Sembcorp Industries, one of Southeast Asia's biggest utilities companies, plans to roughly triple its renewable energy portfolio over the next five years, targetting India and China for growth, a senior company official said.Industrial conglomerate Sembcorp, whose utilities arm forms one of its three main divisions, expects renewable energy to account for 20 per cent of its total power capacity in five years, up from 13 percent at present, executive vice president Tan Cheng Guan told the Reuters Summit."Over the last three years, we have grown renewables quite significantly," Tan said. "We have been able to accelerate because the cost of renewables has been coming down quite quickly because of technology and scale."Sembcorp, which plans to focus on wind and solar energy, where costs are expected to drop further by 2020, has total power capacity of about 8,800 megawatts (MW).India and China make up the bulk of its renewables capacity, with wind power assets in China of about 450 MW.In India, it jointly owns and operates wind and solar power assets with a total power capacity of 750 MW after buying a majority stake in Indian renewable energy firm Green Infra in February, this year."India is under served at the moment and their (power) capacity is maybe one quarter of China's, even with about the same population," Tan said. "So, if India's economy grows by 7 to 8 per cent in the next decade, we see that India will grow the fastest."A boom in clean energy projects is expected in India after it hiked its solar energy target to 100 gigawatts by 2022, a 33-fold rise from current levels.In China, Sembcorp is also jointly building a coal-fired power plant near coal mines in Chongqing.Tan said the plant's newer and more efficient technology would help in China's push to reduce its carbon footprint.Sembcorp is also looking towards Bangladesh and Myanmar where it is developing gas-fired power plants.He declined to comment on Sembcorp's credit exposure to Jurong Aromatics Corp (JAC), which went into receivership last month due to debt problems.Sembcorp has a 20-year agreement with JAC for the supply of steam and other water and wastewater treatment services.(Reuters)
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Tata Power, India’s largest integrated power company, has announced another milestone in the Company's Centenary Year celebrations, two of India’s first 25 MVA Natural Ester filled transformers were recently installed in Mumbai.With this initiative, Tata Power has once again showcased its priority in driving sustainability by implementing path breaking green technology. Sustainability remains a core business philosophy of Tata Power, and the green transformers is one of the Company’s many green initiatives under its ‘Be Green’ campaign.Ashok Sethi, ED & COO, Tata Power, said, “As part of our centenary year celebrations, Tata Power reaffirms its commitment to nation building and we will continue to uphold and implement technological innovations such as green transformer. We plan to refine the design to further decrease the footprint and improve performance. This could change the landscape of the power industry in India and create a new paradigm that can be adopted successfully anywhere in the world.”Tata Power selected Cargill’s Envirotemp FR3 fluid (the most widely used natural ester fluid) & Schneider Electric (specialist in energy management & automation) for its transformers. FR3 fluid provides improved fire safety, extended transformer life and additional loading capacity with a smaller footprint.Siraj Chaudhry, Chairman, Cargill India, said, “The Natural Ester technology offers a number of important advantages over mineral oil. It is also derived from renewable resources and is carbon neutral (according to BEES 4.0 lifecycle analysis).”(BW Online Bureau)
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Simar SinghThe corporate funding in the solar sector for the third quarter of 2015 is estimated at $6.2 billion, marginally higher than the previous quarter’s $5.9 billion, according to a report released by Austin-based clean energy communications and consulting firm, Mercom Capital Group.The estimation includes venture capital, debt financing and public market financing raised by public companies.Mercom’s CEO, Raj Prabhu, commented, “The third quarter of 2015 has been eventful, especially in the equity markets. Although solar power demand continues to grow, solar stocks have made a complete U-turn in the last three months, affecting public market financing, which was down by about a billion dollars excluding IPOs.”Private Equity funding, in particular, saw a leap with $257 million raised over 15 deals in the third quarter. This figure is nearly double the $142 million raised over 24 deals in the last quarter.The biggest venture capital deal was the $105 million raised by California-based Silicor Materials, a manufacturer of high-quality solar silicon and aluminum by-products.The report states that public market financing fell to $1.8 billion compared to last quarter’s $2.3 billion while debt financing saw an uptick this quarter with about $4.1 billion, compared to previous$3.4 billion.Debt financing activities were dominated by Chinese companies, raising more than $2.9 billion against the second quarter’s $1.4 billion.Indian companies which raised venture capital include Fourth Partner Energy, a Hyderabad-based company providing solar design, engineering, installation, O&M services for rooftop solar PV systems which raised $2 million in Series A funding led by Infuse Ventures.Given the nascency of the solar market in India, it is no surprise that none of the big deals have happened in the country and that those which have happened are comparatively small. However, what is apparent is that the market in India is picking up, perhaps driven by the Modi administration’s policy to promote greener energy avenues and greater interest in such options.
