‘‘We have targeted energy savings of 12,000 mw during the 12th Plan,’’ Ajay Mathur, director general, BEE, told FE.

The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), a statutory body under the Union power ministry, has raised energy efficiency standards for split air-conditioners by 8%. The move comes in the wake of the upcoming freeze hydro-chlorofloro-carbons under the Montreal Compact on Environment next year. BEE introduced mandatory star labelling of electrical appliances in January 2010.

Star-labelleing indicates the level of energy savings. Consumers can make an informed choice about purchase of air-conditioners by looking at Stars inscribed on the appliance. A commercial consumer is likely to prefer air-conditioners with higher Star ratings because of larger potential energy savings, which would entail a shorter payback period for him.

"We are happy that our initial steps in introducing star labelling for airconditioners has borne such good results," Mathur said.

The agency has also developed a mobile phone-based application "AC Power Saver" to create awareness among electricity consumers. It enables consumers to calculate energy consumption and savings on their mobile handsets. The application will be available for Android, Balckberry and iPhone users free of charge. These tools will help consumers calculate in advance their annual electricity bills and the potential savings. BEE is also training air-conditioner sales executives as part of its consumer awareness programme. It has already trained 1,544 salesmen across six cities. BEE has partnered with Emerson Climate Technologies and International Copper Promotion Council to educate the market on the benefits of the star labelling for split airconditioners. The agency plans to further tighten the energy efficiency norms for split air-conditioners in 2014.

KOLKATA: As many as 33 power plants of the total 89 have coal stocks barely enough to generate power for 7 days according to Central Electricity Authority. Of these 33, some 18 power stations have coal stocks less than enough to generate power for four days.

Although Coal India, the monopoly supplier of coal, is located in Eastern India, this region has the highest number of stations with super critical stock position. Eastern India 9 stations with super critical stock position as of April 26, the latest data available with Central Electricity Authority.

Super critical stock position refers to coal stocks enough to generate power for four days and critical stock position refers to stock position

The highest number of critical stock position was from North India at 14 stations. This region had only 7 stations with super critical stock position.

According to CEA, most of the plants that have super critical or critical stock positions are because of less receipt of coal from Coal India. These includes plants like Badarpur Thermal Power Stations (TPS), Unchahar TPS, Ukai TPS, Bhusawal TPS and Talcher TPS. About 17 power stations are suffering from near depleted stock due to less imports.

Source - ET

The confusion around coal supplies/prices seems to go on and on.

On the one hand, is an almost  hapless management which wants to shift to a universally accepted pricing mechanism for coal, while on the other is an almost arrogant government, which does not want to even raise coal prices moderately for power producers for fear that these hikes will be immediately passed on to consumers, a treasured vote bank.

In between this tussle is The Children’s Investment Fund, the second largest shareholder in Coal India, which is insisting that Coal India raise prices to ensure that shareholders do not lose out because of the government’s callous policies.

Now there are hints that Coal India’s management may well give in to the pressures from TCI and raise prices in some coal categories.

Earlier, the company had announced that it would price coal according to gross calorific value (GCV) instead of the useful heat value (UHV). At the time, the expectation was that its average realisation could go up by 13-15 percent. In some cases, depending on the quality of the coal, prices of the stuff were expected to go up by more than than 100 percent. However, protests from power producers put paid to that attempt.

Now, another attempt is being made. Today, the board of Coal India will meet to resolve the issues of signing long- term fuel supply arrangements (FSA) with power producers. Given that now there is a possible penalty in case of failing to supply power companies the promised quantities of coal,  it might decide to review and raise prices in some coal categories, reports The Economic Times.

There is also a plan to impose an ad valorem royalty on coal, according to Indian Express. Coal minister Saiprakash Jaiswal has proposed to levy an ad valorem levy of 14 percent for coal and 6 percent for lignite, the newspaper said. While that would make the state government richer by Rs 1,000 crore, power producers will probably bear the brunt of this levy, which could lead to an increase in electricity prices.

Either move, a review of prices or duty addition or both, will no doubt add to the cost of power production. Since power generators or state electricity boards (mainly power distributors) are not in any position to absorb additional price hikes, they will be passed on to the end consumers of power.

It is well known that power tariff hikes have been delayed for several years across states, leading to a staggering loss of Rs 1 lakh crore for SEBs, according to some estimates.

Skewed policies in the power, coal and oil sector have left companies bleeding across the board. Coal India, while currently profitable, is also in danger of rapidly eroding policies because of the government’s whimsical policies.

