ET
Total pages 44 Volume 1 | Issue 9| October 2013 | `50
Electricals Today
Management expertise for the power industry
trendS
more companies opt for Thermal storage
DISTRIBUTION roadmap for smart grid rolled out
turning
the TIDE
Chairman & MD Rajeev Sharma on HOW the Rural Electrification Corporation has recorded consistent growth despite the downturn Published by ITP Publishing India
Contents
14 Cover Story Chairman & MD Rajeev Sharma on how the Rural Electrification Corporation has recorded consistent growth despite the downturn
12
22
28
38
Column
Distribution
Trends
Renewable
Price pooling the way forward for gas
Roadmap for smart grid rolled out
More companies opting for thermal storage system
Solar water pumps changing the rural landscape october 2013 | Electricals Today
3
Editor's Note
ET Electricals Today
Management expertise for the power industry
NO TAKERS
N
ew trouble is brewing in the power sector — this time, it has do with generation but no takers. No, I am not talking about the usual generation backing-downs during the less consumption times, but of the new capacity of 20,113 MW which is available and struggling to find takers. Reason: the cost of the said power is higher. This is the outcome of increase in fuel prices which has been directed to be passed on. However, distribution utilities are unwilling to take the extra burden of fuel hike and have decided not to purchase the said power. Though the price increase was expected, no takers for such a huge quantum of generated electricity in a powerstarved country like India was unthinkable — for both the ministry and the generation utilities. Of course the power minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia, voiced his concern in one of the official forums. But there is no solution being discussed. It actually rings a warning bell to me as I fear the situation may worsen (more power available and no takers) since the financial condition of discoms hasn’t shown much improvement. Though the government announced financial restructuring plans for distribution utilities in the beginning of 2013, they are yet to reflect in the balance sheets. It is, hence, natural for discoms to resist the purchase of costly power. A possible answer to this rather than brooding would be a tariff revision at the earliest. However, many of the states have already revised their tariff in the recent past, and may not take the same route again. But I am hopeful that the regulators and generators will reach a solution soon. A solution that will not burden the customers.
Renjini Liza Varghese, Editor renjini.varghese@itp.com
Volume 1 | Issue 9 | October 2013
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Disclaimer The publishers regret that they cannot accept liability for error or omissions contained in this publication, however caused. The opinions and views contained in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. Readers are advised to seek specialist advice before acting on information contained in this publication, which is provided for general use and may not be appropriate for the readers’ particular circumstances. The ownership of trademarks is acknowledged. No part of this publication or any part of the contents thereof may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without the permission of the publishers in writing. An exemption is hereby granted for extracts used for the purpose of fair review. Printed and Published by Sai Kumar Shanmugam, Flat no 903, Building 47, NRI Colony, Phase – 2, Part -1, Sector 54, 56, 58, Nerul, Navi Mumbai 400706, on behalf of ITP Publishing India Private Limited, printed at Jasmine Art printers Pvt.Ltd., A-737/3, TTC Industrial Area, Mahape, MIDC, Navi Mumbai, India and published at Notan Plaza, 3rd floor, 898, Turner Road, Bandra (West), Mumbai - 400050 Editor Renjini Liza Varghese
Published by and © 2013 ITP Publishing India Pvt Ltd
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Electricals Today | october 2013
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Bulletin
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Power Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia at the dedication ceremony.
Sipat thermal plant dedicated to the nation State-owned National Thermal Power Corporation's (NTPC) 2,980 MW Rajiv Gandhi Sipat super thermal power station was dedicated to the nation by the prime minister, Manmohan Singh. The coal-based plant has three units of 660 MW and two units of 500 MW, which are already operational. Sipat plant will supply power to five states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, and two union territories of Daman and Diu as also Dadra and Nagar Haveli. This thermal power project will have large 765 kV switchyard for power evacuation attached to it. This is the first time ever that the country has installed a high capac-
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Electricals Today | oCTOber 2013
ity switchyard. The fuel coal for this plant will be sourced from Korba's Dipka extension mines of SECL. And the water is sourced through a 16-km pipeline from the banks of the Hasdeo barrage canal, from Hardivishal village in the district. In the NTPC-Sipat plant, with a view to conserve the environment, the project has 275-metre-high chimneys and higher efficiency static precipitators (ESPs). A 50-metre Green Belt is being developed around the projects. Saplings have already been planted in nearby villages, on both sides of state highway, and on the approach roads. Owing to the fuel issues, the capacity addition in power generation had
taken a hit in the recent past. There were absolutely no capacities added to the grid in the past 12 months. The dedication and adding of 2,000 MW came in as a relief to the otherwise laagered sector. The prime minister also laid the foundation stone for Stage-I of NTPC- Lara Super Thermal Power Project. The capacity of this project is of 1,600 MW. The governor of Chhattisgarh, Shekhar Dutt, the power minister, Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia, Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh and the minister of state for agriculture and food processing industries, Dr Charan Das Mahant, were present at the occasion.
BULLETIN
p11
Alstom inaugurates digital substation hub
Inauguration of Alstom T&D India Digital Substation Automation Competence.
Alstom, one of the leading equipment manufacturers in power sector, has inaugurated India’s first digital substation automation competence centre in Pallavaram, Chennai. The facility was inaugurated by Rathin Basu, MD, Alstom T&D India, Patrick Plas, Senior VP, grid power electronics & automation, and Hervé Amossé, VP, substation automation solutions. With this new centre, Alstom strengthens its know-how in digital technology; supporting its strategy of transforming the energy grid and developing the substations of the future. "Alstom has brought
in advanced network management and substation automation technology to the Indian transmission domain. The opening of the competence centre will allow the further advancement of high, extra high and ultra high voltage (HV, EHV, UHV) and renewable power concept, thus enabling Alstom to maintain its leadership position in the transmission market," said Basu. The Pallavaram site manufactures the complete range of electromechanical relays and MiCOM numerical relays and provides engineering support for conventional and digital control systems.
Cabinet note for Power Grid FPO soon Power ministry will soon float a cabinet note for a follow-on public offer of staterun Power Grid Corp to raise 13 per cent fresh equity and about four per cent share sale by the central government. "We have prepared a note on the Power Grid FPO, and will float it anytime soon," a power ministry official said. Calculated on the basis of current market price (Rs99), the company is expected to mop up over Rs4,100 crore through the FPO. At present, the government holds 69 per cent stake in the public sector unit. The funds raised are expected to be utilised towards its expansion plans, including power transmission to the tune of 75,000 MW by 2017. This will be the second time that Power Grid will be going for FPO after doing the same in November 2010. The company had hit the capital market in October, 2007, with its maiden IPO.
Govt to fast track 40,000 MW hydro projects Efforts are being made to fast track hydel projects with a total generation capacity of 40,000 MW that are awaiting clearances at various levels, power minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said. These projects are awaiting clearances from different authorities including Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Central Water Commission (CWC) and Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). "We are looking at about 95 hydro projects, having about 40 gigs (40,000 MW), which are awaiting clearances at CEA level, CWC level and at MoEF level. We are fast tracking each
and every one of those," Scindia explained. The minister said he was considering forming an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) to look at infrastructure issues, on a basin-wise basis, to push the 95 hydro projects forward. With regard to various hurdles faced by power projects, the ministry said there has been a lot of traction in discussions with the ministries of coal and environment.
Power Grid is expected to mop up over Rs4,100 crore through the FPO.
oCTOber 2013 | Electricals Today
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BULLETIN
Essar Energy gets $300 mn to repay bridge loan London-listed Essar Energy plc said that it has got an additional borrowing of $300 million which will be used to repay an existing bridge loan. The company said that, "it has up sized its existing $150 million loan facility with Axis Bank to $450 million, with the Export-Import Bank of China (Exim Bank) providing $300 million as a new lender." The $150 million facility, originally agreed with Axis Bank, was signed and disbursed in September 2012 and allowed for an increase up to $450 million. Both facilities mature in 2017. "The proceeds of the up sized loan will be used to repay an outstanding amount of $233 million under an existing bridge loan facility and for general corporate purposes," the company said in a statement.
will buy stressed power plants: NTPC chairman
KEC secured orders in transmission.
KEC bags orders worth Rs1,004 cr Leading infrastructure firm KEC International has bagged orders worth Rs1,004 crore including four orders totalling Rs760 crore in transmission business from India and abroad. In the transmission business, it has secured Rs314 crore orders from Tamil Nadu and Rs271 crore order from Andhra Pradesh; orders cumulatively worth Rs147 crore from the US, Brazil and Mexico and Rs28 crore order from Kuwait, KEC said in a stock exchange filing. The cables segment of the company has secured Rs98 crore order for supply of power and telecom cables. Besides, it secured a Rs56 crore order for establishment of 138 KV substations on turnkey basis in the Philippines.
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Electricals Today | oCTOber 2013
State-owned power major NTPC has revealed that, it was conducting due diligence to buy a couple of stranded power plants. NTPC has a cash reserve of about Rs18,000 crore, and has been approached by banks to acquire some stressed power plants as the assets have become nonperforming assets (NPAs) to the lenders. "We are doing due diligence for a couple of such stranded power plants," NTPC chairman Arup Roy Choudhury said. He, however, refused to share details of the plants. "We have to look into a lot of aspects. If the
equipments are like that of BHEL. Of course, that will help us, as it will be similar to that we own. But if it's Chinese equipment, we will have to do an audit," he said. NTPC recently bagged four coal blocks, and with this, it has about five billion tonnes. The power major is working to start coal mining in some of its existing mines in Jharkhand and Chhattishgarh. "We hope to produce nearly 100 million tonne coal over the next five to six years, which will be one third of our requirement," he added.
