quoted a price of rs3.46 ... the write-ups are ... 90, nehru place new delhi - 110 019 write to...

IN THIS ISSUE

Policy tweaking can turnIndia into a SHP hubRapid rise in population and urbanisation has increased the demand of electricity in India. With many Indian firms joining RE100, the year looks bright for renewables

30

Cover Innovation will boost India’s SHP sector

25SHP

India’s growth story to remain intactEnergy focus with environmental concerns stems great news for renewal sector for its exponential rise in years to come

42Column

Interview

The biodiesel industry is all geared to deliver 3 million tonnes of green fuel by 2019, which will provide half million direct jobs and one million jobs to ancillaries

43

This year India is set to race ahead as a global superpower in the solar energy space

Sun set to shine brighter for the country in 2017

Biofuels | Green Future

Arena favourable for solar project developer

39

18

Small Hydro Power is considered as a reliable option for both interactive and decenteralised power generation in India. Hydropower requires relatively high initial investment, but has the advantage of very low operational costs, a long life span and quick start and stop

Potential of SHP in India

Outlook

Small Hydro Power sector requires fresh outlook from both government and private sector in order to reach its maximum potential

41

Sizeable fall in PV module price levels coupled with the recent decline in benchmark interest rates by banks has made the arena favorable for project developers

Right tool to check carbon emission

Interview

4 | Energy Next | March 2017

VOLUME 7 | ISSUE 05 | MARCH 2017

w w w . e n e r g y n e x t . i n

IREDA Corner

44

54

48

With India at the threshold of adding big renewable energy capacity to meet its ambitious 175 GW target by 2022, there is a need to integrate and curtail risk assessent

Delhi University’s Daulat Ram College to focus on solar rooftop panelling and water harvesting as a part of varsity’s Star Innovation Project

Introduce a performance-based rating and system certification scheme for solar thermal collectors and systems following international standards in India

Renewable Integration: Need for curtailment risk assessment

Towards a sustainable college campus

Scheme to rate and certify solar water heating systems

Report

GREEN CAMPUS | RESEARCH

SOLAR | STANDARDISATION

Access to IREDA’s energy scheme

64

In order to promote climate-friendly energy services in rural areas, Germany-based KfW Development Bank has agreed to refinance loans, up to 20 million Euros, issued by IREDA

MNRE NEWS

MNRE allocates Rs 600 cr for ‘Grid connected Rooftop & small Solar Power Plants Programme

62

The Power Minister in a written reply to Lok Sabha said an amount of Rs 600 crore has been allocated for small solar power programme of which over Rs 508 crore has been released

March 2017 | Energy Next | 5

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SOLAR ENERGY (An autonomous institute under Ministry of New and Renewable Energy)

Government of India

Introduction: Solar design simulation lab is a new initiative of NISE for the development of project proposal, consultancy, training and other research and development purposes. Currently this lab is a full-fledged functioning lab, comprising of audio visual facility for the demonstration. There are different software’s available in this laboratory which can be used for the design of PV power plant. List of available software at NISE 1. PVSYST V6.4.3 2. PVSOL Premium 7.5, Valentin software, 3. TSOL Pro 5.5 Valentin software 4. SAM (System Advisor Model) 5. RET Screen 6. Archelios Pro,

SOLAR DESIGN SIMULATION LAB AT NISE

Learning Objectives: 1- The main objective of this programme is to understand an off- grid system, on- grid system and hybrid

system. 2- Solar Power Plant design with the help of simulation software. 3- Simulation cover (Project Phase, orientation of modules, solar components, user’s needs, near and far

shading analysis, different loss analysis, simulation result and discussion) 4- Different steps to execute the solar power plant 5- Different development phase in the solar plant installation.

Vision & Mission 1. The vision of this programme enables participants to “Design and Simulate SPV System” 2. The missions of this programme are to impart the knowledge and proper training and enable participants to

become a solar professional

For any further query

Please contact to NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SOLAR ENERGY

19TH MILESTONE GURUGRAM FARIDABAD ROAD GURUGRAM HARYANA

Email. - [email protected] Contact number 0124-2579203

Three days’ workshop on Solar PV system Design using “PVSYST & PVSOL” software

FROM THE EDITOR

KS PopliChairman & Managing Director, IREDA

India’s green energy sector has astonished the world again and now it is with the discovery of record low wind and solar power

tariffs obtained in recent biddings. While developers quoted a price of Rs3.46 per kWh for a 1 GW wind tender and Rs2.97 per kWh winning bids to set up 750 MW solar power plant at Rewa in Madhya Pradesh, has resulted in wind and solar becoming a competitive energy source. The net effect of such aggressive bidding is that clean energy tariffs could become low enough to challenge the tariffs of fossil fuel-fired power. While these developments are seen as a boost to government’s efforts at promoting clean energy in the country, these auction result assumes great significance because India has set an ambitious target of having 100 GW of solar and 60 GW of wind power capacity by 2022.

Such low tariff without any capital expenditure support has been achieved on account of very careful structuring of the project risk sharing mechanism. These results have shown that it is possible to obtain more economical tariffs provided developers are given assurance of power off-take, timely payment and with better financial structuring.

Buoyed by drop in tariffs to record low , the government is mulling putting

on the block more such wind projects next fiscal in view of success of the first auction. However, the viability of such competitively bid tariffs hinges on keeping the cost of modules / turbines and financing costs within budgeted levels.

The Cabinet has also approved the enhancement of capacity from 20 GW to 40 GW of the Scheme for Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects. The enhanced capacity would ensure setting up of at least 50 solar parks each with a capacity of 500 MW and above in various parts of the country. Smaller parks in Himalayan and other hilly States where contiguous land may be difficult to acquire in view of the difficult terrain, will also be considered under the scheme. The capacity of the solar park scheme has been enhanced after considering the demand for additional solar parks from the States.

Farmers in Andhra Pradesh will soon be producing electricity apart from growing crops. The State Energy Department is set to launch the scheme ‘Solar Farming’, the first-of-its-kind

in the country, under which existing pump sets will be replaced with energy- efficient solar pump sets that will enable generation of power. After utilising the power required for drawing water to his field, the farmer could pump the remaining energy into the grid and thereby earn income.

The government is also planning to bring out a new policy for the hydro power sector next fiscal to boost hydro power. The new policy may also seek to bring large hydro projects at par with smaller ones in terms of availing various benefits. At present, small hydro projects of up to 25 MW capacities are considered as renewable energy initiatives and are eligible for various incentives by the government. Developers of large hydro power projects would get a big boost if the distinction between small and large hydro projects is removed.

To sum up, these auction results assume great significance in moving towards achieving target of 175 GW.

Plummeting tariffs leading to green future


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Energy Next – an impressive publication

Keep it up team!I am a regular reader of your magazine. The February edition had some important interviews of wind service producers and power secretaries. I appreciate your effort and look forward to your next issue.ll Mehzabeen Aazmi, Noida

Unprecedented growth in wind sector With a powerful fourth rank in the Global Wind Power Installed Capacity index, India seems to be in a hurry to ramp up wind power capacity to 60 GW by 2022. India’s rise in the rankings is a result of government’s conducive policies combined with the interest of investors

in this sector. Your exclusive interviews with major wind energy producers helped us know about the future perspective of this sector. I am sure that India will achieve more milestones in the years to come! ll Murari Mishra, Noida

India high on solarI read the interview of Madhya Pradesh Power Secretary Manu Srivastava. Being a resident of Rewa, I am eagerly waiting for the commissioning of Rewa solar park. It’s good to know that the cabinet has approved capacity hike from 20GW to 40GW. I am sure that upcoming solar parks will encourage the use of

I came across your magazine last month and I was impressed by the way you have presented each article. The write-ups are complemented with detailed analysis and graphics which make the magazine an informative read. The exclusive edition on budget has beautifully described the expectations and reactions of people from all sectors.ll Subhash Jha, Kolkata

advisory board

Prof Rangan BanerjeeIIT-Mumbai

Arun GuptaManaging DirectorHim Urja Pvt Ltd

K P SukumaranFormer Advisor

MNRE

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MNRE

S Chandra SekharManaging Director

Bhoruka Power Corpn Ltd

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Wind World (India) Ltd

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solar power in India.ll Kalpana Singh, Rewa

Up for green causeI am a regular reader of your magazine as I am planning to pursue renewable sector as a career option. I am really passionate about the Green Cause and believe that your publication is a complete package offering a balance of news and views. I would particularly like to mention the budget issue where various company insiders gave their expert opinion on what is in store for the RE sector. Would it be possible to bring an international perspective in your magazine?ll Vimal Joshi, Dehradun


Cabinet approves enhancement of capacity from 20,000 MW to 40,000 MW of the Scheme for Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects

Govt doubles solar park capacity to 40,000 MW

in both countries. Hydroelectric power is seen as a source of power that is vital for maintaining the stability of the grid as the share of renewable sources of power, which are susceptible to weather conditions, is increasing in the grid.

All the states and UTs are eligible for benefits under the scheme. The state government will first nominate the Solar Power Park Developer (SPPD) and also identify the land for the proposed solar park. It will then send a proposal to MNRE for approval along with the name of the SPPD. The SPPD will then be sanctioned a grant of up to Rs 25 Lakh for preparing a Detailed Project Report

The cabinet committee on economic affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the enhancement

of capacity from 20,000 MW to 40,000 MW of the Scheme for Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects. The enhanced capacity would ensure setting up of at least 50 solar parks each with a capacity of 500 MW and above in various parts of the country.

Smaller parks in Himalayan and other hilly States, where contiguous land may be difficult to acquire in view of the difficult terrain, will also be considered under the scheme. The capacity of the solar park scheme has been enhanced after considering the demand for additional solar parks from the states.

The solar parks and ultra mega solar power projects will be set up by 2019-20 with Central Government financial support of Rs 8,100 crore. The total capacity when operational will generate 64 billion units of electricity per year which will lead to abatement of around 55 million tonnes of CO2 per year over its life cycle.

It would also contribute to long-term energy security of the country and promote ecologically sustainable growth by reduction in carbon emissions and carbon footprint, as well as generate large direct and indirect employment opportunities in solar and allied industries

NATIONAL NEWS

like glass, metals, heavy industrial equipment etc. The solar parks will also provide productive use of abundant uncultivable lands which in turn facilitate development of the surrounding areas.

The Minister said that the the project will also strengthen ties with Nepal and generate employment to 3,000 people

The scheme will contribute to long-term energy security of the country and promote ecologically sustainable growth by reduction in carbon emissions and carbon footprint


SOLAR

(DPR) of the Solar Park. Thereafter, Central Financial Assistance (CFA) of up to Rs 20 lakhs/MW or 30 percent of the project cost including Grid-connectivity cost, whichever is lower, will be released as per the milestones prescribed in the scheme. Solar Energy Corporation India (SECI) will administer the scheme under the direction of MNRE. The approved grant will be released by SECI.

The solar parks will be developed in collaboration with state governments/UTs. The state governments/UTs are required to select the SPPD for developing and maintaining the solar parks. Solar power tariff hit an all-time low of Rs3.3-3.309 per kWh—the levelized tariff—for the 750MW project offered by Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Ltd in Madhya Pradesh earlier this month.

The minister also said that the government is also working on a policy to encourage solar equipment manufacturing. “There is considerable interest to set up solar equipment manufacturing in India. After consultation with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the benefit of M-SIPS will also be extended to solar equipment


NATIONAL NATIONAL

With the goal of accelerating pragmatic solutions for India’s

diverse energy challenges, Indian MP’s through the Climate Parliament began a partnership with the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago’s India office (EPIC-India) on the 21st of February in New Delhi. Through the collaboration, the two organisations will work together in the areas of electricity sector reform, energy and environment policy analysis and capacity building.

The MoU signing ceremony in New Delhi was attended by Dr Sanjay Jaiswal, Member of Parliament from Paschim Champaran in Bihar and Mr Vincent Pale, Member of Parliament from Shillong in Meghalaya.

Sharing his thoughts, MP Dr Jaiswal said, “I am hopeful that this partnership will open new avenues for addressing energy access and several opportunities for implementing low carbon technologies. All of legislators of Climate Parliament network have shared vision which is to see that every citizen of our region has access to clean, reliable and affordable energy.”

India may light up all villages by 2018

MPs to provide solar powered street lights

MPs Partner with EPI, ChicagoIn a conversation with a leading

newspaper, Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) of Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC) PV Ramesh said that India would be able to provide power to all the villages by next year. Besides idle power generation capacity, the country has huge unmet demand for electricity

However, state-run power distribution firms are hesitant to buy more power fearing

government’s focus on the optimum use of new and renewable energy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emphasised on boosting the renewable energy capacity of the country from 30 GW to 175 GW.

“Some of the states have electrification of less than 50 per cent. As several areas in these states have inadequate coverage of street lighting, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has developed Atal Jyoti Yojna for providing solar lighting systems for public use,” reads the directive.

The Atal Jyoti Yojna includes 75 per cent of cost of solar street lighting and the remaining amount is to be offered from MPLADS funds.

A directive has been issued asking the members of parliament to provide

solar energy-powered street lights in rural areas. As per the new directive, the members of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha will be offering solar energy through MPs’ Local Area Development scheme (MPLADS) fund.

The new rule is a step towards

that it might add to their financial burden. The government introduced a programme named UDAY (Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana to recover the stressed discoms

“Buying power is a commercial decision for states. A lot of progress has happened under UDAY in several states but if somebody thought that financial restructuring would bring in miracles, I thing that is too simplistic an assumption,” said Ramesh.

Wind tariff in India falls to Rs 3.46 per unitFollowing a sharp drop in solar

tariff, wind power tariff has also fallen to an all-time low of Rs 3.46 per unit in an auction of 1,000 MW capacity conducted by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

“Mytrah Energy, Green Infra Wind Energy, Inox Wind Infrastructure Services, Ostro Kutch Wind and Adani Green Energy have emerged as lowest bidders. All these five firms have quoted Rs 3.46 per unit rate for the 1,000 MW capacities on block,” a source said.

“After solar cost reduction below

Rs 3/unit, wind power cost down to Rs 3.46/ unit through transparent auction. A green future awaits India,” Power Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted.

The states that do not have adequate wind resources will get power from these 1,000 MW capacity. “While solar in cheaper than wind energy, the advantage of wind is that the equipment for generating it is entirely made in India. To produce solar power, Indian companies still have to depend on Chinese imports for panels etc.,” said Soma Banerjee, principal, energy and infrastructure at CII.


NEWSNEWS

In order to help realise the goal of sustainable development for

affordable and clean power access, India needs to maximise renewable energy sources, says Niti Aayog through a micro-blogging site.

“We need energy efficiency by maximising supply of renewable energy sources to realise the goal of #SDG 7 on affordable and clean energy access,” Aayog tweeted.

“We’re at a time when prices of renewable energy sources like solar are falling rapidly. This will soon spread to different energy sources,” it added.

Niti Aayog, may soon rank states on the basis of energy efficiency, that wouldhelp help India achieve its commitment of lowering energy consumption.

Solar tariff drops to Rs 2.97/unit

$41 mn USAID aid for India’s clean energy mission

India should maximise RE sources: Niti Aayog

The solar tariff has dropped to a new low of Rs 2.97 per unit in a recently conducted

auction. The auction was reportedly conducted for 750 MW capacity in Rewa Solar Park, Madhya Pradesh by a joint venture of Madhya Pradesh government and Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI),

“India marches on towards realising the clean energy vision of Prime Minister

The Global Social Benefit Institute (GSBI), based at the Miller Centre

for Social Entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University (SCU) has partnered with New Ventures (NV), to help one million Indians gain access to clean energy through innovative solutions by 2018.

In the view of above, The United States Agency for International Development

Narendra Modi. First year solar tariff bids at record low of Rs 2.97/unit,” Power Minister Piyush Goyal posted on a micro-blogging site.

“The tariff has come down due to lower capital expenditure and cheaper credit. The per MW capital expenditure cost has come down to Rs 4 crore from earlier range of Rs 5-6 crore. Similarly, the interest rates have also slipped to 8.5 per cent from earlier 10-12 per cent,” a senior official said.

“The first year tariff quoted by the companies are - for Unit 1 - Rs 2.979 by Mahindra, for Unit 2 - Rs 2.970 by Acme and for Unit 3 - Rs 2.974 by Solenberg. There would be 5 paise escalation for 15 years and 33 paise to be added for the levelised tariff,” he added.

(USAID) has revealed its plans to facilitate investments of USD 41 million in clean energy.

The United States Government agency leverages India’s growing human and financial resources through partnerships that catalyze innovation and entrepreneurship to solve critical local and global development challenges.

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared his vision to raise renewable

capacity to 175 gigawatts by 2022, a retail mall in Mumbai Metropolitan Region announced the inauguration of 900KVA Rooftop solar power plant. The solar power plant set up is first of its kind in India and can generate 91000 watt in a month through solar energy.

The plant was inaugurated in Viviana Mall by Thane mayor Sanjay More and Municipal Commissioner of Thane Sanjeev Jaiswal. Chairman and Managing Director, Sheth Corp & Viviana Mall Ashwin Sheth also graced

India gets its first mall with largest Solar Power plantthe occasion. Following the installation of single-site solar plants, the mall will save 30 percent of its electricity usage by using solar energy.

Speaking on the development, Sheth said, “We believe solar is the power of our future. We as a part of the society are taking a small step towards saving energy by installing solar power plant in the mall. We received full co-operation, guidance and support from all concern government departments. We also aim to increase the power generation in coming years by 15 per cent and would want to be known as the greenest mall of India.”


STATE

REC sanctions Rs.2025 Cr under BRGF to Bihar DISCOMs

UJALA scheme launches in Sikkim

Solar plates, lanterns distributed in Rajasthan

Rajasthan gets loan of Rs 675 cr for its solar project

Rural Electrification Corporation CMD Dr P V Ramesh has

communicated the sanction of Rs 2025 crore under BRGF to Bihar DISCOM. This will not only remove the

IDFC Bank has sanctioned a loan of Rs 675 crore for a solar power project to

be installed in Rajasthan. The project is owned by Solairedirect, a French company. Managing Director of Solairedirect Energy India confirmed that the solar power project would be installed at Bhadla in Rajasthan under National Solar Mission. “Our NSM Bhadla project, which is under construction currently, is taking project finance from IDFC Bank for Rs 675 crore at a debt-equity ratio of 70:30,” he said.

IDFC Bank is charging 11 percent interest during construction and 10.5 percent from the start of commercial operations. The loan has been channelised through Solaire Surya Urja, a special purpose vehicle. According to the reports, the bank is expanding its credit presence through fintech startups in Surat, Rajkot, Chandigarh and Bengaluru.

financial hurdles but also expedite the implementation of projects under BRGF.

The visit was for a detailed review of the progress of DDUGJY in various districts of Bihar. It was conducted in

Sikkim State Designated Agency (SSDA) for introducing UJALA scheme. UJALA Scheme will help consumers to save money on their electricity bills and enable the government to meet the demand of electricity during peak hours.

Sikkim is one of the fastest developing states in India. The number of industries has increased in the state and so has the demand for power. The minister has encouraged people to use LEDs and create awareness around them.

Ronak Bandopadya, an officer from Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) said that the government will distribute 14.5 lakhs of 9W LED bulbs and 8.7 lakhs of 20W LED tube lights. An estimated 1.45 lakh consumers are expected to be benefitted under the scheme.

BSF has distributed 88 solar plates and solar lanterns in Shahgarh Bulj, Jaisalmer

under its welfare activities and civic action programme. The programme was inaugurated by south DIG Naresh Kumar, commandant N K Neggi, second in command S N Goswami and hosted by 18 battalions of BSF.

