July 9, 2016
BIS for solar water heaters
News: The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is working to make Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification compulsory for all solar water heaters installed in buildingsThis follows a BIS announcement on the quality standards for evacuated tube collector-based solar water heaters, the design of choice for such water heatersBackground: The Indian government stopped subsidies for solar water heaters, leading to an increase in imports from China, which offered products up to 50% cheaperDomestic manufacturers say that the poorer quality of the Chinese products results in a higher replacement and repair costImpact: Will stop the use of cheaper Chinese products that are being used to bypass the intention of rules set by certain statesIn order to comply with Karnataka’s compulsory installation rule of 100 litre solar water heater per building, cheap products are obtained, without considering whether it works or not
The Hindu
July 8, 2016
Let's know about The Green Corridor Project
It is a Rs 40,000 crore transmission network for renewable energy, envisaged by state-owned Power Grid Corporation in 2011Power Grid is setting up the first corridor connecting states rich in renewable energyWork is also on for a second corridor connecting solar parks in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Gujarat.The intra-state projects are worth Rs 11,000 croreGerman bank KfW and the National Clean Energy Fund will pick up 40% of the tab each and the states 20%These projects will be awarded through transparent bidding to speed up transmission for upcoming solar parksThe move is in line with the government’s plan to open up power transmission to private investment
Custom
July 8, 2016
Eight states to offer Rs 5,000-crore green-grid projects
News: Eight states will issue tenders worth Rs 5,000 crore for projects in a renewable energy transmission network under Green Corridor ProjectThe Grid: Can handle 30,000 Mw of renewable energy at present & an additional system for 10,000 Mw will be issued by September of which 50% has already been issuedQuick fact: The country’s renewable energy capacity is 40,000 Mw, of which wind power’s share is 26,000 Mw and solar power’s 7,000 Mw
Business Stan
July 6, 2016
Coal-based ethanol policy, coming soon
Policy talks: The ministry of road transport and highways has initiated talks with the ministries of power, coal, petroleum, and agriculture to formulate a coal-based urea policyCoal-based urea: Would cost $60-75 per tonne as compared to $160 per tonne for natural gas-based ureaRationale: Coal production is surplus in the country and that additional fuel can be used for producing ureaBenefit: Could ease the government’s subsidy outgo of Rs 45,000 crore on urea
Business Stan
July 1, 2016
World Bank offers US$ 1 billion for India's solar mission
News: The World Bank announced US$ 1 billion to support India’s ambitious solar programmeWorld Bank’s largest financing of solar for any country in the world to dateThe commitment US$ 625 million financing for the installation of at least 40MW grid-connected solar rooftop projectsThe rest of the commitment would be for infrastructure for solar parks, solar and hybrid technologies and transmission linesThe World Bank also signed an agreement to be the financial partner for the International Solar Alliance, led by India
The Hindu
June 28, 2016
Renewable energy to soon get a separate trading platform
News: A separate power trading platform is being jointly developed by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and Power Trading Corporation of India (PTC)Reason: Increasing share of renewable energy (RE) in the grid and the likelihood of it disturbing the existing power systemsTrade: States with surplus Renewable Energy generation could sell and those ones which want to meet their Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) would get a platform to do soNational Tariff Policy:Mandates that states have to meet part of their energy requirement from renewable sourcesRPO: Was launched in 2010 & makes it obligatory for distribution companies, open-access consumers and captive power producers to meet part of their energy needs through green energyProgress: During 2015-16, barring a few exceptions, none of the states has met its RPO, for fifth year in a rowPTC: A joint venture of several entities with the government
Business Stan
June 28, 2016
Centre asks states to set up biogas plants to provide clean fuel
News: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has asked states to set up one lakh small biogas plants this yearObjective: To provide clean gaseous fuel for cooking and organic bio-manure as a by-productExpected: Saving of 21.9 lakh LPG cylinder
The Hindu
June 17, 2016
Draft wind-solar hybrid policy proves restrictive
