Tamil Nadu - Renewable Energy

[senthilkumark]

Originally Posted by krishnaswamy

Good.. Excellent..
Could you share the details on how would you arrive at this decision, how much is the capacity, what is the source of electric power during rainy seasons etc.?extra power will be fed into the grid?

Kris, there is no smart grid in India.

[senthilkumark]

cross posting

Originally Posted by senthilkumark

Steep fall in wind capacity addition in Q1

Wind power capacity addition fell by nearly half in the first three months of the current financial year over the same period of last year. The fall was led by the two states – Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan – where the state-owned utilities have not paid the wind power producers their dues for several months.



The total capacity addition in the April-June period this year was 207.15 MW compared with 394.63 MW in the same period last year.

In Tamil Nadu, the windiest State in the country, capacity addition fell from 180.08 MW to 84.7 MW. In Rajasthan, capacity addition this year was just 4.25 MW compared with 95.1 MW in the first quarter last year. Gujarat also saw a dip — from 83 MW to 40 MW. Karnataka was the biggest gainer — the State added 21 MW compared with 0.8 MW last year.

A number of reasons have caused the fall in the capacity additions, industry sources say. The biggest of them is the problems that wind power developers are facing in Tamil Nadu — both in terms of delayed payments from the state utility, Tangedco, and due to reasons such as inadequate availability of the grid.

Further, wind power developers fret over clouds looming over Tamil Nadu. Tangedco is fighting for the removal of the ‘banking facility’, which allows developers to put any surplus generation into the grid and draw it back when they might need it. This has been a major benefit because wind power producers who also have other industries could ‘bank’ their surplus generation — which happens during the summer months — and take it back at other parts of the year, paying only the wheeling and transmission charges to Tangedco.

What also caused the dip in capacity addition is the abolishing of the ‘accelerated depreciation’ benefit, which helped wind power developers in tax planning. The abolishing of the benefit has been a sour point with the industry, which is lobbying strongly for its reinstatement.

The issue is sure to come up in the discussions that the Minister of New and Renewable Energy, Dr Farooq Abdullah, is to hold with the wind power industry on August 1.

[Mukkesh]

Originally Posted by senthilkumark

Congrats Mukkesh.

If it is ok for you, could you please share the info regarding number of fans and lights. Also, the total cost of installation. Might be useful for others.

Right now we ve connected around 15 lights and 12 fans ( We ve two row houses and I ve connected both ) ,one computer system, two televisions.

I will answer the costing ip personal message as I see people have started advertising.

I ve done my connection thru SU Kam. Their web site is very informative

[Arul Murugan]

Originally Posted by Mukkesh

Solar panels installed. All lights and fans connected . One TV and one computer also has been connected.

Thanks guys for the advice and guidance,esp Kannan and others .

Let me see how it works .

Since the last EB bill came yesterday ( shocker -it was ) ,I ll talk about the savings after two months.

great.

I was also in similar mission to connect all light loads to solar atleast by 2013 end.

[Arul Murugan]

Wind power production/consumption is down to 15 MU.

http://tnebldc.org/reports/2012/170712/peakdet.pdf

[senthilkumark]

Originally Posted by Mukkesh

Right now we ve connected around 15 lights and 12 fans ( We ve two row houses and I ve connected both ) ,one computer system, two televisions.

I will answer the costing ip personal message as I see people have started advertising.

I ve done my connection thru SU Kam. Their web site is very informative

Thanks for the info.

[Mukkesh]

Today was a cloudy day and there was 8-6 power cut in my house. But my parents could manage with fan and lights the whole day without any problems .

They also watched TV for some time.


Everyday we re checking the meter reading for the last two days.

[kannan infratech]

If you have time, please prepare a excel sheet chart which can be filled every day for a month or so.
Date - Solar power used in mins / hrs - units saved.

You can compare your May - June Bills with July August bills. In my house, it was almost 5 times.

[Mukkesh]

Originally Posted by kannan infratech

If you have time, please prepare a excel sheet chart which can be filled every day for a month or so.
Date - Solar power used in mins / hrs - units saved.

You can compare your May - June Bills with July August bills. In my house, it was almost 5 times.

Done..

[senthilkumark]

Wind has again picked up. 3100MW.

[TShyam]

Gr8 Mukkesh . Do give us regular updates.

[kannan infratech]

Interesting Information on Turbines & Windmills

http://www.mechanicalengineeringblog.com/tag/top-10/

[rajoo1]

Folks, need advice here on a "Do-it-yourself" project.
With the following capacity Solar Panel will it be enough for a light(40w) and a fan if it's hooked up to a 12v battery? What type of inverter should be added and how many hours would it function if applicable.