Organised under supervision of Neggi, the event was attended by hundreds of villagers. While Lokeshwar Khajuria and Dr Sonali Kanwal gave medical aid to people, hundreds of sick cattle were treated by veterinarians.

Free medicines were also distributed to the villagers. The villagers were delighted and thanked BSF for their supports.

the presence of BSPHCL CMD Pratyay Amrit, SBPDCL MD R Lakhamanan, NBPDCl MD Sandeep K. R. Pudakalkatti, REC ED Dinesh Arora, REC ED G.S Bhati. Officials and representatives of the agencies who attended the meetings committed to electrify 350 UE villages by March 2017. Ramesh handed over the first grant component of Rs 651.29 crores representing the 2nd installment of DDUGJY project worth Rs 5800 Crore. He also paid a courtesy visit to the Chief Minister, Energy Minister and Chief Secretary of Bihar.

In order to replace inefficient bulbs with energy efficient LED bulbs in

Sikkim, the state power minister D.D Bhutia has launched Unnat Jeevan by affordable LEDS and Appliances for All (UJALA) scheme in the state.

During the event, Bhutia appreciated the scheme and congratulated the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) &


NEWS

Wind energy producer Gamesa will invest around Rs 17,500 crore for

wind, solar and wind-solar hybrid power projects in Andhra Pradesh.

“Gamesa will facilitate investors to set up wind, solar and wind-solar hybrid power projects in Andhra Pradesh. We will bring existing investors in the renewable energy space and also new investors,” Chairman and Managing Director Ramesh Kymal told media.

with projects in this regard and see that these are executed on the ground at the earliest. On the occasion, the meeting was apprised of the enhanced mandate of JAKEDA for taking up of solar power plants from two megawatts to 10 megawatts. It was also told that 25 sites have been identified in the state for setting up solar power plants with generation capacity of around 41 megawatts of power. The meeting was conveyed that under the Grid Connected Rooftop Power Plants Scheme, the Department has fixed a target of setting up plants up to 450 megawatts capacity by 2022.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti asked the Science

and Technology (S&T) Department to undertake projects for harnessing of solar energy in a big way to supplement the energy needs of the state. Chairing a review meeting of J&K Energy Development Agency (JAKEDA) and Science and Technology Innovation Council here, the Chief Minister said Jammu and Kashmir has a fair potential for developing solar and wind energy which if harnessed adequately would rid the state of its energy deficiency.

Mehbooba Mufti asked the concerned department to come up

State-run power producer has commissioned 115 MW capacity

out of 260 MW of Bhadla Solar Power Project, Rjasthan.

“With this, the installed capacity of NTPC’s solar power projects touches 475 MW. The total installed capacity of NTPC on standalone basis has become 41,177 MW and that of NTPC group has become 48,143 MW,” NTPC said in a BSE filing. NTPC has planned capacity addition of about 1,000 MW through renewable resources by 2017. In this endeavour, NTPC has already commissioned 310 MW solar PV projects. The 50 MW Solar PV at Anantpur in Andhra Pradesh, 260 MW Solar PV at Bhadla in Rajasthan and 250 MW Solar PV at Mandsar in Madhya Pradesh and 8 MW Small Hydro Projects are under implementation, as per the company’s portal. Earlier this month, lower capital expenditure and cheaper credit had pulled down solar tariff to a new low of Rs 2.97 per unit in an auction conducted for 750 MW capacity in Rewa Solar Park in Madhya Pradesh.

J&K to harness solar, wind power in a big way

South Delhi to get its second waste-to-energy plant

2,500 MW renewable power to be facilitated in Andhra Pradesh

NTPC commissions 115 MW capacity at Rajasthan

Delhi is on its way to treat garbage in a more effective way as South Delhi

might soon get its second waste-to-energy plant. The plant is expected to reduce the amount of garbage that has been collected at the Okhla landfill over the years. While the Standing Committee has given its nod, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) is in the process of approving the project. The 15 megawatt (MW) WtE plant will be set up at Tekhand.

Standing Committee chairperson Shailender Singh said that 14.2 acres of land will be given to the SDMC. Currently, the land is is used by the Cement Corporation of India. The other plot of 35.33 acres, for the project, is however vacant. He said that the Delhi Development

Authority has been instructed to transfer the land to the SDMC. The Tekhand plant would be financed as per the private-public-partnership model.

“Around 2,500 MW renewal energy capacity comprising of wind, solar and wind-solar hybrid could be set up. We have

signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect with the Andhra Pradesh government,” he added.


INTERNATIONAL

Many companies in Africa are struggling with electricity scarcity,

power cuts and the reliance on diesel generators. Addressing such issues, a Swiss-based solar supplier Meeco has provided a 216 kWp ‘sun2live’ energy generating system as an off-grid solution to a Zimbabwean company.

The current installation of the so far largest solar energy plant in Zimbabwe with a total capacity of 216 kWp marks a major turning point in the history of energy supply in Zimbabwe and its companies, which are still strongly dependent on fossil fuels.

The sun2live energy generating system is an environmental friendly renewable energy solution. To meet the local requirements of the client, meeco has highly customised this energy solution. A special static tracker enables the most efficient positioning of the solar modules, which are oriented to two different directions in order to ensure the highest and over the day optimised energy production. Furthermore, it has placed the ground-mounted photovoltaic system at two different locations. The sun2live system will generate the energy to run the pumps to process the water.

Saudi Arabia has launched 700 MW renewables programme. With its aim

to achieve 3.45 GW of renewables by 2020 and 9.5 GW by 2023, the ambitious renewables tenders include 400 MW of wind projects and 300 MW of solar plants.

“This marks the starting point of a long and sustained program of renewable energy deployment in Saudi Arabia, that

New Zealand to play leading role in smart energy

Saudi Arabia launches first stage of its renewables will not only diversify our power mix but also catalyze economic development and support long term prosperity. It is our goal to make the National Renewable Energy Program among the most attractive and well executed Government renewable energy investment programs in the world,” said Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al-Falih. “

Zimbabwe gets its biggest solar energy plant

New Zealand has long been a global leader in developing effective energy markets,

renewable energy and establishing robust policies for electricity security, linked to its unique natural resource base and geography.

Over the past decade, New Zealand’s growing energy needs have outpaced improvements in energy efficiency, mainly because of the country’s expanding economy and growing population, according to the International Energy Agency’s latest study of NewZealand’s energy policies. The report,

Energy Policies of IEA Countries: New Zealand 2017 Review, points out that staying competitive in industry, while limiting greenhouse gas emissions outside of the power generation remains a technology and policy challenge.

“Government policies, including targets and standards, are needed to open up the potential of energy efficiency in industrial heat, buildings and transport. Strong standards and policies will guide technology innovation and growth, said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.


NEWS

World’s first solar panel road opens in France

Bangladesh launches solar ambulance

New Zealand gets its first solar-powered electric vehicle charging station

Renewables hit 87% power generation IN Kenya

China becomes world’s biggest producer of solar energy

French ministers have officially opened the world’s first solar panel

road in Tourouvre-au-Perche, a small village in Normandy, France. The road designed to be used by up to 2,000 motorists per day, is covered in 2,800

square meters of photovoltaic panels. Constructed at a cost of €5 million (about $5.2 million), it can provide an average of 767 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per day, which enough energy to power all of the street lighting in the village.

Wattway - the first of its kind solar panel road will be assessed after a two-year test period to determine its effectiveness.

“We are still on an experimental phase. Building a trial site of this scale is a real opportunity for our innovation. This trial site has enabled us to improve our photovoltaic panel installing process as well as their manufacturing, in order to keep on optimizing our innovation,” said Wattway Director Jean-Charles Broizat in a statement.

Capital inflows is steadily increasing into the renewable sector of Kenya.

According to the Intelligence partner of the Africa Renewable Energy Leaders’ Summit (ARELS) Asoko Insight, renewable energy represents 87 percent of the energy mix in the country. The government is raising power production through renewables from the 2,341MW to 23,000MW.

According to the experts, renewable energy projects suited to address energy deficit in remote locations. Director of Renewable Energy Eng. Isaac Kiva says, “Having adequate power from renewable sources will not only ensure the security of supply and cost effective tariffs; it will enhance the competitiveness of Kenya, and facilitate its socio-economic transformation.” The first Africa Renewable Energy Leaders’ Summit will be held on 4-5 April in Nairobi.

China has turned the world’s biggest producer of solar energy by capacity

after doubling its installed photovoltaic (PV) capacity last year. The country’s National Energy Administration (NEA) has revealed that its solar power production has reached 77.42 GW.

Shandong, Xinjiang, Henan were some of the provinces that saw the most capacity increase. Other provinces like Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai and Inner Mongolia had the greatest overall capacity by the end of the year. NEA has further confirmed that the country will add more than 110 gigawatts of capacity in the 2016-2020 period.

Solar plants generated 66.2 billion kilowatt-hours of power last year, accounting for 1 percent of China’s total power generation, the NEA said.

vehicle manufacturer have collaborated to launch a solar-powered ambulance that can run in narrow laneways.

The inexpensive three-wheeled van is as well-equipped as ambulances. It runs entirely on solar power during the day and solar batteries power at night and can be used in rural areas with no grid electricity. Kamal Hossain, a driver who has tested a prototype of the ambulance, said that it was safe and comfortable to drive on all surfaces, and went at a good speed. Currently, the vehicle is in the field testing stage and expected to be launched by the end of 2017.

New Zealand’s first on-road, solar-powered electric vehicle charger,

located on The Strand, Tauranga, is now open to the public. The ‘Electric Station’ gets energy from 18 solar panels and has two allocated car parks. The EV charger has a unit that displays the amount of electricity generated from the sun and the grid.

The Electric Station will provide free

In rural Bangladesh, emergency patients are often taken to hospital

in hand-pulled rickshaw vans which takes much time. With an aim to resolve this issue, a Bangladeshi university, a government organisation and a local

power for the first year from Trustpower along with a two hour- free parking.

General Manager of Powerco Andrew McLeod informed that the station will bring help the residents to charge and shop, and other people to visit Tauranga’s CBD. The grid provides back-up power when the produced solar-power is insufficient.


global competitiveness depends a lot on the availability of reliable and quality power at competitive prices. In India, the demand for power is enormous and is growing steadily.

Power sector in India has grown significantly since Independence, both in terms of installed capacity as well as transmission and distribution system. The total power-generating capacity has increased from a meagre 1362 MW in 1947 to 309 GW in 2016. The per capita electricity consumption, which was a mere 16.3 kWh in 1947 has increased to 1075 kWh in 2015-16. Despite this, the growth of electricity demand has surpassed the power supply and our country has been facing power shortages during peak electricity demand in spite of the manifold growth over the years.Electricity has almost been

recognized as a basic human need. In today’s world, electricity is the fastest-growing form of

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end-use energy consumption and it is one of the most critical elements on which the socio-economic development of any country depends. The growth of the economy and its

Small Hydro Power (SHP) is considered as a reliable option for both grid interactive and decentralised power generation, write Bhuwanesh Kumar Bhatt and Sanjay Kumar Shahi

Small Hydro Power in India

Bhuwanesh Kumar Bhatt Sanjay Kumar Shahi


about 20,000 MW, of which about 4341 MW has been exploited. A target of adding about 5000 MW by 2022 is kept by the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) by installing SHPs. The Indian SHP development programme received a new tempo after the liberalization of economy and invitation to private sector for investment in the power sector. Today, the SHP programme is essentially private investment driven.

Electricity generation from SHP is becoming increasingly competitive due to low tariff, etc. The challenge is to improve reliability, quality and reduce costs. The focus of the SHP programme is to lower the cost of equipment, increase its reliability and set up projects in areas which give the maximum advantage in terms of capacity utilisation.

Hydropower represents use of water resources towards inflation-free energy due to absence of fuel cost with mature technology characterized by highest prime moving efficiency and spectacular operational flexibility. Out of the total power generation installed capacity of 308834 (as on 30.11.2016) in India, Hydropower contributes about 15.37 per cent i.e. 47,457MW (Large Hydro + Small Hydropower).

A capacity addition of 88,537 MW is envisaged from different conventional and renewable sources during 2012-2017 (the 12th

Plan), which includes 10,897 MW from large hydro projects. In addition to this, a capacity addition of 1300 MW is expected from small hydro upto 25 MW station capacity.

ll HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE:India has a history of about 110 years of hydropower. The first small hydro project of 130 KW commissioned in the hills of Darjeeling in 1897 mark the development of hydropower in India. The Sivasamudram project of 4500 KW was the next to come up in Mysore district of Karnataka in 1902, for supply of power to the Kolar gold mines. Following this, there were number of small hydro projects set up in various hilly areas of the country. Till the Independence (1947), the country had an installed capacity of 1362 MW, which included 508 MW hydropower projects, mainly small and medium. A planned development of hydropower projects in India started only in the post-independent era. The focus was laid on large-scale power generation through big hydro, thermal and nuclear route.

First 50 years after Independence saw a capacity addition of 85,019 MW, including 21,644 MW of hydropower stations, most of them were being large hydro. Since the development was mainly in the central sector and the State Electricity Boards (SEBs) were more or less tuned to the central planning

For the 8-9 percent growth rate that India aspires for, its energy need is increasing correspondingly. The electricity demand in the country is expected to grow at 10 percent per annum. With the Electricity Act (2003), Electricity Policy (2005) and Tariff Policy (2006/2016) in possession, the country has created a conducive atmosphere for investments in the power sector.

It has been realized that there is a need to tap all possible sources of energy to meet this challenge and Small Hydropower (SHP) is considered as a reliable option for grid interactive as well as decentralized power generation.

The estimated potential of a SHP project (upto 25 MW station capacity) in India is of

Electricity generation from SHP is becoming increasingly competitive due to low tariff, etc. The challenge is to improve reliability, quality and reduce costs

SHP


system, relatively less importance was given to small projects. In the late 80’s, it was realized that the development of SHP potential has remain largely untapped as the focus was on large-scale power generation. In order to provide focused attention to small size projects, the subject of small hydro was brought under the preview of renewable energy.

The decade of 90s saw a firm footing for the development of small hydro in India. A comprehensive programme for exploitation of its potential was built. Demonstration projects were supported throughout the country with new technical and engineering concepts to harness small, medium and high heads for SHP projects in hills as well as canals. Research and Design projects and a dedicated center -- Alternate Hydro Energy Centre (AHEC) at University of Roorkee (now IIT, Roorkee), to provide technical support to the small hydro sector were supported. A database of potential SHP sites on small rivers and canals was concurrently developed.

ll HYDROPOWER CLASSIFICATION IN INDIAHydropower projects are generally categorised in two segments i.e. small and large hydro. In India, hydro projects up to 25 MW station capacity have been categorised as SHP projects. Further, these are classified as:

While Ministry of Power (MoP) in Government of India deals with large hydro projects, the responsibility of Small Hydro Development upto 25 MW station capacity rests with MNRE. The subject up to 3 MW was transferred from MoP in 1989 and again in 1999 the subject up to 25 MW was transferred from MoP to MNRE.

ll SMALL HYDRO POTENTIALThe total hydroelectric power potential in the country is assessed at about 1,50,000 MW equivalent to 84,000 MW at 60 per cent load factor. The identified potential of SHP projects is 19,749 MW at 6474 numbers of

Pico 5 kW & below

Micro 100 kW & below

Mini 2000 kW & below

Small 25000 kW & below

CLASSIFICATION OF SMALL HYDRO IN INDIA

POTENTIAL, INSTALLED & UNDER IMPLEMENTATION (as on 30.11.2016)

State

Potential Project Installed Project Under Implementation

Nos.Total

Capacity(MW)

Nos. Capacity(MW) Nos. Capacity

(MW)

Andhra Pradesh & Telengana 387 978.4 71 232.98 14 40.94

Arunachal Pradesh 677 1341.38 152 104.605 13 10.45

Assam 119 238.69 6 34.11 3 12Bihar 93 223.05 29 70.7 13 26.9

Chattisgarh 200 1107.15 10 76 4 91.25

Goa 6 6.5 1 0.05 0 0Gujarat 292 201.97 6 16.6 9 57Haryana 33 110.05 9 73.5 0 0Himachal Pradesh 531 2397.91 180 798.81 21 33.5

J&K 245 1430.67 40 158.03 32 35.3Jharkhand 103 208.95 6 4.05 8 34.85Karnataka 834 4141.12 166 1220.73 13 70.75

Kerala 245 704.1 31 205.02 12 72.75Madhya Pradesh 299 820.44 11 86.16 3 4.9

Maharashtra 274 794.33 64 346.175 5 30.35Manipur 114 109.13 8 5.45 3 2.75

Meghalaya 97 230.05 4 31.03 3 24.2Mizoram 72 168.9 19 41.47 2 4Nagaland 99 196.98 12 30.67 2 2.2

Orissa 222 295.47 10 64.625 4 3.6Punjab 259 441.38 54 170.9 4 4.75

Rajasthan 66 57.17 10 23.85 0 0Sikkim 88 266.64 17 52.11 1 1.5

Tamil Nadu 197 659.51 21 123.05 0 0Tripura 13 46.86 3 16.01 0 0

Uttar Pradesh 251 460.75 9 25.1 1 1.5Uttarakhand 448 1707.87 101 209.32 44 139.54West Bengal 203 396.11 24 98.5 17 84.25A&N Islands 7 7.91 1 5.25 0 0

potential sites, out of which 4324 MW has been harnessed at 1077 sites ( as on 31.01.2017). Out of this potential, about 50 percent lies in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh. In the plain region Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Kerala have sizeable potential (state-wise details of the potential are given in Table 1.) SHP projects normally do not encounter the problems associated with large hydel projects of deforestation and resettlement. The projects have potential to meet power requirements of remote and isolated areas. These factors make small hydel as one of the most attractive renewable source of grid quality power generation. The MNRE has taken a series

of steps to promote development of SHP in a planned manner and improve reliability & quality of the projects. By giving various physical and financial incentives, investments have been attracted in commercial SHP projects apart from subsidizing state governments to set up small hydro projects. MNRE is giving special emphasis to promote use of efficient designs of water mills for mechanical as well as electricity generation and setting up of micro hydel projects for remote village electrification.

ll SMALL HYDRO POWER PROGRAMMEThe small hydro programme of MNRE has two distinct components. One, SHP projects in MW

STATE WISE IDENTIFIED SITES AND INSTALLED PROJECTS WITH CAPACITY IN MW.

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line with Government of India policy, so far 24 states have announced their policy for inviting private sector to set up SHP projects. At least 416 private sector SHP projects of about 2389 MW capacity have been setup till January 2017.

The implementation of SHP projects is governed by state policies and the potential sites are allotted by the state governments to private developers. The process of allotment of sites by the states and statutory clearances including land acquisition, forest clearance, irrigation clearance etc. takes long time. The implementation of project is also affected due to difficult terrain and limited working season. The other problem relates to inadequate evacuation facilities and transmission links. The project monitoring system is inadequate. These reasons have resulted in the slow pace of addition of small hydro compared to other renewable energy sources like solar or wind.

The MNRE is giving financial subsidy,

both in public and private sector to set up SHP projects. In order to improve quality and reliability of projects, it has been made mandatory to get the project tested for its performance by an independent agency and achieving 80 per cent of the envisaged energy generation before the subsidy is released. In order to ensure project quality/performance, the ministry has been insisting to adhere to IEC/International/AHEC standards and Guidelines for equipment and civil works. The subsidy available from the Ministry is linked to use of equipment manufactured to IEC or other prescribed international standards. The equipment in the project is required to confirm to the following IEC standards.

