India's Power Sector

[Dileep]

So, we started seeing "power grid experts" in social and antisocial media, right along with the bunch of "Infectious disease experts" hain jee?

My cousin (who started our 'hereditary trade' (kula thozhil in mallu and Tamil) of engineering. Before him, we were farmers) is an expert in this field for his entire career and retired a couple of years ago from power grid corp. He laughed at the opinion of all these "experts" and refused to even talk about it.

When loads go down, the generating stations 'throttle back'. The load dispatch will decide which one does what extent. Once load increases, they will 'throttle up' taking more load. Happens every day, every hour, all the time, mostly automagically these days. The company I worked at USA used to build fiber optic communication infra for this automation.

A grid failure is entirely different. If the generating stations lose 'sync', they will take a bit of process to bring back online. For example, if the regional grids are isolated, bringing them back to sync will take some careful maneuvering.

[nandakumar]

So, we started seeing "power grid experts" in social and antisocial media, right along with the bunch of "Infectious disease experts" hain jee?

My cousin (who started our 'hereditary trade' (kula thozhil in mallu and Tamil) of engineering. Before him, we were farmers) is an expert in this field for his entire career and retired a couple of years ago from power grid corp. He laughed at the opinion of all these "experts" and refused to even talk about it.

When loads go down, the generating stations 'throttle back'. The load dispatch will decide which one does what extent. Once load increases, they will 'throttle up' taking more load. Happens every day, every hour, all the time, mostly automagically these days. The company I worked at USA used to build fiber optic communication infra for this automation.

A grid failure is entirely different. If the generating stations lose 'sync', they will take a bit of process to bring back online. For example, if the regional grids are isolated, bringing them back to sync will take some careful maneuvering.

Just for context. During English Premier League football season practically every household in England (roughly 10 million) Is hooked on to watching the football ball match. At half time they diligently get up and switch on the electric kettle to make tea. That is a 10,000 MW spike in power demand.

[Mort Walker]

Where is the grid collapse that so many power experts/epidemiologists predicted?

[suryag]

You illiterate/ignorant Mortji the Mudi request wasnt followed hence no grid collapse

[Picklu]

https://twitter.com/RajKSinghIndia/stat ... 12736?s=20

The demand went down from 117300 Megawatts at 2049 hrs to 85300 Megawatts till 2109 hrs; that is a reduction of 32000 Megawatts. Then it started increasing. Frequency was maintained within a band of 49.7 to 50. 26 Hz, which means the voltage was kept stable.

The above was Tweeted by

Code: Select all

Minister of State (IC) Power and New & Renewable Energy, MOS in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, GOI. Office: @OfficeOfRKSingh

It can not be more official than this.

Our power grid consumption in normal times are 270+ GW. The system working at 117 GW is operating at roughly 43% capacity.

Even at this level, it could go down to 31% i.e. a drop of staggering 28%

Please tell me a single system any one of you have designed/created/operated that is capable of handling such fluctuations within matter of 10/15 minutes.

This is a bloody 28% drop on a system already running at 43% capacity!!!
Beyond any back of the envelop calculations thrown around for switching off light bulbs!!!! Yeah, right! 2-3% indeed!!!

As I said, it was really a stress test of the system; and a pretty brutal one.

The close involvement of the minister himself is the proof that there were a deeper agenda behind this.

And the communication from the minister himself publicly on Twitter with this result also is part of our strategic deterrent communication.

Kind of like Vajpayee declaration of laughing Buddha,

We are declaring to the whole world the capacity and capabilities of our power distribution infra and its resilience

That our power infra, even when running below 50% capacity, can still handle a further 28% drop in demand without any glitch.

Any nation trying to go against us have to be ready to handle an adversary of this caliber. Our essential infrastructures can take a lot of damage and still remain standing to dash out retribution. We are not as weak as some of the OECD nations try to project.

Last time, when the US and Russia were busy with Cuban missile crisis , our northern neighbor took advantage.

Now,when the world is down with corona, they better not try another with a Doklam type instigation.

From that perspective, the above tweet is as significant as the news of laughing Buddha, Agni 5 and ASAT tests and Arihant going operational petrol.

Not getting this and restricting this to petty politics is not really the caliber of BRF.

I have a gut feeling that this is also a calculated risk taken by the govt to stress test our power distribution infrastructure using this Corona opportunity of lower usage due to industrial shutdowns. Such opportunities do not come every day.

Every modern day corporate does this using "chaos monkey"/"simian army"/"DR and BCP drill"/"Penetration testing".

We did such a stress test for our finance and accounting infra via demonitization.

Corona is already doing such a test of our public health infra.

We have done a test of our public communication effectiveness test via previous "clap for 5 mins" exercise.

Now, we will test our power grid stress test.

Will there be issues? Off course, the whole point is to find the weak links in the chains.

But, we will come out "Anti Fragile" from each of these tests, to use the term coined by Taleb.

[sudarshan]

...

Very interesting indeed. But this is a demand drop of 28%. Whereas in a war-time situation there would be a supply hit. I.e., capacity being taken violently offline, and the remaining capacity having to take up the demand. Does the above stress test apply to that scenario as well, or is it merely hinting that the grid is sophisticated to take any type of scenario?

[Picklu]

...

Very interesting indeed. But this is a demand drop of 28%. Whereas in a war-time situation there would be a supply hit. I.e., capacity being taken violently offline, and the remaining capacity having to take up the demand. Does the above stress test apply to that scenario as well, or is it merely hinting that the grid is sophisticated to take any type of scenario?

After 9 past 9, the demand came back and the grid scaled up ....

[Mollick.R]

A few more interesting insights presented by this gent....

https://twitter.com/DrTongia/status/1246869020139114496

Visit twitter for images (graphs etc), putting only text here.

