Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Friday inaugurated 16 Solar Power Plants having a joint capacity of 101 MW at a function at Bhagwanpur near Roorkee on Friday on the eve of World Earth Day.

The inauguration was done at the site of the Bhalaswagaj plant in Bhagwanpur, which at 65 MW capacity, is the largest solar power generating facility in the state, which was installed under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission of the Government of India.

“This alternative energy source is not only making our state self-reliant in the power sector, but it also opens up a new avenue of employment. I am happy to learn that Bhagwanpur solar plant is giving employment to more than 1,500 people,” said the chief minister.

As many as 16 developers are involved in solar power generation business in the district, of which eight have jointly been commissioned solar plants in Bhalaswagaj, Bindukhadak and Bhalupur villages in Bhagwanpur block on a model of cooperative business, which are now producing 65 MW.

For installing plants, the eight developers reportedly arranged more than 2,500 bigahs in agglomeration basis from numerous farmers from three villages on lease.

Besides, the developers have involved as many as 500 local farmers directly or indirectly in solar power generation business in Bhagwanpur.

Subhash Chaudhary, managing director of Rays Power Infra Pvt Ltd (RPIPL) — one of the eight developers which has developed the 65 MW solar plant in Bhagwanpur block — said, “We have taken land from farmers on lease contract for 25 years, and we will have to pay them Rs 16,500 per bigah annually as rent, which is more than five times higher than they earn through conventional farming. The project has not only opened an opportunity of business for us, but has also provided handsome earnings to farmers without undergoing environmental hazards.”

Rakesh Chauhan of Omkar Power Tech, a conglomerate of Bhagwanpur-based eight developers, said, “We are still getting offers from farmers who are interested in leasing out their land. So, the opportunity for solar power business is growing well in Bhagwanpur.”

According to Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (UREDA), the state has to produce 500 MW after commissioning of various solar power plants. Initially, UREDA has selected Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts for commissioning the solar plants in the state. There are seven developers (solar companies) engaged in solar power generation business in Udham Singh Nagar.

UREDA chief project officer Arun Kumar Tyagi said, “As of now, Uttarakhand is producing 181.4 MW from both districts, and at the end of July 2017, we will be able to add 70 MW more to it through other underway projects.”

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/dehradun/at-65-mw-bhagwanpur-solar-power-facility-becomes-largest-in-ukhand/articleshow/58303345.cms?TOI_browsernotification=true

NALCO has inaugurated 100.80 MW of wind power plants located in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Suzlon Group has installed and commissioned 2 renewable projects of 50.40 MW each for Nalco at Gondikota in Andhra Pradesh and Jath in Maharashtra. Both the projects have the potential to provide power to over 54,000 households and reduce 0.20 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum.

“It is a proud moment for us and we thank Nalco for the faith and confidence reposed in Suzlon’s technologically advanced products, execution and life cycle asset management capabilities. We will continue to collaborate with Nalco and look forward to work in synergy towards our common goal of reducing the carbon footprint,” said JP Chalasani, group CEO, Suzlon Group.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/content/b2b-manufacturing-industry/nalco-inaugurates-100-80-mw-wind-plants-in-maharashtra-andhra-pradesh-117041800693_1.html

गांव-गांव,शहर-शहर बिजली पहुंचे और पूरा देश जगमग हो जाए इसी मकसद से उज्ज्वल डिस्कॉम एश्योरेंस योजना ‘उदय’ की शुरुआत की गई थी। ‘उदय’ योजना धीरे-धीरे अपने मकसद में कामयाब भी हो रही है।पावर वैल्यू चेन के सबसे कमजोर लिंक को ठीक करने के उद्देश्य से UDAY के तहत इस क्षेत्र की भूत, वर्तमान और भावी परेशानियों को दूर करने का काम किया जा रहा है। इससे DISCOM के लिए परिचालन में एक स्थायी सुधार का रास्ता निकला है, साथ ही सरकार भी बिजली लागत में कमी लाने के बहुत सारे उपाय कर रही है। इन प्रयासों के चलते उम्मीद है कि 2018-19 तक देश के सभी DISCOM लाभ कमाने लगेंगी। बिजली मंत्रालय द्वारा शुरू की गई उदय योजना से राज्यों को भी काफी फायदा हो रहा है। अब राज्य भी इसमे बढ़-चढ़ कर हिस्सा ले रही हैं। ‘उदय एनालिस्ट मीट- 2017’ में योजना को लेकर काफी बातें हुई। जिसमे राज्यों के साथ सहयोग बढ़ाने, योजना के लक्ष्य को पूरा करने योजना और फंड संबंधी बातें मुख्य रूप से हुईं।

