Renewable Energy For India

[senthilkumark]

National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) optimistic about solar venture- targets 100MW in 5 years

NHPC in April last year announced their foray into wind energy and had announced plans to set up a 100MW wind farm. That was being planned through Narmada Hydroelectric Development Corporation (NHDC), a joint venture between the Madhya Pradesh government and the National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC).

However as the site allocated to NHDC by the state government did not have sufficient wind density the project did not take off.

In a recent interview, CMD of NHPC, ABL Srivastava has said that the company is more optimistic about its planned venture into the solar power sector and has set a target of 100 mw in the 12th Five-Year plan that started in April.

Recently, Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited(NLC), a “Navaratna” Public Sector Enterprise, under the administrative control of Ministry of Coal (MOC) announced plans of setting up a 50MW wind farm and 10 Mw solar farm in Tamil Nadu.

[senthilkumark]

Indian govt to set up 60 more solar monitoring units

According to reports, Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy will install 60 more solar radiation monitoring stations across the country and also introduce a scheme to encourage people to generate power from rooftop installations, a top official said today.The move is aimed at enabling states and developers of solar power projects take investment decisions based on scientific rationale.

“We have already set up 51 solar monitoring stations for assessment of solar power in the country, which we are going to expand…60 more such stations shall come, and very soon entire country would be covered,” the ministry Joint Secretary Tarun Kapoor said while addressing the 11th Green Power conclave-2012 organised here by CII.

The stations have equipment to record all types of data on radiation, from sun, especially at sites that fall in zones receiving higher direct solar radiation in a view to generate investment-grade solar radiation data. The ministry has assigned the task of solar radiation monitoring to C-WET, Chennai, as centralised data collection now being done there.

MNRE is also looking to give a subsidy push to the rooftop projects in renewables and is mulling a special scheme for the purpose. “We are coming out with a separate scheme to give a push to rooftop. We want to open out this sector in such a manner that people can generate power from their roofs for themselves and put surplus power directly into the grid, without it being stored in batteries first,” he said.

People should be able to generate power at the cost of Rs 8 to 9 per unit and with some subsidy it should come down to Rs 5 to 6 per unit and get stabilised over next 25 years, Kapoor said. Rooftop has the potential to change the face of power generation in India, it is for the power distribution companies to understand its importance, he added.

A study undertaken by the ministry with industry experts shows that for next five years there will be no trouble in putting power directly into grid, Kapoor said.

In current Five-Year plan, the target for renewable energy in the country has been set at 30,000 MW, which require an estimated investment of Rs 2.5 lakh crore. “Of this 30,000 MW, 15,000 MW is for wind, 10,000 MW for solar, 3,000 MW for hydro and balance for other resources like bio-mass etc,” the official said. About India’s power scenario, Kapoor said the country has over 2 lakh MW of installed capacity, besides 30,000 to 40,000 MW capacity of captive generation. The renewable installed capacity is now 25,000 MW, which is 12 per cent of installed capacity and 5 per cent of the energy used, he said.

On National Solar Mission, Kapoor said that the target of 20,000 MW for the first phase ending March 2013 will be met and shall exceed both in terms of grid and off-grid. In the second phase, the target is to achieve 10,000 MW by 2017. The Government of India (GoI) will come out with some schemes to procure around 3,000 MW, while approximately 6,000 MW is expected to come from various state government schemes, Kapoor said.

[Krishnamoorthy K]

Bangalore, July 5, 2012, DHNS

Aims to unseat Maharashtra from second spot in country

The State would soon dislodge Maharashtra from the second spot in biofuel production in the country, by increasing its production to 200 million litres by this year end, said Y B Ramakrishna, executive chairman of Karnataka State Biofuel Development Board (KSBDB) on Thursday. Presently, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra occupy the top two slots.

He told reporters that the State produced six lakh tonnes each of honge and neem seeds every year. He said, according to a rough estimate, the State had biofuel related plantations of 1.35 lakh hectares and there was scope for a plantation area of 14 lakh hectares more. By the year end, the State would invest Rs 200 crore under various schemes to give a boost to the sector, he said.

KSBDB officials said a private company had set up a biofuel production unit with a capacity of 3,000 litres a day in Peenya Industrial Area, Bangalore. Southern Biofuel was producing 50,000 litres at its unit near Devanahalli. The company had tied up with the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) and was presently, supplying fuel for 20 per cent of the ground transport vehicles there. They said the government was in talks with BIAL to run 1,400 taxis attached to the airport on biofuel. Only 35 per cent of the biofuel produced was being utilised, he added.

Green fuel outlet

Ramakrishna said a green fuel outlet, a first of its kind in the country, would be opened at Madenur in Hassan district in three months.

The opening of the outlet, being set up in association with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, had been delayed due to land acquisition problems and they would be sorted out soon.

The biofuel bunk, on the Hassan-Channarayapatna highway, would get supplies from the nearby biofuel park, which has a capacity of 300 litres per day.

The State government has planned to open 20 such bio-diesel outlets in a year’s time. As many as 70 institutions had been identified to aid bio-fuel research.

