India ’s Oldest & Leading Solar Media Group Volume- 14 | Issue- 08 | Dt. of Publication- 15 August 2022 | Dt. of Posting- 20 August 2022 | Rs. 5/- | Page- 01
OWNER : FirstSource Energy India Private Limited PLACE OF PUBLICATION : 95-C, Sampat Farms, 7th Cross Road, Bicholi Mardana Distt-Indore 452016, Madhya Pradesh, INDIA Tel. + 91 96441 22268 www.EQMagPro.com EDITOR & CEO : ANAND GUPTA anand.gupta@EQmag.net PUBLISHER : ANAND GUPTA PRINTER : ANAND GUPTA TRENDS & ANALYSIS SAUMYA BANSAL GUPTA saumya.gupta@EQmag.net PUBLISHING COMPANY DIRECTORS: ANIL ANITAGUPTAGUPTA CONSULTING EDITOR : SURENDRA BAJPAI SR. GRAPHICS & LAYOUT DESIGNER : RATNESH JOSHI GRAPHICS DESIGNER : ABHISHEK SARAI JOURNALIST MISHIKA MEHTA Disclaimer,Limitations of Liability While every efforts has been made to ensure the high quality and accuracy of EQ international and all our authors research articles with the greatest of care and attention ,we make no warranty concerning its content,and the magazine is provided on an>> as is <<basis.EQ international contains advertising and third –party contents.EQ International is not liable for any third- party content or error,omission or inaccuracy in any advertising material ,nor is it responsible for the availability of external web sites or their contents The data and information presented in this magazine is provided for informational purpose only.neither EQ INTERNATINAL ,Its affiliates,Information providers nor content providers shall have any liability for investment decisions based up on or the results obtained from the information provided. Nothing contained in this magazine should be construed as a recommendation to buy or sale any securities. The facts and opinions stated in this magazine do not constitute an offer on the part of EQ International for the sale or purchase of any securities, nor any such offer intended or implied Restriction on use The material in this magazine is protected by international copyright and trademark laws. You may not modify,copy,reproduce,republish,post,transmit,or distribute any part of the magazine in any way.you may only use material for your personall,NonCommercial use, provided you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices. want to use material for any non-personel,non commercial purpose,you need written permission from EQ International. SUBSCRIPTIONS : AVADESH PATEL admin@eqmag.net VOLUME 14 Issue 08 CONTENT 413320INTERNATIONAL HEAD SALES & MARKETING : GAZALA KHAN hayat@EQmag.net MARKETING MANAGER: MUKUL HARODE sales@EQmag.net BUSINESSINDIATECHNOLOGY&FINANCE TATA POWER GREEN ENERGY LTD. COMMISSIONS 225 MW HYBRID POWER PROJECT FOR TATA POWER MUMBAI CUSTOMERS RENEW POWER PARTNERS WITH HSBC INDIA TO PROVIDE SOLAR POWER AND CLIMATE EDUCATION TO 75 SCHOOLS LG ENERGY SOLUTION BRINGS IN START-UPS TO FOSTER NEXT GENERATION BATTERY TECHNOLOGY
26 21 66 35 5268 58 34 54 INDIA INDIA ELECTRICELECTRICVEHICLEVEHICLE ELECTRIC VEHICLE BUSINESS & FINANCE BUSINESS & FINANCE FEATURED FEATURED Pg. 10-68 EQ NEWS ENERGY CONSERVATION (AMENDMENT) BILL 2022 INTRODUCED IN LOK SABHA ASSESSING THE DECARBONIZATION PATHWAYS OF INDIA’S POWER SECTOR GIANTS: IEEFA AMP ENERGY TO SUPPLY 100 MW SOLAR POWER TO REWA ULTRA MEGA SOLAR LTD NAVITAS SOLAR EXPANDS MANUFACTURING CAPACITY; AIMS TO PRODUCE 500 MW SOLAR MODULES ANNUALLY ELECTRIC VEHICLE MARKET UPDATE Q2 2022 IN REVIEW ELECTRIC VEHICLE TWO-WHEELER SALES TO GO UP BY 78 PER CENT IN 2030 IF ALL GOES WELL SUNRUN NOW OFFERING ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGERS SOUTHERN RAILWAY SAVES AROUND RS 55 CRORE BY TAPPING SOLAR, WIND POWER ADANI SOLAR STRENGTHENS ITS RETAIL FOOT PRINTS IN MAHARASHTRA PARTNERS WITH ROOFSOL ENERGY FOR RETAIL DISTRIBUTION OF SOLAR PANELS
Gautam Solar is a 25+ yrs. experienced Solar Module Manufacturer with 250 MW Solar Module manufacturing capacity, expanding to 1 GW. It manufactures ALMM & BIS approved Solar PV Modules that are deployed in Utility & Rooftop Solar Power plants. It has various IP’s (Patents/ Design Registrations) and a well-equipped R&D centre for continuous devel opment of new products.
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"Next on the panel was Mr C Choudhary, COO renewable energy – Sterlite Power, “I think it is a good initiative by the honorable Prime Minister. I think a similar concept is already driven by China. I think the sun is already available but in different time zones, there is software available where we can do the analysis to stimulate. This initiative is primarily good for the Indian market. This will increase business as well. This policy makes livelihood for the people easy. Job prospects will increase as well.”
At present the world is entering a new energy crisis, it’s in fact becoming a global village and yet 850 million people are still living without electricity in this evolving world society and business share one critical challenge , How Can We Meet The Energy Demand
"Mr Amit Batra, Head (O&M) – ACME Group said, “It’s a nice initiative. As far as the risk and potential challenges are concerned on this matter, I think we also need to monitor and coordinate between the consumption patterns of the continents based on the availability of the sun and other requirements. Geopolitical situations will also take a role here.”
While Protecting The Environment By Ensuring Access To Clean Energy?
The moderator, Mr Atul agreed to the concerns. “We need to keep moving to understand the roads.”
ONE ONE GRID "A Game Changer?"
To address the adversity, innovation plays a prime role in building an effective solution and EVERSOLA is one of the solution providers.” The moderator Atul Pachauri, AVP, O2 Power started the webinar with an amazing note on how he and the company thinks about how OSOWOG has worked when it came into play. He also added how the climate change phenomenon is something to really focus on and then handed over the dais to Mr Pankaj Khurana, Programme Special ist, International Solar Alliance.
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There were few questions raised which Mr Pnkaj Khurana and Mr Prashant Upadhyay had a discussion upon.
"Rajesh Tiwari, Hero Future Energies worded for the discussion that, “I feel this has to be a much needed topic. On the technical side, this is a good move. This may be one of the options for RTC because if you see the different latitude, this particular policy is touching upon the different geography of the world. If you have good potential for solar, this policy will be later on identified on which are the good potential areas. We will try to interconnect all these good potential areas all across.”
"Mr Pankaj said, “ONE SUN ONE WORLD ONE GRID was put forth by our honorable Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi at 1st assembly of Inter national Solar Alliance in Oc tober 2018. Later in 2020 MOU was signed between MNRE, Government of India, ISA and the world bank. This partnership will work with the aim of the creation of multisectoral and global collaboration to build an ecosystem of interconnected renewable energy resources.” He then added, “How pandemic was a shock for the present global energy system. The recovery strategies will definitely give opportunities to various countries for making them greener and more resilient. OSOWOG will be giving opportunities for more jobs and of course positively impact the global interdependence.”"MrAtul asked Ms Moumita Sharma, Marketing manager, Eversola to present her thoughts, with respect to which she said, “ It’s a great initiative by the Government of India. To eradicate few is sues, OSOWOG is a great solu tion.”
He concluded with a brief explanation of GGI as well.
SUN ONE WORLD
"Later on the dais was Mr Prashant Upadhyay, Sr Engineer, SECI. He spoke about the project, “When I was there in the task force to cover a few issues from a diverse perspective. To identify what could be the key steps, in addition to also reviewing or having a look at the reports that are being worked on by EDF. Phase 1 report has recently been finalized and shared with the task force. After the study on the reports it identifies whatever the assumptions were made. There are certain aspects that we always talk about with reference to this scenario which, with the essence of all such traditional interconnections, would essentially be the security, continuity and the quality of energy supply.”
uring a webinar conducted by EQ Magazine on “Kerala Residential Rooftop Solar Market Outlook”, Nou shad Sharafaudeen, Nodal Officer, Kerala state Electricity Board, spoke about how Karela state has solely achieved about 600 MW capacity of total solar out of which almost 400 MW was out of rooftop solar.
He also said, “The electricity board has 38 members of developers till date. This is being selected by the process of tendering. All these 38 developers will be there going on a specific track. Subsidy will be given on a discount to Kerala state electricity board and this subsidy will be dispersed to the developers directly. The consumer needs to pay only the amount of lessened subsidy to the developer. DBT scheme has come into play where consumers need to pay the full amount, without deducting subsidy which has to be given to the developer.”
"Then the comments were made by Mr Al Nishan Shahul., CEO – Almiya future energies. He said, “I agree with Thejas Babu regarding the pricing scheme.” He mentioned how dreadful the mar ket can be if certain changes are not applied. He requested for the support from KSEB.
FEATURED Kerala – The Big Residential Rooftop Solar Monopoly
"Later Mr Manoj MS, Managing Director, Soura Natural Energy Solutions India Pvt Ltd joined the discussion mentioning how it was to install solar, a few years back which was then installed in 3-4 months. Now KSEB is growing and is now ramped up to the whole process and we are getting projects commis sioned in 3-4 days. Mr Thejas Babu came up with, “How Kerala residentials have always given priority to the quality of the model. Survival of EPC should also be the concern.”
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Finally, Mr Noushad Sharafaudeen concluded by commenting on all the queries the panelist had raised and then he added answers to a few more questions that were raised.
"During the keynote, Mr Noushad also put the light upon the progress that Kerala state is achieving out of rooftop solar along with the challenges faced by the state. While making the panel know about the Amendment Act of the principles of 2003, MNRE and DBT. He said, “DBT is not something related to solar alone, in fact it is related to all the cases where the government is giving subsidies to the common people. Government policy, this has been extended to the solar scenario or rooftop or the subsidy scenario as well, the two programs will go hand in hand and the government is not going to stop any of this.”
The four portfolios by KSEB were given to MNRE, Dis-Com, Developer and Consumer respectively.
Later in the webinar moderator, Mr Mohammad Fayaz Salam invited the next panelist over the board, Mr Amal Nayak, Vice President, sales and marketing, Contendre Greenergy Pvt Ltd., shared the PPT for the project and also shared the purpose for the same.
"He said, “In Kerala opportu nities are there but there are also some challenges, price is fixed for EPC companies or the developers. But prices are fluc tuating. As a result, the EPC company, they are searching for mainly module suppliers who offer the lowest price, but my concern as a manufacturer or a stakeholder in the industry as a company, we talk about quality. All in all, it is important for the stakeholders, the quality installation. The quality installation and KSEB, the model agencies., they are vigilant for the quality part. He put on an appeal to consider the quality product.”
Then he concluded by saying how a consumer can register to the app for the benefit of the case and along with that he spoke about the app, SANDESH.
Indian rooftop solar market grew by 1,748 MW, a 53 percent y-o-y increase, in the 12-month period from July 2020 and is estimated to have reached 7,701 MW by end of June 2021, according to renewable energy consultancy Bridge to India. C&I and public sector consumers made up for 72 per cent and 11 per cent of the total market, respectively, while the residential market’s share was esti mated at 17 percent.
Next speaker Mr Terance Alex Wattsun, Founder & CEO Wattsun energy showed his concern re garding how customers take the idea of the project. He added that the rules can also be sent about how things are going to take place.
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14 EQ AUGUST 2022 www.EQMagPro.com FEATURED
Solar module manufacturing is a tedious process, which consumes many raw materials. There are many steps involved until the finished ready to be sold panel is manufactured. As East and Southeast Asia are the largest hub of solar module manufacturers, the solar panels are required to be transported to a long distance, as the consumers are located at different geographical locations across the globe. This transportation can take place via many means. As solar panels are high priced, it is important to carry out safe and efficient packaging of the solar panels so that the panels will not be damaged during the shipping. Sometimes panels reach out to the consumers with cracks, deformation or scratches because of improper packaging. Improper packaging of solar modules can result into a huge financial loss. There are many incidents where the panels were dispatched in good condition from the factory but it is damaged on the way. This result into claims and disputes between the consumers and manufacturers. Therefore, safe packaging of solar modules is very important aspect of the industry, which is often ignored.
Importance of Safe Packaging of Solar Modules
The next step in the designing the toughest solar packaging is by optimising the thickness of the cardboard boxes. We make sure that the cardboard boxes are thick and rigid, with corner supports that can resist huge pressure. The cardboard box must be capable to withstand the weight of all the solar modules, so that if another full pallet is stacked on the top of it, the box should not be deformed. When we stack the pallets of panels on the top of each other, no stress is exerted to the bottom solar modules because of the higher quality of cardboard box, which allows customers to receive the solar panels in perfect condition. A qualified packaging design would maintain perfect form when any pallet is stacked on the top of it. With visual inspection also, packaging personnel can identify the deformed boxes.
BASICS OF SOLAR MODULE PACKAGING: ISSUES WITH BAD PACKAGING DANGERS IN TRANSPORTATION & LOADING
There are two types of solar panel packaging: vertical and horizontal. Solar modules are stacked together in a vertical or horizontal box. Gen erally, corners of each modules are covered for protection and separa tors are used between each module. Sometimes, each module is packed in individual boxes and then all the boxes are packed in a single master carton box to ensure the safety of modules. The master box pallet is then after sealed and wrapped with plastic film. Then, solar panels are shipped holding on pallets, average 28-30 panels per pallet. An impor tant thing to notice about packaging, transporting and unloading the solar modules that there is no standard, which is globally accepted. The biggest hurdle in establishing a global standard is different client re quirements. When products and requirements of the client varies from case to case, it is not possible to frame a global standard for the safe packaging. Additionally, packaging is one of the way to cut down the overall cost, many manufacturers compromise heavily on the packag ing material and qualified packaging personnel. When solar modules are stacked on the top of each other, it can cause stress on the modules, which may damage the modules. Al though, sometimes the damages are not visual but they are in form of micro cracks that can even grow in future and may deteriorate the performance of the modules. When modules are packed hori zontally, the panels are separated with carton separators. When it is required to pack the modules horizontally, it is essential to have good buffer materials between each module and around the mod ules to reduce the chances of damages. When modules are shipped via a long journey, it is essential that modules must be properly packed to ensure their safety. Although the method of transport used is not standardized, it does involve a great deal of risk. In addition to the risks of improper handling, modules can become damaged during shipment. Solar panel’s weight is also one of the constraint along with its size. Sometimes, transporters underestimate this factor, which may result into a haz ardous situation. If modules are improperly packed, then mechani cal stresses may arise which may damage the modules. Sometimes, during loading and unloading, workers walk or stand on the panels, which is not recommended at all. Many a times during long road journey, improperly packed modules on a pallet gets bounce(s) while being carried in a truck on a bumpy road or in a ship in the wavy sea. Many a times, the manufacturer packs modules in a proper way and they are forwarded to the shipping companies. Shippers may store the panels in warehouse in improper way or they may follow improper methods to load the panels. Careless workers may also damage the panels in the forklift operation which may result into visually noticeable dents or cracks on the panels. That is why it is essential to follow unpacking and unloading instructions thoroughly to ensure panels’ safety and performance. Safe, correct and careful packaging of solar modules is as impor tant as manufacturing them. There will be a global standard in upcoming time which every manufacturer will adhere. Until then, utmost cautiousness must be shown in packaging, loading, unload ing, transporting of modules.
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As shown in the figure above, for two strings in the same MPPT, one string has the correct polarity, and the other is reversed. This will cause the two strings to be short-circuited directly. In this scenario , the in verter will show that the input voltage of the MPPT is 0V and this condition will not damage the inverter, but the short circuit will damage the PV modules.
2. Repeated checking during installation. As shown below, the photovoltaic cable connectors needs to feature two core points: As shown in the figure above, the polarities of the 2PV strings in the same MPPT are reversed. After the DC switch of the inverter is closed, each string forms a short circuit with the IGBT anti-parallel diode of the booster circuit through the DC switch and is turned off. The DC switch will be damaged by arcing, and the MPPT of this circuit will not work correctly.
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If the PV string polarity is reversed, it may cause equipment damage, energy generation reduction or even fire, so special attention should be paid. Lets look at some examples.
With the advancement of carbon reduction goals and the intensification of the global climate and energy issues, the installed capacity of clean energy is increased sharply. As one of the main forces in the field of clean energy, solar power generation has performed well in the past two years.
The connectors on both sides of the same cable must be difTakingferent; the inverter side as a reference, the “+” connector of the red cable corresponds to the “+” connector of the inverter’s DC interface, and the “-” connector of the black cable corresponds to the “-” connector of the inverter’s DC interface; It is recommended to use a multimeter to measure the con nector polarity of the PV string before plugging.
HAZARDS OF REVERSED DC POLARITY IN THE SAME CHANNEL MPPT, THE POLARITY OF A PV STRING IS REVERSED HOW TO PREVENT DC POLARITY REVERSAL IN THE SAME CHANNEL MPPT, THE POLARITIES OF THE TWO PV STRINGS ARE REVERSED Capacity has soared and construction volume on site has increased signifi cantly, resulting in a large increase in the proportion of DC polarity reversed faults. This episode of Solis Seminar will share with you the problems related to reverse polarity of DC power and how to prevent it.