SHP needs to be made profitable and a long-term investment opportunity, while ensuring quality and reliability of the power. To make SHP projects cost effective and reliable, standards, guidelines and

size capacity range, which are grid connected and normally developed by the state government or by a private developers. These projects are instrumental in increasing installed capacity of power generation in the state and eventually overall capacity addition in the country. Apart from this benefit, where the project is being developed there is a series of socio-economic activities in the project area which help in overall development of the area. Since the power project is a permanent asset in remote area, it also provides sustainable economic activity and employment opportunity. The other component of SHP programme is of decentralised power and energy generation through micro hydel and watermills. These applications have the potential of developing local entrepreneurs and meeting energy requirements of a village/community. A small/micro hydel project and watermills have the potential to provide sustainable economic strength to a village community.

ll GRID-INTERACTIVE SHP PROJECTSBeginning of the 21st century saw near commercialisation in the small hydro sector. The present focus of the SHP programme is to lower the cost of equipment, increase its reliability and set up projects in areas that give the maximum advantage in terms of capacity utilisation. SHP projects are being set up both in public and private sector.

The private sector was attracted by these projects due to their small adoptable capacity matching with their captive requirements or even as affordable investment opportunities. In

Equipment Standard

Turbines and generator (rotating electrical machines)

IEC 60034 – 1: 1983

IEC 61366-1: 1998

IEC 61116-1992

IS: 4722-2001

IS 12800 (part 3) 1991Field Acceptance Test for Hydraulic performance of turbine IEC 60041: 1991

Governing system for hydraulic turbines IEC 60308

Transformers

IS 3156 – 1992

IS 2705 – 1992

IS 2026 - 1983Inlet valves for hydropower stations & systems IS 7326 - 1902

SHP


manuals are required covering entire range of the related activities. Necessity of the standards/ guidelines and manuals were strongly felt by developers, manufactures, consultants, regulators and others. Hence, MNRE took the initiatives and assigned AHEC, IIT Roorkee to prepare standards, guidelines and manuals covering entire range of SHP activities. 27 nos. of Standards/manuals/guidelines were completed by AHEC in 2013 and released on February 3, 2014.

ll DECENTRALISED SHP PROJECTSThe rural energy scenario in India is characterised by inadequate, poor and unreliable supply of energy services. Realising the fact that mini hydropower projects can provide a solution for the energy problem in rural, remote and hilly areas where extension of grid system is comparatively uneconomical, promoting mini hydro projects is one of the objectives of the SHP programme in India. A number of mini/micro hydro projects have

been set up in remote and isolated areas, mainly in Himalayan region. While these projects are developed by various state agencies responsible for renewable energy, the projects are normally maintained with local community participation. A number of tea garden owners have also set up such micro hydro projects to meet their captive requirement of power.

The Watermills (WM) and Micro Hydel Projects (MHP) have the potential to meet the power requirements of remote and hilly areas in a decentralised manner. There is significant potential for development and upgradation of watermills and micro hydro projects (up to 100 kW) in the country. Watermills and micro hydro projects can result in to micro entrepreneurship development and meet energy requirements in remote hilly areas. It is proposed that the spread of micro hydro, watermill and individual projects would be enlarged. In remote hilly and forest fringed area, the fuel wood may be replaced with cheap electricity from mini/micro hydropower projects owned by individuals/community for which a large human resources otherwise is wasted and women are exposed to hazardous gases through smoke. The micro hydro/watermill activity would also be linked to economic activities.

There are a large number of watermills in hilly areas of our country. These traditional watermills are operating at a very low efficiency of around 15 to 20 percent. The watermills have the potential to meet the power requirements of remote areas in a decentralised manner. The scheme to support of micro hydel and watermills was revised in July, 2014. The subsidy was enhanced besides relaxing many terms and conditions that existed in the earlier SHP scheme of MNRE. After this, there has been considerable interest of state like Uttarakhand, J&K and Karnataka to take up this activity. Tea and coffee garden owners are also showing interest in directly implementing micro hydel and watermill projects.

About 2460 upgraded watermills [mechanical and electrical output (up to 5 kW)] have been installed in Kerala, Karnataka, J&K, Tamil Nadu, Nagaland and Uttarakhand. This is basically a scheme which is directly benefiting locals in the difficult remote and hilly areas of the Himalayan & sub-Himalayan region of the

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MNRE SUBSIDY DETAILS - AMOUNT OF CENTRAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE (CFA)/SUBSIDY AND PATTERN OF RELEASE OF CFA

States / Capacity Upto 1 MW Above 1 MW

All States Rs. 6.00 lakh Rs. 10.00 lakh

DSI & Preparation of DPR

New SHP projects in State sector

New SHP projects in private / co-operative

Watermills and Micro Hydel Projects

Renovation & Modernization of old SHP projects in public sector

Areas Above 100 KW &upto 1000 KW

Above 1 MW& upto 25 MW

N. E. States, J & K, H.P. & Uttarakhand

(Special Category States)

Rs. 75,000 per KW.

Rs. 7.5 Crores / MW limited toRs.20 crore per project.

Other States Rs. 35,000 per KW.

Rs. 3.5 Crores / MW limited to Rs.20 crore per project.

Category Above 0.1 MW – 25 MW

N E Region, J & K, H.P. & Uttarakhand

(Special Category States)

Rs. 1.5 crore/ MW limited to Rs. 5.00 crore per project

Other States Rs. 1.0 crore/ MW limited to Rs. 5.00 crore per project

Areas Upto 1000 KW Above 1 MW & upto 25 MW

All States & Uts Rs. 10,000 per KW Rs. 1.00 crore/ MW limited to Rs.10.00 crores per project

S. No. Category of Watermill Amount of CFA

i. Mechanical output only Rs. 50,000/- per Watermill

ii.

Electrical output (up to 5 kW) or Both mechanical and electrical output (up

to 5 kW)

Rs. 1,50,000/- per Watermill

iii. Micro Hydel (for all States) Rs.1,25,000/- per kW


country. Beside this, about 200 micro hydel projects also installed by the state nodal departments/agencies mainly in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

ll TECHNICAL AND HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENTAlternate Hydro Energy Centre (AHEC) at Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee was established in the year 1982 with initial sponsorship of MNRE. AHEC has been providing professional support in the field of small hydropower development covering planning, detailed project reports, detailed engineering designs and construction drawings, technical specifications of turnkey execution/equipment supply, renovation and modernisation of SHP stations, and techno-economic appraisal. IPPs and financial institutions are utilizing its expertise support for their SHP development. Data Bank for small hydro projects is the unique facility created at AHEC. AHEC has developed two new designs of water mills for grains grinding and for mechanical/electricity generation purpose for the hilly region of the country.

AHEC has been imparting training to the field engineers and technologists through short-term training courses. AHEC offers a four semester Master of Technology (M.Tech) programme in “Alternate Hydro Energy Systems”. A real time digital simulator for small hydropower plants has been established with the support from the MNRE for providing efficient initial and advanced training to operators and engineering staff of different types of small hydroelectric plants. A project to set up a small hydro hydraulic turbine R&D laboratory at AHEC with an objective of creating international level facilities for testing, design and R&D in the area of hydraulic turbines, hydro mechanical equipment, control and instrumentation of small hydroelectric power plants have been sanctioned. A Laboratory for sediment monitoring and impact analysis studies in hydropower plant is under establishment at AHEC, IIT Roorkee.

ll SHP INCENTIVE SCHEMESThe MNRE has been providing financial support/subsidy for following activities to develop the SHP sector:• Research & Development and Capacity building• Resource Assessment, Detailed Survey &

Investigation, DPR preparation and perspective plan for States• Capital Subsidy to State Sector Projects• Subsidy for Commercial Projects• Renovation & Modernization of old SHP projects (State Sector)• Water Mills / Micro hydel projects

ll BENCHMARK COST STUDY OF SMALL HYDROThe need for a comprehensive study on capital cost of SHP projects was felt and hence AHEC, IIT Roorkee was engaged by the MNRE to conduct a study of the trends of cost of small hydro power projects and to update/establish monograms for costing of canal/dam toe and run of river based SHP projects up to 25 MW capacity.

The cost data and market trends of hydropower stations installed during the last 10 years were collected, studied and analysed. To improve the benchmarking result, two approaches were adopted. In the first approach, data for the project installed during last 10 years (2005-2015) was considered, whereas in second approach, data for last 5 years (2010-2015) was considered.

However, the costs for all projects were brought at the base year 2015 by considering

inflation rates over the years. The data set was screened to detect and remove outliners which have unreasonable installation cost. The parameters on which the civil and E&M costs depend were identified. These parameters are installed capacity, head and the year of commissioning etc.

The cost data of 167 small hydro and 69 large hydropower stations covering 18 states namely Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Maharashtra, Orissa, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand and West Bengal were collected from different sources. Some of the cost of the components for which values were not available was assumed for calculation.

For appraisal of projects, the cost was divided in major heads of cost like civil works, electro-mechanical works and transmission & distribution works. The year-wise variation in the cost/MW value of the station based on given data was prepared for the both SHP and LHP stations and works out to be ₹5.3 crore and ₹5.14 crore per MW for small and large scale respectively in the year 2005, ₹7.76 crore and ₹6.95 crore per MW for small and large scale respectively in the year 2010 and ₹10.2 crores

Data Bank for SHP is the unique facility created at AHEC, which has developed two new designs of water mills for grain-grinding and for mechanical/electricity generation for country’s hilly region

SHP


and ₹8.76 crores per MW for small and large scale respectively in the year 2015. But by taking the data only for the year 2010 to 2015 these figures are ₹7.45 crore and ₹6.7 crore per MW for small and large scale respectively in the year 2010 and ₹10.5 crores and 9 crores per MW for small and large scale respectively in the year 2015. The predicted cost for the year 2020 based on the analysis of given data is ₹13.5 crores and 11.3 crores per MW for small and large scale respectively. The capacity wise variation has also been seen as 50 per cent higher for 1 MW compared to 25 MW capacity projects.

PLF is site specific depending upon the water availability and meteorological parameters in a particular location. As per the available data, the PLF of large hydro (LHP) and small hydro (SHP) station for different states is in the range of 23 to 47 per cent and 17 to 61 per cent respectively. Out of 236 stations, only 102 sites (76 SHP and 24 LHP) provided the PLF data.

The cost of civil and E&M works worked out in the state are having similar trend as of the actual costs of such projects. For the both SHP and LHP projects the total cost as well as the civil works cost of the project increases with the increase in the head whereas the E&M works cost decreases with the increase in head.

ll ISSUES IN HYDROIt is felt that if the following issues are resolved,

the SHP sector will be benefitted immensely.• State government may develop mechanisms to avoid unnecessary delays in providing statuary clearance to projects.• Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change may also develop mechanisms to be adopted for faster forest clearances.• CERC/SERC may consider the revised capital cost of the projects based on the bench mark cost of the project for determination of generic tariff. The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission may be requested to intervene in the matter and issue guidelines/directive in this matter. Appropriate Commissions should be encouraged to set more realistic tariffs for Small Hydropower.• Where ever possible DISSCOMs of states where small hydro stations are set up must offer PPAs at preferential tariff.• The small project upto 5 MW be given the option to opt for the tariff period for 13 years or 35 years as available for in the latest guidelines recommended by HPSERC for the project from 5 MW to 25 MW.• Transmission connectivity should be provided close to the SHPs by the State Transmission Utility or DISCOMS, so that cost is not loaded on the generation project and there should also be efforts to reduce other costs like cost of land and minimum loading on

projects for infrastructures like roads etc.• In case DISCOMs of the state where power project is set up do not provide PPAs, developers should be facilitated to sell to adjoining state DISCOMs. For this it is important that wheeling charges, cross subsidy or other charges are reasonable. There are cases where these charges are so high that developers cannot sell to any other DISCOM or make 3rd party sale.• Penal measures for strict enforcement of RPO’s by the DISCOM and other utilities.• All state utility may be made responsible for purchase of renewable power from the Independent Power Producer of the state at generic tariff to be notified by SERC with revised per MW capital cost.

ll CONCLUSION• Hydro is a renewable and clean source of energy because it cannot be depleted and produces virtually zero greenhouse gases and hence it meets both the standards of definition of “clean and renewable”.• Hydropower is a proven, mature, predictable, highest conversion efficiency and cost competitive RE source.• Hydropower requires relatively high initial investment, but has the advantage of very low operational costs and a long life span, quick start and stop.• Hydropower plays a key role in power systems due to its flexibility and reliability (peaking, ancillary services) and in the present scenario, its importance has further increased because of the large scale addition of variable renewable energy power in the form of solar and wind energy in the power system.• Life cycle analysis of hydropower shows as cleanest electricity technology with a low carbon footprint (4-14 g CO2 eq/kWh).• Hydropower has excellent energy payback ratio (typically > 200)• Hydropower is very important for mass-storage for electricity• Hydropower can be an opportunity for development when social and environmental impacts are dealt with properly.

About the authors:Bhuwanesh Kumar Bhatt, Adviser, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of IndiaSanjay Kumar Shahi, Scientist, Small Hydro Programme Division, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India(Views expressed by the authors are personal)

Hydropower requires relatively high initial investment, but has the advantage of very low operational costs and a long life span, quick start and stop

COVER | SHP


Small Hydro Projects do not normally face issues deforestation, resettlement and rehabilitation, but long and repeated adjournment in different courts and uncoordinated and archaic response by governments is making development of the sector difficult, observes Arun Kumar

However, hydropower development comes under state subject. The states function under the guidance of the Central government. At least 24 states in the country have announced their policies for private sector to set up SHP projects. Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) issues guidelines for determining tariff for power generated from SHP projects and State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs), in their respective states, have accordingly announced tariff and other conditions.

ll PRESENT STATUS WITH GLOBAL PERSPECTIVEAs per World Small Hydropower Development Report (2016), the global SHP (<10 MW) installed capacity is 78 GW in 2016, against total estimated SHP potential of 217 GW. SHP represents approximately 1.9 per cent of the world’s total power installed capacity, 7 per cent of the total renewable energy capacity and 6.5

acquisition has drastically slowed down the completion and development of hydropower project in the country. Long and repeated adjournment and extension of legal cases in different courts and uncoordinated and archaic response by governments and others is making the hydropower development more difficult.

ll SMALL HYDRO POWER HAS UNIQUE BENEFITS Being a mature, economically efficient technology, it has minimal impact on the environment. SHP has significantly contributed to rural electrification, improving living standards and economic conditions, alleviating poverty as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions globally.

Electricity is a concurrent subject, as such, both central and state governments are responsible for promoting this sector and have authority to make necessary laws, regulations, formulate and implement policies and programmes.

Ignored Value of Small Hydro Power projects?

India is posed for large deployment of renewable energy (RE) to meet its carbon reduction commitment by the year 2030, where 75 GW is planned

from hydropower. In spite of a conducive policy, the development of hydro, both small and large, is moving at snail speed.

The capacity addition in 11th and 12th plan from hydropower has been reduced. Concern on environmental flow and appropriate resettlement, as well as land

COVER | SHP


estimated as 25 GW. SHPs are normally run-of-river or installed on the existing water resource structures like dams, barrages and canals constructed primarily for irrigation purposes.

SHP projects do not normally face the issues deforestation, resettlement and rehabilitation, which are normally associated with large-scale hydro projects. While all states have possibility to set up SHPs with well spread country-wide river network,

over 50 per cent of identified SHP potential sites are in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh. SHP projects have turned around economic activities in local areas, villages and remote areas in the past and has potential in future. This makes SHP as one of the most attractive and reliable renewable source of grid quality power generation even though variable but fairly predicted source.

The rapid increase in the installed capacity

per cent of the total hydropower capacity, including pumped storage. As one of the world’s most important RE sources, SHP is fifth in development, with large hydropower having the highest installed capacity to date, followed by wind and solar power in RE.

China dominates the small as well as large hydropower development globally. 51 per cent of the world’s total SHP installed capacity (definition of below 10 MW) and approximately 28 per cent of the world’s total hydro installed capacity is in China. Japan and India also have a less developed SHP sector. Canada, Brazil, Norway, Vietnam are countries developing SHP.

In India, hydro projects up to 25 MW station installed capacity are classified as SHPs. The potential of SHP projects is

SHP projects do not normally face the issues deforestation, resettlement and rehabilitation, normally associated with large scale hydro projects

The sector needs a fresh outlook from both government and private sector, says Arun Kumar

Innovation to boost SHP other supporting services) and thirdly, long and repeated adjournments and extension of legal cases in different courts along with uncoordinated as well as anarchic response by governments and others is making the hydropower development more difficult. What is the present status of the SHP sector?The private sector is not finding SHP sector attractive enough to make

investments as the costs of projects have gone up from Rs 5 crore/MW in the year 2005 to Rs 10 crore/MW in 2016 and tariff computation for SHPs by regulators is not making attractive for investments. The projects involve time consuming process for allotment of sites by states and statutory

QWhy is the development of hydropower, both small and large moving at

snail’s pace?Inadequate understanding and appreciation of the subject of hydro power especially by regulators, common public, media, and government departments and are some of the obvious reasons for bringing down the pace of hydropower, both large and small, development. What are the three major hurdles that are hampering the growth of the sector?Firstly, inadequate preparedness of government and independent developers towards the present and evolving concerns about hydro power on social as well as environmental issues. Secondly, shadow of high thrust of intermittent power and not looking at the true value of hydro power (auxiliary service, predictability, stable and

clearances including land acquisition, forest clearance, irrigation, fisheries, district administration, local panchayat, clearance etc. What kind of fresh outlook is required to infuse a lease of life to the sector?Comprehensive integration of power market dynamics, environmental markets and project economics along with continued improvement in mitigating adverse effects, protection of fish and wildlife, and increased public awareness of progress made in this regard through continued technical innovation shall bring hydropower sector to life. This is to be done by government (both central and state), regulators, media, academia and financial institutions. Can you talk about the impact of climate change on the sector?Small hydro often have relatively small catchment area and does not have channel storage resulting in high variation in inflows. The impacts of climate change are increase in peak flows and decrease in lean flows and at the same time high erosion due to high peak flows. Thus small hydro shall be affected with these impacts.

EXPERT TAKE

COVER


of SHP projects during the 10th and 11th Plan is attributed to participation of private sector. The viability of these projects is normally directly proportional to the capacity of the project. Most of the states, with reasonably high SHP potential, have allotted the projects to the private sector for implementation and operation. Since SHP projects had reasonably good economic viability, a number of financial institutions and banks were financing these projects.

However, this situation has changed in the recent years and can be visualised by looking at year-wise SHP installed capacity

additions along with SHP cumulative capacity. The private sector is not finding any more SHP sector attractive enough to make investments. The costs of projects have gone up from Rs 5 crore/MW in the year 2005 to Rs 10 to 12 crore/MW in 2016 and tariff for SHPs is no more attractive for investments.

Low rate of average pool power purchase rate in hydro rich states which are having government supported old hydropower projects and non-sale of Renewable Energy Certificates in the open market are some of the other reasons for declining the interest in the SHP sector. CERC allows 15.5% to 16.5%

return on equity for large hydro but proposes 14% for small hydro. Long implementation time and multi-departmental statutory clearances associated with the hydro projects are some more reasons for such dissented. The projects involve time consuming process for allotment of sites by states and statutory clearances including land acquisition, forest clearance, irrigation, fisheries, district administration, local panchayat, clearance etc.

ll VALUE OF HYDROPOWER Electric Power Research Institute of United States study “Quantifying the Value of Hydropower in the Electric Grid” (2013) and “Hydropower vision initiative” of US Department of Energy (2016) highlight the special value of hydropower due to its inherent characteristics of peak power and ancillary service.

Hydropower projects have two primary values i.e. power sale and environmen¬tal as well as social benefits (RECs, CDM). The structure and operation of power markets though vary across the country but has common characteristics of generating electricity and providing flexibility to grid. Environmental and economic market factors of RECs can provide additional value to hydropower plants, as a sustainable, renewable or green electricity resource.

