54MW share from 4th unit of Kaiga to bring relief to TN

The fourth unit of 220 MW Kaiga Generating Station (KGS-4), located in Uttar Kannada district of Karnataka, was connected to the southern power grid. Tamil Nadu will get 54 MW as its share and this comes as a minor relief to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board which faces a deficit of 1,000 MW.This amount of power is sufficient enough to provide electricity to an locality like Chintadripet in the city which has a power demand of 50 MW. The TNEB already gets its share of 171 MW from Kaiga's three other units.

As on date, the demand of the TNEB stands at nearly 10,000 MW while the generation is nearly 9,000 MW, which includes purchased power. The deficit of over 1,000 MW is met either by power production from wind energy or by procurement from private power producers or other states.

"Our share from Kaiga's three units is 171 MW and as on date we get nearly 115 MW from it. So the supply will vary according to the generation of the units.

But any quantity of power supplied now will be of great help as summer is nearing and the demand is expected to go up," said a TNEB official.

According to a press release, the fourth unit kicked off generation after the grant of clearance by Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB). With this synchronisation of KGS-4 with the grid, India's nuclear power capacity has shot up to to 4780 MW, with 20 reactors in operation. The installed capacity of Kaiga station is now 880 MW, making it the third largest after Tarapur (1400 MW) and Rawatbhata (1180 MW). The unit, fuelled by indigenous uranium, will supply electricity to Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

Meanwhile, the TNEB is bracing itself for summer which starts early in Tamil Nadu. This time, power managers do not want to rely on wind power alone, as last year it had dropped from nearly 2,500 MW to zero, causing massive power cuts across the state.

This year, the TNEB already invited tenders for supply of round the clock supply of 300 MW, 400 MW and 350 MW for the months of February, March and April respectively.

For April and May, the TNEB has invited tenders for supply of 800 MW during peak hours and 200 MW for off-peak hours.

L&T inaugurates 4000 crore power equipment facility

India's first private sector facilities for the manufacture of supercritical boilers and turbine generators was inaugurated at L&T MHI Plant at Hazira in Gujarat on January 12, 2011. Two separate functions were held for the supercritical boilers and turbine generators facilities. The first one was attended by Union minister of power Sushil Kumar Shinde, Union minister of state for power Bharatsinh Solanki and Union minister of heavy industries Vilasrao Deshmukh. The second function was attended by Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

A joint venture between L&T and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), the facilities are among the largest of their kind in the world with Rs 4,000 crore investment. They have an annual capacity to manufacturing 5,000 MW of equipment which is likely to be expanded to 6,000 MW by 2012.

Addressing the gathering at Hazira, Union minister of power Sushil Kumar Shinde said, "In the 10{+t}{+h} Five Year Plan, there were only 6 to 7 per cent of private players in the power sector. Now we have about 26 per cent which is set to go up to 50 per cent in 12{+t}{+h} Five Year Plan."

Shinde said the JV between L&T and MHI has made a beginning and that India is expected to become the number one exporter of state-of-the-art boilers and turbines to the world.

Union Minister of Heavy Industries Vilasrao Deshmukh said "I consider the public sector company BHEL and L&T as sister concerns and together we both can deliver exponently to the power needs of the country. There is a need to bridge demand supply gap in the power sector by scaling up the power generation to more than 1 lakh MW in the 12{+t}{+h} five year plan."

Chief Minister Narendra Modi said "I am quite busy with the Vibrant Gujarat celebrations. But I owe a great deal to L&T because of the fact that this was the only company that stood by Surtis during the devastating floods of 2006 and it cleaned up the whole of Surat. I am proud of the fact that the first private sector facilities for manufacture of supercritical boilers and turbine generators have been inaugurated at Hazira."

