Tendering process for OTPCL project to begin by July 2014...

 

The state government will begin the tendering process for the 2400 Mw coal-based super thermal power plant proposed by Odisha Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (OTPCL), a 50:50 joint venture between Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) and Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC) by July 2014.

The power plant is coming up at Kamakhyanagar in Dhenkanal district at an investment of about Rs 17000 crore.

The project needs 1969.78 acres of land in all which includes 987.77 acres of government land, 83.94 acres of forest land and 982.015 acres of private land. Land acquisition for the project is nearing completion and the power plant is scheduled for commissioning by 2018-19.

The state government has already administrative approval for acquisition of 982.015 acres of private land at the project site.

The private land is to be acquired in 10 project affected villages- Aluajharana (19.68 acres), Annapurnapur (447.30 acres), Bijadiha (20.81 ares), Bhagirathapur Sasana (15.2 acres), Dhobabaheli (5.89 acres), Kateni (84.24 acres), Kantapala (45.55 acres), Kusumajodi (244.04 acres), Mahulapala (24.98 acres) and Anlabereni (74.32 acres). OTPCL has got the water allocation from the water resources department.

Entire power generated from the proposed power plant will be procured by Gridco, the state owned bulk power purchaser.

It has been decided that OTPCL will form its own project management team with skeletal manpower consisting of personnel having project implementation experience in large coal-based power plants.

Recently, the Ministry of Coal had awarded the Tentuloi block to OTPCL with a reserve of 1234 million tonne.

Source: Business Standard

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CERC likely to take a call on Indian Energy Exchange founded by FTIL...

 

After strictures passed by Forward Markets Commission (FMC) against Jignesh Shah as well as FTIL, power sector watchdog CERC is likely to soon take a call on the IEX.

FMC, the regulator for commodities market, has ruled that Shah and his flagship firm FTIL are not "fit and proper" to run any exchange amid the continuing NSEL payment crisis.

The National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL), promoted by FTIL, is embroiled in a Rs 5,500 crore payment turmoil and is under the scanner of multiple agencies.

FTIL was the founder and promoter of Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), the country's premier power bourse.

Shah was instrumental in setting up the country's first power exchange IEX -- continues to remain as its non-executive director.

On Wednesday, the Forward Markets Commission said that Shah and FTIL are not "fit and proper" to run any exchange in the country besides charging him of being the "highest beneficiary" in the NSEL scam.

FTIL currently has 26 percent stake in MCX, country's largest commodity exchange and will need to cut its stake following the FMC order.

Source

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Government allows Coal India to produce gas from coal bed methane...

 

The Union Cabinet on Thursday decided to give state-owned miner Coal India Ltd a licence to produce natural gas from coal seams (CBM) in its existing mines.

The cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, allowed Coal India, the world’s largest coal miner, to explore and produce coal bed methane (CBM) in its existing mines, coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said. “Yes, it is approved,” he told reporters in New Delhi.

Currently, rules and regulations prohibit mining firms from extracting CBM during mining as the policy does not allow for simultaneous extraction of methane (CBM) and coal. CBM exploration and production is allowed only in pure coal-seam gas bearing blocks which are auctioned.

Since 2001, 33 CBM blocks have been awarded in four auction rounds. Besides, two CBM blocks to Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) and one to Great Eastern Energy Co. Ltd were awarded on a nomination basis.

According to the directorate general of hydrocarbons (DGH), India has CBM reserves of about 4.6 trillion cubic metres. Currently, three CBM blocks are producing around 0.15 million standard cubic metres per day (mscmd). This is likely to touch 7.4 mscmd by 2013, according to the DGH.
Sources said CIL holds at least 20% of the estimated 60 billion tonnes of coal resources in India. It has several coal mines in eight states, which are estimated to have CBM reserves of 3.5-4 trillion cubic feet (Tcf). Many of its acreage are gaseous and unsafe mines, where mining of coal is possible only after the extraction of CBM.

Extracting methane (gas) ahead of coal mining from seams will allow CIL help unlock very significant quantities of coal reserves in areas of Jharkhand, West Bengal.

Sources said Coal India will be allowed to explore for CBM in the mines that were given to it on nomination basis. It can take a state-owned explorer like Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) as a partner for the venture.

Union oil minister M. Veerappa Moily had originally proposed allowing Coal India to rope in even private firms for CBM exploration and production. However, the proposal was killed after strong objections from Jaiswal. CBM extracted by CIL will be priced and marketed as per the oil ministry’s gas pricing and utilisation policy.

Sources said CIL had short-listed five blocks in Jharkhand with estimated CBM reserves of about 1 Tcf for exploration in the first stage. They are: Munidih (282 Bcf), Kathara (282 Bcf), Asnapani (212 Bcf), Putki Buliwari (247 Bcf) and Mohuda (14 Bcf). These five assets are considered to be gaseous and unsafe mines at present. CBM extraction would help CIL unlock nearly 100 million tons of medium grade coking coal, and about 1 Tcf of gas.

