ONGC to foray into the hydro power projects…

It seems that the Oil major, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is planning to foray into hydro power projects by expanding the scope of ONGC-Tripura Power Company Ltd (OTPC).

 

ONGC Tripura Power Company Ltd is sponsored by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Limited (IL&FS) and Government of Tripura (GoT) for implementation of 726.6 MW CCGT thermal power project at Palatana in Tripura to supply power to the power deficit areas of North Eastern states of the country. ONGC, IL&FS and GoT have entered into a Shareholders’ Agreement (SHA) on September 18, 2008 for subscribing to the equity of OTPC.

 

Current scope of  OTPC include a 726.6 MW Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power plant close to the gas fields of ONGC in the state of Tripura along with an associated power transmission system from the project site to Bongaigaon in Assam.

 

The proposed foray into hydro power was indicated after a meeting between ONGC chief Sudhir Vasudeva and Uttarakhand chief minister Vijay Bahuguna here last evening.

 

As said by Mr. K S Jamestin, ONGC’s Director-Human Resource, ONGC is interested in developing small hydro projects which are run-of-the-river projects as well as environment-friendly. ONGC is considering for the expansion of OTPC and exploring the possibility of developing hydel projects in this regard.

 

After the meeting, Bahuguna asked the power department to prepare a blue print for all those power projects which has received clearances from the union ministry of forests and environment.

 

Faced with acute paucity of funds, Uttarakhand has been trying to attract private players in the hydropower sector by offering joint ventures with Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam, the state-run power generation company. The sector received a severe jolt after the Centre scrapped several big hydro projects including NTPC’s 600 MW Lohari Nagpala project on Bhagirathi river on environmental and religious grounds.

 

 

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More Literature on this topic:

• http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/ongc-ready-to-foray-into-hydropower-sector/474754/

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Moser Baer plant to restructure Rs. 1800 Crorers debt…

Moser Baer has revised its corporate deb restructuring plan to Rs. 1,800 Crorers from the earlier planning of Rs. 739 Crores.

 

As said by the Moser Baer, the company is considering restructuring of debt as it looks to strengthen its abilities to leverage future opportunities in the growing sector.

The current debt restructuring of Rs. 1,800 Crores of term debt is almost half of the total debt of Rs. 3,500 Crores.

 

Rapidly falling prices of solar panels and components has also impacted the profitability of solar cell makers, with companies like Solar Millennium and Solon SE filing for bankruptcy.

 

Moser Baer is also in discussions with banks for refinancing its outstanding Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (about $88.5 million as nominal value).

 

Banks are positive about the company's future plans and Moser Baer is looking forward to speedy completion of the debt restructuring and thereafter, to consolidate business and cash flows

 

The company narrowed its loss for the quarter ended March 31, 2012 to Rs 59.60 crore from a loss of Rs 131.20 crore in the same quarter last year.

 

Total income from operations increased to Rs 462.33 crore in the reported quarter from Rs 458.95 crore in the year-ago period.

 

The company is bullish on the solar industry as the global PV market is forecast to witness substantial growth on account of higher installations anticipated in key markets such as the US, Germany and China.

 

According to the The industry witnessed a 76 per cent year-on-year growth in PV installations during 2011, as per a EPIA - Global Market Outlook 2016 report.

 

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More Literature on this topic:

• http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/energy/power/moser-baer-plans-to-restructure-over-rs-1800-crore-term-debt/articleshow/13312468.cms
• http://files.epia.org/files/Global-Market-Outlook-2016.pdf

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UJVNL to have JV with Jharkhand SEB for a 2,000 MW Thermal Power Plant…

Recently, Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (UJVNL) has approached Jharkhand State Electricity Board to explore the possibility of forming a Joint Venture (JV) for a 2,000 MW Thermal Power Plant in Jharkhand.

 

A series of closures of big hydro projects has prompted Uttarakhand to now explore the possibility of setting up a thermal plant outside the hill state.

 

The approximate  investment for the project is around Rs. 12,000 crore.

 

For the  of purpose of exploring the possibility of JV with Jharkhand SEB, UJVNL’s managing director G P Patel visited to Ranchi for talks with top officials of Jharkhand SEB.

 

Uttarakhand chief secretary Alok Kumar Jain also wrote a letter to the union coal ministry, requesting for allocation of coal blocks.

 

With the hydropower sector taking a beating owing to closure of a series of big hydro projects, the UJVN, having an installed capacity of 1,306.25 Mw, has already entered into a joint venture with GAIL to set up two gas-power plants at Kashipur and Haridwar.

 

Also, an investment of Rs 2,500 crore is proposed in the two plants with a capacity of 350 Mw each.

 

The state run power generation company is also looking for a capacity addition target of 582 Mw (2 large and 18 small hydro projects) by the end of 12th Plan, aggregating the installed capacity of the company to 2,608 Mw.

