India's Power Sector

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Rishirishi
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Rishirishi »

A question for the gurus here.

Why are they transporting coal from long distances? Why not just generate the electricity near the mine and generate it there? I am sure transmission cost will not be as high as transmission loss
neel
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by neel »

Rishirishi wrote:A question for the gurus here.

Why are they transporting coal from long distances? Why not just generate the electricity near the mine and generate it there? I am sure transmission cost will not be as high as transmission loss
It is a question of time scales: bringing coal from long distances to operate an existing plant is cheaper in the short run than taking the time and resources to construct a plant closer to the fuel source. Plus, once a plant is constructed near the fuel, it still needs high-voltage lines to be constructed to connect to the grid, which require their own rights-of-way to be acquired. Between capital expenditure, construction time, and land acquisition headaches, it is usually cheaper to just transport fuel to sites where all three impediments have already been overcome.
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by putnanja »

Power Ministry invites bids for ₹12,500 cr of transmission lines
NEW DELHI, JUNE 26:
The Ministry of Power has invited bids for nine new transmission projects with an aggregate cost of ₹12,500 crore, as it seeks to fast-track the capacity building of inter-State transmission lines. The projects will be developed through the tariff-based competitive bidding process, which will invite participation from all bidders, including the private sector.

The nine projects will benefit States such as Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and others by setting up high capacity 765kV lines carrying up to 2,100 MW each from the construction of new 765/400 kV substations.
...
...
“These projects were stuck in the approval process in the Government over the past several months,” the Power Ministry said. “The approval to go ahead with the implementation was granted immediately.”
...

The Power Ministry envisages the development of 28,000 MW of inter-regional transmission capacity in the country over the next three years, which would enhance the total capacity to more than 66,000 MW by 2017.
...
...
dinakar
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by dinakar »

A nice infographic about the evolution of wind power.
http://www.breezesystem.com/resources/e ... ind-power/
Theo_Fidel

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Theo_Fidel »

Rishirishi wrote:Why are they transporting coal from long distances?
Many new plants use imported coal for a large chunk of their production. This option won't be there for pit head plants.
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Rishirishi »

neel wrote:
Rishirishi wrote:A question for the gurus here.

Why are they transporting coal from long distances? Why not just generate the electricity near the mine and generate it there? I am sure transmission cost will not be as high as transmission loss
It is a question of time scales: bringing coal from long distances to operate an existing plant is cheaper in the short run than taking the time and resources to construct a plant closer to the fuel source. Plus, once a plant is constructed near the fuel, it still needs high-voltage lines to be constructed to connect to the grid, which require their own rights-of-way to be acquired. Between capital expenditure, construction time, and land acquisition headaches, it is usually cheaper to just transport fuel to sites where all three impediments have already been overcome.
Why on earth did they build the power plants away from the pits in the first place ??. Hopefully all new power plants can be built near the pits.
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by krishnan »

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/sho ... p?t=508533
I guess the power stations need to be next to water - burn the coal, heat water into steam, steam turns the turbines.
High power lines lose power over long distances. The longer the distance the larger the rate of power loss. Given enough distance and a train is far more efficient.
Mines often play out in fewer years than the design life of a typical coal fired plant. Also, it is helpful to site a plant near an aboundant source of cooling water....saves on big expensive cooling towers.
Often the coal mines are at higher elevation than the power plant...thus the trains climb the grade empty, and coast down the hill with a load...this makes rail delivery very economical.
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Atri »

how many units does a typical middle-class home consumes in india? with ac in summer months..
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Rishirishi »

Atri wrote:how many units does a typical middle-class home consumes in india? with ac in summer months..
Depends how you classify middle class.

a singe AC would typically use 1,5 units per hour.
TV, electricity, refrigirator can be run fror beween 1 and 1,5 units per hour.

My estimate would be for 2 AC. 2 AC run in the night and a single run 24hours. gives 34 units per day.

The rest would probably be arround 16 units per day. total of 50 units per day or 1500 units per month.

I would call this comfortable living.
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by krishnan »

less than 900 units with no A/C, thats what we use, and we run water compress a lot
Theo_Fidel

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Theo_Fidel »

Just over 1300 units PM @ my dads house. But he has 5 people living with him.

BTW for reference, without my Electric car 980 units average PM in USA. All A/C & Electric range & 2 electric space heaters.

