Per capita consumption of power has increased to 883.63 kWh: Government...

 

The government said that the per capita consumption of electricity in the country has increased to 883.63 kWh in 2011-12.

"The per capita consumption of electricity in the country has increased from 566.69 k Wh in 2002-03 to 883.63 k Wh in 2011-12," minister of New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah said while relying to a question in Rajya Sabha.

He said that 92.7 per cent of urban households and 55.3 per cent rural households in the country were using electricity as the main source of lightening as per the 2011 census.

The minister said that his ministry is providing various renewable energy systems for decentralised generation of electricity.

"So far, 10,752 villages have been electrified using various renewable energy systems. About 2.55 lakh solar street lights, 9.93 lakh solar home lightening system, 9.39 lakh solar lanterns and 138 MW of decentralised solar power plants have been installed," Abdullah said.

He said that the government is encouraging generation of electricity from various renewable energy sources such a wind, solar, small hydro, biomass by giving various fiscal and financial incentives.

"The state governments are procuring electricity from renewable energy projects at preferential tariff. So far, 29,536 MW of renewable power capacity has been installed in the country which includes 19,933 MW from wind, 2079 MW from solar, 3746 MW from small hydro and 3776 MW from bio energy," Abdullah said.

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Vijayawada, Mahabubnagar in AP to be developed as Solar cities...

 

New and Renewable Energy minister Farooq Abdullah today said that Vijayawada and Mahabubnagar in Andhra Pradesh will be developed as Solar cities.

"Two cities namely Vijayawada and Mahabubnagar have been identified in Andhra Pradesh for developing them as solar cities," Abdullah informed the Rajya Sabha.

He said that a solar city aims to reduce a minimum of ten per cent of its projected demand of conventional energy through generation from renewable energy installations and energy efficiency measures.

"The master plan for Vijayawada has been prepared with an estimated cost of Rs 256.50 crore for various projects," the minister said adding that the time required depends on the interest and efforts taken by the city and availability of funds.

The various projects are on solar grid connected and off grid applications, waste to energy, bio-methanization, solar water heating systems, reduction in connected load in municipal areas, awareness and capacity building and others, he added.

Abdullah said that for Vijayawada solar city, an amount of Rs 12.20 lakh has been released so far for preparation of the master plan, setting up of a solar city cell and promotional activities.

"Mahabubnagar municipality is yet to take action for preparation of the master plan," Abdullah added.

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NTPC firm on Katwa thermal power plant project...

 

The National Thermal Power Corporation today said it remained committed to Katwa thermal power plant in West Bengal and a detailed roadmap would be revealed shortly.

Saying the proposal will be placed before the board shortly, NTPC chairman Arup Roychowdhury said, " We are committed to respecting the land policy of the state government. How we will do it will be know to you shortly."

He had also met the state power minister Manish Gupta last evening and informed they were planning to begin work on the project.

"He had met me last evening and informed that NTPC was planning to begin work on the project and they have not raised any concerns on land," Gupta told PTI.

The NTPC a few months back had said that unless 150 acre of land is not arranged by the state government it was not possible to go ahead with the project.

But, now NTPC officials have received good response from the land-owners of the 150 acres and the company was has began the process of acquisition of its own without government involvement.

NTPC was planning for 1320 MW thermal power project nad has some 550 acres of land acquired by the previous Left Front government.

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CIL has signed 157 fuel supply agreements...

 

State-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) has signed 157 fuel supply agreements (FSAs) so far for a capacity of 71,145 MW, the Parliament was informed today.

"A Presidential Directive has been issued to Coal India Ltd (CIL)... Accordingly, 157 FSAs have been signed so far for a capacity of 71,145 MW," said Minister of State for Coal Pratik Prakashbapu Patil in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

The Minister said as per the New Coal Distribution Policy (NCDP) 2007, CIL has to supply coal to such power plants with which it has entered into fuel supply agreements.

The government had recently approved coal supplies to thermal power plants which are commissioned/to be commissioned by March 31, 2015.

Replying to a question on power projects that have been stuck due to unavailability of coal, Patil said Coal India has been dispatching more than 90 per cent of the quantity committed under fuel FSA/memorandum of understanding (MoU).

"During the last three years, despatches to power utilities have been 91 per cent, 91 per cent and 92 per cent of the targets in 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13, respectively.