 

 

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More Literature on this topic:

• http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/power-project-uttarakhand-for-jvjharkhand/474883/
• http://powerbase.in/uttarakhand-develop-jv-based-hydel-projects/

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Rajathan’s 200 MW bids of Solar Projects getting postponed…

According to a latest circular on the website of Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation (RREC), the last date of receiving of bids for the recent Solar PV and Solar Thermal (CSP) project have been postponed till further notice.

 

The postponement has been applied to the below mentioned Request for Specifications (Rfs).

• Rfs/PV 10/RREC/6
• Rfs/Themrmal 50/RREC/7
• Rfs/PV1/RREC/5

 

The combined capacity covered by above Rfs are around 200 MW out of which several solar PV projects with total capacity of 100 MW and two solar thermal projects of 50 MW each.

 

Though, the circular of RREC has not cited any reason for the postponement, it seems the delay may have something to do with the State’s ability to pay for the power.

 

The tariff applicable under the bid was Rs. Rs 10.12 per unit for “without accelerated depreciation” and Rs.8.85 per unit “with accelerated depreciation”.

 

As per Mr. Madahavan Nampoothiri, Founder & Director of RESolve Energy Consultants, “The delay is frustrating for all of us who have invested enormous amount of time and money in participating in the bidding process. We are hopeful that the Rajasthan officials will act fast to restore confidence in the state's solar policy.”

 

Solar project developers are upset because after the first phase of the National Solar Mission and the solar programme of Gujarat, there are no project offers in sight. Developers have recruited people in anticipation of projects and are waiting for work.

 

 

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More Literature on this topic:

• http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/economy/article3432445.ece
• http://www.eai.in/360/news/pages/4974
• http://natgrp.wordpress.com/2012/05/19/rajasthans-solar-programme-indefinitely-postponed/

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Mytrah on status of wind capacity additions…

Mytrah Energy has recently  provided an update on its capacity installations to London Stock Exchange, according to which Mytrah has increased its total installed and commissioned assets to 224.2 MW.

 

 

 

Out of the this below mentioned projects with the total capacity of 106.2 MW are fully commissioned

SN	Site	Capacity (MW)	State
1	Tejva	42.0	Rajasthan
2	Mahidad	25.2	Gujarat
3	Chakala	39.0	Maharashtra
Total		106.2

 

 

Further as reported by Mytrah below mentioned projects are almost on the verge of completion and will  be completed within 60 days.

SN	Site	Capacity (MW)	State
1	Kaladonger	96.6 (Earlier planned was 75.6 MW)	Rajasthan
2	Jamanvada	52.5	Gujarat
3	Vajrakarur	63	Andhra Pradesh
4	Sinner	18.9	Maharashtra
Total		231.0

 

 

Some more projects are also into construction phase and most of the clearances received and supply of turbines completed.

SN	Site	Capacity (MW)	State
1	Gotne	33.6	Maharashtra
Total		33.6

 

Some of the recent developments made by the company in its project portfolio.

 

• The Company has reduced the size of its project at Sinner in Maharashtra by 10.5 MW to 18.9 MW, from the previously announced 29.4 MW, and is replacing the project at Hanumanthappa, Karnataka (25.2 MW) with an alternative site. In order to partially offset this within the Company's portfolio, Mytrah Energy has increased the size of the project at Kaladonger, Rajasthan, by 21 MW, from 75.6 MW to 96.6 MW. 

 

• The Board believes that the ability to adjust its portfolio demonstrates one of the significant advantages of the Company's business model, as the turnkey nature of its contracts and the diversified nature of its project portfolio enables the Company to adjust the size of individual projects as circumstances change. In addition, and again due to the turnkey nature of its contracts, the Company does not incur an increase in the cost of the projects.

 

• The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission has recently increased its tariff from Rs. 5.37 per kWh to Rs. 5.67 per kWh for Wind Zone I for the projects commissioned in the year 2012-13. As said by Mytrah all three of the Company's projects under development in Maharashtra will benefit from this increase in tariff providing a significant increase in the overall return on these projects. In addition, the Company anticipates both Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh to increase their tariffs in the near term. In light of an expected tariff increase in Andhra Pradesh, the Company intends to wait to continue the development of its first project with Gamesa at Burgula (79.9 MW), in order to benefit from the expected higher tariff.

 

• The Company is pleased with the progress at its sites and the Board is confident that Mytrah Energy is set to become the largest wind energy IPP in India over the next few months. In addition, the Company has now secured all the senior debt financing required for its projects under development, and is in the final stages of identifying the sites for its roll-out through 2012 and 2013. 

 

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More Literature on this topic:

• http://www.rechargenews.com/energy/wind/article313846.ece
• http://windturbineins.com/_blog/Wind_Industry_News_Roundup/post/Wind_Turbine_News_for_May_18,_2012/
• http://www.infraline.com/todaynews/Mytrah-Wind-Capacity-Target-Slips-As-Plans-Change-In-India/1/12/3/05_19_2012.htm
• http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail.html?announcementId=11208397

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