completed within 30 months from the date of award of the contract and will ensure a sustainable income flow of around Rs 1,000 crore as transmission charges to the SPV over the concession period, Gupta said.

The company is actually betting high on transmission line and sub-stations being built on PPP model. It is already putting up 2 sub-stations and 100 km transmission line in Hariyana under KT Jhajhhar project, jointly with Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd and is keen on replicating the same model in other parts of the country.

The EPC business of the company notched up a topline revenue of Rs 515 crore in the last fiscal, while wind power business earned a topline revenue of Rs 180 crore and it is expecting its EPC business to grow by 25 per cent for the next one to two years.

Source

Read More...

FOR bats for wide consultations before separation of content and carriage in power distribution...

 

Power Ministry's for separation of "carriage and content" in distribution has received support from the Forum of Regulators (FOR) which is a representative body of central state electricity regulators. Ministry's move to amend the Electricity Act, 2003 is aimed at the introduction of competition in retail electricity supply.

The ministry proposal is based on the Central Electricity Authority's recommendation in the recent report that the distribution system may be separated from supply of electricity with two separate licensees to two separate legal entities.

However, FOR at its recent meeting held on November 18 opined that electricity being a concurrent subject, such a model should be implemented after wide consultation with stake holders including state Governments, state utilities, consumers, NGOs.  Besides, smaller States, especially, the hilly states may need separate treatment and the model may need to be modified accordingly. FOR also suggested that the consumers should not be burdened with dealing with two licensees separately.

As per the proposed amendment, the distribution licensee will have an obligation to provide connection on demand to any consumer in its area of distribution. Further the incumbent supply licensee will have universal supply obligation to serve all the consumers in its area of supply. The subsequent supply licensee will have to have service obligation to supply on demand to all consumers of the specified voltage level for which supply licensee has been granted to it. The existing intra-state traders will be treated as deemed supply licensees with service obligation to supply on demand to all consumers of specified voltage level.

However, FOR has suggested that the subsequent supply licences should be granted for the entire area co-terminus with the incumbent supply licensee, with the obligation to supply electricity to all the consumers in its area of supply.

RP Singh, former chairman, PowerGrid Corporation told Business Standard ''The electricity sector will become viable through commercialization of the distribution sector which can only be feasible if content is separated from the carrier whereby the distribution network be assigned to a licensee on similar lines as the central transmission utility and state transmission utility have been assigned for the development of transmission network. The content (sale of power) be opened to competition may be at the taluka and district levels while in the towns and cities there could be multiple players. The present form of privatization of distribution replaces the government monopoly by a private monopoly which would focus on maximizing the profit.''

Source

Read More...

NTPC faces land acquisition hurdle for Darlipali Thermal Power Plant...

 

NTPC is facing problems in acquiring land required for its 2X800 MW Darlipali supercritical thermal power project in Odisha. Interestingly, the project has secured the stage-I Forest clearance.

NTPC so far has received certificate for only 1205 acres out of 1274 acres of private land. Out of 338.97 acres of Government land, payment for 275 acres has been released by NTPC to State Government and transfer of Government land is under process of approval of State Government.

NTPC is also facing problem in developing Dulanga Mines as the forest clearance has not yet been granted for the project.

As the proposed Darlipali thermal power station is supposed to get coal linkage from this mine, development of Dulanga mines is crucial for the project.

It may be recalled here that the original bidder for turbines, BGR Energy, recently pulled out from Rs. 800 crore supply commitment citing clearance issues. NTPC will have to re-tender for turbines which will only further delay the execution of the project. NTPC has also held back award of Bulk Tender – II due to delay in getting forest clearance and land acquisition issues for the linked coal mine.

NTPC plans to invest Rs. 12,850 crore for the super thermal project. The state government would get half of the electricity generated at the plant, for which the coal linkage has been assured.

Source

Read More...

Tata Power announces 61% increase in power generation...

