Page 8 - Electricity

Prepared to provide uninterrupted electricity for paddy sowing: Punjab CM

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday said the state government is fully prepared to provide uninterrupted power to farmers for paddy sowing. In a statement issued here, Mann said like the previous year, the state government has decided to commence sowing of paddy across the state in a phased manner. Sowing started from June 10 in some parts of the state. The remaining areas will be covered on June 16, 19 and 21, he said. Mann said the state has been divided into four zones to implement sowing mechanisms in an effective manner. In the first phase, transplantation in areas beyond the fence across the border started from June 10, the statement said. "From tomorrow, uninterrupted power will be ensured in the second phase to seven districts -- Ferozepur, Faridkot, Pathankot, Sri Fatehgarh Sahib, Gurdaspur, SBS Nagar and Tarn Taran," Mann said. In the third phase, paddy transplantation will be done from June 19 in Rupnagar, SAS Nagar, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, Fazilka, Bathinda

Hindustan Power Exchange crosses 5 bn units trade in 11 months of launch

Hindustan Power Exchange (HPX) on Thursday announced that its has crossed the milestone of five Billion Units (BU) of power traded within 11 months of its launch. HPX was able to cross this landmark amid a rapid increase in trading volume across contingency and long duration contracts (LDC) segments, a HPX statement said. The strong growth in members/client base and trading volumes demonstrate the trust and support the platform has been able to garner from power sector participants, it stated. HPX is a new-age power exchange promoted by PTC India, BSE and ICICI Bank and has a diverse shareholder base represented by state power utilities, central generators, independent power producers, market makers in trading, and power sector consultants. HPX raced to five BUs within a span of 173 days with a daily average volume of around 18 MU, post-crossing the historic landmark of 1 BU, which happened within a time frame of 171 days. A large part of this volume is attributed to the LDCs whic

DVC to double power generation by 2030: Chairman Ram Naresh Singh

Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) will double its annual power generation over the next seven years, its chairman Ram Naresh Singh said. Singh said DVC aims to add 8,000 MW of annual power generation from the current 7,000 MW, to achieve its target of 15,000 MW of annual power output by 2030. The corporation will invest an estimated Rs 60,000 crore for installing new power plants to achieve the target, he said. "The Centre has given its nod to the DVC to set up new power plants with a total capacity of 8,000 MW," Singh told reporters here on Sunday. He said three thermal power plants and two solar power plants will be set up for the purpose. The thermal power plants will be set up in Raghunathpur (1,320 MW), Koderma (1,600 MW) and Durgapur (800 MW), he said, adding that a survey to set up 800 MW power plant in Chandrapura, where six old units will be dismantled, is underway. "We also plan to set up two solar power plants with a total capacity of 2,000 MW. Besides, we will also hav

TMS Ep449: NEP, rising airfares, Jonathan Garner, spelling competition

Is the National Electricity Plan too ambitious? Should govt step in amid rising airfares? How does Jonathan Garner view the global equity landscape? What's Scripps spelling competition? Answers here

Enrolment for free power scheme to start June 15: Karnataka energy minister

Two days after rolling out the Gruha Jyoti scheme offering free power up to 200 units to domestic consumers, Karnataka Energy Minister K J George on Wednesday said the enrolment to avail of the benefit will start from June 15. People who want to get this facility should enroll through the Seva Sindhu portal of the state government from June 15 to July 5, he said. Applicants will be required to upload proof that they are the resident of the building to avail of the benefit, he said. According to George, the documents that need to be uploaded in the Seva Sindhu application to register for the scheme are any of the documents such as Aadhaar card, voter ID, title deed or lease or rental agreement. The minister said that in the next two days a policy will be brought to include new buildings or new tenants. As per the scheme, electricity supply companies will determine the average consumption of power in the last fiscal, based on which each consumer's average consumption will be ...

