Power grids need to be more intelligent, feels Alstom chief...

 

India is a world leader in the power transmission business, but lags behind in the transmission end of the business, said Gregoire Poux-Guillaume, Executive Vice-President, Alstom, and Head of Alstom Grid Worldwide, here on Wednesday.

Speaking at the inaugural session of ELECRAMA 2014, an international event of the power transmission and distribution industry, Mr. Guillaume said, “The problem is mainly because of under-investment as a result of the heavy losses being made by companies.” Observing that the global energy markets are ‘changing like never before’, Mr. Guillaume said, ‘Grids need to be more intelligent’.

For instance, digital sub-stations were needed to cope with the dynamic nature of energy supply and demand. He pointed out that the rising proportion of renewable energy in the energy mix had resulted in the emergence of ‘prosumers’ — entities that generate energy at certain times but also draw energy from the grid at other times. “Greater automation of the grid is, thus, a necessity,” he observed.

The rapid expansion of the grid capacity in the last few years belied the notion that economic growth in the country had tapered off, contented Devendra Chaudhry, Additional Secretary, Union Ministry of Power. He pointed out that about one lakh circuit kilometres of capacity was to be added to the distribution network, and about 2.8 mega volt amperes of transmission capacity was to be added in the next few years. “I do not think this kind of expansion can be termed a slowdown,” he quipped.

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Mosaic Plans Crowd sourced Solar Expansion to Developing Countries...

 

Leading solar crowdsourcing firm Mosaic is the latest entrant into clean energy’s next big market: off-grid applications.

Thanks to a grand prize of $1 million from Verizon Powerful Answers, Mosaic will develop a mobile app and expand loan products to emerging markets in Africa, Brazil, India and Asia.

With machine-to-machine (M2M) technology poised to unlock clean energy for hundreds of millions of people around the world, the move couldn’t be more timely.

Making solar accessible for everyone is a key part of Mosaic’s mission. Nearly half of its projects have focused on providing solar for underprivileged schools and community centers here in the U.S. Making solar work for the world’s poor is a logical extension of its mission.

“By providing reliable energy to these previously unserved parts of the world, students can study after dark, medical supplies can be refrigerated, appliances can enhance productivity, and access to information and financial services can be increased, improving lives and alleviating some of the harshest poverty on earth,” said Daniel Rosen, Mosaic’s CEO, in a statement.

Taking on projects in underserved markets comes with a number of infrastructure and financing challenges. But developing countries are a multi-billion-dollar market, and they are the site of the world’s next wireless revolution. Mosaic and other similar companies using crowdsourcing models have a lot of room for growth if they position themselves well in these markets.

While some of the biggest names in solar, such as First Solar, Sun Edison and SolarCity, have created energy access programs, the off-grid opportunity is still largely untapped. That leaves a wide open market for Mosaic to address. If the company can capture a fraction of the retail investment market, it’s looking at a $90 billion opportunity (total crowdfunding in 2013 was somewhere near $5 billion).

Despite the opportunity, the space is still cash-starved. Large development institutions like the World Bank have been slow to invest, largely because they’ve failed to realize that small is big. Crowdsourcing could be the fastest way to jumpstart the grid clean energy market and deliver important services to people without access to the grid.

Think of organizations like Mosaic as the speedboats that can help the supertankers (i.e., the World Bank) finally make their way in the sector and bring it to scale.

If successful, Mosaic could help catalyze the sector and recapture the energy development narrative, which is still dominated by thinkers in favor of saddling the world's poor with the most toxic and outdated technologies.

It's time to use 21st century technologies to bring energy access to the world's poorest populations. Mobile phones and crowdsourcing models can play a central role in addressing the market.

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Fire breakout at a unit of Tata Power's Trombay plant...

 

Fire broke out at a 250 MW unit of Tata Power's thermal plant at Trombay and the company said that the reasons for "the event" as well as the damages would be ascertained in "due course".

Power generation from rest of the units remain unaffected by the incident. The project has an operational capacity of 1,580 MW.