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By Simar Singh In congruence with the country-wide thrust to move towards greener energy avenues, Punjab’s largest solar power project was inaugurated by Union Cabinet Minister of Food Processing, Harsimrat Badal and State Renewable Energy Minister Bikram Singh Majithia in Jaga Ram Teearth village in Bhatinda district on Thursday (08 October). Developed by Welspun Renewables, the 32 MW plant which is located 40 kilometres from Bhatinda is spread across 140 acres and will provide around 48 million units of clean and emission-free energy to Punjab’s state grid for the next 25 years. At the low-key inauguration ceremony, Harsimrat Badal said that Punjab was the country’s first state to develop a diversification scheme to turn agriculturists into clean energy entrepreneurs and that the state was targeting to have at least 15 such entrepreneurs per block in the next five years. This, according to her, would ensure that 10 per cent of Punjab’s requirement would be fulfilled by green energy generation. Majithia explained that the Punjab government was coming up with a scheme that would promote the setting up of solar projects among famers on their own land. This will be done through a 50:50 partnership with corporates and 25 year long MoUs will be signed for the same. He went on to say that to give impetus to the scheme, the government would make subsidies available and allot 500 MW capacity projects to farmers. The Punjab Government has set a cumulative target of 4200 MW solar power generation capacity and Welspun Renewables has signed an MoU for setting up an additional 151 MW solar capacity in the state. The company itself has made a commitment to set up 11,001 megawatts worth of renewable capacities over India.
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Dubai-based private equity firm Abraaj Group and India's Aditya Birla Group have agreed to invest jointly in building and operating new solar power plants in India, Abraaj said in a statement on Wednesday (7 October).The firms are the latest companies to plan solar investments in India ahead of an expected boom in clean energy projects after New Delhi hiked its solar energy target to 100 gigawatts by 2022, a 33-fold rise from current levels.Abraaj and Aditya Birla will build a gigawatt scale platform that will bid for new solar projects tendered at national and state auctions, Abraaj said in the statement.Abraaj will invest through one of its funds and Aditya Birla, a large Indian conglomerate, will invest through Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited. The companies did not detail the size of the planned investment.(Reuters)
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By Simar Singh Chancellor Angela Merkel announced Berlin’s willingness to give the Indian administration 2 billion euros ($2.25 billion)to assist in the development of a clean energy corridor and solar projects. “We have agreed on Indo-German Climate and Renewable Alliance with a long term vision and a comprehensive agenda of cooperation. I place great value on Germany’s assistance of over one billion Euros for India’s Green Energy Corridor and a new assistance package of over a billion euros for solar projects in India,” said Prime Minister Modi. The Indo-German Climate and Renewable Alliance will fall under the Indo-German Energy Forum which was set up in 2006 to promote energy dialogue between the two nations. This announcement comes ahead of the Paris climate change conference in December. In the joint statement, Germany welcomed India’s submission of its intended nationally determined contribution to the Paris Agreement. Furthering the renewable energy cooperation, the two countries signed two loan agreements worth 125 million euros to finance two projects under the Green Energy Projects (GEC) programme. 57 million euros have been allotted to the project in Himachal Pradesh and 68 million euros to Andhra Pradesh. With the Green Energy Corridors, the intra-State network is expected to feed the energy generated through its renewable projects to the respective state grids and high capacity transmission corridors. The interstate network will then connect major renewable energy pockets with the national grid. Renewable Energy was even one of the key areas of cooperation between Germany and India that was previously announced when the prime minister had visited Hannover in April.