This was one of my recent odd discoveries, that modernized homes in India are consuming more electricity than USA.
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Prem »

Billion-Ton Coal Market Looms as India Increases Sea Cargoes
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-0 ... rgoes.html
Coal may become the third commodity to surpass annual shipments by sea of 1 billion metric tons, joining crude oil and iron ore, as India raises imports of the solid fuel to feed new power plants. Seaborne coal trade will expand 4 percent to 956 million tons this year as Indian purchases gain 12 percent and imports into China climb 8 percent, according to data from Clarkson Research Services Ltd., a unit of the world’s largest shipbroker. “Before, the iron-ore market was driving shipping markets,” said Ole Henry Senne, chief commercial officer of Singapore-based SIVA Bulk Ltd., whose vessels transport Indonesian coal to India. “Now it’s India and China with their coal needs. If you took away the coal from India and the coal imported to China, there probably wouldn’t be a market.” Indian imports of coal burned for power will have this year’s second-strongest growth among all the 3.7 billion tons of global dry-bulk commodities shipped by sea, according to Clarkson. The shipbroker projects a 17 percent increase to 104.2 million tons as Indian buying of coal used to make steel falls 3.4 percent. The fastest-growing trade is U.S. iron-ore imports, predicted to jump 33 percent to 1.6 million tons. Crude shipments by sea topped 2 billion tons in 2010, and iron-ore transportation surpassed a billion tons for the first time that year, Clarkson data show. Seaborne trade in coal exceeded 1 billion tons last year, India relies on coal to meet 54 percent of its energy needs, according to Nigel Bell, who books vessels to carry the fuel to the country as managing director of Petersfield, England-based shipbroker Bell Shipping. Total Indian demand will top 645 million tons in the year through June, Bell said, citing research prepared for his company by London-based Drewry Shipping Consultants Ltd. The South Asian nation planned as of January 2010 to have 52 coal-fired power stations, of which 42 were to rely solely on imported fuel, Bell said. Coal-carrying vessels made 2,184 port calls in India in 2010, according to Drewry. Paradip on the eastern coast accounted for the most, followed by Vizag and Haldia.
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Prem »

India's Building a Huge Floating Solar Farm (This Is Just the Start)
http://gizmodo.com/indias-building-a-hu ... 1599351785
Solar power is quickly coming into its own, growing some 35 percent worldwide last year to a total installed capacity of 136,697 MW. It's going to get a nice boost from India, which hopes to float a similar 50MW plant—on a 1.27 million square meter floating platform—by the end of this year. It's not like either nation has a baking hot wasteland in which to install these plants like the US does (I'm looking at you, Arizona). India, which has already begun installing 10MW solar plants atop the country's numerous canals, has begun looking to its waters instead. There are large stretches of water bodies in Kerala which NHPC [a local energy company] wants to harness for solar power. "This floating solar power technology was developed by the Renewable Energy College and has been implemented in the city. The first plant — a pilot project — is scheduled to be commissioned in October this year. NHPC had contacted us for offering technical know-how and installation assistance for their proposed 50-mw plant," said SP Gon Choudhury, chairman of the Renewable Energy College. "Each station would require around 3,000 square feet of space to generate 20 kilo watt of power. There are many water bodies that could be used for this," he continued.Currently, land earmarked for solar development in India is rapidly increasing in value with prices jumping around 10 to 20 percent per parcel. By building out this capacity over water, government and energy company developers can save both cash and valuable real estate. And there's reportedly very little environmental impact as well. "The ecology of the water body is not likely to be affected much and it will also reduce evaporation, thus helping preserve water levels during extreme summer. Solar panels installed on land, face reduction of yield as the ground heats up. When such panels are installed on a floating platform, the heating problem is solved to a great extent," said Choudhury. This isn't an ideal solution, it's not as though we can go and cover the world's oceans with photovoltaic cells, but it's certainly a solid intermediary step until we get those space-based solar farms up and running.
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Picklu »

Theo_Fidel wrote:Just over 1300 units PM @ my dads house. But he has 5 people living with him.

BTW for reference, without my Electric car 980 units average PM in USA. All A/C & Electric range & 2 electric space heaters.