Phase II Baglihar Power Project to start soon The work on Baglihar Power Project Stage II is to commence shortly as Jammu and Kashmir government plans an additional generation capacity of 9,000 MW in the state in the next few years."The foundation stone will be laid shortly. This would be a reiteration of the commitment of the government to bring a turnaround in the state's economy by tapping its huge hydro potential, estimated at 20,000 MW, in a systematic and time-bound manner," an official spokesman said. The Board of Directors of Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation (JKSPDC) has already approved a capacity addition of 9,000 MW in the state during the 12th and 13th Plan Periods, the spokes-person said. State governments continue their effort to bridge the supply-demand gap.
BULLETIN
Coal India to set up 16 washeries
Besides the UMPPs, NTPC also plans to bid for coal blocks during the auctions.
NTPC to bid for ultra mega power projects State-run NTPC is likely to bid for two ultra mega power projects (UMPPs) worth Rs20,000 crore each in Odisha and Tamil Nadu, a top company executive said. "We have been participating in UMPPs and will bid for such projects as and when they come," said company's chairman and managing director Arup Roy Choudhury. The Power Finance Corporation (PFC) is expected to invite preliminary bids for the two UMPPs. "We believe we have the ability and good chance to win such projects,"
he revealed. The company also plans to aggressively bid for coal blocks during the auction. "We have a strong balance sheet. Raising funds is also not an issue. If government puts coal blocks on auction, we will aggressively bid for it," Choudhury said. Currently, NTPC is working on coal blocks in Pakri Barwadih, Chatti-Bariatu, Kerandari and Chatti-Bariatu (South) in Jharkhand; Tallaipali in Andhra and Dulanga in Odisha, with total geological reserves of 3,732 million tonnes (MT) and mineable reserves of 2,035 MT.
The government owned Coal India (CIL) has decided to set up 16 coal washeries in its various subsidiaries aimed at making the fossil fuel more competitive. "CIL has decided to set up 16 washeries in its various subsidiaries to reduce the quantity of ash from coal so as to make it competitive in comparison to imported coal," according to an official statement. Of the 16 washeries, eight would be set up in Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), Jharkhand, four in Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), Odisha, three in Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), Jharkhand and one in Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) West Bengal. CIL already has 17 coal washeries of a capacity of 39.40 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) in operation, the statement said. Concerned over delays in setting up of washeries by state-run Coal India, coal minister, Sriprakash Jaiswal, had earlier said that the minister of State for Coal, Pratik Prakashbapu Patil, will monitor such plants and put it in place expeditiously.
Coal Ministry asks for list of plants unable to sign FSAs
CIL has to soon provide the list of power plants that failed to enter into supply agreement.
With the deadline for signing of FSAs for 78,000 MW having expired last month, the government has asked Coal India (CIL) to soon provide the list of those power plants which are unable to enter into pacts with the PSU firm and the reasons for the same. The direction to the state-owned firm was given during a review meeting under the chairmanship of coal secretary, SK Srivastava. "During the meeting, CIL and its subsidiaries were asked to soon send to the Coal ministry the list of all the power plants which cannot enter into fuel supply agreement (FSAs) with CIL and the reasons behind it," a source privy to the development said. The meeting was attended by the Coal India chairman and managing director, S Narsing Rao, and other representatives of the coal ministry, including joint secretary Shailesh Kumar Singh, among others.
oCTOber 2013 | Electricals Today
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BULLETIN
Renewable energy roundup
Odisha government offices aim to reduce electricity bill by installing rooftop solar panels.
NTPC’s Rs96 cr order goes to Bhel
Aurangabad to be model solar city
State-owned BHEL said its electronics division has bagged an order worth Rs96 crore from NTPC to set up a 15 MW solar power plant in Uttar Pradesh. The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) order is for design, manufacture, testing, erection and commissioning of the 15 MW grid-interactive solar power plant at Singrauli in Uttar Pradesh, the company said in a statement. It also mentioned that Bhel will execute the project, covering all aspects from concept to commissioning, and will operate and maintain the project for one year. The solar plant will come up near the 2000 MW thermal power plant of NTPC at Singrauli. On completion, it is expected to supply over 23 million units of solar power every year to the Uttar Pradesh state grid.
According to news reports, Aurangabad is all set to grab the model solar city title. Quoting senior officials in the ministry, Mayor Kala Oza said the ministry had expressed willingness to award project worth Rs2.5 crore to promote use of renewable energy sources and adoption of energy efficiency measures. Under the 'Solar City' project, the ministry will be spending Rs50 lakh in the city with an aim of 10 per cent reduction in projected demand of conventional energy in five years. While discussing the 'Solar City' project, joint secretary and director in the ministry, A K Tripathi, had said, "the 'Model Solar City' project similar on the line projects approved for Nagpur and Chandigarh could be launched in Aurangabad," Oza said. In the solar city project, the civic body will promote all types of renewable energybased options like solar, wind, biomass, small hydro, waste to energy, etc. Besides, energy efficiency measures will also be promoted to bring down the conventional energy consumption level.
Twin city rooftop solar project in odisha According to the newspaper reports, the state government of Odisha has approved a proposal for installation of solar panel in roof top of all government establishments in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack area. This will be under the PPP model and has directed the implementing agency to sign agreements with International Finance Corporation (IFC). “Government has been pleased to approve the proposal for implementation of solar rooftop project within twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar,” said Sangramjit Nayak, joint secretary in the state energy department, to managing director of Odisha Hydro Power Corporation Ltd (OHPC) in a issued letter. The OHPC should now take necessary steps to sign an agreement between Green Energy Development Corporation Ltd (GEDCOL) and IFC for project financing, he added. GEDCOL, a recently established agency for development and maintenance of carbon-free energy in the state, is the wholly-owned subsidiary of OHPC. The solar project is aimed at reducing ever-increasing power bills of government offices. The government has been criticised by the High Court for not clearing large amount of pending power bills in a tariff hike case.
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Electricals Today | oCTOber 2013
APTransco calls for solar bids Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Limited (APTransco) has asked all solar developers, including those who did not participate in the recently-concluded competitive bidding for 1,000 MW, to submit their applications before September 30, 2013. APTransco chairman and managing director, Suresh Chandra, said the corporation had issued guidelines for prospective solar power developers to submit their applications along with non-refundable processing fee of Rs2 lakh to execute solar projects at a fixed tariff of Rs6.49 per unit for a period of 20 years. "Totally, 109 substations were offered under this open offer. The solar developers will also be allowed to connect to any other substations in the state, subject to technical feasibility," he said, adding that this decision had given an opportunity to those developers who had not participated in the bidding process to submit their bids, subject to conforming the tender specification.
BULLETIN
Suzlon Group wins 48 MW order REpower Systems SE, a Suzlon Group-subsidiary, signed a contract with Valorem for 24 wind turbines of type MM92 with 80 metres hub height and a rated power of 2MW to be supplied to four wind farms located in French Picardie, Pays de la Loire and Burgundy regions. REpower will also provide the full maintenance of the wind farms for 10 years. The Airaine wind farm, located in Picardie, with a total power output of 12 MW, will be inaugurated soon. Work at the Pays de Retz South wind farm, located in Loire Atlantique, began recently and the commissioning is planned for autumn of this year. The 12 turbines intended for Venoy Bene and Courgis, located in Burgundy, will be erected in the beginning of 2014 and the two wind farms will be commissioned in spring 2014. The towers of the 24 turbines will be Hero Group targets to achieve wind capacity of 800 MW by 2016 -17. manufactured at the Francéole facility in the Burgundy region. Valorem’s subsidiary, Valréa, will coordinate civil works and electrical works. Civil works, electricrore per megawatt," Rahul Munjal, managing director, Hero Future cal works and other services as transport are handled by French Energies said. companies. Hero Future Energies, at present a wholly-owned subsidiary of country's largest two-wheeler maker Hero Group will operate across various verticals of renewable energy like wind, solar and Hero Group forays into wind power hydro of which solar and wind will be the focus, initially. The B M Munjal-led Hero Group has announced its entry into The company which commissioned a wind pilot project of renewable power generation business by unveiling a company, 37.5 MW in Rajasthan, in October last year, plans to take this capac'Hero Future Energies', for executing clean energy projects in which ity to 800 MW by 2016-17. It plans to have a solar power generation it will pump in over Rs7,000 crore by 2016-17. "Hero Future Energies, capacity of 150 MW and 50 MW of small hydro by 2016-17. Hero an independent power producer, plans to develop over 1 GW or Future Energies plans to invest over Rs7,000 crore in the next 3-4 1,000 MW of renewable energy projects by 2016-17. Every megayears for the same. watt of wind power requires close to Rs7 crore and solar about Rs8
Events ELECRAMA-2014
Indian Renewable Energy Summit
Venue: BIEC, Bengaluru, Karnataka Date: 8-12 January 2014
Venue: Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar, Gujarat Date: 9-11 January 2014
Elecrama-2014, the 11th edition of the world’s largest power T&D confluence, will be hosted in Bengaluru this year. It is designed to maximise the participant experience by its multilateral approach to exhibitions. According to the organisers, the highlights of the show are: international reverse buyer/seller meet, conference on transformers, innovation day and students pavilion, CEO Nite with cross stakeholder debate and awards ceremony.