A total of 746 seed centres would be opened in the next one year to cultivate and supply bio-fuel, he added.

‘Biofuel mela’ from August 10

The Karnataka State Biofuel Development Board (KSBDB) will organise a ‘biofuel mela’ from August 10 to 12 to mark the International Biofuel Day.

Y B Ramakrishna, executive chairman of KSBDB, said the mela scheduled to be held in Chitrakala Parishat (CKP) will have a range of events, information sessions, demonstrations, exhibitions, cinema and stalls by various stakeholder organisations, besides a variety of cultural programmes based on the biofuel theme. As many as 37 bio-fuel related projects by college students from across the State will be exhibited, he said.

KSBDB, in association with CKP, will also organise a painting competition on July 12 for primary and high school students with biofuel as the theme.

Details can be had on www.karnatakachitrakalaparishat.com or phone number 9972127937. Interested may register their names on or before July 10.

The Board will also conduct a poetry competition on the same theme on July 30 for students. Posters on Biofuel Day and the activities to be taken up have been sent to around 14,000 high schools across the State.

August 10 is observed as ‘International Biodiesel Day’ every year to mark the successful operation of Rudolf Diesel's prime model engine, a single 10-foot iron cylinder with a flywheel at its base, which ran on its own power for the first time in Augsburg, Germany in 1893, using groundnut oil.

DHNS

Geospatial Mapping of Bioenergy Potential in Karnataka, India <-- Click for PDF file.

[Krishnamoorthy K]

x-post

Originally Posted by s.yogendra

Hassan to get country’s first bio fuel bunk

[Krishnamoorthy K]

Bangalore-based Anu Solar to open 2,000 solar product stores in India

Originally Posted by dino_srk

Solar powered electronic products will now be available at retail stores across the country. These stores will sell varied products ranging from solar water heaters to solar powered calculators, caps with fans that run on solar power, solar power storing batteries and inverters.

Bangalore-based Anu Solar pvt ltd, a leading manufacturer and seller of solar products, will open 2,000 stores across India on franchisee basis.

"These will be called 'one-stop experience stores' as the store and all the office equipments will also run on solar power, in order to show the public, the use and benefits of solar power," said T J Joseph, managing director, Anu Solar.

The government wants to encourage the use of solar energy but currently there are no private retailers for solar products.

The ministry of new and renewable energy has been promoting private entrepreneurs to open 'Akshay Urja shops' to sell and promote solar products but since 2002, only 300 shops have been established across the country and a good number of them are not functioning and there is no shop in the capital.

"We want the public to experience the power of solar and also raise awareness for the same," said Joseph. For Delhi, Joseph said there was an expression of interest from a client who plans to open 40 retail stores.

The company plans to make at least 20 stores operational by the end of the year, including one each in Bangalore and Madurai by September. With an investment of around Rs. 25 lakh per store, the turnover expected is Rs. 6 crore per year per store. By the end of the current financial year, the company hopes to open 50 stores.

These stores will sell a variety of products at MNRE subsidised rates. "As we are channel partners with MNRE, we provide government-approved subsidy on all products," said Joseph.

Solar photovoltaic cells, solar power storing batteries, inverters, solar water heaters are some of the products which the company will propagate the most and major sales will depend on them.

But to raise awareness and draw the interest of the consumers, the company has planned to put on display some interesting stuff like caps with fans that will run once you are out in sun, toys and calculators that can be recharged by solar power, bags with solar powered mobile charging points etc.

There is a 5-year unconditional warranty on all the products except solar power storing batteries for which the warranty period is 3 years. Anu solar will train the staff and will provide after-sales service on all the products.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/14701764.cms

[murlee]

Gram Power: Yashraj Khaitan's 'smart microgrid' produces, stores renewable energy on location




Visit for interview of the founder: http://launch.org/forum/10/energy/in...-power/profile

[murlee]

[barrykul]

India’s pilgrim centres, industries, learning centres and other institutions are increasingly looking to the sky for tapping solar energy for their kitchens that cater to thousands on a day-to-day basis.

Looking up to the sun

The kitchen complex of the Shirdi ashram has 73 parabolic dishes to capture the sun’s rays.

India has a large number of pilgrim centres that attract visitors from across the globe all round the year. It is a tradition that these centres, with large community kitchens, cater to the visiting clientele with variety food. Green sensibilities have entered these kitchens too, as they are tapping solar energy and slowly shedding the old energy-guzzling ways of cooking. A lot of industrial and commercial canteens are getting rid of their old ways of polluting the environment and have installed solar cooking systems.

The Saibaba Ashram at Shirdi in Maharashtra commissioned its giant solar cooking system in 2009. The kitchen complex of the Ashram has 73 parabolic dishes to capture the sun’s rays to run what is touted as the world’s largest solar cooking system to cook food for 50,000 devotees daily.

The system taps the sun’s rays to generate 3,600 kg of steam daily and saves nearly 100,000 kg of cooking gas annually. The system cost the Ashram Rs. 1.3 crore. Of this the Central Government’s non-renewable energy sector provided a Rs. 58 lakh as subsidy.

