Page 9 - Energy Sector

Offshore wind's next big problem: Not enough ships, says report

As governments green their economies and utilities retire fossil-fuel power stations, wind installations are emerging as one of the most popular forms of alternative energy

PM Modi, Bhutanese counterpart agree to expand energy partnership

Hydro-power cooperation has been an important pillar of India-Bhutan bilateral economic partnership

Thermax plans commercial-scale trial on high-ash coal gasification project

Energy and environmental services major, Thermax Ltd, said on Friday that it is in discussion with several steel companies in the eastern region for a commercial-scale high-ash coal gasification project. This project will be the first of its kind in the eastern region. Thermax is also in dialogue with Coal India on coal gasification technology. CIL has plans to set up a coal-to-SNG (Synthetic Natural Gas) project in the Eastern Coalfields Limited command area. In this domain, Thermax claims to have patented technology. "We are currently in talks with steel companies for a project that will pioneer high-ash coal gasification in the eastern region. Deliberations are going on regarding the funding, which is facing a viability gap of approximately 30-40 per cent of the project cost," Thermax MD and CEO Ashish Bhandari said. Although the government is expected to provide viability gap funding of around 15 per cent, companies will need to address the remaining funding gap, he said. "We

Adani Green Energy operationalises 126 MW wind power plant in Gujarat

Adani Green Energy on Thursday said it has operationalised the 126 MW capacity of a 300 MW wind power project in Gujarat. The 174 MW capacity was operationalised earlier. The project will produce 1,091 million electricity units, leading to a reduction of approximately 0.8 million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, according to a statement. "Adani Wind Energy Kutchh Four Limited (AWEK4L), wholly-owned subsidiary of Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) has operationalised an incremental 126 MW of merchant wind power project in Gujarat," the company said in a regulatory filing. With the operationalisation of the project, AGEL continues to strengthen its market leadership, operating India's largest renewable energy portfolio of 9,604 MW. Together with 174 MW operationalised earlier, an aggregate project capacity of 300 MW of wind power project is operationalised by AWEK4L, it stated. AGEL develops, owns, and operates utility-scale grid-connected solar, wind and hybrid renewable power ...

US leads global crude oil production for sixth year in a row: EIA

"The United States produced more crude oil than any nation at any time, according to our International Energy Statistics, for the past six years in a row," the EIA added

Rajasthan govt signs 5 MoUs worth Rs 1.60 trn to boost energy sector

These MOUs and purchasing power agreements (PPA) will increase thermal and renewable energy production in the state, the release stated

Analysts see more steam in power stocks as India eyes harsh summer

Coal reserves at power plants have also surged by 15 days to 43 million tonnes, marking the highest level in nearly three and a half years

Coal gasification is reliable, will strengthen India's energy security

Serious efforts are needed make this energy supply alternative a success

MERC partly allows Tata Power's plea for tariff hike, energy to get dearer

The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) on Thursday partly allowed Tata Power's petition to hike electricity charges for its consumers in the financial capital. The regulator's order will give some relief to lower-end consumers, and the tariff hikes will be over 50 per cent as well. The revisions are for FY25, and effective from April 1. Earlier, the power utility, which serves over 7.5 lakh consumers in the city, had proposed a "rationalization" of tariffs where it was pitching for more than doubling the rate per unit paid by those consuming up to 100 units per month, while the extent of the proposed hike was lower for those at the higher end. In a statement issued after the MERC order, Tata Power said even after the order, its tariff for the residential category of up to 100 units remains "the lowest" when compared with competition. It, however, conceded that its tariff for the 101-300 units a month category is "slightly higher than other private player". The ..

SJVN receives 1,352 MW solar energy projects worth Rs 7,436 crore

State-owned power producer SJVN arm SJVN Green Energy has secured 1,352 MW solar power projects, entailing an investment of Rs 7,436 crore. "SJVN has received Letter of Awards (LoA) for 1,352 MW Solar Power Projects to be developed through SJVN Green Energy Ltd (SGEL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of SJVN," a company statement said. According to the statement, these LoAs have been received in the presence of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, SJVN Director (Finance) Akhileshwar Singh and SGEL CEO Ajay Singh in Mumbai. SJVN Chairman and Managing Director Geeta Kapur informed that these projects of 1,352 MW will be developed at various locations in Maharashtra -- Nashik, Solapur, Ahmednagar and Pune under Mukhya Mantri Saur Krushi Vahini Yojana 2.0. The projects have been bagged by SGEL through a competitive bidding process in a tender floated by MSEB Agro Power Limited, Maharashtra. The total capacity of the tender was 7,000 MW and SGEL participated for 1,500 MW -- 5

Power sector to attract Rs 17 trn in next 5-7 years: Union minister Singh

Domestic power industry is expected to attract investments of 17 lakh crore over the next 5-7 years, Union Minister R K Singh said on Thursday. The sector has seen investments of Rs 20 lakh crore in the last nine years, the Minister for Power, New and Renewable Energy was quoted as saying in a release by the power ministry. "During my tenure, we spent about Rs 2 lakh crores in constructing about 3,000 new substations, upgrading about 4,000 substations, adding 8.5 lakh circuit kilometres of HT (high transmission) and LT lines and 7.5 lakh transformers," Singh said while addressing an event here. On capacity addition, he said the country added 190 GW of power generation capacity, increasing it to around 436 GW during the said period. India added 200,000 circuit kilometres to transmission lines and the transmission system is the largest integrated transmission system in the world. It can transfer 116 GW of power from one corner of the country to another. "We are going to come up with

Best of BS Opinion: Women's rights as a power play, Different lanes & more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

India and the IEA: Friends with benefits?

