Big Investments for Indian Hydro, Wind Power

Indian energy producer Reliance Power Ltd. plugged into an 1,800 megawatt surge on Monday with a deal that is set to make it the largest private sector hydroelectricity provider in the country.

Reliance, part of Anil Ambani's Reliance Group conglomerate, said it signed an exclusive memorandum of understanding to acquire the entire hydropower portfolio of Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd., a subsidiary of Jaiprakash Associates Ltd., also known as the Jaypee Group. It did not disclose the price of the acquisition, but said the portfolio was in full operation and together had an asset base of more than 100 billion rupees ($1.66 billion).

Indian media put the price at about $2 billion.

Two of the three assets in the portfolio were the subject of a $1.6 billion bid led by Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. PJSC, or Taqa, which collapsed last week.

Taqa and its co-investors, Canadian institutional investor Indo-Infra Inc. and Indian mutual fund IDFC Alternatives, signed a deal in March to acquire two plants with a combined capacity of 1,391 MW. But last Thursday, JPVL informed the market that Taqa had pulled out of the deal, citing changes in business strategies and priorities. The Indian company said Taqa would be liable for a breakup fee for the decision.

The seller will use the money to reduce debt, Reliance Power said.

The announcement lit up Reliance Power's share price, which rose 3.2% to finish the day at Rs94.00.

The deal came as General Electric Co. announced that its GE Energy Financial Services unit had invested an undisclosed amount in three wind projects under construction in India. The investments are in farms being built by regional energy player Atria Power in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. GE said the windfarms will have a combined capacity of 126 megawatts and will support the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy's program to generate grid-interactive windpower through feed-in tariffs. Atria was advised on the deal by Bangalore-based Kin Advisors LLP.

Reliance Power said the Jaypee acquisition would be made through 100% subsidiary CleanGen Ltd. It said each of the power plants in the portfolio had an asset life of over 50 years and used run-of-the-river technology to convert natural water-flow to electricity, "eliminating the need for a large reservoir."

The three plants -- the 300 megawatts Baspa Stage II, the 1,091 megawatts Karcham Wangtoo and the 400 megawatts Vishnuprayag installations -- together provide power to much of North India, including the most populous state Uttar Pradesh, as well as Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The portfolio is already the largest privately held hydropower business in India. But Reliance Power said it also has a further 5,000 megawatts of hydroelectric capacity under development, and the combination will further diversify its largely coal-based operations.

Reliance Power and rival electricity producer Adani Power Ltd., both of which are listed on the Indian exchanges, moved swiftly to enter the fray when the Taqa consortium pulled out. Indian financial publication VC Circle said Reliance Power won the deal both on valuation and certain other terms of the transaction.

British private equity firm 3i Group plc retains a small stake in Adani after selling part of its holding earlier this year.

Reliance Power is advised by SBI Capital Markets Ltd.

Separately, private equity firm Apax Partners LLP announced the acquisition Monday of an 8% stake in Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Co. Ltd., the financial services arm of India's Murugappa Group. Apax said it is investing Rs5 billion ($84 million) in a preferential issue of compulsorily convertible shares, which will convert into equity after a year and carry a 1% dividend coupon. The capital infusion will enable Chola to continue to grow its business rapidly in a recovering macroeconomic environment in India and to augment its Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio, Apax said.

Chola is a financial services provider offering products including vehicle finance, home loans, home equity loans and SME loans. Chola operates from over 575 branches across India with more than Rs250 billion in assets under management.

Kotak Mahindra Capital Co. was Apax's financial adviser. Khaitan & Co. and Kirkland & Ellis LLP provided legal counsel to Apax. Axis Capital Ltd. advised Chola.

Big Investments for Indian Hydro, Wind Power

Indian energy producer Reliance Power Ltd. plugged into an 1,800 megawatt surge on Monday with a deal that is set to make it the largest private sector hydroelectricity provider in the country.

Reliance, part of Anil Ambani's Reliance Group conglomerate, said it signed an exclusive memorandum of understanding to acquire the entire hydropower portfolio of Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd., a subsidiary of Jaiprakash Associates Ltd., also known as the Jaypee Group. It did not disclose the price of the acquisition, but said the portfolio was in full operation and together had an asset base of more than 100 billion rupees ($1.66 billion).

Indian media put the price at about $2 billion.