 

Tata Power on Wednesday announced generating 22,738 MUs of power collectively from all its power plants in first half of the financial year 2013-14 as compared to 14,029 MUs in the same period of the previous year.

This marks a 61% increase in generation, with the total power generation capacity of Tata Power standing at 8521 MW from various fuel source: thermal (coal, gas and oil), hydroelectric power, renewable energy (wind and solar PV) and waste heat recovery, reinforcing its position as the largest integrated power company in India.

Breaking the previous records in generation performance, its subsidiaries CGPL and MPL have continued to contribute significantly to the increase in generation capacity, with 11,574 MUs and 2,930 MUs respectively.

With a strong business presence across the power value chain the company is also one of the largest renewable energy players in the country with significant capacity in wind and solar. The total generation from clean energy sources amounted to 1439 MU, officials said.

Tata Power managing director Anil Sardana, in a statement to media, said, "Tata Power always strives to achieve new heights and benchmarks through excellence in business performance. It marks a significant milestone in the history of the company by setting an example for the Indian power sector. It gives us great pride to be the largest integrated power company in India with significant focus on renewable energy source."

Officials said that Tata Power was committed to maintaining a 20-25% share of its generation mix through non- greenhouse gas sources. Due to large capacity addition through CGPL, the non-GHG capacity percentage had reduced as compared to last year.

Source

Read More...

India, Belgium agree to enhance cooperation in renewable energy...

 

India and Belgium have agreed to work on signing an MOU to enhance cooperation in renewable energy. This was discussed at a bilateral meeting between Farooq Abdullah, Minister for new and renewable energy, Government of India and Her Royal Highness Princess Astrid of Belgium.

Abdullah briefed the visiting delegation on the energy situation in India and the rapid growth of the renewable energy sector in India.

He spoke of India's plans to add over 30 GW of renewable energy to its energy mix in the next 5 years. He dwelt on the success of the wind programme as well as the significant cost reductions in solar energy through the Jawahar Lal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). He also highlighted India's conducive and investor friendly policy framework for promoting renewable energy in a big way.

Abdullah suggested that India and Belgium had great potential for enhancing cooperation in promoting renewable energy and offered to provide all possible assistance for the purpose.

The Belgian delegation recognized India's considerable achievements and strengths in renewable energy and noted that India had made large strides in this field. The business delegation accompanying the official delegation also made brief presentations on their activities and reciprocated India's desire for enhanced energy cooperation between the two countries.

After detailed discussions, the two sides agreed to start work on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the field of renewable energy between the ministry of new and renewable energy of the Government of India and the Government of Belgium in order to strengthen, promote and develop renewable energy cooperation between the two countries on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. Both countries also agreed to explore possibilities of coordination in renewable energy through joint research and development programmes of mutual interest.

Source

Read More...

UP Government to provide subsidy of Rs. 30,000 to install solar power panels...

 

In order to provide solar power-run equipment to the beneficiaries of Ram Manohar Lohia Gramin Awas Yojna, the UP state authorities have decided to provide Rs 30,000 each to beneficiary to install solar power panels. Over 1.14 lakh beneficiaries would be benefited by the scheme.

The rural development department had consulted the agency concerned to select the model of fans, either ceiling or table, that would be suitable to run on solar power, simultaneously with light bulbs or CFLs (compact fluorescent lamps) in the villages.

Officials pointed out that the first and second phase of the scheme will be implemented simultaneously and completed in March next year. For the phase of 2012-13, the government had already released adequate funds to construct around 68,000 Lohia houses. It has also made a provision of over 500 crores to construct around 45,200 houses for the second phase of 2013-14.

It is yet to be decided whether UPNEDA will provide domestic solar equipment directly or cash would be given to beneficiaries to purchase solar fans. Under Lohia Grameen Awas Yojana, the state government has allotted funds for the scheme to provide shelter to homeless rural populace. UP Non-Conventional Energy Development Agency (NEDA) has been roped in for the purpose.

