Electricity

In case of Dishergarh Power Supply Corporation the hike would be effective from its present rate of Rs 4.57 to Rs 4.73 and for DPL from Rs 3.15 to Rs 3.26. While the average hike in WBSEDCL's tariff is highest, Rs 0.45 paise per unit, DPL has a lowest hike of 0.11 paise. The enhanced rate of the power tariff will be effective retrospectively from April 1, 2010.

According to the WBREC notification, consumers would be billed for outstanding starting from August and it would be realised in eight instalments ending in March, 2011.

Last time the power tariff was hiked on average by 0.78 paise per unit in November, 2009 owing to the spiralling cost of coal, which is the major cost input for thermal power stations.

Source: Business-standard Power tariffs hiked in Bengal

While tabling the budget of the power department in the state Assembly today, Mr Sen said necessary measures are being taken so that electricity reaches all the villages within the stipulated time.

While work under the first phase of the rural electrification programme has been undertaken, the progress of work is not satisfactory in some districts, said Mr Sen. While 14 districts have been included under the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY), a Central scheme, the state government has included the rest of the districts under its own rural electrification programme.

The rural electrification programme is likely to be completed in a few districts this year itself. Deliberating the issue, Mr Sen said that setting up power sub-stations is an important step towards providing electricity to the rural population. However, the state government is finding it difficult to set up power sub-stations, as landowners are not willing to part with their land for such projects, said Mr Sen.

Around 1 to 1.5 acres of land are required to set up a power sub-station. "I receive phone calls about the problems that are faced while acquiring land," said Mr Sen. Mr Sen urged the MLAs to intervene so that such problems can be sorted out, saying that they should convince common people on the issue. Expressing his regret over the problems faced by people due to power shortage, Mr Sen said inferior quality of coal along with poor production of the old power stations have been responsible for the huge deficit between demand and supply of power

"We have talked to NTPC to set up new 660-MW units at Santaldih. Similarly, we want to enter into a joint venture with Bhel to set up 800-MW units at Katwa," he said.

Sen said PDCL wanted to set up these "supercritical units" to meet the increasing demand for power in future but did not have the technical expertise to do. That's why it was necessary to have joint ventures with NTPC and Bhel.

At Bandel, however, one unit was being renovated with World Bank assistance. At Bakreswar, the sixth unit, a 660-MW one, would be set up with Japanese assistance. Sen denied that there was any deficiency in the Chinese technology used in some power stations. "At Sagardighi, there were teething troubles in two units. Experts have rectified them," he said. Sen said poor quality of coal supplied to power stations and lower allocation from the Central sector were also reasons for the shortage.

The minister said that the government planned to complete its rural electrification target in all villages by June 2011 and wanted to set up monitoring committees headed by MLAs.

The draft tariff order for power generated from non-fossil fuel issued by West Bengal State Electricity Regulatory Commission has proposed a massive hike for solar power tariff. Tariffs for biomass, wind and hydro electricity have also been hiked to make investments in these sectors more lucrative. With WBERC making it mandatory for utilities to supply 2% green power in 2010-11, 3% green power in 2011-12 and 5% green power in 2012-13, there is a need for generating at least 400 MW electricity from cogeneration and renewable sources within the next two years.

"The revised tariff is adequate to compensate the investor and should accelerate the move to green power in the state. It not only makes investment in the sector attractive, it also creates adequate opportunities for them to enter into power purchase agreements with utilities," said Gon Chowdhury.

A switch to green power will lead to reduction in greenhouse gases (GHGs) that is principally responsible for global warming.

According to the new set of proposals, solar power that is currently priced at Rs 11 per unit, has been revised to Rs 16.13 per unit. A significant part of this will be in the form of a Central subsidy.

Source: Times Of India `Hike in green power tariff will bring in more projects'

According to sources in state-owned as well as private power utilities, the demand growth of 500 MW this March-April is likely to persist over the next two years. But with capacity addition to meet barely half the additional demand, a crisis is imminent.

"The growth in power demand this year in West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Co Ltd and CESC areas may shrink slightly next year. But that will be more than made up by the dormant demand in Durgapur Projects Ltd. Across the state, the growth could be around 550 MW in 2010," an WBSEDCL official said.

Though efforts to augment capacity through addition of new plants (250 MW unit at Sagardighi, 150 MW from Maithon and 132 MW from Teesta lower dam) and improvement in the performance of existing plants (100 MW additional generation from Santaldih, 50 MW more generation from Sagardighi) will look to cut the deficit next year, there is no capacity build-up plan for 2012, when demand is expected to grow by another 550-600 MW.

This year, utilities had to resort to loadshedding of six to seven hours daily during March and April despite WBSEDCL importing 250-300 MW for 18 hours a day. "The average daily shortfall was 750-800 MW. It is only because of imports that we managed to limit it to 500-550 MW. Next year will be as tough but it is 2012 that we are dreading. If growth happens as per projection, utilities will have to resort to 12-13 hours of loadshedding," a power department official said.