Two of the three assets in the portfolio were the subject of a $1.6 billion bid led by Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. PJSC, or Taqa, which collapsed last week.

Taqa and its co-investors, Canadian institutional investor Indo-Infra Inc. and Indian mutual fund IDFC Alternatives, signed a deal in March to acquire two plants with a combined capacity of 1,391 MW. But last Thursday, JPVL informed the market that Taqa had pulled out of the deal, citing changes in business strategies and priorities. The Indian company said Taqa would be liable for a breakup fee for the decision.

The seller will use the money to reduce debt, Reliance Power said.

The announcement lit up Reliance Power's share price, which rose 3.2% to finish the day at Rs94.00.

The deal came as General Electric Co. announced that its GE Energy Financial Services unit had invested an undisclosed amount in three wind projects under construction in India. The investments are in farms being built by regional energy player Atria Power in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. GE said the windfarms will have a combined capacity of 126 megawatts and will support the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy's program to generate grid-interactive windpower through feed-in tariffs. Atria was advised on the deal by Bangalore-based Kin Advisors LLP.

Reliance Power said the Jaypee acquisition would be made through 100% subsidiary CleanGen Ltd. It said each of the power plants in the portfolio had an asset life of over 50 years and used run-of-the-river technology to convert natural water-flow to electricity, "eliminating the need for a large reservoir."

The three plants -- the 300 megawatts Baspa Stage II, the 1,091 megawatts Karcham Wangtoo and the 400 megawatts Vishnuprayag installations -- together provide power to much of North India, including the most populous state Uttar Pradesh, as well as Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The portfolio is already the largest privately held hydropower business in India. But Reliance Power said it also has a further 5,000 megawatts of hydroelectric capacity under development, and the combination will further diversify its largely coal-based operations.

Reliance Power and rival electricity producer Adani Power Ltd., both of which are listed on the Indian exchanges, moved swiftly to enter the fray when the Taqa consortium pulled out. Indian financial publication VC Circle said Reliance Power won the deal both on valuation and certain other terms of the transaction.

British private equity firm 3i Group plc retains a small stake in Adani after selling part of its holding earlier this year.

Reliance Power is advised by SBI Capital Markets Ltd.

Separately, private equity firm Apax Partners LLP announced the acquisition Monday of an 8% stake in Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Co. Ltd., the financial services arm of India's Murugappa Group. Apax said it is investing Rs5 billion ($84 million) in a preferential issue of compulsorily convertible shares, which will convert into equity after a year and carry a 1% dividend coupon. The capital infusion will enable Chola to continue to grow its business rapidly in a recovering macroeconomic environment in India and to augment its Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio, Apax said.

Chola is a financial services provider offering products including vehicle finance, home loans, home equity loans and SME loans. Chola operates from over 575 branches across India with more than Rs250 billion in assets under management.

Kotak Mahindra Capital Co. was Apax's financial adviser. Khaitan & Co. and Kirkland & Ellis LLP provided legal counsel to Apax. Axis Capital Ltd. advised Chola.

Government to push discoms to purchase hydropower

The government, which plans to make it mandatory for electricity distribution companies to buy hydropower, is also considering launching tradable certificates for the states that do not have potential to meet the proposed obligation. It will shortly kick off the consultation process to amend Electricity Act to promote investments and hydropower. Hydro energy certificates will enable northern and northeastern states to attract more investments besides ensuring viability for the projects. "India can tap higher hydropower potential by making it mandatory for distribution companies to promote the same on the lines of solar and wind power. For the states that have geographical limitations to put up hydro power projects, we are considering to create a tradable instrument like renewable energy certificates (REC), which one can buy to meet the hydropower purchase obligation," said a power ministry official.

APP wants reconstitution of expert committee on hydro-power projects

The Association of Power Producers (APP), comprising leading power sector players, has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene and direct the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to re-constitute the expert committee set up to study the level of impact contributed by the hydro power projects on the recent tragedy in the States. The Association has pleaded that it did not have appropriate domain experts.

In the letter, APP Director-General Ashok Khurana has said the members agreed that there was a need for a detailed study into the root cause of the Uttrakhand disaster. The committee constituted by the MoEF has mandate to study the level of impact contributed by the hydro power projects on the recent tragedy and also to examine the impact on biodiversity of Alaknanda and Bhagirathi by the 24 projects identified by Wildlife Institute of India. “The expert committee constituted by MoEF will need to conduct a proper assessment of social ecological and economical impact of the projects along with the benefits and then take a balanced view aimed at promoting sustainable growth in the region. For this it is important to ensure presence of appropriate domain knowledge experts in the committee which is felt lacking at present,” the letter states.