To bring about more profitable and sustainable energy output, we need more balanced policies, which start with enforcing reasonable prices hikes.

Given that the country is power hungry, there is no option but to pay higher prices for the limited power supplies we have. More power can only be generated if companies get properly paid for what they produce.

Otherwise, we might as well get used to the coming blackouts.

India's Perform, Achieve and Trade Mechanism creates a market for energy efficiency through tradable certificates.

As the sun was setting on the previous fiscal year, the Ministry of Power and Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) were quietly resurrecting a historic regulation for accelerating energy efficiency in the industrial sector. The set of notifications issued on March 30, 2012, requires 478 industries to achieve reductions in specific energy consumption by an average of 5 per cent during the next 3 years. This scheme is the first of its kind in a developing country.

PERFORM, ACHIEVE, TRADE

The Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) mechanism, as the scheme is called, requires notified industries to invest in energy efficiency and reduce at least 5 per cent of input energy cost for self and public good. The savings in the first three years of the scheme are estimated at 9.8 million tonnes of oil equivalent of energy or approximately 9000 MW of avoided thermal power capacity, without compromising on the industrial output.

The direct benefits for the participating industries in this period is reductions in input costs related to energy of approximately Rs 30,000 crore at the current oil prices.

Needless to add, this will significantly enhance global competitiveness of industry while simultaneously reducing India's overall GHG emissions. The PAT scheme is the flagship scheme of the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE), which is one of the 8 national missions announced under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) by the Prime Minister in June 2008.

The thrust of NAPCC is towards development of multi-pronged, long-term, and integrated strategies for achieving key goals of sustainable development, while balancing the concerns of climate change.

The scheme builds on the provision of the Energy Conservation Act that empowers the Central Government to notify energy-intensive industries and mandate them to report their energy usage, appoint Energy Managers, and adhere to targets for energy efficiency.

The Ministry of Power had, in 2007, notified units consuming energy more than the prescribed benchmark in 9 industrial sectors — namely Thermal Power Plants, Fertilisers, Cement, Pulp and Paper, Textiles, Chlor Alkali, Steel, Aluminium and Railways. The present notification requires the 478 listed industries amongst the 9 industrial sectors to achieve the target for Specific Energy Consumption (SEC) by 2015. SEC, as defined under the scheme, is the energy used for generating a unit of output.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

The scheme is unique in many ways, particularly from a developing-country perspective. Firstly, it creates a market for energy efficiency through tradable certificates, called Energy Saving Certificate (ESCerts) by allowing them to be used for meeting targets. These certificates can be issued to any of the 478 industries who are able to exceed their respective notified target, the value of the certificate being the excess achievement, more than the target set. The beneficiary industry could trade this certificate to any of the rest of the entities (of the 478) that is unable to meet its target, as buying ESCerts has been allowed as sufficient fulfilment of compliance requirement without any penal action.

Thus, the scheme, by allowing the use of market-based instrument in the form of ESCerts, incentivises to over-achieve at the individual industry level, while simultaneously making sure that the overall goal of improving energy intensity is achieved in the most economical manner. This innovative mechanism to encourage compliance is a significant departure from the command and control regime, while promising to be more efficient, transparent, and inclusive.

Secondly, the rules promulgated take note of the fact that the scheme, particularly its market creation goal, needs to align with the investment decision-making processes of the private sector. In order to make sure that industries take a considered decision of making investments for achievement of specified targets or purchasing ESCerts, the certainty of adequate numbers of ESCerts being available as well as their price needs to be known much earlier than the end of the compliance period.

Under normal circumstances, both these parameters would be known at the end of the compliance period of 3 years. The rules notified allow intermediate issue of ESCerts after every year, based on partial fulfilment of targets, and thereby enable sufficient liquidity of ESCerts in the market at the end of the first year itself, allowing for decision by the remaining actors to purchase them for compliance. This will create the critical mass for market for ESCert to function.

SIMPLE, TRANSPARENT

Thirdly, the monitoring and verification protocol of the scheme culls out the best from similar schemes around the globe, simultaneously making it simple, transparent and effective. The targeted reduction of SEC is measured on a gate-to-gate basis, by measuring energy usage per unit of output. The simplicity of approach will not only make the exercise robust, but will also encourage companies to comply due to reduced cost of compliance.

Fourthly, the rules outline the monitoring and verification mechanism by inviting reputed agencies having adequate technical knowledge and having energy auditors certified by BEE. The eligibility conditions, the manner of their appointment, have been elaborated in the rules, making them transparent and credible at par with global standards. It also includes a liability clause for the monitoring and verification agencies to guard against frivolous certifications.

