India's Power Sector

The Technology & Economic Forum is a venue to discuss issues pertaining to Technological and Economic developments in India. We request members to kindly stay within the mandate of this forum and keep their exchanges of views, on a civilised level, however vehemently any disagreement may be felt. All feedback regarding forum usage may be sent to the moderators using the Feedback Form or by clicking the Report Post Icon in any objectionable post for proper action. Please note that the views expressed by the Members and Moderators on these discussion boards are that of the individuals only and do not reflect the official policy or view of the Bharat-Rakshak.com Website. Copyright Violation is strictly prohibited and may result in revocation of your posting rights - please read the FAQ for full details. Users must also abide by the Forum Guidelines at all times.
Mort Walker
BRF Oldie
Posts: 10033
Joined: 31 May 2004 11:31
Location: The rings around Uranus.

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Mort Walker »

Theo_Fidel wrote:No saar,

Tornado has wind shear,

Cyclone/Hurricane is straight line winds. Even at Eye wall. I know this having lived through several cyclones/hurricanes.

I think you are concerned about nothing. There are reasons to question offshore wind, this is not one of them.
Only land fall do we have the straight line winds. Off-shore there is wind shear. The Indian Ocean has major cyclones that pass close to the sub-continent every couple of years and there is reason to be concerned when it will increase cost of the turbines.
Mort Walker
BRF Oldie
Posts: 10033
Joined: 31 May 2004 11:31
Location: The rings around Uranus.

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Mort Walker »

SBajwa wrote:
by Theo_Fidel
This DC is sounds cool but it really looks to be as expensive as putting in A/C. There don’t seem to be any efficiency or cost gains. He says it will stop stealing of power, but you don’t knee cap yourself so you can avoid getting to the ATM and potential getting robbed. No one is going to put in an alternate scheme when everyone else has grid A/C. power. Why this second class system. Either everyone move to the DC or stay on AC and cover everyone. Rural electric is always subsidized all around the world. Not going to change in India
Correct! When Tesla created A/C., he had to fight with Edison who created D/C. Edison wanted small D/C stations all over cities and even created this in Buffalo, NY. Tesla eventually won proving to the US government that A/C is better to transmit. Anyhow!!

D/C to supplement A/C (when not available) is fine.
Do we have such appliances in our villages? Refrigerators in Villages will not only save large amount of food that is wasted every season but also give more money to farmers. Recently I was in my village in punjab where my cousin took as many peas as he can for personal use and then just ploughed the 5 acres as price of peas was too low., losing three months of work.

http://www.geinnovations.net/solarrefrigerator.html

If solar power is to be implemented, then it is best to use DC. LED lights and DC motors all work well. Compressors and traction motors would have to be made to run on DC. You could use thermoelectric cooling by the Peltier effect, but I've never seen it for large scale applications such as air conditioning and refrigeration.
durairaaj
BRFite
Posts: 137
Joined: 11 Aug 2016 06:14

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by durairaaj »

If I were to decide the installation of wind mill off western shore especially on such a massive scale, I would go slow about it. Due to its effect on rain clouds coming into western part, as many of the rivers on western part are fed by only SW monsoon. Due to climate change, the SW monsoon is getting shortened and delayed. Addition of even more uncertainity with the the massive number of wind breakers, i.e. wind mills, even before the wind reaches the shores thereby not having shed the water its carrying on the land will affect the hydrological cycle. However, European countries don't have any shortage of water and will not be affected by small decrease in rainfall.
nandakumar
BRFite
Posts: 1638
Joined: 10 May 2010 13:37

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by nandakumar »

Mort Walker wrote:nandakumar,

You posted in the wrong thread. It should go in the telecom thread.
I was responding to the specific point that if only all appliances can be designed to use low voltage DC current it is a cost efficient solution for solar power. I mentioned Jhunjhunwala's track record in telecom where he pushed for his technology with disastrous results for BSNL's business plans for roll out of gsm based mobile telephony. There may be nothing unethical in it as Theo Fidel points out. But just that his track record warrants some scepticism about any breakthrough claims.
guru.shetty
BRFite -Trainee
Posts: 49
Joined: 28 Oct 2016 07:29

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by guru.shetty »

nandakumar wrote:
Mort Walker wrote:nandakumar,

You posted in the wrong thread. It should go in the telecom thread.
I was responding to the specific point that if only all appliances can be designed to use low voltage DC current it is a cost efficient solution for solar power. I mentioned Jhunjhunwala's track record in telecom where he pushed for his technology with disastrous results for BSNL's business plans for roll out of gsm based mobile telephony. There may be nothing unethical in it as Theo Fidel points out. But just that his track record warrants some scepticism about any breakthrough claims.
IMO, for the 300 million Indians not connected to the grid, it may actually be a good solution. If your sole goal is cut costs as much as possible, so that very poor people also have electricity and not pay any electricity bill, it starts making sense. A Single solar panel + A very small battery connected to a few LED lights and one ceiling fan does not cost much and can win you elections. You remove inverters from the cost equation. You also remove the losses in conversions from DC to AC. Also DC equipment, e.g a fan is considered 70% more efficient than AC fan.

