Bengal says no to nuclear energy, yes to solar power

According to reports, the West Bengal government isn't interested in nuclear plants and it is instead all set to introduce rooftop solar power schemes to increase its renewable energy supply, a minister said Friday.

“The state government has opposed to setting up nuclear energy plants. Many other countries, like Germany, are phasing out nuclear plants. Nuclear energy is not risk-free and it has not been opted for by the state government,” said state Power and Non-Conventional Energy Sources Minister Manish Gupta.

He was speaking at the ‘Energy Sustainability Conclave 2013 : Energy Security – Empowering the Energy Future’, organised here by the Bengal Chamber.

“We need to make bold moves in renewable energy. We are trying to launch very large solar rooftop schemes in all the cities and going for more regulations to bring a solar power in new buildings, commercial buildings, complexes and industries. In that way we hope that once it catches on we can provide subsidies,” said Gupta.

Downplaying the lag in the growth in renewable energy production in the state as compared to states like Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, Gupta said “renewable energy is an essential solution but a high cost solution”.

“The share of renewable energy will be four to six percent from the total energy mix in 2020 in India. This is not a very encouraging forecast that has been done by the Planning Commission,” he said.

PowerGrid ups 12th Plan capex by 10-15%; to sell 15% via OFS

According to reports, PowerGrid Corporation has decided to revise upwards its capital expenditure for the 12th Plan period (2012-17) by 10-12 percent to meet expansion plans, a top official said.

“We are constantly expanding our reach and undertaking new projects. We had earlier estimated a capex of Rs 1 trillion during the 12th Plan (2012-17). But with the kind of projects that we are pursuing, we think we will need more funds,” PowerGrid Chairman and Managing Director R N Nayak told reporters here today.

He said the company plans to increase its capex plans by 10-12 percent.

“Earlier, we had planned a capex of Rs 20,000 crore per annum for five years, which would cater to the needs of projects or schemes to the tune of Rs 1 trillion over the five -year period. However, we are anticipating projects to the tune of Rs 1.1 trillion now. To meet the capital expenditure for projects of this volume, we will need more funds.”

Accordingly, it has anticipated a capex of Rs 20,037 crore for FY13, Rs 22,150 crore for FY14, Rs 22,450 crore for FY15, Rs 22,500 crore for FY16 and Rs 22,550 crore in FY17.

“The additional capex will be required for various tariff-based bidding projects that we plan to undertake. Besides, it will be required for undertaking projects assigned by the Government, green energy corridors, intra-state projects and transnational interconnections,” Nayak said.

The PSU will sell 15 percent stake through follow-on public offer (FPO). “This FPO will help us meet additional capex requirement,” its Finance Director R T Agarwal said.

Asked whether the company is looking at raising funds from overseas, Agarwal said, “that is always an option. We will evaluate the opportunities. If we feel the domestic option is cheaper, we will go for it.”

The company’s debt-equity ratio stands at 73:27. “We want to reduce the debt component. This was also one of the reasons for coming out with the FPO,” another official said.

PowerGrid posted nearly 20 percent jump in net profit at Rs 1,040.34 crore in the June quarter.

Grid connected solar capacity in India crosses 1.7 GW

Under the National Solar mission, 11 projects of 50.50 MW capacity (48 MW PV+ 2.5 MW ST) under migration scheme, 26 projects of 130 MW capacity under Batch-I and 69 projects totalling 88.80 MW of small capacity power projects (RPSSGP Programme) have been commissioned.

In all, a total capacity of over 1759.43 MW Grid connected Solar Power Projects have been commissioned in the country as on 31.05.2013. A total capacity of 252.50 MW off-grid Solar Power Projects have been sanctioned and 60 MW have been commissioned.

About 70.01 lakh sq. meter of collector area of solar thermal systems have been installed against a target of 70 lakh sq. meter of collector area.

ITC powers itself with wind farms

According to reports, FMCG major ITC Ltd is powering itself up with wind farm clusters. As it expands its wind power generation capacity, ITC gradually reduces its dependence on fossil fuels. Renewable energy contributes to over 41 per cent of the company’s total power consumption. This is poised to go up to over 50 per cent as it sets up more projects.

