Suzlon Energy Signs MoU With AP Govt For 3,000mw Power Projec

Suzlon Energy, has signed a MoU with the Andhra Pradesh government for setting up of capacities to generate about 3,000 mw of wind power till 2016. The proposal entails an investment of about Rs18,000 crore.

Under the MoU, which was signed at the recent Partnership Summit in Hyderabad, the state government will facilitate Suzlon in obtaining necessary permissions, registrations, approvals and clearances for the development of wind farms in the state.

Suzlon, in turn, will play the role of a developer and facilitate the channelisation of investments into the state from its customers investing in wind energy.

Tulsi Tanti, chairman, Suzlon Group, said, “This not only reinforces Andhra Pradesh’s position as one of India’s emerging markets in wind energy, but also illustrates their commitment to power a low-carbon economy by embracing progressive policies to power rapidly growing economy of the state.”

The agreement covers the development planned in the districts of Tallimadugula, Alankarayanipeta, Gandikota, Vajrakarur, Tirumalayapalli and other parts of Andhra Pradesh. Andhra Pradesh is a key emerging wind market in the country, with medium to low wind sites ideally suited to Suzlon’s new S9X suite of turbines.

The state government, according to sources, is keen on making use of the proposal to develop a model for setting up of renewable energy sources and focus on developing clusters of wind and solar farms.

Suzlon planning new wind project in south Australia

Wind power company Suzlon Energy is planning a USD 1.3 Bn project in regional South Australia to power 225,000 homes a year.

Suzlon Energy Australia said the USD 1.3 Bn wind farm will be built 20 kilometres South-West of Ardrossan, a small town on the East Coast of the Yorke Peninsula.

It said up to 180 turbines will generate 600 Mw of energy and deliver power to 225,000 homes in Adelaide via an undersea cable.

The project is expected to create 500 construction jobs and 50 ongoing jobs will be completed by the end of 2015, it said.

Suzlon Energy Australia Commercial Director Chris Judd said the company was approached by local landowners last year to develop the project.

“It’s basically been a landowner-developed project and this has been a dream of theirs for over seven years now, so the beauty of this project is that it does come with some seven years of homework and data, etc, behind it to help justify its economics,” he said.

Suzlon is also involved with wind farm projects at Hallett, North of Adelaide.

Premier Mike Rann said the Yorke Peninsula proposal will add to South Australia’s green credentials.

It was reported that Rann met with the company, the biggest wind turbine supplier in India and the world’s fifth-largest, during a trade trip to the South Asian nation earlier this month, where he stated that Suzlon had “really been helping us in generating wind power”.

US Approves Blythe Solar Power Project

The biggest solar project that plans to provide power to more than 3,00,000 homes in southern California was permitted by the US interior department.

The US$6 Bn, 1,000MW project, a joint venture of Solar Millennium AGand Ferrostaal AG, will be located on federal lands near Blythe, in the southern tip of California.

“The Blythe Solar Power Project is a major milestone in our nation’s renewable energy economy and shows that the United States intends to compete and lead in the technologies of the future,” said US interior secretary Ken Salazar.

This the 6th solar power project approved by the department in the last few weeks, which together have the potential to generate 2,800 MW of electricity, enough to power 2 million homes.

The project will consist of four concentrated solar electric generation facilities that would equal to the generation capacity of a large natural gas or coal-fired power plant.

Rows of curved mirrors up to 192m long will collect heat energy from the sun. The project will have thousands of mirrors lined up on the desert floor.

The project will be built in four units of 250MW each. The first 250MW should be up and running in 2013 and the second one in 2014.

Project’s operators expect approval from the Energy Department by the end of the year for a loan guarantee to cover 75 to 80% of the estimated US$3 Bn cost for the first units of the project.

The solar project, once fully operational, is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by almost 1 MMTPA, which is equivalent to removing 1,45,000 cars off the highway.

More deals of renewable energy in pipeline

The rapidly growing Indian renewable energy sector is likely to witness increased business deal making activities in near future, according to global consultancy Deloitte.

“The trend in deal making activities in the renewable energy sector will continue going forward. The increased interest is not only a necessity in order to acquire technologies, but has also been on account of attractive valuations after the global financial meltdown,” Deloitte India’s senior director Kalpana Jain said.

