Page 9 - Electricity

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

Punjab paid back entire Rs 20,200 cr electricity subsidy for FY22: Mann

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Friday said the state has cleared its entire electricity subsidy bill of Rs 20,200 crore for the last financial year and has witnessed a jump in excise and GST revenue. Mann, addressing the media here, said the state has registered a revenue of Rs 8,841 crore for the financial year 2022-23, up by 41.41 per cent as against revenue of 2021-22. He said his government has set a target of 10,000 crore in excise revenue for the current fiscal, as he criticised the previous governments for allowing "liquor mafia" in the state. Mann said that the state has registered a 16.6 per cent jump in the Goods & Services Tax collection, earning Rs 18,126 crore in revenue for the year 2022-23. "We are now among the top states in terms of GST collection," he said. Mann said the state has registered a rise of 78 per cent in stamp duty and fee collection in the month of March. The government had earlier announced an exemption of 2.25 per cent on stamp duty and fees .

Electricity consumption dips 0.74% to 127.52 bn units in March: Govt data

India's power consumption dipped 0.74 per cent to 127.52 billion units (BU) in March this year for the first time in 31 months, according to government data. The contraction in power consumption is mainly because of widespread rains due to western disturbances in the country and low temperature in March. Last contraction in power consumption was recorded in August in 2020, when it declined by over two per cent to 109.21 BU, compared to 111.52 BU in August 2019. Power consumption had slumped in 2020 due to the impact of lockdown restrictions imposed to curb the spread of deadly coronavirus. Experts are hopeful that power consumption and demand would grow April onwards, due to further improvement in economic activities as well as rise in temperature. In March 2022, power consumption stood at 128.47 billion units (BU), higher than the 120.63 BU in the same month of 2021, the data showed. Electricity consumption in March 2020 stood at 98.95 BU. However, the data showed that the peak

Core sector output slows to 3-month low of 6% in Feb, crude production dips

Six of eight key infrastructure industries report sequential deceleration

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