'Gruha Jyoti' free electricity scheme can be availed by tenants: K'taka CM

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said tenants are also eligible to avail the Gruha Jyoti' scheme, under which 200 units of free power will be provided to all domestic consumers in the state from July 1. The clarification comes a day after the Congress government had issued guidelines to avail the free electricity under the scheme. We will provide free power (up to 200 units) to those living in rented accommodation as well. Poor people who consume less than 200 units of power will not have to pay the bills. This (scheme) will be applicable to the tenants, Siddaramaiah told reporters here. He also clarified that this scheme was not applicable for commercial usage. The 'Gruha Jyoti' scheme was one of the 5 guarantees promised by the Congress ahead of the 2023 assembly elections. Reacting to BJP's protest against the power tariff hike as well as the state government's decision to revisit the anti-cow slaughter law enacted by the then Yediyurappa government, Siddaramaia

Punjab CM writes to Centre, seeks allocation of another 1K MW electricity

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has written to the Centre, seeking allocation of additional 1,000 MW of electricity for the upcoming paddy season. In a letter to the Union minister for Power R K Singh, CM Mann pointed out that the state's generation capacity was limited to about 6,500 MW, whereas the peak demand is likely to touch 15,500 MW in the summer season. To meet the peak demand of electricity of 15,500 MW in forthcoming paddy/summer season, Mann requested the assistance of power up to 1,000 MW from June 15 till October 10, that may be allocated to Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) from central sector generating stations. In the letter, Mann said the state power utility, PSPCL, is keeping a continuous watch over the power availability on the PUShP (High Price Day Ahead Market and Surplus Power) portal. "As the demand of electricity cannot be reliably met through the collective transaction segment of power exchange, the state is in definite need of firm ...

Govt expects people to move towards e-cooking to capitalise on power supply

The government expects people to move towards electric cooking (e-cooking) as the nation now has a 24x7 electricity supply in households, according to an official. "We want to move towards e-cooking since we have 24/7 electricity in our households," Additional Secretary Power Ajay Tewari said while addressing a conference organised here. He pointed out that India has, in just 18 months, given Saubhagya (scheme) connections to 26 million households who did not have electricity access. Never before in the history of the world has so many households been given electricity connection in such a short time, he noted. "We are supplying energy for 23.5 hours in all urban areas and 23 hours, and more in rural areas. It is a big achievement that the age of power cuts is behind us," a power ministry statement quoted Tewari as saying. He also informed that 700 million people in the world, however, still do not have access to electricity, and universal energy access is one of the priorities of

Power distribution utilities: Challenges remain

Going forward, there is a need to reform tariffs and the tariff-setting mechanism

Gas price increase by 196%, Tripura electricity corp seeks tariff hike

Tripura State Electricity Corporation Ltd has submitted a representation to the state regulatory commission, seeking a hike in power tariff to bridge its revenue gap, a senior official said on Saturday. There has been no tariff increase in Tripura since 2014, causing a huge loss to the state government-run power corporation, he said. There has been an average 196 per cent increase in natural gas price in the past one year and the introduction of uniform transmission cost has hit the corporation's fiscal position. While the uniform transmission cost appears good for big states like Assam, it harms small states such as Manipur, Tripura and Mizoram, TSECL Managing Director Debasish Sarkar told PTI. The corporation will have a revenue gap of Rs 1,100.60 crore if the tariff remains unchanged for the 2023-24 financial year, he said. Projected revenue stands at Rs 868.04 crore for 2023-24, while TSECL needs to spend Rs 1,968.64 crore for the current fiscal, leading to a gap of Rs 1,100.6

Electricity in Punjab to cost more, opposition leaders slam the move

Electricity rates are set to go up in Punjab with the power regulator PSERC announcing an increase in power tariff by 25 to 80 paise per unit for different categories of consumers. Opposition parties Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal slammed the move, saying it was the AAP government's "first gift" to people two days after it won the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll. Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission Monday announced a new tariff order for 2023-24. The new tariff order will be applicable with effect from May 16. Shortly after the PSERC decision, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said that the revised tariff would not impact the common man as the increase would be borne by the government for free power to domestic category consumers and farmers. As domestic consumers get 300 units per month of free electricity, any increase in charges will be borne by the state government. Meanwhile, electricity consumers consuming over 300 units per month will have to bear the burden on account o

Power Ministry panel outlines roadmap to develop electricity market

A power ministry-constituted panel has suggested a roadmap outlining the interventions for the near, medium, and long term for the development of the electricity market. The interventions suggested by the panel include setting up a mechanism to monitor whether adequacy of supply is being maintained by the state utilities, enhancing the efficacy of the Day-ahead Market, introducing a market-based mechanism for secondary reserves, and implementing 5-minutes based metering, scheduling, dispatch, and settlement. The proposed changes also include demand response and aggregation, which could reduce reserve requirements and lower electricity costs, according to a power ministry release. There will be strengthening of market monitoring and surveillance activities to keep track of participation and prevent price volatility. A regional-level balancing framework for deviation management will be implemented which would result in reduction in deviation penalties for the States at the ISTS level