स्मार्ट मिटरिंग पर खासा ध्यान
ऊर्जा मंत्रालय में संयुक्त सचिव डॉ. ए के वर्मा के मुताबिक कोयला आधारित और अक्षय ऊर्जा जैसे क्षेत्रों में 2030 तक पावर सेक्टर करीब1 खरब डॉलर के निवेश को आकर्षित करेगा। आईईए के मुताबिक भारत ट्रांसमिशन एंड डिस्ट्रीब्यूशन करीब में 845 बिलियन डॉलर निवेश कर सकता है।
अगले दस सालों में स्मार्ट मिटरिंग, वितरण,स्वचालन, बैटरी भंडारण पर करीब2.9 लाख करोड़ रुपये खर्च करने का प्लान है।45,000 मेगावाट क्षमता से अधिक थर्मल पोर्टफोलियो के लिए 4.4 लाख करोड़ रुपये खर्च करने का प्लान है।

बिजली कपंनियों को ना हो दिक्कत
देश को रौशन करने का संकल्प प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी ने लिया है और इस दिशा में सरकार काम कर रही है।उदय योजना का लक्ष्य बिजली वितरण कंपनियों का वितीय सुधार एवं उनका पुनरुद्धार करना है। साथ ही, बिजली वितरण कंपनियों की समस्याओं का स्थाई समाधान सुनिश्चित करना है।इस योजना से सभी लोगों को 24 घंटे किफायती एवं सुविधाजनक बिजली की उपलब्धता सुनिश्चित करना है। 05 नवंबर, 2015 को प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी की अध्यक्षता में इसका गठन किया गया था।

उजाला योजना से देश हो रहा रौशन
उदय योजना के साथ-साथ उजाला योजना भी देश को रौशन कर रही है।मोदी सरकार बिजली उत्पादन, वितरण और गांवों में बिजली पहुंचाने के अभियान के साथ ही बिजली की बचत और कम ऊर्जा खपत वाले LED बल्ब लगाने की योजना पर भी तेज गति से काम कर रही है। 23 मार्च, 2017 तक देशभर में 22 करोड़ 5 लाख 88 हजार 510 LED बल्ब लगाए जा चुके थे, जिससे सालाना 2,864.7 करोड़ KWh ऊर्जा और 11 हजार करोड़ रुपये से ज्यादा की बचत होगी। इतना ही नहीं इससे प्रतिवर्ष कार्बन डाइऑक्साइड के उत्सर्जन में 2 करोड़ 30 लाख टन से ज्यादा की कमी भी होगी।

मंत्रालयों में अच्छा है तालमेल
प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी ने ऊर्जा क्षेत्र से संबंधित तीनों मंत्रालयों बिजली, कोयला और अक्षय ऊर्जा मंत्रालय की जिम्मेदारी एक ही व्यक्ति को दी जिससे तालमेल की कमी न रहे और परिणाम आज पूरी दुनिया के सामने है। आज देश में पारंपरिक ही नहीं गैर-पारंपरिक ऊर्जा का भी भरपूर उत्पादन हो रहा है और वो सौर ऊर्जा के बहुत बड़े बाजार के रूप में उभर कर सामने आ रहा है। एक आकलन के अनुसार अगले तीन साल में देश में सौर ऊर्जा का उत्पादन बढ़ कर 20 हजार मेगावॉट होने की संभावना है और इसी के चलते अब विदेशी कंपनियों की निगाहें भी भारत पर लगी हुई हैं। क्योंकि बीते तीन साल में भारत में सौर ऊर्जा का उत्पादन स्थापित क्षमता से चार गुना बढ़कर 10 हजार मेगावॉट पार कर गया है, जो देश की बिजली उत्पादन की स्थापित क्षमता का 16 प्रतिशत है।

Source: http://hindi.oneindia.com/news/new-delhi/uday-is-enlighting-country-404800.html

In order to give a boost to implementation of the Haryana Solar Policy and also to encourage entrepreneurs to set up ventures for manufacturing solar devices and equipment in the state, the Haryana Government today exempted solar devices and equipment or parts used in installation of solar power projects, from the levy of Value Added Tax (VAT) in the state.

A decision to this effect was taken by the Haryana Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of the chief minister, Manohar Lal, here today.

At present VAT of five per cent plus surcharge is levied on solar devices and equipment in the state. Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have already exempted solar energy devices from VAT. Exemption of VAT will enable the trade and industry in Haryana to compete with other states where solar energy devices are exempted from VAT. This exemption will cost the state exchequer about Rs 2.30 crore.