The company today said its Trombay thermal power plant had a localised incident of fire late last night.

"At 11.11 pm, a loud thud notice was observed in Low Pressure Turbine accompanied by fire on the turbine and generator deck of the 250 MW Unit 8 at Trombay.

"The plant was safely shutdown including safe purging of hydrogen from the generator and safe shutdown of boiler, as the unit was running with about 185 MW capacity," the statement said.

Alternate supply is being maintained to meet the electricity demands of Mumbai consumers.

According to the statement, the extent of damage and reasons for the event shall be ascertained in due course with engineers of Tata Power and Original Equipment Manufacturer experts from BHEL.

"No casualty has occurred nor is any human involved in the event associated with the key plant and equipment," it added.

In November, the company's 4,000 MW Mundra ultra mega power project in Gujarat had witnessed a fire incident.

Tata Power has generation capacity of more than 8,500 MW.

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Toshiba reinforce thermal power business in India...

 

Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has reinforced its thermal power generation business in India by integrating the engineering function of Toshiba India Pvt. Ltd. into Toshiba JSW Turbine and Generator Pvt. Ltd., a manufacturer of turbines and generators based in Chennai, Tami Nadu.

The company, which has been renamed to Toshiba JSW Power Systems Private Ltd., will rebuild the organization to the competitive engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) system, and develop business in India and the surrounding areas.

Toshiba JSW Turbine and Generator Pvt. Ltd. was established in 2008, and inaugurated its factory of steam turbines and generators in February 2012.

It currently produces five units of supercritical turbines and generators ordered by National Thermal Power Corporation and others.

The thermal power engineering department of Toshiba India Pvt. Ltd. was established in August 2009, and has a good track record in thermal power engineering operations.

The company will have integrated ability of engineering, manufacturing, procurement, construction and services and it will enhance EPC ability in India, in cooperation with Toshiba's group company, TPSC (India) Private Limited, which supports Toshiba JSW Power Systems Private Ltd. in construction field in India.

Looking to the future, India is expected to see significant growth in power demand, as is the wider region, including Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa, where a number of large projects of thermal power generation are planned.

Toshiba ensures its thermal power business expansion in India and surrounding areas from India in cooperation with global engineering function in Japan.

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BORG Energy expand presence in North India with launch of smart grid technology...

 

BORG Energy India, a subsidiary of BORG Inc., has launched the BORG Astra plus Home Series, a Range of fully loaded micro solar power plants in the Northern Part of India.

BORG Astra Plus Home Series micro solar power plants generate maximum power output and are offered in four ranges - 500W, 1000W, 1500W and 2500W.They have the potential to save up to 60% of a households power bills with a conversion efficiency of 98% and less than 3 milli seconds transfer time

Dr. Boaz Augustin Jr., MD, Asia Pacific, BORG Energy said "BORG's endeavour has always been towards empowering people to generate their own power."

Joseph Fournier, director, BORG Inc. shared details about BORG's R&D on solar nano Space. These solar panels developed from Nano Space technology is expected to hit the international market by 2016.

He added: "We are delighted to launch our Astra Plus Home Series micro solar power plants in North India which shall substantially contribute to our endeavour to power 40000 Indian households by April '14, apart from offering these Borg Powered households independence in generating their own low cost power as well as ensuring uninterrupted power supply. We seek to empower people to make alternative power a way of life and look at ‘Solar' as a priority medium for Power and way of life. Smart grid household micro solar power plants are a feasible option, especially in India, which receives 300 clear sunny days in a year."

The BORG Astra Plus Home Series is ideally suited to convert house roof top into a micro solar power plant. Customers can now experience and purchase the BORG Astra Plus Home Series micro solar power plants from the exclusive BORG Power Play showrooms.

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Second Kudankulam unit to start commercial operation from Sept...

 

The second unit of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) will start generating electricity from September, Union Minister V Narayanasamy has said.

