Country's target for renewable energy achievable: Karnataka Power Regulator...

 

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Karnataka conference on power highlighted several measures that could be adopted to help ease the current power crisis in the country.

From wind and solar energy, to utilizing gas installation for peak-hour power requirements, the conference brought together some of the best minds in the industry to share their views and concerns on the power sector.

Mr Sreenivasa Murthy, chairman, Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC), said that the national action plan for climate change constituted in 2008 had recommended that 15% of power generated in the country should come from renewable energy by the end of the decade.

“At the national level, India has just reached 5% currently, which was the target for 2010. Despite the backlog, I am confident that the 15% target is achievable by the end of the decade,’’ Murthy said.

He highlighted that Karnataka was well on its way to achieving the target and could well surpass the target by the next decade. He noted that Karnataka was at 10%—the highest renewable purchase obligation among states in India. Though the compliance was just at 9.9%, it is still a step in the right direction, he said.

On the issue of free power supply to farmers, he said that this was largely a misconception, as the department was not at a loss since the government was footing the bill on behalf of the farmers.

He estimated that around `5,000 crore per year is being paid by the government for power subsidy to farmers. He noted that loss of power due to transmission and distribution was an area of great concern.

He suggested that the state should shift to a high-voltage distribution system to help mitigate some of the losses and also explore additional options to minimise the problem.

Amita Prasad, principal secretary (energy department), said that the immediate issues to be addressed are the quality of power and the preparedness to go forward with new technology. She said that the greatest hurdle in implementing solar or wind projects was the lack of quality and innovation from suppliers.

She called on Indian companies to do more research in the field and thereby reduce the country’s dependency on foreign companies. She said that there was lot of scope for roof-top, off-grid and in-grid installations and the government is seriously looking at implementing the same.

As far as free power supply to farmers was concerned, she stressed on making the agricultural sector in the country more efficient through the use of modern pumps and solar installations to reduce consumption of power.

Karnataka in the lead for renewable energy
The national action plan for climate change constituted in 2008, had recommended that 15% of power generated in the country should come from renewable energy by the end of the decade.

While India has reached only 5% currently, which was the target for the year 2010, Karnataka has reached 10%, the highest renewable purchase obligation among all states in India. According to these estimates, Mr Sreenivasa Murthy, chairman, Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission, said Karnataka is sure to not only reach, but surpass the target by the next decade.

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Gas-hit Lanco seeks govt help to save AP power project...

 

Invoking its rights under the company laws, infrastructure major Lanco has rushed to the ministry of power and the corporate affairs ministry, urging them to suspend two key provisions in the accounting standards (AS) to save its gas-based Kondapalli power project in Andhra Pradesh, which has come to a standstill after a complete stoppage of supplies from Reliance Industries' KG-D6 block.

Lanco Kondapalli Power (LKPL), an independent power producer of the Lanco group, has written to the government seeking changes in the accounting norms that would allow the company to capitalise its borrowing costs and other expenses being incurred in the project pending completion of the commissioning activities that are delayed due to stoppage of KG-D6 gas supplies.

"We are seeking intervention of the corporate affairs ministry to suspend two key accounting standards dealing with 'accounting for fixed assets (AS-10)' and 'borrowing cost - suspension of capitalisation (AS-16)' citing unprecedented fuel and regulatory challenges beyond the control of the company. Once approved, the changes would benefit not only us, but close to 9,300 MW of gas-based power that are ready for commissioning but are without any gas," LKPL director and CEO, P Panduranga Rao.

Apart from Lanco, around 12 other gas-based projects, totalling a capacity of close to 8000 MW and investment of about Rs 45,000 crore, are under an advanced stage of construction and ready for commissioning but are without any gas allocation.

All these projects were constructed on promise of domestic gas allocation.

The projects are owned by companies such as GMR, Beta Infratech, Torrent, Reliance Power, GSECL.

As per AS-10, if the interval between the date of a project is ready to commence commercial production and the date at which commercial production actually begins is prolonged, all expenses incurred during this period are charged to the profit and loss statement. LKPL wants a relaxation in AS-10.

Similarly, the company wants a relaxation in AS-16, which states that the capitalisation of borrowing costs should be suspended during extended periods in which active development in interrupted.