273 mini hydro-electric projects allotted to entrepreneurs in Himachal

Himachal Government had allotted 273 mini hydro electric projects out of 300 projects allotted recently to the entrepreneurs of the state with a view to make them partner in the progress of the State, especially in hydel power generation.This was stated by Prof. Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister, while addressing an impressive public meeting at Boh, in the remote interiors of Dhar Kandi area of district Kangra, after he dedicated 4 MW HEP constructed in private sector by Sodhi Brothers of Ayush Herbs.

Chief Minister said that it had been the policy decision of the State Government to allot upto 2 MW of HEPs to the entrepreneurs while according preference in projects upto 5 MW capacity. He said that the State Government was endeavouring to inculcate entrepreneurship amongst the youth of the State so that besides finding themselves self employment avenues, they could also generate employment to other youth and add to their income. He said that IPPs were required to be partner in progress of the area they had constructed their projects. He said that all such projects authorities should cater to the local developmental needs and participate in their social activities. He said that the State was computirizing the revenue record to provide people efficient services through the internet services.

Prof. Dhumal said that State had over 23,000 MW of identified hydel potential out of which only 6,650 MW had been harnessed and 15,000MW targeted by year 2015 and 20,000 MW by year 2020. He said that hydel power would be one of the major source of income to the State on exploitation of entire hydel potential available in the State. He said that road, education and health were on the priority agenda of the State besides according top priority to the self-employment, self-reliance and ultimately resulting into self-respect of every individual. He said that although the State had vast area of 55,675 square KMS. geographical area out of which cultivable land was limited. He said that the State Government had launched Rs. 353 crore Pandit Deen Dayal Kisaan Baagwan Samridhi Yojna which had the record highest upto 90 percent subsidy component to the BPL families opting for construction of Poly House to diversify their traditional farming practices and take maximum benefit of the limited land holdings available with the farmers.

Chief Minister said that the State had launched Atal Swasthya Yojna on the birthday of former Prime Minister Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee from December 25, 2010 which had the facility of free ambulance service in emergent cases on toll free number of 108. He said that the State had also provided four CFL bulbs to each of the domestic consumers of the state free of cost by spending Rs. 80 crore over the same. He said that the scheme was aimed at not only on saving the power but also to provide consumers quality electricity. He said that the State had earmarked upto 2 MW hydel projects exclusively to Himachali entrepreneurs.

Prof. Dhumal said that the State Government had also launched Rs. 300 crore doodh Ganga Yojna to give boost to animal husbandry and self employment avenues to the local people in dairy farming. He said the Scheme had subsidy component upto 25 percent to the general category and 33 percent to the scheduled caste categories of beneficiaries. He further added that Bhed Palak Yojna had also been launched for the benefit of the shepherds of the State with a view to motivate them continue with their traditional avocation of sheep rearing. He said that the scheme had provision of providing loan upto Rs. 5 lakh which contains subsidy component of 33 percent to the beneficiaries. He said that shepherds could purchase fourty sheep and four rams with the loan amount to give boost to their traditional avocation of sheep rearing. He assured the people that Tehsildar Shahpur would be available for a week at any designated place to provide local people revenue services at their door steps. He also sanctioned Rs. 10,000 to the school children for promotion of cultural programme.

CM was accorded a rousing reception by the residents of Shahpur segment enroute from Shahpur to Boh village who waited for him at different points to welcome the Chief Minister to their area.

Eco issues delay bids for Sarguja UMPP in Chhattisgarh

Environment issues have once again delayed the invitation of bids for the 4,000 Mw Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) at Sarguja in Chhattisgarh. The preliminary bidding process for the project has been delayed by two months. Now the last date of submission of bids is on March 8, a power ministry official said. This is the fourth time the process has been delayed, Power Finance Corporation (PFC), the nodal body for the execution of UMPPs in the country had invited initial bids for the Chhattisgarh project in March, 2010.

The bidding process has got delayed four times till date as the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) is yet to approve mining from the coal blocks allotted for the project.