Note: In both these instances, the PV string is directly short-circuited. The PV string cannot be turned off by switching off the DC switch, and the DC terminal cannot be directly inserted or pulled out, which will cause arcing and cause electric shock hazard. The operation should only be per formed after the PV string voltage reduces. It is recommended to take measures to cover the PV string with cloth or wait for the solar irradiance to decrease (for example at night or after sunset), and when the PV string current drops below 0.5A, turn off the DC switch and remove the PV string con nector to correct the polarity.
Ensuring DC Polarity is Correctly Connected
1. Do not use one color cable for the positive and negative string. It is recommended to distinguish between the two using different colors. Red is the positive cable, and black is the negative cable.
With an aim to increase the power generation capacity of the central state of Madhya Pradesh and address the electricity problems in the region, a floating solar power plant is going to be built in Khandwa which will generate 600 Megawatt power by 2022-23, informed the officials Said to be the world’s largest floating solar plant, the project is estimated to be worth over Rs. 3000 crores.
Dubey also said that the change in water level in the area was nominal and it thus serves as a suitable site. “We will have a PPA of 300 MW. So we have given a little bit of leverage, may be a little more or less as per the requirement, so in total instead of 300, we are doing PPA in the first phase of 200 MW,” he added. Dubey also highlighted that with the new floating solar plant, Khandwa will become the only district in Madhya Pradesh to have thermal power station, hydel and solar power.
www.EQMagPro.com 17EQ AUGUST 2022 WORLD’S LARGEST FLOATING SOLAR POWER PLANT TO BE BUILT IN MADHYA PRADESH
“In the next phase, we have called tenders for 300 MW more, so this will be the world’s largest project which will be called floating solar. Khandwa will become the only district in the state to have all three things including solar, hydel and thermal with over 4,000MW power to be produced from a single district,” said Dubey. Omkareshwar Dam is built on the Narmada river. This is our hydel project and in this, we produce energy from water, but it is spread over about 100 square kilometres, there is a very large water body where the water lev el remains normal,” Re newable Energy Depart ment Principal Secretary Sanjay Dubey told ANI.
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For individual households, central financial assis tance upto 40% of the benchmark cost was provided for RTS projects upto three KW capacities and upto 20% for RTS system capacity beyond 3 KW and upto 10 KW. For the group housing societies/residential welfare associations, central financial assistance is limited to 20% for RTS plants for supply of power to common facilities and maximum 500 KW capacity.
Source: PTI Source: PTI
DCM SHRIRAM TO SOURCE 50 MW RENEWABLE ENERGY FROM RENEW POWER
Punjab has taken a lead in the region by generating over 6,034 million units (MUs) of solar power in the last four years.
DCM Shriram has agreed to source 50 MW of renewable energy from ReNew Power for its chlor-alkali manufacturing facility in Bharuch, Gujarat.
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ReNew will be setting up the two hybrid proj ects with a total investment of around Rs 800 crore through an equity partnership of around Rs 63 crore by DCM Shriram Ltd. DCM Shriram group’s turnover is Rs 9,849 crore. The portfolio of DCM Shriram comprises agri-rural business – urea, sugar, farm solution business covering the entire range of agri-inputs, R&D-based hy brid seeds; Chlor-vinyl business – caustic soda, chlorine, calcium carbide, aluminium chloride, PVC resins, power and cement; and value-added business — Fenesta Building Systems making UPVC windows and doors.
Under the simplified procedure, interested residential consumers from any part of the country can apply on the national portal for rooftop solar. The electricity consumer will have the choice to select any vendor registered with discoms and choose the solar equipment. The subsidy is fixed and same for the entire country.
DCM Shriram Chairman and Senior Managing Director Ajay S Shriram said: ”We as a group are committed to improving our energy footprint and this is a step in that direction”. ”With a longterm commitment towards ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance), the captive power agreements for green energy have been signed for 25 years and will mitigate around 2,25,000 tCO2e (carbon emissions) annually,” he added. The 50-MW hybrid project, which has around 100 MW of wind and solar generation capacity at its backend, is expected to generate around 250 million units of renewable energy every year exclusively for the DCM Shriram’s Bharuch facility.
DCM Shriram — which is in the chemicals, sugar and fertilisers business — and ReNew Power on Thursday announced the signing of two captive power agreements (CPAs). The agreements will see 50 MW of re newable energy supplied from ReNew’s two up coming projects in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, to DCM Shriram’s Chlor-Alkali manufacturing facility in Bharuch district, according to a regulatory filing.
PUNJAB LEADS THE REGION IN SOLAR POWER GENERATION, PIPS HARYANA
Whereas Haryana generated a total of 1,059 MUs from 2018-19 till May this year, Himachal Pradesh 104 MUs and UT Chandigarh 54 MUs. This information was shared in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday by Union minister of new and renewable energy and power RK Singh while replying to a question. He said the Central government has set a target for setting up 100 gigawatt(GW) solar power capacity by 2022 in the country. Against this, a capacity of 123.11 GW has either been commissioned or is in the pipeline.
Karnataka tops the country in solar power generation and has produced 47,756 MUs solar power since 2018-19 till May this year. It is followed by Rajasthan, which generated 45,999 MUs during this period. The Union government has released Rs 123 crore to Punjab in the last three years under various solar schemes of the ministry of new and renewable energy. Hary ana has got Rs 263 crore, Himachal Pradesh Rs 64 crore and UT Chandigarh nearly Rs 6 crore during this period. But when it comes to installation of rooftop solar capacity in the residential sector, Haryana has till date installed over 23 megawatt(MW) capacity, UT Chandigarh 18 MW, Punjab 15 MW and Himachal Pradesh 0.78 MW. Gujarat tops the country as it has installed over 1,165 MW rooftop solar capacity in the residential sector.
The Union minister said the ministry of new and renewable en ergy had launched rooftop solar programme phase-II in March 2019 that provided for achieving 4,000 MW rooftop solar(RTS) capacity through central financial assistance in the residential sector.
INDIA INDIA PLANNING CARBON CREDIT MARKET FOR ENERGY, STEEL, AND CEMENT The platform is likely to be announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Independence Day celebrations on August 15, according to people with the knowledge of the plan.
This is the first hybrid project developed by Tata Power consisting of recently commissioned 225 MW of Solar power at Noorsar and existing wind assets of 96 MW, which is expected to generate about 700 MUs of energy per year. The plant will annually off set approx. 700 Million Kg of CO2. The combination of solar and wind project brings a unique advantage of higher Capacity Utilization Factor as compared to standalone wind or solar capacity. The project was awarded to TPGEL and the solar part of the proj ect has been executed by Tata Power Solar Systems Limited, an EPC arm of Tata Power. The project was commissioned within the stipulated timeline in 1,200 acres of land at Noorsar in Rajasthan.
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Speaking on the project commis sioning, Dr. Praveer Sinha, CEO & MD, Tata Power said, “We are excited to commission our first Hybrid project of 225 MW in Rajasthan. The project will supply power to our Mumbai Discom and their customers and will substantially enhance its noncarbon commitment. It also reflects our commitment to make the use of non-carbon energy to meet the clean and green energy goals of the country.”
Project to supply green power to Tata Power, Mumbai Distribution (TPC-D, Mumbai) to meet its Renewable Purchase
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ata Power Green Energy Limited (TP GEL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Power, has commissioned a 225 MW Hybrid power project in Rajasthan. The power generated from the project will be supplied to Tata Power, Mumbai Distribution under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), valid for a period of 25 years, to fulfil its Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO). With the addition of 225 MW of hybrid power to Tata Power’s Mumbai customers, the revised power supply portfolio will rise to 38% non-carbon power. It will be nearly double the man datory RPO obligation. Against the yearly require ment of nearly 5,200 MUs annually, the non-carbon supply will be approx. 2,000 MUs.
TATA POWER GREEN ENERGY LTD. COMMISSIONS 225 MW HYBRID POWER PROJECT FOR TATA POWER MUMBAI CUSTOMERS
The project has used 5,79,488 number of mod ules and 103 individual Wind energy generators of various ratings from the Company’s existing wind assets. In spite of the various challenges like rugged terrain caused by multiple high sand dunes, harsh temperature of 50 degree Celsius and unusual rains, the project was delivered as per the stipulated timeline. With the commissioning of this hybrid proj ect, the total renewables capacity of Tata Power reaches 5,524 MW with an installed capacity of 3,859 MW and 1,665 MW under various stages of implementation.
WithObligations.theaddition of 225 MW of hybrid power, TPC-D, Mumbai’s non-carbon power supply will rise to 38%.
“It is considered necessary to have legal provisions to prescribe minimum consumption of non-fossil energy sources as energy or feedstock by the designated con sumers. This will help in reduction of fossil fuel-based energy consumption and resultant carbon emissions to the atmosphere. Similarly, a need is also felt to provide legal framework for a carbon market with the objective of incentivizing actions for emission reduction leading to increased investments in clean energy and energy efficien cy areas, by the private sectors,” the government said in a statement introducing the bill.
INDIA
ENERGY
The key objectives of the bill also include enhanc ing the scope of energy conservation building code, amendment of penalty provisions, and increasing members in the governing council of Bureau of En ergy Efficiency. It also aims to empower the state electricity regulatory commissions to make regula tions for smooth discharge of its functions. India enacted the Energy Conservation Act, 2001 which has at its core efficient use of energy and its conser vation. This act made way for establishment and in corporation of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency. The act was subsequently amended in 2010 to address various new factors which emerged with the devel opment of the energy market.
INTRODUCED(AMENDMENT)CONSERVATIONBILL2022INLOKSABHA
The bill seeks to mandate use of non-fossil sources, including green hydrogen, green ammonia, biomass and ethanol for energy and feedstock to achieve the twin target of reducing dependence on fossil fuel and achieving energy security
With the 2022 amended the government helps to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s stance of offering ‘Pan chamrit’, or five nectar elements, as a part of the country’s commitment towards low-carbon development strategy.
The government introduced The En ergy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022, the bill which is aimed to act as a facilitator to achieve India’s climate change targets, in Lok Sabha on Au gust 3. The bill seeks to mandate use of non-fossil sources, including green hydrogen, green ammo nia, biomass and ethanol for energy and feedstock to achieve the twin target of reducing dependence on fossil fuel and achieving energy security. Other salient features of the bill includes establishing car bon markets and bringing large residential build ings within the fold of energy conservation regime.
The so-called ‘Panchamrit’ includes India’s commitment to install 500 gigawatts (GW) of non-fossil energy capacity by 2030, reduce emission intensity of GDP by 45 percent over 2005 levels, source 50 percent of the electricity from nonfossil sources by 2030, reduce carbon emission by 1 billion tonnes till 2030 and achieve net-zero by 2070.
India at the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Glasgow, United Kingdom, expressed to intensify its climate action by pre senting to the world five nectar elements (Pan chamrit) of India’s climate action. This update to India’s existing NDC translates the ‘Panchamrit’ announced at COP 26 into enhanced climate tar gets. The update is also a step towards achieving India’s long term goal of reaching net-zero by 2070.
22 EQ AUGUST 2022 www.EQMagPro.com INDIA CABINET APPROVES INDIA’S UPDATED NATIONALLY DETERMINED CONTRIBUTION TO BE COMMUNICATED TO THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE
T
he Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has ap proved India’s updated Nationally Deter mined Contribution (NDC) to be commu nicated to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The up dated NDC seeks to enhance India’s contributions to wards achievement of the strengthening of global re sponse to the threat of climate change, as agreed under the Paris Agreement. Such action will also help India usher in low emissions growth pathways. It would pro tect the interests of the country and safeguard its future development needs based on the
Approval translates Prime Minister ‘Panchamrit’ announced at COP 26 into enhanced climate targets. A step towards achieving India’s long term goal of reaching net-zero by 2070. India now stands committed to reduce Emissions Intensity of its GDP by 45 percent by 2030. Prime Minister’s concept of mass movement for ‘LIFE’– ‘Lifestyle for Environment’ as a key to combating climate change” principles and provisions of the UNFCCC.
Earlier, India submitted its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to UNFCCC on October 2, 2015. The 2015 NDC comprised eight goals; three of these have quantitative targets upto 2030 namely, cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil sources to reach 40%; reduce the emis sions intensity of GDP by 33 to 35 percent compared to 2005 levels and creation of additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover. As per the updated NDC, India now stands committed to reduce Emissions Intensity of its GDP by 45 percent by 2030, from 2005 level and achieve about 50 percent cumulative elec tric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030. Today’s approval, also takes forward the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of sustainable lifestyles and climate justice to protect the poor and vulnerable from adverse impacts of climate change. The updated NDC reads “To put for ward and further propagate a healthy and sustainable way of living based on traditions and values of conservation and moderation, including through a mass movement for ‘LIFE’– ‘Lifestyle for Environment’ as a key to combating climate change”.
The decision on enhanced NDCs demonstrates India’s commitment at the highest level for decoupling of economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions. India’s updated NDC has been prepared after care fully considering our national circumstances and the principle of common but differentiated responsibili ties and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC). India’s updated NDC also reaffirms our commitment to work towards a low carbon emission pathway, while simul taneously endeavoring to achieve sustainable develop ment goals. Recognizing that lifestyle has a big role in climate change, the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, at COP 26, proposed a ‘One-Word Movement’, to the global community. This one word is LIFE…L, I, F, E, i.e. Lifestyle For Environment. The vision of LIFE is to live a lifestyle that is in tune with our planet and does not harm it. India’s updated NDC also captures this cit izen centric approach to combat climate change. The updated NDC also represents the framework for India’s transition to cleaner energy for the period 2021-2030. The updated framework, together with many other ini tiatives of the Government, including tax concessions and incentives such as Production Linked Incentive scheme for promotion of manufacturing and adoption of renewable energy, will pro vide an opportunity for enhancing India’s man ufacturing capabilities and enhancing exports. It will lead to an overall increase in green jobs such as in renewable energy, clean energy in dustries- in automotives, manufacturing of low emissions products like Electric Vehicles and super-efficient appliances, and innovative tech nologies such as green hydrogen, etc. India’s updated NDC will be implemented over the pe riod 2021-2030 through programs and schemes of relevant Ministries /departments and with due support from States and Union Territories.
INDIA
The Government has launched many schemes and programs to scale up India’s actions on both adaptation and mitigation. Appropriate measures are being taken under these schemes and programs across many sectors, including water, agriculture, forest, energy and enter prise, sustainable mobility and housing, waste management, circular economy and resource efficiency, etc. As a result of the aforesaid mea sures, India has progressively continued decoupling of economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions. The Net Zero target by 2030 by Indian Railways alone will lead to a reduction of emissions by 60 million tonnes annually.
India’s climate actions have so far been largely financed from domestic resources. However, provid ing new and additional financial resources as well as transfer of technology to address the global climate change challenge are among the commitments and responsibilities of the developed countries under UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement. India will also require its due share from such international financial resources and technological support. India’s NDC do not bind it to any sector specific mitigation obligation or action. India’s goal is to reduce overall emis sion intensity and improve energy efficiency of its economy over time and at the same time protecting the vulnerable sectors of economy and segments of our society.
Similarly, India’s massive LED bulb campaign is reducing emissions by 40 million tonnes an nually.
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LOK SABHA PASSES BILL TO PROMOTE NON-FOSSIL FUELS
India announced its updated pledges under the UN climate frame work, the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). While the full text is not yet available (it will be uploaded in the coming days to the UN registry), the government has released a statement with the key highlights. The pledge is modelled on the speech given by the Prime Minister at last year’s climate talks in Glasgow, with some notable differences.
For example, in 2015, India had promised that cumulative electric power installed capacity from non fossil fuel sources would reach 40 percent by 2030, and to reduce emission inten sity of GDP by 33 to 35 percent, compared to 2005 levels. These two targets have been en hanced and now India is committing to about 50 percent cumulative electric power installed from non-fossil fuel resources by 2030. And to a further reduction of emission intensity by 45 percent by 2030, from 2005 levels. This is quite encouraging but as I said the practical targets announced last year, which included increas ing non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW, and the reduction of projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes [from now to 2030], are missing from the updated NDC. This is a bit of a disappointment because while India is go ing in the right direction, having a clear target would encourage stakeholders and investors to be more serious about the vision.
A bill seeking to mandate the use of non-fossil energy sources such as biomass, ethanol and green hydrogen was passed by the Lok Sabha
Source: PTI
Piloting the Energy Conservation (Amend ment) Bill, 2022, Power Minister R K Singh said “this is the bill for the future,” and urged the members to approve it. The bill was later passed by the House after rejecting amendments moved by some Opposition members. The Minister said the renewable energy ca pacity addition in the country was fastest in the world.
LIGHTS ON: YOUR SNAP TAKE ON INDIA’S UPDATED CLIMATE PLEDGES?
BEHIND PLEDGES:CLIMATEUPDATEDINDIA’SIEEFA
WHAT EXACTLY IS MISSING?
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Vibhuti Garg: It’s good to see that the targets have been revised compared to what was submitted in 2015. But while the ambition has been raised, whatever announce ments were made [at the UN climate talks] in Glasgow in 2021 on more short term, actionable targets, are not there in this revised NDC.
“With the passage of time, and in the context of the energy transition with special focus on the promotion of new and renewable energy and National Green Hydrogen Mission, a need has arisen to further amend the said Act to facilitate the achievement of ‘Panchamrit’ as five nectar elements presented by India in Conference of Parties -26 in Glasgow last year,” the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill said.
The Bill provides for penalties for violations by in dustrial units or vessels, and on manufacturers if a vehicle fails to comply with fuel consumption norms. The amendments also seek to promote renewable energy and the development of a domestic carbon market to battle climate change. It also seeks to intro duce new concepts such as carbon trading and man date the use of non-fossil sources to ensure faster de carbonisation of the Indian economy and help achieve sustainable development goals in line with the Paris Agreement.
