The energy overhaul
announced last year
by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s
Bharatiya Janata Party,
had a lifetime price tag
of more than $1.4 trillion.
Officials said
the government
might provide grants
to power suppliers
who meet certain
conditions set by
lawmakers.
Officials said
the nation’s
installed
generation
capacity
of about 366 GW
is expected to rise
to nearly 620 GW
in 2025, up +69%,
with about half of
that new capacity
coming from
fossil fuels:
coal, natural gas,
lignite, and
diesel-fired
power plants.
Those fossil fuel
sources account for
about 63% of today's
existing generation
capacity.
India has several
energy related problems:
(1)
An amazing 240 million
people without electricity !
(2)
Heavy air pollution
in major cities,
that has to be
reduced.
The government
already extended
a December 2017
deadline for coal plants
to install emissions
-reduction technology.
India’s Central
Pollution
Control Board had
threatened to close
coal power plants
on January 1, 2020
if the facilities had not
installed equipment
to cut emissions
of sulfur oxides.
Just 1 of 11 power
generators in the
New Delhi region,
for one example
of a polluted city,
had installed the
equipment as of
that date.
No action
was taken
to shutter
any of the
coal plants.
In December 2019,
Reuters reported
more than half of India’s
coal-fired power plants
( 94% of the coal-fired units
that had been ordered
to install emissions
-reduction equipment ),
would likely miss
their January 1, 2020
deadline.
(3)
Financially struggling
utilities need to be
more efficient.
A prior effort,
launched in 2015,
to make the country’s
energy retailers profitable
by March 2019, did not
reach its goal.
The prior plan called for
reducing revenue lost
from theft, and poor
billing practices, to an
average of 15%.
An October 2019
power ministry report
said revenue losses fell,
but only to about 18%
( first quarter of 2019 ).
“India’s electrical
system is in
urgent need
of an overhaul.
India experiences
frequent losses
and outages,
and modernizing
the power grid
should be a key
priority of the
Modi administration,”
said Liam Hunt,
a market analyst at
SophisticatedInvestor.com.
“Sweeping energy reforms
are needed to improve
operational efficiency
and connect the estimated
240 million Indians
living without electricity.”
Liam Hunt said:
“Currently, there are
no shared standards
for open market energy
trading between
India’s 29 states.
The retail prices of energy
vary from state to state,
which puts additional stress
on utilities. ...
the administration
should strongly consider
opening the federal market
to retail competition and
leveraging tariff reforms
to align electricity costs
with market prices.”
The plan to upgrade
power infrastructure
could include the
installation of about
250 million prepaid
smart meters,
designed to help
boost revenue
collection.
India also is looking
to add better electricity
monitoring and control
networks, or SCADA
—supervisory control
and data acquisition
systems—to separate
grids between rural
and urban areas.
Part of the plan
includes replacing
existing overhead
power lines with
better-insulated
wires in an effort
to prevent electricity
theft.
Government reports
say power distributors
lose about 20%
of potential revenue
because of
power leakage
from inefficient
transmission
infrastructure,
and poor billing and
collection methods.
SOLAR ENERGY
The India One
solar power plant
came online in 2017.
The 1-MW plant,
a demonstration
project in
Abu Road,
Rajasthan,
includes
a storage
component
enabling
a night-time
power supply.
It utilizes
a parabolic
dish design,
with 770 dishes
across 25 acres,
and powers the
Brahma Kumaris
campus at Mount Abu:
The International Renewable
Energy Agency last year
issued a report that said
India has the lowest costs
for installed utility-scale
solar in the world.
WIND & SOLAR:
Vedanta Chairman
Anil Agarwal said
the company plans
increased investment
in clean energy
resources, and
aims to significantly
expand its existing
portfolio of 300 MW
of wind and solar
energy capacity
by participating in
new projects offered
by the government.
“From 300 MW,
our first goal
is 1,000 MW.
When we get there
depends on
government tenders.
We are looking at
a couple of years,
or three years,”
Agarwal told
The Economic Times.
Generation from
renewable resources
is rising, and the
government’s plan
for installed renewable
generation capacity
( including hydropower )
expected to be 39%
of the nation’s energy mix
by 2025, up from 23% today.
COAL:
Coal is not going away !
Prime Minister Modi
recently said he
did not favor
a carbon tax
( the government
currently taxes
coal production
and imports
at 400 rupees
( $5.61 )
per metric ton ).
In September 2019,
the state-run utility
NTPC commissioned
the country’s first
ultra-supercritical
( USC )
coal-fired unit at the
1,320-MW Khargone
plant in the state
of Madhya Pradesh.
Plans also include
attracting more
investment in
coal mines, with
planned auctions
pf coal blocks for
commercial mining.
The country’s coal
ministry said it has
identified as many
as 40 coal blocks
with an estimated
production capacity
of 150 million tons
annually that could
be included
in the auctions.
The ministry said
the blocks already
have been partly explored,
and could begin production
within the next five years.
The Indian government
has amended the country’s
mining laws to encourage
private investment
in the coal mining sector.