MNRE pushes for Small wind Hybrid Systems; invite proposal for R&D Projects...

 

The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy pushes for the Small Wind Energy Hybrid Systems (SWES) and invites proposals for the R&D projects in this segment.

 

The proposals are invited from Research entities, in public as well as private sector, academic / research institutions.

 

Following are the identified thrust areas for this call:

1. Design and development of efficient Aerogenerators/ small wind energy hybrid systems working at low rates wind speed
2. Design and development of intelligent controller (synchronizing unit) for Wind-Solar hybrid system
3. Development of low cost reliable & effective energy storage technologies for SWES
4. Design and development of efficient electronics and other control components of small wind solar hybrid systems, suitable for low wind regime areas.
5. Design and Development of protection/ safety mechanism for smooth operation for small wind energy systems specifically for snowfed areas.
6. Design and development of Dynomometer test facility for small wind energy systems upto 10 kW
7. Development of a remote monitoring system for performance evaluation of small wind energy hybrid systems/ aerogenerators including assessment of wind potential and its analysis.

The application form for submitting the proposal can be downloaded from this link.

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Defense Ministry issues circular for submission of application for Defense Clearance for power projects through nodal Ministries...

 

Ministry of Defense (MoD) has issued a circular regarding submission of applications for Defense Clearance for the Power Projects (Hydel, Thermal, Wind & Gas) by both private and PSUs  through nodal Ministries only rather than the direct submission to MoD.

 

As stated by MoD under the circular, majority of the applications for defense clearance are submitted to MoD by the companies directly without keeping the nodal Ministries i.e Power Ministry and MNRE in the picture.

Hence, it has been decided that MoD will now accept the applications for grant/renewal for defense clearance for construction of Power Projects (Hydel, Thermal, Solar, Wind & Gas) through nodal Ministries only in order to verify the credentials/bonafied of the projects and the developers/proponents.

Thus, the Nodal Ministries have been requested to advise all the stakeholders accordingly.

While forwarding the applications for defense clearance, nodal Ministries should ensure that 11 sets of complete application are forwarded to MoD.

Besides, for Hydro Projects, companies may be advised to furnish details of likely areas getting submerged due to the proposed project, number of roads/infrastructure getting affected and plans for reconstruction affected roads and other infrastructure.

The aforesaid circular can be downloaded from this link.

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Solar power to light up Samayapuram temple in Tiruchi...

 

Three solar plants will be set up at Samayapuram Sri Mariamman temple at an estimate of Rs. 40 lakh. The move by Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Board aims at saving the bi-monthly power consumption charge which is around Rs. 5 lakh at present.

Each plant with an installed capacity of 10 kV will be set up at Ammavasai mandapam, Mudimandapam, and guest house, according to G. Thennarasu, Joint Commissioner of the temple. Work on setting up the plants would commence some time in December or January. He told The Hindu on Thursday that in addition to these three plants, it has been planned to install another plant with similar capacity at the temple in course of time.

On the ongoing development work being implemented for improving amenities for devotees, Mr. Thennarsu said that the progress of work was being monitored periodically. Work-specific deadline has been fixed for ensuring expeditious completion.

He said that work on the expansion of the northern and southern prakarams of the temple was also being executed in full swing. “The available space is being utilised fully for arranging queues,” he said. He said that the work on the five-tier rajagopuram under construction at an estimate of Rs. 60 lakh would be completed in a phased manner. The work up to basal plane (kalkaram) would be completed by December 31. Similarly, the guest house with a plinth area of 14,678 sq. ft. would be ready by December 31. Only its interior decoration and furniture-related work needed to be completed, which has 16 suits each on the ground floor and first floor. This work has been taken up at a cost of Rs. 2.20 crore.

Mr. Thennarasu said that Ammavasai mandapam with a large plinth area of 26,188 sq. ft. was constructed at an estimate of Rs. 6.1 crore. A major civil work had been completed here and only elevation work needed to be completed. A deadline of December 31 had been fixed for this work too. Ammavavasi mandapam would provide adequate protection and safety to a large number of devotees staying at the temple on New Moon Day and at major festivals.