India's power consumption dips by 1.1% to 130.57 bn units in April

India's power consumption dipped for the second month in a row by 1.1 per cent to 130.57 billion units in April this year, as widespread rains in the country prompted people to use fewer cooling appliances compared to the previous year. In the year-ago period, power consumption stood at 132.02 billion units (BU), higher than 117.08 BU in April 2021, according to government data. The power consumption was also affected in March this year, due to widespread rains in the country. It dipped to 126.82 BU during the month under review from 128.47 BU a year ago. The experts said that had there been no rains in March as well as April, then the power consumption would have shown a good growth in the two months. The rains reduced the demand for electricity as people used fewer cooling appliances compared to the previous year, according to experts. Further, experts are hopeful that power consumption and demand would grow May onwards, due to further improvement in economic activities as well

Power Ministry asks states to withdraw any tax on generation of electricity

It has come to the notice of Government of lndia (Gol) that some state governments have imposed taxes / duties on generation of electricity. This is illegal and unconstitutional

Discoms to submit report on electricity subsidy to Centre every quarter

The draft rules suggest penalties to be levied on discoms for faulty subsidy accounting, raising erroneous subsidy bills

Heat wave: States on alert; Grid braces for record peak power demand

While a few states have heat action plans, experts warn they are not enough

Mercury soars in Kerala with record power use of 100 mn units on Apr 17

Kerala has been experiencing searing heat for the past few days with Palakkad district recording the highest maximum temperature of 39.7 degrees Celsius on Tuesday. As the mercury rises, the daily electricity consumption in Kerala has touched 100.35 million units (mu) on April 17, a new record for the state as per the state electricity board. The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) said this was the third day this month that the consumption has crossed the 100 million units mark, a first in the history of the state. Consumption crossed the 100 million unit mark for the first time on April 13, a senior KSEB official told PTI. "Last year, the highest consumption was around 96 million units on April 28. That mark was crossed in the last week itself," the official said. KSEB, however, said that even though the state was witnessing record consumption, the situation was manageable as electricity was available from the power exchange at affordable rate. The official also said the wate

Torrent to give 920 MW power from its gas-based plants under govt tender

Torrent Power on Wednesday said it has bagged a contract to supply 920 MW gas based electricity from its DGEN and SUGEN plants under a tender of NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigal Ltd (NVVN). The ministry of power had designated NVVN as the nodal agency for procurement of up to 4,000 MW power from gas-based plants during identified crunch period (April 10, 2023 to May 16, 2023, with actual offtake for 21 days). The NVVN had floated a tender for this on March 10, 2023. Torrent Power had participated in the e-tender and subsequent eRA (electronic reverse auction) and awarded 920 MW (770 MW from DGEN plant and 150 MW from SUGEN plant), a BSE filing on Wednesday said. The filing was a clarification to a news item on the award of power supply contract to the Torrent Power under the tender floated by the NVVN.

Adani's utility to supply 60% green power to Mumbai by 2027

Renewables accounted for 30% of power procurement for Adani Electricity as of March 31 - a ten-fold jump over the last two years, the company said in a presentation to stock exchanges Wednesday

India's 9% electricity to come from nuclear sources by 2047: Jitendra Singh

India will get 9 per cent of its electricity from nuclear sources by 2047, the centenary year of the country's independence, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Sunday. The Science and Technology minister made these remarks after reviewing the functioning of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai. Singh said the rising share of nuclear power in India's energy basket would help it get closer to the commitment of achieving the net zero target by 2070. He said the Department of Atomic Energy has been given the target of achieving 20 gigawatts (GW) capacity of nuclear power generation by 2030, which will make India the third-largest producer of atomic energy in the world after the US and France. Singh said the credit for this rapid stride goes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who took the decision of approving 10 reactors in a fleet mode in a single order and also allowed nuclear installations to be developed under joint ventures with PSUs. India has the sixth-highest number of