India's Power Sector

Sanjay · Post by **Sanjay** » 05 Apr 2015 05:12

Can I ask something ? What is the power shortfall in India now ? I sensed that there has been an increase in power generation. Has this had an impact on peak demand shortage and power outages ?

Melwyn · Post by **Melwyn** » 13 Apr 2015 08:20

Great move by Modi gov.
Decentralisation of power will force the states to proactively develop power resources.

States to get lion’s share in new power equation

NEW DELHI: A new power equation appears to be emerging between the Centre and states. The power ministry is willing to allow states, which approach central generation utilities for projects in their territory, to retain 85 per cent of electricity from such units.

The new approach is expected to galvanize state governments into walking the extra mile for the projects. Higher share of power is expected to make state governments cooperate and expedite land acquisition, environmental and forest clearances, water allocation, relief and rehabilitation of displaced persons as well as support in maintaining law and order situation at the project site.

All these issues have emerged as roadblocks for big projects.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 15 Apr 2015 20:49

PIB India @PIB_India · 25m 25 minutes ago >>

* 22,566 MW capacity added during current year against a target of 17,830 MW. Highest ever achievement in a single year. #1TrillionUnits
* Power generation during current year is 1048 BU .Growth of 8.4% over the previous year. Highest growth in last two decades. #1TrillionUnits
* Annual electricity generation crosses #1TrillionUnits. First time in our history .

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 15 Apr 2015 21:19

So the target has exceeded by almost 30%. We do have two more months (right?) for the 1st anniversary of this Govt. so may be we can hope for additional capacity coming online in those two month.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 15 Apr 2015 23:08

That's a spectacular piece of news. All the additional infrastructural capacity will give the economy much greater room to grow.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 16 Apr 2015 04:21

pankajs wrote:PIB India @PIB_India · 25m 25 minutes ago >
* 22,566 MW capacity added during current year against a target of 17,830 MW. Highest ever achievement in a single year. #1TrillionUnits*

435 MW a week. Very close to Chinese doing 500MW a week at their peek and whole world was going gagaga eek eek on that. This is real Jai Ho on our own .

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 29 Apr 2015 02:01

Update on the UMPPs:
Anil Ambani’s Reliance Power terminates Rs 36,000 cr, 3,960 MW Tilaiya UMPP

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Power today said it has terminated the contract for Rs 36,000 crore Tilaiya ultra mega power project (UMPP) in Jharkhand over inordinate delays in land acquisition.

The firm had, in August 2009, won rights to set up a 3,960 MW power plant at Hazaribagh in Jharkhand after bidding a levelised tariff of Rs 1.77 per unit but couldn’t start work on the project as the state government had not provided the required land even after more than five years.

Jharkhand Integrated Power Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Power, “has terminated the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) of its 3,960 MW Tilaiya Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) in district Hazaribagh, Jharkhand,” the company said in a statement.

JIPL, a special purpose vehicle created for implementing the project, had signed PPA with 18 power off-takers in 10 states for 25 years. The project was based on captive coal blocks for which coal was to be sourced from Kerendari BC coal mine block.

The total land requirement for the project was over 17,000 acres.

According to the statement, there has been a delay of over 5 years in land acquisition by the state government for the power plant, captive coal blocks and related infrastructure.

The PPA required procurers to handover land and other clearances by February 2010.

“However, the required land is yet to be made available. Even the forest land in the power station area, for which the Stage-II Forest Clearance was accorded by central government way back in November 2010, has not been handed over to JIPL till now.

“As regards the coal block, the land acquisition process is yet to get initiated, for which the application was submitted way back in February 2009,” the statement said.

The company said in spite of more than 25 review meetings and extensive and continuous follow-ups with the state government, the required land is yet to be made available.

“Even after relentlessly pursuing the project development for nearly five and half years, due to procurers’ failure to provide land for the project, execution time-frame continues to remain uncertain,” it said, adding that the project cannot be completed before 2023-24, going by the present estimate of land handover process.

The wiki article for UMPPs is not quite up to date. Both Mundra and Sasan UMPPs are fully operational. With the termination of the Tilaiya project PPA, no UMPP is actively under implementation today. Despite this, we're adding installed capacity equal to 5 UMPPs each year.