This was one of my recent odd discoveries, that modernized homes in India are consuming more electricity than USA.
In my 3 BHK apartment, 614 unit ~ Rs 4k PM.

Is the amount normal? Asking because every other apartment gets a way lower bill.
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by muraliravi »

http://www.business-standard.com/articl ... 086_1.html

Anti-dumping duty on solar gear unlikely to reduce imports

In a setback to the government's bid to encourage domestic solar cell industry, solar power project developers have told the government that they would continue to import solar cells from different countries and would not source domestically, if an anti-dumping duty on solar gears is imposed.

In May, the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping had recommended imposing high anti-dumping duty on solar imports coming from China, the US, Malaysia and Taiwan. To circumvent the anti-dumping duty, manufactures say they will now import from countries that don't attract the duty, such as Japan and South Korea, which manufacture "better quality solar cells" than Indian manufacturers.

"The power producers have conveyed that they have an option of buying solar cells from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Canada, Germany, Italy and France, which cumulatively manufacture around 6,000-8,000 Mw a year. Indian manufacturers don't have the capacity to meet the demand of the growing solar power production industry," said a senior official with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

According to the recent MNRE data, out of the installed manufacturing capacity of solar cells of 1,260 Mw, only 240 Mw is operational, while India's annual demand is 3,000 Mw. This is slated to go up with about 4,000 Mw of solar power projects tendered recently across the country. According to the data shared by the solar power producers, the cost of Chinese solar cells is 58-61 cents per watt, which is set to go up to $1.20 per watt, once the anti-dumping duty is imposed. Indigenously-manufactured cells cost 44-48 cents per watt. Power producers say the cost of cells coming from Singapore, the US, Canada, Japan and European Union countries would cost between 75 and 90 cents.

"Even though they (imported solar cells) cost more, their quality is better. The whole issue being racked up by domestic manufacturers stands wasted then because the power producers would prefer imports as the domestic industry cannot meet their growing demand," said a senior executive of solar power production company.

The domestic manufacturers are, however, of the view that the cost of solar power would remain at Rs 7.5 a unit by 2020 if indigenous solar cells are used. The current cost of solar power in the country is the Rs 6.5-8 a unit.

Earlier, MNRE had raised concerns that the cost of solar power would double if high anti-dumping duty on imports of solar cells was imposed. Piyush Goyal, minister for coal, power and renewable energy, also on several occasions had issued statements against the imposition of dumping duty on imported solar cells. He also urged the finance ministry to review the decision on dumping as it would "escalate the cost of solar power".

He also said that India needs to promote its own manufacturing capabilities as domestic equipment capacity is inadequate to meet the demands of the country's ambitious solar power mission.

This is one sector where the govt should go ballistic and impose duties on imports from any country. Do whatever it takes to force these guys to source locally. Yes quality will be low for the time being, but it will improve. Its not a monopoly. Domestic solar cell manufacturers will try to out do one another in due course.
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by subhamoy.das »

1500 units pm is the peak demand for me. But with better a/cs, this should come down. I have a 4 member family with 3 a/c working most of the time and some time 4.
muraliravi
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by muraliravi »

subhamoy.das wrote:1500 units pm is the peak demand for me. But with better a/cs, this should come down. I have a 4 member family with 3 a/c working most of the time and some time 4.
Have you tried Installing solar panels on your rooftop if you a individual home or on the top on of your apartment and link it to your supply.
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by jamwal »

Sorry if it has been posted before.

World’s First Thorium Reactor Designed
15 February, 2014
http://www.itheo.org/articles/world’s-f ... r-designed
India’s forward-thinking attitude has established the country as the leader in thorium reactor development. But can India put its long-term plan into reality? Now, their AHWR design is finished, taking them one big step forward.

The reactor is equipped with passive shutdown systems, core heat removal through natural circulation, emergency core coolant system (ECCS) and gravity-driven water pool (GDWP), a large tank of borated water on top of the primary containment of vessel. It can operate for 120 days without operator - that’s 4 months without anyone controlling it. And did we mention the design life: this reactor will last some 100 years.

The plan is to have a 300MW prototype in operation by 2016 and then expand thereafter. By 2050, thorium should meet 30% of India’s electricity demand.

The completion of the AHWR design is an important step towards reducing the import of fossil fuels and combat climate change.