The first Indian Renewable Energy Summit, hosted in partnership with the government of Gujarat, will be a platform for the renewable industry to meet and share information on the challenges facing the industry and discuss solutions for advancing India’s energy requirement for the future. The summit is an opportunity to the participants to demonstrate their products and also to meet industry professionals and key industry buyers and influencers of India.
oCTOber 2013 | Electricals Today
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column / Policy
Gas Price Pooling Retail tariff subsidy like that of coal-based power plants, if given, will boost the gas-based power generation Sanjeev Aggarwal Managing director, Amplus Infrastructure
T
here is approximately 18,700 MW of gasbased capacity in the country that is operating at just 23.7 per cent plant load factor (PLF). In addition, there is another 9,100 MW of already commissioned or ready for commissioning power plants that have no gas to start their operation. An astounding under-utilisation of the capital employed in these plants — well in excess of Rs1 lakh crore. Ministry of power is reported to be working on a proposal to provide subsidy for gas-based power plants in the country to make these projects viable. In the absence of this subsidy, the tariff from these plants will be quite high and probably unaffordable for the consumers. Therefore, over the next three years, MoP is advocating a subsidy requirement of approx. Rs24,000 crore to avoid these projects becoming nonperforming assets (NPAs) for the banks. It is recalled here that, gas-based and hydro projects lead the pack of NPAs in power sector. In general, gas plants have many advantages including combined cycle PLF for gas-based gas turbine (CCGT) being plants an environmentally benign technology, quick ramp-up times, shorter construction periods, and lesser land requirement. The proposal to provide subsidy will help in immediately meeting the power requirement specifically in the southern region that is cut-off from the rest of the country due to transmission bottlenecks. The question is whether these plants should be provided fuel subsidy or they be left to the market forces.
23.7 %
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Electricals Today | october 2013
Making gas-based projects as peaking plants would be a viable option for the country.
try.
column / policy
All India gas-based generation (as on August 2013) Region
Monitored Capacity (MW)
Target
Generation
PLF
Northern
5031.26
1456
1362.94
36.41
Western
8988.31
1090
801.47
11.98
Southern
4952.78
638
729.58
19.8
Eastern
170
0
0
0
North eastern
1163
379
351.83
40.66
All India
20305.35
3563
3245.82
21.49
Like the solution for pooling of domestic and imported coal where the regulators have been asked to absorb the higher cost of imported coal in the retail tariff, the gas-based plants should also be offered similar benefit At this stage, the government is providing subsidy to the power sector at many levels starting from the coal being lesser than international prices to the financial restructuring package of the state utilities and the retail tariff subsidy. Probably, the economy can ill-afford another subsidy after various social welfare schemes announced in the recent months. Like the solution for pooling of domestic and imported coal where the regulators have been asked to absorb the higher cost of imported coal in the retail tariff, the gas-based plants should also be offered similar benefit. Of course, the gas plants will be the last on the merit order dispatch list, but if indeed there is a shortage of power, they will get dispatched. This will help in really deciding where the market is heading for electricity and send the correct price signals for investments in the power sector. Another way to make these plants viable is to declare some of these plants as emergency or peaking power plants. Worldwide, the gas-based plants are mostly used as peaking plants. The fixed cost will be high due to low dispatch but the plant is put to its optimal use in the overall grid. The gas-based plants also are a natural complement to renewable energy plants due to their quick ramping up capability. To smoothen the impact of renewable energy input into the grid, gas-based plants can supply power when there is low or no generation from renewable plants. They can charge similar tariff as a solar plant (including a certain generation based incentive) that will help them being viable in the given circumstances. The timing is just right for the government to stop promoting subsidy-based infrastructure and let the users decide how much and what they want to pay for. Of course, they do not want to pay for the inefficiency of the distribution companies.
october 2013 | Electricals Today
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cover story / Finance
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Electricals Today | October 2013
cover story / Finance
Turning the tide
Chairman & MD Rajeev Sharma on how the Rural Electrification Corporation has recorded consistent growth despite the downturn
BY RENJINI LIZA VARGHESE
R
ank pessimism has cast its shadow over the power sector for many months. Those who were waiting for favourable winds are at last able to see some hope on the horizon with the government clearing 18 power projects that were stalled due to fuel supply problems, in September, amounting to a total of Rs95,000 crore in investments. Reading between the government pronunciation lines, some of these projects are expected to start generating as early as the next quarter. The estimated capacity of production is 15,000 MW.
While the majority of companies present in the electrical segment were talking about financial issues given the state of flux in the sector, there is one company — and a public sector one at that — which has been talking about healthy balance sheet and growing business. Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), the company that funds majority of the electrification projects in generation, transmission and distribution, continues to hog the limelight. Despite the financial issues in the power sector, REC clocked in the lowest nonperforming assets (NPA) in the country — below 0.5 per cent.
October 2013 | Electricals Today
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cover story / Finance Rajeev Sharma, CMD, REC is optimistic about the power sector and expects that business will increase with every positive step taken by the central government. Excerpts from the interview: REC funds all three segments of power sector, please give an overview on its exposure to transmission and distribution. Rural Electrification Corporation was set up with the objective of electrifying the un-electrified villages and enhancing agricultural production in the country. Last year, the company reported a profit of Rs3,880 crore. Today, 55 per cent of the electric pumps in the country are funded by us and its role expanded as it grew. It has been the leader in lending to the T&D segment as well. The only difference is, unlike the generation projects, T&D projects are usually smaller schemes. If a generation project attracts Rs3,000 crore in T&D, the same amount will be given for 1,000-1,500 schemes. Over the years the company has designed products catering to different segments in the sector. These include especially designed products for state power utilities in transmission and distribution. Currently, 88 per cent of the lending is to government sector — both state and central utilities — and the remaining 12 per cent in the private sector. REC‘s current portfolio has 50 per cent funding in transmission and distribution put together. That translates to Rs1,32,000 crore of the loan book.
REC funded electrification of 1,08,000 villages.
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Electricals Today | October 2013
The company’s exposure to generation funding also is growing now. REC was mandated to fund large generation projects only in 2002-2003. Till then, it was funding projects up to 25 MW. The share of generation is around 45-46 per cent. What kind of growth rate are you expecting in T&D as India is poised to add large capacity lines? Actually you cannot see T&D and generation in isolation. It all begins with adding capacities in generation. The government’s plan is to add 88,000 MW in the 12th Five Year Plan. The standard formula we follow in the country is 1:1 funding in generation and T&D simultaneously. It is obvious that once you put up a plant, evacuation facility should be available. And to absorb this generated power, you have to have a distribution
Currently, 88 per cent of the lending is to government sector — both state and central utilities — and the remaining 12 per cent are in private sector.
cover story / Finance
infrastructure in place as well. Growth goes along with the capacity addition. In the 13th Plan Period, the target is to add around 95,000 MW of generation capacity. The requirement for the same would be to the tune of Rs16 lakh crore for generation, transmission and distribution put together.
The sanctioned amount for the current year is Rs40,000 crore.
According to the numbers given out by you, the NPAs are less than 0.5 per cent. Considering the financial situation of the SEBs, how do you manage to recover the money? Till date, REC has no NPA with the state utilities. The existing NPA is the lowest in the industry, and are of private companies. One is Maheshwara hydro electric project — which is stalled because of the R&R issue; another is a gas-based project. This project has been commissioned and is under operation. Unfortunately, because of the inadequate gas supply, it failed to operate at the set plant load factor (PLF). That is the reason why they are unable to pay back. Others are paying back on time. The recovery rate in 2012-13 for REC is above 99 per cent. And I am sure we will be able to maintain the lowest level of NPA during the current year as well. The government has been aggressive about developing micro-grids and this comes under RECs prerogative. Can you elaborate on the business you expect from this segment? The rural grid or the micro grid, which you are referring to, comes under the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikarna Yogana (RGGVY). We have been the nodal agency for the implementation of RGGVY scheme, under which the government aims to provide free electricity to the BPL (below poverty line) households in the country. Till date, through this scheme, we have completed the electrification of 1,08,000 un-electrified villages and provided electricity to 2,10,00,000 (2.10 crore) BPL households. Coming to the micro-grid or what we refer to as de-centralised distributed generation (DDG), we have a separate component available which caters to this segment. During the 12th Five Year Plan, Rs900 crore has been provided.
$1bn
to be raised through ECBs
October 2013 | Electricals Today
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cover story / Finance
Consumers are more receptive towards regular tarrif hikes.
The ministry of power (MoP) has modified its guidelines on the implementation of DDG programmes to upscale the programme. Earlier it was mandated to have DDG programmes in the far flung villages, tribal areas, and those which cannot be connected with the grid. But with the modification of the guidelines, now, DDG schemes will also be applicable or can be implemented in those villages that are not getting adequate hours of power supply. Villages which are facing long hours of power cuts, etc. Under this programme, we have sanctioned more than 300 schemes, of which 64 schemes have already been commissioned in Andhra Pradesh. The scheme sizes vary from 3 kV to 10 kV. The number of households varies from 50 to 150. All the schemes commissioned under the DDG schemes are will be raised this year solar powered. These projects will be maintained by the developer for the first five years. They will get eight per cent of the O&M for the period. This is a good return on investment and it is good to see that many NGOs, corporate and public sector companies under their corporate social responsibility initiatives (CSR), are involved in creating micro grids in different parts of the country.
37,000 cr
Rs
You spoke about the CSR initiative of the corporate sector, could you elaborate on REC’s CSR? We have funded one micro-grid, and this grid is one Gram Pan-
18
Electricals Today | October 2013
In the 13th Plan Period, the target is to add around 95,000 MW capacity. The requirement for the same would be to the tune of Rs16 lakh crore for generation, transmission and distribution put together. chayat Yogana in Rajasthan. The entire implementation was done with the help of an NGO in that region. The grid is supplying to 20 villages and has a capacity of 15 kV. What are the different instruments/mechanisms used for fund raising by REC? This year we intend to raise Rs37,000 crore, through a mix of different instruments — private placements, tax-free bonds, capital gains bonds, external commercial borrowings (ECB), etc. Currently, we are rising Rs5,000 crore through tax-free bond issues. We are mandated by ministry of finance to raise this amount. Every year we raise around Rs5,000 to Rs6,000 crore through capital gains bonds. This year we are mandated by the Reserve Bank of India to raise a billion dollars through external commercial borrowings.
cover story / Finance
Progress report of village electrification as on 31-05-2013 Sl. No.