Steam cooking is clean, efficient and hygienic, especially when food is cooked for large numbers. The dish antennas concentrate solar rays on a giant reflector which transfers the heat to generate steam with temperature ranging between 550 and 600 degrees Celsius. With an automated sun tracking system, the dishes rotate continuously along with the movement of the sun, always concentrating the solar rays on the receivers. However, the dishes have to be manually rotated back each evening to the east in line with the rising sun for the next morning. As the solar system is hooked up with boilers, it can take care of a few non-sunshine hours too. But a back-up is needed for prolonged spell of rainy and cloudy days.

Emission reduction credits

At the solar-operated Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam kitchen at Tirupati where food is cooked daily for 15,000 pilgrims, the system installed in 2002 atop the shrine’s ‘Nitya Annadanam Canteen’ has adopted the solar cooking technology to drastically cut down on diesel fuel it was using till then.

The temple now sells the emission reduction credits it earns to a Swiss green energy technology investor firm, Good Energies Inc.

It not only takes care of energy and ecology but is also a source of revenue for the temple. The shrine now saves Rs. 17 lakh per annum. The system reduces the carbon dioxide emission by 1.2 tonnes per day.

The system, costing Rs. 1.1 crore, had its managing body, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam Board, contributing half the amount while another half came as a subsidy from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. The solar cooking system in both these shrines was installed by Gadhia Solar Energy Systems (GSES), a Gujarat-based company.

The initiative

Gadhia Solar was set up by entrepreneur Deepak Gadhia who brought the parabolic dishes-based solar concentrators (developed by Austrian scientist Wolfgang Scheffler) and began manufacturing solar cookers at his unit at Valsad near Mumbai.

The ingenuity behind the work was identified by Rajiv Gandhi while on a visit to Germany in 1984 when Gadhia was working on heat recovery and water harvesting system in a German University.

Responding to the invitation of the Indian Investment Office under the then PMO, Gadhia and team settled down in India.

For industrial canteens

While mass cooking facilities at several shrines gave them a big break, they also set up such facilities for industrial canteens at IBM, Bangalore; Sanghi Industries, Hyderabad; Pricol Industries, Coimbatore; and public sector companies such as GACL and GSFC and also at several residential schools, Defence establishments and hospitals.

Says Gadhia, “ Temples were more open to idea of using heavenly energy for cooking, as they also had large numbers coming in for prasad. These systems are more viable there. But once the systems were installed, we soon moved on to other target groups.”

These cooking/heating facilities show the way India should go in tapping new energy sources as the country’s current installed capacity of 147,458 MW is still eight per cent short of the demand of power.

Demand growing

Energy expert A. Ravindra says demand is growing by eight per cent annually and conventional fuels are getting exhausted. It was only in 2008 that investments in the renewable energy sector in India exceeded those in the fossil fuel sector.

Following the lead of the shrine at Tirumala, the Brahmakumari Instituteat Abu Road in Rajasthan installed a solar cooking system to cook food for 10,000 persons daily in 2005.

Rishi Valley Residential School at Madanapalle, 220 km east of Bangalore, has also installed a solar cooking system for its kitchen which prepares food for 500 inmate-students.

The School’s Dining Manager Harindran says the system serves them for 300 sunny days and saves them nearly Rs. 2 lakh annually on cooking gas.

The Art of Living Foundation in Bangalore is also generating power through biogas plants and recycling the wastewater within their premises.

Other applications

Gadhia’s company has developed several applications for solar concentrators (besides cooking) such as for wastewater evaporation, air-conditioning, desalination, heating and cooling, solar incinerators for bio-medical waste for hospitals, solar crematoriums, solar driers etc. Solar systems for housing colonies and blocks are amenable to multi-tasking and can be used for heating water for bathing, for preparing drinking water (pasteurisation), desalination, steam cooking, air-conditioning and for power generation with micro-turbines.

“By doing such projects we reduce the cost of products for individuals. It is similar to having a central TV antenna instead of every household having its own antenna.

It reduces the cost and improves the efficiency and optimises the use of systems,” observes Deepak Gadhia.

The possibilities

India is blessed with abundant sunshine which offers ample opportunity to tap solar energy for the country’s growing needs. It is estimated that if solar panels were installed on only four per cent area of Thar desert in Rajasthan, India can generate power to the tune of 100,000 MW, about two-thirds of its present installed capacity. Thar desert sprawls over an area of nearly 200,000 sq. km.

Time for large/medium companies, institutions and public buildings to adopt Solar in different ways - cooking, water heating, electric energy supply.

[Krishnamoorthy K]

07/07/2012

The Project on Removal of Barriers to Biomass Power Generation in India got formally started when M/s Thermax Limited and M/s Ruchi Soya Industries Limited signed an MoU in the presence of Shri Gireesh B. Pradhan, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) on 5th July 2012 in New Delhi . The aim of the UNDP / GEF assisted Project , which is being implemented by MNRE, is to accelerate the adoption of environmentally sustainable biomass power technologies by removing the barriers identified, thereby laying the foundation for the large scale commercialization of biomass power through increased access to financing.