Coal dispatches were 87 per cent in the current year up to October, 2013," the Minister said.

As per the coal stock report of Central Electricity Authority (CEA) as on Nov 28, 2013, coal stock position of Thermal power plants (TPPs) was 16.03 million tonnes (MT) as against 9.19 MT during last year.

"However, there are a few power plants with source of fuel other than linked coal from CIL, which may be impacted because of non-availability of inadequate availability of coal.

Information regarding such plants is being sought for from CEA," he added.

Amid continuous delays, the Cabinet Committee on Investment had earlier said that timelines for signing of fuel supply pacts for power projects of 78,000 MW capacity should be met.

Two deadlines set for signing of the fuel supply agreements by Coal India (CIL) with the power producers could not be adhered to. The Coal Ministry had set the deadline of August 31 for signing of the FSAs, which could not be met.

 

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NSL Power to Shift its Power Plant to Odisha...

 

Hyderabad-based NSL Nagapatanam Power and Infratech Private Limited has decided to relocate its 1,320 MW thermal power project from Tamil Nadu to Odisha following public protest there.

This will be the second power project of the company in the State after merger of Mahanadi Aban Power Company Limited with NSL Power as per the July 27, 2012 order of the Madras High Court.

The company is in the process of acquiring land for the second project in Angul district. It has applied for clearances from the State Government and the proposal is being scrutinised by the Industrial Investment Promotion Corporation of Odisha Limited (IPICOL).

The company will locate land for the project after obtaining clearance from the State Government, official sources said.

NSL Group, the country’s largest hybrid seed company, acquired Aban’s two coal-fired projects in Tamil Nadu and Odisha with a combined potential of 2,200 MW.

Aban has completed land acquisition for the Tamil Nadu project, the 1,200 MW North Chennai Power Company, a planned coastal thermal plant. The Mahanadi Aban Power Company in Odisha is a 1,030 MW project.

The NSL group has power projects in thermal, wind energy and biomass. It had planned to set up two coal-based power projects 1,320 MW Nagapatanam Power & Infratech project in Tamil Nadu and a similar sized Orissa Power and Infratech project in Angul district, where Aban proposed to build a plant.

The company had already acquired land for the Nagapatanam project, but had to back off following stiff opposition from local people there.

The company preferred to relocate its project to Odisha for easy availability of coal. It had already signed an agreement with Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) for its Tamil Nadu power project.

The company had signed an agreement with MCL for supply of 4.27 million tonnes of coal for its Angul project.

Meanwhile, the Energy department has written to the Infrastructure Development Corporation of Odisha (IDCO) to assign the land leased out to Mahanadi Aban in favour of NSL

Nagapatanam Power and Infratech as per the order of the Madras High Court.

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Seven coal blocks identified for underground coal gasification...

 

The Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) Technology has not been established in India. To expedite the UCG development in India, Ministry of Coal (MoC) has issued Gazette Notification No.868 dt.12th July 2007 wherein the production of syngas obtained through coal gasification (Underground and Surface) and coal liquefaction to be end uses for the purposes of Coal Mines Nationalization Act.

CMPDIL in consultation with GSI, SCCL, DGMS & NLC identified five lignite blocks and two coal blocks for UCG purposes. This information was given by the Minister of State for Coal, Shri Pratik Prakash Bapu Patil in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

Shri Patil said that in addition to this, CIL has also identified two coal blocks for taking up UCG in their command area. Recently Ministry of Coal has identified Vastan lignite block for development of UCG in Gujarat. However, no contract has been awarded.

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Government formulates draft policy on usage of surplus coal...

 

The Government has formulated a draft policy on usage of surplus coal, including middlings, rejects, etc. which has been circulated to various Ministries / Departments for obtaining their comments.

As per the conditions in the allocation letter issued to various allocatees of coal blocks, usable middling / rejects generated during beneficiation shall be used captively by the allocatee(s) in their end use plants specified in allocation letter.

The modalities of disposal of surplus coal/middlings/rejects, if any, would be as per the prevailing policy / instruction of the Government at the relevant point in time and could also include handing over such surplus coal / middlings / rejects to the local CIL subsidiary or to any person designated by it at a transfer price to be determined by the Government.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Coal, Shri Pratik Prakash Bapu Patil in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

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Dabhol Power Plant's generation restored after supply of 1.4 MMSCD gas from GAIL India...

