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THE POWERLESS COUNTRY?
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About seven decades after independence, India has not been able to provide its citizens, industry and businesses efficient and uninterrupted power.
FOR SUBSCRIPTION CONTACT Gaurav Kausik subscription@governancetoday.co.in Governance Today does not necessarily subscribe to the views expressed in this publication. All views expressed in the magazine are those of the contributors. The magazine is not responsible or accountable for any loss incurred, directly or indirectly as a result of the information provided. Governance Today is published by Odyssey Infomedia Pvt Ltd @ All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, and mechanical, including photocopy. Or any information storage or retrieval system, without publisher’s permission G VERNANCE editorial does not endorse the content of advertisements printed in the magazine TODAY
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ADVISORY BOARD Pratap Mohanty
|
Former Deputy Educational Advisor, MHRD, GOI |
Amod Kanth
Retd. IPS, Director, Prayas |
Ranjit Walia Managing Counsel Walia & Co.
| Vinit Goenka
National Co-Convener, Information Technology Cell, Bharatiya Janata Party, India | Terry Culver
Associate Dean for Development, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, New York
SOLAR POWER CAN REDUCE DIESEL GENSET REQUIREMENT
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K. Subramaniam CEO, Moser Baer Solar
SUPPORTING INDIA’S ENERGY GOVERNANCE Jaco Cilliers Country Director of UNDP
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26 51
OUR RESEARCH GEARED TO BRIDGE EFFICIENCY GAP
32 36
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Dr. Praveen Saxena DG, National Institute of Solar Energy
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NEED TO HAVE A PROPER ENERGY SAVING POLICY R NARAYAN 68
54
Founder and CEO, Power2SME
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SOLAR POWER TO ACHIEVE GRID PARITY MUCH BEFORE TARGET
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62
Managing Director, Solar Energy Corporation of India
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76
SMART GRID, KEY TO ENSURING EFFICIENT TRANSMISSION WIND ENERGY THE LEADER AMONG RENEWABLES SOLAR POWER: AIMING FOR SUNNY DAYS BIOREFINING, THE FUTURE TECHNOLOGY TIME TO TAP HYDROPOWER NON-CONVENTIONAL SOURCES POWER OF THE FUTURE STRONG WILLPOWER NEEDED TO BECOME ENERGY INDEPENDENT GAS HOLDS ENORMOUS POTENTIAL TO POWER INDIA BIOGAS HAS GREAT POTENTIAL IN FUTURE, FEELS SULABH FOUNDER PROMOTE SAFE TOURISM
December 2014
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Editorial
RATIONAL POWER PLANNING NEEDED
A
couple of months back, PM Narendra Modi launched the “Make in India” campaign which is aimed at establishing India as a global manufacturing hub. While the idea has captured the imagination of industry leaders, there are people who are asking a very legitimate question which is, can we create a viable and competitive manufacturing when we force our industry to create a power back up which adds to their overall cost. But industry is not alone in misery; domestic sector is also not much better off. The images in newspapers, of kids preparing for exams in candle light do not surprise us anymore. Nor do the news of people holding traffic to ransom protesting against load shedding. Our power plants are going without fuel and discoms are losing as much as one fourth of the power because of theft. Surely, not all is well with our power and energy sector. It is not that government is not seized of the matter or is not trying to improve the situation. Successive governments have rolled out policies and laid out rules to increase investment in the sector. Electricity Act 2003, National Tariff Act 2006, UMPP initiatives and allocation of coal blocks to private players were all smart initiatives, but somehow, they got lost in the labyrinthine corridors of bureaucratic structure or failed simply because of corruption. The mess of coal availability and the gas prices are only a few of the examples. However, not all is bad. The hope exists in some of the initiatives of a few state governments. For example, some states have gone for feeder segregation in rural areas which has resulted in substantial reduction in power losses to discoms. Gujarat has provided a commendable incentive structure for solar power investors. These need to be replicated widely. In renewables, wind energy has taken giant leaps in recent years and holds lions share in total renewables power generation in the country. Solar, in which we started late, has seen capex crashing over last couple of years because of which, it has become commercially viable in certain times and promises to attain grid parity much earlier than 2022. Unfortunately, hydro power has not taken off which is strange because there is enormous potential in this segment. At the end of the day, we need to realize that an efficient power planning would need to ensure that reliable power is made available to all section of customers, namely, residential, commercial and industrial. Because of the technical reasons, non-conventional and renewable sources generate power which are fluctuating, because of which they need to be stored. This makes renewables much useful in residential but not for commercial and industrial. On the other hand, traditional sources, say thermal, generate power in smoothened and non-fluctuating manner which makes them most suitable for bulk users such as Industry. It is estimated that just by basic planning to allocate renewables for domestic purposes and thermal power for industry can improve the power availability and quality of power. It is going to result in major saving for industry as it wouldn’t have to invest in parallel power structure and would boost national GDP as production would not halt. Policy makers need to think on these lines. Please don’t forget to book your dates for our forthcoming seminar on non-conventional and renewable sources which is going to be held on Dec 11 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. We hope to see you there.
Ajit Sinha Editor-in-Chief December 2014
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Governance Watch
Massive thrust to scale up solar power capacity
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oal India Ltd and Solar Energy Corporation of India have signed an MoU for development of 1,000 MW solar power projects in a phased manner. The MoU aims to generate 250 MW of solar power in the first phase. The target of 1,000 MW will be reached within three to five years. The projects are going to be set up in solar parks located in coal bearing states. As per the agreement, CIL will own the solar projects and SECI execute them on turnkey basis. In addition, SECI will undertake the maintenance and operation of the projects on behalf of CIL. The MoU is in line with the Centre’s plan to actively involve profit-making public sector undertakings in setting up of solar projects. The projects will not only enable the states to meet their Renewable Purchase Obligation mandates but also provide local employment opportunities. Large solar plants have the ability to bring down the cost of solar power through economies of scale.
Strong pitch for clean energy at G20 summit
P
rime Minister Narendra Modi has pitched for a global effort to make clean energy available to all through concerted actions. This can be a major economic opportunity for countries across the globe. He articulated his point in his statement on energy at G20 summit in Brisbane, Australia. Calling for collective R&D effort and collaboration in the direction of having clean energy path, Modi urged the leaders of big economies to set up a “global virtual centre” for clean energy research and development, with adequate public funding, which will fund collaborative projects in diverse sources of clean energy, smart grids and energy efficiency. His remarks came at the time when his government is planning to target up to 100,000 MW of solar generation by 2022, far more than an existing 20,000 MW target by 2020. It is expected that the PM would unveil a big plan for renewable energy before the Paris climate talks next year.
New plan to provide power to rural areas
T
he Cabinet has approved the Rs. 43,033 crore Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana envisaging creation of separate feeders for farm and non-farm users with a view to improve rostering of supply. The scheme is named after BJP idol Deendayal Upadhyaya and modelled after a similar project in Gujarat, Jyotigram Yojana, which was a crucial element of Narendra Modi’s recipe for providing 24X7 power supply in the state when he was chief minister. The remaining work under UPA’s rural electrification programme, Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana, for the 12th and 13th Plans would now get subsumed into the Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana. The balance RGVVY work would form a distinct component of the new plan, which envisages a budgetary support of Rs. 33,453 crore from the Centre over the 24-month implementation period. The scheme envisages augmenting transmission and distribution infrastructure in rural areas, including metering of distribution transformers and feeders as well as consumers to check against power theft and bring in accountability.
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Governance Watch
IPCC seeks fossil fuels phase out in power by 2100
T
he UN-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has called for complete phase out of fossil fuels in electricity generation by the end of this century and reduce their use to 20 per cent by 2050 if disastrous consequences of climate change are to be avoided. The panel said this in its synthesis report released in Copenhagen recently. It said if all nations failed to bring emissions of greenhouse gases to nearly zero by year 2100, climate change would leave “severe, widespread and irreversible impacts”. The report, considered the most reliable source of climate information, will act as a base for climate talks on reducing emissions which would be held in Paris next year. The report’s findings and recommendations on completely phasing out fossil fuels are also expected to be discussed thoroughly when more than 190 countries would assemble for a climate conference in Lima, Peru.
Rooftop solar panels bring respite to power-hungry businesses
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actories and businesses have installed over 30MW of rooftop solar panels in the last year, data compiled by New Delhi-based consultancy Bridge to India shows. That is a small amount compared with India’s solar capacity of 2,700 MW, but demand may accelerate under Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has made renewable energy a priority. Bridge to India forecasts that the compound annual growth of solar installations will hit more than 60 per cent in the next five years, as falling panel prices make installations more alluring. In a sign that even big business is warming up to alternative energy sources, India’s second-largest IT exporter Infosys is building a 50 MW solar plant in Karnataka to meet 30 per cent of the company’s power needs. Bridge to India estimates that commercial rooftop and smaller utility plants have the potential to provide up to 83,000 MW of solar energy, more than half of India’s potential solar capacity out to 2024.
India’s commitment to develop Bhutan’s hydropower gets big push
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resident Pranab Mukherjee recently reiterated India’s commitment towards developing the hydropower sector in Bhutan, emphasising that cooperation in that sector is an outstanding example of win-win cooperation between the two neighbours. “It provides significant export revenues for Bhutan, generates clean electricity for India and strengthens our bilateral economic linkages. Three hydro-electric projects totalling 1,416 MW are already operational in Bhutan. They are currently supplying electricity to India. Three more HEPs totalling 2,940 MW are under construction. They are on schedule to be commissioned in 2018,” Mukherjee told a Bhutanese newspaper. Speaking of future projects, President Mukherjee said that India will take up all future HEPs once the techno-economic appraisal is complete of each enterprise is complete. President also put a word of caution over the socioeconomic and environmental impact of future mega projects.
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Governance Watch
Modi’s call for International Yoga Day gets global support
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s many as 50 countries have signed up for co-sponsorship of a draft resolution which India’s UN mission is preparing for declaring June 21 as international Yoga day. This is said to be one of PM Narendra Modi’s global imprints which he proposed in his speech at United Nations General Assembly more recently. The resolution will be submitted soon to the UN secretariat with the government looking to aggressively push for its adoption before the end of this year. The list of co-sponsors includes Asian heavyweights China, Japan, Indonesia and South Korea and also South Africa and Nigeria in Africa. Neighbours such as Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka were amongst the earliest to sign on. Latin American giants Brazil and Argentina too have committed support. With USA and Canada joining recently, the EU members are expected to also join as co-sponsors soon in what, according to reports, is turning out to be a broad-based coalition of support that has countries as disparate as Iran and Cuba on board.
Five NIT boards to have women tech honchos as chairpersons
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n a bid to encourage enrolment of more girls and break the glass ceiling in engineering, top women executives of technology firms have been appointed chairpersons of the board of governors of five National Institutes of Technology. Kumud Srinivasan, president of Intel India, has been made chairperson of the prestigious NIT-Trichy; Vanitha Narayanan, managing director of IBM India Private Limited, will head NIT-Suratkal; Aruna Jayanthi, CEO of Capgemini India, will be chairperson of NIT-Calicut; Vasantha Ramaswamy, founder director of Aprameya Associates, of NIT-Rourkela and Jaya Panvalkar, formerly head of NVIDIA’s Pune design centre, will be chairperson of NIT-Surat. The HRD ministry expects that with so many women heading the board of NITs, NIT Council, the supreme governing body, will take decisions that will help increase the enrolment of girls in these institutes. Since many of the new chairpersons went to technology institutes and have worked at the highest levels in technology firms, they are best placed to break the stereotype that engineering is essentially a male profession.
Aadhaar-based digital life certificate for pensioners
I
n a move that could eventually benefit over one crore pensioners, the government has launched an Aadhaar-based digital life certificate for the beneficiaries. The proposed digital certification will do away with the requirement of a pensioner to submit a physical life certificate in November each year, in order to ensure the continuity of pension being credited into his or her account. While the system is in its early stage, it is bound to ease life for pensioners once implemented. The department of electronics and information has developed a software application that will enable the recording of a pensioner’s Aadhaar number and biometric details from his mobile device or computer, by plugging in a biometric reading device. This facility will also be made available at common service centres being operated under the national e-governance plan, for the benefit of pensioners residing in remote and inaccessible areas.
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Governance Watch
Private parcel trains soon, railways unveils policy
T
he Indian Railways has come up with a policy that would allow privately owned and run parcel trains, in order to win market share in non-bulk traffic. The policy aims at boosting investment in this vital infrastructure sector through publicprivate partnership (PPP) mode. The ministry of railways issued the new policy recently, to meet the future demand of traffic and thereby increase market share. Category I of the scheme includes general service parcel vans of minimum 20 wagons and maximum 24 and Category II includes special purpose vehicles like refrigerated vans, milk tankers etc. of 15 or 24 wagons. A rake with mix of both categories will also be allowed to operate. Railways now dominate transportation of bulk commodities like coal, ores, cement, and food grains but have been steadily losing out to road sector in non-bulk goods. Not offering need-based innovative solutions to customers has been the cited as the most important reason for this loss. Ownership of the special purpose train (SPT) shall be with the operator who procures the rake. Such rakes will be identified as exclusively belonging to the investor.
Price Stabilization Fund to shield against food inflation
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n a move to shield consumers and farmers from price fluctuation of agricultural and horticultural products such as onion, potato, tomato and milk, the government will soon start a Rs. 700 crore price stabilization fund which would be utilized in the next three years. The fund would be managed by an inter-ministerial panel headed by the Secretary of Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), would be utilised in two steps. Faced with a price spike soon after assuming power, the Narendra Modi government has taken several steps to tackle inflation and setting up of the fund is one of the key measures. A note from the agriculture ministry said the corpus would be utilised for advancing loans for working capital at zero interest rate to state governments and central agencies. Any losses incurred by the central government agencies would be borne by this fund.
Affordable housing on government agenda to boost realty sector
T
he government is considering tax breaks for affordable segment of housing, to give a boost to the real estate sector and is expected to announce a subvention scheme on home loans for middle and lower income group housing. “We need to relook at urban India and economic development, which will lead to advancement of India. We understand the contribution of our partners and we know that we cannot progress in achieving our Housing 2020 plan without support of the private sector,” Urban development and housing minister M Venkaiah Naidu said recently. “The government believes in unleashing forces of growth through various sectors. The real estate sector contributes to six per cent of the GDP and I am confident it will go up to at least 12-13 per cent by 2022,” Naidu added. He invoked PM Narendra Modi’s leadership while promising a turnaround in the real estate sector, impacted by the economic slowdown.
December 2014
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Lead Story
THE POWERLESS COUNTRY? About seven decades after independence, India has not been able to provide its citizens, industry and businesses efficient and uninterrupted power. This does not augur well for a nation that aspires to sit on the big table of global economic superpowers. Indian power and energy sector, for long, has been bogged down by sub optimal planning, ineffective execution and massive pilferage of power because enforcing discipline has never been politically expedient. But if India has to successfully compete with China for global manufacturing slice, India must get its power and energy policy right.
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Lead Story
| Anand Mishra
T
he most prominent image that a resident of national capital conjures of summers is of dark hot nights and children having to prepare for exams in candle light. For those living in urban India, power shortage is not something new. Nor are the platitudes of governments every year that the power situation would improve shortly. While citizens feel resigned to power shortage, the industry pays the price in form of lost production and the nation pays in form of lower GDP and higher petroleum import cost. This is because a huge parallel power production infrastructure is put in place by industry which is inefficient and mostly polluting. At the same time, massive lot of power is lost in transmission and distribution stage simply because government is either incapable or unwilling to stop pilferage. There is no denying the fact that the government has taken steps to improve the situation in all segments of power value chain but somehow, these have not
made any perceptible difference on the ground. While Electricity Act 2003 and National Tariff Policy of 2006 did provide a framework for private investment in the sector, the actual investment has not taken off as expected because of general despondency emerging out of administrative stasis. Incidentally, India is going without power even as it is the fifth largest power producer and fourth largest energy consumer in the world. Needless to say, all is not well in our power sector. Because it touches so many lives, power is a political issue and so are its inputs, especially coal which makes for over sixty per cent of the power producing fuel in the country and whose unavailability has run down power plant PLFs (plat load factors) to record lows in recent times. Non-conventional and renewable power is yet to catch up in a prominent way for various reasons which range from high capex to low rank on priority list of government. There are some promising signs too, though. Private sector’s share in
power production is going up which augurs well for production efficiency. Similarly, trend towards super critical capacity is a good sign. Also there are regulatory efforts being made to incentivize better production efficiency.
