www.powerwatchindia.

com

Vol 7 Issue 08 October 2016 Rs. 50

EVENT FOCUS: SWITCH GLOBAL EXPO 2016

WIRE & CABLE INDIA 2016

GREEN AHEAD : BIOMASS

SPOTLIGHT : POWER EQUIPMENT
SPECIAL FOCUS : LEDS AND LIGHTING

INTERSOLAR
INDIA 2016
SPECIAL

Neelima Jain,

Harish Ahuja,

Devesh Bansal,

Oleg Grigoryev,

National Programme Manager,

Energy Efficiency Services Ltd

Founder and CEO,

India Go Solar

Director,
Skipper Ltd

Vice-President of TVEL,
Rosatoms fuel company

Editor
R Srinivasan

Deputy Editor
Monica Chaturvedi Charna
Head Design & Production
Ravi Parmar
Production Supervisor
Dinesh Bhajnik
Designers
Prakash Gavnang, Arvind Avaghade
Head Color Correction & Quality Control
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Publisher
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Circulation
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Head Circulation - West and South
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Editor: R Srinivasan

olar installations are expected to

reach 64.7 GW in 2016 up from
57.8 GW forecast for 2015 and the
largest markets in 2016 will be China, US
and Japan, as per a Mercom report. India
has reached 2.8 GW in solar installations
year-to-date and cumulative installations
have reached 8.1 GW as of August 2016,
it said. As per its forecast, about 4.8 GW
of solar energy capacity is expected to be
installed in 2016. But it cautioned that
while solar installations and its share
of energy generation have picked up
momentum, discoms continue to be a
drag on the sector in view of their reluctance to purchase solar in light
of low power demand and cheap power availability on the exchanges.
It called upon the centre to address the issue immediately to restore
conidence among developers and investors.
In a recent solar development, the World Trade Organisation
(WTO) ruled against Indias domestic content requirement (DCR)
policy following a dispute raised by the US. The US argument is that
the DCR under Indias solar programme violates global trading rules
by discriminating against imported solar cells and modules. At this
juncture, India pointed out violations of some WTO provisions by
US in its own renewable energy sector and said that about eight US
states (Washington, California, Montana, Massachusetts, Connecticut,
Michigan, Delaware and Minnesota) support their renewable sector
with subsidies and domestic content requirements.
A US statement said that US solar exports have fallen by more than
90% since India implemented DCR rules. Mercom said, The reason for
this fall has more to do with competition from cheaper Chinese panels
than DCR rules. Chinese panels are being sold in India at the cheapest
prices anywhere in the world - at or below $0.39 (~Rs.26)/watt.
Two examples here to put things in perspective - Eight out of the
top 10 solar module suppliers in the Indian market are now from China
as against four last year, as per consulting irm Bridge to India. Also
in 2015, 80 per cent of the approximately 161 million imported solar
panels were from China.
Commenting on WTOs impact, Mercom said that in the short
term, this will afect manufacturers who are overly dependent on
the DCR market but in the long term, the efect should be minimal,
as DCR projects are a small part of the projects auctioned and that
manufacturers will now have clarity and can adjust their strategy
accordingly in order to compete.
At this crucial juncture, India should support local manufacturing
companies, without running afoul of WTO rules, especially in view of
its energy security needs even while reducing the carbon footprint so
that we could look forward to sunny days ahead.

R Srinivasan

Editors note
Editors
note

Editorial Advisory Board

Hoshang S Billimoria
Adi Engineer
P V Krishna
C A Colaco
Jayant D Kulkarni

    



 
 



 
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Page
Contents

22

COVER STORY
The government, even while
abiding by the WTO ruling, is
planning a scheme to subsidise
both local as well as foreign
manufacturers.

30 Tete-a-tete
Harish Ahuja, Founder and CEO,
India Go Solar, explains about the
exclusive online B2B business
model that he has started in India
to bring the buyer and seller of
solar based products and services
together on a single platform.

46 IEX market snapshot

64 Power trading

32 Solar rooftop in India: Current

48 Special Focus

65 Events

scenario and challenges by Nikhil

Sanghani, VP-Sales, Vikram Solar.

The lighting industry in the country is

in a very interesting phase right now,
says Arun Gupta, MD, NTL Group.

34 Vinay Goyal, CEO, Ganges

Internationale Pvt Ltd speaks about
the level of penetration of trackers
in the solar sector.

36 Spotlight

50 India is the second largest LED

market in the world, says Neelima Jain,
National Programme Manager, Energy
Eiciency Services Ltd, in an interview

Developments in transmission
and long-term implications by AM
Devendranath AVP & BU Head,
Energy Vertical, Feedback Business
Consulting Services Pvt Ltd.

54 Special feature

40 PK Ranade, CMD, AMTL and

56 The future denitely belongs to

Axel Schuler, Head of Marketing

and Sales, Grasslin, in an interview.

a greater usage of monopoles, says

Devesh Bansal - Director, Skipper Ltd.

42 Green ahead

58 Generation

Biomass: Turning a challenge into

an opportunity.

Coal and gas-based hybrid solutions

give right balancing, informs
M Rajagopalan, Market Development
Director, Middle East, Asia and
Australia, Wartsila.

44 Vivek Sharma, Practice Leader

and Director - Energy and Natural
Resources, CRISIL, sheds light on
the viability of aggressive bidding
rates, expectations from the UDAY
scheme and key challenges facing
the rooftop segment.

Wire & Cable India 2016

10th REI Expo

Wires and cables industry is set to

grow at 10% CAGR, says Hemant
Gadhave - Business Unit Incharge,
Wires and Cables, Anchor.

60 Tech & services

India and Russia are in discussion for
localisation of components for nuclear
fuel, says Oleg Grigoryev, V-P, TVEL.

Huawei Connect 2016

India Energy Access Summit
ICA Indias seminar

Regulars
Dispatches
National.................................. 08
International...........................16
Finance....................................18
Equipment.............................. 62
Switch Gear........................ 82

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DESPATCHES NATIONAL

Oxford, TERI host

launch of novel on
ability to sustain
Oxford Bookstore in association
with TERI Books hosted the enthralling launch of Lucy And The
Train, a novel which draws a vivid
imagery of human mind and makes
an attempt to decipher the complex
human emotions and relationships
by metaphorically presenting a story
of a girl and her challenges towards
sustainability, by Anandajit Goswami. The event was attended by
environment experts and enthusiasts and book lovers of the city.
This book is subtitled as Tryst
with sustainability. Sustainability
has the word sustain and ability in
it and hence, the book is an attempt
to push future movement of todays
little stars to enable them to break
the mundane
practices of our
society, its environmental, ecological degradation and sustain
a future in a
new world by
questioning the
status quo, said
Anandajit. The
story takes the
reader on a surreal journey of sustainability by weaving a complex yet
beautiful tapestry of human mind,
relationships, and environment. The
title can be purchased from Flipkart,
Amazon, and the TERI Press website. The e-book is also available on
Amazon Kindle and Google books.
Anandajit Goswami is an independent sustainability consultant.
Established in 1919, Oxford Bookstore, with over 30 stores in India,
also ofers its customers, Indias
irst dedicated Childrens bookstore,
Indias irst of its kind tea boutique,
(Cha Bar) and Indias only literary
festival created by a bookstore, Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival.

PowerWatch INDIA

Centre mulls doubling the capacity of solar parks

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) will seek the
Union Cabinets nod to double the
capacity of solar parks to 40,000 MW
from 20,000 MW. Upendra Tripathi,
Secretary, MNRE, at the 10th REI
Expo said, The government has
taken measures to promote renewable energy. We have already seen an
eight-fold increase in the clean energy
cess on coal and are now planning to

scale up our solar parks. We will seek

Cabinet approval soon to scale up the
solar park programme to 40,000 MW
as against the 20,000 MW that was
earlier approved. Solar parks provide
integrated infrastructure for solar
power plant developers to set up their
generation units and are connected
to the grid, eliminating concern over
power evacuation of the generated
solar energy.

Price of LED bulbs drops to Rs 38

October 2016

The prices of LED bulbs being distributed by Energy Eicient Services Ltd
(EESL) have fallen to one-tenth of their
rates two years ago. Prices of LEDs
procured by EESL under the Unnat
Jyoti by Afordable LEDs for All (Ujala)
scheme have been consistently falling.
The company had in March received
bids at Rs 55 per piece and had purchased LEDs at Rs 310 in 2014. LED
bulbs are available in the market at Rs
90-100 a piece. LED bulbs consume 80%
less energy than incandescent bulbs
and almost half of that used by CFLs.
The govt expects to save 85 lakh Kwh
electricity consumption every day or
15,000 tonne of CO2 by replacing 77
crore conventional bulbs and CFLs with
the LEDs and 3.5 crore street lights over
three years. EESL has so far distributed

15 crore LED bulbs across the country

through Ujala.
64% citizens in dark about LED scheme
The government is promoting the usage
of LED bulbs aggressively, but a survey
claims that as many as 64 per cent of
citizens have not got these energy eficient bulbs and are unaware of how
to get them. The reason for this is that
the scheme has not been communicated
to consumers properly. They are not
aware of where to procure these bulbs
from, how many bulbs can they buy
and what is the paperwork required
for the same, the survey said. The govt
had announced the LED distribution
scheme under which customers of
electricity boards could buy LED at a
subsidised rate. PM Modi had launched
the scheme in April 2015.

Large population still without power in India: Report

Government data shows low power deicit and a surplus situation but a large
population is still without electricity and power cuts are part of daily life, says
a Mercom report. The power deicit numbers in India do not paint the full picture. ... large populations in India are still without electricity and power cuts are
still part of daily life in urban areas and more so in rural areas, the report titled
India Solar Quarterly Market Update said.

TRACKING THE SUN TO

A GREENER TOMORROW

Indias top Solar EPC company,Mahindra Susten, is Leading India

towards a solar revolution. With Sustainability at our core, we are
your partners in building a brighter future that is cleaner and greener.

1 GWp
Utility Scale
Solar

1 2MWp
Distributed
Solar

4,00,00 sq.ft
Sustainable Industrial
Construction execued

Single Axis Tracker

MSAT100 TM

www.mahindrasusten.com | sales.susten@mahindra.com

DESPATCHES NATIONAL
Sensitivity to the environment is central to NTPCs
growth and performance: NTPC CMD
Gurdeep Singh, CMD, NTPC, addressing shareholders at the 40th AGM
of the company in Delhi, said, NTPC is one of the engines of economic
growth. The more the economy grows, the greater the opportunities for
NTPC. Environmental sustainability will be our focus area and NTPC remains committed to take care of the society, especially the community in
the neighbourhood of its business units by improving the quality of life
of the people and promoting inclusive growth. He said India is the fastest growing major economy in the world with a huge potential appetite
for power consumption. NTPCs installed capacity today stands at 47,228
MW, including 800 MW hydro and 360 MW of solar capacity.
Energy efficient lighting solutions for NTPC
NTPC and Energy Eiciency Services Ltd (EESL) have joined hands for
implementation of energy eicient LED lighting solutions for all NTPCs
projects, stations and oices across the country with an MoU signed by
SK Roy, ED (OS), NTPC and AK Gupta, Director (Finance), EESL. The
MoUs objective is to enable EESL to provide end-to-end, state of the art
energy eicient LED lighting and solutions in accordance with requirements of NTPC.

Snapdeal warehouses to generate

solar energy

ABB Indias first shore-to-ship power supply

for Tuticorin port to reduce carbon footprint

Snapdeal, Indias largest online marketplace announced its plans to utilisesolarenergy in a big way
as an integral part of its daily operations. Thecentreswilldecrease power consumption by producing
nearly 1 MWat peakthroughsolarpanelsand generate 1.5 million units per year.In addition to extensive
use ofsolarpower, the warehouses are in the process
of becoming more energy eicient.

In line with the government of Indias Project Green Ports project,

ABB India has commissioned a state-of-the-art solution for shoreto-ship power supply for ships at the VO Chidambaranar Port,
formerly Tuticorin Port. This solution expands the scope of the
green agenda beyond renewable power to technology, which will
enable ships docking at a port to plug for power instead of running
on polluting diesel generators and using expensive power.
The Indian grid delivers power at a frequency of 50 Hz. So
ships, most of which adhere to European standards of 60 Hz, have
to depend on on-board diesel generators for power. For an average docking time of 60 hours for a commercial vessel at a port, the
diesel generators produce a staggering 360 MT of carbon dioxide.
ABB shore-to-ship technology supplies ships that are docked with
electricity from shore, so that they can turn of the diesel engines
that provide electricity for systems like heating, lighting and refrigeration of the vessel, and reduce greenhouse gas and noise emissions in port.

Essar Power Gujarat (EPGL), which

owns and operates the 2x600 MW
coal-based thermal power plant
at Salaya, has won two prestigious
awards at the recently held CIIs
17th National Award for Excellence
in Energy Management. EPGL
won the highest category award
for Excellent Energy
Eicient Unit

10

PowerWatch INDIA

October 2016

Consumers can now get an update

from discoms about outages in
their area through Urja Mitra
Helpline by dialling 14401. The
Department of Telecom (DoT) has
created the helpline to facilitate
discoms to provide information
about outages to customers. It is a
mandatory service, which will be
provided by all telecom operators.

Hero Electric launched a range of

lithium battery electric scooters.
The manufacturer aims to put over
three million electric two-wheelers
on Indian roads by 2020. Optima,
Maxi and NYX models were
launched. With an average mileage of 65 km on full charge, the
Optima could travel at a top speed
of 25 km/h.

DESPATCHES NATIONAL
Gauri Khan associated with home decorative
lighting brand Tisva
Gauri Khan has been associated with premium home decorative lighting brand Tisva from the house of Usha International Ltd. As part of this
alliance, Tisva will soon roll out campaigns featuring Gauri Khan and an
exclusive range of designer lights specially curated by her. Inspired by the
concept of Tvisha (light) and Tattva (essence), TISVA product portfolio has
always been a signature of the latest lighting trends backed by international
quality and service standards. Speaking on the association, Gauri Khan said,
This is the era for exclusive designing of living spaces. I have a passion for
design and TISVAs range of lights ofer the same warmth and exclusivity.
Proud to introduce Tisva, an exquisite range of designer lights curated by
me, for Usha International Ltd.
Vikas Gandhi, Vice President, Tisva said, The association with Gauri
Khan will create a stronger brand connect with our customers and trade
partners. The iconic interior designer truly represents sophistication in taste
and lends an authentic and credible voice to the designer lighting category
in the context of interior design. Thus she is an ideal choice for TISVA.

PowerGrid is third-fastest growing utility

Cairn India wins QCI - DL Shah National Quality Gold Award

PowerGrid Corporation has been declared as the third

fastest growing electric utility in the world. It is again
the Fastest Growing Electric Utility in Asia marking a
hat-trick for the third consecutive year in the industry
category of electric utilities and ranked as 19th fastest growing energy company, globally. The company
has earned #92 position in the recently declared 2016
Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings,
thereby making its entry into the top 100 for the
irst time.

Cairn Indias Mangala enhanced oil recovery (EOR) project for

Turnaround of complex quality issues in tankages by applying
integrated quality management approach in Barmer, Rajasthan
has won this years prestigious Quality Council of India - DL Shah
Gold Award. The awards have been instituted to promote awareness that performance improvement through quality initiatives is
an important element to gain a competitive edge. Sudhir Mathur,
acting CEO of Cairn India said that the company is proud that QCI
has recognised Cairn Indias leadership in adopting a suite of new
innovative technologies in Barmer, Rajasthan.

Hindustan Power bags award at 17th RPR

Tamil Nadu gets worlds largest solar plant

Hindustan Power was awarded Best Solar Developer

by Indian Power Producers Association of India (IPPAI) at its 17th Regulator and Policy makers Retreat
(RPR). The company has the distinction of commissioning Indias irst 5 MW and 30 MW solar projects
and has a pan-India presence. Harry Dhaul, Director
General, IPPAI, said, The need is to motivate and recognise players who have been in the sector for long.

A 648-MW solar power plant at Kamuthi in Ramanathapuram,

set up by Adani Group at an investment of Rs 4,536 crore was
recently inaugurated. According to an oicial release, the facility
is connected with Kamuthi 400 kV sub-station of Tantransco. An
Adani Group press release said that the facility was the worlds
largest solar power plant. The plant comprises 380,000 foundations, 25,00,000 solar modules, 27,000 MT of structure, 576 inverters, 154 transformers and 6,000 km of cables.

Muratas smart solutions at electronica 2016

Murata, a worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and sale of
ceramic-based passive electronic components and solutions, communication modules and power supply modules, participated in
electronica India 2016, Indias and South-Asias leading international
trade fair for electronic components, systems and applications.
Murata introduced the worlds irst team of robot cheerleaders, The
Murata Cheerleaders, for the irst time in India. The robots incorporate the latest sensor and communication, as well as highly advanced
group control technology, allowing them to perform with amazing
stability and execute dance routines in lawless synchronisation.

12

PowerWatch INDIA

October 2016

DESPATCHES NATIONAL

Alstom T&D India ag-off 800kV HVDC transformer

Alstom T&D India has lagged of the irst Made in India
800kV HVDC convertor transformer from its power transformer manufacturing facility at Vadodara, Gujarat. The
transformer was lagged-of by the Chief Minister of Gujarat,
Anandiben Patel, in the presence of IS Jha, Director Projects,
PowerGrid and other eminent dignitaries from various central
utilities, state utilities and private customers.
The convertor transformer is part of PowerGrids 3000
MW, 800kV Champa-Kurukshetra UHVDC Phase 1 link that
connects the power station of Central India near Champa to
the demand centre, 1365 kms away in Northern India
at Kurukshetra.

Panasonic India bags REI award

Panasonic Indias Energy Storage Solutions was awarded as the best in the Leading Energy Storage provider
category. The award was part of the Renewable Energy
India (REI) awards 2016, hosted by UBM India. Atul
Arya, Head, Energy Systems Division, Panasonic said,
We are honoured to receive this prestigious award.
This is in continuation with our robust eforts to provide a sustainable solution for energy storage in India.
Since peak usage of energy begins at dawn it is important to utilise energy in the most eicient manner and
use it when required utmost. Lithium ion is an answer
to our storage problems. It is an extremely signiicant
part of Indias energy needs and will help achieve the
National Solar Mission capacity of 100 GW by 2022.

NTL Lemnis bags URS Internationals Indias Greatest

Brands and Leaders 2015-16 Award
NTL Lemnis and its global LED lighting brand, Pharox were felicitated with Indias Greatest Brands and Leaders 2015-16 award in
the consumer electronics category at a glittering ceremony held
at Mumbai by URS International, the leading media and research
services organisation. The award was conferred on NTL Lemnis at
a well-attended ceremony at Mumbai where Tushar Gupta, Executive Director, NTL Lemnis, received the citation and trophy from
Alok Kumar Mehta, Minister, Cooperative Department, Government of Bihar. More than 300 business leaders, corporate honchos
and distinguished guests were present on the occasion.

Indiagosolar.in rolls out rst ever online ecosystem for Indian solar industry
Indiagosolar.in, Indias irst ever e-info marketplace rolls
out its comprehensive service oferings, starting with basic
information, consultancy to project execution and post implementation service across institutional and retail customers. The company provides a unique platform that ofers information, technical advisory services and multiple options
to buy and sell solar products and services online. IndiaGoSolar also facilitates inancing through banking partners,
government subsidies, and loans available to customers,

14

PowerWatch INDIA

October 2016

while purchasing a solar product or solution, thereby bringing complete transparency on each transaction. Indiagosolar.in lists only those integrators, EPC and manufacturers
on their platform which are already empanelled by MNRE
and state agencies. To ensure authenticity and credibility,
each of these companies go through a systematic process
of scrutiny before they become channel partners or system
integrators. All other smaller and motivated solar players
can become IGS ailiates.