As part of this Project, a one MW fluidized bed biomass gasification plant is planned to be set up at M/s Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd. (RSIL) premises at Washim, Maharashtra as a Model Investment Project (MIP). The plant will be executed by M/s Thermax Ltd., Pune based on the technology acquired by them from the Energy Research Centre (ECN) and M/s Dahlman of the Netherlands.

The proposed gasification system is claimed to have a higher conversion efficiency (>95 %) as compared to 80-85 % of the existing gasification systems and also an advanced gas cleanup system and will overcome the existing barriers such as -non availability of proven single module of gasifier and gas clean up unit of capacity 1MW or above, standardization of MW capacity systems, generation of operating data required as input for determination of separate tariff and demonstration of tri generation, besides demonstration of biomass gasification technology for generation of grid quality power.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy , has a wide range of programmes for harnessing energy as well as grid interactive and off grid power from biomass which is renewable in nature, carbon neutral and has the potential to provide large productive employment in rural areas using commercially available thermal and biological conversion technologies. A cumulative generation capacity of over 3700 MW through biomass power including bagasse cogeneration has been so far established in the country. The present project is designed to address the barriers which impede its deployment.

POWER Engineering

[Krishnamoorthy K]

Surinder Sud / Jul 03, 2012, 00:20 IST

The biofuel development programme has made little headway despite liberal sops by way of subsidies and access to land. The target of 10 per cent blending of petrol and diesel with biofuels by 2011-12 has already been missed. And the goal of 20 per cent blending by 2016-17, mooted in the National Biofuel Policy of 2009, seems wholly unattainable.

There are several reasons for this. Producing adequate ethanol from sugarcane molasses for 20 per cent blending seems impractical — for, it will require a major expansion of the area under sugarcane cultivation. It is also deemed commercially unviable. On the other hand, producing biodiesel from jatropha – a tree-borne, non-edible oilseed – is beset with innumerable problems and risks that deter farmers from growing this plant and investors from setting up oil extraction and processing units.

Various studies on jatropha have indicated that this biofuel crop is neither profitable nor pro-poor. Nor is it possible to raise healthy jatropha plantations on uncultivable or degraded land without irrigation and fertilisers. Most of the available strains of jatropha are low yielders. Besides, the technology and agronomic practices for jatropha cultivation have not yet been perfected. Technologies for efficient post-harvest management and processing of jatropha seeds, too, require some fine-tuning. Moreover, the long gestation period of three to six years for getting returns from these plantations is a formidable disincentive. It is also feared that the diversion of land to jatropha will result in loss of grazing areas and create fodder scarcity.

Most of these concerns have been borne out by a recent systematic study on the biofuels sector conducted by the New Delhi-based National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research (NCAP), with the participation of experts from the global farm policy think-tank, the International Food Policy Research institute (IFPRI). Published by NCAP as a policy paper (No 27), the report does not mince words and states that sugarcane-based ethanol production is “absolutely unsustainable in India”. On jatropha, this report cautions that the government must keep in view the bitter experience of its cultivation in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu before promoting it on a national scale.

In Andhra Pradesh, unconvinced about the viability of jatropha plantations, farmers diverted a bulk of the subsidy given by the government for jatropha to other crops. The state is now looking at pongamia (another tree-borne, non-edible oilseed) to use for biofuel production. In Tamil Nadu, jatropha seedlings – offered free of cost by the government – found few takers.

Nevertheless, the Union government remains upbeat about promoting biofuels in the hope of strengthening energy security. A National Biofuel Mission was launched in 2003 for this purpose. But no more than 0.5 million hectares have come under jatropha plantations so far.

This is far lower than the 3.45 million hectares that the NCAP study reckons will be needed to achieve even a five per cent blending level. The target of 20 per cent admixing will require jatropha to be planted over a massive 26.50 million hectares, an area almost equivalent to that under wheat. Sparing so much land for jatropha is unthinkable given that even vital industrial and infrastructural projects find it hard to access land.

Similarly, in the case of ethanol, the NCAP study estimates that the sugarcane acreage will need to be more than doubled from the current level to produce the projected 736.5 million tonnes of molasses-based ethanol for 10 per cent doping with petrol. This, again, is impractical as also unadvisable, considering that sugarcane requires fertile land and copious water to grow. In fact, the study has found that the production of ethanol from sweet-sorghum, a multi-utility food, fodder and sugar crop, may be a relatively better option for producing ethanol. Compared to sugarcane, this crop needs far less water.

Clearly, any policy for sourcing biofuels from land-based feedstock like sugarcane or jatropha is unlikely to work in a country in which land and water are scarce. Thankfully, the use of agricultural land for biofuel production is strictly prohibited. However, a large diversion of even non-farmed land for this purpose seems ill-advised. There is, therefore, a need to revisit biofuel promotion policies.

BS

[senthilkumark]

Nagaland govt goes big way in installing solar power

In the face of erratic electricity supply in the state, the Nagaland government has planned to install solar power facility in most of the directorate building of various departments within this year.