Source: Times Of India By Subhro Niyogi Brace for 12-hour power cuts two years from now

The decision came 10 days after a threat from the CPM's Krishak Sabha, which said it would capture the plot on which not a single brick has been laid so far. At a rally at Metro Channel in Kolkata on April 19, the outfit's leaders demanded that CESC start work immediately for the Balagarh project.

Today, a resolution to start the project was taken at a meeting of the CESC's board of management.

"We warned that if work was not started, we will hoist red flags and capture the land and then distribute it among the farmers," Anil Basu, maverick Hooghly district Krishak Sabha general secretary said today.

After the threat by Krishak Sabha, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Minister for Power Nirupam Sen reportedly spoke to CESC vice-chairman Sanjiv Goenka and urged him to start the project as early as possible.

Source: The Indian Express By Sabyasachi Bandopadhyay Stuck for 18 yrs, Balagarh power project moves 10 days after land grab threat

GEDCL managing director S P Gonchowdhury said that it has already identified land for the project. It is hoping to start work in August 2010. "We have identified a place called Badar Patra Bar near Mandarmani. GEDCL has already assessed the potential of the area and the result is encouraging," he added. Gonchowdhury said that initially the wind mill firm will have a generation capacity of 50 MW and the investment would be Rs 250 crore. According to him, the state government has 1,000 acre land in the area which was handed over to GEDCL.

Now GEDCL is developing the land. After land development Suzlon will set up the wind firm. "They will bring in investment and we are providing the land. The wind speed in this area is 19 km. Minimum wind speed required is 18 km. This is good enough though in some places in Tamil Nadu the wind speed is even 21 km," he said.

Gonchowdhury pointed out that the state's total green energy production by the end of 12th five year plan would be over 550-600 MW from the current level of 100 MW. GEDCL has set a target of producing 20% of the pick energy demand in the day time in the state through green routes in next five years. "It is quiet achievable. Now we have 100 MW. The wind firm will produce 50 MW. Besides, we have pending proposal of 200 MW in solar and 250 MW in biomass and other sources," he added.

Even as the city reels under long hours of power cuts, streetlights are kept on in the afternoon at the Moulali crossing and in Lake Town. (Below) People protest against the dismal power situation in Burdwan on Sunday

Expect no relief from the power crisis this month, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said in Malda on Sunday. "Both our thermal plants at Kolaghat and Bakreswar are not functioning properly. They are generating less power than what is expected. As a result, there is a crisis," he said during the inauguration of an ITI at Habibpur, around 30 km from Malda.

The words spelt panic in Kolkata, which has been reeling under sweltering heat and long hours of power cuts for the last one week. The mercury has been steadily climbing and crossed the 40-degree mark on Friday. And like the gloomy power situation, the weather, too, isn't likely to improve soon, said the Met office.

The power issue was raised by North Malda MP Mausam Noor. "We want to know from the chief minister about the re-cent power crisis in the state, which has almost brought our lives to a standstill besides affecting agriculture and irrigation," she said.

Replying to Mausam's query, the CM said: "The situation is unlikely to improve this month." He also expressed concern over the condition of transformers in rural areas. "Yesterday, I held a meeting with officials of the district administration and asked them to ensure that the transformers do not get burnt so frequently."

During the Sunday evening peak hours, the state had a shortfall of around 450 MW. While the demand in the state was pegged at 3950 MW, PDCL provided 2529 MW, DPL supplied 205 MW, central sectors produced 403 MW while the WBSEDCL's Purulia unit generated 500 MW. "The CESC had asked for 205 MW, of which we could provide them 155 MW. So, our deficit came to around 450 MW on Sunday evening," said a WBSEDCL spokesperson. Demand being low on Sunday, loadshedding remained restricted to just one and a half hours in two phases in the WBSEDCL areas, the spokesperson added.

Source: Times Of India No relief from power cuts: CM

The deficit in CESC-served areas was 305MW and in areas under the state utility 800MW during peak demand. The shortfall was 100MW more than Thursday's in the city and 200MW in the rest of the state.

"We are not sure when the situation will normalise but certainly not before Sunday," said an official of the power department.

Students appearing for the Higher Secondary complained that repeated power cuts throughout the examination had affected their performance.

"There were power cuts for 30-45 minutes during Bengali, English, physics and chemistry papers. It was difficult to concentrate in the heat," said Sumit Roy, an examinee from Labanhrad Vidyapith.

Prolonged power cuts at home proved more challenging for students. "All through the examination, there have been power cuts for around six hours every day. It was difficult to study by candlelight. I could not complete revisions before most exams," said Kanaya Dutta, an examinee who stays in Salt Lake.

Source: The Telegraph Longer power cuts on hottest day

The deficit was pegged at 80 MW in the afternoon in Kolkata and adjoining areas under Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC), while the State Electricity Board's deficit was around 600 MW.