DESPATCHES INTERNATIONAL
Philips Lighting launches new sustainability programme

NEWS
BRIEF
Coal India has now set its
sights on Indonesian coal.
Access to Indonesian assets
will help Coal India get coal
from there as Coal India has
its own produce. This will
reduce Indias coal import
amount. India is a key market
for Indonesian coal. Data
from the commerce ministry
showed India imported 23.40
million tonnes (mt) during
April-June. Coal India is also
looking at Australia.
In a recent development,
India lost its appeal at WTO
in a dispute over solar power,
failing to overturn a US
complaint that New Delhi
had discriminated against
importers in the Indian solar
power sector. The judges
upheld an earlier ruling that
found India had broken WTO
rules by requiring solar power
developers to use Indianmade cells and modules.
7KHDSSHDOUXOLQJLVQDO
and India will be expected to
bring its laws into compliance
with the WTO rules.
Japans Shizen Energy Inc
said it has completed and
switched on a 1.8-MW direct
current (DC) solar array on
Hokkaido island. The Onuma
PV power plant is expected to
generate about 1.91 million
kWh per year, enough to meet
the consumption of
600 homes.
16

PowerWatch INDIA

Philips Lighting, a global leader in lighting, announced the launch of its new ive-year
sustainability programme Brighter Lives, Better World during the Climate Week NYC.
This is the irst time Philips Lighting has set sustainability goals as a stand-alone, listed
company, building on the long legacy of Philips world class performance in sustainability
and its EcoVision programmes. Brighter Lives, Better World builds on Philips Lightings
ambition to create brighter lives with quality light that improves peoples well-being,
safety and productivity. The company is accelerating the shift to energy eicient LED and
connected lighting systems that help to create a better world where customers can reduce
their electricity use by up to 80 per cent.

Kenya Power, Toshiba MoU to reduce distribution losses

Kenya Power and Toshiba Transmission and Distribution Systems (India) Pvt Ltd (TTDI) ,
subsidiary of Toshiba Corporation, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU)
on implementation of a pilot project aimed at decreasing distribution losses in the national
grid. The MoU will guide installation, testing and evaluation of equipment that will be supplied by TTDI, on a trial basis, to improve eiciency and reduce both technical and commercial losses in the distribution network. We are focused on bringing down the system
losses from the current 19 per cent to single digit igures in the medium term, said Kenya
Powers Managing Director and CEO Dr Ben Chumo.
The pilot project will involve installation of new type of transformers (Amorphous Distribution Transformers) manufactured by TTDI, in the distribution network, with the aim
of enhancing eiciency and helping to signiicantly reduce distribution losses.

Catalog Services for fast access to domain specific content

Engineering professionals can signiicantly reduce the time required to
start new projects with fast, managed
access to ind and share informationrich model content through an extensive collection of high quality content
from manufacturers, standards bodies,
and project teams with Catalog Services, a CONNECT Edition Cloud Service.
Content from Catalog Services can be
used across projects ensuring consistency and saving project teams time,
explained Santanu Das, Sr V-P, Design
and Simulations, Business Unit Management, Bentley Systems, Inc.

October 2016

DESPATCHES INTERNATIONAL
Tunisia and Russia sign pact

GROUP

www.tdsasia.net

  




PRESERVE
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during idle stage
and shutdown

The Government of the Republic of Tunisia and government of the Russian Federation signed an agreement on
peaceful uses of atomic energy on the sidelines of the 60th
General Conference of the IAEA in Vienna. The document
was signed by Sergey Kirienko, CEO of Rosatom State
Atomic Energy Corporation, from the Russian side and Salim Khalbous, Minister of Higher Education and Scientiic
Research of the Republic of Tunisia, from the Tunisian side.
The agreement envisages the formation of the coordination
committee that will control the Agreement implementation,
handle any issues that may arise in the process of the implementation, and consult on any matters related to peaceful
uses of atomic energy.

Wrtsil supplies 225 MW power plant

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Wrtsil has signed a major contract to supply a 225 MW

smart power generation plant to Denton Municipal Electric,
the locally-owned utility for the city of Denton, Texas. The
plant will provide balancing power to the community, which
is moving towards a green, low emissions power system,
aiming to have 70% of its energy produced from renewables
by early 2019 as part of the Renewable Denton plan. Wrtsils scope of delivery is engineering and equipment (EEQ).
The power plant includes twelve 18-cylinder Wrtsil 50SG
engines operating on natural gas. The value of the order is
approximately EUR 100 million. The contract is included
in Wrtsils order book for the third quarter of 2016. The
equipment will be delivered during the second half of 2017
and the plant is scheduled to begin commercial operations in
July 2018.

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October 2016

PowerWatch INDIA

17

DESPATCHES FINANCE
Suzlon secures 52.50 MW maiden order from Oil India Ltd
Suzlon Group announced its maiden order win from Oil India Ltd (OIL) for 52.50 MW project capacity. The order comprises Suzlons latest product oferings - the S111 90m tubular
tower and S97 120m hybrid tower with a rated capacity of 2.1
MW each. The project is capable of providing power to over
28,000 households and ofsetting 0.11 million tonnes of CO2
emissions per annum. Suzlon will provide a comprehensive
range of services and dedicated life cycle asset management
services for an initial period of 10 years. The projects will be
located at two sites, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. The proj-

ects are scheduled to be completed by June 2017. Oil India

Ltd (OIL) is the second largest hydrocarbon exploration and
production Indian public sector company in India under
the administrative control of the Ministry of Petroleum and
Natural Gas. OIL forayed into the renewable energy space
in 2015.
JP Chalasani, Group CEO, Suzlon Group said, With our
pan-India presence, end-to-end solutions and technologically
advanced product, Suzlon is aptly positioned to capitalise on
the growing market opportunities in India.

Indian Oil inks MoU with Praj Industries

Indian Oil Corporation has selected Praj, a Pune-based global process solutions irm, as its technology partner for setting up multiple second Generation (2G) bio-ethanol plants based on indigenously developed technology.
Indian Oil will be setting up three such 2G bio-ethanol plants. Pramod
Chaudhari, Executive Chairman, Praj Industries Ltd, said, It is a honour
for us to be chosen by Indian Oil to become their technology partner in
multiple 2G bio-ethanol projects in India. We have prepared ourselves to
execute 2G ethanol projects over Rs 3,000 crore in two-three years. At the
World Bio-fuels Day conference held at New Delhi recently, the Government of India had announced that a biomass-based bio-fuels policy is in
the oing to give a boost to the agro-economy and to promote RE.

Tata Power arm acquires Welspun Renewables

Tata Power announced that Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd (TPREL), a
100% subsidiary of Tata Power, has completed acquisition of 100% shareholding in Welspun Renewables Energy Pvt Ltd (WREPL) and its subsidiaries. This represents the largest transaction in the renewables space in
India. WREPL has one of the largest operating solar portfolios in India
spread across 10 states. It has about 1,141 MW of renewable power projects
comprising of about 990 MW solar power projects and about 150 MW of
wind power projects. Out of 1,141 MW renewable portfolio over 1,000 MW
of capacity is operational and balance capacity is under advanced stages of
implementation. TPREL currently operates 312 MW of renewable power capacity and 500 MW of renewable assets are being carved out of Tata Power
into TPREL through a court process. In addition, about 400 MW of solar and
wind power projects are under implementation. Thus, TPREL with all these
assets, will have renewable assets portfolio of about 2,300 MW making it
the largest renewable power company in India. TPREL is a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Tata Power. TPREL is Tata Powers primary investment vehicle
for clean and renewable energy based power generation capacity.

CMI Ltd announces Q1 results

CMI Ltd, the leading specialty cables manufacturer, announced its unaudited inancial
results for the quarter ended 30th June 2016.
The revenues are at Rs 7701.02 lakh in Q1
2017 as against Rs 4532.64 lakh in Q1 of 2016,
marking an increase of 69.9% on a standalone basis. The revenues have also increased
by over 7.32% on a QoQ basis, up from
Rs 7175.62 lakh of Q4 2016.
The Proit after Tax (PAT) is at Rs 550.15
lakh in Q1 2017, against Rs 283.87 lakh in
Q1 of 2016, marking an increase of 93.8% in
proitability. The PAT has also increased by
over 3.36% on a QoQ basis, up from Rs 532.28
lakh of Q4 2016. The earning per share (EPS)
is Rs 3.86 in the quarter ended 30 June 2016,
up from Rs 2.44 in Q1 2016. The results are
in line with our expectations for the current
iscal. The impact of our wholly-owned subsidiary, CMI Energy India Pvt Ltd (formerly
General Cable Energy India Pvt Ltd), will start
becoming visible from Q2, said Amit Jain,
Chairman and Managing Director and
CEO, CMI Ltd.
CMI Ltd had acquired Fortune 500 Company General Cable Corporation (GCC)s
India operations in February 2016. Q1 saw the
successful commissioning of the facility of
CMI Energy India Pvt Ltd. The company has
already started bagging orders and will start
generating revenues from Q2 itself.

Uniper and India Power form 50:50 joint venture in power plant services
India Power Corporation Limited (IPCL), a Kanoria
Foundation entity, and Germany-based Uniper have
entered into an agreement to set up a 50:50 service company joint venture (JV), India Uniper Power Services.
This company will ofer a broad range of lexible and
customised services to customers in the Indian power
business that can choose from full-service arrangements
or select only individual services.

18

PowerWatch INDIA

October 2016

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DESPATCHES FINANCE

Shell
Ontario,
profit
Canada
rises
partners
on with
higher
GE US oil and gas prices
Ontario, Canada is partnering with GE Canada by providing a
grant of US$20.5 million for new GE Brilliant Factory. Expected
to begin production in early 2018, the facility will produce
energy-eicient engines and other components that are used all
over the world.
The Welland plant will be among the most advanced in GEs
global operations, and the irst of its kind in Canada. The plants
machinery and assembly equipment will be fully integrated into
a network of control systems, sensors and software.
Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario, said, GEs decision to
invest in Welland sends a clear message that our province has a
lot to ofer. Our government will continue to strengthen On-

Huawei, Philips enter into partnership

Philips Lighting and Huawei Technologies have signed a partnership agreement to ensure the seamless interoperability of the Philips
Hue connected lighting system for the home with Huaweis OceanConnect Internet of Things (IoT) platform. Under the agreement,
Huawei will become a Friends of Hue partner and Philips Lighting
an OceanConnect partner, so that customers using Huaweis IoT platform are able to ofer their end users a certiied user experience with
full control of Philips Hue lighting.
The partnership will further enhance the user experience by enabling Philips Hue lighting products to work seamlessly with other
connected devices, systems and apps. An example scenario may be
intrusion detection, where an IP security camera detects movement
at night causing an alarm to sound and Philips Hue bulbs to lash
blue and red throughout the house.

tarios reputation as a great place to invest, so we can

bring more jobs and growth to communities across
our province.
This governments top priority is to grow the
economy and create jobs. We have a plan to make
Ontario the best place in the world to do business and
investments like this one from GE serve to show just
how much conidence the private sector has in that
plan. I am so pleased that GE has chosen to make its
signiicant investment here, Brad Duguid, Minister of
Economic Development and Growth was quoted
as saying.

IBC Solar inks 6th EPC

contract in India

The Indian subsidiary of IBC Solar AG, a global leader

in photovoltaic (PV) systems and energy storage, has
signed another engineering, procurement, construction
(EPC) contract for a 22.5 MWp PV system in Rajasthan. The new PV installation is located near Phalodi in
Rajasthan, which has the largest installed solar capacity
in India. The construction is expected to start in October
2016, and commission is planned for April 2017, it is
informed. With this project, IBC Solar India will reach
an important milestone of installing more than 50 MW
of solar capacity in India for third party customers,
Shailendra Bebortha, MD of the Indian subsidiary IBC
Solar Projects Pvt Ltd was quoted as saying.

Canadian Solar subsidiary completes 200 MW project

Canadian Solar, one of the worlds largest solar power
companies, announced the commercial operation of the 200
MWac/258 MWp Tranquillity solar power project in California. The Tranquillity project was developed by Canadian
Solars wholly-owned subsidiary Recurrent Energy and is
majority-owned by Southern Company subsidiary Southern
Power. Electricity and the associated renewable energy credits
(RECs) produced by the Tranquillity solar facility will be sold

20

PowerWatch INDIA

October 2016

under long-term power purchase agreements to oftakers

including Southern California Edison (SCE). In August 2015,
Southern Power signed an agreement to acquire a 51 per cent
controlling interest in the Tranquillity solar power project. Canadian Solar retains 49 per cent ownership of the facility. The
Tranquillity facility, which is expected to generate enough
electricity to power approximately 50,000 homes, is sited on
1,900 acres of retired agricultural land in Fresno County.

COVER STORY
OVERVIEW

Sunny days ahead

The government, even while abiding by the WTO ruling,
is planning a scheme to subsidise both local
as well as foreign manufacturers, says R Srinivasan.

22

PowerWatch INDIA

October 2016

he country has set an ambitious 100 GW

by 2022 solar target, out of which the
rooftop segment target is 40 GW. As per a
Bridge to India report, over the past two years,
the rooftop solar market in India has grown at a
compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 90%.
As of 31 March 2016 the cumulative installed
capacity stands at 740 MW. While Tamil Nadu
leads in installations due to high consumer
awareness and lack of reliable grid power, Gujarat
is in second place since here the rooftop market
has been primarily driven by state government
initiatives and Maharashtra is third since it
is driven by high consumer tarifs across all
consumer categories.
In fact the solar rooftop trend has caught
on in schools, educational institutions, airports,
ports and even online marketplace Snapdeal
warehouses. The Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy is even roping in religious gurus to
ensure that their ashrams are powered by solar
energy. In a recent press release, Snapdeal,
Indias largest online marketplace, announced
plans to utilise solar energy in a big way as an
integral part of its daily operations. The green
initiative will kick of at Snapdeal warehouses
and following this initiative, the centres will
decrease power consumption by producing
nearly 1 MW at peak through solar panels and
generate 1.5 million units per year. Even the V O
Chidambaranar Port has inked a Memorandum
of Understanding with Solar Energy Corporation
of India (SECI) to install a ive MW solar power
plant at an estimated cost of Rs 30 crore, which
is expected to be completed by March 2017. The
expected annual power generation would be 7.5
million units and reduction of carbon emissions
from the project will be 8,025 metric tonnes per
year. A release said that as part of the Green Port
initiative, it has already commissioned a 100 KW
solar power plant at the ports administrative
building in August.
In view of the increasing rooftop solar trend
and queried about whether data centres (huge
power guzzlers that usually have large rooftop
space) could emulate IBMs example and adopt
solar, Aditya Ravindran, Consultant, Energy
Vertical, Feedback Business Consulting Services
Pvt Ltd said,
The commercial establishments (including
educational institutions, warehouses,
supermarkets/malls, banquet halls etc) have
large rooftop space and pay some of the highest
tarifs (up to Rs 12 per unit in some cases) for
power from the discoms. Thus, rooftop solar PV
installations which can supply power at Rs 5-7

per unit give them a huge relief in terms of cost

of power and paybacks as attractive as 3 years
in some of the states. For global companies like
IBM, it not only makes good business sense to
adopt cheaper solar power, but it also falls in line
with their global corporate policy of
going green.
Moreover, developers in the rooftop solar
PV segment have been very active. There is a
good amount of competition and a large area of
rooftop space still available in the country giving
this business a lot of potential to be tapped.
Asked to comment on how data centres too
could adopt solar, an India Power spokesperson
said, It is a good initiative taken by schools,
educational institutions, online marketplace
Snapdeal warehouses and ashrams to install solar
for their power requirements. This will not only
create awareness but also promote solar among
local people and children. Data centres have large
rooftops which can be used for installation of
solar and the power produced by them can be
utilised for their own use. The Government of
India has set up a target of achieving 40 MW
solar rooftops by the end of 2022. If data centres
are ready to install, they not only reduce their
power consumption but also reduce GHG gas
emissions. The data centres can emulate IBMs
example and adopt solar in order to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions by using solar power.
Due to constrained supply of coal and the poor
inancial condition of Indian utilities, the price
of electricity has been increasing over the last
few years. This installation of large rooftops
will act as a boon for data centres in order to
reduce their consumption of units and billing.
The cost of solar power generation has been
falling considerably. Commercial and industrial
consumers, as such, face the highest power
tarifs among all consumer groups. It becomes
necessary for Indian IT companies and data
centres to take several measures in order to
reduce their carbon footprint and switch, at least
partially, to clean energy sources.
Low tariffs
In the last few years many multi-national and
domestic solar power plant developers have won
projects through competitive bidding and are
ofering electricity tarifs much lower than
Rs 5 a unit. It is felt that these low tarifs have
not yet adversely impacted the engineering,
procurement and construction (EPC) irms or
solar panel makers. Asked if the solar industry
will feel the heat of low tarifs in the years to
come, Aditya Ravindran said,

October 2016

PowerWatch INDIA

23

COVER STORY
OVERVIEW

Developers have been the community facing

a large part of the troubles from the low tarifs
as they are not able to successfully ensure the
inancial closure of projects with low tarifs. Even
if they manage to establish inancial closure and
achieve commissioning, their inancial problems,
if any, would come to the fore only when they
commence commercial operation. Meanwhile,
there is solar capacity addition still going on
successfully at relatively higher tarifs, and this
is keeping the EPC companies busy for now.
Larger EPC irms are actively pursuing business
opportunities in foreign territories including
South East Asia and Africa.
About whether the solar industry will feel the
heat of low tarifs in the years to come, an India
Power spokesperson, said, The solar industry
is not going to feel the heat of low tarifs in the
years to come. The main reasons are low cost
technology and the cost of debt is coming down.
India has an ambitious plan to add 100 gigawatts
(GW) of solar power by 2022. Most of the big
international players such as Fortum, SoftBank,
First Solar etc, are looking for an opportunity to
invest in solar.
Solar parks
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
(MNRE) plans to seek the Union Cabinets nod
for doubling the capacity of solar parks to 40,000
MW from 20,000 MW. Also the country is to
install 700 MW of rooftop PV in 2016 all of
which sounds great on paper. Asked to elaborate
on challenges that the industry may encounter
along the way and for suggestions, Aditya
Ravindran said,
Reducing the target of rooftop solar PV and
apportioning it to solar parks has been a wise
move. Although, there is good activity in the solar
rooftop space, the scale of these projects is too
small to help achieve the erstwhile target of 40
GW. On the other hand, solar parks are complete
opposites of this. These are large capacity
projects, and 40 GW of capacity addition could be
done with much less number of projects.
The only challenge before such projects would
be to assess and counter the impact of massive
variability in generation on the regional
power grids.
Asked to elaborate on challenges that the
industry may encounter along the way, an India
Power spokesperson said, India has embarked
on an ambitious target of 100 GW of solar power
by 2022. The target seems diicult but it can be
achieved. In order to achieve it, many challenges
will need to be overcome. Some of these