Context: Govt’s draft policy for wind and solar hybrid plants, released for public comments recentlyAim: To facilitate hybridisation of existing solar or wind systems, besides new hybrid projectsComments: It is a good step, but restrictive as it puts a cap on the size of such units & also lacks in details relating to tariffsRestrictive: Hybrid capacity addition, for existing plants, must be limited to the sanctioned transmission capacityThis could pose a problem for areas where transmission capacity is not enough to cater to the energy potentialHow? In wind farms with low turbine density, a significant solar potential could be tapped (even of the order of 500 kW to 1 MW), which would require additional transmission capacity
The Hindu
June 11, 2016
Renewable energy capacities surpass hydro generation- II
Thermal: The total capacity of the thermal sector stood at 2,11,420.40 MWHydro: It suffers from multiple challenges, including non-availability of long-term financingAlso the cost imposed by royalty power (from 12% to 36%) to be offered free to the state government & limited opportunities for the private sectorThis is potentially changing, as the central government has proposed to give policy attention to hydro power tooFurther, the government’s bilateral efforts with Bangladesh to implement cross-border transmission means that hydro-power from the north-eastern states can be delivered to the load centres cheaper than before
The Hindu
June 11, 2016
Renewable energy capacities surpass hydro generation- I
Context: The Central Electricity Authority dataFinding: The renewable energy sector has for the first time surpassed hydro power generationData: The total capacity of renewable energy sector increased to 42,849.38 MW, surpassing the total capacity of hydro power sector at 42,783.42 MW, out of the nation’s total installed capacity of a little over 3 lakh MW on April 30, 2016Reasons: The renewable energy investments in solar and wind have benefited from a strong central policy and several years of early-stage private sector investment, respectively
The Hindu
May 19, 2016
Solar parks to come up on dam sites
Context: Initiative for solar parks by the State Water Resources Department of Maharashtra stateSolar parks will be made on the land which is available for different irrigation projectsAlso proposal of afforestation program on the land available with departmentBoth projects would help to contribute in environment protection
The Hindu
May 14, 2016
A quick fact check on wind energy in India
According to NITI Aayog, India’s wind potential is pegged at 302 GWThe sector is expected to contribute 60 GW to the target of 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022India has total installed wind power capacity of 23,439 MW as of 31 March 2015According to REN21- Global Status Report 2011, Indian company Suzlon was among top ten manufacturers of Wind Turbine manufacturer’s in the worldIt has a global market share of 6.7%Also major world companies are pouring into the fast evolving Wind Energy market in India
Custom
May 14, 2016
Wind energy developers must secure power grid connectivity
Context: The Renewable Energy Ministry’s draft guidelines for the development of onshore wind power projectsMinistry has sought comments from stakeholders until May 27Draft Rules: For setting up onshore wind projects ranging from land use permissions to metering and real-time monitoring to eventual decommissioningPositive: Rules are comprehensive in their scopeCriticisms: Rules could also be over-prescriptiveRules lay the onus of securing grid connectivity and transportation on the developersThis could dampen investor interest in the sector
The Hindu
April 20, 2016
Outdated power grids hampering storage sector
What? India’s outdated grid infrastructure is incompatible with the storage technology that private investors are looking to installDisadvantage: It is holding back the emergence of the electricity storage sectorNeed: Push for the adoption of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind will increasingly rely on power storage since supply from such sources is irregularPower storage facilities are critical for the government’s rural electrification programme as well
The Hindu
April 15, 2016
Centre to create $1 bn fund for solar
Context: Govt is looking to create a $1 billion equity fund for solar energy in the countryAim: To help new companies to come up for solar to become a movementAlso, to make a transit from megawatt to gigawattGovt wants to tap global financial institutions like the World Bank for this purposeToday, World Bank gives 5% of their money for renewable
The Hindu
April 13, 2016
Renewable energy projects got loans of over Rs. 29,000 cr
News: Banks and non-banking financial companies disbursed Rs.29,000 crore for renewable energy projectsBackground: In 2015, 40 major banks and NBFCs committed to provide large debt funding to renewable energy projects during the span of the next 5 yearsSome private banks in India have signed deals with development banks to provide loans at concessional ratesThe Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency is also providing loans at low rates following its recent agreements with international financial institutions
