Power Insight June-July 2018

INR. 100/-

RNI No.:MAHENG/2010/39548

Vol. No.9

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Issue No. 2

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June - July 2018

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Mumbai

Cover Focus

Rooftop Solar PV - India

Slow Footed Growth Despite various efforts, the improper policy implementation leads to sluggish growth of the Rooftop Solar PV deployment in India.

Industry Insight

Electrical

Insulator

Market Review

Special Feature

Small Hydro Power www.powerinsight.vision-media.co.in

Boiler, Turbine & Generator |

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EDITOR’S NOTE Need to ease the process to helps speed up adoption of rooftop solar

P

rior to last financial year, the rooftop solar segment was the fastest growing segment within India’s renewable energy sector - but has lost its momentum - now. On account of slow growth, the government quickly and quietly revised its target for FY18 to only 1GW from the earlier set target of 5GW. The rooftop solar segment has been subjected to sluggish growth because the government has been fiddling with rooftop policies. It is important to recognize where the real problems lie before applying a new fix. For example, it is a well-known fact that many rooftop installers fell on hard times financially because the subsidies owed to them by the government were delayed indefinitely a few years ago.

Meanwhile, net-metering implementation is a mess and sometimes it can take up to six months to get net-metering approved. The most common challenge according to rooftop installers is the restriction of net-metering policies that put an upper ceiling of 1 MW. In addition, sometimes there are ‘extra fees’ to get these connections approved. Government building installations are costing more compared to other rooftop installations also because of the ‘extra costs’ in getting approvals. All these are restricting the growth of rooftop solar in the country, according to many in the industry. Further, no government agency is monitoring rooftop installations currently, to know where the market truly stands.

Though, photovoltaic panels are now visible atop a greater number of buildings than ever before. As word has spread, domestic and commercial consumers have begun to consider solar power as an alternative to conventional grid-supplied electricity.

However, of the targeted capacity of 40 GW from rooftop solar by the year 2022 – India has been able to achieve a modest success - so far. In order to boost growth - much remains to be done for the market to mature and rooftop solar power to become commercially sustainable - meanwhile on priority basis their is need to ease the process....

Pankaj V Chauhan Editor - Power Insight

Email : pankaj@vision-media.co.in

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What’s Inside

content Volume No. - 09 ; Issue No. -02 : June - July 2018

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Editor:

Pankaj V Chauhan

Cover Focus Rooftop Solar Power - India

Marketing & Sales:

Though, domestic and commercial consumers in India have begun to consider solar power as an alternative to conventional grid-supplied electricity.

But much remains to be done for the market to mature and rooftop solar power to become commercially sustainable...

Navin SIngh

marketing@vision-media.co.in

K. Pushpageetha

geetha@vision-media.co.in

Creative Head: Prashant S. Kharat

Graphic Designer: G. Sanjay

Slow Footed Growth

Production Head: Shantanu Singh

Printed, Published & Owned by PANKAJ V CHAUHAN

26 Need of the Hour

Poor implimentation of net-metering policy is impeding smooth growth of Rooftop SPV.

Printed at

MAGNA GRAPHICS (INDIA) LTD., 101, C & D GOVT. IND. ESTATE, KANDIVLI (WEST), MUMBAI 400 067

Published from

G-3A, JUNGLEE PEER DURGAH, K.A.GAFFARKHAN ROAD, WORLI, MUMBAI 400 018.

Editor: PANKAJ V CHAUHAN RNI. NO. : MAHENG/2010/39548

28 Net Metering

Column By : Krishnendu Mukherjee

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Column By : Neha Agrawal

Head- Corporate Strategy & Rooftop Business Vikram Solar

32 Roadblocks - Rooftop SPV

Chief Operating Officer - Sova Solar Ltd

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Power Insight

Special Report

Smart Grid

Pilot Project Progress

All right reserved while all efforts are made to ensure that the information published is correct, Power Insight holds no responsibility for any unlikely errors that might have occurred. The information on products & projects is being provided for the reference of the readers. However, readers are cautioned to make inquires & consult experts before taking any decision on purchase of equipment or investment. Power Insight holds no responsibility for any decision taken by readers on the basis of information provided herein. All disputes are subjected to Mumbai Jurisdiction only.

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30 Challenges in Scaling

In 2012, eleven smart grid and one smart city pilots were sanctioned, to test various Smart Grid technologies.

The special report gives a brief insight into the progress being made in respect to these pilots - as of June 2018...

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An insight into various challenges faced by rooftop segment in India and suggestive measures.

Regulars

03 06 08 12 44 46

Editor’s Note Conventional Updates Renewables Updates T&D Sector Updates Communication Features Events Diary

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What’s Inside

Special Feature

BTG Equipment

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Special Feature

BTG Equipment Struggling for Survival An insight into domestic BTG equipment indsutry that has a strong installed manufacturing base - is currently sitting with much of idle lying capacity - fighting for its survival.

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The Bright Side An estimated 22 per cent of Indian coal-based generation plants are over 25 years old that need up gradation for performance and efficiency thus requires replacement with new supercritical units, which lends optimism to BTG equipment market.

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Industry Insight

Electrical Insulators Insulator industry is facing slump in demand due to slow progress in projects, while the low priced imports have been eating up a large share of the pie of the demand that could have supported domestic manufacturers in proper utilization of their existing capacity.

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Maintaining the Reliability

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Insulator Testing - Importance of Hardware

An improperly specified insulator for a transmission system/environment can lead to 70 percent of the maintenance costs of a transmission line being spent due to it.

Column by: D P K Udas Vice President - International Transmission Limited

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Market Review

Small Hydro Power Small Hydro Power projects offer large social and economic gains, however the future projections do not look too optimistic for the segment, due to policy uncertainty and investor reluctance.

Next Issue Editorial Attraction Sector Focus: Indsutry Insight Market Review Special Feature

Wind Power Sector Meters & Metering Solutions Power & Disribution Transformers Solar Power - EPC

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Conventional News

NEWS UPDATES Thermal Power

Private power producers slam govt for proposed cost-plus regime for PSUs

Thermal Power

Banks to finalise deals soon to sell stressed power assets According to media reports banks are set to finalise deals for about a dozen stressed power projects with more than 13,000 mw capacities.

The lenders have set August 14 deadline to sign the deals or decide to take the projects to insolvency court. In this regard, lenders have unanimously decided that stressed power projects fetching above Rs 3 crore per mw in auctions — which would translate to recovery of just about 50% of their exposure — be sold off.

Private power producers have slammed a proposed amendment to the electricity tariff policy as “regressive”, saying re-introduction of cost-plus regime for calculating cost of power produced by PSUs like NTPC shields them from competition and is “anti-consumer” The Association of Power Producers (APP), in a letter to the Power– pointed out that Greenfield projects

Rise in thermal coal imports during FY18: Government

India’s total coal imports rose for the first time in three financial years, undermining the goverment’s plan to reduce India-bound coal shipments and cut its import bill. The value of India’s coal imports rose by 38.2 percent to 1,384.77 billion rupees ($20.17 billion), the statistics wing of India’s trade ministry said.

Thermal Power

Slow progress of power and irrigation projects, only 5 under execution: CAG Of the 16 major irrigation and power projects approved by the Centre, only five are under execution after a decade, and slow physical progress of those led to an overall cost escalation by 2,341 per cent, a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has said.

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The letter added that the Tariff Policy, 2006 stipulated all future requirement of power is to be procured through competitive bidding with exemption for public sector projects for five years, that is till January 2011.

Thermal Power

India’s thermal coal imports rose by 8 percent and coking coal imports by about 13 percent for the year to March 31, government data showed.

Bidders in fray for one or more power plants being expeditiously auctioned include Adani Power, Vedanta Plc, JSW Energy, Edelweiss, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Resurgent Power, Lone Star-IL&FS and JM Financial.

commissioned after 2010 of NTPC generate power for Rs 5-7 per unit as compared to a maximum cost of Rs 4.17 of a private generator.

Of the Cabinet approved projects only five are under execution - Gosirkund project, Teetsa, Saryu, Indira Sagar Poolavaram project, Shahpur-Kandi project.

The fundamental remained unachieved even after almost a decade of existence of the scheme with only five projects being under actual implementation. A total expenditure of Rs 13,299.12 crore had been incurred on these five projects as of March 2017,” the report said.

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Thermal Power

Coal India may limit supply to power plants with large stocks Coal India Ltd is exploring the possibility of restricting fuel supplies to power plants saddled with large stocks but operating at low capacity utilisation. The plan is to divert supplies to the ones running at higher capacity but faced with low stocks.

At present, 117-odd power plants in the country have a supply agreement with Coal India. These plants have good enough stock for generating power for 10 days, yet 18 plants are running with critically low fuel stocks - in some cases not even to last a day.

In contrast, 16 power stations have stocks varying between 16 and 58 days of usage levels.

An analysis reveals that these plants, are being operated at low capacity utilization, anywhere between 32% and 75% in June this year.

NEWS UPDATES Hydro Power

Thermal Power

Himachal to buy electricity from small power projects: CM Thakur

Vedanta offers of Rs 2,500 crore for GMR’s 1,370-MW thermal power plant

Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Limited (HPSEBL) will purchase power produced by small power projects of up to 25 MW capacity in order to help the producers and attract more investment in energy sector, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said while presiding over a seminar on ‘Speedy Development of Hydro Electric Projects in Himachal Pradesh’.

Thakur said the state has identified potential of over 27,000 MW, which once fully

harnessed have the potential to transform the economy of Himachal Pradesh. Till date only 10,547 MW potential stands harnessed. The state government has set a target to harness about 182 MW potential during the current year by active participation of private and public sectors, for which it was providing several incentives to the power producers.

Thermal Power

Pollution control equipment in coalfired power plants is a INR 3.96-lakh crore industry new study into the cost and benefits of installing pollution control equipment in India’s thermal power plants has estimated the bill that the sector will be plastered with at INR 3.91-3.96 lakh crore till 2030.

Hydro Power

No new ‘scheme’ to revive hydropower projects, says Government The Union Power Ministry is no longer looking at formulating a new scheme for reviving hydropower projects in the country. Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power and New and Renewable Energy RK Singh told the Lok Sabha, “At present, the government has no proposal to launch any new scheme for hydropower projects in the country.”

Singh was responding to a query on whether the government proposed to launch any new scheme for hydropower projects in the country.

This is an indirect indication that the proposal for Expenditure Finance Committee consideration for revival of hydropower sector uploaded on the Power Ministry’s website in June last year is no longer on the table. The policy that had involved a financial implication of INR 16,709 crore for 40 projects with a capacity of 11,639 MW.

Equipment such as flue gas desulphuriser, catalytic reducer and electrostatic precipitators alone will account for INR 2.57 lakh crore — the rest will be the spends for operations and maintenance and consumables. This estimate is almost the same as the one made earlier by the Association of Power Producers, which put the capital costs at ₹2.80 lakh crore.

Vedanta quoted the highest offer of Rs 2,500 crore for GMR’s 1,370-MW thermal power plant in Raikheda, Chhattisgarh, sources told FE. The offered price estimates the cost of the plant at Rs 1.8 crore/MW, significantly lower than the Rs 6 crore/MW needed to set up a coal-based power generation asset. Adani Power is said to have quoted the second highest price, but it could not be immediately ascertained.

GMR’s Chhattisgarh unit’s debt stood at around Rs 7,500 crore, sources said.

The group of lenders, led by Axis Bank, converted part of their debt towards the asset earlier in 2017, resulting in them owning more than 52% equity in the asset. Other major bankers to the power plant with exposure of more than Rs 500 crore include PFC, Bank of India, Canara Bank and Union Bank of India. If lenders are not able to work out a solution to revive the asset within 180 days, the account must be referred to the NCLT and would be decided under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

Thermal Power

India plans to cut emission from old power plants to national standards by 2022 Starting next year, India has planned to bring down emission levels of all old power plants to national standards by 2022, and there are chances that “very old” plants in the country might be closed down.

