12 minute read
Power
Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted seven key pillars of India’s energy strategy going forward and stressing upon India's rise as a major consumer of energy globally. “India’s energy plan will have 7 key drivers including accelerating efforts to move towards a gas-based economy, cleaner use of fossil fuels, greater reliance on domestic fuels to drive biofuels, achieving the renewable energy target of 450 gigawatts (GW) by 230, increasing the contribution of electricity to decarbonise mobility, moving into emerging fuels like Hydrogen and digital innovation across all energy systems,” he said. He also mentioned that India has saved around Rs 24,000 crore annually through the installation of 11 million smart LED street lights which have reduced the greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 4.5 crore or 45 MT of CO2 annually. He said that India is well on track to meet the commitments made to the global community on climate and that the nation has the lowest carbon emissions than the rest of the industrialized world but will continue to make efforts to fight climate change.
Advertisement
Power Minister Iterates Plan To Overhaul Regulation, Enforcement Soon
India’s power ministry is pushing for an overhaul of electricity regulation and enforcement of contracts in order to stem losses of the staterun distribution companies that have burdened the sector. On solar imports, plans afoot to draw up a list of approved manufacturers for allowing imports. The weak financial condition of distribution companies hurts their ability to pay producers, which in turn affects investments and credit in one of the world’s leading energy consumers. Power Minister R.K. Singh said that the sector has traditionally suffered because state governments put pressure on regulators to not
raise electricity tariffs to reflect prudent costs and they are unable to override this because they are state appointees. Singh said that regulators will be mandated to look at power tariffs every year and will be subject to scrutiny.Separately, the government will also set up a body for enforcement of contracts. Distribution companies often delay payments to producers. Already only about four to five regulators are not looking at examining power tariffs regularly. The southern state of Tamil Nadu has not raised tariffs since 2017, Singh observed. India has 30 states and all of them have their own distribution company.
NITI Aayog announces governing structure of India Energy Modeling Forum
NITI Aayog has announced the governing structure of the India Energy Modeling Forum (IEMF) following its constitution in July. The Forum was jointly launched by NITI Aayog and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the US–India Strategic Energy Partnership. Part of the Sustainable Growth pillar of the US–India Strategic Energy Partnership (SEP), IEMF aims to engage Indian researchers, knowledge partners, think tanks and national and international government agencies and departments for modeling and long-term energy planning. The governing structure of IEMF will consist of an inter-ministerial and a steering committee. The inter- ministerial committee will be convened by NITI Aayog and headed by its CEO, and comprise senior officials from the ministries of petroleum and natural gas; power; new and renewable energy; coal; environment, forest and climate change; and department of science and technology. This committee will shortlist policy issues to be taken up for study and might form various taskforces depending on the specific studies/ modeling exercises to be carried out. India and the US have a long-standing collaboration on energy. The Sustainable Growth pillar, one of the four of the US–India SEP, is being chaired by NITI Aayog and USAID.
India to link power grid with Middle East, SEA
India is drawing up plans to link its electricity grid with Gulf countries to the west and South East Asian nations on the other side in order to export excess electricity, especially from a raft of renewable energy projects coming up in Gujarat and Rajasthan. The government, as part of the ‘One Sun, One World, One grid’ initiative, wants the Indian Grid to be connected with the Middle East, South Asia, and South East Asian grids to share solar and other renewable energy resources. “Some 40-50 GW solar power projects are in the pipeline in Rajasthan and Gujarat. These can be sold in large markets like Delhi or Maharashtra, or exported to Gulf countries which have different peak hours once a grid connecting them is established,” said Amit Jain, Senior Energy Specialist with the World Bank, which is partnering India in this initiative. Officials from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said they would be making an assessment of renewable energy potential of countries in the region and study how they can share power to meet even peak electricity demand.
