INDIA
Govt eyes additional 11,920 MW to meet summer power demand
During a review meeting held on March 7, Union minister for power RK Singh asked electricity companies to ensure there is no load-shedding during the summer months.
BUSINESS
Women’s Day: Powering our lives the green way
Increasingly, organisations are finding it difficult to ignore the value of involving women in the renewable energy supply chain.
ENVIRONMENT
40% capacity of upcoming coal-based power plants must be sourced from renewables: Govt
However, the government said that a captive plant shall be exempt from the requirement of RGO, if it fulfils the Renewable Purchase Obligations as notified by the central government.
BUSINESS
Order on pooling electricity from old thermal and gas-based stations soon: Power ministry officials
Many states and distribution companies, based on commercial considerations, started making an exit from PPAs of costlier plants (non-pit head coal stations and gas-based thermal generating station) while retaining the PPAs of cheaper plants. This is also leading to generation capacity crunch especially during the peak demand season.
BUSINESS
States should privatise transmission network for quality power and renewable integration: Pratik Agarwal
In an exclusive interview with Moneycontrol, the managing director of Sterlite Power Transmission said the recurring power crisis in India is actually a crisis of the last mile. Agarwal also said cost escalation to build transmission network for renewable energy will be offset by the overall low cost of RE compared to electricity from conventional sources.
INTERVIEW
If India fails to secure energy beyond fossil fuels, the world will fail: Danish climate minister
If you look at the figures, in 20 years India will need extra electricity capacity equal to the capacity of the entire European Union today. That is wild. But it also gives India something that is very unique, said Aagaard, Denmark's minister for climate change, energy and utilities.
COMPANIES-2
Power demand: NTPC to generate 5,000 MW through gas-based plants in April-May
In December, the government asked state-run GAIL (India) and NTPC to increase imports of natural gas to supplement power generation.
BUSINESS
NTPC transfers 3,000 MW renewable energy assets to its subsidiary
With the transfer now completed, the state-run power generator is planning to offload 10 per cent to 20 per cent stake in NGEL, a senior NTPC official said.
BUSINESS
Will India face another power crisis this summer?
In November, the coal ministry in a statement said it would augment coal supplies at TPPs to 45 million tonnes by March-end. However, data showed that maximum coal stock at TPPs hasn’t crossed 31-32 million tonnes so far. Also, logistics around coal supply will continue to be a major bottleneck, despite increase in coal production as well as railway lines for its transportation.
BUSINESS
Hoping to make India a supply base for our global energy storage needs: Fluence CEO
The company's 150 MWh BESS will be commissioned by July-August in Karnataka.
TECHNOLOGY
Lithium discovery notwithstanding, indigenous batteries still some distance away
5.9 MT of lithium can give 6 terawatt hour of battery cells in India, which is six times the current production in the world. But lithium cell requires a host of other raw materials and technology, which need to be sourced.
BUSINESS
Former Assam chief secretary Jishnu Barua is the new chief of India’s power regulator
The CERC is responsible for regulating and determining tariffs of inter-state transmission of electricity, issuing licences to persons to function as transmission licensee and electricity trader with respect to their inter-state operations
BUSINESS
Post Budget 2023: PM Modi outlines three pillars of India's ‘green growth’ initiative
The government aims at raising renewable energy production, reducing fossil fuel use and rapid move towards a gas-based economy, Modi said at a power ministry webinar.
BUSINESS
India re-imposes emergency clause; imported coal-based power plants to run at full capacity
On January 9, 2023, Moneycontrol first reported that the previous such order under Section 11 of the Electricity Act lapsed on December 31, 2022, after being extended from October 31, 2022. The latest order would mean at least 15 ICBs will have to operate at their full capacity until further notice.
MCMINIS
What's covered under green bonds?
BUSINESS
High-price power trading to begin on IEX in March as regulator gives the go-ahead
Moneycontrol was the first to report that Central Electricity Regulatory Commission's nod to HP-DAM market was expected anytime and IEX will launch it next month
BUSINESS
Off-river Pumped Storage Plants exempt from environmental impact assessment
PSPs will be exempt from the free power liability as well, and sovereign green bonds may be deployed for such projects, as per the draft guidelines. It also asks states to exempt land for such projects from stamp duty and registration fees.
BUSINESS
Delays in renewable projects? India to blacklist companies
This is the first time that the government has decided to take action against renewable energy developers for delays in project completion. The move comes at a time when several solar power projects have either been halted or delayed due to disruptions in equipment such as modules, cells, wafers and so on.
BUSINESS
High price market likely to be launched in power exchanges next month
The government intends to roll out HP-DAM soon so as to meet the spurt in power demand that is expected during the summer months. In April-May last year, many states in the country faced hours of outages because of an unrelenting surge in power demand due to a sudden heatwave, rapid economic recovery and shortage of coal to generate power.
BUSINESS
Will introduce two new market segments within six months: Rohit Bajaj of IEX
IEX’s stake in Indian Gas Exchange (IGX) is 47 percent as of now. There is no plan to divest further at this point in time, said Bajaj.
BUSINESS
Energy Saving Certificate trading resumes after a year
For the first time, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency has set a floor price for Energy Saving Certificates trade. The floor price is Rs 1,840 per ESCert.
BUSINESS
ReNew Power is now ReNew
ReNew aims to provide solutions that will enable companies and countries to make a rapid, urgent and ethical transition towards clean energy, said Sumant Sinha, Chairman and CEO, ReNew.
BUSINESS
NTPC to have 2,000 MW nuclear power by 2032, and 20,000 MW by 2050
The two plants in the pipeline will have pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWR), which is almost indigenised, and the power tariff from them would translate into Rs 7.36 per unit approximately
BUSINESS
In a first, Lithium reserve found in Jammu and Kashmir: Vivek Bharadwaj, secretary, ministry of mines
In the coming financial year (2023-24), the government is going to focus on exploration of strategic and critical minerals, including fertilizer minerals.