There are so many different ways through which we can reduce emission and density, whether we choose to focus on energy efficiency or demand side management. But in general I think we need a greater demand and supply side push. For ex ample the new rules that mandate states to meet a quarter of their energy demand from renewable sources by the end of the decade, [known as Re newable Purchase Obligation or RPO] give a de mand side push to clean energy adoption. On the supply side, we had an installation target with a 2022 deadline, so everybody knew that we need ed to build 175 gigawatts of renewable energy, and all the tendering, all the [policy and econom ic] steps were happening to be able to meet those targets. And while in the end we fell marginally short, the [short term] goal really helped compa nies put that kind of pipeline capacity in place. So it may be possible that while it is not part of formal NDC, the intent to achieve 500 GW of non fossil fuel capacity by 2030 may remain. But I think we really need to keep reiterating that the government remains serious about this particular target.
IN LINE WITH THE PRIME MINISTER’S GLASGOW SPEECH, THE UPDATED NDC ANNOUNCES AN AWARENESS CAMPAIGN AIMED AT CREATING ‘LIFESTYLE’ CHANGES. CAN THESE CAMPAIGNS REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE? WHY ARE THESE SHORT-TERM TARGETS SO IMPORTANT TO ACHIEVE LONG TERM GOALS SUCH AS THE ROMISED 2070 NET ZERO?
If the commitments start getting diluted, because the Russia-Ukraine war has led to the revival of old coal plants, and to more mines being allotted, [this may derail the country’s energy transition trajectory]. In the last few months, due to the var ious supply disruptions that we have witnessed globally, as well as in India, the emphasis has been on increasing domestic energy production. This short term disruption should not alter the energy roadmap that we had laid out, and that’s where my concern is. But we are still committed to achieving 450 GW of renewable energy [in stallations], so even if that’s not a part of a formal NDC, I think that achieving that would still be good enough. Because to do that, we would need to see about 30 to 40 GW of additional capacity every year, which we have not seen so far [and would mean a significant progress].
www.EQMagPro.com 25EQ AUGUST 2022 INDIA Source: ieefa WHAT ARE THE RISKS SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT FAIL TO DO SO? WHAT WOULD SUCH CHANGES LOOK LIKE ON THE GROUND?
Encouraging people to care is good, but the scope of the task addressed by lifestyle campaigns is usually very, very broad. Think of somebody who lives in rural areas, and struggles to even receive continuous power supply: are they really in the position to demand that the suppliers are sustainable? So at that level, even if the people want something, they may not get it. But what is required is that at an aggregate level, from the government or the states, supply becomes greener. And that’s how you ensure that people are in the position to adopt sustainable energy. For example, many Indian distribution companies have come up with green tariffs [whereby consumers choose to pay a premium to receive clean energy from their distributor]. So if energy users are made aware of this option and can afford to do so, this system could help create more demand. Meanwhile, some Indian and global businesses have committed to the [corporate re newable energy initiative] RE100 targets, which means that they were already setting up solar rooftops inde pendently, and now with the green tariffs they will be able to procure clean energy from the grid. I think as a result the share of green energy will increase from the distribution perspective too, because there are players, especially commercial and industrial consumers, who have mandates to green their operations. So beyond the diplomatic language of the NDCs, it sounds like energy markets may the real drivers behind India’s progress? All of this looks very encouraging, but my impression is that [stakeholders] still feel coal is going to be the main fuel for a long time. I know coal is here to stay, because we have a huge coal base capacity. However, some of the building blocks [for the energy transition] are there, and we are now hearing that India is likely to introduce a carbon market [soon]. This is one of the fac tors that will drive more and more demand for cleaner energy resources, including storage and building green hydrogen. Because that’s another revenue stream for the companies that are able to make money by shifting to cleaner energy resources, with huge returns because of their ability to trade [their carbon gains] in the car bon market.
ASSESSING IEEFAPOWERPATHWAYSDECARBONIZATIONTHEOFINDIA’SSECTORGIANTS:
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Indian power sector giants NTPC and Tata Power require massive capital to fund their transformations into clean energy companies.
NTPC would need to accelerate decommissioning of coal mines and existing coalfired power plants and stop building new ones, while Tata Power would need to accelerate decommissioning of its coal-fired power plants prior to their con tractual obligations and also disclose and outline plans to exit its investments in Indonesian coal mines. Indian power sector giants NTPC and Tata Power require massive capital to fund their transformations into clean energy companies. New avenues of fundraising in foreign capital markets, such as sustainability-linked bonds and loans, are available to support companies transitioning to low-carbon business models. However, to unlock this transition finance NTPC and Tata Power will need to establish formal, outcome-based sustain ability-linked finance frameworks that align with globally accepted science-based emissions reduction targets to limit global warming to 1.5˚C. Under science-based net zero targets, NTPC would need to accelerate decommissioning of coal mines and existing coal-fired power plants and stop building new ones, while Tata Power would need to accelerate decommissioning of its coal-fired power plants prior to their contractual obligations and also disclose and outline plans to exit its investments in Indonesian coal mines.
This report compares the current decarbonisation strategies and targets of NTPC and Tata Power against those of their global peer Enel. The Italian energy company has raised billions of dollars to finance its decarbonisa tion by aligning its energy transition targets with its financing strategy. We identify the gaps, strengths and weaknesses of each com pany’s plan. We find that neither NTPC’s nor Tata Power’s current greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets align with science-based net-ze ro targets. NTPC’s plan to reduce its GHG emissions intensity by only 3% by 2022 and 17% by 2032 is nowhere close to Enel’s short-term emissions reduction target of 64% by 2023 and 80% by 2030. Similarly, Tata Power’s emissions reduction target of 12% and 20% by 2026 and 2030, respectively, are well below the science-based emissions reduction target. On the other hand, the clean energy deployment targets of both companies are ambitious, but there is no investment plan to achieve the massive renewable energy deployment targets. We recommend that both companies should establish their formal sustainability-linked finance (SLF, see Appendix 1) framework as done by Enel and many other global peers. The SLF should have science-based GHG emissions reduction targets and financing strategies aligned with these targets. A credible SLF can help the companies to unlock new avenues of capital by raising green or sustainability-linked debt instruments (see Appendix 2).
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India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a much-awaited announcement at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, commonly referred to as COP26, in Glasgow – the country will reach net-zero emissions by 2070. The commitment went much further than those at COP21 in 2015. India, the thirdlargest energy consumer globally, has to cut fossil fuel use for the world to truly begin a low-carbon future. As a result, despite some criticism, Modi’s announcement is considered one of the most important outcomes of COP26. Modi also announced an ambitious Rs100 trillion (US$1.35 trillion) national infrastruc ture plan in his 2021 Independence Day speech. The plan aims to make India energy independent by 2047 by cutting reliance on imported fossil fuels and expanding the use of cleaner fuels. The problem, however, is that the transition to a net-zero economy requires US$10.1 trillion. Of this amount, decarbonisation of the energy sector requires US$8.4 trillion, or 83% of the total investment, according to the think tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW). The study finds that India will face an investment gap of US$3.5 trillion and needs US$1.4 trillion of support until 2070 to mobilise the capital necessary to bridge the gap. Hence, India needs foreign private capital to decarbonise its energy sector to achieve energy independence.
Source: ieefa
Power is a low-hanging sector to decarbonise as there are many proven technologically and commercially vi able solutions. In addition, new financing instruments, such as green and sustainability-linked bonds and loans, are available to support companies that are genuinely transitioning to a low-carbon business model. The chal lenge, however, is that heightened transparency and greenwashing risks have led many foreign investors to scrutinize corporate transition plans and the actions against pledges of green or sustainability-linked debt issuers. Some have shunned issuances and issuers, in some cases, that do not meet their standards. Fossil fu els dominate India’s power sector with ~60% of the total capacity mix. While it may seem challenging for Indian power companies to prove their seriousness in decar bonising, it is not impossible. The nation can achieve its goals of clean energy installation and energy indepen dence if India’s fossil fuel majors, such as NTPC and Tata Power, take credible steps to become clean energy companies. To do so, NTPC and Tata Power need to explain how they plan to adapt their busi ness models to transition to a low-carbon fu ture, establish ambitious targets and illustrate how they will finance such plans. While both companies have published plans to decarbo nise, they appear less ambitious than their global peers. Further, the targets in the plans seem not as credible as their international counterparts. The two Indian companies also need a clear outcome-based financing frame work to quash any doubts about implement ing their strategy.
INDIA’S JULY FUEL DEMAND RISES 6.1% YEAR-ON-YEAR, REVEALS MINISTRY DATA
India’s fuel demand in July rose 6.1% yearon-year, data from the Petroleum Plan ning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry showed. Consumption of fuel, a proxy for oil demand, totalled 17.62 mil lion tonnes in July, down 5.7% from 18.68 million tonnes in June. It has been indigenously designed, developed and manufactured in India by its long-time business part ner Visaka Industries Limited, a public listed compa ny with its headquarters in Hyderabad. ATUM is cer tified by UL Labs in the USA. ‘With its long-lasting lifespan, ATUM is the smartest solar roofing solution of the lot. It costs the same as laying a traditional roof and having solar panels installed on top of them. It is also a hassle-free job as ATUM generates optimum power while utilising maximum space of the solar cell,” said Bhatia. Bhatia said that the first ATUM project was initiated with Sharjah Investment Author ity for the construction of a new mosque at Khrofak kan beach. The project is fully operational now.
PTI Source: PTI
An India-made integrated solar roofing system has received approval from Dubai’s Electricity and Water Author ity as a part of the local initiative to make the UAE sustainable and ecofriendly, the company behind the product has said.
Sales of gasoline, or petrol, were 6.8% higher from a year earlier at 2.81 million tonnes. Gaso line and gas oil sales by Indian state refiners in July fell from a month earlier as monsoon rains restricted mobility and construction work while high inflation curtailed overall demand for goods, per preliminary sales data. Cooking gas or lique fied petroleum gas (LPG) sales increased 1.7% to 2.41 million tonnes, while naphtha sales fell 6.2% to 1.14 million tonnes. Sales of bitumen, used for making roads, were up 1.4%, while fuel oil use edged up 19.8% in July.
“India’s fuel demand outlook is improving as the economy is poised for a strong bounce back in consumption and continued momentum for the services sector,” said Edward Moya, senior analyst with OANDA.
Yash Bhatia- Director of Uncle’s Shop said that the company is happy to be a part of the local initiative to make the UAE sustainable and eco-friendly with new innovations and technologies in the solar industry.
“Fuel demand is softer than the prior month as higher prices are starting to impact demand…with the rupee at a historically low level, the country will struggle if oil prices continue to rebound.”
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Uncle’s Shop Building Material Trading, one of the oldest business establish ments in Dubai by the Indian-origin Bhatia family, said the product will open doors to a new technology in the solar industry.
Uncle’s Shop Building Material Trading, one of the oldest business establishments in Dubai by the Indianorigin Bhatia family, said the product will open doors to a new technology in the solar industry. The com pany was established in 1922. ATUM is an integrated solar roofing system that serves all the functions of a traditional roof whilst generating energy. It is also an aesthetic roofing solution as it is integrated into a roofing cement panel. It can withstand above 200+ kilometre per hour and can withstand hail and snow.
INDIA-MADE INTEGRATED SOLAR ROOFING SYSTEM GETS DUBAI AUTHORITY NOD
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Consumption of fuel, a proxy for oil demand, totalled 17.62 million tonnes in July, down 5.7% from 18.68 million tonnes in June
ATUM generates 375W per unit and is a patented product. It is an extremely sleek 17 mm roof with a weight of 46 kg per unit and a guaranteed performance,” Bhatia said.
According to the energy department officials, the government will open separate accounts that would be restricted only to make payments to the discoms and there would be no possibility to withdraw any amount from the accounts or adjust by banks under any other dues.
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PIL, part of the Raipur-based Hira Group of Industries, manufactures long products of steel, mainly steel wire. It also produces sponge iron, billets, ferro alloys, among others. According to the filing, the power generated from the plant will be captively consumed to meet the enhanced electricity requirement for its integrated steel plant, helping reduce the high cost energy be ing purchased from state discoms.
“Farmers do not need to pay a single paisa from their pockets. The government will deposit the entire electricity bill amount in the accounts of farmers. The farmers will in turn pay to the discoms. This will give the farmers a right to question the power utilities over qualitative power. This will certainly enhance the accountability and responsibility among the power utilities,” said Ramachandra Reddy.
GODAWARI POWER & ISPAT BEGINS COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS AT 70 MW CAPTIVE SOLAR PLANT IN VISAKHAPATNAM:CHHATTISGARH
The plant began commercial operations, GPIL said in a regulatory filing. “…the 70 MWP captive solar PV power plant at Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh has been commissioned and duly synchronised with the grid and charged on August 6, 2022…,” it said.
“Farmers are quite happy about the scheme as more than 97 percent of the farmers have given their consent. This is a major development towards strengthening the energy sector. The state government will continue the free power scheme for the agriculture sector for the next 30 years. For this, the AP government entered into an agreement with the Solar Energy Corporation of India for pur chasing 7,000 MW power exclusively for free power scheme,” said the state energy minister.
STATE SAVE 33 MU POWER IN AGRICULTURE SECTOR
Godawari Power & Ispat Ltd (GPIL) said its 70 MW captive solar power plant in Chhattisgarh has commenced commercial operations.
DIRECT BENEFIT TRANSFER HELPS
After the introduction of the DBT scheme in the 2021-22 financial year, the number of connections increased to 28,393 in Srikakulam. But the con sumption was limited to 67.86 MU, saving 33.75 MU for the energy department. Several states in the country are already implementing the DBT scheme by installing meters for the agricultural connections. Under the DBT scheme, the state gov ernment will deposit the entire amount towards the electricity bill in the accounts of the farmers. This will be done based on the power consumption re ports submitted by the power utilities. State energy minister Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy said that even though Andhra Pradesh has decided to imple ment the DBT scheme as part of reforms initiated by the Union government, the state government has taken all necessary steps to protect the interests of farmers.
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Source: PTI
The direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme for the agricultural electricity connections was launched in Srikakulam district on a pilot basis about a year ago. The 26,083 agricultural connections consumed about 101 million units of electricity in the 2020-21 financial year.
Source: PTI
NAVITAS SOLAR, ONE OF THE LEADING SOLAR MODULE MANUFACTURER, HAS BEEN NAMED AS THE “PRIDE OF GUJARAT”
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The event took place in Ahmedabad on July 30th, 2022. Vineet Mittal, Sunay Shah, Ankit Singhania, Aditya Sing hania, and Saurabh Aggarwal, the founders of Navitas Solar, were rec ognized for their contributions towards India’s sus tainable energy initiative. The award was handed to Vineet Mittal, Co-founder and Director and Sau rabh Aggarwal, Head of Taxation and Logistics at Navitas Solar. The Surat-based company has pre viously received numerous awards for its achieve ments in accelerating global solar power adoption. Some of the key awards they have received in clude Annual MSME Excellence & Sustainability Awards in Manufacturing Sector by Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industries (BCC&i) and EQ’s Leading MSME Indian Module Manufacturer of the Year. Navitas Solar, established in 2013 by five passion ate individuals – Vineet Mittal, Sunay Shah, Ankit Singhania, Aditya Singhania and Saurabh Aggarwal – is one of India’s leading solar modules manufactur ers. They specialize in the production of monocrys talline and polycrystalline solar modules. Backward integration is provided by its subsidiary company called Navitas Alpha Renewables Pvt. Ltd. (NAR PL), which manufactures EVA Sheets, while forward integration is provided by project execution & fullfledged EPC services for residential, commercial and industrial clients on rooftop as well as open access solar parks. It is ranked amongst the top 10 Indian solar manufacturers by JMK Research & Analytics. Currently, the organization employs over 300 people across diverse domains. They also serve over 700 customers nationwide, including government, semigovernment, and commercial enterprises.
Navitas Green Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (Navitas Solar), a company specializing in the manufacturing of high efficiency mono PERC and polycrystalline solar modules, has been awarded the “Pride of Gujarat” at an event organized by News 18 Group and the award was handed over by the honorable Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Bhupendra Patel. This award recognizes the contributions of company who have done remarkable work in their respective fields.
“Hindalco Managing Director Satish Pai said the agreement with Greenko is a significant step towards reducing our carbon footprint. “We are guided by our long-term commitment of becoming net carbon-neutral by 2050.”
“Greenko’s CEO and Managing Director Anil Kumar Cha lamalasetty said that the company firmly believes clean energy sources backed with competitive and proven stor age technologies like hydro pump storage projects offer a competitive, reliable and sustainable alternative to con sumers to support their decarbonisation journey.
Source: PTI
“Hindalco Industries Limited and Greenko Energies Private Limited have entered into a commercial arrangement to set up a renewable energy (RE) project for supply of 100 MW round-the-clock carbon free power. The arrangement covers the development of 375-400 MW of solar and wind capacity,” it said.
As part of the agreement, Greenko said it will design, construct, partly own and operate the solar and wind facilities. The company will also make available appropriate storage capacity from its hydro pump storage project in Pinnapuram, Andhra Pradesh to ensure continuous power supply.
The project will be set up as a captive generation facility under a 25-year offtake arrangement to sup ply power to Hindalco’s Aditya aluminium smelter in Odisha, enabling reduction of CO2 emissions by 6,80,000 tonnes annually, Greenko said without shar ing any financial details of the deal. According to Greenko, aluminium smelting requires reliable and continuous power. Hindalco will also be the first alu minium company in India to use such round-the-clock carbon-free power for smelting.