Although the department of new and renewable energy (NRE) wanted to install solar energy plates in all the 60 directorate buildings by end of March next the survey found that only 47 building are feasible to do so as the remaining one do not have spaces.

Speaking at installation of solar energy plates at chief secretary’s residence, director of NRE T S Angami said the Union ministry of new and renewable energy has allocated fund to Nagaland for commissioning 670 KW of solar power during 2012-13.

As part of this project, the civil secretariat building and state assembly complex would be brought under solar power of 100 KW each while Naga Hospital would be fitted with 50 KW very soon, he said.
The department, which was created in 2009, has already installed 72 KW of solar power in many directorate buildings near civil secretariat as stand by arrangement. He asked the departments to take extra care so that no employees or office canteens use heaters from the solar power.

The director said in the next phase, the government offices at district headquarters would be taken up for solar power installation.

He also encouraged the private building owners to install solar power as the department is providing 30 per cent subsidy for this and engaged two private companies for installations.

[senthilkumark]

Telcos write to Renewable energy cos in India; offer to take entire wind,solar output

According to reports, accused of damaging environment with excessive use of diesel generators in hinterlands to run their towers and causing radiation, telcos have written to renewable energy producers (Rescos) offering to draw their complete output.

Leading the charge are the apex telecom industry bodies–GSM operators body Coai and CDMA lobby Aupsi–which have jointly placed a power purchase order with seven Rescos to power as many as 1 lakh telecom towers, in their effort to bring down carbon emission from diesel-fired generators.

“The umbrella body of telecom tower companies, Tower & Infrastructure Providers Association (Taipa), had two months ago sent a request for proposal (RFP) to seven Rescos like Moser Bayer and ABB among others informing their readiness to buy their entire generation to power our 1 lakh towers,” Cellular Operators Association of India (Coai) Director General Rajan S Mathews told PTI here over the weekend.

The Taipa representatives could not be contacted despite repeated attempts. On their response, Mathews said though the initial response was positive, these power companies have some doubts about the viability of such projects and that they are in talks with companies to iron out the issues.

Telecom towers, which are over 1 lakh together, burnt diesel worth over Rs 12,500 crore last fiscal to run generator sets to supply power to towers raising yet another concern about the pollution hazard that telecom companies are causing, apart from the radiation risks from telecom towers.

On sharing telecom towers as a way to bring down air pollution as also the alleged radiation threats, which both Coai and Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India (Aupsi)–allayed as “unfounded and scientifically not proven,” Mathews said, “Already 70 percent towers have over two customers and the rest have three to four.”

[Krishnamoorthy K]

Rutam Vora / Mumbai/ Ahmedabad Jul 09, 2012, 00:39 IST

In a bid to encourage renewable energy sources of power generation in India, the union ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) is looking at setting up a company for biomass-based power generation and promotion on the lines of Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

The proposed company would focus on promotion and generation of biomass-based power and execute projects in the country. "We are focusing to promote biomass-based power generation in the country. For this, the ministry is planning to set up a company for biomass energy same as we set up SECI last year," said Tarun Kapoor, joint secretary, MNRE on the sidelines of 11th Green Power conference in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

According to MNRE data, currently biomass availability in India is estimated at about 500 millions tones per year, while studies have estimated surplus biomass availability at about 120–150 million tones per annum, covering agricultural and forestry residues corresponding to a potential of about 18,000 Mw of power generation.

It may be noted here that MNRE had set up Solar Energy Corporation of India on September 2011 under section-25 of the Companies Act, 1956 with an aim to set up state-sponsored solar power projects in the country.

"Of the over 200,000 Mw of installed power generation capacities in India, nearly 12 per cent or 25,000 Mw is generated from renewable sources. Looking at the growing need for electricity and issues faced in the conventional power generation, we need to increase our focus on renewable sources," said Kapoor.

The ministry has set a target to achieve 30,000 Mw of renewable energy generation capacities in India in the current five-year plan. However, the estimated investment is pegged at Rs 2.5 lakh crore. The ministry is exploring possibilities of setting up a fund aimed at renewable energy generation. "We are also looking to set up a fund for renewable energy generation," said the official.

Also, the ministry is working on a possibility to offer special subsidy for rooftop solar projects. "Rooftop solar projects has to take off in such a manner that people can generate power for their own use from their rooftops and sell the surplus power directly into the grid, without storing in batteries. For this, we are coming out with a separate subsidy scheme to give a push to rooftops," he said.

According to him, cost of solar rooftops would be around Rs 8 to 9 per unit and with subsidy, it can come down to Rs 5 to 6 per unit.

It may be noted here that Gujarat has already started a pilot project for rooftop solar power generation in the state capital Gandhinagar with generation capacity of 5 Mw on a public-private partnership model.

Meanwhile, the state government is also looking at spreading the project in other cities and towns of the state. "We are working with 20 municipalities and seven municipal corporations in the state to roll out the rooftop solar power generation projects. We are aiming at solar power generation to the tune of 100-200 Mw from this initiative," said D P Joshi, director, Gujarat Energy Development Agency (GEDA) during the conference.