To learn more about India’s Thorium Energy Program, have a look at their three presentations from ThEC13 in Geneva below, which contain a wealth of information (click on the title to see the slides as you watch the video):
subhamoy.das
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by subhamoy.das »

muraliravi wrote:
subhamoy.das wrote:1500 units pm is the peak demand for me. But with better a/cs, this should come down. I have a 4 member family with 3 a/c working most of the time and some time 4.
Have you tried Installing solar panels on your rooftop if you a individual home or on the top on of your apartment and link it to your supply.
I will keep this suggestion for my next home move which is round the corner.
muraliravi
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by muraliravi »

subhamoy.das wrote:
I will keep this suggestion for my next home move which is round the corner.
If you do so, just make sure you get tamper-proof ones (or make it tamper proof) especially if it is an apartment. Let me know if are going to install it yourself. It can be fun and you will learn a lot.
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Prem »

Massive Interest-Free Loan Program Announced For Solar Users In India
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/0 ... wer-loans/
On Thursday, major Indian solar manufacturer and developer Tata Power Solar announced plans for a new nationwide initiative that will help prospective residential solar users acquire interest-free loans for up to $4,000 for their products. Tata Power Solar, India’s largest integrated solar company, is partnering with Bajaj Finance, to offer a new monthly installment payment plan to solar customers in an effort to make solar a more attractive and affordable option as well as a possibility for the approximately 400 million Indians without reliable power in the country. Tata Power Solar’s announcement is the latest of several indications that solar will play a powerful role in India’s energy future. Last week a number of tax incentives for the solar industry were announced as part of the new government’s first national budget. Deutsche Bank analyst Vishal Shah called the budget announcement positive for the Indian market, saying “the country has installed around 2.6GW of solar capacity as of May 2014, around two GW of which was installed in the last two years. We expect new installations to be around 1.5GW in 2014 and around 2GW in 2015.”The new government has been in office for less than two months,” wrote Bridge. “Given this, one cannot expect too much. Nevertheless, we believe that the budget is a good platform to showcase the government’s vision. In that, we are disappointed.”
Theo_Fidel

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Theo_Fidel »

^^^^^^
The problem with Solar in India is not interest on loans, its lack of a Net Metering program that allows one to connect to the grid.

Without net metering even I can not recommend anyone in India install solar panels just yet. Waste time it will be young grass-hoppa....
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by RoyG »

Spoke to a geologist in India yesterday. Sad state of affairs with thorium reserves. I've been told that it has been cut almost in half.
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by merlin »

RoyG wrote:Spoke to a geologist in India yesterday. Sad state of affairs with thorium reserves. I've been told that it has been cut almost in half.
By exporting the stuff away?
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Yagnasri »

May be MQ done that. She had 10 years.
RoyG
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by RoyG »

merlin wrote:
RoyG wrote:Spoke to a geologist in India yesterday. Sad state of affairs with thorium reserves. I've been told that it has been cut almost in half.
By exporting the stuff away?
Illegal mining and rare earths exports to Japan. We didn't bother separating the rare earths from the thorium before export. He said in a span of 5 years a very good junk is gone. He was very sad about it and it's a big blow considering it's the key to energy independence. The entire country was truly up for sale during UPA rule.
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Mort Walker »

Theo_Fidel wrote:Just over 1300 units PM @ my dads house. But he has 5 people living with him.

BTW for reference, without my Electric car 980 units average PM in USA. All A/C & Electric range & 2 electric space heaters.

This was one of my recent odd discoveries, that modernized homes in India are consuming more electricity than USA.
It depends on the size of the house and how many or how big AC units you have. In hot climates in the US, a family of 5 in a large house (>3000 sq.ft.) will use nearly 3000 units (KW-hrs) in a month.
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by govardhanks »

RoyG wrote: Illegal mining and rare earths exports to Japan. We didn't bother separating the rare earths from the thorium before export. He said in a span of 5 years a very good junk is gone. He was very sad about it and it's a big blow considering it's the key to energy independence. The entire country was truly up for sale during UPA rule.
Some brief links which give a snapshot of the issue,
http://thoriumforum.com/reserve-estimat ... ound-world
http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2012/ ... value.html
http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/standp ... am-1982959

