NHPC to set up 82 MW wind farm in Kerala...

 

As part of its diversification programme, the National Hydropower Corporation Ltd (NHPC) Monday inked a deal with the Kerala government to set up an 82 MW wind farm in the state’s Palakkad district.

“We have identified 500 acres of land in Palakkad district for which the survey also has been completed. They (NHPC) have said that in two years time, the project will become operational,” state Power Minister Aryadan Mohammed told reporters after receiving the documents of the deal signed between the NHPC and the Kerala State Electricity Board here.

Currently, the cost for generating one MW of wind energy is estimated to cost around Rs.6 crore and the total project cost of this new wind farm will come to around Rs.500 crore, he said.

“This is being set up under the Built, Operate, Own and Transfer programme and the entire project cost would be brought in by the NHPC and the KSEB will buy the power from them, at a cost to be determined then,” said Mohammed.

He also pointed out that some of the land that will be used for setting up this wind farm belongs to the tribal community and adequate income would be shared with the tribal community.

“We propose to share around five percent of the revenue with the tribal community besides giving full ownership rights to their land,” added Mohammed.

Source

Read More...

Khaitan Sud & Partners advises on 1980 MW Thermal Power Project...

 

L&T Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (“L&T Infra Finance”) has funded Bajaj Energy Private Limited (“BEPL”), one of the group companies of the Shishir Bajaj Group engaged in the power sector.

L&T Infra Finance has agreed to extend a term loan facility of Rs. 100 crores to BEPL for the purposes of downstream capital expenditure/investment and for meeting obligations related to its role as a sponsor of Lalitpur Power Generation Company Limited (“LPGCL”) which is engaged in the implementation of the 1980 MW super critical thermal power project in District Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh.

BEPL is engaged in the business of generation of power and is itself implementing a 450MW thermal power project in 5 separate locations in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

Khaitan Sud & Partners (KSP) acted as Lender’s Legal Counsel engaged by L&T Infra Finance. The scope of work involved preparation of relevant financing documents and detailed negotiations with L&T Infra Finance.

The KSP team was led by Principal Associate Sujeet Das assisted by Associates Henna Vadhera and Sudhanshu Goil.

BEPL was represented on the transaction by its in-house finance and secretarial teams.

The transaction closed on December 30, 2013.

Source

Read More...

Power Minister on Rs 95K cr of SEB loans restructured...

 

About Rs 95,000 crore worth of bonds have been issued towards debt restructuring of struggling power distribution companies, Power Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said.  

The minister, speaking with CNBC-TV18 on a host of issues relating to the power sector, discussed the recently-concluded financial restructuring package (FRP) for four states -- Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu -- that took place.

“We mandated through the FRP that every year, there should be a tariff-setting mechanism in place,” he said.   Several state discoms have been under acute financial distress and reached out to the power ministry to help restructure their loans.  

Scindia said that further restructuring was on the cards for Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. “The cabinet has approved it. The states now need to speak to their bankers. We have also got a transitional financing mechanism at sub-9 percent [rate] already in place for them,” he said.  

The minister also made light of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi’s government’s recent decision to provide a 50 percent power subsidy to consumers and allayed concerns that it would weigh on discoms’ financial health.   “As long the state exchequer pays the subsidy amount to the discom, they won’t be worse off,” he said, adding that state governments were vested with the power to provide subsidies as they wanted to.

Source

Read More...

BHEL completes power transmission sub-station at Raichur...

 

State-run BHEL has completed building a transmission sub-station in Karnataka, a link that connects the southern and national electricity grids.

"BHEL has completed the construction of a sub-station at Raichur in Karnataka, the southern end of the Raichur-Solapur transmission link of PowerGrid," the company said in a statement today.

The government said on January 1 that the southern grid had been linked with the national grid following the commissioning of the Raichur-Solapur transmission line. The line had been commissioned five months ahead of the May 31, 2014, deadline at a cost of about Rs 815 crore.

BHEL's work on the project included design, engineering, manufacturing, supply, erection, testing and commissioning of the substation.

The project will allow electricity to be carried to the southern region from other parts of the country during peak demand as well as transfer surplus power from the south during off-peak hours, it said.