Vamsee · Post by **Vamsee** » 29 Apr 2015 02:17

Suraj garu,

Heard in the morning on CNBC that they may be keeping the powder dry to bid for for future "plug-and-play" UMPPs that AJ has announced in his budget.
I wouldn't blame them for giving up on this. 5+ years wait for land in insane.
This is where LAB becomes crucial. Now it looks like along with LAB, opposition parties do not wan't to cooperate even on GST.

Regards,
Vamsee

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 29 Apr 2015 02:27

Yes that's correct. Thank you for mentioning it. It was announced in the budget 2 months ago, and the first project location has already been identified:
Plug-and-play with first UMPP in Odisha

Odisha may host the country’s first ultra mega power project (UMPP) proposed for auctioning under the government’s showcase plug-and-play model.

Subsequently, these projects may also be announced in poll bound state of Bihar, prime minister Narendra Modi’s home state Gujarat and Jharkhand, two persons privy to the development told Financial Chronicle.

Announcing budget 2015-16, finance minister Arun Jaitley had said the Centre proposes to set up five new UMPPs in plug-and-play mode to unlock investments to the extent of Rs 1 lakh crore. These projects will be different from existing UMPPs as all clearances and linkages will be in place before they are put up for auction.

Sources said, Power Finance Corporation (PFC), the nodal agency for UMPPs, has already identified two sites in Odisha for the proposed 4000 mw projects. These are Bijoypatna in Chandbali tehsil of Bhadrak district and Narlas and Kasinga sub division of Kalahandi district.

In addition, two more mega projects are being readied for bidding in the state of Bihar and Jharkhand. While one of the two sites at Rajouli (Nawada district) and Rajouri (Banka district) are being examined for a possible UMPP in Bihar, a site at Deoghar in Jharkhand has already been selected for second UMPP in the state.

In Gujarat, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has finalised and recommended the site at Lodhva village in Junagarh district for the proposed 4000 mw power plant to be based on imported coal.

Budget 2015-16 has decided to give a new lease of life to UMPPs as the scheme has remained suspended ever since the last such project was awarded in early 2009. Subsequently, bidding for two other UMPPs – at Bedabahal in Odisha and Cheyyur in Tamil Nadu – was started last year.

But the government has now decided to re-bid these two after all private sector bidders walked out from price bidding citing adverse changes in the standard bidding document (SBD). The government is now re-examining the SBD for UMPPS and wants to initiate bidding for two afresh after making changes.

There's so much piled up work from the last administration that has to be fixed. All kinds of things were proposed and announced, and very little actually saw the light of day.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 29 Apr 2015 03:18

Putting up another plant in Gujarat does not make sense. It is now way over capacity and power surplus. Not all power plants are working at the required capacity in absence of power purchase agreements not being signed for power uptake by customers (other state governments).

Vamsee · Post by **Vamsee** » 04 May 2015 06:53

NTPC to build India’s biggest power plant in joint venture with Jharkhand state utility

State-owned power generator NTPC will build India's biggest power plant with an annual generation capacity of 6,400 megawatt (Mw)in a joint venture with Jharkhand state utility, an example of a big ticket public investment which most economists say is needed to kickstart the investment cycle. The project will be set in two phases of 4,000 Mw, which was announced on Sunday, and 2,400 Mw to be taken up later

Uttam · Post by **Uttam** » 04 May 2015 19:37

Noteworthy:

India Issues 2 GW Solar EPC Services Tender

The Solar Energy Corporation of India has finally issued the first of a very long list of tenders to increase the country’s solar power capacity.

The New Delhi-based government body has issued a 2 GW tender for engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services. The tenders are aimed at the development of large-scale utility solar PV power projects across various states in the country.

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has signed agreements with the governments of several states to set up ultra mega solar power projects. Agreements with 7 state governments representing 9.85 GW solar PV have so far been signed by the SECI. The largest of these agreements is with Rajasthan, where the SECI will oversee development of 2.7 GW worth of solar power capacity in partnership with state government agencies. The smallest of these agreements is for the development of 700 MW capacity in the state of Gujarat.

The SECI has not clarified where these EPC services will be first used, though the agency would ideally likely to commence development of all the projects simultaneously. EPC contractors would be required to develop 250 to 500 MW capacity each.