24

PowerWatch INDIA

October 2016

challenges are:
1. Lack of policy and regulatory support
2. Issues with respect to grid automation
and stability
3. High cost of energy storage
4. Lack of skilled manpower for installation
and O&M
5. Manufacturing of low cost solar modules
and accessories.
WTO ruling
The World Trade Organisation (WTO)
recently ruled against Indias domestic content
requirement (DCR) policy for solar cells and
modules. The case against India was originally
iled in 2013, following the announcement of
DCR in JNNSM Phase II policy and after India
decided to ile an anti-dumping case against US,
China, Malaysia and Taiwan. Currently, there
is a pipeline of 925 MW of solar works to be
auctioned under DCR. Asked about ramiications
of the WTO ruling on India, Aditya
Ravindran said,
Indian solar space is largely dependent on
imports from South East Asia and North
America, and it cannot go against the verdict
of the WTO. The only options remaining with
the government and regulatory bodies is to look
for alternative measures to promote domestic
manufacturing in the solar industry.
About ramiications of the WTO ruling
on India, an India Power spokesperson said,
The US is of the opinion that Indias domestic
content requirements were inconsistent with
WTO rules that prohibit discrimination against
imported products. Under the solar mission, solar
power developers are mandated to use Indianmanufactured cells and modules rather than US
or other imported solar technology that the US
considered a breach of international trade rules.
This result in favour of US will boost sales of
American solar modules into India as American
solar exports to India have fallen by more than
90% during this period. However, the Indian
government wants to boost solar module
manufacturing in India and for that reason only
they had mandated that solar power developers
should use Indian-manufactured cells
and modules.
RE vs thermal?
Power sector analysts have warned that the
unprecedented surge in renewable energy
capacity in the next few years will afect thermal
power plants. At a time when thermal power
plants are operating at an all-time low of just

COVER STORY
OVERVIEW

over 50% of their capacities, there is a debate

whether the country really needs the planned
addition of 175 GW of renewable energy by
2022. Also Partha Bhattacharyya, former Coal
India Chairman reportedly said that the solar
wind focus has hit low-cost coal-based power
production. About whether the renewable energy
push will adversely afect thermal power plants,
Aditya Ravindran said,
India is pushing ahead for renewable energy
capacity addition without any profound emphasis
on energy storage systems. Neither does our
power system have any signiicant capacity of
peaking power plants. In the absence of storage
and quick-acting power plants, generation
capacity at base load power plants would have to
be kept on standby as spinning reserves. Not only
is it ineicient and polluting, but the frequent
ramping up and down of the power plants
output also afects its health and life.
About whether RE will afect thermal power
plants, an India Power spokesperson said, The
renewable energy push will deinitely adversely
afect thermal power plants. There is variation
in the production of electricity from renewable
energy sources. On an all-India scale, coal-ired
plants provide a steady output in order to meet
what is called the base load while gas-ired
plants and hydro plants with storage manage to
respond to variations in demand. If the addition
of renewable energy continues, dependability on
the thermal power plant will reduce and it will be
forced to run the thermal power plant at a
lower PLF.
Funds, cheap imports
Solar has picked up pace but distribution
companies are reluctant to purchase solar in
light of low power demand and cheap power
availability on exchanges. MNRE is mulling a $400
million World Bank fund to protect clean energy
producers from payment delays by discoms. About
funding support from banks and on dumping
of lower cost modules from China and Taiwan,
Aditya Ravindran said,
If we are to look at the energy market from a
purely economic standpoint, the demand-supply
equation should balance itself out, as the falling
prices would bring more demand for power. But
because of the annual nature of tarif revisions,
a larger reliance on long-term PPAs, and the
attempts to recover the losses of the discoms, these
falling prices might take some time to reach the
bulk of end-users. Only then would the demand
bounce back and prices stabilise.
A loan to the developers to stay aloat for this

26

PowerWatch INDIA

October 2016

rather long duration would deinitely help to

retain investment in the sector, but this should
only be treated as an interim measure. Meanwhile,
this period should be utilised by the government
to make strategic moves in the sector to eliminate
the root-cause including the long-awaited supplywire business separation
On dumping of modules from China and Taiwan
- India is not in a position to ban or regulate the
import of solar power equipment from these
countries. The country has to go a long way in
fulilling its 100 GW solar power target within
the next 6 years, and we do not have an option to
deny these imports to give an opportunity for the
domestic manufacturing industry to mushroom.
Electric Vehicles
Governor Brown has committed to having over
1.5 million electric vehicles (EVs) on the road in
California by 2025 and Paciic Gas and Electric
is proposing to install 7,600 electric vehiclecharging stations over the next three years, the
single biggest deployment of plug-in spots in the
country. About such large-scale deployment of
EVs in India and its beneits, Aditya
Ravindran said,
EVs would be really beneicial for cities where
the vehicular population is being blamed for air
pollution. A large scale migration to EVs could also
help in driving down the fuel import bill
for India.
But India is a highly price-sensitive market. Till
now, the response to EVs and hybrid vehicles has
been extremely poor, even after the launch of
such vehicles in a wide spectrum of prices. Not
even the subsidies and tax waivers have been
able to attract a signiicant number of customers.
Following global trends and on-going
developments like Teslas Giga factory, the
demand for EVs and hybrid vehicles would
also gain momentum in India. The vehicle
manufacturers need to be ready for this scenario,
because when this demand hits, the market
would see exponential growth in the sale of
hybrid vehicles and EVs.
About large-scale deployment of EVs in India
and its beneits, an India Power spokesperson
said, Governor Brown signed the bill setting a
goal of placing 1.5 million electric vehicles (EVs)
on the road by 2025. The government will change
its clean-vehicle rebate programme to provide
an extra credit for low-income drivers who wish
to purchase or lease an electric car. It will also
provide assistance to car-sharing programmes
in low-income neighbourhoods and install
electric-vehicle charging stations in apartment

COVER STORY
OVERVIEW

buildings in those communities. The large-scale

deployment of EVs is possible in India with the
help of government only. The market success of
electric vehicles is far from assured in India or
any other country if awareness among the people
is not created. The early incentives ofered by
national and local governments to accelerate EV
adoption are undoubtedly important, but cannot
continue indeinitely. The future EV policies and
investments therefore need to be smarter and
grounded in data-driven analysis. Well-designed
policies can be achieved by leveraging insights
collected from transportation data, real-world
observations, and stakeholder feedback. The
consideration of the optimal location and level of

28

PowerWatch INDIA

October 2016

charging infrastructure in urban areas must be

kept in mind.
There are various beneits of EVs such as:
1 Reduction in air pollution.
2 Reduction in the use of fossil fuel.
3 Reduction in noise pollution.
4 Employment creation
5 Future energy security.
The solar sector recently faced a challenge in
the shape of the recent WTO ruling, following
which a scheme to subsidise both domestic and
foreign manufacturers, without going against
WTO rules, is on the anvil. Such government
initiatives, it is hoped, will lend the necessary
impetus to the local manufacturing sector.

Proven Business Platform

for

Organized by

Solar & LED Industry

3rd Edition

25 26 27
November, 2016

For More Information

VIVEKANANDHAN D : +91 96000 95109
GURURAJ R :

+91 99529 55205

solarsouth@smartexpos.in
www.solarsouth.in

EVENT FEATURES

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COVER STORY

TETE-A-TETE

Our business is an e-info

commerce marketplace
Harish Ahuja, Founder and CEO, India Go Solar, explains about the exclusive
online B2B business model that he has started in India to bring the buyer and
seller of solar based products and services together on a single platform, in a
candid conversation with Monica Chaturvedi Charna

indly tell us about the concept on which

India Go Solar works. How are products,
projects and services offered through
this platform?
India Go Solar is bringing the seller and buyer
together through its online platform. There are
150 EPC players, more than 100 manufacturers
and 130 domestic and global IPPs or developers
in this country. But, we are pioneers in the online
market. Solar products and solutions have become
a commodity and we are ofering a neutral platform
or exchange for these EPC players, manufacturers
and developers to buy and sell solar based products
and solutions. These people enlist their projects
and services on the online platform and in turn,
India Go Solar facilitates the buying and selling in a
customised manner.
How are you based in the rooftop domain?
One of our models is called Solar Exchange, which
facilitates auction of big, commercial, industrial
rooftops. We advise customers regarding the
economics of rooftop, and design the project and
then we launch the auction online. Solar Exchange
is an exclusive B2B marketplace where many EPC
players are listed and they submit their quotation
for the designed project. This is a subscription based
model and we do not charge anything till a match
making between the customer and EPC player
is complete.
What kind of a potential do you see for this
platform? Do the big EPC players need to explore
such a platform for their business?
Our platform is more close to the customers. In fact,
many big institutional players who were not willing
to come to our platform till six months back, are
now approaching us on their own. So, the transition
has already started to happen. The customers get

30

PowerWatch INDIA

October 2016

a fair deal and transparent price discovery. In fact,

they get 3-4 bids in a time span of 24-48 hours
thus, making the entire process faster and more
transparent.
Who are your associates for solar products and
what are the different products that the online
platform deals in?
We are currently selling products of 40-45
manufacturers and big solar suppliers, online.
The range of products includes solar torches, solar
lanterns, study lamps, solar backpacks, mobile
chargers, solar fans and solar lighting solutions.
Besides, there are solar solutions like rooftop kits
upto 1-10 KW, solar pump solutions of 1-5 HP,
e-rickshaws, etc.
Considering that solar is on a boom in India,
what is your targeted growth from this business
model?
When we started the business 19 months back, the
burn rate was very high and it still is. But, when the
idea of this business model was conceived in 2004,
we knew that people will take their own sweet time
in understanding the solar products and projects
and will also take time to go for online purchasing.
Our business is diferent from e-commerce in the
sense that it is an e-info commerce marketplace.
This is because we show a lot of information
online to make people aware about the high end
technology of solar. The complexity of solar is in the
way it evolves at a fast pace. So, I irmly believe that
this platform will work very well because we are
providing in-depth information about the sectors
complexities.
Kindly tell our readers about your nancial
tie-ups.
We have inancing tie-ups for arranging subsidies
and inance for setting up the projects. There
are so many products on our platform that are
cheaper without subsidy than those products on
which government is giving subsidy. We have
collaborated with PSUs because they are mandated
by the government of India to give inancing for
rooftop projects at the rate of home loans. We have
tied up with State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab
National Bank (PNB), Karnataka Bank, Canara Bank,
Syndicate Bank and Bharatiya Mahila Bank. In the
private sector, we approached Yes Bank, Laxmi Vilas
Bank, Ratnakar Bank and Bank of Maharashtra. But,
we have not yet converted these talks into oicial
tie-ups.
Where do you see more business happening on
your online platform rooftop segment or utility

Many big institutional players who were

not willing to come to our platform till six
months back, are now approaching us on
their own.
scale projects?
India Go Solar is trying to capture both sides of the
market. For utility scale projects, we try to arrange
the land and panels. On the offline front, we are also
supporting many big international utilities to buy
solar assets in India, and these are big transactions.
On the rooftop front, everything is done online,
right from running the bids to arranging inance,
both on debt as well as equity side. However, a
transition is set to happen. Till 2019, India Go
Solar will build the rooftop market in India and
then encash on the growth. Post 2019, rooftop will
pick up fast and both utility and rooftop will try to
cannibalise each other.
What do you think will be the impact of GST on
the solar sector?
On the product side, GST will have an impact in
terms of prices going up because there are many
states which currently have zero VAT. On the project
side, there is a 10-year tax holiday and accelerated
depreciation (AD) beneit. As of now, nobody knows
if the government will continue this tax beneit
under GST or not. If it doesnt continue, then
projects will be inancially hurt and there will be a
tarif hike. Regarding AD beneit, from next year, it
will be slashed by 40%. The government is seeing
that after 2-3 years, the solar sector will not require
any iscal beneits. Once GST is implemented, our
cost will also go up.
From being in the government and handling
the dynamic power sector to foraying into the
corporate sector and nally, launching your own
online solar brand. How has the journey been?
I always had an entrepreneurial instinct inside
me, and I was looking forward to implement
competitive markets in India. I irmly believed in
giving the customer the choice to select his supplier.
I tried my best to introduce this model in Delhi
while I was in the government, but unfortunately, it
could not happen. Later, I moved to solar companies
like Moser Baer and Hindustan Power. Being in
the government for 15 years and then moving to
the corporate sector, I realised that the government
has put the best regulatory policies in place and
the private sector has to take this forward. I can
conidently say that the reign of transformation of
the power sector will be in the hands of the
private sector.

October 2016

PowerWatch INDIA

31

COVER STORY

INSIDE VIEW

Solar rooftop in India: Current

scenario and challenges
By Nikhil Sanghani

overnment support is considered to be the

primary force behind solar growth in India.
And with global investment in the solar
rooftop increasing more than 12% in 2015 than the
previous year, India is getting ready to launch new
initiatives to leverage this growth. Facilities like
accelerated depreciation, custom duty concession,
excise duty exemption and tax holidays for commercial and industrial sectors, have shown a growth
trend of (approximately) 0.525 GW capacity installation in 2015. And the capacity is expected to rise
up to 700 MW in 2016. Although the growth ratio is
quite impressive, the question remains whether this
growth rate is capable enough to outit our country
for a 40 GW by 2022 leap.
Present growth
The Indian government has bagged $1.5 billion
foreign inancial aid for the rooftop sector. And the
plan is to utilise this reserve to provide a 30% subsidy to set up rooftop solar plants for all domestic
users and public institutions. Although, previous initiatives sharply focused on commercial and industrial rooftop installations, this new initiative to bring
in the common man in the rooftop solar sector
would surely translate into growth and awareness.
SECIs 500 MW of projects that stretch across
multiple states creates a parity between the action
and investment in the country. SECI has also announced a scheme to install 1,000 MW of rooftop
solar capacity on government buildings. These actions are also being backed by policies. For example,
net metering policies have been formulated by
25 of the 29 states. Government has also allowed
electricity regulatory commission of each state to
determine the tarif for generated power, to ind
the best options for rooftop solar growth. Gujarats
development scheme of 25 MW in 5 other cities
has also contributed to the growth. A few states like
Kerala are also ofering additional discounts (Kerala
Rs 39,000) to set up rooftop solar power plants. The
current growth ratio brings an expectation of a 33%
cumulative rooftop solar capacity growth in 2016
from 2012.
Solar energy is already cheaper for commercial users in Maharashtra, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh,
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Odisha which
is driving rooftop growth. Industrial users enjoy

32

PowerWatch INDIA

October 2016

10-15% lower tarifs than commercial rates. This is

helping the industrial sector scale up while increasing the preference for rooftop solar. Residential
users are currently paying Rs 7/kWh, and they are
being charged less than commercial and industrial
users. Unreliable grid power in approximately 16000
villages in India is encouraging people to select
rooftop solar installations, and high grid tarifs are
obviously backing their decision.
Solar rooftop sector has a 10-12% share of overall
solar capacity addition in India. This percentage is
quite low from other key markets such as Germany
(73%), Australia (97%), US (46%), and China (18%).
In order to take a leap from 10-12% to 40% (or 40
GW) by 2022 would certainly take more aggressive
development strategy and action.
Challenges and how to tackle them
Although India has understood the importance of
maximising rooftop space, brought banks and international agencies to provide inancial aid, scaled
up the subsidy budget from Rs 600 crore to Rs 5000
crore, and agreed states to formulate their own versions of policies aiding solar rooftop growth, there
are still drawbacks that slow down growth of the
Indian rooftop solar sector.

Upfront cost
Although upfront costs for rooftop solar installation
have reduced with solar energy cost, it is still costly
(150-200 KW rooftop installation costs more than Rs
10 million). This is why even commercial users are
reluctant to invest in rooftop development.
Various loan schemes and PPA, Pay as You Go
models have been introduced to tackle inancing
barriers. Most banks are still not aware of steps to
be followed at the branch level and they still step
back from inancing rooftop installation deals due to
limited information on the performance and track
records on rooftop investments.
Focusing on third party inancing models and
bringing clarity to government-based inancing
schemes can change the situation. Third party
inancing models currently support (approximately)
102 MW, or 13%, of total rooftop solar installations.
Government also needs to showcase performance
record and case studies of functional rooftop solar
plants to ensure banks about the practicality of the
venture.
Lack of consumer awareness
Although, the target consumers of rooftop solar
are largely non-technical in nature (residential),
therefore, there is a need for raising awareness for
success. However, the information regarding installation costs, ROI etc are surprisingly rare. Government has organised and supervised a few campaigns
to inform people about solar energy usage beneits,
but these are not enough to educate and encourage
people to go for rooftop installations.
Emphasis should be given by government and
private companies and they should make available
the information about quality, cost, and beneits of
solar power solutions. Steps towards interconnecting rooftop solar modules with the grid or metering
would also encourage people to select rooftop solar
solutions. State nodal agencies can assist independent consumers to understand the fundamentals of
the whole process.
Lack of implementation of Net Metering
Net-metering is important to access the circle of consumers that rooftop solar solutions generally target.
Net metering ensures a fair deal for utilities and the
end consumer/rooftop owner both and it is easy to
understand for non-technical consumers (residents).
Although, 25 of the 29 states in India have already
accepted and published their net-metering models,
the on-site implement rate remains low. In some
states, net-metering project handling entities like
SNA do not even have required knowledge of executing the project, which slows down progress and
halts the adoption rate of rooftop plants. Plus, there

are regulation laws like - Tamil Nadu doesnt ofer

net metering for industries, requiring multiple permissions, lack of clarity in model implementation,
untrained utility staf and delaying the approval
process leads to consumer frustration.
To tackle this challenge, the government must
focus on draft in and implementing a uniform
policy and enforce regulations. Skill development
would also play a major part in improving interconnections between user and service provider. For
better development, India needs all-round cohesiveness of state electricity regulator (the SERC) and the
discoms. Bringing in the nodal agencies in this fold
would also be a great idea to raise awareness.
Lack of clarity in rooftop policies
Lack of policies and regulations on rooftop solar installation always delay project time-lines in residential and industrial sectors both. Although, states like
Haryana are mandating solar installations on government building roofs, there is an issue of compliance to this mandate, due to various policies still not
being implemented. Government has announced
subsidy, but in most cases it is unavailable. Net-metering doesnt exist like the initiative had promised.
Capital subsidies reduced to 15% from 30% (only
for the social sector) and there is policy confusion
on whether subsidies will continue or not and also
a lack of clarity in KW scale units. Confusion about
interest subvention too is keeping growth at bay.
The government should focus on designing policies and interlinking them with building regulations
to develop more buildings with rooftop ready modiications for solar. Rooftop policies should work
under a uniform framework throughout the nation.
Large scale MW policies are comparatively clear, attracting the developers preference. But, in order to
increase rooftop installations in the nation, there is a
need to have better clarity on rooftop solar policies.
Conclusion
A lot of things have been done by the government
and the action so far is clearly supporting the
growth trajectory envisaged by the plans of having
40 MW rooftop in India. At the same time, a lot
more needs to be done and success will surely depend on how we operationalise plans by clearing the
hurdles of bureaucracy and promoting mass awareness for rooftop solar power.