BHEL is currently associated in the execution of an Ultra High-Voltage Multi-terminal DC (direct current) transmission link between the northeast and Agra, it added.

BHEL shares were up 0.24 per cent to Rs 166.50 on the BSE.

Source

Read More...

Power prices touched Rs 3.22 per unit on IEX in December...

 

The average price of electricity sold on the Indian Energy Exchange rose to Rs 3.22 per unit in December even as volumes remained mostly flat in the same month.

The day-ahead market saw trading of 2,409 million units of electricity last month almost similar to that witnessed in November 2013, according to IEX.

In December, the total purchase bids stood at 3,800 million units while the sale bids touched 3,812 million units.

"The average (market clearing) price for the month of December remained at Rs 3.22 per unit, reflecting an increase of 16 per cent over the price last month," IEX said in a statement today.

In November, the price stood at Rs 2.78 per unit of electricity.

"Transmission congestion, especially in the Southern corridor remained severe across the month adversely impacting the quantum of power traded in the short-term power market via exchanges," the statement said.

Last month, on an average 1,091 participants traded in the day ahead spot market.

IEX is a leading power exchange in the country.

Source

Read More...

NTPC in Andhra Pradesh lags behind in power generation...

 

The shortage of coal supply from the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) following the incessant rains during the monsoon season and the frequent tripping of power stations had forced the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Ramagundam, lag behind in power generation during this financial year of 2013-14.

Against the target of generating 15,286 million units of power till January 1, 2014 (during the nine months period of the financial year), the NTPC could generate only 14,410 million units.

During the year 2012-13, the NTPC generated 20,785 million units of power against the target of generating 20,448 MU. Following its performance, the NTPC was fixed a target of generating 20,708 million units during the year 2013-14. However, it was short of 876 MU during the nine month period.

In the coming three months, NTPC Ramagundam had to achieve the remaining target by generating more than 2000 MU of power every month.

However, frequent tripping of power stations had become a big cause of concern for the management to achieve the targeted power generation and it would be forced to generate only 1800 MU to 1900 MUs in a month.

Freshly, the power generation was stalled at the 500 MWs fifth unit power station following the technical snag on Sunday.

The officials are taking all measures to restore power generation by rectifying faults on a war-footing.

Sources said that the delay in renovation and modernisation of all power stations is causing frequent tripping and affecting power generation.

However, they add that the NTPC management would definitely achieve the target before the completion of the financial year.

Source

Read More...

Bhutan seeks to be India's hydel plant...

 

Giant cranes scoop out mud from deep inside the mountains. Frenetic construction activity is on as a state-run company in this tiny landlocked Himalayan country races to complete one of the crucial hydropower plants.

Workers at the site of the Dagachu hydropower plant are busy giving final touches to the project which is expected to go on stream by the middle of 2014.

The 126 megawatt plant is the first under the public-private-partnership model and has already connected 9,000 rural households in Bhutan. The plant, located in the remote Dagachu river, has been built under the PPP model and is the first foreign direct investment for the Himalayan country.

This is also the world's first cross-border clean development mechanism (CDM) project. The CDM allows emission reduction projects in developing countries to earn certified emission reduction credits and these can be traded and sold to meet part of the emission reduction targets under the Kyoto protocol.

The state-run Druk Green Power Corporation holds 59%, the Pension and Provident Fund of Bhutan 15% and the Tata Power Company 26% in the project. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is the lead financier and has provided $80 million for the project along with funding from an Austrian commercial bank.

Bhutan is banking on hydropower exports to India to revive the fortunes of its faltering economy. Several large projects are underway and companies such as Jaypee, Larsen & Toubro and Gammon India are taking part in the massive construction underway.

"At this stage of development, we are highly dependent on exploiting the water resources of Bhutan," said Sonam Tshering, Bhutan's secretary of economic affairs.

The urgency for building hydropower plants in the picture-postcard country is palpable.

Bhutan is grappling with a large current account deficit estimated at 20% of its gross domestic product. The sale of electricity from these projects to a ready-and-captive market in India will help it earn precious foreign exchange to sustain its economy. New Delhi has lent a helping hand and, in turn, will receive steady supplies to meet its growing energy needs.