Unfortunately environmental and economic part have not been emphasized and strengthened by the government, legal, regulators, manufacturer, developers and

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50

0

1989

-9019

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1997

-9819

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-0120

01-02

2002

-0320

03-04

2004

-0520

05-06

2006

-0720

07-08

2008

-0920

09-10

2010

-1120

11-12

2012

-1320

13-14

2014

-1520

15-16

2016

-17

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Inst

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r Yea

r (M

W)

Yearly SHP Installed Capacity Addition in India

SHP


health, reduced consumption water use for thermal power and high manpower and economic development.

A relook is required for developing SHP sector with the following options: • New run of river development including new multi-purpose barriers like rubber dam or instream installations. • Modernising and optimising the existing power plants and dams for increased generation and environmental performance; • New power plants at existing non-powered dams, barriers and water conveyances such as canals and water conduits for drinking and industrial use • New pumped storage hydropower (large and small) facilities including reservoirs on top of hills for batter penetration of solar and wind energy

Climate change may create about around water availability for hydropower generation, and this uncertainty can affect the long-term outlook of the hydropower industry. The degree to which these challenges can be effec¬tively addressed will influence the levels of future hydropower growth and reinvestment in existing water resources structures and realization of the opportunities and benefits that the low costs, grid services, and long project operating life

media unlike solar and wind sector. Until the combination of power markets,

envi¬ronmental markets, and project economics create the sustainable revenue, hydropower projects will continue to remain what it is today or even further reduce.

Changes and trends in the electric sector call for a fresh look at the future role for hydropower. Lower natural gas prices and decommissioning of coal power plants contribute to a changing generation mix and potential markets for new generation sources. Increasing penetrations of variable renewable generation, such as solar and wind, will lead to greater demand for grid flexibility and balancing services and is going to change the way the grid is operated and there is an urgent need to view the way hydropower is being developed scrutinised, delayed at all level but not compensated. Treatment of all hydropower as a renewable resource is not there even being globally well-known fact.

Hydropower has clear impact on the country’s electric sector in terms of average electricity prices, present value of electricity system costs, hydropower development investment in local economy, energy diversity and risk reduction, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, reduced air pollution and human

of hydropower can provide. Equally important to increasing

hydropower’s com¬petitiveness shall be required continued improvement in mitigating adverse effects, protection of fish and wildlife, and increased public awareness of progress made in this regard. Addressing these objectives will require continued technical innovation, measurable and implementable environmental sustainability metrics and practices, increased planning at the basin or watershed scale, and access to new science and assessment tools.

ll BARRIERS FOR SHP DEVELOPMENTHydropower development in India has several issues requiring immediate attention of the law and policy makers, planners, media, legal for finding out appropriate mitigation which otherwise are hampering the development. • Land acquisition issues specially from forest and private • Forest & Environment, wild life and national sanctuaries clearances and post project award declarations. • Non availability of finances (equity or loan) and higher interest rates and tighter credit availability.• Lack of infrastructure like roads, construction power, reliable communication system is deterrent • Interference by local leaders/student leaders and others.• Law & order issues in border and difficult areas.• Absence of political/administrative will to execute hydro power projects.• Interference of outsiders on petty issues even for already cleared and under construction projects at the last stage of completion • Rehabilitation & Re-settlement issues.• Geological Challenges.• Development of transmission lines together with commissioning of hydro projects. • Conversion of storage schemes to ROR schemes

Even much announced hydro policy review expected to come out in April 2016 has not seen the day of government concurrence yet.

Cumulative SHP Capacity in India

4,500

4,000

3,500

3,000

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

SHP

Cum

ulat

ive

Inst

alle

d ca

paci

ty (M

W)

0

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-90

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-91

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-92

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-93

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-98

1998

-99

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-200

0

2000

-01

2001

-02

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-03

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-04

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-05

2005

-06

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-07

2007

-08

2008

-09

2009

-10

2010

-11

2011

-12

2012

-13

2013

-14

2014

-15

Year

Lack of infrastructure like roads, construction power, reliable communication system are among barriers for SHP development

COVER


ll BARRIERS TO SHP DEVELOPMENT AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS International conference on sustainable hydropower development (2015) provided several mitigation measures and may be considered for making hydropower conducive for development. The mitigation measures are: • State is to decide whether it wants or not to develop its abundantly available natural renewable resource of hydropower. • Ownership of the projects should be clearly understood and appreciated as state draws royalty from hydro projects and should support at all levels.• Hydro power projects irrespective of capacity need to be considered as renewable projects and incentives available to other renewable projects be provided.• Grievance redressal of private investors must also be attended at various levels, including at the field level (district and sub-division)• Government must defend adequately all hydropower related legal cases of stakeholders• Adequate infrastructure for access and power evacuation.• Decision by government and courts to be expedited as delay in decision causes heavily and make hydropower unviable. • Environmental flow should be put in law rather than in agreements. Adequate awareness and creation database for

the need of environmental flow so that clearance or execution on that account are not held up.• Local community participation is important. Urja Mitra as promoter for hydropower and other energy development• States are to be encouraged to invest in old and less efficient Hydro plants by switching to modern technology, higher efficiency and optimum utilization of resources• Government need to encourage and support to private developers for developing

the hydropower projects in North East and adjoining countries viz. Bhutan and Nepal and provide infrastructure of roads and transmission lines.• Long term finance for hydro projects may be made available. • Upfront Payment to State Government being part of project cost should be removed. • Capacity development is the key to success for scaling up of SHP programme for planning, oversight, and monitoring; training to all project developers, facilitators, financial institutions and community members; adopting the standard equipments and designs. • Being small scale it may not afford of having persons specialist in each discipline of Civil, electrical, mechanical, electronic engineering and socio-economy. Small hydropower may need personnel having fairly good background in each of these fields• Continued support R&D in several areas• Clarity in Policies and regulations.

The author is professor and MNRE chair professor, at Alternate Hydro Energy Centre, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee. He served as coordinating lead author for hydropower chapter of Special Report on Renewable Energy by Inter governmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC).

Pow

er (M

W)

4000

3500

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1000

Andhra

Prades

hArun

acha

l...Ass

am

Bihar

Chhatt

isgarh Goa

Gujarat

Haryan

a

Himac

hal P

rades

h

Jammu &

Kashm

irJh

arkha

ndKarn

ataka

Kerala

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a Prad

esh

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shtra

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rMeg

halay

aMizo

ramNag

aland

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Punjab

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an

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adu

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UT (A & N

Islan

ds)

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rades

hUtta

rakha

ndWes

t Ben

gal

500

0

Commissioned Project

Under Construction /Development

Total Potential

State wise SHP Potential, Commissioned and Under Development

For SHP growth, govt must defend all hydropower related legal cases of stakeholders and provide infrastructure for access and power evacuation

SHP


more. These issues, in long run, adversely affect the economic cost and benefit sharing from installation to generation of power.

How are the SHPs eco-friendlier and financially viable than the big hydropower projects?SHPs have potential to comply with the power requirements of topographically remote and isolated landscape. Major economic feasibility feature of such SHPPs vests in their durability in long useful life and zero-inflation generation cost. These projects replace fossil fuel-based thermal power generation plantsthus, lowering the carbon footprint in terms of gross carbon emission reduction. SHPs pose restricted and negligible ecological degradation which do not alter the nature of river streams/tributaries leading to siltation, landslides in the hills or flood. Such project sites reduce disaster risk in

QHow does the topography of India make it feasible for Small Hydropower

Projects (SHPs)?Indian landscape and topography offers an enormous feasibility potential for Small

Despite a feasible topography, India records relatively slow growth in SHP sector as legislative complexity obstructs the project site allotment. Some help from the State Governments in removing the barriers of legislative clearances can make India go a long way ahead in hydropower, says Kumar Deepak, Environmentalist, UNDP, in an interview with Sagarika Ranjan

COVER

Policy tweaking can make India SHP hub

Hydropower Projects (SHPs). Himalayan and Sub-Himalayan ranges, North-Eastern Hills, Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, Rajmahal Hills, Amarkantak Range and Kaimur Range besides other ranges provide a wide range of sites for the SHPPs. India has an enormous range of small and big river tributaries as well as water-falls that may have the potential to be identified as significant SHP sites.

What advantages do SHPs enjoy over big hydropower projects?The SHPs do not face major problems in their social, economic and environmental feasibility assessment unlike the Big Hydropower Projects. The big projects encounter serious social and environmental challenges like construction of dams, mass scale deforestation, mass displacement and rehabilitation, livelihood issues, Disaster Risk Reduction and many


What is the way ahead? Are the policies helping?SHPs are one of the core areas where MNRE is working to liberalize policies, both for the Government and the private sectors. They are working towards exempting the economic burden of higher project cost besides other financial constraints to set up increased numbers of Small Hydropower Projects. Government has already issued new sanctions for the implementation of SHP Programmes (Up to 25 MW capacity) during the year 2014-15 and for the remaining period of 12th Five Year Plans (March 31, 2017) for the Central Financial Assistance and Financial support in the form of Grants/assistance/subsidy in the following areas:• Resource Assessment and Support for Identification of New Sites• Schemes for setting up new SHPs in the Private/Co-Operative/Joint Sector besides other sectors• Schemes for setting up new SHPs in the Government Sector• Scheme for support of renovation and modernization of existing SHPs in the government sector

Union MNRE provides financial support of Rs 7.5 crore per MW limited to Rs 20 crore per project in the North-Eastern regions and special categories states of Jammu &Kashmir (J&K), Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Support of Rs 3.5 crore per MW limited to Rs 20 crore per project for other states being set up in the government sectors. New policy sanctions provide financial support up to Rs 1.50 crore per MW limited to Rs 5 crore per projectfor private sectors as well. This provision is in the North-eastern regions and special categories states of J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Meanwhile, for the other states it is Rs 1 crore per MW limited to 5 crore per project. This

is for those projects that have started their construction work after April 1, 2013.

The financial support of Rs 6lakh for projects up to 1 MW capacity; Rs 10 lakh for projects with more than 1 MW capacity will be provided. For projects up to 25 MW capacity, the State Government Department/Agencies/local bodies will be required to prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR), including detailed survey and investigation or actual cost incurred in this regard, whichever is less.

What are your personal views on the prevailing scenario of the SHPs in the country?Since SHPs have the least damaging impact on the environment and are a substitute for the fossil fuels in India, in the long run these projects will help reduce carbon emission playing a comprehensive role in contending the commitments that the Government submitted to the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the United Nations Framework Convention On Climate Change (UNFCCC). India has ratified Paris Climate Agreement in October 2016 and we are now legally bound to reduce carbon emission by 30 to 35 per cent of our GDP of 2005 level. The government is also committed to expand its non-conventional energy generation capacity from 35 GW to 175 GW by 2022. SHPs feed power to remote hilly and rural agglomeration. Such projects would compensate the transmission loss by smart green grid corridors. Such projects help us overcoming disaster risk of droughts, floods and landslide. State Government should remove the barriers of legislative clearances as such land acquisition, forest and irrigation clearances so that allotment of potential project sites could be investment-friendly, proving to be a sustainable environment friendly SHPs destination.

the long run like flood and landslide hazards vulnerability. Major Research and Development in enhancing technical efficiency and reliability of equipment integrates not only managing project cost lower but it also lowers down risk posed by other factors completing the project on time for further power generation.

What are the challenges faced by the SHPs?Despite having a feasible topography India records relatively slow growth in SHPs sector. One of the main attributes of slow pace of SHPs development is difficult site location owing private and forest land with hilly terrains where such projects are set up. Seasonal constraints in hilly landscape also heavily affect the growth of SHPs. Given the difficult terrain and limited working season, the gestation period in such projects is relatively longer, leading to increase in the estimated project cost. SHP projects are governed by the respective State policies and hence the respective State Government allots specific potential project site to private developers. Legislative complexity obstructs the project site allotment by granting delayed statuary clearances including land acquisition, forest clearance and irrigation clearances. Sometimes such projects also face serious natural calamities due to difficult site locations.

Where do you see SHPs now and what capacity development we can expect five years from now?India has tremendous potential for SHP generation. During the 11th Five-year plan period,1418.84 MW capacity was added to SHPs against the target of 1400 MW. As per a report by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), a target of additional 1600 MW from such SHPs had been fixed for the 12th Year Plan. So far, 545.18 MW capacity has been added in the first three years. Till December 31, 2014, 1016 SHPs have been set up with an aggregate capacity of 3970 MW and another 236 projects with an aggregate capacity of 768 MW are very much under implementation. Current growth of gross capacity is very slow as the capacity addition is just 250 MW every year from such SHP projects. MNRE is aiming to enhance this capacity addition by 500 MW per year which could fulfill the total capacity addition of 2000 MW in the next five years.

INTERVIEW


The potential for power generation via small hydro power projects in Himalayan and Sub-Himalayan regions is massive, writes Vikram Aggarwal

rural and urban regions. As of August 2016, the total installed capacity of power stations in India stood at 305,554.25 Megawatt (MW), while electricity generation grew by up to 5.69 percent year-on-year to 486.44 BU during April 2016-August 2016.Thus, to meet the growing demand, India has begun to improve its power generation capacity by maximising its current installed power via alternate sources of energy – and this is where the renewable energy is flourishing.

The Central Electricity Authority states in its latest report that India’s total power capacity is valued at three lakh MW, out of which, over 42,850 MW is contributed by renewable energy projects and 42,783 MW by hydro power projects. What’s more, while solar and wind generated power have witnessed an inflow of investment from several growth enablers, another segment that is gradually gaining prevalence these days is Small Hydro-electric power.

Globally, India is the 7th largest producer of hydroelectric power, and is ranked 3rd in the world in total number of dams. When it comes

The Indian government’s plan to further develop renewable electricity sources by 2022 is leading various stakeholders to invest in the country’s

power generation infrastructure, and create more awareness about alternate sources of energy.

Development of the power sector is one of the most crucial parameters when it comes to infrastructure development of a country. In India, the power sector has transformed over the years owing to constant efforts and initiatives undertaken to improve the country’s power generation capacity.

COVER

At the moment, India is ranked 3rd among 40 countries in the world –‘Ernst & Young Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index’ due to the government’s strong focus on promoting renewable energy, and implementation of projects within a set time limit.

According to a report published by IBEF, the power sector in India is one of the most diversified in the world. Various sources of power generation in the country range from the conventional – coal, natural gas, lignite, hydro, & oil, to more sustainable sources like wind, solar, and agricultural & domestic waste. The IBEF report further states that the Indian government’s steady focus on accomplishing its target of ‘Power for all’ has managed to accelerate the power capacity addition in the country. Furthermore, it has been found that the competitive intensity of power is simultaneously increasing in terms of fuel, logistics, finances, and manpower.

The demand for electricity has increased in India over the years owing to rise in consumption, driven by development in both

Small Hydro Power big potential


and it is easy to install small projects of 50kw to 500 kw. The projects are easy to operate and a local inhabitant can be trained to do the daily operations. These projects provide support to the local villages in meeting their daily needs at a minimum cost. The projects are also a helpful resource for border security forces for lighting, electrification and other needs. Technological advancements have been made in the equipment for these projects and in future the installation, operation and maintenance of these projects will become easier. The efficiency of the projects has also increased making them all the more viable.

ll GRID CONNECTED SMALL HYDROIn the ‘Strategic plan for new and renewable energy sector for the period 2011-17’ report, MNRE states that development of Grid connected small hydro power technologies are mature as well as commercially viable. Small hydro projects 5-25MW are mostly located in the Himalayan ranges on the smaller streams of the main rivers. Projects are commercially viable and can be connected to the main grid for supplying power to the local areas. Enough number of projects will help in providing base load power to the grid and greatly help shape the future of energy security for the country. SHP projects are run of river projects and

environment friendly. The operations of these projects are easy and provide opportunities for local employment. Access to remote locations of the Himalayan range and lack of local awareness about the SHP projects hinder the progress of SHP development in India.

Thus, key stakeholders within this realm should invest in a sustainable energy format that can also enrich local communities through infrastructure development, job creation, supply opportunities, and access to information/better facilities.

ll WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDSSHP technology is well established and all major global manufactures of equipment (turbines, generators etc) have world class manufacturing bases in India. India is a major supply base for SHP projects in South East Asia, Middle East, South America and others.

India has a huge appetite for power and SHP can play a major role in this. With the world focussing on ‘Green Energy’ and ‘Self Dependence on Energy’, the SHP sector in India stands at an opportunity of crossroads. Quick to implement, environment friendly, steady returns on income, high PLF make the sector a front runner for attracting investment.

Global energy companies have been tracking the SHP energy sector with interest for the past several years. Several international companies have invested in Hydro Projects in India in the past years but due to regulatory approvals not many projects have gotten off the ground. SHP projects are located in remote locations in some of the smaller states of India - Arunachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh and J&K. A focused approach from the GOI and States on statutory clearances will pave the way for investments in the sector.

While the potential for power generation via small hydro power projects in Himalayan and Sub-Himalayan regions is massive, the Indian government needs to develop stronger policies and develop better transmission networks in order to improve its current generation capacity. For now, it can be said that the future scope of small hydro power in India certainly seems promising, as long as it is developed in a way that can benefit all parties involved in future. The author is Managing Director, Virtuaal Infrapower Private Limited

to feasibility, hydro-electricity is often touted to be the most affordable and environment-friendly source of power.

According to reports, the installed utility-scale hydroelectric capacity of India, as of March 2016, was 42,783 MW, i.e. 14.35 per cent of the country’s total utility power generation capacity. Apart from these, the country also witnessed installation of small hydroelectric power units, with a capacity of more than 4,274 MW.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), under Government of India, has been assigned the responsibility of developing Small Hydro Power (SHP) projects of up to 25 MW station capacities across the country. The MNRE estimates that the potential for power generation from small hydro plants is 20,000 MW. While Himalayan states possess most potential for river-based projects, hydro power generation in other states is expected to come from irrigation canals.

Small Hydro-electric power generation can be further classified into two categories:

ll OFF-GRID SMALL HYDROOff grid projects are ideal for remote locations in hilly states e.g. border areas, villages with small populations cut off from the main transport and grid connectivity, Small river streams are abundant in the Himalayan ranges

With the world focussing on ‘Green Energy’ and ‘Self Dependence on Energy’, the SHP sector in India stands at an opportunity of crossroads

OUTLOOK


Future Scope of Small Hydro Power

the generation cycle. A run of river plant stores water in the weir for a short duration and the water is returned to water cycle on each day.• Small hydro projects (90 per cent) efficient in utilisation of the resource than solar (15-20 per cent), wind (35 per cent) and other renewable energy sources.• In long term small hydro schemes have the least impact amongst the environmental indicators like acidification, climate change, ozone layer depletion, photo chemical oxidation (smog) etc.,

ll GHG EMISSION COMPARISON• Hydropower generation cost levelised over 35 years of PPA period will be the lowest compared to other clean energy sources whose PPAs are for shorter periods.• Small hydro power plants have advantage of life span almost 50 years i.e. more than twice the life span of other renewable sources like wind, solar etc.• Hydro can be turned on and off at short notice and also can be ramped up or down quickly. This ability can be utilised to compensate for variation in the output of

India has a successful business environment. The business sector has moved by leaps and bounds. However, when the whole country chants

‘Digital India’, there are still gaps — gaps in infrastructure, gaps in jobs and gaps in energy sector that lead to our nation’s most deprived still having no access to power. This is where energy sector, especially India’s small hydro power sector can play a crucial role.

The current scenario of India’s small hydro sector is that it is wrapped into coffins and quietly buried in graveyard due to several factors such as non-availability of basic

COVER

infrastructure, in-ordinate delays in obtaining statutory clearances and approvals and severe competition from other renewable resources.