According to LKPL, the disruption in gas supplies has delayed the commercial operation date of its 742 MW Kondapalli Stage III (the company has got project commissioning date extended by lenders from January 2013 to January 2015) by two years but the company expenses are being treated under revenue head subject to tax liability and this should be relaxed.

The Rs 2,610-crore project has a debt component of Rs 1827 crore financed by six lenders with Axis Bank as the lead lender.

Under Section 211 (4) of the Companies Act, 1956, a company on its own can also apply to the government to seek modification to the applicability of any requirements of the Act regarding matters to be stated in its balance sheet and profit and loss account, Kumar said.

 

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Tamil Nadu takes Centre to SC for not re-classifying forest land for 1,500 MW thermal power...

 

The Tamil Nadu government has approached the Supreme Court against the Centre for not re-classifying forest land for a 1,500-Mw thermal power project at Tuticorin.

The project is joint venture between the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) and Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC).

Chief minister J Jayalalithaa said the Congress-led government at the Centre was not letting the project's progress.

Speaking on the power supply in the state, Jayalalithaa said: “Soon Tamil Nadu will become power surplus. When I said this last year, many scoffed at (the claim). When it is said now, everybody believes as 99 per cent of the target has been achieved, while the remaining would be achieved before this year”.

While studies are under way for setting up a 2,000-Mw hydel power plant in Nilgiri district with an outlay of Rs 7,000 crore, the preliminary work on a 1,600-Mw thermal plant in Uppur was under progress, she said.

The state would soon finalise tenders for 1,320 Mw thermal power plants at Udangudi to be set up at a cost of Rs 9,000 crore with coal jetty; Ennore Special Economic Zone costing around Rs 8,000 crore and a 660-Mw power plant here involving Rs 4,000 crore.

Jayalalithaa said the state had signed long term agreements (15-year tenure) with power producers to procure 3,330 Mw. A bulk of this would be from Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

Speaking about TNEB’s financial position, she said the utility’s financial position would improve soon. She alleged the previous DMK-led government was responsible for the loss.

As on March 2011, TNEB had incurred a loss of  Rs 40,375 crore. “The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) wrote to all banks not to lend to TNEB”.

Under the financial restructuring scheme, while 50 per cent of TNEB’s short-term debt will be taken over by the state government, the state had issued bonds worth Rs 6,353.49 crore to the banks.

Already, the state administration has given a guarantee for Rs 22,700 crore for it to raise debt and for restructuring Rs 5,951.43 crore of bank debt, she said.

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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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Industry unhappy with govt plans for Chinese power equipment firms...

 

The government’s latest plan to have Chinese companies set up power equipment service centers in India does not seem to have gone down well with the domestic industry.

Indian manufacturers are concerned over losing market share in the absence of what they call “level playing field” to compete with Chinese manufacturers.

“A level playing field would have been created if we had made it mandatory for Chinese companies to set up manufacturing facilities too here. Also, there is a huge trade imba;ance that must be addressed before promoting Chinese competition,” Raj H Eswaran, President, Indian Electrical Equipment Manufacturers Association (IEEMA) said.

During Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's recent official to China, the two neighboring nations signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Beijing Wednesday to set up Power Equipment Service Centers (PESCs). China's National Energy Administration inked the initial agreement with India's power ministry.

The service centers will give Indian companies access to spares and after-sales services for equipment imported from China.

“We welcome healthy competition but there should be level playing field to compete with Chinese companies which outbid Indian firms owing to the soft loans provided by that nations government apart from various subsidies that drive down their cost,” a senior executive from Indian Electrical Equipment Manufacturers Association (IEEMA) said.

Chinese firms have supplied equipment with a total capacity of 60,000 Megawatt (Mw) in India so far. Of this, 20,000 Mw has already been set up. The government’s latest initiative comes at the backdrop of a recent study by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) that raised questions over quality of Chinese equipment.

Also, the Indian government had last year raised Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on import of equipment for mega and ultra mega power projects to 5% leading to an overall duty of 21% including Countervailing Duty (CVD) of 12% and a 4% Special Additions Duty (SAD). Power gear imports attracted nil duty earlier.

“However, this 5% additional duty has not addressed the problem fully. Indian firms are suffering a cost disadvantage of 24% according to the industry’s calculation,” the IEEMA executive said.

He also said the domestic industry has enough capacity to provide after-sales services adding that the Chinese firms have already captured as much as 40% of the domestic market where an opportunity of annual sales of 17,000 Mw capacity exists at present.