Union Environment Secretary C K Mishra said, “We have a plan in place, wherein from 2019 onwards and by 2022, emission levels of all old power plants will be brought to national standards. Some may be closed which are very old, but rest will be done.”

Thermal and other fossil fuel-based power plants are one of the main causes of air pollution. Though, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is doing retrofitting works in old plants in a “big way”, however, It is a time-consuming process and one of these additions takes about 18 months,” he said. www.powerinsight.vision-media.co.in

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NEWS UPDATES

Renewable News

Renewable Power

India is currently using 8 per cent of its renewable energy potential The cumulative renewable power installed capacity had reached 69.5 GW by March this year. India is using just 8 per cent of the energy it could potentially generate using renewable resources. However, the capacity is building up and with it the share of renewables in India’s energy mix.

Solar Power

Hyderabad-based ARCI developed self-cleaning solar panels Hyderabad-based international Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI) has developed solar panels that are capable of cleaning themselves. The ARCI has used nanotechnology to make self-cleaning solar panels.

The solar panels are coated with a special material that is highly waterproof or superhydrophobic. The nanoparticles used to manufacture solar panels will ensure that dust does not settle on them through an action of water. The potentiality of solar panels is affected if they are covered by dust particles.

The new type of solar panels eliminates the need for manual cleaning. According to ARCI scientists, the solar panels are on in field trial stage.

The government in its submission

Renewable Power

Essel plans EV charging infrastructure in UP Essel Infraprojects (EIL) is planning to invest Rs 1,750 crore to set up electric vehicle charging and battery swapping infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh (UP).

Under the project, EIL will launch of 250 charging stations, 1,000 battery swapping stations in 20 cities of UP in phased manner.

EIL project will kick-start the electric vehicle ecosystem in effective manner as EIL will also invest in simultaneous deployment of 25,000 e-rickshaws, which will generate 50,000 jobs in the state.

Renewable Power

Karnataka is now India’s top renewable energy Karnataka has emerged as top state in installing renewable energy overtaking Tamil Nadu, which had long been India’s top renewable energy performer. Karnataka has reached 12.3 GW of total installed capacity as of March 2018, having added 5 GW in 2017-18 alone.

According to a recent report of Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) has revealed that Karnataka has been taking advantage of several positive renewable energy policies like open access, introduction of a hybrid wind-solar development policy and significant steps to reverse its historic reliance on energy imports.

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to the United Nations Frame Work Convention on Climate Change on Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) had stated that India would achieve 40 per cent cumulative electric power capacity from non-fossil fuel based resources by 2030.

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Solar Power

India imposes safeguard duty on solar panels imports The Ministry of Finance has notified the Directorate General of Trade Remedies decision to impose safeguard duty on solar panels imported from China and Malaysia, which is certain to raise tariffs of future solar projects.

The DGTR had recommended the imposition of 25% safeguard duty on solar panels from these two countries about a fortnight ago for one year, followed by 20% for the next six months and 15% for another six. It did so on the grounds that such imports were causing “serious injury” to domestic solar manufacturers. The duty comes into effect from July 30.

The DGTR had responded to a complaint from the Indian Solar Manufacturers Association (ISMA) last December by conducting its own investigation.

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NEWS UPDATES Solar Power

Solar Power

Solar industry seeks urgent clarity on rate of GST on projects

First tender for 1,000 Mw solar power capacity in DSIR likely in August

India’s solar industry has reached out to policy makers, including the finance ministry, seeking urgent clarification on the rate of goods and services tax (GST) on solar projects after controversial Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR) held these would face 18% and not 5%.

The industry fears, this could not only disrupt its whole calculation on tariffs and will render projects unviable. On the serious note it could derail the government plans of adding 100 GW by 2022.

The problem has origin in the fact that concessional GST rate of 5% applies to solar power generating system, but solar power generating systems (SPGS) are not defined in the law.

Solar Power

Solar Power

Dholera Special Investment Region (DSIR) in Gujarat has proposed to have a 5,000-mw solar park, at an estimated cost of Rs 25,000 crore, and spread across 11,000 hectare. This is going to be the largest singlelocation ultra mega solar park of 5,000 mw in the country. The first tender for the 1,000-megawatt (mw) solar capacity is likely to be issued next month.

Uttar Pradesh cancels July 10 solar auction on high tariff

Delhi government plans to launch solar rooftop demand aggregation program

The state government of Uttar Pradesh has cancelled the auction on account of the high solar tariff of Rs 3.48 per unit at an auction for 1,000 MW, conducted by the Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency. The reverse auction conducted on July 10 saw participation from 13 companies.

The Delhi government is planning to launch Solar Rooftop Demand Aggregation Program for domestic customers.

The program aims to benefit consumers including residential, schools, hospitals, and municipal segments with an expected aggregated demand of 40 Megawatt using the Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO) mode.

The solar developers had been anticipating the cancellation of the bids thus the National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI), representing solar energy developers, has written to the state energy minister, requesting him to intervene and issue suitable directives to UPPCL to honour the tariff and the bidding process as cancellation of the auction might set a bad precedent.

Gujarat Power Corporation (GPCL), Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam (GUVNL) and Gujarat Electric Transmission Corporation (GETCO) along with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) are implementing the project. The greenfield project is expected to generate more than 20,000 jobs.

Wind Power

35 developers express interest in country’s first offshore wind energy project

The Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Management Centre (EE&REM) under the Delhi government’s pwoer department today organized a consultation workshop with stakeholders on the program for promotion of solar rooftop projects and understand the opportunities and challenges in aggregating the consumer demand.

As many as 35 national and international developers have expressed interest in the country’s first offshore wind energy project, and the process of inviting Request For Proposal (RFP) should take place shortly. The wind energy project with a capacity to produce 1,000 megawatt has been planned off the coast of Pipavav port in Gujarat.

As sea route allows easy transportation of such huge machines, the offshore wind projects allow the developers to install larger capacity wind turbines, which is not possible in the onshore projects due to the transportation constraints.

The workshop deliberated on the government’s support for developing payment security mechanism in facilitating easy loans from financiers and potential barriers limiting market transformation, generation based incentives, among others.

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NEWS UPDATES Power Distribution

T&D News

Power ministry mulls Rs 50 crore reward for discoms under Saubhagya scheme The power ministry is mulling a reward of Rs 50 lakh for state utilities employees and a grant of Rs 50 crore for discoms which will meet household electrification target under Saubhagya scheme at the earliest.

Power Transmission

L&T infrastructure arm looking to acquire power transmission assets L&T Infrastructure Development Projects Limited (L&T IDPL), a subsidiary of infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro (L&T), is looking at expanding its power transmission portfolio by bidding for new projects and acquiring brownfield assets.

The company currently operates the Kudgi Power Transmission Line project in Karnataka and has been recently prequalified for projects tendered by Jharkand under Tariff Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB) route.

“We are currently looking to expand our power transmission portfolio, so we will be happy to lok at purchasing power transmission acquiring assets, including those of PowerGrid corportaion,” Shailesh Pathak, CEO of L&T IDPL said.

Under the Rs 16,320 crore - ‘Saubhagya’ scheme - the government aims

Power sector employees across India will go on a 24-hour strike on 7 December 2018 in protest against the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2014 — which seeks to extend privatisation to the distribution of electricity, and consequently, to snatch away the right to electricity of the poor.

The Bill seeks to bifurcate the distribution of power into into carriage (the distribution network carrying the electricity to consumers) and supply (or the sale of electricity to consumers).

Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), an arm of the power ministry, today announced it has signed two pacts with Haryana power discoms to install 1 million smart electricity meters in the state. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) entail supply and installation of Smart Meters in Gurugram, Faridabad, Hisar, Karnal, Panipat and Panchkula within 3 years in a phased manner.

As part of the project, EESL will initially install meters for 1 million customers in select cities under the DISCOMs’ jurisdiction in Haryana, scaling the project to more towns in subsequent years. EESL will also engage a System Integrator (SI) to implement the Smart Metering (AMI) Solution.

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The move is aimed at incentivising state discoms to compete against each other to give a push to achieve the objective of 100 percent household electrification under ‘Saubhagya’ Scheme .

Power Employees to hold nationwide strike on 2018 December 7 against ‘Privatisation Bill’

EESL signs pact to install 1 million smart electricity meters in Haryana

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The ministry will form a different group of states based on the parameters like geography and number of households to be electrified. Among each group, the state completing the task of 100 percent household electrification at earliest will be rewarded.

Power Distribution

Power Distribution

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to electrify all 3.6 crore un-electrified households by December-end.

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Power Transmission

CERC proposes major change in tariff structure from FY19 The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), which determines tariffs for plants that sell power at ‘cost-plus’ systems, has proposed to introduce a ‘three-part tariff’ structure from the existing ‘two-part’ regime.

The regulator has suggested the changes in the recently launched approach paper for the tariff period between FY19-24.

The existing two-part tariff structure for coal-based power plants comprise fixed and energy charges. Fixed charges represent fixed cost components, including debt service obligation and risk-free returns, while energy charges represent the fuel costs, which varies according to the market.

INDIAN PARTNER OF

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NEWS UPDATES Power Transmission

Power Transmission

year,” Power Minister RK Singh.

India became net power exporter in last four years: RK Singh

“The government will connect every house in the country with electricity by December 2018,” he said.

“India became a net exporter of electricity for the first time during the last four years, and 7,203 million units were supplied to Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar in the last financial

In September last year, the government had launched the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya) scheme aimed to connect all households with electricity March 2019.

With 100 per cent village electrification being achieved by the end of April, the government brought ahead the Saubhagya target of powering around 4 crore households three months ahead of the original deadline.

Power Distribution

Modi govt planning National Electricity Distribution Company The government is considering setting up a National Electricity Distribution Company, given that the segment will be key to the long-term fortunes of the power sector.

Distribution companies have so far been the weakest link in the electricity value chain. Poor payment records of stateowned electricity distribution companies (discoms) have not only adversely affected power generation companies, but has contributed in causing stress in the banking sector as well. In such a situation, a national electricity distribution company can procure electricity at competitive rates and help address the issue of stressed assets in power generation.

Power Distribution

Govt. pushes large power consumers to use more renewable energy The government is pushing the country’s big power consumers to increase the share of renewables in their overall power mix.

India’s power ministry has increased the renewable purchase obligation (RPO) target from 17% now to 21% by 2022.

The RPO mandates state power-distribution companies and certain other private firms to procure a part of their power requirement from renewable sources.

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Power Insight

Adani pipped two other bidders, including Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) and Kalpataru Power Transmission Limited by emerging as the lowest bidder for laying the transmission lines for the muchdelayed power plant.

The plant is estimated to cost Rs 156 billion, while the contract for laying 4 transmission lines for the unit has been awarded for a consideration of Rs 22.60 billion.

The contract would be valid for 35 years and the state power utility would pay rent for using these transmission lines for relaying power.

Rajasthan to get $250 Million from World Bank to reform state electricity distribution sector The World Bank has approved a $250 million development policy loan (DPL) to Rajasthan for the improvement of the state’s electricity distribution sector under the ‘24×7 Power for All’ program.

The state government will receive the loan under ‘Second Programmatic Electricity Distribution Reform Development Policy Loan for Rajasthan’, a program formulated for the turnaround of the state’s electricity distribution sector. This is the second loan given to the state under the planned reform. The first loan was approved in March 2017.

This push comes just weeks after India’s power minister, R K Singh, said the country should increase its renewable energy target to 227,000 (MW) by 2022.

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Adani Group company Adani Transmission Limited has won the bid for laying the transmission line for the 1980 megawatt (MW) Ghatampur thermal power plant in Uttar Pradesh.