"Ninety-five per cent of the work for second unit of the plant has been completed and we should start commercial operation from the unit by September 2014," the Minister of State in the PMO told reporters.

The first unit of KKNPP, built with Russian assistance, has already started generating power and is connected to the Southern grid.

"We are currently generating 440 MW of electricity from the first unit and all the power generated goes to Tamil Nadu. We will soon increase the production to 750 MW and after taking necessary permissions from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), the plant will start generating 1000 MW of electricity by February," the minister said.

The KKNPP units 1 and 2 are currently the largest power generating units in the country with a capacity of 1000 MW each. Talks with Russia over Unit 3 and 4 are stuck over the liability clause of the Civil Liability Nuclear Damage Act 2010.

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Borg Energy to invest $45 mn in India...

 

Borg Energy, a solar power solutions provider, plans to invest USD 45 million (Rs 279 crore) in India on projects including a rural electrification programme.

The investments are likely to be made in next six months.

The company, which entered the country last year, is in advanced discussions with some states in North India for a rural electrification programme.

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CIL to once again invite fresh applications for coal import...

 

State-owned  Coal India  (CIL) will once again invite fresh applications from interested entities for importing coal that would be supplied to power plants under fuel supply agreements as the earlier tender floated by the PSU elicit no response.

"We will float a fresh tender anytime...There was no response to the the tender floated earlier as the potential people (the PSUs like STC, MMTC) because of some apprehensions expressed by them," Coal India Chairman and Managing Director S Narsing Rao told PTI.

Rao said the company intends to import five million tonnes (MT) of coal to meet the shortfall against deliveries under fuel supply agreements (FSAs). CIL had for the first time invited th applications with regard to coal import in November, 2013 which closed last month.

"(CIL invites) NIT (Notice Inviting Tender) for selection of agency from government department or government owned company or public sector entity for supply of imported coal to purchaser (power producers) at delivery point (power plant end)," the company said on its website.

The company had said that the agency will supply coal to various power plant across the country till March 2015. "The successful bidder shall procure imported coal through tendering for the quantity required for each quarter separately," CIL said.

CIL had said in September last year said that it is likely to import 15 million tonnes of coal for power utilities as part of meeting the FSA commitment. According to the new FSA, Coal India will supply 65 percent of the contracted amount from domestic sources and another 15 percent through imports with pass-on pricing model.

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India's first greenfield Nuclear power site to begin operations...

 

India’s first greenfield site for nuclear reactor in 14 years is set to become operational on Monday when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh lays the foundation for two 700-MW nuclear power plants at Gorakhpur in the Fatehabad district of Haryana.

“The two units are likely to produce commercial electricity by 2020-21 as it would take five to six years to complete the construction, which would begin in June 2015,” Nalinesh Nagaich, executive director of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd, Mumbai, told Deccan Herald.

From the first date of construction, when concrete is first poured into an excavated site, it may take five and a half years for the first unit to be ready and another six months for the second unit. Over the next one and a half years, NPCIL may excavate and prepare the ground for actual construction.

Once the first two units were ready, there might be two additional units at Gorakhpur, taking the total capacity of the nuclear power plant to 2,800 MW. However, units III and IV have not yet been sanctioned.

After Kaiga in north Karnataka, where the first unit became operational in 2000, Gorakhpur was the first greenfield site where an indigenous nuclear reactor would be installed for power production. Two more greenfield sites were under preparation in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

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West Bengal deals double whammy to RP-SG's CESC...

 

Fears arise that minuscule tariff hike, unchanged key rates could strangle the power producer. The West Bengal state power regulator has dealt a double whammy to the RP-Sanjiv Goenka group’s flagship CESC which supplies power to Kolkata and some adjoining areas.

CESC has been allowed to raise tariff by a measly 0.15% or less than a paisa to Rs 6.10 per kilo Watt hour (kWh) for 2013-14, much less than the nearly 1% hike of last fiscal (2012-13) to Rs 6.09/kWh.