Expanding the global energy body membership to include India is crucial for ensuring global energy security

BHEL bags order worth Rs 9,500 cr to set up 1,600 MW thermal project

State-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) on Tuesday said it has bagged an order from power giant NTPC to set up a 1,600 MW Singrauli thermal power project (Stage-II). The size of the order is more than Rs 9,500 crore, excluding GST (goods and services tax), BHEL said in a regulatory filing. "BHEL has received an order from NTPC for setting up the Singrauli Super Thermal Power Project, Stage-III (2x800 MW) in Sonebhadra District, Uttar Pradesh," it stated. The engineering firm expects to complete Unit 1 in 50 months and Unit 2 in 54 months. The scope of the order includes supply of equipment, erection and commissioning as well as civil works, it said. The BSE on Monday sought clarification on news about BHEL bagging this order as it was the sole bidder. The company later in a clarification to BSE explained that it had submitted a price bid on December 21, 2023, and is the only bidder, for the mentioned NTPC tender, which is an activity in the normal course of ...

Rays Power Infra bags 3 solar projects totalling 520 MW from PSUs

Renewable energy solutions provider Rays Power Infra on Monday said it has secured three solar projects totalling 520MWp capacity from two big central public sector firms and one from a global developer. The combined order value for these projects underlines the company's commitment to advancing sustainable energy solutions, a company statement said. According to the statement, Rays Power Infra Ltd announces the acquisition of three orders in its solar EPC (Engineering Procurement Construction) business totalling 520 MWp, two from a renowned CPSU (Central Public Sector Undertaking) and another from a global renewable energy developer. These orders marked the company's entry into the Gujarat and Assam markets. This also positions the company as one of the key EPC players in 14 States in India, it stated. The company has submitted multiple bids for solar EPC projects in India, Mauritius, Liberia, Bangladesh, and Sierra Leone, with a cumulative value exceeding Rs 3,400 crore, and ...

Nayara Energy exports decline by 10% in 2023 as domestic demand surges

Nayara Energy, India's largest private fuel retailer, saw petroleum product exports drop by 10 per cent in 2023 as it supplied more products domestically to meet the fuel demands of a growing economy, sources said. Nayara, which operates a 20 million tonne a year oil refinery at Vadinar in Gujarat and a network of over 6,500 petrol pumps, exported 6.21 million tonne of petroleum products, including jet fuel, gasoil (diesel) and gasoline (petrol) between January 2023 and December 2023, down 10 per cent year-on-year. This was primarily because of larger consumption at home. The company is catering to the domestic market through institutional business, sales to other oil companies and its own retail chain. Of all the petroleum products Nayara produced, 68 per cent were sold within the country and the remaining 32 per cent of products, including, ATF, gasoil and gasoline were exported, sources said. According to the oil ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), consumptio

This state-run power generation large-cap has zoomed 102% so far in FY24

NTPC rallied 4 per cent to hit a fresh high of Rs 354 ahead of the foundation stone ceremony for its various projects worth Rs 30,023 crore by PM Modi today

Power consumption rises over 8% to 127.79 billion units in February

India's power consumption grew over 8 per cent to 127.79 Billion Units (BU) in February as compared to the year-ago period, according to government data. In February 2023, power consumption stood at 118.29 BU, higher than 108.03 BU recorded in the same month a year ago, the data showed. There were 29 days in February as 2024 is a leap year. Thus the growth rate of power consumption in February is slightly higher. The peak power demand met -- the highest supply in a day -- rose to 222 GW in February 2024. The peak power supply stood at 209.76 GW in February 2023 and 193.58 GW in February 2022. Experts said power consumption as well as demand improved in February as mercury remained low during the month, especially in north India. The prolonged cold wave resulted in increased use of heating equipment like heaters, blowers, and geysers leading to rise in power demand as well as consumption. The power ministry had estimated the country's electricity demand to touch 229 GW during summ

Power Grid Corporation's prospects factored in at current valuations

For FY25, the planned capex is at Rs 15,000 crore, up from earlier guidance of Rs 12,500 crore, alongside capitalisation of Rs 17,000 crore for FY25

Companies to see more gains as India's power demand surge continues

The power demand for the quarterly period of October-December 2023 was 10 per cent higher than the previous year