Siemens to invest Rs 400 cr in renewable energy sector

Siemens Ltd will invest nearly Rs 400 crore in the development of wind turbines in the country in the next two years, company officials said here.

Siemens will design and manufacture the equipment and make the expanded Vadodara facility operational by 2013 in the next phase of development, said Dr Armin Bruck, Managing Director, and Mr A.K. Dixit, CEO, Energy Cluster, Siemens Ltd, on the sidelines of a function in which the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, inaugurated the second phase of steam turbine and compressor manufacturing facility at Vadodara.

This is part of the Rs 1,600-crore of investments in India over the next three years, announced in February 2010 by Mr Peter Loescher, President and CEO of Siemens AC, to set up six hubs of base level products in India.

Manufacturing facility for steam turbines larger than 45 MW, which was one of the six hubs, has now been established at Vadodara, and the other five hubs are under way. These products will cater to the mid- and low-end market segment constituting around 70 per cent of the total market in India. The company envisages production of some 60 products at Vadodara.

Of the Rs 1,600 crore, Siemens plans to invest around Rs 1,200 crore in Gujarat alone. On the two phases in Vadodara, it has invested Rs 575 crore so far, including Rs 300 crore in energy and healthcare sectors.

The expansion will double the capacity of the Vadodara facility to manufacture steam turbines from the existing 45 MW up to 150 MW, which in the next phases will be augmented up to 250-300 MW.

The smaller turbines up to 15 MW are sourced from this factory by Siemens AG to cater to Asia, Africa and Europe.

Mr Dixit said around 30 per cent of the installed generating capacity in India is currently from Siemens licensees. In the industrial sector as well, over 500 Siemens industrial steam turbines from Vadodara facility have been installed in the country.

“Now, with the ability to manufacture steam turbines up to 150 MW locally as well as with the compressor manufacturing and testing facilities commencing at this site, we will widen our portfolio in the oil and gas sector.”

Siemens Ltd, in which Siemens AG holds a 55.18 per cent stake, comprises 19 legal entities with 21 manufacturing plants in India, with a business volume of Rs 12,000 crore in 2009, expected to double in the next two years.

Responding to Mr Modi's claim that Siemens is “shifting” wind turbine manufacturing facility from China to Vadodara, the officials clarified that Siemens's China business is three times larger than in India. “We are now adopting a balanced growth approach and only the latest technology development in renewable energy will now be done at the Vadodara facility.”

They said Siemens Ltd's current contribution to the behemoth's global business is less than three per cent, as against China's eight per cent. Siemens India currently has an order book of Rs 12,400 crore, including Rs 7,700 crore from the oil and gas sector. Oil and gas sector account for about 15 per cent of the company's business.

Besides, Mr Dixit said, Siemens is making Gujarat a major service centre for turbines and compressors as a continuous business proposition. The company is, at present, providing technology via BHEL to power plants of up to 800 MW, based on super-critical technology.

It is also working on providing turnkey-basis solutions to the gas-based power plants to be set up at Dahej and Kutch in Gujarat.

APEPDCL registers lowest transmission loss in country

Three north-coastal districts has registered the lowest losses at 8.4 per cent, as against the country's average of 30 per cent.

The Andhra Pradesh Eastern Power Distribution Company Ltd (APEPDCL) — operating in the three north-coastal districts of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam besides East Godavari — has registered the lowest power transmission and distribution losses in the country, at 8.4 per cent, as against the country's average of 30 per cent, according to Mr H.Y. Dora, Director, Operations.


Mr Dora was speaking at a seminar on energy efficiency organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency here on Friday.
He said the APEPDCL was taking steps to improve energy conservation and efficiency and to educate the general public.


It had distributed six lakh CFL lamps in Visakhapatnam district and had taken up a pilot project in East Godavari district to replace agricultural pump-sets and pipes to improve energy efficiency.
Stress on efficiency


He said there was a huge demand-supply gap in the power sector and adding capacity would only solve part of the problem as it could never match a rise in demand.
Therefore, energy conservation and efficiency should be stressed.


Mr Rajeev Kumar Yadav, the project economist of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, outlined the steps being taken to promote awareness about energy efficiency and to reduce the energy intensity of the Indian economy.
Small and Medium Enterprises


He urged the small and medium enterprises in particular to focus on the aspect.
The use of obsolete technologies and low energy productivity were the main problems of the SME sector in India.
The lack of common infrastructure and institutional finance were compounding the problem.
Energy efficient steps


He said the Bureau of Energy Efficiency had identified 30 clusters of SMEs in different sectors to promote energy efficiency in the country.