On the solar energy front, few states including Gujarat, Rajasthan Maharashtra, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh were found to be doing well, while some others including Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have also taken up initiatives at their respective states, informed the central government official.

BS

[Krishnamoorthy K]

Press Trust of India, 09 Jul 2012 | 08:51 AM



Faced with accusations of damaging environment with excessive use of diesel generators to run towers and causing radiation, telecom companies have written to renewable energy producers offering to draw their complete output.

"The umbrella body of telecom tower companies, Tower & Infrastructure Providers Association (Taipa), had two months ago sent a request for proposal (RFP) to seven renewable energy producers like Moser Bayer and ABB among others informing their readiness to buy their entire generation to power our 1 lakh towers," COAI Director General Rajan S Mathews said.

Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) is the representative body of GSM operators.

The Taipa representatives could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

Mathews said though the initial response from renewable energy producers was positive, power companies have some doubts about the viability of such projects and talks are on iron out the issues.

Telecom towers burnt diesel worth crore of rupee last fiscal to run generator sets to supply power to towers, raising concerns over pollution hazards, apart from alleged radiation risks.

"Already 70 per cent towers have over two customers and the rest have three to four," Mathews said on sharing telecom towers.

Both Coai and Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India (Aupsi) have termed the allegations of radiation threats, as "unfounded and scientifically not proven".

Allaying fears of the public regarding radiation threats from telecom masts, which dot both the city skylines as well as the hinterlands, the Coai and Aupsi, citing some independent studies claimed that none of the independent studies have proved these fears.

"There is so much misrepresentation about incidence of brain tumours and use of cell phones. The incidence of brain tumours in the country has been unchanged over the past one decade. Hence, introduction of cellular phones and mobile services does not seem to have increased the risk of brain tumours and cancer," Mathews said in a presentation, citing many independent studies.

He further claimed that radio waves have been in the environment since times immemorial and the same waves used in wireless telecommunications have not been scientifically proven to cause any harmful effects to human health.

"Since we are subjected to greater risks every second, why single out wireless telecommunications," he asked and claimed that "there are also no formal studies that show any adverse effect on growth and development in children. Thus, the benefits of advanced telecommunications far outweigh the risks at present," he said.

Mathews also said strength of radiation received from base stations beyond a few meters is considerably lower than the strength of radiation from radio and television transmitters and that 15 years of studies examining a potential relationship between radio frequency transmitters and cancer have not provided evidence that exposure to mobile towers increases the risk of cancer.

NDTV

Renewable energy to grow 40% in five years – I.E.A.

[Krishnamoorthy K]

Wind energy has the potential to be a key enabler of the broader national objective of the 12th Five-Year Plan to achieve faster, sustainable and more inclusive growth.

Wind energy has the potential to be a key enabler of the broader national objective of the 12th Five-Year Plan to achieve faster, sustainable and more inclusive growth, writes Dr. Ishwar Hegde, Chief Economist, Suzlon Energy.

India's primary energy demand is forecasted to more than double by 2035 due to strong economic growth. Electricity generation will account for much of the increase. India's electricity production relies heavily on coal - its share is currently estimated to account for 70 per cent of total production. Heavy reliance on coal will increase CO2 emissions and cause a significant increase in coal imports in the future.

Renewable energy and wind in particular have great potential to provide a valuable alternate low carbon fuel source at competitive pricing. Including renewable energy in our energy mix will help us reduce emissions in an economically efficient and profitable manner.

India already has a target for renewable energy to account for 15 per cent of total electricity production by 2020. In the 12th Five- Year Plan around 85 GW of power capacity is to be added from all sources, out of which wind is to contribute around 11 GW. Over 26 per cent of the 12th Plan's targeted capacity can be expected from wind, making it the second largest power source over the next five years.

The Indian wind market is the third largest in the world. In the past five years the growth of wind energy has been second only to coal; over 10 GW of wind capacity and 17.3 GW of new installations have been added. Last year alone, India added more than 3.2 GW of new wind capacity. Industry consensus is that India could grow at 4-5 GW on an annual basis, in the next five years.

The key factors driving growth in the wind industry are:

Demand: The primary driver of wind continues to be the unquenchable demand for power from a rapidly growing Indian economy. India's peak deficit continues to hover around 12-13 per cent. Certain industrial states where wind can play a very crucial role have a peak electricity deficit of 20-25 per cent. A recent assessment of wind energy in India by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has revised the wind potential significantly upwards, to about 20 to 30 times greater than the current government estimate of 102 GW. A large section of manufacturing businesses in India have already secured wind as a significant source of electricity.

Grid Parity: The scalability of wind at a competitive cost has made it a preferable source for adequate and reliable power, principally for industrial customers. The capex for setting up a wind turbine in India is amongst the most economical in the world. With fixed power purchase agreements, customers of wind power are also able to hedge their power costs for 13 years or more.

Lucrative Policies: The wind sector is commercially profitable with guaranteed returns. The policy and regulatory environment in India remains one of the best and most developed across the globe.