To accelerate growth in the hydropower sector and to bridge the gap between the actual and planned capacity addition, the private sector is being seen as an important stakeholder. Though private participation in the hydropower sector has gained momentum in the recent past, it faces several impediments in the execution of projects across various stages of the project implementation cycle.

India has 5th largest hydro potential in the world and only 29 per cent is tapped. Hydro is critical to clean energy initiative. The country has set a target of 10 GW through small hydro power which is achievable. Small hydro offers a wide range of benefits especially for rural areas in developing countries. We need to discuss some major benefits of this sector and its potentiality. • Hydro is a renewable resource that is replenished by the environment over a relatively short period of time. Water is neither depleted nor its composition altered during

To fill India’s energy gaps in the effort to keep overall economy afloat, SHP holds a key, feels Srinivas Movalla


• Declaration of Hydro projects also as renewables and include in the obligatory purchase of state and lay down Hydro quota in renewables for state • The modification of land bill to permit government approved procurement of land without having to obtain any consensus from the owners.• Assist small hydro developers in obtaining Forest and Environmental clearance.• Assure LC/Escrow to all projects which are completed within the stipulated time.• Single window clearance• Fiscal incentives to reduce capital burden- exemption of import duty; Accelerated depreciation• Generation incentives to reduce cost burden – similar to wind • Waive off cross subsidy surcharge In order to revive the Small hydro Sector from Inertia, the Government is proposing to take various measures to create impetus to the sector and are considering the following measures.• Hydro power may be deemed as renewable energy sector.• Incentive available to small hydro projects up

to 25 MW may be extended to the hydro power projects up to 100 MW.• Extending low cost credit to hydro power projects and access to NCEF are being explored. Green sovereign tax free bonds, interest subsidy, priority sector status for lending to hydro are options which are being considered for reducing the cost of financing.• Hydro power may be included under RPO as a separate component• Possibility of dispatching “Cleanest Power First” in relation to merit order issues.• Possibility of 50 year depreciation period for civil work of hydro projects may be commissioned.

ll CONCLUSIONNeedless to say that there is tremendous potential for growth of small hydro sector in our country. The need of the hour for small hydro sector is a disruption of the status quo, which should foster investments and help to develop sustainable business for entrepreneurs/investors/stake holders. Further, to build a more conducive and inclusive ecosystem for small hydro power to flourish, government backing is vital. Small hydro sector should, in fact, be natural allies for governments to partner with, as their primary goal is to deliver clean and sustainable energy with minimum to negligible effects on available natural and renewable resources. The “Make in India” initiative of Prime Minister is a valiant kickstart for our energy sector and specifically applies to small hydro sector. The future looks bright, progressive and with the continued support of the government, the small hydro sector is poised to grow. Suffice to state that the future is a solid line; the current scenario of the sector is a dotted line which requires government support in policy regulation. Focus has now shifted to small hydro power.

The author is Promoter and Managing Director, Paschim Group

other renewable resources thus enabling other renewable in the system.• Hydro typically has twice the PLF of solar and wind in addition to having storage capacity (run-of-river) intraday therefore hydro can quite accurately provide grid day ahead schedules. The other renewable resources cannot compete hydro in the aspect of grid stability.• Small hydro requires less land for installation as capacity increases when compared to large hydro, solar etc.Small hydro sector is staring at several challenges today such as inordinate delays in obtaining required statutory clearances and land acquisition have been causing painful delays in commencement of civil works.

Hydro is not competitive in the short term market due to Raising capital cost, delays (geological challenges, slow bank response, PIL, High inflation of civil works, long gestation period between DPR and construction start), high financing cost and debt interest, Free power obligations of host state, transmission charges, delay in land acquisition process and statutory approvals, non availability of interstate transmission corridor etc.

Some concessions to the development of small hydro sector, on this account, are badly required. Setting tariffs should be at a level that is attractive for IPPs to invest and obtain required return. Capital subsidy for small hydro power should be increased and better mechanism to deliver the subsidy should be devised. Further following have to be looked into:

SHP

Small hydro sector should be natural allies for govts to partner with, as their primary goal is to deliver sustainable energy with minimum to negligible effects on the available RE resources

GHG EMISSIONS-POWER GENERATION OPTIONSBASED ON LCA (g CO2 eq/Kwh)

Intermittent-output optionContinuous-output option

Small H

ydro

Nuclea

r

Wind

Larg

e Hyd

ro

Solar P

V

Thermal-

Natural

Gas

Thermal-

Oil

Thermal-

Coal

879878

620

64171486


With wind producing states and progressive policies, India might witness 4000 MW of wind installations this year, writes DV Giri

Achievements, growth & future of wind energy sector in India

repowering of 500 to 1000 MW - each will help drive the industry in the next few years.

While admitting that competitive bidding will become the order of the day in the near future, open access and freedom to sell under the captive and group captive policy must be made available both for intra and inter-state transactions.

The outlook for the future of the wind industry include certain states not obligating the Purchase Power Agreement (PPA), delayed payment by certain DISCOMs and increase of 1000 MW bidding to about 5000 MW in the next two years. IWTMA noted that reduction of AD from 80 percent to 40 percent and non-continuation of GBI will also hamper the development of wind power. The association also appealed to the Centre to favorably consider the recommendation made by the Union Ministry of Power for according zero rate tax for the renewable energy sector under the proposed GST regime.

With the objective of fetching more investments in wind sector in the country, bringing in more international collaborator and promoting indigenous manufacturers to venture in International markets, IWTMA has partnered with the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) to organise a mega three-day exhibition and two-day international conference – ‘Windergy India 2017’ from April 25 to April 27 at Hotel Ashok in New Delhi, where leaders from across the globe would deliberate and discuss the way forward and come out with solutions to tide over the key barriers faced by the wind energy sector.

Windergy India 2017 is a mega event by the industry and for the industry and the main theme of the event would be ‘Wind Destination: India’ and ‘Wind Power Forever’.

The author is Secretary General, Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association

Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers’ Association (IWTMA) is happy to note that in the financial year ending March 2017, the wind installations

are expected to cross 4000 MW. States like Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Karnataka have been the major contributors in the total wind installations with their lion share of 3718.91 MW in this journey.

Noting that India had made significant commitment under the Paris Declaration and the CoP 21 to fight against the climate change, wind industry witnessed many path-breaking policies in 2016 such as the draft wind-solar-hybrid policy, guidelines for development of onshore wind projects and for prototype wind turbines, proposal for evaluation of small wind energy and hybrid projects, competitive bidding of 1000 MW of wind power and setting up of 1000 MW ISTS connected wind power projects.

The IWTMA had expressed its concern

WIND ENERGY | FUTURE BRIGHT

for the state governments that needed to be incentivized by the central government to meet their RPO targets. The Centre has waived the Central Transmission Utility (CTU) charges in the competitive bidding up to 2019 besides announcing reduction in the duty structure. Considering that 90 percent of the investments come from the private sector in the wind sector, the payment security ‘Must Run Status’ and maintenance of RPO by wind States are vital.

Outlining the key challenges ahead are the reduction in Accelerated Depreciation (AD) from 80 percent to 40 percent and possible withdrawal of Generation Based Incentive (GBI) would see some temporary slowdown in the wind industry, the market was poised to settle around 6-7 GW per year from 2018 and beyond. Exports of around 2 GW per year from 2018, wind-solar-hybrid and

The Centre has waived the Central Transmission Utility charges in competitive bidding up to 2019 besides announcing reduction in duty structure


The biodiesel industry is all geared to deliver 3 million tonnes of green fuel by 2019, which will provide half million direct jobs and one million jobs to ancillaries, writes Sandeep Chaturvedi

and stated its intentions to reduce the crude imports by 10 per cent and replace it with biofuels by the year 2022.

The statement has been backed by several initiatives by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, viz., five per cent ethanol and biodiesel blending, proposal to set up 12 2G ethanol plants across 11 states to deal with the agricultural waste and proposal to expedite the introduction of Euro six fuels (the latest diesel engine emissions legislation to make cars cleaner).

BIOFUEL | GREEN FUTURE

Rapidly increasing vehicular pollution over the past few decades and complete neglect by the authorities to take reduction

measures have resulted in deterioration of ambient air quality across the country. A recently published study by IIT Bombay states that “bad air resulted in 80,000 premature deaths in 2015 and the economic burden was estimated about $10.7B”. After recognising the alarming environmental situation, the government took credible steps

Bio-fuels: Appropriate tool to check particulate emission


Air pollution cannot be treated as a local issue. The impact of burning Agricultural waste in Punjab & Haryana and UP can be felt in New Delhi. The central and state authorities need to take up coordinated long term policy measures to mitigate pollution for larger national interest.

As per our estimates based on several studies, the biodiesel would reduce vehicular emission considerably and protect the environment. In the letters and representations to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and state governments, the industry had urged the governmentto remove various policy and taxation hurdles in implementing the national biodiesel blending programme.

The policy document should keep the focus on pollution reduction alone. The other benefits could be a result of successful policy implementation. One of the key suggestions would to make use of Used Cooking Oil (UCO) and oil seeds grown in the tribal areas available for Biodiesel production. This will prevent many ailments like cancer, obesity and heart diseases that are caused due to consumption of polymerized compounds. The oil seed collection in the tribal areas will provide sustainable employment opportunities in the remote areas; however, the states need to declare a promotional value added tax rate for biodiesel blending.

Biodiesel, being a green fuel, should not be

taxed at par with High Speed Diesel (HSD) after blending. The industry is geared up to deliver 3mn tons biodiesel by 2019 and this will provide half million direct jobs and one million jobs to ancillaries.

The government needs to provide a reliable and functional solution to the problem of heavy vehicular/Industrial pollution in the cities of India. It is a well-known fact that bio-diesel across the world is being promoted as green fuel which helps in mitigating particulate emission from diesel vehicles.

In 2009, the MNRE came out with a national policy on bio-fuels. The policy set out the vision, medium term goals, strategy and approach to bio-fuel development, proposed framework of technological, financial and institutional interventions; however, the policy is yet to be implemented. We expect that MNRE would soon announce a national policy that will lay down steps to achieve the targets set by the government andreduce the dependence on crude oil imports.

The industry can further increase production of biodiesel to 100 crore litres within 12 months of blending mandate. It is widely agreed that such an increase in bio-fuel blend will reduce particulate emission by approximately 20 per cent.

The biodiesel industry has huge potential to curb pollution and push economy growth as well. The government is aware about this opportunity which has multiple benefits. The national bio-fuel policy much clearly set out the vision for next 10 years that can be implemented. The industry would make huge investments which would in turn boost the economy.

If all goes as anticipated, the biodiesel industry would deliver 3mn tonnes biodiesel by 2019. Moreover, it is estimated that the size of the bio-fuels industry would rise to Rs 1.25 lakh crore by 2040.

The author is the President, Biodiesel Association of India

Recently, Delhi witnessed a severe episode of thick smog. At least, eight premature deaths take place every day in Delhi due to pollution-related diseases, the Supreme Court noted, while ordering the Centre to stop the use of furnace oil and petroleum coke (pet coke) by industries located in and around the capital. Biodiesel is one of the best and economical solutions in such a situation.

Biodiesel Association of India (BDAI) - the apex industry body for bio-diesel has been continuously making efforts to impress the Centre and the state governments to implement promotional policies to boost usage of green fuel like biodiesel. Through various letters and memorandum to the ministries and the state governments, BDAI recommended that India needs promotional policy and taxation rates for green fuel biodiesel. Promoting green fuel biodiesel would go a long way in curbing vehicular emission and protecting environment.

The biodiesel industry has urged the Union ministries such as transport & shipping, petroleum, new and renewable energy to recommend the finance ministry to adapt pragmatic policies that would lower the tax burden on the green fuels.

BDAI has also written to state governments for various policies and taxation-related matters to promote green fuel blending and implement the pending national policy on bio-fuels for reducing particulate emission from heavy vehicles and industries in the country. Recently, BDAI also filed a petition at the Supreme Court that appraises about the benefits of the green fuel, citing the finding of research and studies in UK, USA and other countries.

The recent Supreme Court order only vindicates the biodiesel industry’s view point.

The national bio-fuel policy much clearly set out the vision for next 10 years. The industry would make huge investments which would in turn boost the economy

BIOFUEL | GREEN FUTURE


Sizeable fall in PV module price levels coupled with the recent decline in benchmark interest rates by banks has made the arena favorable for project developers, says Sabyasachi Majumdar, Senior Vice President & Group Head, Corporate Sector Ratings, ICRA Ltd

and Rs. 4–5 /kwh respectively. Further solar PV projects with their relatively shorter construction periods remain favourably placed within the renewable energy (RE) segment, while conventional thermal projects face much higher execution risks because of the possible delays in acquiring land and statutory clearances.

What could be some of the adverse impacts of any deviation in project parameters and cost assumptions on project returns and debt service ratio? What can be done to deal with this impact?The viability of such tariff for project developer will be critically dependent upon the availability of long tenure debt (up to 18 to20 years post project completion date) at cost competitive rates as well as its ability to keep the cost of PV modules within the budgeted levels.

Assuming capital cost of Rs. 4.6 crore/MW (factoring AC: DC ratio of 1.15 times and scale benefits) and PLF of 21 per cent, cumulative average Debt-service Coverage Ratio (DSCR)over debt tenure of 18 years with cost of debt at 10per cent is estimated at 1.25 times and project IRR is estimated to remain below 10 per cent, for a project with a levelized bid tariff of Rs. 3.3/kwh. In addition, both DSCR and project Internal Rate of Return (IRR) remains highly sensitive to PLF levels and DSCR also remains sensitive to interest rates. The project developers may have an incremental upside arising out of their

Q The competitively bid tariff of Rs. 3.3/kwh for Rewa project is the

lowest discovered tariff in India. How does this signify a major improvement in cost competitiveness of solar energy against both renewable as well as conventional energy sources?With competitive bidding adopted for the award of solar power projects and the fall in Photovoltaic Module price levels, cost competitiveness of solar PV bid tariff has significantly improved as evident from the decline in weighted average solar PV bid tariff from Rs. 6.5/kwh in CY2014 to Rs. 5.0/kwh in CY2016, and further to Rs 3.3/kwh for bidding of project capacity in the Rewa Solar Park. Against this, the average feed-in tariff for wind energy and competitively bid thermal tariffs (last 24-month-period) remain at Rs. 4.8/kwh

ability to improve the plant load factor (PLF) level (till the contracted energy output) using trackers or by a further downward movement in equipment prices over the execution period.

What do we understand by the deemed generation clause for grid non-availability that has been considered in the Rewa Project bid? Please elucidate on the impact.Based on industry sources, we understand that the project power purchase agreement (PPA) structure has a few unique provisions such as a state government guarantee for the capacity contracted by the utilities of Madhya Pradesh as well as compensation for deemed generation in case of non-availability of grid, which in turn provide mitigation against counter-party credit risk and risk of grid back down to a large extent, respectively.

The deemed generation clause is particularly significant, given the incidences of back-down/grid availability constraints observed in a few states in the recent past, which led to loss of generation and in-turn loss of revenues for solar power developers.

In addition to the unique features of the project, the sizeable fall in PV module price levels by about 25 per cent over the last eight-month period has benefited the project developers in offering such highly competitive rates. Also, the recent decline in benchmark interest rates by banks augurs well for the developers in securing cost competitive rates for funding.

‘Solar PV bid tariff has got cost competitive’

INTERVIEW


Despite a rough start to the year for markets and limited progress on headline reforms, India will remain one of the strongest

growth stories in the region, says Goldman Sachs Research’s Timothy Moe, chief Asia Pacific regional equity strategist. He views the current cyclical recovery – coupled with improvements in the ease of doing business that have largely flown “beneath the radar” – as positive signs for India’s long-term growth and corporate earnings environment.

This year’s Economic Survey comes in the wake of a set of tumultuous international developments – Brexit, political changes in advanced economies-and two radical domestic policy actions: the GST and demonetisation. The Survey has tried to do justice to all these short term developments.

The Survey has concluded that there have been short-term costs but there are also potential long term benefits which are discussed in detail. Appropriate action can help minimize the former while maximizing the latter. For the first time, the Economic Survey has embraced Big Data. It had this data to shed new light on the flow of goods and people within India.

The Survey produces the first estimate of the flow of goods across states within India, based on analyzing transactions level data provided by the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN). The Survey furnishes exciting new evidence on the flows of migrants within India, based on detailed origin-destination passenger data provided by the Ministry of Railways and on a new methodology for analyzing the Census data.

The Union Budget for 2017-18, presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, was broadly

focused on 10 themes — the farming sector, the rural population, the youth, the poor and underprivileged health care, infrastructure, the financial sector for stronger institutions, speedy accountability, public services, prudent fiscal management and tax administration for the honest.

The fiscal deficit for the coming year is pegged to be 3.2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) instead of three per cent. The infrastructure expenditure by the government has, according to Mr Jaitley, gone up by 25 per cent. Overall, in terms of actual economic policy, the Budget was typically competent – but few could claim it moved as far forward as the government needed to with this Budget.

This year’s Economic Survey extensively covers India’s green action. It takes reference of Government’s initiative to amend the National Tariff Policy for electricity in January 2016. It mentions that Tariff Policy amendment has a focus on the environmental aspect with provisions such as 1) Renewable Purchase Obligation in which 8 per cent of electricity consumption excluding hydro power shall come from solar energy by March 2022; 2) Renewable Generation Obligation in which new coal/lignite based thermal plants after specified date to also establish/procure/ purchase renewable capacity; 3) bundling of renewable power with power from plants whose Power Purchase Agreements have expired or completed their useful life; 4) no inter-state transmission charges for solar and wind power; 5) procurement of 100 per cent power produced from waste-to energy plants; 6) ancillary services to support grid operation for expansion of renewable energy, etc.

The Indian Railways in the year 2016-17 proposes to feed about 7,000 stations

India’s growth story to remain intactEnergy focus with environmental concerns stems great news for renewal sector for its exponential rise in years to come, says Praveen Saxena

with solar power in the medium term. It was mentioned in the budget speech that a beginning has already been made in 300 stations. Works will be taken up for 2,000 railway stations as part of 1000 MW solar mission of Railways. As a national programme of Solar energy, it is now propose to take up the second phase of Solar Park development for additional 20,000 MW capacity during 2017-18.

In the post-Budget panel discussion organised by CNBC-TV18-Mint, Union Minister of State for Power, coal, new and renewable energy and mines, reminded the august gathering with pride that the government had been successful in realising the dream of ‘power-surplus’ India.”Today, India is a surplus power nation, unlike in the past. India is open for business. India is the largest market and now it’s the industry, investors and entrepreneurs, who have to take the call”

Most of the fiscal and revenue targets set in the Budget are achievable and it reaffirms the government intent of gradual fiscal consolidation apart from signalling continued commitment to broad-base the reform agenda with a greater focus. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has been allocated a budget of Rs. 5473 crore during 2017-18. The Government has taken various initiatives like amendments to the Electricity Act and Tariff Policy for strong enforcement of Renewable Purchase Obligation and for providing Renewable Generation Obligation. This is bound to give a clear boost to the entire RE sector in the year 2017-18.

The author is Former Advisor, MNRE and CEO (design) Skill Council for Green Jobs(Views expressed by the author are personal)

COLUMN


India is now, well and truly, ushering into an economic pathway of prosperity like never before. This foray will have to be built on the back of

noteworthy transformations across sectors like infrastructure, energy availability and sustainability. The nation is still widely dependent on coal for its energy needs. Almost approximately 60 per cent of its energy supplies are sufficed by coal. These numbers however make sense as India is a coal rich country and accounts for a mere 0.3 per cent of the global oil and 0.8 per cent of the global gas reserves. We are, however, blessed with abundant supplies of natural renewable resources like wind, biomass and solar energy.