The letter further states that it is equally important to maintain objectivity in the findings of the committee which might prove to be difficult task if the committee consists of members with a very strong and stated position on the matter to be examined.

Godawari’s 50 MW solar thermal plant generating above stated capacity

Godawari Power (GODPI) & Ispat Ltd.’s solar-thermal plant, Asia’s biggest, is generating more power than expected, allaying criticism that the technology was failing in India, a government official said.

Godawari’s 50-megawatt project is at times generating 10 megawatts more than its stated capacity, said Tarun Kapoor, head of solar policy at the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

“People were saying that solar thermal was not going to work out in India,” Kapoor said at the Intersolar conference in Mumbai today. “That has now been proven wrong.”

Godawari’s plant is the first of seven solar-thermal generators planned in India. The remaining six have had their deadlines extended to February from May, Kapoor said. Plants by Reliance Power Ltd. (RPWR) and Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd. should be finished soon, he said.

Solar-thermal technology focuses sunlight on liquids to produce steam to run conventional turbines. The other way to generate power from sunlight is to use photovoltaic panels to convert the rays directly to electricity.

Nepal's initiative to benefit Indian hydropower companies

With high hydropower potential but low output level, severely power starved Himalayan country Nepal is in process of widening the bottlenecking identified as hindrance for the power promoters, mainly from India, to come forward. The country has a set objective to produce 25,000 MW extra hydropower by 2030. According to Mr. K D Adhikary, Joint Secretary at Nepal Energy Ministry, conflicting acts are causing trouble in initiating power projects. Thus, the country is planning to amend these acts 

Bhutan to further open up its hydropower sector

Hydropower hot spot Bhutan takes a plan to reach hydropower operatives from global arena for better utilization of its untapped potential of over 25,000MW. 

"With known high potential in hydropower, Bhutan is a place of interest for many big players from the whole globe. It was clearly visible during all our recent business road shows in many countries. It is a good opportunity for Bhutan to utilize foreign investment," said Consul General of Bhutan Dasho Tsering Wangda.

Two units of Srisailam hydel project begin power generation

With the reservoir level going up to 839 feet against the full reservoir level of 885 feet and fresh inflows from the Jurala and Tungabhadra projects, the hydel units have begun generation from midnight. This will provide some relief to the power-starved State.

The water thus let out after generating power will head to the Nagarjunasagar reservoir downstream. This will contribute 300 MW now. The left bank project has six units of 150 MW.

Hydrogen : Energy of the future

Hydrogen – a colourless, odourless gas is increasingly gaining attention as a future source of energy free from environmental pollution. Its new use has been found in the automobile and power generation sector.  The biggest advantage with hydrogen is that it has the highest energy content per unit mass among known fuels and it burns to produce water as a by-product. It is, therefore, not only an efficient energy carrier but also an environmentally benign fuel as well. In fact, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy have been supporting a broad based research, development and demonstration (RD&D) programme on different aspects of hydrogen energy for over two decades. Consequently, a National Hydrogen Energy Road Map was prepared in 2005 which provides for various pathways for development of hydrogen energy i.e. production, storage, transport, safety, delivery and applications. However, the current technologies for use of hydrogen are yet to be optimized and commercialized but efforts for the same have already started.

Hydrogen Production

 Hydrogen is found only in combined state on earth and therefore its production involves the process of its isolation from its compounds, a process which itself requires energy. Globally, about 96% of hydrogen is produced presently using hydrocarbons. About 4% hydrogen is produced through electrolysis of water. Refineries and fertilizer plants are major in-situ producers and consumers of hydrogen in India. It is also produced as a by-product in chloro-alkali industry.

Hydrogen production falls into three categories: thermal process, electrolytic processes and photolytic processes. Some thermal processes use energy resources while in others heat is used in combination with closed chemical cycles to produce hydrogen from feed-stocks such as water. These are known as “thermo-chemical” processes. But this technology is in early stages of development. Steam Methane Reformation, gasification of coal and gasification of biomass are other processes of production of hydrogen. The advantage with coal and biomass is that both are locally available resources and biomass is a renewable resource too. Electrolytic processes use electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen and can even reduce the emission of green house gases emission if the source of electricity is ‘clean’.

