Monthly Non-Fossil Fuels News Commentary: November 2019
India
RE Policy and Market Trends
India has asked state lenders to provide over $1 bn to government power distribution companies to clear longstanding debts to green energy firms that could hinder further investment. The companies owe solar and wind power generators including Goldman Sachs-backed ReNew Power and Softbank-backed SB Energy over ₹97 bn ($1.35 bn), according to the CEA. Adding to the problems of the power generators, a new government in Andhra Pradesh state – which owes renewable energy firms more than any other state – wants to renegotiate its contracts, saying the prices it pays are inflated. Foreign investment is central to India’s green energy ambitions, and a slowdown in overseas funding could hurt India’s commitment to increase adoption of renewable energy. India is looking to install 175 GW in renewable energy capacity by 2022, solar and wind power. Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp has plans to invest up to $100 bn in solar power generation in India. Andhra Pradesh, which accounts for about a 10th of India’s renewable energy capacity, owes green energy generators ₹25.1 bn ($353 mn), over a fourth of all dues. Increasing its pressure further on renewable energy developers, the Andhra Pradesh government has amended its solar and wind power policies, effectively taking more control over setting tariffs from such power generation units. According to industry sources, the move would create further confusion in the investment environment in the renewable energy sector in the state. Deleting older provisions, the new order mandates that the transmission and distribution charges for wheeling power would be determined by the state power regulator. In its latest order, Andhra Pradesh energy department states that tariff from renewable energy-based electricity will not be more than the “difference between pooled variable cost and balancing cost”. Balancing cost refers to the expenses that power distribution companies incur in order to accommodate renewable energy in the system. Variable cost mainly includes the expenses on fuel and its transportation for power generation by conventional sources. Andhra Pradesh is among the largest adopters of renewable energy and ReNew Power, about 49 percent owned by Goldman Sachs, is India’s largest renewable energy company. But the state has been curtailing power procurement from renewable energy companies, citing high prices, and pushed to renegotiate its supply contracts with them. ReNew has an installed capacity of over 5 GW and plans to add another 3 GW by mid-2021. The government will not remove the wind and solar ‘tariff caps’ or the fixed highest ask price in the wind and solar capacity auctions of the Government of India, MNRE. SECI conducts capacity auctions on behalf of the government. The tariff caps for the latest auctions of wind and solar were ₹2.93 and ₹2.85 respectively. The existence of the tariff caps has been a sore point with the industry, which it finds unfair and unviable. In India, solar capacity auctions were always held on the basis of tariffs. The solar energy company (or, ‘developer’) who offered to sell at the least tariffs would get to sign a power purchase agreement for a specified capacity. Utilities used to procure wind power at fixed tariffs determined by the respective state electricity regulatory commission. However, the SECI options became a template for state governments to follow; they gave up fixed tariffs and began buying wind and solar power through auctions. In Gujarat’s auction of December 2017, tariffs fell to ₹2.43, the lowest ever. Ever since, renewable energy developers – wind companies in particular – have been clamouring for removal of caps, but the government has been unrelenting.
The MNRE has issued guidelines for setting up of 10 lakh grid-connected solar power pumps under the ambitious PM-KUSUM scheme. Under “Component C” of the scheme 10 lakh agriculture pumps of 7.5 HP capacity each are planned to be solarised by 2022. As per provisions of the scheme, initially one lakh grid-connected pumps are targeted to be solarised on pilot basis and further scale-up will be carried out after the evaluation of the pilot phase. The scheme aims at ensuring reliable day time power supply for irrigation, reducing subsidy burden on discoms and providing additional sources of income to the farmers. The scheme provides for support for individual farmers with grid-connected agriculture pumps. It will support setting up solar photovoltaic capacity up to two times the pump capacity in kW so that farmers can use the power to meet their irrigation needs and generate additional income by selling surplus solar power to discoms. The guidelines for the implementation of PM KUSUM Scheme were issued in July this year stating that central public sector undertakings and state implementation agencies will carry out the tendering process. The centre has already said it will provide CFA up to 30 percent of the cost of solarisation of the pump for solar PV components including solar modules, controllers or inverters, balance of system, installation & commissioning on the basis of benchmark cost or cost discovered through tender. The CFA will be provided for solarisation of pumps up to 7.5 HP and depending upon the tariff model adopted, discoms will purchase solar power from farmers at a rate decided by the respective state entities.