Demand Outstripping Supply On overall statistical parameter, India shows up high on total power generation and consumption. During 2013, it produced around 1103 GWh (Gigawatt hour) of electricity which was lower than China, the US and the European Union; Japan and Russia followed India. However, on per capita consumption, India ranks lowest in G20 countries. At just around 920 KWH per year, India’s per capita electricity consumption is less than one seventeenth of that of the US and less than one fourth of China’s. Statistically, it does not inspire confidence as power consumption is a strong indicator of the economic performance. The demand supply gap is a major
December 2014
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Lead Story
cause of worry in the country. During last fiscal i.e. 2013-14, the overall electricity deficit stood at 4.2 per cent or 42.4 billion units. For five years till 2012, a peak power shortage of nine per cent even as over 50,000 MW new generation capacity was added, the Govt. of India reported in one of its Economic Surveys. Peak power shortage is shortfall in generation capacity when electricity consumption is maximum. During 2013-14, the peak power deficit was around six per cent. The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) expects
overall shortage to be two per cent this year which most experts opine is hard to achieve. The peak shortage is expected to be a touch over five per cent. During 2013-14, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh suffered maximum shortage at 21.9 per cent and 14 per cent respectively. Such acute and chronic shortage lead states to draw more power from the national power grid than they are entitled to. It is worth noting that two years ago, the excess withdrawal
The supply of power simply has not been able to cope with the rising demand
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by the state of UP led to the crash of entire northern power grid. While power generation has managed to grow over last few years, the capacity addition has been lacking in pace and has slowed down of late. So, during 2013-14, 19,865 MW capacity was added which was over 16 per cent lower than the capacity that was added during previous fiscal, which in its turn was about ten per cent lower than that during prior fiscal. As demand keeps running north, this deceleration in
Lead Story
Very often, children have to literally burn midnight oil, thanks to inadequate power supply
capacity addition is a worrisome factor.
Mismanaged Sector Power policy in India has been mostly haphazard, with inordinate emphasis given on thermal power generation as coal was aplenty in the country. However, thanks to the ability of Indian policymakers to run any sector aground, over last year or so, Indian thermal power plants have at times, been forced to halt generation because of unavailability of coal. According to CEA, in 2012-13, power utilities reported a generation loss of 15.8 billion units just because shortage of coal. Incidentally, India is the third largest producer of coal in the world, just behind USA and China. But transportation limitations, poor planning and legal hassles have all led to irregular supplies of coal to thermal power producers resulting in loss of power generation. Only recently, the Supreme Court cancelled all coal blocks allocated over last decade in a corruption
Major problem over last couple of years has been the stalling of announced projects. Last year, data compiled by the Prime Minister’s project monitoring group showed 136 power projects worth over Rs.7.14 trillion were stalled for various reasons. case that has embroiled many top politicians of the previous government. The government is now planning to auction coal blocks again, shortly. A glaring example of poor planning is visible in states like Haryana Punjab where state power plants are ordered to be backed down or
shut down so as to enable private sector thermal stations to operate at optimum or full load. This is because private sector has added much capacity over last few years and these states have become power surplus. Another major problem over last couple of years has been the stalling of announced projects. Last year, data compiled by the Prime Minister’s project monitoring group showed 136 power projects worth over Rs.7.14 trillion were stalled for various reasons. Then there are projects stuck at various levels of completion. Just last month, Suresh Prabhu, the newly appointed Minister of Railways and then Chairman of the Advisory Group for Integrated Development of Power, Coal and Renewable Energy, had opined that the country can solve its energy problems by putting in place thermal capacity of about 100,000 MW, which is lying incomplete. Notably, the previous government had cleared projects worth Rs. 83,000 crores just last year. These December 2014
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Lead Story
India has clearly not tapped potential of renewable energy sources
projects would take three to four years to come on stream. When seen in light of the fact that over last two years, many high profile large scale mining projects have backed out, the picture that emerges is of an industry stuck in tracks and gasping for air because of stifling environment. The dominant reason for stalling of projects and projects backing out are delayed regulatory approvals and clearances. According to Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA), statutory clearances are the greatest barrier for power growth in India. Recently, NTPC terminated a contract to develop
and operate the a coal mine for power generation as even after three years, the land could not be acquired because of high compensation demanded by villagers.
Lost in Transmission The problem of generation not keeping up pace with the demand and slowing down of capacity addition is compounded by losses of power in transmission and distribution stages and theft in the process. Several states are grappling with the menace of aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses. According to a report of
Basic schema of power generation to distribution: India loses power at every stage
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December 2014
rating major ICRA, the average all India AT&C losses in FY13 were 27 per cent. The report mentioned that while some improvement in distribution losses was seen for power distribution companies (discoms) in 12 states during the 2007-13 period, discoms in 10 other states reported more than 20 per cent loss in 2013. States such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and J&K were among worse performers. The report estimated that if a discom with 25 per cent losses reduced losses by one per cent, cost saving of as much as 13 paise can be achieved per unit. It shows the magnitude of financial losses that can be cut just by eliminating losses in transmission stage. At distribution stage, the agency suggested introduction of retail competition for enhancing cost efficiencies. The menace of losses in transmission and distribution is very much acknowledged by the government which has introduced schemes such as the Integrated Power Distribution Scheme for rural and semi-urban areas and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana for feeder separation for agricultural populace. Eight states which have segregated the feeders for agriculture and rural domestic usages, have all reported
Lead Story
lower losses. Further, Gujarat and Rajasthan have seen complaints regarding low voltage coming down post segregation, a World Bank report said. To curb the losses in transmission, the government has also started a Restructured Accelerated Development and Reforms Programme scheme, which aims at improving the efficiency of the power transmission sector. State electricity regulatory commissions have approved a capex of Rs. 44,000 crores for strengthening the distribution infrastructure during current fiscal.
New Alternatives not Delivering Enough The government in 2006 came up with the Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPP) initiative to fill the deficit in the power sector. It had planned to facilitate development of 16 coal based power plants which could generate 88,000 MWs of power by 2017. Only four have been awarded yet and four more are in works. But the problems regarding the unavailability of land and coal have dogged the concept badly. At regulatory level, the basic purpose
Important aspects of CERC 2015-19 • Normative SHR for coal based power projects changed • Normative O&M charges tweaked for coal/ gas based projects • Inventory cost of coal included in calculating the normative working capital brought down to 15 days for pithead stations and 30 days for non-pithead stations compared to 45 days and 60 days respectively • Gross up of the 15.5% posttax RoE would be based on the effective tax rate (actual tax paid) rather than the corporate tax rate • Normative working capital costs for coal fired plants reduced • Land acquisition to now be treated as ‘controllable’ factor
of UMPPs which was to achieve low tariffs through competitive bidding is being defeated as terms of reference have been changed after contract have been awarded and concessions granted to winners. Non-conventional and renewable energy is the area on which most emphasis is being laid globally because of pollution and fuel availability issues. In India, there is a huge potential for hydro, wind as well as solar power generation which could be big draws for the country because of geography endowed natural resources. In solar power, the government, through the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) has charted out plans to add around 22 GW capacity by 2022. While Phase I of the mission could not reach target, ending at just about 43 per cent of the target, Phase II and Phase III could deliver better result because of certain factors which may allow solar power achieve grid parity in next 3-4 years’ time. Grid parity is the price at which power from conventional sources reach the power grid. These factors range from
India started tapping solar power at a very late stage, but declining capex promises grid parity soon December 2014
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Lead Story
Wind power has been the star performer in renewable segment
massive reduction in capital cost of setting up solar power plants to conducive regulatory environment that some states have provided. For example, Gujarat has provided fixed tariffs and spared producers from cross subsidy charges for open access. It has also taken up upon itself the responsibility of evacuation infrastructure, which means transmission lines are provided by the state which also takes care of transmission losses. The state accounts for half of the total national solar power capacity. The situation of wind energy is promising though. This segment has seen rising investment over last few years. Because of geographical reasons, the country has huge potential in wind power. According to the Centre for Wind Energy Technology, India has an on-shore (land based) wind power potential of over 100,000 MW at 80 meters 18
Governance Today
December 2014
hub height. According to CEA, wind power has an installed capacity of over 21 GW which was over 66 per cent of the total renewables capacity in the country, excluding hydro power. Currently, wind contributes about five per cent to the total power generation in the country and there has been a healthy growth in the same. The capacity addition has been aided by the accelerated depreciation benefit that has been reinstated this year after being withdrawn during 2012-13. Two other segments, namely gas and nuclear have perennially been bogged down by all sorts of regulations and politics. As far as gas based power is concerned, after Dabhol debacle, not much capacity has been added on gas fuelled plants. Currently, over eight GW of capacity is stranded because of reduction in gas being made available from KG basin. Further, the massive rise in
gas prices threatens to make gas based power costlier by over 75 per cent from current per unit price. Post price increase, it is assumed that gas based power would become costlier than power fuelled by even imported coal. Because of such uncertain and adverse operating environment, the investments in gas based plants is getting increasingly unviable and is, therefore, faltering. As for nuclear power, India has a technically sound, largely indigenous nuclear power program, which was traditionally stunted because of sanctions for not signing NPT. Here, the capacity additions happen in bulks and with very long gestation periods. Inadequate supply of radioactive fuel, which is globally highly regulated, has thus far hindered nuclear power potential. The acceptance of India in Nuclear Supply Group and treaties signed with various countries including the US, Australia and Russia have increased hopes that nuclear power
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could become more prominent in overall energy calculus. The country plans to have 14.6 GW energy from nuclear power by 2020 and hopes to increase nuclear power’s share in overall mix sharply from current less than two per cent to around 25 per cent by 2050. However, even the most enthusiastic proponents of nuclear power feel it cannot become a game changer for Indian power sector in near future.
Power shortage Taking toll on Economy The country has lost a lot because of sustained power shortage. According to industry body FICCI, power shortages caused industrial production losses to the tune of $68 billion in 2013. While experts may differ on the actual loss level, the unmistakable fact is that the country is losing a lot of productivity because of unavailability or erratic availability of power. Industry’s cost is increasing increase significantly because they
The situation of wind energy is promising though. This segment has seen rising investment over last few years. Because of geographical advantages, the country has huge potential in wind power. inevitably have to install full power back up for production. Same is the case with commercial buildings. This parallel set up of power capacity has serious implication in terms of per unit cost of power, fuel misuse and carbon emissions. What transpires from this all is that India’s power and energy scenario is lost in suboptimal
planning, poor execution and fluid regulatory environment. It is understandable that as industry evolves, some structural changes would occur, but that cannot be a ground for mismanaged growth of a sector as crucial for country’s growth as power and energy. Any country’s potential growth rate is directly correlated with the energy consumption. Needless to say, if India has to grow rapidly in future, it cannot afford to have power shortages. As India plans to compete with China in global manufacturing market, affordable and reliable power availability is an incentive that cannot be compromised.
Charging up Regulatory Aspects The government has been making efforts to work on regulatory side to create an incentive structure which rewards efficiency of production and transmission. Earlier this year, it tweaked the tariff regulations
As India gets into the NSG, nuclear power could become more prominent than it has ever been
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for the period 2015-19, reducing incentives for power producers which it felt could reduce the final cost of consumers. It also changed the basis of earning incentives from plant availability factor (PAF) to Plant Load Factor (PLF) which has been protested by producers who feel that the new rule would penalize them for factors such as unavailability of coal, which are not in their control. Also, these players feel that the 15.5 per cent return on equity (ROE) is too low in current environment and does not compensate against
help in this endeavor. India has to standardize regulatory norms and power purchase agreement issues upfront and assure investors of nonfluctuating tariff regime. These are the basic necessity to attract major investments capacity. To create such large scale capacity, an augmented engineering and mechanical infrastructure would be required so that the plant and machinery demand can be met. Simultaneously, supply chain bottlenecks in logistics, both at ports and at land would need to be removed. Finally, massive
than in haphazard manner it has been managed so far. It is common knowledge that Coal India has been terrible in production efficiency. But then most monopolies are inefficient. Healthy competition must be encouraged by encouraging private investment and incentivizing captive mines which would push up mining efficiency and ensure coal availability to power producers. Similarly, import of coal has to be streamlined so that its availability is never constrained in times of higher power demand. Similarly, for natural
There is huge scope for cooperation among SAARC countries in renewable power
various projects related risks. On transmission side, marginal relief has been given to DISCOMs, by tweaking taxation and incentive determinants. According to a McKinsey study, over next decade, assuming a sustained growth rate of eight per cent, India would need over 300 GWs of power and to meet this demand, and to meet this demand, more than fivefold increase in capacity addition would be required. This is much higher than roughly 4 GW capacity that is currently being added. Obviously, a fluctuating policy and regulatory framework would not
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investment in human resources would have to be made to supply enough manpower for the work. However, all of that would still amount to nothing as long as fuel supply situation is not improved. On this front, most pressing need is to decide a propitious energy mix for the country. Realistically, in any scenario, coal would continue to dominate Indian fuel mix, thanks to the large coal reserves in the country. However, considering the huge capacity addition that is required, coal, as a resource, has to be managed intelligently rather
gas, pricing issues be ironed out and supply infrastructure must be beefed up so that the return on investment on gas based power plants is viable, competitive, transparent and rule based. Regardless of the level, renewable has be maximized. In this context, hydro, solar and wind all offer great promise. Policy flip flops such as withdrawal and reintroduction of accelerated depreciation must be avoided. At the same time, best practices adopted by select states such as Gujarat in case of solar power should be encouraged at
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national level. As for nuclear power, there is no gainsaying that it is hugely political issue, but considering its potential to produce clean energy, it has to be accommodated in overall energy planning in a big way. As more NSG countries veer around India’s position, the fuel supply would become more certain in coming years which should allow more nuclear power plants to be built. However, because nuclear power plants are highly capital intensive
Debottlenecking of the entire energy sector requires efficient coordination and pooling of efforts of multitude of departments that are related to the sector. There is immense requirement of and scope for improvement in project and performance monitoring at government level, which results in wastage of resources. and have a long gestation period, these cannot realistically play a big role in improving the situation in short term. What can and must be done in short term is to somehow reduce the transmission losses that are directly resulting from faulty technical planning and inability of discoms to prevent thefts. First of all, segregation of agricultural and non-agricultural rural power must be completed on pan India level as this single step could reduce the overall losses significantly. Next, healthy competition must be encouraged
at retail level. On technical side, maximizing high tension line length should be the aim so that technical losses are brought down. Finally, the governance of the sector needs to be rationalised for maximum impact. Debottlenecking of the entire energy sector requires efficient coordination and pooling of efforts of multitude of departments that are related to the sector. There is immense requirement of and scope for improvement in project
of nation and economies. As mentioned earlier, India’s energy consumption is amongst lowest in emerging economies. This portrays the backwardness of the country. The shortage of power is not only dragging Indian industry, it is also leading to the wastage of other resources. Ultimately, India as a country and Indians as a society suffer. This situation has to change for better. We can certainly not allow business and industry to
Renewables should be encouraged to free up traditional sources for industry
and performance monitoring at government level, which would results in reduction of resource wastages. Once this is done, public sector power producers would scale up in efficiency. The improvement of state level discoms’ financial viability and health is a critical step as they are the links between power producers and consumers. States should be incentivized for infusing capital in these discoms. The consumption of energy is a universally acknowledged parameter to rank advancement
suffer because about seven decades after independence, the country has not been able to ensure them the reliable power. If India has to break into the elite club of global economic superpowers, it has to create best quality entities at all levels of power value chain, namely fuel procurement, generation, transmission and distribution. There is a dire need for improvement in all of these segments and that is a fertile ground for application of novel and innovative ideas. |
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Power & Energy
Smart Grid, Key to Ensuring Efficient Transmission
The still-evolving concept of the smart grid is a vision of an industry transformed. For power and energy sector, technology is the key enabling factor and Smart Grid is an essential component to improve the status of power sector by eliminating transmission inefficiency in the system. 22
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Power & Energy
| Ekta Srivastava
W
hatever else might be said, the ultimate reality is that the power industry desperately needs a new business model. Companies must learn how to prosper in an era of increasing unit costs, and when parameters of their service quality are either high but declining (as in the United States) or low and stagnant (as in India). Among these parameters,
(NSGM) by 2014 following the recently launched National Mission for Electric Mobility by the Ministry of Heavy Industries. The objective of the proposal is to transform the Indian power sector into a secure, adaptive, sustainable and digitally enabled ecosystem providing reliable and quality energy for all with the active participation of stake holders.
Smart Grid in India A smart grid is an umbrella term that
shortage often peaking over 15 per cent. Additionally, there are many areas which are living in the state of blackout or are not connected to the country’s electricity grid. Even today people need to inform the utility of a problem or failure in their area. Smart Grid, in this situation is an effort to change this complexity in India. Solutions such as capability of remote disconnection on nonpayment by consumers, automatic alarms when network is being encroached or when people engage
Smart grid is an umbrella term that covers modernization of both the transmission and distribution grids
transmission and distribution efficiency is a crucial one and on this, India’s record in notorious. According to the Ministry of Power, India’s transmission and distribution losses are among the highest in the world, averaging 24 per cent of total electricity production; in some states it is as high as 62 per cent. Recently, the Ministry of Power, Govt. of India proposed to establish a National Smart Grid Mission
covers modernization of both the transmission and distribution grids. The concept of a smart grid is that of a digital upgrade of distribution and long distance transmission grids to both optimize current operations by reducing the losses, as well as open up new markets for alternative energy production. With the growing population and increasing households, the demand for power is surging with
in theft will enable utilities stop pilferage and avoid unsafe situations or accidents. In addition, optimal asset utilisation can be planned with online data of overloading of transformers and network, which can help reduce or prevent failures.