The author is Vice PresidentSales, Vikram Solar

October 2016

PowerWatch INDIA

33

COVER STORY

INSIDE VIEW

Trackers help in stabilising

the grid
Vinay Goyal, CEO, Ganges Internationale Pvt Ltd speaks about the utility of trackers
in stabilising the grid and the level of penetration of the technology in the Indian
solar power sector, in an interview with Monica Chaturvedi Charna...

hat are the different

types of mounting
structures pertaining
to the solar industry
that you are engaged in
manufacturing?
Our primary structures are
the ground mount structures
which have 3 variants - ixed
tilt, seasonal tilt and single axis
tracking. We are engaged in
foundation designing, structure
fabrication, installation and DC
works with in house manpower.
We have now started making
the lat roof ballast structures
that do not require any kind of
penetration. These are designed
by a US company called
PanelClaw that has nearly 40% share in the US and
has already installed more than a gigawatt with zero
failure. We are indigenising the product here in
India. Based on the data that they are sharing with
us, we are able to do the wind analysis for every
project and give the particular loading, ballistic and
layout diagrams.
Is Ganges also providing O&M services?
We havent forayed into the O&M business because
this market hasnt completely evolved in India and
people are still trying to gain experience. However,
we are providing O&M in the trackers business.
Kindly tell our readers about the partnership
with SunLink.
Tracking is a logical solution that can give 1520% extra power. When we started looking at the
tracking systems, we found that the product was
more complicated than it seems. This is because
there are a lot of variations in the loads and this
happens every day for the entire 365 days of the
year. Finally, we thought that we should associate
ourselves with a partner who understands the entire
curve of the process. Our objective was to launch

34

PowerWatch INDIA

October 2016

a product (tracking system) in

India which was tested and we
dont need to do the research and
development on it. So, SunLink
is a great partner for providing
the expertise in tracking systems
as their core business in not
fabrication, and they would have
to look out for fabricators for
manufacturing the product in
India. Ganges has a track record of
40 years, which gives us an edge
over other domestic players in this
sphere.
How evolved is the trackers
market in India? Is the
technology being developed
indigenously?
While indigenous technology is available, there is
a complex learning curve that the domestic players
have to go through. We have jump started that
by getting an international technology and are
indigenising it. Since this is a 25 year product, the
entire life cycle has to be looked into. So, it will take
a few years for the indigenous technology to become
competitive.
Trackers are still not very popular in India.
People generally choose between a higher
quality module or a tracker in order to cut down
the cost. How far do you see this notion holding
true in the Indian perspective?
India is currently going through a learning curve.
This scenario can be compared to the developed
world. US, which is the second largest installer of
modules in the world after China, had a penetration
rate of 5-10% of trackers almost 5-6 years back.
This penetration has progressively gained strength
to a current rate of 80-85%. They have clearly
understood the signiicance of structural stability,
quality and integrity. India, currently, is sitting
on a 5-10% penetration rate of trackers. But, this
will surely progress as it is simple maths that by

investing 10% extra on trackers, we can generate 1520% more power.

Why hasnt the market picked up despite the
evident advantages of installing trackers?
The main concern is coming from the banks and
inancial institutions who dont know what a tracker
is and what are its beneits. There isnt enough
documented material on trackers available for the
lenders as well as the developers. So, till the time
the lender is wary of this technology or product, the
borrower will not be in a position to go ahead and
install the tracker from his own pocket.
On the contrary, the US market has progressed
and the lenders, engineering consultants as well as
the borrowers are aware of the utility of the trackers.
In fact, in certain states of the US, there is a ban on
installing ix tilt structures since it has a huge curve
when it comes to power generation the morning
generation is low, afternoon generation is at peak,
and evening generation again dips. Trackers help in
stabilising this curve and the grid gets stable power.
So, India will surely follow suit and in a span of 5
years, trackers will reach the peak just like in the US.
So, which is your most hot selling product?
It is the seasonal tilt structure which makes for 80%
of our total market of structures.
What is Ganges total production capacity?
We have a production capacity of 2 GW a year

across the variants. This year we expect to close the

book at 1.2 GW and we plan to go to 3 GW by next
year. In the tracker category, we hope to do 200-300
MW this year i.e. by March 2017. By next year, we
hope to do 1 GW of trackers.
Do you have an export market for the mounting
structures?
We are exporting to the US, Europe, Middle East,
and we have oices in all these places.
Triggered by the boom in the solar industry and
the government push, what has been the growth
rate in the mounting structures market in the
last 5 years?
Ganges has been growing at the rate of 300% (year
on year). The industry has also grown at a similar
rate. In fact, the industry witnessed an installation
of 2 GW in 2015 pan India, and 2016 is expected
to end with 5 GW. Industry analysts estimate that
2017 would end with more than 10 GW of
installed capacity.
What is the breakup of the business from the
different verticals of Ganges?
Solar makes for 60% of our business and 40% is
made up by other segments telecom towers and
transmission towers. Last year, solar was 30% and
other businesses made up 70% of the order book.
So, we are scaling up very fast in the
solar segment.

October 2016

PowerWatch INDIA

35

SPOTLIGHT

POLICY

Developments in transmission
and long-term implications
By AM Devendranath

he inter-state transmission space in the

country had been holding a monopoly for
a very long time under the wing of Power
Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (PGCIL), which
fully exercised its powers as the Central Transmission Utility (CTU) of the country. Till date, PGCIL
has achieved remarkable feats in the transmission
sector of the country. The biggest of them the
organisation was able to inter-connect the regional
grids to bring it under synchronised operation as
a single grid. In recent years, it has been able to
bring in HVDC technology in a big way into the
country. Meanwhile, the company is testing the
highest voltage levels in power transmission by
testing and building 1200 kV AC transmission
links to transmit mammoth amounts of power
across the country. It has also been responsible for
carrying thee grid over diicult terrain to remote
areas under the Indian geography.
But there were some problems also with this
association. Let us examine these in detail:
The Problem of PGCIL being a CTU
PGCIL being the CTU and therefore involved in
planning, execution of projects, owning assets
and managing the transmission network was
always seen as a monolith blocking the way for
private sector investment in the transmission
sector some of the key issues were:
z By virtue of being a planner, all commercial
and technical information about the projects
cost sensitivity, pricing information, availability of corridors for construction etc is available
to PGCIL far ahead of time, providing them
with an additional advantage in making a considered bid vis-a-vis the other players.
z In addition to enjoying the beneit of more
economic cost of capital by getting sovereign
backing of the government, PGCIL avails certain custom duty beneits and project import
duty beneits that are not available to private
players.
z Further, the clearance processes are diferent
for private players. For instance, in the case of
forest clearances, while private players are re-

36

PowerWatch INDIA

October 2016

quired to acquire the compensatory aforestation

land and hand over to forest authorities, PGCIL is
required to just pay double the forest compensation without acquiring land, making the process
shorter and easier for PGCIL.
z PGCIL, by being in the planning role could effectively move many projects from Open bidding to Exemptions and thereby give it out as a
cost-plus model putting the private players on a
disadvantage. This is explained below:
> Amendment in National tarif policy issued on
8th July 2011, introduced competitive bidding in
all Central Sector transmission projects with certain exemptions. Large number of projects were
moved to cost plus route under these exemptions.
z
First two experimental works for 1200
kV HVDC
z
Works required to be done cater to an urgent
situation required under a compressed
time schedule
zIntrastate transmission projects up to 6th
Jan 2013
> Recently, the Ministry of Power has proposed
further amendment to the tarif policy, widening the scope of exemptions, some of which are
listed below.
z First two 1200 kV AC substation
z
U
p-gradations of existing lines of CTU/STU/
PGCIL
z Augmentation of existing/under construction
substations of CTU/STU/PGCIL
z Evacuation from nuclear power plants
z Projects under compressed time schedule.
z Projects where no bidders come forward.
> The above exemptions leave practically nothing
outside the scope of exemptions which means
that it shall be discretion with empowered committee in all cases to recommend or not recommend the competitive routing of projects. This
is certainly against the true spirit of competitive
bidding and leaves lots of uncertainty on the
policy of competitive bidding.
Therefore, the private sector industry always

wanted PGCIL to be curtailed of its multiple

roles. The solution to the problem to remove
the conlict of interest of PGCIL being a planner, recommendatory authority and a competitor, is to separate CTU from PGCIL and also
take PGCIL out of the empowered committee to
make empowered committee an independent,
unbiased and uninluenced decision making
body.
Now it seems that these frequent appeals
from industry have hit the right note in the
Ministry and eforts are seriously on to curb its
role as given in recent media statements.
Now, let us examine the impact of this cub
on PGCILs business.
> With PGCILs role of a CTU being curtailed
with a new entity POSOCO (earlier a
subsidiary of PGCIL). Efectively PGCIL will
lose the following advantages and will be
seen more as another player in transmission
projects:
 z It is not supposed to be part of planning
and the empowered committees which
overlooks the various projects to be awarded and therefore will lose the advantage of
prior hand information for them to bid (at
least on paper)
z The other advantages of being a PSU such
as better access to funds and clearances etc
is likely to continue
z
PGCIL will continue to be favoured for

exempted projects and projects of national
signiicance but players expect this list
to be curtailed and not a laundry list like it
is currently.
> Overall this move, signiies to private players (both national and international) that the
government is very serious to invite private
sector participation in transmission and
therefore a signiicant part (as compared
to previous years) of Rs 1 lakh crore investment in this year should attract private players.
> PGCIL will face private players stif competition now and will depend on their inancial and project management skills to be
more competitive in project bidding.
> There are signiicant transmission projects
at the state level, which have not yet gone to
private players and this portion is also likely
to opened up and private players would be
looking at this portion as well.
> We have heard about some international
(European utilities) who are very actively
planning for a role in Indias transmission
business. They will now see this as a posi-

October 2016

PowerWatch INDIA

37

SPOTLIGHT

POLICY

tive signal and will invest in Indian projects.

> PGCIL, will now see a lot of bandwidth and
the need to look at delivering on others areas
in the power value chain there are obviously
some related expansions which they will be
actively considering such as power trading but also they could be looking at discom
business in some states as well. PGCIL will
now be also looking at taking over many other
international projects with border nations
and could also look at international markets
for EPC business. The other expansions and
diversiication in areas such as solar etc is not
known to us. Recently, PGCIL has been looking at providing consultancy services to states
and partnering in joint ventures with states to
take up intra-state transmission projects. These
developments are completely changing the
transmission landscape as we know it.
But, of late, the private sector has been gaining a presence in this segment through the tarif
based competitive bidding mechanism. After
2011, procurement of transmission has been
made mandatory on competitive bidding, except
for projects of strategic importance/time bound
delivery, which are given to PGCIL on a nomination basis. This has laid inroads into the sector for
major private sector players such as L&T, Reliance
Power, Sterlite, Essel Infra etc.
These recent changes can have far-reaching
circumstances for the industry:
> More number of transmission system developers would allow more projects to be executed
in parallel, with independent accountability
assigned for each project
> Increased competition would ensure that the
cost of such projects are kept reasonably low,
while maintaining the quality of infrastructure
> Meanwhile, PGCIL could focus on strategically
important projects, including international grid
ties and continental grid development, and
projects sporting compressed timelines

38

PowerWatch INDIA

October 2016

> State transcos would gain expertise in planning,

executing and maintaining extra and ultra-high
voltage transmission corridors from PGCILs
experience
> PGCIL, on the other hand, could assist the state
discoms with the separation of supply and wire
business, in efect bringing in competition in
the power distribution segment
> The independent existence of POSOCO would
allow it to maintain a irm presence as the
power system operator in the country and provide better network management services
> PGCIL would ind more bandwidth to delve
into strategic transmission system planning
and evaluating futuristic technologies like General Network Access (GNA)
This will also bring along challenges like:
> The Right-of-Way privileges and ease of getting
environmental clearances as enjoyed by a PSU
like PGCIL might not be available to private sector counterparts
> The removal of the CTU tag would allow it to
diversify into power generation and distribution business. If PGCIL exercises this option, in
a way, it would take the sector back to the era of
vertically integrated utilities
As of now, we can only speculate on the future
of the sector under the changing regime. The real
consequences of this move will only unfold with
the passage of time. While some organisations
would take this as an opportunity to dive into the
sector, the risk-averse ones are expected to wait
and watch.

The author is AVP & BU Head,

Energy Vertical, Feedback
Business Consulting Services Pvt Ltd.

SPOTLIGHT

These intelligent meters can

retrieve reading from a large
number of houses
PK Ranade, CMD, AMTL and Axel Schuler, Head of Marketing and Sales, Grasslin,
speak about the collaboration that they have entered into for combining AMTLs
intelligent meters and Grasslins time switches to offer energy efficient metering
technology, in an interview with Monica Chaturvedi Charna...

hat are the key products/ solutions that

AMTL is currently providing and do you
also have an export market?
PK Ranade: We make intelligent meters which have
the communication capability, can report thefts to the
utility, and can give a summary of the pattern of electricity consumption. Moreover, when you move to the
renewable sources or multiple sources of inputs, then
these meters can keep a count or calculate the energy
coming from the key sources separately. This is a
necessity before having multiple inputs in homes/
oices, etc. I see a huge potential for these meters
across the countries.
Grasslin brings to us a group of products and solutions through which we can control the utilisation of
energy in the houses and stop wastage. These products can help in raising the PLF by controlling usage
during peak hours.

40

PowerWatch INDIA

October 2016

Besides India, which are the other markets that

Grasslin is looking at for its range of electrical
switch products?
Axel Schuler: The process is currently in multiple
coutries including Europe and Asia. The goal here is
to ind the right solution and programme the timers
according to the need. Fortunately, today we have
timers that can switch energy in a more intelligent
way leading to savings. The timer or intelligent time
switch is a stand-alone product and works alongside a
meter. But, we are developing the process of combining it with the meter.
How do you see the potential of time switches,
light and temperature control solutions in India?
Who are your potential customers?
Axel Schuler: Our target audience would be industries, households, oices, etc. Basically, these solutions

can be applied in any set-up where automatic power

switching is required. The potential of these products
is huge, considering the level of automation happening on the power distribution side.
Would you take the distributors channel to market
and sell your products? When can we expect the
product to come into the market?
PK Ranade: We will certainly select some business
partners who will take the products to customers. We
plan to start immediately and the product will hit the
market soon.
Does Grasslin have any technology partners? Do
you have any plans of setting up manufacturing
centres in India?
Axel Schuler: We have our own development process
and with Intermatic in the background, overall Grasslin and Intermatic together have 58 engineers who
develop the products. So, the technology is developed
by Grasslin or Intermatic. As we go along, we would

set up a manufacturing base in India and we are open

to the idea of Grasslin and AMTL developing products together.
Do you think the metering industry in India is
going through any challenges or hiccups?
PK Ranade: There are no hiccups at all. The government has declared the speciications for meters,
which are fairly irm. Also, the electricity boards are
not in a compromising stage, and will not buy sub
standard products anymore. They have already lost
a lot of money on purchasing wrong products and
because of bad metering. While they have become
intelligent over the years, there still is a long way to
go. The load side management requires automation
and these intelligent meters can retrieve reading from
a large number of houses. If somehow the meters can
capture the consumption pattern, then distribution
can become more meaningful and optimum. This is
yet to happen and we are hopeful that with the current leadership, it will surely take shape.

AMTL, Grsslin tie-up for energy-efficient technologies

rasslin Gmbh, which is a subsidiary of the US electrical product maker, Intermatic Inc has made its foray into the
Indian market by forming a strategic alliance with home grown Advanced Metering Technology Ltd (AMTL). The
former will bring its range of products and provide light and temperature control solutions under this tie up.
As part of the partnership, AMTL, which is head-quartered in Noida, UP will distribute Grsslins range of electrical
switch products such as time switches, light and temperature control solutions across India. The partnership involves creating integrated operations that are both a promotion and distribution outlet for electrical products in India, one of the fastestgrowing domestic electrical switch markets which is pegged over Rs 1000 crore.
The alliance coincides with the governments initiatives to develop 100 smart cities at an estimated $1.5 billion, following
a string of initiatives undertaken by the government like UDAY with a total outlay of Rs 1.4 lakh crore and AMRUT mission
for economic growth and welfare.
According to Axel Schuler, Head of Sales and Marketing, Grsslin Gmbh, India is an important market for us as it is
witnessing high growth, given the spurt in manufacturing and industrial activities. Domestic demand for electrical products
is expected to soar due to rising awareness about the supply of quality power and the increasing number of industries and
manufacturing facilities in India. We are delighted to partner with AMTL for supply of our range of electrical products such
as time switches, light and temperature control solutions. AMTL is undertaking commendable work in energy eiciency and
we are conident about their ability to deliver in the Indian market.
Commenting on the strategic partnership, PK Ranade, Chairman and Managing Director, AMTL, asserted, We are
upbeat about our association with Grsslin Gmbh vis--vis their range of green technologies and products for the Indian
market. Increasing awareness among household consumers as well as industry about the need to conserve energy has
resulted in widespread adoption of new technologies and products to better control, monitor and conserve energy. Grsslin
Gmbh is a pioneer in time switches, light and temperature control and adoption of these products and technology would be
pivotal for achieving energy eiciency in India. In line with the nations need for energy conservation and energy eiciency,
the market demand for time switches, light and temperature control solutions is poised to grow manifold. It will be further
triggered by renewable energy initiatives undertaken by the government, domestically as well as in terms of its global commitment to curb emissions intensity between 33 and 35% per unit of GDP by 2030. Rapid adoption of leading technologies
will help strengthen this efort by reducing overall energy usage in the electrical power sector. At such a time, the alliance
between Grsslin and AMTL is poised to translate into a fruitful exchange of ideas and sharing of technologies for energyeicient electrical products across various geographies.