Source

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PM to Lay Foundation Stone of Haryana Nuclear Plant in January...

 

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will lay the foundation stone of Rs 23,502 crore nuclear power plant, to be set up at Gorakhpur in Haryana's Fatehabad district, in January next year.

The Prime Minister would also address a public meeting after laying the foundation stone of the plant, Additional Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), C B S Venkataramanna said today.          

About 1,503 acres of land has been acquired for setting up the plant and compensation amounting to Rs 450 crore has been given to the farmers whose land was acquired, a Haryana government release quoted Venkataramanna as saying.      

Scientists of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) have conducted various surveys and tests at the site of the plant, he said.      

The setting up of this plant would accelerate the pace of development and new ventures would come up which would lead to creation of jobs and increase income of the people, the release said.       

It said the Gorakhpur-Kajalheri road would soon be constructed along the plant so as to provide better connectivity to the people.           

Gorakhpur village would be developed as a Model Village under Corporate Social Responsibility and for this, a detailed action plan has been provided to NPCIL which would cover various issues like development of village, training to youths, women's development, education and health.         

The area is home to several wildlife species and special arrangements have been made for their conservation.          

Directions have been issued in this regard to NPCIL so that better and safe places could be provided for the wildlife species, it said.

Source

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Power ministry to move Cabinet for amending Electricity Act...

 

The power ministry is likely to approach the Cabinet within a month on the issue of amending the Electricity Act 2003.
    
"We have received feedback from all the stakeholders, we will compile all the suggestions, analyse it and then send it to the Cabinet for approval," a Power Ministry official said, adding that this process will take about a month.
    
He declined however to elaborate upon the changes that the government intends make to the Act.
    
Stakeholders who have submitted feedback on the topic include Central Electricity Authority (CEA)), Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), Principal Secretaries of all the state governments and chairpersons of power generation, transmission and distribution utilities.
    
The government-appointed committee, chaired by power ministry Jyotiraditya Scindia, during its meeting in June this year, had deliberated on amendments to the Electricity Act.
   
According to various sources in the ministry, one of the suggestions made by the committee is to have a formula which would ensure that variation in fuel and power purchase cost is recovered by the power generating firms.
    
The advisory group was set up against the backdrop of multiple problems, including acute fuel shortages, hurting power generation in the country.
    
Members of the group include Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry, Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani, SBI Chairman Pratip Chowdhary and ICICI Bank Managing Director Chanda Kochhar.

Source

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Performance data of solar projects under National Solar Mission Phase 1 for the month of November 2013 as issued by MNRE...

 

 

The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy has published the performance data of the solar projects commissioned under National Solar Mission Phase 1 along with the schemes of migration and RPSSGP for the month of November 2013.

 

 

 

List of Generation and PLFs achieved by the projects under NSM Phase 1 Batch 1 are tabulated below:

SN	Company/Project	State	Capacity Commissioned (MW)	CoD	Generation (kWh)	PLF(%)
1	Aftaab Solar Private Limited	OD	5	07-02-2012	7,38,700	20.52%
2	Alex Spectrum Radiation Private Limited	RJ	5	21-02-2012	6,93,656	19.27%
3	Amrit Energy Private Limited	RJ	5	02-02-2012	7,15,644	19.88%
4	Azure Power (Rajasthan) Private Limited	RJ	5	01-01-2012	6,79,129	18.86%
5	CCCL Infrastructure Limited	TN	5	29-03-2012	5,08,840	14.13%
6	DDE Renewable Energy Private Limited	RJ	5	14-02-2012	6,01,111	16.70%
7	Electromech Maritech Private Limite	RJ	5	01-02-2012	6,61,525	18.38%
8	EMC Limited	UP	5	04-03-2012		0.00%
9	Finehope Allied Engineering Private Limited	RJ	5	07-02-2012	5,74,196	15.95%
10	Greentech Power Private Limited	RJ	5	08-02-2012	7,52,417	20.90%
11	Indian Oil Corporation Limited	RJ	5	02-02-2012	6,39,095	17.75%
12	Karnataka Power Corporation Limited	KA	5	25-06-2012		0.00%
13	Khaya Solar Projects Private Limited	RJ	5	28-01-2012	6,49,849	18.05%
14	Maharashtra Seamless Limited	RJ	5	07-01-2012		0.00%
15	Mahindra Solar One Private Limited	RJ	5	03-01-2012	6,70,099	18.61%
16	Newton Solar Private Limited	RJ	5	09-02-2012	6,25,415	17.37%
17	Northwest Energy Private Limited	RJ	5	07-01-2012	8,11,670	22.55%
18	OswalWoollen Mills Limited	RJ	5	10-01-2012	6,62,317	18.40%
19	Precision Technik Private Limited	RJ	5	22-03-2012		0.00%
20	Punjlloyd Solar Power Limited	RJ	5	08-01-2012	7,13,200	19.81%
21	Saidham Overseas Private Limited	RJ	5	30-01-2012	6,53,216	18.14%
22	Saisudhir Energy Limited	AP	5	05-01-2012	7,67,400	21.32%
23	SEI Solar Energy Private Limited	RJ	5	01-01-2012	6,64,603	18.46%
24	Vasavi Solar Power Pvt. Limited	RJ	5	02-02-2012	6,34,432	17.62%
25	Viraj Renewables Energy	RJ	5	05-01-2012	7,67,720	21.33%
26	Welspun Solar AP Private limited	AP	5	01-01-2012	7,32,200	20.34%
27	Rithwik Projects Private Limited	AP	5	24-07-2013		0.00%
28	FireStone Trading Private Limited	MH	5	06-09-2012		0.00%