Fifthly, the scheme assimilates several competing issues seamlessly under its domain. Being an energy intensity reduction (or energy efficiency) scheme, it doesn't present any restriction on the expansion of capacity. It may be mentioned that an energy or emission cap scheme would have needed reduction in energy use, and thereby the output from the baseline.

The added incentive of ESCerts and its attendant additional monetary benefits enhances the attractiveness of implementing energy efficiency. The overall reduction in energy use enhances efforts towards energy security, reducing GHG emissions, while simultaneously taking the industry on a higher growth path.

The scheme has been a result of extensive consultations, both at the policy level as well as with the industries, and addresses most of the concerns. PAT scheme has all the traits to become a benchmark for design and implementation of policies and measures, particularly when the need for aligning of competing incentives of various actors exists. It also highlights an innovative approach of introducing market-based instruments to encourage compliance. Successful implementation of the scheme could serve as a model for upcoming and existing environmental regulations in a transparent and economically efficient manner.

In a new measure to check emissions responsible for global warming, the government has notified a domestic carbon trade mechanism that will impose penalties on industries failing to achieve new energy efficiency targets. New rules notified for eight energy-intensive sectors will allow the government to impose a penalty of over Rs 10,000 for missing the target by 1 tonne of oil-equivalent. It means that if a company falls short by 5 tonnes of oil-equivalent, it will have to pay a penalty of over Rs 50,000 to the government.

There is also an incentive for companies that surpass the energy-efficiency target set for 2014-15. For each extra tonne of oil-equivalent saved, the company will get an energy saving certificate. These certificates can be sold through a market mechanism to companies that fail to meet the target. 

Bureau for Energy Efficiency (BEE) director general Ajay Mathur told HT that the scheme would enable the Indian industry to “progressively” reduce its carbon intensity, strengthening its bottom line as well. “In a way, the production cost for each tonne will reduce,” he said. 

Among the world’s first domestic carbon emission trading mechanisms, this scheme — known as Perform Achieve Trade (PAT) — has been implemented under the National Mission for Energy Efficiency Enhancement. It is a part of the Prime Minister’s National Action Plan on Climate Change. 

The power ministry on Friday notified the rules under the Energy Conservation Act-2011, aimed at reducing 6.6 million tonnes of oil-equivalent by 2015, or 4% of the energy consumed by these industries in 2009-10. As the bureau wanted to target energy-intense industries, eight sectors — iron and steel, cement, fertilisers, aluminum, pulp and paper, chloralkali, textiles and thermal power stations — were included.

Accounting for one-third of India’s total energy consumption, these sectors cover 478 industrial units whose energy consumption for producing a tonne of end-product is higher than the standard specified by BEE. They include some of India’s top companies, such as Reliance, Vedanta Aluminum Limited and Gujarat Fluorochemicals Limited.

Source - HT

The Centre will soon provide a helping hand for entrepreneurs to set up domestically engineered solar power plants. There would be an interest subsidy on loan interest for solar projects provided the components are sourced from domestic producers. The ministry of new and renewable energy is working on a new interest subvention or subsidy scheme for solar projects even though the US had objected to procuring components from domestic producers under Phase-I of the National Solar Mission and had threatened to move World Trade Organisation (WTO) against the clause.

Gireesh B Pradhan, secretary ministry of new and renewable energy told HT about the possibility of interest subvention scheme for the Phase-II of the mission, in which 4,000 MW to 10,000 MW of solar energy is targeted. The Phase-I of the mission is under implementation since 2011.

India has potential of generating up to 100,000 MW of power from renewable sources but the high investment required in the sector is said to be the biggest hindrance.

“Investment in renewable is steep for return. If the government fails to support solar energy projects many of them will become unviable,” Pradhan said and added the interest subvention will help in making these projects more viable.

The world’s highest cold desert, Ladakh, may be the new hub generating solar power. The ministry is working on a project to set up approximately 250 MW of grid connected solar power, labelled as “solar heaven” of India.

A transmission link connecting this region to the national grid would allow the solar power generated in this area to be wheeled out , the secretary said. Other states would also be getting their share to tap solar potential.

States like Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Rajasthan have shown interest in setting up of mega solar thermal power plants of 500 MW as compared to biggest generation of 100 MW from a unit.

To fast track implementation, Pradhan said the states would be asked to provide land free of encumbrances and connectivity before the projects are sanctioned.

Source-HT

With the government subsidies reducing by 38% in the last three years, the financial condition of power utilities in the state is deteriorating. Their cumulative losses without the government subsidies are expected to reach Rs7,50,000 crore this year, said the report.

