Good response to TN solar policy...

 

The state solar policy has elicited positive res­ponse across the board with the industry also responding positively, said Sudeep Jain, chairman and managing director of Tamil Nadu En­­ergy Develo­p­ment Ag­e­ncy (TEDA).

“Many innovations ha­ve been built into the rooftop systems for the solar-powered ‘green’ houses provided to the below poverty line (B­PL) families and these systems have come out to be very well desi­gned,” Jain said spe­aking at the ‘Confe­r­ence on Solar Power Generation’ organised by the Confederation of Indian Ind­u­stry (CII) on Wednesday.

Tracing the salient points of the Tamil Na­du Solar Energy policy, Jain said powering 60,000 houses in Tamil Nadu with solar energy was the largest such pro­gramme in the cou­ntry. Recalling another initiative that involved conversion of 20,000 streetlights to solar every year, he said 20W LED lights have rep­laced incandescent bul­bs, tube-lights and CFL

Also, clusters with a centralised solar plant has also been formed which have remote mo­nitoring units, giving performance data every 30 minutes on the website, he informed.

The next step, Jain said, will be to move away from the need for battery backup, the we­akest link in the rooftop solar systems. He hoped that challenges such as maintenance of rooftop units, training of manpower, and durability of the solar systems would be overco­me through industry tie-ups.

Dr Amita Prasad, principal secretary, energy department, government of Karnataka,  req­u­ested the industry to make solar solutions affordable. Karnataka has identified Hu­bli, Dharwar and Mysore which have immense potential for solar based power generation and the state government had set a target of  2000 MW generation capacity  by 2020.

Source

Read More...

Multiple legal challenges hurting Tamil Nadu’s solar plan...

 

Multiple legal challenges are hurting Tamil Nadu’s ambitious plan of adding 3,000 megawatt of solar power by 2015, two state officials have said.

Tamil Nadu, facing one of its worst-ever power crises, is betting big on solar. Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s administration has drawn up an ambitious plan to add 3,000 megawatt through this route by 2015, 1,000 megawatt every year starting 2013.

Toward this, the state had floated a 1,000 megawatt tender, India’s single biggest tender, late last year. But the going has not been smooth. “The 1,000 megawatt tender is delayed because it is hit by legal cases. We are confident of getting it cleared,” said Sudeep Jain, chairman and MD of the Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency, the nodal agency for solar projects, addressing a Confederation of Indian Industry conference.

Starting 2013, Tamil Nadu’s solar policy mandates, many classes of commercial buildings and factories need to meet at least 3% of their power requirements through solar. This has proved to be a controversial clause for industry.

“Some customers have gone to court against the solar purchase obligation,” said S Nagalsamy, member of Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission, the only member on board at the State regulator.

He said there have been doubts about whether the twin targets – of 3,000 megawatt of solar power in three years as also the solar purchase obligation in two years – are achievable. “Unfortunately it could not take off, but government has earnestly taken steps,” he said.
He also said cases have also been filed against the alleged discrimination between different classes of consumers. While the solar purchase obligation is a requirement for high-tension and low-tension commercial consumers, other classes such as domestic consumers are exempt.

According to a report by Mercom Capital Group, under the state tender, 52 developers have signed letters of intent (power purchase agreements are yet to be signed) for setting up solar plants with 700 megawatt of capacity. Developers have 10 months to commission these projects from the date of signing the agreements.

Source

Read More...

Welspun Energy partners with Gujarat Energy Research & Management Institute (GERMI) to set up solar research lab...

 

Welspun Energy Ltd. (WEL) is partnering with Gandhinagar based Gujarat Energy Research & Management Institute (GERMI) for the advancement of solar technology in India.

The organization will be setting up a lab at GERMI where different solar technologies will be studied for their performance in Indian terrain and climatic conditions.

The MoU was signed with Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU), during the recently held Vibrant Gujarat’s International Conference for Academic Institutions (ICAI) 2013.

The organization will also be working closely with students. Welspun Energy will be designing & offering internship programs to students of PDPU’s Solar Program. With WEL’s large solar and wind projects under development, it is expected that students participating in this internship program will be able to witness the entire project development cycle of a clean energy power plant. Skilled manpower in this field is scarce and through such initiatives the organization will be able to help students transform into specialized resources.

Mr. Vineet Mittal, Co-Founder & Managing Director Welspun Energy stated “Solar energy industry in India is still young, with some amount of research carried out in India for standardization & technology selection. However, we need to be ready for the next phase of growth and that calls for a greater focus on research and building relevant skill sets in our young. As an extension to society, we want to support leading institutions in India and foster indigenous capability.”

A student exchange program has also been initiated by WEL with the Singapore Managment Univesity. Through the corpus, scholarships will be awarded to PDPU’s select meritorious students to study at Singapore’s leading university.

Simultaneously, Welspun Energy has also committed to making PDPU a green energy institute by commissioning a 25 KW rooftop solar system.

Read More...

India in the lowest quartile for energy security: WEF report

 

A report comparing the energy architecture of 124 countries has ranked India 98th in terms of providing energy security and access to its citizens.