Greenko Group and aluminium maker Hindalco Industries have entered into an agreement to set up a green energy project that will have a capacity of 375 MW-400 MW in Odisha Renewable energy company Green ko Group and aluminium maker Hindalco Industries have entered into an agreement to set up a green energy project that will have a ca pacity of 375 MW-400 MW in Odisha. The proj ect, which will have wind and solar capacity, will supply power to Hindalco’s aluminium smelter in Odisha, Greenko said in a statement.
32 EQ AUGUST 2022 www.EQMagPro.com BUSINESS & FINANCE
Hindalco Industries, a part of Aditya Birla Group, is the world’s largest aluminium company by revenues.
GREENKO TO DEVELOP 400 MW RE CAPACITY FOR ALUMINIUMHINDALCO’SSMELTER
RENEW POWER PARTNERS WITH HSBC INDIA TO PROVIDE SOLAR POWER AND CLIMATE EDUCATION TO 75 SCHOOLS
Grant of ~ ₹150 million over two years. Will set up 75 digital labs for students.
“Speaking on the project, Vaishali Sinha, Chief Sustainability Offi cer, ReNew, said, “The program’s objective is to enhance access to learning, including digital educa tion, and create practical awareness about the importance of fighting climate change for a better, greener and cleaner future for India. It will provide the children with better facilities for their modern educational “needs.
ReNew Power (ReNew) (NASDAQ: RNW, RNWWW), India’s leading re newable energy company, has joined hands with HSBC India to electrify 75 schools across three states through solar energy and pioneer sustainability and climate curriculum in these schools to educate children about climate change and its adverse impacts. The program will also set up digital labs in each of the schools.
This partnership comes at the back of another initiative, ‘Project Surya,’ where ReNew is work ing with its partners to train ~ 1,000 women salt pan workers as solar panel and solar pump tech nicians to improve their lives and livelihoods and bring them into the clean energy transition.
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To introduce climate change and sustainability curriculum covering 35,000 children.
HSBC India, for its part, has been engaging with its non-profit partners focusing on energy transi tion across sectors such as healthcare and dairy cold chain. These targeted interventions aim to provide solutions to safeguard the planet through research, innovation, advocacy, and climate-re silient practices. The ReNew Power-HSBC India partnership aims to scale sustainability from the ground up by empowering communities to im prove their lives and build understanding of the impacts of climate change.
Partnership to electrify rural schools across Rajasthan, Gujarat and Karnataka with solar power.
Highlighting the significance of the partnership, Aloka Majumdar, Head of Corporate Sustainability, HSBC India, said, “Education is a critical enabler of the rural ecosys tem. Our partnership with ReNew is a step towards building better infrastructure for schools by providing access to electricity through renewable sources. As part of our larger sustainability efforts towards en abling the energy transition and combat ing climate change, we’re excited about the prospect of introducing a sustainabilityfo cused curriculum for students. We’re com mitted to furthering the energy shift to address multiple objectives of improving energy access for the population, enhanc ing quality of life, and conserving our natu ral resources.” Educating young people about sustainability and climate change is key as they will be the future warriors against global warming and preserving our beautiful planet. Our curriculum is very much in sync with our Hon’ble Prime Minis ter’s powerful call for a LiFE (Lifestyle for the Environment) movement, which promotes an environmentally conscious lifestyle for all ages. We are proud to partner with a socially responsible business such as HSBC India for this initiative,” Vaishali added.
Eyeing massive growth in the Indian renewables industry
Enhanced retail presence across India will complement its institutional sales business
34 EQ AUGUST 2022 www.EQMagPro.com BUSINESS & FINANCE ADANI SOLAR STRENGTHENS ITS RETAIL FOOTPRINTS IN MAHA -
On the retail front, Mr. Bhutiani added, “Adani Solar will target 50% market share. We look forward to achieving higher reach and visibility for our product nationally by increasing power consumption through alternative forms of energy like solar energy.”
Roofsol Energy Pvt. Ltd., as the authorized channel partner of Adani Solar, will be responsible for all the solar retail requirements in the region.”
Expanded footprint to more than 2,500 towns in India with expansion in Maharashtra
Adani
Adani Solar brings sustainable energy solutions to the retail consumer in Maharashtra
Mr. Rahul Bhutiani, Head – Sales & Marketing, Adani Solar, said, “We are delighted to partner with Roofsol Energy Pvt. Ltd. in the retail distribution space. The Indian renewable energy sector has witnessed tremendous success in the installation and supply of solar power. As India transitions towards sustainable energy through decarbonization of the grid, we aim to bring power solutions via solar panel distribution to customers at competitive rates in Maharashtra, which has an immense solar energy potential. Additionally, this region has enormous investment opportunities in renewable energy.
RASHTRA PARTNERS WITH ROOFSOL ENERGY FOR RETAIL DISTRIBUTION OF SOLAR PANELS
Solar, the Adani Group’s solar manu facturing arm, to day announced the expansion of its re tail distribution business for India’s Maharashtra state with Roofsol En ergy Pvt. Ltd., as the official channel partner for the region. Adani Solar has now extended its reach to more than 2,500 towns for the distribu tion of solar panels in India. Through this partnership with Roofsol Energy Pvt. Ltd., Adani Solar aims to rap idly penetrate and capitalize on Ma harashtra state’s renewable energy market. This will be a step towards facilitating the switch to sustainable solar power solutions at an economi cal rate, a change that is expected to greatly benefit residential consumers and commercial establishments in the region. Maharashtra government is promoting solar power installa tions across the state through Roof top, C&I as well as the KUSUM seg ments. Installation of Adani Solar’s off-grid panels will help consumers mitigate the risks of power-cuts while its on-grid panels will assist in re ducing electricity costs. Adani Solar envisages an opportunity of 1.5 GW within these segments in the region. The target customers are predomi nantly in the rooftop, utility-scale, residential, commercial & industrial (C&I), and solar pump segments. Adani Solar has rapidly expanded its retail presence across the country. Through its retail channel partners, the company has a sizeable presence in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, West Bengal, Odisha, As sam, Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Naga land, and Tripura.Adani Solar continues to be a market leader in the segment and is the only manufacturer with IEC 61215:2021 certification in all SKUs. With solar power being the fastest grow ing and the most preferred source of sustainable electricity gen eration, the Government of India has increased the clean energy targets and is providing the necessary ecosystem for local manu facturing to flourish.
Sanjay Dubey, Chairperson, RUMSL, said: “This project will not only utilize the latest technology to generate renewable energy but also benefit from the inherent advantages of floating solar.”
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AMP ENERGY TO SUPPLY 100 MW SOLAR POWER TO REWA ULTRA MEGA SOLAR LTD
mp Energy India (AEI) is developing the project on build own operate and transfer (BOOT) basis.
RUMSL is a joint ven ture of Solar Energy Corporation of In dia (SECI) and Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd. It has been designated as a solar power park developer in Madhya Pradesh by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
Pinaki Bhattacharyya, Managing Director and CEO, Amp Energy India, said, “We believe that floating solar projects can play an important role in achieving India’s renewable energy targets given the quantum and magnitude of water reservoirs in the country.” The floating solar project is under BOOT model for a fixed tariff of Rs 3.21 per unit for 25 years. It will generate about 198 million units (MUs) of green energy per year.
In a statement on Friday, AEI said it has “inked a power purchase agreement (PPA) with RUMSL for 100 MW capacity.”
Amp Energy India has inked a power purchase agreement with Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Ltd (RUMSL) to supply 100 MW electricity from its floating solar project coming up at Omkareshwar reservoir in Madhya Pradesh.
36 EQ AUGUST 2022 www.EQMagPro.com BUSINESS & FINANCE
ADD SPECIALTY
India’s largest state-owned natural gas processing and distribution company also sought to amend the Memorandum of Association (MoA) to allow entry into new business areas. It wants to diversify into the specialty chemicals business, explore the pos sibility of taking equity in energy exchange and pur sue acquisitions in solar glass and module manufac turing besides setting up of wind, and solar power plants, including Round The Clock power genera tion through storage system. The company wants to set up ethanol manufacturing plants to produce green fuel from biomass that can be mixed with pet rol. The firm is also keen to enter the green hydro gen business as well as diversify into providing risk management services for its customers, the share holders’ notice said.
GAIL (India) Ltd wants to double its share capital as well as add specialty chemicals and clean energy to its line of business as it looks to diversify busi ness beyond natural gas transmission and distribution.
DIVERSIFICATION PLANS
GREEN HYDROGEN
AIL has sought shareholder approval to increase the authorised share capi tal of the company to ₹10,000 crore from the current ₹5,000 crore to help raise finance for its expansion plans over the next 3-4 years. The firm is laying natural gas truck pipelines to create a national gas grid as well as expand city gas distribution as part of the government’s target of more than doubling the share of natural gas in the primary energy basket to 15 per cent by 2030. “GAIL is having a capex plan of ap proximately₹30,000 crore in next 3-4 years. These projects will be funded partly through internal re sources and partly through debt, which may also in clude the equity route,” the firm said in a notice to shareholders. Further, the company may also look at issuing bonus equity shares to its shareholders, it said.
GAIL has already awarded a contract aimed at set ting up one of the largest Proton Exchange Mem brane (PEM) electrolyzers in the country to produce green hydrogen by the end of 2023. It will produce around 4.3 tonnes of hydrogen per day (about 10 megawatts capacity) with a purity of about 99.99 per cent. GAIL said the project would be installed at the company’s Vijaipur Complex, in the Guna district of Madhya Pradesh, and would be operated on renewable power. Earlier this year, GAIL kicked off the nation’s first project for blending hydrogen into the natural gas system. Hydrogen-blended natural gas is being supplied to one of the company’s joint ventures – Avantika Gas Ltd (AGL) which re tails CNG to automobiles and piped cooking gas to households in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The green push is part of the government’s ambitious target for ramping up India’s non-fossil fuel energy capacity to 500 gigawatts by 2030 and meeting 50 per cent of the nation’s energy requirements from renewable sources.
Source: PTI
GAIL TO DOUBLE SHARE CAPITAL; CHEMICALS, CLEAN ENERGY TO BUSINESS
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Azure Power Global Limited, a leading independent sustainable energy solutions provider and renewable power producer in India, announced that it has signed a Master Supply Agreement (“MSA”) with Siemens Gamesa Renewable Power Private Limited (“Siemens Gamesa”), a global leader in wind technology. Siemens Gamesa will supply 96 units of SG 3.6-145 onshore wind turbines which will cater to an overall capacity of ~346 MW wind projects. The turbine supply is expected to commence during Q2 CY 2023.
“Navin Dewaji, CEO, Siemens GamesaIndia said, “We are delighted to begin this new partnership with Azure Power on this large-scale project using our latest India focused technology. The contract provides new impetus to the wind in dustry at a key juncture in the country’s energy transition. Teams from both companies have worked relentlessly over the last few months to secure maximum value for the project. With this new joint approach, alongside our technological innovation, we are confident of delivering the right renewable energy solutions to the market.”
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POWERAZURE TIES UP GAMESASIEMENSWITH FOR SUPPLY TURBINESWINDONSHOREOF
“Speaking on the part nership, Harsh Shah, CEO, Azure Power said, “We are pleased to partner with Siemens Gamesa in our first wind proj ect. Wind energy is going to be an imperative element for delivering firm, reliable and clean energy to achieve the energy transition vision of the country. This partnership will create long-term supply visibility while securing sustainable value for our stakeholders.”
MP GOVT AIMS TO GENERATE EXTRA 20,000 MW OF GREEN POWER BY 2030 THROUGH RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
In addition, the project will bring many benefits to the people of Madhya Pradesh such as a reduction of about 12 lakh tons of carbon emission in meeting the energy demand, saving of about 1200 hectares of precious land that may find utility in agriculture or other industry for boosting the state economy. No need for land has effectively eliminated the requirement of displacing the people from their natural habitat, which is quite pleasant from the social point of view, the official added. “In ground-mounted solar projects, underground water is used to clean the solar panel. However, in the floating solar project, water from the reservoir will be used for cleaning purposes which would flow back into the reservoir, leading to virtually no loss of water besides saving the valuable groundwater,” the official explained. In addition to saving groundwater, it will be possible to save the reservoir water from evaporation from the floating solar project. “Due to low evaporation, there will be an annual saving of about 32.4 million cubic meters of wa ter. This amount of water saving is almost enough to meet the daily demand of water for a city like Indore for up to 112 days,” the official added.
We have set a target to produce an additional 20,000 MW of green power by 2030 through renewable energy sources in the state for supplying it to other states, Madhya Pradesh energy and renewable energy department’s principal secretary, Sanjay Dubey, told PTI.
Madhya Pradesh has set an ambitious target of generating an additional 20,000 Megawatt (MW) of green power by 2030 through renewable energy sources, including setting up of a solar plant in the Chambal region once notori ous for dacoits, and supplying it to other states. The state currently produces 5,500 MW of green energy through various renewable power sources and a ma jor part of it is sourced through solar power. Megawatts are used to measure the output of a pow er plant or the amount of electricity required by an entire city. Dubey said under a hybrid facility, both solar panels and windmills are established to gener ate green energy by taking advantage of Sun rays as well as wind velocity by taking the advantage of both mediums. Similarly, under the Kusum Scheme, small renewable energy plants are being set up by farmers and others for generating 2-3 MW of green power, the senior official said. “This will turn them (farm ers) from producers of traditional food grains into de velopers of clean energy which will also supplement their income,” he said. The state government is also setting up a 1,400 MW solar energy power plant in the Chambal region in the Morena district. This re gion was earlier ill-famous for bandits, but now the Chambal expressway and the solar power plant are coming up in this area as part of the government’s development plans. Dubey said the govern ment is also planning to establish a solar power plant in the vast Chambal ravines which will be implemented in the next few years. Referring to the Omkareshwar Floating Solar Project, he said that it was Madhya Pradesh’s first, India’s largest and one of the biggest floating solar power plants in the world. Under the first phase, 278 MW of power will be generated for which a Memoran dum of Understanding (MoU) was inked recently. The floating solar project is being implemented under the ‘Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Power Parks Scheme (UMREPP). The entire 600 MW of power generated from the Omkareshwar Floating Solar Project will be procured by the state discoms (distribution companies) through the Madhya Pradesh Power Management Company (MPPM CL), an official associated with the project said. The first phase of the 278 MW capacity of this project is proposed to be completed by September 2023. The Omkareshwar project would be one of the multi-purpose projects in India wherein apart from the existing utilities such as irrigation and hydropower generation, solar energy will also be generated along with the promotion of tourism, the official said.
”Besides, in the next three-four years, the government has set a target to generate 10,000 MW of green power by establishing the 1,500 MW capacity Agar-Shajapur-Neemuch solar park, 600 MW Omkareshwar floating solar power plant, which is among the world’s biggest such facility, 750 MW hybrid project, 950 MW hybrid storage Chattarpur project, 500 MW Kusum-A and 1,250 MW Kusum-C projects will be implemented among others,” he said.
38 EQ AUGUST 2022 www.EQMagPro.com RENEWABLE ENERGY
Source: PTI
The state currently produces 5,500 MW of green energy through various renewable power sources and a major part of it is sourced through solar power.
At Aurora, we are producing lowcost hydrogen at the point of use, at the exact scale required, and without generating any CO2, said Andrew Gillis, CEO, Aurora Hydrogen.
Hydrogen’s founding team is made up of Andrew Gillis, PhD, MBA, P.Eng, Erin Bobicki, PhD, P.Eng, and Murray Thomson, PhD, P.Eng.
urora Hydrogen, a company devel oping emission-free, hydrogen pro duction technology, has raised $10M USD in Series A funding led by En ergy Innovation Capital. Participating investors include Williams, Shell Ventures, Chevron Technology Ventures and the George Kaiser Family Foundation. This funding adds to additional funding by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) that the team received earlier this year.
Additionally, Aurora uses 80% less electricity than elec trolysis, the conventional method of producing clean hydro gen, requiring far less electrical generation capacity per kg of hydrogen. And, unlike electrolysis, the process does not require water as a feedstock, preserving another critical and scarce resource.
Energy Innovation Capital invests in innovative companies commercial izing technology for clean, abun dant and affordable energy for all, said Christopher Smith, managing director, Energy Innovation Capi tal. “Aurora’s novel and thermody namically sound approach has the opportunity to decarbonize the current carbon intensive hydrogen industry and lead the commercialization of new low-carbon hydrogen applications. The team at Aurora is uniquely positioned to produce hydrogen in one of the fastest, most economical and cleanest ways ever seen on the market.”
“We use existing energy pipelines and distribution systems to move the energy, then produce hydrogen where it’s needed, eliminating the need for any new costly hydrogen transportation infrastructure.”
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The recent funding will be used to build and operate a 200 kg-H2/day demonstration plant for field trials in Edmonton, Canada. Current hydro gen production is either expensive and distributed or low-cost and centralized, requiring additional costs to transport. Aurora’s technology has the potential to unlock many new hydrogen markets and applications by providing low-cost hydrogen at the point of use, fast-tracking the path to de carbonization in heavy transportation, residential and commercial heating, and many industrial processes.Aurora
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Andrew has spent over a decade in the develop ment, scale-up, and commercialization of clean technology in the natural resource industry; Erin is a world-leading expert in novel applications of microwave energy for industrial processes; and Murray is a world-leading expert in thermo fluid reactions with a focus on combustion and pyroly sis.
As the world looks to quickly decarbonize transportation and industry, hydrogen demand is expected to increase dramatically, from $130B today to $2.5T in 2025, according to the Hydrogen Council. There is an urgent need to develop new low-cost and low-carbon technologies for hydrogen production. Aurora Hydrogen is scaling their proprietary and highly efficient microwave pyrolysis technology to produce hydrogen and solid carbon without generating CO2 emissions or consuming water. Aurora’s technology is highly scalable, with units that can supply a broad range of applications from distributed fueling to hydrogen injection and industrial processes. Hydrogen production from the Aurora technology has the potential to significantly reduce global CO2 emissions by over 900 million tonnes per year.
