Page 9 - Electricity

Smart prepaid meters to reduce power bills by up to 2.5%: Power Minister

Union Power Minister R K Singh on Monday urged electricity consumers to use smart prepaid meters, saying the device helps users bring down power cost by up to 2 per cent. Installation of smart prepaid meters reduces the operational and finance cost for electricity suppliers as consumers credit their account in advance, the minister said while releasing the 'Enabling a consumer-centric Smart Metering Transition in India' report here. "If you have a smart prepaid meter, your cost of electricity will come down by 2-2.5 per cent and the consumer gains (at benefit)," Singh said. Usage of smart meters will lead to digitisation of systems, automation and further efficiencies. It will help in energy accounting, which helps in identifying the areas which need attention. "Energy accounting system...is another challenge which we are still tackling," he said. According to the findings of the report released, the users of smart prepaid meters are having better experiences compared to conventio

Wind energy projects made 64.54 bn electricity units in April-Jan of FY23

Tamil Nadu was the second highest generator of electricity from wind energy power projects, as it generated 15,703 million units of electricity during the period under review

Ecofy, Mahindra Solarize team up for rooftop solar financing, installation

Promoted by Eversource Capital, Ecofy aims to be a catalyst in accelerating the transition towards a net zero carbon world

Price cap to be raised to counter India's robust power demand

Unusually high temperatures for this time of year are fueling predictions that electricity demand might rise to a record this summer

India's electricity consumption grows over 9% to 117.84 bn units in Feb

India's power consumption logged a year-on-year growth of over nine per cent to 117.84 billion units in February this year, according to government data. The robust growth of power consumption indicates sustained momentum of economic activities in February. Experts had earlier said that power consumption and demand would register a substantial increase in March due to further improvement in economic activities as well as rise in temperature. In February 2022, power consumption stood at 108.03 billion units (BU), higher than the 103.25 BU in the same month of 2021, the data showed. Electricity consumption in February 2020 stood at 103.81 BU. The peak power demand met, which is the highest supply in a day, rose to 209.66 gigawatt (GW) in February 2023. The peak power supply stood at 193.58 GW in February 2022 and 187.97 GW in February 2021. The peak power demand met was 176.38 GW in the pre-pandemic February 2020. Experts are of the view that the power consumption and demand woul

Adani Power promised to supply power in reduced price to Bangladesh: Report

India's Adani Power on Thursday promised to supply electricity to Bangladesh at a reduced price keeping consistent with the generation cost in the country's existing coal-fired plants. The Adani will import the coal for its plants at the same price the Bangladeshi coal-run plants do for themselves, the mass-circulation Prothom Alo newspaper reported quoting an Adani official. It said the Indian company agreed to revise its procurement price for coal to keep the per unit power price almost equal to those of Bangladeshi coal-fired plants like the Rampal and Payra, the two joint-venture installations with India and China. A responsible official of Adani group in Bangladesh has confirmed the development to Prothom Alo, the newspaper reported while Bangladesh officials declined to comment immediately. Bangladesh's state-run Power Development Board (PDB) earlier this month sought to revise to a 2017 power purchase agreement with Adani Power Ltd as the price for the coal-generated ...

Haryana reduced electricity transmission losses to 13.43%: CM Khattar

The Chief Minister said it has been a great example of power management that despite the less availability of electricity many times the government provided electricity to the consumers

Nagaland suffers from want of good roads, electricity and jobs: Congress

The Congress alleged tall claims of the BJP on the development of Nagaland were starkly different from the ground reality as the northeastern state still suffers from want of good roads, proper electricity and water supply, besides massive unemployment. AICC media coordinator Mahima Singh claimed that the BJP was trying to fool the people of the state to cling to power with the NDPP. While Dimapur and Kohima, the state's two major cities, face erratic power and water supply and bad roads, the situation is worse in other parts of the state... Youths don't have jobs, she told reporters on Wednesday. Singh asserted the Congress will not stop raising questions in favour of welfare of the people. She alleged that the BJP-NDPP's tendency to cling to power is leading to electoral violence in several constituencies and small villages. Singh said the Congress has given a representation to the DGP through the Dimapur Commissioner of Police in this regard. She called upon people of Nagaland

Over 17,000 circuit km of transmission lines installed in 9 yrs: R K Singh

Over 17,000 circuit kilometers of transmission lines were installed in India in the last nine years to strengthen the electricity distribution system, Union Power Minister R K Singh said on Tuesday. He made the remarks while addressing delegates from the West African region at an event organised by the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in collaboration with Grid Controller of India Ltd (Grid-India) and West African Power Pool (WAPP) in the national capital. The usage of renewable energy is cheaper compared to the conventional form of energy sources, Singh said, urging the participants to increase use of green energy in their countries. Besides making energy available to their people, these nations must also lay emphasis on the transmission as well as storage of power, he noted. "I want to share that we have set up 1,75,000 MW of renewable capacity from 2014 onwards. We have added more than 17,000 ckm of transmission lines to strengthen distribution systems...," he said. In Decemb

Lift 15-20% coal need via rail-ship-rail mode: PowerMin to Punjab utility

The power ministry has asked the Punjab power utility PSPCL to start lifting 15-20 of its domestic coal requirement through rail-ship-rail mode, while highlighting that the transport of dry fuel would be cheaper than the import of coal. The ministry in a letter to Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) stated that the transport of fossil fuel using the rail-ship-rail (RSR) mode is though costlier than all rail route, it is cheaper than importing coal. "The matter was further discussed in the meeting....chaired by secretary power with states/gencos in which PSPCL (Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd) also participated...It was decided to operationalise the RSR plan from January, 2023 onward by NTPC and all the state Gencos having TPPs in Northern and Western part of the country," the power ministry said in a letter to PSPCL. Central and state gencos were also advised to plan to cover 15-20 per cent of their total domestic coal requirements using RSR mode. The ministry asked PSPCL