States/UTs
Villages electrified as on 31-03Total inhabited villages as 2013 as per new definition per 2001 census (Provisional) Numbers
Percentage
Cummulative achievement as on 31-07-2013 as per new definition
Percentage of vilUnelectrified lages electrified as on villages as on 31-07-2013 31-07-2013 (V)
1
Andhra Pradesh
26613
26613
100
26613
100
0
2
Arunachal Pradesh
3863
2917
75.5
2917
75.5
946
3
Assam
25124
24156
96.1
24156
96.1
968
4
Bihar
39015
36744
94.2
37276
95.5
1739
5
Delhi
158
158
100
158
100
0
6
Jharkhand
29354
26190
89.2
26190
89.2
3164
7
Goa
347
347
100
347
100
0
8
Gujarat
18066
18031
99.8
18031
99.8
35
9
Haryana
6764
6764
100
6764
100
0
10
Himachal Pradesh
17495
17480
99.9
17480
99.9
15
11
Jammu&Kashmir
6417
6304
98.2
6304
98.2
113
12
Karnataka
27481
27468
99.95
27468
100
13
13
Kerala
1364
1364
100
1364
100
0
14
Madhya Pradesh
52117
50863
97.6
50863
97.6
1253
15
Chattisgarh
19744
19181
97.1
19181
97.1
563
16
Maharashtra
41095
41059
99.9
41059
99.9
36
17
Manipur
2315
1997
86.3
1997
86.3
318
18
Meghalaya
5782
4988
86.3
4988
86.3
794
of villages where no elec-
19
Mizoram
707
661
93.5
661
93.5
46
trification infrastructure is
20
Nagaland
1278
896
70.1
896
70.1
382
available.
21
Orissa
47529
37500
78.9
37500
78.9
10029
22
Punjab
12278
12278
100
12278
100
0
23
Rajasthan
39753
38771
97.5
38792
97.6
961
24
Sikkim
450
450
100
450
100
0
due to Tehri dam.
25
Tamil Nadu
15400
15400
100
15400
100
0
(*)Out of this 162 vil-
26
Tripura
858
797
92.9
797
92.9
61
27
Uttar Pradesh
97942
87086
88.9
87086
88.9
10856
28
Uttaranchal
15761
15593
98.9
15593 (^)
98.9
168
29
West Bengal
37945
37941
99.99
37941
99.99
4
and 72 villages have been
Total(States)
593015
559997
94.4
560551
94.5
32464
washed away in Tsunami
(**)
(V)It includes no. of villages
(***)
that are not complying the new definition of village electrification of 2004& no.
NA-Not Available (^) It includes 75 no.of villages which are found Uninhabited and submerged
lages,88 villages are in encroached forest area and cannot be electrified as per Supreme Court order
and population shifted
Union Territories
to other places already
1
A&N Island
501
339
67.7
339
67.7
162
2
Chandigarh
23
23
100
23
100
0
3
D&N Haveli
70
70
100
70
100
0
4
Daman & Diu
23
23
100
23
100
0
submergence, deepwater,
5
Lakshadweep
8
8
100
8
100
0
deep forest area and at
6
Pondicherry
92
92
100
92
100
0
Total(UTs)
717
555
77.4
555
77.4
162
Total
593732
560552
94.4
561106
94.5
32626
(*)
electrified. (**)35 villages unelectrified due to going under
present no population. (***)36 no. of villages to be electrified by nonconventional method.
October 2013 | Electricals Today
19
cover story / Finance The first route we chose this year was the private placement, and the issue was over-subscribed. We planned to raise Rs1,350 crore and received a subscription of Rs2,500 crore. REC is confident of raising the required funds for lending through the above said mechanism this year as well. Could you throw some light on the disbursements in the last year and the plans for the current year? In 2012-13 the sanctioned amount was around Rs80,000 crore and the disbursement was Rs39,475 crore. In the current year, the sanctioned amount is Rs40,000 crore and we have disbursed around Rs13,000 crore already. Under the National Electricity Fund, which provides funding for RVGGY and APDRP, REC has already initiated the steps for funding. With the aim of reducing T&D losses, we have sanctioned Rs90,000 crore interest subsidy to state utilities.
T
here are two 100 per cent owned subsidiaries, a) Rural Electrification Corporation Power Distribution Company Ltd (RECPDCL), which is involved in consultation and supervisory work with the state power utilities. It is working with 20 state utilities and has Rs200 crore worth businesses in hand. Last year, this arm showed a profit of Rs11 crore. b) Rural Electrification Corporation Transmission Company Ltd (RECTCL), which is involved in selecting private sector bidders in developing transmission lines. The aim is to encourage investments by the private sector in the transmission segment. Till date RECTCL has selected PGCIL, Reliance and Patel Engineering. Recently, we have handed over two more projects — one to PGCIL and the other to L&T. Other than this, the bidding process is underway for five more projects. Smart Grid is being actively pursued at the ministry level, involving both private and public sector companies. What kind of opportunity you expect? As smart grid is more relevant to transmission and distribution segment, REC being the leading lender, I am enthusiastic and also sure that, going forward, the major portion of the business will come to us. There is a Smart Grid Task Force that has been constituted and some pilot projects were awarded. Once to be raised through the learning from the said projects are analysed, I tax-free bonds am confident that the utilities will implement the smart grids in a larger way. That means there is a bigger opportunity available there.
5,000 cr
Rs
What is the kind of arrangement you have with the banks for ECBs? Every year we float bids for raising ECBs and different banks participate in it. Last year, we raised $250 million through this route and SBI was the lead bank for this. The other bank which was
20
Electricals Today | October 2013
Rajeev Sharma.
involved in the process was Mitsubishi Bank. This year also, we will be floating the tender and the banks will be selected through the bidding process. What are the challenges faced by REC in the recent past? If the Indian economy has to grow, then power is the most important infrastructure. Naturally, it has to grow as well. When you grow in at a fast pace and in multiple folds, then there will be challenges as well. But one should see the sincerity of the government in tackling the issues. I am sure the ministries of power, finance and coal have the right intentions of addressing the existing challenges and resolving to accelerate growth in power sector. It is a known fact that, there are fuel constraints. MoP in consultation with the ministry of coal is taking measures to tackle it. Now, fuel supply agreement (FSA) for around 50,000 MW has been signed, and it is given to know that another 78,000 MW capacity also will be signed in due course. To deal with the environmental issues, power minister Scindia has institutionalised a mechanism by taking stock of the situation and mobilising necessary actions accordingly. So, I see the momentum coming back to the sector and that means more opportunities for us.
EMPOWER
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distribution / smart grid
22
Electricals Today | october 2013
distribution / smart grid
Thumbs I up India has moved into the elite club of countries which have government-approved roadmap for smart grid implementation BY RENJINI LIZA VARGHESE
t is official! Like in any other segment in electricity, smart grid also has an approved roadmap. The long awaited roadmap — Smart Grid Vision and Roadmap — which was created by the Indian Smart Grid Forum (ISGF), a private public partnership and India Smart Grid Task Force (ISGTF) under Sam Pitroda, advisor to PM in consultation with ministry of power (MoP), was released during the chief ministers’ meet with power minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in September. In simple terms, this means that the state government has a structure in place at the national level to rely on. As the way forward, they can develop state specific roadmaps echoing national roadmap. The main objectives of the roadmap, as put forth by the power ministry, are — accessibility, availability and affordable power for all — a target which the ministry has been pursuing since the last Five Year Plan.
october 2013 | Electricals Today
23
distribution / smart grid Two bodies are working towards attaining the goal of seamless smart grid in the country and aim to have a National Smart Grid Mission (NSGM) by 2014. Through this, it strives to effectively implement the goals conceived in the Smart Grid Vision and Roadmap. For this, the following steps have been set out in the vision document: a) A new secretariat to define the short, medium and longterm detailed implementation plans and formulate projects, funding arrangements, resource requirements, time lines and preliminary feasibility reports, identifying key stakeholders that will own such projects, in line with the current Smart Grid Vision and Roadmap. A National Board for Smart Grids (NBSG) under the Ministry of Power would advise and oversee the programme. b) The NSGM Secretariat shall conclude all transverse issues related to: i) standards, ii) regulation and policy, iii) engineering design, iv) process methodologies, v) technology selection, etc. c) The NSGM and NBSG may be given appropriate statutory powers to approve the necessary rules and regulations. “Electricity grid is the most complex engineering architecture of the 20th Century, and the biggest analogue system existing in the modern world. So, it is imperative for the electricity grid to take the digital road. This will make control of the system easier and for the consumer it will provide reliability and quality power supply,” said Rejikumar Pillai, chairman, ISGF. According to the roadmap, the prime driving force and the results that the different stakeholders could expect from the implementation of smart grids for the utilities are: a) reduction of T&D losses and improved collection efficiency, b) peak load management which includes multiple options from direct load control to consumer pricing incentives, c) reduction in power purchase cost, d) better asset management, e) increased grid visibility, f ) self-healing grid, g) renewable energy integration. For the policy makers and regulators: a) satisfied customers, b) financially sound utilities, c) tariff neutral system upgrade and modernisation, d) reduction in emission intensity. And for the customers: a) expand access of electricity — Power for All, b) improved reliability of supply to all customers — no power cuts, no more DG sets and inverters, c) improved quality of supply, d) user friendly and transparent interface Power for all by with utilities, e) increased choice for consumers, including green power, f ) “prosumer” (producer and consumer) enablement, g) options to save money by shifting loads from peak period to off-peak period. V L Sonawane, member, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) put it in perspective, “From 1951 to 2012, the population of India has grown 2.3 times while agricultural produce recorded a growth of 4.3 times. However, electricity — the backbone of any economy — registered a growth of an amazing 166 times. Though it registers high growth rate in electricity, India’s per capita consumption
2017
24
Electricals Today | october 2013
The aim is to develop indigenous smart meters by 2014 and ensure digitalisation for an easier control of the system.