Benefits Galore A national Smart Grid would evolve the existing system into one that would be better suited for the December 2014
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Power & Energy
Smart Grid: Road Ahead “Smart Grid vision and road map for India,” released by Power Ministry last year, drafted by the India Smart Grid Task Force (ISGTF) and India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF), proposes all households the power supply through smart grid technologies by 2017 under NSGM. The envisioned market size of smart grid projects mentioned in the road map is around $30 to $40 billion in the next 15-20 years at the current price. Appropriate policies and programs are planned by the ministry and some of them are Electricity for all with uninterrupted grid supply of 8 hours/day minimum (including the evening peak), electrification of all households by 2017 and continuous improvement in quality and quantum of supply. Reduced transmission and commercial (AT & C) losses to below 15% by 2017, below 12% by 2022 and below 10% by 2027. Based on the outcomes of the Integrated smart grid technology pilots that are currently being undertaken, full implementation of smart grids in pilot project areas is planned by 2017, major urban geographical areas by 2022 and finally nationwide by 2027. Availability of an indigenous low cost smart meter under the NSGM by 2014. Wide Area Monitoring Systems (WAMS) for the entire transmission system using Phasor Measurement Units will be implemented. information flow which is required for energy conservation, higher reliability and the introduction of variable generation power from renewable sources. It is the convergence of Information Technology (IT), communication technology and electrical infrastructure. It is expected that if properly implemented, Smart Grid might provide uninterrupted electricity to consumers across India to a larger extent, even in remote locations, while eliminating wastage of power units. Smart Grid solutions would enable utilities to increase energy productivity and power reliability while allowing customers manage usage and costs through real time information exchange. It impacts all components of the power system like generation, transmission and 24
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distribution. The Smart Grid also presents some primary benefits including lower operating and maintenance costs, lower peak demand, increased reliability and power quality, reduction in power theft and resultant revenue losses, reduction in carbon emissions and expansion of access to electricity. Smart Grids through demand response and load management reduce the per unit production cost. By reducing the peak demand, a Smart Grid can reduce the need for additional transmission lines.
Challenges However, as far as India is concerned, a critical question is how can you implement a smart grid when the existing grid isn’t yet capable of providing reliable service to half the
population? The Smart Grid cannot be reduced to a simple formula or template. It is as much a vision as a blueprint. Despite the appeal and the glitter attached to the smart grid vision, one serious practical problem is that it is difficult for customers to judge the value of something they can’t envision. That has always been the case. This is equally true for policy makers, regulators and utility managers. Thus, education and capacity building will be essential enabling preconditions. The implementation of Smart Grid is not going to be an easy task as the Indian power sector faces a number of issues such as minimizing T&D losses, power theft, inadequate grid infrastructure, low metering efficiency and lack of awareness. There are also some who say ideas
Power & Energy
Smart grid will revolutionize the electricity business and forever change the business model
such as smart grid are not yet practicable in India and that the cost of implementing them will exceed the benefits. There are some other practical problems, too such as acceptability by customers and lack of awareness.
Future Prospects For India, the smart grid may offer a unique opportunity to leapfrog into a vastly improved electricity environment. The best course of action is to proceed with deliberate speed with a program that emphasizes front-end analysis, planning and goal setting. Some knowledgeable observers believe the smart grid will revolutionize the electricity business and forever change the business model that has been in place for the past many decades. Although the
A national Smart Grid would evolve the existing system into one that would be better suited for the information flow which is required for energy conservation, higher reliability and the introduction of variable generation power from renewable sources
extent of the coming transformation is difficult to predict, there is little question that much will have to change. That may well require changes in the boundary conditions and rules of the game to ensure there is a level playing field for all participants and there are incentives for market participants to get the best possible results. The economic model for the power industry is still (mostly) based on maximizing revenue by maximizing the volume of electricity sales. As with demand-side management (DSM) initiatives several decades ago, smart grid initiative may put the increased emphasis on energy efficiency to be accomplished through a smarter grid, which will ultimately lead to improving utility’s bottom line. |
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Power & Energy
Wind Energy The Leader Among Renewables | Rahul Trivedi
I
ndia is already suffering from power and energy crunch. There have been many efforts to meet the insufficient power and energy supply. Many different sources of power and energy generation have been tried and still the demand has not been able to be fulfilled. One such renewable source of energy which has immense potential to meet the growing demand in India is wind energy. To meet the huge demand of power and energy, India, as a country, 26
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has to bank upon the renewable energy sources. Wind power, as an alternative to fossil fuels, is plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, clean, produces no greenhouse gas emissions during operation and uses little land. The effects on the environment are not problematic at all if seen in light of the damage done to the environment from other conventional power sources. The power of wind has been used as long as humans have put sails into the wind. For more than two millennia, wind-powered machines have ground grain and pumped
water. Wind power was widely available and not confined to the banks of fast-flowing streams, or later, requiring sources of fuel. Windpowered pumps drained the polders of the Netherlands, and in arid regions such as the American midwest or the Australian outback, wind pumps provided water for live stock and steam engines. Wind power is very consistent from year to year but has significant variation over shorter time scales. As the proportion of wind power in a region increases, a need to upgrade the grid, and a lowered ability to
Power & Energy
supplant conventional production can occur. But power management techniques such as having excess capacity storage, geographically distributed turbines, dispatchable backing sources, storage such as pumped-storage hydroelectricity, exporting and importing power
State
Capacity as on 31.03.2014 (MW)
Tamil Nadu
7,253
Gujarat
3,414
Maharashtra
2,976
Rajasthan
2,820
Karnataka
2,409
Andhra Pradesh MP
753 439.00
Kerala
55
Others
4.30
Total
21,264
to neighboring areas or reducing demand when wind production is low, can greatly mitigate these problems. In addition, weather forecasting permits the electricity network to be readied for the predictable variations in production that occur.
Where India stands The development of wind power in India began in the 1990s, and has significantly increased in the last few years. Although a relative newcomer to the wind industry compared with Denmark or the United States, India has caught up fast and today it has the fifth largest installed wind power capacity in the world. In 2009-10 India’s growth in wind power was highest among the other top four countries. As of 31 March 2014, the installed capacity of wind power in India was 21,136.3 MW. The capacity is mainly spread across Tamil Nadu (7,253 MW), Gujarat (3,093 MW), Maharashtra (2,976 MW), Karnataka
(2,113 MW) and Rajasthan (2,355 MW). Madhya Pradesh (386 MW), Andhra Pradesh (435 MW) and Kerala (35.1 MW) are among other middle powers as far as wind power is concerned.
What future holds? While addressing the Fourth Clean Energy Ministerial conference last year, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said India drawn up plans to double its renewable energy capacity to 55,000 MW by 2017 as part of initiatives to promote renewable energy use. “It is proposed to double the renewable energy capacity in our country from 25000 MW in 2012 to 55000 MW by the year 2017. This would include exploiting non-conventional energy sources such as solar, wind power and energy from biomass,” he asserted. India has about 20 gigawatts of installed wind-power capacity compared with just 2.2 gigawatts
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh delivers his speech during the inauguration of the fourth Clean Energy Ministerial conference in New Delhi on April 17, 2013. He said that India had drawn up plans to double its renewable energy capacity.
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Wind turbines are mostly found in coastal areas, open plain and gaps in mountains where the wind is reliable, strong and steady
of solar capacity. It is targeting an additional 15 gigawatts of wind power capacity in the five years
ending March 2017, which would take the total to more than 32 gigawatts and account for more
than a 10th of India’s energy mix, according to calculations based on official data and projections.
Top 10 countries by nameplate windpower capacity (2013 year-end) New 2013 capacity (MW)
Country China US Germany Spain India UK Italy France Canada Denmark (Rest of world) World total
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16,088 1,084 3,238 175 1,729 1,883 444 631 1,599 657 7,761 35,289 MW
December 2014
Windpower total capacity (MW) 91,412 61,091 34,250 22,959 20,150 10,531 8,552 8,254 7,803 4,772 48,332 318,105 MW
 % world total 28.7 19.2 10.8 7.2 6.3 3.3 2.7 2.6 2.5 1.5 15.2 100%
Power & Energy
Advantages of Wind Energy Renewable Energy: Wind energy does not waste any natural resource and is the cleanest form of renewable energy. Reduces Fossil Fuels Consumption: Dependence on the fossil fuels could be greatly reduced if wind is adopted on the much wider scale by all the countries across the globe. It could be answer to the ever increasing demand for petroleum and gas products.
Less Air and Water Pollution Apart from reducing hydrocarbon fuel, wind power can also help to curb harmful gas emissions which are the major source of global warming. Wind turbines are mostly found in coastal areas, open plain and gaps in mountains where the wind is reliable, strong and steady. An ideal location would have a near constant flow of non-turbulent wind throughout the year, with a minimum likelihood of sudden powerful bursts of wind.
Initial Cost The cost of producing wind energy has come down steadily over the last few years. The main cost is the installation of wind turbines. A goof feature of wind power is that the land used to install wind turbines can also be used for agriculture purpose.
Disadvantages Noise Disturbances Though wind energy is non-polluting, the turbines may create a lot of noise. This alone is the reason that wind farms are not built near residential areas. People who live near-by often complaint of huge noise that comes from wind turbines.
Threat to Wildlife Due to large scale construction of wind turbines on remote location, it could be a threat to wild life nearby. Some studies have been done to determine the effect of wind turbines on birds and animals and the evidence is clear that animals see wind turbines as a threat to their life. Also, wind turbines require them to be dug deep into the earth which could have negative effect on the underground habitats.
Wind Can Never be Predicted The main disadvantage of wind energy is that wind can never be predicted. In areas where large amount of wind is needed or wind’s strength is too low to support wind turbine, solar energy could prove to be great alternative to wind power. That is one of the reasons that most of the companies determine wind turbine layout, power curve, thrust curve, long term wind speed before deploying wind turbines.
Suited to Particular Region Wind turbines are suited to the coastal regions which receive wind throughout the year to generate power. So, countries that do not have any coastal or hilly areas may not be able to take much advantage of wind power. The location of a wind power system is crucial, and one should determine the best possible location for wind turbine in order to capture as much wind as possible.
Visual Impact Though many people believe that wind turbines actually look nice, majority of them disagree. People consider wind turbines to have an undesirable experience. Petitions usually come in court before any proposed wind farm development but many feel nature should be left intact for everyone to enjoy its beauty. In addition to the above mentioned, the initial capital cost for installing wind power capacity is quite high, higher than solar or hydro. This high capital cost often hinders smaller players from entering the market. The challenges facing wind power are numerous like the volatility of wind generation—causing problems for grids, which need to maintain minimum base loads to remain stable—and the fact that reliable wind power is feasible in only some parts of the country. But there is no denying that wind offers a great alternative source of power which is green, clean and has no adverse impact on the environment. |
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Interview
Solar Power can Reduce Diesel Genset Requirement K. Subramaniam CEO, Moser Baer Solar
Having long experience in bulk optical media like CD and DVD, Moser Baer entered the solar business in 2006 as part of the diversification strategy and with an intent to leverage its cost strength and expertise in coting technology. Today, solar is a crucial part of the company’s overall business. Governance Today spoke to K. Subramaniam to find out the experience of the company is solar business and the scope of solar business in the country
D
oes Moser Baer have any alliance with any global player for bringing in latest technology to this business? In 2006 and 07 we brought this technology to this country for multiple type of solar products. Primary technology in solar PV panel is the crystal silicon and almost 95 per cent of the global solar market is crystal silicon model, rest being thin film model. We felt that it was important for us to present both. So, we entered in both these segments with foreign technology. As for machinery, it came from Smith Germany and E-mate US. 30
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Could you brief our reader about your assessment of the status of solar business in India? Being an important business of Moser Baer, solar business is a separate vertical named MB Solar Ltd. Our idea is that with the new government intending to deliver 24/7 power for all within the next five to ten years, the solar would be playing a vital role because it can fit in the parameters of scale, speed and skill development needed for 24/7 power delivery. The mission of the current government is well articulated by Mr. Piyush Goel when he said he wanted to see that solar take the stellar role in power
production in the country. Solar did not take off in the last five years but I think it would do very well in coming half decade. The current government is working with intent to insure that there is continues demand for solar power, which is the critical element of ensuring success of the sector. The government has come up with two prompt approaches; one, to promote the solar related manufacturing in the country, and second, to allow imports so that low cost imported panels can bring down solar power price. We have great radiation zones in Rajasthan and Gujrat and if we
Interview
provide proper support, solar can take off very well. What are the challenges in maintaining the solar power system? I am not expecting any challenges if we once develop the skill required to manage it. As I say earlier, scale, speed and skill development are necessary. The man who is running the solar system has to well trained to take care of all the issue which come up. One has to insure that battery doesn’t get discharged and people who are drawing power are drawing only allotted power and not more. What is your opinion to use the solar system in urban area? My opinion is there are many place where the solar power can be used, all the primary health care centres, school, colleges etc. can be good clients as many of them use substantial power in day time. Roof tops of government buildings can host solar panels. The power produced can be deployed during day time. Secondly, this can be connected to the grid so whatever excess is produced in weekend, can go to the grid. In our country, majority of power short fall occurs during day time when the peak power shortage is about 7 to 10 per cent. If we are able to take care of during peak time, we need not install the huge gen sets. Solar can manage during day time and in the evening, wind can take over. What all needs to be done to promote solar power? See, there are two or three things. First, when we started the journey of solarisation, around the year 2010, the prices were substantially higher. Thanks to the Chinese, the prices have come down for a solar system almost by 60-70 per cent.
So, the price of solar power has come down from Rs 17.91 when the first solar programme started in the country in 2010, to Rs. 6.00 - 6.50 today. This means we are touching grid parity with respect to the imported coal. Second, it is scalable and rapid construction is possible. We can put up 1 MW per day once the funding is available. Lastly, funding is the crucial issue. If we can arrange adequate funding, it can take off. How is the financing situation? We have made a small beginning. However, the US and KFW, Germany are willing to provide $1bn each. We can negotiate and get some support from countries such as Japan and China as well. If we are talking about 100,000 MW in 5-10 years means, we are talking about investment of around $100bn. If the money cannot come from domestic sources, we need to attract foreign direct investments. By when you are looking at solar power attaining grid parity? Currently, our estimation is that we are very close to grid parity versus imported coal. I am thinking the next 3-4 years, by 2018-2019, we must be in a position to reach the
parity with respect to domestic coal. Because costs of coal are going up and management issues are challenging, which will drive the cost of coal-based thermal power. How conducive is it for the industry to play a role in the Indian renewable energy sector? If renewables have to succeed, all of us have to act. There is a strong role for the renewables in our country’s energy mix. The dream of 24x7 power for all can be realized only with the strong participation of solar as well as wind. I’ll focus on solar. In my opinion, this is possible with large scale funding coming from the government. I am not expecting subsidy but funding should be made available at more liberal terms so that paybacks can improve. There are three key factors we are looking at. First, solar power can satisfy much of the energy demand in the country. Second, the government is determined to provide 24x7 power. Third, the financing structure for these projects needs to be built. Once there is clear policy guidelines on infrastructure funding, including solar, it will go a long way in solarisation of India. |
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Power & Energy
Solar Power: Aiming for Sunny Days
| Ekta Srivastava
I
ndia has 300 days of sunshine a year, on average - yet, for a multitude of reasons, our cities suffer chronic electricity cuts and power outages. Why is this the case? Why aren’t alternative sources of energy already in the process of being used, en masse? Where exactly are the problems and bottlenecks - in 32
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politics, execution, cost, labor, or lack of expertise? These questions invariably raise their heads in every common people’s mind. Today, India hardly has a choice but to focus on renewable for energy security and with the aggressive capital cost reduction in the last few years and high solar reception levels in a year makes solar energy a favored choice for renewable capacity addition. For the same,
the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), a central scheme envisages addition of 20GW of gridconnected solar power capacity by 2022.