Going by estimates, India had seen as many as 14 deals worth US$ 1.1 Bn in the green energy space for the year ended June 2010.

Jain said there is “renewed impetus” in the renewable energy sector, especially in the solar energy segment. “The solar sector is expected to see an increased participation and collaboration especially in the technology and manufacturing space,” she noted.

According to a report by Deloitte, the growing renewable energy industry would supplement the conventional sources of energy such as the oil & natural gas sector.

“At a time, when the country is seeing supply shortage current peak power supply deficit at about 12% the renewable energy sector will complement the conventional sources of energy like petroleum and coal,” Kalpana Jain said.

Even though the renewable energy sector is anticipated to see good investments in the next 12-18 months, the growth trajectory would largely depend on the extent of global economic recovery, the report said.

EIA Outlook Projects Greater Use of Renewables in Next 15 Years

“The growth in consumption of renewable fuels is primarily a result of Federal and state programs including the Federal renewable fuels standard (RFS), various state renewable portfolio standard (RPS) programs, and funds in ARRA, together with rising fossil fuel prices,”

Wind energy sector in India

Wind energy sector in India is all set to add over 5,000 MW generation capacity per annum by 2015, a top official of the Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association has said.

“With the availability of new technology through powerful and taller masts, the total potential can be pegged at about 1.2 lakh mw,” said D V Giri, Chairman of the IWTMA here.

He said the cost of production of a MW power would be Rs 5 to 6.5 crore which is much cheaper than the solar energy.

According to the data supplied by the association, the country today has about 11,000 MW of installed wind energy capacity and the utilisation (plant load factor) is between 15 to 20 per cent.

The association with 13 wind turbine and related equipment manufacturers has also been lobbying for policy reforms in expanding the wind energy generation.

According to Giri, 1,485 MW capacity was added to the sector in 2008-09, and in 2009-10, it was about 1,576 MW.

During the current year, the industry hopes to see an addition of about 2,000-2,200 MW capacity in this year.

Wind energy developments in the 20th century

Solar PV modules in India touches 1250MW

The capacity of photovoltaic cells and modules in India is estimated to cross 750MW and 1250MW by the end of year 2010 as per report “Solar PV Industry 2010: Contemporary Scenario and Emerging Trends”.
The report was released by R Chidambaram, principal scientific adviser, government of India, chief guest for the function with professor Juzer Vasi, IIT Bombay and head core committee and BV Naidu, advisor, ISA. The report was supported by the office of the Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA and aims to serve as an important reference source for the various stake holders in the solar PV industry.

Solar Photovoltaic is a key technology option to realise the shift to a decarbonised energy supply and is projected to emerge as an attractive alternate electricity source in the future. The solar PV manufacturing base in India comprises primarily of cell and module manufacturing; with the bulk of the value addition taking place outside the country. The current scale of manufacturing in India is small in comparison to global standards.

The capacity in India is currently estimated in excess of about 400MW for cells and about 1,000 MW for modules. Based on the interactions with the industry, the capacity of PV cells and modules in India is estimated to cross 750MW and 1250MW by the end of year 2010. The production in India for year 2008-09 is estimated at 175MW of cells and 240MW of modules. A large proportion of the production was exported.

Solar energy is an important mitigating technology in the context of the climate change threat. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) is an important component of the National Action Plan on Climate Change.

The current report essentially captures the status of the global PV industry, status of the Indian solar PV industry including its strengths and challenges and the Indian government initiatives to promote this industry. It also includes a detailed discussion on the recently announced National Solar Mission.

Strengths and challenges of the Indian solar PV market

Even though the industry operates at a smaller scale as compared to other solar PV producing nations, production in India is very cost effective as compared to global standards. The price competitiveness of Indian industry makes it a preferred vendor for end users in countries like Germany and Spain.

With government initiatives in place to support and develop infrastructure for solar PV production (refer to SIPS scheme) and JNNSM to promote application of solar PV in domestic market, the Indian solar PV industry is likely to gain further edge over other solar PV producing nations.

There is no manufacturing base in India for the basic raw material silicon wafers. The industry hence relies on international markets to source the raw material.