The MNRE is planning to review a programme that aims to set-up 5,000 MW of solar power generation capacity under the JNNSM. MNRE has invited bids from consultants for evaluation of the scheme under batch-IV of the phase-II of JNNSM. According to the document of the proposed study, proposals have been invited from the eligible parties within three weeks from the date of notification inviting bids i.e. by 20 November. The government has been implementing this scheme since February 2016 with the objective of implementation of at least 5,000 MW grid-connected solar projects with viability gap funding. The solar power procured from the projects is being sold to discoms and state utilities at a pre-defined tariff or tariff discovered through competitive e-bidding, with a trading margin of 7 paisa per kilowatt hour assigned by the SECI. The ministry said that the detailed study report on the evaluation of the scheme would be prepared by the bidder to determine the extent to which it has been implemented during the period between 2015-2016 and 2018-2019 by random sample selections of the solar projects out of the total projects commissioned under the scheme. The evaluation must be done by the bidders on the need for continuation of the scheme along with the period of further continuation. The CFA provided under the scheme for the solar projects also need to be reviewed and recommendations should be suggested in the same. According to the ministry, other areas of evaluation would include assessment of tariffs for solar projects under the scheme, constraints and roadblocks under the current model, especially, if it has to be extended to the northeast regions of the country, and ways to increase the involvement of state governments in the implementation of the scheme.
New solar installations in the country are coming down, as India added only 3.2 GW of solar power across the country in the first half of this year, down 35 percent year-on-year. As against this, about 5 GW of solar capacity was installed across the country including both large-scale and rooftop solar in the first half of 2018. Cumulative solar installations at the end of September 2019 reached 33.8 GW, representing 9.2 percent of the total power generation capacity in India, which comes around 366 GW. India’s target is to reach 100 GW capacity of solar installations by 2022. Of late, investor concerns on policies, falling tariffs, land issues and funding have resulted in no takers for new biddings for solar projects. Rooftop solar installations accounted for 17 percent of total solar installations in the first half, a decline of 45 percent compared to first half of the 2018. Cumulative rooftop installations totalled nearly 3,816 MW as of June. Although new solar installations were down, India was still third largest solar market in the world behind China and the United States, data from Mercom India Research, part of global clean energy communications and consulting firm Mercom Capital Group, said. The Mercom report said Adani is the largest project developer in terms of cumulative solar installations as of June 2019. Five companies, led by ACME Solar, had a cumulative project development pipeline of over 1.5 GW apiece at the end of June 2019. Installations in the Indian solar market rose by 36 percent y-o-y during Q3 of calendar year 2019, reaching 2,170 MW from 1,592 MW a year ago. Compared to the second quarter of 2019, installations are up by 44 percent. However, solar installations in the first nine months of 2019 reached 5.4 GW, down 19 percent from 6.7 GW of capacity added in the first nine months of 2018, according to Mercom India Research. Total power capacity addition during nine months of 2019 was 13 GW from all power generation sources. Of this, renewable energy sources accounted for nearly 56 percent of installations, with solar representing 41.4 percent of new capacity and wind with 13.6 percent. Tamil Nadu was the top state for large-scale solar installations in Q3 2019, followed by Rajasthan and Karnataka. Large-scale solar installations were mostly concentrated in five states, which made up 96 percent of installed capacity in the quarter. Gujarat government has set a target of 30,000 MW of renewable energy generation by 2022 from the current 9,670 MW. At present, the state has a total of 9,670 MW production of renewable energy which includes 6,880 MW wind energy and 2,654 MW solar energy. Gujarat has overtaken Maharashtra as its contribution in the country in industrial production increases 16.81 percent compared to 14.21 percent of latter.
