Techno Electric plans big wind energy expansion in FY14

Techno Electric & Engineering may not have added any wind energy capacity in the current financial year, it has big plans to expand in 2013-14, according to a top company official. The Kolkata-based company so far has wind generation capacity of 207 mega watt, of which 162mw is under its subsidiary Simran Wind Projects Pvt Ltd and and 45 mw with itself. It has tapped private equity players for raising funds in Simran Wind and these funds will be used for expanding capacity.    "We have signed termsheets with the investor. We had (planned) total of USD 100 million for growing this company until 2020. So we have signed the termsheet with the first investor and we are discussing the definitive agreement. Money will be drawn from the investor when we set up the projects," Joy Saxena, ED, told moneycontrol.com in an interaction. In what could bring a fillip to the sector, Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the Budget last month reintroduced generation based incentives (GBIs). The government had withdrawn these incentives last year, and there has been a fall in new wind power installations since. Saxena says reintroduction of GBI is certainly a welcome move but there are certain ambiguities that need to be addressed. "They have announced a package of Rs 800 crore. But some things are not clear from that...Is the GBI applicable for next year or the wind assets already commissioned from April 1, 2012. Also will it be at the rate of 50 paise per unit or 80 paise per unit...All those issues have not been clarified," he said. Saxena says companies have been reluctant in investing in the wind energy sector due to lack of clarity on these measures. He expects the government to issue more guidelines on GBI soon and investment should pick up post that. Meanwhile, Techno Electric has started seeing some pickup in the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) segment in the last couple of months.  "For us this last quarter plus going forward next quarter looks good as far as new order intake is concerned," he said. Techno has received around Rs 400 crore worth orders this quarter (Jan-March) and the company is expecting another Rs 200-300 crore worth orders in the next 1-2 months, according to Saxena. The slowdown in EPC segment has hit companies hard. Techno Electric's consolidated total income in the third quarter declined 12 percent year-on-year to Rs 149 crore. Net profit was up 9 percent to Rs 25 crore, helped by lower expenses. The company's EPC sales fell 23 percent last quarter. For the first nine months of the year, its consolidated revenue was down 9 percent to Rs 547 crore.  In an earlier interview, Saxena had told moneycontrol.com that the company might not be able to achieve 8-10 percent revenue growth in the EPC segment in the current financial year due to the overall slowdown in investments and it hoped to at least maintain last year's topline. Techno Electric shares hit a 52-week low of Rs 149 on Friday. The stock was trading up about 1 percent at Rs 153.75 in late trading on NSE.  So far this year, the shares have declined 20 percent.

PowerOne passes 1 million PV inverters sold; global installed base exceeds 10 GW

Power-One, Inc. (Camarillo, CA) on March 19th, 2013, announced it has surpassed the one million mark for solar photovoltaic (PV) inverters sold worldwide.

This milestone can be attributed to the significant growth Power-One has experienced over the past several years, the company emphasizes. In 2010, Power-One took over the number two spot in global market share for solar inverters, with an installed base of 3.2 GW. Today, the Company has an installed base of more than 10 GW, representing a better than three-fold increase in just over two years.

“We are extremely proud of reaching this important milestone of one million inverters sold, and are even more pleased with our impressive global installed base of 10 GW,” said Alex Levran, President, Renewable Energy Solutions at Power-One.

 Inverters for utility-scale, commercial and residential rooftop PV applications

As a leading technology company in the solar inverter category, Power-One has leveraged its innovation to introduce products which are highly regarded in the PV industry, based on their flexibility and performance.

Power-One has launched a steady stream of innovative products over the years, including most recently the ULTRA series of central inverters that according to the company deliver the lowest LCOE in the utility-scale segment, the TRIO family of three-phase string inverters designed for commercial rooftop applications that is redefining the way people think about commercial applications, and the Aurora MICRO, a feature-packed alternative for the residential market.

Geographically, the Company has expanded its presence in many countries around the world, including North America, India, Australia, Latin America, Japan, China, the Middle East and Africa and is ideally positioned to serve the global PV market with a full complement of products.

Health-conscious Delhi goes the organic way

Delhiites have started watching what they eat. Sale of organic foods, seen as a passing fad till a few years ago, has soared, thanks to a rising focus on health and environment in the Capital.

Produced without synthetic pesticides, fertilisers, antibiotics or growth hormones, organic food has carved a market for itself in the past three years. According to a Yes Bank Ltd research, the market for the products in Delhi-NCR is around Rs. 125 crore.

The Altitude Store, which stocks 1,700 organic products, has recorded a 500% growth in sales in two years. “People started with organic vegetables and meat but moved on to eggs, bread, pulses and even pasta,” said owner Ayesha Grewal. 

Nanowire solar cells raise efficiency limit

Scientists from the Nano-Science Center at the Niels Bohr Institut, Denmark and the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland, have shown that a single nanowire can concentrate the sunlight up to 15 times of the normal sun light intensity. The results are surprising and the potential for developing a new type of highly efficient solar cells is great.