Rahul Tongia
@DrTongia

1/n) #9pm9minutes PRELMINARY Analysis
http://carbontracker.in timestamps are limited!
Key points:
1)Total demand fall DUE TO EVENT was ?~29 GW.
2)Demand fall started before 9 pm
3)Most balancing was done by hydro [BIG TIME]
4)Grid rise (aka “recovery”) finished ~10:30 pm

(2/n) Demand fall was not just due to lighting.
Too much fall, and some of load fall began as early as 8:45. All evenings “normally” decline 3.5-5.5 GW after peak ~7:30. Fall after 8:45 was measurably more than normal trend. See http://carbontracker.in for other days.


(3/n) [speculation] Folks were switching off loads to protect their devices. Really doubt so much load is lighting! That too participating.
Fall during the 9 minutes was less than the total event - if one wants to estimate "household lighting" in India.

(4/n) Ramp rates are difficult to calculate without better data (we have 3-6 minute time stamps only), but 16.658 GW fall over 3 minutes indicates (with some time error possibilities) a ramp down of 5.55 GW/min, or 4.85%/minute. IMPRESSIVE.

(5/n) Ramping down continues after 9:06 pm. Suggests something more than pure lighting participation (?). Other loads? Feeder management? Or maybe just time-stamp issues. Await full analysis by
@PosocoIndia

(6/n) Load return wasn’t swift – modest until 9:15, then rose, with continued slight rise for a while. See a mini-peak 10:30 (later than previous days).

(7/n) RAMPING - For the most aggressive time block, HYDRO provided LOTS of grid support, both directions. Gas was impressive – not in aggregate as it has a low base but 3.5 relative rate of coal when normalized for operating capacity.


(8/n) Few observations: RE was either curtailed/added OR the gods aligned quite well for the most part! Adding load was more controlled perhaps.
[Speculation] People may switch off in advance compared to turn back on with a delay (?). Consumers alone may not explain rise times.


(9/n) Overall, a great performance, likely not just
@PosocoIndia
but with state LDCs as well. BRAVO.

This also bodes well for grid flexibility (high RE, maybe) – BUT NOT if this involved too much feeder management! Hydro was at a sweet spot – not yet “must run” ala monsoon.

(n/n) - Shoutout to not just essential services providers, but also my colleagues for http://carbontracker.in and data analysis/visualization - Utkarsh Dalal, M. Tabish Parray, and Rishabh Trivedi.


ADDENDUM: The fall may be higher than 29 GW, which was based on lower-resolution data we collect at http://carbontracker.in.
@OfficeOfRKSingh
tweeted 32 GW. Even correcting for any trend decay each evening, it's still more than 29 GW. In one word - IMPRESSIVE grid management.

PDF of whole thread is made and uploaded here.

https://pdfhost.io/v/E0gyupNbg_Thread_b ... ridpdf.pdf

[sudarshan]

After 9 past 9, the demand came back and the grid scaled up ....

That's right, I missed that part. Thanks.

[Mollick.R]

Revised tariff policy likely to be rolled out within a month, says Power Minister R K Singh
PTI|Last Updated: May 15, 2020, 08.08 PM IST


New Delhi: The revised tariff policy has been cleared by a group of ministers and it is likely to be implemented within a month, Power Minister R K Singh said on Friday. The policy provides for steps like penalty for unscheduled power cuts by distribution companies.

"The tariff policy which had been sent to Union Cabinet, was referred to an informal group of ministers (GoM). That GoM has cleared it. So we propose to take it to the next Cabinet (meeting)....and hopefully it should be there within a month," Singh said.

He was speaking at a digital interaction with CEOs from the power and renewable energy sectors, under the CII's Energizing India Series.

The revised tariff policy provides for penalty for unscheduled power cuts, except in the case of technical faults or act of God (natural calamities).

The government intends to provide '24X7 Power to All' at affordable rates. Therefore, there is a provision in the tariff to cap transmission and distribution losses. Once the tariff policy is approved, the discoms would not be allowed to pass on these losses beyond 15 per cent.

The policy would also encourage time of the day tariff where consumer would be charged more during peak hours. This would also enable the consumers to reduce their electricity bill by consuming more electricity during non-peak hours.

Talking about the recent relief given to discoms reeling under financial stress due to slump in demand amid the lockdown, Singh said, "We have asked our central public sector undertaking (CPSU) power generators to defer fixed charges from the discoms. After the economy opens up, those fixed charges would be paid by discoms in equal installments without interest. This would be huge relief."

"We have asked our CPSUs (gencos) to give 20 to 25 per cent discount to discoms on cost of power. We want discoms to pass it on to consumers. This will be reflected in the first bill of the consumers after economy reopens (after lockdown is over)," he added.

He also told the industry representatives that the power ministry is making open access simpler as any such application would be processed within 30 days under the new tariff policy.

He also talked about removing custom barriers to give incentives to solar and wind energy equipment manufacturing.

There would be higher penalty for not complying with RPO (renewable purchase obligation) and the states would start bidding for clean energy projects themselves, he added.

The industry representative made a case for bringing power under the Goods and Service Tax (GST) regime and also asked for indirect subsidy for setting up clean energy projects.

They were of the view that direct subsidy is probabilistic and not definite, so the government should offer differential tariff for clean energy projects.

They also pitched to enhancing the deadline for project development in view of the coronavirus lockdown.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... content=23

[Mollick.R]

View: Cleaner, and now cheaper, solar power beats coal
By Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar, TOI Contributor|Last Updated: May 24, 2020, 01.11 PM IST

The Covid crisis has diverted attention from a major breakthrough that should leave all smiling. The latest auction for 400 MW of solar power, including storage, has been won by ReNew Power with a levelised tariff of Rs 3.52/unit over 15 years. The equivalent thermal power tariff would have been closer to Rs 4.5/unit. Solar energy has beaten coal-based power hollow, and would do so even if taxes and cesses on coal were lifted. The bulk of future power generation can be solar without subsidies.
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During the day, India now has excess power capacity. Solar generation is given priority, while thermal stations have to back down till sunset. Priority to solar power makes economic sense since it entails no running costs, whereas thermal power entails fuel costs. But thermal plants that once ran 75% of the time have been forced to back down to just 55-58% to accommodate rising solar production. This hidden cost of solar power cannot be borne fully by the thermal sector, which needs a new tariff formula to cover capital costs on generation and transmission when forcibly idled.
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In the giant 1,200 MW Bhadla solar park in Rajasthan, the winning auction in 2018 was just Rs 2.44/unit. But it had no provision for storage, something experts estimated would add Rs 2/unit to the tariff. That meant solar power was not cheaper than thermal power and could not be switched on and off at will, as thermal plants could.