It is imperative for the electricity grid to take the digital road. This will make the control of the system easier and for the consumer it will provide reliability and quality power supply,” said Rejikumar Pillai, chairman, ISGF.
distribution / smart grid Highlights of Smart Grid Milestones and Activities During 12th Plan
During 13th Plan
During 14th Plan
• 24 hour supply in all urban areas; Minimum 12 hour supply to all consumers (including evening peak) by 2022
• Stable and quality 24x7 power supply to all categories of consumers across the country
• Reduction of AT&C losses in all Distribution Utilities to below 12% • Reduction of transmission losses (66 kV or above) to below 3.5%; overall EHV and UHV strengthening
• Reduction of AT&C losses to below 10% in all Distribution Utilities • Reduction of transmission losses (66 kV or above) to below 3%
• SG roll out in all urban areas • Nationwide AMI roll out for customers with 3-phase connections • Enablement of “Prosumers”in metros and major urban areas • Development of micro grids in total 10,000 villages/industrial parks/ commercial hubs • Extended deployments of WAMS at all substations and grid connected generation units • Gas insulated EHV/HV and automated distribution substations in all state capitals and principal cities by 2022 • Development of 25 smart cities
• SG rollout nationwide • Nationwide AMI roll out for all customers • Active Participation of “Prosumers” • Development of micro grids in 20,000 villages/ industrial parks/commercial hubs • Gas insulated EHV/HV and automated distribution substations in all urban areas by 2027 • Development of 100 smart cities
• Choice of electricity supplier (open access) to consumers in metros and select urban areas • Mandatory Demand Response programs for larger sections of consumers
• Choice of electricity supplier (open access) to all consumers
• Renewable integration of 80 GW • Energy Efficiency Programs for lighting and HVAC in all urban areas; expansion of Dynamic (smart) Energy Efficiency Programs to all urban areas
• Renewable integration of 130 GW • Dynamic (smart) Energy Efficiency Programs nationwide
• Large roll outs of Energy Storage Systems • EV charging stations in all urban areas and strategic locations on highways
• EV charging stations in all urban areas and along all state and national highways
A) Enable Access and Availability of Quality Power for All • Electrification of all households by 2017 • Reduction in power cuts; 24 hrs availability of power at principal cities, 22 hrs for all towns and Life line supply (8 hrs, including evening peak) to all by 2017 B) Loss Reduction • Reduction of AT&C losses in all Distribution Utilities to below 15% • Reduction of transmission losses (66 kV or above) to below 4%
C) Smart Grid Rollouts including Automation, Micro-grids and other improvements • SG Pilots, full SG roll out in pilot project cities • Infrastructure for AMI roll out for all consumers with load >20 kW or as per prioritised target areas of Utilities • Enablement of “Prosumers” in select areas • Development of micro grids in 1,000 villages/industrial parks/commercial hubs • Deployments of WAMS including PMUs by CTU • Gas insulated EHV/HV and automated distribution substations in all metros by 2017 • Grid connection of all consumer end generation facilities where feasible • Development of 5 smart cities D) Policies and Tariffs • Implementation of Dynamic Tariffs • Mandatory Demand Response programs for select categories of consumers • Tariff mechanism for roof top solar PV's – Net Metering/Feed in Tariffs E) Green Power and Energy Efficiency • Renewable integration of 30 GW • Energy Efficiency Programs for lighting and HVAC in Metros and state capitals; initiation of Dynamic (smart) Energy Efficiency Programs • Policies for mandatory roof top PV and Energy efficient building code for all new large public infrastructures by 2014 • Setting up of Renewable Energy Monitoring Centre's (REMC) at 5 RLDCs for better forecasting, scheduling and dispatching of renewable generation (in coordination with MNRE) F) Electric Vehicles and Energy Storage • Development of EV and smart grid synergy plan (in coordination with National Electric Mobility Mission) • EV charging stations in urban areas and along selected highways • Introduction of Battery Parks and other Energy Storage Systems on trial basis G) Enablers and Other Initiatives • First set of technical standards after completion of pilots, including standards for EVs and its charging infrastructure • Finalization of frameworks for cyber security assessment, audit and certification of power utilities by 2013 • Standards for EVs and their charging infrastructure • Cost-Benefit Analysis of smart grid projects with inputs from the pilots and assessment of direct/indirect impacts on all societal stakeholders • Development/adoption of appropriate performance standards for smart grid development in India by 2014 • Development of indigenous low cost smart meter by 2014 • Augmentation of Control Centre's and Data Centre's for deployment of smart grids • Strengthening of EHV/Distribution Systems • Strengthening of optical fiber communication systems along and for transmission lines and substations • 1200 kV UHV AC testing and simulation studies • Initiation of Customer Outreach and Engagement Programs • Research & Development,Training & Capacity Building - 10% of Utility technical personnel to be trained in smart grid solutions • Planning for smart grid synergies with other activities such as multi-utility metre, automation, security, and monitoring services, traffic management, etc. • Establishment of Smart Grid Test bed by 2014 and Smart Grid Knowledge Centre by 2015
• Continuous Research & Development;Training • Standards Development for Smart Infrastructure (SEZ, Buildings, & Capacity Building Roads/Bridges, Parking lots, Malls) • Strengthening of Research & Development as well as Training and Capacity Building. 25% of Utility technical personnel to be trained in smart grid solutions • Export of SG products, solutions and services • Development of business models to create alternate revenue streams by leveraging the smart grid infrastructure to offer other services (security solutions, water metering, traffic solutions etc) to municipalities, state governments and other agencies; integration of metre data with other databases etc.
october 2013 | Electricals Today
25
distribution / smart grid
XXXX
remains below one-fourth of the world average. While world average is 4,000 units, India consumes around 970 units. It all points to the need of having an efficient system in place. And we, who are working towards a smart grid in the country, believe that the answer to such issues are smart grids. � From a single-point generation with multiple users, the grid today has transformed to multiple generators with multi- fold users. Unlike the developed countries where there are strong grids in place, Indian grid is growing every year. Even today, 25 per cent of the country has no access to electricity. According to experts, it is easier to implement smart grid in India as modernisation and developing new lines are simultaneously happening in the country. It is true that the country lagged behind US, UK, Japan and many other countries in electricity grid development. The grid in developed countries has consistent
26
Electricals Today | october 2013
quality power; minimal growth rate with very low T&D loses. For those countries, smart grid application means developing a low carbon economy. “The target is to have demand response (DR) for consumers above 1 MW of consumption by 2014, 20 kW and above by 2017 and all three phase connections by 2023. This is a tall order for government and all the utilities,� pointed out Pillai. The government is making the demand system management (DSM) mandatory. Smart metering applications are to be implemented from 2014 and migration to smart metres to be completed by 2017. Many state governments are going ahead with the feeder separation programme. Proposal to the tune of Rs10,000 to Rs20,000 crore for feeder separation is pending with the ministry of power. Though these are large investments, on the flip side, there will be improvement in management of
distribution / smart grid
Though it registers high growth rate, India’s per capita consumption remains below one-fourth of the world average of 4,000 units. India consumes around 970 units,” says V L Sonawane, Member, MERC in grid modernisation in the last decade. That is what prevented these states from grid collapse when the Northern grid collapsed in July 2012.” While developing a stable and large capacity grid in the country, India also plans to bring down T&D loses below 10 per cent. In some states T&D loses are as high as 35 per cent. However, the national average has come down to 26 per cent from the 40 per cent levels in the recent past. States like Gujarat and Maharashtra were able to bring down losses below 10 per cent. This requires investments in large quantum that means a large business opportunity. According to Pillai, the National Smart Grid Mission calls for an investment to the tune of Rs23,000 crore.
T The grid will continue to double in the next couple of decades.
the grid. It is now made mandatory that all grids, including rural areas, should have electricity supply (it is referred as lifeline supply) for eight to ten hours during peak hours by 2017. According to the latest reports, the country’s peak hour deficit is close to 10 per cent and energy efficiency deficit is eight per cent. The Indian electricity grid has doubled in the last decade of the 20th century and also in the first decade of the 21st century. It is expected that with the current electrification programme and the growth in demand, the grid will continue to keep doubling atleast for the next three to four decades as well. “To manage a grid of this magnitude effectively and efficiently, we require smart grid. The sudden spikes — drop or increase in supply — will be taken care by the smart applications without allowing the grid to suffer,” added Pillai. He continued, “States like Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have invested systematically
hough the national Smart Grid Vision and Roadmap has been put in place, it is the prerogative of the states to develop the actual grid. The centre takes the role of an initiator and could advocate but it is the state that should develop a state specific roadmap along the lines of the national one. It is expected that the business opportunity in smart grids will attract an investment of around 15 million US dollars in the next 10-12 years. While keeping the target of making quality power accessible, available at an affordable price bracket, MoP also targets lowcost indigenously developed smart metres to be made available in the country from 2015. Currently, the high prices of smart metres are making it difficult for the Indian markets. Simultaneously, it also aims to develop 1,000 micro-grids by 2017 and 2,000 micro-grids by 2020. Going forward, the objective of NSGM is to make progress in skill development in the medium term. And export this affordable smart grid technology to countries which are looking for similar solution. Simultaneously, the country is also aspiring to have a fool-proof cyber security system in place for smart grid. If all goes well, the country will have a well defined national level mission which can be compared to the recent National Solar Mission which taste success because of the well-defined policy and regulatory structure.
october 2013 | Electricals Today
27
Trends / thermal storage
Smart Switch
Many commercial complexes reap the benefits of time-of-the-day tariff by implementing thermal storage system BY RENJINI LIZA VARGHESE
28
Electricals Today | october 2013
Trends / thermal storage
T
hermal energy storage system comes as a boon more to the distribution utilities than the consumers. This doesn’t mean, the consumer benefits are any less. The advantages for the customers in the long run are numerous, and this is precisely why many are willingly adapting to this technology. The technology works by shifting the load from daytime (when the demand is higher) to the night (when there is less demand). The thermal storage unit comprises of a large tank which is filled with glycol liquid and small nodules. The tank is put for charging (forms ice on the nodules) in the night. During the daytime, air circulates through the chilled fluid and is let out through the AC ducts in the building. This works on the principle of heat transfer and in this case heat transfer happens twice. The chiller is used during the charging cycle and is by-passed in the discharging cycle. Thus, shifting the electricity load/consumption to a time where the tariff is at lower levels. “As the load shifts to off-peak, utilities are able to reduce the quantum of buying costly power. And the consumer saves on the bills. It is a load management and not an energy conservation technology," said Mahesh Patankar, an independent consultant in thermal energy storage. Like many other cities in the country, Mumbai has couple of examples that demonstrate the benefits of this technology. Being the financial capital of the country, a good example will be from one of its financial companies. National Stock Exchange (NSE), one of the stock exchanges in the country, works purely on technology platform. And it is natural that the electricity consumption in the building is higher during the working hours. The exchange, situated in Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), has put in place various programmes as part of its energy saving and conservation initiatives. Mainly, automation in operation of services, regulated voltage for lighting system, electronic ballast and CFL in lighting system, automatic power factor control units, solar power plant, green data centre and
october 2013 | Electricals Today
29
Trends / thermal storage
Monthly total electricity ToD consumption report for the year April 2012 - March 2013 Sr. No.