No power supply disruption due to high demand, will import coal: R K Singh

Power Minister RK Singh on Thursday exuded confidence that there will be no disruption in electricity supply due to high demand during summer, and he will not hesitate to import coal and mandate thermal plants to run at full capacity for the purpose. The Indian power system has already met a record power demand of 211.6 GW in June 2022. During the current year 2023, the power demand is expected to be around 225 GW during summer, Singh said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha on Thursday. Asked about rising power demand, Singh told reporters in a press conference, "We are prepared. There is no question of being a disruption in supply if I need to import coal I will import it. If I need to blend, I will blend". He explained that blending (of imported coal) has been happening earlier and so he has no hesitation at all in blending. Singh assured that there is not going to be any shortage of coal. He stated that as far as section 11 is concerned if there is a need ...then I will do ...

India's electricity consumption grows nearly 13% to 126.16 bn units in Jan

India's power consumption logged a double-digit year-on-year growth of nearly 13 per cent to 126.16 billion units in January 2023, according to government data. The robust growth of power consumption indicates sustained momentum of economic activities in January. Experts earlier said the power consumption and demand would increase in January due to the use of heating appliances, especially in the northern parts of the country, and a further improvement in economic activities. In January 2022, power consumption stood at 111.80 billion units (BU), higher than the 109.76 BU in the same month of 2021, the data showed. Electricity consumption in January 2020 stood at 105.15 BU. The peak power demand met, which is the highest supply in a day, rose to 210.61 gigawatt (GW) in January 2023. The peak power supply stood at 192.18 GW in January 2022 and 189.39 GW in January 2021. The peak power demand met was 170.97 GW in the pre-pandemic January 2020.

Pakistan ends electricity subsidy, revokes tariff for people of PoK

The Pakistan government revoked the tariff through the one-sided agreement draft issued to the PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir), as per the report in Siasat Edit

Pakistan's national grid fails for the second time in three months

Energy Minister Khurrum Dastagir said the outage was caused by a large voltage surge in the south of the grid, which affected the entire network

Uttar Pradesh discoms target Rs 92,000 crore of revenues in FY24

Discoms had posted a deficit of about Rs 16,000 crore in FY21, while the consolidated accumulated losses were to the tune of Rs 70,000 crore

Powermen oppose Adani Power's bid for licence in Noida, Greater Noida

All power engineers federation (AIPEF) on Wednesday said it will oppose any government's move in Uttar Pradesh to issue electricity distribution license to private companies in Noida and Greater Noida. In a statement, AIPEF Chairman Shailendra Dubey said, "Adani Power's company Adani Jewar Electrical Company Limited has recently applied to the Electricity Regulatory Commission of Uttar Pradesh for obtaining a parallel license for the distribution of electricity in Noida and Greater Noida". AIPEF members will strongly oppose if an attempt is made to give an electricity distribution license to any private company in Noida and Greater Noida or any other place under the jurisdiction of Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL), he added. Recently, unions of three state-owned power companies in Maharashtra went on a 72-hour strike in protest against a similar move of the government there, Dubey said, adding Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the ...

Delhi's peak winter power demand rises to a record 5,526 MW amid cold wave

Delhi's peak winter power demand rose to a record 5,526 MW on Friday as a numbing cold wave swept the national capital, officials said. An official of the BSES said its power distribution companies are geared to ensure adequate availability for its around 47 lakh consumers (around two crore residents) during the winter months. "According to data, Delhi's peak power demand on Friday clocked 5,526 MW at 10.58 am, highest-ever recorded in the national capital during winter months. This is the third day in a row that Delhi's peak power demand has crossed the 5,000 MW mark," the BSES official said. The power demand had peaked at 5,104 MW last year and 5,021 MW in 2020. The peak winter power demand in BRPL and BYPL areas had reached 2,140 MW and 1,122 MW, respectively, during the last winter. Delhi recorded a cold wave for a second day on the trot on Friday, with the minimum temperature at Ayanagar in southwest Delhi plunging to a numbing 1.8 degrees Celsius, according to the India ...

Punjab to install solar panels in all state govt buildings, says minister

This project will reduce the financial burden of the electricity bills of respective departments by approximately 40 to 50%

NTPC crosses 300 billion units electricity generation mark in FY23

State-owned power giant NTPC on Thursday crossed the 300 billion units (BU) mark of electricity generated during the current fiscal year. As of January 5, 2023, NTPC has recorded a PLF (plant load factor or capacity utilisation) of 73.7 per cent, compared to 68.5 per cent during the corresponding period in FY22, against the overall all India PLF of 63.27 per cent, a company statement said. The public sector undertaking has registered generation of 300 BU of electricity in 279 days, as of Thursday. The company achieved the 300 BU accomplishment a month before it had crossed the same mark in FY22, it added. In 2021-22, the company had crossed the 300 BU generation mark in 300 days on February 5. The company has recorded generation of 295.4 BU during April-December 2022, registering a growth of 11.6 per cent over the previous year. The NTPC group has installed capacity of 70,824 MW. Recently, the company crossed 3 GW of renewable energy capacity.

Subsuming electricity into GST

This will reduce costs for businesses, eliminate cross-subsidy and reduce the inefficiencies in the use of electricity by the agriculture and residential sectors