However, the new 400 MW deal won by ReNew Power includes enough storage to ensure 80% capacity utilisation over a year and not less than 70% in any month. This is not quite 24/7 power, but is as efficient as thermal power and much cheaper. That is why it is a breakthrough.

ReNew Power will be using lithium-ion storage batteries to store excess power during the day and releasing it later to achieve its capacity target.

The biggest problem Indian solar companies face is the high rate of interest. This matters a lot in an industry with high capital costs. RBI has lowered its lending rate, but banks are too risk-averse to lend to solar companies, which still pay 10-11% interest on the bulk of their borrowing from public sector entities like Power Finance Corporation and Rural Electrification Corporation. By contrast, solar plants in the Middle East can borrow at just 4% in their own currencies. If Indian companies could access money as cheaply, the cost of power plus storage could fall to just Rs 2/unit, transforming the competitiveness of Indian industry. India must aim for this.
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The World Bank no longer lends for coal-based plants but is keen on renewables. It cannot lend directly to private sector companies. One solution is to negotiate massive loans from the World Bank to Power Finance Corporation and Rural Electrification Corporation, earmarked for on-lending to the solar companies with a small mark-up.

World Bank loans to India can be repayable over 19 years with a 5-year moratorium and interest at LIBOR (now just 0.17% in dollars) plus 1.4%. Small loans are also available from the Bank’s Clean Technology Fund and IFC, the Bank’s private sector lending arm. But past Bank loans have been less than $100 million – peanuts for a solar industry that now needs billions. The Bank should step up solar lending hugely.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... 935467.cms

[Mollick.R]

A tale of disconnected dots: The regulatory algorithm behind Electricity Amendment Bill 2020
ET CONTRIBUTORS|Last Updated: May 24, 2020, 10.27 AM IST

The Ministry of Power recently floated an amended version of the Electricity Act, after consecutive unsuccessful attempts to introduce changes in 2014 and 2018. Hailed as sweeping structural reforms by many, the proposed amendments have recently been subject to resistance by many states, including opposition by Tamil Nadu, Telangana and even Bihar, an ally of the Central Government.

The Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2020, according to the MoP, is brought in to address “critical issues weakening the commercial and investment activities in the electricity sector”. It prescribes multiple policy tools to achieve this objective.
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Firstly, there is a concerted effort to centralise decision making in the power sector. The provision to dilute the power of State Governments by setting up a National Selection Committee for appointment of Chairperson and members of state regulatory commissions reflects this narrative. Furthermore, empowering the National Load Dispatch Centre to oversee payment security mechanisms before dispatch of any power also reaffirms this direction.

The objective seems to bring uniformity in the broader direction of governance of this sector, whereby the states are aligned to the vision of the Centre. However, a significant critique is the dilution of state level concerns by digressing from the decentralised, un-bundled governance structure that has been envisaged through previous legislations.

Secondly, there is an element of expanding the scope of privatisation in the power sector. The provisions relating to establishment of franchise or distribution sub-licensee models of discoms are a step in this direction. The underlying reasons seem to be two-fold, firstly that more private investments would flow into the distribution business and secondly, privatisation of utilities would bring in operational and financial efficiency in this sector.

Although, the immediate objective of enhancing investment potential in the sector is a likely outcome from this amendment, the much larger objective of de-stressing the discoms needs careful consideration. The critique to the argument that privatisation ensures efficiency, stems from the fact that electricity is a public good and for universal access the State has to step in to ensure last mile delivery. In addition to it, several national and international experiences also suggest that the unintended consequences of privatisation including rent-seeking and friction between consumers and suppliers, leads to a difficult situation for policymakers. Therefore, a careful assessment of circumstances under which privatisation could yield desirable results is a pre-requisite for standardising such a system. Independent monitoring and evaluation of existing distribution franchise models can be the first step in this endeavour.

Thirdly, there are proposed changes that aim to do away with some of the common bottlenecks hampering the scope of private investments in the power sector. These include establishment of an Electricity Contract Enforcement Agency (ECEA), doing away with subsidy regime by mandating cost-reflective tariffs and institutionalisation of payment security mechanisms. These are some of the long-outstanding demands of investors in the power sector and can be considered a progressive move. The formation of ECEA also highlights the urgency of enforcing the sanctity of contracts in the Indian power sector, especially after the Andhra Pradesh episode.

The key to achieve these objectives of contract enforcement lies in enhancing the capacity of stakeholders to plan, design, implement and monitor contracts. Similarly, the abolishment of subsidized tariff has political and social implications. The states may perceive it as a threat for their political strategy of promising power at subsidized rates or for free. On the other hand, consumers may perceive it as a threat to their cash flows, resulting from inefficiencies or delays in direct transfers of allocated subsidies.

Finally, to give clean energy a greater push, there is a mention of a national renewable energy policy in the legislation itself. This will certainly provide a policy preference to India’s clean energy ambitions but more clarity is needed in this regard. An example to learn from is the European Union Green Deal which provides a detailed roadmap with clear timelines and sources of finance to achieve a climate neutral Europe by 2050. For it to become binding and operational, a legislative approval is required unlike in India, where a legislative mention is used to expedite the transition.

Thus, the given amendments may be a move in the right direction, but lack a structured roadmap for bridging the gaps between the existing problems and the proposed solutions. Joining these disconnected dots is the need of the hour to do justice to the long-standing reforms required for a sustainable power sector and growing national economy.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... content=20

[Rishirishi]

e latest auction for 400 MW of solar power, including storage, has been won by ReNew Power with a levelised tariff of Rs 3.52/unit over 15 years

Does this mean that it is cheaper to build new solar parks, then running the current coal plants ?