India plans to add about 97 GW of solar power capacity by 2022, including 20 GW capacity through ultra mega solar power projects with each project having a capacity of as much as 4 GW.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 04 May 2015 21:12

Vamsee wrote:NTPC to build India’s biggest power plant in joint venture with Jharkhand state utility

State-owned power generator NTPC will build India's biggest power plant with an annual generation capacity of 6,400 megawatt (Mw)in a joint venture with Jharkhand state utility, an example of a big ticket public investment which most economists say is needed to kickstart the investment cycle. The project will be set in two phases of 4,000 Mw, which was announced on Sunday, and 2,400 Mw to be taken up later

6400MW is quite a large power plant. Just the 4000MW first phase is the same size as a UMPP, and the total capacity is >1.5x a UMPP. Actually it will become the world's largest thermal power plant when complete, since the current largest coal-fired plant is 5500MW. Add to that the fact that Jaitapur nuclear power plant's 9900MW design capaciy is higher than the current largest nuclear power plant - the 7900MW Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Japan, and that means we're aiming for very big goals on both thermal and nuclear power fronts.

Vamsee · Post by **Vamsee** » 04 May 2015 22:39

^^^
Part of it may be because of our inability to acquire new lands for projects. So we want to optimize already existing lands & build maximum capacity in those lands.
Not a problem as long as transmission losses are minimized. We have high population density anyway to absorb large amounts of power.

Melwyn · Post by **Melwyn** » 11 May 2015 08:40

Curious case of surplus power, but lack of buyers

NEW DELHI: It may be hard to believe in a country where blackouts are still the norm in large parts. Enough power is available in the system but there are no takers for a substantial portion of it.

Power minister Piyush Goyal on April 30 told Parliament that most parts of the country have surplus power. "The sad part is that states are not acquiring or buying power to be able to give their residents uninterrupted power supply," he told the Lok Sabha.

A day before on April 29, he found there was so much surplus power at 3.30 pm that the national grid monitoring station indicated power was available at "zero rupee per unit".

Last Thursday, there were no takers for 100 million units of electricity, equivalent to 1,500 MW of coal-fired and 2,500 MW gas-based capacity, from state-run generation utility NTPC that accounts for nearly a fifth of the installed capacity in the country.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 11 May 2015 10:09

Is this normal or have the russians succeeded in taking us for a ride again??

Kudankulam Nuclear Plant – Technical snag

Tirunelveli (TN) May 10

Power generation in the first unit of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) has been suspended due to a technical snag, officials said today.

However, repair work has already been commenced to rectify the snag, which was detected yesterday and it would be set right in one or two days, they said.

Work on commercial power generation in the 1,000 MW second unit was also continuing, the officials said.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 11 May 2015 10:23

After fukushima, this is the state of India's nuke reactors??

Where is the risk analysis and the mitigation??

The plant has been shutdown due to a fault in the "likely a malfunctioning of a seawater inlet filter" Were there no alternative cooling arrangements, no other seawater inlets that could have fed the cooling system whilst the defective one was being repaired??

The whole shebang has to be shut down??

black lentils onlee.

Kudankulam trips, power cuts may hit TNB

Sivakumar,TNN

May 11, 2015,

Kudankulam trips, power cuts may hit TN

After working continuously since January 18, unit 1 of Kudankulam nuclear power project has tripped due to problems in sea-water flow.
CHENNAI: After working continuously since January 18, unit 1 of Kudankulam nuclear power project has tripped due to problems in sea-water flow. This means a loss of 563MW coming in from the plant. Coupled with this, a private power plant in Tuticorin with a capacity of 600MW has also stopped generation. This puts power generation back by nearly 1,000MW in the state. Saturday's trip did not lead to power cuts because weekend demand is typically lower. But Monday could see some power cuts especially in the morning.
At Kudankulam, sea water is used to cool and condense the steam-water mixture that generates power - and is several steps removed from the nuclear reactor. Officials say they suspect a hardware problem, likely a malfunctioning of a seawater inlet filter, and hope to rectify it quickly. "Due to the flow problem the reactor had to be shut down. Technically it is called a hot shutdown and we are confident of resuming generation by Wednesday," site director R S Sundar told TOI.

durairaaj · Post by **durairaaj** » 11 May 2015 17:14

The keyword is "HOT" shutdown. Not the "shut down" as in windows OS but more as "standby". Hot shutdown is equivalent to idling the engine. I'm glad the sensors worked effectively to "hot" shutdown, when there is not enough water coming in to cool the pipes.
Link to definition of what "HOT" shutdown means.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 28 May 2015 05:23

A full 40,000MW of stalled projects are due to start production soon, which will increase installed capacity from the present 260GW to 300GW:
Power reforms gain ground in states

Crumbling under decades of accumulated losses, outdated technology and waking up to the fact that power supply decides who stays "in power ", several states are reviving their power transmission and distribution infrastructure.