The Indian government understands the need to shift from fossil fuels to more sustainable sources and has therefore proactively encouraged renewable power including wind. Wind power provides flexible trading options and can be utilised in several different ways: it can be sold to utilities for securing feed in tariffs, utilised for captive purpose, or sold to open access customers.

With the recent introduction of Renewable Energy Certificates, and the likely continuation of Generation Based Incentives, the wind investor base has widened to include large independent power producers.

Indian Business Model: The end-to-end business model pioneered by Suzlon is another driver for wind. The business model offers the full scale of services including expertise in wind measurement, turbine design, manufacturing, and maintenance.

It guarantees availability of machines for at least 20 years and will continue to drive the future growth of wind. India is also moving towards the 2 MW+ turbines from the submegawatt turbines, to harness its wind potential and enable faster scaling-up.

Key Enablers: The scaling up of wind potential from 17.3 GW in 2012 to around 40 GW in 2017 would require the elimination of supply side bottlenecks. To increase wind penetration in the generation mix would require investments in improving transmissions as well as grid capacities.

Other areas for improvement include hassle-free clearance of wind sites and access to better roads that enable transportation of larger machines. The central government and several state governments are proactively working to eliminate these bottlenecks and we hope that supply side factors will not limit the country's huge wind potential.

In summary, wind certainly has the potential to be a key enabler of the broader national objective of the 12th Five-Year Plan to achieve faster, sustainable and more inclusive growth. Wind not only provides a sustainable source of energy but has also proven to be a source of multidimensional, socioeconomic progress.

In India, for example, wind has thus far abated 140 million tons of carbon emissions, saved over 70 million tons of coal imports and generated 3,00,000 job years.

Since wind sites are mostly concentrated in remote areas, expansion of this sector has been transforming the lives in rural India.

Wind power's expansion in India during the 12th Plan will uniquely place it as a key driver in achieving faster, more sustainable and inclusive growth.

Capacity addition in renewable energy

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has proposed specific targets of 29,800 MW comprising 15,000 MW of wind power, 2,100 MW of small hydropower, 10,000 MW of solar power and 2,700 MW of bio-power for capacity addition of grid-interactive renewable power in the 12th Five-Year Plan.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is yet to fix state-wise targets for RE capacity addition during the 12th Five-Year Plan period.

www.suzlon.com

reve

Fossil fuels here to stay for a long time yet

[Krishnamoorthy K]

M2 Communications

With solid waste of about 55 Million tonnes and 38 Billion liters of sewage every year excluding industrial wastes, India is certainly sitting on a huge energy potential. According to a recent research report "India Urban And Industrial Waste to Energy Market" published by KuicK Research, Waste to Energy potential is bound to take off and fly high, giving India the much required energy to cater to its increasing demands. The urban and industrial waste is expected to increase as the development increases and villages convert into towns and cities. India has the requisite raw material, the capital and the technology for this very profitable energy conversion market and is rapidly increasing its generation potential.

The grid connected waste power generation has crossed 70 MW in 2011 while the non grid connected generation is at an increasing 90 MW. India is looking at a future in which domestic and international players will soon enter the waste energy market and exploit its potential to provide the energy to meet its increasing demand. The government has also taken initiatives to make sure that this huge potential is tapped properly while keeping it in sustainable measures. The research report also gives an insight into the government policies for waste energy generation formulated by the Ministry of Environment and Forests as the Municipal Solid Waste rules in 2000. The waste energy generation in India comes under the direct purview of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in India.

The detailed report "India Urban And Industrial Waste to Energy Market" gives an overview on the waste energy generation potential in India along with information on all the factors associated with it. It covers waste generation scenario, waste to energy generation potential, installed and proposed capacity and facilities, investments and the regulatory framework with a sneak peek into the technology used. The report published by Kuick Research gives a focused outlook on the future of waste energy generation in India and how exactly will it change the Indian energy demand and supply scenario.

To request sample of report please contact us at info@kuickresearch.com or +91-11-47067990

CONTACT: KuicK Research

info@kuickresearch.com

+91-11-47067990

((M2 Communications disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com)).

equities.com

Hassan ZP looks at sun to save power
Bosch Solar to electrify more villages
Solar power brings electricity to the homes of India's poor‎

[Krishnamoorthy K]

July 4, 2012 By K. Sreedevi DC chennai

With the state riding high on renewable energy wave, its prestigious solar energy project, Chennai solar economic zone, has grabbed global attention.

The 312-acre project, located along the Chennai-Bengaluru corridor, has bagged the privilege of being one of the 100 most innovative global infrastructure projects that makes cities liveable and sustainable.

GMR Krishnagiri SEZ Ltd (GKSL) is a 2,800-acres of multi-product special economic zone (SEZ) being developed by GMR Group. Of this, about 312-acres are being exclusively developed as world’s first SEZ dedicated to solar industry.

GMR Solar Tropic would be a fully integrated ecosystem for solar goods, providing infrastructure and utilities to house all activities of solar goods industry – across R&D, manufacture, services and trading.

And it is this project along with five others in the country has been identified among the 100 innovative sustainable global infrastructure projects by global audit firm KPMG.

