19 minute read
Power
Power ministry sets up regulatory compliance division for monitoring
The Union Power Ministry has said that it has set up a regulatory compliance division to monitor the adherence of regulatory parameters by the state-run electricity distribution companies (discoms) and state electricity regulators.
Advertisement
In a meeting with Union power minister R K Singh held the Forum of Regulators (FoR) said that it will prepare norms on various regulatory parameters and issues, which would be adopted by the state commissions. istry is also working on ‘resource adequacy guidelines’ and ‘guidelines for procurement of power’, keeping in mind factors such as load fluctuation requirement, contract term and energy mix.
A recent report by FoR to measure the impact of power purchase cost on retail electricity tariffs had pointed out that discoms in 12 states are cumulatively paying a hefty Rs 17,500 crore a year for the power they don’t use as fixed costs. Under contractual requirements, discoms have to continue paying fixed cost to thermal power plants to recover the projects’ capital expenditure and cover debt obligations even when they do not procure electricity during periods of low demand.
India achieves 28 per cent emission reduction over 2005 levels: R K Singh
India has achieved emission reduction of 28 per cent over 2005 levels, against the target of 35 per cent by 2030 committed in its Nationally Determined Contributions, power and renewable energy minister R K Singh said.
This makes India among one of the few countries globally which has kept to its Paris Climate Change commitments along with an exponential increase in renewable energy capacity, Singh said.
“Considering the pace of development in the energy sector, India is determined to not only achieve, but to exceed its NDC commitments well within the committed time frame,”
He said that the key is to allow the regulatory and policy support to keep the sector afloat till the supply-side strengthens, technology develops, and competitive market takes root resulting in a fall in prices, and the industry becomes self-sustainable.
Power sector gives boost to coal off takes though CIL still saddled with huge pit headstocks
Even as the country’s appetite for coal is on the rise with offtake from the coal-fired plants rising sharply to 166.3 million tonnes during April- July this fiscal against 127.2 MTs during the same period last fiscal, Coal India (CIL) is still saddled with a buffer of 55.8 MTs stock despite its marketing efforts reduced pit headstocks by 43.4 MTs at the end of July this year.
The company achieved the highest ever coal off-take, production and overburden removal (OBR), for July of any year since the company’s inception 46 years ago, posting growths of 16.7%, 14.1% and 3.6% respectively.
In terms of supplies to the power generators, CIL’s coal supply accounted for about threefourths of the country’s total coal-based power generation of 82.119 billion units during July including generation through imported coal.
57 lakh energy saving certificates issued to 349 units: Power Minister
As many as 57 lakh energy saving certificates (ESCerts) was issued to 349 industrial units for saving more energy than their targets, the power ministry said.
These units will be able to trade certificates through Power Exchange Portal after a month to those units who could not achieve their targets.
The leadership role being played in the energy transition efforts is highlighted by the Ministry and India, being the only G-20 country that is on the track for below 2 degree rise as per the Paris agreement.
The Ministry of Power has taken several initiatives to enhance energy efficiency of major industrial sectors. The objective is to reduce consumption of fossil fuel, coal, oil and gas thereby leading to low carbon economy. One of the flagship initiatives known as Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) was implemented under Cycle II (during 2016-19) covering 621 large industries from 11 sectors.
Regulators feel high return on equity jacks up power tariffs
Higher return on equity (RoE) granted for power-sector units is proving to be a fixed-cost factor driving retail electricity tariffs up, according to analysts. The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), guided by a policy objective to incentivise investments in the sector uses to provide RoE as high as 18% for gencos about two decades ago.
The ROEs have since come down, but continue to jack up tariffs. Now that the prime lending rate and the 10 year G-Secs rates have fallen substantially, there is a pressing need to lower the RoE build into tariff determination, the analysts feel.
A recent study by the Forum of Indian Regulators of 12 discoms across India with RoE of 14-15.5%, said if RoE is reduced to 12%, there would be reduction of 7 paisa per unit of retail tariffs.
The regulators from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh who were part of the study, noted that the RoE for generation and transmission must be linked to the 10-year G-Sec rate (average for previous 5 years), along with capping of the risk premium as decided by appropriate commission.
India's largest power utility NTPC to work with Coal India, Railways to solve fuel crisis
While the shortage of coal is causing a power generation crisis for many coal-fired power plants, India's largest power utility NTPC Ltd has initiated measures to get its production back on track. NTPC has said it is working with Coal India and Railways for augmenting coal supplies, where the stock position is critically low.