Solar devices like solar lantern, solar home system, stand along street lighting system, solar water heating system, solar water pumping system, solar cooker box as well as dish type, solar charger or inverter, solar photovoltaic modules, solar collectors, solar dishes, its inverters or power conditioning units, energy meters and alternators purchased for the installation of solar power generation plants both rooftop and ground mounted and spare parts like solar photovoltaic modules,solar collection and solar dishes would be exempted from levy of VAT.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/power/haryana-government-exempts-solar-devices-from-value-added-tax-levy/articleshow/58242313.cms

The state-owned NTPC has managed to bring down its cost of electricity generation by an average 39.5 paise while for the Mauda project, it was a decline of Rs 1.65 per unit, mainly because of improvement in coal quality and supply.

Data available with NTPC showed that the overall cost of power generation has come down to below Rs 2 last fiscal, driven by improved quality of coal and its supplies, a power ministry official said.

The overall cost of power generation of the company has come down by 39.5 paise. It does not include taxes and cess primarily imposed to finance protection of environment, the official explained.

According to the data, the overall cost of power production for the company stood at Rs 2.01 per unit in 2014- 15, which has declined to Rs 1.94 in April-February of 2016- 17.

Elaborating, he said the actual reduction was 6.4 paise per unit, but if increased levies and charges are taken into account, the total drop in power output cost translates into 39.5 paise.

The data further showed that NTPC’s Mauda project registered an overall fall in cost of power generation at Rs 1.65 per unit, taking into account the impact of revision in levies and charges.

The official explained that new projects and plants with high dependence of imported coal have benefited the most.

The other plants which gained due to improved quality and supplies of coal are Barh Stage-II (Rs 1.24 per unit), Badarpur (Rs 1.16) and Tanda (93.6 paise).

The official said the NTPC plants represent a quarter of thermal power generation projects in the country and indicate an encouraging trend in power generation cost.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/power/ntpc-power-generation-cost-drops-39-5-paise-to-below-rs-2/unit/articleshow/58221455.cms

The Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) on Sunday announced that it has recorded its highest-ever yearly coal production in the 2016-17 financial year.

The Ranchi-based Central PSU produced 67.04 million tonnes (MT) of coal in the previous fiscal and announced a turnover of Rs 15,000 crore. In 2015-16 fiscal, the company produced 61.32 MT of coal.

The company also achieved its best figures so far in coal off-take and over-burden removal. It removed 102.6 million cubic metres and recorded a coal off-take of 60.9 MT despite facing difficulties till the third quarter.

The Miniratna company on Sunday gave the highlights of its financial health in the 2015-16 fiscal. In 2015-16, the company’s net worth was Rs 5,973 crore and its turnover was Rs 13,659 crore. The equity capital of the company was Rs 940 crore at this time.

The company, which is upbeat after its double digit growth in a financial year for the third consecutive time, has set itself a target of producing 133.5 MT coal in the 2019-20 fiscal. It aims to produce 80 MT coal from its ongoing and new mining projects in the 2017-18 fiscal.

The coal major attributed its performance to the partial operationalisation of the 70 MT per annum (MTPA)-capacity Magadh open cast coal project, 35 MTPA-capacity Amrapali open cast coal project and three other mining projects which were held up for more than 11 years. It also aims to reduce transportation cost of coal in coming months once Piparwar-McLuskeyganj railway line is operational.

Chairman and managing director of CCL, Gopal Singh, said the company was able to successfully maintain low production cost, which is “still at par with the production cost of 2012-13 FY in absolute sense”.

The Central PSU is exploring the feasibility of taking up the Union coal ministry’s ambitious coal to liquid (CTL) project in its command areas. “The CTL requires coal of high calorific and low ash content quality – a factor which the company is still trying to work out,” Singh said.

Apart from the CTL project, the CCL is working on a project where it will tie up with the state water supply department to provide drinking and irrigation water from its abandoned mines to the human settlements in vicinity.

Source : http://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/coal/at-67-mln-tonnes-ccl-sets-new-record/58215104

Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines, Shri Piyush Goyal, presided over the signing of Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) between Delhi Metro Railways Corporation (DMRC) & Madhya Pradesh Power Management Company (MPPMC) with Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited, the implementing agency for the ‘world’s largest single­site solar power project’, the Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Power Project (UMSPP, 750MW) in Bhopal today. Other dignitaries present on the occasion were Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation and Information & Broadcasting, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu and Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.

Addressing the gathering, Shri Naidu said that Madhya Pradesh is a special state having huge resource base that is being harnessed under Shri Chouhan’s leadership. Taking a huge step towards realizing Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of 24×7 Affordable, Quality Power for All, Madhya Pradesh has successfully brought down the rate of solar power to Rs. 3.30/ unit, which is a huge revolution in its own right, Shri Naidu noted. The Minister said that seven cities in the State qualified as smart cities in the first round comprising a total of 20 cities. This has been made possible only through people’s active participation and the dynamic leadership in the State, Shri Naidu said.

