Coal Ministry issued revised coal distribution policy...

 

The existing Coal Distribution Policy has been modified by the Coal Ministry to clear the legal hurdles being faced by Coal India Limited (CIL) and to reduce its coal supply commitment from 100% to 80% in new Fuel Supply Agreements (FSA) as well as import of coal to meet the shortfall of power production.

 

Some of the features of the revised Coal Distribution Policy are:

• Minimum supply commitment of 80% of coal requirement by power plants while signing fresh fuel supply agreements for 78,000 MW capacity that may be commissioned during April 2009- March 2015.
• During the remaining four years of the current 12th Five-Year Plan, the coal PSU has to supply 65-75% coal from domestic sources while the balance fuel requirement can be met with imports.
• CIL will supply imported coal on cost plus basis. However, the power companies have choice to import coal on their own.
• CIL will supply 65% domestic coal during 2013-14 and 2014-15, 67% in 2015-16 and 75% in the terminal year of the Plan.

Coal Ministry has directed CIL to sign FSAs for 78,000 MW capacity out of which so far FSAs for around 34,793 MW capacity.

 

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Additional Reading...

• http://www.financialexpress.com/news/coal-distribution-policy-amended-to-reduce-cil-s-supply-commitment/1147188/2#
• http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-5-192568-Policy-for-gas,-power-supply-to-industrial-sector:-CM

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Forest Clearances for Tipaimukh and Dibang Projects are rejected by MoEF...

 

Forest Clearances of 1,500 MW Tipaimukh Hydel Project in Manipur and 3,000 MW Dibang multipurpose project in Arunchal Pradesh have been rejected by Ministry of Environment & Forest.

Dibang Project is being implemented by National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) limited whilst the Tipaimukh Project is being implemented by the JV company of NHPC, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (SJVNL) and Manipur Government.

Both these projects were facing a very high opposition from the NGOs and environment groups.

The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) which was held on 11th and 12th July has critically analyzed the applications of both these projects.

Findings by FAC on Dibag Project are:

• Feeling of more than 3.5 lakh trees will be required in Manipur alone.
• There is no study conducted to assess the cumulative impact of all the reservoirs and the upstream and downstream impacts.
• The ecological, environmental and social costs of diversion of such a vast tract of forestland, which is a major source of livelihood of the tribal population of the state, will far outweigh the benefits likely to accrue from the project.
• Opposition is also being faced from Bangladesh.

Findings by FAC on Tipaimukh Project are:

• Project will involve diversion of around 24,329 Hectares which is more than 20% of the total forest land area of 1,18,184 Hectares diverted so fare for the execution of 497 hydro projects in the country after the Forest Conservation Act came into force.
• Thus the per MW forest land requirement comes out to be around 16 Hectares per MW which is quite higher than the national average.
• Feeling of more than 78 lakh trees will be required in Manipur alone.

Thus according to FAC, very high ecological, environmental and social impact/cost of the diversion of the vast tract of forestland will far outweigh the benefits likely to accrue from the above mentioned projects.

The committee therefore strongly recommended that approval of the said forest land should not be accorded.

 

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Additional Reading...

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/energy/power/union-ministry-denies-forest-clearance-to-mega-power-project-at-dibang-and-tipaimukh/articleshow/21400965.cms

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Power Surplus Gujarat's 6500 MW Installed capacity is lying unutilized...

 

As per the Gujarat Government, around one third of state's power generation capacity is lying idle due to lower demand as well as non availability of natural gas for the power projects..

 

The installed capacity of Gujarat is around 17,300 MW, with a combination of Coal and Gas based projects, out of which around 6500 MW is not producing power.

As said by the Energy & Petrochemical Minister, 

“Gujarat’s 5000 Mw of gas-based capacity involving an investment of around Rs  20,000 crore is lying idle due to non-availability of gas,”

As per the Government Officials

• Around 1500 MW of coal-based power plants are shut for over last six months due to the lack of buyers. Peak electricity demand of the state is around 12,350 MW.
• Idle gas based capacity is causing loss to the tune of Rs. 1,000 Crore annually in the form of fixed cost.
• This has caused a loss of Rs.  600 Crore as a fixed cost as plants remain idle which works out to be Rs. 1200 Crore annually.
  

The state is also unable to sell power to the deficit area of Southern India due to lack of connectivity between western and southern transmission corridor.

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Additional Reading...

• http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/one-third-of-gujarat-s-power-generation-capacity-remains-idle-113072600743_1.html
• http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/vadodara/Power-surplus-Gujarat-losing-2200-crore-per-annum/articleshow/21378479.cms

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Net Profit of JSW Energy increased to Rs. 214.3 Crores during the quarter ended June 2013...

 

JSW Energy has posted a net profit of Rs. 214.3 Crore in the quarter ended June 2013 which in corresponding period last year was Rs. 3.41 Crore.

 

Some other financials as released by the company are:

• Total income from operations in the latest quarter rose to Rs. 2,471.96 crore. In the 2012 June quarter, the same stood at Rs. 2,191.54 crore.
• The fuel cost during the quarter was Rs. 1,062 crore, a decrease of 8 per cent over corresponding quarter of the previous year.
• At the end of June 2013 quarter, the firm's consolidated net worth touched Rs. 6,432 crore while overall debt reached Rs. 10,625 crore.
  