Solar Projects
CIL has invited bids from developers for setting up a 100 MW solar power plant in Solar Power Developer and Operator mode in Chhattisgarh. It will cater to the green energy requirement of CIL subsidiary of South Eastern Coalfields which consumes around 850 million units of power annually. CIL’s total annual Power requirement for coal production is around 4.5 billion units which would require setting up 3000 MW of solar power projects. In order to achieve its goal, the company has formed a joint venture with NLC India, formerly Neyveli Lignite Corp, to jointly set up 5000 MW of power generation capacity of which 3000 MW would be solar powered while the rest 2000 MW would be coal-fuelled. The tender of the first solar power plant to be set up in the Gurugram has been released. With the initial capacity of 30 MW, HPGCL plans to generate a total of 90 MW of solar power in near future. The first plant will come up in Sainik Colony of Sector 49 here with an installed capacity of 30 MW and the construction work is expected to start within the designated period after the opening of the bid on 28 November. Notably, the HPGCL had to close a 210 MW coal power station located at Bata Chowk several years ago as it had completed its life and had been a cause of air pollution. Haryana has now set a target of 3,200 MW of solar power to be generated by 2021-22. The current installed and commissioned solar capacity in the state is 73.27 MW. Under the Mukhyamantri Solar Power Yojana, Delhi government’s flagship scheme launched in 2018, 146 MW solar capacity has been achieved in 2,900-odd installations that has helped reduce 500 tonnes CO2-eq emissions daily. Last year, 25 percent of the societies in Dwarka availed the scheme. It also explained that if any society wanted to install solar panels, Delhi government provided subsidy worth 30 percent of the cost of the plant. BRPL, one of the power discoms of Delhi, will launch a blockchain-based platform on a trial basis for consumer-to-consumer (or peer-to-peer) solar power trading. The method can be used by consumers with rooftop solar power infrastructure to further monetise their investment. Consumers with this infrastructure can sell their excess solar energy to their neighbours even if they do not have rooftop solar power, BSES said. BRPL has partnered with Australia’s Power Ledger, a global player in the blockchain technology, to launch the consumer-to-consumer solar power trading on a trial basis. The UP government has introduced the blockchain technology to the rooftop solar power segment, allowing consumers to trade their surplus solar energy. Two state power utilities —UPPCL and UPNEDA — have launched the ambitious project as a pilot in select government buildings in Lucknow with installed rooftop solar power plants. According to state energy watchdog UP Electricity Regulatory Commission, Phase-I of the pilot project is expected to be completed in six months. The pilot project drafted by UPPCL and UPNEDA will demonstrate the technical feasibility of peer-to-peer energy trade between rooftop solar PV ‘prosumers’ using the modern blockchain technology. Power consumers who also produce electricity through rooftop solar PV system are referred to as ‘prosumers’.
The government is planning to set up 14 MW solar power projects in Leh and Kargil. The government has set an installation target of 175 GW of grid-connected renewable power capacity by 2020. Of this, 100 GW. Even five years after the signing an MoU with the Union Government on generating 7,500 MW solar power energy, J & K has failed to achieve the target in this regard. In March 2014, an MoU with the MNRE for the implementation of solar power projects of the capacity of 7,500 MW was signed. Under the MoU, solar projects of the capacity of 5,000 MW in Ladakh and 2,500 MW in Kargil, possessing tremendous potential for new and renewable energy, was to be taken up for implementation. Similarly, it was also part of the MoU to set up solar panels in all technical institutes across J&K. The erstwhile state of J&K, comprising Ladakh, had solar power potential of 111.05 GW and it was the second highest in the country after Rajasthan, which has the solar energy potential of 142 GW. The solar power capacity of the country recently crossed the milestone of 5,000 MW, with Rajasthan topping the list with the total commissioned capacity of 1264.35 MW, followed by Gujarat with 1024.15 MW. J&K does not figure in the list where the states have grid-connected solar power projects as it has failed to generate energy through solar power plants.
