Page 2 - Energy

India's national interest paramount: Russian FM Lavrov on energy ties

India is a great power that determines its national interests and chooses its partners, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said, describing as completely unjustified the enormous pressure on New Delhi due to its energy cooperation with Moscow. During a press conference here on Wednesday, Lavrov also termed as "insulting" Ukraine's remarks on the recent meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Moscow. I think India is a great power that sets its own national interests, determines its own national interests, and chooses its own partners. And we know that India is being subject to enormous pressure, completely unjustified pressure in the international arena, Lavrov said. Lavrov was responding to a question about Prime Minister Modi's recent visit to Moscow and the opposition faced by India for its energy cooperation with Russia. With Russia presiding over the UN Security Council for the month of July, Lavrov is in New York to chair meetings o

Uttarakhand CM seeks Centre's clearance for 21 new hydel power projects

Stating that only 40 per cent of Uttarakhand's total capacity for hydro electricity generation is being utilised at present, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday sought the clearance of 21 new hydel power projects with a capacity of 2123 MW for the state from the Centre. The request was made by the chief minister at a meeting with Union Minister of Power Manohar Lal Khattar when the latter met him at his official residence here. Khattar is on a visit to the state to review the progress of Tehri Hydro Power Complex and various urban development projects in the state. Expert committees have recommended the implementation of 21 new hydel power projects with a capacity of 2123 MW to be built on the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi rivers and their tributaries, the chief minister said. He requested Khattar to take positive steps towards their early implementation as only 40 per cent of the state's total hydro power generation capacity is being utilised at present. The Union minister ..

India's clean air target at risk as gas plan caught in regulatory minefield

New Delhi's ambitious targets to clean its air by decarbonising energy sector will be underpinned by its success in building nascent natural gas segment

Fuel consumption up by 2.6% to 19.99 mn metric tonnes in June: Oil ministry

India is the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer. The data is a proxy for the country's oil demand

Nxtra commits to get 100% energy for data centre from renewable sources

Airtel's data centre arm Nxtra has joined the RE100 initiative, a flagship global initiative led by Climate Group in partnership with Carbon Disclosure Project, and has committed to sourcing 100 per cent renewable electricity, the company said on Thursday. Nxtra has the largest network of data centres in India with 12 large and 120 edge data centres across the country. "We are an environmentally responsible brand and have been increasingly adopting clean energy alternatives. We are on a healthy trajectory towards achieving our net-zero goals of 2031 and are happy to become a part of the RE100 initiative with a commitment to 100 per cent renewable electricity," Nxtra by Airtel, CEO, Ashish Arora said in a statement. According to the statement, Nxtra has become the only data centre organisation in India to have pledged to RE100 and the 14th Indian company to achieve this milestone. The company claims to have increased its renewable energy use and has contracted 422,000 MWh renewable

South Korea's Prez Yoon heads to Central Asia for talks on energy, minerals

Yoon will visit Turkmenistan with the first lady for a state visit before heading to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan

Russia strikes energy facilities in air attack on Ukraine, say officials

Power generation and transmission facilities in the Poltava, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Vinnytsia regions were targeted

BJP manifesto: Party promises energy access through Ujjwala, solar power

PMUY will be expanded further and piped gas connections will be extended beyond the current 11 million households, BJP said in its election manifesto

NTPC records highest-ever power generation of 422 bn units in FY24

State-owned power giant NTPC on Sunday said it has logged an all-time high annual electricity generation of 422 billion units in 2023-24. During 2023-24, the NTPC coal stations recorded a plant load factor (PLF, or capacity utilisation) of 77 per cent, NTPC said in a statement. According to the statement, NTPC Ltd, India's largest power generating company, recorded its highest-ever yearly generation of 422 billion units in 2023-24, registering a growth of nearly 6 per cent over 2022-23. The company had on September 1, 2023 recorded the highest-ever single-day generation of 1,428 million units. The stellar performance of NTPC units is a testimony to the expertise of NTPC engineers, operation and maintenance practices, and robust systems, the statement added.

Govt reduces gas price for Reliance to $9.87; rate for CNG, PNG unchanged

The government on Sunday cut the price of natural gas produced from difficult areas like deep sea KG-D6 block of Reliance Industries, marginally to USD 9.87 per million British thermal unit in line with softening of benchmark international gas prices, an official notification said. However, the price of gas that is used for making CNG for fuelling automobiles or piping to household kitchens for cooking purposes will remain unchanged due to a price cap that is set at 30 per cent less than market rates such as that paid to Reliance. For the six-month period starting April 1, the price of gas from deepsea and high-pressure, high-temperature (HPTP) areas has been cut to USD 9.87 per mmBtu from USD 9.96, oil ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) said in a notification. This is the third straight bi-annual reduction in rates for difficult fields. Price was for six months beginning October 1, 2023 slashed 18 per cent to USD 9.96 per mmBtu from USD 12.12 for the April to ..