Stating that only steep hikes could help companies break even, the study recommended the implementation of the measures suggested by the Shunglu Committee, appointed for looking into state electricity boards’ financial status. A strong political leadership that will pass on the costs to domestic and agriculture consumers — who are being cross-subsidised by industrial and commercial consumers — is the need of the hour, said the report.

A case in point could be utilities in Mumbai that spend close to 80% of their budget on buying power. This cost is, thus, passed on to the consumers making power tariff in city’s suburbs highest in the country.

“The decision [on tariff] will be politically sensitive and will test the will of the state government,” added the report.

Anil Sardana, managing director, Tata Power, said: “The revocation of customs duty on imported coal, natural gas and liquid natural gas in this year’s union budget and the incentives for mining sector will marginally improve supply of coal. It is still a far cry from achieving adequate fuel security.”

Ramesh Chandak, president, Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers’ Association, said: “The union budget did not approve of any of the major demands of the power industry including the service tax exemption for all power projects and duty-free import of a raw material for making transformers.”

Brace yourself for a cruel summer this time, as coal and gas shortages may cripple the country’s existing power generation capacity during the peak demand period. The crisis is likely to worsen since the power ministry has fallen 8,000mw short of the 11th plan target — ending March 31 —of an additional capacity of 62,000 mw due to the fuel shortages.
 

The power ministry carried out a downward revision of the 78,500-mw target mid-term to 62,000 mw. But the actual capacity addition at the end of the plan period is much behind at 54,000 mw.

Union minister for power Shushilkumar Shinde told HT: “Fuel shortages have led to missing the targets… I am afraid that fuel shortages may hit the 76,000mw generation target we have set for the next plan period (2012-2017).

Since coal is the mainstay of India’s power sector — more than 55% of the 192,792-mw installed capacity is coal-based — the situation looks grim, especially because state-owned Coal India Ltd’s production has remained stagnant at 420-430 million tonne a year since 2009.

The company has resorted to coal imports to make up for the shortfall, resulting in a sharp rise in generation costs. At present, power producers are importing 40 million tonne a year, but the figure could go up to 60-70 million tonne by 2012-13.

This will put an immense pressure on the power firms as the imported coal costs R4,000 a tonne against the domestic coal price of R1,000 a tonne.

Similarly, gas output from India's largest fields, the KG D6 in the east coast, has dropped to 28.16 mmscmd, or million standard cubic metre per day — used as a unit of measurement for liquids and gases — in March 2012 against the projection of 80 mmscmd for 2012.

Arup Roy Choudhury, chairman of India's largest power producer NTPC, said his company would have to put on hold the capacity expansion plans at it 4,000-mw gas-based plants at Kayamkulam, Kawas, Gandhar, Dadri, Anta and Auraiya.

Also, the fate of a significant number of coal and gas-fired projects of private sector producers, including those of Tata Power, Reliance Power, Essar Power, Adani, Lanco and GVK — expected to produce over 70,000 mw — has become uncertain.

What's more, the state electricity boards are refusing to pay higher prices for power since in most states, power tariffs cannot be hiked mainly for political reasons.

Source - HT

New Delhi: The government on Saturday said it has set energy efficiency targets for the core sector -- power, steel, cement etc. -- to be achieved by 2014-15, failing which the companies shall be penalised.

The government has notified the energy efficiency improvement targets for the 478 most energy-intensive industrial units in India, an official statement said.
The sectors covered by the notification are iron & steel, cement, fertilisers, aluminium, pulp & paper, chlor-alkali, textiles and thermal power stations.

Within each sector, only plants using more than a specified amount of energy are included in the targeted list. These plants account for about one-third of the total energy consumed in India. Those units which are able to achieve greater energy efficiency improvements within the specified targets can capture the excess savings through the issuance of energy saving certificates.

These certificates can be traded and bought by other units covered by the programme when the companies find it expensive to meet their targets through own actions. Units which are unable to meet their targets will be liable for penalty, it said.


Source - ZEE News

The Asian Development Bank will provide a $100-million credit line to ICICI Bank to fund renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.

The central bank's board approved the sanction on Wednesday.

The credit will be available to projects identified by the ADB and ICICI Bank. This is taking into consideration Indian Government objectives and overall impact assessment, according to ADB.

The bank's support will help in developing renewable energy and energy efficiency in priority sectors. It will also catalyse local commercial bank financing to support the development of smaller and medium-size renewable energy and energy efficiency projects that are too small for ADB to support on a project-by-project basis.