As many as 42,500 buildings will sport solar panels on its rooftops, as KSEB is set to tap solar energy from January onwards. It has selected the buildings among 278,257 registered for the Soura programme. The buildings include houses, shops, institutions. Thrissur tops the list with 7549 buildings ready for solar makeover. The first phase of project would be completed by June. The project aims at generating 200 MW of power. Nearly 150 MW of projects would be developed under the tariff-based RESCO mode and 50 MW will be developed under engineering, procurement, and construction mode. KSEB had started online registration of the program in July 2018 and closed it on 31 January 2019. The second phase of the project is aimed at generating 300 MW. It is expected to complete by May 2021. Clay roof tiles, colloquially referred to as Mangalorean tiles that typically adorn roofs of traditional Goan homes, may soon make way for more modern and solar energy-generating tiles. Goa will implement the RESCO model of solar power generation, in which roof space is utilised for outfitting of solar panels that help generate cheaper power. Private empanelled vendors will be roped in for installation of solar tiles, which would reduce consumption of conventional energy up to 30-40 percent inside the dwellings. Twenty percent of the cost of the electricity saved will be paid to the vendors for installation of the solar panels. The Goa government plans to generate at least 13 MW of power through solar installations in the state by March next year, and the solar power would be connected to the state power grid. The state consumes 650 MW of power on a daily basis. The Legislative Assembly Secretariat in Puducherry inaugurated its rooftop solar power project. The 20 kW solar plant will generate 100 units of power per day. The solar panels costing ₹1.32 mn are mounted on to three buildings in the Legislative Assembly complex. They are expected to generate around 30,000 units of electricity every year and will reduce electricity bills by₹168,000 per year. Under the Solar City Project, the Renewable Energy Agency of Puducherry has entered into an agreement with an agency for installing rooftop panels on 22 government buildings. The project aims to generate 950 kWp of power per day from the panels. This will reduce power bills by ₹1.5 mn per year. BHEL is all set to commence construction of the 25 MW floating solar power plant at NTPC Simhadri Super Thermal Power Station in Deepanjalinagar, 40 km from the city. Once completed, the floating solar power plant would be the largest in Andhra Pradesh. This also marks the second largest initiative taken by NTPC towards adopting renewable energy, after the 100 MW floating solar photovoltaic power plant at Ramagundam in Telangana. BHEL has the largest portfolio in the green initiative segment for generation of renewable energy by offering engineering solutions for off-grid and grid-interactive solar photovoltaic power plants, rooftop, floating solar and canal-top solar projects. IIT-Kharagpur said 44,000 micro solar domes will be provided to poor households in rural areas of ten states under a project to provide clean energy at an affordable price. Poor families are often unable to afford the grid- connected electricity while others may find disruption of power supply due to natural disasters. The project intends to provide 44,000 micro solar domes in households of marginalised (SC and ST) communities in rural areas in West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Assam, Odisha, Tripura, Manipur, Rajasthan, and Bihar.
Wind Projects
Wind energy solutions provider Inox Wind said it has been granted extension by SECI for the scheduled commissioning of 550 MW inter-state transmission system connected wind power projects in Gujarat. The time extension has been granted by SECI due to delay in operationalisation of long-term access by the central transmission utility, Inox Wind said. Inox Wind is a player in the wind energy market with three manufacturing plants in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The company’s manufacturing capacity stands at 1,600 MW per annum. Leading wind energy solutions provider Inox Wind said it has bagged an order for a 38 MW wind power project to be developed at Anjar town in Kutch district of Gujarat. The project from ReNew Power Ltd is under the SECI second regime. It is scheduled to be commissioned by January 2020. The order comprises of supplying 19 units of Inox Wind’s 2 MW 113 metre rotor diameter turbine combined with 92 metre hub height. ReNew Power is already an existing customer of Inox Wind with an installed capacity of 236 MW supplied by Inox Wind spread across multiple wind-rich states. India has set an ambitious target of having 175 GW of clean energy capacity by 2022, including 100 GW solar and 60 GW of wind energy.