India has a current domestic equipment manufacturing capacity of 27,000 Mw. Power equipment worth Rs 130,000 crore was sold in India last financial year. Around 28% of this comprised generation equipment while the rest 72% of the sales occurred in the transmission and distribution sector.

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Power Grid FPO next month...

 

Power Grid Corporation of India is preparing for its planned follow-on public offer (FPO), with a hope that the offer could be launched as soon as next month.

The government-run transmission utility giant on Thursday said that all the required procedures for the FPO had already been completed, and that it was just waiting for Cabinet's nod.

R N Nayak, chairman & managing director of Power Grid Corp, said, "We have completed all the necessary procedures from our side and can launch it as soon as possible. But we are awaiting the approval from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)."

The Navratna firm has plans to offload its 17 per cent stake via the FPO route. Of the total 17 per cent stake, the government will sell 4 per cent stake, while the remaining 13 per cent will be in the form of fresh issue of equity shares.

The company will issue 60.18 crore shares, while the government will 18.51 crore shares as part of its massive divestment program that aims to generate Rs 44,000 crore for the government.

The offer is expected to generate around Rs 1,900 crore for the government, while Power Grid expects to garner nearly Rs 6,000 crore by selling fresh equities.

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Power reforms saved state Rs 1,000 cr a year, says Odisha govt

 

Countering the criticism of failed power sector reforms in Odisha, the state government today said the measures taken to improvise power distribution system has resulted in saving of about Rs 1,000 crore per year.

"When OSEB (Odisha State Electricity Board) was disbanded, it used to get a grant of Rs 250 crore per year then. Considering the power purchase costs and demand today, it works out to Rs 1,000 per year. So we have been able to save this much money by privatising the sector," said Pradeep Kumar Jena, state energy secretary at a seminar organised by the Odisha chapter of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

Odisha was the first state to privatise power sector in the country, by segregating power generation, trading and distribution business way back in 1996. Out of four power distribution companies (discoms), three are managed by Reliance Infra while the fourth one, Central Electricity Supply Utility (CESU) is currently run by Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC).

The state has also pioneered in micro privatisation of the sector, where discoms are allowed to award power distribution franchisee licence to firms for collecting bills and for providing customer support.

Despite these steps, power supply and distribution scenario in the state continues to face difficulties, as discoms failed to curb transmission losses and collect electricity bills, resulting in poor financial health.

Realising that the discoms cannot upgrade the existing power transmission network, the state government recently announced a Rs 2,600 crore plan to build 500 substations across the state from its own revenue.

The government also flayed the Centre's policy disqualifying Odisha from Central grants based on the premise that it had privatised its power sector.

"Odisha is debarred from all schemes of the Centre because we have privatised the power sector. It appears as if we have done a mistake by allowing reforms," said Jena at the seminar titled 'Efficient Sector-Mature Economy'.

"One of the reasons why the state has power supply problem is that the discoms are relying on load shedding and are not willing to buy costlier power from NTPC," said V S Verma, a representative of Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) at the seminar, hinting at the opposition of Odisha to price pooling of coal and power generated out of it.

The state has been protesting the use of domestic and imported coal in NTPC power plants, citing that it would escalate generation cost despite the fact that Odisha possesses abundant coal reserves, which accounts for 25 per cent of total deposit in India.

"There has been no change in our views (regarding price pooling)," said Jena.

NTPC supplies nearly 1000 Mw power to the state grid, out of total power availability of 2,600 Mw in the state, from its various plants located inside and outside Odisha.

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Sterling & wilson bagged a 10 MW solar PV Project in Tamil Nadu...

 

Sterling & Wilson an associate of the Mumbai based USD 2.5 billion Shapoorji Pallonji Group, has bagged a turnkey engineering, procurement and construction order to build a 10MW multi-client Solar PV power park at Karur district in Tamil Nadu in phases. Sterling & Wilson’s turnkey scope of work includes the complete Design, Engineering, Procurement and Construction of the solar power plants within the park.

The company has so far installed 66MW of solar power plants on turnkey EPC basis across India this year. The proposed solar power park is expected to have solar power plants of various sizes totaling 10MW, built over two phases.

The first of the two phases would see 6MW of solar power plants being set up by the last quarter of this fiscal, displacing nearly 8640 MT of CO2 annually and lighting up more than 17,000 households.