October 2016

PowerWatch INDIA

41

GREEN AHEAD

Turning a challenge
into an opportunity
A

t a recent press conference, Upendra Tripathy, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) expressed that biomass
is a stressed sector and this is the reason why the
government is expanding its biomass portfolio into
ethanol, derived from agri-residue. The ethanol
produced will be used for fuel blending, which is
the need of the hour, across the country. He also
mentioned that the government is allocating Rs
2,000 million for setting up a fund that will help the
stressed projects, and this will be handled by Indian
Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA).
The MNRE has set a target of generating 10 GW
of installed power from biomass resources such as
crop residues and agro-industrial wastes. According
to recent reports, Punjab alone has the potential to
generate 2 GW of energy from biomass resources.
As per Anirudh Tewari, Principal Secretary for
Industries, Commerce, and Renewable Energy in
the Government of Punjab, biomass is an important
part of the northern Indian states energy market.
We recently developed 150MW of projects on
biomass but we have potential to generate about
2,000MW. That is the kind of biomass available, he
was quoted as saying. The states which are currently
leading in terms of total megawatts of commissioned power and cogeneration projects include Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka,
and Uttar Pradesh.
In a recent push to the biomass sector in the
country, the government has asked oil marketing
companies (OMCs) to set up biomass-based ethanol
projects. The government is said to be pushing for
10% ethanol blending with petrol, from the current
4%. In India, ethanol is currently made from molasses produced from sugarcane.
Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IndianOil),

42

PowerWatch INDIA

October 2016

Indias lagship national oil company has selected

Praj Industries Ltd., a Pune-based global process solutions provider, as its technology partner for setting
up multiple 2nd generation (2G) bio-ethanol plants
based on indigenously developed technology. IndianOil will be setting up three such 2G bio-ethanol
plants. In fact, Praj is preparing to execute 2G ethanol projects over Rs 3,000 crore over a periods of 2-3
years. At the World Bio-fuels Day conference held
in New Delhi recently, the Government of India had
announced that a biomass-based bio-fuels policy is
in the oing to give boost to the agro-economy and
to promote clean, renewable energy. This endeavour
will be a socio-economic and environmental enabler
as the farming community will be able to generate
additional revenues from agri-waste, which will be
utilised to produce bio-ethanol.
Industries such as sugar, paper and pulp, textiles, fertilizers, petroleum, petrochemicals and food
processing, etc. require electrical as well as thermal
energy for their operations. These requirements can
either be met through diferent energy sources, or
from a single source, which is capable of generating electricity as well as producing thermal energy.
The simultaneous production of power and thermal energy from a single fuel source is termed as
co-generation, and the power generated can be used
for meeting the captive requirements. On the other
hand, the surplus power produced can be exported
to the grid. In view of the limited availability of
fossil fuels, and given its adverse efects on the
environmental, it is more than appropriate to use
non-conventional energy sources including biomass
resources for generation of energy.
Monica Chaturvedi

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INDIA 2016
SPECIAL

Neelima Jain, ger,

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National Programm ices Ltd
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Energy Efficiency

Harish Ahuja,
Founder and CEO,
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Director,
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GREEN AHEAD

We expect bid prices in the

range of Rs 5.00-5.20/ kWh
Vivek Sharma, Practice Leader and Director - Energy and Natural Resources,
CRISIL, sheds light on the viability of aggressive bidding rates, expectations
from the UDAY scheme and key challenges facing the rooftop solar segment
in India, in an interview with Monica Chaturvedi Charna...

numerate the
key financial
requirements of the
solar power industry in
view of current policies
and trends.
The Indian government
has set a target of 100 GW
solar power by 2022 under
the Jawaharlal Nehru Solar
Mission (JNNSM). While an
estimated $45 to $48 billion
are required to execute large
and medium scale grid-connected projects to generate
60 GW, $50 to $60 billion are
needed for the remaining
40 GW of rooftop solar. The
inancial requirement works out to ~$95-110 billion.
Considering the high lending rates in India and
the fact that currency volatility is discouraging
developers from going for international finance,
would you suggest any policy changes to ease
funding for solar projects in India?
The declining interest rates, which have fallen ~100
basis points in the domestic market during the past
year, is a positive factor. Investors are also evaluating the option of reinancing from banks once the
project is commissioned with more reliable revenue
streams. However, with non-performing assets
rising, the due diligence of each project becomes
critical for bankers. Banks are shying away from
funding solar projects which have relatively higher
risk, tight margins, and lower debt service coverage
ratios or internal rates of return (IRRs).
Yes, currency volatility has discouraged some
developers from going for international inance,
especially debt, after including the hedging cost.
However, innovative hedging solutions and setting
up funds can help mitigate this concern. In this
regard, the government has:

44

PowerWatch INDIA

October 2016

Created the National Investment

and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) as
an alternate investment fund (AIF)
to enhance infrastructure inancing.
NIIF aims to solicit equity participation from anchor partners. Due to the
governments contribution, NIIF can
be virtually considered as a sovereign
fund and is expected to attract foreign
sovereign/quasi sovereign/
multilateral investors.
Formed the Solar Alliance to endorse
clean energy and sustainable environment by raising funds from membership fees and through
international agencies.
Comment on the viability of
aggressive bidding rates in the solar sector. Do
you think this trend is sustainable?
Let us irst understand factors behind the low tarifs
observed during the past few years - Global factors such as oversupply of solar parts due to the
worldwide economic crisis have deinitely favoured
falling prices. While solar panel prices have more or

Thermal power is good for meeting Indias

base load requirements. For meeting the
remaining power demand, a mix of solar, wind,
hydro, and biomass is required. Although there
is no ideal mix of solar, wind and biomass,
an optimum utilisation of the three sources
needs to be made to meet energy demand.
Hydro power, which is important to support
renewable energy sources as well as manage
peak load, is missing at this stage and needs
a push from the government.

less stabilised during the past year, the cost of manufacturers has reduced along with eiciency improvements. Moreover, solar parks with better economies,
assurance of land and transmission facilities, and
better payment security with NVVN/NTPC bids
have helped reduce tarifs. Lastly, the falling interest rates with the option of reinance and lowered
return expectation because of lesser risk perception
are also causing the tarifs to decline.
In the near term, at a 16% post-tax equity IRR,
we expect bid prices in the range of Rs 5.00-5.20
per kWh (Considering 20% oversizing on DC side,
CUF of 21% (on AC) and interest at 10.5% ), for
solar park-based projects to be viable. However, with
mitigation of project risks and temptation to enter
the Indian solar market, equity holders may expect
lower returns and this could relect in the tarifs.
In the long run, however, sustainability of tarifs
will depend on project-speciic fundamentals and
contractual risks. Concerted eforts for risk mitigation be it payment security, land acquisition,
evacuation facility, or the ease of competitive inancial closure will be critical factors for tarifs as well
as how the solar ecosystem shapes up.
With the per unit cost of generation being
roughly Rs 10 in the case of rooftop solar (for 1-2
kW set up), how does the layman get motivated
to install the system on his roof?
The per unit cost of solar electricity comes to Rs 6-10
for non-subsidised small rooftop customers, depending on state-speciic solar radiation and other project
conditions. However, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy provides domestic consumers 30%
capital subsidy, which rises to 70% in special category states (such as North East, Uttarakhand). Post
this, the cost per unit comes down to Rs 4-8. While
this may not be comparable with conventional thermal power, it is deinitely better than costly diesel
genset power or even retail tarif in some states.
The viability of solar rooftop is not a major
concern for industrial and commercial consumers,
but discoms are concerned over their revenue taking
a hit. This is evident from the fact that even though
there is net metering policy across 25 states, it has
received a muted response in solar rooftop capacity addition. This concern needs to be addressed to
expand solar rooftop power.
While there are new calls for bidding and
tenders every 2 weeks, are solar projects getting
materialised and executed at the expected pace
also? If not, why?
Even though many solar projects are being commissioned, we will always see a few projects getting
stuck or moving sluggishly during implementation.

While achieving the 100 GW target seems

ambitious, a lot would depend on how
roadblocks are tackled. One factor
will be integrating 100 GW solar with
the overall grid.
Some projects have been completely held up. Take
~35 MW out of the 500 MW solar PV during Phase I
of JNNSM and 50 MW out of the 750 MW in Phase
II Batch I VGF scheme. Others have seen delays in
execution which have led to cost overruns.
The delay/non-execution is due to various hurdles that come into play in a solar project post the
bidding stage, such as land acquisition, evacuation
facility, inancial closure, and bidders not willing to
sign power purchase agreements. One or a combination of these will hamper project viability and dent
investor conidence.
Do you think the 100 GW target set by the
government is achievable considering sectoral
issues such as grid stability, projects getting
delayed, WTOs ruling against Indias DCR clause
and unviable tariffs?
While achieving the 100 GW target seems ambitious, a lot would depend on how roadblocks are
tackled. One factor will be integrating 100 GW solar
with the overall grid. A stronger focus is required
to tackle probable issues such as grid curtailment,
where eicient management and improved forecasting along with complementary/ ancillary power
sources is needed. Second, addressing land acquisition will be a challenge in many states.
Last, cost of procurement from solar is required
to be passed through to consumers and therefore,
the inancial health of discoms will be an important factor in achieving this target. One needs to
closely monitor the impact of the UDAY scheme on
discoms as well as how they progress in achieving
eiciency targets with increasing retail tarifs.
What should be the ideal energy mix of solar,
wind and biomass to meet Indias high
energy demand?
Thermal power is good for meeting Indias base load
requirements. For meeting the remaining power
demand, a mix of solar, wind, hydro, and biomass
is required. Although there is no ideal mix of solar,
wind and biomass, an optimum utilisation of the
three sources needs to be made to meet energy demand. Hydro power, which is important to support
renewable energy sources as well as manage peak
load, is missing at this stage and needs a push from
the government.

October 2016

PowerWatch INDIA

45

GREEN AHEAD

VITAL STATS

IEX & PXIL market snapshot

IEX NON-SOLAR REC TRADE DETAILS

IEX & PXIL PRICE AND VOLUME IN

DAY AHEAD MARKET-SEPTEMBER16
Month
Delivery day

IEX Avg MCP

(Rs./kWh)

PXIL Avg MCP

(Rs./kWh)

IEX MCV
(MWh)

PXIL MCV
(MWh)

Sept'15

Buy Bid

Sale Bid

Cleared
Volume

Cleared
Price
(Rs/REC)

1,47,805

87,92,164

1,47,805

1,500

1-Sep-16

2.02

2.13

1,16,822

379

Oct'15

68,663

73,25,684

68,663

1,500

2-Sep-16

1.99

2.02

1,13,634

679

Nov'15

89,107

61,76,983

89,107

1,500

3-Sep-16

2.19

1.98

1,31,371

675

Dec'15

8,06,993

97,08,928

8,06,993

1,500

4-Sep-16

1.92

2.19

1,16,170

377

Jan'16

1,64,004

75,85,847

1,64,004

1,500

5-Sep-16

1.97

1.92

1,24,828

664

Feb'16

2,32,450

59,81,626

2,32,450

1,500

6-Sep-16

2.21

1.97

1,38,224

678

March'16

6,00,940

78,45,782

6,00,940

1,500

7-Sep-16

2.39

2.20

1,31,122

660

April'16

2,38,485

89,80,430

2,38,485

1,500

8-Sep-16

2.40

2.33

1,31,242

657

May'16

88,923

76,88,639

88,923

1,500

9-Sep-16

2.81

2.40

1,25,838

675

June'16

3,50,362

87,45,523

3,50,362

1,500

10-Sep-16

2.85

2.80

1,39,132

661

July'16

1,39,250

72,87,207

1,39,250

1,500

11-Sep-16

2.38

2.81

1,12,772

368

August'16

1,36,352

73,36,837

1,36,352

1,500

12-Sep-16

2.69

2.36

1,31,017

654

13-Sep-16

2.56

2.69

1,21,525

669

14-Sep-16

2.60

2.50

1,15,617

683

15-Sep-16

2.40

2.49

1,09,570

673

16-Sep-16

2.47

2.38

1,18,334

1,275

17-Sep-16

2.36

2.47

1,06,316

655

Sept'15

8,630

19,03,512

8,630

3,500

18-Sep-16

2.29

2.31

1,06,221

342

Oct'15

11,945

22,21,069

11,945

3,500

19-Sep-16

2.44

2.16

1,31,048

223

Nov'15

41,102

19,76,072

41,102

3,500

20-Sep-16

2.70

2.36

1,26,702

642

Dec'15

58,682

22,42,890

58,682

3,500

21-Sep-16

2.67

2.49

1,20,605

224

Jan'16

41,188

24,95,537

41,188

3,500

Feb'16

41,658

19,43,383

41,658

3,500

1,08,797

21,43,539

1,08,797

3,500

April'16

22,958

23,48,055

22,958

3,500

May'16

17,113

28,01,352

17,113

3,500

Month

IEX SOLAR REC TRADE DETAILS

Buy Bid
Sale Bid
Cleared
Volume

Cleared
Price
(Rs/REC)

22-Sep-16

2.64

2.51

1,26,863

242

23-Sep-16

2.46

2.44

1,27,245

242

24-Sep-16

2.41

2.34

1,14,167

230

25-Sep-16

2.05

2.27

1,00,345

30

June'16

35,649

28,69,142

35,649

3,500

26-Sep-16

2.18

1.94

1,07,019

212

July'16

23,944

20,36,891

23,944

3,500

27-Sep-16

2.30

2.12

1,14,256

227

August'16

21,937

21,92,565

21,937

3,500

46

PowerWatch INDIA

October 2016

March'16

IEX & PXIL Price & Volume in Day Ahead Market-September'16

3

160,000
140,000

2.5
2

100,000

1.5

80,000
60,000

MCP (Rs/kWh)

Cleared Volume (MWh)

120,000

40,000
0.5

20,000
0

0
09/03/2016

09/07/2016

09/11/2016

09/15/2016

Ave rage Daily MCV : IEX- 120,667 MWh | PXIL- 507 MWh

09/19/2016

09/23/2016

09/27/2016

| Average Daily MCP : IEX- 2.38 kWh | PXIL- 2.32 kWh

IEX Non Solar REC Trade Details

73,36,837

72,87,207

1,600

1,200

10,000
800
1,000
100

400

10

Cleared Price (Rs/REC)

1,36,352

1,36,352

1,39,250

1,39,250

88,923

3,50,362
87,45,523
3,50,362

76,88,639
88,923

2,38,485
89,80,430
2,38,485

6,00,940
78,45,782
6,00,940

2,32,450
59,81,626
2,32,450

89,107

1,64,004
75,85,847
1,64,004

8,06,993
97,08,928
8,06,993

61,76,983

1,00,000

89,107

68,663

68,663

1,47,805

1,47,805

10,00,000

73,25,684

87,92,164

1,00,00,000

Buy Bid
Sale Bid
Cleared Volume
Cleared Price (Rs/REC)

1
Oct'15
Sept'15

Dec'15
Nov'15

Jan'16

Feb'16
Apri l '16
June'16
Augus t'16
March'16
May'16
Jul y'16

IEX Solar REC Trade Details

21,92,565

20,36,891

28,69,142

28,01,352

23,48,055

12,000
9,000

6,000

1,000
100

3,000

10
1

Cleared Price (Rs/REC)

21,937

21,937

23,944

23,944

35,649

17,113

35,649

17,113

22,958

22,958

41,658

41,188

41,658

41,188

1,08,797
21,43,539
1,08,797

19,43,383

24,95,537

41,102

58,682
22,42,890
58,682

19,76,072

11,945

41,102

8,630

10,000

8,630

1,00,000

11,945

10,00,000

22,21,069

19,03,512

1,00,00,000

Buy Bid
Sale Bid
Cleared Volume
Cleared Price (Rs/REC)

0
Oct'15
Sept'15

Dec'15
Nov'15

Feb'16
April'16
June'16
August'16
Jan'16
March'16
May'16
July'16

* Please Note: The data is upto 27 September 2016.

October 2016

PowerWatch INDIA

47

SPECIAL FOCUS

The lighting industry in the

country is in a very
interesting phase right now
Says Arun Gupta, MD, NTL Group in conversation with R Srinivasan.

our views on a report that domestic LED

manufacturing may reach 3.6 billion USD
by 2020.
Indian manufacturing has evolved over time
starting from initial industrialisation to the phase
of global competitiveness, Domestic manufacturing
in several verticals are manufacturing products
according to global standards and are competing
with the best in the segment. Today, LED lighting
segment is opening up with a wide range of

48

PowerWatch INDIA

October 2016

opportunities for players in India, who are

witnessing immense growth. The spurt in growth
from energy eicient programme, increasing
awareness levels and diferent schemes to motivate
domestic players are playing a key role in shaping
the industry. The industry is bound to grow at 50%
CAGR and will be the next big thing in the coming
years. The consistent favourable policy by the
Government of India is one of the major factors
for rapid development of the lighting industry in
India which in turn is instrumental in motivating
people to enter into manufacturing which was
until now a neglected area. The Make in India is a
very encouraging initiative, launched by the Prime
Minister to motivate domestic manufacturing, it
is also playing an important role in transforming
India into a global design and manufacturing hub,
What are the opportunities and challenges for
the LEDs and lighting industry in India?
The lighting industry in the country is in a very
interesting phase right now. The rising disposable
incomes, focus of the government on smart city
projects, development of industrial corridors
and replacing traditional sources of lighting
with energy eicient LEDs, the opportunities are
immense. The government planned projects are
further expected to increase the focus on eicient
source of lighting in the country. Favourable
government initiatives and policies such as
state and national level programmes that ofer
LED lighting products at subsidised rates is
contributing in a huge way towards increasing
adoption of LED in the country. With increasing
awareness, both residential and commercial sector
are adopting this technology.
Street lights is another segment which throws
immense opportunity as both the Centre and state
are willing to go the extra mile to replace existing
lights with LEDs.
The biggest challenge comes from the
government itself in its EESL programme and
the industry is hoping that the government will
eventually get out of direct distribution. The
manufacturers have been forced to lower prices
due to huge volumes and cut-throat competition.
Consumers know about the pricing for EESL and
want the same price points from the traditional
distribution model. This has led to an unbalanced
situation for manufacturers. Mushrooming of
low quality production units, Chinese imports are
another issue more from the perspective of issues
related to sub-standard quality and costing rather
than anything else.
We also need to reduce our dependency on
imported chips and micro chips as they still have

to be imported at high cost resulting in several

constraints in bringing the cost down.
Since NTL Lemnis is a major partner to govt
initiatives to make mass adoption of LED bulbs
possible, are the current awareness levels up to
the mark?
We are very proud to be a part of this revolution.
We have till now supplied more than 15 million
bulbs and are one of the leading supplier to EESL.
The transition has been virtually seamless from
CFL to LEDs due to return on investment, long
life, energy eiciency and with no environment
hazard. The availability of LEDs and government
focus to promote it nationally has caught on fast
and consumers are getting much more than they
bargained for.
The awareness level seems to be high in the
urban population where people are ready to switch
to a new technology but it will take time to reach
every nook and corner of the country, however
keeping EESL eiciency in promoting LEDs in farlung areas of the country, the tide has started to
turn in the right direction.
Does the sector, like other power segments face
an issue with imported equipment?
In the LED lamps segment, our biggest issue is
the low quality of imported LED products. These
low quality imported LED products damage the
consumers perception of LED products, as they fail
to perform on various parameters, like product life,
light output, etc.
The Indian lighting industry has been growing
at nearly 17-18% annually over the past few
years. Comment on the way ahead for the LEDs
and lighting sector in India.
The technology which was initially used to change
incandescent bulbs is quickly replacing all kinds of
sources of light. Currently the LED lighting market
in India is Rs 4000 crores and is expected to reach
Rs 21,000 crores by 2020. The industry is likely to
grow at a CAGR of 50% in the next 5 years. The
demand is likely to be increased majorly in outdoor
(street and road) lighting. Consumer segment is
also starting to gain momentum and consumer in
general is getting aware of beneits that can accrue
through adoption of this technology. The increased
focus of the government to provide sustainable
lighting solutions especially in the lamp category
are further expected to fuel the adoption of LEDs at
the grass-root level. Also, the industry is witnessing
great demand in commercial projects and oices,
which is further expected to add to growth in the
coming days.

