India Reaches Electricity Generation Capacity Of 365 GW: Power Minister
India’s power generation installation capacity has reached 364.9 gigawatts, which is sufficient to meet the country’s electric demand, was informed to the parliament on 28th November, 2019. Besides, the peak as well as energy requirement deficit was less than one per cent during the first seven months of 2019-20, Minister of States for Power and New and Renewable Energy R K Singh said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha. “As on 31.10.2019, the installed generation capacity in the country is around 3,64,960 megawatt (MW), which is sufficient to meet the electricity demand in the country. It may be seen that the gap between demand and supply of power during the current year 2019-20 (up to October 2019) both in terms of energy and peak is less than 1 per cent,” he said. This gap, Singh said, is generally on account of factors other than inadequacy of power availability in the country such as constraints in sub-transmission and distribution network, financial constraints of state power utilities to purchase power. He further said if there is any shortfall in meeting power requirement, distribution companies can also purchase power from power exchanges on a daily basis.
Tamil Nadu Floats Tender For DSM Infrastructure For Renewables
The Tamil Nadu Transmission Corporation Limited has applied for tender for the hardware and software required to set up the infrastructure to facilitate deviation settlement mechanism (DSM) for renewable energy generators in the state. The tender invites bids for the supply and commissioning of servers, hardware, and automated meter reading (AMR) network accessories for wind farms, co-generation projects, solar, among other renewable energy generators. The submission date for the bids is December 18, 2019. The bidders who are interested are expected to pay an earnest money deposit (EMD) of Rs. 3,00,000. Bidders must be manufacturers, authorized dealers, or original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of servers, personal computers, laptops, and printers with an annual turnover of ₹250 million at least once in the preceding three years. They must have also completed at least one similar order worth Rs. 30 million or more for a public sector unit or government enterprise in the last ten years.
Nemji Solar Aims To Initiate 1 GW Solar Module Manufacturing Unit Next Year
Nemji Solar is a new entrant in the solar segment has declared that it is planning to start operating a 1 GW solar module manufacturing facility by April 2020. It is a Gujarat-based company, which plans to invest around $170 million on the backward integration for solar cell and wafer production, depending on the government of India’s announcement for capital and interest subsidy. It is in plans to spend about $50 million in two phases by 2021 for the 1 GW module manufacturing unit. The company is planning on investing around $500 million by 2025. Nemji also added that it plans to set up projects worth 500 MW by 2025, with an estimated investment of about $280 million. The company added that apart from its own branding, it would be doing original equipment manufacturing (OEM) for a very limited set of clients with long-term tie-ups.
GAIL Applies For New Tender For 1.8 MW Of Solar PV Projects In Madhya Pradesh
The Gas Authority of India (GAIL) has applied for a tender of a cumulative capacity of 1.8 MW of ground-mounted solar power projects to be developed at the GAIL complex in Vijaipur. The bid submission can be done till December 18, 2019. Redesign, engineering, procurement, supply, construction, erection, testing, commissioning, and complete operation and maintenance of the two projects of 1 MW and 0.8 MW capacities, respectively, are the scope of work. The two projects will be constructed simultaneously for captive use only. As per the tender document, prospective bidders will have to pay Rs. 2 million as the earnest money deposit (EMD). The given time for the completion of the project is 8 months. Regarding the technical criteria, the prospective bidders should have prior experience of installing grid-connected ground-mounted solar power projects of a cumulative capacity of at least 5 MW that have been successfully commissioned during the last five financial years.
Haryana DISCOMS To Allow Net Metering Until Rooftop Solar Capacity Reaches 500 MW
The Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) has updated its regulations for rooftop solar grid-interactive systems based on net metering in response to a petition filed by the Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (HAREDA). HAREDA had filed for a petition seeking amendments in its regulations from 2014, to help them meet the Indian government’s solar targets. It stated that it could not meet these targets without net metering facilities, and the existing regulations did not have the provisions for it. The petition asked for the regulations to be amended so that with the net metering provision, consumers are allowed to sell excess generated power back to the utilities. It also sought for the cumulative capacity of the rooftop solar systems at a distribution transformer to be allowed up to 100% of its particular distribution transformer capacity. The petition also expected regulations to allow consumers to set up solar projects higher than the sanctioned load if they have space and the capacity to do so. It also sought for open access consumers who plan to get rooftop solar projects in their premises to be allowed to use net metering facilities.
Indian Railways Aims 500 MW Of Rooftop Solar By 2021-22
Indian Railways which consumes the major electricity with about 2.4% of total consumption, is planning to install 500 MW of rooftop solar generation capacity by 2021-2022. Minister for railways, commerce and industry, Piyush Goyal, told the Lok Sabha lower house of the Indian parliament 95.67 MW of solar rooftop capacity has already been installed on railway buildings, including 835 stations, and a further 248.46 MW is under development.
Howrah Stations Light Up With 3 MW Solar Power
Many of the lights present in Howrah station do not utilize the conventional energy. Howrah station is known to be the busiest railway station in the nation, has now emerged as the one with the largest commissioned solar capacity under Indian Railways. The Eastern Railway has commissioned a 2,965 KWp grid connected rooftop solar power project at Howrah. They are also planning to utilize more and more of renewable source to contribute to the go green mission and also save expenses. These steps come after the ambitious plans to achieve the Mission-300 MW Rooftop Solar Power Plant by 2020. According to Nikhil Kumar Chakraborty, CPRO, ER, this will generate alternative source of renewable energy that will take care of nearly 15% of the total energy consumption in non-traction areas. Out of the 180 million units consumed annually, 30 million units will come through such sources. Currently, 55 MW rooftop solar plants have been commissioned across ER. The process is on to install additional solar power plants that would generate 245 million watts at different locations.
Mahindra In Final Lap To Sell Solar Portfolio
Mahindra Group’s, Mahindra Susten the renewable business arm has got a binding offers from CLP India and the Piramal group for its 160 MW solar assets. Mahindra Susten is expected to take a call on the two offers over the next few weeks. “The sale is part of the company’s plans to sell completed projects and recycle the capital to develop its project pipeline,” added the person who requested anonymity. CLP India and the Piramal Group had shown interest in buying Susten’s solar portfolio. The transaction could fetch over Rs.1,000 crore. Mahindra Susten, which builds and sells solar power projects, offers diversified services within the renewable energy and cleantech space. The company has commissioned over 967MW till date, and has over 668MW of projects under execution.
Eastern Railway To Generate 30 MW Solar Power By 2020
This came in the efforts to limit the carbon impression and contribute for the decrease in global warming the Eastern Railway declared that it has set a target to produce solar power of 300 megawatts by 2020. The Easter Railway is focussing on using solar power to its maximum, hence it has decided to use solar energy from 30 MW in 2018 to 300 MW in 2020. Nikhil Chakraborty had quoted that achievement of the goal of generating 300 million units (30 megwatts) will accrue a saving of Rs. 12 crore in revenue expenses per year at present rate of tariff. The Eastern Railway has commissioned 2,965 kilo watt power grid connected rooftop solar project at its busiest station Howrah, which “is the largest solar capacity commissioned over a single station in Indian Railways”