The proposed solar power park is being promoted by group of leading home textile exporters from Karur district in Tamil Nadu. The companies have a history of promoting adoption of green energy in the country and also operate 55MW of wind power projects in the state of Tamil Nadu. With its first 10MW solar power project, the group has kick-started its foray into solar energy and has revealed its intentions to create a large solar power portfolio over the next few years.

Speaking on the occasion, Bikesh Ogra, President, Solar Business, Sterling & Wilson, said, “We are honored to be chosen by our clients for building this prestigious – first of its kind – multi-client solar power park in Tamil Nadu. Our extensive capabilities in power sector EPC over the last 86 years, backed by our vast execution experience gained from over 150MW of solar PV power projects in India played an important role in helping us win our customer’s confidence. “We are confident of meeting the customer expectations and commission the projects within the park in the given time schedule,” he added.

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Inter-ministerial panel reviews performance of 16 coal blocks...

 

The Inter-Ministerial panel on coal blocks today reviewed the performance of 16 mines alloted to firms including JSPL, NTPC, SAIL, Abhijeet Infrastructure and Tata Power.

However, no decision was taken on the coal blocks, said a source, adding that some of the companies present gave reasons like lack of environmental clearances and regulatory hurdles for delays in development of the mines.

"The allocatees of 16 coal blocks made presentations before the Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG). However no decision was taken today," the source said.

IMG will meet again tomorrow, for the third day, and review the performance of another 14 mines alloted to firms including JSPL, Monnet Ispat & Energy, Birla Corp and Rathi Udyog, he said.

The panel reviewed the progress of 17 mines yesterday and recommended that show-cause notices be issued to some of the companies for delays in developing them.

The Coal Ministry had earlier asked the companies to make presentations before the IMG on the achievement of milestones prescribed for developing mines that were allotted to them and their reasons for delays.

"It has been decided to provide an opportunity to you (coal block allocatees) to present your explanation/version before the IMG on the current status of development of allocated coal block," the ministry had said.

"You are requested to make a presentation with respect to the achievement of different milestones prescribed for the development of coal block and reasons for delay, if any, with respect to achievement of the same," it had said.

The coal block allottees were earlier issued show-cause notices for delaying the production from their mines.

The government had formed the IMG last year to review the progress of coal blocks allocated to firms for captive use and recommend action, including de-allocation.

The panel under the chairmanship of Additional Secretary in the Coal Ministry has members from other ministries including steel and power.

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First 10,000 Customers To Get Solar Rooftop Subsidy In Tamil Nadu...

 

In order to promote domestic electricity capacity, the Tamil Nadu government is offering a capital subsidy of Rs 20,000 for every 1 kW solar rooftop system. This was promised by Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa back in April.

solar power, solar subsidy, tamil nadu, 10,000 solar subsidy, solar rooftop system, 1kW solar rooftop system

According to the renewable energy development arm of the State Government, Tamilnadu Energy Development Agency (TEDA), the cost of a 1 kW solar rooftop system comes out to be Rs 1,00,000. The government will give a subsidy of Rs 30,000, with the investor paying only Rs 50,000. TN will offer another Rs 20,000. This subsidy will be offered on a ‘first come first served’ basis.

TEDA expects that the solar system will generate 1,600 units a year. Now at a tariff of Rs 5.75 per kWhr, the annual savings will be about Rs 9,200.

The subsidy will be given only to grid-connected, battery-less systems, and only for domestic consumers (‘LT-1A’ category), reports Hindu Business Line. Solar power generated is to be consumed within the building. Consumers may choose to buy the solar systems from a list of vendors approved by TEDA. TEDA will “float a tender for empanelling the vendors,” the GO says according to the report.

The subsidy is applicable for only 1 kW systems, that too only for the first 10,000 applicants.

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NTPC seeks gas from KG Basin beyond 2014...

 

NTPC has asked the Government to extend gas supplies from the D6 block in the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin beyond 2014.

In 2009, an empowered group of Ministers (eGoM) allocated 4.46 million standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd) to the public sector power sector.

Out of the total gas allocated, 2.30 mmscmd has been contracted with Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), the operator of D6 gas fields. The present gas sale agreements are valid till March, as the allocation of KG D6 gas was made for five years.