Billions must have been invested in coal, not to forget the mining. Can this have an adverse economic impact?

[VinodTK]

e latest auction for 400 MW of solar power, including storage, has been won by ReNew Power with a levelised tariff of Rs 3.52/unit over 15 years

Does this mean that it is cheaper to build new solar parks, then running the current coal plants ?

Billions must have been invested in coal, not to forget the mining. Can this have an adverse economic impact?

It is expensive to operate coal power plants, very few countries are building new coal power plants because of outdated technology (no new technology / innovation coming in), and environmental impact.
China is the biggest operator of coal power plants. In India most of the coal based power plants are owned by state/Govt. run organizations.

[Mort Walker]

Nearly 60% of India’s power comes from coal. RES has not delivered as promised. Without coal you can sit in the dark, no industry, no employment, no food and sick - if you wait for RES. Coal will be India well past 2030 at the rate RES is coming. It’s not going to happen and will remain a RES jihadi wet dream.

[Mollick.R]

NTPC in race to buy Delhi discoms from Reliance Infra

By Sarita Singh, ET Bureau|Last Updated: May 28, 2020, 08.02 AM IST

NEW DELHI: NTPC has entered the race to acquire ’s majority stake in Delhi electricity distribution businesses. The state-run major has written to Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) expressing willingness to acquire 51% in BSES Rajdhani Power () and BSES Yamuna Power (BYPL), provided the sale process is transparent, sources said.

Sources said Italy’s group, Torrent Power and Greenko have submitted non-binding bids for buying BSES Delhi discoms.

NTPC has only been keen on buying stressed private power projects that moved to bankruptcy court. Early this year the company outbid the Adani Group in the race for the Avantha Group's 600 mw Jhabua power plant in Madhya Pradesh with a Rs 1,900 crore offer. In its letter to DERC secretary Mukesh Wadhwa, NTPC said it has decided to foray into distribution sector and is keen on acquiring distribution assets. NTPC and BSES did not offer any comments.

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group is looking to sell assets to pay off lenders. Reliance Infrastructure, which owns 51% each in BYPL and BRPL, said it aims to be a zero debt company in the next financial year.

Reliance Infrastructure sold its Mumbai power distribution business to Adani Transmission Ltd for Rs 18,800 crore in August 2018. Reliance Group and Tata Power supply power to about 93% of Delhi. The two BSES companies cater to 4.4 million customers in , handling peak power demand of 4.8 GW.

These companies were acquired in 2002 during privatisation of Delhi distribution utilities. The distribution losses of Delhi are one of the lowest in the country at 9%. As of March 2020, the combined revenue of BSES discoms is Rs 15,250 crore with an EBITDA of Rs 2,050 crore and their total debt is Rs 1,900 crore. However, the two BSES Delhi discoms have nearly Rs 30,000-crore regulatory assets or deferred tariff hikes that are yet to be approved by the regulator. In FY18, DERC approved Rs 12,000 crore of such claims.
(This story has not been edited by economictimes.com and is auto–generated from a syndicated feed we subscribe to.)


https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... content=23

[Mollick.R]

State discoms end Force Majeure period, restart power purchases
BY SARITA C SINGH, ET BUREAU | UPDATED: JUN 03, 2020, 09.05 AM IST


New Delhi: With picking up, state power distribution utilities are ending the period and have restarted they had earlier suspended.

However, private power companies have started exploring legal options to contest non-payment of fixed charges by states for about 60 days of the force majeure event, sources said.
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The power companies have said less demand due to Covid-19 does not qualify under the force majeure events listed in power purchase agreements with distribution companies.

“States invocation of force majeure clause to avoid paying fixed cost is flawed as electricity generation, transmission and distribution has been declared essential activity,” Association of Power Producers director general Ashok Khurana said.

He said the government asking central power generating stations to voluntarily consider giving rebate on fixed cost for lockdown period clearly shows that fixed cost is payable during this period.

The power ministry last month asked central power generators and transmission companies to offer a one-time 20-25% rebate on fixed charges to distribution companies for the initial 40-day period of lockdown..........
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Electricity demand dipped to as low as 2,600 million units, down 28% year-on-year, during the lockdown. It gradually grew to about 3,800 million units till May 26 due to reduced lockdown restrictions on industries. However, towards the end of May, it started to decrease due to rains across India. Power demand touched 3,193 million units on May 31 and stood at 3,247 million units on Monday.

They utilities told the power plants that their electricity will not be scheduled and the projects should stop declaring availability of electricity. They also denied paying fixed charges to power plants during the period of force majeure.

The power companies had earlier responded to force majeure notices issued by the distribution companies

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... 6163964.cms

[Haresh]

Energy From Mountains | Renewable Energy Solutions

https://bigthink.com/surprising-science ... ore-energy

[KL Dubey]

Nearly 60% of India’s power comes from coal. RES has not delivered as promised. Without coal you can sit in the dark, no industry, no employment, no food and sick - if you wait for RES. Coal will be India well past 2030 at the rate RES is coming. It’s not going to happen and will remain a RES jihadi wet dream.

Not at all - the overall trend now is different. Share of coal in the total power generation is steadily falling, and that of RES has dramatically increased in the last few years. I would have mostly agreed with you if it was the pre-NaMo days in which nuclear was the only real option to get out of thermal power.

Nobody is "waiting" for RES, it is already here and expanding rapidly. The cost of power generation from RES in India is now lower than coal. Moreover, we are well on our way to meeting or exceeding our renewable electricity obligations under the climate change agreement.

https://ieefa.org/ieefa-india-indias-el ... n-2019-20/

https://www.theclimategroup.org/news/co ... city-india

If industry/companies demand renewable electricity (which now makes sense from cost perspective, not just climate change) then the supply will shift. Banditji told us back in 1950s that coal plants and the like were "temples" but not anymore.