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By Arshad Khan Exuding confidence, Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal has said that India would achieve its 100 GW set target of solar energy by 2022. Goyal said: "If Germany can achieve success in solar power, then why can't India". In July this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended the prevailing target under the National Solar Mission from 20GW to 100GW. It was decided that out of 100GW, 40GW would be produced from rooftops. Experts say that India may fail to achieve 40GW from rooftops since the current installation capacity form rooftops is only around 400MW and there is an ongoing dispute between the Centre and discoms of many states over the net metering implementation. Upendra Tripathy, secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) said that the government is also working towards implementing net-metering policy across the country. "At present out of 21 states where net metering policy was introduces, only four states have implemented the policy. The ministry is working to take the remaining discoms on board. A single window agency to clear legal hurdle for installing rooftops is what the government is looking for," said Tripathy. To boost productivity, the government is planning to launch solar city programme where in they have selected 60 cities where rooftop installation will be mandatory for residential homes during constructions. The MNRE is already believed to have received funding interest of 1 billion euros from KfW, a German development bank, $500 million from Asian Development Bank and $500 million from the World Bank. If this goes through, this should be enough to provide debt to around 2.5 GW of rooftop solar.
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C.H. UnnikrishnanTulsi Tanti-promoted wind turbine maker Suzlon Group on Tuesday (29 September) said that it has completed the commissioning of a 100.8 MW wind power turnkey project for power generation company CLP India in Rajasthan. CLP India, a subsidiary of Hong Kong Listed CLP Holdings, is currently one of the large wind power developers in the Indian power sector. The new project will provide electricity to over 50,000 homes and help curb some 0.21 million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually. With the Rajasthan project located at Tejuva in Jaisalmer, Suzlon will offer operations and maintenance for 20 years through an integrated service package contract. It comprises of 48 WTGs (Wind Turbine Generator) of Suzlon’s robust S97- 2.1 MW wind turbines featuring Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) technology. All 48 turbines in this project — which is designed to optimally harness the available wind resources and deliver higher energy, productivity, improved serviceability and higher return on investment (ROI) to customers — have a 90 meter hub height, the company said. “Wind Energy is an integral part of CLP India’s business strategy and is expected to continue making a vital contribution not only to CLP's growth plans for India but also to its commitment to reducing its CO2 emissions,” said Mahesh Makhija, director – Business Development (Renewables) at CLP India. With the successful commissioning of this project, we now have installed wind generation capacity of 874.2MW in the country, he added. According to Suzlon Group chief sales officer Ishwar Mangal, the successful commissioning of this new project demonstrates the group’s strength in being the partner of choice for leading independent power producers. Suzlon also stated in a release on Tuesday that; “Given the positive change in the Indian renewable energy landscape, our focus this year is to cater to Indian market and enhance our market share and the company endeavours to bring down the cost of energy and provide clean and affordable energy for all.” CLP Holdings — one of the leading investor-owned power businesses in Asia at present, is also the top foreign investors in the Indian power sector with a total committed investment of over Rs 14,500 crore. Its investment in India is spread across a diversified and environment-friendly generation portfolio that covers renewable energy, supercritical coal and gas fired power plants, amounting to over 3,000 MW. Entered in India with the acquisition of a 655 MW gas fired power plant at Bharuch, in Gujarat in 2002, ULP also owns and operates a 1,320 MW (2 X 660MW) supercritical coal-fired power plant in Jhajjar, Haryana.
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By CH Unnikrishnan Bangalore-based technology solutions provider Axiscades Engineering Technologies Ltd said on Thursday (24 September) that it has signed a long term strategic contract with global wind turbines major Siemens Wind Power. Exiscades, which currently focuses on aerospace, heavy engineering, automotive and industrial domains, said that with this new contract it will set up a dedicated offshore development centre in order to provide design, design support and other associated engineering services to the Denmark-based equipment manufacturer (OEM). "Axiscades will provide Siemens with its learnings and established global project management and quality initiatives towards establishing a basic philosophy of error free Engineering drawings," the company said in a statement. The new offshore development centre will start with 50 engineers and will grow over time as both the companies explore new technical areas of providing offshore value addition. “It is an important step for Siemens Wind Power to team up with Axiscades well in line with the Siemens strategy to maintain a global footprint of partners in engineering and we are confident that Axiscades is a competent partner, with whom we can develop and grow with and also leverage from their vast experience from working with other global industrial players,” said Steen Kirkegaard Jensen, Head of Mechanical Design at Siemens Wind Power. “This relation is important to us and shows our commitment to Engineering expertise in core sectors in the world market like Renewable Energy, Aerospace & Heavy Industries," said Axiscades vice-chairman Sudhakar Gande. "With the wind turbine market eyeing rapid growth over the next few years on the back of policy-driven installations across Europe and North-America, it has become imperative for manufacturers to build a competitive advantage through optimised costs and better technical value proposition,’’ Gande added. With this 5 year long-term partnership, Axiscades aims to further solidify its position in the energy sector. This is in line with the company’s strategy to diversify into newer industry sectors leveraging the engineering excellence and by building global service offerings.