The credit line will fill a market gap in terms of financing such projects. This is in light of the recent global financial crisis and the resulting limitation on funding sources. It will also achieve energy savings contributing to reducing India's energy supply-demand gap and mitigating climate change, the central bank said.

Against an estimated 80,000 MW renewable energy-based grid connected power generation potential in the country, about 6,000 MW installed capacity has been realised. This is an opportunity to exploit renewable energy sources.

The renewable energy constitutes 5 per cent of the total installed power generation capacity in the country. The target is to achieve up to 10 per cent of additional installed capacity to be set up till 2012 to come from renewable energy sources, according to Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd.

The promotion of renewable energy and energy efficiency are key objectives under ADB's Strategy 2020, ADB's Country Partnership Strategy for India and ADB's private sector operations.

Starting in 2013, ADB's annual target for clean energy investments will double to $2 billion. This will accelerate low-carbon growth and reduce greenhouse gas in the region, the bank said.

If all goes well, rice husk and solar power — two very unlikely entities — will together provide rural India with a twin solution to its problems of power shortage and lack of storage for agriculture produce. What's more, the evolving system promises zero emission of pollutants as well.

The government's Solar Energy Centre has managed to make use of rice husk and solar power, which are both being wasted at present, to come up with a technological marvel that would prevent wastage of food grains in rural India. "Around one-third of the agriculture produce goes waste in the absence of adequate storage facilities," said SK Singh, director of the centre run by the ministry of new and renewable energy. "Our technology can help set up low-cost cold storages in rural India."

Through this project, the ministry provided electricity to every household in a village in Bihar's West Champaran district in August 2007. The rice husk is burnt to produce enough energy for powering a turbine and producing electricity. As of now, there are 60 mini-rice husk powered electricity plants that light 25,000 households in different parts of the country.

The emission from the rice husk plants is coupled with energy generated by solar thermal plates to run a cold storage with a capacity of 15 tonnes.

The project, undertaken in collaboration with Thermax and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), has gone past the experiment stage and is set to be rolled out in rural India. "Bihar could be our first destination, because integrating the solar unit with rice husk power systems would be easy there," said Gireesh B Pradhan, secretary, ministry of new and renewable energy.

To dispel the belief that solar energy is only meant for villages, the Solar Energy Centre has also developed the world's most efficient solar-based air-conditioning unit, which can run for over eight hours in urban commercial complexes. "Three or four such units have already been installed in companies such as TVS Motors," said an official from private partner, Thermax.

The Centre is also developing a diesel-solar hybrid unit to power industrial units at an estimated cost of Rs 90 lakh. "The additional cost can be recovered in less than five years, and it will run effectively for 20," said another scientist.

Source - HT

COIMBATORE: With no answers to the power crisis in the district, more people and industries are opting for alternative sources of energy. The manufacturers of solar panels have been witnessing a dramatic increase in sales in recent months. "We did not expect a 100% increase in sales, considering the cost of solar panels," said K Muthumani, proprietor of Omega Solar in Uppilipalayam, Coimbatore. People are beginning to realize the importance of green energy, he said. Besides, they are fed up with the power cuts, he added.

Until a few years ago, the cost of a solar panel was exorbitant. Not many people resorted to solar energy then as they felt the return on investment would not be worth the wait.
However, the recent power crisis has forced many to look at solar energy as an option. People are more willing to invest in a panel that would produce 500 watts of energy to light residences, said Muthumani.

Earlier, the panel for each watt cost Rs200. But today, the price has come down to as low as Rs80, said R Gautam, proprietor of Next Generation of Solar Solutions. "People invested in solar water heaters, but the demand for panels was minimal. We used to sell 100 watts per month, but now we sell about 500 watts every day for residential use. Industries purchase anywhere between 1,000 watts and 20 kilo watts of energy," he said.

Photovoltaic cells are imported from Germany. Cheaper versions are imported from China. The panels are assembled and marketed here. With the extended power cuts, Muthumani said that the UPS has not been very useful. However, he revealed that the UPS can be charged with solar energy.

"I was having sleepless nights and was upset with the erratic power supply," said R Palanisamy, a retired veterinarian and resident of Kamraj Nagar, who has opted for solar energy. To light four LED bulbs, four fans and nine CFL bulbs, 300 watts are needed. This would cost Rs1.2 lakh, he said.

Source ToI

The country suffered a power deficit of over 8 per cent in April-February 2012. At the same time, peak hour electricity supply fell short by over 11 per cent during the same period.

