Electricity

As the city reeled under rotational power cuts for up to five hours for the second consecutive day, and more through the night, CESC officials unsuccessfully hunted for spares to repair the unit that tripped on Tuesday.

By Wednesday evening, the unofficial word was that the Budge Budge jinx -- the malfunctioning unit is the second one to have crashed in a week -- could be broken only after spares arrived from the UK. "But it will take us a minimum of 10 days to import the carbon brush slip-rings that the plant requires," a senior official said.

The snag-hit unit was up at 7.47pm after temporary repairs, but officials warned that its power-generating capacity would be far from optimal until all the defective components were replaced.

The unit tripped again at 9pm, plunging many parts of Calcutta into darkness as repairs continued past midnight.

CESC has procured six of the 10 components that need to be replaced, but needs four more to get the 200-MW unit to function normally.

Source: The Telegraph City Awaits British Power Ring,  Budge Budge Jinx In Hours Without Supply

"There is no possibility of the situation improving before Thursday. Wednesday will be as bad as Tuesday. Though we will import over 100 MW in the evening, it is unlikely to assuage the situation," a CESC official said. With the weatherman predicting another trying day when temperature and humidity will push the discomfort factor higher, life in the city promises to be like a dip in a boiling cauldron on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, loadsheddings began early in the morning when a 250-MW unit at CESC's Budge Budge thermal power plant stopped generation at 7.30 am, following a technical problem in the generator. The snag triggered an immediate crisis with demand outstripping supply.

On the hot and sultry Tuesday, the situation only got worse as the day progressed, leaving people squirming. People had to endure six agonising hours of loadshedding. "If outdoors was terrible, indoors was simply unb e a r abl e, " said Rama Dasgupta, a home-maker in Dhakuria.

Source: Times Of India Loadshedding Roster Makes A Comeback

But this has not stopped the CESC and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) from engaging into blame game.

Over 72 hours have passed since power lines were snapped by the tropical storm and areas like Belgharia, Taratala and Ranikuthi are yet to get their electric supplies restored. Frustrated by the dismal situation, people in these places protested against the dismal situation and blocked thoroughfares for hours on Thursday.

Officials of the CESC, however, claimed that they have restored more than 90 per cent of the power lines and except for some isolated pockets work is complete in most parts of the city.

"The situation is almost normal.

Ajaynagar, Garia, Baishnabghata-Patuli and even Thakurpukur, which bore the brunt of the power cuts, are back to normal," said Biswarup Dutta, spokesperson for the CESC, adding that the rainfall on Wednesday night had not caused any harm and work was on in full swing.

State power secretary, Sunil Mitra, also credited CESC for improving the power situation and said the problem had been solved to a large extent in urban and semi-urban areas.

Source: The Indian Express City burns candles; KMC, CESC see no light of reason

An agreement to set up solar and biomass power plants in various parts of the state like Burdwan, Purulia and East Midnapore by 2011 was signed between West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation (WBGEDC) and eight companies that would together invest more than Rs 400 crore. The plants of these companies would generate 50 MW power a day which they would sell to state-owned power utilities like West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited.

The eight city-based companies are Belectric Solar India Private Limited (a subsidiary of Titan Energy Systems Limited), Clean Energy Resources, Nippon Power, Moser Baer India Limited, Zoom Developers Private Limited, WB Solar Energy Solutions Private Limited, Balaji Agro Oils Limited and Suzlon Infrastructure Limited.

Of the 50 MW of renewable energy that these companies will together generate, Belectric Solar India and Moser Baer would generate 10 MW of solar power each while Balaji Agro Oils and Zoom Developers 10 MW each from their biomass plants.

Under the agreement, West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation will provide all technical assistance to the companies to generate renewable energy, said its managing director S P Gon Choudhuri. "They will generate renewable energy and sell it to power utilities like WBSEDCL or WBSETCL. Once that is added to the conventional power grid, it would reduce coal consumption by about 50,000 kg an hour, drastically reducing carbon dioxide emission," he said.

Source: Times Of India State to set up green power plants

"The project would be executed in phases. The financial closure for the first phase is yet to be achieved due to the global financial crisis," lead promoter of the project Bhaskar Silicon Ltd Managing Director Jyoti Poddar said. The proposed investment for the first phase was estimated at Rs 3,100 crore.

"The project would be funded in a mix of debt and equity. We are looking at foreign debt to meet our import component for the project's plant and machinery which would be around 250 million euros," he said.

The company and the West Bengal government had announced that the first phase would be completed by 2009.

This, however, seems unlikely as only the land development work has begun. Srei Infrastructure, also a major partner in the project, said the company would bring in equity and arrange debt once financial closure was achieved. "We have not finalised the equity and debt participation as the project is yet to reach that stage," Srei Infrastructure Chairman and Managing Director Hemant Kanoria said.Poddar, however, expressed confidence in maintaining the target in execution of the project.