My blood is boiling!! India's thorium based energy reserves, which could power us for nearly 700 years has been sold! We should rise this issue in all social media sites so that it will come to notice of everyone!
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Rien »

muraliravi wrote:http://www.business-standard.com/articl ... 086_1.html

Anti-dumping duty on solar gear unlikely to reduce imports

This is one sector where the govt should go ballistic and impose duties on imports from any country. Do whatever it takes to force these guys to source locally. Yes quality will be low for the time being, but it will improve. Its not a monopoly. Domestic solar cell manufacturers will try to out do one another in due course.
Definitely. It's absolutely vital with semiconductor fabs coming into Bharat, that high grade 99.99999% purity silicon be produced locally. US,China, and even Malaysia. India cell manufacturers are already cheaper than foreign producers.
Make the cost advantage 50% and even Indian companies will start buying them.
Paul
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Paul »

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/busi ... 153623.cms
It became touch and go over the weekend. Their insistence on the break- up fee did not go down well with the Gaurs," said an official involved in the discussion. Also, say some people involved in the deal, the Adanis seemed to indicate that they wielded considerable influence in the new dispensation, which is said not to have gone down well with the Gaurs.

An Adani spokesperson was not available for comment.
Theo_Fidel

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Theo_Fidel »

Rien wrote:that high grade 99.99999% purity silicon be produced locally.
Solar grade silicon only has to be 5N pure. 7N is not really necessary and probably overkill. Electronics IIRC has always been 9N pure.

Poly silicon manufacture, esp the new ultra cheap, $10/kg Fluidized bed reactors are very technically intensive. Even the Chinese don’t have this low cost technology and must buy their Poly-Silicon from USA, Germany, Norway, etc. Wafer manufacture is possible in India but typically the crystal and wire cutting operation are done in one step and this too can be very technically intensive and high tech. Silicon is expensive and waste is very expensive, etc. There was some hope for metallurgical silicon, which went from molten silica to crystal in one step, but it is now clear that the process is more expensive inherently.

That said, India should focus on getting a poly-silicon facility going. Preferably fluidized bed, maybe get Wacker /Cheme or REC or GCL/POLY, etc. to invest in India. One complication is most of these companies already have massive expansion plans going on else where.
Theo_Fidel

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Theo_Fidel »

The conundrum in our coal production....

ADANI is investing more in Australia. Look for coal imports to increase dramatically.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/eco ... 260623.ece
The coal sector has been hotting up lately with a series of new developments that are likely to be positive in the long-term for the power sector. Adani Enterprises has received an environmental nod from the Australian Government to develop a coal mine in the Queensland region. The mine is estimated to produce 60 million tonnes (MT) of coal annually and have a lifetime of around 90 years. The coal will primarily be exported to India through the port, which will be linked to the mine through a private rail linkage developed by Adani.

The problems in coal supply go deep. Coal production in the country has been subdued in the last few years, hovering in the region of 560 million tonnes (MT) in 2013-14, lagging demand which is in the range of 720 MT. Using imported coal is unviable for power plants that are far from the port, besides being more expensive. The cost of coal imports has risen further due to the increase clean energy cess on imported coal - from ₹50 to ₹100 per tonne in the recent Budget.

On the other hand, local coal supply is limited by non-availability of rail linkages. At least one point of linkage was addressed in the Railway Budget with a proposal to speed up the construction of critical coal connectivity lines. This could increase output from Mahanadi Coalfields in Odisha by an additional 11.2 mt per annum. If the transport connectivity issue, which is long pending, is addressed, then power companies may enjoy low priced inputs. But availability of overseas supplies will at the least ensure that power plants don’t idle due to lack of fuel.

Adani group gains

The approval is good news for Adani on multiple fronts. For one, the proposed coal mine, with a development price estimate of over $10 billion, will be one of the largest mines globally. And given the company’s presence in shipping, port development and power, the go-ahead for the new coal field development bodes well for its ‘pit to plug’ strategy.

However, while coal is in short-supply in India, power producers may not be willing to pay a high price, since their ability to pass on the higher price to distribution companies is limited. Due to the strict environmental norms and development cost, Adani’s cost of production is likely to be high and hence profitability needs to be watched closely. For instance, GVK, which operates a mine close to the Adani mine in Australia, has been impacted by the fall in coal prices. An improvement in global coal prices will help Adani’s prospects.