MoEF is yet to come clear on the subject of ‘go' and ‘no-go' areas for coal mining. MoEF classified no-go areas as the zones where mining activity could not take place as it would have adverse impact on the environment.

The Coal Ministry had allotted Hasdeo coal block in Chhattisgarh for the Sarguja UMPP.

Another such project at Orissa is likely to get MoEF clearance for its coal blocks.

The government has so far allotted four UMPPs.

Three have been bagged by Reliance Power - Sasan (Madhya Pradesh), Krishnapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Tilaiya (Jharkhand). Tata Power bagged the Mundra UMPP in Gujarat.

These projects are part of government's ambitious plan to mitigate electricity shortages, and add to India's capacity addition initiative.

The government plans to add about 1,00,000 Mw of power.

The major chunk would be contributed by such projects.

Gujarat's new UMPP sites face environmental hurdles

Gujarat may have to be content with just one 4,000 mw ultra mega power project as the two other sites offered by the state for building such projects have not been found feasible by the power ministry due to environmental reasons. The state had identified two sites - one near Junagarh and another near Jamnagar-for setting UMPPs of 4,000 mw capacity each. "Junagarh is not possible, as it is near the Gir Forest area, and as far as Jamnagar is concerned, it is near the limestone mines and we have to receive permission from the Gujarat State Mining Corp ," a power ministry official said. "These two projects look unlikely....but let's see," he added.

At present, the country's largest private power producer, Tata Power, is executing the 4,000 (800x5) mw UMPP at Mundra in the state.The first 800 mw unit of this coastal project is expected to be completed during the current 11th Plan period (2007-12).

Power Finance Corporation (PFC), the nodal agency for these kind of projects, has already awarded four projects to the successful bidders. Reliance Power bagged three of the allotted four projects at Sasan (Madhya Pradesh), Krishnapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Tilaiya (Jharkhand) while the Tatas won the Mundra project.

The government, which plans to add 1,00,000 mw of electricity in the upcoming 12th Plan period (2012-17), is relying on the contribution from these UMPPs. These projects are likely to be commissioned over a period of 4-5 years from now.

The invitation of preliminary bids for the two proposed projects at Bedabahal (Orissa) and Sarguja (Chhattisgarh) are stuck because of lack of environment clearance for the coal blocks allotted to the projects. Therefore, the power ministry would not finalise any other site in any other part of the country without obtaining the mandatory approvals from the respective authorities.

Rs.85 crore GSEB RAPDRP project won by Spanco

Spanco Ltd. has won the IT modernization project of the Goa State Electricity Board (GSEB)beating HCL, Reliance, Wipro, L&T Infotech, TCS and some others. This is Spanco's Fourth consecutive win in this space. It has already bagged the states of Punjab, Maharashtra and Bihar. This win further consolidates Spanco's position as one of the market leaders in the IT modernization projects within the State Electricity Boards under the RAPDRP program.

RAPDRP is an initiative driven by the center with collaboration with the state with a clear focus to bring in actual, demonstrable performance in terms of sustained energy loss reduction.

Key Objectives of RAPDRP Program:

The program spans from data acquisition at distribution level till monitoring of results of steps taken to provide an IT backbone and strengthening of the Electricity Distribution system across the Country under the program.

The objective of the program is reduction of AT&C losses to 15% in project areas. In lieu of attaining the objective, the program is divided into 2 parts Part-A and Part-B. Part-A will include projects for establishment of baseline data and IT applications like Meter Data Acquisition, Meter Reading, Billing, Collections, GIS, MIS, Energy Audit, New Connection, Disconnection, Customer Care Services, Web self service, etc. to get verified baseline AT&C losses.
Part-B will include distribution strengthening projects.

The current win comes under Part A of the program and will have the above mentioned scope. Spanco will supply, install and commission one integrated solution within the broad framework provided in the SRS (System Requirement Specification) document. SRS Committee under the guidance of Ministry of Power has finalized a detailed SRS document which covers all the components of the project including hardware, software, networking; GIS among others which
shall help the utilities improve their performance.