As far as electricity is concerned, I firmly believe India can greatly reduce dependence on fossil/thermal power. Most of this will happen with renewables, and if the goremint's nuclear power expansion plans are as successful as the solar energy one, then it can contribute too.

[Mort Walker]

RES is not growing as fast as expected. Solar tariff rates are dependent on cheap Chinese panels which is not sustainable. RES is only competitive with coal when the sun shines and the wind blows. It becomes less competitive when compared natural gas. Getting 450 GW of RES by 2030 will remain a goal.

By the end of 2022, the goal was to have an installed capacity 100 GW of solar and 60 GW of wind. As of today it is 35 GW solar and 38 GW of wind. The 2022 goal is not going to be met and it is unlikely the 2030 goal of 450 GW will be met. Keep waiting for RES.

[viveks]

A thought occurred to me a few days back and so wanted to share. The river interlinking project has been initiated by the government to better manage water resources within the nation. This will allow water from rivers which have more water into rivers which have water scarcity.

I was thinking that since we are building so many tunnels for metro and other railway projects within J&k. Why don’t we develop underground tunneling for interlinking rivers, thereby have a network of underground tunnels that help transfer water from one river to another. The source could have a gated water well whose top would be on the bottom of the river. That way when the gate got open water would fall into that underground well and be pushed towards the connecting river. This way we could also develop an underground hydro electric plant as well.

[isubodh]

A thought occurred to me a few days back and so wanted to share. The river interlinking project has been initiated by the government to better manage water resources within the nation. This will allow water from rivers which have more water into rivers which have water scarcity.

I was thinking that since we are building so many tunnels for metro and other railway projects within J&k. Why don’t we develop underground tunneling for interlinking rivers, thereby have a network of underground tunnels that help transfer water from one river to another. The source could have a gated water well whose top would be on the bottom of the river. That way when the gate got open water would fall into that underground well and be pushed towards the connecting river. This way we could also develop an underground hydro electric plant as well.

Think of one inter-river tunnel and calculate the approximate cost. Now think is that the best way to spend that amount of money or there more beneficial usage possible. Come up with some rough calculations and many can share opinion which will clear your plan.

[Mollick.R]

Ban on power equipment imports from China, Pakistan: Power Minister R K Singh
BY ET BUREAU | UPDATED: JUL 04, 2020, 08.52 AM IST

New Delhi: India will not allow import of power equipment from China & Pakistan, power minister R K Singh announced Friday morning, citing recent transgression in border areas and cyber security threats. Imports from other nations will need permissions.

“Today we manufacture everything that is required for power generation, transmission and distribution. In 2018-1, we imported Rs 71,000 power equipment of which Rs 21,000 crore are Chinese. We cannot tolerate this that you have a country which transgresses into our country and yet we create jobs in that country, when we have the ability to manufacture it (equipment) ourselves. We have decided not to buy from prior-reference countries. Any equipment imported will need permission. And we will not give permissions for equipment from China and Pakistan.

Singh also said that the electricity grid was vulnerable to attacks. “Power system is vulnerable to malware attacks, which can shut down our communications, data base and defence systems. That is why all imports need to be inspected and few countries need to be banned,” Singh said in his speech in Hindi adding other countries also restrict imports of critical power equipment.

An executive order moved by the White House in May blocked and mitigated transactions involving bulk-power system electric equipment manufactured or supplied by a “foreign adversary”.

Singh sought support from state governments in stopping imports of tower elements, conductors, transformers and meter parts which are available indigenously.

He said high imports, particularly from China, was concern in renewable energy sector too. He said China sells equipment at artificially low rates for dumping and hurting Indian manufacturing. He said the government plan to impose duty of 25% on solar equipment imports from August 1, which is proposed to be raised to 40% from next year.

ET reported on Thursday that in his meet with various state power ministers on Friday, Union power minister R K Singh is likely to ask states to comply with the Central public procurement norms in placing orders.

The government is keeping a close watch on the tendering of the Rs 55,000-crore emission control equipment by the thermal power sector that has placed large orders on Chinese companies in the past.

Most private and various state power companies are in discussions with Chinese companies for the emission control gear. Power utilities of states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra have sought global bidders for procurement against the Centre’s public procurement norms. While Gujarat has placed order with a Chinese firm, Haryana recently cancelled its Chinese order.


https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... 765037.cms

[KL Dubey]

‘Sure, pure and secure’: PM Modi inaugurates Asia’s largest solar plant in MP’s Rewa

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-ne ... fxZiO.html

^^Great boost to the solar mission and renewable energy. Even more importantly, he also described plans to achieve independence in solar power equipment:

https://www.livemint.com/news/india/ind ... 42246.html

[viveks]

A thought occurred to me a few days back and so wanted to share. The river interlinking project has been initiated by the government to better manage water resources within the nation. This will allow water from rivers which have more water into rivers which have water scarcity.

I was thinking that since we are building so many tunnels for metro and other railway projects within J&k. Why don’t we develop underground tunneling for interlinking rivers, thereby have a network of underground tunnels that help transfer water from one river to another. The source could have a gated water well whose top would be on the bottom of the river. That way when the gate got open water would fall into that underground well and be pushed towards the connecting river. This way we could also develop an underground hydro electric plant as well.

Think of one inter-river tunnel and calculate the approximate cost. Now think is that the best way to spend that amount of money or there more beneficial usage possible. Come up with some rough calculations and many can share opinion which will clear your plan.

Similar reasoning...then you will say for the bullet train project and the purchase of Rafale fighter planes!

[Suraj]

Similar reasoning...then you will say for the bullet train project and the purchase of Rafale fighter planes!

This isn't a very constructive position to take towards someone pointing out an obvious flaw in an idea you had.

It might seem ingenious to you, but the amount of thought you've given to it is very superficial. Problems have a scientific, technological, engineering and financial basis. Some things are not possible due to basic science, e.g. you cannot send water uphill without a substantial energy cost. Some are technological hurdles, others are engineering and financial hurdles.