The Story So Far India planned to build up solar capacity through an ambitious national programme Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) aided by various State
Power & Energy
Solar polices. The JNNSM phase-I (batch-I & II) was a limited success with only 43 per cent of envisaged capacity getting commissioned on account of delays largely related to Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) projects. While, batch-I was carried out using bundling of solar power with unallocated NTPC power to states, the batch-II projects were allocated using reverse bidding methodology i.e. by cutting Feed-InTariff (FiT) in line with a drop in capital costs of solar project. The private Independent Power Producers (IPPs) bid very aggressively as solar PV
A national Smart Grid would evolve the existing system into one that would be better suited for the information flow which is required for energy conservation, higher reliability and the introduction of variable generation power from renewable sources.
and capacity of power evacuation infrastructure in the remote areas can encourage or inhibit development of solar projects in any region, as it could result in additional burden on solar project developer. Next, the availability of water and land for solar thermal presents a huge challenge for deployment of large scale generating stations. The water supply network at the proposed site for solar projects needs to be assessed from the perspective of commercial viability of CSP projects. From project development
Solar Energy possesses tremendous potential in bridging India’s energy demand-supply gap in the future
costs dropped by around 56%, i.e. from around Rs.15 cr/MW to Rs.10 cr/MW, during 2010-2012. The installed solar capacity in India reached approximately 1811MW by March 2013 led by some aggressive capacity addition in States like Gujarat (under state policy) and Rajasthan (under JNNSM) due to land availability at cheap rates, evacuation infrastructure support i.e. infrastructure to transmit power from plant to grid, with the help of
multilateral agency (ADB) funding and power purchase agreement (PPA) bankability.
Challenges for Solar Power Business The development of solar projects face a number of issues related to land availability, financing, transmission and PPA. Power evacuation is perhaps the most crucial issue for solar power producers. The availability
perspective, a single-window approach should be adopted to expedite project development process. Development of solar parks provide an integrated approach for addressing some of the key issues related to the development of solar projects. It also results in reduced cost related to power evacuation, water availability owing the large scale solar project development in the solar park. Finally, legal arrangements like PPA, December 2014
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Power & Energy
Factors Driving the Growth of Solar Energy in India The factors propelling the current and future growth in the solar energy segment are segregated into demand side growth drivers and supply side growth drivers
Demand drivers India suffers persistent energy shortage with average demand-supply gap revolving around 12 per cent of total power supply. This, coupled with rising energy needs, is a major factor driving the growth of this segment. The Power Ministry forecasts electricity consumption to increase to around 1900 kWh by 2032 from the current about 750 kWh. Policy measures such as JNNSM, aimed at encouraging investment in the solar energy sector, shall help develop a market for solar energy in India, thereby driving down costs. Increasing public awareness about issues such as energy scarcity and environmental preservation shall also fuel the demand for eco-friendly power, hinting at growth opportunities for solar power.
Supply growth factors The current power generation in India is heavily dependent on non-renewable natural resources such as coal and diesel, whose fast depletion has forced the government and the power generation companies to look into RE sources, especially solar power. The favourable environment created by government through subsidy schemes and policies is encouraging power generation companies to invest in this sector and thus promoting growth. The other major factors driving the growth from the supply side are huge demand for electricity in rural areas lacking grid connectivity, and abundant availability of sunrays in India throughout the year
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Power & Energy
Development of solar parks provide an integrated approach for addressing issues related to the development of solar projects
transmission agreement and land acquisition etc. are pre-requisites to the securing financing for the projects. Developers are supposed to utilize equity for payment of charges till the time debt disbursements are not there. This at times affects the project development as the fees/ charges paid by the developers in preparatory steps are quite high. Lack of technical capability of commercial banks to understand the solar technology and relatively higher risks of solar projects in comparison to conventional power projects also act as barrier to financing. Financial institutions perceive solar energy
in India as a riskier investment because it is a fledgling industry without a proven track record in meeting commissioning deadlines, performance benchmarks, and delivering power.
Future ahead Solar Energy possesses tremendous potential in bridging India’s energy demand-supply gap in the future. There are various challenges for this industry, including lowering cost of production, high R&D related costs, consumer awareness and financing infrastructure. It is important to overcome these challenges for fast
growth and mass adoption of the technology. Some of the immediate actions that would enable growth are efficient implementation of renewable energy certificates and usage of carbon trading as a source of revenue. Immediate implementation of grid powered energy in regions of Rajasthan and Gujarat, development of off-grid usage in various applications such as cellular towers and encouraging localized mini grids in areas that lack connectivity today are some of the other initiatives that could allow India to become one of the world leaders in Solar Energy. |
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Dr. Praveen Saxena DG, National Institute of Solar Energy
Our Research Geared to Bridge Efficiency Gap
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hat is your assessment of the solar energy in India? India has an installed capacity of 2,53,000 MW. Of this, renewable has the capacity of 32,000 MW, which is about 12 per cent of the total capacity. We generate about 16.7 per cent from hydro and 12.8 per cent from other renewables. Nuclear contributes just about 1.2 per cent. Renewable is already in a position such that we are the second largest source of power generation in the country. Within renewables, wind contributes 67 per cent, or 22,000 MW with about 4,000 MW coming from small hydro, 4,000 MW from biomass and about 36
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2,800 MW from solar. We are not yet there on solar essentially because we started in 2010. However, in just 3 to 4 years we have achieved 2,800 MW of solar, which is significant. What is the kind of innovation the country needs in solar sector and how do you match up to it? Today the technology in solar segment in the country is in a position that we produce 16 -17 per cent efficient solar cell modules. Internationally, the modules are 19-20 per cent. We are lagging by about 3 per cent in efficiency of solar modules. As far as solar cells are concerned, cells are a sub-set of modules. We make 18 per cent solar cells whereas global share is more
Solar has been widely acknowledged as the energy source which on its own can bridge the massive gap in India’s power demand and supply. Technological advancement has played a major role in bringing the cost of production down significantly over last few years. National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) has been working on improving solar power prospect in the country through tech advancement. Governance Today spoke to Dr. Praveen Saxena, Director General of NISE to elicit his opinion on the various issues related to Solar Energy. Edited excerpts: than 20 per cent. The theoretical limits of achieving are 34 per cent of efficient solar cells. All our R&D efforts are now directed towards this to fill this gap of 3 to 4 per cent and we hope that within 2 years we will catch up with the global mark. How does the regulatory framework look like in this sector? Does it pose any concern? The regulatory framework has been conducive to the development of solar sector and has never hindered the technological progress. As a country we have said that all the distribution companies would have to source certain percentage of power from renewables, and we have a specific renewable energy
Interview
purchase obligation for solar, that is helping us. But then we don’t have any penalties to be imposed, if the obligations are not met with. Now, the ministry is trying to change some of these regulatory aspects so that we can impose penalties. What drives this sector? Policy or Economy? I am happy that as a country we are now moving towards renewables as a contribution towards climate change. In fact, in our country, renewable is seen more as energy source rather than climate change option, which means, because we are short of power, and our rural and remote areas are struggling with power shortages, they are finding renewables a good option. Secondly, electricity is becoming expensive. And solar power, whatever we generate, initial capital investment is there. But once the capital
investment is made, electricity generation is then free, so the fuel cost is zero. So for entrepreneurs this is a good business option provided he is able to meet the capital cost, which is slightly higher. However, there are some technical issues. One, solar energy is available during the day time. So we need to store it. Two, because solar energy is a diffused form of energy whereas petroleum energy is very concentrated in form, so we cannot generate more than what we receive. But we can theoretically generate so much power that we can meet the entire world requirement. I am sure that the use of solar energy will be prioritized in concepts of smart grid and smart city. I think we are already at a stage where we generate equally solar and wind energy as electricity. It is probably a matter of few more years when solar will be cheaper than the conventional energy.
The segment is incentive driven? How does that help industry? It is important to bear in mind the rate at which the distribution companies are purchasing electricity. Solar plants become economically viable if you buy electricity at Rs. 7 a unit. The average in our country should not be more than Rs. 5-5.50 per unit. That gap can be met either by improving good technology or by making the projects more economically viable or setting up the projects in selected areas where the availability of sun light is very high, so that we generate more. So I will only say that we need to wait for another couple of years and we will just be there. How do you see the geographical positioning for solar energy production? Rajasthan is very good for solar energy production. In fact, Leh & Ladakh are even better options, for
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the reasons of low dust accumulation, low temperature and high intensity in the area. Due to these reasons the conversion efficiency increased in cold temperatures. But then the problem of generating energy in those areas poses different difficulty – the energy needs to be transmitted to central areas and that requires huge transmission loss, adding to the cost. So the biggest advantage in solar power production will come if we generate power where we can use it. Roof-tops, therefore, are the better options. If every house generate 10 units a day with roof-top arrangement, that is a saving for the country. That saving will ultimately go to the industry which is spending Rs. 20 per unit. So if domestic sector saves, that power goes to industry which
match up to the best. If we export, then our modules need to be of internationally acceptable quality. In that, efficiency is not a very critical component. It is the total wattage of a module that matters and that our companies are able to match. But then there are certain companies which are doing more than average. So we are not trying to match the lower ones, we are trying to match the upper ones. What is your take on urban renewables? There are two
be put up in 6 weeks whereas the same in thermal project will take 6 years. In urban areas, it is a matter of substituting the conventional energy. That sensitization will take some time. What message you would like to give through Governance Today on renewable energy? Our basic message is, use more renewable. It is the requirement of the day. We
will produce more. This can become a win-win situation. However, it takes time to happen. Any collaboration on R&D grounds or in technology trade? We have collaborations with many research institutes in US, Germany and Japan. The people from all of these countries visit our projects and we do visit their projects. There are joint projects as well. We are collaborating are not only for bringing energy efficiency, but also for system designing, applications and various other aspects. Is there any pressure to match up to their global benchmark? Yes, there is always pressure to
aspects. For rural areas, renewables is a necessity. In Arunachal Pradesh, we identified 1058 villages which are on the China border. The government of India has decided to electrify all these villages. They cannot be electrified by conventional means. For 523 villages we decided to work with solar and within 6 months of wwwwwwreceiving grant, these villages started receiving tower through solar and they are all now well lit. In fact, with some of them we were trying with hydro, which took three years. Solar has this advantage of having very short gestation, which can come down to even weeks. Today, a one MW solar project can
must switch over to it as early as possible. We can save electricity through renewables. We are also not expecting it to be a 100 per cent substitute of conventional. In our country, airplanes co-exist with bullock cart. So these alternate forms of energy will co-exist. However, the expectation is more from the industry. Industry should come forward, more than the domestic sector to accept renewable. Renewable energy makes a lot of sense for hotel industry, for textile industry, where other forms of renewables can also be used, not only in power.
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Biorefining, the Future Technology
In presence of Indian and Finnish Presidents, Chempolis signed an agreement with NRL to set up a bio refinery in India
| Anand Mishra
E
very year, from late October to early December, Delhi is engulfed with a smog that has a distinct smokey smell and has a choking character. Experts found that this smog is the direct result of waste paddy straws being burnt by farmers in states surrounding Delhi, namely Punjab, Haryana and western U.P. Farmers in these places 40
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burn these straws to recover ashes as fertilizers. However, this causes major health related problems in areas from where the smoke blows. It causes respiratory problems and causes eyes to burn. How good it would be to do something useful with the straws that are basically waste from rice cultivation. This is where Chempolis, a chemical engineering and biorefining technology company based out of Oulu, Finland, comes into focus.
Pasi Rousu, the President of the company for Asia Pacific and Americas says that in a country like India which has such a huge requirement of power and transportation fuels and which generates such great volumes of bio waste/residues from crops of rice, wheat and sugarcane production, it is most propitious to create fuel out of such wastes, which can ultimately be used in transportation and power generation. The company has just
Power & Energy
signed a deal with ONGC for setting up a bio refinery which would produce cellulosic ethanol and biochemicals from non-food biomass. The full scale (pilot) biorefinery is expected to come up in Punjab and once successful, would be replicated in various states such as Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat. It has also entered in an pratnership agreement with Assam based Numaligarh Refinery to jointly study to build a world class biorefinery in Assam for producing
available second generation technologies and has a significantly better return on investment as it reduces cost and generates higher yields of ethanol per tonne of Cellulosic Glucose. It is a platform technology for the co-production of advanced biofuels, cellulosic sugars, lignin, platform biochemicals and biocoal too. Further, through this technology, products like Acetic Acid and Furfural are extracted which are treated as waste in contemporary methods. The technology invented by the
that utilizes non-food biomass for economically useful purposes. Chempolis aims to utilize the biomass from various crops such as rice, wheat, bamboo and sugarcane for bio refining in India.” He further adds that “As India moves toward increasing bio fuel blending from five per cent to twenty per cent, it would increasingly need bio refining technology such as that supplied by Chempolis to convert the enormous volume of bio mass to fuel.” The good thing about the formicobio™ technology, as per
Ethanol prices and production costs
biofuel ethanol with co-production of furfural and acetic acid from locally available cellulosic biomass. Bamboo is one of the major non-food biomass resources available abundantly in North East India and it is among the fastest growing plants. Chempolis has developed proprietary technologies which integrates biomass conversion process to produce multiple fuels, power, heat, platform biochemicals and fibres. The formicobio™ technology of the company is a marked improvement over currently
company allows principally any kind of lignocellulosic biomass to be converted to ethanol in highly sustainable way. The company claims to be able to deliver most sustainable biorefineries to convert biomass waste to advanced biofuels, building blocks, food additives and medicines. Indian efforts in bio fuel blending never achieved the success it was expected to. However, according to Rousu, there is immense potential for bio based fuel production in the country. “There is a need to put in place technological infrastructure
Rousu, is that it does not require crops such as Jetropha which replace traditional crops. Instead, it uses the waste/residues from normal crops to produce bio fuel. In this regard, it does not create a pressure on the price of traditional crops, he says, as their cultivation is not hindered, actually farmers are gaining more revenues. Additionally, because formicobio™ technology extracts maximum out of the bio mass, it wastes least. Finally, it is completely environmentally sustainalbe. India is a major component December 2014
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Formicobio TM - technology as a cellulosic ethanol platform in Chempolis’ Southeast Asia plan. “We are working in various countries in Southeast Asia such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines with raw materials including straw, bagasse and empty fruit bunch, which is residue from palm oil production. As for our customers, they range from national oil companies, sugar industry and palm oil industry to agro and energy industries,” says Rousu. He further adds that “Because of its size and the
emphasis laid by the government on alternative fuel, India is a market to be in right now. This is why we are is expecting first Asian demonstration plant to come up in India which could act as the launching pad for us in other countries in the region.” Being a professional underwater photographer, Rousu has seen the adverse impact of global warming on coral reefs in various countries/ oceans. Even a couple of degrees increase in temperature could
Chempolis has developed the technology to convert rice straws into bio fuel
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cause irreversible damage to lot of underwater coral/marine life, he says. Actually very few people know that oceans produces over 70 per cent of oxygen in atmosphere. It is high time the world and increasingly emerging economies such as India do something about their carbon emission, which is a big fallout of burning of hydrocarbon. In his opinion, biorefining is the key to reduce the environmental degradation and Chempolis can play a big role in this endeavor. Rousu has been visiting India for almost two decades. “I have fond memories of my honeymoon visit to India when I fell in love with the natural beauty of the country. But I have seen the air quality deteriorate in big cities in the country.” We all share his assessment. It is time we seriously started to plan how we can be more environmental friendly. It is not rocket science. The answer lies right in front of us, in form of natural bio waste which can be used propitiously to meddle less with mother nature. |
Interview
Solar Power to Achieve Grid Parity Much Before Target
Rajendra Nimje Managing Director, Solar Energy Corporation of India
Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), is a nonprofit organization created to promote solar power by developing solar parks, set up solar plants and promote new technologies in solar segment. Governance Today interacted with Dr Rajendra Nimje, MD of SECI, to elicit his opinion about the status and scope of solar power in India. Excerpts:
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hat is India’s position in Global solar energy market? Solar market is with the National Solar Mission in 2010 when the Mission started. Before that lot of solar activities have stared but not on a commercial scale. Solar is an emerging market with lots of opportunities. It is also very good for consumers who are paying high tariffs. There is much problem in rural areas where either the grid has not reached or power supply is available for just about 3 to 4 hours even though grid has reached. Solar is a distributed energy which will
in coming five years will become a major source of energy. Solar energy, as of now, is small; we have reached only a capacity of 3,000 MW, which is much less than the capacities of other emerging or developed countries such as China, Germany or the US. But going forward we are planning to equal China’s capacity. The market is opening up and we can see lot of ancillaries coming up, including the inverters, solar pump sets, solar light systems, solar mini-micro grids etc. I see solar power sector at a turning point. The focus now is on tapping up solar energy across the country. Earlier, only a few states like Gujarat and Rajasthan were in focus, but going forward, all states, including a state like J&K, where there is very little sunlight available, are being looked at. As we need to understand, this is a solar light energy, not solar heat energy that we are talking about. In cold weather, the radiation scope for light energy is more. In last half a decade, the planned capacity is increased five folds. But is the industry prepared to take the lead? The Govt’s role is to make the business environment conducive, so that private players can play a bigger role. It is not a government driven program. All the 3,000 MW programs are expected to be in private sector. The cost of the solar power has come down from Rs. 18 per unit a few years ago to Rs. 7 now a days. The distribution companies still can buy with 5.50 rupees which means the difference Rs. 1.5 is still met by the government support December 2014
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through various instruments. But there is still some time before you reach the parity. Once you reach parity you don’t need such support. There are some more assistance the government has to provide to support upscaling. For example, the rooftops may be brought under housing sector. Then government is trying to give a push to large scale solar power. Solar was earlier talked about in terms of KWs but now we are talking in terms of MWs. We have already planned for 3,000 MWs and are coming up with another 2,000 MW tender now. There will be lot of other push from both central and state governments in this area. Andhra and Telangana are coming up with 500 MW each and they are witnessing great response with three times overbooking. Other governments including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh are also moving very first. Even Uttar Pradesh is showing keenness in solar power. So the market is getting bigger. 12 states have already initiated solar parks, which is a major step under SECI’s initiatives. Once developers build scale, the cost will come down. With rise in demand and backward linkage developing, the manufacturing in the sector will grow. With the Prime Minister’s ‘Make in India’ campaign, the trend has started to show as Chinese 44
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Solar energy, as of now, is small; we have reached only a capacity of 3,000 MW, which is much less than the capacities of other emerging or developed countries such as China, Germany or the US. But going forward we are planning to equal China’s capacity. company Trima solar is planning manufacturing in India, which is a good sign. This would boost local employment and local content. The government would ensure that all help is provided to investors. Do you agree that National Solar Mission has failed so far? There is no failure. They meet the target in phases. I can say that they planned it well by not targeting too ambitiously. They knew that the initial take off is time taking and once everything settles down you can ramp it up. So accordingly they set for 1,000 MW in Ph-1, in which the country has done 600 MW, so there is not a big setback. Now for 2013-17 they have given 10,000
MW, and we hope to surpass that with a large margin. By 2022, we are talking about 20,000 MW in Solar Mission now. So there is no question of looking back. Earlier the target for solar energy share was three per cent which was mandatory, but now it has to be scaled up to more, may be up to 10 per cent. The target of three per cent was set up to 2022, with a 0.5 percent increase every year. Many states have followed, some are lagging behind. Now, we are trying to push it even further. Some states have been performing very well whereas some others such as UP and Haryana are facing some constraints. For example, there are issues involving availability of land. Now they are coming up with small patches of land and are ready to start at a small scale of say 10 MW. So the change is beginning to come. There is a general feeling that this sector is incentive driven. How do you react? Earlier, the scale was not there and the technology was new. So the incentive was required; we provided support up to Rs. 18 at one point of time. But periodically support amounts have been cut down as scale has gone up. So now, energy availability from solar without any subsidy, if it is grid level, is coming around at Rs. 7 per unit. But the distribution companies who are the major buyers of electricity may now want to pick up power at this price; they will buy at 5 to 5.50 rupees. So this gap is being addressed now as subsidy, which will gradually and subsequently be abolished. Government is very keen to introduce innovative ideas where subsidies are not required. By when you think solar power can attain grid parity? Earlier we were looking at achieving it by 2022. But with the solar usages
Interview
being modified, targets are newly set, the grid parity will come in next 2-3 years, much before 2022. This has been facilitated by the sharp reduction in capital cost. If we talk about mega scale, we think we will achieve that in next 2 years. How are new technologies contributing to the progress of the sector? It is impacting the sector a great deal. We have solar PV technology, which is very stable with not
about other technologies, the solar thermal technology, unfortunately, didn’t take off very well in this country. SECI is coming up with very aggressive push in this; we are coming up with 2 pilot projects of 50 MW each to see that the best of technology is captured at best of rates. In solar thermal, we are tapping heat energy, where as solar PV is tapping only light energy. The advantage here is it is not restricted to availability of sun light during day time. The heat storage media
technology. What message you have for entrepreneurs who want to invest in this sector? Solar is such a uniquely placed sector, which will offer opportunities in a distributed way as well as in megascale. In megascale, we are coming up with larger scale solar parks, ultrapower solar power projects, large grid connected projects. India and state governments are working in tandem to support entrepreneurs
much variation or surprises nor do we have much wear and tear. Whatever degradation we get after so many years that is also known in advance. PV crystalline, monocrystalline, poly crystalline are also very standardized now. Technology is very stable here. But talking
are very affordable and cheaper compared to light storage. With this storage mechanism we can deliver power for 16 to 18 hours a day. There won’t be any grid instability in this case. SECI is taking up 2 projects in this, one in Gujarat and the other in Rajasthan, which is called CSP
to come up and set up power plants in the solar power, where license and infrastructure are taken care by SECI and state governments. So, the environment now is much more conducing for investment than ever before. |
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Time to Tap Hydropower | Ramesh Kumar Raja
E
ven though India is gifted with huge hydropower potential and ranks fifth in the world in terms of potential capacity, it has lost its sheen over the years. It is evident from declining share of hydroelectricity in the energy sector which has gone down from 43.50 per cent in 1969-70 to a little under 19 per cent in September 2014. Startlingly, around 67 per cent of the country’s hydroelectric potential remains unharnessed notwithstanding its cost which is relatively low and which can make hydro a competitive source of renewable electricity. The country’s installed hydropower capacity totals 36 GW and another 13 GW is under construction, as per the latest available data. The total hydropower potential of 148 GW will be able to meet a demand of 84 GW at 60 per cent load factor. In the north eastern part of India, more than 93 per cent of the total hydroelectric potential is yet to be tapped, chiefly in regions of the Brahmaputra river basin. Over 65 per cent of the potential has been exploited in the southern and western regions.
Officialdom Delaying Projects According to a knowledge paper on the hydropower sector in India by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and PricewaterhouseCoopers, the declining share of hydropower in the country’s energy mix is attributed to the issues that disrupt implementation of the government’s policy initiatives for prioritising hydropower development. The paper, ‘Hydropower in India: Key enablers for a better tomorrow’, describes how various factors such as environmental concerns, resettlement and rehabilitation problems, land acquisition hurdles, delays in clearances and relative lack of capability of developers had contributed to the slow pace of hydropower development in the past. As per Central Electricity Authority, about 25,000 MW hydro projects have been concurred by CEA and are held up due to these reasons. These problems have been compounded by the fact that hydropower development has largely remained under the purview of state governments as water is a state subject. Since different states have 46
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Though the progress of hydro power segment has been lagging so far, the government has realised its significance and is planning to take measures to appeal investors.
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varying policies, incentives and regulatory environment, investors get confounded on various issues including upfront premium and royalties, the report mentioned. The hydroelectricity segment in India was unbolted for private sector participation in 1991 to fast-track the growth of the sector and bridge the gap between actual and planned capacity addition. However, over next decade, i.e. between 1991 and 2012, the private sector contributed to just above 11 per cent of the total addition in hydropower
to create an enabling investment environment for augmenting private contribution by addressing issues related to safeguards, land acquisition, evacuation infrastructure, law and order along with technical challenges and project related risks.
Key Enablers The knowledge paper establishes a road map with the aim of addressing the various challenges that confront the sector. It takes into account five serious factors for responsible hydropower development providing key enablers for each of them. The factors considered in the paper
is planning to take measures which may appeal to investors and which could speed up the execution of the existing projects. The sector had received a major jolt in 2012 when the government withdrew mega power policy which resulted in higher cost of construction for hydropower projects. The government needs to provide fiscal incentives in terms of excise duty and service tax exemptions to hydro project developers. Incentive may be in the form of exemption from excise duty to all the capital goods required for the setting-up of a hydropower project regardless of whether it is a mega power project
Illustration of hydropower generation
capacity in the country. Until now, about 2,700 MW has been commissioned through the private route which constitutes less than seven per cent of total installed hydropower capacity. Although private participation has gathered steam in the recent time, it still faces obstacles in the execution across various stages of the project implementation cycle. As per the paper, the Centre and States need 48
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include governance framework, financing, market development, benefit-sharing mechanism and technical capacity building. These factors address important impediments that are inhibiting the growth of hydro power development in the country. Though the progress of hydro power segment has been lagging so far, but the government has realised the significance of the situation and
or not. It may be remembered that hydropower projects currently attract total customs duty of 23.08 per cent on the cost of imported gear while the equipment manufactured by domestic companies attract similar percentage of excise duty. Besides, a suggestion has also been made to provide exemption from excise duties on cement and steel required for the construction of a hydro power project. The
Power & Energy
India’s highest and one of the world’s tallest Tehri Dam on the Bhagirathi River near Tehri in Uttarakhand
government is considering a proposal to provide exemption from service tax to all services received and used during the construction, erection and commissioning of the project. Meanwhile, private sector is disillusioned with the hydro power sector due to various reasons mentioned earlier. As of now, 136 hydro projects with a combined capacity of 40,991.5 MW have been allotted to private developers by state governments which are yet to be taken up for construction. But tax concessions alone may not be able to get investors invest in hydro projects and the government may have to take many more steps to pull more players into the sector.
Needed, a Multi-Pronged Approach Earlier, the CEA had recommended a multi-pronged strategy to expedite the implementation of hydro projects.
World’s largest masonry dam, Nagarjuna Sagar Dam, on the Krishna River in between Guntur of Andhra Pradesh and Nalgonda district of Telangana
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Key growth factors for hydro power in India and their key enablers • Governance: Inter-governmental coordination, integrated planning and a supportive institutional structure • Investment: Ensuring swifter clearances, provisioning for associated infrastructure, fiscal incentives and innovative financial instruments to help raise long term and cost effective financing • Market development: Providing incentives for hydropower purchase, introduction of differential tariff structures and a market for ancillary services • Benefit-sharing mechanism: Focus on responsible development and public private people partnership • Technical capacity building: Building state of the art construction technique
And that include constitution of high powered committee, comprising senior officers from State government, environment ministry, power ministry, water ministry, CEA, Central Water Commission, Geological Survey of India, Road Transport & Highways ministry, and BRO to deal with any situation that comes up before the setting up of a plant. The CEA further mentioned the need for State specific approach for each of the hydro rich Himalayan States – Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. The authority advised that in J&K, hydro power development could be led by JKPDCL which is politically more acceptable than the NHPC to the local population. The formation of Chenab Valley Development Corporation, JV of JKPDC and NHPC for Pakhal Dual HEP is a good initiative. The CEA also stated that there are no specific issues in Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh. A number of projects in Lower Sikkim and Lower HP are under construction. The 50
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projects in Upper Chenab and Upper Satluj have already been allotted and there is a need to give them a push. Similarly, there is a need to give push to the project allotted in Upper Sikkim. In Arunachal Pradesh, local agitation, NGOs resistance, anti-dam
activities and various subversive elements have blocked up hydro power projects. NHPC’s Lower Subansiri project and NEEPCO’s Upper Siang-II project are both facing resistance from local population. Lower Siang and Dibang, which are massive projects of size 2000-3000 MW are facing huge problems due to local activism and opposition. The authority mentioned that there is a need to create conducive environment in Arunachal Pradesh in addition to build basic infrastructure for making the project site accessible. In Uttarakhand, there is an urgent need to counter adverse publicity created by floods in the recent past. Needless to say, there are challenges in development of hydro power because of various reasons which include natural and man
made problems. But that is hardly an excuse to not invest in this sector which is truly renewable in nature and is completely pollution free. We cannot allow such an opportunity go wasted while burning hydrocarbon fuel which is finite and is polluting. |
Interview
Supporting India’s
Energy Governance
UNDP is a nodal organization involved in furthering the developmental agenda across the world. Along with supporting programs fighting poverty, it works for furthering democracy, enhancing national capacities and protecting environment. A big part of the cause of environmental protection is supporting efficient and innovative energy programs that minimize environmental damages. This includes capacity development, interventions on policy matters and creating awareness in various countries in which it operates. The Governance Today spoke to Jaco Cilliers, Country Director of UNDP for India to know about the various energy related initiatives of UNDP in India. Edited excerpts: Could you elucidate UNDP’s role on governance challenges and threats to energy sector in India. In the recent years, India’s energy consumption has been increasing at one of the fastest rates in the world. With a targeted GDP growth rate of nine per cent, the energy demand is expected to grow at 6.5 per cent per year. Governance of energy management through appropriate energy policies is a huge challenge. We think the new government’s decision to group the
Jaco Cilliers Country Director of UNDP relevant ministries together such as Ministry of Power, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and Ministry of Coal with one Minister could bring cohesiveness in policies and governance. Another challenge is the management of use of noncommercial energy such as use of firewood, whose unsustainable harvesting for the purpose of meeting energy requirement is said to be the cause of deforestation. LPG/ Kerosene are thought to be clean fuels that can replace these
non-commercial fuels but making them available to remote rural areas at affordable prices is a challenge. Renewable energy products such as biogas, solar cookers have the potential to meet this requirement but have not yet penetrated to the desired levels. Making these energy available to remotest areas at affordable rates is a great challenge. UNDP supports India in addressing these governance challenges and threats to energy sector in the following way: December 2014
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UNDP supports Indian government in identifying key challenges to energy sector, design pilot projects, demonstrate solutions, scale them up and help the government in mainstreaming them through policy or market based approaches. In addition to providing small financial support from UNDP’s core funds for key initiatives, UNDP supports Indian Government in
approach consisting of parallel interventions on policy, finance, capacity development and awareness creation. Catalyzing private and public investments through programs that transform markets for delivery of sustainable energy products and services and the de-risking of the policy and financial environment are key elements of such an approach. Where appropriate commercial incentives cannot be created,
we support decentralized electricity generation through renewables, particularly in off-grid areas and helps to address barriers to expansion of biomass-based power. In collaboration with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, we also support formulation of policy frameworks and help to address barriers to expanding and scaling up energy access in rural areas to meet household energy needs as well as to
leveraging international funds such Global Environmental Funds [GEF] to demonstrate key initiatives for climate change mitigation and adaptation. UNDP is also preparing to help Government in availing new opportunities and leveraging funds from Green Climate Fund UNDP facilitates leveraging international expertise and technology transfer UNDP supports south-south cooperation for knowledge sharing and implementation support What have been the areas of UNDP’s intervention in energy sector of other countries? We support and advocate an energy sector market transformation
market-led solutions need to be complemented with strategic use of public money (national and international). In those circumstances public funds need to be leveraged supporting comprehensive energy market transformations. What are the key energy goals for UNDP, especially for India? UNDP’s objective in this area is to expand access to clean energy and help build the capacity of communities to manage natural resources and withstand climate change and disasters through a consultative process with Government and communities. UNDP supports initiatives that increase access to clean energy for domestic and productive uses in offgrid, under-served rural regions.