Policy

As per the new norms, all entities that fall under the RPO should procure 10.5% of their total electricity from solar sources, up from 6.75% now, and another 10.5% of their power from other non-solar renewable sources by 2022, up from 10.25% now.

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Adani wins power transmission bid for Uttar Pradesh power plant

The focus of the second phase of operations is to improve the credit ratings of distribution companies (DISCOMs), attract private investment in renewables sector, and upgrade service delivery. |

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Special REPORT

Smart Grid

Pilot Project Progress A report on progress being made towards implementation of smart grid pilot projects in the country - as on July 2018...

T

he primary goal of India is electrification of all households; provide adequate power for agriculture sector and 24x7 availability of power to every citizen by 2019. No doubt, the country is all geared up in deploying new types of devices and ICT infrastructure, adopting new monitoring, control and energy management tools, and aiming at fast deployment of smart grid concepts at distribution as well as transmission level.

The vision of India on smart grids is to “Transform the Indian power sector into a secure, adaptive, sustainable and digitally enabled ecosystem that provides reliable and quality energy for all with active participation of stakeholders�.

However, there are several challenges facing the implementation of the smart grid systems.

The main challenges that policy makers face are high capital costs and benefit constraints within the same cost to the consumer as seen by the regulator.

The Journey Realizing the growing importance of Smart Grid technologies in the Indian power sector, the Ministry of Power (MoP) had taken early steps in 2010 by constituting

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n India Smart Grid Forum: A non-profit voluntary consortium of public and private stakeholders with prime objective of accelerating development of Smart Grid technologies in Indian Power Sector. n India Smart Grid Task Force: An interministerial group under MoP to provide policy direction to smart grid initiatives in the country.

In 2012, eleven smart grid and one smart city pilots were sanctioned, with nearly 50 per cent funding support from the MoP, to test various Smart Grid technologies. In addition to this there were several additional initiatives that various entities undertook – working in their domain for Smart Grid support and implementation in India such as CEA, BIS, CPRI, BEE, etc.

The next milestone came in March 2015, when Ministry of Power, Government of India, established National Smart Grid Mission (NSGM) to plan and monitor the implementation of policies and programs related to the smart grid activities in India. It brought together all smart grid-related activities in India under its ambit.

Under the NSGM, four new projects were approved in 2016 to be implemented by state utilities with 30 per cent financial support from the central government. These projects

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Special REPORT are in the initial stages of development.

The NSGM is also coordinating the development of smart grids under the Smart Cities Mission.

NSGM promotes deployment of Smart Grid technologies like Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), substation renovation and modernization with deployment of Gas Insulated Substations (GIS) wherever economically feasible and Distributed Generation in the form of Rooftop Solar PVs, real-time monitoring and control of Distribution Transformers, creation of Electrical Vehicle (EV) charging Infrastructure for supporting proliferation of EVs, development of medium sized Microgrids and provision of power quality improvement measures.

Pilot Projects Progress To understand and test various Smart Grid technologies, MoP sanctioned pilot projects at a total cost of Rs 4.8 billion – that are to be implemented across states of Assam, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Punjab, Telangana, Tripura, Puducherry, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. All projects are being partially funded by the MoP, except the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitaran Nigam Limited (UHBVNL) project, which was funded by the Japan-based New Energy and Industry Technology Development Organisation (NEDO).

Meanwhile, projects under the NSGM are under implementation in Subdivision 5 (Chandigarh), Congress Nagar (Maharashtra) and Amravati (Maharashtra) at a cumulative investment of Rs 2.6 billion, of which 30 per cent will come from the government.

At present, bids are being awarded under most of the projects for various components such as AMI, SCADA, distributed generation, electric vehicles and cyber security.

Completed Pilots As of July 2018, the completed projects include three pilot projects along with and one smart city pilot project, while the others are at various stages of implementation. On 25th of January

hardware and software have been installed and acceptance testing of applications have completed. Billing started for one RMU section with smart meter data. Data accuracy is verified and billing of 6,700 consumers done with smart meter data.

2018, UHBVNL inaugurated its smart grid technology demonstration project in Panipat covering 11,000 consumers. The execution of the project was undertaken by NEDO. In addition, the HPSEB’s project in the Kala Amb Industrial Area, covering 1,554 consumers, has also been completed.

3. The WBSEDCL project in Siliguri, Darjeeling, in the state of West Bengal covering 5275 consumers’ base is also in its advanced stages of implementation. As of July 2018, type test for smart meters have been completed with 4900 smart meters installed and 50 DCU installed at site. Also, material for control centre setup has been received and installed at the site while 700 smart meters has been communicating with control centre.

Meanwhile, CESC’s project, covering over 21,824 consumers in Mysore, was completed in April 2018, however, due to some issues in the installed three phase CT meters, declaring Go-Live date is postponed. In addition, the smart city R&D platform at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur has been successfully completed. The project includes a smart city prototype and a platform for testing of smart distribution systems.

Other notable projects include - the Puducherry Electricity Department’s (PED) project, installation of smart meters is underway with 11136 single phase and 4151 three phase smart meters installed as of July 2018. For Uttar Gujarat Vitaran Company Limited’s (UGVCL) pilot project in Sabarmati, which is expected to cover 39,422 consumers, is also progressing - 16000 meters installed at Naroda site and 55 DCUs are installed at site. In addition, Data Centre equipment procurement along with Control Centre Hardware FAT has been completed • Trial is on for MDMS-HES Integration and as of July 2018.

Advanced Stage While, projects under advanced stages of implementation includes Assam Power Distribution Company Limited’s (APDCL) project in Paltan Bazaar; Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited (TSECL) project in Agartala; The WBSEDCL project in Siliguri, Darjeeling.

1. The Assam Power Distribution Company Limited’s (APDCL) project in Paltan Bazaar covering 15,938 consumers. As of July 2018, the discom has installed over 13,691 smart meters - meanwhile the data centre setup has been complete and commissioned and the Installation of Control Centre hardware equipment is completed. As of July 2018 – there are 155 DCU communicating to control centre and 6190 meters communicating to Control Centre.

Way forward The opportunities for building smart grids in India are immense at distribution as well as transmission level, as reliable electric supply is one of the key infrastructure requirements to support overall development.

2. The Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited (TSECL) project in Agartala, covering the largest consumer base of 42,676, has also made significant progress. As of July 2018, a total of 30839 meters have been installed and are communicating with the servers. In addition to this around 180 DCUs have been installed and commissioned successfully. Rooftop Solar net metering & billing is being integrated with AMI system. Also, the control centre

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The learning’s from the implementation of the smart grid pilots and the government’s push to smart metering under various initiatives such as the Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana and the Integrated Power Development Scheme is expected to fast-track the power sector’s transition to smart grid and will surely play a key role in defining the trajectory of smart grid development in the power sector n

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Special FEATURE Special Feature

BTG Equipment Industry

Struggling for Survival An insight into domestic BTG equipment indsutry that has a strong installed manufacturing base - is currently sitting with much of idle lying capacity - fighting for its survival...

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units by the successful bidders as per a pre-agreed phased manufacturing programme (PMP). Encouraged by the bulk orders awarded by the government with mandatory PMP provisions, the opportunities were immense for the BTG Equipments in India during that time.

ndia has well established BTG equipments manufacturing capacity, with the current industry size being estimated to be over 30 GW. Earlier, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) was the only domestic BTG manufacturer, however with time a number of private companies forayed into the industry - joining hands with foreign counterparts.

By FY 2011/12, the Indian Electrical Equipment (EE) industry had grown close to Rs 1.20 lakh crore ($25 billion), and the share of the BTG sector was about 25 per cent or $6.5 billion.

Then in April 2013, there was roll out of a plan ‘Vision 2022 for the Indian Electrical Equipment (EE) industry’, targeting production worth $100 billion by 2022. Under the 10-year plan it was estimated that the domestic demand for power generation equipment (boiler, turbine and generator, or BTG) would increase steadily to touch

BTG Industry Journey Much of the growth in the BTG equipment industry’s capacity could be attributed to the introduction of the bulk tender concept in 2009. During this time bulk orders for supercritical units for NTPC Limited and Damodar Valley Corporation were approved by the government which incorporated the mandatory requirement of indigenisation of manufacturing of supercritical

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$25-30 billion by 2022 on account of government plans to add around 88.5 Gigawatt (GW) and 93 GW during the 12th and the 13th Five-year Plans, respectively, mainly to coal-fired power plants.

The other good news came when the government envisaged a plan to set up over a dozen or so 4,000 megawatt (MW) ultra mega power projects (UMPPs) through a public-private partnership. As most of those projects required supercritical technology, which was not available in the country at that time, thus in order, to tap this opportunity, as many as five BTG joint ventures (JVs) were set up in the country and Indian corporate and their joint-venture partners hoped to make good in a fast-surging market.

However, the priorities of the gov-

Special FEATURE According to a recent report by credit rating agency ICRA, stressed assets in the thermal power space have a total capacity of about 60,000 MW.

tor capacity of 4 GW), Alstom-Bharat Forge (4 GW of turbine generators), Toshiba-JSW (3 GW of turbine generators), Doosan Power Systems India (2.2 GW of boilers) and Thermax-Babcock & Wilcox Energy Solutions (3 GW of boilers).

Further, the weak financials of stateowned electricity distribution companies, or discoms, along with subdued demand from the industrial segment, has affected overall demand. A CRISIL Research study released last year says around 21 GW of commissioned private-sector coal-based capacity was under stress due to lack of long term PPAs or poor/zero off take. Up to 35 GW power assets are also struggling due to lack of fuel supply agreement, coal linkage, unviable pricing and so on. “We do not expect discoms of major states such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh to sign fresh long-term PPAs before 2020, based on demand projections in tariff filings,” said Prasad Koparkar, Senior Director, CRISIL Research, in the report.

As per CEA, together these six players constitute an installed manufacturing capacity of 22,700 MW per year of boilers and 24,500 MW per year of turbines and generators. However, most of these leading players are currently sitting on idle capacity due to lack of local orders. In order to survive, most of them now depend on orders from parent companies, JV partners and NTPC.

Issues & Challenges The general slowdown in the power sector has led to a decrease in orders for BTG equipment, leading to a major underutilisation of the existing manufacturing facilities. During the past three years, the average power project awards have been less than 9 GW against the annual rate of 25-30 GW during the period of 2007-10. Even BHEL managed to bag bulk orders until 2012/13, but it is now looking to diversify into defence, solar, metro and aerospace for survival. ernment changed soon - with the emphasis on renewable generation and the decision to discourage new coal-fired thermal projects. This led to serious blow to the BTG sector landing it in serious trouble. The result was clearly evident with, the share of the BTG manufacturers falling to mere 15 per cent or INR 23,100 crore ($3.5 billion) in the Indian electrical industry, by FY 2016/17.

Current Scenario Currently, apart from mid size companies, there are six big domestic BTG players in the industry. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has the largest share of the indigenous manufacturing capacity. Other major players includes - L&T-MHPS Boilers Private Limited (with a boiler manufacturing capacity of 4 GW and turbine genera-

Outlook Going forward, BTG equipment suppliers rest their expectations for the gradual inflow of orders on the requirement for new supercritical units. Nearly 10,180 MW of new supercritical units have been proposed to be set up in the public sector, in place of the retired old subcritical units totalling 5,228 MW. Further, compliance with the new environment norms by the TPPs is likely to improve market prospects.

When the Indian power market was surging, the domestic BTG manufacturers were facing the jolt of low cost imports from their Chinese counterparts and sought for a level playing field. To which, the government barred the duty-free import of capital goods for power generation and transmission projects by early 2016.

In addition, an estimated 22 per cent of Indian coal-based generation plants are over 25 years old and will need to be upgraded for performance and efficiency, which requires BTG equipment. This requirement, especially for the replacement of old thermal power plants (TPPs) with new supercritical units, lends optimism to suppliers.