With demand falling way short of supply, it is clear that this is a problem that needs to be fixed urgently. The country's power generation capacity has reached 295,000 Mw, but 4 million households are still un-electrified. To meet the challenge, states are earmarking substantial amount of money for strengthening supply and availability of power.

Jammu & Kashmir, for instance, has become the first state to come out with a separate budget for the power sector. The state, which faces a power deficit of more than 5.5 billion units annually, plans to tap its natural resources to generate 9,344 Mw of hydro power and has allocated Rs 2,500 crore for its evacuation in 2015-16. "The requirement of the transmission sector for the entire state from the '24x7 Power-for-All' perspective works out to approximately Rs 4,054 crore. The total plan for transmission sector thus would be Rs 6,554 crore," the state's power budget said.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in his budget for 2015-16 has promised 22 hours of power supply in rural areas and 24 hours in urban areas by 2016. He has also promised to ramp up supply to 21,000 Mw from the current 10,000 Mw. With the state polls bound for 2017, this could be political gimmickry but industry is taking it seriously.

Odisha has proposed to build 4,300 transformers, 860 km high-tension and 1, 260 km low-tension transmission lines during this financial year and has allocated Rs 310 crore for the construction of 550 sub-stations and to upgrade its distribution system.

Along the same lines, Madhya Pradesh has increased its provision to the power sector by Rs 1,718 crore over last year, taking the total budgetary allocation for generation, transmission and distribution to Rs 9,704 crore. It is also planning to strengthen its grid system to support the huge step up in renewable power generation: from the current 1,400 Mw, it plans to scale up production to 3,733 Mw.

With around 40,000 Mw of stranded power capacity likely to go on stream soon with coal and gas supplies being sorted out, there is a crying need for a strong grid to carry the increased power supply. Steps are already being taken in this direction.

"There is a lot of business coming in for engineering, procurement and construction companies from Uttar Pradesh, especially its eastern part, Bihar, Odisha, Telangana and the North East," says Sunil Mishra, director general, Indian Electronics & Electricals Manufacturers' Association (IEEMA).

It looks like 24x7 power by 2019 will indeed be substantially accomplished. The remaining hurdle is not lack of investment in production, but in transmission and distribution.

CEA's data for April 2015 installed capacity
Total nationwide installed capacity: 272.687GW . Between January and April, the number went up from 258GW to 272GW, a significant gain of 14GW in just one quarter. That's equal to the entire operational electricity capacity of a certain unfriendly neighbouring western country, added in a single quarter.

hanumadu · Post by **hanumadu** » 28 May 2015 16:04

Power pilfering seems to be the next major thing to tackle. Unless it is stopped, the discoms will not be out of the red.

Pratyush · Post by **Pratyush** » 28 May 2015 16:41

What is the extent of T&D losses currenlty in India.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 01 Jun 2015 16:21

"Bringing microgrids to rural villages"
http://phys.org/news/2015-06-microgrids ... lages.html

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 18 Jun 2015 03:08

Charging up like never before

The government has not announced how much power is required to ensure 24 x 7 supply to all Indian households by 2019. But in its reports it talks of an addition of more than 200,000 Mw of power capacity in eight years by 2022. This is more than three-fourths of the power capacity added by the country over six decades.

To put this 200,000-Mw target in perspective: In the 11th Five-Year Plan, India added only about one-fourth of it. The addition in 2007-12 was 54,964 Mw, against a target of 78,700 Mw.

The 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17), prepared under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, had planned to add 118,536 Mw. Of this, 51,795 Mw was added in the first two years of the Plan, while the remaining 66,740 Mw was to be added by 2017 . But the current government hopes to double this and add 115,603 Mw by 2017. From 2017 to 2022, the government aims to add 101,745 Mw.