Peak output power: 45 watts
Voltage (max): 23.57
Output current (max): 3000 mA

[murlee]

Solar power prospects

K.E. Raghunathan, managing director of the Chennai-based Solkar Solar Industry Limited, is passionate about solar energy. “In 2000, there was a wind energy revolution. In 2012, there will be a revolution in solar energy,” he says. He may not be far from the truth. The Government of India has set a target of 20,000 MW for solar energy by 2020.

Raghunathan’s 28-year-old factory in Ambattur has pioneered several solar energy products, the latest being Solgen, a solar inverter. The power shortage across India has led to high demand, he said, for Solgen. He added that his factory came up with the product in three months’ time. “We have more than 20,000 users of Solgen now,” he said.

He estimated the demand for inverters in Tamil Nadu alone to be around seven lakh units. A conventional inverter stores electricity when it is available and provides it to the user when there is load-shedding. “When consumers draw out electricity when it is available, the power cut becomes more acute. Is this the right way to use electricity?” he asked. In Solgen, solar energy charged the battery and made it available for use during power cuts.

Solgen comes in two models – 600 VA and 1,000 VA. The smaller one can connect up to five power points, including fans and tubelights, for up to two hours, whereas the bigger one can connect up to seven power points for up to three hours. T. Uma, sales coordinator, Solkar Solar Industry, said: “The life of the solar panel [used in Solgen] is 25 years. We provide a tubular battery.” Raghunathan suggested that finance be made available to buy solar energy products. “When you manufacture a product on a mass scale, you can bring down the cost and make sure that every home uses a solar energy product,” he said. Solkar Solar has products that cost between Rs.1,000 and Rs.15 lakh, including torchlights and a solar power plant.

http://www.frontline.in/stories/20120810291512400.htm

[Mukkesh]

Originally Posted by TShyam

Gr8 Mukkesh . Do give us regular updates.

Today there was no power from 11am to 6 pm.

But the solar worked well and my parents were using the fan and their lights as usual. Thanks to sun god...

At 5.30 pm when I checked the batteries were fully charged .

[kannan infratech]

Originally Posted by Mukkesh

Today there was no power from 11am to 6 pm.

But the solar worked well and my parents were using the fan and their lights as usual. Thanks to sun god...

At 5.30 pm when I checked the batteries were fully charged .

Soopperappu.

Keep tabs on savings and post.

[krishnaswamy]

தமிழகத்திலேயே முதன்முறையாக திருச்சியில் ஸ்டேட் வங்கியின் 5 ஏடிஎம்கள் சூரிய மின்சாரத்தை பயன்படுத்தி சோலார் மூலம் இயங்கும் வகையில் மாற்றப்பட்டு திறக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.
SBI has opened 5 new ATMs that uses Solar Energy in Trichy. Next it will be opened in Nannilam in Thiruvarur Dt. During the experimentation period, 75% of electricity is saved.
ATM, lights in the building are also using solar energy in these ATMs.
Currently these ATMs run on rented "solar" equipments. If proven successful, they can be procured permanently.
பின்னர் துணைப் பொதுமேலாளர் அருண் அகர்வால் கூறுகையில், ‘இந்த 5 ஏடிஎம்களும் மின் சாரம் இல்லாத நேரத்திலும், இரவு நேரங்களிலும் சூரிய மின்சாரத்தை பயன்படுத்தி கொண்டு இயங்கும் வகையில் வடிவமைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. இதற்கு பசுமை ஏடிஎம் என பெயரிட்டுள்ளோம். இம்முறை வேறுமாநிலங்களில் இருந்தாலும், தமிழகத்தில் முதன்முறையாக திருச்சியில்தான் இந்த வசதி செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளது. அடுத்ததாக திருவாரூர் மாவ ட்டம் நன்னிலம் வங்கியில் இதற்கான ஏற்பாடுகள் நடைபெற்று நிறைவடைந்துள்ளது.
ஏடிஎம்கள் மட்டுமல்லாது இந்த வளாகத்தில் உள்ள சுற்றுச்சுவர் மின்விளக்குகளும் சோலார் மின்சாரத்தை கொண்டு எரியும் வகை யில் மாற்றி அமைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. இதற்கான பரிசோதனையில் 75 சதவீதம் வரை மின்சாரம் சேமிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது தெரியவந்துள்ளது. தற்போது இந்த சோலார் சாதனங்கள் வாடகை அடிப்படையில் அமைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. இது வெற்றிகரமாக இயங்கினால் சொந்தமாக அமை க்க நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கப்படும்.

[venkyinblr]

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s Akshay Urja shop, envisaged for wider sale and service of all renewable energy devices and systems, including solar energy products, was inaugurated by Collector Jayashree Muralidharan here on Thursday.

