Andhra Pradesh seeks Centre’s backing for renewable energy projects...

 

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has agreed to consider a proposal of Andhra Pradesh Government to support its efforts in strengthening the evacuation network for renewable energy projects, including wind farms.

During a meeting held here between State Special Chief Secretary Energy, M. Sahoo, and Ratan P Watal, Secretary, MNRE, the latter agreed to consider the request State’s request to provide matching grant in aid for a comprehensive evacuation network of about 3150 mw wind power plants in Kurnool, Kadapa, Anantapur and Rangareddy districts.

Responding to the State’s request for support, the Union Secretary promised all possible help would be extended to arrange the funds after consultations with the Planning Department, Government of India.

The Energy Coordination Cell, in a statement said, the State informed that about 1000 MW of wind power generating capacity is expected to be commissioned by 2013-14. The State Government is planning to add around 6900 MW of non-conventional energy projects during XII Plan. Of this, 5000 MW is expected to come from wind power farms and about 1200 MW from solar eneregy.

According to a study, the State has potential for 14,497 mw of wind power generation. While the wind power installed capacity is 564.09 MW, feasibility clearance on the existing network has been issued for evacuation of 1098 MW. The State has issued feasibility for evacuation on the proposed network for about 1970 MW.

While the State now has an installed solar power generation capacity of 61.24 MW, it expects fresh capacity addition under the Solar Policy. Of the recently concluded bidding process for 1000 MW of solar power generation capacity, distribution companies have entered into power purchase agreements for 147 MW and Letters of Intent for another 142 MW have been issued.

The Union Secretary was informed that certain clarifications are awaited from Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Regulatory Commission with regard to third party sale. Once this is sorted out, there is potential to set up another 1483 MW of solar power generation capacity, the statement said.

Source: The Hindu Businessline

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Grid integration set to boost power supply in South

 

South India is likely to get a boost in electricity supply as the integration of the southern grid to the national grid, scheduled for January next, will allow the region to tap into the other grids.

Work is apace on the 800-kV circuit between Raichur in Karnataka and Sholapur in Maharashtra. At present, the inter-region transfer capacity between the western and southern regions is 1,500 MW.

The new transmission lines between Karnataka and Maharashtra would push it up to 5,500 MW, boosting the power-starved southern region, the only grid that remains isolated from the rest of the nation.

In the past few months, there have been instances of the northern grid or the western region having had surplus power that, however, could not be transferred to Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The reason: the southern region is not plugged into the national grid. But the situation will change as the integration work is likely to be completed by early next year. “We are hoping to make the integration happen by January 2014. We have completed the majority of the work and are hopeful that things will work according to plan,” a senior (Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) official said.

At present, all regional grids, except the southern region, are synchronously interconnected and run at one frequency.
However, the southern region is linked asynchronously to the northern, eastern, north-eastern and western region grids through the high-voltage, direct current transmission system, which has a different frequency.

The synchronisation gained pace after large parts of the country suffered blackouts for almost three days from July 31 last year. The southern grid is being connected by two 765-kV lines, linking Sholapur of the western region to Raichur of the southern region.

Source: The Hindu

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Power crisis looms large in Punjab as supplier set to stop sending coal...

 

Power crisis is staring at Punjab as all three thermal electricity plants of the state have failed to meet the generation target set by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) in October, after the main coal supplier drastically cut down fuel supply to these.

The supplier has also expressed inability to continue sending the fuel after mid-November, citing political agitations at the mine site in Jharkhand.

Anticipating stoppage of coal supply for the state's thermal plants, the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) had shut down seven of its 14 units in phases during the last month, leading to a drop in the power output, sources said.

Against the target of 267 and 624 million units, Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant, Bathinda and Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant, Lehra Mohabbat, could generate only 161 and 451 million units respectively. Both plants met only 60% and 70% of their generation targets respectively.

Only Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Plant, Ropar had performed better by managing to achieve 98% of the CEA target.

Senior PSPCL officials revealed that the problem arose after Panem Coal Mines Ltd, a joint venture of PSPCL and a Kolkata-based company EMTA, drastically reduced coal supply from its Pachwara (central) mine in Pakur district of Jharkhand since the past one year, citing agitations led by state's former chief minister Babulal Marandi.

Officials revealed that while the company had supplied 70 lakh tonnes of coal to Punjab against the approved mining plan of 90 lakh tonnes in 2012-13, coal supply had reduced to a meagre 32 lakh tonnes during the first seven months in 2013-14.

Citing the "adamant attitude" of PSCPL authorities, Panem Coal Mines Ltd authorities had recently sent a letter to the Powercorp, asking it to take charge of the mine after November and urging it to deal directly with the agitating parties at the mine site.

Panem authorities said that coal, currently lying extracted, would be dispatched to Punjab's power plants by mid-November after which, it would be the responsibility of PSPCL to run the mine.

Panem had supplied 2,216 rakes in 2011-12, 1,820 in 2012-13 and 849 rakes till October this year for thermal plants of the state.

On the other hand, authorities maintained that the thermal units had been shut down due to availability of cheap power from other sources. However, officials revealed that PSPCL was purchasing power at higher rates than the cost at which it was being produced by its own plants.

"Average cost of power purchased during October 2013 is Rs 3.6 per unit. However, Lehra plant produces power at Rs 2.2 per unit, Ropar at Rs 2.5 per unit and Bathinda at Rs 2.65 per unit approximately," said a PSPCL official.

Chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) K D Chaudhuri and director (generation) G S Chhabra of PSPCL could not be contacted, despite repeated attempts.

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BHEL: Order flows may improve, but concerns remain...

 

BHEL’s performance for the September quarter has been disappointing. Even after adjusting for the Rs 191-crore one-time cost (predominantly wage-related expenses) on merger of Bharat Heavy Plates and Vessels Plant, net profits have almost halved from the levels (Rs 1,274 crore) achieved during the same quarter last year.

Besides, forex translation gains to the extent of Rs 365 crore, arising from deferred debts in overseas projects have also boosted the existing profits.

OUTLOOK

Though the company received about Rs 3,000 crore worth of orders during the quarter, orders in its power segment were predominantly only from the spares and services group, reflecting the weak investment scenario in the country.

The slower execution is visible in the lacklustre operating margins, which came in at 4.5 per cent, compared to 17.9 per cent a year ago.

The order flows may be slightly better in the months to come.

In the power segment, after a lull, the company has bagged an order worth Rs 2,569 crore for steam generators from Neyveli Lignite Corporation in October

With the Cabinet Committee on Investments speeding up clearances in power projects in recent times, the company could stand to gain on two fronts.

It could help speed up execution of stalled projects for which the company has already bagged the equipment orders, for instance, the 4,120-MW boiler package from Jindal Power.

Secondly, it could also help the company bag orders for newly cleared projects such as the Tilaiya UMPP.

The company expects tenders for 15,000 MW to get finalised from now onwards to March. Besides, orders for the 13th Five Year Plan is also expected to come in from FY-15 onwards.

But the risk of slowed execution, payment delays from customers and stretched working capital positions remain.

 

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