This means the power added in three years from 2014-17 will be more than what will be added in the five years after.

Even this unprecedented target may not be sufficient to meet the requirements for a 24x7 target, as the government report acknowledges, noting, "these assessments have been for the purpose of transmission planning, and not for assessing generation capacity required for meeting the demands."

The UPA government had planned to provide power access to all. But the current National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government promises much more - electricity all through the day. This, obviously, requires an unparalleled increase in generation capacities, given the short deadline of 2019. Precise estimates of total energy requirement will be ready at the earliest by December this year when all state Plans are finalised.

This massive addition of power capacity would make India the second-largest consumer of coal-based energy. Alongside, the government wants to increase solar and wind power at rates that no country has so far achieved . Not even China.

Since the Supreme Court cancelled allocations of 206 coal blocks, the government has conducted two rounds of auctions. The third is on the cards. But most of these will require time, of a year or more, to come online. The government also faces a slew of litigation against the auctions.

"The numbers are truly ambitious. The highest growth achieved in 10 years from 2004-05 to 2013-14 was 6.8 per cent. The target growth rate is more than double that figure," says a coal sector expert. "Central to achieving the target is the addition of three railway lines and ensuring greater rake availability."

Key to easing this constraint is building three railway lines - in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha - which could potentially help move up to 200 million tonnes annually.

"Of the three lines, movement is seen only in the Jharsuguda-Barpalli-Sardega railway line in Odisha. The deadline for this line is December 2017. The other two projects are yet to take off," says the expert. The cost of setting up the lines, pegged at Rs 7,045 crore, is an underestimation, he adds.

India's dependence on coal could have been reduced if there was clarity on how gas production would ramp up. But the state Plans reflect uncertainty on this front. The Andhra Pradesh Plan notes that 2.5 mscmd of gas is being supplied against a requirement of 13 mscmd, just enough for 500 Mw, leaving 2,270 Mw of capacity stranded. It does not clarify how much gas supply it will get in the future. The power ministry calculated that 14,305 Mw of gas-based plants were left stranded in the April 2014-January 2015 period . The government has formulated a new scheme for import of gas to ease the mess in the sector.

The other potential source of energy, large hydropower, locked up in issues of litigation, displacement and environment, has grown at a much lower rate than expected . Only 5,544 Mw of hydro power was installed during the 11th Five-Year Plan, against a target of 15,627 Mw. The government is pushing states in the Northeast to cancel memoranda of association with private players and hand over hydropower projects to the public sector.

Even as the NDA government disentangles the hydropower sector out of the mess, it has given a thrust to the emerging renewable energy sectors, setting a 100-Gw target for solar power and a 60-Gw one for wind power. The rate of growth it desires is unprecedented. But the government is not inclined to formally announce these numbers as official targets under the UN climate change agreement, to be signed in December 2015 - an indication that these may be more aspirational than real.

India's energy shortage projected at 2.1% in 2015-16

India is likely to face an energy shortage of 2.1 per cent, or 24,077 million units (MUs) and a peak shortage of 2.6 per cent, of 4,208 Mw in 2015-16.

In the last financial year, the energy shortage was 3.6 per cent (28,138 MUs) and peak shortage was 4.7 per cent (7,006 Mw).

The peaking shortages are likely to prevail, mainly in the South and the Northeast, to the tune of 19.8 per cent and four per cent, respectively. On the other hand, surplus energy is anticipated in the order of two per cent and 3.3 per cent in the East and the West, respectively. These are the findings of the load generation balance report for the current financial year, recently released by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 20 Jun 2015 18:24

Question out of ignorance:

I've heard Jaitley say twice now that India has surplus power, and this has been reported too. Yet, it appears state boards are not buying power that they need to keep households supplied. What's the underlying issue?

SriKumar · Post by **SriKumar** » 20 Jun 2015 19:11

pankajs wrote:PIB India @PIB_India · 25m 25 minutes ago >>

* 22,566 MW capacity added during current year against a target of 17,830 MW. Highest ever achievement in a single year. #1TrillionUnits
* Power generation during current year is 1048 BU .Growth of 8.4% over the previous year. Highest growth in last two decades. #1TrillionUnits
* Annual electricity generation crosses #1TrillionUnits. First time in our history .