Biomass Projects
In a bid to make the city’s Gaushalas self-dependant, Lucknow Municipal Corp has proposed a project that will generate biogas and CNG from cow dung. With air quality over north India deteriorating once again, UP has appealed to farmers to not burn crop residue but instead use it to increase soil productivity. The government was exploring the opportunity to convert crop residue into fuel and at some point in future, could even purchase it from farmers. Farm fires in rice producing states of UP, Haryana and Punjab have been identified as a major cause of air pollution. Several cities in UP where air pollution is being monitored have shown extremely high levels of harmful particulate matter. Burning stubble decreases the productivity of soil and adversely impacts environment. The government is promoting sugarcane production and opening more sugar mills in UP. Sugarcane leaves would be generated as “waste” but instead of being burnt, they could be used for maintaining moisture in the soil for the next sugarcane crop. As part of its efforts to promote waste-to-energy, the government has set up a total capacity of 56.34 MW for power generation from waste in last three years. So far 199 waste-to-energy projects for generation of biogas/bio-CNG/ power based on urban, industrial, agriculture waste and municipal solid waste have been successfully established in the country as on 31 October 2019. The MNRE is implementing a scheme ‘Programme on Energy from Urban, Industrial and Agricultural Wastes/Residues’ for promoting setting up waste-to-energy to recover energy in the form of biogas or bio-CNG from urban industrial and agricultural wastes. Crop stubble in Punjab and Haryana, blamed for making the already foul air of northern India more toxic on being burnt, will feed four large ethanol and bio-CNG plants being set up in the two states. Farming in the two states produces 30 mt of paddy stubble every kharif season. Most farmers burn this crop residue as there is no cheaper way of clearing the fields. But this practice, and the criticism that it is leading to health emergencies, could soon ebb as work on the planned ethanol and bio-CNG plants has picked up pace. Praj Industries is the main technology provider for second-generation ethanol to Indian companies including IOC, BPCL, HPCL and MRPL. It is working on the four-integrated commercial-scale smart biorefineries based on in-house 2nd-generation technology to convert biomass to ethanol. IOC and HPCL are setting up bio-refineries in Haryana and Punjab, respectively.
Hydro Projects
BBMB signs MoU for 40 MW hydropower project Shimla: After 40 years of completion of Beas Satluj Link project, 40 MW hydel project would come up at Pandoh-Baggi tunnel. BBMB has entered into an MoU with the Himachal Pradesh government for setting up of 40 MW Baggi power house in Mandi district during the ‘Global Investors Meet’ at Dharamshala. This power project includes two units of 20 MW each and is located at the tail of Pandoh-Baggi tunnel. The project has been assigned BBMB by the Union power ministry on 22 October, after concurrence of all the partner states. The project would cost ₹3.5 bn. SJVNL signed a pact with Himachal Pradesh for commissioning the 430 MW Reoli Dugli Hydro Electric Project on the Chenab river basin. Earlier, the SJVNL had signed seven pacts with the state. The eight projects required an investment of ₹240 bn and they are expected to generate employment for 11,950 people. The eight projects will generate 2,388 MW of electricity. The company is currently generating 2015.2 MW of power.
Nuclear Projects
A total of 440 MW of Nuclear Power generation is expected to begin in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka between 27 November and 1 December this year, as per Power System Operation Corp Ltd. The two units of 220 MW each belongs to India’s nuclear power operator NPCIL. The NPCIL has two units of 220 MW each at Madras Atomic Power Station and four units of 220 MW each at Kaiga Generating Station.