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India and Bangladesh sign pact for renewables cooperation...

 

India and Bangladesh have announced a cooperative effort on renewable energy as part of continuing work on inter-country relations.

The two countries' Joint Working Group (JWG) has pledged to intensify joint renewable energy research and academic collaboration, information exchange, institutional and technical support – according to the Bangladeshi national news agency.

The exchange was hosted by the Bangladesh Ministry of Energy and Resources Division: Power Cell’s director general Mohammed Hossain, and lead by India’s New and Renewable Energy Ministry adviser AK Dhussa.

The JWG, established as part of development cooperation in 2010, has already prompted river resource sharing and bilateral trade, economic assistance and technical cooperation in the past.

In 2012, the JWG also set up a joint venture between India’s state owned electric utility NTPC, and the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) for a 1320MW coal power plant in Bagerhat district, Khulna, Bangladesh, for an estimated US$1 billion to come online by 2016.

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India receives first trench of Rs. 25 Bn from the total Rs. 71 Bn Loan sanction from Germany towards Green Power Evacuation Corridor...

 

The plan to create a green grid to evacuate solar and wind power has got a leg-up with the government receiving the first tranche of a Rs. 71 billion soft loan from Germany.

In the Rs 18,000 crore first phase, the grid will be set up in Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, both of which have substantial wind and solar power capacity. Work has begun in these two states. Subsequently, work will begin in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

“The first tranche (of Rs 2,500 crore) of the euro 1 billion (Rs 7,100 crore) loan has been received for the first phase,” planning commission member B K Chaturvedi told Financial Chronicle.

The euro loan agreement was signed during renewable energy minister Farooq Abdullah’s visit to Germany along with prime minister Manmohan Singh earlier this year.

It is basically a huge grid upgrade project to catalyse higher wind and solar power generation. Gradually, it will be extended to the entire country.

An additional 30,000 mw solar and wind energy capacity is to be added in five to seven years. India has a potential to generate 100,000 mw of wind and 200,000 mw solar power. The country now has 25,000 mw wind power and 1,000 mw of solar power capacity.

The state-run Power Grid Corporation will use the loan to create the new transmission system and strengthen the existing one. The soft loan guaranteed by the government will carry an interest rate of 2-3 per cent.

Renewable energy capacity is growing rapidly with the cost per unit of generation of wind power coming down to just Rs 4-4.50 and solar power to Rs 6 -6.50 per kwh.

The cost difference between thermal power and renewable energy has narrowed substantially. About 16 per cent of global final energy consumption comes from renewable resources, with 10 per cent of all energy from traditional biomass, mainly used for heating, and 3.4 per cent from hydroelectricity.

But India needs to solve its grid connection issues. “The intention is to a provide transmission system so that the potential is fully tapped,” Planning commission member B K Chaturvedi said, citing the example of Tamil Nadu where surplus wind power capacity in windy seasons went waste for lack of grid connectivity. When the green grid comes up, this power can be wheeled to other parts of the country.

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Cold Storage powered by Biomass based Projects launched in UP...

 

Union minister of new & renewable energy Farooq Abdullah assured all possible financial help to villages of Uttar Pradesh to help them develop alternative sources of electrification while inaugurating the 'Biomass energy based village electrification' and 'cold storage' project in a village of Sitapur on Thursday.

The project is first of its kind in UP where biomass is being used to supply power to a cold storage in a village to preserve fruits and vegetables of farmers. UP farmers have always been grappling with poor grid supply in villages which has been affecting their irrigating practices, children's studies and household chores. Even companies are reluctant to set up industries in villages which have insufficient power supply. This results in poor job avenues for locals, who then migrate to cities for livelihood.

Also, due to lack of proper storage and transit facilities, about 22% of agricultural produce, especially fruits and vegetables is spoiled. The wastage in fruits and vegetables is estimated to be worth about Rs 330 billion in India. To end this vicious circle, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) launched the concept of using indigenously available biomass resources for operating small and decentralised cold storage at village level.

