Wind Snippets- August- September 2017

Govt’s Second Wind Auction Attracts Bids worth 2,898 MW

The second auction for allotting 1,000 MW of wind power capacity has attracted bids worth 2,898 MW. The bids closed on Saturday. The first auction, also for 1,000 MW, which concluded on February 25 this year, resulted in wind energy companies agreeing to sell wind energy for as low as ₹3.46 a kWhr.

TANGEDCO Gets More than Rs. 1 lakh Crore Funds for Power Projects

Rural Electrification Corporation has signed a MOU to provide financial assistance of Rs 60,063 crore and Rs 25,660 crore to TANGEDCO for implementing power and transmission projects in the next 8 years in Tamil Nadu. The REC also handed over a sanction letter for rupee term loan of Rs 10,453 crore for establishment of thermal power projects in Udangudi and Kadaladi in Tuticorin and Ramanathapuram. The REC funding is at an interest rate of around 8%. Along with the financial support of Power Finance Corporation (PFC), the total funding to TANGEDCO by the two corporations will cross Rs 1 lakh crore, which is the investment target set for power sector in Vision 2023. TANGEDCO plans to increase its own generation capacity to the extent of 13000MW in the next 8 years. It has also proposed to establish 550 substations at various capacities ranging from 765KV to 33KV and transmission lines to the extent of 1,250km, thereby strengthening and improvement of sub-transmission and distribution network for evacuation and supply of uninterrupted power to all categories of consumers. The PFC has sanctioned Rs. 9,128 crore to Tangedco to set up 2 x 800MW supercritical thermal power plant at Uppur in Ramanathapuram district.

Ripple Effect of India's Energy Shift Visible Globally

Indian solar power tariff hit a new low of Rs 2.62 per unit this week -- 12 per cent below the previous record just three months ago. Moreover, shifting rapidly towards low-carbon economy is a step towards the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement that aims to cut greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels. India has also highlighted how deflationary renewables are. Not only does the tariff drop 10-20 per cent annually, but India's renewables power purchase agreement are generally zero indexation prices, so they decline in real terms every year over the 25 year life of the contract. It would have a significant ripple effect on other transforming markets, as is already being seen in markets as diverse as the UAE, South Africa, Australia, Chile and Mexico.

Tata Power Renewable Energy commissions 100 MW Wind Farm in Andhra Pradesh

Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd (TPREL) has announced the commissioning of its 100 MW wind farm project in Nimbagallu, Andhra Pradesh.

Bihar Announces Mega Renewable Power Policy for 3,400 MW RE

Bihar government has come up with a new renewable power policy to set up over 3,400 Megawatt projects in the next five years. Out of this 2,984 MW will be solar energy (of this 1,000 MW rooftop solar and 1,00 MW as mini grid projects), 282 MW on biogas and 200 MW small hydropower plants. NIWE Wind Atlas 2015 has not shown any wind power potential in Bihar.

Haryana Government to Set up Renewable Energy Project at Jhajjar

CLP (China Light & Power) has offered to join hands with the Haryana Government in setting up a Rs 500-crore renewable energy project at Jhajjar, global majors, including United Technologies, Carrier, Everstone Logistics and CISCO have evinced keen interest in CLP (China Light & Power) has offered to join hands with the Haryana Government in setting up a Rs 500-crore renewable energy project at Jhajjar, global majors, including United Technologies, Carrier, Everstone Logistics and CISCO have evinced keen interest in

Overall Power Shortage Down to 0.7 Per Cent in 2016-17: Government

The Ministry of Power has said that the energy shortage has come down to 0.7% (7,595 MU) in 2016-17 from 4.2% (42,428 MU) in 2013-14. The energy shortage in 2014 was (million units) (4.2 per cent), which came down to in FY'17 (0.7 per cent). India has turned around from a net importer of electricity to net exporter by exporting around 6,444 MU to Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar in 2016-17. The total power capacity increased by nearly a third from 243 GW in March 2014 to 320 GW in March 2017. There has been 40 per cent (more than one third) increase in transmission capacity from 5,30,546 MVA in March 2014 to 7,40,765 MVA in March 17, the ministry said.

Compensation for grid curtailment to be beneficial for renewables

The PPAs signed for renewable energy projects have failed to address the grid issues and lacked a mechanism to compensate for energy loss. The Power Ministry proposal to provide a compensation mechanism for existing RE projects against grid curtailments will be a major positive point and will protect the cash flows from grid curtailments. The provision for curtailment is proposed to be applicable only to renewable power plants providing day-ahead forecast and schedule. The compensation is suggested to be part of the PPA provision for future projects.