In Andhra Pradesh too the programme was being implemented in the two Godavari districts (refractory cluster), Bhimavaram in West Godavari (ice-making) and Warangal (rice milling).
The bureau was helping units in these clusters implement energy-efficient steps and arrange institutional finance for the purpose.


Capt. Sriram Ravichander, the Chairman of the Vizag zone of the CII, said the industry should focus on the vital aspect.
The Vice-Chairman, Mr R.V.S. Raju, also spoke.

Cost of solar power projects set to fall

The Indian solar energy market is expected to witness a major boost within the next five years with per megawatt cost of solar power projects estimated to fall by nearly 50 per cent. Until now, the initial high capital expenditure incurred while implementing solar energy projects has been one of the main deterrents for investors. 

"Currently, solar photovoltaic projects cost around 15 to 18 crore per megawatt. The manner in which solar PV technology is improving, the cost of solar PV projects per megawatt should come down to 8 to 10 crore per megawatt within the next five to 10 years," Deepak Gadhia, Principal & Chief Mentor, Green Force Enviro Pvt. Ltd, told Projectmonitor. 

On the other hand, solar thermal projects cost around 20 crore per megawatt but it would come down to around 8 crore in next five to 10 years, Gadhia said. However, solar thermal was expected to produce double the amount of energy compared with solar PV, he added. Gehrlicher Solar AG, the German solar energy giant, recently established a joint venture with Greenforce Enviro Pvt. Ltd to offer EPC and other services for solar power plants that are being planned across India. The proposed joint venture aims to take full benefit of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. 

When questioned if the proposed joint venture would bring down EPC cost in the solar sector, Gadhia stated that the proposed joint venture would offer megawatt services and also involve "robots" in the installation process, which would help lower the cost of labour. 

"The cost of panels is only around 40 per cent of expenditure in any solar PV project, so if other costs are reduced then the project cost per megawatt will be reduced further," Gadhia said. 

At present, India does not have local players in the solar EPC business. The few ones that exist in this business are actually subcontractors for other international partners. The Gehrlicher Solar- Greenforce Enviro JV is expected to change the scenario in the solar EPC business.

New Climate Finance Tool for developing countries launched in Cancun

To help developing countries make sense of the multitude of funds & instruments available for climate finance a landmark website,www.climatefinanceoptions.org, was launched at the United Nations Climate Conference in Cancun. The UN Climate Change Conference begins in Cancun on 6th December, 2010 and leaders of 194 countries are expected to attend to discuss their future commitments to reduce emissions and take action against climate change. Rich countries had earlier pledged $30 billion to fight the affects of climate change - of which about $4 billion has been earmarked for forestry. In 1992, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted as the basis for a global response to the problem. With 194 parties, the convention enjoys near-universal membership. The objective of the Convention is to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system. The convention is complemented by the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which has 192 parties. Under this treaty, 37 industrialised countries and the European Community have committed to reducing their emissions by an average of five percent by 2012 against 1990 levels. Climate finance issues are high on the agenda in Cancun.  The Climate Finance Options (CFO) web platform, envisioned as the go-to site for information on climate finance will help developing countries in their efforts to identify critical sources of funding to combat climate change. Within the framework of global negotiations on climate change, the World Bank Group and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) have jointly developed the web-based knowledge platform in close cooperation with the UNFCCC Secretariat. The Platform will generate a number of benefits: Improved access to information on climate finance as a basis for more informed planning and decision making by developing country governments; Greater equity in the ability of users from countries and communities with varying levels of capacity to access the system; Useful documentation in preparation of policies related to financing mitigation and adaptation; Greater efficiency in climate finance transactions; Faster deployment of mitigation & adaptation projects; Better coordination among the UN System, MDBs including the private sector, in financing for climate action in developing countries.

Primary energy demand to grow 36% by 2035

Amuch stronger action is needed to accelerate the transformation of the global energy system, says the IEA's latest World Energy Outlook. "The Copenhagen Accord and the agreement among G20 countries to phase out subsidies are important steps forward. But, these moves still fall a very long way short of what is required to set us on the path to a truly sustainable energy system," said Nobuo Tanaka, Executive Director, International Energy Agency, at the launch of WEO-2010, which demonstrates that it is what governments do, and how that action affects technology, the price of energy services and end-user behaviour, that will shape the future of energy in the longer term.

Under the central scenario of the Outlook: the New Policies Scenario, world primary energy demand increases by 36 per cent between 2008 and 2035, or 1.2 per cent per year on average. The assumed policies make a tangible difference to energy trends: demand grew by 2 per cent per year over the previous 27-year period.