Low electrification rates and high import dependence put India in the lowest quartile globally, the report released on Wednesday said.

The Planning Commission said in its 12th Plan document many states make do without even the minimum of six to eight hours of electricity supply. Some villages “connected” under the remote rural electrification programme, called the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana, have not been “energized” or supplied electricity.

China and India are the most import-dependent of all economies in the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, or BRICS, grouping, said the World Economic Forum’s Global Energy Architecture Performance Index report for 2014.

The report seeks to measure levels of energy intensity of income, energy sustainability, security of energy and access.

While India’s overall ranking was 69, China stood 85th among the 124 countries in building a strong and sustainable energy architecture.

“That said, China ranks in first place globally for the diversification of its import counterparts, up from its 4th place ranking in 2008. This underscores China’s success in establishing strategic partnerships with, and investing in, major oil and gas producers such as Iraq, Russia and more recently Canada,” the report said.

Source

Read More...

Lanco Infratech has got the Lender's approval for the CDR for the Rs. 4,400 Crores debt...

 

Power generator Lanco Infratech got a Rs 7,700 crore breather from its bankers as they approved a proposal to restructure its debt, today. The corporate debt restructuring (CDR) will allow the company a two-year interest holiday.

The lenders will restructure debt of Rs 4,400 crore and non-fund based exposure like bank guarantees and letters of credit worth Rs 3,300 crore.

It will also get additional funds of Rs 2.500 crore from the bankers. Of this, Rs 1,060 crore will be non-fund based. “We will use the additional funding vendors, suppliers and other service providers,&" said Adi Babu, chief financial officer of Lanco Infratech. The company has outstanding payments of around Rs 1,500 crore. It will also spend yet another Rs 1,000 crore to pay for impending work.

The promoters of the company, which includes the chairman Lagadapati Rajgopal, will have to bring in Rs 153 crore as their contribution. The payment will have to made before the signing of master restructuring agreement, which is expected to be signed by the end of the month.

As per the agreement, lenders will also reduce the interest rates by 2.5% for the first 3-4 years. This shall be compensated in the subsequent years as it will increase by 4.5%.

“The moratorium will ease the liquidity and will help us ease existing activity. This will help us make a comeback in engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) business. We will go ahead with our EPC business aggressively,&" Babu told Business Standard. He also expects business to normalise by March.

In the last 10 months, activity on the company's EPC business was stalled. In addition to slowdown in EPC business, Lanco's troubles which took it to CDR include frozen payments from state electricity boards (SEBs), leading it into a huge funding gap. The power generator is yet to receive as much as Rs 2,000 crore from power distribution companies in Karnataka as well as Haryana.

“There are two tariff orders pending with Central Electricity Regulatory Authority and Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL). Once these orders and judgements are passed, we will take around six months for payments to be cleared. We expect the payments to come over time and not immediately,&" said Babu.

Lanco has a power generating capacity of as much as 4,732 megawatts. The power business, like many other assets in the country, was affected by issues other than delayed payments like lack of fuel supply to both its coal and gas-based power plants. Earlier, the company had said that prevailing macro-economic conditions have affected it.

The company maintains that a complete turnaround in the power sector would happen only if the government provides fuel, especially for those projects which are completed. The state electricity boards should also increase tariffs to consumers and should be in a better position to buy more power as opposed to going for power cuts.

“Once these corrective measures are taken by the government, it will help the sector make a turnaround. But for the company, we expect many issues to be resolved by March expect for fuel for our gas-based power plants,&" said Babu.

Source

Read More...

Government finalized a master plan to develop 36 cities as solar cities...

 

The government today said it has finalised the master plan to develop 36 cities as solar or green cities.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has been implementing a programme on "Development of Solar Cities" under which a total of 60 cities and towns are proposed to be supported for development as "Solar or green cities".

"So far, in principle approval has been accorded to 55 cities of which 45 cities have been sanctioned. Out of these 45 cities, the master plans have been finalised for 36 cities," New and Renewable Energy minister Farooq Abdullah said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

The criteria set by the Ministry for the identification of cities include a city having population between 50,000 to 50 lakh (with relaxation given to special category states including North-East States), initiatives and regulatory measures already taken along with a high level of commitment in promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy.

As per the proposal received from various states, so far Rs 21.23 crore has been sanctioned for preparation of master plans, solar city cells and promotional activities for 45 cities, out of which Rs. 4.64 crore has been released, the minister said.

"Further, an amount of Rs 25.55 crore has been sanctioned for execution of renewable energy projects in nine cities, out of which Rs 9.49 crore has been released for utilisation by the concerned state nodal agencies and municipal corporations,"the minister told the Lok Sabha.

The ministry is also implementing a programme on "Energy Efficient Solar or Green Buildings" which promotes the energy efficient solar and green building designs with renewable energy applications including Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment system.

Abdullah said the ministry promotes this by providing incentives to promotional activities, awards to urban local bodies and green buildings having maximum RE installations, incentives to architects and design consultants and other related activities.

Source

Read More...