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India will provide 24x7 power across the country by 2019 by creating cost effective infrastructure which is sustainable and inclusive of clean energy solutions, Power Minister Piyush Goyal has said. Goyal was speaking at the India-US Ministerial Energy Dialogue held at the US Department of Energy in Washington on September 21. The Indian delegation was led by Goyal while the US side was led by Dr Ernest Moniz, the US Secretary of Energy. "Government of India to provide 24x7 power across the country by 2019 by creating cost effective infrastructure which was sustainable and inclusive of clean energy solutions," the Minister said. Goyal emphasised that India is committed to pursue a green path to growth. He also elaborated on India's ambitious plans for deployment of 175 GW Renewable Power capacities by 2022, including 100 GW of Solar and 60 GW of Wind, which may require investment of around $150 billion in the next seven years. He also stressed on government's objective of construction of 100 smart cities which would include in its blueprint adequate provisions for power generation, usage of renewables and energy efficiency technologies, comprehensive waste management programme, usage of waste to energy technologies, etc. Goyal pointed out that India-US collaboration in the energy sector offer great potential, in view of India's enormous energy needs and the US' resources, capabilities and technology. He also welcomed US-based companies to invest in the Indian energy sector and invited them to also participate in India's unconventional hydrocarbons sector, especially in the field of exploration and exploitation of alternate energy sources such as shale oil, shale gas and gas hydrates. During the Dialogue, presentations were made on progress made under various joint research programme like Partnership to Advance Clean Energy - Research (PACE - R), including in the field of solar energy, energy efficient buildings and biofuels. Substantial headway has been made for the development of new technologies for distributed power generation through solar thermal route and development of new tools for improved building energy efficiency codes. It was also agreed to explore addition of smart grids and energy storage for grid application as the fourth stream under PACE - R. Clean EnergyPresentations were also made on various aspects of integration of clean energy sources into existing energy infrastructure in India, as well as mechanisms for promoting financing for clean energy and cleaner fossil energy sources. Avenues for advancing off-grid clean energy access was also discussed in depth during the Dialogue. According to the statement, bearing in mind the commitment of both countries to climate change, the focus of the meeting revolved on various dimensions of clean energy in order to ensure that people have access to adequate and affordable energy for better quality of life and sustainable livelihood. While capturing the activities of the Energy Dialogue in the last 10 years, the two Ministers recognised that this was an appropriate forum for India and the US to identify various aspects of technical assistance in energy sector as well as launch of pilot projects which can be scaled up at a later stage. The Indian delegation appreciated the activities of DOE, USAID and USTDA in various aspects of the energy sector in India, especially for technical assistance in research, data collection, development of various regulations as well as for improving energy efficient appliances. The need to develop a robust energy data management system to develop better simulation of the energy scenario in India in the future was also recognised. Prior to the Ministerial Dialogue, all the six Working Groups under the Energy Dialogue held extensive deliberations on September 16-18, 2015. It included Working Groups on a) Coal, b) New Technology and Renewable Energy, c) Petroleum and Natural Gas, d) Power and Energy Efficiency, e) Sustainable Development and f) Partnership to Advance Clean Energy - Research (PACE -R). The Working Group on Coal identified some areas of coal mining where both countries could collaborate including on Dry Coal Beneficiation; Planning of Large capacity opencast mines; Rehabilitation and reclamation of mined out areas; Pre combustion moisture removal of raw lignite and Mining of deep seated lignite deposits. It was recognised that India had proven reserves of shale gas and US had well developed expertize for Shale gas extraction. Collaboration in the area of fracking of shale gas, especially water less fracking in India were identified as areas of future cooperation under the Energy Dialogue. Discussions were also held in the working groups on financing of clean energy technology as well as on innovative financing for renewable energy microfinance and micro enterprises. Discussions were held on various aspects, including advantages and challenges of greening the grid, i.e., to integrate large scale renewable energy sources into the electricity grid. (PTI)
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