Company's views on the current power sector scenario are:

• Key issues such as standard bidding guidelines, fuel availability and long term power procurements are yet to be addressed.
• The imported coal prices are expected to remain benign due to subdued global demand and depreciation of currencies of the coal exporting countries against the US dollar.
• Merchant power prices to be under pressure with commissioning of additional generation capacities and slowdown in demand growth, while the congestion in transmission corridor is likely to keep prices relatively higher in southern region compared to other parts.

Currently the company is having the installed generation capacity of more than 3,140 MW. Further it has received all requisite environmental approvals and land acquisition is progressing satisfactorily for the 240 MW hydro power project at Kutehr, Himachal Pradesh.

Shares of the company, on Friday, ended at Rs. 44 on the BSE, down 0.90 per cent from the previous close.

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Additional Reading...

• http://profit.ndtv.com/news/corporates/article-jsw-energy-net-soars-to-rs-214-crore-324983
• http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-company/earnings/earnings-news/jsw-energy-quarterly-profit-soars-to-rs-214-crore/articleshow/21368402.cms

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CESC Limited's Q1 Net Profit increased by 4.8%; received node for delisting from London Stock exchange...

 

CESC Limited has recorded a net profit of Rs. 131 Crores for the quarter ended June 2013 which is higher by 4.8% compared to corresponding quarter last year as per the company's Annual General Meeting (AGM).

The company also secured shareholders' nod to delist its shares from London Stock Exchange to cut costs.

Net sales of the company was Rs. 1,419 which was higher by 1% compared to the corresponding period figure of Rs. 1,404 Crore.

Updates of various projects of the company as submitted to the Share Holders during the AGM:

• The 600 MW (2 X 300 MW) Chandrapur Thermal Power Project in Maharashtra was delayed due to the policy change for coal linkage.
• Haldia Power Plant in West Bengal seems to be on track and would be commissioned as per the schedule in September-December 2014.
• The 2000 MW Project in Bihar and 1320 MW Project in Orissa are awaiting coal linkages.
• Investment of Rs. 1,700 Crores is planned in next two years for the distribution network,

Further, the company has also secured approval from the shareholder's to delist its securities from the London Stock Exchange (LSE) to cut the costs.

According to company only 1% of the total issued equity share of CESC were listed on LSE.

As the market of these securities in UK was practically froze and the dealings in shares in recent years have been very low hence the company has decided to delist the shares from LSE.

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Additional Reading...

• http://www.cesc.co.in/cesc/web/investor/helpdesk/document/CESC_results%20Q1%20FY%6014.pdf
• http://profit.ndtv.com/news/corporates/article-cesc-q1-net-up-4-8-per-cent-to-delist-from-london-stock-exchange-324979

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Gujarat Wind Power Policy 2013

 

 

Gujarat Government has issued a new Wind Power Policy on 25th July 2013.

Brief details of the same can be found at this post.

The complete policy document as uploaded by Gujarat Government is embedded below in pdf form.

 

 

 

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JSE Energy looking for acquisition of distressed power projects...

 

JSW Energy, after putting on hold all new power projects due to policy and regulatory uncertainties, seems to be quite serious about increasing the portfolio by the way of acquisition of distressed power projects.

As announced by the company some days ago, JSW Energy has put on hold all the new power projects.

However, according the company, the current issues being faced by the power sector there are several distressed assets are available for sale and it seems that the company is highly interested in buying them due to low valuation to increase the power projects portfolio.

According to industry experts, this strategy would help the company in building the capacity at a cost lower than that of setting up news projects as developers may offer projects at a discount.

The company has seen a few proposals from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and is keen acquiring the projects having fuel linkage and power purchase agreement in place to reduce the project related risks.

 

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Additional Reading...

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/energy/power/jsw-energy-eyes-acquisition-of-power-units-after-putting-on-hold-new-projects/articleshow/21372078.cms

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CIL & NTPC signs Fuel supply agreements for 16 Power projects...

 

Coal India Limited (CIL) and National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) have recently signed Fuel Supply Agreements (FSA) for 16 Coal based Power Projects of NTPC.

With this the score of FSAs signed by CIL has reached to 82 for around 34,793 MW Capacity. The 16 FSAs signed with NTPC includes 11 with NTPC itself and 5 with Joint Ventures (JV) of NTPC.

Further, according to sources 6 FSAs for 4480 MW capacity with NTPC and 5 FSAs for JVs of NTPC are under the process of signing.

Earlier, the Coal Ministry has directed CIL to sing FSA sor around 78,000 MW capacity to ensure committed supply of coal to power sector.

In addition to the above mentioned FSAs, some more FSAs are likely to be signed soon as 5 projects of state sector and 11 projects of private sector have achieved the requisite milestones for conversion of Letter of Assurance (LoA) TO FSA.

7 cases are awaiting declaration of Commercial Operation Date (CoD) by Central Electricity Authority (CEA) while in five cases milestones are under verification.

According to the Coal Ministry, these efforts and constant monitoring will result in signing of more FSAs during the coming weeks, which will help to improve the power generation in the country.

 

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Additional Reading...

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/energy/power/coal-india-ntpc-sign-fuel-supply-pacts-for-16-power-plants/articleshow/21369034.cms

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