President Stresses on Clean, Renewable Energy to Meet Power Demand

Days after the Union Cabinet cleared a proposal for setting up ten nuclear reactors, President Pranab Mukherjee stressed on the need for using clean and renewable energy to meet the country’s growing power demand. He was inaugurating the country’s first-of its-kind microgrid power project at IIEST, Shibpur in Howrah that uses solar, wind and biogas energy to produce electricity.

India, Russia to Strive Towards Building ‘Energy Bridge’

India and Russia has agreed to endeavor towards building an “Energy Bridge” and enhance cooperation in energy sector, including nuclear, hydrocarbon and renewable sources. The two nations noted that wider use of natural gas is significant for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and will also assist in fulfilling provisions of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Joint projects on exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons in the Arctic Shelf of the Russian Federation are also to be launched through sharing of technologies, experience of working in different terrains and climatic conditions in each other’s countries.

Government Approved IPO of IREDA

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 7th June 2017 has approved the IPO proposal of IREDA. IREDA will issue fresh 13.90 crore shares, increasing the paid up share capital of the company from Rs 784 crore to Rs 923 crore. IREDA has plans to disburse Rs 13,000 crore for clean energy projects this fiscal and vying for around 20 per cent of the loan market share for such projects. There is a total credit market size of around Rs 65,000 crore this fiscal. IREDA has already sanctioned around Rs 37,000 crore of credit for clean energy projects in India.

SEBI Puts in Place Disclosure Norm for Green Bonds

To help meet the huge financing requirement worth USD 2.5 trillion for climate change actions in India by 2030, SEBI has put in place the disclosure norms for issuance and listing of such bond by the companies raising funds through green bonds for investment in renewable energy (including wind, solar, bio-energy, other sources of energy which use clean technology) space. The issuer of a green bond will have to make disclosure about environmental objectives of the issue of such securities in the offer documents. Besides, issues would have to provide details of the systems and procedures to be employed for tracking the proceeds of the issue. The issuer has to make disclosures about use of proceeds, list of projects to which green bond proceeds have been allocated in the annual report and periodical filings made to the stock exchanges.

Paris Agreement, Our Duty towards Protecting the Earth: PM

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has said at Paris that India will “go above and beyond” to protect climate as he termed the Paris climate agreement as a shared legacy of the world. He said that the Paris Agreement reflects our duty towards protecting the Earth and our natural resources. Paris climate change deal on curbing carbon emissions had been agreed by more than 190 nations. He added that we have natural resources because our previous generations protected these resources. We must do the same for our future generations.

PTC India Ties up Pacts for 1,050 MW Wind Power Supply

PTC India has signed agreements with seven state utilities (Uttar Pradesh (440MW), Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Odisha, Delhi and Noida) for sale of wind energy for a total 1049.9 mw. MNRE had formulated the scheme for tying up of 1,000 mw ISTS (Intra- state Transmission System) connected wind power in India. Under the scheme, the projects are to be set up in windy states for supply of power to non-windy ones and UTs.

India Plans Second Wind Tender

MNRE has revealed plans for a second 1GW wind power tender in the south Asian country. The tender will be open to developers on a build, own and operate basis for projects between 50MW and 250MW to be administered by SECI.

Supreme Court upheld APTEL’s Order for Time Value of Money

Supreme Court has upheld the APTEL’s order against TNERC to rework the tariff taking into consideration the Time Value of Money. TNERC has to re-fix the tariff announced in 2006 and later years benefitting many generators.

India will implement Paris Climate Pact in Letter and Spirit: PM

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi while speaking at the informal meeting of BRICS leaders on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany told that India will implement the agreement in letter and spirit. France has already announced to become carbon neutral by 2050 and Germany is also expected to spell out its ambitious plan to join the league. Under the Paris agreement, India is committed to install 175 GW of solar, wind and biomass electricity by 2022, reduce its emission intensity (emission per unit of GDP) by 33-35% from its 2005 levels by 2030, create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2030 through additional forest and tree cover and produce 40% of electricity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030.