There is an overall shortage of power in the country, Mr K.C. Venugopal, Minister of State in the Power Ministry, said in response to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

The shortage, Mr Venugopal said, varied from State-to-State on month-to-month and day-to-day basis depending upon demand and availability of power.

Shortage of electricity in rural, backward and tribal dominated areas is generally attributable to inadequacy of sub-transmission and distribution network or their healthiness. Electricity being a concurrent subject, responsibility for supply to different categories of consumers and areas lies with the State Government/power utilities concerned.

GAS AVAILABILITY

The Petroleum Ministry has said that no additional domestic gas is likely to be available till 2015-16, the Minister said, responding to another question.

A delegation of Association of Power Producers met the Prime Minister and Ministers of Power, Coal, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Environment & Forest as well as Finance to discuss issues concerning the sector, he said.

The issues raised in the meetings included shortage of coal and gas supplies, signing of fuel supply agreement, speedy disposal of forest and environment clearance, removal of customs duty on coal imports, and improvement of financial health of discoms.

To supply coal to power projects commissioned in the 11{+t}{+h} Plan and getting commissioned up to 2014-15 in 12{+t}{+h} Plan, Coal India will sign the fuel supply agreements for full quantity of coal mentioned in the letter of assurance with power plants that have entered into long-term power purchase agreements with the Discoms. For projects that have been commissioned up to December 31, 2011, Coal India will sign the fuel supply agreements before March 31, 2012, he said.

To meet its commitment, Coal India may reduce coal meant for e-auction from 10 per cent to 7 per cent till the end of 12th Plan. In case of any shortfall in fulfilling its commitment under the fuel supply agreements from its own production, Coal India, will arrange for supplies through imports.

Source : BS

Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) India, the Indian chapter of global trade association SEMI, which represents manufacturers of solar photovoltaic (PV), semiconductor, micro electronics, LED and flat panel display equipment, says that increasing solar adoption will open up new opportunities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which were hitherto confined to catering to the telecom segment. In an interview, SEMI India President Debasish Choudhurytells K Rajani Kanth what the solar industry offers SMEs. Edited excerpts:

Large enterprises and MNCs outnumber SMEs in the solar industry. Why is this so?
SEMI has close to 30 registered Indian companies as members. Of these, only four to five are SMEs, which are into lighting systems for solar, small panels and street lighting businesses. This is because the solar industry is capital-intensive. So we don't have enough opportunities for SMEs.

When will SMEs get a level-playing field in power electronics?
There are already many new players, mainly inverter companies, in the power electronics business, which had been primarily catering to the telecom sector. Now, they are focused on solar. In solar we need storage, and a battery is the only option. Through this, our power electronics segment is going to benefit. The second opportunity is electronics manufacturing services. You will see a lot of collaborations happening in the power electronics space, with companies abroad extending technology know-how to local partners and manufacturing power electronics, especially big components like inverters.

What challenges does the Indian solar industry face?
The major challenge is the National Solar Mission that didn't offer local manufacturers much. One reason was reverse bidding, which reduced their incentives, forcing them to look at cheaper system options. So, 95 per cent of them went for thin films. The growth rate is immense but there is pain. Our companies need to benefit from the Mission as well. Policy makers need to look at the basics and support local companies.

Is SEMI making any recommendations to the government?
SEMI is not for trade barriers. We want the best technologies and solutions to be available in whichever market it is. We request the government to give extra incentives to developers who are using local modules. It can give an extra Rs 1.5-2 on Rs 10 as an incentive to those who buy local components for their projects. The electronics industry missed the bus. We don’t want that to happen to solar.

IT services cannot sustain the economy in the long-run. With the National Manufacturing Policy in place, this is the right time to support the industry’s growth.

When can we expect something concrete? 
The government is looking at fine-tuning the National Solar Policy. I think Phase-II will have some correction and you will find a redrafted and refined policy, which will look at fine-tuning the gaps.

Once this happens, will it help SMEs enter the market?
In the next phase (2013-2017), we need to add another 2,000 Mw. This is a huge opportunity. Power electronics constitutes about 30 per cent of the total cost of the plant. Though large-scale companies will get a lion’s share, SMEs can make an entry, as it will be a new business opportunity for them. Telecom allowed SMEs to grow earlier. Now, solar is a big opportunity for them.