Having all of this inside a house also prevents losses from thief (both equipment and electricity).
Rishirishi
BRFite
Posts: 1409
Joined: 12 Mar 2005 02:30

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Rishirishi »

guru.shetty wrote:
nandakumar wrote: I was responding to the specific point that if only all appliances can be designed to use low voltage DC current it is a cost efficient solution for solar power. I mentioned Jhunjhunwala's track record in telecom where he pushed for his technology with disastrous results for BSNL's business plans for roll out of gsm based mobile telephony. There may be nothing unethical in it as Theo Fidel points out. But just that his track record warrants some scepticism about any breakthrough claims.
IMO, for the 300 million Indians not connected to the grid, it may actually be a good solution. If your sole goal is cut costs as much as possible, so that very poor people also have electricity and not pay any electricity bill, it starts making sense. A Single solar panel + A very small battery connected to a few LED lights and one ceiling fan does not cost much and can win you elections. You remove inverters from the cost equation. You also remove the losses in conversions from DC to AC. Also DC equipment, e.g a fan is considered 70% more efficient than AC fan.

Having all of this inside a house also prevents losses from thief (both equipment and electricity).
It will soon happen. You need a very small solar panel and battery to power LED lamps and a small TV. With a little extra you can manage to have 2 fans and a much needed refrigrator. All can sensible run on 12V DC, without any issue.
srin
BRF Oldie
Posts: 2509
Joined: 11 Aug 2016 06:13

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by srin »

Isn't there a problem with running motors (fans, etc) with DC ? And also doesn't DC require thicker wires (therefore more copper and therefore higher cost) ?
rahulm
BRFite
Posts: 1247
Joined: 19 Jun 2000 11:31

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by rahulm »

Some times, solutions are around us if we look in non conventional places. A good model to use is the RV industry.

My campervan runs 4 internal (cabin) LED alights, one 32 L chest fridge with freezer, a water pump and shower pump. All on 12 V DC deep cycle lead acid battery. I also have. 300W invertor for the Laptop and when I need 240 V. Chest fridge/freezers are more efficient than upright models.

For a small,house, ditch the invertor and and create a gram udyog version pack with lights and fan as a basic pack and fridge, TV and water pump as add on accessories.

Create simple click on colour coded cable harnesses which village people can install themselves. Icing on the cake will everyone can get one (at a price) if you link it to Aadhaar :rotfl:

I have a portable solar panel for outback tours where I live totally off grid and without moving so I can't use the engine to charge the batteries.
Theo_Fidel

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Theo_Fidel »

Will these people remain poor and deprived for Ever?

Looking at how rapidly India is industrialized and moving up the percapita index in about 10 years the worst of the deprivation will be behind us. Everyone will want regular access to power at that point. Doesn't sound logical.

But sounds like this is a political thing to get votes....
Theo_Fidel

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Theo_Fidel »

Let's do the math on this thing.

100 whr, over 24 hours ~ 2.5 kwh per day. 365 days x 2.5 ~ 1000 kwhr or 1 mwhr per residence per year. ~ Rs 6000-7000 per residence per year subsidy.

Say 200 million residences. 200,000,000 x 6000 ~ Rs 120,000 Crore. Or about $ 20 Billion per year.

You could restrict it to say bottom 1/4 of residences, keep in mind last time we tried this 90% of residences qualified as poor, it would then cost ~ Rs 30,000 crore or $ 5 Billion.

IMHO we would be better of just depositing money straight into bank accounts, get more votes too....
guru.shetty
BRFite -Trainee
Posts: 49
Joined: 28 Oct 2016 07:29

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by guru.shetty »

Theo_Fidel wrote:Let's do the math on this thing.

100 whr, over 24 hours ~ 2.5 kwh per day. 365 days x 2.5 ~ 1000 kwhr or 1 mwhr per residence per year. ~ Rs 6000-7000 per residence per year subsidy.

Say 200 million residences. 200,000,000 x 6000 ~ Rs 120,000 Crore. Or about $ 20 Billion per year.

You could restrict it to say bottom 1/4 of residences, keep in mind last time we tried this 90% of residences qualified as poor, it would then cost ~ Rs 30,000 crore or $ 5 Billion.

IMHO we would be better of just depositing money straight into bank accounts, get more votes too....
IMO, you increased costs by a factor of 4. 100 watts for 6 hrs instead of 24 hours.

Doing the math differently:
250w panel @ $100. 0.5 kwh battery at $75. $25 for installation..
Total cost = $200 per family. This is a one time cost and not a yearly cost.