AURORA HYDROGEN RAISES $10M TO DEVELOP EMISSION-FREE, LOW-COST HYDROGEN TECHNOLOGY
Energy Innovation Capital, Williams, Shell Ventures and Chevron Technology Ventures Invest to Help Unlock One of the Cleanest and Most Economical Forms of Hydrogen Production
DOESN’T LIVE UP TO THE HYPE
40 EQ AUGUST 2022 www.EQMagPro.com TECHNOLOGY CARBON CAPTURE’S METHANE PROBLEM: NEW REPORT SHOWS TECHNOLOGY
The Enchant project provides a good opportunity to review the effectiveness of carbon capture due to the publicly available data on the production and emissions at both the plant and the mine, said David Schlissel, IEEFA director of resource planning analysis and co-author of the report. “The Enchant project also highlights the limited investor interest in carbon capture with the company already acknowledging that it is seeking $1 billion from the federal government to underwrite the projects.”
“The findings in this study can reasonably be applied to other carbon capture projects including those from oth er coal plants, from gas-fired plants and from proposed blue hydrogen projects,” Schlissel said.
IEEFA’S ANALYSIS CONCLUDES THAT: Even if Enchant captures 90% of the CO2 pro duced by San Juan, the combined CO2-equivalent (CO2e) capture rate for both the mine and the plant would be only 68%. In this scenario, the project would continue to emit almost 3 million tons of CO2 annually. If Enchant were able to capture only 75% of the CO2 produced by San Juan, the effective capture rate for both the mine and the plant would be 57%. If Enchant were able to capture only 65% of the CO2 produced by San Juan, the effective capture rate for both the mine and the plant would be 49%.
Source: ieefa
For example, in the case of a gas-fired genera tor, even if a 90% capture rate is achieved over the long-term, there are still likely to be significant methane leaks during production of the natural gas and its transportation to the generator, as well as from CO2 pipelines and the underground storage facility.
Life cycle analysis of proposed New Mexico carbon capture and sequestration project shows 90% or higher capture is a myth Enchant Energy’s claims about the effi ciency of a carbon capture installation at the San Juan Generating Station in New Mexico are exaggerated An IEEFA analysis finds the effective carbon di oxide capture rate at San Juan — after including its mine emissions — would be no more than 72%, not the 90% that Enchant claims. Enchant acknowledges there is little investor interest in its carbon capture project and it will be asking for $1 billion from the federal government, August 1, 2022 (IEEFA)— As companies continue to tout the benefits of carbon cap ture technology and the Department of Energy (DOE) invests heavily in carbon capture projects, a new re port from the Institute for Energy Economics and Fi nancial Analysis (IEEFA) highlights that the prom ises of carbon capture may be even more out of reach than initially imagined. The study looks at life cycle emissions at the proposed Enchant Energy retrofit of the San Juan Generating Station in New Mexico, and estimates the overall carbon capture rate from both the power plant and the mine that provides its coal would be no more than 72%, and could be signifi cantly lower. Companies continually promise a cap ture rate of 95%. Despite the sharp rise in the number of proposed carbon capture projects, few studies have looked at the full life cycle of emissions. The IEEFA report does just that, providing a clear picture of the shortcomings of carbon capture.
This is the third time the company is hosting the competition. Start-ups, with the specialty in battery related technology, can take part in this year’s Battery Challenge. This year’s program largely focuses on three major categories: battery technologies on materials, management and control, and smart factory. As many as 10 start-ups will be selected as finalists and each will re ceive funding as well as opportunity for cooperation with LGES.
By utilizing programs like Battery Challenge and Open Innovation, LGES aims to maintain its leading position in the battery industry, said Youngjoon Shin, CTO of LG Energy Solution. “LGES will continue to expand battery-related research with promising start-ups as well as distinguished scholars and academic organizations around the world.”
LG Energy Solution (LGES; 373220) continues its efforts to foster next genera tion battery technologies by inviting start-ups in the industry. The battery manufacturer said it is hosting the ‘LGES Battery Chal lenge 2022,’ an international competi tion to identify start-ups for potential investment and collaboration. Through the program, LGES is bringing together up and coming battery start-ups to keep pace with the fast-developing industry, as growing number of economies transi tion to renewable energy.
LG ENERGY SOLUTION BRINGS IN START-UPS TO FOSTER NEXT
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GENERATION BATTERY TECHNOLOGY
LG Energy Solution to host ‘LGES Battery Challenge 2022’ seeking start-ups with battery related technology to fund cutting-edge research in battery sector. Through international competition, LGES aims to maintain leadership in battery industry
CAN THERMAL STORAGE FIRE UP THE NET-ZERO TRANSITION?
The inauguration of these facilities heralds a comingof-age for the burgeoning thermal storage industry – just one of a number of energy storage solutions that are both competing and collaborating to play an essential and underplayed role in the clean energy transition: serving as a backstop for the variability of wind and solar power.
After almost a decade in incubation, thermal energy storage is finally coming of age to play its long-fated role in the net-zero transition.
42 EQ AUGUST 2022 www.EQMagPro.com ENERGY STORAGE
At the beginning of July, the 13,000 resi dents of Kankaanpää, a remote town in south-west Finland, bore witness to what could be an important landmark in the global search for year-round green en ergy. At the Vatajankoski power plant, Finnish clean tech company Polar Night Energy (PNE) installed the world’s first “sand battery”, a thermal energy storage facility that can store clean energy for months at a time. The high-tech storage tank essentially uses cheap elec tricity from solar and wind to heat up sand, which then stores the heat at around 500°C, which can be used to warm local buildings in the winter months when ener gy is at its most costly. By chance, at almost exactly the same time, 1,500km to the south, the bleary-eyed hipsters of Berlin were witnessing an almost identical landmark: Swedish utility Vattenfall began filling up a 45m-high, 200MW thermal energy facility with 56 mil lion litres of water, which will be heated at 98°C and employed to heat the city as part of Vattenfall’s existing Reuter West combined heat and power plant.
Having woken up to the havoc fossil fuels are reaping on the climate, the world is scrambling to switch to low-carbon sources of energy as fast as the economic tanker can turn. The best candidates to fill the vacuum are wind and solar, but despite the vast strides both have made over recent years in terms of cost and performance, a fundamental problem remains: the wind does not always blow, nor the sun always shine. A power grid that relies on these fluctuating re sources will struggle to constantly match supply and demand, and renewable energy will often be wasted because it is produced when it is not needed.
STORING POWER FOR HARDER TIMES
Of the world’s current LDES capacity, 94% derives from pumped hydro dams, which move water between two reservoirs through a pump or turbine to store or pro duce power. However, many believe there are limits to how much more pumped hydro can be installed globally due to its geographical requirements, particularly in less mountainous countries. In Kankaanpää, PNE says its facility will keep sand at 500°C for several months. When energy prices are high er, the facility will dispense hot air to warm water for the district heating system, which is then pumped around lo cal homes, offices and even a swimming pool.
“The heating can be done using different energy sources such as electricity, hydrogen or waste heat,” adds van Gendt. “In the context of energy system decarbonisation, we most often consider using excess renewable electricity, but the spectrum of relevant solutions is much broader.”
One of the main solutions to this pesky conundrum is long-duration energy storage (LDES) technologies. These work by accumulating energy when supply ex ceeds demand – on a particularly sunny or windy day, for example – and dispensing it in the opposite scenario, such as at night or in winter.
In Berlin, once opened in 2023, Vattenfall’s tower will feed its hot water directly into the district heating network. The facility will also integrate heat from other industrial processes such as the city’s cleaning department or heat from wastewater. Equipped with a maximum thermal output of 200MW that can discharge for up to 13 hours, the tank could potentially also connect with other renewable heat sources such as a large-scale heat pump. When com pared with other LDES technologies, thermal storage has several things going for it. Firstly, the conversion process relies on convention al components, such as heat exchangers and compressors, that are already widely used in the power and processing industries, meaning the facilities are easier and quicker to build than many alternatives.
THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE
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The thermal energy storage technology used in the Berlin and Kankaanpää pilot projects works by turning electric ity into heat using a heat pump, which is then stored in a hot material such as water or sand inside an insulated tank. When required, the heat is distributed for heating purposes or turned back into electricity using a heat en gine. The latter conversions are done with thermody namic cycles, the same physical principles used to run refrigerators, car engines or thermal power plants.
The storage tanks themselves can be filled by a variety of abundant and cheap materials such as gravel, molten salts, water or sand, which, unlike battery materials, pose no dan ger to the environment. Thermal storage plants can also be deployed anywhere and can be scaled up to meet the grid’s storage requirements. Other LDES technologies are limited to specific geographies: pumped hydro requires mountains and valleys able to hold vast reservoirs, and compressed air energy storage is dependent on large subterranean caverns. Thermal storage also has a greater energy density (the amount of energy stored in a given volume) than pumped hydro: for example, 1kg of water stored at 100°C can provide ten times the electricity of 1kg of water stored at a height of 500m in a pumped hydro facility. This means less space is required for a thermal facility, reducing its environmental footprint. The technology is long-lasting, with its components able to function effectively for de cades without replacement. Batteries, on the other hand, degrade over time and may need to be re placed. Finally, the cost of thermal storage appears to compare favourably with other storage technolo gies, although this will not be known for certain until the technology matures and becomes fully com mercialised.
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LDES is any technology that can be deployed to store energy for prolonged periods and that can be scaled up to sustain electricity or heat provision, for multiple hours, days or even weeks, and has the potential to significantly contribute to the decarbonisation of the economy,” explains Godart van Gendt, a senior expert in McKinsey’s Sustainability and Electric Power & Natural Gas practices. “Energy storage can be achieved through very different approaches, including mechanical, thermal, electrochemical or chemical storage.”
However, thermal storage does have drawbacks. Even though the tech nology’s efficiency – how much the charged electricity is returned during the discharge – is high when used for heating, at around 95%, it drops to a relatively modest 50–70% when con verted to electricity. This compares with 80–90% for lithium-ion batteries or 70–85% for pumped hydro. Also, to realise the benefits of the technol ogy and have relatively high-efficien cy systems, investors and project developers need to commit to relatively large upfront capital expenses, which can be a hard sell since many of these technologies are still in the R&D and demonstration stages. “Batteries are probably the most costeffective storage solution for up to a few hours of discharge duration, then thermal storage would be competitive between several hours and a couple of days, and pumped hydro – and perhaps even hydrogen in the future – would be best for anything longer than that,” says Pau Farrés, a cleantech analyst focused on LDES at Future Cleantech Architects.
“Even within the realms of thermal storage, there are a seemingly endless variety of materials that can be used to store the heat, each with their niche applications. “If you’re designing the system just to provide domestic heat, you normally use hot water,” says Farrés. “But if you want to provide electricity, then you normally have to go for higher temperature systems that require different materials – a common one is molten salts. These systems are usually de signed to provide either electricity or heat, but there are specific applications in which they can be tailored to provide both.”
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ENERGY STORAGE
“Molten nitrate salt has a narrow temperature range (it freezes at 220°C and destabilises at 565°C) and a moderate cost of $800 per tonne (/t). “[But] it re quires two-tank [twice the volume] containment and is challenged by salt corro sion,” says Patrick Davenport, a researcher in the Thermal Systems R&D Group at the US’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Sand, such as employed by PNE in Kankaanpää, has a wide sta bility range at between -20°C and 1,000°C and a low cost of $35/t. “But it has poor heat transfer and generally re quires movement of particles through a heat exchanger,” caveats Davenport.
ENERGY STORAGE
Vattenfall’s and PNE’s recent feats, ther mal storage is emerging from the R&D stage and is finding its feet commercially. In another recent exam ple, Israel’s Brenmiller Energy is replacing gas boil ers in a food and tobacco production facility with an 18.5MW/31.5MWh thermal storage system to cover 100% of its steam requirements – demonstrating how the technology can be applied as a viable, large-scale alternative to fossil fuels. In fact, according to Global Data, Energy Monitor’s parent company, there are two thermal storage projects in the top ten upcoming en ergy storage projects in development across the world: a 600MW molten salts facility at the Mo hammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in the United Arab Emirates, and another 600MW molten salts plant at China’s CGD Group Gol mud City Solar Thermal Plant.
Asapplication.provenby
“When we think of thermal storage, the main question we should be asking is what temperatures it can deliver,” says van Gendt. “Typical industrial applications require a few hundred degrees Celsius, and many basic processes, such as production of cement or steel, require temperatures well above 1,000 degrees. The good news is that thermal storage can deliver that, and the technology is already available.”
Other options include latent-heat phase change mate rials, thermochemical energy storage, concrete blocks or rock/earthen beds. However, each has its own id iosyncratic challenges such as limited temperature range, high storage cost, poor thermal responsiveness or stability concerns – and each has their appropriate
Thermal storage is going to have a very important role to play in the net-zero transition,” says Davenport.
“For countries to reach 100% renewable grid electrici ty, we need many stable, distributed LDES systems to begin to displace baseload power generation stations like coal and gas-fired power plants – but then we still have other sectors not included in that grid electricity, like the transportation and industrial process heat sectors. Thermal storage doesn’t really lend itself well to transportation but is very suitable to begin to displace industrial process heat.”
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A KEY PART OF NET ZERO
The key players in the heating segment of the thermal storage market include PNE, Germany’s Kraftblock and EnergyNest of Norway. On the electricity side, there is healthy competition, with Airthium (France), Antora (US), Azelio (Sweden), Cheesecake Energy (UK), Echogen (US), EnergyDome (Italy), Highview Power (UK), Malta (US), Siemens Gamesa’s ETES (Germany), Stiesdal (Denmark) and Stolect (France) represented. The thermal energy storage market was valued at $20.8bn in 2020, according to Allied Market Research, but it is estimated to reach $51.3bn by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 8.5% from 2021 to 2030.
46 EQ AUGUST 2022 www.EQMagPro.com ENERGY STORAGE
For Antoine Koen, a cleantech analyst colleague of Farrés at Future Cleantech Architects, thermal storage will play its role in net zero but as a contributing part of the full cast of LDES solutions required to achieve what is a herculean undertaking. “The thermal storage field will develop and the diversity of technological variants will probably shrink and consolidate. But in the wider energy storage field, each technology will have its niche role to play according to its strengths and weaknesses, which will steadily become more apparent as the mar ket matures.”
Heat is responsible for around 50% of global final energy demand – split roughly in half between industry and buildings. Most of that heat is currently delivered by fossil fuels. As decarbonisation accelerates, fossil fuel for heating will need to be replaced with renew able energy, and “the portion of heat demand that is not coincident with renewable supply will require storage”, says van Gendt.
THE HURDLE
IS DISCOM
DISCOMS PLAY DIFFICULT
Experts are of the opinion that making use of the ‘market mechanism’ may be a way out In India’s energy sector, it seems you can’t take a step without tripping on the most vexatious problem ever, namely, the health of discoms. The country’s various electricity distribution compa nies (discoms), which are utilities, mostly owned by the state governments, have run up huge losses and are saddled with mighty amounts of debt, politics and populism being at the bottom of the issue. Now it looks like the problem is stunting the growth of India’s na scent energy storage sector. The issue is this. A recent study of the Central Elec tricity Authority (CEA) has predicted that to meet In dia’s ambitious target of 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030, the country would need 27GW/108GWhr of grid-scale Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)— in addition to the proposed pumped hydro storage of 10GW—by 2030. We are running out of time, so it is necessary to start building energy storage systems (ESS) now. Yet, ESS tenders are hampered by the ability (and willingness) of the discoms who buy the power. A joint study undertaken by JMK Research and think-tank–Institute for Energy Economics and Finan cial Analysis (IEEFA) has added up all the ESS capac ity tendered out and checked as to how many of them have come up. It found that of the cumulative tendered capacity of 4,320 MW, only around 1,995 MW were allotted—of which only a handful of projects have been commissioned.
Source: energymonitor HEALTH TRIPPING THE ENERGY STORAGE SECTOR
SECI, the government body tasked with de veloping the renewable sector, which conducts capacity auctions— that is basically facilitat ing the development of the renewable energy sector by functioning as demand aggregator— faces a major challenge. It has to buy power from ESS companies and sell the power to discoms in states that have little renewable energy potential. So, SECI signs power pur chase agreements with developers and Power Sales Agreements (PSAs) with discoms, backto-back. Discoms, notes the study, “refuse to sign PSAs even after having an initial pre-bid understanding with SECI.” JMK and IEEFA believe that discoms go back on the understanding in anticipation of falling tariffs and their own internal financial difficulties. For example, in 2019 SECI tendered out for 1,200 MW of renewable energy plus storage tender with guaranteed peak power supply for 6 hours a day (7 am–9 am and 6 pm–10 pm). Two companies won mandates to supply power. Hyderabad-based Greenko won 900 MW with pumped hydro storage and ReNew Power won 300 MW with battery storage–at ₹6.12 a kWhr and ₹6.85 a kWhr, respectively. The off-peak power tariff was ₹2.88 a kWhr, which is not too small either.
ENERGY STORAGE
Source: PTI
There seems to be a growing realisation that selling power to discoms may not be the best way to go forward and perhaps a better way is to make use of the ‘market mechanism’. Ac cordingly, in the SECI tender for 500MW/1,000 MWhr, the developer has been given the option of selling up to 40 per cent of his power through the energy exchange. JMK-IEEFA researchers (Jyoti Gulia, JMK and Vibhuti Garg, Prabhakar Sharma and Akhil Thayillam of IEEFA) believe that “with better forecasting of load demand, future tenders may further explore the potential of capacity markets to provide addition al revenue.”