It said power production will soon increase as commercial operation of its Darlipalli Unit 2 (800 MW) will start from September 1. Further, it is arranging 2.7 lakh million tonnes (MT) of imported coal-based on earlier contracts and is increasing coal production from all its captive mines. The pit head Darlipalli Unit 2 will get coal from its Dulanga captive mine.
As per the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) data as of August 29, a total of 135 coal plants with a capacity of 1,68,456 MW have a total stock of 13168.96 MT, enough for seven days and have a daily requirement of about 1,910.28 MT.
Coal stock at 57 thermal power stations representing about 21% of the country’s total generation capacity have become ‘critical’ or ‘super critical’ amid rising electricity demand, prompting the power ministry to regulate for a week fuel supply to plants that have stocks for 14 days so that inventories can be built up at the units facing a crunch.
Central Electricity Authority documents show five plants with ‘zero’ coal stock and running on daily supplies. Six plants have a day’s buffer stock, while 15 plants have inventories for three days, 13 plants for four days, four plants for five days, and three stations for six days and two units have stocks to last a week. Industry executives blame the low fuel stocks on poor supply and lack of advance planning in anticipation of rising power demand.
But Coal India Ltd blamed the reduced inventories on generators failing to heed its advice given since October 2020 to stock up for summer and monsoon when electricity demand spikes.
The arguments indicate that no one prepared for the sharp rebound in power demand or put too much emphasis on renewables. Power demand rose at 8% and 12% in the third and fourth quarters of 2020-21 and continues, jumping 18% in July. As a result the average plant load factor of thermal plants too has risen above 60% from about 52% as hydel production came down.
Govt proposes flexibility to Gencos on 3rd party sale of electricity meant for discoms in default
By the year 2024, more than 50 per cent of the power needs of a large section of the city would be met through green energy, comprising solar, wind, water, waste to energy and hybrid power.
By the financial year 2023-24, 3,300 MW of green power will be operationalised by BSES discoms. Discom sources said that out of this, 2,291 MW will be “pure play renewable”, comprising solar, wind and waste to energy and around 1,000 MW comprising hydro power. This means that by 2024, 36 per cent of BSES’s longterm arrangements will comprise pure play renewable energy and 16 per cent, would be hydro power, adding up to a total of 52 per cent.
The BSES discoms recently inked a power sale agreement with the Solar Energy Corporation of India to procure 510 MW of solar and bundled hybrid power. Of the total quantum of 510 MW,
300 MW is solar power and 210 MW, hybrid power, including Mumbai, Nashik, Pune, Igatpuri and Nagpur, the company said in a statement.
Ladakh's power scenario changed for better in a short span of time: Lt Guv
The power scenario of Ladakh has changed for better in a short span of time, Lt Governor R K Mathur said, asserting that with solar, hydrogen and geothermal projects in the pipeline, the sector has great potential for changing the face of the union territory. Mathur said many new areas have been electrified and power consumption in the last one year has grown by more than 10 per cent, while reiterating the need for time-bound removal of all diesel generator sets to achieve carbon neutrality in the region.
The secretary power informed the meeting of upcoming projects such as installation of new transformers in Leh city to address the issue of low voltage, introduction of smart metering system, maintenance and replacement of DG sets. It was noted that smart metering systems would help strengthen the mechanism of revenue collection and the department is pacing up the implementation of the project.
The turnaround in the power transmission and distribution sector in the past one year in Jammu and Kashmir has helped in achieving reliable, quality, and sustainable electricity supply, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said as he dedicated seven power infrastructure projects worth Rs 10.11 crore to the public. The new projects inaugurated by Sinha target four districts of the Kashmir Valley - Pulwama, Bandipora, Ganderbal and Budgam - and would benefit 30,400 households.
The lieutenant governor (L-G) said that hardly any work was done in the past three decades to strengthen the power infrastructure in the J&K UT and the administration inherited a plethora of problems confronting the power generation, transmission, and distribution sectors.
"But, we are determined for a time-bound solution to the problems. Rs 5,000 crore has been allocated to transform the power infrastructure and I am certain with a pragmatic approach, we will be able to mitigate the challenges of this sector," the L-G said.
SECI plans 2,000 MWh capacity standalone energy storage project
The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) is planning a 2,000 MWh standalone energy storage system which will be executed by the private sector. The state-owned solar energy focused corporation said the projects will be set up on a build-own-operate (BOO) basis with a 25-year agreement.
"SECI has initiated a project for 2,000 MWh standalone energy system. The detailed tender In yet another reform initiative aimed at streamlining the payment mechanism in the power sector, the power ministry proposes to extend freedom to generating companies to sell power to a third party to the extent of default by discoms and recover their cost.