I dont follow this thread usually, but wanted to make a few comments on this.
1 This is really a major step forward (and matches China's growth, per jhujhar's post).
2 I hope this has gone into the Achievements thread.
3 Is there any break-up as to how this was achieved? Surely, no new plants were built I am assuming (takes ages to build new projects: even coal, or gas-fired plants, let alone nuclear- which takes a decade). So how this this serious ramp-up take place (and can it be sustained?). Was it a matter of bringing up coal units that were idle due to coal shortage, i.e. re-start idle coal/gas units, and bring them to full capacity?

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 20 Jun 2015 19:14

This following is from June 2014:
http://www.woodmac.com/public/views/12150172

India: The problem with surplus power

Using our country-level supply and demand analysis, we forecast what lies ahead for the industry

Although around one-third of the population has no access to electricity, India will soon have a power surplus which could have serious implications for the country's economic development.

After decades of shortages, 95 GW of new capacity has been added to the power sector since 2005 but supply additions now greatly outweigh demand growth.

The country's distribution utilities are unwilling to purchase higher-priced electricity from newer plants, which run on imported coal or LNG, and are instead resorting to load-shedding.

Consequently these plants are running at less than 50% of capacity and risk becoming non-performing assets.

In addition, the high tariffs levied on large consumers have pushed them towards captive power, reducing grid demand and the revenue generators receive from distributors.

And, as the regulated tariffs that distributors receive from consumers in the agricultural and residential sectors remain non cost-reflective, utilities are unlikely to buy more power to supply smaller customers.

If the situation continues, we believe the country's power surplus could reach 25GW by 2015, creating a loss of economic value of around US$4 billion every year.

It's clear that immediate and effective reform is needed to reverse the situation and investors are unlikely to commit to saving the struggling electricity generation sector without it.

-Subscribing clients can continue reading our India power insight and access the data behind the analysis here.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 20 Jun 2015 19:31

Power surplus:

1. April 2014 - Tamil Nadu will have power surplus by year's end
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/t ... 916382.ece

2. Jan 2014 - Karnataka to be power-surplus by 2017
http://articles.economictimes.indiatime ... electrical

3. May 2015 - Andhra is a power-surplus state
http://www.smartandhra.indiaincorporate ... lus-state/

4. May 2015 - Telangana will be power surplus by 2016
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/t ... 168900.ece

5. May 2015 - Maharashtra's deficit is under 50MW
http://www.business-standard.com/articl ... 625_1.html

6. May 2015 - Gujarat power surplus at 19,000 million units
http://www.bbs.bt/news/?p=51127

7. April 2015 - Power-surplus Punjab but various customer segments face cuts.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/chandigar ... 35257.aspx

etc., etc..

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 20 Jun 2015 19:37

Regarding surplus/deficit of power, see the page numbered "i" in the (PDF) CEA report:
http://www.cea.nic.in/reports/yearly/lgbr_report.pdf

PS: also the statewise situation on the page numbered "iii".

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 20 Jun 2015 19:45

SriKumar, most coal fired plants were under producing due to lack of coal. that has been the primary reason.

SriKumar · Post by **SriKumar** » 20 Jun 2015 19:49

^^^ Interesting. He had mentioned this specific point(about coal units) during his campaign. It boggles the mind that there is now talk about a potential surplus in the near future.

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 20 Jun 2015 20:57

The surplus is misleading. Due to decades of policy of free or subsidized power and no reform in T&D most states are unable to buy power. It is also a case of poor purchasing power in many regions. And we have the AAP types promoting free power and winning elections. The best option is for the better managed states to pursue their own policies and face the consequences e.g. BJP ruled states can follow the Gujrat model where you charge market prices but give 24X7 electricity. MP has managed to do that. Hope more BJP ruled states achieve that and win elections and those that don't loose elections. The people can choose which model they want to follow. Waiting for the AAP model to collapse in 5 yrs time.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 20 Jun 2015 21:04

I don't know about other states but in TN there are a whole bunch of new power plants that have come online the past 2 years or so. Also Tuticorin port is freely import coal in large quantities. So there is no more coal shortage. Wind farms are now running. Power demand growth has slowed considerably as well. Every little bit helps.

All that said power is only available for 1-2 hours a day for agriculture and 10 hour power cuts are daily in rural areas.