75 million households * $200 = $15 billion one time cost (or 20 year cost).
Rishirishi
BRFite
Posts: 1409
Joined: 12 Mar 2005 02:30

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Rishirishi »

guru.shetty wrote:
Theo_Fidel wrote:Let's do the math on this thing.

100 whr, over 24 hours ~ 2.5 kwh per day. 365 days x 2.5 ~ 1000 kwhr or 1 mwhr per residence per year. ~ Rs 6000-7000 per residence per year subsidy.

Say 200 million residences. 200,000,000 x 6000 ~ Rs 120,000 Crore. Or about $ 20 Billion per year.

You could restrict it to say bottom 1/4 of residences, keep in mind last time we tried this 90% of residences qualified as poor, it would then cost ~ Rs 30,000 crore or $ 5 Billion.

IMHO we would be better of just depositing money straight into bank accounts, get more votes too....
IMO, you increased costs by a factor of 4. 100 watts for 6 hrs instead of 24 hours.

Doing the math differently:
250w panel @ $100. 0.5 kwh battery at $75. $25 for installation..
Total cost = $200 per family. This is a one time cost and not a yearly cost.

75 million households * $200 = $15 billion one time cost (or 20 year cost).
You will need a battery of at least 2,5KWh to run refrigirator, lighting, TV and a fan. that is about 200W per hour over 12 hours.

Hence the battery cost will be in the tune of 375 dollars and the panes will be 100 and 25 for installation etc. Add another 100 for sales, and other expensis. Hence the total bill comes to 600 dollars or RS 40 000 as an onetime investment.

The EMI for such a system with an interest rate of 10,5 % is RS 442 per month over 15 years. Best part is, Inflation will catch up the monthy payment of RS 442 and within a few years one would hardly feel the expenditure. Even the poorest could afford this.

If 50 million rural households were given such a sytem it would cost about 30 billion dollars. But you do not have to fork out all that at once. An annual subsidy of 2,5 billion dollars per year over 15 years would do the trick.
Theo_Fidel

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Theo_Fidel »

Rishi,

You will still need an inverter. 48v is tough for a PV solar panel to maintain on its own, the amps would vary wildly damaging the equipment.

I definitely support getting every household in India a couple of PV panels, battery,etc. As Rishi points out the cost would be less than the fortune that has been squandered in say Air India. Though I think a PV/Battery grid connection to 220v should the end game. This would also trigger a whole ecosystem of jobs for manufacturers, companies, installers, maintenance types, and lower our need to burn coal.

Many years ago I did the calculation that if the money spent on Kundankulam Reactor had been diverted to residential solar, every single house in TN would have a PV system installed enough for their daily needs. Battery would have cost more.
jayasimha
BRFite
Posts: 400
Joined: 09 Feb 2011 17:31

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by jayasimha »

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Power
10-July-2017 17:40 IST
Indian Power Sector- An Update

All India Statistics of Indian Power Sector are released by Central Electricity Authority (CEA) today. The main highlights are as follows:-

Generation Capacity Addition target during the period 2012-17 from conventional sources was 99,209.47 MW against a target of 88,537 MW, over achieving the same by 112%. Conventional generation capacity addition achieved in the past 3 years (2014-15, 2015-16 & 2016-17) has been 60,752.6 MW, which is about 61 % of the total capacity addition achieved during this period.

In 2015-16, conventional generation capacity addition achieved was 23,976.6 MW which is the largest ever capacity addition in a single year.

The Renewable Energy Sources installed capacity as on 31.03.2014 was 31,692.14 MW. As on 31.03.2017, India has achieved an Installed Capacity of 57,260.2 MW of RES showing an increase of 80% during 2014-2017.

The Peak Demand met increased from 130 GW in 2013-14 to 157 GW in 2016-17, which works out to a CAGR of 6.5 %. Along with this growth in demand, the quantum of "power not supplied during peak" has reduced substantially from 6.1 GW in 2013-14 to only 2.6 GW in 2016-17, a reduction of 57%.

The quantum of energy supplied by the State Distribution Utilities increased from 960 BU in 2013-14 to 1135 BU in 2016-17, showing a CAGR of 5.8 %. This increase is, in-spite of energy conservation and efficiency improvement measures. Without the energy efficiency measures, the growth rate would have been much more. Along with this growth in supply of electricity, the quantum of "energy not supplied" has reduced substantially from 42.4 BU in 2013-14 to 7.6 BU in 2016-17, a reduction of 82%.