International Cooperation
The Union Cabinet gave ex-post facto approval to a pact signed between India and Guinea in the field of renewable energy. The objective of the MoU is to establish the basis for a cooperative institutional relationship and to encourage and promote bilateral technical cooperation in renewable energy on the basis of mutual benefit, equality and reciprocity between the parties. The areas of cooperation include solar energy, wind energy, bio-energy, and waste to energy, small hydro storage and capacity build. German Chancellor Anjela Merkel visited the Dwarka Sector 21 metro station, which is fitted with solar panels funded by the KfW, a state-owned development bank of her country. Merkel visited the terrace of the metro station where she was briefed by officials of the Delhi Metro Rail Corp about the solar project. The Frankfurt-based bank has also offered soft loans for other projects in India, including the Clean Ganga Mission. The visit to the metro station, the first-solar fitted one in the mammoth Delhi Metro network, was the last leg of Merkel’s trip to India
Rest of the World
Global Trends
The world’s major fossil fuel producers are set to bust global environmental goals with excessive coal, oil and gas extraction in the next decade, the UN and research groups said in the latest warning over climate crisis. The report reviewed specific plans from 10 countries, including superpowers China and the US as well as trends for the rest of the world and estimated that global fossil fuel production by 2030 would be at levels between 50-120 percent over Paris Agreement targets. Under that 2015 global pact, nations committed to a long-term goal of limiting the average temperature increase to within 1.5-2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The International Finance Corp has led the financing of a first-of-its-kind programme to build six wind power projects in Pakistan, named the Super Six, with a total investment of $450 mn. The programme aims to help deliver cleaner, cheaper power to meet the country’s critical demand for energy and reduce reliance on expensive imported fossil fuels. The Super Six plants, with a combined capacity of 310 MW, will deliver among the lowest-cost power generation in the country to date. The programme is also expected to lead to emission reductions of about 650,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. Spent fuel storage at South Africa’s Koeberg nuclear plant will reach full capacity by April as state power utility Eskom awaits regulatory approval for new dry storage casks, the company said. Storage of high-level radioactive waste is a major environmental concern in the region, as South Africa looks to extend Koeberg’s life for another two decades and mulls extra nuclear power plants. Koeberg, Africa’s only nuclear facility, is situated about 35 km from Cape Town and was connected to the grid in the 1980s under apartheid. Anti-nuclear lobby group Earthlife Africa said South Africa could not afford the social, environmental and economic costs associated with nuclear waste. The EIB said it would stop funding fossil fuel projects at the end of 2021, a landmark decision that potentially deals a blow to billions of dollars of gas projects in the pipeline. The bank’s new energy lending policy, which it said was approved with “overwhelming” support, will bar most fossil fuel projects, including traditional use of natural gas. Under the new policy, energy projects applying for EIB funding will need to show they can produce one kilowatt hour of energy while emitting less than 250 grams of carbon dioxide, a move which bans traditional gas-burning power plants. The policy raises new risks for the gas industry, which has more than $200 bn in LNG projects lining up to go ahead worldwide over the next five years, aiming to provide a cleaner alternative to coal and oil. Under the new policy, gas projects would have to be based on what the bank called “new technologies,” such as carbon capture and storage, combining heat and power generation or mixing in renewable gases with the fossil natural gas. Environmental organisations celebrated the EIB decision, but expressed disappointment that its introduction will be delayed by a year after lobbying by European Union member states.
China
China will cut its renewable power subsidy to 5.67 bn yuan ($806.50 mn) in 2020 from 8.1 bn yuan in 2019, the finance ministry said, as the country will soon stop funding large solar power stations. The subsidy for 2020 will be allocated to wind farms, biomass power generators and distributed solar power operators, as well as solar power projects for poverty alleviation purposes, in 11 regions across the country, according to the finance ministry. Total subsidies for solar projects are set at 2.63 bn yuan, while wind farms will receive 2.97 bn yuan and biomass generators will get 73.39 mn yuan. The amount of new installed solar capacity was 16 GW in the first three quarters of this year, the National Environmental Administration has reported. China plans to end subsidies for new onshore wind power projects at the start of 2021. Surging renewable power capacity in the recent years has left the finance ministry with a subsidy payment backlog of at least 120 bn yuan and endangered the cash flow of renewable power operators. China plans to make power purchasers take fair returns into account when buying electricity from renewable power generators, according to a draft rule issued by the NEA aimed at improving their revenues. The draft rule will apply to non-hydropower resources, including wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and ocean power. China said it will cut its renewable power subsidy by 30 percent to $800 mn in 2020, and plans to stop funding large solar power stations and onshore wind farms in the coming two years, partly due to a payment backlog. China, the world’s largest energy consumer, has been boosting consumption of clean energy by forcing grid firms to prioritise renewable power resources and to maximise purchases from local renewable power providers. In future, local energy administrations would also need to take into account “fair returns” for renewable power producers, the NEA said. A preliminary text agreed by EU member states calls on the European Investment Bank to stop funding fossil fuel projects, in what would be a breakthrough in the bloc’s climate policy and a blow to the coal, gas and oil industries. The text for the first time calls on the EIB, a multilateral development bank and the bloc’s top lender, to bring to an end its multi-billion-euro funding of fossil fuel projects in a bid to reduce carbon emissions. EIB figures show the bank funded almost €2 bn ($2.2 bn) of fossil fuel projects last year and €13.4 bn worth since 2013. The EIB board, which is composed of the same EU finance ministers who will have to endorse the document, failed to find an agreement to end fossil fuel funding last October, as countries remained divided. China will ban the construction of small hydropower plants in regions that already have an electricity surplus and encourage new dams in poor and remote locations with little grid access, its energy regulator said. China’s National Energy Administration said the draft rules aim to promote the orderly development of the hydropower sector after decades of rampant and poorly planned capacity growth. The regulator said small hydro plants would be banned in forest parks, scenic spots, habitats for rare fish and other “ecologically fragile” zones. China’s hydropower sector is a major source of clean energy, with a capacity of about 350 GW or around 18 percent of the country’s total.