 

Data for around 6 projects are not available.

As can be seen from the available, the highest generation/PLF was achieved  by Northwest Energy (22.55%) followed by Viraj Renewables (21.33%) and Saisudhi Energy (21.32%).

* Calculated based on the installed capacity of the project and generation as issued by MNRE.

List of Generation and PLFs achieved by the projects under NSM Phase 1 Batch 2 are tabulated below:

SN	Company/Project	State	Commissioned Capacity (MW)	CoD	Generation (kWh)	PLF (%)
1	Welspun Solar AP Pvt Ltd.	RJ	15	22-01-2013	22,04,780	20.41%
2	Welspun Solar AP Pvt Ltd.	RJ	15	31-01-2013	22,18,810	20.54%
3	Welspun Solar AP Pvt Ltd.	RJ	20	19-02-2013	28,03,980	19.47%
4	Mahindra Suryaparakash Pvt. Ltd	RJ	20	20-02-2013	27,77,666	19.29%
5	Mahindra Suryaparakash Pvt. Ltd	RJ	10	20-02-2013	13,88,090	19.28%
6	Solarfield Energy Two Pvt. Ltd.	RJ	20	20-02-2013	31,47,570	21.86%
7	Azure Solar Pvt. Ltd.	RJ	15	12-02-2013	20,99,877	19.44%
8	Azure Solar Pvt. Ltd.	RJ	20	13-02-2013	27,67,235	19.22%
9	FonrocheSaaras Energy Pvt. Ltd.	RJ	15	21-01-2013	22,27,609	20.63%
10	FonrocheRajhans Energy Pvt. Ltd.	RJ	5	23-12-2012	7,12,454	19.79%
11	Green Infra Solar Projects Ltd.	RJ	20	30-01-2013
12	Green Infra Solar Farms Projects Ltd.	RJ	5	24-12-2012
13	Gail (India) Ltd.	RJ	5	18-02-2013
14	Sh. Saibaba Green Power Pvt. Ltd	MH	5	22-02-2013	7,48,260	20.79%
15	SEI Solar Power Pvt. Ltd.	RJ	20	11-02-2013
16	PokaranSolaire Energy Pvt. Ltd	RJ	5	24-02-2013
17	SaiMathili Power Co. Pvt. Ltd.	RJ	10	26-02-2013	14,17,370	19.69%
18	NVR Infra. and Services Pvt. Ltd.	RJ	10	25-02-2013
19	LEPL Projects Ltd.	RJ	10	26-03-2013
20	Sunborne Energy Raj. Solar Pvt Ltd	RJ	5	26-03-2013	6,50,400	18.07%
21	Symphony Vyapar Pvt. Ltd.	RJ	10	27-04-2013	14,59,524	20.27%
22	Lexicon Vanijiya Pvt. Ltd.	RJ	10	01-05-2013	14,64,852	20.35%
23	Jackson Power Pvt. Ltd.	RJ	10	26-04-2013	14,28,915	19.85%
24	Jackson Power Pvt Ltd.	RJ	10	26-04-2013	14,34,144	19.92%
25	Saisudhir Energy Ltd.	AP	20	26-04-2013	30,36,900	21.09%
26	Essel MP Energy Ltd.	MH	20
27	Enfield Infra. Ltd.	RJ	0

Data for around 9 projects are not available.

As can be seen from the available, the highest generation/PLF was achieved by Solarfield Energy (21.86%) followed by Sai Sudhir Energy (21.09%) and Sh. Saibaba Green Power (20.79%).

* Calculated based on the installed capacity of the project and generation as issued by MNRE.

The datasheets uploaded by MNRE can be downloaded from the following links.

• Net exported power for the month of November 2013 (RPSSGP Programme)
• Net exported power for the month of November 2013 (NVVN B-I,P-I Programme)
• Net exported power for the month of November 2013 (NVVN P-I, B-II Programme)
• Net Exported Power for the Month November 2013 (NVVN Migration Projects Phase-I)

Source: MNRE

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