The energy actually used by all the consumers including industries, grew at an even higher rate. The gross generation in the country, which reflects the consumption by consumers (other than about 0.2% growth rate of export to Bangladesh and Nepal), increased from 1020 BUs in 2013-14 to 1242 BUs in 2016-17, showing a CAGR of 6.8 percent. The reason that there is a higher growth in gross generation, vis-à-vis energy supplied by State Distribution Utilities, is that many industries are now purchasing power through open access from IPPs without contracts with the States. Therefore, the consumption of these industries has reduced from the State Utilities and increased through open access, which is reflected as generation increase from IPPs without contracts. This growth rate is, in-spite of energy conservation and efficiency improvement measures. Without the energy efficiency measures, the growth rate would have been much more.

Adequate power is available in the country to meet the demand of power of the consumers who are having access to electricity. In 2013-14, the demand-supply gap in terms of Energy and Peak stood at 4.2% and 4.5% respectively. This has now come down to an all-time low of 0.7% and 1.6% respectively in 2016-17. Further, this gap is on account of factors other than inadequacy of power in the country.


RM/RS
ssundar
BRFite
Posts: 653
Joined: 15 Aug 2016 02:33

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by ssundar »

Hoping this is (close enough to) the right thread for this.

Hyundai’s new electric bus has 180 miles of range and fully charges in an hour

Piyush Goyal's push for an All-Electric transportation sector in India can be taken closer to reality with the strides being made in Electric Buses. India is already one of the biggest markets for Hyundai. It wouldn't take much for GoI to get Hyundai to manufacture these buses here under the "Make in India" initiative.
Suraj
Forum Moderator
Posts: 15043
Joined: 20 Jan 2002 12:31

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Suraj »

Coal to account for over two-third of commercial energy output in 2022
Coal is the mainstay of India’s energy production with 75 per cent electricity produced from coal in 2014. Despite India’s commitments to limit emissions and use renewables increasingly for electricity production, coal’s share in India’s commercial energy production is projected to remain over 66 per cent in 2021-22 as it has been since 2000.
Image
rahulm
BRFite
Posts: 1247
Joined: 19 Jun 2000 11:31

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by rahulm »

Soon, an app to pay your power bills

This is nothing new. We knew it all along.
Madkaikar said that the state had sufficient power supply but due to inadequate or old infrastructure, certain parts of the state face power problems.
Being power surplus is is praiseworthy and a stellar achievement. It's only the beginning. the pass mark has to be eliminating power cuts. I appreciate infrastructure upgrades do nit happen overnight but there are no published reports that I can find of infra upgrade plans to address this issue.

In a small state like Goa where change and transformation should be easiest and is also touted as a model state, so far nothing model about.

A good indication of exceeding the pass mark would be when Inverter and generator makers are out protesting on the streets about how the governments power policy has destroyed their livelihood and filing a PIL ato restore power cuts.
prahaar
BRF Oldie
Posts: 2831
Joined: 15 Oct 2005 04:14

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by prahaar »

Positively surprised by the continuous power supply and improved power quality in Gujarat. Not only uninterrupted supply, one 30 minutes outage due to transformer burnout, but power voltage maintained consistently. In a 3 week period.
VinodTK
BRF Oldie
Posts: 2982
Joined: 18 Jun 2000 11:31

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by VinodTK »

India's first-quarter coal imports fall 8.1 percent
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's coal imports fell 8.1 percent to 52.70 million tonnes in the first quarter of fiscal year 2018, Coal Minister Piyush Goyal told lawmakers on Thursday, as the world's third largest consumer of coal looks to cut dependence on imports.

Coal imports fell for the second straight year in 2017 to 191 tonnes, down 6.4 percent from 2016 levels, Goyal said, as state-run Coal India Ltd ramped up production to address domestic demand.

"The gap between demand and supply of coal cannot be bridged completely as there is insufficient domestic availability of coking coal and power plants designed on imported coal will continue to import coal for their production," Goyal said.

Inventories at the world's largest coal miner fell 19.4 percent to about 50 tonnes at the end of the June quarter, Goyal told lawmakers. Coal-fired power plants had 16.73 million tonnes of the dirty fuel as on July 25.

India's ability to reduce its coal stockpile is tied to improvements in its power distribution network, as over a fifth of its citizens still lack access to electricity.

About four-fifths of power generated in the country comes from coal-fired plants, making it one of the world's biggest users of the dirty fuel.
Mort Walker
BRF Oldie
Posts: 10033
Joined: 31 May 2004 11:31
Location: The rings around Uranus.

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Mort Walker »

Suraj wrote:Coal to account for over two-third of commercial energy output in 2022
Coal is the mainstay of India’s energy production with 75 per cent electricity produced from coal in 2014. Despite India’s commitments to limit emissions and use renewables increasingly for electricity production, coal’s share in India’s commercial energy production is projected to remain over 66 per cent in 2021-22 as it has been since 2000.
This is correct, about 2/3 of India's power will come from coal for the next 5 years.