As per the draft Electricity (Late Payment Surcharge) amendment Rules, 2021 rules, if a distribution licensee has any payment including late payment surcharge outstanding after the expiry of seven months from the due date of payment as prescribed in the (power purchase agreement) PPA then notwithstanding anything contained in the PPA or the Power Supply Agreement, the generating company may sell power to any consumer or any other licensee or power exchanges, for the period of such default.
While doing so, the Genco will retain its claim on payment of fixed charges or capacity charges from the distribution licensee, after giving a notice of at least fifteen days to the distribution licensee for the power supplies it made without getting paid. The claim, if any, shall be reconciled on annual basis and shall be limited, to only under recovery of the fixed charges or capacity charges, the amendment rules state.
Collaboration plans carbon capture facility in India
Carbon Clean and Green Power International (GPIPL) have been selected to design and build a carbon capture plant with NTPC, India’s largest power utility provider.
The NTPC Energy Technology Research Alliance (NETRA) – the R&D section of NTPC – is establishing a CO2 to methanol demonstration plant at NTPC Vindhyachal, India. The agreement will see Carbon Clean’s technology capture 20 t/d of CO2 from the coal-fired boiler. Carbon Clean will collaborate with GPIPL who won the contract from NTPC. Aniruddha Sharma, CEO of Carbon Clean, said: “This partnership is a perfect fusion of Carbon Clean’s low-cost capture technology and Green Power and NTPC’s deep industry knowledge. India has been a primary market for Carbon Clean since our formation. We are excited to have won another contract that will contribute to India’s reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by expanding the country’s circular carbon economy.”
Govt expects Rs 39,832 crore from sale of power generation assets by FY25
Government's think tank NITI Aayog has valued state-owned power generation assets at Rs 39,832 crore which can be monetised by the financial year 2025, according to the National Monetisation Pipeline. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced a Rs 6 lakh crore National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) that will look to unlock value in infrastructure assets across sectors ranging from power to road and railways.
The assets considered for monetisation over FY 2022-25 aggregate to 6.0 gigawatt. Out of which, about 3.5 GW is from hydel assets and about 2.5 GW is renewable energy (RE) assets which includes solar and wind. The total value of assets considered for monetisation is estimated at Rs 39,832 crore over FY 2022-25, the NMP document said.
Together, 6.0 GW asset base considered for monetisation constitute about 6 per cent of the total generation capacity under central PSUs. Key entities whose assets have been considered are NHPC, NTPC and SJVNL who own bulk of the hydel assets and NTPC (under Ministry of Power) and NLC (under Ministry of Coal) that own renewable assets.
States yet to submit categorisation of thermal power plants
A day ahead of the latest deadline to categorise their thermal power plants (TPP), the states sought clarification from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), further delaying the process to control air pollution.
The State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) or the Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) were supposed to send categorisation of captive power plants by August 25 to the task force headed by the member secretary, CPCB.
While the overall work for retrofitting of the pollution control technology for the TTPs has shown pathetic progress, even the categorisation of TTPs has been delayed. Considered the most polluting industry in India, coal-powered plants across the country were directed to introduce stricter environmental standards on December 7, 2015 to be implemented within two years.
However, the reluctance of the states and even some Centre-owned power plants has meant that not all of them have complied with the directives.
India committed to work with US on clean energy: Environment minister
India stands committed to working with the US on clean energy, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said after a telephonic conversation with US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (SPEC) John Kerry.
During the conversation with Kerry, the minister discussed the Climate Action and Finance Mobilization Dialogue (CAFMD) Track under the India-US Climate, Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership, and other related issues, the environment ministry said in a statement.
Kerry is likely to visit India in September to further India-US partnership on clean energy, the ministry said.
“Both sides agreed that India and the US, will engage for a constructive engagement under the India-US Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership. The environment minister stated that these platforms provide greater opportunities for working together for climate actions and emphasised that India stands committed to working with the US on Clean Energy," the official statement said.
Govt floats draft green energy open access rules
To increase the use of renewable energy, the Union power ministry has circulated the “draft electricity (promoting renewable energy through green energy open access) rules, 2021”. The draft proposes that there shall be no capacity limit for industries and large power consumers for setting up solar power generation units for self-consumption.
The proposed rules also say that state power regulators will have to frame a mechanism to allow consumers wanting to procure green energy through the open access route, and all such applications for green energy open access will have to be cleared within 15 days.
The rules are seen to standardise the open access regulations all across the country, as currently differ
rent states have different norms regarding this. As power minister RK Singh recently said, to make it easier for industries to source all their electricity requirement from renewable energy (RE) based power sources, the Centre is planning to come up with a green tariff mechanism policy to enable discoms supply electricity sourced only from RE sources to interested users, and also levy separate tariffs on such consumers. The draft rules are seen to
be a step in that direction as well. Stakeholders have to submit their comments on the draft rules within 30 days.