 

After the forced shut down of about 4 months and 20 days for want of gas, the  Ratnagiri Gas & Power Pvt Ltd (RGPPL) has restored power generation from early Saturday morning. The plant with a total generation capacity of 1,967 MW is currently generating 320 MW following the supply of 1.4 million standard cubic meters per day (MMSCMD) gas from GAIL India.

The power is supplied to Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company and union territory of Dadra, Daman and Diu at the per unit tariff of Rs 4 to 4.50.
 
As reported by BS, the plant was closed since July 16 for the non availability of gas. The closure prompted ICICI Bank, one of the lenders to the project, to appeal to the petroleum and power ministries for an early restoration of gas. The frequent closure of plant had led to the successive default in the repayment by RGPPL to its lenders with an exposure of Rs 8,500 crore.
 
RGPPL requires about 8.5 gas for full operation and its allocation has been made by the Centre since it was revived in April 2006.  Company has so far supplied about 48 Billion Units to Maharashtra using Naphtha, R-LNG & domestic gas. Of the 8.5 MMSCMD, 7.6 MMSCMD of gas was from KG D-6 Basin and 0.9 from Marginal Gasfields of ONGC (through GAIL). In addition, RGPPL has tied up R-LNG, the available alternative fuel on fallback basis.  However, RGPPL was not able to use R-LNG following strong opposition from MahaVitaran which draws 95% of the power. MahaVitaran has said R-LNG use will lead to increase in the per unit tariff to Rs 8-9 and will put further stress on its balance sheet.
 
RGPPL spokesman hoped that the restoration of gas will help earn revenue from the power purchasing states and thereby able to part pay the total monthly instalment of rs 108 crore to the lenders.  RGPPL had projected that it faces a realistic prospect of turning into an NPA by December 2013 unless another Rs  200 crore  are urgently released.

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Rays Power to commission 5 new solar projects...

 

Rays Power Experts Pvt Ltd on Monday said that it has signed five new projects for 15 MW of solar power capacity for commissioning before March 2014.

“The total probable investment to complete this project shall be around $27 million,” the company said in a statement.

Rays is a solar power plant development company. The company targets to complete 150 MW of solar capacity by the end of 2013-14. Till now, Rays has executed 110 MW of solar power projects.

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Alstom T&D India selected by GETCO to integrate renewable power to the Western grid...

Alstom T&D India  has been awarded two  contracts from  GETCO  (Gujarat Energy Transmission Company Limited)  to  supply 400KV/220KV/66KV   AIS substation  on turnkey basis,  located  at Charanka and Sankhari, to evacuate power from Asia's largest and Gujarat's first dedicated solar park.

The substations will also play a pivotal role in strengthening transmission network in the state of Gujarat by acting as the evacuation and nodal grid substations. Additionally it will also improve the energy flow in the western region of India.

Both the orders, worth approximately INR 1510 million (€22 million) involves  manufacture, supply, erection, testing,  and commissioning of 400 KV Substations with Alstom's key products like 400kV, 220 KV & 66 KV air insulated switchgear and related equipment, SCADA automation system along with  the civil works. All equipment  will be manufactured by Alstom's world-class manufacturing facilities in India.

Commenting on the contract, Rathin Basu, Managing Director, Alstom T&D India said,   "Alstom  T&D India is happy to have been selected as the supplier of choice  for this very important  solar power evacuation project. It reaffirms GETCO's confidence and trust in our wide repertoire of products and solutions and our project management  capabilities. Gujarat is playing a lead  role in developing renewable power in India. Alstom T&D India is pleased to deliver its expertise and solutions in these substations to integrate renewable power to the grid. "

The project is being developed under ADB1's Solar Energy schemes to catalyze 3000 MW  of solar power generation projects in ADB developing member countries. With solar energy poised to play a pivotal role, these projects holds immense significance in increasing the share of renewable energy and green energy mix in the country.

About Alstom
Alstom is a global leader in the world of power generation power transmission and rail infrastructure and sets the benchmark  for innovative and environmentally  friendly technologies.  Alstom builds  the fastest 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 (globally known as Alstom Grid), is a market leader in the Indian power transmission sector.  It has over 100 years of expertise in building the transmission infrastructure for the country. Alstom 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   (HVOC,  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&O India is future ready to support the raptdly evolving transmission sector in India.                                           

Source: BSE Corporate Updates

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