In May that year, the CEA mandated domestic sourcing of equipment for all central- and state-government funded power projects. However, by that time, the government had shelved its plans of big capacity additions in the thermal power, space and liberal policies were in place to encourage renewable.

To conclude, the main plant equipment market for TPPs is facing headwinds with the drying up of the project pipeline and growing emphasis on renewable energy sources. However, the demand for emission control equipment and replacement of old TPP is likely to improve the equipment industry’s prospects. n

Further, to add to the woes, the National Electricity Policy does not envisage any new coal-based power plant during 2017-2022. In addition, the BTG industry is facing the heat of stressed assets in thermal power segment.

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Special FEATURE

The Bright Side An estimated 22 per cent of Indian coal-based generation plants are over 25 years old that need up gradation for performance and efficiency thus requires replacement with new supercritical units, which lends optimism to BTG equipment market.

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ince past few years, BTG equipment industry is going through tough times.

The industry has seen a slump in orders for projects, the FY2017-18 was no good either - As per industry estimates boiler, turbine, generator (BTG) equipment orders aggregated to little more than 6 GW during the year.

While the central and state gencos placed a few orders, the private sector failed to finalise any order owing to issues such as lack of fuel and power off take arrangements facing the sector.

However, there is also a bright side of the story; a huge opportunity is expected to come up in the thermal power segment which could help revive the BTG market in the country. The opportunity ex-

ists through the replacement of old and inefficient plants and new environment norms necessitating installation of emission control systems.

Replacement Demand The replacement drive in the thermal power segment is expected to create new demand for BTG equipment. The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has identified several old and inefficient plants that are over 25 years old for replacement. Developers are thus required to modify the operations of BTGs by scrapping the old plants to set up new supercritical plants with higher capacity. According to estimates of the CEA, as of March 2016, over 37 GW of India’s thermal fleet is more than 25 years old (35.5 GW in the government sector and 1.9 GW in the private sector).

The total quantum of old thermal capacity identified by the CEA is around 32,830 MW, of which around 7.7 GW can be scrapped and replaced by around 18.5 GW of supercritical units.

As per industry estimates, of the 51 GW of capacity (with a unit size of over 500 MW) installed before 2003, around 35 GW (mainly plants that are over 25 years old) needs to be scrapped. The scrapped plants will be replaced over the next four to five years by those with 50 per cent higher capacity, resulting in additional capacity of about 50 GW. In line with these initiatives, the coun-

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Special FEATURE

The need of the hour is to understand the overall market dynamics; assess key challenges impeding market growth and hence suggest way to strengthen market interest....... try’s biggest power generator, NTPC Limited, has already given in-principle clearance to replace around 11,000 MW of its old and inefficient thermal power plants.

Renovation & Modernisation According to the CEA, between 2012 and 2017, 135 thermal units of 29,367 MW were identified under the R&M programme.

Of these, till June 2017, R&M and life extension (LE) works have been completed for 37 thermal units aggregating 7,202 MW. Going forward, during the 2017-22 period, R&M and LE works for 70 units totalling 14,719 MW of capacity are being considered.

Emission Control: Meanwhile, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change notified tightened emission norms in

Way forward

December 2015, thus opening up significant growth opportunities for equipment providers in the emissions control market.

To conclude, the main plant equipment market for TPPs is facing headwinds with the drying up of the project pipeline and growing emphasis on renewable energy. However, the demand for emission control equipment as well as replacement of old and inefficient units under various government initiatives is likely to improve the industry’s prospects. Since these projects already have land, and other essential clearances in place, they are expected to come up a lot faster.

In order to meet the new standards, emission control systems including flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) systems and electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) need to be installed and retrofitted at power plants.

Further, there exist a significant potential for efficiency improvement of thermal power plants in the country (the world average of coal power efficiency is ~35.1% as compared to ~31% in India) which is largely contingent on the use of advance technology for new capacities and improvement of efficiencies in the existing capacity.

According to CEA estimates, about 72 GW (36.5 per cent) of the total coal-based capacity (197 GW) is noncompliant with the new particulate matter norms and requires retrofitting or upgradation of ESPs. To this end, ESPs are planned to be upgraded across 231 units aggregating 66 GW of capacity. Meanwhile, FGD systems are planned to be installed in plants aggregating 160 GW.

The need of the hour is to understand the overall market dynamics; assess key challenges impeding market growth and hence suggest way to strengthen market interest. n

According to ICRA’s estimates, the capex requirement of Rs 1.2 trillion for the operational TPPs to comply with the revised pollution norms would also boost the capital goods sector’s order inflows.

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Cover FOCUS

Cover Focus

Rooftop Solar Power

Slow W Footed Growth

ith growing concerns about climate change and greenhouse gas emissions from the use of fossil fuels India shifted its focus on renewable energy sources to provide energy security and energy independence to its billion plus population. Solar energy has turned out to be one of the most attractive options, particularly with abundantly available solar resources, modular technology and zero fuel costs over 25-30 years of the project life.

Though, domestic and commercial consumers in India have begun to consider solar power as an alternative to conventional grid-supplied electricity. But much remains to be done for the market to mature and rooftop solar power to become commercially sustainable...

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Considering this, the Government of India has recently expressed its intent to achieve 100 GW of solar capacity in the country by 2022, of which 40 GW is expected to be achieved through decentralized and rooftop-scale solar projects. Solar photovoltaic technology is one of the best technological options for distributed generation close to the point of consumption.

The Indian market in rooftop solar installations has been growing because of falling asset prices, beneficial changes in legislation, new financing arrangements and the zeal of entrepreneurs. Photovoltaic panels are now visible atop a greater number of buildings than ever before. As word has spread, domestic and commercial consumers have begun to consider solar power as an alternative to conventional grid-supplied electricity. But much remains to be done for the market to mature and rooftop solar

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Cover FOCUS

Top 10 States Rooftop Installed Capacity (MW) as on 31 March 2018 States

Capacity in (MW)

Industrial

Commercial

Public Sector

Maharashtra Tamil Nadu

309 MW

232 MW

59 MW

18 MW

253 MW

185 MW

49 MW

19 MW

Karnataka

182 MW

94 MW

59 MW

29 MW

Gujarat

170 MW

99 MW

27 MW

44 MW

Rajasthan

167 MW

110 MW

36 MW

21 MW

Uttar Pradesh

146 MW

56 MW

45 MW

45 MW

Haryana

126 MW

78 MW

33 MW

15 MW

Delhi

103 MW

57 MW

35 MW

11 MW

Andhra Pradesh

95 MW

41 MW

37 MW

17 MW

Source: Bridge to India

All India Total Installed Rooftop Capacity - 2538 MW as on March 31 2018

544 MW

1088 MW

Commercial 631 MW

404 MW Industrial

Public Sector

503 MW Residential

1907 MW OPEX Model

CAPEX Model

Source: Bridge to India

power to become commercially sustainable.

Segment Overview The rooftop solar segment was the fastest growing segment within India’s renewable energy sector – prior to FY 2017-18. However, the segment lost its momentum and the government quickly and quietly revised its target for FY18 to only 1GW from the earlier set target of 5 GW. The total grid connected installed rooftop solar in the country stood at 1219.41 MW while off grid and decentralised SPV systems stood at 737.85 MW as on June 30, 2018 according to MNRE website.

According to Bridge to India Rooftop Solar Map, total rooftop capacity in the country is estimated at 2.538GW as of 31st March 2018, with around 1GW having been added in 2017-18.

Industrial segment with 1088MW - accounts for the largest installation share followed by commercial segment with 544MW installations.

companies in the segment accounts for a less than 30 per cent of the total market share, while more than 70 per cent share is share among other smaller players. Despite being a natural fit for India, rooftop solar is not seeing the kind of installations that the utility scale segment has. Most rooftop installations are coming primarily from government and commercial and industrial sectors. Residential rooftop market remains scanty across the country. Other than a lack of policy support, one of the primary reasons for the sluggish growth is the lack of viable financing options for residential customers.

While, residential segment accounts for 503MW of installation, the public sector accounts for 404MW of installations. On the other hand, of the total rooftop installations in the country as of 31st March 2018 – the share between OPEX and CAPEX model is 631MW and 1907MW respectively.

The top 10 states with largest rooftop installed capacity as of March 2018 are – Maharashtra (309MW), Tamil Nadu (253MW), Karnataka (182MW), Gujarat (170MW), Rajasthan (167MW), Uttar Pradesh (146MW), Haryana (126MW), Delhi (103MW), Andhra Pradesh (95MW) and Telangana (89MW) as per Bridge to India estimates. The maximum installations in these states were in the industrial sector followed by the commercial and public sectors. However, in Delhi, the public and commercial sectors had the largest share of rooftop capacity summing up to 92 MW.

The first half of the calendar year 2018 has seen some notable rooftop capacity being tendered in the country – of which the Gujarat Energy Development Agency tender to set up 125 MW of capacity is the largest announced in June 2018. In addition, states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Bihar have also issued rooftop solar tenders. However, these tenders are largely focused on government and

Market Insight The Indian rooftop solar market is highly fragmented and the top 10

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Cover FOCUS commercial interest rates. No doubt in such a scenario a residential customer will certainly don’t want to risk up their property as collaterals to banks for small rooftop-solar installations.

institutional players as the Commercial and the Industrial segment is driven by commercial aspects. On the other hand, residential segment, have not been seen so enthusiastic which can be attributed to the lack of awareness as well as the high upfront cost of these projects.

On the other hand, net metering guidelines, which allow users to sell surplus power to electricity utilities, vary across states. Thus, lack of uniform net metering guidelines along with implementation issues also restraint the smooth growth of Rooftop Solar segment.

Key Challenges Of the targeted capacity of 40 GW for rooftop solar by the year 2022 – India has been able to achieve a modest success - so far. In contrast to utility scale solar installations in the country, the rooftop sector has been slow on growth, especially in the residential segment.

Key Initiative & Support The Central and the State governments have initiated various schemes and measure to encourage the implementation of projects in rooftop solar segment.

One of the biggest deterrents to this is the high upfront costs of a rooftop solar system. On the other hand while, the solar output attracts 5 percent of GST, input costs have different GST rates, and sums up to a total of around 17-18 percent according to industry experts.

To target residential rooftop owners the Central government scheme SRISTI (The Sustainable Rooftop Implementation for Solar Transfiguration of India) was proposed by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) which assigns INR 234.5 billion as financial assistance to be given for rooftop solar installations to discoms of the area on a performance basis.

Many rooftop solar installers are not keen to take up residential projects as securing project finance has become increasingly difficult due to delayed or non-payment of subsidies...

Further, MNRE has invited suggestions for setting standards for grid-connected and off-grid rooftop solar projects – to address the quality issues in installations. In addition, battery energy storage systems have been brought under the purview of the Solar Photovoltaic Systems, Devices, and Component Goods requiring compulsory registration under the BIS Act - Order, 2017.

In addition, difficulty in arranging finance coupled with the delays in subsidy disbursement is further hampering the growth of residential rooftop solar in India. Many rooftop solar installers are not keen to take up residential projects as securing project finance has become increasingly difficult due to delayed or non-payment of subsidies.

This will benefit consumers in rooftop and off grid segment relying on batteries to meet their peak load and regulate the photovoltaic (PV) module output.

It has also been observed that banks are quite reluctant to extend financing to small installers, say in the range of 5-10 kW. Further, as banks also don’t consider rooftop solar as a part of the home loans, thus it attracts high

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government has planned a subsidy of Rs 15,000 per kW for rooftop solar projects in the state; this amount would be capped at Rs 30,000 for projects exceeding 3 kW. The state government of Assam, has come up with a 70 per cent financial subsidy for rooftop projects.