The Hindu
April 8, 2016
Benefits of switching to LED bulbs
News: According to Energy Efficiency Services Ltd., shifting to LED bulbs could save an average family around Rs. 4,000 a year on their power billsReason: Energy efficiency gains and lower replacement costsBenefits: The life expectancy of an LED bulb is 25,000 hours, compared to 8,000 hours for CFL bulbs and 1,200 hours for incandescent bulbsThe country would save 100 billion units of electricity a year by switching over to LEDSwitching to LEDs also helps the govt. meet its carbon dioxide emission reduction targets
The Hindu
March 26, 2016
India to be 100% e-vehicle nation
Context: India plans to be a 100 % electric vehicle nation by 2030This would need monetary support from neither govt nor Indian citizensInstead power ministry is working on a scheme to give e-vehicles for zero down paymentFor these, people can pay out of their savings on expensive fossil fuels
Business Stan
March 23, 2016
Waste-to-energy (w-t-e) gets investments
Context: Private firms looking for guaranteed returns from micro-power plants are eying projects to generate electricity from municipal wasteAs many as 24 w-t-e projects to produce 233 MW are currently in different stages of constructionAbout Rs.65,000 crore of public and private investments will flow into city waste management, cleanliness and w-t-e projects over the next 3 years
Live Mint
March 12, 2016
Learn about UJALA
Acronym: Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for AllAgency: Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), under Ministry for Power, Coal and New & Renewable EnergyIt is the name given to LED based Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme, which is currently running successfully in over 120 cities across IndiaAchievement: EESL has distributed over 7.47 crore LED bulbs across the country
PIB
March 8, 2016
Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd (IREDA)
What? A Public Limited Government CompanyEstablished: As a Non-Banking Financial Institution in 1987Under: Administrative control of MNREAim: To promote, develop and extend financial assistance for renewable energy and energy efficiency /conservation projectsMotto: “ENERGY FOR EVER”Has been awarded “Mini Ratna” (Category -I) status in 2015 by MNRE
Custom
March 8, 2016
Wind Re-powering Policy
It was unveiled by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy on 07 March, 2016Issue: Most of the wind turbines installed up to the year 2000 are of capacity below 500kWSolution: Phase out wind turbines with less than 1MW capacity and built before the year 2000 and replace them with new ones, which will further expand capacityPolicy will be implemented through state nodal agencies & all states have come on boardProducers generating less than 1MW of wind power will get an interest rebate of 0.25% from the IREDA for revamping their wind turbinesThey will also get accelerated depreciation
Custom
March 8, 2016
Small wind energy gets boost
Context: Centre offered interest rate rebate, flexibility in timing of tax payments to small wind producers who upgrade their plantsMove is in line with govt’s wind re-powering policyStrategy: Stepping up power capacity by revamping existing projects rather than going for new onesWhy? Acquiring land and getting green clearances for new projects may be time-consuming
Live Mint
February 8, 2016
Clean energy sector sees 44% rise in new capacity addition
The first 9-month period of this fiscal recorded 44% growth compared with the year-ago in the same periodNew Capacity Addition – 3,030 MW, during first three quarters of this fiscalFocus Area – Solarcontinues to be the fast-growing segment and hasovertaken bio-power in total capacityAchievement – Wind power sector crossed the milestone of 25,000 MW in total capacityTotal grid-installed renewable power capacity in the country – 38,822 MW
February 5, 2016
$1.25 billion renewable energy fund
Government is in the process of setting up a $1.25 billion fund, backed by state-owned and private institutions, to finance renewable energy projectsThe move will help in the scaling up of clean energy generation from 37 GW at present to 175 GW by 2022State-owned institutions such as Power Finance Corp. Ltd and Rural Electrification Corp. Ltd have already committed a total of $300 million to the fundThis fund will make equity and mezzanine investments in renewable energy projects and will be modelled like the National Infrastructure Investment Fund (NIIF)
Live Mint
December 1, 2015
$7-bn pledge for clean energy research
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and other investors pledged $7 billion forR&D of clean energy.It was part of a larger initiative with world governments that promised to double spending on renewable energy research.He warned potential investors that new energy technologies take longer than IT or biotech to launch.The fund will support awide range of technologiessuch as biofuels, carbon capture, high wind, fission, fusion, etc.