SECI is yet to sign the PPA with the two companies because it could not sign corresponding PSAs with discoms, which apparently find the power too pricey. SECI has more recently tendered out for 500MW/1,000 MWhr of ESS on standalone basis. Even here, “final offtaker entities are yet to be defined.” MARKETS THE ANSWER? STANDALONE ESS
In the recent past, there have been two standalone ESS tenders—SECI’s and that of NTPC, for 500MW/3,000 MWhr. By decoupling renewable energy generation and its stor age, it ushers in an era of ‘ESS-as-a-service’. Together, these two tenders have offered 1GW/4GWhr of capacity, which is a respectable number and hence bring in benefits of scale. Moreover, these tenders are technology-agnostic technology and is left to the choice of the developer (bidder). And by al lowing the developers to sell a part of their energy through the exchange, the offtaker risk is somewhat mitigated. ESSas-a-service could engender a new industry, say JMK-IEEFA researchers. This, along with electric vehicles, creates a demand for energy storage equipment manufacturers, giving them confidence to avail themselves of the PLI scheme (a government’s incentive scheme) for 500 GWhr of storage. The government’s think-tank, NITI Aayog estimates a domestic battery demand of 100-260GWh in 2030, rising (almost 17 times) from an anticipated value of 1115GWh in 2022. One dismaying aspect of ESS is the lack of enterprise on the part of all stakeholders for trying out new technologies. Today, all ESS is only bat tery or pumped hydro storage. Flow bat teries are emerging as viable, safer and easily scalable technology for stationary applications. The technologists are ready withProfit.
Kothandaraman Ramanujam of IIT-Madras, who has developed leadbased flow batteries (more viable than the traditional vanadium-based batter ies), stresses that the technology is economically viable and best suited for grid stability and wind energy storage appli cations. But developers, perhaps because of ultra-cautious bankers’ reluctance to finance new technologies, have kept away from this technology.
ARE
Revenue from the capacity market can make up 5-10 per cent of the total revenues of a BESS project, depending on the battery size–this would ultimately contribute to a reduction in discovered tariffs.
He said with further development, the price of these vehicles can be brought down to the range of Rs. 10,000-15,000 making them nearly 25 per cent more affordable than Lithi um -ion storage technologies-based e-cycles.
Prof Chandra said.
Source: PTI
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The team led by Prof. Amreesh Chandra, Department of Physics, IIT Kharagpur, has researched rigorously to develop Naion-based energy storage technologies. The researchers have developed a large number of nanomaterials that can be rapidly charged and then integrated with e-cycles, the statement said.
As disposal strategies of sodium-ion-based batteries would be simpler, it can also help in addressing the climate mitigation issue. The research on the Supercapacitors was pub lished in the Journal of Power Sources, and a few patents are in the pipeline for the use of these sodium-ion-based batteries in e-cycles.
Sodium-ion batteries and supercapacitors can now compete with their counterparts i.e. Lithium-ion based energy storage devices. The combination of novel nanostructures of sodium-based oxides and carbon leads to high energy and power density devices.
“These en ergy storage devices can be used easily in electric vehicles and many other applica tions and will eliminate our dependence on imported lithium, which is found only in a selected few countries of the world,”
An IIT Kharagpur statement said that under the ‘Materials for Energy Storage Programme’ and support from the Technology Mission Division (TMD) of the Depart ment of Science and Technology, Government of India, the team has used sodium iron phosphates and sodium manganese phosphates which they synthesised to obtain Na-ion-based batteries and supercapacitors.
Sodium-ion (Na-ion) batteries have generated interest as a possible complementary tech nology to lithium-ion batteries because of the natural abundance of sodium and the conse quent low costs of Na-ion batteries. The lowcost Na-ion-based technologies would be cheap and are expected to reduce the cost of e-cycles significantly.
A team of researchers from IIT Kharagpur has used nano-materials to develop Sodium-ion-based batteries and supercapacitors for next-generation energy storage technologies and their use in e-vehicles.
The sodium materials are cheaper than Lithium-based materials, high performing, and can be scaled up to industrial-level pro duction. A Sodium -ion cell can also be dis charged to zero volt, similar to a capacitor, making it a safer option in comparison to many other storage technologies.
IIT Kharag pur Director Prof. V K Tewari, stated, “Tak ing advantage of the fact that Sodium -ion batteries can be charged rapidly, Dr. Amreesh Chandra has integrated it with e-cycles which is an easy, affordable option for the masses.”
ENERGY STORAGE
SODIUM-ION BATTERIES
IIT KHARAGPUR RESEARCHERS DEVELOP LOW-COST, FAST-CHARGING
“Let’s Reconnect…AndRebound” IYER NARAYANAN M: +91 99673 53437 E: iyer.narayanan@informa.com JULIAN THOMAS M: +91 99404 59444 E: julian.thomas@informa.com AMITAVA SARKAR M: +91 93792 29397 E: amitava.sarkar@informa.com CONTACT FOR SPACE BOOKING & www.renewableenergyindiaexpo.comPARTNERSHIPHIGHLIGHTSCONFERENCE TRACKS PRODUCT SHOWCASE CEO COUNTRYROUNDTABLEPAVILIONS&AWARDS PROFILED BUYERS BIOPAVILIONENERGYVISITOR REGISTRATION GERMAN PAVILION CANADA PAVILION
As we move towards a more energy-efficient so ciety, the need for high-capacity, cost-effective batteries is greater than ever. Magnesium is a promising material for such solid-state batter ies owing to its abundance, but its practical application is limited by the poor conductivity of magnesium ions (Mg2+) in solids at room temperature.
The research group further included Mr. Yuto Yoshida, also from TUS, Professor Teppei Yamada from The Univer sity of Tokyo, and Assistant Professor Takashi Toyao and Professor Kenichi Shimizu from Hokkaido University. The paper was made available online on May 4, 2022 and was published in Volume 144 Issue 19 of the journal on May 18, 2022
The team used a MOF known as MIL101 as the main framework and then en capsulated Mg2+ ions in its nanopores. In the resultant MOF-based electrolyte, Mg2+ was loosely packed, thereby al lowing the migration of divalent Mg2+ ions. To further enhance ion conductiv ity, the research team exposed the elec trolyte to acetonitrile vapors, which were adsorbed by the MOF as guest molecules. The team then subjected the prepared samples to an alternating cur rent (AC) impedance test to measure ionic conductivity. They found that the Mg2+ electrolyte exhibited a superionic conductivity of 1.9 × 10−3 S cm−1. This is the highest ever reported conductivity for a crystalline solid containing Mg2+. To understand the mechanism behind this high conductivity, the researchers carried out infrared spectroscopic and adsorption isotherm measurements on the electrolyte. The tests revealed that the acetonitrile molecules adsorbed in the framework allowed for the efficient migration of the Mg2+ ions through the body of the solid electrolyte.
These findings of this study not only reveal the novel MOF-based Mg2+ conductor as a suitable material for battery applications, but also provide critical insights into the devel opment of future solid-state batteries.
Recently, research ers from Japan have developed a novel Mg2+ conductor with a practically applicable superconductivity of 10-3 S cm-1, overcoming this decades-long roadblock. The development of highly efficient energy storage devices that can store re newable energy is crucial to a sustainable future. In today’s world, solid-state rechargeable lithium ion (Li+) batteries are the state of the art. But lithium is a rare earth metal, and so ciety’s dependence on the element is likely to lead to a rapid decline in resources and subsequent price hikes. Magnesium ion (Mg2+)-based batteries have gained momentum as an al ternative to Li+. The earth’s crust holds ample magnesium, and Mg2+-based energy devices are said to have high energy densities, high safety, and low cost. But the wide application of Mg2+ is limited by its poor conductivity in solids at room temperature. Mg2+ has poor solid-state conductivity because divalent positive ions (2+) experience strong interactions with their neighboring negative ions in a solid crystal, impeding their migration through the material. This hurdle was recently overcome by a research team from the Tokyo University of Science (TUS). In their new study published online on 4 May 2022 and on 18 May 2022 in volume 144 issue 19 of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, they report for the first time, a solidstate Mg2+ conductor with superionic conductivity of 10−3 S cm−1 (the threshold for practical application in solid-state batteries). This magnitude of conductivity for Mg2+ conductors is the highest reported to date. According to Junior Associate Professor Masaaki Sadakiyo of TUS, who led the study, “In this work, we exploited a class of materials called metal–organic frameworks (MOFs). MOFs have highly porous crystal structures, which provide the space for efficient migration of the in cluded ions. Here, we additionally introduced a “guest molecule,” aceto nitrile, into the pores of the MOF, which succeeded in strongly accelerat ing the conductivity of Mg2+.”
50 EQ AUGUST 2022 www.EQMagPro.com FEATURED NEW MAGNESIUM SUPERIONIC CONDUCTOR TOWARDS LITHIUMFREE SOLID-STATE BATTERIES
“For a long time, people have believed that divalent or higher valency ions cannot be efficiently transferred through a solid. In this study, we have demonstrated that if the crystal struc ture and surrounding environment are welldesigned, then a solid-state high-conductivity conductor is well within research,” explains Dr. Sadakiyo. When asked about the research group’s future plans, he reveals, “We hope to further contribute to society by developing a divalent conductor with even higher ionic conductivity.”
Scientists demonstrate for the first time a metal–organic framework-based magnesium ion conductor showing superionic conductivity even at room temperature
RENEWABLE ENERGY GENERATION ACCOUNTS FOR OF TOTAL POWER AMID HIGH DEMAND: RK SINGH
The UJALA scheme’s achievements were also highlighted. Building energy efficiency pro gramme was also discussed. It was informed that ECBC (Energy Conservation Building Code) was launched for commercial buildings and has been adopted by 22 states/UTs. The Members of Par liament made several suggestions with regard to various initiatives and schemes. Replying to queries of the members, Singh informed that when power demand increased this year in recent months, renewable energy (RE) accounted for 25 to 29 per cent of the total power generation and the RE is a major sector. Achieve ments of energy efficiency interventions made for SMEs were also shared at the meeting. A presentation was made on energy conservation measures. It was informed that the ministry has asked states to set up State Level Steering Com mittees for Energy Transition under Chief Secretaries. Many states have already constituted these committees. He also informed the Members about separate agricultural feed ers, which help in checking agricultural energy con sumption. Cold chain energy efficiency in India and initiatives for promoting electric mobility were also discussed at the meeting.
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Source: PTI
Singh informed this during a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee of the Members of Parliament for the Ministry of Power and New & Renewable Energy here yesterday evening, a power ministry statement said. Renewable energy accounted for 25 to 29 per cent of the total power generation recently amid rising demand for elec tricity, Union Power Minister RK Singh has said. Singh informed this during a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Commit tee of the Members of Parliament for the Ministry of Power and New & Renewable Energy here yester day evening, a power ministry statement said. Singh chaired the meeting of committee.
Source:
With a generation of 91.56 million units of wind power that lead to cumulative savings of Rs 48.54 crore, Southern Railway said through solar energy it managed to save Rs 6.45 crore by generating 16.30 million units of solar power from 2017 till July 2022.
“Nanotechnology can assist to overcome present efficiency barriers and significantly boost solar energy output and storage. At the nanoscale, a number of physical mechanisms have been created that po tentially enhance the processing and transmission of solar radiation. Similarly in lithium ion batteries, in smartphone chips we are trying to achieve better performances and that’s where the upcoming students can come in the picture, because this need and demand will only grow further,” said Shyam.
When asked about how to pursue Nanotechnology as a career, Shyam mentioned that a person should first have a good understanding of the basics of physics and chemistry. They should be a physics or chemistry graduate and in their post-graduation, they should opt for nanotechnology.
Since the installation of solar plant in 2017-18, the cu mulative solar energy generated was 16.30 million units up to June 2022, thereby saving Rs 6.45 crore.
RAJASTHAN SOLAR BOOM OFFERS BIG SCOPE IN NANOTECHNOLOGY
With the boom in solar energy business in Rajasthan, universities like BITs and RTU are providing Nanotechnology specifications for students to excel.
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The Southern Railway said it has managed to save Rs 54.99 crore by harnessing alternate sources of energy in its bid to reduce carbon footprint.
Because of the need to minimise the vol ume of technology and maximise its efficiency, the Nanotechnology indus try is thriving. And global opportuni ties are growing with the threat of cli mate change. The nanotech scientists are on to find answers to make sustainable energy more efficient.
Source: PTI PTI
The solar power panels have been installed at various locations across the region and Southern Railway said it was working to wards increasing capacity of solar plants.
“Substantial energy savings has been made possible through erection of wind mills”, Southern Railway said in a press release.
SOUTHERN RAILWAY SAVES AROUND RS 55 CRORE BY TAPPING SOLAR, POWER
WIND
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“Nanotechnology is just impacting particles on nanoscale. For example, in a solar panel, there are five different layers and different researchers are researching about different layers with primary intention to improve the efficiency of the panel,” Said Dr. Radhe Shyam, PHD in Nanotechnology from MNIT Jaipur.
For students pursuing engineering, looking for fields that could lead to potential employment opportunities, Nanotechnology is something they should keep their eyes on.
The famous Dr MGR Chennai Central Rail way Station has become the first station in the region to take care of 100 per cent of its day time energy requirements through solar power, it said. Through the wind mill plants set up in Tuticorin districts, Southern Railway said it has harnessed 91.56 million units till July 2022, resulting in savings of Rs 48.54 crore.
Bitcoin mining refers to the process where a global net work of computers running the Bitcoin code work to en sure that transactions are legitimate and added correctly to the cryptocurrency’s blockchain. High-powered com puters are used for mining bitcoin whose sole function is to run algorithms to solve the mathematical problem that allows their owner to win a Bitcoin block and the revenue that comes with it. Bitcoin mining is usually a large-scale commercial affair done by companies using data centers with purpose-built servers. Mining farms can have many mining computers held in warehouses.
The first bitcoin mine 100% powered by solar energy is under construction. Tesla to power bitcoin mine with solar energy. Tesla solar pan els and Megapack batteries are being deployed in Texas in order to mine bitcoin with 100 per cent renewable energy. Construction started in April 2022 in Texas, USA. Blockstream and block have joint forces to build a 100% offgrid renewable energy bitcoin mining facility. It consists of 3.8MW of solar panels combined with 4 Tesla Megapack battery units with the capacity to store up to 12MWh of energy.
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● Out of the 3.8MW of solar power installed, 1MW will be used to mine bitcoins and 2.8MW will be used to charge the batteries;
The technical details were:
● The total cost of the plant is estimated at $12 million USD.
Bitcoin mining requires a huge setup of computers that need to be run 24 x 7 consuming a lot of energy. Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, currently consumes an estimated 150 Terrawatt-hours of electricity annually.
The number is large and due to the increasing popularity of bitcoin, the miners are installing n-numbers of com puters just like a farm! As Bitcoin mining increasingly demands in the future may cause energy crises, But By installing solar, a Bitcoin miner can save 100% of elec tricity consumption! This is how the Crypto Miners are now attracted to the clean source of energy which saves their money as well as they do not have to rely on the grid for energy consumption. Miner produces their own ener gy and this concept is known as Bitcoin Mining powered by Solar. Thus For sustainable Bitcoin mining, solar in particular seems to be the leading edge. Electricity From Solar Panels Is Inexpensive. It is proving to be an ex cellent investment for mining companies with the skills and resources to put up solar-powered rigs in remote des ert locations. Assuming that you have already paid for the solar panel installation, the cost of mining is almost nothing. Reduced dependence on electricity, a common source of financial strain for mining operations, opens up additional profit opportunities to all. The future of Cryptocurrency seems Green, with technological advancements in Crypto Mining & solar power.
FEATURED
BIGPOWER-THEMININGCRYPTO(BITCOIN)BYSOLARNEXTTHING!
WHAT IS BITCOIN MINING? HOW IS SOLAR POWER AND BITCOIN INTERCONNECTED?
● Batteries are required so that the solar-pow ered bitcoin mine can operate 24/7;
● Assuming a performance of the solar plant of 2200 equivalent hours, 25% of the day the mine will be powered by solar panels and 75% by batteries. Hence the ratio of 2.8MW batter ies / 1MW bitcoin mining; ● ~178MWh of energy will be required to mine 1 bitcoin.
GLOBALCONCLUSIONEXAMPLES
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NAVITAS SOLAR MANUFACTURINGEXPANDSCAPACITY; AIMS TO PRODUCE 500 MW SOLAR MODULES ANNUALLY
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Commenting on the expansion, Co-Founder and Director,Navitas Solar, Mr. Ankit Singhania, says “We are de lighted to expand our portfolio with 9 BB half-cell modules in M6-size wafers offering 435 to 500 Watts in 144 & 156 cells and 10 BB half-cell modules in M10-size wafers offering 530 to 600 Watts in 144 & 156 cells. Navitas Solar foresees strong & steady demand for high power solar modules in future. Highly competitive Indian market, consciousness for bal ance of system (BOS) and product performance are the addi tional advantages for choosing high power modules. Bonito is a cost-effective solution where you do not have to compro mise on the quality and output.”
Bonito Max is 10 BB Mono PERC Half Cut Solar Modules available in 144 & 156 cells which will be able to generate from 530 to 600 watts with an effi ciency of 21.67%. .
The Bonito Series of Mono PERC half-cut solar modules is ideal for large-scale installations. The module is constructed with a white back sheet, tem pered glass that is 3.2 mm thick and anti-reflective, and a silver and anodized aluminum alloy frame. Bo nito has many features like better shading tolerance, High power, Lower LCOE & system cost, excel lent temperature performance etc. The Bonito series cells are cut by a no-water Non-Destructive Laser Cutting(NDLC) machine,which separates the solar cell into half using the principle of separation by vary ing temperatures which can increase the power output of the solar panel. The half-cut technology reduces the overall cost of a solar system, ensuring a lower LCOE (Levelized Cost of Energy).