strengthen livelihoods. Some of our important involvements in India include supporting Indian Railways in reducing its energy consumption and working with the Ministry of Urban Development to strengthen government capacity to plan, finance, implement, operate and manage climate friendly and sustainable urban transport systems. We are also supporting energy efficiency in small scale secondary steel industries to reduce specific energy interventions by introducing energy efficient technology packages in reheating furnaces, the rolling mills and the induction furnaces. UNDP has been consistently contributing to developmental practice areas, particularly in poverty reduction. What are
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your plans in mainstream other developmental activities including energy, efficiency and environment? Poverty reduction is one of most important thematic area in UNDP. However, our work in Energy and Environment is also very significant. UNDP is working with more than ten central and state ministries to mainstream actions relating to energy, efficiency and environment. We work towards piloting actions,
build evidence, replicate and mainstream the outcome through market based developments or through policies. For example, UNDP worked with Ministry of Steel in demonstrating energy efficiency in small scale steel rerolling mill. There are about 1800 such mills contributing to about 30 million tonnes (40 per cent) of India’s steel production. A reduction of 30 per cent in specific energy consumption in about 34 steel mills was achieved there by. What is UNDP’s take as well as step towards supporting or investing in technology that enables communities to gain access to energy? We support actions to enable communities to gain access to energy. We think three A’s are very important
to enable communities gain access to energy. They are Adoptability, Availability, and Affordability. Just to cite an example, we have supported ‘Green Mandals’ in few villages in Orissa and ‘Shakti Kendra’ in few villages in Chattisgarh where renewable energy products such as solar lights, efficient Cookstoves were made available and linked with banks who would finance. With a small finance of Rs. 10 lakhs, the entrepreneurs have generated a turnover of over Rs. 100 lakhs and most importantly the households are benefited. Now children can study in comfortable lights, persons who are carrying out household enterprise like screen printing can carry out their tasks more reliably and complement their incomes. Nearly 833 million i.e. 69 per cent of 1.21 billion people in India live in rural areas. Lack of access to reliable, affordable and clean energy is an impediment to rural livelihoods sectors in India. UNDP is working on various initiatives such as developing the market for Renewable Energy Technologies for Rural Livelihoods [RETPRLs] in three selected states of Assam, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. Through this program, solar and biomass waste powered micro grids are set up for common facilities for local communities. What are your future plans for India in terms of adding to the country’s renewable energy development? India has made tremendous progress in accelerating and promoting use of renewable energy technologies. But there are still many challenges in energy sector such as filling the energy deficit, providing access to electricity to 300 million people who are not yet connected, providing clean energy to micro-enterprises that depend on costly and polluting diesel. Recognising that renewable energy solutions can address some of these challenges, the new
government has increased the targets for renewables significantly. We highly appreciate the vision and the initiatives of Government, and are committed to support the Government of India in meeting ambitious targets such as 100,000 MW power from renewable energy sources and providing electricity to all the unreached villages. We also support in developing smart cities and accelerating access to clean energy in particular. UNDP is working with MNRE in demonstrating and upscaling renewable energy based solutions for microenterprises in off grid regions, demonstrate applications of solar concentrators for industrial heating requirements, develop skill sets of youth in promoting renewable energy, advocate for policy /fiscal support based on the lessons and develop capacities of potential entrepreneurs and service providers on RE based energy solutions for off-grid applications. We have supported MNRE in accelerating the market for solar water heaters and contributed to tripling the solar water heater installation. In collaboration with MNRE, we aim to further accelerate and exploit the solar potential in meeting the hot water, steam and hot air requirements in domestic, commercial, hospitals, hospitality and industrial set ups, thereby reducing the use of electricity, furnace oil, and other precious petroleum fuels and thereby help businesses to contribute to reducing greenhouse gases emissions. Also, we are developing programs to accelerate use of renewables around forest fringe areas, waste to energy, solar cookers, solar PV products, etc. These initiatives, we believe would go a long way in furthering the cause of renewable in India. |
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Non-Conventional Sources
Power of the Future | Ekta Srivastava
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t is not an exaggeration to state that ‘humanity is facing a choice between a peaceful decision on its common energy future or wars for resources in the near future. The world Population is set to grow by 0.9 percent per year on average, from an estimated 6.7 billion in 2008 to 8.5 billion in 2035, according to UNDP estimates. The situation for India is especially grim because of the deficit on even 54
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existing demand level. As such, there is a dire need for trapping and using non-conventional energy sources in India for the survival of future generations. However, it is clear that grid extension in rural areas is often not cost effective. Hence, decentralized electricity generation with non-conventional energy sources such as wind, hydro, solar, biomass, biofuels and energy from waste are best suited to the increasing demand. India has a vast supply of
renewable energy resources, and it has one of the largest programs in the world for deploying renewable energy products and systems. Indeed, it used to be the only country in the world to have an exclusive ministry for renewable energy development; Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Sources (MNRE) supports the implementation of a large broad- spectrum of programs covering the entire range of new and renewable energies. These programs broadly seek to
Power & Energy
supplement conventional fossil fuel based power with renewable energy and make it available to remotest rural areas for a variety of applications like water pumping for irrigation and drinking water purposes, dying farm produce, improved chulhas and biogas plants, energy recovery from the urban, municipal and industrial wastes. In addition, they plan to exploit hydrogen energy, geothermal energy, tidal energy and biofuels for power generation and automotive application on large scale.
Why Non-Conventional Energy? In 2013-14, peak power shortage of India was around seven percent and electricity demand is expected to rise by 7.4 per cent a year during the next quarter of a century. Unfortunately, India cannot realistically expect to bridge this power deficit by increasing reliance
India is the fifth largest consumer of energy in the world, and will be the third largest by 2030
of its total imports. Similarly, India’s coal imports are likely to touch a whopping 185 million tonnes by 2017. Hence, the Indian government has been also making serious efforts
based alternatives and provides substantial benefits for our climate, our health and our economy. Some of the important benefits of renewable energy are, little to be no global warming emissions, improved public health and environmental quality, a vast and inexhaustible energy supply, stable energy prices and a more reliable and resilient energy system.
Aiming Big
Electricity demand in India is expected to rise by 7.4 per cent a year during the next quarter of a century
and dependence on the fossil fuels. The reason for the same are many, ranging from socio-economic to environmental and health issues. According to Energy Statistics 2012, India imports about 75 percent of its oil which in fact comprises one- third
to enhance India renewable energy production since recent past. A major advantage of renewable energy is that it can be regenerated and is therefore sustainable as it will never run out. It has several advantages over its hydrocarbon
India is one of the fastest growing countries in terms of energy consumption. Currently, it is the fifth largest consumer of energy in the world, and will be the third largest by 2030. At the same time, the country is heavily dependent on fossil sources of energy for most of its demand, thus necessitating to aggressively pursue alternative energy sources such as solar, wind, biofuels, small hydro, geothermal and others. The country has an estimated renewable energy potential of around 85,000 MW from commercially exploitable sources: wind: 45,000 MW, small hydro: 15,000 MW and biomass/bioenergy:
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BIG FOCUS AREAS IN NON CONVENTIONAL SOURCES Wind Energy India’s wind power potential has been assessed at 48,500 MW. The current technical potential is estimated at about 13,000 MW, assuming 20 percent grid penetration, which would increase with the augmentation of grid capacity in potential states. India is implementing the world’s largest wind resources assessment program comprising wind monitoring, wind mapping and complex terrain projects. This program covers 800 stations in 24 states with around 200 wind monitoring stations in operations at present. Hydro Energy Hydro power is the largest renewable energy resource being used for the generation of electricity. The 50,000 MW hydro initiatives have been already launched and are being vigorously pursued with detailed project report (DPRs) for projects of 33,000 MW capacity already under preparation. Harnessing hydro potential speedily will also facilitate economic development of states, particularly North-Eastern States, Sikkim, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh and J&K, since a large proportion of our hydro power potential is located in these States. In India, hydro power projects with a station capacity of up to 25 megawatt (MW) each fall under the category of small hydro power (SHP). Solar Energy India has one of the world’s largest programmes in solar energy which include R&D, demonstration and utilization, testing and standardization, industrial and promotional activities. Processed raw material for solar cells, large capacity SPV modules, SPV roof tiles, inverters, charge controllers all have good market potential in India as do advanced solar water heaters, roof integrated solar air heaters, and solar concentrators for power generations (above 100 KW). Biomass Energy Globally, India is in the fourth position in generating power through biomass and with a huge potential, is poised to become a world leader in the utilization of biomass. Biomass power projects with an aggregate capacity of 773.3 MW through over 100 projects have been installed in the country. For the last 15 years, biomass power has become an industry attracting annual investment of over Rs. 1,000 billion, generating more than 09 billion unit of electricity per year. More than 540 million tons of crop and plantation residues are produced every year in India portion is either wasted, or used inefficiently. Other than these, there is potential for generating approximately 2,600 MW of power from urban and municipal wastes and approximately 1,300 MW from industrial wastes in India. A total of 48 projects with aggregate capacity of about 69.62 MW equivalent have been installed in the country thereby utilising only 1.8 percent of the potential that exists. As well, recently GOI mandated the blending of 10 percent fuel ethanol in 90 percent gasoline. This mandate as created an approximately 3.6 billionaire demand for fuel ethanol in blend mandate to the entire country.
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25,000 MW. In addition, India has the potential to generate 35 MW per square km using solar photovoltaic and solar thermal energy. It has proposed an addition of 15,000 MW of Renewable Energy generation capacities during the period. Of this proposed capacity addition, wind power projects are expected to pitch in about 70 percent (10,500 MW) while Small Hydro Projects (SHP) would accounts for 9.3 percent (1,400 MW).
Issues in Implementation While there is no denying that nonconventional power is a boon, there are some practical implementation
India’s tremendous energy needs cannot be met solely with conventional method of electricity generation. To overcome this problems and to meet the future energy demands, India must go towards harnessing huge potential of non-conventional source of energy. issues which often trouble investors. These range from physical damage to installed equipments to environmental issues. For instance, wind turbines can be hazardous to flying birds, while hydroelectric dams can create barriers for migrating fish, in addition to displacement of human habitations. Burning biomass and bio-fuels causes air pollution similar to that of burning fossil fuels, although it causes a lower greenhouse effect since the carbon placed in the atmosphere was already there before the plants were grown.
Power & Energy
Another issue to consider is of evacuation infrastructure. Just like conventional sources or power, significant non-conventional power generation resources are often located at large distance from the major population centres where electricity demand exists. Exploiting such resources on a large scale inevitably requires considerable investment in transmission and distribution networks as well as in the technology itself. Furthermore, power generation from renewable sources are very often intermittent in nature. Solar energy, for example can only be expected to be available during the day (50 percent of the time). Wind energy intensity varies from place to place and somewhat from season to season. Constant stream of water is often not available throughout the year for generating optimum Hydro power. This requires a substantial investment in storage capacity which adds to the overall cost of generating power. When seen in light of massive and sustained energy deficit and the grid failure which led to the world’s largest power outage a couple years ago, which affected 700 million people,
Biogas Plants & Waste Management Systems
India needs a drastic overhaul of its energy sector. The unreliable supply of electricity, depleting natural resource and irreparable environmental degradation have become big challenges to sustainable development of the country, economically and socially. India’s tremendous energy needs cannot be met solely with conventional method of electricity generation. To overcome this problems and to meet the future
energy demands, India must go towards harnessing huge potential of non-conventional source of energy. It has several advantages including decentralization of energyparticularly for meeting rural energy needs, and thereby empowering rural people at the grass roots level. Like any other source, nonconventional energy has got some associated issue which need to be resolved before aggressive deployment of electricity production from these sources can take place. The exact type and intensity of environmental impacts varies depending on the specific technology adopted, the geographic location, and other operational factors. Thus, we must stress upon research and development not only to understand the current and potential environmental issues associated with each renewable energy source but also to develop cleaner technologies. It will help achieving the national security and economic goal on the one hand and will provide enormous environmental benefits and combat climate change on the other.
Non Conventional Biofuel Station
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Strong Willpower Needed to become Energy Independent
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Power & Energy
| Ramesh Kumar Raja
A
mid the government’s plan to revamp the exploration policy to attract investors, boost energy output and revive the economy, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is giving focus on raising domestic oil and gas production so as to cut on import dependence. The ministry is setting hard targets for state explorers like ONGC and Oil India to reverse the declining trend in oil and gas output in recent years. They have not met their own stated targets in the recent past and have been given a 10 per cent improvement target this time. Only three out of the 252 blocks given out have come to production stage. Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who wants to do away the 15-year old production sharing
regime that has produced more controversies and less fuel, recently said that the top most priority of the government is monetisation of small and marginal fields lying with ONGC with help of private investment as well as technology. According to Pradhan, natural gas pipeline network in the country will be doubled to 30,000 kilometres by 2019 to expand the reach of environment-friendly fuel. Also, state refineries are being asked to improve
efficiencies to become globally competitive even as fuel retailing is opened up for competition. Besides, Pradhan wants India, which spent $143 billion to import crude oil last year, to diversify its purchases to guard against geopolitical risks in some of the world’s biggest suppliers. The country is now looking at the US, Russia, Brazil, Columbia, Venezuela, Iran etc. as potential destination to source crude fuel. While India’s dependence on the politically volatile Gulf nations is 61 per cent, the country has warm relations with Russia which happens to be the world’s second-biggest gas producer and third-largest crude-oil producer. On the other hand, Latin America – Brazil, Columbia and Venezuela – has emerged as its second biggest supplier region. But are these measures enough to cut on crude dependency? What’s the way out to self-reliance as India still imports 80 per cent of its crude? Is Dharmendra Pradhan doing M. Veerappa Moily, his predecessor who last year announced with much fanfare India’s plan to become energy independent by 2030? International Energy Agency’s Executive Director, Maria Van Der Hoeven finds the preceding UPA’s claim “extremely ambitious” and “very challenging”, especially in a country where 300 million Indians are lacking access to electricity and where percapita electricity consumption is one fourth of the world’s average. “As India grows and lifts more citizens out of poverty and as income levels increase, the demand for energy will rise further. The demand side of the energy equation is understandable; It is the supply side that is troubled,” Hoeven feels.
Keys to reduce import dependency As per Moily’s plan, the target is to reduce crude oil imports by 50 per December 2014
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cent by 2020, 75 per cent by 2025 and energy independence by 2030. Although it is not easy, Hoeven underlines three difficult steps which India needs to take for this to happen. First of all, India needs to get its energy pricing right. The country has not been able to do this and has taken a few steps in an abnormal way, e.g. in the last 10 years, there has been a marked confrontation to increases in oil prices. The remedial
has been made in the last decade to increase the latter source. If India goes for hydropower in a big way, the problems associated with thermal power generation such as the scarcity of domestically produced coal and dependence on imported coal can also be lessened. However, this requires close cooperation between environmental authorities, state governments and the Ministry of Power. In recent years, the relationship between
of periodic bidding under the New Exploration and Licensing Policy. The NELP has only had moderate success. Further, the design and administration of production sharing contracts (PSCs) need to be taken a fresh look. Suitable tax breaks can further boost the exploration endeavour.
The Roadmap Although energy security is an intricate procedure which even
If India is to realise zero dependence then domestic production of crude oil has to go up in a big way
steps taken in over one year have been due to fiscal considerations and not from the perspective of longterm planning for energy security. Second, the country requires to get its energy mix right. As of now, there is no consistency in its fuel and energy consumption mix. Imported fuels are being used largely in the transport sector (e.g. diesel) but they are also used to generate energy (e.g. LNG). This mix can be altered by augmenting hydropower generation. But hardly any effort 60
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different stakeholders has turned confrontational and increasing India’s hydropower generation in such an environment looks like a distant dream. Lastly, if India is to realise zero dependence then domestic production of crude oil has to go up in a big way. A host of steps are needed in this case. Most importantly, Open Acreage Licensing Policy needs to be expedited that will allow bidders to bid for blocks at any time of the year as compared with the current system
organised countries find difficult to realise, India has a roadmap for all this – thanks to former finance secretary Vijay Kelkar. The first part of the Kelkar committee report on “Roadmap for Reduction in Import Dependency in Hydrocarbon Sector by 2030” was released in December last year; still there has been no visible effort to implement the recommendations made by him. Compared to this, the US managed a supplyside solution only after the discovery of largescale shale
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hydrocarbon deposits and Europe employed a combination of demand management and alternative clean energy sources to reduce its foreign energy dependency. Alas, India has not practiced any of these methodologies, perhaps because it does not have the political and organizational will required for the target. Regardless of whether India achieves energy independence or not in the near future, the country
consultation paper to the petroleum ministry, ahead of its final report on curbing import dependence. The committee’s recommendations on gas pricing are limited to producer prices and do not apply to consumer ones. As per the recommendations, a competitive market-linked price for natural gas will incentivise higher exploration and production and make marginal and stranded fields viable. Discoveries are likely to be
will also incentivise investment in new technologies for exploiting shale gas and coal-bed methane reserves. Market-determined pricing, according to Kelkar, will also promote transparency and prevent rent-seeking behaviour, which is promoted by the current quantitybased allocations of gas. The “rentseeking” here implies to lobbying with the government for subsidies, grants and rate protection. Even though total energy
If India goes for hydropower in a big way, the problems associated with thermal power generation can also be lessened
can at least cut on its monetary expenditure by taking suitable steps, which has been shared by Kelkar. According to the recommendations of the Committee, India could save up to $40 billion of its $155-billion annual crude oil import bill in the medium term. This is possible by implementing market-linked pricing of natural gas after the end of the current Plan period, i.e. March 2017. The panel has identified various policy actions that can be implemented immediately, as per a
in deep water and ultra-deep water basins, implying riskier exploration expenditures. As gas prices rise to market levels, increased production will lead to direct savings in the import bill, current account deficit and improvement of the economy’s fiscal health, the panel observes. Subsequently, higher gas production and prices will increase government revenues in the form of royalties, dividends and corporate income tax, all of which can be ploughed back in the economy. Market-linked pricing
independence may be years or decades away, the effort is much needed today in form of well laid out, transparent and forward looking policies which would ensure stable prices for customers and stable, predictable returns for investors in crude and gas exploration, refining and retailing business. However, gas and alternative sources are the future and must be consciously encouraged to higher level in overall energy mix of the country. |
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Gas Holds Enormous Potential to Power India
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| Ramesh Kumar Raja
L
ike any growing economy, India is fuel-hungry and most of its energy demand is met by abundant coal reserves lying literally beneath the ground. But the power projects that use coal cause twice as much carbon emissions compared to those using gas. A ray of hope thus arrived in 2003 when natural gas gained prominence in India after Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) and Reliance Industries struck gold with some large gas field discoveries. With this, everybody bought into the dream of increased domestic gas production. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals promised more imported supplies. Driven by the dream of a gas wealth, entrepreneurs sank hundreds of crores to set up gasbased power projects, pipelines and city gas distribution companies. Even the media reflected the keenness, heralding India’s changeover to a more efficient and cleaner “gas economy”. But the things did not set out as planned. Gas supplies from the older producers – ONGC and Cairn – are falling; the new producers have faltered; unable to deliver on their promises. For the past few years, the Indian gas industry has been the storehouse of failed dreams and attendant accusations, compounded by policy flip-flops by the government on gas pricing.
