Energy News

Renewable energy is the way to go forward : Karnataka Power 2009-Machinist.in
Bangalore:"In Karnataka, renewable energy is the way to go forward and there is scope for major partnership between the public and private sector," said K Jairaj, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Energy, Government of Karnatakawhile addressinga conference on Karnataka Power - Opportunities & Challenges organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.
In order to sustain the growth of its economy, Karnataka needs to implement an accelerated capacity addition as well as more efficient Transmission & Distribution system.
Government of Karnataka has decided to launch a new wave of reforms and complete the reform process in the shortest possible time to accelerate Public Private Partnership initiatives in the Electricity Sector.
"Karnataka, in an attempt to foster non-conventional uses of energy is bringing out a policy. The policy would encourage promoters of non-conventional power project, be it wind, energy ,solar, tidal energy or bio-gas," said Sh. K.S. Eshwarappa, Minister of Energy, Govt of Karnataka.
"The state has an estimated potential to produce around 18,000 MW of power from non-conventional sources of energy. The state, so far, has accorded permission to the independent power producers to generate 9,000 MW of power through non-conventional sources," the minister said.
He said that, this year, the government would add at least 500 MW from renewableenergy sources to the grid.
"Wind itself has got fantastic potential in Karnataka. It is estimated at 12,000 MW. We have realized about 2000 MW so far. We have allotted another 4000 odd MW," said Sh. K Jairaj. He urged the CII to take steps to promote private investment in renewable energy.
"We are very keen that the private sector should come forward and take up this project. There is a new Renewable Energy Policy on the anvil . We are going to cut down on all the impediments that are being faced by the entrepreneurs. In terms of land purchase we are planning to ride piggyback on the industries department so that through the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) land can be made available if they regard Renewable energy as industry. In terms of Forest clearances and so on we will have an empowered committee which will try to get the forest clearances in good time. We are also trying for better security arrangements in terms of payments to the distributing company," he added.
The total installed power plant capacity in Karnataka is about 8500 MW including allocations from Central Generating Stations. The Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd (KPCL) currently has a capacity of about 5000 MW. The Renewable sector contributes to another 1800 MW.
Speaking about the initiatives to help industries to grow, Smt. G Latha Krishna Rao, Managing Director, Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd said that substations would be constructed in industrial zones and dedicated feeders would be set up for industries. Under the 'Nirantara Jyoti' scheme continuous power supply would be ensured. She said that substations could be set up at specific industrial zones eg - steel, cement, automotive, aerospace etc.
"NTPC is going to set up a 4000 MW project in Kudigi. The chairman of NTPC is going to come to Bangalore on the 4th of December, visit Kudigi, and then the land acquisition is going to start and hopefully by the end of December we would have the groundbreaking at Kudigi," Sh. K Jairaj said.
He said that the petroleum secretary was emphatic that the gas grid from Dhabhol to Bangalore, being promoted by GAIL, will be a reality by 2012. Through the gas grid we can power about 8000 - 10000 MW.
The state has planned to set up four 2000 MW gas based power plants at Belgaum, Gadag, Davangere and Tumkur at a cost of nearly 32,000 crore


High Level U.S.- India Dialogue on Opportunities and Challenges of Nuclear, Fossil and Renewable Energy Projects - 09 Nov 2009 - Earthtimes.org