Due to some unique physical light absorption properties of nanowires, the limit of how much energy we can utilize from the sun's rays is higher than previous believed. These results demonstrate the great potential of development of nanowire-based solar cells, says PhD Peter Krogstrup.

Water management project to help Maharashtra cope with drought

The Maharashtra Economic Development Council (MEDC) has proposed to conduct a water management project to help industries in drought-hit central Maharashtra.

The project, called Jal Swatantrya, will begin with a detailed survey of the water needs and usage patterns of the industries in the region and will later include feasible conservation techniques that can be adopted by them to sustain their businesses.

Launched by the MEDC, the project will be undertaken in collaboration with a Mumbai-based non-governmental organisation Members of Brotherhood (MOB).

Wanted an eco-friendly, green disposal system in Delhi

Delhi’s green watchdog, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), has warned of a critical environmental crisis if the Capital cannot manage its municipal waste properly.

“The sheer volume of waste generated by Delhi is a huge challenge. We simply have our hands full. The three dumping sites at Ghazipur, Bhalaswa and Okhla are exhausted. There is no space to add waste. Fresh sites are being looked into with the Narela-Bawana Road site now being touted as the newest area,” said DPCC member secretary Sandeep Kumar Mishra.

DPCC claims that it has already informed the Delhi Municipal Corporations of the hazardous practice of continuing to dump into the three exhausted yards (all of them have crossed the 30-metre danger mark height level).

“Delhi is a landlocked State with limited land availability. The mountain of municipal solid waste that we produce every day has to be managed in a manner that will ensure least pollution – water table contamination, air pollution -- and zero health and nuisance value to the human population near the dumping sites,” said Mr. Mishra.

WASTE-TO-ENERGY PLANTS

Suggesting how to scientifically manage the waste, the DPCC has asked the municipal corporations to make functional waste-to-energy plants that will ensure disposal of waste in an environmentally viable and self-sustainable manner.

“With the Delhi Development Authority stating that there is severe scarcity of land in the Capital, the answer to manage our waste could well be the introduction of waste-to-energy plants, which environmentalists claim is a major health hazard. Delhi has one such plant that is fully functional and we have asked the municipal corporations to start the two plants that we have,” said Mr. Mishra.

“We have told the municipal corporations to close the three dumping sites and develop their own waste-to-energy (burning trash to generate electricity) and composting (to produce manure) plants,” he said.

Meanwhile, labour groups and environmentalists have cautioned against the dependence on waste-to-energy plants.

Environmentalist Gopal Krishna said: “Construction of waste-to-energy plants is an irresponsible move by the Delhi Government to try and manage the growing problem of waste management. The existing Timarpur-Okhla waste-to-energy incinerator has violated every rule in the book including environmental clearance conditions.”

PCRA - Ahmedabad to sensitize industries on energy efficiency

Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA)- Ahmedabad, an arm of union ministry of petroleum & natural gas (MoPNG) will sensitize industries about the energy efficiency and climate change across industrial clusters in Gujarat. Under the objective of the National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency, the ministry of power has made it mandatory for the high-energy consuming industries called as Designated Consumers (DCs) to save energy.

As per PCRA Gujarat has 54 DCs located across 8 industrial sectors. Abhay Bakre, executive director, PCRA mentioned that workshops will be organised for each notified industrial sector to help them achieve energy saving targets and sensitize the need of such important steps in achieving the sustainable development and growth of industry.

Chennai Corporation plans to tap solar power at all its buildings in three years

Four out of Chennai Corporation’s 15 zonal offices have recently begun to tap solar energy. The civic body recently commissioned six solar power plants, at a cost of Rs. 16 lakh, to light up portions of select zonal offices in the city.

While the facility at Basin Bridge zonal office has the capacity to generate 5 kilowatts of power, the zonal offices at Kodambakkam, Nungambakkam and Adyar; street light office at Shenoy Nagar and the corporation’s electrical lab and stores in Chintadripet each have one kilowatt capacity plants.

According to sources in the Chennai Corporation, these solar power plants have been installed on a pilot basis. “We have sought guidance relating to specifications and norms from the Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency so that we can expand to more buildings. Once they let us know, we will begin covering buildings including schools and hospitals,” the source said.

RPG to launch solar EPC business in April

Annual global installations of small wind turbines will double over the next five years, going from 86MW in 2012 up to 172MW in 2018, representing $3.3bn in revenues, says a new report from Navigant Research.

According to the report, the market for small wind turbines is growing as a result of feed-in tariffs, particularly in the UK and Italy. Although the US wind market has ‘a few bright spots,’ manufacturers are still trying to regain momentum after rebates and other incentive programmes stalled.

Small wind power installations could double in capacity by 2018

Annual global installations of small wind turbines will double over the next five years, going from 86MW in 2012 up to 172MW in 2018, representing $3.3bn in revenues, says a new report from Navigant Research.

According to the report, the market for small wind turbines is growing as a result of feed-in tariffs, particularly in the UK and Italy. Although the US wind market has ‘a few bright spots,’ manufacturers are still trying to regain momentum after rebates and other incentive programmes stalled.