Non-OECD countries account for 93 per cent of the projected increase in world primary energy demand in the New Policies Scenario. China, which IEA preliminary data suggests overtook the United States in 2009 to become the world's largest energy user despite its low per capita energy use, contributes 36 per cent to the projected growth in global energy use.

"It is hard to overstate the growing importance of China in global energy. How the country responds to the threats to global energy security and climate posed by rising fossil-fuel use will have far-reaching consequences for the rest of the world," Tanaka added.

China is at the forefront of efforts to increase the share of new low-carbon energy technologies, including alternative vehicles, which will help to drive down their costs through faster rates of technology learning and economies of scale, and boost their deployment worldwide.

Globally, fossil fuels remain dominant in the New Policies Scenario, though their share of the overall energy mix falls in favour of renewable energy sources and nuclear power. Oil nonetheless remains the leading fuel in the energy mix by 2035, followed by coal. Of the three fossil fuels, gas consumption grows most rapidly, its share of total energy use almost reaching that of coal.

The oil price is set to rise, reflecting the growing insensitivity of both demand and supply to price. In the New Policies Scenario, the average IEA crude oil price rises from just over $60 in 2009 to $113 per barrel (in year-2009 dollars) in 2035. Oil demand continues to grow steadily, reaching about 99 million barrels per day (mb/d) by 2035, 15 mb/d higher than in 2009. All of the net growth comes from non-OECD countries, almost half from China alone; demand in the OECD actually falls, by over 6 mb/d.

Crude oil output reaches an undulating plateau of just under 69 mb/d by 2020 while production of natural gas liquids (NGLs) and unconventional oil, notably Canadian oil sands, grows strongly.

"Renewable energy can play a central role in reducing carbon dioxide emissions and diversifying energy supplies, but only if strong and sustained support is made available," Tanaka said.

In the New Policies Scenario, government intervention in support of renewables (electricity from renewables and biofuels) increases from $57 billion in 2009 to $205 billion (in 2009 dollars) by 2035. The share of modern renewable energy sources, including sustainable hydro, wind, solar, geothermal, modern biomass and marine energy, in global primary energy use triples between 2008 and 2035 and their combined share in total primary energy demand increases from 7 per cent to 14 per cent.

The energy trends envisioned in the New Policies Scenario imply that national commitments to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, while expected to have some impact, are collectively inadequate to meet the Copenhagen Accord's overall goal of holding the global temperature increase to below 2°C. Rising demand for fossil fuels would continue to drive up energy-related carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions through to 2035, making it all but impossible to achieve the 2°C goal, as the required reductions in emissions after 2020 would be too steep.

In order to have a reasonable chance of achieving the goal, the concentration of greenhouse gases would probably need to be stabilised at a level no higher than 450 ppm CO2-eq. The 450 Scenario describes how the energy sector could evolve were this objective to be achieved.

The lack of ambition in the Copenhagen Accord pledges has increased the estimated cost of reaching the 2°C goal by $1 trillion and made it less likely that the goal will actually be achieved.

Generation requirements for universal electricity access, 2030 (TWh)
	On-grid	Mini-grid	Isolated off-grid	Total
Africa	196	187	80	463
Sub-Saharan Africa	195	187	80	462
Developing Asia	173	206	88	468
China	1	1	0	2
India	85	112	48	245
Other Asia	87	94	40	221
Latin America	6	3	1	10
Developing Countries*	379	399	171	949
World**	380	400	172	952
*Includes Middle East Countries; **includes OECD and transition economies

Counting carbon footprints in Cancun

Dec 2 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Adianto P. Simamora The Jakarta Post, Indonesia / Asia News Network

"We invite you to mitigate your 1.71 tons of emissions by purchasing carbon certificates."

That is the answer from an online emission calculator when IGG Maha Adi, an Indonesian delegate to the Cancun climate talks, counted his carbon footprint for his trip to Cancun, Mexico.

Delegates to the two-week talks can access an online or a manual carbon footprint calculator set up in conference venue to measure emissions associated with air and ground transportation, lodging and meals.

The Mexican government is offering options for participants to purchase conservation projects to offset their emissions.

For individuals, the government offered four low-carbon projects including a wind turbine project in which participants could share US$14.82, or indigenous forest projects at a cost of $12.65 each.

Ten thousand delegates from 194 countries, including government officials, activists, company representatives and reporters, are expected to attend the two-week conference, which officially kicked off Monday morning.