This year could well turn out the definitive year when the country emerges from the shackles and rises ahead as a global superpower in the solar energy space. A string of reasons have contributed to this analogy. Solar tariffs are expected to fall below Rs 4.0/ kWh mark, in turn, making solar the cheapest new source of power. The fall in module prices have proven to be a gift for manufacturers in the country, who were constantly vying off the challenge which was posed in front of them by Chinese companies. They can now go onto focus on manufacturing locally again and cap on the opportunity presented to them by the investment fall in the solar markets in

This year India is set to race ahead as a global superpower in the solar energy space, predicts Krishnan Rajagopalan, Head of Solar Business, Anchor by Panasonic.

Sun is set to shine brighter for the country in 2017

Europe, China and Japan. If all goes well, India could well add double amount of growth in the solar sector in 2017 and 2018 as suggested by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) in a report and also seen with the phase with which capacity addition is envisaged and projected by Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) as well.

Last year in October, the World Economic Forum came out with an imperative announcement in which it sought to declare that the global renewable electricity capacity has overtaken coal to become the world’s largest installed power source for the first time. Heralded as the turning point in renewable generation, the story may well become the definitive pole of strength which will further inspire world leaders around the world to take a more serious look at the power of renewable energy.

India, on the other hand, has been making headlines of its own. Last year it unvieled the world’s largest solar power plant in Kamuthi Tamil Nadu. A testament of India’s seriousness towards the concept of clean energy, the facility boasts a capacity of 648 MW and covers an area of 10 sq km. In a report by research firm, Bridge to India it was released that India’s solar market is expected to grow by 90 per cent in 2017. The growth is bolstered by a number of factors, including the pivotal technological advancements in

the field of energy storage. India wastes close to 15-20 per cent of its renewable energy due to lack of storage technology, an increased investment and focus in the sector has helped the nation curb this gaping hole which has further augmented its clean energy usage.

Increasing penetration and per capita consumption of energy has resulted in the growth power which has further resulted in the growth of renewable energy. Generation capacity in India has increased considerably, among the installed capacity of different sources of power in India during the course of FY 07 – FY 17, renewable energy was the fastest amongst all sources of power standing at an installed capacity of 21.3 per cent.

Traditionally, renewable energy has struggled to gain financial traction in India, but now solar is becoming an increasingly viable option. To date solar energy has been critical to the central governments renewable energy plans, capacity has increased more than 200 per cent since Narendra Modi took charge of the office. Power and Energy Minister Piyush Goel has suggested that solar sector will continue to receive tax breaks in the upcoming budget so as to assist the governments in its ambitious desire of achieving 100 GW worth of solar capacity by 2022.

The author is Head- Solar Business, Anchor by Panasonic

(Views expressed are his personal)

OUTLOOK


With India at the threshold of adding big renewable energy capacity to meet its ambitious 175 GW target by 2022, there is a need to integrate and curtail risk assessent, say Gurpreet Chugh and Ashish Singla in a report

The proportion of Renewable capacity in the generation portfolio continues to expand as India adds RE capacity

to meet its 2022 commitment (of 175 GW). As seen in case of Tamil Nadu, rapid expansion of wind capacity led to significant curtailments. With rapid expansion of RE capacity this situation may get worse and spread to other states as well unless steps are taken to control the same. The stakeholders (planners,

developers and lenders) thus need to understand a few key aspects: Is the system ready to absorb all of RE generation (as must run)? What levels of curtailments may be expected if adequate steps are not taken in time? Which states are more vulnerable to curtailment of renewables? Which indicators can developers look at to assess curtailment risk? In this whitepaper the ICF team (Ashish Singla and Gurpreet Chugh) provide an overview of curtailment risk in Indian power sector and how best

REPORT

Renewable Integration: Need for curtailment risk assessment

Gurpreet Chugh


to curtailment can be:• Transmission unavailability• System operating requirements leading to requirement of back down• Congestion management processes• Power plant performance constraints• Load amount and profile

ll ECONOMIC CURTAILMENTS Curtailments may also be driven by economic incentives or disincentives such as availability of cheaper power from other sources. Utilities sometimes may not be keen to buy RE power due to high tariffs of RE. Such curtailments are termed as economic or voluntary curtailments. So far, none of the utilities has reported economic curtailment. However, it is difficult for generators to clearly distinguish between technical and economic curtailment.

The impact on the generator however remains the same whether the curtailment is due to economic or technical reasons.

Why is it important to conduct detailed RE curtailment risk profiling of states?Until now, share of RE generation as percentage of load has been low in most of the states. By FY22, RE capacity in

India is targeting to reach 175 GW (with a yoy increase of 26%). By FY22 it is expected that, RE generation would be more than 25% of load during peak RE seasons in all the states. In FY14 only one state (Tamil Nadu) and FY16 only two states (Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan) had similar ratios. As the ratio of RE generation to load increases, the risk of curtailment also increases substantially. Therefore assessing risk profile of the state along with detailed load flow analysis to quantify level of curtailments for an RE plant can help states prepare better to deal with such a situation.

ll RISK PROFILE OF STATES: INSTITUTIONAL AND NETWORK ASSESSMENT • Institutional assessment: Different states have different risk profiles when it comes to RE curtailment. Some states like Gujarat have a defined step-by-step process of managing variability of RE sources, while others have not formally adopted any such process. Apart from this, states have different load and generation profile/mix. States with larger share of storage based hydro and lower share of RE (as percentage of total demand)

can those risks be forecasted using load flow models.

Renewable Energy deployment has witnessed an explosive growth globally including in India during the last few years. This growth is particularly outstanding because it has been achieved despite the falling global fuel prices (Coal, Gas and Oil) that offered a stiff competition to renewable energy which has generally been expensive compared to conventional energy. The recent ratification of the Paris Accord by India further highlights the country’s resolve towards renewables deployment in a time bound manner.

Driven by the National Solar Mission ~ 9 GW of solar power generation capacity has been connected to the grid. At the same time, wind power capacity in the country nearly doubled to reach 28.3 GW. This large infusion of intermittent renewable generation has brought forth some challenges in managing the grid and integrating the intermittent power with it. Whilst system operators are developing mechanisms to tackle this issue, curtailment of renewable power may continue (as an unavoidable option to manage the grid) until technological solutions are devised and best integration practices are brought into practice. Wind and solar curtailments in some states in recent past has led to increased uncertainty and risk among investors and lenders. This paper analyses the issue of curtailment and how to assess this risk.

ll RE CURTAILMENT“When the dispatch order from the transmission system operator to the RE plant is to reduce or stop generation, even though the RE resource is available”

• TYPES OF CURTAILMENTIn India, RE curtailment could be caused by one of the following two factors:• TECHNICAL CURTAILMENTS When a transmission system is incapable of accommodating the full dispatch of RE facilities due to technical transmission issues (involuntary curtailment). Many a times grid availability becomes a constraint in the dispatch of RE power. Some of the key technical reasons leading

The recent ratification of the Paris Accord by India highlights the country’s resolve towards renewables deployment in a time bound manner

RE LINKAGE

RE as a % of load for different states (2014, 2016 and 2022)


have lower risk of curtailment. The graph below provides a summary of risk of RE curtailments in some key states:

• GUJARAT: A LOW RISK STATE Gujarat is one of the states which has been able to integrate wind and solar effectively.

Although state has 36% of RE capacity (nameplate) as percentage of peak demand, no curtailments have been observed in the state. State of Gujarat has been effective in putting regulatory, infrastructural, operational and institutional enablers in place to integrate RE capacity.

ll TAMIL NADU: HIGH WIND CURTAILMENTS REPORTED IN THE PAST From a capacity of 3.3 GW in FY07 Tamil Nadu more than doubled its RE capacity by FY12 (adding primarily wind). By FY12, RE capacity as percentage of peak demand increased to more than 60% and instances of RE curtailment increased substantially esp. in high wind seasons as majority of RE capacity is wind. State looked at various options to alleviate the situation and took two pronged approach in FY16 (i) Upgrade intra-state transmission network for effective evacuation of RE power from generation centers to demand centers, and (ii) Conduct a pilot on wind forecasting and scheduling (in association with IWPA). Subsequently, during high wind seasons in FY17 significantly lower levels of curtailment were reported. It’s evident that these steps helped wind power evacuation however the situation is still very precarious. As per Solar Power Developers Association (SPDA) Assistant Sectary General now solar energy is being curtailed for the first time (sometimes in the range of 50-100% during peak generation periods). Curtailment of generation directly impacts the project IRR and disincentives any new investment in the sector. The situation may worsen in coming years as more and more capacity is added into TN grid unless constructive measures are taken by state to limit curtailment levels.

• NETWORK ASSESSMENT It is equally important to conduct detailed load flow analysis of the state network to assess RE curtailment risk. Positive Sequence Load Flow models are used to assess transmission flows in the system for both normal (N-0) and selected (N-1) contingency conditions when possibility of RE curtailment is the highest (like when ratio of RE generation to load is highest, or during periods of high RE generation). The model can quantitatively assess amount of RE curtailments that can happen with changing load and generation pattern.

Figure below shows schematic of changing power flow with installation of

Institutional Assessment Score Balancing Generation Score

RE generation as percentage of demand Gas Capacity

DISCOMs’ financial health Hydro Storage capacity

Regulatory preparedness Pump Storage Capacity

Transmission Connectivity Cycling of coal capacity

Operational Characteristics

REPORT


a wind plant (as an illustration case for Rajasthan, 2016). Line loading and voltage violation information can be used to assess possible level of curtailments.

• How to assess curtailment risk: ICF methodology and requirement for Load-flow analysis While assessing network curtailment risk, ICF recommends a two-pronged approach; site specific analysis and state wide load flow analysis:• Site analysis is required to address power evacuation capability of sub-station at which developer plans to connect its RE plant. The analysis is required to assess how much capacity can be further connected (at current structure configuration) at sub-station. The analysis to include (i) number of transformers, their average loading and voltage levels, (ii) Proposed expansion (if any), (iii) Bay Space availability (Number of connecting lines and total capacity of bay), (iv) Connected generation capacity and generation capacity expected to get connected in future, (v) Transmission line connecting in/out of sub-station (including their Capacity, line loading and future expansion or upgrade plan and connecting sub-station on the other side), (vi) Availability of stand-by transformers, and (vii) Overview of how transmission contingency has been handled in the past, and availability of extra circuit or route to evacuate power • State analysis is required to provide broad overview of state’s ability to absorb RE generation. This requires analysis of (i) State’s load profile and RE generation profile, (ii) State’s generation mix, (iii) Technical minimum of power plants dispatching in the state, (iv) Share of flexible generation like gas, and storage hydro in the overall generation mix, (v) Regulatory, Operational, Infrastructural, and Institutional enablers in state, (vi) State’s behavior in sale/purchase of power during excess/deficit at exchange, in bilateral market and in UI, and (vii) Detailed load flow analysis of state. ICF recommends a detailed assessment of curtailment risk by all e stake holders – investors, lenders, utilities and regulators.

and experience to help stakeholders in managing these risks.

About the authorsGurpreet Chugh is Consulting Director, Energy at ICF. Ashish Singla is Senior Consulting, Power and Fuel at ICF.

Sector OG 100 Standard Rebate Factor (Collector)

OG 300 Rebate Factor (System)

Residential/Commercial

SRCC OG-100 rating x number of collectors x USD100 USD 0.52/kWh

Non-profit/ public entity


Eg. of rebate factors in case of Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (extracted from the program manual)

Enablers Description

Regulatory

• GERC audits SLDC’s operations and any decision to back down generation is closely monitored• Although there is no penalty as such, but any deviation from standard operating procedure or grid code requires detailed explanation to the regulator

Operational

• ABTs have been mandated on wind farms since 2010

• State RE desk has been operational since 2013. Housed in SLDC and responsible for monitoring RE generation/dispatch

• Forecasting and scheduling being done on regular basis as long-term pilot

o Provide day ahead forecast to SLDC for inclusion of RE generation in scheduling (pooling done substation-wise)

o Relatively accurate forecast is available and thus SLDC is able to manage variability properly

• Typically, State SLDC takes one or more steps while managing grid during high wind months to accommodate RE as must run:

o Manage dispatch of Hydro --> Gas --> Coal plants (in order):

• State owned or IPPs contracted by state: by reducing their dispatch to technical minimum

• CGS: Managing flexibility in contract for the share allotted to Gujarat

o Sell excess (or buy deficit) power at (i) power exchange , (ii) bilateral contracts, (iii) UI

Institutional

• Well-defined hierarchy for flow of orders: SLDC --> sub-SLDCs --> substations --> generators• Supreme authority for backing down generation rests with the SLDC; no sub-SLDC or substation can take that decision without SLDC’s approval

Infrastructural

• State is ramping up its transmission infrastructure and upgrading existing lines to accommodate more wind and prevent any curtailments • Participation in ‘Green Corridor’ development for successful evacuation of power outside state

RE LINKAGE

However, stakeholders then need to work together to minimize the risk of curtailment which requires developing strategies and action for reducing the curtailment risk and building the capacity of the system operators to implement the action plan. ICF has the requisite expertise


Introduce a performance-based rating and system certification scheme for solar thermal collectors and systems following international standards in India, suggest Joerg Gaebler and Abhinav Goyal

can these targets be achieved and at the same time how can solar thermal market sustain beyond 2022?

Since the launch of the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) in 2008, Government of India (GOI) has made significant stride towards renewable energy technologies. Elucidating the nation’s vision for solar energy, the GOI launched the JNNSM in 2010 to significantly increase the share of solar energy in India’s energy mix. The mission strategy targets solarising domestic and industrial heat applications below 80°C temperature. The estimated gross potential for solar water heating systems is about 140 million sq. m. collector area – against which less than 10 per cent has been installed.

order to meet the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) target of 20 million sq. m. by 2022, we will have to double the annual collector area installation to roughly two million sq. m in the next five years. How

QCurrently, India represents the fourth largest solar thermal market globally, by collector area installed annually (2014 figures

as per IEA Solar Heat Worldwide)[1]. In

Scheme to rate and certify solar water heating systems

SOLAR

Joerg Gaebler Abhinav Goyal


saved. For making an investment decision, consumers are looking for the quantified information on energy substituted from solar water heating systems.

There are two important aspects considered for ensuring quality – collector/system certification based on well-recognised and adopted national/international standards and accreditation of test labs and inspectors. Generally, in the Indian consumer context, it is sufficient to have a mark of quality certifying that the product conforms to at least minimum performance and that has been manufactured as per approved laid-out standards. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), empowered through an Act of the Indian Parliament in 1986, operates a product certification scheme through which, it grants licences to manufacturers. The license allows the use of ISI mark by the licensees, which is a stamp of quality.

The Indian Standards (IS) for Flat Plate Collectors (FPC) have existed for a decade. There are roughly 60 licensed manufactures of FPC. The licensed manufacturers self-declare the performance for each collector. The procedure of getting a license involves manufacturing the product as per applicable standards and submitting the test reports to

BIS. Subsequently, the factory is inspected and performance evaluated as per the test standards from in-house testing facility and independent BIS approved labs. A third-party surveillance of the samples is done which are randomly chosen from the market and the factory. The scheme is currently voluntary. For evacuated tube collectors, the test standards were introduced last year for tubes, storage tank and for a thermo siphon system mainly for smaller size installation in residential homes.

Over the last years, we are witnessing a shift in utilising collector technology from FPC to Evacuated Tube Collectors (ETC). Almost 80 per cent of installations are done using ETC, which are competitive mainly due to relatively cheaper tube imports. As per reports, some 7 million tubes were imported in 2015-16 which is equivalent to 1.3 million sq. m. collector area. This trend has two key messages and two concerns. First, the consumers are price sensitive and cost is the deciding factor. Second, the use of standards needs to be mandated or at least incentivised for those to be utilised. The concerns, however, are first that the well-established FPC manufacturing is facing a tough time and second there are apprehensions on quality, and hence the performance, of

Ideally, the market growth should happen on its own, given that solar water heating is an established technology. Solar thermal has a strong business case for India, accepting the fact that even with the removal of central government capital subsidies in October 2014, the installation rate has remained fairly constant. Several (92) municipalities in India already have policies mandating the use of solar water heating systems. With renewable energy under priority sector lending, financing is available from commercial banks for solar water heating systems.

Despite promising factor of low pay back period, the rate of installation is not at the desired scale. Among the various factors, consumer trust in the technology solution is crucial. The trust in-turn could be developed through a transparent process, which establishes not only the quality of the collector but also of the entire system and allows comparison of performance between various products. The basic information provided to consumers in the countries where the solar water heating sector is mature, is the kilo watt per hour of the thermal energy generated by the system and consequently the fossil fuel or electricity savings translated as equivalent cost

Elucidating the nation’s vision for solar energy, GOI launched the JNNSM in 2010 to increase the share of solar energy in India’s energy mix

STANDARDISATION


cheaper ETC based systems.Experience from the international markets

particularly Europe and the US presents an interesting solution for addressing the aforementioned concerns – performance (modelled) based certification scheme mandated either by law or linked to incentives. Certification schemes are in place, as a mechanism which guarantees and assures that standards are applied in the right way. The results from many different test labs accredited to a certain standard – are interchangeable between Germany and USA. The material and other specifications need to be registered to check if the same quality of system is installed.

Quality inspection and random checks form an integral part of certification in both regions. As a result, the certification scheme helped the market to grow over a long period.

The FPC collectors dominate these markets lasting 20-30 years with proper maintenance, although the better economics of FPC relative to costlier ETC has also played a crucial role in larger market share of former.

In the US, in a ten-year period from 1999 to 2009 the Solar Rating and Certification Corporation (SRCC) collector certification quadrupled to 300 while system certification grew six times to 900. In Europe, on the other hand until 2015, there were some 1500 plus Solar Keymark collector certificates issued in the last decade. Both SRCC and Solar Keymark participate in the Global Solar Certification Network (GSCN).

“The aim of GSCN is to facilitate cross-border trading for manufacturers and other suppliers of solar thermal products. Its objective is to minimize the need for re-testing and re-certification in each new

country where products are to be marketed and sold.”

The underlining principle in these schemes is a system/collector level certification on thermal performance based on actual solar resource availability, utilising energy simulation software. The consumers are informed on the expected energy yields and can compare various systems. An incentive is given upfront as a multiple factor of evaluated performance. These incentives essentially substitute higher costs associated with better quality of collectors and systems.

It is suggested to utilise the existing institution and certification process in India while introducing certain measures to incorporate aspects from Solar Keymark and SRCC certification schemes. The measures could include:• Aligning with the international standards ISO 9459 for solar water heating systems — outdoor testing for system performance characterisation and annual performance prediction of solar thermal systems.• Harmonising the existing test standards with International Standard Organisation.• Elaborating certification scheme/programme and institutionalising the database and performance rating mechanism. Introducing an energy model for simulating

A standardised certification scheme for solar thermal collectors / systems gives the Indian manufacturers the opportunity to access international markets, especially in view of the International Solar Alliance

SOLAR


ratings using specified loading cases, and annualised ratings and energy savings for reference gas and electric tank-type water heaters for 109 individual locations throughout the U.S.

What differentiates SRCC with Solar Keymark and BIS is the rating mechanism. Ratings enable comparison of collector and system performance. In addition, these are used in defining the subsidy based on the performance, thus promoting high quality installation. For evaluating the performance in energy terms, the system is simulated on the computer software tool – TRNSYS. Key performance parameters are calculated and mentioned on the SRCC certificate – solar fraction, solar energy factor and energy saved compared to baseline. Currently, fewer than two thousand systems are SRCC certified. SRCC certification is mandated in the building code of some states.