“It is understood that the production from KG D6 fields is likely to continue beyond March 2014. From a fuel security point of view, continuation of supply of KG D6 gas in future is very crucial for NTPC gas stations,” NTPC wrote to the Power Ministry recently.

NTPC uses the KG D6 gas at its power stations in Anta, Auraiya, Dadri and Faridabad.

In addition, NTPC has informed the Government that RIL and its partners are unilaterally changing the terms and conditions of the gas-sale-purchage-agreement (GSPA) in their favour. For example, in the new draft, GSPA has proposed that the seller will have no liability and the buyer will have no right to sue the seller for any delay or shortfall or interruption of gas.

NTPC has said that the supplies under GSPA may get restricted under two circumstances — lack of availability of gas, in line with Government directives. However, RIL is not agreeing to modification of GSPA.

The public sector power producer has sought the nodal Ministry’s intervention for resolution of differences over GSPA.

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NGO puts up green hurdles to NTPC’s Bangladesh project...

 

Some NGOs in Bangladesh are against NTPCBSE 1.36 % setting up a 1,320-mw thermal power plant at Rampal in the Sunderbans beyond the Indian border. According to them, a coal-fired plant will pollute the area, rendering permanent damage to the fragile ecological balance in the region — home to mangroves and the Royal Bengal Tiger.

The opposition came up despite both the countries signing an agreement to set up the plant in Bangladesh. It is being set up as a 50:50 joint venture between India's NTPC and Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) at an investment of about $1.5 billion.

On October 22, the foundation stone for the plant was laid by senior government officials from both sides. National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources , Power and Ports, a strong local NGO, organised a march to the plant site on the day the foundation stone was laid.

"Coal is the dirtiest means of energy generation. We want the location of the proposed plant to be moved and instead of setting up coalfired thermal power plant, solar and other means of green energy generation can be taken up," Pinaki Bandopadhyay, a senior member of the NGO, told ET from Bangladesh.

"In India, thermal power stations can be built at 25 km away from a forest area. If NTPC abides by that law in India , then why are they setting up the plant so close to the Sunderbans in Bangladesh?" he wondered.

The NGO, which is learned to have the backing of powerful opposition leaders in the country , also does not want national resources like coal and oil to be used by foreign companies. "We also feel that the environment and ecology impact analysis report prepared by the Bangladesh government has a number of flaws and it needs to be prepared again," the activist said.

The report tries to quantify the effect of setting up a factory on the ecology and the environment in the area. The NTPC project has been facing hurdles right from the beginning. The first was the suitability of the land that was offered by the Bangladesh government.

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Adani Power posted a net los off Rs. 2609.10 Mn for the Q2 Quarter...

 

Adani Power Ltd has posted the increase in total income from Rs. 15511.70 mn for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 to Rs. 31080.30 mn for the quarter ended September 30, 2013.

Adani Power Ltd has posted a net loss after taxes and Minority Interest of Rs. (10719.10) million for the quarter ended September 30, 2013 as compared to net loss of Rs. (2609.10) mn for the quarter ended September 30, 2012.

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Power sector can sink the economy sans reform...

 

The power sector is in crisis, thanks to misplaced priorities and opportunism in policymaking, particularly at the state level. Two decades after tentative reforms and opening up in the sector, policy stays fixated on generation capacity, never mind huge revenue leakage in power distribution, lack of capacity in transmission and avoidable , policy-induced shortage of coal and gas.

Already, with several state power utilities financially moribund and simply lacking creditworthiness for increased offtake, multiple power producers have announced stalling of operations; entire projects are now on the back burner.

And yet, the power ministry's penchant for new generation activity remains quite undiminished . It is currently soliciting investor interest for two ultra-mega power projects, one each in Tamil Nadu and Odisha, with a combined investment requirement of about Rs 50,000 crore, which are slated to supply to several states.

But the fact remains that several of the state utilities expected to procure the power have run up huge losses and outstandings because of reckless politically-mandated tariffs, attendant giveaways and plain open theft of power, with the powers that be turning a Nelson's eye to the matter.

What is worse is that the policy establishment seems, verily, to have lost interest in arresting the mounting commercial losses in distribution. The annual Economic Survey no longer gives details of the massive forfeiture involved, although a line buried deep in the text does mention, more as an afterthought, that the yearly distribution losses amount to as much as 1% of gross national output,or about Rs 1,00,00 crore.