The outlet: Contura Akshay Urja Shop, near Rail Nagar bus stop along the Tiruchi-Thanjavur highway, is itself powered by a 1.3 KW solar power generation unit.

Power for the inaugural function at the adjoining meeting hall was also sourced from the solar unit, though a diesel generator set was kept as stand-by, Arun Rebero, director of the shop, said.

The support from the central ministry comes in form of monthly grants for operational expenditure and sales incentives facilitated by Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency, he said, informing that the Ministry supports establishment of one shop in each district for creation of a network of retail outlets.

Solar rooftops, and indoor and outdoor lighting, figure among focus areas, he said.
The shop will provide guidance to buyers for securing subsidy and tax concessions, and complying with carbon credit formalities. A model for creating awareness free of cost in schools and colleges of how renewable energy can mitigate global warming, Mr. Arun Rebero said. Enquiries will be answered also over phone: 0431 – 2441383, Mobile: 8754021383/ 9994921997



Protect environment
Inaugurating the shop, the Collector called for environment protection through patronisation of solar energy products.
Though solar products warrant initial investment, there will be no need to pay monthly electricity bills. She utilised the occasion to drive home the importance of planting saplings to address pollution.


The Collector inaugurated the shop in the presence of S. Sridharan, president, Tiruchi District Tiny and Small Scale Industries’ Association (TIDITSSIA).

T. Raju Rebero, managing director, Contura Solar India, T.V.Murali, Chairman, Confederation of Indian Industry, Tiruchi Zone, S.Sampath, president, BIDASS, Tiruchi, and S.Abdul Rasheed, TIDITSSIA secretary, were present.



http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/...cle3691853.ece

Hope there will be many more shops spring in the near future..

[murlee]

TN push for new wind energy policy

The Tamil Nadu government is pushing for a new central policy to promote offshore wind energy.

The state, which stands to benefit the most by any development on the wind energy front, is keenly awaiting guidelines from the ministry of new and renewable energy for an early action plan to develop the sector.

“The Union ministry for renewable energy has formulated a committee to look at tapping offshore wind energy, which we are expecting to be ready in the next 45 days.

This will give a big boost to Tamil Nadu, ” said Mr Sudeep Jain, chairman of Tamil Nadu Energy Development Authority while speaking at the renewable energy conference “REaction” organised by TEDA along with Energy Association of India.

The other potential renewable energy sources in the state include ocean, hydel and tidal energies, he added.

Among the key challenges for wind energy players in the state, Mr Jain said, were technology, finance, regulation and social related issues. Highlighting this, Indian Wind Power Association recently sought a common wind energy policy, especially for wheeling and banking charges, across all states.

It also sought incentives from the state and funds from the Centre’s Clean Energy Fund to tide over its financial crisis.

Currently Tamil Nadu accounts for 36 per cent of the country’s total renewable energy installation. On the wind energy front, the state accounts for 41 per cent of the entire country’s generation and has an investment of over Rs2,500 crore in the sector with an ability to produce 8,000 MW of electricity through wind energy. There are also proposals to add 10,800 MW of more wind power in the state by various investors.

The chief minister’s Vision 2023 document has also envisaged an addition of 10,000 MW of renewable energy capacity including 5,000 MW solar power in the next 11 years. “The state is right on track to achieve this, including 3,000 MW of solar by 2015-16,” Mr Jain assured.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chann...rgy-policy-100

[senthilkumark]

New tax on wind turbines by local panchayats

The Tirunelveli-Kanyakumari belt of wind mills in Tamil Nadu, the densest and oldest in the country and a showpiece of how wind energy can transform a rural landscape, has become an unlikely zone of conflict. An increasingly self-assertive local administration wants to tax wind mills in its vicinity and wind energy companies are opposing such a move. The episode has also triggered questions about whether the two decade-long proliferation of wind mills on this stretch has provided for inclusive growth.



The conflict started this May when the Tirunelveli collector R Selvaraj passed an order to levy a slew of taxes and fees on wind turbine generators justifying it on the grounds that this would empower local people and make panchayats more viable. Theni district has since followed the example. But the Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association is aghast at what it says is a “rude shock” . The association has sent a petition to Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and obtained a court order staying the levies . The wind association’s secretarygeneral DV Giri reckons that the taxes will make a megawatt of wind power costlier by Rs 8-10 lakh. “This steep demand will push up the capital costs and impact the returns for the investor. The qualitative impact will be delays, bureaucratic holdups and an atmosphere of apprehension and doubt by investors .”