The silicon market has been highly fluctuating in the past, leading to imbalance in demand supply equation, fluctuating prices and availability of raw material. Currently, the silicon production capacity is much higher than the demand and prices are at significantly low levels compared to the scenario a year back. In the past, some of the solar PV firms have entered into rate contracts with silicon wafer suppliers to ensure availability. With a sudden reduction in prices, the contracts now prove to be a loss making proposition for these firms.

Over the last 5 years, China has emerged as the largest producer of solar cells in the world. The country currently has about 2,500MW of production capacity for solar PV as compared to India’s 400 MW. Apart from that, Taiwan, with annual capacity of 800MW, is also emerging as a major threat to the Indian industry.

Price reduction is another major challenge for the industry as this would have greatly impact the future growth of the market.

Emerging trends

Solar PV applications in India have followed a different trend from global practices. While globally, there has been higher focus on grid connected applications, the Indian PV market has predominately focused on off-grid applications.

JNNSM is a welcome step from the government, to accelerate growth of the Indian PV industry. The policy addresses all the major issues currently being faced by the industry and also acknowledges key challenges in achieving the Mission objective. Grid connected solar power generation is a key thrust area of the JNNSM.

The proposal to extend PPA duration to 25 years will improve the financial feasibility for power developers. JNNSM is technology neutral and defines a research & development roadmap to develop indigenous strengths in technology and reducing the dependence on international markets. The JNNSM also addresses issues of manpower development for the industry.

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Energy from waste can supply 50% renewable energy target by 2020

The study “Renewable energy, landfill gas and energy from waste: now, next and future,” by the Centre for Resource Management and Efficiency at Cranfield University also claimed that there is very good potential in using biomethane derived from landfill gas and anaerobic digestion as a fuel in road vehicles.

It also said that deploying small-scale energy from waste at community level could make an important role – as long as public dislike of incinerators could be overcome.

Based on the study, incentives such as discounted energy tariffs and free domestic hot water for people living near energy from waste plants could assuage public opposition.

Authors Kofi Apea Adu-Gyamfi – a Cranfield graduate – Dr Frederic Coulon and Dr Raffaella Villa concluded that Energy from Waste technologies could contribute up to 50% UK renewables target by 2020 – although said this depends heavily on the pace of investment.

They called on the government to do more to catch up with European leaders Italy, Germany and Sweden, citing the “substantial” savings in greenhouse gas emissions.

The report said: “Energy from Waste technologies can make significant contributions towards achievement of the UK’s renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction targets. However, if these targets are to be met, concerted and sustained action is required from all stakeholders.”

Using biomethane as a road vehicle fuel was deemed “easily implementable” and inexpensive. The report stated that biogas could be upgraded to biomethane for relatively little, while the technology could be retrofitted onto cars for between £1,000 and £2,000 per vehicle.

Biomethane use for road transport is common outside the developed world, the authors claimed, with Pakistan, Argentine, Brazil and Iran accounting for 65% of global market share, but it has yet to catch on at the same scale in Europe due to a lack of refuelling infrastructure and fears over the safety and reliability of biomethane.

However, availability of suitable feedstock was a concern, as the study noted the potential for over-capacity of treatment technologies such as anaerobic digestion and thermal energy from waste, which could result in feedstock shortages.

China’s ‘renewables first’ energy legislation

China’s legislature has amended a 2006 law to call for grid operators to procure all the electricity produced by renewables. The amended law will hugely benefit wind farms in remote regions of the country, and could spark a drive towards smart grid technology.

In doing so, China joins a growing list of countries that already mandate that grid operators prioritize renewably-generated electricity in their energy mix, regardless of how much more expensive it is than coal- or gas-fired electricity.

Grid operators who refuse to buy green electricity face fines up to double the loss they cause renewables developers by not hooking up their projects.

As China’s wind industry expands there is an conflict between project developers who prefer to build wind farms in remote areas such as Inner Mongolia and Gansu and grid operators, who are focused on providing cheap electricity to the population-dense coastal areas.

33% of China’s installed wind energy capacity is not linked to the grid, even as the country targets a 15% renewables slice in its overall power generation by 2020 – up from 9% today.

Renewablesmart.com

Author: ND

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