INDIA
• State governments may soon announce favourable power purchase policies for renewable energy projects. In this regard, an agreement was recently signed by state secretaries, in charge of
Search Results
-
-
Green energy
A NEW revolutionary energy process could end up powering cities and industries in the next century, says a team of Australian scientists. The scientists, who conducted a feasibility study, suggested
-
Reminiscing my visits of Swedish power plants
<p>This November brought back reflections of my two study visits of Swedish power plants. The visits were done during the same months of previous two years while pursuing higher studies at a Swedish university.
-
AP vies for solar project
Hyderabad, July 20: The state is vying for a mega solar energy plant proposed by the Clinton Foundation in the United States. The plant, which will come up in 25,000 acres with an investment of $20 billion, is expected to generate 5,000 MW of power using various ways of tapping solar energy. Official sources told this newspaper that a delegation of the foundation led by international head Ira Magaziner was recently shown suitable area in the perennially drought hit Anantapur district.
-
Six firms express interest in solar power generation
Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency will invite proposals soon Officials will visit Germany and Spain where large solar photovoltaic power plants have come up Programme to encourage generation of grid quality power from megawatt-sized solar plants CHENNAI: Half-a-dozen companies have expressed interest in implementing the recently unveiled national programme on solar power generation in the State. Noting that this is only in the formative stage, a senior official says that soon the Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency will formally invite proposals from these companies, and specific projects will be formulated at the end of this process. Also, as part of firming up its plan to promote solar energy, the State Government has decided to depute to Germany and Spain the Agency's two senior officers, including its chairman-cum-managing director Mohan Verghese Chunkath. The two nations have been chosen since most of the recently installed large solar photovoltaic power plants have come up there. Distribution losses An official document of the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy states that in view of the large potential of solar energy in the country, the Ministry has launched a demonstration programme to encourage grid quality power generation from megawatt-sized solar power plants. Besides capacity addition, the proposed plants could help to tackle peak load operations and reduce distribution losses caused by voltage drops in several regions. Under this programme, registered companies, as project developers, would be encouraged to set up solar power projects on a build, own and operate basis. The Ministry will provide generation-based incentive up to Rs. 12 a unit for solar photovoltaic and Rs. 10 a unit for solar thermal power fed to the grid. Proposals from each developer with a maximum aggregate capacity of 5 megawatt (MW) will be considered. Totally, the Government will provide incentive for installation of 50-MW solar power projects. The projects with an aggregate capacity of 10 MW in a State will be considered for support. However, preference will be given to the projects from the States where the State Electricity Regulatory Commissions have announced, or about to announce, tariff for solar power. The Centre will also provide an incentive of 10 paise a unit to power utilities and one- time incentive of Rs. 2 lakh per MW to the State nodal agencies for their assistance in implementation and monitoring of the projects. The generation-based incentives announced by the Centre are over and above the tariff that will be determined by the commissions and should not go into the calculation of tariff, the document says.
-
Gasbagging
How good are the North's offers of joint implementation programmes with the South to cut the latter's carbon dioxide emissions?
-
Coal prices may set new record on Asian demand
Banpu Pcl, Thailand's biggest coal miner, expects prices of the raw material to set new records as demand growth in Asia, led by China and India, outpaces supply. India will raise purchases at a faster pace in the next two years, compared with 2007 and 2008, as the nation completes power plants, Philip Gasteen, head of marketing and logistics, said during the McCloskey Group coal conference in Singapore yesterday. Indonesia, the world's second-biggest thermal coal exporter, is promoting coal-fired power output to cut oil use. Benchmark prices at Newcastle, the world's biggest export harbor for thermal coal in Australia, dropped $4.71 to $134.45 a metric tonne in the week ended February 22 after four weeks of records, according to the globalCOAL NEWC Index. Prices had climbed after heavy rains in Australia, power shortages in South Africa and snowstorms in China cut output. "Things got tighter because of growth,'' Gasteen said in the interview. China's export ban after the nation's worst snowstorms in 50 years will pull 8 million tonnes out of the Pacific basin during the first quarter and "is a big loss,'' he said. China, the world's second-biggest energy consumer, banned coal exports so that local utilities "don't have grounds to raise prices'' amid government efforts to curb inflation, Gasteen said. Vietnam's exports Vietnam, China's largest coal supplier, plans to reduce exports 32 per cent this year and gradually eliminate the sales to meet rising domestic demand, Nguyen Khac Tho, vice director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's energy and petroleum department, said February 15. Exports may drop to a forecast 22 million tonnes from 32.2 million in 2007 and the government is recommending halting overseas shipments after 2015. Coal producers are keeping inventories at half of typical levels of 6 to 7 per cent of annual output because of rising demand, Gasteen said. Banpu is maintaining stockpiles at about 3 to 4 percent of annual production, he said. "Demand has been very high so producers have been shipping out higher proportions than production and not putting as much in stock ,'' he said. Gasteen declined to comment on prices being negotiated with Japanese customers for annual supplies starting in April. Australian miners are seeking between $125 and $136 a tonne under one-year contracts, compared with offers from Japanese utilities to pay $110 a ton, Peter Ball, vice president for marketing at PT Bumi Resources, Indonesia's largest thermal coal exporter, said earlier this week in an interview. In the year ending March 31, the price is about $55. Japan is Banpu's biggest export destination, representing 25 per cent to 30 per cent of its sales. Banpu also ships to buyers in Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea and Italy, Gasteen said.
-
Renewable Energy Newsletter
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border: 11px solid rgb(4, 120, 209); width: 620px;" width="550"> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="3" height="10px"> </td> </tr> <tr>
-
The Enron short circuit
The Enron case is important as it was the first of the fast track projects and has been responsible for modifications to the government guidelines. Enron, General Electric (GE) and Bechtel jointly
-
MONEYMAKERS
pollution control fabrics: Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (bhel), in collaboration with a German firm, is manufacturing state-of-the-art pollution control equipment called Fabric
-
Pitching eco messages and washing machines
A recent exhibition in Delhi drew crowds looking for discounts and new gadgets. But how many paid attention to a special section on the danger to the environment and the need for eco friendly development?
-
Sooty water for parched throats
Pollution by public sector units has created a dearth water in Orissa's Anugul Talcher industrial belt. However, little has been done to rectify the situation.
-
"Environmentalists' criticism of industries is not correct"
H D DEVE GOWDA is today the Prime Minister PM of India. Till last month, he was the chief minister of Karnataka. His sole aim there was to make Karnataka the most industrialised state. And he couldn't care less about the environmental fallout. Indee
-
Opting for renewables
According to IEA’s factsheet, Renewables in global energy supply, the wind energy sector has grown at more than 52 per cent per annum since 1971, and solar power by 32 per cent per annum.
-
Opting for renewables
According to IEA's factsheet, Renewables in global energy supply, the wind energy sector has grown at more than 52 per cent per annum since 1971, and solar power by 32 per cent per annum. Renewables
-
Business nonsense
The Globe is getting warmer. But the only contribution of US businesses is an advertising blitz and political arm twisting to discredit climate science
-
No plutonium to go on
But government says full steam ahead
-
The blacking out of Enron
How serious was the Maharashtra chief minister when he mentioned environment as a reason for scrapping the gas based Enron project?
-
The price of Power
The powerful monopoly caucus that rules electricity supply industry a heavy-handed ragulatory -structure to protect the consumer interest
-
"It is wiser for industry to invest in pollution control"
He was the archetypical activist bureaucrat. For A N YELLAPPA REDDY, former special secretary to the government of Karnataka's department of environment and ecology, the issues were real and live. He would not let avaricious politicians and big busine