WHO:
G R Srinivasan, Former Vice Chairman, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, Former Director Projects, Nuclear Power Corporation of India, and Advisor Nuclear Power Business, GMR Energy;
Anil Razdan, Former Secretary, Ministry of Power, Government of India;
Harry Dhaul, Director General, IPPAI;
Samuel R. Berger, Chair of Albright Stonebridge Group and former National Security Advisor;
Robert N. Boudreau, Director, International Nuclear Energy Policy and Cooperation, U.S. Department of Energy, Brian O'Hanlon, Office of Energy & Environmental Industries, U.S. Department of Commerce;
Paul Hanrahan, CEO, AES Corporation
The Independent Power Producers Association of India (IPPAI)is organizinga one day workshopwith the Albright Stonebridge Group, Hogan Hartson and USIBC on the Challenges of Incorporating New Nuclear, Fossil and Renewable Energy Projects into the Indian Power Sector on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at the Hay-Adams Hotel, Washington DC.
The Workshop will consider policy and regulatory issues affecting U.S. investment in the Indian power sector, and will examine key downstream power sector issues including: Settlement Mechanisms, Tariff Setting, Centre-State conflicts, Fuel issues,Public Private Partnerships, Peculiarities of the Indian Electricity Grid, Scheduling Nuclear, Fossil and Renewable power, Payment Security Mechanisms, Third Party Open Access, and Sanctity of Contracts, in the context of the emerging Indian Power Market post the Indian Electricity Act 2003, and U.S. policy and regulatory issues.
The event will receive participation from U.S. and Indian delegations. Key speakers from India also include V Subramanian, Former Secretary, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, Bhanu Bhushan, Former Director Operations, Power Grid India & Former Member, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission.
Key Speakers from the U.S. also include Ron Somers, President, USIBC, Ted Jones, Director, USIBC, Ajay Kuntamukkala, Partner, Hogan & Hartson.
About IPPAI
The Independent Power Producers Association of India (IPPAI) is a not-for-profit association that was set up in 1994, shortly after the Government of India opened power generation to private players and invited developers to set up power projects in India. It was set up initially with the idea to provide a neutral forum to independent power producers (IPPs) to discuss various issues and bottlenecks that the nascent power industry faced as the country moved from command to market economy.
IPPAI's initiatives are focused on addressing energy project developer risks, removal of related difficulties, spreading better understanding of emerging policy and regulatory issues, and encouraging discussion between all stakeholders to promote the transparent and competitive growth of the Indian energy, power and allied sectors.

Powering up the smart way - 11 Feb 2010 - bloombergutv.com
BANGALORE: India's power sector is slowly but surely connecting to smart grids to increase efficiency and reduce losses.Bangalore's Electronic City is implementing a pilot project not just to modernise power grids but also to increase use of renewables.

Faced with a large power deficit and transmission and distribution loses of 20%, Karnataka is nowlooking to use information technology to plug in losses and increase efficiency.A smart grid pilot project is to be implemented in the Bangalore's IT hub Electronics City under the public-private partnership model. At a cost of Rs 100 crore, the project is expected to get implemented in less than two years and the state plans to set up similar smart grids across the state.
"Last week weve had a meeting with the ministry of power and other industry major to implement a Smart Grid at Electronic City. Electronic City because it is compact, it is doable and we can measure the gains. By putting IT into automation and distribution our aim is to see that voltage improves, fault location becomes quicker. Depending on how it works we will look at implementing it at other parts of the state," K Jairaj, Principal Secretary (Energy), Karnataka. A smart energy grid uses advance digital technologies to increase energy reliability, save energy and cost, and will allow greater consumer participation. Some of the other benefits include improved power quality, focus on renewables and resilience to attacks and natural disasters with rapid restoration capabilities.
Experts say smart grids help consumers change their power consumption trends and contribute directly to energy savings. "In general through a smart grid we are talking about bringing down the peak curve, an ability which means a lot of things, which means automatic meter reading to energy auditing, an ability to interact with the provider if certain things can be switched off and the efficiency by which you integrate with renewable sources of power," says Raghu Cavale, VP-India Business, Infosys.
Under the union governments power reforms scheme, the Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme, the target is to reduce transmission and distribution losses from 33% to 15%. State electricity boards can appoint IT firms as consultants or act as implementation agencies to distribution companies. States like West Bengal and Rajasthan have already awarded IT projects, while others including Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are in the process of doing so. Experts say even the non-IT opportunity is large especially for small and medium manufacturing industries.
"Smart grid itself provides an opportunity for SMEs to look at a new arena where they can have product and services which can reach out to the smart grid networks. Now smarty grids would also mean integration of hardware and IT and SMEs in both these sectors and with their capacity to manufacture products," says Uma Reddy, President, Consortium of Electronic Industries of Karnataka.
A recent study has indicated smart grid implementation across India could reduce transmission and distribution losses by up to 30%. This would minimise the need for increased generation capacity, and facilitate a far greater utilisation of renewable sources of energy generation.