The size of the program is to the tune of 50,000 crores. The program consists of Part-A (to the tune of around Rs.10,000 Crore) covering Information Technology application in the electricity distribution system and Part B (to the tune of around Rs.40,000 Crore) covering the System strengthening, Improvement and augmentation of distribution system capacity.

Both parts entail planning of measures to be taken under the program, implementation of such measures to be taken and monitoring / evaluation of results / impact of the program as a whole and of its various components across the Country.

This project will work towards establishing reliable and automated systems for sustained collection of accurate base line data, and the adoption of Information Technology in the areas of metering, billing, energy accounting and customer care to provide the right information and experience to customers. This modernization of the IT systems will also help curb revenue leakages and ensure increase in overall revenues and thus contribution to the exchequer.

Power Finance Corporation Limited (PFCL) has been designated by GoI as the Nodal Agency for the program. Speaking at this occasion, Kapil Puri, CMD, Spanco Ltd. stated "We have set ourselves the target of becoming the best in the Power sector Technology Infrastructure space. This win further consolidates our market position and we expect to deliver to the State's expectations. Our cross State expertise will further help improving overall integration
efforts"

The size of the current order is about 85 crores and further strengthens the RAPDRP related order book taking it to more than 650 crores.

UK firm offers to produce 65mw power from Bangalore garbage

A UK-based company proposed to set up a 65mw power-generating unit using the garbage generated in the city, but the BBMP was not convinced with the overall idea. Green Homes Global Energy, along with Bangalore-based Rushe Infratek Pvt Ltd, proposed implementing a 65mw an hour waste energy solution for the city. "The BBMP will provide the garbage generated in the city to the plant and we will produce the electricity and sell it to the power purchasing agency.

The BBMP needs to provide 6 to 10 acres of land for setting up the plant, which will cost about `3,000 crore. We will give back the city a greener, more peaceful and healthier environment as the plant doesn't emit any smell nor create noise. Moreover, the residue after using the waste is very minimal", said Green Homes representative Ajay Ahluwalia.

Rushe Infratek managing director Ravi Prakash said that BBMP will have to assure garbage supply for at least 25 years and the state government or an agency must agree to purchase power thus produced. They also said that the waste-to-energy plant can not only convert municipal solid waste but also medical, industrial and sewage waste.

The plant requires about one lakh tonnes of waste annually to generate 3 to 6mw of power an hour. The rejects from the garbage are nil. The waste is converted into energy by a special method called pyrolysis, where the common hazardous waste is converted into electricity by a total green technology.

Not convinced with the idea, BBMP commissioner Siddaiah expressed that the municipal garbage was no longer considered a waste, as it has become a revenue-generating product.

"We are thinking of generating revenue from the waste produced in the city. The company will produce electricity, sell it and make money; the purchaser will sell it making some profit on it. Both will make money, but how does the BBMP, that provides the garbage, be benefited", he wondered and questioned the company representatives if they wished to purchasing garbage from the BBMP instead.
The company representatives, however, were firm that the Palike should provide garbage free of cost as they will give the city a clean and healthy environment by using up the garbage. "The BBMP collects the garbage and dump in landfills. But if we set up a plant, BBMP can dump the garbage in the plant which will be converted into power without pollution. That way, the city will be clean too", Ajay said.

Negotiating further, BBMP officials asked, if garbage is given out free of cost, will they at least take up door-to-door collection work as Palike is spending nearly `12 crore for garbage collection every year. The representatives declined saying BBMP should collect and dump the garbage in the plant.

Almost everybody, including deputy mayor N Dayanand, ruling party leader Satyanarayana and standing committee chairmen were not convinced with the proposal. Siddaiah said the Palike can only provide land and garbage to the company if they set up a plant, but for power-generation or supply, the company has to approach the state government.