More power

The arrival of this coal, possibly within the next three years, will brighten the prospects of coal-based power producers such as Adani Power and Tata Power, who are reeling under the impact of a coal shortage. These power producers have one more reason to cheer today – the Coal Ministry is asking Coal India to drastically reduce its e-auction volume to 25 MT this year, down from 58 MT last year. Unlike contracted coal prices, auctioned coal prices tend to be higher, based on demand and hence Coal India has been reluctant to cut its e-auction volume.
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by hanumadu »

Pretty much who is who in India's power sector has a coal mine in Oz, so they might as well use them and import it. And oz coal burns cleaner than Indian coal apart from reducing the amount of mining that happens in India. All in all a good strategy as long as the cost of power generation is comparable to Indian coal.
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Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Rishirishi »

How is it possible to have so much coal, and still having to import??? dosent imported coal need rail lines??
Theo_Fidel

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Theo_Fidel »

Rishi,

The answer is right there in the article. Note that it says that developing a 60 million ton coal mine will cost $10 Billion. IMHO this is a low number, the actual costs are running in $20 Billion type range. So to raise output by 240 million ton per annum with 4 similar mines we will need an investment ~ $100 Billion in the coal mining sector. If we go for more smaller mines the cost will increase due to inefficiencies.

Does anyone think CIL is capable of doing this by itself? I don’t think so. Even the dozens of private mine developers are sitting on their acreage and twiddling thumbs hoping for a speculative pay day.

I'm not even going to get into the real environmental/tribal opposition mess...
Theo_Fidel

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Theo_Fidel »

Meanwhile our coal conundrum continues.... ...and continues...

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-0 ... wer-plants
Blackouts in India widened as inadequate coal supplies forced plants to shut down, after increased industrial activity and a monsoon deficit boosted electricity demand from factories and households.

The national peak shortage yesterday expanded to more than 6 percent from the 3.9 percent average in July, according to data from the Power Ministry and Power System Operation Corp., a unit of Power Grid Corp. of India. Stocks at power stations run on local coal plunged. Equipment breakdowns or maintenance also caused other plants to be under shutdown, including ones operated by Tata Power Co. (TPWR) and Adani Power Ltd.
Power plants had 8.89 million metric tons of coal as of Aug. 27, down almost 65 percent from a year ago. That stock is sufficient for six days, compared with the 21-day norm the Central Electricity Authority advises. Fifty-two power plants had less than seven days of stock, while 26 were running on less than four days supply.
... the SC demands that the power companies execute their PPA's, even though they are running losses. Keep in mind they own the foreign coal companies which have conveniently raised coal prices for their own Indian power plants!! And the regulator, using the word loosely here, has agreed with their demand to raise prices!

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opi ... 357255.ece
The withdrawal of the compensatory tariff — even before the final order of APTEL — is going to further hurt the already strained finances of the two companies while raising questions about the sustainability of their continued operations. For example, Tata Power’s Mundra facility alone made losses of ₹1,492 crore in 2013-14. The company has further written off over ₹2,650 crore in the last two years on expenses incurred in running the plant.
...and inevitably....

http://articles.economictimes.indiatime ... -shortages

Several states face power shortage as Adanis, Tatas shut some units at Mundra
Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and some other states may face power shortages as about 7,500 mw of generation is lost because of coal shortages, technical snag and payment defaults by a state.

Together, Tata Power and Adani Power cut about 4,500 mw of generation for various reasons. The development comes also after the Supreme Court stayed a tribunal's interim order that had allowed the nation's top two private power-sector producers to claim compensation from these states for higher coal prices.
pankajs
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Re: India's Power Sector

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http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/a ... 367117.ece

Krishnapatnam thermal unit to go on stream from Sept. 10
The first unit of the (2X800 MW) Damodaram Sanjeevaiah Thermal Power Station at Krishnapatnam is all set to go for commercial operations from September 10.

The 800 MW unit has been synchronised to the Power Grid on April 1 after the AP Genco authorities lighted it up. The trial run conducted by the AP Genco a couple of days ago has proved highly successful. “The 800 MW plant operated to its full plant load factor generated 809 MW,” a senior official said.