The agency would set up a centre to solve the grievances of the people in maintaining and operating domestic solar lights with a 5-year warranty.

Source

Read More...

Thermal power plants back on track...

 

The state might get a little reprieve from prolonged hours of power cut with thermal power plants, whi­ch were under repair, starting generation one after another. One 500 MW unit of the Vallur thermal power station, a joint venture bet­ween National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Tamil Nadu Gener­ation and Distribution Cor­p­oration, will restart generation on Tuesday night, said a senior official of NTPC. 

The Unit-I of Vallur plant has been under forced outage since November 14 due to coal shortage and depriving state of its share of 375 MW from the unit. Acco­rding to a senior NTPC official, the unit was shutdown following coal shortage.

“We are getting our coal from Mahanadi Coalfields in Odisha via Pradip port. Due to cyclone Phailin and workers’ protest in the coalfields, we did not receive our coal consignment on time. It led to shutdown of the unit,” the official said.

The 2X500 MW Vallur station requires 13,400 tonnes of coal per day. The thermal power station meets 53 per cent of its coal need from domestic coalfields and remaining through import. “Since we have rec­ei­ved a consignment of coal, we will be starting ge­n­e­ration from Tuesday night,” the official said.

Shortage of coal in central generating stations like  Talcher, Simhadri and Ramagundam  has been affecting power supply to the state. The latest coal stock position, as on Nove­mber 24, shows that Tal­cher, Simhadri and Rama­gundam, which supply nearly 1,400 MW to Tamil Nadu, have stocks for just a day. The 600 MW stage-III Met­t­ur thermal power station which restarted operation on Tuesday morning has been generating to its fullest capacity.

On Tuesday morning, Tan­geco met a morning peak demand of 9,305 MW while enforcing a load shedding to tune of 1,830 MW.

“With no wind power, we are pinning our hope on wid­espread rainfall to br­ing down the power dem­and in the state,” a senior Tangedco official said.

Source

Read More...

Solar unit set up at Andhra CM's camp office...

 

The Andhra Pradesh chief minister’s camp office at Begumpet here will partially run on solar power hereafter and save 50 per cent power.

The incumbent, N Kiran Kumar Reddy, inaugurated the Solar Photovoltaic System installed over the roof of the building on Tuesday.

The total power load of the camp office was 60 KW, excluding air-conditioners. The installed capacity of solar system was 40 KW. The system works from 9 am to 5 pm on direct solar and 5 pm to 9 pm on battery charged by solar energy and then grid power. The saving on power bills will be about 50 per cent of the total bill.

The chief minister complimented the New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NREDCAP) for its various new initiatives and directed the AP Transco to speed up the efforts for implementation of the AP State Solar Policy-2012, which has been announced recently.

The cumulative capacity sanctioned in the state including wind, solar, biomass-based, mini-hydro etc from the beginning was 4,357 MW and during 2012-13 and 2013-14 the total 1,444 MW capacity was installed. Out of this, wind energy achievement till 2010 had been 107 MW and in the last three years was 500 MW. Under the State Solar Power Policy, NREDCAP installed about 25 MW power plants on captive use and third party basis.

Labour minister Danam Nagender, marketing minister Mukesh Goud, principal secretary to chief minister Ajeya Kallam, AP Transco in-charge chairman and managing director Munindra, NREDCAP managing dirctor M Kamalakara Babu and other senior officials were present.

Source

Read More...

C-WET approves China Ming Yang's 1.5 MW and Garuda's 0.7 MW Wind Turbines for installations in India...

 

China Ming Yang Wind Power Group Ltd, which is in partnership with Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group, has got its wind turbine cleared for sales in India.

The Centre for Wind Energy Technology, which vets turbine models for use in India, recently notified the clearance for Ming Yang’s machine, which has a capacity of 1.5 MW and a hub height of 75 metres.

Ming Yang is a partner of Reliance Capital Ltd, an Ambani group company, in Global Wind Power Ltd.