Hydrogen Storage

Hydrogen storage for transportation is one of the most technically challenging barriers to widespread commercialization of this technology. The most common method of storage is in gaseous state in pressurized cylinders, however, it being the lightest element requires high pressures. It can be stored in liquid form in cryogenic systems but would require high amounts of energy. It is also possible to store it in solid state in the form of metal hydrides, liquid organic hydrides, carbon nanostructures and in chemicals. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is presently supporting R&D projects in this field.

Applications

 Apart from using it as a chemical feedstock in industry, it can also be used as a clean fuel in automobile and also for power generation through internal combustion engines and fuel cells. In the field of hydrogen in internal combustion engines, R&D projects for using hydrogen blended compressed natural gas and diesel and development of hydrogen fuelled vehicles are being implemented in India. Hydrogen fuelled motorcycles and three wheelers have been developed and demonstrated in the country. Catalytic combustion cookers using hydrogen as fuel have also been developed. The Banaras Hindu University, BHU has modified commercially available motorcycles and three wheelers to operate on hydrogen as fuel. With a view to provide hydrogen blended compressed natural gas as an automotive fuel, a dispensing station for the same has been set up at Dwarka in New Delhi with partial financial support from the Ministry. This facility provides CNG fuel blended with hydrogen up to 20% in volume in demonstration and test vehicles. A development cum demonstration project for use of H-CNG as fuel in select vehicles (buses, cars and 3-wheelers) is also under implementation. Besides, hydrogen fuelled generator set is being developed by BHU and IIT, Delhi.

Another application of hydrogen energy is the fuel cell, an electrochemical device converting chemical energy of hydrogen directly into electricity without combustion. It is a clean and efficient process of electricity generation. It can be used in UPS systems, replacing batteries and diesel generators. In view of the relevance of fuel cells in automobiles and power generation, several organizations globally are pursuing RD&D activities in this field. Portable applications are also being developed. The present efforts in these fuel cells are focused on reducing its cost and improving its durability. The focus of the Fuel Cell programme of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has been on supporting RD&D activities on different types of fuel cells.  (PIB Feature.)

Hydro projects in Western Ghats face green hurdle

It is not only mining sector that will get affected by the report of Western Ghat Environment Panel. Hydro-power projects in the region stretching across five states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Goa may also see red.

According to officials, the Environment ministry’s panel recommended the government to not give a go-ahead to as many as two proposed hydel power projects in Karnataka and Kerala together worth over Rs 5,500 crore. The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), set up by the environment ministry last year to assess the current status of ecology of the Western Ghats region has reportedly said that the Gundia Hydro Electric Project should not be executed. The WGEEP had submitted their observations months back but the environment ministry is yet to make the report public.

13 more hydro power projects, Orissa, in the offing

The state energy department has plans to operationalize 13 hydro electric power projects over and above the 13 running projects.

According to Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, minister for energy, of the 13 new hydro power projects, four projects will be executed by state owned Orissa Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC) with the remaining nine to be developed by private players. These hydro power projects are to be taken up in Keonjhar, Kalahandi, Malkangiri, Koraput, Bargarh, Khurda, Rayagada, Gajapati and Cuttack districts and are expected to be commissioned in the 12th Plan period (2012-17). The cost of hydro power projects to be implemented by OHPC can be assessed after preparation of detailed project report (DPR), the minister said.

OHPC is currently operating seven hydro-electric projects- Hirakud-I (Burla)- 275.5 MW, Hirakud-II (Chipilima)- 72 MW, Balimela- 510 MW, Rengali-250 MW, Upper Kolab- 320 MW, Upper Indravati- 600 MW and Machkund- 14.75 MW.

The 13 hydro power projects currently running in the state have collectively generated 5,165.48 million units of electricity in this fiscal till February 17.

The state government had signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with 32 developers for hydel power projects envisaging generation capacity of 409 MW and involving investment of Rs 2,250 crore.

Small hydro sector should be given status of zero/nominal duty under GST, says FICCI

The government has a declared policy on Ultra Mega Power Projects wherein the entire project gets duty exemption. FICCI in its pre-budget memorandum recommends that the same facility should be extended to small hydro projects wherein, based on a certificate issued by the concerned state nodal agency, the project should be made excise and customs duty exempt.