What we really need to discuss in this thread is the cost of power per kilo-Watt-Hour or Rupees per Unit (KWHr). Solar, wind and renewables are all good, but what are actual costs of production? In India we have data on wind, but not enough on solar except from Kamuthi.

For pushing GDP growth ahead, India will need power rates, particularly for commercial users, at much lower levels than currently today. Right now the first problem at hand is to deliver sufficient power, but the last thing we need is for that power to be expensive.
Mort Walker
BRF Oldie
Posts: 10033
Joined: 31 May 2004 11:31
Location: The rings around Uranus.

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Mort Walker »

VinodTK wrote:India's first-quarter coal imports fall 8.1 percent
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's coal imports fell 8.1 percent to 52.70 million tonnes in the first quarter of fiscal year 2018, Coal Minister Piyush Goyal told lawmakers on Thursday, as the world's third largest consumer of coal looks to cut dependence on imports.

Coal imports fell for the second straight year in 2017 to 191 tonnes, down 6.4 percent from 2016 levels, Goyal said, as state-run Coal India Ltd ramped up production to address domestic demand.

"The gap between demand and supply of coal cannot be bridged completely as there is insufficient domestic availability of coking coal and power plants designed on imported coal will continue to import coal for their production," Goyal said.

Inventories at the world's largest coal miner fell 19.4 percent to about 50 tonnes at the end of the June quarter, Goyal told lawmakers. Coal-fired power plants had 16.73 million tonnes of the dirty fuel as on July 25.

India's ability to reduce its coal stockpile is tied to improvements in its power distribution network, as over a fifth of its citizens still lack access to electricity.

About four-fifths of power generated in the country comes from coal-fired plants, making it one of the world's biggest users of the dirty fuel.
Reuters did a DDM. Coal produces about 2/3 of power for India not 4/5.
Supratik
BRF Oldie
Posts: 6470
Joined: 09 Nov 2005 10:21
Location: USA

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Supratik »

Power sector developments under Modi govt.

http://www.financialexpress.com/opinion ... ld/825664/
Suraj
Forum Moderator
Posts: 15043
Joined: 20 Jan 2002 12:31

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Suraj »

India’s renewables to double by 2022, overtake EU expansion: Report
India’s renewable energy capacity will more than double by 2022, which would be enough to overtake renewable expansion in the European Union for the first time, International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report. The country’s renewable energy installed capacity is 58.30 GW as per the recent government data. The government has an ambitious target of raising it to 175 GW by 2022 including 100 GW of solar and 60 GW of wind energy. “By 2022, India’s renewable capacity will more than double. This growth is enough to overtake renewable expansion in the European Union for the first time,” IEA said in its latest renewables market analysis and forecast.
Prasad
BRF Oldie
Posts: 7793
Joined: 16 Nov 2007 00:53
Location: Chennai

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Prasad »

Anyone remember how in this very same thread a few years ago we were lamenting the fact that while china is adding capacity in the gigawatts, we were struggling to add tens & hundreds of megawatts? Good times.
disha
BR Mainsite Crew
Posts: 8243
Joined: 03 Dec 2006 04:17
Location: gaganaviharin

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by disha »

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features ... dian-slums

Must read on a innovation in collecting bills which is now replicated in Africa.
jpremnath
BRFite
Posts: 258
Joined: 18 Dec 2016 21:06

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by jpremnath »

^^ There is a marked slowdown in Solar and Wind projects lately.Most of the reports by IEA and investment advisory firms go blindly by government announcements without taking into consideration the past track record and potential challenges. As usual the Power ministry baboons would have come up with an unrealistic projection which Goyal presented to the PM. No one raised an eyebrow seeing those crazy numbers and forgot that as a nation we have a history of over promising and under delivering almost on all government plans. Some states trying to renegotiate sealed contracts will not help either. Look up on Adanis troubles in their South TN project. They are losing crores because of overzealous baboons.

I seriously doubt we can meet the 100GW of Solar power target by 2020. Worse, I am worried this might go in the same way as the UMPP and other large pvt sector power projects of UPA. Private players nudged by the govt and encouraged by promise of an unlimited growth took huge loans and made huge investments, most of which was on Debt. Now we have most of them shut down due to lack of power purchase agreements and coal/fuel supply and sitting as NPAs in Banks' balance sheets. I hope the govt does a serious look in the current solar mess and make sure they dont push firms to invest when there is no assurance that the grid can and will take their output.

Nevertheless, NDA2 has given some purpose and direction to the power sector overall which was missing in the previous UPA regime.
hanumadu
BRF Oldie
Posts: 5168
Joined: 11 Nov 2002 12:31

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by hanumadu »

jpremnath wrote:^^ There is a marked slowdown in Solar and Wind projects lately.Most of the reports by IEA and investment advisory firms go blindly by government announcements without taking into consideration the past track record and potential challenges. As usual the Power ministry baboons would have come up with an unrealistic projection which Goyal presented to the PM. No one raised an eyebrow seeing those crazy numbers and forgot that as a nation we have a history of over promising and under delivering almost on all government plans. Some states trying to renegotiate sealed contracts will not help either. Look up on Adanis troubles in their South TN project. They are losing crores because of overzealous baboons.