Navitas Solar, one of India’s leading solar module manufacturers, has announced the expansion of the solar module manufacturing capacity to 500 MW per annum. A fully automatic line of 300 MW with auto busing is added to the existing 200 MW production facility as part of the new extension.
Navitas Solar has a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Surat, which is spread across 1,50,000 sq ft. This facility is extensively involved in the development of cutting-edge products and services like solar PV modules,EVA sheets, so lar kits and solar EPC. The backward integration of Navitas Solar, Navitas Alpha Renewables Pvt. Ltd. (NARPL) has an annual capacity of 800 MW per annum and is expected to be extended to 2 GW in a couple of months. The company has also extended its portfolio with a powerful and reliable Half Cut Mono PERC Solar Modules: Bonito. Bonito is launched in two series: Bonito Pro and Bonito Max. Bonito Pro is 9 BB Mono PERC Half Cut Solar Modules avail able in 144 & 156 cells which will be able to generate from 435 to 500 watts with an efficiency of 21.47%.
CHANGES FEATURED
Product count of Top Solar Modules in July increased from 25 to 26
TOPCon that have efficiencies of 21.5% or above, then both the products are listed here. Efficiency is the only criteria for ranking in the list. However, as we see more often products with the same effi ciency, in this case power determine the order. And when efficiency and even power are the same, we have listed the manufacturers in alphabetical order. A commercially available module is considered a product for which the complete data sheet is listed on the module producer’s website. This also means we have not included any new product announce ments without final technical data published as their modules specs often differ considerably from the products that are finally available for purchase, and some products presented at trade fairs are not even seeing the commercial light at all. Finally, we are only listing modules based on in-house pro duced cells of a respective module manufacturer, which means modules using externally sourced cells are not featured in this TOP MODULES list. If module specs listed on websites seem to have ‘conspicuously’ high efficiencies, we ask for certif icates from third-party test institutes among other information before we include a product in the list. &
COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE HIGH-EFFICIENCY SOLAR MODULES
Akcome enters list on 4th rank with high-power 700 W HJT module with 22.5% efficiency Risen 450 W Titan series PERC module with 21.7% efficiency has slightly higher efficiency than previously listed product In our latest monthly ranking of commercially available solar panels 26 products are listed from most of the global leading module suppli ers; that’s one module more compared to pre vious month, and it also shows few changes in the ranking. The data for the survey was collected end of July 2022. Efficiency and output power are the 2 key characteristics of a solar module. While there are several means to improve module power such as em ploying larger cell sizes or integrating more cells into a module, it’s the efficiency that truly speaks about the ability of the solar device to convert sunlight per area into power. That’s why this list includes only the highest efficient solar modules. TaiyangNews has been covering the efficiency progress of solar mod ules through its annual reports on Advanced Module Technologies starting from 2017 and its annual con ference as of 2020. The latest event on Solar Module Innovations took place in Nov. 2021 (presentations see here). However, in the quickly changing solar sector a lot is happening over the course of a year –and to keep our readers updated about the efficiency progress more frequently, TaiyangNews has started this monthly column on commercial TOP SOLAR MODULES at the beginning of 2022. Before going into the details, here is some back ground on the methodology and selection criteria: Since module efficiencies have been improving con siderably in recent years, more than 0.5% average per year, to make the list rewarding for technically advanced products we put the minimum efficiency to be included at 21.5%. We have listed only commer cially available top modules from each cell technol ogy stream of one module maker. For example, if a company is offering 2 different product streams based on PERC technology that have more than 21.5% effi ciency, then only the product with the higher efficien cy is considered for this list. But if a module maker is offering, for example, products based on PERC and Meeting these criteria, according to our research (status end of July 2022), a total of 26 products from 23 companies have made it to the current list; that means one more company as well as one more product over our last edition. This July edi tion also features one updated product. The top ef ficiency rank is still earned by a 22.8% efficient back-contact module from Maxeon. The top model of the Singapore-headquartered SunPower spin-off is now its Maxeon 6 series that is based on larger wafer size. While the company has not specified the size, the core remains the same – SunPower/ Maxeon’s proprietary IBC technology. The second position is taken by the same companies as last month – Huasun and Jolywood share 2nd place.
2022
METHODOLOGY RESULTS
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PERC products from Astronergy, Qcells and Jinergy are also listed on top of their high-efficiency modules as these differ ent technology panels of the companies still meet our criteria of at least 21.5% ef ficiency (see: Top Solar Modules Listing – June 2022).
On 4th position, unlike last time, Canadian Solar is now sharing the rank with Akcome, which has entered our list for the first time. The HJT modules of both the companies reach the same efficiency of 22.5%. However, Akcome’s Hi-Chaser module built with 132 bifacial half cells of G12 format has a power rating of 700 W, while the HiHero from Canadian Solar rated with 440 W is based on 108 half cells with MBB technology, also employing G12 format. As a result of Akcome’s new entry, the following modules listed have moved one rank down.
SPIC’s IBC module based on Germany’s solar research institute ISC Konstanz’s Zebra technology, which has a rated power of 440 W and 22.3% efficiency, has moved from the 5th to the 6th spot. Again, it shares that rank with REC and Qcells. REC’s Alpha Pure-R series HJT product has 22.3% efficiency and 430 W module power, while Qcells Q.TRON module series based on n-type technology comes with the same efficiency of 22.3% but a lower power rating of 400 W. The Ko rean company has not explicitly mentioned the cell technology on its technical spec, but it very likely seems to be based on TOPCon technol ogy. Qcells’ module features zero gap technology. JinkoSolar is now at 9th position with its TOPCon 144 half-cell module with an efficiency of 22.26% and 575 W power. The Astro 5 TOPCon module of Chint Astro nergy reaches an efficiency of 22.1%, which now translates into rank 10 on the list. Astronergy is employing 144 of M10 half cells to realize an output power of 570 W. The remaining 16 products listed are below 22%, of which only two are HJT based and the rest are PERC follow ers. Like last month, Meyer Burger is offering its HJT product with the same efficiency of 21.8% and power rating of 390 W. Jinergy is another HJT technology company, whose product is based on M6 cell format and reaches 21.68% module efficiency.
Both the products from Huasun and Jolywood are based on the same configuration – G12 wafer size in a 132 half-cell configuration and an efficiency of 22.53%. With 700 W, both these modules also share the list of the most powerful prod ucts. Interestingly, their cell technology is different – while Huasun’s product is based on HJT, Jolywood relies on TOP Con technology.
There are several module series with efficiencies around 21% available today as high efficiency cell architectures are not a must to reach that level, but in or der to design products beyond 21.5% the cell technology is key. As shown in the graph, PERC in general is no longer be able to support efficiencies above 21.6% today. Most of the modules with efficien cies above 21.6% are employing cells based on high-efficiency cell architec tures such as IBC, TOPCon or HJT. Un til recently only LONGi was somewhat of an exception offering a PERC module with a high efficiency rating of 21.7%, which earns the company the 12th posi tion, ahead of Jinergy’s HJT product. But as of this month als Risen’s new PERC module reaches 21.7% efficiency, elevat ing it to rank 12 as well. Of the remain ing 13 listed products, all of which are based on PERC, 5 reach 21.6%, 4 come with 21.5%, and 3 are rated in-between.
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SUMMARY
Our latest monthly high-efficiency module ranking featuring the summary of our research in July has undergone few changes. We added Akcome, which has started offering its HJT modules series called Hi-Chaser with 22.5% efficiency. The 700 W prod uct is based on G12 cell format. At the module level the company uses the typical half cell technology in terconnected with MBB layout. A large module with 700 W for large scale applications, it also comes as a bifacial module to benefit from HJT’s leading bifaci ality.
Another new product in this edition is from Risen Energy, which introduced a new module member of its Titan series with an efficiency of 21.7%, that’s 0.1% higher than the previously listed product. This model (RSM130-8-450M) is using rather untypical 130 PERC cells cut into 1/3rd from the 210 mm x 210 mm G12 format adding up to a power rating of 450 W; the earlier listed product was a 670 W module with 132 half cells.
Speaking about the main trends seen in H1, Felipe Munoz of JATO Dynamics said there’s been a slowdown in demand for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in growth markets such as Europe — the second largest after China. “We saw the biggest monthly drop in Europe in June for BEV registrations since April 2020, at about an 8 percent decrease, which is still better than the overall market,” he told INN. “But it’s worrying in the case of Europe because EVs have been the drivers of growth over the last months.”
In 2021, sales of EVs doubled from the previous year to reach a new record of 6.6 million units, with nearly 10 percent of global car sales being electric. Growing regions like Europe saw continued con sumer interest, while in leading country China 3.3 million EVs were sold in 2021 — that’s more than were sold in the entire world in 2020, as per the In ternational Energy Agency. But 2022 has brought EV supply chain issues, with carmakers struggling with higher costs and production goals.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), Volkswagen (OTC Pink:VLKAF,ETR:VOW), Renault (EPA:RNO), Audi, Skoda and Ford (NYSE:F) were the most af fected by the fall in demand, according to JATO.
UPDATEMARKETVEHICLEELECTRIC REVIEWIN2022Q2
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What happened in the electric vehicle market in the second quarter of the year?
Find out here. EV MARKET UPDATE: WHAT HAPPENED IN H1 2022?
he electric vehicle (EV) revolution has been top of mind for battery metals in vestors for quite some time now, with demand for EVs increasing signifi cantly in 2021. But in 2022, China’s fresh COVID-19 lockdown measures, the RussiaUkraine war, cost increases and other constraints hit the market, and carmakers are under pressure to keep production levels up. Given the importance of the EV narrative for battery metals and all the commodities associated with the EV supply chain, the Investing News Network (INN) reached out to analysts and experts in the space to ask for their thoughts on what’s happened so far this year and what’s on the horizon.
Tesla was hurt by a production halt at its plant in China, failing to increase vehicle deliveries quarteron-quarter for the first time in two years. Meanwhile, Volkswagen felt the pressure to stop producing a number of models due to supply issues related to the Russia-Ukraine war. Last year, there were over 450 electric car models available globally, an increase of more than 15 percent compared to 2020 and more than twice the number of models available in 2018. In 2022, despite challenges, automakers have contin ued to roll out new models, expanding segment and price point availability for EVs.
58 EQ AUGUST 2022 www.EQMagPro.com ELECTRIC VEHICLE
Supply chain shortages have become the main is sue for the auto industry as a whole, affecting EV production and development, as well as tradition al vehicle production. “Vehicle production costs have increased on raw materials and commodities pricing increases,” Brinley said. “In addition, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the COVID-19 lockdowns in China earlier in 2022 caused further supply chain and logistics issues, again affecting the industry as a whole inclusive of EV plans.” Last year, the chip shortage seemed to be affecting only internal combustion engine vehicles, but this year the situation is evolving to impact EVs as well. “In 2021, there were not enough chips in the industry, so the very few they had were used to produce cars that could sell easily, which are the SUVs or EVs,” Munoz commented to INN. “However, the crisis is still happening and it’s already affecting EVs.” As a result of production constraints across the lightvehicle industry, automakers have not been able to produce to available capacity or plans. “While the situation continues to slowly improve, production will be lower than capacity or demand for the rest of 2022 and into 2023,” Brinley said.
EV MARKET UPDATE: SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES AND AVAILABILITY
A key catalyst impacting sales was China’s fresh COVID-19 containment measures early on in 2022. “Lock downs in China, in addition to the uncertainty regarding the economy and the war in Ukraine and its impact on supply chains, is finally affecting EVs as well,” Munoz explained to INN. “They used to be the only drivers of growth, but now we are also seeing the demand for these cars falling not because the people don’t want them, but because there are no cars available.”
At the end of 2021, BEVs accounted for 3.5 percent of US light-vehicle registrations. From January through the end of May, this grew to 4.5 percent, according to IHS Markit data.
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“The semiconductor and other shortages have meant that OEMs have not been able to build as many EVs as they had planned and have slowed some production ramp-up ability, but EV availability and inventory is high er than it was in 2021 and there are more models available,” Brinley said.
The increase in model availability was expected, will continue and is critical to increasing EV adoption, Stephanie Brinley of IHS Markit told INN. “In terms of sales performance, we con tinue to see production holding back sales,” she said. “While tightening monetary policy, inflation and recession concerns could have an impact on underlying demand in the second half of 2022, production capacity is still determining sales vol umes.”
“They depend mostly on local demand, and the Chinese market still has potential for growth,” he said. “India is another positive case — the demand there seems to react positively to the government’s incentives and has a better perspective.”
EV MARKET UPDATE: WHAT’S AHEAD
For the second half, Brinley said the market should continue to see improvement in inventory, though the semi conductor issue will hold the industry back versus plans and capacity into 2023. “Some improvement in inventory will be a result of already planned production cadence, and some will be a result of the normal production rampup,” she said. “In addition, Tesla’s Texas and Germany fac tories are ramping up, which will mean Tesla availability continues to sharply increase.” For Munoz, the key factor to keep an eye on is availability of new cars and how to keep interest in EVs going. “Governments are still help ing, there are still very good deals and very good incen tives in many markets, with consumers until now react ing positively to this way of buying electric cars,” he said. “So for me, the key will be to keep this interest by bring ing the cars on time, because if the cars are not there and at the same time there are fears about the economy ev erywhere, then we will lose the opportunity that we have had so far.”
Looking ahead, by the end of 2022, global plugin sales, which include BEVs, plug-in hybrids and range-extended BEVs, are on pace to exceed 10 million vehicles. This is more than the com bined totals of 2019 (at 3.1 million) and 2021 (at 3.1 million), S&P Global Commodity Insights data shows. “China will remain the largest mar ket by total sales, already clearing 3 million yearto-date and projected to account for 6.5 million plug in sales by the end of this year, subject to some downside risk related to periodic localized lockdowns in response to the emergence of coro navirus variants,” Mark Mozur, manager of fu ture energy outlook at S&P Global Commodity Insights, said. The European Union will be the only other market to exceed the 1 million vehicle threshold, and is expected to register 2 million in sales by the end of the year. “The US will close the year at just under 0.8 million vehicles sold, a 30 percent year-on-year growth,” Mozur said. “In terms of market share, Norway will remain the global leader, on pace to have EVs capture 85 to 90 percent of total new passenger car sales.”
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Supply chain shortages have become the main is sue for the auto industry as a whole, affecting EV production and development, as well as traditional vehicle production. “Vehicle production costs have increased on raw materials and commodities pricing increases,” Brinley said. “In addition, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the COVID-19 lockdowns in China earlier in 2022 caused further supply chain and logistics issues, again affecting the industry as a whole inclusive of EV plans.” Last year, the chip shortage seemed to be affecting only internal com bustion engine vehicles, but this year the situation is evolving to impact EVs as well. “In 2021, there were not enough chips in the industry, so the very few they had were used to produce cars that could sell eas ily, which are the SUVs or EVs,” Munoz commented to INN. “However, the crisis is still happening and it’s already affecting EVs.” As a result of production constraints across the light-vehicle industry, auto makers have not been able to produce to available capacity or plans. “While the situation continues to slowly improve, production will be lower than ca pacity or demand for the rest of 2022 and into 2023,” Brinley said.
Source: investingnews
ELECTRIC VEHICLE
The move will also benefit a large number of diesel vehicle users who would want to con vert their vehicles, it added. In order to give a big push to elec tric mobility in the city, the Del hi government will now bring this faceless service through which one will be able to get diesel vehicles retrofitted with an electric vehicle kit at their homes from an authorised deal er. In June, the Delhi govern ment came up with an order to allow petrol and diesel vehicle owners to convert their vehicles into electric vehicles through retrofitment.
It had also launched a new portal to bring in both customers and agen cies who are involved in the process of retrofitting vehicles to a common platform. As a step to make the EV kit retrofitment process faceless, the module for retrofitment of electric vehicle (EV) kit in diesel vehicles has been made available online on the Vahan portal, the government said.
The department of science and technology of the UT administration has received four bids to install 44 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in the first phase. One of the bids has been rejected during technical evaluation. The department will open the bids and allot the work to the suitable company out of the three.
The Delhi government’s electric vehicle retrofitting services will soon become faceless, an official statement said here, claiming that the national capital will be the first in the country to do so.
Source: PTI
The amount or percentage of incentives against the purchase of EVs has been declared by the administration in its draft policy and will be available for both two-wheelers and four-wheelers.
ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STATIONS
CHANDIGARH: ADMINISTRATION REJECTS 1 OF 4 BIDS FOR 44
The UT plans to install 100 EV charging stations in two years. The 44 EV sta tions are mostly coming up in paid park ing lots, with sites already identified. These 44 stations will have 328 charging points. “Each EV charging station will have multiple ports, so that one EV charging station can facilitate many vehicles simultaneously. The charging stations have been designed with many ports, so that it won’t create hurdles for other vehicles during charging,” sources said.
“Once approved, a new RC with endorsed EV kit will be delivered at the doorstep of the owner,” it said. The faceless services were started on a trial basis from February 19 last year and officially launched on August 11, 2021 by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Trans port Minister Kailash Gahlot said, “Delhi will be the first state to launch a faceless service for EV retrofitment for vehicles. Citizens can soon get their vehicles converted into elec tric vehicles at the comfort of their homes.”
DELHI GOVT’S ELECTRIC VEHICLE RETROFITTING SERVICES TO SOON BECOME FACELESS
The UT had approved the draft policy for five years a few months back. Financial benefits will range from Rs 3,000 to Rs 2 lakh.