Month For Year 2012-13
Electricity consumption in KWH (Units)
Electricity Charges in Rs BILL
Electricity Avg. Unit Discount Charges Rate in Rs BILL
Remark
ToD - A Actual Charges (22 to 6 hrs ) for Meluha
1 2 6
Apr-12 May-12 Sep-12
259552 272952 377674
1835141 1913824 2855313
1819289 1786410 2830595
7.07 7.01 7.56
96402 107926 140872
7 8 9 10 11 12
Oct-12 Nov-12 Dec-12 Jan-13 Feb-13 Mar-13
389222 348690 355786 338646 307724 334338 3728166
3116971 2797150 2852459 2718220 2489219 2468957 28669755
3089449 2772451 2827272 2694217 2467234 2447211 28307449
8.01 8.02 8.02 8.03 8.09 7.38 7.69
Building fully operational with all floors. Building fully operational with all floors. Alternatively switched consumption of Meluha and Rodas to the grid. By calculating separately, we came to this conclusion. Same as above Same as above Same as above Same as above Same as above Same as above
141504 132682 137416 134080 116148 126058 870436 ToD A total consumption 870436 ToD A % consumption against electricity 23%
1835141 1913824 2161410
2310785 2060348 2101073 2026348 1810743 1756467 21278724
Consumption of Meluha hotel, Hiranandani, Powai.
thermal energy storage system. Among all these, the officials opine that thermal energy storage system gives the maximum visible advantage. Orchid Hotel was the first to install the system in Mumbai, but some design issues forced it to discontinue the programme. NSE was the first operational installation with a retrofit system. Meluha Hotel in Hirananadani, Supreme Properties and Nirlon Business Park have also put thermal storage facility in use. Tata Power Company Limited (TPCL), the distribution company, has already started compensating the consumers on the basis of ToD tariff.
There are two types of tanks used in thermal energy storage: a) vertical tanks or commonly referred as ice on coils, and b) the nodule-based technology. The vertical storage tanks have glycol solution and coils. The latter is a patented technology that has horizontal tanks filled with glycol solution and nodules. In India, the nodule-based technology is commonly adapted owing to the available supply.
The NSE building is the first to successfully use retrofit thermal storage system in Mumbai.
30
Electricals Today | october 2013
Trends / thermal storage
Thermal Energy Storage Strategies HVAC LOAD REDUCTION Partial Storage
1000 800
Discharge Direct Production Charge
kW of refrigeration
kW of refrigeration
Partial Storage 1200
600 400 200
1 000
0
800
with TOD
Discharge Direct Production Charge
600 400 200 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Hours
kW of refrigeration
Hours
1,200
Daily Consumption
1,000 800 600 400 200 0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Hours
Traditional Solution
T
he system can be used in three different ways: i) Partial load: Here, both the chiller and thermal storage run simultaneously. The storage will charge in the night and run through the day, shifting the partial load from the chillers. This will result in bringing down the size of the chillers. For example, if the requirement of the chiller for a building is 500 TR, partial load can bring down the capacity requirement to
300 TR chiller. Thus, it saves the initial investment cost in chillers; ii) Partial load with time of day (ToD) tariff: Maharashtra is the first state to put into practice the ToD tariff. In this case, the thermal storage is put in use only during the high tariff time zones. In Mumbai, where the peak load is between 3pm to 4pm, the commercial establishment utilises the thermal storage facility to manage the load. Thus, reducing the huge
october 2013 | Electricals Today
31
Trends / thermal storage
Same chiller systems and AC ducts can be used with thermal energy storage system.
A control panel.
electricity bills. iii) Full load: Here, the chiller is switched off during the day. The thermal storage system runs in the night to charge and requirement during the day is met with the energy released from the thermal tank. This is the method employed at the NSE building and Meluha Hotels. There are different views on which method is best for the Indian conditions. Experts are of the opinion that partial load is
32
Electricals Today | october 2013
a viable option, as it reduces the size of the chiller. At the same time, the load remains flat. The most important aspect of this technology is that it becomes a predictable load. This helps the utilities to manage the load in a better way. “Basically you use the same chiller systems, AC ducts, etc. for the implementation of thermal energy storage. In addition, there are large storage tanks with the liquid and nodules, plated exchanger for heat transfer (both require space) and couple of pumps to help the circulation of chilled water. Though I am not sure about escalation in costing, I assume, it could increase by 30 per cent. But the savings will be much higher and if you can optimise the size of the chillers, then the saving would cover the entire costing of the project,” added Patankar. He also mentioned that the maximum benefit will come through the ToD tariff system over a period. According to Kundan Attarde, chief engineer, Meluha Hotel, “Thermal storage system has brought savings in consumption. In rupee terms also the cut-back is considerable. The table (opposite page) will give the overview of both.” He stated that it also helped in managing the load and in curtailing the maximum demand. Thermal storage assisted them in preventive maintenance and lowered repairing and maintenance cost. According to NSE, their assessment showed that 30-40 per
Trends / thermal storage
TATA Power demand response of various buildings at Hiranandani-Powai, Mumbai Calculated CBL (kWh)
Actual load (kWh)
DR Event Date
DR Event Time
Meluha
Haiko Mall
Olympia
Meluha
Haiko Mall
Olympia
Diff total in kWh
21-12-2011
12.00 to 14.00
673
0
0
266
0
0
407
31-01-2012
14.00 to 16.00
632
328
220
206
208
42
724
06-03-2012
11.00 to 13.00
611
452
264
248
344
56
679
29-03-2012
15.00 to 17.00
662
495
285
348
458
132
504
26-04-2012
16.00 to 18.00
763
602
279
268
470
73
833
04-05-2012
15.00 to 17.00
707
587
332
224
532
117
753
30-05-2012
10.00 to 12.00
593
511
342
234
375
179
658
14-06-2012
11.00 to 13.00
698
603
318
216
443
132
828
31-07-2012
15.00 to 17.00
1079
559
313
428
494
169
860
16-10-2012
11.00 to 13.00
976
597
312
606
418
57
804
29-10-2012
15.00 to 17.00
1063
560
313
536
362
168
870
29-11-2012
17.00 to 19.00
832
440
187
478
367
14
600
21-12-2012
11.00 to 13.00
773
401
255
498
358
16
557
20-03-2013
14.00 to 16.00
1079
487
485
533
377
7
1134
28-03-2013
11.00 to 13.00
948
468
527
547
423
181
792
30-04-2013
15.00 to 17.00
424
624
278
134
597
54
541
23-05-2013
14.00 to 16.00 12513
7714
4710
5770
6226
1397
11544
Total
Response of the consumer to DR call by distribution utility TPCL.
cent of the total consumption of the building was by the AC chillers. This forced the stock exchange to buy more power from the distributor. “To reduce its demand load Thermal Energy Storage System has been introduced in its existing Heat Ventilation Air-Conditioning System (HVAC System), as an option to the air-conditioning system during peak hours. The stored chiller is being utilised through heat exchangers for airconditioning the office area during day time.” It would be ideal to introduce thermal storage in the begining of the design process of a project. Implementing the system at a later stage (retrofit design) may result in many challenges. Kiran Dusane, chief manager, NSE, said, “It was not as simple as it appeared. We involved the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) while connecting tanks and other equipment to the existing system. It happened in two parts, installation of tanks in the allocated area in the basement and simultaneously the chiller connections. Even before the installation process started, we asked them to make sure to have a back-up facility in place in case of an emergency as the data centre also is housed in the same building.” NSE, Meluha, etc. are using this system for the past few years. Many countries are dependent on thermal energy storage for a long time now. In the US, the swing between off-peak and peak-hour tariff is four times higher. In China, apparently, there are four different ToD tariffs in place. Though Maharashtra has
Thermal storage helped in managing the load and also in curtailing the maximum demand. It assisted in lowering repairing and maintenance cost," says Kundan Attarde, chief engineer, Meluha Hotel ToD tariff structure in place, the swing is not as wide as the other countries. Like China and the US, if India also implements ToD tariff in a stricter way, then it will attract more consumers in opting such technologies. Consequently, it will reduce the load on the grid. In the immediate future, India should put into practice thermal energy system in different parts of the country. It should also aim at developing this system in a community scheme.
october 2013 | Electricals Today
33
Trends / thermal storage
Installing a community thermal storage will widely benefit many urban areas in the country.
Retrofitting of thermal system was not as simple as it appeared. We involved the OEM while connecting tanks and other equpment to the existing system," says Kiran Dusane of NSE New York has already implemented community thermal storage — which means the electricity load to a particular area is taken care by thermal energy storage. To illustrate, instead of fitting the system in an individual building like NSE in BKC, the whole of BKC can have a single system catering to the numerous offices.