Ipps Facing Heat The script is again changing, but not in the way that one would expect. Gas consumers who bore the brunt have begun to react. Essar Energy’s global CEO Naresh Nayyar, at a conference last year, said he was converting two of his gas-fired combined cycle power projects in Gujarat to burn coal. This is not a minor exercise: The firm could spend close to Rs 2,500 crore for the switch. The two fuel-burning processes are completely different,
and the transition will cost half as much as putting up a new coal plant. The Essar group is a smart power producer and has been among the first IPPs (Independent Power Producers) in India. The plants at Hazira (515 MW) and Bhander (500 MW) were commissioned on APM (Administered Price Mechanism) gas, but there is no availability of either APM gas or allocation from Reliance’s KG-D6 in offshore Andhra Pradesh. Although Essar has been the first to move so much capacity from gas to coal at one go, the writing is on the wall for gas users in India. Like Essar, most gas based power producers are in dire straits today. In Andhra Pradesh alone, six gas-based plants operated by GMR, Lanco and GVK, with combined capacity of more than 2,000 MW, have stopped operations due to shortage of gas. Plants idling due to shortage are GMR’s Vemagiri (370 MW) and barge-mounted plants (237 MW), GVK’s Jegurupadu Extension (220 MW) and Gauthami (464 MW), Konaseema Gas Power (445 MW) and Lanco’s Kondapalli Stage-II (366 MW). Each of these projects has piled up hundreds of crore in debt. Notably, nine of the country’s 64 gasbased power plants are located in AP which bifurcated early this year.
High Price Leading to Waning Interest The fuel (gas) is losing acceptance in India, even as it enjoys an extraordinary boost internationally with many new finds. The US is a case in point where utilities moved decisively to gas after the shale boom made supplies cheap and abundant. In 2012, coal consumption in the US fell 12 per cent, the steepest plunge anywhere in the world, and gas consumption grew fastest. The picture in Europe is very much similar to the US’. According to Debashish Mishra, senior director of the energy December 2014
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practice at Deloitte, the gas economy has all but crashed in India, thanks to falling domestic production and high regassified LNG prices. It may be noted that the installed capacity of natural gas based power plants is 21,727 MW at the end of financial year 2013-14. These base load power plants are operating at overall PLF of just 25 per cent due to severe shortage of natural gas in the country. Imported LNG is too costly for the power generation. Many of these power stations are shut down throughout the year for
Gujarat Gas is the biggest gas transmission and distribution company in India with millions of industrial, commercial and domestic customers. British Gas (BG) had picked up a 65 percent stake in the company in 1997
Gas (BG) had picked up a 65 percent stake in the company in 1997. As the business looked promising, the company was able to expand into an assortment of segments for a decade.
Demand is Shrinking But things have started to appear less rosy now. There has been a steep decline in sales volumes. Demand, particularly from small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which were earlier big customers in industrial cities like Surat, Bharuch and
With falling supplies, the rush for cornering cities for city gas distribution projects is getting over
lack of natural gas supply. Natural gas shortage for power sector alone is nearly 100 Million Metric Standard Cubic Meter Pre Day (MMSCMD).
Gujarat Leads the Way Even as gas accounts for about nine per cent of the country’s power generation capacity, much of the action takes place in Gujarat, which happens to be India’s most networked state in terms of gas infrastructure as well as availability. State-owned and private utilities have laid about 10,000 km of pipeline and gas has 64
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found widespread commercial and industrial acceptance. The advantage of using a cleaner, higher calorific fuel was immediately apparent to customers. Smart entrepreneurs running hundreds of factories in the state are very dynamic in their coast management and altering input costs to maximize profits is virtually a daily exercise. Needless to say, Gujarat Gas is the biggest gas transmission and distribution company in India with millions of industrial, commercial and domestic customers. British
Ankleshwar, has plunged over 20 per cent. Those who can are switching to alternate fuels. The stock price has dropped almost 50 per cent in the last three years. The story is similar for state-owned utility GSPC, which has bought out BG’s stake in Gujarat Gas. GSPC is also being challenged by falling demand. With falling supplies, the rush for cornering cities for city gas distribution projects is getting over. From BG to Reliance, arguably the most ambitious of India’s gas companies, have expressed their
Power & Energy
unwillingness in gas retailing. In Delhi, Indraprastha Gas (IGL), a joint venture between Gas Authority of India (GAIL) and Bharat Petroleum that transformed transportation in Delhi with its CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) supplies, is facing rough weather. Reliance’s partner BP, which had entered India with the intention of being part of the entire gas chain, has now decided to focus only on exploration and production of gas and infrastructure (pipelines). Wherever the gas consumer has a choice, the decision is a nobrainer. Non-APM gas is priced at upwards of $13 per million metric british thermal units (MMBTU), while the cheapest alternative to
Oil industry experts believe the biggest problem is that there is not enough incentive to explore for new gas. There are simply no enabling systems for boosting coal-bed methane (CBM), shale gas and coal-to-gas conversions run boilers, coal, is available at a third of this price. According to Ben Wetherall, analyst for global LNG markets, at ICIS, a London-based provider of gas benchmark pricing, the movement towards coal is definitely at danger in India, because gas is not as competitive. “Gas use needs advocacy, if it has to work,” he laments. The advocacy he refers to is code for government support.
Muddles Policy Framework Adds to Chaos Amid all these, flawed policies on gas pricing and electricity reforms are said to be responsible for
complicating the demand-supply mechanism. According to Ashok Sinha, the former chairman of Bharat Petroleum who is also on the Petronet LNG board, “The bulk of gas use is driven by power companies. But the sector is sick, reforms are incomplete and the losses of state electricity boards (SEBs) are estimated to be upwards of Rs. 1,50,000 crore. Gas allows flexibility in ramping up production during peak demand times. By not using the fuel, India is losing this flexibility. But unless there are more electricity reforms, there is little hope of change.” Oil industry experts, on the other hand, believe the biggest problem is
next few years,” feels GAIL Chairman BC Tripathi. He has spent the last few years negotiating for gas with suppliers around the world. GAIL will be among the early importers of US gas. It has signed up 20-year contracts to buy gas from producers like Cheniere Energy and Dominion Gas. In Europe, Tripathi has contracted from producers like Gazprom of Russia and Gaz de France. A bulk of the supplies will begin in three to four years. Tripathi and his team are making a high-pressure marketing pitch to reluctant Indian consumers. Most of the customers are the same power and fertilizer companies that have already been bitten by the gas pricing dud.
India’s largest gas distribution company, GAIL, is betting big on gas imports
that there is not enough incentive to explore for new gas. There are simply no enabling systems for boosting coal-bed methane (CBM), shale gas and coal-to-gas conversions. Progress is too slow. Only 30 per cent of India’s basins have been explored. Efficiencies of exploration and extraction are very low. Unless there is clarity on pricing, it is hard to expect any player to invest in this business, experts feel. Meanwhile, India’s largest gas distribution company, GAIL, is betting big on gas imports. “Nearly 50 per cent of our gas needs will have to come from imported gas over the
Gas is one of the most prominent fuels for producing power with low pollution hazard. Considering that India has potential to produce and acquire gas supplies domestically and through imports, it should aggressively pursue gas based power. Indian as well as global investors have frequently shown strong intent to invest in the sector. The need, ultimately, is for regulatory environment to become rational and receptive to investors’ needs. Only then can we expect to have an efficient gas based power infrastructure in the country. |
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Interview
Biogas Has Great Potential in Future, feels Sulabh Founder
Dr Bindeshwar Pathak
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Any discussion on biogas in India is incomplete without mentioning the contribution of Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, Founder, Sulabh International, who dared to think differently by combining technical innovation with humanitarian principles and social problems. He has pioneered the use of biogas creation by linking Sulabh toilets to fermentation plants, a technology which he had designed over three decades back and which has now become a byword for sanitation in developing countries across the world. One of the crucial features of Pathak’s technology lies in the fact that besides producing odour-free biogas, it also releases clean water rich in phosphorus and other ingredients which are important constituents of organic manure. His sanitation movement ensures cleanliness and prevents greenhouse gas emission. In an interview with Governance Today, Dr Pathak, a winner of awards and appreciations worldwide, talks at length about technicalities of biogas and power generation and their significance in today’s time and future. Edited excerpts:
Interview
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hy do you think the utility of biogas not getting adequate attention unlike solar and wind energy in India? It’s a gradual process and will take some time to digest akin to the concept of Sulabh Sauchalaya that we coined and brought into practice decades ago. Debating ‘sauchalaya’
more an embarrassing issue.It’s a thing of past and the people now view it as a sort of revolution, especially after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for Clean India. Hence, I feel the importance of biogas will catch up aggressively,it’s just a matter of time. The government is doing its part in this regard. What are you doing to promote the
before tea was considered awkward way back in 1968 when I was working extensively for the cause, but progressively p e o p l e realised its importance, and it is no
literacy of your ‘biogas technology’ in villages where there is a very rich source of cattle dung and agricultural wastes that produce methane? I am writing a book, Sulabh Gaon Ki Ore,in which every a s p e c t of sanitation, b i o g a s generation and
social issues related to them are being described. For this, we are looking for sponsors who will be given spaces in these books highlighting their family history besides bringing into focus the usage and technicalities of biogas.This would bring down the cost of sending books to all villages. I hope it will be instrumental in raising the importance of biogas.
Do
you think sanitation has traditionally been a politically neglected area? The blame goes to our culture in which it had been sanctioned to a n s w e r n a t u r e ’s
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call some distance away from the home. So, when we started preaching about the importance of bringing toilets within home premises, it was not taken receptively. Now people are feeling its importance in the residence itself, thanks to changing needs of time. Hence, it’s an issue of cultural clash. It will take some time to break the 5,000 years old culture. How was the initial response when you generated power from biogas, especially at the time when many people were unaware about the non-conventional energy? It was wonderful to see street lights illuminating along the three km stretch of Bailey Road in Patna during 1983 to 1990. Even as ordinary people came to know about the real power of this alternative fuel, it became quite popular. I showed it’s possible to harness electrical energy from biogas if you have the will to do so.There are five plants running successfully in Kabul. However, it is necessary that the government
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shows its determination to enhance the usage of biogas. What next for Sulabh? What are the other applications for biogas that you are working on? We are currently conducting experiments on how to use biogas as fuel in car and other utility vehicles. If it’s feasible it will be a great
achievement for India. We are also putting forward the idea of setting up biogas digesters instead of septic tank at a place where more than 500 people live. It will not only satiate the cooking fuel demand of that particular place but also generate electricity, thus lessening the overall demand of
Interview
main source of power freeing it for higher end industrial or commercial use. Is it feasible to install a biogas plant in every village to fulfil its energy demand, taking into account its maintenance cost? It’s not viable in villages owing to the country’s social structure. Different castes have their own hamlets and it is generally very hard to get them agree to use common toilets. Also, people in villages show less interest in payingthe maintenance cost for such cause. Can we plan usage of the biogasfired power for industrial purposes too, if it’s surplus in amount even after domestic use at a residential complex?
is that biogas is an alternate source of energy whose basic function is to help and supplement the main power supply in the form of street lighting etc. What is per unit cost of biogas power in comparison to the conventional source of energy? It’s merely Rs 2.50, much less than the conventional source that could be Rs 7-8. However, it depends on the availability and the number of users. With the boom in real estate sector, usage of biogas can be of great benefit to housing societies and markets. How do you look at it? Definitely, biogas can be a boon for them, as it has the potential to feed much of the energy demand of a
its views on that? On our part, we are always ready for any assistance that housing societies may need. Even our technology is patent-free which anyone can avail and adopt. Isn’t there any mechanism to distribute biogas to far flung areas? There is no such technology as of now, but we are working on it. Fact of the matter is that biogas is very thin and it requires a thick container to carry that makes it heavier, which is not practicable from the transportation point of view. We are working on this aspect and hope to come up with something to cope with this problem. What’s your message to people in context of biogas usage? Build a biogas digester instead of septic tank in an area having more
It’s definitely possible and there will be no problem. The only thing it requires is extra feed. Sulabh’s plant at Shirdi in Maharashtra is a wonderful example in this regard --it caters to nearly 30,000 people visiting the shrine daily. The economic use of such scale depends on the size of the plant, however the point to be noted
housing society. Every society must have one, which will produce not only energy, but also manure and nutrient-rich water for plants and garden. As such, housing societies can derive multiple benefits from bio gas. Government can issue guidelines in this regard, but if the one is unwilling, how can another impose
than 500 people, as it’s totally ecological and environment friendly. Every component of it, is valuable for the nature, making it a great example of sustainable energy development. It utilizes methane which has harmful impact on environment, to multiple beneficial usages. |
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Need to Have a Proper Energy Saving Policy Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector has acquired a prominent place in the growth of the Indian economy. It contributes 45 per cent of the industrial output, 40 per cent of exports, 42 million in employment, create one million jobs every year and produces more than 8,000 quality products for the Indian and international markets. Despite its commendable contribution to the Nation’s economy, SME Sector does not get the required support from the concerned Government Departments, Banks, Financial Institutions and Corporate, which hinders the competitiveness of MSMEs. R Narayan, Founder and CEO, Power2SME (the first ‘Buying Club’ for SMEs in India) speaks to Rahul Trivedi, Senior Correspondent, Governance Today on various issues related to SMEs. Edited excerpts: 70
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R Narayan, Founder and CEO, Power2SME
Interview
W
hat are the problems that MSMEs face because of shortage of power in various
sectors? MSMEs contribute to economic development in various ways such as creating employment opportunities for rural and urban population, providing goods and services at affordable costs by offering cost effective innovative solutions and sustainable development to the economy as a whole. SMEs in India face a number of problems - absence of adequate and timely banking finance, non-availability of suitable technology, power shortage,
ineffective marketing due to limited resources and non availability of skilled manpower. We see mainly 3Ps constraints comprising of People (skilled manpower), Power (electricity) and Paisa (credit). The problems that MSMEs face because of shortage of power include slow/ delay in production/ order completion, capacity reduction, low product quality and increased wastage/ overhead costs. Power outages cause many other inconveniences that trigger uncertainty in business activities with its load of costs that could come in many ways. How MSMEs are coping up with lack of power supplied? Majority of MSMEs have alternate
arrangements to ensure 24x7 power back-up. It is estimated that almost 91 percent of firms generate electricity from alternate sources, which amounts to 31 percent of total electricity used. This adaptation strategy appears to be paying off, since it seemed to have helped avert the negative impact of power outages. What impact does lack of power have on the production and cost of production? The productivity of businesses may be measured using three types of productivity indices: cost efficiency, technical efficiency, and scale
efficiency scores. All the three scores are affected by power shortage and overall productivity is reduced – production outcome is delayed and cost of production increases. Power outage duration has an adverse effect on scale efficiency, as do the number and severity of power outages. Adapting to these issues allow businesses to gain on technical and scale efficiencies, but adversely affects their cost efficiency. Additionally, because of delay in production, there is a delay in final product delivery to respective customers. They often lead to some more unfavorable situations such as facing penalties, and/or losing customers or some market opportunities.