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SPECIAL FOCUS

India is the 2nd largest LED

market in the world
States Neelima Jain, National Programme Manager, Energy Efficiency
Services Ltd, in an interview with Monica Chaturvedi Charna...

indly tell our readers about the success of

the UJALA scheme of EESL. How many LED
bulbs have you already distributed
pan India?
Till 2013-14, incandescent bulbs made up 80% of
the total lighting bulbs, and the penetration of CFLs
was around 19%. The penetration of LED bulbs was
even less because of the high cost. In 2013, an LED
bulbs cost around Rs 800 and in 2014, the price was
roughly Rs 600.
We started the UJALA scheme 22 months back
(February 2014) in Pondicherry and the target was
to distribute 7.5 lakh LED bulbs. Within 6 months,
we had distributed 6.3 lakh bulbs, and it was a great
achievement. It picked up very well and the same
model was adopted by Andhra Pradesh. The distribution work of 1.7 crore LED bulbs for the entire
state was given to EESL. In 2015, UJALA was adopted as a national plan. As of today, EESL is able to
distribute around 5.5-6 lakh LED bulbs in one day,
and we are spread across 22 states. The objective
was primarily to make LEDs afordable and we have
been able to do that. Currently, the cost is between
Rs 150-200 and the awareness has grown manifold.
The number of manufacturers has increased and
there is heightened interest in the LED
industry in India.
How many LED bulbs have you
distributed in the Delhi-NCR belt?
EESL has distributed around 68 lakh
LED bulbs in Delhi. The programme was
launched by the Prime Minister in Delhi
in 2015 with 7W LED bulbs, and it covered the states of Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar
Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Are you planning to completely phase
out 7W bulbs in order to move to the 9W
LED bulbs?
It has been 3 weeks that we have moved
to the 9W bulbs as the objective is to

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tighten our speciications in order to achieve higher

levels of energy eiciency. For the same cost, we can
now ofer a higher wattage bulb, which is beneicial
for everybody. We procured 9W bulbs for Rs 64/
piece, which is lower than the cost of the 7W bulb
of Rs 70-75.
Kindly shed light on the standards governing the
LED lights and bulbs in India.
EESL is very particular about the quality of the
bulbs that are procured. We follow a 3-tier stringent
quality process and on a monthy basis, we declare
the failure rate on our website. Out of the 16.08
crore bulbs that we have distributed, the failure rate
has been only 0.3%. This is a very good igure as the
industry norm is 2%. Also, in 2015, the BIS standard
was made mandatory for LED products.
Do you have fixed suppliers of LED bulbs or is
there a tender process which is followed?
EESL is a 100% government organisation and is administered by the Ministry of Power. We also come
under the CAG scan and all our processes follow the
public procurement policy, which means that every
service or product that we procure needs to undergo
the tendering process. In fact, we have now moved
to e-tendering. When we started with Pondicherry,
there were 6 suppliers who bid for the tender. Contrast this with the 18 suppliers who bid for our most
recent tender. It is owing to this transparent process that all the top manufacturers such as Philips,
Havells, Surya, Compact, Crompton & Greaves, etc.
participate in our tender bids.
The LED light manufacturers in India seem to be
concerned about their business because of the
sharp fall in the prices of LED products, thanks to
EESLs UJALA scheme. What do you have to say
about that?
I dont see any reason why the LED manufacturers cant bring down their cost in the retail market
when they can ofer a bid price as low as Rs 39 for
a 9W bulb under the EESL tender. Having said so, it
is not EESLs intention to disturb the pricing of the
retail market. Even for the tender, we dont decide
the price, rather it is discovered and it is the industry that is giving us the bid prices. Interestingly, our
price graph has only gone down.
It is to be noted that in 2013, the penetration of
LEDs in the domestic market was just 0.1%. However, today the igure has reached 15%, and India
is the second largest LED market in the world after
China. We have the cheapest yet the best quality
products, and this is the impact that EESLs programme has had on the growth of the LED market.
In fact, once we see that the retail prices have gone

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51

SPECIAL FOCUS
Till 2013-14, incandescent bulbs made up
80% of the total lighting bulbs, and the
penetration of CFLs was around 19%. The
penetration of LED bulbs was even less
because of the high cost. In 2013, an LED
bulbs cost around Rs 800 and in 2014, the
price was roughly Rs 600... In 2015, UJALA was
adopted as a national plan. As of today, EESL
is able to distribute around 5.5-6 lakh LED
bulbs in one day, and we are spread across 22
states. The objective was primarily to make
LEDs affordable and we have been able to do
that. Currently, the cost is between Rs 150200 and the awareness has grown manifold.
down, we will withdraw and let the industry take
over, as there will be no need for such as intervention. It is only because of the mass procurement
that we are doing, that has led to the sharp fall in
the prices. If the industry feels that this has made a
dent in their business then the industry should look
at ofering the prices that we keep discovering and
which is afordable for the consumers.
Has the government been able to control the
dumping from China? What is the current share of
organised sector and the unorganised sector of
LED lights and bulbs?
When we started in 2014, there was no mandatory
minimum standard for the LED products. However,
in 2015, the BIS standard was made mandatory and
the anti dumping duty was also imposed. So, any
product below the given speciication is considered
illegal. Being the biggest consumer of LED products
in India, EESL has aligned itself to the Make in India programme. Thus, we have clearly mentioned in
our tendering process that 100% manufacturing has
to happen in India. However, since there is no wafer
industry in India, the chip cannot be manufactured
domestically and has to be imported. All other components of the LED bulb are being manufactured in
India. Having said that, we have been hearing that
there are manufacturers and investors who are interested in setting up chip manufacturing in Gujarat.
In a new development, EESL has issued bonds to
raise funds. What is the valuation of these bonds
and how will the funds be utilised?
We are working across sectors domestic, agricul-

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October 2016

ture, buildings and street lighting. In the domestic

sector, we are dealing with LED bulbs, tube lights
and fans. We have ventured into the agricultural sector with energy eicient agricultural pumps. In the
buildings sector, we are engaged in retroitting the
existing appliances with eicient ones. Since we are
not dependent on grants and are a commercial entity, there are diferent resource mobilisation plans
for the funds accumulated through these bonds.
The inance structuring is done in a ratio of 80:20,
wherein 20% of the project cost is invested through
equity by EESL and the remaining 80% comes
from debt. We did a small size bond of Rs 500 crore
because in the next 4 years, nearly 30-35% of our
inancial requirement will come from domestic
corporate bonds, and 20% of the entire pipeline
will be sourced from international currency bonds
that includes green bonds, green masala bonds,
masala bonds and US dollar bonds. We also have
line of credit from multilateral agencies like KfW,
World Bank, ADB, etc. Since we are working in a
100% green sector, there is a lot of interest from
these agencies. The requirement for this year alone
is around Rs 3,500 crore and so the funds worth Rs
500 crore will be spread across all the segments that
we are working in.
What major work has EESL done in the street
lighting space?
Till now, we have roughly done 12.9 lakh street
lights though agreements with the municipalities.
EESL has done the entire 100% investment so that
the local body does not have to allocate any money
for the revamping of their street lighting infrastructure. Till 2013, the penetration of LEDs in the street
lighting segment was miniscule (0.04%). EESL being
an ESCO, we are making the local bodies understand
that by replacing a conventional street light with an
LED light, 50% energy eiciency can be achieved.
This will translate into a 50% reduction in the energy bill as well. The local authorities then can pay
us through the savings and it will be a win-win situation for both the parties. Usually, there is a 7-years
period for the recovery of our investment. The case
in point here is the city of Visakhapatnam (Vizag)
where we have replaced 90,000 street lights.
Has the LED technology really been the gamechanger that it was touted to be? How do you see
the future?
The technology is deinitely revolutionary and will
keep on evolving. However, the true game-changer
has been the business model rather than the technology. EESL has already made the diference in the
LED industry and now we are looking at other segments fans, tube lights, ACs, etc.

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SPECIAL FEATURE

Wires and cables industry is

set to grow at 10% CAGR
Hemant Gadhave - Business Unit Incharge, Wires and Cables, Anchor, speaks about the
strong growth potential of the wires and cables industry in India and suggests measures
to further check the unorganised sector in an interview with Monica Chaturvedi Charna...

ow do you see the business potential for

cables and wires industry in the wake of the
rapidly growing renewables sector and the
governments push to Smart Cities programme?
The governments move to spend $15.3 billion on
the Smart Cities plan will have a strong positive impact on the real estate sector. Developers will be able
to ofer new projects in the upcoming cities, boosting the regional, social and economic infrastructure.
Development of smart cities in India would provide
ample opportunities to the real estate developers,
who can focus on technology-driven homes as well
as the afordability and lifestyle quotient. These developments will deinitely have a positive impact on
the growth of the cables and wires business in India.
In such a scenario, Anchors core business of
electrical construction materials will add immense
value in terms of building smart cities in India.
Is there any form of dumping happening from
the Chinese market? If yes, are any measures

Today, the wires and cables industry is

approximately worth 35,000 crore. It is
expected to grow at a CAGR of 10% in the next
five years. This growth will be augmented
further by the GOIs initiatives like Make in
India, Smart Cities, Sansad Adarsh Gram
Yojna (Building Indias villages), Housing for
all, 24x7 Power for all, etc.
At the same time, some initiatives of the
government like incentivising exports,
implementation of the long awaited Goods and
Services Tax (GST) etc will result in boosting
the morale of both domestic and overseas
investors.
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being taken by the government to provide a level

playing field to domestic players?
Yes, Chinese goods are being dumped, however, they
are mostly in the specialty cables sector. The government has taken measures to control such dumping,
through enforcement of anti-dumping duty and
ofering support in the form of subsidies to Indian
wires and cables manufacturers.
I feel that it would further assist if parallely,
strong counter vailing duty and special additional
surcharges can be imposed to put a check and prevent dumping.
Are Indian companies competent enough to cater
to the international market? Has the unorganised
sector which roughly holds 35% share, been
brought under check?
The Indian manufacturers have proven that they are
as capable as global players in terms of manufacturing for special applications within India as well as
for exports. The unorganised sector has deinitely
reduced, but it has to be checked completely. Various
steps and counter measures are being considered
by the regulatory bodies that expedite the decisionmaking process for upgrading the rules and regulations for wires and cables and other industries.
This would result in a major industry overhaul. In
addition to this, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)
can have a system for issuing licenses based on the
manufacturing facilities and infrastructure too. It
should also consider grading licensing, for example
Platinum licenses or A grade, Gold licenses or B
Grade, Silver licenses or C grade, ofering a clear
distinction to manufacturers.
The wires and cables comprise nearly 40% of the
electrical industry. What is the current total worth
of the sector?
The Indian wires and cables industry is now Rs
35,000 crore in size, which is 14% higher than the
previous year. However, the CAGR of the industry
for 5 years is only 10%. This is because the year
before, there was a dip in the market. The wires and
cables market is expected to witness rapid growth in
the coming years due to government investments in
the power and telecommunication sectors, dynamic
industrialisation and urbanisation.
Kindly elucidate on the new range of cables that
you have recently introduced in the market.
We have unveiled a new range of wires and cables
termed Advance EFFR that are extra lexible germ
free antibacterial (as per JIS Z 2801 & ASTM 2149
standard) wires. These have additional high value
functional properties, such as the advanced formulated PVC of special ingredients for extra ire ight-

Yes, Chinese goods are being dumped, however,

they are mostly in the specialty cables sector. The
government has taken measures to control such
dumping, through enforcement of anti-dumping
duty and offering support in the form of subsidies
to Indian wires and cables manufacturers.
I feel that it would further assist if parallely,
strong countervailing duty and special additional
surcharges can be imposed to put a check and
prevent dumping.
ing properties and higher oxygen and temperature
index than those of normal PVC wires. The USP of
this range is its enhanced lexibility and bending
capability that provides excellent performance even
in harsh electrical conditions.
How is Anchor gearing up to meet the increased
demand set to come from various infrastructural
projects?
Plans are underway to unveil a couple of products
in the coming months. Our focus is mainly on
providing cables for speciic applications, tailored
to certain industry needs. Anchor is fully geared up
to meet this increased demand. We have already
planned for expansion and increasing the capacity.
We are also thinking about introducing advanced
solutions to grow in the market. Innovation is the
hallmark for any development so, the company has
invested in R&D to ensure that our customers get
the advantage of latest technological developments.
Through these innovations, we have been able to
develop special insulating compounds and provide
to our customers the safest building wires with
desired electrical and mechanical properties. Power
saving and safety of our customers will always be
our prime concern and motto.
Your estimate of the growth slated to happen in
the industry in the next 5 years?
Today, the wires and cables industry is approximately worth 35,000 crore. It is expected to grow at
a CAGR of 10% in the next ive years. This growth
will be augmented further by the GOIs initiatives
like Make in India, Smart Cities, Sansad Adarsh
Gram Yojna (Building Indias villages), Housing for
all, 24x7 Power for all, etc.
At the same time, some initiatives of the government like incentivising exports, implementation of
the long awaited Goods and Services Tax (GST) etc
will result in boosting the morale of both domestic
and overseas investors.

October 2016

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55

SPECIAL FEATURE

The future
definitely belongs
to a greater usage
of monopoles
Says Devesh Bansal - Director, Skipper Ltd,
in conversation with R Srinivasan.

our views on minimal usage of

monopoles in India even though theyve
been around since 2010 and their
usage as compared to countries world-wide
that have adopted them for many years now.
Globally, monopoles have been in use in the
transmission and distribution (T&D) and
telecom sectors for over 50 years. However,
monopoles were irst introduced in India by
PowerGrid Corporation of India during 20082009. In spite of its advantages of saving space
and time for grid managers and the discom,
it is yet to take of in Indian markets. This
is especially relevant for urban parts of the
country where monopoles are also economical,
due to a lesser space requirement.
One more major reason for a delayed
application is because of lack of awareness
among decision-makers and utility personnel.
Few other reasons for lesser usage of monopoles
are because of its weight and need of superior
engineering to build the same.
Comment on potential of the market
for monopoles.
The most common problem faced by
transmission utilities these days are laying the
transmission lines in urban areas of the country
due to severe Right of Way (ROW) and corridor
width issues. This is due to non-availability of
land and space required by conventional lattice
towers. The current solution is introduction
of monopoles that occupy 70% lesser space
than traditional lattice towers. Thus there is
enormous potential awaiting monopoles in the
transmission and distribution sector. For this
reason itself, monopoles are being widely used
in the telecom industry, especially in expensive
urban centres where ROW issues exist.
What are their advantages and
disadvantages as compared to lattice
towers?
Transmission monopoles are the latest addition
to overhead transmission lines and considered
to be a replacement for existing lattice towers.
A major advantage of monopoles is that it ofers
a major solution to corridor width and ROW
problems that are faced in land acquisition.
Here are a list of advantages and disadvantages
of monopoles over conventional lattice towers.
Advantages
- Availability of space - Space consumed by
a monopole compared to a lattice structure
of same capacity is almost 70% less. Hence

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monopole structures become suitable for heavily

populated and congested areas like metros and
other cities.
- Easy installation - As the number of ittings for
monopoles are much lesser than lattice tower
structures, the chances of failure are lesser.
- Designing Due to their lexibility, poles are
subjected to lesser wind loads as compared to
tower structures.
- Shorter project delivery Due to lesser number of
ittings, installation is 3 - 4 times faster
- Aesthetically pleasing As they occupy lesser
space, monopoles are more aesthetic in appearance.
- Protection against vandalism Since poles are
continuum types, they are resistant to vandalism.
Disadvantages:
- Expensive The cost of manufacturing
monopoles is higher as compared to lattice towers
- Since monopoles are Cantilever structures, the
base is critical
- Diiculty in transportation Monopoles require
heavy cranes
- Limits transmission of high voltage current
Manufacturing limitations for voltage higher than
765 kV or higher
What factors make them more expensive
though they have lesser units and joints?
Considering monopoles to be single-pole structure,
virtue of design and the process of manufacturing
monopoles makes it more expensive than
conventional lattice towers.
What measures has the company taken to
increase awareness levels?
Skipper Ltd has one of the largest designing and
manufacturing facility of monopoles in India.
We can design, manufacture and galvanise
monopoles up to 400 kV. Skipper has in-house
facilities to design world-class poles. Considering
lesser awareness being one of the prime reasons
of monopoles not being widely used in India, at
Skipper we chose to do several presentations to
utilities, promoting through advertisements and
advertorials and circulating collaterals, based on
monopole usage.
By roughly when do you expect its widespread
usage in India?
Till a decade from now we expect both angular
towers and monopoles to coexist. Only for new
installations and at places where enough land is
not available, monopoles shall be used. However
considering the potential of the product we do
expect a substantial growth in the number of
projects in the coming few years.

Your view on the monopoles segment this year

and in the years to come.
The industry is at a nascent stage in India but
the future deinitely belongs to greater usage of
monopoles. Once utility owners start appreciating
the beneits that monopoles accord, it will surely
see a multi-fold increase in usage.

October 2016

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57

GENERATION

Coal and gas-based hybrid

solutions give right balancing
Informs M Rajagopalan, Market Development Director, Middle East, Asia and
Australia,Wartsila, in an interview with Monica Chaturvedi Charna.

ow do you see the potential of coal and gasbased hybrid solutions in India and what
are the key challenges?
The potential is huge because it is based on the
premise that the solution is available for dispatch all
time round, and gas-based lexible generation gives
that certainty. Coal and gas-based hybrid solutions
give the right balancing which is needed with other
generation sources like hydro, wind and solar.
Currently, international gas prices are low and
the govt is planning to import nearly 60-70
mmscmd capacity to revive stalled projects. But
this is not a consistent trend and India has not
been able to generate the targeted capacity of
gas. What needs to be done to make the sector
more stable?
Given the fact that gas prices are uncertain and can
luctuate in future, I would suggest that we dont use
it for base load application or depend on combined
cycle gas turbines. It wont make sense because
there is coal to provide base load power. Instead,
we should use gas-based generation lexibly only
when there is a need. While gas-based generation is
expensive, it allows coal-based plants to run more
eiciently, giving a cost advantage. For instance,
instead of having a 100 MW coal-based plant running at 60% PLF, it would make sense to cut it down
to 80 MW and run it at 80% PLF, producing the
same number of units. The balance 20 MW can be
topped through gas based generation. It is not fair
to dismiss gas-based generation as being expensive
primarily because it can achieve a very good balance
when there are power outages. It will be at least
better than diesel-based generation, where people
are spending as much as Rs 25/ unit. We are trying
to change the legacy system which states that coal
is the cheapest and the best solution. Fortunately,
the technical committee formed by the Ministry of
Power to deal with renewable energy (RE) integration has also considered these points and has stated

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that lexible generation and reserve capacity is a

must. Wartsilas solutions it very well in both these
categories. Optimising the energy mix in the right
manner is the need of the hour.
The last 3-4 years saw gas prices shooting
up because of which numerous projects were
stalled. How did you cope with that scenario?
High gas price was surely a deterrent, specially for
base load generation. Nearly 20,000 MW of gas
based capacity was rendered stranded. This is the
reason why Wartsila repositioned itself as we felt
that the solar wind hybrid solution is perfect for
peaking power and for RE balancing. Even the current government is very supportive of this solution
and is drafting relevant policies for promoting solar
wind hybrid systems.
How much capacity is Wartsila currently

handling in the gas-based power generation

business in India?
We currently have 110 MW on the order book,
which is being executed. But, given the potential, we
are hoping to do at least 250-300 MW in a year.
Which markets are the most promising?
India has a huge potential, especially in the RE
space and the requisite policies are also in place.
China is a very deceptive and large market with over
100 GW of just wind energy. We are looking for certain policies concerning our solutions for optimising
wind generation there. If Saudi Arabia agrees to
introduce the engine technology that we have, they
stand to gain atleast $4-5 billion for a period of 10
years. We have a big market in Indonesia where
gas-based solutions for peaking power and island
application are signiicant. Middle East Asia and
Australia are also fairly vibrant markets for Wartsila.