When the joint venture agreement was announced last year, Global Wind said it intended to develop as much as 2,500 MW of wind power capacity in India by 2015. The venture is expected to be funded by a $3-billion loan from China Development Bank.

Recently, Bloomberg news agency had reported that Chinese wind turbine manufacturers such as Sinovel Wind Group Co, Dongfang Electric Corp. and Shanghai Electric Group Co have won orders in India.

GARUDA APPROVED

Garuda Vaayu Shakthi Ltd’s wind turbine also got clearance for sales. The Garuda 700 kW machine is completely home-grown.

N. Srinivasan, who earlier headed the renewable energy company Auro Mira, is promoting Garuda.

“We own the IP,” Srinivasan told Business Line , adding the company would procure the components and assemble the machines.

NuPower Technologies Ltd has got its 2.05 MW machine cleared. This turbine will be manufactured with technological help from Wind To Energy GmbH of Germany.

Also approved is the 1.8-MW ‘Pawanshakthi’ turbine of RRB Energy. The Chennai-based company, an erstwhile joint venture partner of global renewable energy company Vestas Wind, is one of the pioneers of the wind industry in the country. But it is now fighting for a small share of the market.

The past two years have been bad for the Indian wind power industry, mainly due to the withdrawal of some key incentives by the government. Against this backdrop, new turbines coming into the market are seen as a confidence the players have in the long term future of the industry.

The Revised List of Models and Manufacturers of Wind Turbines (RLMM) as approved by C-WET can be downloaded from this link.

Source

Read More...

Gujarat's DGVCL receives Best Performing Utility-State Award...

 

The Dakshin Gujarat Vij Company Limited (DGVCL) has been awarded as the 'best performing utility-State' at the 7th Enertia Awards 2013-India's awards for sustainable energy and power-at a function held in New Delhi on November 22.

DGVCL's managing director, HS Patel, was also was given away 'power persona of the year' award at the 7th Enertia Awards-2013 at New Delhi.

The eminent jury panel at the 7th Enertia Awards-2013 adjudged DGVCL as number one on the basis of its overall distribution loss reduction of 6.94 per cent over last eight years with 2012-13 losses being at 11.56 per cent.

Moreover, in a first annual integrated rating done by ICRA-CARE and for a rating of state distribution utilities by Government of India's ministry of power, DGVCL has been graded in A+ category as India's top state DISCOM for various parameters like loss reduction programme, profitability of operation, collection efficiency, technology adaptation, consumer orientation, theft mitigation, reliability and quality of supply and 24x7 access of electricity to both urban and rural consumers.

Source

Read More...

Lenders refuse to recast Websol Energy System’s Rs 350-crore loan...

 

A consortium of seven lenders has refused to refer the Kolkata-based Websol Energy System to the corporate debt restructuring (CDR) cell for the recast of its loans worth Rs 350 crore, said people familiar with the matter in the banking industry.

The move assumes significance in light of the repeated warnings by the government and the RBI on the rising incidence of bad loans, prodding banks to act tough on defaulting companies.

"Promoters weren't ready to bring in their share of contribution to the scheme," said a senior official from one of the lenders, requesting anonymity . "They wanted to sell land but it did not happen."

An email sent to the Websol corporate office followed by phone calls did not elicit any response. Banks had lent to the company in the form of both term credit and working capital loans.

Allahabad Bank has a total exposure of around Rs 115 crore while Exim Bank lent about Rs 60 crore. The company took mostly working capital loans from private sector lenders , including Axis Bank for about Rs 70 crore, Federal Bank for about Rs 35 crore, Rs 25 crore from ICICI Bank and around Rs 5 crore from HDFC Bank.

Bankers have provided for the default and classified it as substandard loan. During the July-September quarter, Websol Energy extended its net loss to . 1.3 crore from Rs 18.7 lakh a year ago in the same quarter. Websol shares shrank 50% since the last one year, closing at Rs 6.75 on Monday. "These companies cannot make money in India," said Manish Innani, director of a Mumbai-based brokerage house Prayas Securities .