India plans to emerge as a global leader in green hydrogen and the country is proposing to mandate using green hydrogen in fertilizer and in refining, power minister R K Singh has told the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (SPEC) John Kerry. In a telephonic conversation last evening, Singh also informed Kerry that India will invite bids for green hydrogen in the next 3-4 months to encourage viable usage of hydrogen as a fuel, according to a power ministry statement.
Singh underlined to the US Presidential envoy that Prime Minister Narendra Modi places the highest importance on the environment. He suggested to him that India and the USA could work together in the areas of innovations for power and technology, pointing out the requirement of bringing down the cost of storage of renewable power.
The minister informed Kerry about the recent milestone the country had achieved by crossing 100 GW in Installed solar and wind capacity. “If we add Hydro capacity also, the total installed renewable capacity is 147 MW. Further, 63 GW of renewable capacity is under construction which makes India one of the fastest growing in terms of renewable capacity addition,” it stated.
Renewable capacity target of 175 GW to be met by FY26: Icra
The target of having 175 giga-watt (GW) of installed renewable energy capacity set by the government will likely be achieved only in FY26 as against the target of meeting it by December The key reasons for the delay were cited as issues related to land acquisition and the higher period required to build associated transmission infrastructure to evacuate the electricity generated from solar and wind plants.
Since 40 GW of the 175 GW target capacity was expected to come from rooftop solar plants, limited progress on that front has also thwarted achieving the 175 GW renewables target on time. The “passive resistance” from state-run power distribution companies (discoms) towards installing rooftop solar — in the apprehension of losing revenue from discoms’ higher-paying commercial and industrial consumers — is seen as one of the major reasons why rooftop solar did not take off as planned.
The key challenges constraining the growth remain on execution front, mainly associated with land and transmission infrastructure as well as the slow but improving progress in signing of power purchase agreements and power sale agreements by intermediate procurers with discoms
Renewable can stand on its own but the nature of power is intermittent, that is the challenge we have today. Soon with technological advancement around storage, we will overcome that as well.
Solar energy to contribute 300 GW to India’s RE target: Amitesh Sinha, Jt Secy, MNRE
Solar energy will contribute almost 300 gigawatt (GW) to the 450 GW of renewable energy target that India aims to achieve by 2030, said Amitesh Sinha, joint secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy on Wednesday. He said that the country has a clear road map on the part of demand visibility.
“India needs to add about 25 GW of solar energy capacities every year... Apart from this,
we are also moving towards a green hydrogen ecosystem,” he said at a virtual event organised by industry body, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).
Sinha also said that the government was now focusing its attention on how manufacturing equipment can be supplied and how India can become self reliant in this sector.
“The earlier efforts were not encouraging to the solar equipment manufacturers. Now, with the government deciding to impose 40 per cent basic customs duty on solar modules and 25 per cent on solar cells from 1 April 2022, imports would become more expensive and local manufacturing would be encouraged,” he added.
Solar energy set to double demand for base metals by 2040: WoodMac
Solar power will have a significant impact on demand for aluminium, copper, and zinc, with the usage of all three metals in the sector set to double by 2040, according to a recent report by Wood Mackenzie.
It added that the global energy transition and country-level decarbonisation targets will create new markets for non-ferrous metals in the coming years.
“Base metals are an integral component of solar power systems. A typical solar panel installation requires aluminium for the front frame and a combination of aluminium and zinc for structural parts. Copper is used in high and low voltage transmission cables and thermal solar collectors,” said Kamil Wlazly, senior research analyst, Wood Mackenzie.
He said that falling production costs and efficiency gains has driven down the price of solar power around the world.
“As a result, solar has become cheaper than any other technology in many parts of the US and several other countries across the globe. As costs continue to fall, solar’s share of power supply will rise and begin to displace other forms of generation. This presents a huge opportunity for the base metals sector,” he added.
PM likely to declare Modhera India’s first fully solar-powered village
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Modhera village, famous for its Sun Temple, on September 5 and declare it to be the first fully solar powered village of the country. The PM had earlier suggested that the state government take up the project to convert the village housing the Sun Temple to India’s first fully solar powered village.
The Gujarat government has developed a 6MW solar power facility which provides 24x7 power to the village.
Modhera village and the Sun Temple is a protected archaeological site. The state has spent around Rs 69 crore on the project. The government allocated 12 hectares of land for the plant, which is 3km from the village. The 6MW solar power plant will be connected with a Battery Energy Storage System for storage of solar power. It is from this BESS that Modhera village will receive solar power at night.