In addition, they also wanted to supply off-grid (alternative energy) power to electrify households of villages. TERI installed its first project in Bilariya village of Sitapur with support of two Australian agencies, AusAid (managing Australia's overseas aid program) and CSIRO (Australian premier research organization). TERI said apart from electrification of households, the project will benefit in many other ways like creating job opportunities, developing alternative power source and recharging electronic lamps, mobile phones, etc.

The project is supplying electricity to over 140 households in nearby villages and a cold storage facility in Bilariya. A prepaid metering system is installed in households to ensure that villagers are paying only for the number of units they are consuming. The biggest advantage is that the cold storage (15 metric tonnes capacity) can easily preserve agrarian produce at 0 degree Celsius.

R K Pachauri, director-general of TERI, said, "We aim to install more such projects in villages of UP. We have met several times with the officials and the CM but there seems a lack of initiative from the state government to support such projects." Alternative energy projects are solution to the current power shortage in country. "States should help such projects financially as villagers cannot afford to run it on their own", he added.

The biomass electrification project has a capacity of 50 kilowatt but due to paucity of financial resources and lack of raw material to run the plant, the project is currently running at a capacity of 15 KW. A village community has been formed to maintain and operate the facility and look after villagers' requirements. TERI would assist the project for 2 years, after which it would be transferred to the community.

Villagers were apprehensive about sustainability of the model as they were facing challenges in sourcing funds from the government. The minister assured that he would extend financial help to the villages to develop more such alternative energy projects.

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Second unit of GMR's 1050 MW Kamalanga plant achieves commercially operational...

 

GMR Infrastructure Ltd Second unit of GMR's Kamalanga plant commercially operational. The GMR Group is establishing 3x350 MW coal-based thermal power plant at Kamalanga in Odisha's Dhenkanal District.

The first unit of 350 MW commenced generation on April 30, 2013. The second 350 MW unit of GMR Kamalanga Energy Limited (GKEL) was declared commercially operational on 11 November 2013.

Power produced from GKEL is being supplied to GRIDCO Limited in Odisha in line with the long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). Besides Odisha, GKEL would supply power to Haryana, Bihar and other parts of the country. GKEL secured coal linkage for all its 1050 MW capacity by signing Fuel Supply Agreements with Mahanadi Coalfields Limited.

With the commissioning of GKEL's second unit, the GMR Group's combined generation capacity has touched 2136 MW. Projects totalling 5038 MW are under implementation. Commissioning of GKEL's second unit follows close on the heels of the synchronization of the second unit of GMR's 2x300 MW EMCO Energy Limited at Warora in Chandrapur District of Maharashtra on August 27. EMCO's first unit of 300 MW became commercially operational in March 2013.

Speaking on the occasion, GKEL's President & Director Mr. R.V. Sheshan, said, "GKEL is the largest investment made by the GMR Group in the Energy Sector. It is also one of the earliest private power projects to commence commercial operations in Odisha. GKEL is also making substantial efforts so that the quality of life of individuals in neighbouring communities is enriched by its transformational educational, health care, livelihood and grassroots infrastructure development focused CSR interventions."

Shares of GMR Infrastructure Ltd was last trading in BSE at Rs.21.75, up by Rs.0.10 or 0.46%. The stock hit an intraday high of Rs.22.20 and low of Rs.21.65.

The total traded quantity was 3.60 lakhs as compared to 2 week average of 6.24 lakhs.

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Tamil Nadu to receive 600 MW Power from the Two Power Plants...

 

Tamil Nadu is set to get another 600 MW of electricity from Friday with a power generation of 300 MW each from the North Chennai Power Station Stage 2 Unit 1 and the Vallur Thermal power plant Unit 1, which were shut down for the past few months.

“On Friday, both the plants will generate about 300 MW each. The State is currently facing a huge deficit.