BTW it is not a good sign the JJ has nixed the Cheyyur power plant so far. She hasn't started a single project in the past few years so there is no pipeline of projects for the future. She has even stopped the Solar power bids.

JohnTitor · Post by **JohnTitor** » 21 Jun 2015 21:04

^^ How can TN have a power surplus by year end if there are 10hr power cuts in rural areas. Or is power surplus only applicable to large cities?

Kakkaji · Post by **Kakkaji** » 27 Jun 2015 07:56

Big rush for four power (transmission) projects

New Delhi, June 26: Some top guns of the infrastructure sector have thrown in their hats to bid for power transmission projects, as the Narendra Modi-government goes about to place orders worth a massive Rs 1 lakh crore in transmission to fulfil its ambitious 24X7 power-for-all goal in another four years.

Heavyweights such as Power Grid Corporation, Tata Projects, L&T Infra and Adani Power will vie for four projects worth Rs 4,000 crore.

muraliravi · Post by **muraliravi** » 29 Jun 2015 19:35

Shonu wrote:^^ How can TN have a power surplus by year end if there are 10hr power cuts in rural areas. Or is power surplus only applicable to large cities?

10 hr power cuts in rural TN ?? Are you sure, my guess is it is a one off data point. I am from and TN and keep talking to friends and relatives in rural and semi urban TN cities all the time. The feedback is more like 1-2 hrs max power cut per day. Usually 1 hr in early morning and 1 hr in mid afternoon.

See the CEA report also, TN currently only has 1.5% peak time deficit.

Kakkaji · Post by **Kakkaji** » 11 Jul 2015 06:14

Govt puts 22 stalled power projects on watch list

The government has identified 22 stalled power projects promoted by GVK, Lanco, Essar, Tata Power and GMR, among others, for addressing various hurdles in project execution.

These projects had come up for discussions during a series of meetings chaired by Power Minister Piyush Goyal and steered by the Department of Financial Services (DFS) under the finance ministry.

Private project developers made presentations on the projects selected by the government, to discuss the problems faced by them in execution, said an official. Of the 22 projects, 17 are coal-based, three are gas-based and two are hydro projects.

The criteria of selection was not disclosed but priority was given to those facing fuel supply crunch and having mounting debt.

VinodTK · Post by **VinodTK** » 17 Aug 2015 05:42

Power contracts to Chinese companies pose security threat: Industry

NEW DELHI: Domestic manufacturers have slammed the decision to award contracts to Chinese companies for installation of supervisory control and data acquisition systems for better power distribution and management in 18 cities, saying this can lead to foreign control over a sector which is critical to the country's growth.

The contracts have been awarded by seven cities in Tamil Nadu, five each in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, and one in Puducherry since 2011 through competitive bidding

This could pose a threat to national security as well, domestic players said, since electric distribution systems carry power to pipelines, water systems, telecommunications and other critical infrastructure, besides serving critical government and military facilities.

"The Chinese seem to have an unstated policy of not awarding any sensitive contract involving national security to Indian companies. On the other hand, we have not been cautious in awarding contracts involving critical components in critical sectors," said Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers' Association (IEEMA) director general Sunil Misra. "For example, a lot of electricity generation equipment which has come from Chinese companies is not performing satisfactorily in many cases."

IEEMA has made a representation to the National Security Advisor, cabinet secretary and the ministries of commerce and power.

Distribution-level cyber attacks that disrupt power supply to such facilities can have important economic and security consequences, IEEMA said. Such attacks can lead to control of the distribution system from remote areas, exchange of critical data and a greater threat to the national grid, it said.

China's share in imports of electrical equipment into India grew to nearly 40% in 2013-14 from 15.26% in 2005-06. Over this period, imports of electrical equipment into the country increased 19.73% to Rs 58,354 crore.

The cheaper imports have also have also affected the local transmission and distribution equipment manufacturing industry, which is operating at less than 70% capacity has not seen any growth in capital expenditure over the past few years.

The Indian electrical equipment industry -- comprising generation equipment (boilers, turbines, generators) and transmission and distribution and allied equipment (transformers, cables, transmission lines, switchgear and energy metres) — was valued at Rs 1.36 lakh crore in 2014-15. The generation equipment accounts for about 15% of the total industry while the transmission equipment sector forms the bulk of the sector.