State of Jharkhand has also started a programme to make available a 30 per cent subsidy, with an additional 20 per cent subsidy for rooftop solar installations by educational institutions.

Way forward: Rooftop solar is the need of the hour owing to its numerous advantages, both for the customer as well as the government. While, the falling prices of solar power makes it very competitive with grid connected electricity prices and also provides security from future escalation of electricity prices as rooftop solar price is fixed for 25 years.

On the other hand, a rooftop solar helps the government to save on new investments in power transmission infrastructure as well as helps lower the T&D losses as compared to the large solar farms. Rooftop solar makes more sense in cities and urban areas where availability of land is a challenge given the high prices.

The Indian government has taken various steps to promote rooftop solar in the country - like 30% capital subsidy offered by the MNRE for rooftop installations by government departments and institutions. Meanwhile, loans for rooftop solar energy have also been made part of the priority sector lending for banks which will help increase the flow of credit towards the sector.

For India’s renewable energy dreams to be achieved, it must engage more meaningfully with the country’s potential to translate its geographical position to its advantage. It must also develop a positive, retail lead ecosystem and ease the process that helps speed up adoption – especially in rooftop solar, which is the most price-sensitive and most crucial sub-sector to achieve the critical mass required to replace fossil-fuel based power generation, making solar the household name. n

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ndia has more than 35,000 colleges and universities as well as over 15 lakh schools having sufficient available space for rooftop solar plants. If these institutions decide on for solar rooftop plant they can contribute handsomely to the government’s plan of getting 40 GW of rooftop solar by 2022. But, very few do have a rooftop solar plant installed.

Cover Focus

Rooftop Solar Power

Need of the Hour

The reason is simple that all of the solar economics go for a toss during holidays and seasonal vacations as the power produced is wasted due to issues related to net metering.

The mechanism of selling the surplus is ‘net metering’ where meters measure the power exported to the grid; the consumer is given credit for the exported power, lightening his bill. But in India, each state has its own net metering rules, which are often not consumer friendly.

Prevailing Challenges Net-metering is a potential tool to drive power generation through renewable technologies such as solar energy and can be looked upon as a magical solution to meet energy security targets of India by 2022. It will enable the reduction of consumer energy bills and also help stabilise the national, regional and state grids by providing financial relief to the distribution companies (DISCOMs) through consumer default risk mitigation and reduction of AT&C losses, and help cut down the per-capita energy footprint. However, there are several issues around the same. Firstly, both the DISCOMS and end-consumers in India are reluctant towards net-metering.

Due to issues related to tariff structure and grid reliability, the consumers do not find net metering motivating enough. If we look at the prevailing tariff structure - it does not offer much incentive to motivate consumers. On the other hand, due to excessive load shedding in India, the power generated from solar PV during outages - results in wastage. One thing that is of utmost requirement is anti-islanding protection in grids

Net-metering policy plays an important role in driving the rooftop solar segment. However, lack of uniformity and improper implementation of net-metering policies across states is adversely affecting the growth of the segment....

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Cover FOCUS to enable the invertors to shut off and stop feeding the power into grid when there is power outage.

Meanwhile, the Discoms are dragging their feet - mainly on account of potential loss of their profits. In addition there are also issues related to demand supply gaps as they need greater energy during peak hours. In addition, there arises the challenge of grid balancing - as too many PVs feeding the grid creates the problem of managing load on local transformers. Further there are policy issues in absence of no clear installation guidelines and processes from central and state regulatory authorities.

Implementation Issues The success of net metering, depends on parameters such average time for the connection, process transparency, clarity, meter availability, DISCOM support and support for different business models. India’s rooftop solar power plant market is getting bigger with the country adding a lot more capacity in the recent past and need support of net metering for increased deployment.

However, the overall implementation of net metering remains erratic on account of divide experiences of the installers because of different policy interpretation by local authorities - across the country. Further, the interconnection processes still remain challenging in many parts of the country despite most of the states announcing the net metering policies for roof-

top solar. A few common challenges in net metering are – –

injected into the grid and allowed ratio of contract demand.

n Voltage Fluctuation : The power generated by a photovoltaic system can vary drastically because of many reasons. This leads to rapid voltage fluctuations that can impair the transmission network, and in some cases overheat the power lines.

As per Bridge to India, most of the states have kept an upper cap of 1 MW on the allowed project capacity while a few have a 0.5 MW cap Uttarakhand and Chandigarh. However, there are few states that have no cap like Tamil Nadu, Orrisa and West Bengal. Further, dissimilarity in regards to limitation on contracted load demand has also been observed across states. For instance, Telangana and Jammu & Kashmir allow system sizes with just 50 per cent of the contracted load demand - on the other hand, states of Andhra Pradesh and Delhi have no such limitations.

n Electrical loads disturbances: Electrical disturbances, generating harmonics is created by the presence of non-linear components in the system. It can overload equipment, interfere with the telephone circuit and lead to metering errors and could affect the quality of the power in the grid.

Meanwhile, in few states, there is another cap on the system size. This is in terms of the power injected into the grid against the power drawn from the grid.

It varies from 30 per cent, in the case of Goa and Chandigarh, to 90 per cent in Bihar and West Bengal.

Further, the allowed rooftop solar penetration at the distribution transformer level also varies from as low as 15 per cent, in some cases to as high as 80 per cent among others.

n Unwanted current in the grid: There is a possibility that the PV inverter passes unwanted DC current into the AC driven network of the grid, which can lead to overheating of distribution power transformers, power losses or damages.

Conclusion: The net metering mechanism was introduced to provide a boost to the entire rooftop solar segment. However, the reluctance of many state discoms to buy surplus power from rooftop solar installations to avoid losing business is discouraging for the segment. While commercial and industrial rooftop solar projects are already economical without a net metering policy in place, for residential rooftop solar to take off, such a policy is critical as residential buildings do not consume much power during the day.

n Unintentional islanding: This occurs when the solar power system continues to supply electricity to the power location even when the grid power is no longer present. This leads to safety issues. This is a common problem and people prefer systems that are automatically disconnected from the grid in the event of a power outage. n Reverse Flow: High levels of PV penetration leads to reverse flow.

This takes place in cases of long or weak networks, voltage rising when the consumption at the consumer’s end is low and the power fed is high.

In such a case, voltage increase may cause the electricity to change the direction and flow through the transformer to the higher voltage leading to heating up the transformer and transmission lines.

Unfortunately, the metering guidelines and their on-ground implementation vary widely across states making solar a viable option at one place and unviable at another. In addition, the delays in obtaining approval for net metering connections, customers are increasingly moving to smaller systems.

The challenges we face from climate change and the limited resources make it critical to design an energy policy that gives the highest return.

With the increase in distribution of solar PV in India, an efficient and effective net metering policy has become the need of the hour. n

Lack of Uniformity Rooftop solar penetration in any given state is not solely dependent on the implementation of net metering and gross metering policies. Project uptake is driven by factors such as provisions for grid penetration, allowed project capacity, power

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NET METERING

A BENEFITIAL CONCEPT IN RENEWABLE ENERGY Column By : Krishnendu Mukherjee

Chief Operating Officer - Sova Solar

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et metering is a billing mechanism that credits solar energy system owners for the electricity they add to the grid. For example, if a residential customer has a PV system on the home’s rooftop, it may generate more electricity than the home uses during daylight hours.

History INet metering originated in the United States, where small wind turbines and solar panels were connected to the electrical grid, and consumers wanted to be able to use the electricity generated at a different time or date from when it was generated. Minnesota is commonly cited as passing the first net metering law, in 1983, and allowed anyone generating less than 40 kW to either roll over any kilowatt credit to the next month, or be paid for the excess.

In 2000 this was amended to compensation “at the average retail utility energy rate.” This is the simplest and most general interpretation of net metering, and in addition allows small producers to sell electricity at the retail rate.

In 2002, Thailand was the first country to initiate the first net metering policy in the developing world. The Very Small Power Producer (VSPP) regulations were aimed at encouraging the use of small scale renewable generation almost under 1 MW.

Photo Courtesy : Secure Meters

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Cover FOCUS The Thailand Government mandates the purchase of any surplus electricity generated through renewables at rates which are adjusted every three months. The VSPP programme covers production from a variety of sources including Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) and bioenergy.

The initial legislation was extended in 2006 and now includes mandates on the purchase of electricity derived from production of upto 10 MW. Another successful use of the net metering system may be seen in Canada, which started in 2006.

deficits (i.e. normal electric bill), and annual settlement of any residual credit.

Unlike a feed-in tariff (FIT), which requires two meters, net metering uses a single, bi-directional meter and can measure current flowing in two directions.[2] Net metering can be implemented solely as an accounting procedure, and requires no special metering, or even any prior arrangement or notification.

Meters used in Net metering:

Utilities in Idaho adopted net metering in 1980, and in Arizona in 1981. Massachusetts adopted net metering in 1982. By 1998, 22 states or utilities therein had adopted net metering. Two California utilities initially adopted a monthly “net metering” charge, which included a standby charge, until the PUC banned such charges.

The use of meters in this case differs from State to State.

Some states may require only one meter that reads the ‘net’ energy consumed by the system owner. However, few other states may require two meters – one to measure solar energy generation and the second to measure the units consumed from the utility grid.

In 2005, all U.S. utilities were required to offer net metering upon request. Excess generation is not addressed. As of 2018, 43 U.S. states have adopted net metering, as well as utilities in 3 of the remaining states, leaving only 4 states without any established procedures for implementing net metering.

Net metering is an agreement that allows the solar PV system owner to sell excess solar energy to the utility company or buy deficit energy from the utility company using a meter to track this energy exchange. Phases may be SINGLE PHASE, THREE PHASE LT/CT, HT/CT.

However, a 2017 study showed that only 3% of U.S. utilities offer full retail compensation for net metering with the remainder offering less than retail rates, having credit expire annually, or some form of indefinite rollover.

In India, this concept could be an important incentive for consumer investment in onsite renewable energy generation and also a motivating factor for consumers to utilise renewable energy. The MNRE plans to start net metering systems in India soon. The Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd (KREDL) has stated that Karnataka is poised to develop the concept.

The West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency (WBREDA) has put a 25 kW Grid Interactive Roof Top SPV Power Plant in place, where the net metering concept has been adopted and a MoU has been signed with the State Electricity Board.

The Rajasthan Renewable Energy Cooperation Ltd. (RRECL) is planning to start an Urban Development and Housing Project (UDH) where the net metering system will be used as also the Renewable Energy Agency of Puducherry (REAP). The concept is new and innovative and provides low cost and easily administered methods for encouraging customers to invest in renewable energy technologies.

An Overview Net metering policies can vary significantly by country and by state or province: if net metering is available, if and how long banked credits can be retained, and how much the credits are worth (retail/wholesale). Most net metering laws involve monthly roll over of kWh credits, a small monthly connection fee,[1] require monthly payment of

Advantages of Net Metering: Let us discuss about the advantage of Net Metering. The most important advantages of net metering are: 1. Financial benefit for the system owner Since the system owner is charged for the net energy consumed from the utility grid, the owner gets financial benefits. The basic concept of net metering can be illustrated like that, if energy generation < energy consumed: owner pays just for the net amount. If energy generation > energy consumed: the owner gets credit for excess generation.

2. Use of batteries can be avoided In a grid connected solar pv system, any excess energy generated can be fed back to local utility grid and can be taken back at later stage when required. Thus, there is no need to store the surplus energy in batteries for later use, thus, avoiding the heavy costs of batteries. Also, since batteries are eliminated, the maintenance costs of the system also reduce to a great extent. Batteries may be required only when there are frequent power fluctuations / outages.

3. Produce more today, use that tomorrow Typically, a solar power system produces more energy in summer and comparatively less energy in winter. Eg. If in summer, solar power generates 100 units and load requirement is 80 units, then 20 units can be fed back to the grid.