...
The power plant, being constructed on a 1,170-acre site, will be served by a major chunk (71.4 per cent) of coal from Mahanadi Coalfields Limited while the rest of the fuel would be sourced through imported coal. Once completed, the project is expected to generate 11,920 million units power a year, close to 38 million units a day, giving the much-needed relief to the State power utilities which are facing shortage post bifurcation.

The project, according to officials, is land mark achievement for the State-owned power utility as it will be the first 800 MW super critical unit in the State as also the first among the public sector utilities.
pankajs
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Re: India's Power Sector

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http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column ... ry-2014213

An Indian PSU success story
The Indian PSU consortium International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd’s (ICVL) agreement with Rio Tinto to acquire the latter’s coal assets in Mozambique for $50 million is a significant development. ICVL claims that production from the mines acquired will triple in three years to 13 million tonnes after a $300 million investment. 60% of this increased output would be shipped to India in a cost effective manner using a ‘secret recipe.

...
ICVL’s assets are in Mozambique’s Moatize basin and contain both prime coking c and thermal coal. Moatize is deemed the most prolific coal basin globally after Australia’s Bowen Basin.

Prima facie this is a good acquisition. ICVL gets 65% in the Benga mine – Tata Steel owns the remaining 35%. Already operational, this mine produced 5 million tonnes of coal in 2013. It also gets the greenfield Zambeze and East Tete mines. Cyclically it is a good time to buy coal assets given that benchmark Australian thermal coal prices touched $136.30/tonne and coking coal prices peaked at $330/tonne in 2011. Corresponding prices today are $68 and $114 respectively. Mozambique’s geographical proximity to India and the cheap to mine Moatize coal, together with India’s voracious appetite that necessitated imports of 152 million tonnes of coal in 2013 mean that the coal produced from these mines will have a ready market across the Indian ocean.

However, what makes the price look especially attractive is the valuation of these assets when previous owner Rio Tinto, the world’s second largest mining company bought them. In June 2011 Rio Tinto acquired complete control of Riversdale Mining, a much sought after asset given the reserve estimates for its mines - 2.6 billion tonnes in total and 70% of those being coking coal reserves. These mines were projected to supply 10% of the global coking coal market over time and Rio valued Riversdale at $3.8 billion. In contrast, ICVL’s price of $50 million looks like a real steal.

The question that follows is intriguing - what did the executives at Rio miss when they valued Riversdale at almost $4 billion, and what did their ICVL counterparts sitting in leafy central Delhi scent when they bought the same assets for a fraction of that price three years later?

....
ICVL’s acquisition is important in more ways than one. Having historically lost out to Chinese state owned groups in securing mineral resources abroad, this marks a credible win for India’s state owned firms. The enormous discount to the 2011 Riversdale acquisition also demonstrates tactical buying – a trait sorely missing from India’s energy security strategy. Finally, it demonstrates ambition. ICVL, essentially an Indian government company is attempting to succeed where one of the world’s biggest mining conglomerates has failed.

If ICVL is pragmatic in its strategy i.e. finds the right partner and produces in line with conservative estimates of infrastructure capabilities going forward, they could have bought a gem. But if they adopt the big mining company mentality - this will likely end in tears.
Suraj
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Re: India's Power Sector

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Coal shortage a creature of rising electricity output
Is there a coal crunch in the country since the beginning of this month? Yes. But only because the country produced an expected 22% more energy from the coal-based thermal power plants this August as compared to the same month previous year. This made the requirement for daily stock of coal at the thermal power plants shoot up by almost a quarter in August on a year to year basis.

So, even when Coal India Limited was producing and supplying 5% more coal for August than planned, the CEA data suggested that there was a huge shortage of coal and 56 plants were facing a critical crunch with coal stocks less than seven days worth.

With the Supreme Court case on coal blocks looming large, the CEA data on coal stocks - that it has released for years now on daily, weekly and monthly basis - has suddenly picked up a political tenor. But look behind the political spin on the numbers and it' s easy to see, the purported shortage of coal is a result of every other factor but slow production of coal.

Last year in August the coal-based power plants produced 50,842 Gigawatt hour of energy. This year that went up to 62,310 gigawatt. This was partly to do with 5% better plant load factor - the efficiency at which the power plants work - and partly to do with 6,000 MW of additional power capacity operating in August this year compared to last year.