The incentives mechanism varies within the states in the US. Some are flat incentives with no ties to performance; others require that systems meet certain minimum threshold performance before they qualify. Some are tiered, with different steps, where certain performance ranges are grouped for different incentives. Others actually make the incentive a multiple of the performance rating. However, most of the incentives require SRCC certified system including the Federal Income Tax Credit that subsidises 30 per cent of the cost nationwide. This has led on one hand, to high quality system installations thus building trust among consumers and on the other hand sustained local manufacturing.

In Massachusetts for instance, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) provides rebate for installation of solar hot water systems at residential, industrial, institutional among others as depicted in the table 1 below. The base rebate

system performance incorporating national solar resource data.• Joining Global Solar Certification Network/International Energy Agency Solar Heating and Cooling programme Task 57 on “Solar Standards and Certification”. This would provide a platform to facilitate exchange of knowledge and easy access to information on the developments taking place globally.

These measures then take a shape of holistic certification scheme ensuring quality on one hand and supporting competitive manufacturing on the other. The scheme would certify the thermal performance output at the location of installation. Customer can compare various product offering and be sure of fuel and subsequent cost savings. The scheme could be mandated by law or by introducing an incentive-based mechanism linked to performance output. An incentive mechanism could be worked around linking to performance — wherein higher incentives are considered for better performing systems. This would enable manufacturers to deliver higher quality for staying competitive.

Interestingly, a standardised certification scheme for solar thermal collectors / systems gives the Indian manufacturers the opportunity to access international markets, especially in view of the International Solar Alliance.

ll SOLAR THERMAL CERTIFICATION SCHEMES IN EUROPE AND USASolar Rating and Certification Corporation (SRCC), USASRCC ensures the quality by certifying the collector and systems following test standards adopted from international standards and by approving test labs. SRCC has developed its own procedures for scheme operating guidelines – OG 100 for collectors and OG 300 for systems. The OG 300 is mostly specified for residential domestic water heating systems by incentive programs. The results are evaluated using these guidelines to check if the testing was done correctly and in compliance with SRCC requirements. Finally, the systems/collectors are rated using SRCC’s RM-1 methodology. The rating includes applying various assumptions and loading conditions to the tuned energy balance equations. This is used to yield single-day

is calculated according to the expected annual energy production calculated using SRCC OG -100 for collectors or OG-300 for systems. The one time rebate is granted before the start of project installation.

European Solar Keymark SchemePrincipally the framework procedure of obtaining the Solar Keymark is similar to BIS administered product certification scheme. However, what differentiates the two is analysing the gross annual energy yields by utilising an excel tool “SCEnOCalc (Solar Collector Energy output Calculator)” for four climatic representative conditions from across Europe. The Solar Keymark is a voluntary third-party certification mark however it is mandated, if subsidies have to be availed for instance in Germany. A manufacturer is free to contact a certification body, of the 13 certifying bodies accredited by European Committee for Standardisation (CEN), and agree for a test institute of its choice. The system certification is only available for factory made solar thermal systems, which are only a part of the European market. The Solar Keymark has been highly successful in removing the trade barriers between the European countries and the acceptance of Solar Keymark in international market has led to the manufactures access to other markets.

The authors would like to thank Eileen Prado – SRCC, Gerhard Stryi-Hipp – Fraunhofer ISE, Mangal Akole – STFI and Meg Howard – Massachusetts Clean Energy Centre for reviewing the article and for giving their valuable comments and inputs to improve the article.

About the authors:Joerg Gaebler, Principal Advisor and Abhinav Goyal, Technical Expert, Rooftop Solar project - Indo German Energy Programme, GIZ

(Views expressed by the authors are personal)

Sector OG 100 Standard Rebate Factor (Collector)

OG 300 Rebate Factor (System)

Residential/Commercial


Non-profit/ public entity


Eg. of rebate factors in case of Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (extracted from program manual)

STANDARDISATION


With the support of Skill Council of Green Jobs and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Sharp Developments organised a session on ‘Integration of Solar from Buildings to Cities’ – a report by Anurima Mondal.

constructive dialogue towards identifying a collaborative approach in making our cities Green and eventually Smart cities. It served as a platform to discuss the strategy for promotion of renewable energy and energy efficiency interventions at the city level– both at comprehensive planning stage as well as retrofitting of existing infrastructure.

Integration of solar architecture into the building design and up-scaling at cities level was the theme of the conference. The solar architecture was showcased through case studies and work by students and faculty of the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi.

Dedicated interactive panels were hub for knowledge exchange that widened the market insights on sustainable habitat models. The conference witnessed 25

Backed by success of two conferences, Sharp Developments organised the 3rd Conference on Green

Buildings at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi on February 16, 2017. Titled ‘Integration of Solar from Buildings to Cities’, the conference was supported by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India under the 12th Five Year Plan: Energy Efficient Solar/Green Buildings.

Delhi Power Secretary Varsha Joshi was the Guest of Honour at the conference. Other key speakers included Director for Solar Buildings/Solar Cities/Green Buildings/Solar thermal at Ministry of New and Renewable Energy A.K Tripathi, CEO of Skill Council for Green Jobs (SCGJ) Praveen Saxena and CMD of Central

GREEN CAMPUS

Electronics Limited Nalin Shinghal. The conference was also attended by senior faculty from the School of Planning and Architecture and leading architects such as A.K Maitra, Mahavir, Dependra Prasad, Shuvendu Bose and Jeeniva Mahapatra.

The School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), New Delhi was the knowledge partner of the conference. HOD of Environmental Planning Meenakshi Dhote provided an overview of School of Planning and Architecture’s engagement and Environmental Planning department’s role in mainstreaming environmental parameters for sustainable habitat planning.

The conference had active participation of architects, planners, developers, vendors and Government institutions like DDA, MCD, DMIDC, PSU (CEL) and institutional organisations which helped

Making solar integral to cities


on solarisation, he added, “Solar power installations should be incorporated in the design stage instead of retrofitting after the construction of building so that it doesn’t look like a patch”. He concluded by mentioning about smart cities scheme and 60 solar cities which have been identified under this scheme and the major objective is to prepare master plan for these cities with municipal corporation which focuses on utilization of renewable energy and energy savings. By 2022, 100GW renewable energy installations is expected by Govt. of India.

Praveen Saxena added, “Technology in today’s world is ready but the only issue with the generation is to develop a culture to adopt this requirement and for this Government has made a separate Skill Council but this will be useful if every individual have the responsibility to use renewable energy.”

Anurag Bajpai from Greentree showcased the technologies that can be incorporated in development of a commercial building. Meenakshi M Pawar explained the benefits of Integrating solar with green roof in her presentation. She emphasised on potential of Delhi in this area and how this can be used in fulfilling

the energy requirement of the city. Alekhya Datta from TERI presented

about the scope of solar integration in smart city through his case study on Surat. Arpo Mukherjee from SCGJ highlighted the need of skilled manpower to achieve sustainable development of infrastructure at city level.

Central Electronics Limited unveiled its technological excellence and the prestigious projects undertaken with various government departments and showcased their flagship project - Solar Demonstration Park at CEL, Sahibabad

The project consultants Sharp Developments gave a detailed presentation on the Demonstration Solar Park which shall incorporate all solar technologies for urban as well as rural infrastructure. Environment Architect Alankrita Soni presented an integrated approach adopted to achieve zero energy at the CEL campus.

Mahavir moderated the closing session by highlighting the use of technology such as remote sensing for solar rooftop potential assessment for city level planning.

The conference generated understanding of solar energy based design and planning parameters through display of wide number of case studies; interactive panel discussions and identified specific gaps and directions for taking solar from building to city level.

It highlighted need for synchronization of efforts between various government organizations, builders and industry to enable comprehensive planning, as well as strong need for assimilation and dissemination of data in the sector.

The session set the tone right for the next conference to be held in March which shall focus on funding of such initiatives and the specialised manpower required to upscale the existing efforts.

The participants look forward to attend the upcoming conference on March 27, 2017 which shall also have international funding agencies that are promoting green buildings through various initiatives and programs.

eminent speakers and over 70 delegates from across the sector.

Varsha Joshi shared her views regarding behavioural science as the most important aspect in personality and environment change. She was delighted to visit SPA and congratulated the organisers for the creation of such a platform which shall enable a multi organizational dialogue. She was keen to explore retrofitting options for urban infrastructure and waste to energy options for the state of Delhi and also congratulated CEL for the flexible modules and the solar demonstration park being developed in consultation with Sharp Developments. She said, “Planners and architects should integrate solar and other green construction technologies to further boost the developing markets of green buildings which shall be an integral part of smart cities, participation of regulatory bodies and bilateral agencies are key to success of such initiatives”, and flagged the need to demarcate land for waste to energy plants in master plan.

A.K Tripathi in his inaugural address flagged the incorporation of sustainability parameters in the National Building code and green guidelines in the Model Building Bye laws. He said, “Our main aim should be to make the entire sustainable energy system profitable for the builders and real estate managers by showing the costs from energy savings”. Focussing

Integration of solar architecture into the building design and up-scaling at cities level was the theme of the event

EVENT

Prof. (Dr.) Meenakshi Dhote (left)and Prof. ( Dr. ) Mahavir (right)sharing words of enlightenment during the event


Delhi University’s Daulat Ram College to focus on solar rooftop panelling and water harvesting as a part of varsity’s Star Innovation Project

Towards a sustainable college campus

Index: Analysing the Carbon Footprint and Handprint in the College Campus.’ The project attempts to bring about a significant change in the awareness level of the students in the college campus regarding their carbon footprint. A carbon footprint represents the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere as a consequence of any activity. A carbon handprint on the other hand, represents the mitigation of such emission by doing some positive activities.

The aim of the project is to assess the extent of sustainability of the college campus by estimating the average carbon footprint and carbon handprints produced daily; and then attempt to reduce the carbon footprint and increase the carbon handprints.

ll SCOPE OF THE PROJECTThe project intends to develop a tool

GREEN CAMPUS

With the increase in demands of the rising population, a sustainable approach towards utilisation of

natural resources (especially the non-renewable ones) is becoming a matter of dire necessity. A sustainable approach is required due to two primary reasons. One, the natural resources are getting depleted; hence their judicious use must be a priority.

Secondly, usage of certain commonly

used natural resources such as coal, petroleum products, gasoline etc. emit gases such as carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas. It is only imaginable the extent of damage we are causing to our ecology by our current unsustainable ways.

Daulat Ram College has therefore undertaken a project of significant importance in the University’s Star Innovation Project. The working title of the project is ‘Campus Sustainability

Sumeet Goyal Dr Sarita Nanda Malini Sharma


In India, research to promote environment sustainability in higher educational organisations is rare. However, initiatives like green campus initiatives, cleanliness drives, waste management campaigns, recycling initiatives water conservation initiatives, etc. are very common.

This project aims at developing a distinct assessment framework for calculating the sustainability indicator, apart from the carbon footprint analysis.

A composite sustainability index, in addition to the estimation of the greenhouse gases emissions will also incorporate many social, economic and academic components, central to the educational institutions, equipping them with a tool for environment sustenance.

The primary objectives involve building up a framework for the assessment and reporting of our carbon footprint as well as campus sustainability; estimation of a measure of campus sustainability index; expanding a guideline for assessing Carbon Neutrality and Sustainability for all colleges/institutions.

The secondary objectives involve setting up a comprehensive as well as globally

usable simplified instrument to estimate carbon footprint that could be cross-institutional and in the end elevating awareness on the same and sensitising Carbon neutrality, both externally and internally the college premises.

ll PROPOSED OUTCOMEThe project envisions creating not a wasteful but rather a generally prosperous society that develops into a self-sustaining economy. At present, the efforts of the project at the educational campus level to develop this ideal world may seem like drops in the ocean, a far- fetched reality, thus. However, once incorporated even in the most initial stage, these lifestyle changes and the efforts will make great positive impacts in institutional practices, consumption patterns and sustainability initiatives Hence making small yet significant contributions both at individual and institutional stage, will move us closer to a healthy and a more climate friendly Mother Earth.

Excerpts from the piece by Sumeet Goyal, Assistant Professor, Dr Sarita Nanda, Associate Professor and Malini Sharma, Assistant Professor at Daulat Ram College

for estimating the carbon footprints and handprints with the aid of scientific information available about amount of emissions of a particular factor thus building an index for Carbon Neutrality and Sustainability for the campus. This framework will employ standardised, quantifiable and assessable indicators to determine the state of sustainability of the campus. The project includes ‘Carbon Footprint Estimation & Analysis’, ‘Handprint/Sustainability Assessment’, ‘Identification of Indicators’ and ‘Developing a Statistical Tool’ to formulate the final Carbon neutrality/campus sustainability/handprint index. Econometric analysis will be used to institute links or possible correlations between indicators, activities and performance.

ll REVIEW OF LITERATUREMany educational institutions across the globe have undertaken projects to sustain the environment in and around their campus, in the wake of climate change and drastic environmental degradation. For example, University of California, Santa Cruz has pledged to become ‘carbon neutral’ by 2025. They have developed a Climate and Energy Strategy (CES) wherein they are looking into energy efficient and renewable ways to incentivise energy savings. Students from Ohio State University and Central Oregon Community College have done projects to assess the sustainability of their campuses. Institutions such as American University, Babson College, Central College, Coastal Carolina University, Dartmouth College etc have constructed strategic plans to enhance and incorporate the aspect of sustainability in the activities on campus. Mt. Wachusett Community College (US) has productively substituted electric heaters with wood chip burning biomass heating plant hence helping to lessen the electrical use by 46 per cent. Ripon College (US) offers free bike locks, helmet and bikes to the first incoming 200 freshman who consent to depart from car riding inside the campus. In 2006, 660 KW turbines were installed in The Massachusetts Maritime Academy (US) which thereby produced over 1 million KWH a year, thus helped saving $1,60,000 annually.

The aim of the project is to assess the extent of sustainability of the college campus by estimating the average carbon footprint and carbon handprints produced daily; and then attempt to reduce the carbon footprint and increase the carbon handprints

RESEARCH


With a lot of technological advancement being made globally, India too needs to take a cue from global successes and create a better waste management and waste to energy roadmap, writes Suhas Bhand

Creating value from municipal waste

tonnes per year which is expected to grow at 1.3 percent per capita per annum. The waste generation increases by 50 percent every decade. Some of this waste will be recovered by informal recyclers, which is approximately 20 percent in large cities and less in smaller cities. However, more than 80 percent of it reaches open dumpsites where it damages public health, deteriorates the environment, and causes climate change. With the growing urbanisation, the quantity of domestic waste that is going to be generated would be alarming.

Indian waste comprises of mixed nature. The country does not practice waste segregation and hence, all materials such as plastics, batteries, kitchen waste are thrown in the same place. Keeping this in mind, the company has developed the first of its kind indigenous technology which segregates mixed waste on-site for further processes. There is a

Waste — the word describes thrown material not of any further use, which, actually is never a reality if

we ensure its full extraction! We do wonder what happens to waste after it is thrown in bins. We do now question, what will happen to the landfills which are filled with heaps of garbage? Everyone creates a buzz of protecting the environment and reducing the burden on Mother Nature but it’s only now that some environmental technologists are effectively working to create processors to save us and the planet!

With the mantra ‘Waste as a Resource’, Organic Recycling System Pvt. Ltd (ORS) has successfully commissioned the model of recycling waste to generate electricity and other organic materials like biogas and compost efficiently and cost effectively. The company

INNOVATION

was incorporated in 2008 as a strategic initiative between a team of technocrats, environment sector experts and Samruddhi Group.

With the concept of circular economy for proper disposal of inert waste and conversion of garbage into electricity, the company has innovated to practise 5 Rs - Reduce, Reuse, Recover, Recycle and Re-manufacture. Its first-ever plant was successfully commissioned in 2013. The plant is made in India and established in Solpaur, Maharashtra. It provides processing and recycling of mixed city waste to generate bio-gas and electricity alongside compost with other material like Refused Derived Fuel (RDF) as multiple revenue streams, creating a highly profitable venture the plant generates 2 MW of electricity using 200 tones of waste.

As per Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) estimate, urban India generates 188,500 tonnes of municipal solid waste per day — 68.8 million


• It has a high loading rate that requires less digester volume and in turn requires less area for operation as compared to landfills.• Odour less operation as it’s a closed process (which results in high public acceptance)• Biogas generation is in the range of 117nm3 to 124 nm3/tonnes of waste (which results in higher electricity generation)• Captive consumption of electricity is low as compared to thermal technologies.• Digestion and composting period ranges from 14 to 21 days which is less as compared to conventional processes.• Quality of compost is better than conventional product as all inert materials are being removed during pre-treatment and pathogens are completely absent as the digestion takes place at a high temperature.

In the next phase of development, Solapur Bio-energy Pvt. Ltd. shall initiate the bio-CNG sales for vehicular use under the marketing tie-up with the Indian Oil Corporation which shall be replicated in the upcoming projects.

ORS has secured project from Meerut Municipal Corporation (MMC) for setting up 800 tonnes per day (TPD) waste processing plant. Recently, MMC has issued the letter of intent (LOI) for the project. ORS is on a mission to maximise resource value and eliminate environmental impact so that both economy and environment can thrive. It has partnered

with government organisations, communities, companies on different to implement the circular economy. The main aim is to improve waste management practices, stimulate recycling and limit the use of land filling.

There has been a lot of technological advancement globally and we need to take a cue from these success stories for creating a better waste management and WtE roadmap. The technology also needs to be test approved specifically for non-segregated Indian waste. Foreign technology cannot be implemented in India because Indian Waste has different characteristics than that of foreign country’s waste. Indian waste has high moisture content and during monsoon season moisture level further goes up causing adverse effect on thermal technologies.

Lately, seeing the overwhelming response of the Solapur Plant, the company thought of developing de-scaling the technology at the city/ward level. ORS Green — a product line incubated by the company has developed the product Yasasu Green, a packaged solid waste processing plant which is based on the proven High Solid Thermophilic Biomethanation process for processing MSW.

With the successful demonstration unit at Pune and BKC, the Yasasu Green decentralised solution has been commercialised with its first order from Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL) of 10 units for treating 10 TPD of un-segregated MSW for the city of Varanasi, of which one unit has been successfully installed at Bhavaniya Pokhari, Belupur under Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan. With this, ORS shall soon supply, install and operate and maintain nine more pre-fabricated containerised waste to biogas/bio manure plant, each of 5000 kg feed capacity in Varanasi. The units have a capacity to treat 5 tonnes of organic city waste and would generate enough electricity to illuminate 200 street lights per day from each unit for 12 hours. The author is Chairman, Organic Recycling Systems Pvt. Ltd.

range of technologies available for recovering different materials from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) but Biomethanation (anaerobic digestion) for organic materials, scores over other technologies in terms of higher outputs with respect to electricity generation along with better quality of compost and maximum number of carbon credits.

Biomethanation (AD) has two variants and ORS has specialised in the Thermophilic process (that operates on 50-550C) as it is best suited for Indian climatic conditions.

The endeavour to provide an environmental-friendly solution for treatment of municipal solid waste, led to innovating the patented Dry Anaerobic Digestionor DRYAD™. It is an Anaerobic Digester Technology based on the principles of Thermophilic biomethanation. The challenge was to ensure application in large size capacity plants as well decentralised units, and today ORS has commercialised for converting the waste to wealth.