Fresh identification of PSUs gives momentum to government's selloff plan
The government proposes to start afresh the process to firm up the list of companies for strategic sale and disinvestment as changed market dynamics post the Covid-19 outbreak and the need for distinguishing between strategic and non-strategic sectors have completely changed the plan for sell-offs. Sources in the government said that NITI Aayog is spearheading the programme for identifying new set of companies for government's share sale plan and a preliminary meeting has already taken place in this regard during the week.
As per the initial plan, sectors such as power, coal, oil, steel, fertilizers, insurance and banking have been identified as strategic sectors where a complete sell-off of companies will not be allowed and PSU presence to a maximum of four companies may be maintained. The plan will also look at asset stripping and sale of parts of manufacturing and industrial set ups of companies in non-strategic sectors that allow the government to get better valuations. Sources said that Niti Aayog has also asked Central ministries that administer control over various PSUs to suggest names of entities that could be offered for strategic sale. This way the process could be made smoother as non-strategic entities could be pushed for sales route without difficulties.
87 per cent households have access to grid-connected power; some still don't use electricity: Survey
A majority of households (87 per cent) in India have access to grid-connect electricity, while the remaining 13 per cent are either using non-grid sources for power or "do not use any electricity at all", according to a survey. The finding is part of the joint survey conducted by government think-tank NITI Aayog and the US-based philanthropic organisation Rockefeller Foundation on 'Electricity Access and Benchmarking of Distribution Utilities.' The study further showed that of all customers using non-grid sources, the majority 62 per cent of them are agricultural customers. Only four per cent of households do not have access to gridbased electricity. The survey was released by Smart Power India (SPI), a subsidiary of Rockefeller Foundation. It was conducted across 10 states with a sample size of over 25,000 respondents consisting of different consumer categories such as households, agriculture, commercial enterprises and institutions both from rural and urban areas. It mainly focused on key areas such as grid connectivity, electricity access, customers’ satisfaction, utilities' capacity to delivery and drivers of sustainability for utilities. The survey also showed that a total of 66 per cent of surveyed customers are satisfied with the overall services from their utility. However, there were differences in satisfaction levels between urban customers (75 per cent) and rural customers (63 per cent).
Discoms in India need to improve power quality: Survey
Power distribution companies in India have to improve the power quality in the country shows a survey. A joint study by Smart Power India (SPI), NITI Aayog and the Rockefeller Foundation, showed that only 55 per cent customers were satisfied with the quality of their electricity supply. The report said that power quality was reported as the number of voltage fluctuations. Overall, 63 per cent of customers reported more than one voltage fluctuation in a week, and 10 per cent reported more than 10 voltage fluctuations per day in the past one week. Appliance damages in the past one year played an important role for the customers to decide upon the quality of supply of power, it said.
India will be the energy centre of the world: Pradhan
India’s energy demand is going to surge once it steps out of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Daniel Yergin, Vice-Chairman, HISMarkit. Speaking with Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan during the India Energy Forum, Yergin said that China’s energy demand is back to being on the rise, but India’s demand is still at 2019 levels. He said that India’s energy demand is going to surge significantly once the pandemic is over. The Indian Railways is on track to achieve net zero emissions by 2030, according to Rail Minister Piyush Goyal. Speaking at another session during the India
Energy Forum, Goyal said: “Compared to September 2019, in September 2020, the Indian Railways moved 15 per cent more freight; our exports have gone up by 5 per cent and power consumption is up by 5.5 per cent.” “We have about 65,000 route kilometers in India; we are already 40,000 route kilometers under electrification, and the balance is going on at a fast pace. By December 2023, we will be completely electrified,” said Goyal. “We are very confident that we will be the world’s first large railway that will be 100 per cent electrified. We are already embarked on 1 GW of solar along railway lines, this will be expanded to 3 GW. The land bank of the railways will also be used to set up 20 GW of solar projects to meet requirements,” he added.