Source : BS

Chennai: Tamil Nadu would soon introduce a solar energy policy to fulfill its aim of becoming a power surplus state in three years by utilising new and renewable energies, Electricity Minister 'Natham' Viswanathan said here today.
"A policy on solar energy will be introduced soon. It is expected to be released during the coming budget session", he said at the two-day conference "Renergy 2012", organised by Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency (TEDA).
Construction of three lakh solar power green houses in Tamil Nadu and plans to have one lakh solar-powered street lights were part of the AIADMK Government proposals, he said and added the government has set a target of generating 3000 MW of solar power by 2015.
"We want to generate 3,000 MW solar power by 2015", he said.
On the acute power shortage in Tamil Nadu, he said the present situation is due to increase in demand and lack of supply and hoped it would gradually ease out, beginning June.
"Electricity has become a necessity.The present situation is due to increase in demand and lack of supply. I hope the situation will gradually ease. We expect by 2013-14 there will be distrbution as per demand and by 2015-16, we expect Tamil Nadu be a power surplus State",he said.
Noting that 45 per cent of the country's total wind energy is generated from Tamil Nadu, he invited industrialists to invest in generating renewable energies.
Tamilnadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Ltd. (TANGEDCO) Chairman Rajeev Ranjan said they planned to come out with a financial restructuring plan for the ailing TANGEDCO.
"We have some financial problems and we are trying to come up with a financial restructuring plan which we have submitted to Government of India", he said.
"We expect a solution to ease out the problem. We are also looking at how to get over the issue locally. We are expecting a new tariff policy. The hike in tariffs will give us relief", he said.

Source ZEE News

In world-leading economies such as China, Germany and the US, huge investments are being made to position them for a low-carbon future. The rationale behind this investment includes the benefits of improved energy security, stronger trade balances, growth in employment and industry leadership, not to ignore the associated environmental gains. In this article, we look at the huge potential for the continued modernisation of the electricity sector in India.

At the present rate of growth, India is poised to overtake Russia and Japan to become the third largest electricity market in the world in 2012. Over the next decade India is very likely to be the second largest market globally, in terms of new power-generating capacity installations. How India meets its massive growth in energy demand will have a dramatic impact on the global issue of climate change, and with the added clout of India and China potentially working in parallel, the joint step-up in demand could drive the next leap in economies of scale that is required to make renewable energy technologies cost competitive with existing fossil fuel alternatives. The implications for the global economy over the next decade should not be underestimated.

When it comes to economic growth, India’s track record is less consistent than China’s. Inflation remains excessive. State government indebtedness is a major obstacle in marshalling the massive infrastructure investment required. Lack of depth in the Indian financial sector also limits funding options. Regulatory transparency, longevity and certainty (TLC) in the power sector is also insufficient. Fossil fuel subsidies are rampant. India also has one of the world’s lowest per capita electricity consumption rates, at 778kWh per annum; less than one tenth of the OECD average. Energy poverty and blackouts are a challenge to growth.

By contrast, India’s GDP growth of 6-8 per cent per annum looks set to continue, meaning that the addition of 10-20GW a year of new power capacity is a prerequisite. Having added some 8GW per annum since 2002, 2011/12 should see 17-20GW of new capacity added. India is installing 2-3GW of wind farms annually, and at 16GW in total, India has the 5th largest portfolio of wind assets in the world. A continued development of hydro and nuclear capacity, plus a major new push into solar installations, should therefore accelerate the deployment of low-carbon/renewable energy.

Furthermore, Power Grid Corp of India alone is spending $US2.5 billion annually on grid transmission upgrades, suggesting critical transmission hurdles are being addressed. A target to reduce carbon emission intensity by 20-25 per cent by 2020 also has real potential. India’s investment in clean energy assets rose 52 per cent year-on-year in 2011 to $US10 billion. For these reasons, we identify India as emerging in 2012 as a potential clean energy leader globally.

Source - reneweconomy.com.au

The sharp slump in solar PV prices has caused a dramatic re-evaluation of the technology cost and potential by the world’s largest energy consumers - the US, China, and India - over the last three months.
 
The latest came from US Department of Energy Secretary Stephen Chu, who suggested in a keynote speech late last week that the US government’s "Sunshot" program launched in 2010 – with the goal of making solar cheaper than fossil fuels by the end of the decade – was no longer just aspirational, but a growing reality.
 
Chu noted that utility scale solar had gone from $8 a watt in 2005 to $3.80 in 2010, when the cost of the module was $1.70/watt. To get the cost of utility scale solar down to $1/watt, it needs the cost of modules to fall to 50c/watt. In less than two years, it is already down to 93c/watt for silicon-based panel and 80c/watt for cadmium telluride. "We’re more than half way there on module costs already," he said. "Now we’ve got to do the same on the balance of system costs, and we are working hard on that." Continue Reading...