"Globally, it is almost impossible to run renewable energy companies without government support." The CDR is a platform where lenders and borrowers mutually draw a scheme of restructuring loans of companies facing financial difficulties. Here, a borrower seeks relaxation of original terms and conditions while lenders restrict their expansion or diversification plans till the company revives.

"We should move away from restructuring," KC Chakrabarty, deputy governor of RBI, said two weeks ago at the annual banking conference in Mumbai.

Source

Read More...

Greenko commissions 15 MW Wind Farm in Karnataka...

 

Greenko Group Plc, an Indian renewable-power developer backed by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, completed a 15-megawatt wind farm in Karnataka state.

The 13 million-pound ($21 million) project will sell its output directly to a technology park near Bangalore under a 10-year contract, the Hyderabad-based developer said today in a statement.

It used 1.5-megawatt ReGen Powertech Pvt. turbines.

Greenko, now with a capacity of 426 megawatts, expects to reach 600 megawatts by mid-2014, according to the statement.

The company, which received a 100 million-pound investment from the Government of Singapore Investment Corp. in March, plans to build 2,000 megawatts of hydropower and wind assets by 2018.

Source

Read More...

Loss of output from captive coal mines costs the nation Rs 1.4 lakh crore...

 

What could be the financial cost to the nation of the loss of output from captive coal mines allocated to corporates over the past decade? The cost is a whopping Rs 1.46 lakh crore -- a result of delayed clearances for coal blocks and the companies’ own failure in developing the mines.

The humongous loss figure has been arrived at by adding the additional cost of coal imported to make good the shortfall with the cost of lost generation of electricity over the past five years.

According to consultancy firm KPMG, the total loss of output from captive coal mines over the past five years stood at 394 million tonne (MT) based on delays with reference to a normative time of 54 months to develop allocated mines. Of this, 200 MT shortfall was substituted by imported coal. Assuming the delivered cost of this coal at Rs 3,980 per tonne, and the cost of domestic coal for a port-based plant at Rs 2,380 per tonne, the additional cost of imported coal works out to Rs 32,000 crore.

The balance shortfall of 194 MT could not be substituted by imports and led to loss of generation. Assuming coal consumption of 0.68 Kilogram for generation of every unit (1 KWh) of electricity, the nation lost 285.2 billion units (BUs) of generation. Further, taking into account the average cost of power at Rs 4 per unit, the total value of lost generation stood at Rs 1,14,000 crore.

Putting the two figures together, the total loss due to captive mining shortfall in value terms adds up to a staggering Rs 1,46,000 crore. E-mails sent to the power and coal ministries seeking comments on the alarming loss figure did not elicit any response.

According to KPMG Partner Santosh Kamath, the loss figure for the power sector highlights the need for increasing the speed of clearances and permits. “The calculation shows the value of time is not adequately recognized or appreciated. This loss is actually a loss to the nation. However, not all the loss of Rs 146,118 crore may be related to delays in clearances as there could be other factors as well. None the less, clearances are a major reason,” he said.

The private power industry does not seem to agree with the analysis. “The coal imports carried out to bridge the shortfall have to be seen only in cases where the project is ready but the mine is not. There are very few such cases,” said Ashok Khurana, Director General of industry body Association of Power Producers (APP).

The government has allocated 218 coal blocks with reserves exceeding 49 billion tonne (BT) to companies since 1993 when the coal mining sector was partially opened up for captive production by private companies. Around a half of the reserves were allocated to the private sector. Around a tenth of the total reserves have been bagged by power generator NTPC alone.

The coal ministry, under fire for alleged irregularities in allocation of blocks, has cancelled allocation of 51 blocks so far based on the recommendations of an inter-ministerial panel that found the efforts made by corporates in developing blocks wanting. Most of the companies have cited delayed environment and forest clearances apart from land acquisition and Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&R) issues for their failure to commission the mines.

Source

Read More...