The uncertainty created by these issues could have some ramification directly related to the dynamic of the businesses, in terms of investing more in capital or hiring more workers. The SME hiring decisions are affected by power outages. What is the usage of alternative energy sources in MSME sector? Biomass Energy, Wind Energy, Solar Energy, Geothermal Energy, Hydroelectric Energy sources are the alternative sources of energy that can provide SMEs with viable alternatives which SMEs can utilize for power generation. The advantages of the alternative sources of energy include: Serve as the only source of energy in remote areas where conventional sources of energy has not penetrated Reduction in pollution as compared to non- renewable energy sources Production is economical What do MSMEs require from government on power segment? The MSMEs policies could be drawn out towards promoting a better quality of electricity and providing a 24x7 power supply to the manufacturing establishments. The government should work towards identifying alternate energy sources and promoting such projects. Any other crucial issue in power and energy requirement of MSMEs that you would like to mention. The efficient use of available energy is a crucial issue in power and energy requirements of MSMEs. Due to the usage of outdated machinery & not following the lack of knowledge about energy conservation, there is a huge loss of energy. There is a need to have a proper energy saving policy and benchmark it against the international norms. |
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A ‘Prayas’ for Juvenile
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hildren are future of a country. It becomes duty of everyone to nurture them for the development of the country. Several organizations are working on the juvenile aid. One such organization is ‘Prayas’. Prayas Juvenile Aid Centre Society, is a national level humanitarian, gender sensitive and child focused development organization with a vision to restore the lost childhood of children in need of care, protection and development. Prayas works to ensure that children have a bright future. It is dedicated to changing the lives of needy children. It operates 236 centres including 21 Homes/Shelters for children, across the country in 8 States/ UTs directly serving about 50,000 marginalized children, youth and women addressing multiple issues and initiating programs relating to child protection and juvenile justice, trafficking of children and women, vocational and life skills training, empowerment of women through Self-Help Groups and Income Generation Programmes, promotion of entrepreneurship, facilitating credit through bank linkages and also direct micro finance operations. For nearly 24 years, Prayas has been and continues to be involved 72
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in meaningful, development-driven initiatives that distinctly impact the quality of life of the weaker-sections of the society, in hundreds of slums/ villages surrounding the National Capital Territory of Delhi, Bihar, Gujarat, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand and the Tsunami devastated Andaman & Nicobar Islands. A society that denies a child its happiness is a lifeless society. Happiness is an innate and natural characteristic of children. When happiness is denied to children, their needs are denied and when needs are denied, their rights are also denied. Violence is a daily reality for millions of children around the world, affecting girls and boys of all ages, all social contexts and all nationalities, in every part of their lives, their homes, and families, schools, institutions. Work places and communities-children may be beaten, sexually assaulted, tortured and even killed. The perpetrators of this violence are often the very individuals who are responsible for protecting children. Violence is a global epidemic of scandalous proportions, violating every child’s right to a safe and healthy environment. The growing complexities of
life and the dramatic changes brought about by the socioeconomic transitions in India have played a major role in increasing the vulnerability of children to various and newer form of violence against children and abuse. Despite hectic planning, welfare measures and program, legislations and administrative action in the past six decades, a large majority of the Indian Children continue to remain in turmoil. The organization was formed in 1988 in a disaster situation when a devastating fire broke out at Jahangirpuri, one of the largest resettlement slums of Delhi, destroying thousands of families who lost their homes and livelihood. The worst affected were the children who were absolutely traumatized and shaken. Its immediate efforts were to restore normalcy into their lives and rehabilitate them. Recognizing a need for reorganizing and rebuilding the lives of these children, Prayas Juvenile Aid Centre was set up with the collaboration of Delhi School of Social Work, Delhi Police and Shramik Vidyapeeth, Ministry of HRD, GOI and registered in 1988. The journey which was started with twenty five children is directly serving about 50,000
marginalized children, youth and women addressing multiple issues and initiating programs relating to child protection and juvenile justice, trafficking of children and women, vocational and life skills training, empowerment of women through Self-Help Groups and Income Generation Programmes, promotion of entrepreneurship, facilitating credit through bank linkages and also direct micro finance operations through its 241 centers including 22 Homes/Shelters for children and 46 Vocational Training Centers, across the country in 09 States/UTs. Prayas since its inception are taking care of the children on the streets, of the streets, abandoned children and missing children’s who faces naked and vicious faces of poverty, sickness and exploitation. The tragedy is that those who bear it are themselves innocent, lonely and frightened.
Prayas Outreach • 22 Institutional Care facilities including Shelter/ Children / Observation Homes, Night Shelters, Drop-In-Centers and other thematic projects for marginalized children, youth & women pertaining to Juvenile Justice & Child Protection, Child Labour & Trafficking, Disasters & Crisis Management etc. • 236 community based Alternative, Remedial Education and child protection centers for 30,000
marginalized & at-risk children/ youth • Thematic projects for Marginalised Children, Youth and Women pertaining to Juvenile Justice & Child Protection, Child Labour, Trafficking, Disaster & Crises Management etc. • Supports 10,000+ youth and women through 46 Vocational Training Centers to bridge the gap of skill and employment under Prayas Institute of Economic Empowerment, NIOS, IGNOU, DGET and Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) • Approximately 5,000 out-ofschool children annually covered under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in Delhi alone • 66 Community libraries & study centers with Education Centers • Nearly 10,000 children, women, aged and disabled, victims of earthquake, Tsunami and Floods in Bhuj Districts in Gujarat, A&N Islands & Supaul -Samastipur in Bihar, were provided relief measure. • Flagship Health projects under NRHM in Bihar, A&N Island and Arunachal Pradesh. • Water & Sanitation programs in disaster-affected Gujarat and A & N Islands • Chapters & Registered Charities in UK, USA & Germany
Research And Development Prayas Institute of Juvenile Justice set up in the year 1999 with an objective to undertake and promote research in the thematic areas of Prayas such as Juvenile Justice, Child Rights and Child Protection, Child Labour, Trafficking of Children and Women, Crises Intervention, Family Counseling Centre, Women Issues, Participation in Policy Making related to Children Missing and Runaway Children, Street Children, Violence against Children, Economic Empowerment for Youth and Women above 16 years, Vocational Training and Life Skills for Juveniles/ Children’s and Adolescents above 14 years. Alternative Education, Adult Literacy and Life Skill Training, Self Help Groups, Women Empowerment and Micro Finance. It was established to conduct meaningful research and to facilitate the programs and initiatives of prevention, protection, participation and policy making related to thematic areas of Prayas. Prayas was declared by the US Department of State in 2006 and simultaneously Amod K Kanth was conferred with the title of Global Heroes on the same subject for adoption and development of best practices. Prayas Juvenile Aid Centre in association with Wipro submitted System Requirement Specifications for Juvenile Module of CAS (Crime and Criminal Tracking Network
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Social Enabler
Impact of Prayas In Thematic Areas Prevention of Trafficking: Over 3657 number of children and women empowered and rehabilitated with their families. Education: Since the inception of education program, it has changed the lives of 65,000 children. Juvenile/Children & Shelter Home: Around 24,000 children’s were benefitted through our 21 shelter homes ChildLine Project: 8500 children were rescued since 1998 Railway Children: 8765 children from Railway Station were restored and rehabilitated since 2004. Livelihood Program: Over 85,670 youth trained, of whom 65 per cent are in jobs or self employed. Health: 65,000 people were benefitted through various health related programs including HIV/AIDS in Bihar & Arunachal Pradesh. 18,756 school going children were covered in Health Program in 38 schools in Andaman & Nicobar Islands. New Toilets for boys and girls constructed in 13 government schools and Height Scales and Measuring Equipment provided to them. Water & Sanitation: Around 28,000 people were benefitted in Andaman & Nicobar Island by constructing toilets and water storage tanks. SGSY: Under SGSY, 550 youths from Naxalite affected areas from Bihar & Jharkhand are provided jobs after training within 4 months of starting of a 18 months long project in 2012-2013. Thousands of Children, Youth and Women were integrated into the mainstream belonging to places such as Motihari, Samastipur, Bagaha, Patna, Sapual and Nalanda District of Bihar. Inclusive Finance: Prayas has adopted multifold strategic approach for financial inclusion. It has disbursed loan of amount Rs. 5, 39, 96,000 through Micro Finance since 2007. More than 500 Self Help Groups have been formed.
and Systems (CCTNS) to National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs Govt. Of India on its implementation, commissioning and maintenance of CCTNS Prayas played pivotal role and submitted its suggestions for possible amendments to Criminal law relating to Safety and Security of Women and to keep Juvenile Justice Law intact about keeping the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000/2006 along with its legal mechanism remains unchanged. Prayas has conducted an actionbased research on Juvenile Justice System and Rights of Children in the State of Bihar & Delhi. The study, supported by Canadian International Development Agency of the Canadian High Commission, revealed that the local authority, judiciary, police and all other stakeholders under the Juvenile Justice Act were mostly unaware about their role, authority or the provisions of the 74
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Juvenile Justice Act. Among various findings, lack of proper orientation and training of the functionaries came up as a major factor in the tardy progress of juvenile justice Prayas, in association with the National Institute of Social Defence (NISD), conducted orientationtraining programmes to promote advocacy on juvenile justice and rights of the child among various stakeholders. Prayas conducted a National level Study on Child Abuse in collaboration with the Ministry of Women & Child Development and supported by UNICEF and Save the Children Fund (UK).The objective of the study was to develop a dependable and comprehensive study of the situation of the child abuse in India, with a view to facilitate the Govt. for the formulation of appropriate policies and programmes meant to effectively control the incidence of child abuse and future challenges. Prayas has to its credit a number
of research projects and review reports, which are considered to be useful instruments for policy change and advocacy. Some of the major publications are: Neglected Child: Changing Perspectives, Prayas Towards Justice to the Juvenile: A Study on Neglected Children in South Delhi Slums and Child Watch India, a research journal, etc. Prayas was recently invited to present its experience on Vocational and Skill Development Training at the International Conference on “Achieving Literacy for all Effective: Innovative Approaches to scale up literacy Reduce Gender Disparities and to create a literate World The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India have accepted the Interventions Petitions filed by Prayas Juvenile Aid Center for the changes in the Juvenile Justice Act and asking for reduction in the age of children/juveniles under section 2(K) & (L) of the said act. |
Creative Workshop
CORPORATE | SCHOOLS | NGO’S | EVENTS | PARTIES
Himanshu Art Institute is fervent towards art. It aims to spread and emerge art from person’s inner self and to make him/her realize their hidden artistic identity. For this purpose, Himanshu Art Institute conducts workshop, so that art lovers learn about their preferred art within the given sessions according to their requirement. Workshop participants learn to express their creativity with projects that are charming and useful, due to its endless versatility and variety. Workshop participants also discover techniques that ignite their desire to experiment with projects that will open their eyes to a world of possibilities The workshops offered are: Acrylic Painting Creative Art Block Printing Emboss Painting Bread Craft Envelopes Calligraphy Fabric Painting Candle Making Flower Making Clay Modeling Gift Packing
Handmade Cards Ice Stick Art Oil Painting Paper Bags Paper Craft Paper Mache
ISO 9001 : 2008 Certified
Himanshu Art Institute A COMPLETE INSTITUTE OF FINE ARTS & CRAFTS IN INDIA
Pencil Shading Photo Frames Poster Colour Pottery Making Punch Craft Quilling Art
Relief Art Smoke Painting Warli Painting Water Colour Alphabetic Cartoons Bubble Painting
Cartoon Making Collage Painting Cottan Art Crayons Colour Crayons Resist Ice Stick Art
Magic Art Origami Paper Craft Quilling Art Thumb Painting Vegetable Patch
+91 965-444-6040, 011-43557340 www.creativeworkshop.co.in www.facebook.com/artncraftworkshops
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Commodore (Retd) Ratan Kumar Okhandiar Director Commercial & Marketing, ITDC
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Promote Safe Tourism
ndia is a rich tourist destination. How is ITDC packaging India to the world? We are promoting tourism through all the means possible and engaging with electronic media, print media, social media etc. We also organize FAM trips for tour operators. We have started a social campaign in Jammu and Kashmir to promote the importance of tourism in the state. Ministry of Tourism collaborates with all other ministries, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Ministry of 76
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a crystal clear mission to boost the tourism in India. This is also visible in his various initiatives such as Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan . India Tourism Development Corporation Ltd (ITDC) is also keen to package and promote India as a rich tourist destination. Commodore (Retd) Ratan Kumar Okhandiar, Director Commercial & Marketing, ITDC in a chat with Rahul Trivedi, Senior Correspondent, Governance Today shares his views on the same. Edited excerpts:
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Culture etc. to promote tourism culture. A Buddhist conclave was organized to give importance to Sarnath and Bodh Gaya. The third International Tourism Mart was organized in association with the north eastern states. For the off season we promote medical tourism, spiritual tourism and eco tourism. What are the new initiatives that ITDC is working on? We are working on a number of verticals. We deal with the hotel industry, tour and travel,
event management, creatives, management tourism training programs, sound and light shows, duty free shops, skill development workshops, participation skill development training programs such as “Hunar se Rozgar�. Over the last few years, domestic tourism has become quite large. What are the reasons for this transformation? Better awareness of tourism because of television and internet are the major reason for this
Interview
development. When people see visuals they like to visit the place, it leads to an attitudinal change. The average surplus income has risen and people can spend more on travelling. On the other hand, the cost of travelling has reduced. So the overall surplus income has shifted up which in turn increases the capability to travel. How do you see the tourism industry in India developing after PM Modi’s announcement in NY that India would provide visa on arrival for US citizens and PIOs? We have to see the effect. Prima facie it looks interesting. If the number of visitors applying for visa on arrival increases it is positive. The impact can be gauged from the increase in business travelers. The domestic travelers or tourists usually plan their holiday and rarely apply for a visa on arrival. It is the business travelers who need visa on arrival. Despite having such a diversified and high tourism potential, India loses to smaller countries like Singapore and Thailand. Why does India lose out? The main reason for this is the comfort factor of tourists. The experience of tourists in other countries is better compared to India. Entire system in other countries is user friendly when compared with India. For instance, there is no direct flight to Port Blair and neither are there good hotels there. For a high end traveler this is too much of a discomfort. Plus there are a lot of health and hygiene problems that foreign travelers face in India. The idea to promote safe tourism should be promoted to match the safety standards of tourism in other countries. There is a general deterioration of India in minds of international tourists who feel India is very unsafe, especially for women. How can India counter such a perceptional loss?
The Ministry has undertaken a lot of steps to tackle the problem of safety with regard to tourists. New and safe tourism policies are advocated for foreign tourists. Cars/ taxis will have electronic chips to trace their path for safety. To bring professionalism in guides, training programs have been started by the Indian Institute of Hospitality and Management and other similar institutes. There is poor infrastructure in most tourism destinations in India. What is ITDC doing to ensure good infrastructure at tourism destinations? ITDC has got an exclusive department called the engineering consultancy service to undertake primary infrastructure work. Any work
We run on the basic philosophy to operate in collaboration with the state governments. We might develop hotels on the PPP mode. And the process has already started at few hotels. related to plants and plantations, public convenience, sitting place etc are undertaken by this department. However local initiative is the major factor in terms of infrastructural development at a particular location. What should government and tourism ministry do to promote India as tourist destinations worldwide? The first and foremost step is to create awareness amongst tourists. Second is convincing them that India is unique. The Incredible India campaign was successful in doing so. Thirdly, safety and convenience
and hygiene should be improved to attract foreign tourists. The Clean India campaign will drive a lot of tourists. Tell us about your CSR initiatives. We have taken up many CSR initiatives in the villages of Jharkhand. For example, the Corporation is building toilets in Purabdiha Girls School in Chainpur, Sinduria Girls School in Daltonganj and Kuchu Balika vidyalaya at Hundru Falls in the state. It is also providing training to thousands of unemployed youth under “Hunar Se Rozgar” initiative of the Ministry of Tourism. Determined efforts would further be taken to upscale the targets and their achievements. We have also participated in the government’s Clean India campaign. We promote our team to undertake social responsibility investment around the locations they operate. Are u planning to expand hotels in other cities in near future? As of now we are not planning to expand infrastructure. We run on the basic philosophy to operate in collaboration with the state governments. We might develop hotels on the PPP mode. And the process has already started at few hotels. Is there a need to develop good hotels in tier 2 and tier 3 cities? Hotels and tourism development go hand in hand. If you don’t have hotels people won’t visit the city. We were the first to start hotels in cities like Khajuraho, Delhi, and Agra etc. We don’t just compete we start at places where no one believes any potential exista. We start because it is nationally important to do so. We have under operation six duty free shops on major seaports and one on the airport with another couple of them in pipeline. |
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Art & Culture
Art Never Dies
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stablished in 1997, HimSim Academy of Performing Arts is a one stop platform for all those learner who want to have a career in the field of acting, modeling, theater, dance, music and vocals. Situated in West Patel Nagar, New Delhi, since its inception, the academy is committed to provide quality training to the populace with high end modern technologies and the friendly teaching method which help in developing and maximizing individual’s confidence and personality to cope up with the upcoming demand of the Media industry. These are the teachings, which not only discover their hidden potential but at the same time also enhance their hidden flair and learn social skills. The Institute in itself stands as a pillar to support and shape up the aspiration and give life to one’s desire. Each and every student here given a special attention though the class runs in a batch. The institute
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also focus on the basic need of today’s people, through the forms of dances which washes out the stress and relax the body after the hectic days. Having a faith on the idea that ‘art never dies and it doesn’t have any particular identity, academy help the students to fulfill their dreams of achieving their dreams of success in acting, modeling, dance, music and vocal. The institute has experienced professionals to guide the dreamers. A complete institute of fine art and craft, thousands of students have joined the organization.
create awareness towards art in the society and to open his own institute by his nick name Himanshu. He also has founded an N.G.O “Nav Shree Art & Culture Organization” to promote art & culture. This NGO creates awareness towards art and gives chance to the poor children to fulfill their dream. The other founder of the institute, Seema, is also a great inspiration of the students. She had a dream to work in the glamour field and has done some good projects in Print Ads, Commercial Ads, Short Films etc.
Founders
The aim of the academy is to provide a platform for the artists, to make their presence felt in the field of art. The academy is keen to reach the populace and try to solve all the problems regarding art to the professional level. The focus is to polish the aptitude and make artists to step in the media world with confidence and cherish their dream.
HimSim was founded keeping in mind to facilitate and polish the skill of the populace interested in the glamour world. Mohit Manocha, born in Delhi was fond of all sort of art, since his childhood. Being an art lover and to provide a stand for fresher’s, who struggle to step up in their dreams, his passion of art forced him to
Mission
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