The climate conference is being held at the Moon Palace Hotel, while side events are housed 7km away at the Cancun Messe convention center.

All delegates pass through the Cancun Messe for security checks before being transported to the Moon Palace Hotel.

Indonesia's total greenhouse gas emission in 2005 was 2.3 billion tons, placing the country third on the list of biggest emitters after the US and China.

Delegates to the 16th climate conference will discuss long-standing issues of how to cut emissions to prevent a 2-degree Celsius increase in the planet's temperature.

Each year, there are at least four climate conferences held before the ministerial level climate talks held usually two weeks before year-end.

At previous climate conferences, developed countries refused to agree to legally binding emission reduction targets, while developing countries also refused binding cuts.

The carbon footprint calculator was developed by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

The Mexican government said that for the conference, some power was supplied through a system of photovoltaic cells with an estimated output of 130 kilowatts.

The installation of a 1.5-megawatt wind power generator will contribute to Cancun's electricity production through renewable sources.

The delegates will be provided with hybrid vehicles for their transfers during the talks in order to neutralize their emissions.

The Mexican government has also implemented a special hotel assessment program in Cancun aimed at enhancing sustainable operations.

Through the Environmental Leadership for Competitiveness program implemented by SEMARNAT, hotels will run eco-efficiency projects to reduce the use of raw material, energy and water during the conference.

The projects were expected to reduce water consumption by 200,000 cubic meters and carbon dioxide by 4,000 tons.

The host country also planted 10,000 trees and bushes in Cancun.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon said all nations would have the opportunity to make progress by adopting a broad and balanced set of decisions to reduce emissions.

IBM Research Teams With Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) to Make Power Grids Smarter

IBM Corporation - 11.16.2010

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that it has signed a research collaboration agreement with IIT Madras and IIT Kharagpur to develop systems that will help power grids become more efficient and resilient. The systems will analyze power grid data for predictive insights. They will also improve grids to enhance productivity and reduce inefficiencies in power consumption.

IBM Research – India will work with these two premiere institutes to develop open system designs that can boost the potential of Phasor Measurement Units (PMU), a new type of sensor on power grids. The IBM researchers and the students will develop network architectures to reliably collect data from PMUs as well as analytics tools that process the collected data to provide valuable information to the grid operators.

The knowledge and insights gained from this collaborative research work will be made publicly available, in order to allow governments and businesses around the world to take advantage of the PMU technology.

According to the International Energy Agency the global demand for electricity is expected to increase significantly during the period from 2006 to 2030--1.1% per year on average in the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries. In comparison, increases are 7.6% in China and about 6% in India per year.

This rising demand increases stress on grids, thereby growing the chances of power outages. To prevent such outages and their impact on productivity, it is important to make the grid more intelligent by adding sensing, control and communication components.

"With exploding world population and the increased demand for clean and cheap energy there is a pressing need for making the power grids efficient, intelligent, and secure. The collaboration among IBM Research – India, IIT Madras and IIT Kharagpur aims at reducing inherent inefficiencies of power grid technologies and make them optimally productive," said Dr. Manish Gupta, Director, IBM Research – India and Chief Technologist, IBM India/South Asia. "By helping power grids become more efficient, the project will also contribute to the efforts of creating sustainable energy generation systems."

IIT Kharagpur will be primarily involved in developing the new power system applications and software systems for the project. While, IIT Madras will focus on the networking architecture to ensure that the data collected from different locations is appropriately transmitted to one location. A test bed will be developed to connect IBM Research labs and both the institutes to emulate a smart grid network. The test bed will be utilized to evaluate the network architecture and the open system designs in real-life scenarios.

"Existing power grids are facing technical challenges because of their outdated design and growing loads," said Prof. A.K. Sinha from IIT Kharagpur. "Through our knowledge in the power system application domain and IBM's expertise our students will work towards developing an innovative grid management application to make the power grid more reliable."

"One of the key elements of a Smart Grid is secure and high-speed communication networks," said Prof. Krishna Sivalingam from IIT Madras. "The association is not only a step towards addressing this pressing requirement but also a platform for our students to work with the research veterans from IBM and get a real-life problem solving and application development experience."

The project is part of IBM's Open Collaborative Research (OCR) program, an initiative to foster innovation through university-industry research collaboration.

This partnership with IIT Madras and IIT Kharagpur is the fourth engagement of its kind. IBM recently announced its collaboration with IIT Bombay. Also this year, IBM announced an OCR project with the National Institute of Design (NID). It was preceded by an OCR engagement with the Indian School of Business (ISB).