34
Electricals Today | october 2013
“If, thickly populated city like NY can implement it, then why not Mumbai or Delhi? In the US, they have smaller thermal storage system, starting from 10 TR onwards. So, it is not necessary that you have to have large consumption to switch to thermal storage system,” added Patankar. Regulations and policies are in place for demand side management. Utilities in Mumbai do incentivise consumers who respond to the demand response (DR) calls. This measure, according to experts, will only help in triggering the market. “What is required is a comprehensive act involving the policy makers at the local body level. All the new buildings, especially complexes in urban areas like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, and Chennai, should be mandated to use thermal storage. While making it mandatory, the developers can be compensated by clearing the space used for thermal storage tank from FSI. Then we will see more people opting for the technology,” pointed out Patankar. Though people are receptive towards the technology, designers and engineers need to be sensitised for this to be implemented. This has to be promoted through a policy signal. And in the case of thermal energy storage, it should be through the tariff signal.
events coverage
green solutions
With the changing landscapes in lighting technologies, Light India International 2013 event focused on green lighting and energy-saving solutions BY ET TEAM
E
nergy saved is as good as energy produced. The different state governments have been propagating this for long. Aggressive measures are being put to action to propagate energy conservation. It was this message which dominated the inaugural address of Light India International 2013 by the governor of Tamil Nadu Dr K Rosaiah.“Such important events should be organised annually so that the message of energy conservation and the ways of achieving it reaches all in the country,” he said during the keynote. The event which was spread over four days attracted many industry officials who were looking for latest trends, design solution and technology. On the first day there was a technical seminar on ‘Green Lighting Concepts’. The highlight of the second day was an international conference on ‘Emerging trends in lighting concepts for a greener world.’ Prominent speakers like V K Gupta, director general of CPWD, Dr Prem C Jain, Prof Warren Julian, K Balasubramaniyan, Ravi AV, Pramod Chaugle and Dr Amardeep Dugar, Dr Sandeep Garg, Dr Paresh Paluskar, K K Peshin, Himanshu Prasad, R Ramakrishnan and M S Ramesh, etc. shared their knowledge and insights. On the third day, there was a special technical lectures and discussion on solar and LED in Tamil for the electricians. And the fourth day witnessed a ‘student’s meet.’ As the focus was students, there was a competition especially for them titled ‘Green Lighting.’ Students from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, Veltech
Governor of Tamil Nadu K Rosaiah inaugurating the event.
University, Chennai, and TJS Engineering College participated in the competition. ET was a media partner for the event. Held at the Chennai Trade Centre, Chennai, between September 13 and 16, LII 2013 was organised by Indian Society of Lighting Engineers. The event attracted participants from 10 different countries. And draw visitors from lighting professionals, architects, consultant, interior designers, builders, contractors, government department officials and institutional buyers.
october 2013 | Electricals Today
35
regulatory
36
Electricals Today | october 2013
regulatory
BY THE BOOK
V P Raja, who stepped down as chairman of MERC, successfully put in many regulations that reformed the power sector BY gayatri ramanathan
V
P Raja, till recently chairman of the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC), is a man much attracted to books and what they contain. His chamber was full of them and his conversation peppered with references to books read recently as much as those that he read during his years as a physics major at Columbia University. His four-and-a-half year tenure at the helm of affairs at MERC can best be described as by the book, in this case the Electricity Act 2003 (EA 2003), which Raja considers the Bible of the Indian Power Sector reforms and of which, he always had a copy handy. Another book he referred to when in doubt is the Bhagawat Gita which resided in the bottom-most drawer of his desk. Whenever a case that vexed his mind came along, it was his practice to consider the provisions of the EA 2003, both in letter and spirit, first, and then consult the Gita if he still needed clarity. When he was hearing Adani Power’s petition seeking a revision in tariff for its Tiroda power plant contracted to supply power to the Maharashtra state distribution utility, MSEDCL, a moral conundrum of a case if there was one, he also insisted that the concerned officers at the Commission plough their way through a plethora of books and research material spanning law, economics and regulatory practices including international models for renegotiating infrastructure contracts as well as running models on various alternate tariff scenarios. Throughout, his focus was on balancing the state’s, and ultimately the consumer’s interest, with business viability which translates into consumer interest in the long run by retaining investors in the state’s power sector. Maintaining the viability of the business was another theme that ran through Raja’s tenure. Maharashtra was one of the first states in the country to put in place a multi- year tariff regime. On the commission’s insistence all the utilities in the state, generation, transmission and distribution, were made to place in the public domain
their planning for the next five years and seek tariff approval based on the approved plans. Something that Raja believed would eventually lead to healthy business practices in the state-run utilities. These practices also brought in much needed transparency into certain critical functions of the utilities such as power purchase and capacity expansion. Another theme that ran through his tenure was the focus on market-friendly functioning. Not only did he insist on the utilities behaving in a manner that facilitates the functioning of an open power market in the state, he also created a cell to monitor the functioning of the power market within the Commission to underscore this need for transparency. When the Commission notified the Open Access regulations in 2010, there was much protest from the distribution utilities especially MSEDCL that they would lose their highest paying customers to IPPs and thus take a hit on the bottom line, Raja refused to budge and just told them to pull up their socks! As a result the state has one of the most active open access highways in the country. At the same time, regulations also ensured that the cross subsidy awarded to the discom would help it tide through immediate loss of revenue. Raja remains a keen advocate of removing all subsidies in the sector, allowing for a market-led price discovery. In the present debate on section 62 (of the EA 2003) versus section 63, he has argued for retaining section 62 while slowly but surely moving towards section 63 until 62 is rendered redundant. This is the spirit of the EA 2003, he argues. He also evolved a roadmap for removal of cross-subsidies in the state and submitted it to the state government’s approval. In fact, his main dilemma while hearing the Adani petition indeed was with interfering with a market discovered price. It was also in this spirit that Raja opened up the bidding for the Mumbai suburban license in 2010 to other would-be discoms, rather just than renew the existing license. The draft amendment to the EA 2003 which proposes to introduce separation of the wire and the supply business in distribution sector is a move Raja had advocated when the Mumbai suburban license was being decided. His argument, as you can guess by now, was why should the consumer pay twice for the same infrastructure? (The author was consultant, market monitoring at MERC during V P Raja’s tenure. The views expressed in this article are the author’s personal opinion)
october 2013 | Electricals Today
37
renewables / solar
the water promise Isolated solar pumps are making inroads in rural India addressing the water issues of many households BY et team
38
Electricals Today | october 2013
renewables / solar
SQFlex solar pump.
W
hether it is making headlines in capacity addition or not, solar power solutions, for sure, are making the difference in rural India. Through National Solar Mission (NSM) along with the grid connected power, the country has envisaged to add off-grid capacity to help the rural population. This initiative triggered the market with solar products varying from lights, smaller capacity panels for isolated /singular connections. Now, it is proved that the solar electric solutions have improved the socio-economic pattern of the Indian villages in a bigger way. One of the most appreciated solutions in the segment was the solar water pumps. The villagers who used to walk many kilometres to fetch drinking water, now have a solution closer home. “For many years we were supplying 1.8 kW and 2 kW pumps which were of five inch diametres in size. Now there are 900 W to 1.2 kW pumps which are more efficient and have better output. The diametre of the pump has been reduced to three inch which in turn reduces the bore hole size itself and these pumps runs on solar energy. We have sold around 7,000 pumps already this year,” said N K Ranganath, MD, Grundfos Pumps India Pvt Ltd, one of the leading suppliers of solar pumps. The solar water pumps initiatives are currently supported by the states as part of the solution for drinking water issues in rural areas. In Maharashtra, the state has installed these pumps on the same bore where it can also be operated as a hand pump. The challenge in solar energy are: a) the supply is intermittent, b) requires a backup (batteries). “Realising the additional burden of batteries in the solar ecosystem, we explored the possibility of running the pumps without it. So, we developed water pumps which can run directly on solar. We have designed the pumps in such a way that it can run not only on solar but on wind, batteries, gensets, and on AC line as well. All you need is to switch the option in the control box,” explained Ranganath. The solar water pump requirement does not limit
itself to the drinking water segment alone. Rest of the one lakh un-electrified villages in India have a higher scope for using large capacity solar water pumps for agricultural purpose. Ranganath added, “Recently, we have started expanding beyond the drinking water solutions, to irrigation and large pumps. The intention is to go up to about 20 kW capacity pumps. Both the submersible and surface driven pumps, are connected to an inverter and can run through the day. The output will be starting from 75,000 liters and can go up to 1,00,000 litres a day.” Usually in proportion to the increase in capacity of the pumps, the size of the solar panels will escalate. Irrespective of the size of the pump, the cost of the solar panels is three times higher than that of the pumps or even more. He elaborated, “We have put up these large pumps in rice-fields in Bangladesh as that country is more oriented towards solar than India. In India, we have done a few projects with the farmers. The idea is to make these pumps more affordable so as everybody can buy one without the subsidy support.” Solar water pumps are also being used inside forest areas for providing water for animals. “We saw solar water pumps being used in South African forest to feed the animals. These are in the deep interiors. It was again an experimental thought which was accepted by the WWF head and implemented in Andhra Pradesh. Now there are already 15 pumps inside forest areas of Andhra. Now, Tamil Nadu is also taking keen interest to install unmanned solar pumps,” revealed Ranganath. According to him, going forward, it is expected that the battery technology prices will come down considerably. And a move towards hybrid technology is also on the avail and the solar panel costs have dipped as well. The trend may continue till the market matures. The government ended up spending large quantum of money in developing electricity lines to the farthest part of the country and incurs transmission losses till the last mile. Instead they should subsidise solar applications for rural India more.