Source: Business-standard Meltdown hits Rs 5,500cr solar power project in Bengal

Currently, around 20,000 million units of power is available with the West Bengal State ELectricity Distribution Company Ltd (WBSEDCL) for distribution.

According to the state government mandate, 4.8 per cent of this has to come from renewable sources if the power is available in the market. Generation from renewable energy sector projects is around 64 million units now and nearly, 80 per cent of this is pumped into the grid, said S P Gon Chaudhury, managing director of West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation Limited(WBGEDCL).

Total available power from renewable energy sources is around 88MW now, mostly from bio-mass based plants.

Talking at the sidelines of the 18th International Photovoltaic Science and Engineering Conference (PVSEC-18), state power minister Mrinal Bannerjee said, "We have proposals worth Rs5,000 crore in the renewables sector that includes solar, bio-mass, tidal and wind energy projects". West Bengal aimed to produce 160MW of solar modules per year from 2012. "If only 50 per cent of this is installed in our state while the rest goes out nationally, then West Bengal will have 80MW of solar power in 2012", Gon Chaudhury claimed. Requirement from renewable sources will be roughly around 250MW in 2012 when nearly 26,000 million units of power will be available with SEDCL. The state government could penalize SEDCL if it failed to meet the 10 per cent target in 2012, when ample power would be available in the market according to government estimates. Solar power projects in West Bengal include Rs 2000 crore project in Haldia by Centrotherm and Bhaskar Silicon, the Rs200 crore Vikram Solar project, Rs100 crore project by Webel-phase 2, the Rs300 crore Reliance Industries project in Dankuni besides announced power plants by Videocon, Astonfield, Zoom and Titan group of industries in Bankuria and Purulia. Also, Suzlon Energy aimed to set up a 50MW wind farm at Dadanputra near Digha around 160km from Kolkata by 2009.

"High Level Monitoring Committee under the Chairmanship of Secretary (Power) to monitor and expedite the implementation of these projects," Minister of State for Power Jairam Ramesh said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

The government has identified five projects that would supply power for the Commonwealth Games in 2010.

The projects include National Capital Thermal Power Project at Dadri, Indira Gandhi Super Thermal Power Project at Jhajjar, Mejia Thermal Power Station and Durgapur Steel Thermal Power Plant in West Bengal and Koderma Thermal Power Plant in Jharkhand.

All these projects are expected to be commissioned as scheduled, though there are minor delays of four-five months at the initial stages of construction activities in case of Durgapur and Koderma power projects, the paper said.

Meanwhile, the government also said that growth in power generation is falling short of the rate of growth in demand for electricity, due to inadequate capacity addition, non-availability of coal, gas and nuclear fuel.

Steps are being taken to improve the power supply position in the country, including augmentation of generating capacity, development of a number of ultra mega power projects of 4,000 Mw capacity each and taking up new hydro-power projects in Bhutan for import of hydro-power into India.

At least six projects in West Bengal aimed at expanding the power distribution network have been stalled because farmers, fearful that their land would be seized, haven't let a state-owned utility company erect transmission towers on the plots they own.

At stake is the development of Rajarhat town--an extension of Kolkata--where a large number of real estate firms are building high-end condominiums and information-technology parks and the Tata Group is constructing a cancer hospital, and that of the Dankuni-Shaktigarh industrial belt which straddles the districts of Hooghly and Burdwan.
Unless transmission cables are installed within a few months, the construction of properties at Rajarhat would have to stop, real estate developers say.

Development at stake: A residential apartment complex in Rajarhat, an extension of Kolkata. Developers say that unless transmission cables are installed soon, construction activity at Rajarhat would have to stop

"We don't need to acquire land to erect towers. There is, in fact, no provision for land acquisition under the Electricity Act," said Moloy De, chairman of the West Bengal State Electricity Board, which controls the state's power generation and distribution companies. "We have never faced this problem before. It's always been so easy."

WBGEDC managing director S P Ganchowdhuri said work at Howrah's Sankrail will start soon. "The MoU has been signed between Howrah Municipal Corporation and Selco, a Hyderabad-based company . Some land has already been acquired. The Howrah plant will supply 8 MW of power through renewable energy sources," he said. The project will cost about Rs 50 crore. The Howrah plant would be the first of its kind in the eastern region of the country.

The Kolkata plant, Ganchowdhuri said, would supply 54 mega watt of power. "Talks are on with KMC to find a suitable location and a private partner for the Kolkata plant," he said. The projects, to be implemented on the public-private partnership model, are to be completed in the next two years. A few firms have already shown interest in the Kolkata plant.

WBGEDC managing director S P Ganchowdhuri said work at Howrah's Sankrail will start soon. "The MoU has been signed between Howrah Municipal Corporation and Selco, a Hyderabad-based company . Some land has already been acquired. The Howrah plant will supply 8 MW of power through renewable energy sources," he said. The project will cost about Rs 50 crore. The Howrah plant would be the first of its kind in the eastern region of the country.