Government exempts UMPPs from compensatory afforestation clause...

 

The government has granted exemption to ultra mega power projects from a key provision of the Forests Act 1980 that requires developers to identify non-forest land for compensatory afforestation.

The decision will benefit companies like Reliance Power that is implementing 3 ultra mega power projects and developers of future such projects.

The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure has approved 'central government' status for ultra mega power projects for the purpose of forestland acquisition.

Unlike private projects, central government projects are neither required to identify non-forest land for compensatory afforestation nor pay any money for the purpose. The developers of ultra mega power projects however will be asked to pay for the afforestation while the host state government will identify the non forestland.

Compensatory afforestation rule is one of the most important conditions stipulated by the central government under the forest conservation act while diverting forestland and requires companies to identify equal area of non-forest land in the same state.

"We had approached the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure for tweaking the compensatory afforestation norms for the Tilaiya ultra mega power project in Jharkhand. Since approved, the change would benefit both existing and future ultra mega power projects," a senior power ministry official said.

Reliance Power bagged the 3,960 mw ultra mega power project at Tilaiya in 2009 and planned to commission the first unit by May 2015. The company has not been able to start work, as the state government has not handed over land to the company. The company has received final forest clearance for 1220 acres of forest land but is still awaiting final handover from state government.

Nearly 80% of the land required for the project and the attached coal mines falls under forest area.

Reliance Power had ordered the main plant equipment for the Tilaiya project on Shanghai Electric, China but is still in discussions with domestic and international banks for financial closure.

The proposal would also benefit developers of future ultra mega power projects. The government has called bids for two such projects at Bedhabahal in Orissa and Cheyyur in Tamil Nadu.

Source

Read More...

International competitive bidding for Mangdechhu Hydro Project at Bhutan...

 

It has been decided to follow international competitive bidding (ICB) process for Electro-Mechanical Works: Package EM-3 (400kV Gas Insulated Switchgear) and EM-4 (400kV Cross Link Polyethylene (XLPE) cables for Mangdechhu hydro power project coming up in Bhutan.

It may be noted that there are no Indian manufacturers of 400kV GIS and 400kV XLPE cables and the material has to be procured from the global market.

It may also be remembered here that in case of Punatsangchhu-I and II HEP ICB route was adopted to select the suppliers.

720 MW Mangdechhu HEP is one of the 10 HEPs planned under the 10,000 MW hydropower development by the year 2020 program of Government of Bhutan supported by Govt. of India. 30% of the project cost will be reimbursed by India as grant and the rest will be funded through a loan from India to Bhutan.

The project is scheduled for commissioning by September, 2017.

Source

Read More...

Nuclear Power Corporation to set up 1,400 MW plant at Gorakhpur...

 

Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) is planning to set up 2X700 MW nuclear power project at Gorakhpur site in Fatchabad district of Haryana.

NPCIL has already sought the approval of Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) for the purpose. NPCIL is currently setting up four reactors of 700 MW at Kakrapar, Gujarat and Rawatbhata, Rajasthan.

Natural uranium oxide or slightly enriched uranium is proposed to be used as fuel along with heavy water as coolant and moderator for the reactor.

NPCIL which has already set up 4,460 MW indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) technology, estimates the cost of the proposed plant at Rs. 20,594 crore to be funded with a debt equity ratio of 70:30. NPCIL plans to issue tax free bonds at the rate of 8.5% to finance the project cost which will bring down the interest during construction period substantially. Equity funding by the government will be to the extent of Rs. 6,179 crore.

NPCIL expects to commission the first unit in 63 months from the zero date and the second unit in six months after the commissioning of the first unit. If all milestones are met the first unit may go critical by September 2020.

Source

Read More...

Crompton Greaves To Exit Canada Power Plant...

 

Crompton Greaves is planning to make an exit its Canadian power transformer plant, to cut losses in its foreign business.

The transformer factory in Canada contributes about 3% to the company’s total sales but made a loss of $10 Mn in FY13. Earlier this year, it restructured its Belgian plant.

The Canadian facility is running at low utilizations and there are manufacturing design issues too. The company sees continued losses for the facility through the next few quarters, thus deciding to sellout the plant or shut down completely.

The Canada plant was acquired by the Pauwels group of Belgium in 1994, which was later acquired by Crompton Greaves in 2005, thus bringing the plant into its fold.

The underperformance of the international business is affecting the financial results of the company, resulting in a decline in overall profit.

Crompton Greaves earns 55-60 per cent of its revenue from its Indian parent, and the rest from foreign subsidiaries across Europe, the Americas and Indonesia.

Avantha Group’s Crompton Greaves Limited is a pioneering leader in the management and application of electrical energy, with a presence in over 10 countries.

Its diverse portfolio ranges from transformers, switchgear, circuit breakers, network protection & control gear, project engineering, HT and LT motors, drives, lighting, fans, pumps and consumer appliances and turnkey solutions in all these areas.

The company’s business is divided into three primary segments: The power business contributes the most (63%) to revenue, followed by consumer products (20%) and industrial systems (13%).

Source

Read More...