In winter, solar power generates only 60 units and load requirement is 80 units, then 20 units can be taken from the grid. Thus, overall excess generation from solar power system is taken care of and net units consumed from the grid becomes zero.n

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Cover FOCUS

Challenges in Scaling Rooftop SPV in India

Column By : Ms. Neha Agrawal

Head- Corporate Strategy & Rooftop Business - Vikram Solar

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ountry wide solar adoption depends upon growth in awareness and involving the common man. Understanding this, the Government of India has focused on rooftop solar development while taking enormous leaps in utility scale solar installations. It is important to note that India has a rooftop solar energy generation potential of 124 GW (current total energy generation 330 GW). Moreover, even if only 1.3% of India’s total households (total 248,408,494) are solarized with rooftop technology; more than 30% of that estimated energy capacity can be harnessed.

However, there are challenges that limit the growth of rooftop solar in India.

The Challenges India has reached ~1.2 GW rooftop solar capacity within a short time span. However, the proposed target of 40 GW by 2022 is still far and requires a faster adoption framework.

Although there are subsidies to encourage rooftop solar installations, most of the time they are not directly available (only through DISCOMs). This increases hurdles in getting financial support to install rooftopsolarplants.

It is a fact that Indian Government is actively focusing on generating fund for rooftop growth.

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But, to reach more than 95% of the remaining targeted capacity (40 GW) within next 5 years, the fund generation needs to have more focus.

Net-metering also doesn’t have required clarity on implementation models. And requirement for multiple permissions, lack of awareness within the utility staff and the consumers is creating a huge challenge to meet installation targets.

In regards of consumer awareness, India needs to disclose information about cost, benefits, and important information needed before go solar.

Campaigns are being organized by National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI) and MNRE to raise awareness, but more is needed to reach the set target.

Lastly, clarity on policies is needed. It will explain the functionality of the policies and help consumers and developers to go for rooftop installations.

Feasibility of Rooftop Solar Plants Although, India’s utility scale solar installations can add humongous amount of solar capacities at one go (e.g- 648 MW capacity plant at Kamuthi, Tamil Nadu), they require huge spread of land.

Andconsidering the increasing population (1.34 bn in 2017 in India), It will be challenging for India in the futureto use its vacant land for green energy generation.

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Cover FOCUS On the other hand, when we are talking about rooftop solar installations, the area and cost of land needed for rooftop solar seems to be only a fraction of the utility scale solar installation requirements. Thus saving India its precious land.

mandated solar installations in PSUs/institutions, and new Government building in many states, brought new investment opportunities (setting up US$1.5 billion fund for grid connected rooftop installation by SBI, IREDA, PNB and World Bank).

In the same breath, we need to point out that long life span of solar modules (27 years avg.) and low maintenance requirement of solar technology actually helps rooftop solar users to get benefits of green energy in the long run, without adding huge expenses.

These efforts have translated into success, however, more effort is needed to realize full potential of Indian rooftop solar sector.

It is true that utility scale solar installations are now leading Indian solar sector. But, rooftop solar can offer faster solarisation by raising awareness, while reducing the electricity bills of the consumer, allowing them to produce and even sell energy.

Offering easy financing options, faster and direct delivery of subsidies, setting up a larger fund for rooftop, bringing in a uniform rooftop policy and mandating states to follow them, offering information through media platforms, will help India realize its full rooftop solar potential.

With Net-metering schemes (which 36 states and UTs have identified and in different stage of implementation), consumers can sell the excess energy to the grid, becoming energy reliant. And when each household becomes energy reliant, Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vision of energy security will definitely get realized.

Involving common men in the fold is the fastest way to solarize the country, and rooftop solar brings that opportunity to us. This is the right time to enhance and expand the solar sector, when the demand, innovation, and investment on solar is high. So, India should utilize this opportunity and focus on country wide rooftop solar installations to become the green energy super power it aspires to be.n

Understanding the potential, Government of India has

Way Forward

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Cover FOCUS

Roadblocks Rooftop Solar PV

An insight into challenges that need to overcome, to give necessary boost to rooftop solar deployment in the country.

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ooftop solar PV would play a prominent role in meeting energy demands across segments as it is one of the best technological options for distributed generation close to the point of consumption. It has already achieved grid parity for commercial and industrial consumers, and fast becoming attractive for residential consumers as well. As a result, multiple state governments have taken necessary steps to kick-start implementation of rooftop solar PV projects.

However, the progress so far has been rather slow in the rooftop segment and industry experts feel that the government may find it difficult to achieve the target of installing 40GW of rooftop capacity by 2022. One of the biggest problem the sector faces is that state electricity utilities and distribution companies (discoms) across India arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t supportive as it could hurt their finances.

As more commercial and industrial users, who bring the maximum revenues to state discoms, take to solar power, the revenues of electricity generators and distributors would fall. In addition, another major concern of utilities/ grid operators is the technical issue of grid balancing.

Apart for this, there are many more challenges that need to overcome, to give necessary boost to rooftop solar deployment in the country.

Prevailing Challenges: Roof top solar PV systems have great potential. However, there is a need for awareness creation both about rooftop solar PV systems/ technology packages as well as about the financing avenues available. Industry experts feel that unless the solar technology is easily available and accessible in markets as a complete package with wellestablished service networks just like those exist for other high-end commodities, it would be difficult to scale up

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Cover FOCUS in terms of soft loan to stabilize the market. Soft loan coupled with standardized system configurations would create right market conditions for larger off-take of roof top solar PV systems. In addition certification of installer and developers along with specialized training and certification of technicians for installation of roof top solar systems would infuse confidence in clients and would also enhance the quality of installations.

the deployment at fast pace in the country. In addition, step should be taken to make consumers fully aware of service levels and actual economic benefits that can accrue.

COMMERCIAL / INDUSTRIAL: This segment faces a major challenge in meeting the expectation of reliable and cheap power. While reliable power solution could be expensive and may not be practical considering the limitations on availability of area for installation, intermittent nature of solar energy and so on, however the solar power generation could be cheaper than the grid power in most cases.

Meanwhile, the policy support is essential in terms of regulations for net metering, grid interconnection, and energy accounting. The segment needs policy and regulatory environment conducive for consumers on net-metering/feed-in-tariffs.

In addition, delays in tendering due to tenders being floated by multiple agencies and the lack of clarity on regulations drive away interested parties. There is a dire need for standardization as the policies and regulations vary across states.

Another concern for this segment is revenue from excess power during holidays or non-working days when consumption is low. Unfortunately it has been observed that the state policies have different stands on this.

While some state policies allow banking for up to one year others just ignore it. To overcome this MNRE, CERC, SERCs, and utilities should try to come to a common understanding, so that a uniform or reasonable duration for banking could be created.

Need of the hour Roof tops solar PV systems can play an important role in providing reliable and assured power for buildings and establishments. The market can broadly be categorized into two major segments â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 1) residential systems and 2) commercial/ industrial and institutional systems.

Way Forward

RESIDENTIAL : This segment is the slowest moving segment. There is need for certain corrective measures to scale up deployment in this segment. The foremost on the list is standard system configurations and an initial support from the government

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One of the major challenges for market development of roof top solar PV systems is the reluctance of DISCOMS to encourage the roof top systems as they see it as a threat to their revenue.

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This issue need to be studied in detail as there are many aspects to this.

Though, to overcome this hurdle, the MNRE has recently proposed a few initiatives to encourage discoms. The government plans to compensate them by providing performancelinked incentives for each MW of capacity added in their distribution network, as per MNRE note in December 2017. However, there is an urgent need for developing new tariff models, which can incorporate the possible impacts of large scale implementation of roof top solar systems.

On the other hand, the issue of grid balancing can be handled with appropriate interventions, such as smart controllers, forecasting and grid interactive short term storage at feeder level to handle sudden short term dips in solar generation. Technology development for innovative solutions for grid interactive inverters, including load management during grid outage or power cut would be essential.

Also, there is a need for promoting large scale, local manufacturing of dual function inverters (functionality of both grid-tied and hybrid inverters) to reduce cost along with technical innovations in storage technologies - mainly to reduce costs and improve efficiency.

Roof top solar PV systems can play an important role in augmenting the generation capacity and using solar energy effectively and efficiently by generating power at the consumption point.

A long term strategy for promoting this market is essential. MNRE and MoP can decide strategies for a) residential sector (smaller systems up to 5 kWp) capacity and b) for larger systems (> 5 kWp). Furthermore, detailed implementation model development including action plan for capacity building, standardization, and certification could be taken up on priority basis by concerned departments so that the market is prepared to take on deployment and services even after subsidies are taken off...n

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Industry INSIGHT

Industry Insight

Electrical Insulators

Electrical Insulators Industry Insulator industry is facing slump in demand due to slow progress in projects, while the low priced imports have been eating up a large share of the pie of the demand that could have supported domestic manufacturers in proper utilization of their existing capacity.

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nsulators form one of the most important links in the transmission and distribution chain of electricity. With more than 6 decades in existence â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s electrical insulators industry consists of around 8 -10 companies in the organized sector in addition; there are several units in the semi-organised and unorganized sectors. The industry provides employment directly as well as indirectly to more than 30,000 people.

The industry is up to date on technology front and can effectively manufacture Insulators right up to 1200 kV. Currently, the industry is manufacturing and supplying large quantities of insulators for 765kV UHVAC applications.

In addition, Indian insulators are present in around 75 countries across the globe and the Indian manufacturers enjoy global acceptance due to proven reliability and consistency in performance.

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INDUSTRY INSIGHT The Indian electrical and industrial electronics industry posted 4.25 per cent growth in 2016-17 over the previous year on higher exports. However, the sluggish demand and higher imports is still hampering the industry growth..

IEEMA

uting over 14 per cent to the global market, and it is estimated to hold over 1,000,000 units by 2022. China and India are the world leaders in UHV transmission owing to their large investments in transmission systems of voltage level 765 kilovolts (kV) and above. In India, the 400kV, 765kV, and 132kV segments were the largest contributors to the total market volume in 2017.

and project contractors.

On material front, there are broadly three types of insulators that are in use by consumers in India – Porcelain, Composite and Glass. The Porcelain insulators have a predominant presence in the Indian market presently accounting for a share of more than two-third of the total insulator sales in India.

The global power insulators market is highly fragmented and various competitive factors determine the ability to sustain in the market amid growing competition. Prior expertise and timely delivery are considered by utilities as key factors for awarding the contracts. Larger scale of production is a key advantage, where a manufacturer can stockpile raw materials, allowing large-scale production at the time of demand and delivering them in much shorter lead times.

Market Scenario: The global power insulator market is expected to hold an aggregate market value of USD 5.72 billion during 2018–2022.The market was valued at USD 979.3 million in 2012 and held an average annual value of approximately USD 1.04 billion between 2013 and 2017, according to Global Data’s latest report. The report adds that - during 2017, the Asia-Pacific region led the market in terms of market value witnessing USD 532.9 million and is estimated to reach USD 657.7 million in 2022.

According to the report, India emerged as the second-largest market for insulators, with the installation of approximately 900,000 units in 2017, contrib-

The other two namely – the Composite and the Glass insulators accounts for the rest of the share of the total market. The glass insulators presence in the Indian market could mainly be attributed to imports as companies making glass insulators are mainly present in China and Russia.

Domestic Industry Woes Though the industry is competent enough to cater to the needs and requirement of country’s demand for electrical insulators; however the industry is going through a tough phase on account of various reasons.

According to IEEMA, the Indian electrical and industrial electronics industry posted 4.25 per cent growth in 201617 over the previous year on higher exports. However, the sluggish demand and higher imports is still hampering the industry growth.

Under Utilisation of Capacity: During the early years of past decade, the Government and Utilities had advised the domestic insulator industry to ramp up the existing capacity to meet the demand arising out of huge addition programmes in Electricity Generation, Transmission and Distribution under the 10th, 11th and 12th Plans to which the industry responded positively and accordingly ramped up its capacity by almost 300 per cent in some cases.