Rest of Asia
ADB has signed a $60 mn financing package with Nepal Water and Energy Development Company to help build and operate a 216 MW run-of-the-river hydropower plant on the Trishuli River near the capital Kathmandu. The project is one of the largest private sector investments in Nepal to date. It will enhance the country’s energy security by helping to utilise its renewable hydro resources and reduce imports of electricity. Once operational, the plant is expected to provide over 1,200 GWh of clean electricity annually to the national grid. The project is aligned with ADB’s operational priorities outlined in Strategy 2030, notably to eradicate remaining poverty, reduce inequalities, tackle climate change, build climate and disaster resilience, and enhance environmental sustainability.
Middle East and Africa
Saudi Arabia’s Al Jouf region will launch its first renewable power project before the end of the year. The 300 MW Sakaka solar photovoltaic IPP project is estimated to generate enough clean energy to power 45,000 households in the Al Jouf region while offsetting over 500,000 tonnes of CO2 a year. The project is said to be the first renewable energy project being built under King Salman’s renewable energy initiative. Iran started pouring concrete at its second nuclear power plant, a key step in building the facility with Russian help in the southern port of Bushehr. The United States plans to allow Russian, Chinese and European companies to continue work at Iranian nuclear facilities to make it harder for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon.
Europe and UK
Norway is working on a new licensing system to speed up the construction of onshore wind farms after a public backlash forced it to abandon a previous plan to develop the sector. The government shelved a wind power framework proposed by the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE), casting uncertainty on applications for new wind farms amid an existing moratorium on licenses. The NVE stopped approving new wind power projects in April after a raft of protests to give the government time to work on a new framework for developments. Polish energy group PGE is close to signing a deal to sell 50 percent stakes in two planned offshore wind projects in the Baltic Sea to Denmark’s Orsted, the companies said. The projects, which have a total capacity of up to 2.5 GW, are key to developing the offshore wind sector in otherwise coal-reliant Poland. For coal-reliant Poland, offshore wind, together with other renewables, is seen as an opportunity to put the energy industry on a greener path. The Polish government has set a target of generating at least 10 GW of offshore wind power by 2040 compared to zero, and is finalizing the legal framework to support this. Italian defense and aerospace group Leonardo has invested in a company developing solar-powered drones potentially capable of unlimited flight with no refueling, it said. The drone, which is expected to begin autonomous flights next year and go into production in 2021, can operate from existing airbases around the world and remain airborne for much longer than current aircraft. Leonardo said the system would comply with European export laws and would not be subject to international arms trafficking restrictions. However, development has been hampered by issues such as installing solar panels that generate enough power for flight without adding too much weight to the aircraft. French utility EDF said had temporarily stopped operating reactors 2, 3 and 4 of its Cruas nuclear plant in the Ardeche region, to carry out additional checks after the area was hit by an earthquake earlier in the day. Reactor 1 of the Cruas plant had already been shut down for scheduled maintenance. EDF said that reactors would be restarted after the checks have been completed and approved by French nuclear safety authority ASN. Halting the reactors removed around 2,700 MW of French power generation capacity. The Cruas reactors have a capacity of around 900 MW each. Reactor number 1 has been offline since 7 September for planned maintenance and it is expected to restart on 1 December. French electricity consumption is expected to jump by around 9.2 GW. France wants to construct a wind farm off the coast of Normandy as the nuclear-dependent nation moves to expand power generation from renewable sources, the energy ministry said. The planned 