People will have to visit a Retro Fitment Centre (RFC) authorised by the Delhi government for installation of the EV kit in their diesel cars, it added. The RFC will upload the information of the EV kit installed in the diesel car on the Vahan portal, and it will be verified by the respec tive zone’s Regional Transport Office (RTO). Currently, citizens have to take their vehicles for a one-time inspection at the RTO. After the veri fication of the vehicles, the details of the same are updated on the Vahan portal for alteration. This service will go fully faceless soon. The centre will now fill an online application for alteration of vehicles and upload the required documents and pay the requisite fees.
Source: PTI
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The UT had recently set a provisional budget of Rs 5 crore for the department of science and technology to disburse incentives to EV buyers.
62 EQ AUGUST 2022 www.EQMagPro.com ELECTRIC VEHICLE THE NEXT GROWTH ENGINE IN ELECTRICCHEMICALSVEHICLES...
In short, tomorrow’s vehicle architecture is being de fined today, offering a narrow window of opportunity for chemical companies to set the standard for materi als applications in the years to come.
Adoption has moved beyond start-ups, with all mainstream OEMs now focused on electric vehicles (EVs) and with forecasts for EV penetration continuing to accelerate: more than 500 EV programs will come to market from 2024 to 2026 alone (Exhibit 1).
A paradigm shift in automotive purchasing linked to the electric-vehicle transition is creating a major growth opportunity for chemical companies.
EXHIBIT 1
The automotive market is undergoing rapid change. Based on a forecast by the McKinsey Center for Future Mobility, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid elec tric vehicles (PHEVs) will make up more than 55 percent of new vehicle production by 2030 across China, Europe, and North America. This represents 47 million units globally—seven times more than in 2021.
To illustrate this point, consider the powertrain of a typical BEV. The battery, inverter, and elec tric motor together cost more than $10,000—of ten three to four times the cost of their equivalent parts in a conventional combustion engine vehicle (Exhibit 2). Hence, the vehicle system must come down in cost for BEVs to gain widespread adop tion.
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In this context, leading OEMs have discovered that using the right thermal and insulation mate rials in the powertrain can lead to significant in creases in system efficiency and reductions in war ranty cost, which together can be worth several hundred dollars per vehicle. These savings make it much easier for OEMs to invest in enabling these materials. For example, a transition from silicon oxide (Si) to silicon carbide (SiC) power modules in the inverter can generate system savings on the order of $200 per vehicle for OEMs. This is because of the semiconductor’s greater power ef ficiency (reducing battery cost) and more optimal cooling profile (reducing thermal management cost), despite SiC costing more than Si counter parts. Consequently, innovations in materials that enable system cost reductions can provide tremen dous value to OEMs (Exhibit 3). These players recognize that materials solutions can provide outsize value in reducing cost and im proving the reliability of expensive parts such as batteries, power electronics, and electric motors.
EXHIBIT 2
Although EVs have been a hot topic in the chemicals industry for some time,1 a major para digm shift in automotive procurement practices has made the space dramatically more attractive for chemical players (not considering cell chem istry, a market governed by unique value chain dynamics2 ). Whereas chemicals in the automotive industry were traditionally considered on a unit-cost basis—with suppliers barely able to hold value over the program life cycle—savvy automo tive OEMs and tier suppliers are now moving to a system value approach.
Companies should articulate their value proposition based on the value OEMs can derive from solutions, applying a systems-based lens to cost reductions. What are the ‘big bets’ that could allow us to address more value pools? This includes prioritizing technolo gies that enable integrated solutions to the most valu able OEM problems. Furthermore, scenarios can be used to evaluate investments in technologies with high levels of uncertainty, such as future cell formats and chemistry.
High-value challenges that drive the benefits of vehicle systems primarily occur in the powertrain. The industry for specialty materials in these appli cations—not including battery cell chemistry— could see an industry value pool of more than $20 billion by 2030, focused on high-value challenges linked to power efficiency, thermal management, and battery life.
Several OEMs have demonstrated superior EV per formance through high-voltage (greater than 800 volts) systems. The laws of physics dictate that a higher volt age is more electrically efficient; in turn, much better electrical insulation and more reliable connector mate rials must be used to maintain system safety. In most cases, the value of higher system efficiency dwarfs the additional cost of superior materials. Batteries. It is no secret that battery costs need to drop dramatically for EVs to become cost efficient—and that battery safety is paramount. Although most discourse seems to be focused on the chemistry and supply-and-demand bal ance of battery cell materials, many progressive OEMs have recognized that plastics, silicones, mica, and oth er thermal materials can be engineered together to sig nificantly reduce system costs.
VALUE POOLS FOR CHEMICAL PLAYERS
Power electronics. OEMs have the potential to improve power efficiency further through widebandgap electronics, including the previously mentioned transition from Si to SiC materials. The EV industry is making a significant shift to more expensive, more efficient, higher-temperature in verter technology that will require better thermal and isolation materials. Motors and wiring.
HOW TO MAKE IT HAPPEN
64 EQ AUGUST 2022 www.EQMagPro.com ELECTRIC VEHICLE EXHIBIT ELECTRIC-VEHICLE3
To understand where the greatest potential for value creation lies and to maximize the likelihood of capturing it, materials players should answer the following five questions: What are the grow ing value pools and valuable problems to solve in EVs? Chemical companies will see outsize value from materials innovations that solve power effi ciency, thermal management, and warranty chal lenges. Where can our materials portfolio play to enable the creation and capture of value?
ELECTRIC
EV Expo 2022 organiser Rajeev Arora said: “We are delighted to have around 100 exhibitors from across India, and are even more excited by the number of visitors on day one. The number of new launches in electric 2 and 3 wheelers as well as battery and charg ing solutions etc., proves the need of a platform like EV Expo at this juncture which provides a very special opportunity for manufacturers to unveil and showcase their innovations de veloped over the last 12 months.”
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he expo also showcased Lithium-ion batteries and the latest charging so lutions. The expo also saw some ex citing innovations, including electric cars and buses from Lithium Urban Technologies Pvt Ltd, India’s largest zero emis sion corporate services company. At the same time, there was a an exhibition of Greencell Mo bility Electric Buses, which received lots of atten tion from the people. Along with this, Altius Auto Solutions also introduced a ‘high-speed’ electric two-wheeler with 2,000W motor that claims a maximum speed of 70 kmph and mileage of 110 km per charge. The price of this scooter will be around Rs 85,000. Apart from this, two stylish e-scooters ‘Habibi’ and ‘e-Noa’ powered by 48V 27Ah Lithium-ion battery by A-One Energy Pvt Ltd which is a Mohali-based start-up in e-mobil ity space also took part in the expo. This scooter delivers a mileage of 80 km per charge, and its price starts from Rs 60,000.
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Who are the key customers to target, and what is the right go-to-market model? Chemical companies should take a differentiated approach to customers via a tailored value prop osition based on OEMs’ make-versus-buy strategies, and they should consider value chain position trade-offs based on natural owner and customer proximity. Given changing procurement dynamics, it is time to rethink participation in the automotive industry. Chemical companies hold the keys to the cost challenges for OEMs in many critical component areas and can play pivotal roles in unlocking the automotive electrification transformation. Now is the time for chemical players to move on the opportunity.
What capabilities are needed to deliver on the
solutions? This will involve deeper application engineering with OEMs in the vehicle design stage, system-testing capabilities to build a factbased value proposition, and key account and risk management vis-à-vis OEMs. Mobilizing com mercial and technology teams quickly is impor tant because design decisions are being made now for future model platforms.
Source:Source:mckinseyIANSAND BUSES STEAL SHOW AT ELECTRIC VEHICLES EXPO IN DELHI
E-SCOOTERS
VEHICLE
Around 100 e-vehicle companies — both domestic and foreign, showcased their latest pollution-free e-vehicles at the three-day ‘EV Expo’, that concluded at Pragati Maidan in Delhi.
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Gurjar said Okinawa recalled 3,215 units of vehicles on April 16, Pure EV recalled 2,000 units of vehicles on April 21, and Ola Electric recalled 1,441 units of vehicles on April 23. “Testing of components for EVs is done as per relevant standards, as specified in Rule 126 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rule, 1989, to en sure compliance,” he added. The government-formed committee to formulate new guidelines for EVs is set to submit its report soon.
66 EQ AUGUST 2022 www.EQMagPro.com ELECTRIC VEHICLE TWO-WHEELER SALES TO GO UP BY 78 PER CENT IN 2030 IF ALL GOES WELL
As the electric vehicle (EV) makers grapple with continuous fire incidents, a new report has shown that the sales penetration of electric two-wheelers is expected to increase by 78 per cent by 2030, on the back of government policies, tech nology, infrastructure and consumer acceptance. In comparison to ICE (internal combustion engines) vehicles, the cost-of-ownership for electric twowheelers is close to 20-70 per cent less, with the cost savings increasing with increased usage, according to strategy consulting firm Redseer. The key reasons for choosing electric two-wheelers included better fea tures (such as interactive dashboards, connectivity and driving features), and superior economics (run ning cost and price). Other reasons include the fact that they are more environment-friendly and offer better performance (instant acceleration).
“Interestingly, the negligible need for maintenance and minimal fuel costs is also attracting B2B players to explore electric two-wheeler adoption as a clean mode of commercial operations,” said Mukesh Kumar, engagement manager at Redseer. “Although emerging strongly, it is not without its challenges — long charging time and poor charging infrastructure are the two main pain points for both users and non-users,” Kumar added. However, because of government incentives and growth in the segment, several startups along with government bodies are building a better charging infrastructure in India, the report said. As the fu ture looks very promising for the EV two-wheelers, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari told the Parliament last week that all the EV two-wheelers companies have been served show cause notices after their vehicles caught fire owing to battery issues. Replying to a question in the Lok Sab ha, he said the CEOs and Managing Directors of EV manufacturers have been issued showcause notices. Further action would be taken based on the responses received from the EV manufacturers, the Minister added. Earlier, Minister of State for Heavy Industries, Krishan Pal Gurjar informed the Parliament that three manufacturers recalled a total of 6,656 electric two-wheelers in April this year.
India currently has 3,000 EV charging stations, with six of them available per 1,000 EVs.
Source: PTI
ELECTRIC VEHICLE
“Adding an EV can increase a home’s electricity usage by 50% or more per year, depending on driving and charging behavior. With 80% of EV charging done at home, and utility prices jumping nearly 14% across the nation, Sunrun customers will be able to charge their EVs with clean, solar power while also reaping the benefits of cheaper, more predictable energy rates.”
Sunrun
Sunrun EV charger availability begins in Sep tember in certain California, New Jersey, and Vermont markets. The charger will be available nationwide by the end of the year. Naturally, there will be options to bundle the charger with a Sunrun home solar-plus-battery system.
Is there anything super special about Sunrun’s EV charging station? No. Level 2 chargers are quite similar across the industry in their capa bilities. It’s a smart charger, “allowing custom ers to configure charger settings and control charging,” but that’s standard capability. The big benefit is that the growing mass market of EV adopters will have an easy one-shop stop for an EV charger and solar roof. That may be a simple thing, but it shouldn’t be underesti mated.
Driving on sunshine. Driving on sunlight. That’s the dream that has become a reality for millions of people in the past decade. Powering one’s home represents a monumental shift in energy. For most of us, all of our ancestors since the discovery of fire have burned things in order to heat their homes — up through the burning of coal and natural gas at the grid scale. That by itself is an exhilarating shift to make. But then there’s transport.
On the transportation side, we’ve also been burning stuff and burning stuff and burning stuff in order to push large, heavy vehicles (and ourselves) forward. Switching to electric pow ertrains for that propulsion is its own exciting new development, but if you take it a step forward and collect sunlight for that electricity, then, fundamen tally, you are powering your electric car with sun light, you are driving on sunshine. Solar power com panies have partnered with automakers for years in order to try to lead more people to that transforma tional technological collaboration (for example, Ford and Sunrun recently partnered to help power F-150 Lightnings with Sunrun solar). Now, Sunrun, the #1 home solar installation company in the United States, is encouraging its customers to drive on sunshine in another way. It has launched its own EV charger. The Level 2 charger can be installed and used at homes, workplaces, or anywhere else someone may want to park and charge for long periods of time.
ChargersOfferingNowElectricVehicle
“The new product complements the company’s suite of home energy management solutions and supports growing demand for electric vehicles nationwide,” Sunrun states. “With the new EV charger, Sunrun is advancing its mission to deliver energy independence, cost savings and energy stability to all Americans by enabling customers to power their vehicles at home with abundant and affordable solar ener gy.” That sounds great. A marketing department can only love an announcement like this. “EV sales in the United States more than doubled in 2021, accounting for 5% of all new car sales. This trend creates a significant opportunity for Sunrun to help EV owners charge their vehicles quickly and safely while also providing solutions to manage increasing home energy consumption,” Sunrun writes.
Source: cleantechnica
68 EQ AUGUST 2022 www.EQMagPro.com ELECTRIC VEHICLE
Ningbo Deye Inverter Technology Co., Ltd, founded in 2007 with registered capital 46 million USD, is one of the China’s high-tech enterprises and a subsidiary of Deye Group. With a plant area over 15,000㎡ and complete production and testing equipment, Deye has become a major player in the global solar inverter market.
Ningbo Deye Inverter Technology Co., Ltd Add: No.26-30, South Yongjiang Road, Beilun, 315806, Ningbo, China Tel: 0086-0574-86120560 E-mail: market@deye.com.cnm Web: www.deyeinverter.com
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1 Ningbo Deye Inverter Technology Co., Ltd is dedicated to providing complete photovoltaic power system solutions, including residential and commercial power plants solutions. Also, Deye offers solar energy storage system solutions. Among them, PV grid-connected inverter power range from 1.5-110kW, Hybrid inverter 3kW-12kW, and microinverter 300W-2000W.
www.EQMagPro.com 69EQ AUGUST 2022
As a technology-oriented company, Deye has always been committing to research and develop new cutting-edge technologies to provide efficiency and reliable products. For example, Deye adopts T-type threelevel topology and enhanced SVPWM algorithm to further improve the conversion efficiency by 0.7% compared with common SPWM. With frequency droop control technology, Deye string inverter is able to work with diesel generator, which greatly expands the scope of the product application.
3
COMPANY PROFILE Stock Code: 605117.SH
Source: PTI
“At a charging station, you will spend Rs 150 to Rs 200 for fully charging the battery while at home, you may end up spending Rs 180 to Rs 500 for a car”, he mentioned. Mittu Mehta, who runs a showroom of e-vehicles (two wheelers) mentioned that charging stations would positively add to the consolation stage of commuters utilizing e-vehi cles however as of now, persons are doing it at residence or wherever they discover handy within the absence of charging stations and the truth that e-vehicles (two wheelers) have a transportable battery, they’re able to do it.
We are having a trial run of 10 buses cur rently to examine the infrastructure and processes are in place and once the trial is successfully done, we propose to run 50 buses between Bhopal and Indore during a day by the end of August for the transport department of MP, mentioned Priya Zutshi of Greencell Mobility. He mentioned that charging stations not solely hold individuals assured however additionally they price far much less in recharging of battery than charging finished at residence or elsewhere by the individuals themselves.
In truth, there isn’t any charging station within the metropolis and whereas the two-wheelers and three-wheeler homeowners must do it themselves, there are charging factors within the 4 showrooms of the one automobile firm, which is producing the electrical four-wheelers in India as of now. The state authorities expenses a nominal 1% of the fee as registration payment for evehicles as in comparison with 8% to 16% for petrol and diesel autos respectively clearly with an inten tion to advertise their use nevertheless it does not appear to be sufficient to realize the target within the absence of sound infrastructure to let individuals use electrical automobile with none hitch or drawback.
When requested how the corporate proposes to run long-distance buses when there isn’t any charging station in Bhopal, she mentioned that they might set up their very own charging stations on the route and wouldn’t solely be self-reliant them selves however would additionally permit different autos to make use of their facility. Ashish Pandey mentioned that so far as gross sales of e-vehicles is anxious, presently it is 1% of the passenger au tos (4 wheelers) bought and on-an-average 50 two wheelers a day however there isn’t any charging station within the metropolis apart from charging factors within the automobile showrooms of the corporate, which sells the e-cars and so far as two wheelers are involved, they must do it themselves at residence or wherever else based on their com fort.
As of now, 1,640 two autos, 1,785 e-rickshaws, 186 4 wheelers and 176 items service run by battery are registered with RTO, Bhopal, however president of Bhopal Automobile Association, Ashish Pandey, mentioned the numbers may very well be a lot larger as a result of the gradual pace e-vehicles (with a pace of lower than 40 Kms per hour) usually are not re quired to register themselves with the RTO. Besides, Greecell Mobility is plying 10 e-buses between Bho pal and Indore on a trial foundation to see that each one the services are in locations to run e-buses on the route and as soon as the trial run is efficiently finished, the corporate will run 50 e-buses between Bhopal and Indore by the tip of August.
70 EQ AUGUST 2022 www.EQMagPro.com ELECTRIC VEHICLE BHOPAL: ELECTRIC VEHICLE NUMBERS GO UP, BUT INFRA FAILS TO KEEP PACE
“We dealers of e-two wheelers are planning to install charging points at our showrooms but it has not taken concrete shape as yet,” he mentioned.
The electrical automobile infrastructure together with charging stations is way from passable within the state capital despite the fact that the federal government is specializing in various gas and pushing for eVs. The authorities efforts has led to a rise in variety of e-vehicles on the roads however charging and restore services have didn’t hold tempo.
Between Bhopal and Indore, there’s a charging station someplace close to Dodi, he mentioned, when requested if somebody has to make use of his e-car to succeed in Indore, how would he guaran tee charging of the automobile battery on the way in which.
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