The company has installed wind farms with over 70 MW at sites close to its facilities and is in the process of setting up 63 MW more. Significantly, last financial year, it also brought down overall power consumption across all its business divisions. This is part of the corporate wide sustainability drive.

The new capacity includes a 46 MW farm at its Paper unit at Bhadrachalam in Andhra Pradesh. The company has recently awarded the supply contract to Gamesa India, part of the Spanish wind energy equipment supplier.

The setting up renewable energy sources also addresses the objective of reducing dependence on external source for power generation. Most States in South have demand supply gap. “The contribution from renewable energy to the overall energy consumption of ITC is about 41 per cent. We plan to take this to over 50 per cent within three years,” he said.

The 32-acre Infotech Park in Bangalore is fully powered by renewable energy, some of the hospitality projects, including ITC Grand Chola, and paper units in Coimbatore, Kovai and printing and packaging unit at Chennai are all supported, some fully powered by wind farms. It is investing in wind farms to fully power the new plant at Mysore.

The company has invested over Rs 400 crore and expects to commit similar amount in setting up more renewable energy projects in the country, sources indicated.

India slips in renewable energy attractiveness index

According to reports, high entry-barriers for foreign investors and the rising cost of financing have led to the country slipping to a low eighth position on the renewable energy country attractive index in the first quarter of 2013, says an Ernst & Young survey.

According to the report ‘Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index’, India’s ranking slipped from fourth position to eighth this period, due to several challenges, including high cost of finance, entry-barriers for external investors, among others.

“While the country’s rating may have slipped, there are significant positives. India is only behind Belgium in the priority the renewable sector receives,” he said.

The ranking is made based on increased focus on the role renewable energy plays in country’s energy mix, energy supply and demand, the cost competitiveness of renewable energy, the importance of de-carbonisation and an increased emphasis on the economic and political stability of each particular market.

Kanpur gets introduced with Solar Street Lights

According to reports, residents of Krishnapuram GT Road are a happy lot as their area remains illuminated even during power cuts.

People have no fear while going for a stroll in their locality or park even during late evening or night hours, courtesy, the Kanpur Nagar Nigam, which has installed solar lights on an experimental basis in the locality.

The residents had asked for the installation of solar lights instead of street lights powered by electricity as area used to witness frequent power-cuts and rostering. Mr. Rajeev Sharma, deputy commissioner of Kanpur division had asked the road light department to install solar lights as an experiment and had passed an order to monitor them. Now these light are proving to be a boon for the local residents.

A K Tandon, Reserve Bank employee and a resident of the area, said, use of generator has minimised in his lane as roads remained illuminated by solar lights. Minimum use of gen-sets has led to better environment in the locality. Not only the residents of Krishnapuram GT Road but people from the nearby localities also come here for walk in evening when there is a power cut in their area.

Nagar Nigam has also installed solar lights in few other parks like Rajeev Vatika where people enjoy in late evening hours irrespective of power cuts.

25,000 Kerala homes to get rooftop solar in 2013-14

According to reports, Electricity Minister Aryadan Muhammad said load-shedding would be lifted once the rains begin in June and from then on 2013-14 fiscal would be generally free of any power curbs. The minister said that he could turn around KSEB in just two years.

During UDF’s second anniversary interaction with media on Wednesday, Muhammad also said the basis for his optimism was the 233 MW the state was expected to receive this year from Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant, step up in solar power production and the first-ever Case-I Bidding for the next three years entered into by the KSEB with private traders for 400 MW. .

The roof-top solar project will be installed in 25,000 houses more during 2013-14, he said. However, he said the state’s demand had crossed 61-63 million units a day. “The water level in our reservoirs is good enough only to generate some 650 MW. However, the state’s annual requirement hovered between 3400-3500 MW. Of this, less than 2000 MW were being generated internally,” the minister said. Nonetheless, Kerala had imposed the lightest of power curbs in all of South India.