Itclearly makes little sense to coagulate big-ticket investments when the monies horrendously fettered away, mostly by way of power theft, are twice that. The runaway losses would surely short-circuit the entire power sector, with grave economy-wide implications. Hence the vital need for vision and proactive policy to stem distribution losses and stamp out routine theft, invest in transmission and unclog coal and gas supply.

 

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UPERC asks Discoms not to impose late payment surcharge to the consumers...

 

The Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) has ordered all Discoms not to impose late payment surcharge upon those consumers who have been unable to settle their dues because of slow internet connections at billing counters.

The order, issued by the commission a day ago, comes as great relief for thousands of consumers in Noida and Ghaziabad who had been complaining of difficulties in paying bills for the past one month.

Residents had complained that they were unable to make payments despite standing in serpentine queues at billing centres for hours.

They said that though they were not at fault for being unable to make bill payments, the discom, Paschimanchal Vidyut Vitaran Nigam Limited (PVVNL), was imposing penalties on them. "It's very unfair to expect consumers to pay penalties when they have to return without making payments despite standing at the queues for hours," said OP Sharma, a resident of Sector 16 in Noida. The discom had told consumers that bill payments were affected due to a state-wide malfunction of the internet system of the power corporation.

The commission has directed discoms to extend the last dates for payment of dues. The orders were issued after a petition was filed by UP Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad, a state-level electricity consumers' body. The petition had been filed after similar problems were experienced by power consumers in Lucknow.

Discom officials said that work is on to fix the problem of internet connectivity. "Consumers will be intimated about the revisions done to their due dates of payments," said a senior discom official.

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MY Eco Energy forays into the bio-fuel industry...

 

Pune based, My Eco Energy has announced its foray into the bio-fuel industry which is involved in the manufacturing of waste to bio-diesel, a non-petroleum based fuel.

Bio-diesel is made from from waste materials including vegetable oils and animal fat available for consumer and commercial use.

As said by the  company, "Looking at the current scenario of the dependency on non-renewable fuel systems, there is a growing demand for a non-petroleum based fuel. It is this demand that Bio-Diesel by My Eco Energy addresses."

The company offers the consumers a completely natural, high-performing and low-environment depleting fuel option for their Diesel fuelled vehicles. Bio-diesel could be efficiently utilized by transport companies as well as across machinery equipment like electricity generators, industrial boilers & furnaces.

The company will initially cater primarily to consumers in Maharashtra and neighboring states through 20 distributorships. Over time, it plans to expand its network to over 250 dealer owned retail pumps in the state over the next year.

The company said that the fuel could either be used alone or blended with conventional petro-diesel in unmodified diesel-engine vehicles.

Produced from various feed stocks including waste vegetable oils and non-edible oils like used cooking oil and acid oils and tallow, the company said that this was an environmentally safe, low polluting fuel suitable for most diesel engines.

 

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Essar withdraws the application for grant of distribution license in gurgaon...

 

Essar Projects, the group company of Essar, has withdrawn its application from Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission for grant of power distribution license in Gurgaon's Municipal Corporation area.

Essar Projects had earlier sought license to distribute power in municipal area of Gurgaon in Haryana as the second energy supplier in the district and had filed the application as per the provision laid under section 14 read with section 15 of Electricity Act, in the month of March this year.

If the license had been granted to Essar Projects, it would have been the second distribution license holder after state-owned Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) for supplying power to energy consumers within municipal limits of Gurgaon.

Gurgaon circle is a very potential area in terms of revenue generation and consumer load. DHBVN generates almost 50 per cent of its revenue from Gurgaon circle only out of its total five circles. Gurgoan has power consumer base of 3.60 lakh with average power load of 700-800 MW.

Pegging the capital outlay on this project at Rs 1,519 crore, the company in its application had said that it would set up its own distribution network for supplying power to the consumers.

The company had kept the cost of power from own generation and purchase at Rs 5.19 per unit with hike of 3-4 per cent per annum.

The Electricity Act, 2003 provides for second power distribution license provided, the company has its own power distribution related infrastructure.

 

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Tata Power Solar commissioned 10 MW Solar plant in Karnataka for Jindal Aluminum...

 

Tata Power Solar has commissioned the 10 MW Solar Power Project at Chitradurga, Karnataka for the Jindal Aluminum Ltd (JAL) in the timeframe of four months from the land allotment date.