In the coming days, we will be increasing the power generation consistently and try to bridge the demand-supply gap,” said a senior official with the TANGEDCO.

The TANGEDCO is looking to increase the power generation at the North Chennai Power Station Stage 2 Unit 1 to 500 MW and the Vallur Power Plant to 600-700 MW in the next few days.

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Tata Power's Mundra UMPP draws action plan over CAO charges...

 

Coastal Gujarat Power Limited (CGPL), a fully owned company of Tata Power, having 4,000 MW (5x 800MW) Ultra Mega Power Plant (UMPP) in Mundra, Kutch, has come out with an elaborated action plan in response to concerns raised over impact on environment and livelihood of local fishing community there by the Ombudsman for International Finance Corporation (IFC).
 
This was revealed in a recent statement from IFC's executive vice president and CEO, Jin-Yong Cai, in response to Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) for the IFC's audit report on Tata Power's Mundra UMPP. The statement also included action plan chalked out by CGPL in relation to audit observations by the CAO.
 
Last month CAO for the IFC and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) of the World Bank Group, had held that there were serious lapses by IFC in supervision of Tata Power's UMPP in Mundra, Kutch, impacting environment and livelihood of local fishing community there. It further held that  IFC's review of project's environment and social assessments was not commensurate with project risk as required by its Sustainability Policy. However, IFC has refuted the charges levied by CAO and justified its actions and funding to the 4,000 MW (5x 800MW) power plant of CGPL.
 
"IFC’s management has taken on board many of the suggestions made in the report. Coastal Gujarat Power Limited (CGPL), the project's sponsor, is committed to IFC’s Performance Standards and, as evidenced in the attached action plan, is taking steps to respond to and address the concerns of affected communities, including the migrant fishing communities," read Cai's statement posted on CAO's website.
 
"IFC will work closely with CGPL, drawing upon experts, to review the studies referenced in the action plan and develop mitigation, compensation and/or offset options to be implemented. IFC will closely monitor CGPL's progress and adherence to the IFC Performance Standards, as it does with all clients, and refine our approach as necessary," the statement added.
 
The action plan chalked out by CGPL includes socio-economic survey of 21 villages, model confirmation studies by National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa, turtle monitoring by Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS),  biodiversity assessment study, inspection program to assess the coal and ash dust deposition in neighboring communities, undertaking health status and needs survey in the neighboring communities, undertaking testing for pollution levels, validate selected ambient air quality monitoring parameters that have changed significantly from the baseline and undertaking the environment and social impact assessment for the expansion project.
 
According to the Cai's statement, the CGPL has begun collecting fish catch data local from authorities for various studies and has been carrying out ambient air quality monitoring at seven locations in villages around the plant and will also establish an air quality monitoring station in the fish drying areas used by the seasonally resident fishing communities.
 
In August last year CAO had initiated audit of IFC's investment in the CGPL UMPP based on complaint by Machimar Adhikar Sangharsh Sangathan (MASS – Association for the Struggle for Fishworkers‘ Rights), an association of local fishing community raising concerns over the adverse social and environmental impact on them.
 
After audit the CAO found that evidence validate  complaint by MASS which had raised a number of concerns about the UMPP's environmental and social impact on the local community of migratory fisher folk. It further found that "weaknesses in IFC’s environment and social (E&S) review of CGPL did not support the formation of a robust view as to whether the project could be expected to meet the requirements of the Performance Standards over a reasonable period of time, the threshold question in terms of IFC’s decision to invest."
 
Reacting to the IFC CEO's recent statement MASS general secretary Bharat Patel said in a statement, "We reject this statement and action plan. The 1.5 page statement and action plan on Tata Mundra issued by IFC CEO Jin-Yong Cai is a non-serious, non-committal one, and issued under duress from the growing criticism of IFC’s / World Bank President Kim’s inaction on CAO’s findings of serious social and environmental violations. It’s empty and a non-starter. By issuing this, IFC is trying to confuse the public, making a mockery of communities’ concerns and yet again, undermine CAO and its findings."
 