The developer concerned can then issue certificates to the E&M supplier for duty exemption, thereby making the projects duty exempt.

Since small hydro also uses a number of components which are common in nature to many other industry sectors, the provision should ensure that any component certified to be a part of the small hydro project by the E&M supplier should get the benefit of exemption.

Indian, Israeli experts tap sun for hybrid power plants

 The success of hybrid cars is inspiring yet another way of going green but on a more ambitious scale -- harnessing solar energy to drive hybrid power plants under an India-Israel project. Avi Kribus, professor of mechanical engineering at Tel Aviv University in Israel, inked the project with S. Iniyan, professor and director, Institute of Energy Studies, Anna University, Chennai, in October last year to study how solar energy can further augment power output. 
This collaboration is the outcome of a call for proposals for developing alternative energy sources by the Indian government's department of science and technology and is being funded by both the countries. 
"Sunlight is the most abundant and environmentally benign source of energy, which can provide power and heat in amounts far surpassing all of humanity's needs, but the prohibitively high production cost limits its use worldwide," said Iniyan from Chennai. 
Production of solar-powered electricity "is still two to three times costlier than with fossil fuels such as coal, thanks partly to equipment made from expensive metals", said Iniyan, a mechanical engineering professor. 
"This cost can be brought (down) to competitive levels if the conversion efficiency from sunlight to electricity is boosted and made available in a reliable way, not dependent on the intermittent availability of sunlight," he added. 
In this context, the solar-powered steam injected gas turbine (STIG), a promising technology developed by Kribus, works with much lower steam pressures and temperatures than those required by conventional coal-fired plants. 
The proposed STIG cycle, which permits the solar part to use cheaper metals and low-cost solar collectors, can cut fossil fuel use by 25 to 50 percent, bringing down production costs. 
It will drive hybrid power plants of tomorrow, which will be as competitive as coal-fired ones, according to Iniyan. 
Elaborating on the new concept, Kribus explained: "We combine a gas turbine, which works on hot air, and not steam, and inject the solar-produced steam into the process." 
"We still need to burn fuel to heat the air, but we add steam from low-temperature solar energy, approximately 200 degrees centigrade," added the Israeli scientist. 
Both teams, with diverse experience in various areas of renewable energy, including solar technologies and combined power generation, are pooling their expertise and working out the details of integrating solar energy with power plants for low cost, clean and green energy. 
Given the fact that thermal power plants generate nearly 70 percent of power consumed in India, the potential to cut costs and reduce carbon dioxide emissions is enormous. 
"The collaboration includes sharing of parallel tasks, joint tasks to develop analysis tools, run simulations and compare results, and frequent meetings and communication to keep the project synchronised and consistent. 
"Our research is also tasked with defining and investigating a conversion method for solar radiation, energy storage for robust energy supply and lower cost of energy for increased competitiveness against fossil fuels," said Iniyan. 
Bringing together these areas of expertise, which are partly overlapping and partly complementary, will provide an opportunity for mutual enrichment and support, he said. 
"Besides, both the countries have identified a large amount of natural gas resources, which is preferred to other fossil fuels due to its much lower environmental impact," Iniyan added. 
It is a stepping stone that will help introduce solar energy into the industry in an accessible and affordable way, concluded Kribus. 

Survey begins for hydropower project in Kishanganj district, Bihar

With a view to overcome the scourge of power shortages across the state, the possibility of a hydro-power project on the river Mahananda, Thakurganj, is now being explored.

State energy minister Bijendra Yadav formally kick-started the survey programme for the establishment of a hydro-power project near village Kharna in Thakurganj block in Kishanganj district on Tuesday. Besides, Bihar Hydro Project Limited managing director (MD) A K Pande, Bihar Jal Vidyut Project general manager M U Gani Khan, Central Wapso Limited general manager M M Verma and Kishanganj DM Sandeep Kumar R Pudakalkatti were also present on the occasion.

Yadav, speaking on the occasion, said that the Bihar government, which was greatly concerned about overcoming the power scarcity, has taken a number of steps to wipe out the scourge of power shortage in the state.

Earlier, reviewing the progress of CM Khetra Vikas Yojna at Araria and Kishanganj on Monday, the minister and in-charge of both Araria and Kishanganj districts announced that a package of Rs 350 crore was sanctioned for Araria district.