The tiny raise would give little leeway to CESC to raise investments for upgrading some of its old infrastructure, meet rising costs of fuel and give out new connections, company officials said.

Worse -- and this is what makes the decision a double whammy – most of the key rates have been kept unchanged. For instance, rates for consumer groups like domestic urban and commercial urban consuming more than 300 units a month have remained same at Rs 7.95 and Rs 7.99 respectively, according to the tariff rate disclosed by CESC on Thursday.

The two consecutive marginal hikes come in sharp contrast to a comfortable 13% raise allowed for 2011-12.

The tariff of 610.66 paisa for this fiscal has been arrived at by allowing Rs 5,710.21 crore as revenue to be recovered through tariff, minus Rs 17.02 crore expected to be received from sale of power to state power utility, and then dividing the net tariff revenue by projected sale of 9,323 million units, the regulator said in its order.

While determining the tariff, the regulator has allowed CESC to purchase power from it at a highest rate of 536 paisa/KWh during the peak period of summer and a lowest rate of 470 paisa during the off-peak period in winter.

CESC has been asking the regulator to allow it to get compensated due to steep increase in coal and other fuel prices and also copper, a major material for electrical plant and equipment, adversely affecting its operation costs.

Also, there is “overwhelming requirement of large and continuous investment to protect consumers’ need of reliable power supply while large-scale developmental activities are taking place in and around Kolkata which calls for matching infrastructure in electric supply,” CESC had said in an annual performance review filing.

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Buying hydro power may become mandatory for discoms...

 

The Union power ministry is planning to make it mandatory for power distribution companies (discoms) to buy electricity from hydel projects — a move that would put them on a par with renewable power plants. The idea is to attract investments into the sector and raise the falling share of hydroelectricity in the country’s power mix.

Since the proposal has the potential to increase discoms’ power purchase costs, the ministry has decided to consult electricity regulators and state governments on the issue. Sources said the proposal will be first put up before electricity regulators who are meeting in Chandigarh on January 17. Thereafter, the ministry is expected to call a meeting of state energy ministers to discuss this issue.

Specifically, the idea is to put in place a policy of hydropower purchase obligation (HPO) similar to renewable power purchase obligation, which mandates discoms to buy a certain share of electricity from generating stations running on wind, solar energy and bio-mass. Under the mechanism, discoms in states lacking renewable resources can fulfil their obligation by buying renewable energy certificates from others. Apart from discoms, captive power generators are also required to comply with the policy.

“We are considering HPO for hydropower plants along the lines of renewable power purchase obligation and will soon begin consultations with stakeholders, including state governments, on it,” a senior power official said.

The ideal ratio of thermal and hydropower is 60:40. But, in India, the share of hydel power in the energy basket has fallen from 26% in 2007-08 to 16%, and is projected to further decline to 13% by 2022.

India has the potential to generate 1.5 lakh mw electricity from hydro resources, but it has harnessed only 40,000 mw. The Union power ministry had envisaged capacity addition of 8,237 mw in the hydropower sector during the 11th Plan. However, only half the targeted capacity could be added.

Some industry experts feel the proposed HPO can go a long way in boosting investor sentiment on the hydropower sector if it is implemented properly. Others think HPO needs to be complemented with other incentives, such as an increase in the return on equity (RoE) for hydel projects, if the desired result is to be achieved.

Debasish Mishra, senior director, Deloitte, told Fe: “HPO will definitely give a boost to investment in hydel projects provided state electricity regulators set reasonable targets and ensure adherence by utilities and consumers. Else it will meet the same fate as renewable power purchase obligations.”

“Apart from HPO, the RoE on hydel projects should also be increased if the share of hydropower is to be restored to the ideal level of 40%,” said Ashok Khurana, director-general, association of power producers.

Apart from the risk of geological surprises, lack of road connectivity, especially in border areas, hampers capacity addition based on hydro resources. The Centre has constituted a ministerial panel headed by finance minister P Chidambram to suggest ways to expedite development of supporting infrastructure for hydel projects.

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