Government says clean energy is topmost priority; World Bank’s 5 mantras for India’s green drive amid crisis
Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that providing clean and reliable energy supplies to Indians is the topmost priority of the government. Dharmendra Pradhan added that India will emerge as a winner in developing green solutions and the world would admire for the decades ahead. 5 lessons for India’s green recovery during the ongoing crisis: Returning migrants can be encouraged to set up new forest-based enterprises — Given the rapidly growing demand for natural products, returning workers can be encouraged to set up MSMEs that add value to non-timber forest produce (NTFP) using their knowledge of new technologies and urban markets. The move may help in generating jobs and raising local incomes. Thriving forests can benefit agriculture — Increased forest areas can help in controlling soil erosion; improving the quality of soil, water, and air; preventing landslides; reviving pastures; recharging aquifers; and providing food, fodder, and medicines. Promotion of nature-based tourism — Restoring India’s natural heritage and unique ecosystems can also boost opportunities for naturebased tourism. By creating safer habitats for India’s vast biodiversity, forests can help boost tourism, generating gainful employment for rural residents. Meeting international commitments towards climate change and land degradation — Restoring forests and terrestrial landscapes may help India meet its international commitments towards climate change and land degradation.
India re-elected as president of International Solar Alliance
India and France were re-elected as president and co-president of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) for a term of two years at its third assembly, an official statement said. The Third Assembly of the ISA was attended by 34 members’ ministers. As many as 53 member countries and five signatory and prospective member countries participated in the assembly, the ministry of new and renewable energy said. India and France were re-elected as the president and co- president of the ISA for a term of two years at the virtual meeting of the third ISA assembly. The assembly also approved the initiatives of the ISA Secretariat in institutionalising ISA’s engagement with the private and public corporate sector through the Coalition for Sustainable Climate Action (CSCA), it said.
Solar tariffs may reach a new record-low once again: Experts
In a greatly encouraging response, over 5000 MW of bids were received for the 1070 MW solar tender issued by the Solar Energy Corporation of India, which analysts said may lead to record low tariffs. SECI is the nodal agency through which the ministry of new and renew-
able energy conducts wind and solar auctions. In the bid submission that took place, almost all the major developers in the country expressed interest in taking part, sources said. “We expect aggressive bidding and possibly a new tariff low in this auction,” said Vinay Rustagi, managing director of renewable energy consultancy firm, Bridge To India. Experts said that during the early solar auction years (between 2015 and 2017), tenders were heavily oversubscribed in a similar manner. “The past two years were a bit of an exception as many developers exited the market in the face of various execution and financing challenges,” Rustagi said.
GE Renewable Energy to install 121 turbine sets for SB Energy in MP
GE Renewable Energy said it will install 121 sets of wind turbines for SB Energy in Madhya Pradesh. The project was bagged by SB Energy during the tranche-VI auction of wind projects by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and will produce green energy for 2.50 lakh households, the company said in a statement. "It has been selected by SB Energy (Soft Bank Group) to supply, install and commission 121 sets of its 2.7-132 onshore wind turbines, cumulating 327 megawatt (MW), to be installed at Pritam Nagar wind farm in Madhya Pradesh," GE Renewable Energy added. "We are proud to be selected to execute this flagship project. It is one of the largest wind projects ever awarded in India and will significantly contribute to the country's renewable aspirations.
India’s JSW Energy plans $1.2bn investment in two wind projects
Indian power generation company JSW Energy reportedly plans to make a $1.2bn (INR88.6bn) investment in two wind power plants in the state of Karnataka. According to the Karnataka Commerce and Industries Department, the two wind farms will have a combined capacity of nearly 1.4GW. The first wind facility will use an investment of $531m (INR88.6bn) across a 1,350-acre land area across Ballari and Davangere. This site has 600MW of energy capacity. JSW’s second wind facility will use an investment of $668m (INR49bn) to develop 800MW of capacity on 1,800 acres in Ballari, Dharwad, Gadag, and Davangere. Over the last two months, the state government has approved investments of up to $2.9bn (INR216.11bn), according to the department. The investments will form part of the state’s plan to lower reliance on conventional sources to generate power. Last month, JSW Energy’s subsidiary JSW Solar secured contracts for 810MW of blended wind energy project.