The plant so far is the largest in the Karnataka and is expected to produce around 18 Million kWh annually.

The plant consists a total of 48,000 multi crystalline modules, each with an average output of 240Wp, has been installed on the 52 acres non-agricultural land in Kalamarahalli, Chitradurga, Karnataka.

After land conversion process, it was developed into a solar farm with 16,000 foundations laid to support the structural framework of 2,000 mounts within a span of 2 months.

Tata Power Solar has designed and built more than 70 MW of grid connected projects to-date. Some of its recent notable projects are: 17 MW power plant in Mithapur, Gujarat, 5MW GMDC project in Bhuj and 10MW Emami project in Charanka in Gujarat.

Recently, the Company bagged a 50 MW solar power plant project from NTPC in Rajgarh, MP & 28 MW solar power project from Tata Power in Satara, Maharashtra.

According to a report by Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Karnataka faced an energy deficit of 17.8 percent. As part of the RPO targets fixed by the state electricity regulators, Karnataka is mandated to purchase 0.25% from solar energy as a percentage of its total procurement during a year. JAL has entered into a 25 year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) to provide power at Rs. 8.25 per unit flat for the whole tenure of 25 years.

 

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http://www.solarquarter.com/index.php/component/k2/item/1104-tata-power-solar-commissions-10-mw-solar-power-plant-in-karnataka

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Alstom T&D to supply transformer package for NPGCL Power Plant...

 

Alstom T&D India will supply a power transformer package for Nabinagar Power Generating Com Ltd' (NPGCL) super thermal power project located in Bihar. The project is part of a bulk tender which has been set up to accelerate the pace of thermal capacity addition.

This order, worth approximately Rs 105.5 crore (14 million), covers design, engineering, manufacture, supply, testing, erection and commissioning of generator transformers and associated power transformers and shunt reactor. The Nabingar power transformer package is due to be delivered by October 2017.

All equipment will be manufactured by Alstom T&D India's transformer manufacturing and testing facility in Naini (Uttar Pradesh), the company said in a statement.

Alstom builds fast train and the highest capacity automated metro in the world, provides turnkey integrated power plant solutions and associated services for a wide variety of energy sources, including hydro, nuclear, gas, coal and wind, and it offers a wide range of solutions for power transmission, with a focus on smart grids. The Group employs 93,000 people in around 100 countries. It had sales of over 20 billion and booked close to 24 billion in orders in 2012/13.

Alstom T&D India, has a strong portfolio of products, solutions and services, comprising the entire range of transmission equipment up to extra and ultra high voltages (765 kV and beyond) including air-insulated switchgear (AIS) and locally manufactured power transformers and gas-insulated switchgear (GIS). It also provides power electronics solutions (HVDC, FACTS) to create super highways and offers highly advanced power management Smart Grid solutions for transmission and distribution including renewable energies integration. With over 3,500 employees and eight world class manufacturing units, Alstom T&D India is future ready to support the rapidly evolving transmission sector in India.

 

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Kundankulam N-Plant starts generating power...

 

The Kundankulam Nuclear Power Plant at Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu has started generating power from its Unit 1 and produced around 160 MW of Power on October 22, 2013.

Unit 1 having capacity of 1000 MW is a new type of reactor built in Russia called Voda Voda Energo Reactor (VVER). It became critical in the midnight of July 13 and since then, various tests and procedures have been conducted to resolve problems with the valves.

It is the first pressurized water reactor belonging to light water reactor category in the country. Russian authorities claim they have such reactors functioning in Ukraine, China and a few other nations. In Ukraine alone, there are six units of 1,000MW capacity at Zaporizhzhia, which are similar to that of the Kudankulam unit.

As said by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), currently out of the 1000 MW capacity of this Unit, 160 MW is connected to the grid which will be increased after checking the generators and conducting other tests.  The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has given its nod for 500MW and more power will be connected to the grid after the tests.

The significant synchronization process came as Prime Minister wound up his visit to Moscow after talks about possible future agreements for the supply of two more Russian reactors for the Kudankulam plant. While agreements have been signed for two 1,000MW units, talks are on with Russia to clinch a deal for two more 1,000MW units. When commissioned, the nuclear power plant would be the biggest in India in terms of capacity.

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More literature on this...

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/energy/power/kudankulam-nuclear-plant-starts-generating-power-connected-to-southern-grid/articleshow/24521878.cms

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