You suggested tunnels. A really significant idea would dig into the engineering challenge and financial figures, and establish their cost differential vs a surface level linkage. Certain technological advancements are the result of such deep analysis, e.g. EVs exists because rechargeable batteries got to the weight vs energy density vs cost point making them feasible from an engineering standpoint. An entity like Tesla took advantage of that and built a popular brand out of it.

Please take feedback positively and apply the scientific method to your own idea to establish and understand the hurdles in the way of implementation. You might indeed be the first to come up with original insight into the solution of an interesting challenge, but it requires quite a bit more depth of research into the problem, and a simple rhetorical response to others offering basic feedback doesn't help. Thinking "this is a great idea, it's others' problem to figure out the details. If they challenge me, they're wrong because this is a great idea", can quickly become a self serving circular argument.

[viveks]

Deleted

[nandakumar]

In the Indian context there are two distinct challenges for inter linking of rivers. One is the challenge of rivers North of the Vindhyas and linking it to the rivers to its South. Dr K.L. Rao, who was the Irrigation Minister in the Indira Gandhi Csbinet was a vociferous supporter of this programme. They had a grand name for it- Ganga-Cauvery canal project. But of course his solution, with the then available technology, was pumping the water through the gaps in the mountain range , but still up a gradient and then allowing a gravitational flow of excess water down South. He reckoned that the cost of pumping it and all other costs associated with it would be more than compensated by the value of agricultural output from a higher irrigation potential that the project would generate. MN Dastur, an engineering consultant came up with another solution. He was proposing construction of a canal along the coast- called the Garland Canal project. Its chief merit lay in the fact that it skirted the Vindhyas ( hence the need to pump water up a gradient) but nevertheless contemplated linking surplus waters from the North to the deficient South. The debate went on for more than a decade through the 70s. But of course, we were perennially short of cash and we couldn't take the risk of diverting a huge chunk of resources to one single project and thus starve other equally needy sectors. And of course were chronically deficit in power, back then.
Economically India has come a long way since then and technology of tunneling too, has made great strides. (By the way, I recall reading in a oil related website discussion forum wherein someone was arguing that if the US could realign the East-West inter-state highways so that it bores through the Applachian mountains and not climb over it, it could cut down transportation fuel consumption drastically. But that's another story). So financially it might be more attractive now and we have the resources.
But by far the greatest challenge is political. Diversion of water requires impounding it at vantage locations. This creates a back flow of water using up land where the water spreads. The people affected by such inundation are not going to keep quiet. There will be protests. Then there is a political issue of inter state rivalries. Why should waters of my State go to feed the lands of another State. I can cite numerous examples where any sensible sharing of water has been stymied by political reservations. The Ken-Betwa river linking project between UP and MP is still dragging on. Throw into the mix the NGO/PIL lobby you are looking at a gigantic black hole of execution.

[viveks]

You are correct. People will develop issues like how much water from one state should be pumped to another, so much so , like the cavery dam and water sharing issue between tamilnadu, Kerala and Karnataka.

And I do agree about costs and land issues for the project. After all, even when the kudamkulum atomic power station was completing construction, there was so much protest that the administration had to resort to water canon spraying on the protesters.

Also, I am not saying that the project should be completed overnight or in a real fast pace. I think this should be a gradual one overseeing the impact to ecosystem and yearly financial budget allocation for it. In any case it is just a thought that occurred to me after watching a few presentations regarding the environmental impact of creating canals. I just said to myself that we are gaining so much experience with tunneling these days...be it in j&k and north east and in the metros. And there is talk of constructing a metro tunnel under the hooglee river to bring metro to hawrah station. So this could be undertaken at a slow pace considering the yearly budget allocations.

Anyways, thanks for expressing some interesting information.

[darshan]

Not versed in this so can't tell what's what here.

Revocation of 2018 GR in consumers’ interest, claims Gujarat government on PPA with imported coal based power stations
https://www.deshgujarat.com/2020/07/19/ ... overnment/

[Mort Walker]

NTPC's 1,600 MW Lara Power Project fully operational

New Delhi: State-owned power giant NTPC on Monday said it's 1,600 MW Lara super thermal power station in Chhattisgarh has been fully operational after 800 MW Unit-2 of the project was made fully functional. Earlier in September, the 800 MW Unit-1 of the project was made commercially operational.

"800 MW, Unit-2 of Lara Super Thermal Power Project, has been added to Installed Capacity of the NTPC on successful completion of trial operation. With this, the total installed capacity of NTPC and NTPC group has become 51,155 MW and 62,910 MW respectively," it said in a regulatory filing.

With a total installed capacity of 62,910 MW, the NTPC Group has 70 power stations comprising 24 coal, 7 combined cycle gas/liquid fuel, 1 hydro, 13 renewables along with 25 subsidiary & joint venture power stations.

[Mort Walker]

Atmanirbhar discoms critical to power India's renewable energy ambitions

What is needed is synchronisation among centre and states in planning as well as implementation. If goals are not shared, missteps are bound to happen.

Posting this editorial from TERI in full since the DISCOMS are in bad financial shape and it will impact installations of all energy sources:

A couple of recent news reports once again bring in to focus the financial health of electricity distribution companies (Discoms) in India and its consequences for the country’s renewable energy (RE) ambitions. The first of these reports - ‘As discom losses continue downward spiral, power secretary bats for better governance’ (Economic Times, July 14) - said: “Revenue deficit of state power distribution companies has risen to the worst in nearly a decade, while other financial indicators are also bleak. The pandemic will only lead to a further loss. Power secretary Sanjiv Sahai said discoms need to be governed properly. The situation is particularly grim in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, which subsidise consumers but haven’t raised tariffs for years. The aggregate net worth of discoms is negative at Rs 80,567 crore.”