But what went up alongside - quite naturally - was the daily stock requirements of these thermal power plants as they kept pumping out more power than earlier planned. So take the northern region where the daily requirement of stocks was 352,700 tonnes per day last year August, it had been upped to 447,000 tonnes per day in August this year - an increase of 28%. For the nation-wide 100 odd power plants the CEA keeps tabs on, the benchmark for daily requirement of coal was increased from 1.27 million tonnes to 1.54 million tonnes. Now, even when the CIL met 96 % of its August 2014 target and improved by more than 55 over previous year production figures it was bound to fall below the requirement.
pankajs
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Re: India's Power Sector

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http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 766627.cms

Power shortage casts shadow over Narendra Modi's economic recovery
NEW DELHI: Narendra Modi took decisive action as chief minister of Gujarat state to secure round-the-clock supplies of electricity. Now, as prime minister of India, he is under attack for failing to avert a national power crisis.

More than half of India's thermal power stations have less than a week's supply of fuel - the lowest levels since mid-2012 when hundreds of millions of people were cut off in one of the world's worst blackouts.

Coal stocks at thermal stations have hit critical levels as payment disputes escalate, unleashing power cuts that could choke off an economic recovery before it takes hold and hurt Modi's prospects at forthcoming state elections.

Financial metropolis Mumbai was plunged into darkness for most of Tuesday, amid a row between private generators and regional distributors that is symptomatic of an industry mired in debt and arrears of at least $100 billion.

It's a headache for Modi that experts say will only get worse. His government is resisting political pressure for a bailout, just two years after a rescue by the last government that it denounces as a "farce".

"The moment I start with financial assistance for one state, all the states will be asking me," Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters on Wednesday as he marked a rocky first 100 days in the job.

"States have to improve their own systems. I can't fund their coal purchases," said Goyal, who is mediating in payment disputes in an attempt to mitigate the power crisis.

Prithviraj Chavan, chief minister of Maharashtra, has from state capital Mumbai pointed the finger of blame at Modi, who won election by a landslide in May with promises of economic reforms, new jobs and dynamic growth.

"The centre is responsible," said Chavan, a leader of the opposition Congress party. He added that he urged Modi two weeks ago to call crisis talks on the power industry, but says New Delhi "has not taken serious note".

Maharashtra is one of several states that are at odds with New Delhi on power and coal supplies, and will soon hold elections. Modi's nationalist party hopes to boost its strength in the upper house of parliament, where it lacks a majority.

ACHILLES' HEEL

Since Modi took power, coal stocks at thermal power stations that generate three-fifths of India's power have nearly halved to just six days' cover. Of 100 plants, 56 are now 'critical' with less than a week's supply.

The shortages have arisen not because India lacks coal - it has reserves of 61 billion tonnes. Nor does India consume much power: per capita use is one-seventeenth of the U.S. level, and 400 million Indians have no electricity at all.

What India does have is a mismatch between the regulated price at which power is sold and the cost of producing it, which is typically 20-30 percent higher.

As a result, the power sector is caught in a debt trap, leaving generators unable to scrape together the cash to buy fuel from Coal India, a state behemoth that successive governments have shied away from restructuring.

"We have a bizarre situation where there is demand for power from distributors without the ability to purchase. Generating capacity is stuck without a contract or the fuel," said Debasish Mishra, a senior director and energy expert at Deloitte.

The situation "might precipitate quite fast into a crisis," said Mishra, urging the opening up of coal production to competition and amending power tariffs to properly take into account the cost of fuel.

MODI MODEL

Modi tackled a similar power crisis in 2005 as premier of Gujarat - a western state with a population the size of Britain - with measures that experts say would work in India today.

His state government assumed existing power company debts, freed the firms of populist pressures that kept power tariffs artificially low and clamped down on rampant electricity theft.

As a result, Gujarat is now a surplus power producer.

Doing the same at a national level would, however, be tough as responsibility for power is shared between the 'centre' and India's 29 federal states. The problem is a lot bigger too.

The industry has racked up bank debts of 5 trillion rupees ($84 billion), according to central bank figures. Debts owed by distributors totalled $18 billion in 2012, the year of the last rescue. Coal India's receivables are $1.4 billion.

Worse, the World Bank estimates that annual losses in the Indian power sector could rise to $27 billion by 2017 without action to tackle wasteful subsidies, power theft and political meddling.
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