PTC India gets shareholders' nod to sell 100% stake in energy arm to ONGC

Power trading solutions provider PTC India on Thursday received shareholders approval for selling 100 per cent equity stake in its arm PTC Energy to state-owned ONGC Ltd for an enterprise value of Rs 2,021 crore. As much as 93.61 per cent of votes were in favour of the special resolution to approve the proposal for 100 per cent disinvestment (by way of sale, transfer or otherwise) in its wholly-owned subsidiary PTC Energy Ltd, at an extraordinary general meeting held on Thursday, a regulatory filing said. In October, PTC India announced that the upstream firm ONGC had emerged as the successful bidder for acquiring 100 per cent stake in PTC Energy for an enterprise value of Rs 2,021 crore. In November 2023, PTC India Chairman and Managing Director Rajib K Mishra had told PTI in an interview, "With the transfer of PTC Energy's assets, the company would become virtually debt-free." Mishra had also informed that the enterprise value of PTC Energy includes Rs 925 crore bid of ONGC as we

As domestic LNG output rises, imports will decline to 45% by FY26

With increasing local production, the import dependency of natural gas in general and LNG in particular, is likely to come down to 45 per cent by FY26, says a report. According to a Care Ratings analysis, with the rise in domestic natural gas production, the dependency on imported LNG (liquefied natural gas), which stood at 53 per cent in FY21, has gradually declined over the past three years and is expected to remain at around 45 per cent by FY26, the agency said. Higher demand for natural gas is also expected to be supported by sizeable growth in domestic gas production, wherein nearly 30 MMSCMD of new domestic natural gas production has gradually come on-stream over the past three years and another 15 MMSCMD of new domestic production is expected to come on-stream next fiscal alone. There has been a steady growth in natural gas consumption till FY20. However, following the pandemic and a sharp increase in imported LNG prices due to geopolitical situation, the demand for natural

PM Modi, Bhutanese counterpart agree to expand energy partnership

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

Snowfall disrupts life in Lahaul-Spiti; power, communication lines down

Normal life was thrown out of gear in the tribal areas of the district following near-relentless snowfall over three consecutive days--on March 2, 3 and 4

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 ..

European inflation eases to 2.6% on falling energy prices, food inflation

The inflation that has ravaged the European economy eased again in February, falling to 2.6 per cent as high interest rates, moderating oil and gas prices, and sluggish growth held back price increases in stores. February's figure for the 20 countries that use the euro currency compares to 2.8 per cent from January, the European Union's statistical agency Eurostat said Friday. Inflation is now far below its peak of 10.6 per cent in October 2022, which it hit after Russia cut off most supplies of natural gas and sent energy prices through the roof. But the return of inflation to 2 per cent, the goal set by the European Central Bank, is taking time. Food inflation eased to 4 per cent from 5.6 per cent, offering some relief to people on modest incomes who spend more of their pay on necessities than the well-off. Another factor was energy prices, which fell by 3.7 per cent. One key sign that inflation is losing steam was so-called core inflation, which excludes swings in food and fuel

India's green hydrogen sector will need $4-12 billion support: A&M report

The firm said estimated support is driven by the need to level playing field against global suppliers who enjoy government subsidies and to enable domestic end-use sectors to transition affordably

Adani Energy Solutions aims to raise about $400 mn via oversees bonds

The group's ability to raise funds offshore has been under close scrutiny since the 2023 crisis triggered by shortseller Hindenburg Research's allegations of malfeasance

Coal import for blending drops 37% to 19.36 million tonne in Apr-Jan period

The import of coal for blending purposes dropped 36.69 per cent to 19.36 Million Tonnes (MT) in the April-January period of the current fiscal, an official statement said on Monday. The country's coal import for blending was 30.58 MT in the corresponding period of the previous financial year. "Despite the surging power demand, coal import for blending witnessed a significant decrease of 36.69 per cent... This exemplifies the nation's steadfast commitment to achieving self-reliance in coal production and minimising overall coal imports," the coal ministry said in a statement. The country's power generation grew 6.6 per cent in the April-January period over the year-ago period, the statement said. Coal remains the predominant source and contributes over 70 per cent to the total power generation. Coal-based power generation has been important in meeting the rising energy demands. Currently, the country is experiencing a substantial rise in power requirements on account of industrial

Coal India to bid for 3 mines in critical minerals auctions in February

The world's largest miner has also visited lithium mines in Australia and is in preliminary talks about operating them, Chairman said