The Kolkata plant, Ganchowdhuri said, would supply 54 mega watt of power. "Talks are on with KMC to find a suitable location and a private partner for the Kolkata plant," he said. The projects, to be implemented on the public-private partnership model, are to be completed in the next two years. A few firms have already shown interest in the Kolkata plant.

The city frequently faces power cuts due to power shortage , particularly during summer . The new Kolkata plant will bridge the gap to an extent . Ganchowdhuri also said, "WBGEDC is talking to a US university to set up a solar-cell manufacturing unit that would run on nano-technology . They would set up a research laboratory here. The project that we propose to implement by 2012 will be executed under the Centre's climate action plan," he said.

"Due to shortage of coal, generation of about 100 MW is being hampered at the two power stations of Titagarh and Cossipore," a CESC spokesperson said.

"We are not receiving adequate coal though coal companies are slowly improving their supply. However, due to lack of rakes coal is not reaching power plants," West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd managing director S Mahapatra said.

Mahapatra said unless the Railways increased rakes, the power situation might worsen.

At noon, the shortfall under the CESC command area was 85 MW which was likely to increase during the peak evening hours.

There was also load-shedding in the districts under the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Co Ltd.

Power generation has been hit mainly in Sagardighi, Bandel and Bakreshwar totalling about 600-650 MW.

The approved tariff of Rs.3.91 is lower than Rs.4.13 demanded by the RPG Group-owned CESC in its petition for tariff revision. CESC supplies power to Kolkata.

In the current fiscal, the gross revenue of CESC from power generation and distribution would be Rs.28.04 billion based on the new tariff against Rs.29.05 billion projected by the company based on its per unit tariff petition, an official of the state regulator said.

The state regulatory commission has also kept aside Rs.10 million from CESC's projected revenue for 2008-09 for lack of proper safety audit.

"For non-compliance of conducting safety audit in time, some revenue has been withheld from recovery by CESC," a statement issued by the regulator said.

The shortage of supply of coal has forced West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd (WBPDCL) to shut down a 200 MW unit in Kolaghat and two units 50 MW each in Bandel today.

"Though Coal India has promised us to supply 41,400 MT of coal per day, it has supplied only 29,057 MT of coal on an average per day to WBPDCL from 5 to 18 September,'' alleged Mr Suhridoy Mahapatra, MD WBPDCL.

This led to 12,343 MT coal shortfall per day and 1,72800 MT coal over shortage in the last 14 days, he added.

He said earlier at a meeting on 4 September when all power utilities, state power department officials, railway officials and Coal India officials were present, that Coal India officials promised them to supply 41,400 MT of coal everyday in September till the Pujas are over.

Confirming the development, West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation Limited (WBGEDCL) managing director S.P. Gon Chowdhury said, "Videocon has already initiated the process to purchase the required land for the project directly from the farmers. The company will start construction after the monsoon and generation will start within a year." He further added that this project will help in reducing 12,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide gas emission per year.

When contacted, a senior Videocon Group official Gautam Sengupta said, "We want to sign the power purchase agreement (PPA) with the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) soon. We will start land procurement once the PPA is signed."

He said that since the project involves huge investment, Videocon wants to ensure the signing of the PPA first before moving further with the project.

Mr Sengupta also revealed that the technology partner for the project has also been selected, but he refused to divulge further details.

Meanwhile, WBSEDCL sources said the PPA agreement with Videocon is likely to be signed in August itself.

And to this end, he has written to the West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation (WBGEDC).

Confirming the receipt of the letter, S P Gon Chowdhury, Managing Director of WBGEDC, today said the corporation will prepare a project proposal and a technical report on the use of solar energy in the Raj Bhavan.

The power requirement of the Raj Bhavan is about 400 kilowatt and a considerable fraction of it will come from solar energy.

"We will set up a solar power plant and connect it to the main grid," said WBGEDC officials. At present, there are just two solar CFL street lamps in the Raj Bhavan premises.

Raj Bhavan officials said that after its implementation, the solar energy project would take care of the entire power requirement of the Raj Bhavan. Such a facility could also be extended to the staff quarters, an official added.

According to experts, solar power plants of 2 megawatt capacity have already been set up in the state and a 400 kilowatt power plant will not impose any problem.

On several occasions in the past, the Governor has stressed on issues like global warming and the need for ecological intelligence and use of alternative energy.

On August 7, while speaking at the convocation of the West Bengal University of Technology, he had said: "The scope for technological innovation in renewable energy sources like solar energy has no limits."

As part of Gandhi's exemplary power saving measures, the size of his official convoy has been cut down from eight cars to three. Since May 7, the Governor has also been observing voluntary powercuts for two hours a day. Despite criticism from CPM leaders, the Raj Bhavan is still adhering to its two-hour powercut schedule every day.