Chemtrols Solar's 1 MW PV-Diesel Hybrid Solar Power Plant Wins InterSolar Award 2013...

 

India’s largest solar company has won the Intersolar Award 2013 for the Best MW Scale Project in India for the 1 MW PV-Diesel Hybrid Power Plant installed on the roof of the Spinning Mill of Alpine Knits at Palladum in Tirupur. This Grid-Connected Solar power plant has the distinction of having a unique DG synchronization capability, the first of its kind in India, and only the second in the World.

The 1 MW Solar plant was designed, engineered and constructed on a turnkey basis by Chemtrols Solar Private Limited, headquartered in Mumbai.

The 2013 prizes in the category “Solar Projects in India” were presented in an official ceremony during the recent Intersolar India at Mumbai. Intersolar – a two decade old German Organisation, is the world’s leading exhibition & conference series for the global solar industry and its partners, with events spanning four continents – Asia, Europe, North America and South America.

Commenting on this win, Mr. Anish Rajgopal, Director, Chemtrols Solar Pvt Ltd says, “The Alpine Knits project is a very unique and first-of-its-kind project that has resulted in large savings for its owner. Its more than satisfactory performance has already encouraged many more textile units in this area to opt for this solution. I am glad that Chemtrols Solar has been able to initiate a credible energy solution successfully.”

Shortage of power has been the major grievance of the Textile Industry in Tamil Nadu. Power accounts for about 30% of the total cost of production in a spinning mill. The textile industry in Tirupur has been crippled by power shortage since many years.

The Rooftop Solar plant synchronizes with the incoming 11KV utility grid and provides energy to the spinning mill for captive consumption during daytime. Importantly, even when the utility grid is not available during frequent power cuts, this solar plant has the capability to synchronize with the in-house 1.25MVA Diesel Generator to provide up to 65% of the energy required by the Alpine Knits factory. Using the unique ‘Fuel Saver’ developed by SMA Solar Technology AG of Germany.

Alpine Knits not only saves diesel and avails of accelerated depreciation benefits but also earns RECs (Renewable Energy Certificates) that can be traded at the designated Power Exchanges in Delhi or Mumbai within a price band of Rs 9300 to Rs 13400 per REC, the price band mandated by CERC until March 2017. Alpine gets one REC for every 1000 units (KWH) of electricity produced by the Solar Power plant, the sale of which is estimated to result in an additional revenue of about Rs 2 crores per year.

About Chemtrols Solar:

Chemtrols Solar is a part of the 38 year old Chemtrols Group of Mumbai, a diversified group with interests in Process Control Instrumentation & Automation, Manufacturing and Solar Energy. Chemtrols Solar has over the past few years established itself as an innovative reliable & quality EPC services provider for PV power plants, and plans to execute projects to the tune of 50 MW in the year 2013. The company also offers various Off-Grid solutions for Rooftops, Telecom Towers, Off-Shore Platforms, Pipelines (For Cathodic Protection & Telemetry) and Rural Village Electrification.

To view the photographs, please click on the link given below

Anish Rajgopal – Director & Sharad Saxena – CEO of Chemtrols Solar with Intersolar Award 2013 for 1 MW PV-Diesel Hybrid Solar Power plant at Tirupur under utility scale project

Actual size photo of 1 MW PV-Diesel Hybrid Solar Power plant at Tirupur for which Chemtrols Solar won Intersolar Award 2013 under utility scale project.

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Solar Financing in India: Challenges to Reducing the Cost of Capital...

 

Original posted on Switch Board (Natural Resources Defense Council Staff Blog)

The renewed sense of optimism within India’s solar market sparked by the announcement of the Phase II guidelines of the National Solar Mission (NSM) last month was palpable at the recent Intersolar conference in Mumbai as companies announced plans for mega solar power plants.

Along with the NRDC-CEEW roundtable on solar financing held in New Delhi last month, the Intersolar conference was instrumental to giving industry stakeholders an opportunity to discuss challenges impacting India’s burgeoning solar market. Despite the evident optimism, the general consensus from both stakeholder gatherings is that obtaining financing for solar projects and reducing the cost of capital pose major obstacles to scaling solar in India.

Based on their experiences during the Mission’s first phase, developers have provided many insights into the financial barriers to grid-connected large-scale solar projects and how to overcome them. The following themes emerged from our roundtable discussion about Phase II of the Mission and the way forward to reduce the cost of capital and scale solar in India.

Viability Gap Funding vs. Generation Based Incentive

Viability Gap Funding (VGF) under Phase II of the NSM aims to provide a capital grant that meets the funding gap to make solar projects economically viable. The VGF mechanism allows developers to seek financing for their projects up front and allows the government to provide one-time support instead of spreading it over 25 years (as in Phase I). Since the VGF covers only a small part of the financing required for a project, developers theoretically need to generate power efficiently and consistently in order to achieve a decent return on investment (RoI) from the project over its projected 25 years. Due to the uncertainty surrounding its impact, however, the upfront VGF does not appear to reduce the cost of capital required for projects under NSM Phase II.