IFC has invested $450 million of its own capital in this project, which it has classified as a category A project, signifying that it believes there are potentially significant adverse social and environmental impacts that may be diverse or irreversible. The IFC was also considering investing up to $50 million in equity as part of its exposure to the project and syndicating up to about $300 million in loans.

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CG Receives GL Renewables Certification for its SLIM® and Bio-SLIM® Distribution Transformers...

 

Avantha Group Company, CG was awarded the certification from Germanischer Lloyd Renewables Certification (GL RC), for its liquid immersed SLIM® and Bio-SLIM® distribution transformers.

The testing for adherence to certification norms was carried out according to GL’s Guidelines for the Certification of Offshore Wind Turbines, Edition 2012. The transformers are hermetically sealed with bio-degradable fluid which reduces the risk of pollution at environmentally sensitive locations, such as offshore wind farms.

The certificates are valid for five years (2018) and were provided for two of CG’s components: the SLIM® and BioSLIM® Distribution Transformer KNAN, (up to 3500 kVA, 50 Hz), and the SLIM® and BioSLIM® Distribution Transformer KFAF/KFWF, (up to 6500kVA, 50 Hz). The certificates were rewarded for CG’s superior system design, the implementation of design requirements in Production and Erection (IPE) and quality system. Prototype tests were conducted as a part of the Design Assessment of the components. Incidentally, CG also received the GL certification for the onshore market in 2012.

CG has grown to become the market leader for transformers in off-shore wind farms. As of today more than 1000 units have been installed worldwide in offshore projects. CG is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of three-phase transformers, offering a full range of products including liquid-filled distribution transformers and power transformers, auto-transformers, phase-shifters and HVDC station transformers, conventional and mobile substations.

According to GWEC (Global Wind Energy Council) 5.5 GW of offshore capacity was installed accumulatively worldwide at the end of 2012. According to more ambitious projections up to 80 GW could be installed worldwide by the end of 2020.

CG’s SLIM® and Bio-SLIM® distribution transformers offer the most efficient solutions for wind farm offshore platforms - they promise reliability, fire safety, longer life time and low maintenance, withstanding severe harshness of the environment, general cost of installation and maintenance.

According to HolgerTrecksel, Head of Sales and Business Development GL RC: “The certification demonstrates that CG’s transformer has been designed, documented, manufactured and tested in compliance with the latest technical requirements documented in GL RC’s Offshore Guidelines.”

Commenting on the certification, Avantha Group Company CG’s CEO & Managing Director, Mr. Laurent Demortier said, “The Wind offshore sector is one of the fastest growing segments within CG. We are committed to provide our customers energy-efficient, cost-effective, reliable and best-in-class solutions. This GL RC certification demonstrates the adequacy of SLIM® and BioSLIM® Distribution Transformers to withstand the specific harsh environment at the Wind offshore power projects"

*Source: Global Data : GDAE6299IDB, November 2012

About Avantha Group Company CG

Avantha Group Company CG is a global pioneering leader in the management and application of electrical energy. With more than 15,000 employees across its operations in around 85 countries, CG provides electrical products, systems and services for utilities, power generation, industries, and consumers. The company is organized into three business groups: Power, Industrial, and Consumer. CG clocks US$ 2.3 billion in revenues from product lines that cover the entire value chain of engineering offerings.

 

About Avantha

The Rs. 25,000 crores (US$4bn) Avantha Group is one of India's leading business conglomerates. Its successful entities in diversified sectors include Crompton Greaves (power transmission and distribution equipment and services), BILT (paper and pulp), The Global Green Company Limited (food processing), Biltech Building Elements Limited (infrastructure), Avantha Power (energy), Salient Business Solutions Limited (IT and ITES), Jg Glass (glass containers).

With a global footprint, the Group operates in 90 countries with more than 25,000 employees worldwide. Led by Gautam Thapar, Avantha demonstrates strong leadership globally and emerges as a focused corporate, leveraging its knowledge, leadership and operations, adding lasting value for its stakeholders and investors.

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