"The best part of the hydel power development in Bhutan is that hydro power projects are all funded by the Government of India through a very generous combination of grants and loans," said Nam Dorji, Bhutan's finance secretary.

In 2010, electricity exports from Bhutan to India amounted to 5.579 kilowatt hour, helping the country earn about $223 million, according to ADB data.

India and Bhutan signed a pact in 2008 to develop hydropower projects in the country and about 10,000 megawatt power would be exported to India by 2020.

The development of such projects augurs well for the region. "Regional trade in energy can help send energy from places that have excess, such as Bhutan, to countries in need of energy like India, optimizing the region's energy resources," ADB said.

"The recently established India-Bangladesh transmission line could ultimately allow energy to go from Bhutan to Bangladesh," the multi lateral agency said.

Source

Read More...

Debt trips discoms in Rajasthan...

 

Around two decades back, reforms in the power sector were initiated in the country at the instance of World Bank. But in Rajasthan, the reforms have failed to realise their objectives and it is high time to find a sustainable alternative.

That the reforms have failed was further evidenced by the central government's decision to restructure the debt which Rajasthan's power companies are facing. With their total debt burden of around Rs.70,000 crore, they top the list of debt-ridden companies in the country.

However, their debt burden is not reflected in the borrowings of the government as shown in the state budget.

So, the total debt burden of Rs.1,30,000 crore - as shown in the state budget - does not reflect the real fiscal deficit. One wonders why the debt burden of these power companies should not be reflected in the budgetary figures, especially because state stands as guarantor in the rescheduling of debt repayment to the Indian commercial banks.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/debt-power-distribution-companies-rajasthan-vasundhara-raje-ashok-gehlot/1/334614.html

Read More...

Toshiba to close acquisition of T&D Business from Vijai Electricals Ltd....

 

Toshiba Corporation has completed the acquisition of Vijai Electricals Ltd.'s power transmission and distribution businesses.

The acquired assets include power transformer, distribution transformers and switchgear businesses.

A new Toshiba subsidiary, Toshiba Transmission and Distribution Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd. ("TTDI"), will run the acquired businesses and provide them with Toshiba's latest design, development and production capabilities in order to supply a wide range of T and D products globally as well as in India.

TTDI will also deploy businesses in other areas, such as EHV and high voltage direct current power transmission, static var compensators for high voltage networks and railway power supply system, in India.

The acquisition allows Toshiba to make a full-scale entry into India's T and D market, where the company aims to capture 20% share in five years.

By 2015, Toshiba targets building a 700-billion yen global T and D and smart-grid business that will utilize TTDI and established T and D manufacturing facilities in Japan, Brazil, China, Russia, Malaysia and Vietnam, along with the global sales channels of Toshiba subsidiary and Landis + Gyr AG.

Source: Business Standard

Read More...

50-MW Gas based power plant to come up by ONGC in Cachar of Assam...

 

A gas-based power plant with a capacity of 50 MW is being set up at Sidubi locality in Assam's Cachar district.

An official of the Central Assam Power Distribution Company said the company has come to an understanding with the Oil and natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) for supply of the gas necessary for the project. He said the ONGC will supply gas for its Sonabarighat well near Silchar.

He said work has been started for the project, which is to come up on an area of 10 acres of government land. Work on the project will be completed within the next three years, the official said.

He said once the project is completed, the gap between demand and supply of power in Barak Valley will be substantially reduced. While the valley needs 100 MW of power daily, it gets less than half of this amount, causing a lot of inconvenience to people.

At present, Barak Valley has practically no source of power of its own. Private real estate company DLF had earlier started two power projects with the help of gas supplied by the ONGC from its nearest fields. But, after a few years, gas supply was stopped at both the projects, causing the power plants to shut down.

In 2009, BHEL, the Power Finance Corporation and the state government had signed a memorandum of understanding for setting up of a 250-MW thermal power plant at Digarkhal in Cachar district on an investment of Rs 1000 crore. But, the project is yet to see the light of the day as work is yet to start.

Source

Read More...