USEA Welcomes Indian Prime Minister, Sees Strong Collaboration on Energy

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump, administration officials, industry and business leaders. USEA Executive Director, Barry Worthington, looks forward to a productive visit that promises strong cooperation between the U.S. and India on energy development, infrastructure expansion, resource management and other issues. “USEA has worked to expand energy access in India for more than two decades. We support Prime Minister Modi’s energy goals, including universal access to electricity. For 20 years, American energy companies have offered friendship to Indian counterparts to collaborate on system operations, improve reliability, implement modern regulatory practices, reduce poverty and improve the lives of their customers

Developers Reel under Losses As Rajasthan Companies Shut Off Wind Power Supply

Wind power developers in Rajasthan face losses once again as state distribution companies unplug their supply from the grid every day, to the extent of 15-20%. Since the pre-monsoon and monsoon period, April-September is when winds blow the strongest and generate maximum power. WIPPA has already appealed to RERC in this regard.

TANGEDCO Evacuates 5079 MW of Wind Power

TANGEDCO at 7pm on 10th July 2017 evacuated 5,079MW (previous record 4,600MW) of wind power, a new record in wind power evacuation in Tamil Nadu and India. It was a two hour sustained supply of over 5,000MW on Monday. For nearly 3 hours, Tangedco put 3 thermal units with a total capacity of 1,020MW on stand-by mode and also advised other power sources to operate at 50% of their capacity.

150 Meters Tallest Lattice Met Tower Commissioned

Spurred by the growing proliferation of taller turbines, RK Systems (NRG Systems’ Long time Partner) erected the 150m tower for one of India’s leading IPP. The tower includes 40C anemometers, 200P wind vanes, 110S temperature sensors, a BP20 barometric pressure sensor, and a SymphoniePRO data logger with iPackGPS for bankable, secure, and reliable data collection.

UP Government Pulls Plug on Costly Power, Producers Worried

UP Government has decided to press the 'undo' button for power purchase agreements (PPAs) with a clutch of suppliers to reduce discoms' costs but the move could open a Pandora's box for lenders by adding to their NPAs (non-performing assets) as other states pick up the cue. The UPPCL notice says Kundarhki power cost an average of Rs 7.11 per unit against an average Rs 3.80 procurement tariff approved by the regulator. The notice says UPPCL cannot buy power at this rate since it has signed the Centre's 'Power for All' document, binding it to reduce costs.

Renewable Firms Plan $2.5 bn in Dollar bonds

Four Indian renewable power producers are planning to raise up to $2.5 billion via dollar bonds offshore because of caution among domestic lenders, banking sources said. It is understood that the Adani Group has raised $250 million via a loan. The foreign borrowing is attractive because state banks were reluctant to lend due to existing bad loans to the power sector, while domestic banks worried about falling tariffs for solar power. Foreign investors have been attracted to the sector by India’s commitment to expand renewable power capacity, with plans to invest close to $150 billion to meet its 2022 targets, analysts and bankers said.

Clean Energy Jobs See Sharp Spike in India

India's ambitious aim to install 160 GW of renewable energy by 2022 will need more than 300,000 full-time workers in these five years and there's potential to create around one million employment opportunities. The rooftop solar component will employ as much as 70 per cent of the new workforce, creating seven times more jobs than large-scale projects such as solar farms, said the study titled Greening India's Workforce: Gearing Up For Expansion of Solar and Wind Power in India.

Restriction Likely on Import of Items that Hit Local Companies

India is looking to impose restrictions and standards on products where imports have replaced domestic production, an attempt to give a push to ‘Make in India’ programme and reduce the widening trade gap. The commerce department has instructed various ministries to analyze data and compile lists of products which are being produced domestically but losing market share to imports. BIS has been assigned with the task of setting standards that will have to be met by imported goods as well as goods manufactured in the country. This will ensure that the restrictions are consistent with the WTO.

Government to Form Panel to Monitor National Energy Policy

To oversee implementation of the proposed National Energy Policy, which aims to promote energy independence, the government will soon constitute a committee, headed by the Prime Minister. The National Energy Policy, prepared by NITI Aayog will replace the Integrated Energy Policy and lay the road map for the government push aggressively towards clean energy and reduce fuel import over an extended period of time till 2040.

Failure by States to Pay for Renewable Power May Trip 2022 Target

States are lagging behind in meeting their renewable purchase obligation target which is a key policy instrument to meet the goal of installing 175GW of green energy by 2022. Because of poor finances of discoms (power distribution companies), the obligations have never been enforced anywhere in India on a consistent basis. The state electricity regulators have also been very lenient. There are a lot of underlying issues that the government needs to address -- discom financials, must-run status, transmission and evacuation issues, on-time payments and payment guarantees. Southern states along with Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have been at the forefront of compliance, whereas Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh are lagging far behind the target. In eastern states the lower penetration of renewable energy was one of the major reasons for West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha and Bihar failing to meet the RPO target.