1 GW wind farm could have up to 80 wind turbines of around 12 MW each, in an area where wind conditions and the seabed are very favorable for offshore wind power at a competitive price, the ministry said. France is racing to boost the share of renewable generation capacity in its energy mix and reduce its dependence on nuclear energy. It plans to shut down old nuclear plants and will phase out coal-fired generation to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The ministry said it plans to boost the share of renewables in the French energy mix to around 40 percent by 2030. Nuclear power from its 58 reactors currently covers around 75 percent of French electricity needs. Although France has one of Europe’s biggest coastlines with good wind speeds for viable wind farm projects, it is lagging its European peers in developing offshore wind projects. The government announced in June that it will double its target for developing offshore wind projects to 1 GW per year from 500 MW. It currently has no offshore wind farm in operation. The Normandy offshore project is likely to attract bids from major energy companies such as state-controlled utility EDF, energy major Total and Engie as the firms vie to expand the footprint in the renewables sector. EDF edged out rivals Total and Engie for a contract to build a 600 MW offshore wind project near Dunkirk in western France in June. Spanish power firm Iberdrola SA said it plans to make its first foray into the Asia-Pacific, building a A$500 mn ($343 mn) wind and solar farm in Australia. Iberdrola, which up to now has focused on Europe, the United States, Mexico and Brazil, has picked a site in South Australia, Australia’s most wind power-reliant state, to build a 320 MW hybrid project. The company aims to have the projects up and running by 2021.
North & South America
Solar companies expect a run of California wildfires that triggered power outages across vast swathes of the state will fuel demand for panels and battery storage systems from homeowners seeking to avoid blackouts. The fires, driven by howling seasonal winds, have forced California power utility PG&E to cut electricity to millions of people to prevent its transmission lines from touching off new blazes. Solaria, a California-based solar panel manufacturer, has also introduced a discount of 2 percent to 5 percent for California installers who put up its product. Demand for battery storage has grown around 30 percent to 40 percent in areas affected by the outages. The outages have affected affluent parts of California that can afford solar and battery systems to keep their electric vehicles charged and wine cellars cold.
Australia
Australian power generation company Genex Power said it received credit approval to fund two of its solar projects in the country. The A$175 mn ($118.97 mn) debt facility will be used to fund the construction of its 50 MW Jemalong Solar Project in the state of New South Wales and to refinance the existing debt facility for the 50 MW Kidston Solar One Project in Queensland state, the company said.
SECI: Solar Energy Corp of India, CEA: Central Electricity Authority, mn: million, bn: billion, MW: megawatt, GW: gigawatt, MNRE: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, PM-KUSUM: Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan, HP: horsepower, discoms: distribution companies, CFA: Central Financial Assistance, PV: photovoltaic, JNNSM: Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, y-o-y: year-on-year, Q3: third quarter, CIL: Coal India Ltd, HPGCL: Haryana Power Generation Corp Ltd, CO2: carbon dioxide, BRPL: BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd, UP: Uttar Pradesh, UPPCL: UP Power Corp Ltd, UPNEDA: UP New and Renewable Energy Development Agency, MoU: Memorandum of Understanding, J&K: Jammu and Kashmir, KSEB: Kerala State Electricity Board, RESCO: renewable energy service company, kW: kilowatt, BHEL: Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, kWp: kilowatt peak, km: kilometre, CNG: compressed natural gas, BBMB: Bhakra Beas Management Board, SJVNL: Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd, NPCIL: Nuclear Power Corp of India Ltd, UN: United Nations, EIB: European Investment Bank, LNG: liquefied natural gas, NEA: National Energy Administration, EU: European Union, ADB: Asian Development Bank, GWh: gigawatt hour, UK: United Kingdom
India Energy Analysis 