october 2013 | Electricals Today
39
market data
A dip in August records Though there are announcements in addressing the fuel issues and clearing new projects, thermal in the month of August failed again to meet the capacity addition targets. While hydro and nuclear capacity addition was able to register over 100 per cent of set target, thermal could achieve only 90 per cent. However, it is expected that the thermal capacity addition would improve in the coming months. CAPACITY ADIITION AS ON 31ST AUGUST 2013 1.SUMMARY - ALL INDIA
AN OVERVIEW GENERATION (GWH) AUG-2013
APRIL 2013 - AUG-2013
Monitored Capacity (MW)
Target Apr 2013 to Mar 2014
1
2
THERMAL
154513.42
812737.00
62173.00
56309.40
56777.97
90.57
99.17
325664.00
315656.11
310252.82
96.93
101.74
NUCLEAR
4780.00
35200.00
2820.00
2931.17
2594.26
103.94
112.99
13419.00
13353.72
13732.25
99.51
97.24
39641.40
122263.00
15543.00
19213.09
14089.77
123.61
136.36
59887.00
66531.79
55508.01
111.10
119.86
0.00
4800.00
767.00
1011.96
1036.36
131.94
97.65
2547.00
3453.62
2972.97
135.60
116.17
198934.82
975000.00
81303.00
79465.62
74498.36
97.74
106.67
401517.00
398995.24
382466.05
99.37
104.32
Category
HYDRO BHUTAN IMP TOTAL
PROGRAM
3
ACTUAL SAME MONTH 2012 - 13
ACTUAL *
4
% OF PROGRAM (4/3)%
5
OF LAST YEAR ( 4/5)
6
PROGRAM
7
ACTUAL *
8
9
ACTUAL SAME PERIOD 2012 - 13 10
% OF PROGRAM (9/8)% 11
OF LAST YEAR ( 9/10) 12
* PROVISIONAL BASED ON ACTUAL-CUM-ASSESMENT NOTE : Excludes generation from stations upto 25 MW.
Interestingly, the plant load factor of nuclear during the month was above the expected. Thermal registered 10 per cent dip in PLF owing to fuel issues. PLANT LOAD FACTOR (%) AUG-2013 PROGRAM
ACTUAL *
13
14
APRIL 2013 - AUG-2013 ACTUAL SAME MONTH 2012 - 13 15
PROGRAM
ACTUAL *
16
17
ACTUAL SAME MONTH 2012 - 13 18
THERMAL
64.23
55.79
61.26
68.48
64.02
69.82
NUCLEAR
80.99
82.42
72.95
78.09
76.08
78.24
* PROVISIONAL BASED ON ACTUAL-CUM-ASSESMENT NOTE : PLF FOR THERMAL STATIONS IS FOR COAL / LIGNITE BASED STATIONS ONLY PLF FOR GAS / LIQUID BASED STATIONS GIVEN SEPARATELY Excludes generation from stations upto 25 MW.
40
Electricals Today | OCTOber 2013
market data
Over view of power allocations The ministry of power has warned the states of higher penalties in the event of an overdrawal from the grid Installed capacity (in MW) of power utilities in the states / UTs located in Norethern region including allocated shares in joint & central sector utilities (As on 31.07.2013) Ownership Sector
State
Mode-wise breakup Thermal
Total Thermal
Nuclear
Hydro (Renewable)
RES ** ( MNRE )
Grand Total
Coal
Gas
Diesel
State
135.00
1800.40
0.00
1935.40
0.00
0.00
0.00
1935.40
Private
0.00
108.00
0.0
108.00
0.00
0.00
18.56
126.56
Central
4355.41
207.61
0.00
4563.02
122.08
666.12
0.00
5351.22
Sub-Total
4490.41
2116.01
0.00
6606.42
122.08
666.12
18.56
7413.18
State
3160.00
25.00
3.92
3188.92
0.00
884.51
70.10
4143.53
Private
1720.0
0.00
0.00
1720.00
0.00
0.00
53.10
1773.10
Central
1174.00
535.29
0.00
1709.29
109.16
478.67
0.00
2297.12
Sub-Total
6054.00
560.29
3.92
6618.21
109.16
1363.18
123.20
8213.75
State
0.00
0.00
0.13
0.13
0.00
393.60
587.91
981.64
Private
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
1748.00
0.00
1748.00
Central
135.16
61.88
0.00
197.04
34.08
809.34
0.00
1040.46
Sub-Total
135.16
61.88
0.13
197.17
34.08
2950.94
587.91
3770.10
Jammu
State
0.00
175.00
8.94
183.94
0.00
780.00
130.53
1094.47
&
Private
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Kashmir
Central
296.51
129.14
0.00
425.65
77.00
796.43
0.00
1299.08
Sub-Total
296.51
304.14
8.94
609.59
77.00
1576.43
130.53
2393.55
State
2630.00
25.00
0.00
2655.00
0.00
2230.23
244.50
5129.73
Private
500.00
0.00
0.00
500.00
0.00
0.00
143.08
643.08
Central
619.54
263.92
0.00
883.46
208.04
784.66
0.00
1876.16
Sub-Total
3749.54
288.92
0.00
4038.46
208.04
3014.89
387.58
7648.97
State
3615.00
553.80
0.00
4168.80
0.00
987.86
30.25
5187.01
Private
2140.00
0.00
0.00
2140.00
0.00
0.00
3297.37
5437.37
Central
957.10
221.23
0.00
1178.33
573.00
539.84
0.00
2291.17
Sub-Total
6712.10
775.03
0.00
7487.13
573.00
1527.80
3327.62
12915.55
State
4923.00
0.00
0.00
4923.00
0.00
524.10
25.10
5472.20
Private
2850.00
0.00
0.00
2850.00
0.00
0.00
798.88
3648.88
Central
2749.90
549.97
0.00
3299.87
335.72
1297.32
0.00
4932.91
Sub-Total
10522.90
549.97
0.00
11072.87
335.72
1821.42
823.98
14053.99
State
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
1252.15
174.82
1426.97
Private
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
400.00
15.05
415.05
280.88
69.35
0.00
350.23
22.28
346.03
0.00
718.54
Sub-Total
280.88
69.35
0.00
350.23
22.28
1998.18
189.87
2560.56
State
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Private
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Central
29.81
15.32
0.00
45.13
8.84
51.74
0.00
105.71
Sub-Total
29.81
15.32
0.00
45.13
8.84
51.74
0.00
105.71
Central - Unallocated
902.19
290.35
0.00
192.54
129.80
497.05
0.00
1819.39
Total
State
14463.00
2579.20
12.99
17055.19
0.00
7052.55
1263.21
25370.95
Northern
Private
7210.00
108.00
0.00
7318.00
0.00
2148.00
4326.04
13792.04
Region
Central
11500.50
2344.06
0.00
13844.56
1620.00
6267.20
0.00
21731.76
Grand Total
33173.50
5031.26
12.99
38217.75
1620.00
15467.75
5589.25
60894.75
Delhi
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Punjab
Rajasthan
Uttar Pradesh
Uttranchal
160 Central Chandigarh
* PROVISIONAL BASED ON ACTUAL-CUM-ASSESMENT
OCTOber 2013 | Electricals Today
41
market column
all clear The clearance of 18 power projects by CCI is expected to bring back investor confidence in power sector Rupesh Sankhe Sr. Research Analyst (Power & Capital Goods) Karvy Stock Broking
P
erseverance has started showing results. The government at the centre, recently made a quick move with the aim of accelerating the country's growth. Though steps were taken in the past, but it hit hurdles on many occasions stalling the overall growth of the country. And power sector was the worst hit registering delays in capacity additions. It brought back a sense of cheer to power sector, with the Cabinet Committee on Investments (CCI) giving its approval for speedy execution of 36 infrastructure projects. These projects entailing investments of Rs1.83 lakh crore is a boost in the investment cycle. The latest decision is in favour of 18 projects from power sector which had taken a severe hit because of lack of clearances. The CCI cleared power sector projects involve an investment of Rs88,773 crore. This investment-friendly move is expected to bring back the lost momentum to the otherwise laggered power sector. Steps taken to meet the power requirement in the country inter-alia are: • Rigorous monitoring of capacity addition of the on-going generation projects. • Review meetings are taken by ministry of power regularly with central electricity authority (CEA), equipment manufacturers, state utilities/CPSUs/project developers, etc. to identify the bottlenecks in capacity addition and resolve the issues. • In view of the increasing requirement of capacity addition to meet the demand, the capacity building of main plant equipment has been carried out in the country. There are several joint ventures being formed for the manufacturing of power plant equipment. Also, the
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Electricals Today | october 2013
domestic manufacturers have ramped up their capacity to meet the demand. • Thrust to make coal and gas available for power sector. With ensuring more fuel supply agreements for large thermal projects from CIL. • Thrust is being given to power generation from renewable sources. As per MNRE, grid interactive renewable capacity addition likely to attain about 30,000 MW during 12th Plan Period.
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he government’s recent move of faster clearances has resulted in expectation that the new project announcements in power segment will pick up. The industry oversupply situation would also mean that every incremental order would be bid for aggressively. Power projects implementation is stalled or facing delays due to issues of fuel availability, environmental and land acquisition issues. Fuel availability continues to be the biggest challenge for the sector, impacting 60 per cent of projects, 30 per cent of the projects are impacted due to environmental and land acquisition issues, while local law and order has impacted 10 per cent of the projects. A slew of initiatives on SEB debt restructuring and CERC order for compensatory tariff revision for imported based plants under competitive bidding guidelines has brought back some confidence of the investors. However, we believe that these reforms would be able to address only current problems of SEB losses and non viability of existing projects under fixed PPA. Also focus on higher coal production by giving faster environmental and forest clearance, cabinet direction to Coal India to sign FSA, and price pooling across the projects for imported coal, would also improve the situation going forward in our view.