This was followed by another report saying that “The National Solar Energy Federation of India has requested Union Power Minister R K Singh to set aside Rs 50 billion from the distribution companies’ liquidity package for Andhra Pradesh Discoms so their dues can be paid to renewable generators. As of March 2020, Discoms owed RE generators Rs 68.37 billion in outstanding payments.” (MERCOM India, July 15). The aggregate losses of all Discoms at the end of last financial year were reportedly at Rs 4,90,000 crore.Their total receivables from state governments as subsides and from various government departments’ electricity bills is over Rs 1,00,000 crore.

The present Covid-19 pandemic too has exacerbated the crisis with Discoms’ most lucrative consumer segment - commercial & industrial consumers - facing a sharp downturn. A projected 1 per cent reduction in electricity demand in FY 2020-21 will put additional pressure on Discom revenues. This also affects India’s ambition of reaching 175 GW of renewable electricity capacity by 2022. Unless the subsidy burden arising out of political decisions is taken off their balance sheet, bankrupt utilities cannot be expected to participate wholeheartedly in India’s clean energy revolution.

As on June 30, 2020, the total installed RE capacity in the country was 87.6 GW. In fact, in the case of solar, we have reached only 35 per cent of the targeted 100 GW so far. So, we have less than two years to add another 87 GW.

Unfortunately, bids – whether by the central agencies like Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) or by the states – do not automatically translate to on-ground, operational capacity. Central to the anticipated progress on this front is the role, and more importantly, ownership of the Discoms. This extends from grid-connected mega RE power plants to distributed solar rooftop systems. The impacts of financial ill health of Discoms are manifesting in numerous ways, ranging from inordinately delayed payments to renewable generators to curtailment of renewable power. While on one hand there is the tendency to renege on legal contracts, on the other hand is the unwillingness to procure RE power, as evident from the Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPO) compliance records of most Discoms, barring a couple of honourable exceptions. As if to validate it further, Andhra Pradesh’s Discom has claimed that high procurement costs of RE power are a threat to its survival given its already precarious financials.

The writing on the wall is clear to all. The deteriorating condition of Discoms would not only affect India’s electricity sector generally but may derail its RE plans incalculably. The huge outstanding payments have the capacity to really dampen appetite for new investments in the RE sector – further creating a vicious circle. Moreover, such a subdued scenario also adversely impacts attractiveness of RE companies as investment propositions. Only the other day, the maiden bond issue of SB Energy had to be withdrawn due to lukewarm investor response. Cumulatively, the sector is deprived of much needed capital.

Being the major off-takers of renewable power and its facilitators, to overlook role of Discoms in the growth of India’s RE sector would be a risk best avoided. Since the sector’s business sustainability is directly dependent on that of Discoms, there is an urgent need to take necessary steps to improve their financial viability. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Atmanirbhar Discoms are key to several of the government’s goals, be it 24x7 electricity for all or India’s RE targets.

What is urgently required is to move towards cost-reflective tariffs instead of yet another bail-out package. As regards the subsidy burden on Discoms, yes, providing subsidies is a prerogative of elected governments but certainly not at the cost of viability of distribution utilities. As long as Discoms remain unwilling partners in our RE movement, the problem will only compound. And so would continue their reluctance to increase share of RE procurement, inordinate defaults on RPO compliance and payments, and implicit resistance to proliferation of solar rooftop systems. This is also a classic example of how chronic neglect of a key part of the system can put in peril well-intentioned plans; in this case reaching 175 GW of RE by 2022. This also calls for a systemic overhaul rather than tinkering in bits and pieces. Above all, what is needed is synchronisation among centre and states in planning as well as implementation. If goals are not shared, missteps are bound to happen.

[Vips]

Rural areas to get 600 million LED bulbs at ₹10 apiece without govt subsidy.

India’s Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) plans to offer 600 million LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs in rural areas at ₹10 per piece, without any government support or subsidy, according to a top executive at the state-run firm.

The lowest globally priced LED bulb to be offered by EESL by leveraging scale, will comes as a boost for Make in India and will also give India’s climate change strategy a shot in the arm under the proposed Gram UJALA (Unnat Jyoti by Affordable Lighting for All) scheme.

EESL, that is presently running the world’s largest domestic lighting programme, is in the process of registering the Gram UJALA scheme under the United Nations’ Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), that will enable it to claim carbon credits. The government’s UJALA scheme had cut LED bulb prices to ₹70 apiece from around ₹310 in 2014. Under the new scheme, the revenue earned from carbon credits will contribute ₹60 per LED bulb piece, with the balance ₹10 to be paid by the rural consumer.

"We realised that a rural consumer isn’t able to pay ₹70 per LED bulb. Under the proposed scheme, we will be taking back the consumer’s incandescent and CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) bulbs and provide this LED bulb for ₹10 a piece. The balance cost and our margin will be recouped through the carbon credits earned," Saurabh Kumar, executive vice chairperson, EESL Group, told Mint in an interview on Saturday.

It has been observed that less than one fifth or only 18% of the 360 million LED bulbs distributed under the UJALA scheme was in the rural areas.

The Gram UJALA scheme will also help improve energy access in rural areas, with the mandatory domestic manufacturing clause in sourcing LED bulb tenders expediting India’ efforts to become an integral part of global supply chains, as firms look to move production lines out of China following the coronavirus pandemic that originated in Wuhan.

In the first phase of the new scheme in the works, 10 million LED bulbs will be offered. Of the total investment requirement of ₹4,000 crore, rural consumers will pay ₹600 crore with the balance ₹3,400 crore accruing from carbon credit revenue.

“The moment that the scheme is registered under CDM, we will launch Gram UJALA," said Kumar.

This comes in the backdrop of the Indian government restricting companies from countries with a shared land border from participating in bids for government procurement without approval from competent authorities and ensuring compulsory purchase preference to local suppliers.

India is running the world’s largest energy efficiency programmes, with EESL offering large procurement contracts in the energy sector enabling businesses to leverage scale and achieve economy to bring down prices.

According to EESL, India offers a compelling reason for investment in combating climate change. In developed economies, while it takes an investment of around $100-$200 for one tonne reduction of green house gases, in India for the same quantum of green house gas reduction, the investment is pegged at $10-$40.