The association has also questioned whether collectorates have the power to frame such rules. The industry worries that other local bodies would follow suit. This could be the first major public blip for the Tirunelveli-Kanyakumari belt of wind mills which, until now, has been a star performer in India’s wind energy journey. The region took to windmills much earlier than the rest of the country, thanks to favourable wind conditions and the state’s early interest in tapping it. Today, the bulk of the over 6,500 megawatt of installed capacity of Tamil Nadu, roughly half of India’s capacity, comes from these two districts.

In fact, demonstration projects in the area had already sprung up by the time Mikhail Gorbachev and Rajiv Gandhi in 1988 signed a pact for a Soviet Union-backed nuclear plant in Kudankulam, an area very close to what would become India’s densest wind belt. While the nuclear plant has puffed and panted its way to almost finally getting commissioned now, following a string of delays and strong protests by locals, the wind industry has gone on smoothly to add thousands of megawatt of capacity. Windmills are never going to worry the locals the way the nuclear plants did. Instead, what they could see were immediate incentives.

The biggest beneficiaries have been landowners who could sell land to companies setting up wind farms. Chelliah, president of one of the Manamkathan panchayat at Kayathar, a 45-minute drive from Tirunelveli town, said he was an agriculturist who turned into an agent for land deals.

Students Find Technical Work Around Windmills
“In 1989, when small companies were putting up windmills, an acre was around Rs 1,500. Now, it is Rs 4 lakh,” says Chelliah. It is even higher in some pockets. “There’s very little land left for agriculture,” says Chelliah . It has been easy for landowners to sell off also because rainfall has become scarce. “The economy of the place is being held up by wind farms. In the last 15 years, we have seen how people’s lifestyles have changed,” says V Sathu, who works for the Association for Integrated Rural Development, an NGO in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention. Five years ago, when P Krishnan took over as the headmaster of a government school at Radhapuram town, 50 km south of Tirunelveli , the place “looked like a village” to him. “You couldn’t even see a bus-stand .

Now there’s everything – even a shopping complex , restaurants and a marriage hall,” he says. The erstwhile landowners have enough money to build houses and educate their children. Krishnan’s students are also able to find some “technical work” around the windmills that seem to swarm Radhapuram. An hour and a half west of Radhapuram is Aralvaimozhi (Kanyakumari district), where the ecosystem supporting wind farms seems to be far more advanced. The town is at one end of an extremely plum patch for wind, called Muppandal. The winds are so strong here for 11 months a year that it is said that two-wheeler riders on the main road, flanked by two sides of seemingly endless wind farms, struggle to stay balanced .

In and around Aralvaimozhi, dozens of engineering colleges and polytechnic institutions have come up. Wind maintenance and spare-parts outlets abound. Students, even those pursuing the arts stream, work in wind farms during the night. One such student , Saravana Durai, has been working in wind farms since his ninth standard. He’s now in his second year of BA economics. Starting as a security guard, he has now learnt enough to do basic maintenance. He says he has earned enough money to buy a motorcycle. But all this is just one side of the story.

Over two decades after the first windmill was installed , which is roughly the active life of these power generators, there is a belief in some quarters that there are many who missed out on the party. That obviously includes those who didn’t own land in the first place. It includes those who did as well. S Subramania Pillai, principal of the Arignar Anna College at Aralvaimozhi, says many local people sold land cheap about 15 years ago. “They were cultivating groundnuts.

They are now landless labourers.” M Thangapanti, another land broker at Kayathar, says not all land will fetch great prices. That’s because wind mill installers don’t need contiguous land — there’s a technical requirement to maintain some distance between two wind mills. So, there are landowners who miss out. Locals in Radhapuram say the land rates are now increasing because brokers, holding land, have turned them into realty plots. They also blame the wind mills for the ambient noise and the disappearance of birds. Inside the panchayat offices in Radhapuram and Aralvaimozhi, the mood is against wind mill operators.

The clerk in Radhapuram talks angrily about writing a letter to wind mill operators reminding them of the product tax. “There’s no scope in our area for anything else. All the land has been given for wind mills,” he says. The panchayat president M Madhan says, “If tax is paid, the panchayat can do basic work. There’s not enough funds here.” He says his panchayat gets Rs 4-5 lakh a year from house tax collections and other minor taxes. If wind mill operators do pay a product tax, the panchayat could be richer by at least Rs 10 lakh. A similar view is echoed in Aralvaimozhi.

Many of the concerns of lopsided wind energy development in this belt were brought to the fore as early as 2003 in a study published in the newsletter of the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency. It spoke about the temporary nature of jobs created by wind energy installations, sound pollution, the conversion of agricultural land and the felling of trees. One of its conclusions was that “wind farm activity has only benefited a small portion of the local community and it is not widespread.” Among other things, it suggested that local bodies could levy a tax on wind mills.