Under the package, all the villages across the district are targeted to be electrified with a time-frame, and villages would now get 67 KV or 100 KV transformers, instead of present 16 KV to 25 KV transformers. For the purpose, the Central government has allocated a sum of Rs 3,200 crore for 13 districts from across the state, including Araria district, the minister said.

Later in the evening, the minister, reviewing the progress of schemes under the Yojna at Kishanganj, called upon the MLAs to lay stress onroad construction so that villages with a population of 250 got road connectivity.

Water project: Rajasthan to get 440 cr from France

A French financial institution today signed an agreement with the Rajasthan government to provide a Rs 440 crore loan for a water supply project in Jodhpur city. 
"French institution French Development Agency (AFD) has given approval for loan worth Rs 440 crore for reorganization of Jodhpur water supply project," the Rajasthan government said in a release. 
An MoU was signed by Joint Secretary in Ministry of Finance Prabodh Saxena and Rajasthan's Additional Chief Secretary Ram Lubhaya in the presence of French Ambassador Francois Richier here.\
Speaking on the occasion, the French Ambassador said the governments of the two countries share one common priority to help and work on sustainable development in the field of water management. 
"Water is key for everything that includes health, urban development and agriculture. It is essential to provide clean water to Indian people. It is a key endeavour in this direction," Richier said.
The Ambassador said the French government was also working on a similar project in Maharashtra's Nagpur city. French Development Agency (Agence Franaise de Developpement, AFD) is a French public development bank and bilateral agency. 

Maheshwar dam, Madhya Pradesh, power cost put at Rs. 10 a unit

The worst fears of the Madhya Pradesh unit of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), have come true with regard to the high per unit cost of power to be produced by the controversial privately-owned Maheshwar hydro project in Madhya Pradesh: Information revealed through an RTI application shows that the private company developing the dam has projected the average cost of electricity to be produced at a whopping Rs. 10 per unit. In the first year it is projected at the unaffordable rate of Rs. 10.78 paise per unit.

“This vindicates our criticism about the unviability of the project and that there is no justification and public interest in uprooting 10,000 families living in 61 villages who are yet to be resettled and rehabilitated,” NBA members Alok Agarwal and Chittaroopa Palit told journalists at a press conference here on Thursday.

Power purchase pact

With the average per unit cost of electricity at Rs. 2.44 paise a unit in the State, this means that the State government will subsidise the private company and bring huge losses to the State exchequer. Under a Power Purchase Agreement valid for 35 years, the State government had agreed to pay upfront an agreed cost of power to the company. The State had committed to a levellised tariff of Rs. 5.24 paise a unit, on the condition that efforts would be made to bring it down further.

Yet, the minutes of a meeting held in the Union Power Ministry on November 25, 2011, disclose that the M.P. government representative had rued that in the last six years the cost of the project had shot up from Rs. 2800 crore to Rs. 4000 crore resulting in a jump in the levellised tariff from about Rs. 5 to about Rs. 9 a unit.

The minutes of the meeting made available by the NBA to The Hindu reveal that although financial institutions were keen that the M.P. government purchase the high-priced power, the State has not provided a “letter of comfort” (expressing willingness to buy such expensive power) indicating that it was reluctant to buy power at such a high cost.

“Any decision of the State government to purchase power at such a high cost would be suicidal as it would mean providing a subsidy of over Rs. 21000 crore to the company,” the activists pointed out.

The 400 MW Maheshwar power project is being built on Narmada River in Khargone district. Initially, it was a State government project but privatised in 1992 and handed over to S. Kumar group of companies.

Hydrokinetic energy - Verdant Power's recent deal is start of commercialization?

A company called Verdant Power has won the first ever commercial license for a hydrokinetic  tidal power facility in the U.S., and that could be just the first drop in a torrent of more than 100 new hydrokinetic projects that are still in the initial stages of permitting around the country. Verdant’s project, called RITE forRoosevelt Island Tidal Energy, will tap the powerful currents of New York City’s East River to generate clean electricity.

Hydrokinetic energy shows great promise for growth in the U.S., since the turbines can potentially be installed in industrial waterways such as wastewater treatment plants and food processing plants as well as natural waterways, but until recently the technology has been treading water, so to speak, in the research and development phase. The success of the RITE project could mean that hydrokinetic turbines are ready to cross over into mainstream commercial use.