October 2016

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59

TECH & SERVICES

India, Russia in discussion

for localisation of
components for nuclear fuel
Oleg Grigoryev, Vice-President of TVEL, Russian State Atomic Energy
Corporation Rosatoms fuel company, in conversation with R Srinivasan.

s part of cooperation with the Indian

Department of Atomic Energy (DAE),
Rosatoms fuel company TVEL supplies
nuclear fuel for Unit 1 and 2 of the Kudankulam
NPP under a life-cycle contract. Also, one in
six power reactors in the world operates on
fuel produced by TVEL. So kindly comment on
negotiations for the supply of new TVS-2M to
India. When would they be delivered, in how many
years will they be used and in which units?
One of the main competitive advantages of Russia
in the nuclear ield is the continuous improvement
of nuclear fuel. We do not stand still. We develop
and improve the performance of our products and
invest considerable resources and efort for science.
When the decision to construct the irst
Russian design reactors in India was made, UTVS
design feted India more, and now it is available.
Today we can ofer our Indian colleagues a more
modern design of nuclear fuel - TVS-2M with
improved economic and technical characteristics.
Negotiations on this issue are already underway
with Indian partners. We are ready to change NPP
Kudankulams fuel on the other as soon as possible
according to requirements of the Indian regulator
for substantiation of reliability and security of fuel
assemblies.
The only restriction for this project is the time:
0ver the next 3-4 years by parties agreement UTVS
nuclear fuel has been designed. As soon as this fuel
is used, the station will operate on the new fuel.
If we and our Indian partners ind another
formula, the transfer to a new nuclear fuel will take
place faster. In any case, we are interested. Our
strategic priority is satisfaction of the customers
requirements.
After transfer to TVS-2M the customer will not
face additional diiculties. We ofer only proven
and referent nuclear fuel that previously has passed
all stages of testing in Russia. This type of fuel

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assemblies is not an exception.

Kindly give details of TVS-2M.
A new type of fuel assembly called the TVS-2M,
consists of spacer grids welded to guide channels.
It increases the number of operational days for the
plant by increasing the fuel cycle, which means a
greater gap before the next change.
Fuel assemblies used in Kudankulam NPP need
replacement after around eight months. The new
one however will need replacement only after
around a year and a half.
A fuel assembly is a structured group of fuel
rods - long, slender, metal tubes containing pellets of
issionable material which provide fuel for nuclear
reactors.
It saves 60-70 operational days in around three
years, and saves $60-70 million which would have
been lost had the plant not been working.
You recently said that while there are only two
Russian reactors, localisation does not make
sense. How many reactors are required to ensure
that localisation could be meaningful?
Russia and India are connected by close cooperation
in the nuclear sphere. Power reactors based on
Russian projects are already constructed, supplies
of nuclear fuel and its components for the Russian
design blocks and for nuclear power plants, built on
other technologies are realised. There are a number
of other areas of cooperation that are successfully
developing with expansion prospects. The potential
for deepening and expanding cooperation is
virtually limitless.
As we know, in the next 10-15 years, India plans
to increase the number of Russian design reactors to
12. We appreciate Indias commitment in the choice
of Russian nuclear technology; they are referential
and meet all modern and conservative requirements
for safety, reliability and eiciency.
JSC TVEL with the understanding regards the
fact that customers with increasing reactor park pay
more attention to the security of nuclear fuel supply.
Despite the fact that the JSC TVEL always
impeccably fulils its obligations under the
uninterrupted supply of nuclear fuel, we are ready
to support the eforts of our Indian partners in
localisation of nuclear fuel production in India. But
it should be understood that the plant should be
cost-efective, which can be achieved only through
optimal orders loading. It is obvious that two such
units cannot provide it.
We already have experience in fabrication
localisation of redistribution abroad. We have
repeatedly carried out economic calculations and
estimated the number of blocks into which the

plant is to supply fuel to make it proitable. The

result together with regional and country speciicity
ranged from 10 to 12 units.
The question of fuel assemblies localisation is
timeless - it is a matter of medium term. But this
does not mean that we will wait for it. Even today,
it is necessary to work on adaptation of Indian
legislation to Russian standards, to teach Indians
who will be engaged in the future in manufacturing.
It is vital to study the options for plant placement
in terms of available infrastructure. This work has
already begun.
In the near future a detailed roadmap of
localisation will be developed and agreed, we will
follow it. The work, based on our experience and
understanding of the phasing process should likely
begin with localisation of components for fuel
assemblies. The inal decision on the location and
depth of its timing and sequence is the subject of
agreements with Indian partners.
Are there negotiations for localisation of
production in India? What is the current status of
talks? What are the options for localisation? How
long, on an average, would it take for production
in India?
- Localisation should not be for the sake of
localisation. The plant should be constructed
according to economic expediency. Containment
works must be linked to the schedule of Indian
expansion leet of Russian design reactors.
Therefore, if all current plans and restrictions for
Russian units in India are respected, we hope that
in the next 10 years the irst components produced
in India will be used in the fuel for Indian nuclear
power plants. This should be preceded by huge
work and adaptation of legislation and personnel
training. The irst steps in this direction have
already been made. In our experience, nuclear
fuel production localisation may require no more
than three years from the date of formalisation of
agreements in the documents. Much will depend on
regional speciicity and peculiarities.

October 2016

PowerWatch INDIA

61

EQUIPMENT WATCH
Axioline F I/O system now with SafetyBridge technology by Phoenix Contact
Safety applications are now even easier and more lexible to implement
with the Axioline F I/O system. The three new SafetyBridge-I/O modules based on the proven SafetyBridge technology record and output
safety-related signals.
SafetyBridge technology is a network-capable safety solution which
does not use a safety controller and which can be implemented via any
automation network. As such, the safety modules can be mixed and
distributed with I/Os which are not safety-related, under the various
standard control systems anywhere in the network. This technology
permits safety integrity up to SILCL 3 and a performance level up to PL
e. Using the free Safeconf coniguration software, the safety functions
can be conigured via drag and drop.
For further details e-mail- adverts@phoenixcontact.co.in

Vikram Solar launches HELITRAC- the revolutionary Sun tracking system

Vikram Solar announced the launch of HELITRAC, a highly
advanced solar tracker with robust weather proof mechanism
and multimode intelligent operations. The product was showcased at Renewable Energy India Expo, Greater Noida. Set to
boost the solar industry by further improving PV eiciencies,
HELITRAC can change its orientation throughout the day
to follow the suns path to
maximise energy capture. It
allows east-west land undulations up to 3-5 degrees.
Additionally, its IP65 gears
and drives make the system
weather-proof and robust.
The product is touted to be
a breakthrough development, as it introduces certain
unique features for the irst
time in India, viz link tube
with articulated joints, dust
avoidance and rain mode.
Highlighting the importance of HELITRAC,
Siddhartha Sengupta, President- Engineering, Vikram
Solar said, In large-scale
MW projects, utilisation of sun tracking systems is becoming increasingly prevalent as it enables developers to make
maximum utilisation of available land by generating more
electricity even from a shredded down DC capacity. Our new
product- HELITRAC increases performance and PV eiciencies, ofering various industry-irst features and lowest LCOE.
The product has been introduced with a clear aim to cater to
the ever-growing energy needs in a cost efective way and to
serve the energy revolution.
He added, With the beneits of fast installation and ease
of transport, the product is slated to hit the market early in
Q1 of 2017-18. Our revolutionary sun tracker will not only
increase solar PV plant generation, but also minimise the

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PowerWatch INDIA

October 2016

plants capital cost through its unique features.

HELITRAC is bestowed with various features that not
only make it a unique product, but are also advantageous for
end consumers. Exhibiting intelligent features like link tube
with articulated joints and slew drives, it allows massive ield
adaptation, reducing land preparation cost. It also has a dust
avoidance mode and rain
mode that minimises soiling
losses and enables self-cleaning of the modules during
rains respectively. With back
tracking as another signiicant feature, the tracker
keeps inter-row shading
under check.
Direct normal irradiance
(DNI) and Difused horizontal irradiance (DHI) being
two components of sunlight,
DNI ofers the majority of
energy. To maximise the
collection of Suns light, the
sun rays have to be perpendicular to PV modules as
long as possible which is
practically not possible in case of traditional ixed tilt mounting systems and this led to the invention of sun trackers. As
we know that the relative position of sun changes daily from
east to west, it is therefore the angle of rotation that matters. The angle of rotation varies from -60 to +60 (East-West
direction), but for tropical countries like India, a single axis
movement of -45 to +45 (East-West direction) is enough for
extracting the maximum gain. The tracking happens as per
the astronomical algorithm encrypted in the controller, deining the relative path of sun round the year even considering
all seasonal variations. This process of following the trajectory of sun provides with an electricity generation gain of
around 18% to 25%, depending on its location.

Lapp Indias OLFLEX 408 P

Cables used in manufacturing processes, machine

and plant areas are required to have a high level
of resistance to notches, cuts and abrasions and
function under harsh environmental conditions
including low temperatures or under UV or glaring sunlight.
In such applications, cables with a conventional PVC outer sheath quickly reach their maximum
limits. Hence, PUR cables with specially selected
sheath compounds made of resistant polyurethane
are ideal for such tough conditions as they provide the necessary robustness and durability.
The newly launched OLFLEX 408 P is abrasion- and oil-resistant control cables with PUR
sheath for increased application requirements.
The grey OLFLEX 408 P with VDE registration
is an all-rounder in mechanical processing. It is
abrasion and notch-resistant, highly oil-resistant,
resistant to hydrolysis and microbes, and lexible
at low temperatures up to minus 15C.

STMicroelectronics reveals worlds

smallest motor drivers
With expansion of portable technology in everyday life, new tiny, lowpower electric-motor drivers from STMicroelectronics, are enabling
sophisticated battery-powered equipment to become smaller and more
mobile with extended runtime. Controlling the motors at the heart of
devices like portable medical pumps and drivers, personal wellness
devices, portable point-of-sale devices, miniature robots, surveillance
equipment, precision tools, and portable printers requires considerable
engineering know-how. One of the biggest challenges is to combine
logic and power components in a single chip on tight space and power
budgets. ST has now gathered all of these ingredients together in its
new line-up of tiny single-chip motor drivers that meet the needs of
the most demanding portable and wearable applications. The combination of low power consumption, small form factor, and outstanding performance of STs new motor drivers is set to contribute to the
widespread adoption of battery-powered IoT devices. Measuring just
3mm x 3mm, STs new devices are the worlds smallest single-chip motor drivers integrating all the functionalities to enable product designers to deliver compact, lightweight, and user-friendly innovations into
their target markets. Frugal with battery energy, the drivers operate
from a supply voltage as low as 1.8V and support power-saving design
with ultra-low, best-in-class standby current of less than 80nA for a
zero-power state when the motor is inactive.

October 2016

PowerWatch INDIA

63

POWER TRADING

Short term power market scenario

for September 2016

n the short term power market, the purchase of electricity

has registered a mixed response in September 2016. In
this month, the Northern Region and Western Region
has registered a decline in purchase of electricity in shorter
bilateral market but the Southern Region has registered
an increment of 104%. Under sales through the short term

bilateral transaction the Northern and Eastern Region have

registered a decrease in sales but the Southern Region
has increased sales by 81%. Over all we can infer that the
Southern Region faced a severe power deicit in September,
but the other four regions had enough power to cater to the
needs of its consumers.
Table 1: Change in price for September 2016
in short term bilateral trading.

The purchase of electricity through Power

Exchange in Eastern Region & Northern Region
has shown the increment with respect to last
month of August 2016. The Southern Region has
shown the balance equation in sales and purchase
of electricity through power exchanges. The
Southern Region has shown a decline in trading
at Power Exchange. The North Eastern Region had
enough power in house to cater its demand.

Table 2: Change in price for September 2016 in

Power Exchange
The Power Exchange has shown a comprehensive increase in the price
of about 8.0% in September 2016 w.r.t the month of August 2016. The
Market Clearing Price (MCP) for September 2016 is discovered as
Rs. 2361 per MWh. Last year in 2015 the price for September was Rs
3680 per MWh. Due to adequate monsoon the price has declined by
36%. The Southern Region has registered price of Rs. 4739 per MWh
which is 0.72% less than the last month of August 2016. The Northern
Region has also registered the highest increase in price by 15%. Other
regions have shown the increase in price at power exchange except for
Southern Region.

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PowerWatch INDIA

October 2016

Table 3: Change in price percentage of power in

Indian Energy Exchange (IEX)

In September 2016, the Southern Region has shown that demand of

the electricity was too high. This region also has a good quantum of
generating units hence we saw the balance in sales and purchase of
electricity at power exchange and through bilateral transaction. The
availability of power in the Southern Region curbed the rise in price
of the power in power exchange though the demand was very high.
The Northern Region has shown an unbalanced scenario of supply and
demand, though the demand was less but the price in Power Exchange
shot to 15% w.r.t price discovered in August 2016.

Courtesy: India Electron Exchange Ltd

EVENTS

CURTAIN-RAISER

Wire & Cable India 2016

Date: 5 - 7 October 2016
Venue: Bombay Convention & Exhibition Center, Mumbai

strong quartet: Metallurgy India, Tube India International and Wire & Cable India will be held concurrently with India Essen Welding and Cutting from
05-07 October 2016 at the Bombay Convention and Exhibition Center in Mumbai. On display at Indias largest fair platform spread over 30,000 sqm there will be over 500 exhibitors from 25 countries. The metals fair will have technology
highlights from the metallurgy, wire and cable and tube
industry as well as from the industrial areas of cutting and
welding. On display at Wire & Cable India will be machines
and plants for wire production and processing, forming
technology, spring-making technology, cable and stranded
wire machines, tools and auxiliaries for process engineering,
measuring and control technology, all types of wires, rolled
wire, bare wire, bars, sheet metal as well as special wires and
cables. In addition to the exhibition a conference on Polymers in Cables and Wires (PCW 2016), jointly organised by

Messe Dsseldorf India & Color Publications Pvt Ltd will

be held on 7th October 2016. This one-day conference is an
attempt to look at the entire manufacturing and application
supply chain for the use polymers in cables and wires, and
harbour a better understanding of better practices and newer
products therein. Tube India International presents the complete range from tube production to tube processing as well
as the tube trading segment. The spectrum includes raw materials, tubes and accessories, tube manufacturing machinery
and used machinery as well as tools for process engineering
and auxiliaries, measuring and control technology.
Together the three trade fairs cover the complete spectrum of metal working and processing. A parallel conference
on Indian Steel Industry: Emerging Technologies and Challenges in the post Meltdown Era will be organised jointly by
the Steel & Metallurgy Magazine & Messe Dsseldorf India
on 5th October 2016.

October 2016

PowerWATCH INDIA 65

EVENTS

th

10 Renewable Energy India Expo

he 10th edition of the Renewable Energy

India (REI) Expo was held from September
7-9, 2016 at the India Expo Center and Mart,
Greater Noida. The event was supported by the
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE),
Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd.
(IREDA), Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited
(SECI), National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE)
and international collaboration through the IndoGerman Energy Forum (IGEF) and Bloomberg New
Energy Finance (BNEF).
The 3-day industry conference themed Renewables, Surging Ahead captured the entire essence of
the renewable energy spectrum with multiple conference sessions, workshops and 160 speakers on-board.
The expo was certiied by UFI, the global association
of the exhibitions industry, and saw the presence of
key dignitaries such as, Upendra Tripathi, Secretary,
MNRE; Mr Justin Wu, Head of APAC, Bloomberg New
Energy Finance, Hong Kong; Mr James Gordon Carr,
Minister of Natural Resources, Government of Canada;
Mr Hans-Josef Fell, President of the Energy Watch
Group and Former Member of German Parliament; Mr
Munehiko Tsuchiya, Executive Director, NEDO, Japan

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July 20162016
October

and H.E Ambassador, Tomasz ukaszuk, Embassy of

Poland in India. The show brought together internationally renowned exhibitors, consultants, business
experts and key government oicials under one common platform, to discuss global best practices and seek
solutions to some of the most pressing challenges in
the power and energy sector.
REI in its 10th anniversary witnessed over 600 exhibitors on the loor and participation from countries
such as India, Japan, Switzerland, USA, Korea, Taiwan,
China, Australia, Italy, Canada, Malaysia, Netherlands,
Israel, Germany, Spain, Singapore, Belgium to name a
few.
Yogesh Mudras, Managing Director, UBM India
Pvt. Ltd. spoke on the success of the event, With REI
Expo 2016, UBM India reinforced the bond amongst
the industry, government and investors. REI ably
supported the Indian governments endeavours of a
quantum growth in the renewable energy sector by
serving as an industry catalyst, bringing in the international fraternity, including investors and technological experts, to India. I am conident that this will
enable the fruition of potential projects and setting
up of manufacturing units under the Make in India

EVENTS

UPENDRA TRIPATHY, SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY

There is a transition which has happened from MW capacity to GW capacity in the Indian
renewable energy sector. The 175GW target of renewable energy by 2022 100GW solar, 60GW
wind, 10GW biomass and 5GW of hydro capacity is the need of the hour, but it is not a small
task. This target has become a model for many other countries and in order to achieve it, we
have to follow an agenda of reairming and transforming many things. We need to speed up this
transformation with the right skill set. In order to create this skill set, there are around 3,000 people
being trained about the power of renewable energy, in 150 institutions. A lot of foreign companies
are coming into India to invest in the 40GW solar parks plan, which is a great sign.

YOGESH MALIK, PRESIDENT & CEO, XPANZ SOLAR POWER

The footfall at the 10th REI Expo has been very good as people have become more aware about
the solar based products. However, they dont have knowledge about aspects such as how to
get the projects implemented, how to get subsidy, getting necessary government approvals,
who will provide O&M services, etc. So, people are looking for a one-stop shop for all the solar
based solutions. Xpanz being a system integrator, provides all these solutions to its customers.
A signiicant number of queries are coming from tier 3 cities for ofgrid models, primarily from
schools, colleges and institutional bodies for solar installations.

PRADEEP SANGWAN, COUNTRY HEAD, RENESOLA INDIA PVT LTD

The REI Expo provides a platform to the system integrators, developers and stakeholders from
diferent countries to network with each other. Moreover, spokespersons based out of India can
connect with their customers to understand their needs. Also, the customer gets reassured that
a particular company is here to stay in India. The solar market in India has been growing fast
for the past 2 years and we hope that 6GW capacity will be commissioned by March-April 2017.
Although there are bottlenecks such as delays in inancial and land approvals from the developers
end, and with regard to pricing, we are upbeat about overcoming these challenges.

PowerWatch INDIA

campaign. The show witnessed an impressive turnout of visitors and

is clearly Asias largest industry event in the renewable energy sector.
It duly concluded amidst industry applauds from both international
participants as well as central and state governments.
The REI Expo served as a showcase and launch pad for companies to
introduce new products and technologies. Some of the major launches
included: Webdyn, a French company that launched two main innovative products in India to help with the smart collection of data - WebdynSun and WebdynModbus. The company is engaged in the supply
of multi-protocols concentrators and sensors that cover applications of
teleservice and monitoring.
Vikram Solar Pvt. Ltd. showcased the solar tracker device that can
increase energy generation by following the suns direction during the
day. Rays Power Infra. Ltd. launched their rooftop residential business
line while Canadian Solar Energy Pvt. Ltd. showcased 5 busbar modules,
Mono PERC modules, double glass modules and 1500 V modules. ABB,
on the other hand displayed new string inverters, sample inverters and
outdoor switch gate. Rays Power Infra. Ltd. launched their rooftop residential business line at the REI platform.