The Generation Based Incentive (GBI) pays per kilowatt produced, which decreases over time. The GBI, unlike the VGF, directly incentivizes improving the efficiency or output for a project.  Additionally, the minimum project size (10MW) under the Mission’s second phase – intended to ensure that relatively serious and experienced developers would bid under the project – contributes to reducing the skepticism attached to generation of solar power under NSM Phase II’s VGF.

Read the full article here --> http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/ajaiswal/solar_financing_in_india_chall.html

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Intersolar India: Auction for 4GW mega solar project to start ‘in months’...

 

At Intersolar India 2013, the joint secretary for the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Shri Tarun Kapoor, said invitations for tenders for the 4GW mega solar project in India will begin in a few months.

Tarun Kapoor said the first 1GW phase is scheduled for completion in three years, and tenders will be invited “in the next three to four months”, The Economic Times reported from the conference yesterday.

The mega solar project’s main aim is to “bring down the cost of power to nearly INR5 (US$0.078) per unit,” said Tarun Kapoor. Currently solar power is around INR6 (US$0.094) per kWh for large projects in India.

Finance for the project was also mentioned as Tarun Kapoor said the project will be gaining “viability gap funding” for up to INR1,000 crore (US$157 million).

The Solar Energy Corporation will be the “sole authority” selling the solar power generated from the mega project, with the entire 4GW project expected to be completed in seven years, Tarun Kapoor reportedly said.

The initial phase is to be developed at Sambhar Lake on more than 7284 hectares of land from Hindustan Salts. The entire project's estimated of INR30,000 crore (US$4.7 billion), the equivalent of INR7.5 crore per MW (US$1.2 million), said Tarun Kapoor. When fully completed, the 4GW project will produce 6,000 million kWh per year to supply the country with energy through the national grid.

The first 1GW phase was announced in September, and is being undertaken by a joint venture between electrical equipment manufacturers, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Rajasthan Electronics and Instruments Limited (REIL) and SSL, the Solar Energy Corporation of India, the Power Grid Corporation of India and the government run hydro-electric power plant developer, SJVN. The joint venture plans to issue the remaining 3GW of tenders in 500MW blocks.

According to Intersolar’s website, Tarun Kapoor also said with the second phase of the national solar mission underway, the Indian PV market will “grow even more rapidly in the future,” continuing that India has an installed photovoltaic capacity of 1.1GW, and India intends to increase this “nine-fold” to 10GW by 2017.

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India's Power Grid wins tender to manage Ethiopian power co....

 

Ethiopia is to outsource the management of the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) to Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL), a company owned by the Indian government.

PGCIL has won the tender floated by Ethiopia's Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy. Gosaye Mengeste, director in the ministry, told IANS that Power Grid Corp surpassed other competitors in the technical evaluation.

The company is currently doing a feasibility study on how it will satisfy customers and meet the expectations of the Ethiopian government.

The company will be paid $16.7 million in two years. It will however only take over the management after the evaluation of the study it will present to the government.

"This (procedure) is because the standards are put to the corporation by the government of Ethiopia aimed at achieving better results, and they should be met", Gosaye told IANS.

The power distribution will be under the authority of PGCIL, for it is becoming cumbersome for the EEPCo to manage the tasks of generation as well as distribution.

PGCIL, India's state-run transmission utility, transmits about 45 percent of the total power generated in India. Its Ethiopian counterpart, however, generates all of the power produced for the national grid and administers all its transmission lines.

The Indian company is also erecting the 1,045-km-long transmission line of the Ethiopia-Kenya interconnection project financed by the World Bank (WB).

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India’s International Exhibition and Conference for the Solar Industry..

Intersolar India takes place from December 14–16, 2010 in Mumbai's expansive Bombay Exhibition Centre (BEC). It is the premier exhibition and conference for the photovoltaics and solar thermal industries in India. The conference takes place one day offset from the exhibition (Dec. 13-15) at Leela Kempinski Mumbai hotel and features over 70 speakers presenting in more than 15 sessions.

Intersolar India brings together industry professionals from the entire Solar eco-system, including: materials, equipment, PV cell and module manufacturers and distributors; inverter and balance of systems suppliers; mounting and tracking systems suppliers; solar thermal manufacturers and distributors; project developers, service companies; the finance and banking community and policy makers.

A brochure for the exhibition can be found below: Inter Solar India 2010 Conference Program

Register for the Exhibition for free!

Register for the Conference!

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