Domestic Industry Overview: Currently, the Indian insulator industry is estimated at around Rs. 2000 crore and manufactures all type of insulators for HV, EHV and UHV range. Increased attention to the power sector and transmission and distribution sector has helped providing a fillip to the insulators market in recent years. The major customers for HT insulators are state electricity boards, power utilities

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Though the industry has more than kept up to its commitments for capacity addition. However, the expected

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Industry INSIGHT

demand did not materialize due to a variety of reasons leading project delays and resulting into over-capacity.

Currently, the industry, like the rest of the electrical equipment industry in India, is operating at capacity utilization below optimum level while in some cases as low as 50 percent.

To overcome this uncalled for challenge there had been a lot of hue and cry from the domestic industry for protective policy support in order to create a positive market environment and provide level playing field for the domestic industry vis-a-vis low priced imports.

Cheap Imports: The domestic industry is facing a severe competition and threat from low priced imports

Operational Challenges: At operational level - the industry is facing another challenge due to fluctuating and inflationary trend in cost of raw materials and components. This put up an increasing pressure on the margins as the selling prices of finished products are seeing steep reduction since the industry is facing severe competition from the low priced Chinese products on one hand as well as from that of unorganised sector on the other.

With huge capacity in hand the industry is struggling to find sufficient demand and like the rest of the electrical equipment industry in India, is operating at capacity utilization below optimum level while in some cases as low as 50 percent. . .... of insulators - especially from China.

Chinese manufacturers are given export subsidies, social security subsidies from their government and also have access to financing at rates below 6per cent per annum â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the combination of these three gives Chinese companies a 22.9per cent unfair pricing advantage over Indian insulator manufacturers.

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Way forward The Indian insulator industry has come a long way and today the country has capabilities to manufacture world class insulators domestically. However

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the industry is facing host of issues and challenges that has thrown it on the road leading to uncertain future growth prospects. With huge capacity in hand the industry is struggling to find sufficient demand and is going through the phase of under-utilization of existing capacity. While the expected demand from Five Year Plans did not materialise up to expectations of the industry due to slow progress in projects, furthermore the situation became more graved due to continuous rise in low priced imports that have been eating up a large share of the pie of the demand that could have supported domestic manufacturers in proper utilization of their existing capacity.

However, the industry is positive on growth in export of insulators, especially in markets like Far East, Russia, Latin & Central America, where growth is anticipated. Further, the appreciation of USD has made Indian product more competitive in world market which will help in driving more export demand.

In addition, with UDAY scheme in place to support debt laden Discoms to be financially stable which could result into infuse liquidity into the system and put the derailed transmission & substation projects on stream- which will lead to generation of fresh demands. n

Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Leading Manufacturer & Suppliers of

Composite Polymer Insulators Salient Features

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m Excellent Hydrophobic Properties m Excellent Mechanical & Electrical Properties m Good Resistence to Wheathering, Ozone & UV m High Tracking and Erosion Resistance m Light in Weight, Low Tansportation and Installaton Cost m No Breakages m Low Leakage Current m Low Maintainance Cost

We are engaged in manufacturing and supplying of Composite Polymer Insulator in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. These are are developed using silicone rubber and advanced technology under the guidance of our experienced professionals Through our dedicated endeavours, we have carved a niche for ourselves in the electrical industry, and power sector.

Quality is the feature of our industry and to maintain unique quality standards we are equipped with a highly advanced infrastructure, that helps us to meet the demanding nature of the industry. Our products are manufactured with precision by our adept professionals using highly advanced techniques and is tested a number of times before dispatch to ensure its quality.

Navitas Insulators Private Limited Plot No.- 49, Road No.- 6, Obedanahalli Industrial Area, 3rd Phase, Doddaballapur, Bengaluru - 561203, Karnataka , India Phone: +91 (80) 28366628 ; Fax : +91 (80) 28366628 ; Mobile : +91 9844022956 / 9916603345 Email : navitasindia@gmail.com / upadhiar@gmail.com www.powerinsight.vision-media.co.in

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Industry INSIGHT

Maintaining the Reliability An improperly specified insulator for a transmission system can lead to 70 percent of the maintenance costs ...

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lectrical Insulators plays an important role in supporting the infrastructure related to power transmission and distribution.

Successful operation of T&D network depends significantly on the performance of the installed insulators.

Causes of Fault

It is to be noted that the use of defective materials and the manufacturing insulators at low temperatures increase their porosity, making them absorb moisture and causing failures and current leakage.

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Power Transformers Inspection: Being subjected to various electrical, mechanical and thermal stresses - insulation faults are a common occurrence in power transformers.

Due to various reasons like - moisture, overheating, vibration, voltage surges, or mechanical strain â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the insulation starts to deteriorate and can lead to transformer winding failure.

Early fault detection in the insulating systems of HV transformers is crucial to prevent transformer failure, outages in the distribution network and revenue losses for utilities.

HV lines Inspection: With increasing grid integration of renewable energy, the HV transmission lines and systems play a critical role in the bulk transfer of energy. Thus, the preventive inspection of lines thus assumes great importance and helps in reducing downtime. However, it attracts

In addition, flashovers often result in overheating and insulator faults and insulators on transmission systems in heavily industrialised zones are af-

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Monitoring Insulation:

Insulation Resistance: Before commissioning of an electrical system, it is necessary to measure the insulation resistance between the active conductors and protective earth conductor. The exercise is undertaken to electrically connect the active conductors and to ensure that DC measuring voltage and the magnitude of insulation resistance, comply with the specified requirements. If each circuit reaches the required value without electrical load, the insulation resistance is considered suitable.

Insulator faults in power systems can occur due to various reasons: climatic conditions, defective material, inadequate glazing, flashovers, mechanical stresses, pollution, etc. Further, extreme temperatures can cause the expansion and contraction of different materials in porcelain insulators and lead to cracks.

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significant cost, time and labour.

To ensure their proper functioning, it is important to conduct flashover tests, routine tests and performance tests.

An electrical systemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life cycle can be divided into eight phases: installation, commissioning, operation, maintenance, repair, major modifications, upgradation, and decommissioning.

Depending on the phase, high voltage (HV) testing, insulation measurement or insulation monitoring are required.

Though Insulator spends is typically 5 percent of the total investment in the T&D network. However, an improperly specified insulator for a transmission system/environment can lead to 70 percent of the maintenance costs of a transmission line being spent due to it.

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fected by pollution and corrosion.

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Ungrounded systems Monitoring: Insulation faults in an ungrounded system can be detected and indicated through an insulation monitoring device. The ground fault location is activated by alarm contact with the insulation monitor or manually. Then, the test device generates a signal of limited amplitude and duration for a defined period of time.

This signal then flows via the location of the insulation fault through all the measuring current transformers within the insulation fault path.

It is finally detected by the current transformers and evaluated by the electronics of the monitoring device, which provides fault location path information through light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

INDUSTRY INSIGHT

Insulator Testing Importance of Hardware Column by: D . P . K . Udas

Vice President - International Transmission Limited.

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nsulators are fixed on tower side and clamped to conductor using hardware fittings. These fittings are made using steel and aluminium.

As such Insulator and hardware is pair and their individual performance depends on how good the other member is.

Both members are subjected to electrical and mechanical loads. They are also subjected to wind , rain , sun, thundershower , lightning etc. They also remain outdoor at all time. Rising Pollution and changing climate affects both.

There are 2 types of tests which are carried out on insulator and hardware together.

A) Electrical B) Mechanical Following Electrical Tests are carried out on Insulator and hardware string.

Grounded systems Monitoring: In grounded power supply systems, residual current measurement systems (RCMS) are used for monitoring insulation as they scan all measuring current transformers and indicate the faulty circuit via LEDs. Under this, all conductors of the circuit to be monitored are led through a current transformer. \While, in a fault-free system, the resulting sum of all currents is equal to zero so that no voltage is induced in the secondary winding of the measuring current transformer. However, in the event of a fault current, the

formance of both members of pair is required.

1) Power frequency voltage withstand test with corona control rings/ grading ring and arcing horns under wet condition.

Electrical properties of insulator depends on quality of material , shed profile etc. Similarly hardware material needs to be homogeneous and free from any impurities.The surface of hardware needs to be smooth and galvanizing layer to be perfect.

2) Switching surge voltage withstand test under wet condition.

3) Impulse voltage withstand test under dry condition 4) Impulse withstand flashover test under dry condition.

Mechanical properties of Composite insulator depend upon fibre glass rod used. It should be baron free and without any defects. Porcelain and glass insulators strength depends on metalic chain used.

5) Corona and RIV test under dry condition 6) Power Arc Test Following Mechanical Tests are carried out on Insulator and hardware string.

Hardware is made of metal and has inherent ductility. Care needs to be taken in design to ensure and achieve values of strength specified. Type testing success depends on quality of hardware used and insulator manufacturer need to take due care.

1) Mechanical Strength Test 2) Vibration Test In order for test to be successful per-

Conclusion:

imbalance is sensed by the current transformer and evaluated by the electronic circuitry.

Faults in insulators are common occurrences that disrupt operations in transmission and distribution networks, and they must be fixed through swift detection, localisation and elimination. Testing the integrity of a systemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s insulation helps in indicating the availability and operating safety of an electrical system. It is particularly important for preventing damage and maintaining the reliability of systems and equipment. The factors that affect insulation resistance are the nature of electrical installation or equipment, operating conditions and usage. n

Monitoring disconnected loads: Insulation faults are often ignored in loads that are disconnected for different periods of time - since the systems are turned off, as a result it lead to unexpected failures on turning the power on.

In such cases, offline monitors can be used to monitor the insulation resistance between all active conductors and the earth. In case of an insulation fault, the operator receives an alert before it reaches a critical state. www.powerinsight.vision-media.co.in

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Market REVIEW

Small Hydro Power SHP projects offer large social and economic gains, however the future projections do not look too optimistic for the segment, due to policy uncertainty and investor reluctance....

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mall Hydropower (SHP) is considered as a reliable option for grid interactive as well as decentralized power generation. SHP projects have minimal effect on the ecology and topography of an area. Moreover, the capacity utilization factor is high when compared to other sources of renewable energy. As India walks towards a greener future, SHP projects are gradually gaining traction in the country. A target of adding about 5000 MW by 2022 is kept by the Ministry of New & Renew able Energy (MNRE) by installing SHPs. However, looking at the cost intensiveness of SHP projects where returns are guaranteed in the long run, the government agencies are providing financial and technical support to escalate the development of small hydro projects in India.

Overview: The Indian SHP development programme received a new tempo after the liberalization of economy and invitation to private sector for investment in the power sector. Today, the SHP programme is essentially private investment driven. Meanwhile, the private sector is reluctant to invest in the SHP segment due to the large size of investments involved as well as the long delays in obtaining permits, low tariffs and modest returns. Moreover, seasonal variability and unpredictability of rainfall restrict power generation and hence affect revenues. Such issues undermine the viability of SHP projects for private investors While, the electricity generation from SHP is becoming increasingly competitive due to low tariff, etc. The challenge is to improve reliability, quality and reduce costs.

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Market REVIEW The focus of the SHP programme is to lower the cost of equipment, increase its reliability and set up projects in areas which give the maximum advantage in terms of capacity utilisation.

The MNRE estimates that the potential for power generation from small hydro plants is 20,000 MW across 6,474 sites.