What’s So Great About Hydrokinetic Turbines?

Hydrokinetic turbines can be installed in waterways without interrupting their natural flow, unlike conventional hydropower facilities that require dams to generate water pressure artificially. That means you get all the benefits of clean hydropower without the enormous carbon footprint that comes along with major infrastructure projects. You can also get scalability, since hydrokinetic turbines are generally designed as “drop-in” pieces of equipment that can be tethered to barges or anchored in place individually. The company HydroVolts is one example of a focus on small-scale hydrokinetic projects that can take advantage of minor waterway assets in local communities.

Hydrokinetic turbines can also be added on to existing hydropower dams, to squeeze some extra volts out of those facilities.

Hurry Up and Wait for Clean Hydrokinetic Power

Despite their obvious advantages, hydrokinetic turbines face two main challenges. First, their potential impact on marine life in natural waterways needs to be assessed. Second, because the technology relies on ambient current rather than revved-up water pressure, the mechanics of the turbine have to be refined in order to make them worth the investment. When hydrokinetic turbines are installed in a natural waterway they also face a third challenge, which is their ability to function efficiently under varying conditions of flood, drought, ebb tide or flow tide. Given all this it should come as no surprise that the RITE project has been in development since 2006, when placement of the first six of thirty planned turbines began.

Federal Support for New Hydrokinetic Projects

Recognizing the barriers confronting hydrokinetic projects, in 2008 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) established new licensing procedures designed to make it easier for the hydro power industry to test pilot hydrokinetic projects in real world conditions. The agency defines pilot projects as small-scale, removable facilities that use natural currents, tides or waves to generate electricity. That is the license that Verdant Power received for RITE (by the way, it should be noted that the East River is part of a tidal system and is not a river in the conventional sense).

The Obama Administration and Hydrokinetic Power

To speed up the development of new technologies, last year the U.S. Economic Development Administration awarded a $3 million grant to Tulane University for its new RiverSphere center, which will provide a facility on the Mississippi River for private sector companies to test their prototype hydrokinetic turbines.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has also taken up the hydrokinetic mantle with the development of JEDI (take that, Dark Side!), a free analytical tool that makes it easier for hydrokinetic energy developers, and other stakeholders, to anticipate local economic impacts associated with their projects.

The Global Race for Hydrokinetic Leadership

Verdant claims that its initial six turbines were the first grid-connected hydrokinetic turbines in the world, but the U.S. better get a move on if it wants to establish global leadership in the industry. Ironically, some of the competition may come from Canada, home base of the notorious Keystone XL oil pipeline. Verdant Power is moving forward with a 15 MW hydrokinetic project on the St. Lawrence River in Ontario, based on lessons learned from the RITE pilot project turbines.

China counter: Arunachal to get mega hydel project

China's bid to have big hydel projects along the Indian border in north-east may witness a counter with environment ministry set to approve 1,750 MW Demwe hydel project in Arunachal Pradesh. China has planned to build at hydel project in Zangmu, 140 km south-east of Tibetan capital city of Lhasa in a bid to tap the hydro potential of Brahmaputra river. The river flows about 1,625 kms in Tibet, 918 kms in India and remaining 363 kms in Bangladesh before submerging into Bay of Bengal.Arunachal Pradesh government has planned hydel projects on five major rivers in the state, which finally drain in Brahmaputra, to generate over 50,000 MW of power. Many of these projects are stalled because of protest against them in Assam claiming that these projects will dry the river in down stream areas.

Hydro project will ruin Himachal river catchment: Report

The Hul hydropower project will ruin five km or one-fourth of the catchment of the Hul stream, a tributary of the Saal river, environmentalists say. It will also affect the livelihood of over 6,000 locals. 
Seven mini and micro hydro projects have been proposed on the Saal river alone, a tributary of the Ravi, environmentalists Manshi Asher and Prakash Bhandari said in a report published in Civil Society in its recent edition.


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No plans to handover power project to JK Govt:NHPC

Barely few days after J&K Cheif Minster Omar Abdullah said that the government has decided to take back Salal and Uri power projects from NHPC, CMD National Hydroelectric Power Corporation ABL srivaastava has said that they have no plan to return the power project to the Jammu& Kashmir government.
"As of now there is of no proposal at our level or the level of centre government to give back power stations which NHPC is operating In J&K" CMD NHPC said on a Delhi based news channel.