I seriously doubt we can meet the 100GW of Solar power target by 2020. Worse, I am worried this might go in the same way as the UMPP and other large pvt sector power projects of UPA. Private players nudged by the govt and encouraged by promise of an unlimited growth took huge loans and made huge investments, most of which was on Debt. Now we have most of them shut down due to lack of power purchase agreements and coal/fuel supply and sitting as NPAs in Banks' balance sheets. I hope the govt does a serious look in the current solar mess and make sure they dont push firms to invest when there is no assurance that the grid can and will take their output.

Nevertheless, NDA2 has given some purpose and direction to the power sector overall which was missing in the previous UPA regime.
Yeah, haven't heard of new solar projects for some time. The target is 100 GW by 2022 not 2020. Its still 5 years off. To achieve this roof top solar has to play a big part.

There are many reasons for current crisis in thermal power plants. Increase in price of Indonesian coal seems to be a factor in at least a few plants. Coal linkages is one. Availability of cheaper solar power might be another reason the thermal plants are deemed expensive. States not honouring their PPAs is another problem. The power produced by these plants may be expensive for domestic users but still cheaper for industrial users. Rapid industrialization is a must to absorb this excess capacity. Our percapita consumption is very less. So we actually do need to utilize all our current plants and then some.

Why would current solar plants be affected by lack of future growth? Its not as if they invested in manufacturing plants. They buy the solar panels and produce power. Shouldn't a solar farm be profitable on its own? Why should lack of new plants affect existing plants?
Supratik
BRF Oldie
Posts: 6470
Joined: 09 Nov 2005 10:21
Location: USA

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Supratik »

India to penalize Discoms for failing to supply power.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... 963616.cms
chetak
BRF Oldie
Posts: 32283
Joined: 16 May 2008 12:00

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by chetak »

Supratik wrote:India to penalize Discoms for failing to supply power.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... 963616.cms
the easiest solution is to make the continuous power supply a fundamental right :mrgreen:
prahaar
BRF Oldie
Posts: 2831
Joined: 15 Oct 2005 04:14

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by prahaar »

Defining SLAs and their enforcement is a power industry norm. I am glad this is being done. This will result in some increase in tariffs, but reduction in power loss with improved technical solution and reduced theft should compensate some of this.
Vips
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4699
Joined: 14 Apr 2017 18:23

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Vips »

Power lines may help quell a 70-year-old conflict in Kashmir.

In Prime Minister Narendra Modi's push to supply electricity to every Indian household, connecting homes in the state of Jammu & Kashmir might be the toughest.

Along India's violence-prone northern border, engineers and construction workers are hauling tons of high-tension wires and steel frames on pack mules across barren deserts and mountain ravines to electrify one of the country's most inhospitable states. Still, the effort, budgeted to cost Rs 4,800 crore ($740 million), may turn out to be Modi's most rewarding.

In some villages, winter outages persist for 20 hours a day even as temperatures dip to minus 35 degrees Celsius (minus 31 degrees Fahrenheit). Modi is counting on 24x7 power to both warm homes and hearts in the Muslim-majority state, where as many as 70,000 terrorists, security forces and civilians have died in independence-fueled clashes in the past three decades. Construction of key infrastructure in the Kashmir Valley may be helping.

People understand the value of this project since very few large development projects are happening in the valley," said Pratik Agarwal, chief executive officer of Sterlite Power Transmission Ltd., which is building the state's first private transmission line. "We have been getting incredible support as power is something people can relate to -- it's something that everyone wants."

When the first equipment reached a spot about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Srinagar, one of the state's two capital cities, in May 2016, locals protested what they thought was the makings of an army camp. As an electrical substation emerged, opposition gave way. Now, two neighboring villages are squabbling over rights to get their name on it.

The enthusiasm reflects an eagerness for electricity in a state lacking a fifth of the peak energy it needs. It also points to infrastructure as a potential avenue for Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party to garner greater support from Muslim Kashmiris, some of whom have violently opposed the controlling force of New Delhi, 825 kilometers south of Srinagar.

Electricity shortages have long been a bane in the Kashmir Valley, and providing reliable, affordable, constant power could go some way in quelling unrest, according to Noor Ahmad Baba, dean of the school of social sciences at the Central University of Kashmir.

Baba traces a connection between lack of electricity and militancy, drawing from his observations as a youth in the late 1980s, when insurgency escalated in Kashmir.