In his address, Shri Chouhan said that the Madhya Pradesh government has set 3 guiding principles of its performance – equitable growth, social empowerment and sustainable development. The Chief Minister noted that a decade ago even water, electricity and roads used to be challenges in the State but now due to the dynamic development model being implemented, the year on year agricultural growth will touch 25% this year and milestones like the cheapest solar power in the country are being achieved in Rewa. Madhya Pradesh has become the leading state in renewable energy sector in India, the Chief Minister said.

Congratulating Shri Chouhan on his unrelenting efforts in the direction of achieving the unprecedented scaling up of the renewable energy sector in the State, Shri Piyush Goyal informed that the Rewa UMSPP had achieved historic results with a record low first year tariff of Rs 2.97 per unit of electricity and a levelised tariff of Rs 3.30 over the term of 25 years, in the marathon online auction, which lasted 33 hours between biggest of the Global solar companies. The Rewa UMSPP becomes the first power project to conduct interstate sale of solar power to Delhi Metro. There would be huge savings to the Delhi Metro because of per unit cost of power reducing from over Rs. 4.50 to Rs. 3.30, Shri Goyal informed.

Shri Goyal also mentioned that with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and cooperation of all Chief Ministers of various States, in the last 3 years, renewable energy has seen a growth of over 370 %. As compared to 2,600 MW of installed solar power capacity in 2014, today in India there is a total of 12,200 MW of installed solar power capacity and the country would achieve the 20,000MW solar power capacity target 5 years ahead of schedule by the end of 2017, the Minister noted.

Shri Goyal appreciated the proactive way in which the Madhya Pradesh Government provided financial guarantees to make the Rewa PPAs viable. The Minister further informed that the Rewa PPA has been accepted by the central government as a standard model for all other state governments to emulate and achieve lowest electricity tariff rates through competitive bidding.

Listing out the factors responsible for the success of the Rewa UMSPP, Shri Goyal included partnership of all stakeholders; outcome-oriented decisive leadership; root cause analysis of causes of failure on previous bids; time-bound execution; innovative financial model like partnering with International Finance Corporation (IFC); focus on transparency and technology including green energy corridor for evacuation of solar power; assigning responsibility and fixing accountability of implementation at each step.

Other dignitaries present on the occasion were Ministers in Madhya Pradesh Government, Shri Paras Chandra Jain, Minister for Energy, New & Renewable Energy and Shri Rajendra Shukla, Minister for Mineral Resources, Commerce, Industry and Employment, Overseas Indian Affairs, along with other senior officials of the Union Ministry of Power, State Government, DMRC and IFC.

Source : http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=161084

Coal sector reforms initiated by the Narendra Modi government are beginning to pay. Initiatives to improve coal quality and efficiency in the supply chain have brought down the cost of power from coal-fired plants in spite of revisions in coal prices, central cess and railway freight in the last three years.

Decline in the cost of power has accrued mainly from power stations burning less coal to generate each unit of electricity on assured quality of domestic fuel.

There is also import substitution worth Rs 23,349 crore, which saves fuel costs.
Since cost of coal makes up 54%-60% of the price charged by power producers and is passed on to consumers, coal consumption has a bearing on tariffs and environmental dividend in terms of emissions.

According to government data, power stations are now burning 8% less coal than they used to three years ago for each unit of electricity. State-run NTPC, which accounts for 17% of all generation capacity in the country and is the key supplier to states, reduced its coal consumption by 5.5% in 2016-17.

NTPC‘s coal cost stood at Rs 2 per unit in 2014-15 and should have risen by 33 paise due to revisions in coal price, government cess and railway freight. Remarkably though, it stood at Rs 1.94 per unit for 2016-17. In other words, even after paying 33 paise more since 2014-15, NTPC’s power costs 6 paise less today.

For discoms then, this actually means a saving of 39 paise per unit, taking into account the impact of the revisions, and translates into hundreds of crores of rupees.

Lower cost of power ultimately benefits consumers by way of lower tariff. That happens only in an ideal situation. In reality, discoms coping with sagging bottomlines and commercial losses may not be able to reduce monthly bills of consumers immediately. But they will find it hard to justify demand for tariff hike to state regulators. In the long run, however, cheaper power will result in lower traiffs once the discom reforms take root.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/govts-coal-reforms-begin-to-pay-off-reduce-power-costs/articleshow/58213572.cms?utm_source=toimobile&utm_medium=Twitter&utm_campaign=referral