Kakkaji · Post by **Kakkaji** » 29 Aug 2015 20:19

Union Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal confident of doubling power generation in 7 years

KOLKATA: India will be able to double its power generation in the next seven years, Union Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal has said.

"Very clearly, as we work to provide energy access to every citizen of India 24X7 and as we work to eliminate diesel-generated power, sadly we still have several thousands of crores of rupees (spent) on diesel-generated power, which is much more expensive. The cost is borne by the people of the country directly or indirectly," Goyal said during a programme organised by the BCC&I here.

"All of these are sought to be replaced by thermal, gas, nuclear and renewable power and this will generate great demand. I am confident that in the next seven years or so, India will be able to double its electricity generation from one trillion units to two trillion units," he said yesterday.

"This will resolve the problem... that stranded plants (do face) and will help in consuming the large amount of renewable energy out of 17,500 megawatts we are setting up."

He felt that the cost of generation and production should be cut down.

"My concern is that the cost of generation and transmission must come down by efficiency. We have to cut down the power theft and reduce technical losses," he said.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 16 Sep 2015 17:36

Government to pump in Rs 70,000 crore in replacing old thermal power plants.

The Union government has firmed up plans to shut down some 11,000 mw of thermal power generation capacities that are at least 25 years old and build bigger plants with total capacity of at least 20,000 mw on the same tract of land for estimated investments of Rs 70,000 crore, officials said.

The roadmap for shuttering at least 100 old units with capacities ranging from 60 mw to 220 mw was given a preliminary shape at a recent meeting between the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and state utilities. In their place, some 30-odd super critical units ranging between 660 mw and 800 mw will come up, CEA officials said.

This will lead to a savings of about Rs 40,000 crore on land acquisition as well infrastructure cost like rail and water linkages along with facilities like ash pond and power evacuation lines, they said. Coal supplied to the old plants would be fed into the units that would replace them.

Government to pump in Rs 70,000 crore in replacing old thermal power plants

It is estimated that a total capacity of about 36,000 mw in the country is more than 25 years old and these units could be replaced in phased manner Some of these plants are in good running conditions and have just undergone renovation and maintenance, allowing them to run for a few more years. However, all such plants will have to eventually down shutter and be replaced by new super critical units, CEA officials said.

They said replacement of old units by new super critical units was being encouraged by the government and the ministry of coal had already issued guidelines for automatic transfer of coal linkage from old and inefficient units to new super critical units.

"During the13th plan period, generation capacity of about 86,400 mw is likely to be added primarily through super critical units. Land being scarce, utilities need to explore possible options to utilise the existing land and other facilities in most effective manner," a senior power department official said.

"Thermal power units marked for closure are primarily ones that are faring very poorly in terms of capacity utilisation as well as other parameters. All such plants have been marked for closure by the government," the official said. According to data furnished by CEA, replacing sub-critical, old and inefficient thermal units with super critical units would enable effective utilisation of already available scarce resources like land, water and coal.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 30 Sep 2015 23:50

Power Grid commissions first power transmission express highway

The state owned Power Grid Corporation of India completed the construction and started power supply in its first 'Power Transmission Express Highway' or the longest HVDC power transmission corridor connecting northern states with north eastern region. The corridor would facilitate to and fro power supply as per seasonal demand and supply position.

The corridor would help transmission of 6,000 Mw of power. However, currently, around 1,700 Mw of power flow is taking place. Power Grid executives said that the line would help in future for managing the supply of large scale hydro power, infirm renewable-based power and would connect power transaction done with Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

The 1,750 km HVDC line traverses through 3 regions, 4 states and around 40 rivers. This massive line consists of 7000 locations. Power Grid said that this high capacity transmission link is the world's largest multi-terminal 800kV HVDC Project, which comprises of 3,000 Mw HVDC terminals each at Biswanath Chariyali & Alipurduar and a 6000 Mw terminal at Agra.

The company is building two more such corridors connecting Chhatisgarh with Haryana and Tamil Nadu respectively are under construction.

"With the operation of this link, North East can get access to cheaper power from Chattisgarh/Jharkhand during low hydro generation and Surplus hydro generation of North Eastern Region shall now find market in rest of India," said R N Nayak, CMD, Power Grid.