"Poor electricity supplies not only deprive Kashmiris of education, employment and medical facilities, but also very basic things like entertainment and communication," he said over the phone from Srinagar. "This leads to a lot of discontent."

While the state's capitals, Srinagar and Jammu, have electricity most of the day, towns and villages like Haft Chinar, on the outskirts of Srinagar, don't. "We barely get power now -- three-to-four hours a day at best," said Tanveer Hussain ..

who helps guard a newly built substation that he sees improving lives. "This has helped a lot of us. We got jobs and hope to get power, too, so my children can study and have a better life."

The lack of power is an economic drain on the state, according to Fayaz Ahmad Punjabi, junior vice president of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "Electricity is like food for industry, it's a necessity," he said. "But in Kashmir today, it's a luxury. So industry suffers, people suffer. Power is life, and we don't have enough of it."

Modi pledged to bring power to 18,452 unelectrified villages within 1,000 days in his August 2015 Independence Day national address. As of Oct. 31, electricity had reached 15,218 or 82 percent of those villages. In Jammu and Kashmir, 100 out of 134 villages, encompassing 270,000 households, lacking electricity were still waiting to be connected.

The government is trying to speed up progress with two transmission-line projects.

The Sterlite project will bring power from Jalandhar, in northern Punjab state, to Amargarh, near Srinagar, along a 441-kilometer line running parallel to the so-called Line of Control that marks part of India's de facto northern border with Pakistan.

The project, which will cost more than Rs 2,600 crore, is almost finished and Sterlite aims to start supplying as much as 1,000 megawatts to the power-starved valley in late December, several months ahead of schedule.

A dearth of suitable roads in some remote areas meant dozens of mules were used to haul construction material and Sterlite hired an air crane from Erickson Inc. to lift pieces for transmission towers to peaks as high as 3.8 kilometer (12,500 feet) in the Pir Panjal Range.

"We got incredible support from the state government," said Agarwal, Sterlite's CEO. "We've been working relentlessly despite the curfews, despite the unrest in Kashmir."

A second project managed by state-owned Power Grid Corp. will run electricity 350 kilometers from Srinagar to the Ladakh region in the state's northeast, bordering China.

"Kashmir and Ladakh freeze in winter," said Nirmal Kumar Singh, Jammu & Kashmir's deputy chief minister, in an interview. "Transmission is a big hurdle."

The state's peak power demand is about 2,700 megawatts, though it gets merely 2,100 megawatts -- about 1,100 megawatts from hydro electricity produced within the state and the rest from other states through an existing Power Grid transmission line. A lack of transmission capacity prevents it bringing in more.

Ladakh, a desert region with about 300,000 people between the Himalayan and Karakoram mountains, gets only about 25 megawatts of hydroelectricity in summer. In winter, it plunges into darkness, save a couple of hours each day when army-supplied, diesel-powered generators run.

Power Grid's line will cost Rs 2,200 crore and carry as much as 150 megawatts of electricity over mountains 4.6 kilometers above sea level when it's completed in 2018.

"Our line passes through Drass, one of the coldest and highest inhabited places," said Anil Jain, an executive director with Power Grid, who anticipates electricity demand in Ladakh will boom once homes and businesses are connected to the grid.

Providing power shows that the government in New Delhi is eager to develop the state and support the local economy, but more work is needed to resolve long-standing grievances, including a resumption of talks between India and Pakistan to to settle a territorial dispute over Kashmir, said Zahid Shahab Ahmed, a research fellow at Deakin University in Melbourne, who focuses on peace and security in the Muslim world.

"Deep wounds cannot just be healed by the constant supply of electricity," Ahmed said. "The people of Jammu & Kashmir need other freedoms, including security of their lives."

The power projects may be helping on that front, too, by forging a more conciliatory and collaborative approach.

After Sterlite faced initial resistance from locals, it suspected that state-sponsored protection could make it more vulnerable to attack and found it could better manage security using a private company staffed by mostly locals.

Linking the remote Himalayan region to the national power grid symbolizes a commitment to strengthen ties with the country's farthest state, said Baba at the Central University of Kashmir.

"The central government's push to increase power supplies is an important indicator that it's serious about bringing the state back into the national mainstream," he said.
Mollick.R
BRFite
Posts: 1033
Joined: 15 Aug 2016 10:26

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Mollick.R »

There is good NatGeo documentary on the same transmission line project. A must watch...


https://youtu.be/Q_LB9eenh08
srin
BRF Oldie
Posts: 2509
Joined: 11 Aug 2016 06:13

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by srin »

Mollick.R wrote:There is good NatGeo documentary on the same transmission line project. A must watch...


https://youtu.be/Q_LB9eenh08
Nice watch. English version below:


We need a few skycranes of our own, even if they are of lesser capacity. Modified mi-17 ?
disha
BR Mainsite Crew
Posts: 8243
Joined: 03 Dec 2006 04:17
Location: gaganaviharin

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by disha »

^Excellent Video. This needs to be shown to every body on how power changes life and how difficult is to bring power to the farthest corners of India. It is not just about technology but the careful choreography every unit does to put things in place.