India is the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after the US and China, and among the countries most vulnerable to climate change. India plans to reduce its carbon footprint from its 2005 levels by 33-35% by 2030, as part of its commitments to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change adopted by 195 countries in Paris in 2015.

EESL, a joint venture set up by NTPC Ltd, Rural Electrification Corp. Ltd, Power Finance Corp. Ltd and Power Grid Corp. of India Ltd has also been conducting price discovery exercises for International Solar Alliance (ISA), by aggregating the demand from ISA member nations for solar-powered agricultural pumps. The tender achieved global disruption by bringing down the cost of such pumps by half.

It is currently running the largest global solar home system’ price discovery tender, for the ISA member nations for a potential order of 47 million home power systems, valued at around $28 billion, reported by Mint on 6 August. The first phase will be for 9.3 million home power system—each comprising of a solar panel, battery, LED bulbs, fan and charging port for radio, TV and USB—with the bids to be submitted by 31 October.

According to EESL, India is currently the second-largest LED market in the world by value, with the UJALA scheme likely to help avoid peak electricity demand of 9,428 mega watt.

[Prasad]

Did that Philips factory get off the ground or are the LEDs still imported from China? We were supposed to be fully locally made before even halfway through the first tender for ujala.

[dinesh_kimar]

^ Saar, on brf , we usually post abt Phillip , and imports from Russia are discussed.

Why are you going against traditions?

Jokes apart, there is widespread demand for LED and CFL lights, and the technical learning curve for these products is less.

However, there is lack of government support in sops to manufacturers, and some additional problems for sourcing materials.

The Phillips plant in Vadodara was to commence operations in 2015, to make the LED tube locally. However, there was a production shortfall, some technical and sourcing problems, and the Commerce ministry permitted them to import from China.

This was in 2016.

Present status probably the same. ( So this is how China got 55% of our LED Market).

[Vips]

List of LED bulb 'producers' in India: https://www.eletimes.com/top-10-led-lig ... nies-india

I think only Surya Roshni has a plant for large scale manufacturing of LED bulbs. Rest all are importers.

[Cyrano]

Lots of fascinating and intense debates going on in Europe at the moment regarding energy and environment. Many public and private groups and think tanks are actively working on energy transition - to move away from fossil fuels to other renewable sources. The debates are highly contested, with a spectrum of voices ranging from deniers to reasoning scientists to business interests to 15min famers like Greta Thunberg to loony anarchy groups like Extinction Rebellion.

More and more data & analysis is emerging showing that renewable energies (RE) like solar & wind are never going to be reliable and the power they produce when alleezwell is often decorrelated with consumption cycles. Moreover RE cannot be stored in a reasonable way for use when needed. The economics of RE business simply don't seem to add up, and wind farms need subsidies and bailouts else go bust. In any case their production is just a fraction of a country's electricity needs, itself a fraction of the "energy" needs.

There is increasing realisation that the environmental impact of RE projects all things considered - rare earths and materials needed to build windmills and solar panels, transport and erection, grid connectivity, yield, maintenance and renewal at the end of lifespan, impact on flora, fauna etc - is not always worth it when compared to CO2 or fossil fuels saved.

Nuclear energy which has been smeared for decades is finding a renewed interest and support, but with the realisation that it cannot be a panacea and comes with its own risks - environmental and security wise.

While its great to see India positioning itself as a mover & shaker on these Green topics on the world arena, which is good for image building, as a nation of 1.3B souls whose per capita energy consumption is only bound to increase sharply in the decades to come, GOI has to tread cautiously in policy making and investments both of which will have long lasting and expensive consequences.

[Vips]

Adani Power’s Mundra 660 MW supercritical unit has created national record. Here’s why.

Adani Power Mundra Limited, a subsidiary of Adani Power Limited, said on Wednesday that a 660 MW supercritical unit (7) at 4,620 MW Mundra Power Thermal Plant has created a new national record by running continuously for 411 days. According to industry data, a unit at TCPL, Nellore power plant had earlier run for 410 days in supercritical category. “The 660 MW supercritical facility generated 5,132 million units of electricity during this uninterrupted operation. What is even more remarkable is that the feat was achieved with 79.01 percent PLF and Zero Specific Oil Consumption,” said an official statement.

This is not the first record established by APL. Earlier, Mundra subcritical asset too had entered the record books. In 2017, Mundra Power Plant, sub-critical 330 MW unit had created a similar national record of continuous running for 684 days.

[Vips]

State-run engineering rm BHEL bags maiden order for battery energy storage systems.

State-run engineering rm BHEL on Friday said it has bagged its maiden order for battery energy storage systems from TERI. However, the
company did not divulge details about the value of the order.

"Amidst sti competitive bidding, BHEL has won its rst commercial order for state-of-the-art Battery Energy Storage Systems from The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI)," BHEL said in a statement.

The company has signed a contract agreement with TERI for setting up of a cumulative 410 kWh Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) in the National
Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, it added.

The tender was issued by TERI on turnkey basis under UI-ASSIST (US-India Collaborative for Smart Distribution System with Storage) initiative with BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL).

BHEL's scope of work in the contract includes design, supply, testing, installation and commissioning along with a comprehensive ve-year annual maintenance contract (AMC) of the systems at three dierent locations, it said.

The project will be executed by BHEL's Electronics Division, Bengaluru.

BHEL has a focused approach in the emerging eld of BESS and has already commissioned a 1 MWh BESS at its corporate R&D centre located in Hyderabad.

The state-of-the-art system is commissioned with three dierent battery technologies viz. lithium-ion, advance leadcarbon and ow batteries, the statement said.

[Mort Walker]

BHEL doesn't give the cost or details. A 410 KWHr BESS is small. Commercial UPS systems with back up battery are probably the model that BHEL is using as opposed to the 1 MWHr BESS. Any battery back up or storage system has its complicated maintenance and safety issues. Industrial UPS systems with over 1100 KVA battery back up systems from Mitsubishi and Eaton Power have their issues, and scaling it up further is complicated.