New Delhi: Sleek solar panels and microscopically monitored electric generators that are thrifty—almost stingy—with the power they consume may seem incongruous in the hardy rural settings of seed companies, but seed manufacturers and those in the business of making pesticides and fertilizers say that tight energy budgets are vital to their businesses.

“It isn’t an energy-intensive business just like, say, the power industry, but there is a significant involvement of physical, human labour in the seed manufacturing process,” said Ankur Aggarwal, managing director of the Rs850 crore Crystal Group. “So conserving energy is vital for developing quality seed.”

Modern techniques: An Advanta seed processing plant at Nutankal in Andhra Pradesh. Many technological innovations implemented in the processing and packaging of seeds have helped companies efficiently use energy resources. Photo : Advanta seeds

At Crystal’s facilities, the various aspects of seed production—such as threshing, packaging and delinting—require the use of electrical power. Solar power acts as a backup for requirements such as lighting that don’t need intensive use of power, Aggarwal said.

India’s seed industry, which uses a range of technologies to improve germplasm and develop varieties of hybrid seeds for farmers, is the world’s sixth largest at an estimated $1.1 billion (around Rs5,412 crore today), according to the National Seed Association of India, and is growing at 12% annually. Private seed companies account for 80% of the industry’s revenue, 10-12% of which is spent on research and development, the association says.

The global seed industry is estimated to be about $45 billion and to exceed $50 billion by the end of 2012.

In the public sector, there are 13 state seed corporations and state farm corporations. In the private sector, there are about 300 companies that are primarily into making cereals, cotton, millet, maize and oilseeds.

A spokesperson for Monsanto India Ltd said the company has taken several initiatives to make energy consumption more efficient. Primary among these have been introducing more efficient packaging of seeds, which in turn resulted in lower plastic consumption and cost savings, thus lowering the environmental impact of their production.

“We’ve also reduced our LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) consumption in the drying process for maize seeds through a detailed study of consumption by a specialized engineering team, and streamlining power usage through introducing power-saving equipment as well as substituted lube oil with biodegradable oil and diesel-operated forklifts with battery-operated forklifts for limited waste generation,” said the spokesperson.

Karmeshwar Rao, managing director of Kottayam-based Vishanthi Seeds, said his company has introduced several innovations in the implements it uses to process seed, and that has resulted in energy savings.

For instance, the company uses micro-processor-controlled scalpers to clean rough seeds when the trash content is high.

The scalper consists of a vibrating or rotating screen or sieve. The screen perforations are large enough to allow rough seeds to pass through readily, while larger inert material is scalped off and removed from the seed lot.

The company also uses a specialized gadget called air screen cleaners, essentially a system of two electronically controlled sieves that remove dust and light chaff before seeds reach the first screen. The first screen allows good seeds to drop on to the second screen. Large foreign material ride over the first screen and is discarded. The second screen is used to further sort out impure seeds from grains that finally make it to the packaging stage.

Other companies use specific gravity separators, which use the principle of specific gravity to distinguish between similar seeds. This difference is very useful in removing light immature seeds or heavy sand and rocks to improve the purity and germination of crop seeds.

“These are not rocket-science technology and there are heavy machinery that achieve these same results, but integrating them intelligently in our processes and improving the power consumption in these machines have helped us cut our energy bills by a fifth,”said Rao.

Energy savings play a key role in companies’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) targets. Jyotsna Bhatnagar, who leads Monsanto India’s sustainability development efforts, said that in a decade, the company had spent almost Rs25 crore on various CSR initiatives, which is roughly 4-5% of its profit.

“We engage very closely with farmers and connect with several NGOs (non-governmental organizations) as part of our community outreach programmes,” she added.

According to Bhatnagar, Monsanto India funded scholarships for students pursuing doctorates in rice and wheat research, and worked extensively to reduce child labour in fields. “Today, we have managed to reduce incidence of child labour to 0.5% from 20% (in 10 years) largely through educating farmers,” said Bhatnagar.

Crystal Group’s Aggarwal, too, said farmers were central to his company’s CSR efforts. “We reward the most productive farmers, the ones who use seed technology innovatively, and give scholarships to students,” he said. “It certainly helps propagate our brand image in the communities.”

Analysts, however, say the seed companies can do more. “The great weakness of the agriculture sector is that in spite of the significant number of dependants, the benefits of improved seed is only for those who can afford them,” said A. Dhawan, a former adviser to the agriculture ministry. “Companies can engage more with the public sector on research and, thus, come up with affordable seed.”

Source - Livemint