In one year, all surplus power available in India can be transmitted to J & K.
A_Gupta
BRF Oldie
Posts: 12067
Joined: 23 Oct 2001 11:31
Contact:

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by A_Gupta »

Bloomberg reports:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... nt-imports
An Indian court Monday sought replies from the federal government and its revenue-intelligence department after it heard a petition alleging over-invoicing of imported coal and power plant equipment by some Indian electricity producers.

The Delhi High Court said it will on Feb. 7 resume hearing the petition filed by the non-profit Centre for Public Interest Litigation. The organization, in its plea, alleges that companies, including from conglomerates such as Adani and Essar, gained by inflating import bills. The process resulted in higher power tariff for consumers.
Rishirishi
BRFite
Posts: 1409
Joined: 12 Mar 2005 02:30

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Rishirishi »

A_Gupta wrote:Bloomberg reports:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... nt-imports
An Indian court Monday sought replies from the federal government and its revenue-intelligence department after it heard a petition alleging over-invoicing of imported coal and power plant equipment by some Indian electricity producers.

The Delhi High Court said it will on Feb. 7 resume hearing the petition filed by the non-profit Centre for Public Interest Litigation. The organization, in its plea, alleges that companies, including from conglomerates such as Adani and Essar, gained by inflating import bills. The process resulted in higher power tariff for consumers.
This is an old trick. You inflate the invoices and get loans from GOI backed bankes. Your project is risk free..

Here is how it works

1 You purchase plant equipment for 1 billion from say Germany.
2Then you create some fictive invoices from switzerland for say 500 million.
3In india you show total investment of 1,8 billion (land300+parts1500). You put down 400 as your equity and get a loan of 1400.

Now your real outlay is only 1300.

You are at least going to make 100 million even if the plant goes bust. If it does not you simply take the profit. Its all about political connections.
schinnas
BRFite
Posts: 1773
Joined: 11 Jun 2009 09:44

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by schinnas »

Very very high Penalities and jail time needs to be given to execs to set an example. Such loans result in NPA.8

Since power sector has very high NPA, there should be a CBI or NIA investigation into this. It is breaking our banking system and slowing down liquidity available to the industry.

Not less harmful than terrorism. However high and mighty the perpetrators are, should be out behind bars.
Rishirishi
BRFite
Posts: 1409
Joined: 12 Mar 2005 02:30

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Rishirishi »

schinnas wrote:Very very high Penalities and jail time needs to be given to execs to set an example. Such loans result in NPA.8

Since power sector has very high NPA, there should be a CBI or NIA investigation into this. It is breaking our banking system and slowing down liquidity available to the industry.

Not less harmful than terrorism. However high and mighty the perpetrators are, should be out behind bars.
Terrorism has never done much harm. Imagine in a place like Mumbai 3000 people die in rail and traffic every year. How many actually die of terror?
Suraj
Forum Moderator
Posts: 15043
Joined: 20 Jan 2002 12:31

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by Suraj »

Clean energy crosses 62 GW mark; solar over 16W, wind 32.7GW
The country’s renewable energy capacity stood at 62.05 GW by November 2017, which includes 32.75 GW of wind energy and 16.61GW of solar power, Parliament was informed today. “A total of 62.05 GW of renewable energy capacity has been installed as on November 30, 2017 which includes 32.75 GW from wind, 16.61 GW from solar, 8.29 GW from bio-power and 4.40 GW from small hydro power (up to 25 MW),” Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha today. The minister informed the House that the power generated from these sources is fed into the grid and then utilised by distribution companies to provide the same to consumers. The government has fixed a target of installing 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022, which includes 100 GW from solar, 60 GW from wind, 10 GW from Bio-power and 5 GW from Small Hydro power.
nachiket
Forum Moderator
Posts: 9102
Joined: 02 Dec 2008 10:49

Re: India's Power Sector

Post by nachiket »

Rishirishi wrote:
schinnas wrote:Very very high Penalities and jail time needs to be given to execs to set an example. Such loans result in NPA.8

Since power sector has very high NPA, there should be a CBI or NIA investigation into this. It is breaking our banking system and slowing down liquidity available to the industry.

Not less harmful than terrorism. However high and mighty the perpetrators are, should be out behind bars.
Terrorism has never done much harm. Imagine in a place like Mumbai 3000 people die in rail and traffic every year. How many actually die of terror?
This comment is bordering on trolling. Terrorism hasn't done much harm? I guess wars don't do much harm either then compared to the millions who die of diseases and accidents every year. Consider this an unofficial warning.
Post Reply