These projects have been featured in the second edition of the Infrastructure 100: World Cities Edition, which was recently released at the World Cities Summit in Singapore.

India is expected to witness large-scale migration with almost 400 million people expected to move to urban centers in the next few decades. With existing cities and towns already densely populated, the creation of new cities and neighbourhoods will be critical.

“India’s need to boost economic growth combined with a growing population requires a globally competitive business environment with state-of-the-art infrastructure to facilitate both local commerce and foreign investment,” said Mr Arvind Mahajan, head-infrastructure advisory group, KPMG India.

Plan outlays show that India will spend more than $1 trillion in infrastructure over the next five years, representing approximately 10 per cent of GDP annually, to balance the needs of the population, the economy and the environment.

DC

[Krishnamoorthy K]

India's Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has released details of subsidies for off-grid solar photovoltaic (PV) generation. The agency is providing a 30% subsidy for the benchmark costs of PV systems, as well as loans limited to 5% interest annually.

The subsidies will be capped according to type of installation, with systems purchased by individuals limited to 1 kW, except for pumps for irrigation and community drinking water, which are limited to 5 kW.

Subsidies for non-commercial entities are limited to 100 kW per site, except mini-grids for rural electrification, which are limited to 250 kW. Finally, industrial and commercial entities have similar caps, however commercial entities can receive either the subsidy or low-interest loans, but not both.

MNRE will also provide funding to primary lending institutions to make loans for such systems at an interest rate of 2% annually or less, provided that such loans are passed on to the purchasers of solar systems at 5% annual interest or less.

Higher subsidies for microgrid systems

The subsidies are also capped by watt, with a cap of INR 90 (USD 1.66 per watt) for systems with battery storage, and INR 70 per watt (USD 1.29 per watt) for systems without battery storage.

Standalone rural PV plants with battery storage as part of a microgrid will be provided with INR 150 per watt (USD 2.76 per watt) subsidies, and a 5% loan.

SolarServer

Windar to double capacity, invest Rs 150 cr in India
Solar ATMs for rural India
A journey to power green energy


Wind power players join forces over India

GEOFF HISCOCK From: The Australian July 06, 2012 9:24AM

CHINESE wind turbine maker China Ming Yang Wind Power Group and Indian billionaire Anil Ambani's Reliance Group are joining forces with a goal of creating 2.5 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy projects in India over the next few years.

[barrykul]

Suzlon inks 300-MW equipment sale deal with ReNew Power

Suzlon Group will set up 300 MW of wind projects for ReNew Power Ventures.

The company said it will supply, maintain, supervise and operate the wind farms for the developer.

Under the agreement, Suzlon will supply 48 units of its latest S9X suite of turbines (2.1 MW) for a 100-MW project in Maharashtra by the end of this fiscal.

The framework agreement for the balance 200-MW will be converted to firm contracts once site development is completed by ReNew Power, Suzlon said.

ReNew is one India's leading IPP players and aims to play a vital role in meeting the country's growing energy needs.

Mr Sumant Sinha, Chairman and CEO, ReNew Power, said: "This order marks our foray into the ‘Developers’ mode of large-scale wind power projects, notably in the areas of site development and power evacuation.”

[Krishnamoorthy K]

AHMEDABAD: In view of the weak financial conditions of the electricity distribution companies, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is trying ensure timely payments to the renewable energy project developers. It is already started discussions with the SERCs to figure out the modalities and soon going to write them to ensure first priority to the renewable power producers when it comes to payments.

Meanwhile, the ministry also plans to float new venture to promote electricity generation from biomass on the lines of recently formed Solar Power Corporation of India.

"It has come our notice that renewable project developers are not able to get their payments in time from the cash strapped state utilities. It is discouraging for small investors in environment friendly projects when we are aiming to achieve ambitious targets. Only couple of state utilities are paying renewable project developers in time and there should be legal framework in place to ensure timely payments to the investors," Tarun Kumar, joint secretary of MNRE told ET on Thursday.

He added that MNRE is planning to create a fund for financing renewable projects, as banks are not very optimistic about lending money to power projects anymore. India wants to add 30,000 mw of renewable power projects during the 12th Plan and envisages investments to the tune of Rs 2,50,000 crore.

"We are pursuing state governments to embrace renewable energy. To facilitate them, we are evaluating possibilities of forming a venture for energy from biomass. There is also lack of uniformity of definition of 'renewable' energy and we are soon going to sort out this issue," said Kapoor. He added that MNRE wants to discourage power producers banking on fuel like diesel.

According to him, only half a dozen states including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh have taken renewable energy seriously and the ministry will pursue other states to follow the suit. The ministry is confident of India achieving target of installing 3,000 mw of solar power capacity by 2013. "India has already installed close to 1,000 mw of solar power generation capacity and much more is on way. The bigger challenges will be installing 10,000 mw of capacity by 2017. The ministry has already set up 51 Solar Radiation Resource Assessment stations to measure solar radiation and planning to add 60 more at an average investment of Rs 35 lakh each to cover entire India," said Kapoor.

ET