The process is based on enzymatic decomposition of organic matter by microbial action to produce methane gas, and alcohol etc. It is a preferred method for wastes having high percentage of organic, bio-degradable matter and high level of moisture/water content, which aids microbial activity and suits perfectly to Indian waste. The emission level during recycling is almost zero, and that makes the technology environment friendly. The slurry left behind, after the generation of electricity through this process, is used to make high quality organic compost ensuring maximum revenue creation.

ll BENEFITS OF DRYAD• DRYAD™ operates at 550C (temperature suitable for operation in Indian cities)

CLEAN CITIES

With the concept of circular economy for waste disposal & its conversion to electricity, ORS Pvt. Ltd. has innovated to practise 5Rs - Reduce, Reuse, Recover, Recycle and Re-manufacture


GACL appoints MITCON for Charanka Solar Project

HPL Electric, Power Ltd

declare Q3 fin results

Siemens wins order worth

Rs 101 crore from DTL

Gujarat based M/s Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited (GACL) has recently appointed MITCON Consultancy & Engineering Services, Pune for Engineering & Project Management Consultancy (EPMC) Services for its proposed 15 MW Solar Power Plant at Gujarat Solar Park, Charanka, Gujarat. GACL is quite active in promoting environment friendly technologies. As a part of green initiatives, GACL has installed 156.75 MW wind power project and decided to set up 15 MW solar power project for captive use.

HPL Electric and Power Ltd reported its

unaudited and reviewed results for the

third quarter and first nine months of the

financial year ending 31st March, 2017. It’s

developments in the third quarter of FY2016-

17 were strong order book of Rs 342.2 cr as

on 31st December 2016, metering orders

of Rs 227.5 cr, switchgear orders of Rs 54.0

cr and lighting orders of Rs 57.1 cr. Various

government initiatives like IPDS, DDUGJY and

new product launches had positive impact.

Siemens Ltd.

announced that it

has won an order

worth approximately 101 crore from Delhi Transco

Limited. The order includes installing 220/66/33kV Gas

Insulated Substation at R.K. Puram, New Delhi. The

State Transmission Utility of New Delhi, Delhi Transco

is using state of the art technologies in its operations

to enhance its efficiency and productivity. Keeping

in view the land constraints and environmental

hazards, DTL is prioritizing GIS substations in

place of AIS substations.

Vikram Solar awarded at 5th

ET Bengal Corporate AwardsVikram Solar, the

globally recognized leading solar energy

solutions provider, marked the beginning of the

new calendar year with a double award win at

the 5th ET Bengal Corporate Awards 2017. The

company bagged the prestigious ‘Fastest Growing

Company’ award for the second time in a row,

along with the ‘Highest Job Creator’ award (INR

300 – 100 Crore category). Held on February 8,

2017, the award function this year was hosted at

the Taj Bengal, Kolkata.

ReNew raises USD 200 mn from Japan’s JERA Co.

ReNew Power Ventures Pvt Ltd has raised USD 200 million in equity funding from Japan’s JERA Co. Chairman and CEO Sumant Sinha confirmed that the investment values ReNew Power at $2 billion across North America, the Middle East and South East Asia. The company has so far raised $650 million in equity from Goldman Sachs, ADB and ADIA. Established in 2015, JERA is an equal joint venture between Japan’s largest utility Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) and Chubu Electric Power Co.

CORPORATE BUZZ

58 | Energy Next | February 201758 | Energy Next | March 2017

Siemens announces Q1

FY17 results

For the first quarter of Financial Year 2017 ended

December 31, 2016, Siemens Ltd. registered an

increase in revenue from continuing operations (i.e.

excluding the Healthcare undertaking transferred in

financial year 2016 with effect from 1st July 2016)

by 16.1% in Q1 2017 over the same quarter in the

preceding year. Profit before tax from operations of

continuing operations increased by 60.5% to 245.64

crore. New Orders from continuing operations

grew from 3,076.11 crore to 3,223.27 crore in the

same period.

Paschim Group MD

receives excellence award

Paschim Group Promoter and Managing Director

Srinivas M was conferred the EXCELLENCE award

in the field of Productivity, Quality, Innovation

and Management and UDYOG RATAN award by

Institute of Economic Studies, one of the Premier

Research Institutes affiliated to Government of

India at a special ceremony held at India Habitat

Centre, New Delhi, on 24th of February 2017. The

Chief guests and dignitaries at the event includes

Haryana GovernorKaptan Singh Solanki, Member

of Parliament and Chief of BJP Delhi Manoj Tiwari

and President of Institute of Economic Studies

and Former chairman of NHPC Yogendra Prasad.

Suzlon has earned revenue of 3,307 crores in Q3 and 9M revenue 7703 crores, up 24% on YoY basis. It has reported EBITDA of 745 crores for Q3 (up 124% on YoY basis) and 9M EBITDA of 1,502 crores (up 70% on YoY basis). With the achievement of 10,000 MW milestone, Suzlon has emerged to be the fourth largest operations and maintenance company in the overall Indian power sector.

Suzlon Q3 FY17 revenue up by 76% YoY

Gamesa enters Mexico with

two new agreements

Gamesa has

entered into an

agreement with

PT UPC Sidrap Bayu Energi - a joint venture

owned by UPC Renewables, PT Binatek and AC

Energy Holdings- for the supply of 75 MW for

the first wind farm ever to be commissioned in

Indonesia. This is the first time its G114-2.5 MW

model will be installed in Asia-Pacific, excluding

China. These turbines will reach up

to 2.625 MW under certain technical

conditions.

BHEL bags 3.6 MW

rooftop solar order

State-run power equipment maker BHEL

has secured an EPC order for the installation

of Solar PhotoVoltaic (PV) rooftop systems

totalling 3.6 MW from Surat Municipal

Corporation. According to the reports, this

is the single largest order for a Rooftop PV

system won by BHEL. It will be an significant

step in establishing the Maharatna firm as one

of the most important leaders in Rooftop PV

system segment.

Tata Power-DDL launches

energy-efficient LED

lighting, fans

In association with Energy Efficiency Services

Ltd., Tata Power-DDL launched energy-

efficient LED lighting and ceiling fans for

its customers under the UJALA scheme.

According to the power distributer which

serves north and north-west parts of Delhi,

LED lighting products and BEE 5-star ceiling

fans would be offered to the consumers at

subsidised rates. A 9-watt LED bulb and a 20

watt LED tube light will be available at Rs 65

and Rs 230 respectively.


POWER TWEETS

Piyush Goyal @PiyushGoyal . Feb 22

Cabinet approves ARUN-3 Hydro Electric Project in Nepal, it will create jobs & power both countries.



India’s share is now nearly 16% of total LEDs sale in the world from earlier 0.2%

Cochin International Airport is the world’s only airport run entirely on solar power, others to follow suit.


Record low solar tariff shows that India is committed about solar power & the vision for a clean energy nation #Solar4All


Government’s vision for a cleaner and safer energy connects with states as Punjab sets up the world’s largest single rooftop solar plant.


Sikkim launches UJALA scheme, appreciate CM @pawanchamling5’s effort to ensure affordable & energy efficient LEDs


India committed about its vision for a clean energy nation, solar tariffs fell to their lowest levels of Rs. 2.97/unit.

MNRE allocates Rs. 600 Crore for ‘Grid connected Rooftop and small Solar Power Plants Programme’

An amount of Rs. 600 crore has been allocated for the projects under ‘Grid Connected Rooftop and

Small Solar power Plants Programme’ and Rs. 508.84 Crore has been released as on Jan 31, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) has been promoting ‘Grid Connected Rooftop and Small Solar Power Plants Programme’ with a Central Financial Assistance (CFA) of up to 30 percent of benchmark cost in general category states and up to 70 percent in special category states, north eastern states, Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Residential, institutional and social sector are covered under the CFA pattern. For Government Sector, achievement linked incentive up to Rs.18750/kWp in general category states and Rs.45000/kWp in special category states, north eastern states and Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep is available under the Programme.

The State-wise details of projects under ‘Grid Connected Rooftop and Small Solar power Plants Programme’ sanctioned are as follows.

S.no. States/entity Approved /Sanctioned Capacity (MWp)

1 Andhra Pradesh 39.52 Chhattisgarh 11.23 Delhi 924 Gujarat 81.755 Haryana 756 Himachal Pradesh 107 Jammu & Kashmir 78 Jharkhand 559 Karnataka 10.935

10 Kerala 1511 Madhya Pradesh 11512 Maharashtra 10013 Odisha 414 Punjab 2515 Rajasthan 3116 Tamil Nadu 31217 Telangana 7418 Uttarakhand 5119 Uttar Pradesh 1220 West Bengal 11.6821 Arunachal Pradesh 022 Assam 2423 Manipur 8.424 Chandigarh 30.525 Goa 226 Puducherry 5.0227 Andaman & Nicobar Islands 128 Lakshadweep 1

Sub Total (State/ UT) 1,204.9929 Solar Energy Corporation of India 899.630 Ministry of Railways 502.531 PSUs/Govt. Departments 482

TOTAL 3,089.09

Piyush Goyal expresses his views on low wind tariffs

In an auction of 1,000 MW capacity conducted by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), wind power tariff has dropped to a record

low of Rs 3.46 per unit. In an interview with a leading newspaper, Power Minister Piyush Goyal expressed his views on achieving low tariff on solar as well as wind.

“I was expecting it to go below Rs4 per unit but when the opening bid itself came at Rs4 per unit, it was felt that it will go much lower. My initial own estimates were between Rs3.50 and Rs3.55 per unit…It was an accurate assessment,” he said.

“For solar bids also, my office had calculated before the bidding that what could be an estimated price and we were 3 paise off. We had calculated Rs2.94 per unit (for the first year tariff), given the current pricing structure internationally of equipment and the advantages that India has because of good irradiance; we had estimated that the bid will come down to Rs2.94 per unit plus Rs5 paise (per annum escalation in tariff for 15 years),” the minister added. Goyal further confirmed that they have been working towards providing a clean environment to the people of India.

MNRE NEWS


MNRE NEWS

MNRE invites proposals to develop Small Hydro Power (SHP)With an aim to start e-office, the

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has requested all state nodal agencies/departments as well as all Small Hydro Power project developers to submit soft copies of their proposals including PFRs/DPRs, etc. along with the hard copies.

It is also to mention that SHP specific projects which are being sanctioned to/on behalf of individual (gharat for electical, mechanical or electromechanical generation) come within the ambit of direct benefit transfer (DBT). As per Section 7 of Aadhaar Act. The ministry has made it mandatory to mention Aadhaar number, aadhaar linked bank account and mobile numbers are in the proposal/sanction/release order.

852 Solar PV based projects operational under DDUGJY: MNRE

MNRE instructs its channel partners not to involve in fraudulent practices

A total of 852 projects (based on Solar PV) have been operational under

Decentralized Distributed Generation (DDG) of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) implemented by Ministry of Power as on Jan 31, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said in a written

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has invited

applications from general public for release of subsidy against the Rooftop Solar Systems installed by the MNRE-empanelled channel partners or new entrepreneurs without any prior sanction from the ministry. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has instructed its channel partners and agencies not to misguide the users and install systems without any prior approval from the ministry to get subsidy. As per a notice published on its website, any agency found to be indulging in such activity, would be debarred as MNRE channel partner. With such programs, the ministry is working hard for the country’s amibitous clean energy target.

reply to Lok Sabha. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana is a Government of India scheme designed to provide continuous power supply to rural India. It was launched by Modi Government and named in honour of Indian political philosopher Deen Dayal Upadhyaya.


IREDA CORNER

Access to Energy Scheme of IREDA

Financial Cooperation is a component of German Development Cooperation. Its function is to

finance investments in economic and social infrastructure, poverty alleviation, environmental protection and the conservation of natural resources in partner countries by providing loans on favorable terms & grants, using federal budget funds. The financial cooperation is carried out by KfW on behalf of the German Government and its Ministries. Indo-German Cooperation in Indian Energy Sector helps to increase supply of electricity and in promoting programs for climate change/energy efficiency in off-grid sector, which is considered to be risky business segment for financial institutions, owing to the limited securities and short track record offered by the ESCOs.

In line with the above, KfW has agreed to refinance loans, up-to 20 million Euro, issued by IREDA to promote climate friendly energy services in rural areas in India. An additional grant of 4 million EUR (“Extra Grant”) is supposed to reduce credit risks for IREDA and set incentives for borrowers

conventional energy capacity shall not exceed install renewable capacity• Bio-mass gasifiers are not eligible to be covered under this scheme, however, Projects under ESCO modes are eligible under the schemeThe minimum loan eligibility from IREDA will be Rs.50 Lakh unless specifically exempted under any scheme/ program. (However, as per KfW terms the loan amount to each borrower shall not exceed 4 mn Euro which is approx. 29 crores as on date.) Quantum of loan from IREDA shall be up to 70% of total Project cost. The minimum promoter contribution shall be 30% of the project cost and the maximum Debt Equity Ratio (DER) shall not be more than 3:1.

ll REPAYMENT PERIODThe repayment periods shall be maximum of 7 years, depending on the project cash flows & DSCR of the project and it shall be after the implementation & grace period.

for timely payment as well as timely project implementation. This is to contribute to a technically and economically efficient as well as socially and ecologically sustainable energy supply which is in line with the overall Indo-German Cooperation in Indian Energy Sector.

ll OBJECTIVE OF THE SCHEMETo increase the supply and use of sustainable clean energy services in rural areas through improved access to financing for project developers.

ll SECTORS ELIGIBLE FOR SCHEME All the techno-commercially viable projects in RE are eligible for the said scheme• Project under the said scheme shall be implemented in areas where electricity provided through national grid is less than 2 hours (on an average) during peak hours (5 to 11 pm)• The Project shall follow international best practices with respect to environmental and social aspects• In Hybrid Models, the installed

IREDA CMD conferred with Leadership Award

Minister of State for Steel Vishnu Deo Sai presents 3rd Elets Leadership Award to IREDA CMD K S Popli. The award was presented to him on January 31, 2017 in New Delhi.


IREDA CORNER

IREDA bids farewell to Director Technical B V Rao

BV Rao superannuated as ‘Director (Technical)’ of IREDA on 28th February after serving 23 years in

IREDA in various position. In his 23-year tenure, Rao contributed immensely to the IREDA and taking it to new heights. He joined IREDA in 1994 as Manager (Technical). He got elevated to GM (Technical) in 2005

IREDA launches mobile apps

IREDA CMD launched Mobile Apps for Vendor Payment and Wind & Solar Generation Based Incentive

on 01st February, 2017. The Vendor Payment Apps shall facilitate IREDA Vendors to access information related to their Bills and Payments and also to allow them to forward their new invoice details through Mobile Phones.

The Wind and Solar Generation Based Incentive App shall facilitate Project Developers/Project Proponents to access details of their claims and payment in respect of GBI Schemes being administered by IREDA on behalf of MNRE. These apps can be downloaded from Google Play Store or IREDA’s website.

The Government of Japan in cooperation with the Japan International

Cooperation Center (JICE) invited delegation from India to attend “Japan East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths” (JENESYS) Programme held in Japan during 06-14th February, 2017. The objective of the program was to promote mutual trust and understanding among the people of Japan and SAARC countries to build a basis for future friendship and cooperation. This year’s theme of the program was ‘Energy’. Mr. Abhishek Kumar from Technical Services Division, IREDA along with other members from India, participated in above program for knowledge co- creation.

IREDA participates in ‘JENESYS’ event

Philip Bara joins as IREDA CVO

Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Director Philip Bara has

assumed the charge of Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO), IREDA on 3rd February, 2017. He had joined the CVC in the year 1986 and put in 30+ years long service in various positions in the Commission. He is a graduate from Ranchi University, Ranchi. He had been dealing with the vigilance cases pertaining to Banks, Railways and Central Excise & Customs during his long service of more than three decades. He had also functioned as Director (Vigilance) in NDMC from January, 2006 to January, 2012.

During the “JENESYS 2016” program various environmentally sustainable, state-of-the-art advanced projects were visited, viz: Kuji Wave Power Station (First Wave Power Station in Japan), Narita Izumi Waste Treatment and Power Generation Plant, Kuji Biomass Power Plant. Also, various other significant places/developments were observed like ‘Tokyo Rinkai Disaster Prevention Park’, ‘Kuji National Oil Stockpile’, ‘Miraikan’ National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, Bullet Trains etc. Furthermore, the program conveyed better understanding on Japan, through the lectures on Society, Politics, Foreign Policies, History and Culture in Japan.

and appointed Director (Technical) in 2014. During the farewell function for Rao in India Habitat Centre, IREDA CMD K. S. Popli appreciated his contribution to the company and wished him happy, peaceful & prosperous post retirement life. Rao, in his address, encouraged the officers in taking IREDA to new heights.


EVENTS

AP

RIL

20

17

RenewX 2017 aims to accelerate the growth of South Indian Renewable Energy and contribute towards country’s sustainable economic development. This event will offer a platform to network with key renewable energy experts, showcase innovations from the world’s leading companies and gather invaluable expert support.

Apr

Hitex,

Hyderabad

RENEWX 20177-8

The conference presents the latest research results for the storage of renewable energies. The event offers a unique forum to the leading research institutes and companies of the storage industry and deals with all issues arising from research up to the market mature product.

Mar

Dusseldorf, Germany

ENERGY STORAGE EUROPE

14-16Mar

14-16

The conference, organized by EUROSOLAR European Association for Renewable Energy, will focus on economic and financial topics related to renewable energy storage. The combined program will allow visitors to choose from a wide range of presentations and discussion rounds.

11TH INTERNATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY

FORM IVStatement about ownership and other

particulars about ENERGY NEXT

Required to be published under Rule 8 of Registration of Newspapers (Central) Rule 1956.

1. Place of Publication: Hyderabad2. Periodicity of its Publication: Monthly

3. Printer’s Name: R. Ram Prasad a. Nationality: India

b. Whether a citizen of India?: Yes

c. If a foreigner, the country of origin: N/A d. Address: 407, 5th floor, Pavani Plaza, Khairatabad, Hyderabad- 500 004

4. Publisher’s Name: R. Ram Prasad a. Nationality: India b. Whether a citizen of India?: Yes

c. If a foreigner, the country of origin: N/A

d. Address: 407, 5th floor, Pavani Plaza, Khairatabad, Hyderabad- 500 004

5. Editor’s Name: Kuljit Singh Popli a. Nationality: India b. Whether a citizen of India?: Yes

c. If a foreigner, the country of origin: N/A d. Address: Block 11/1, Nehru Enclave East, Nehru place, New Delhi- 110 019

6. Names and addresses of individuals who own the newspaper and partners or shareholders holding More than one per cent of the total capital.

Anupam DaftuarA-53/1, DDA Flats, Saket, New Delhi- 110017

Invision Communications & Research Pvt Ltd

409, Mansarovar Building, 90, Nehru Place, New Delhi- 110019

I, R. Ram Prasad, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Date: 7th March, 2017

(Sd/-)

R. Ram Prasad

Publisher

Düsseldorf, Germany

http://www.eceee.org/events/ calendar/2017/IRES-2017

www.energy-storage-online.com

Mar

The 4th International Expo and conference on Energy Storage in China will witness a gathering of more than 6,000 global professional visitors from 18 countries and over 120 speakers. The event will be held under the theme of “The Next-Generation Energy System.”

China International

Exhibition Centre, Beijing

ENERGY STORAGE CHINA29-31

http://www.escexpo.cn

Mar

23Intersolar Summit USA East gives its attendees a chance to stay on top of latest policy developments, opportunities and key issues impacting the U.S. East Coast solar and energy storage markets. It offers great business matchmaking opportunities with regional market intermediaries and leading suppliers.

Brooklyn, New York

INTERSOLAR SUMMIT USA EAST

http://www.intersolarglobal.com/en/summits/usa-east.html

http://www.renewx.in http://www.windergy.in

Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association (IWTMA), in partnership with Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), is hosting Windergy, the largest annual conference and exhibition on Wind Energy. The event will provide an opportunity to network; collaborate with peers, innovators, thought leaders and policy makers.

The Ashok, New Delhi

WINDERGY INDIA 2017

Apr

25-27


quoted a price of rs3.46 ... the write-ups are ... 90, nehru place new delhi - 110 019 write to...

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