According to a CESC spokesperson, rotational load shedding would continue across the city as the deficit crept up to around 200 MW with the demand touching 1,600 MW since the last few days.

Generation in the power plants of WBPDCL was also lower due to shortage of coal, while water crisis hit Farraka's NTPC unit, he said.

The mercury has soared to over 40 degree Celsius in Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapore districts.

"To meet the power shortfall we have to purchase power from outside for the state grid. Even then the power shortfall is likely to go up by 300 MW to 350 MW," Chief Secretary Asok Mohan Chakraborty told reporters.

Stating that irregular supply of coal was responsible for the position, Chakraborty said the administration was having talks with the Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) to regularise the supply of quality coal for running the power plants.

"It will take two to three days to regularise coal supply," Chakraborty said.

Chakraborty said that he hoped that the Purulia Pump Storage would contribute to the state power grid.

West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation Ltd (WBGEDCL) managing director SP Gon Chowdhury, on the sidelines of a seminar on climate change, said that West Bengal, Gujarat and Rajasthan have asked MNRE to allot 345-mw solar power projects to these states, taking a major share of the 1,300-mw solar power capacity addition by 2013.

Earlier, MNRE minister Farooq Abdullah said the government in the first phase of National Solar Mission's implementation would target to add 1300 mw by 2013 of the total targeted solar power generation of 20,000 by 2022. The government would decide on the next phases after reviewing the achievements in the first phase.

While West Bengal has pitched for an allocation of 115 mw of solar power, Gujarat has pitched for 130 mw and Rajasthan for 100 mw. The rest of the 25 states and seven union territories would be allotted projects adding up to a generation of 955 mw. "The MNRE ministry is shortly expected to allot these projects and come out with a tariff structure on January 11," Gon Chowdhury said. "We expect the generation tariff to be anything between Rs 15 and Rs 17 per unit," he said. The MNRE tariff is Rs 15 per unit at present. Since the Centre will buy the entire generated power and converge state and central tariff, it is for the MNRE to decide which state will be asked to generate how much.

Gon Chowdhury said power major NTPC Ltd would float a company, NTPC Bidyut Vapyar Nigam Ltd, which would buy the entire solar power generated and push to the grid.

The country's first private solar power producer is eyeing a capacity of 100MW by 2013 that will require an investment of $300-400 million.

The company had built a 2MW unit spread over 13 acres at Punjab's Awan village in six months.

"We plan to set up a 2MW plant in Purulia and will scale it up to 40MW in the next five years," Inderpreet Wadhwa, founder and CEO of Azure Power, told The Telegraph.

The project will come up in an area that is deficient in power, Wadhwa said. The plant will cover around 80 per cent of the local substation area and help the region through the local grid. Azure plans to focus on rural and semi-urban areas that might be ignored by large projects.

Wadhwa said the firm would be raising around $10 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for upcoming projects in Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat. Projects of up to 22MW are under development; talks are on for another 30MW.

Source: The Telegraph Azure Power to set up unit in Purulia

Although WBSEDCL has spent about Rs 300 crore to set up five sub-stations at Rajarhat, Sodepur, Subhasgram, Singur and Kolkata West International City, it is unable to operationalise these as the transmission lines for servicing the facilities haven't been installed yet. The reason for this is the unavailability of the 250 sq meter plots required for setting up each transmission tower.

Since the existing transmission lines are of a certain capacity, even if additional power is available, it cannot be transferred through the available infrastructure. Consequently, when Kolkata's consumption will peak in the summer, WBSEDCL will not be able to help the CESC.

"Presently, we have to lower the voltage of the electricity being transferred in order to serve a larger area. We can only reduce voltage to a certain extent. Unless we are able to get the transmission towers for the five sub-stations, there could be forced load-shedding during the summer," WBSEDCL Chairman & Managing Director Malay De said today on the sidelines of a CII exposition.

While Kolkata's average daily power consumption is pegged at 1500MW, CESC procures between 500-600MW from the WBSEDCL to meet the shortfall during the summer. However, if the average increase of consumption is factored in, the city could be short of about 50-100 MW during the coming summer, according to De. "There could be an impact in the summer. We are facing a similar problem of transmission for getting power from Budge Budge to our Eastern Metropolitan sub-station," CESC Executive Director (Distribution) SS Sinha said.

Unlike the last revision, there will be no power subsidy from the government for both utilities, which means the consumer will have to bear the full brunt of the interim hike.

The WBERC has hiked CESC's average tariff by 48 paise per unit and WBSEDCL's average tariff by 78 paise per unit. Following the hike, CESC's average tariff stands at Rs 4.57 per unit while in WBSEDCL's case, it is Rs 4.27 per unit. It was announced as an interim hike on account of rise in coal prices.

 When contacted, West Bengal power minister Mrinal Banerjee told ET: "We will not pay additional subsidy to consumers to absorb the hike. This latest tariff revision is to accommodate an interim hike in fuel prices. There will be no extra subsidy to shield CESC and WBSEDCL consumers from the tariff hike."