On the other hand, according to the small hydro power database of July 2016 compiled by the Alternate Hydro Energy Centre of IIT Roorkee, 7,133 potential sites for small hydro projects have been identified with an aggregate capacity of 21,133.65 MW. However, the industry remains largely underdeveloped, so far. As of June 2018, the grid connected installed base of only 4493 MW has been exploited - as per MNRE database. It is interesting to observe that the capacity addition has slowed down post the governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s announcement of the ambitious renewable energy target of 175 GW of capacity by 2022. The cumulative installed capacity of small hydro increased moderately during FY2017-18 while the percentage shares of small hydro in the energy mix - remained the same.

also responsible for sluggish growth of the sector.

having storage capacity (run-of-river) intraday therefore hydro can quite accurately provide grid day-ahead schedules. The other renewable resources cannot compete with hydro in the aspect of grid stability.

Support Measures The country has sufficient technical expertise in the small hydro sector. To promote small hydro power development in the country, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) provides support for the Detailed Survey and Investigation (DSI) and the preparation of Detailed Project Reports (DPR) to state implementing agencies.

The MNRE also provides Central Financial Assistance (CFA) to set up new small hydro projects, besides supporting the Alternate Hydro Energy Centre of IIT Roorkee for its technical support to the SHP sector.

Issues and challenges SHP faces several impediments in the execution of projects across various stages of the project implementation cycle. Unfortunately, these issues have remained more or less the same year after year due to the lack of proactive government intervention in tackling these.

One of the biggest concerns for the segment is prolonged delays and difficulties in obtaining required statutory clearances from multiple government

According to one of Mercomâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recent report, the government of India is close to finalizing a hydropower development fund worth INR 160 billion (~USD 2.5 billion). All these developments indicate fast-paced project developments, and may even lead to new players foraying into the sector in the future as ample government grants and CFAs have been made available to the developers.

One of the biggest concerns for the SHP segment is prolonged delays and difficulties in obtaining required statutory clearances from multiple government agencies along with challenges in land acquisition....

Small Hydro Benefits Small hydro offers a wide range of benefits especially for rural areas in developing countries. Small hydro power plants have advantage of life span almost 50 years i.e. more than twice the life span of other renewable sources like wind, solar etc. Hydro can be turned on and off at short notice and also can be ramped up or down quickly. This ability can be utilised to compensate for variation in the output of other renewable resources thus enabling other renewable in the system.

Small hydro projects (90 per cent) efficient in utilisation of the resource than solar (15-20 per cent), wind (35 per cent) and other renewable energy sources. Hydro typically has twice the PLF of solar and wind in addition to

agencies along with challenges in land acquisition have been causing painful delays in commencement of civil works. This results in increase of the gestation period of plants, thus reducing their viability and making SHP projects unattractive for private developers. The state governments and central agencies need to expedite and streamline the process of providing statutory clearances to projects.

Way Forward SHP projects offer large social and economic gains, however the future projections do not look too optimistic for the segment, due to policy uncertainty and investor reluctance. While solar and wind no doubt make greater commercial sense, SHP has its own set of benefits that cannot be ignored.

Another concern is grid availability.

Lack of grid connectivity has often led to losses for developers, who are forced to curtail generation, leading to revenue losses and underutilisation of the plant. Further, hydro is not competitive in the short term market due to raising capital cost, high financing cost and debt interest. In addition, free power obligations of host state, transmission charges, non availability of interstate transmission corridor are

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In order to accelerate the growth in the small hydropower sector and to bridge the gap between the actual and planned capacity addition, the private sector is being seen as an important stakeholder. However, there is reluctance seen on private participation in the recent past which calls for urgent government intervention to promote this segment. n

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Communication Features

Indian Electrical Equipment Industry records a highest growth of 12.8% in seven years: IEEMA

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he electrical and industrial electronics industry has witnessed a record double-digit growth of 12.8% in 2017-18. Although higher imports still plague the industry but policy changes and various initiatives undertaken by the Government and industry are eventually showing signs of revival for the sector. The data is compiled by the Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers’ Association (IEEMA), the apex Indian industry association of manufacturers of electrical, industrial electronics and allied equipment. The production and sales data is collected from its member organisations, which represent 90 percent of the entire sector.

Mr Shreegopal Kabra, President, IEEMA said, “A substantial improvement in growth was experienced in the 3rd and 4th quarter of 2017-18 which resulted in a sharp rise in the performance. During this period, the industry grew by 25% in Q3 and 14% in Q4. The astonishing growth of 12.8% is propelled by growth in segments like rotating machines by 12%, HT Motors 18%, cables 20% and Meters 28%”.

• Quarter 3 and Quarter 4 saw impressive growth of 25% and 14% respectively

The industry’s record performance is attributed to Government’s schemes like DDUJGY, IPDS and Saubhagya where the country is racing to provide electricity to households in

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Mr Sunil Misra, Director General, IEEMA reacting on the industry growth articulated, “We believe that this growth momentum will be sustained since major chunk of transmission and distribution projects are likely to be ordered in next fiscal. However, most of the orders would be through EPC route with more new players entering the business and sub-contracting the same to existing contractors. The sectors seem to be reviving from the dark days.

Talking about the renewable sector, the Solar Capacity has increased rapidly in last three years from around 2.6 GW to 22 GW. The government is taking proactive steps to achieve the RE generation targets. However, there are still concern areas which have led to decline in growth of Conductors and Insulators.”

• High growth was witnessed in segments like rotating machines (12%), HT Motors (18%), cables (20%) and Meters (28%)

“Growth is also seen in transmission mission line towers due to increase in demand in the domestic market. The Installed Generation Capacity as on 31st March 2018 is 3,44,002 MW. Almost all sectors are in green after 2 years of dull period; mainly due to domestic demand. The high growth in Q3 & Q4 is also due to stabilized GST,” he further added.

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With reforms like Make in India and Ease of doing business, India has jumped a record 30 places to the 100th spot in the World Bank Doing Business rankings and aims to be in the top 50.

Thus to achieve the target the present Government has been showcasing the spectrum of measures focusing on rural and infrastructure sectors.

• After a lull of almost seven years, the Indian Electrical equipment industry has once again gained momentum by clocking an impressive growth of 12.8% in FY 17-18

The government is procuring smart and prepaid meters to be deployed across the country. It has urged electricity meter manufacturers to scale up production in India, as it plans to shift all connections to smart prepaid meters over the next three years. Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) has floated two global tenders for procuring a total of 10 million smart meters.”

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the villages. The government unveiled Rs 16,320 crore Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (SAUBHAGYA) in September to provide electricity connection to around 4 crore families in rural and urban areas by December 2018. Joining hands with government for this cause, IEEMA alongwith REC has created a North East Cell to give impetus to this growth by emphasizing on distribution in North East.

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At the same time while the growth was there in all the sectors, there was a surge in raw material price in major metals and insulating materials. This has affected adversely the cash flow of the manufacturers thereby affecting the delivery. n

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Communication Features Sterling and Wilson to deliver the largest battery energy storage project in Africa

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terling and Wilson, has bagged its first large scale hybrid and energy storage turnkey engineering, procurement and construction order in Western Africa.

Sterling and Wilson’s turnkey scope of work includes complete design, engineering, procurement, construction and O&M of a captive hybrid microgrid powered by solar, diesel and battery energy storage. This first of it’s kind project powering behind-themeter clients in the educational sector in Western Africa will also play host to the continent’s largest battery energy storage project with 30MWh of batteries spread across three sites, including single largest battery installation of 17MWh. Besides providing microgrid integra-

tion and enabling the educational institutions to get off the grid, the hybrid microgrid backed by the batteries would also provide uniquely designed one-day power autonomy to the institutions, thus enabling efficient operations, effective learning and allocation of a larger budget towards the school programs. Sterling and Wilson’s proposed hybrid and energy storage solution is expected to deliver an envisioned reduction of 137,170 metric tonnes of carbon footprint, equivalent to planting 3.5 million new trees.

extremely glad to have bagged our landmark first project in the hybrid and energy storage space, which not only consists of the largest battery installation in Africa till date, but also hopefully proves to be a marquee installation empowering future generations. We are confident of meeting the most stringent quality, safety and financial needs of our client given our combined global expertise of having delivered over 7GW of solar, diesel and gas based power plants on turnkey basis till date.”

Speaking on this occasion, Mr. Deepak Thakur, CEO – Hybrid and Energy Storage, Sterling & Wilson, said: “Lack of power supply is a primary barrier in imparting effective learning and development of any nation. We are

The newly formed business unit is actively pursuing further opportunities in the aforesaid segments across Europe, Middle-East, Africa, Asia and Australia besides setting its sights on USA. n

Tata Power partners with Tata Motors to make Maharashtra EV ready to support Maharashtra Government’s vision to promote e-mobility in the State

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ata Power has partnered with Tata Motors to make Maharashtra EV ready and to establish Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in the State for public use. Tata Motors Limited has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Maharashtra to support the Maharashtra Electric Vehicle Policy (2018) in accelerating the adoption of Electric Vehicles in Maharashtra.

Shri Devendra Fadnavis, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra, inaugurated the new EV charging stations to mark the week-long World Environment Day celebration. The nine new locations where the EV charging stations have come up include Matunga, BKC, Bhandup (near LBS Marg), Chembur, Malad (near Link Road) and Carnac Bundar (near Fort & Freeway).

Mr Praveer Sinha, CEO & Managing Director, Tata Power, said, “We are committed to making Maharashtra EV ready and Government’s vision of

tive, Guenter Butschek, CEO & MD, Tata Motors said, “Tata Motors is committed to the Government’s vision of e-mobility in India. We are excited to join forces with the Government of Maharashtra towards this endeavor. We are uniquely positioned to leverage the strength of our group companies to create an EV ecosystem. With our ready portfolio of EV offerings across our passenger and commercial vehicles, we are geared up to meet future requirements beyond the current tender commitments.”

providing green technology solutions.

We are happy to partner with Tata Motors to deliver on the Government and Group’s vision of improving India’s carbon footprint and enabling the customers with a sustainable future. We are happy to present Maharashtra with various electric vehicle charging stations that cover the wide expanse of the city. With these installations, Tata Power continues to pursue sustainable practices by using technology to provide Maharashtra customers access to energy-efficient options with ease.”

With the installation of these EV chargers, the Company is working towards removing the range anxiety from people’s minds and encouraging them to shift from fossil fuel vehicles to electric vehicles. Tata Power plans to device a mix of fast and regular chargers at these charging stations that will facilitate to charge vehicles from both private and public realms of life.

Speaking on the MoU signing initia-

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Events Diary Up-Coming Events

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Solar South 2018 14 June 2018 - 16 June 2018 Chennai Trade Centre, Chennai, India

ELECXPO - ELECTRONICS, ELECTRICAL & POWER 2018 14 June 2018 - 16 June 2018 Chennai Trade Centre, Chennai, India

Aluminium China 2018 11 July 2018 - 13 July 2018 Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC), Shanghai, China

INDUS-tech industrial expo 2018 25 July 2018 - 27 July 2018 ARC CONVENTION CENTRE, Rudrapur, India

WRETC 2018 21 August 2018 - 23 August 2018 Convention Centre -NDCC Parliament Street , New Delhi, India

BOGOTA INTERNATIONAL TRADE SHOW 2018 24 September 2018 - 28 September 2018 BOGOTA, COLOMBIA, BOGOTA, COLOMBIA.

Renewable Energy India Expo 2018 18 September 2018 - 20 September 2018 India Expo Centre, Greater Noida, India

Future Energy Expo 2018 20 October 2018 - 22 October 2018 Labh Ganga Exhibition Centre, Indore, India

PTC Asia - Power Transmission & Control 06 November 2018 - 09 November 2018 Shanghai New International Expo Center, Shanghai, China

BV Tech Expo 2018 22 November 2018 - 24 November 2018 NSIC Ground, New Delhi, India

LED EXPO New Delhi 2018 06 December 2018 - 08 December 2018 India Exposition Mart Ltd., Greater Noida, India

Intersolar India 2018 11 December 2018 - 13 December 2018 BEC - Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai, India

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