October
July 2016
2016 PowerWatch
PowerWatchINDIA
INDIA 67

EVENTS

SNAPSHOTS

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October 2016

EVENTS

SNAPSHOTS

October 2016

PowerWatch INDIA

69

EVENTS

Huawei unveils Cloud strategy

at Connect 2016 event

he Huawei Connect 2016 event held in Shanghai, China from

August 31 to September 2, 2016 showcased a wide array
of cloud based solutions for diferent industries. Almost
20,000 ICT industry leaders and experts from over 120 countries
gathered for the 3-day conference on the global ICT (Information
and communications technology) ecosystem. The event, which was
themed Shape the Cloud, attempted to explore cloud era trends
and how diferent industries can achieve digital transformation by
developing cloud technology.
It was the irst time that Huawei publicly gave a comprehensive
look at its cloud strategy. During the irst keynote, Ken Hu,
Huaweis Rotating CEO, explained that the company aims to
position itself as the enabler and driver of an intelligent world.
He shared that the company is committed to its focus on ICT
infrastructure, and providing innovative cloud technology.
Nearly 70% of the global GDP is coming from urban cities and it
is imperative to make these cities smart. Cloud technology is set
to transform the cities with digitalisation to make them safer and
more comfortable. However, this calls for an integrated data system
through IoT (internet of things), for better connectivity. Also, IoT
is evolving the buildings making them smarter and more secure
by optimising space and energy consumption. Huawei highlighted
that power IoT solutions are the cornerstone of building smart
grids around the world. A case study was presented wherein,
Nigeria has immensely beniitted through Huaweis power IoT
used in automatic metering infrastructure (AMI). The use of
meters, sensors and controllers has helped the country in reducing
distribution losses and boosting revenue by almost 30%.

70

PowerWatch INDIA

October 2016
October
2016

EVENTS

Cut Cooling Cost

up
to

99%

Harness

green energy
from hot water solar collectors
to produce

chilled water
for low cost process cooling and
air-conditioning

The magical link between solar heat and chilled water

Hot water in

Chilled water out

50C to100C

5C to15C
RB/BA/1647HHCA2

Harnesses solar heat for energy-efcient cooling

Results in up to 99% reduction in electricity cost for chilling
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Life expectancy: Over 25years
Noise-free operation with minimal maintenance
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ISO 9001:2008 & 14001:2004 CERTIFIED

GROUP
Innovation is life

Phone: +91 124 4184444 E-mail: bryairmarketing@pahwa.com Web:www.bryair.com

October 2016

PowerWatch INDIA

71

EVENTS

India Energy Access Summit

ver 400 leaders from business enterprises,

inancial institutions and government have
renewed their commitment in supporting India achieve national climate plans to deliver access
to sustainable energy and drive Indias low carbon
transition at this years India Energy
Access Summit.
The summit, convened by The Climate Group
and the Clean Energy Access Network (CLEAN) and
in partnership with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), was held in New Delhi.
Speaking at the summit, Suresh Prabhu, Railway
Minister, Government of India, said, I would like
to congratulate The Climate Group, which has been
doing great work in the ield of providing renewable
energy in the most remote parts of India. There are
around 2 billion people in the world without access
to electricity. Decentralisation of the energy grid is
good as it helps create more jobs and brings forward
innovation. This also saves on costs of putting additional infrastructure in for transmission.
At the inaugural session of the summit, Richard
Verma, Ambassador of the United States of America
to India, said, Expanding access to energy in India
is fundamental to the development that needs to
and will happen in coming years. Without electricity, it is simply impossible to create the necessary
jobs, homes, factories, oices, schools, and other necessary infrastructure. Estimates suggest that if India
succeeds in meeting its ambitious development
goals, the countrys energy consumption, which has
doubled over the past 15 years, may triple or even
quadruple in coming decades.
Following Indias pledge to cut national emissions at the UN Paris Climate Change Conference
(COP21), driving decentralised clean energy across
the country is a focal point for the nations low
carbon energy transition as around 240 million
people in India, still have no access to electricity.
The India Energy Access Summit is focused on

72

PowerWatch INDIA

October 2016

these programmes and addresses concerns around

achieving these targets. It will address the countrywide need to up-scale renewable energy technologies, future-proof business models, build capacity
and skills that address the evolving landscape of
state and central government policies on
energy access.
In his oicial opening remarks, Krishnan Pallassana, India Executive Director at The Climate
Group, said, Now is the time for us all to take the
initiative and accelerate rural electriication. There
are still over 7000 villages awaiting to be connected
to the energy grid, which the Ministry of Power envisions electrifying by the end of the year. Strengthening these systems to meet national climate action
plans and the goal of achieving energy access across
India the seventh Sustainable Development Goal
of low carbon energy access for all will allow them
to be met faster and more efectively.
Hari Natarajan, CEO at Clean Energy Access
Network (CLEAN), remarked, This years summit
will not only showcase industry best practices in
improving energy access but also encourage private
sector start-ups, as well as established businesses
working to serve the rural and urban poor to further
hone their consumer orientation and evolve their
service delivery models to secure their long term
sustainability in an increasingly competitive market,
in order to achieve MNREs draft mini-grid policy
avowing its commitment to facilitate the installation
of at least 10,000 mini-grids with a total installed
capacity of 500 MW by 2021.
The summit opened with a workshop focused on
energy access, followed by a mini-grid round-table
hosted by The Rockefeller Foundation and a high
level inter-ministerial round-table with policy-makers from MNRE and Ministries of Finance, Agriculture and Health. The summit ended with a day
focused on energy eiciency and LED lighting as a
way to drive universal energy access in India.

EVENTS

ICA Indias national seminar on

electrical safety

nternational Copper Association India (ICA India)

as a part of its series of organising seminars on
electrical safety across India, conducted a workshop in Mumbai to raise awareness and rectiication
measures about electrical hazards and importance of
electrical safety in India. This workshop comes sixth
in line after Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Delhi, to promote electrical safety practices
through national standards and regulatory provisions.
Electricity is an essential commodity that touches
all spheres of our daily lives. The increasing necessity
of enhanced productivity, eiciency and convenience
has made its usage intense in terms of quality, quantity and maintenance. Regardless of good electrical
and regulatory standards prevailing in India, the
country still has a high record of accidents and mishaps caused due to electrical short circuit.
As per the National Crime Records Bureaus report
2014, 11000 people died in 2014 due to electrocution
and ire due to electrical short circuits. Electric defaults have been seen as the largest single reason for
cause of building ires. The government of India has
accorded high importance to this area. Unfortunately,
poor practices, improper and weak installations, undersized and inferior quality of wires in the buildings
have resulted in an increasing number of
electrical accidents.
The workshop brought to light the need for sharing information and knowledge on international experience and the areas where our existing regulations
and standards could be improved. The workshop was
attended by various stalwarts from both public and
private sector like S R Bagde, Chief Electrical Inspec-

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October 2016

tor, Maharashtra, Rajkumar Singh, Director Technical,

Schneider Electric, Sasikumar M, Head Electric, Chola
MS Risk Services, R Natarajan, Executive Director,
JEF Techno Solutions and Sanjeev Ranjan, Managing
Director, International Copper Association India.
Speaking on the occasion, Sanjeev Ranjan, Managing Director, International Copper Association India
said, ICA India has been enthusiastically involved
in the promotion of safe wiring practices at urban
and rural households. Electrical safety is of highest
importance during any electrical installation. Our
various seminars and workshops are intended for
various stakeholders looking to increase awareness
of best practices in electrical wiring. We have been
aggressively encouraging the key provisions in the
National Standards for safe electrical installations and
inspection of wiring installations at regular intervals
to curtail ire accidents.
India remains a consumption-driven economy and
to have speedy economic growth, it is signiicant to
eradicate the burden on Indias infrastructure which
is afecting economic growth. To implement this, the
government has taken various positive initiatives to
improve energy requirements of the country. However, there is an utmost need and perseverance to
resolve basic requirements for the right and eicient
electrical infrastructure in India.
Though the Government of India has bestowed
high importance to electrical safety, unfortunately
poor practices, inappropriate or weak installations,
improper sizes and low-grade quality of wires in the
buildings have resulted in many electrical accidents,
which are increasing every year.

EVENTS

Such events will provide a

networking platform for
people in the industry
In conversation with Sanjeev Khinnavar - COSMA
Convention 2013 Committee Chairman.

hat are your views on the solar industry in

India? What is the growth potential in the
coming years?
India geographically has good solar energy potential.
The growth potential will be visible as a trend only if
solar equipment reliability improves and cost comes
down far below present levels. I am positive and hopeful that this will happen.
What are your expectations from Intersolar India
2016? How would Intersolar India benefit industry
professionals?
Such events will provide a networking platform for people in the industry. We, COSMA, encourage such events and compliment you for organising the same.
Solar sector has seen great technological advancements in recent
times. Which are the key accomplishments according to you?
The increasing availability of small package plants that individual
electricity consumers can aford and install on their private rooftops is a
great boon. Modern equipment comes with eicient voltage converters
and regulators.
The investment climate for solar sector is very positive in India.
According to you, to what extent would foreign investments boost up
our solar sector?
Any investment in India is always welcome. However the legal framework has to protect Indian trade revenue and proitability interests. I am
conident that the government is cognizant of Indias needs and will do
its best.
The Government of India has identified the power sector as a key
sector of focus so as to promote sustained industrial growth. How far
do you think will benefit the industrial sector?
All equipment for power sector set up, utilisation, distribution and maintenance will be supplied by Indian industry so we are happy to foresee
the growth. Consumers of electricity will also require more equipment to
install.A growing demand for electrical goods is naturally foreseen.

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October 2016

VITAL STATS
REGION-WISE SUMMARY OF POWER GENERATION (AUGUST 2016)
GENERATION (GWH)
CATEGORY/REGIONS

MONITORED CAPACITY (MW)

PROGRAM

ACTUAL

PERCENTAGE OF
PROGRAM (4/3)

Northern Region

Thermal

46039.26

18544.00

15539.07

83.80

Nuclear

1620.00

834.00

933.06

111.88

Hydro

18367.27

9899.00

10704.17

108.13

Total

66026.53

29277.00

27176.30

92.82

Thermal

87694.41

30365.00

27064.06

89.13

Nuclear

1840.00

1003.00

1035.56

103.25

Hydro

7392.00

1802

2993.26

166.11

Total

96926.41

33170.00

31092.88

93.74

Thermal

42549.04

16566.00

15363.82

92.74

Nuclear

2320.00

1436.00

1545.92

107.65

Hydro

11517.70

3407.00

1893.68

55.58

Total

56386.74

21409.00

18803.42

87.83

Thermal

34150.05

13377.00

14102.76

105.43

Hydro

4458.45

1799.00

1561.47

86.80

Total

38608.50

15176.00

15664.23

103.22

Thermal

2045.30

825.00

859.25

104.15

Hydro

1242.00

641.00

585.08

91.28

Total

3287.30

1466.00

1444.33

98.52

Imports from Bhutan

0.00

706.00

1080.28

153.01

Thermal

212478.06

79677.00

72928.96

91.53

Nuclear

5780.00

3273.00

3514.54

107.38

Hydro

42977.42

17548.00

17737.66

101.08

Bhutan Imports

0.00

706.00

1080.28

153.11

Total

261235.48

101204.00

94261.44

94.13

Western Region

Southern Region

Eastern Region

North Eastern Region

All India

Source: CEA

GWH: Giga-watt hours

78

PowerWatch INDIA

October 2016

6269
4725
9318
1153

Punjab

Rajasthan

Uttar Pradesh

Uttarakhand

510
412

Dadra & Nagar Haveli

Goa

October 2016

4870
4977
5352
1961

Andhra Pradesh

Telangana

Karnataka

Kerala

27283

199

Western Region

11113

5338

Madhya Pradesh

Daman & Diu

7759

Gujarat

Maharashtra

1952

Chhattisgarh

31913

1321

Jammu & Kashmir

Northern Region

742

5003

Haryana

Himachal Pradesh

3211

172

Requirement
(MU)

1959

5339

4977

4870

27277

412

510

199

11113

5338

7759

1947

31481

1146

9188

4703

6269

1057

736

5003

3208

172

Availability
(MU)

AUGUST 2016

Delhi

Chandigarh

State/System/
Region

0.0

-0.8

0.0

-0.1

-2

-13

-5

-5

-432

-7

-130

-22

-0.1

-0.2

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

-0.3

-1.4

-0.6

-1.4

-0.5

0.0

-263 -19.9

-6

-3

Surplus/
Deficit (-)
(MU)
(%)

MU: Million units

All India

North-Eastern Region

Tripura
98374

1461

121

69

41

Mizoram
Nagaland

138

60

Manipur
Meghalaya

971

62
Assam

Arunachal Pradesh

11230

20

Andaman-Nicobar
Eastern Region

41

4382

2306

646

1549

2306

26487

217

9111

Requirement
(MU)

97873

1421

119

67

40

138

58

939

61

11221

15

41

4382

2306

646

1549

2297

26473

217

9111

Availability
(MU)

AUGUST 2016

Sikkim

West Bengal

Orissa

Jharkhand

DVC

Bihar

Southern Region

Lakshadweep

Puducherry

Tamil Nadu

State/System/
Region

ALL INDIA POWER SUPPLY POSITION (AUGUST 2016)

-0.5

-2.8

-2.0

-1.9

-2.5

0.0

-3.5

-3.3

-2.2

-0.1

-25

0.0

0.0

0.0

-0.0

0.0

-0.4

-0.1

0.0

0.0

Source: CEA

-502

-40

-2

-1

-1

-2

-32

-1

-9

-5

-1

-8

-15

Surplus/
Deficit (-)
(MU)
(%)

VITAL STATS

PowerWatch INDIA

79

VITAL STATS
CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION DURING AUGUST 2016

Oil & Natural Gas Corp. Ltd.

Month under
review*

Corresponding
month last year

% variation

1897.029

1865.309

1929.264

-3.31

498.786

504.911

492.769

2.46

Assam

83.828

80.603

81.638

-1.27

Gujarat

373.224

382.955

363.953

5.22

Andhra Pradesh

23.155

22.023

25.447

-13.46

Tamil Nadu

18.579

19.330

21.731

-11.05

1386.243

1360.398

1436.485

-5.30

Eastern offshore

0.746

1.314

1.787

-26.47

Western offshore

1278.974

1245.421

1321.859

-5.78

Condensates

118.523

113.663

112.849

0.72

Oil India Ltd. (OIL)

276.322

272.075

276.024

-1.43

Assam

275.748

271.385

275.867

-1.52

0.574

0.690

0.446

54.71

DGH (Private/JVC)

926.134

930.419

987.857

-5.91

Onshore

741.830

747.575

754.168

-0.87

4.566

4.041

4.271

-5.39

716.706

728.597

735.700

-0.97

15.503

11.723

14.197

-17.43

5.054

3.214

0.000

184.304

182.844

233.689

-21.76

Eastern offshore

81.564

82.820

111.885

-25.98

Gujarat offshore

30.710

33.048

36.126

-8.52

Western offshore

72.030

66.976

85.678

-21.83

Grand Total

3099.485

3067.803

3193.145

-3.93

Onshore

1516.938

1524.561

1522.961

0.11

Offshore

1582.547

1543.242

1670.184

-7.60

Onshore

Offshore

Arunachal Pradesh

Arunachal Pradesh
Rajasthan

$: Includes production from offshore east coast

*Provisional

Production during the (in 000 tonnes)

Gujarat
Tamil Nadu
Offshore

80

PowerWatch INDIA

October 2016

Source: MoPNG

Name of the undertaking/unit

Planned production
of the month

VITAL STATS
NATURAL GAS PRODUCTION DURING AUGUST 2016
Name of
Undertaking/unit

Planned Production
during the month

Oil & Natural Gas Corp. Ltd.

Production during the (in million cu mt)

Month under review*

Corresponding
month last year

% variation

1877.463

1845.509

1855.815

0.56

Onshore

430.708

432.619

398.714

8.50

Gujarat

123.528

122.125

114.323

6.82

0.425

0.276

0.210

31.43

Rajasthan
Assam

36.075

36.880

34.434

7.10

Tripura

122.378

120.041

114.187

5.13

Andhra Pradesh

54.918

75.657

47.257

60.10

Tamil Nadu

93.384

77.640

88.303

-12.08

1446.755

1412.890

1457.101

-3.03

Offshore
Eastern Offshore

55.299

28.056

21.283

31.82

Western Offshore

1391.456

1384.834

1435.818

-3.55

Oil India Ltd. (OIL)

257.028

244.052

242.658

0.57

Assam

240.906

225.083

224.696

0.17

1.242

1.010

0.416

142.79

14.880

17.959

17.546

2.35

677.355

584.591

737.882

-20.77

91.381

102.997

110.851

-7.09

Arunachal Pradesh
Rajasthan
DGH (Private/JVC)
Onshore
Arunachal Pradesh

0.772

1.232

1.560

-21.03

Assam

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.00

82.432

93.752

101.563

-7.69

Gujarat

7.597

7.701

7.728

-0.35

Tamil Nadu

0.580

0.312

0.000

CBM

83.906

48.235

34.304

40.61

Madhya Pradesh (CBM)

22.680

0.317

0.094

237.23

0.275

0.259

0.169

53.25

60.951

47.659

34.041

40.00

Offshore

502.068

433.359

592.727

-26.89

Eastern Offshore

344.633

272.955

393.491

-30.63

Gujarat Offshore

3.325

7.039

6.006

17.20

154.110

153.365

193.230

-20.63

2881.845

2674.152

2836.355

-5.72

Rajasthan

Jharkhand (CBM)
West Bengal (CBM)

Western Offshore
Total
CBM

83.906

48.235

34.304

40.61

Onshore

779.116

779.668

752.223

3.65

Offshore

1948.823

1846.249

2049.828

-9.93

$: Coal Bed Methane Production *Provisional

Source: MoPNG

October 2016

PowerWatch INDIA

81

SWITCH GEAR
ABB group appoints Guido Jouret as
Global Chief Digital Oicer

Pankaj Jha appointed as General Sales

Manager for India
As General Sales Manager for India, based
out of Bangalore, Pankaj Jha will lead on all
sales related activities in India and continue
to work closely with Perkins electric power
(EP) original equipment manufacturers
(OEMs), industrial OEMs and distribution
partners Gmmco Power and Powerparts to deliver the India
strategy and business growth plan. Perkins is the engine
of choice in the electric power industry, something which
Ive experienced irst-hand as Ive met and spent time with
Indian end-users and EP consultants. Im looking forward to
continuing to grow our business and ensure that India has
access to Perkins dependable, powerful and cost-efective
engines to meet its power needs, said Pankaj.
Pankaj, who has worked across the engine industry for more
than 10 years, joined Perkins in 2012 as South Asia Marketing
Manager. Asia-Paciic Sales Director Daniel Bentley said,
Pankaj has a wealth of experience in the engine industry
and Im delighted that he will be leading our India sales
team. Pankaj is focused on our customers requirements and
alongside his team will continue to drive Perkins engines
sales in Indias EP and industrial sectors.

Reinforcing its commitment to Internet of

Things, Services and People, ABB group
appointed Guido Jouret, a pioneer of the
Internet of Things, as Global Chief Digital
Oicer, reporting to ABB groups CEO Ulrich
Spiesshofer, efective 1 October 2016. Jouret
will lead the next level of development and
deployment of ABB groups digital solutions
for customers globally and across all businesses. Jouret is
a citizen of both the United States and Belgium, with long
experience in Silicon Valley. He served for 20 years at Cisco
after obtaining a PhD in computer science. His most recent
role at Cisco was as general manager of the Internet of
Things division, which aims to connect billions of devices to
the internet across a wide range of industries.
Prior to that, he was Chief Technology Oicer and General
Manager of Ciscos Emerging Technologies Group, a unit
responsible for incubating new businesses. Under his
leadership, the team created nine new start-ups, including
those, which became Ciscos TelePresence and Internet of
Things groups. He has lived in 12 countries including France,
Singapore and the United States.

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- Comprehensive Fault Detection
- Automated Alerts can be set based on preset performance
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on measured irradiance, temperature and historical performance
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Powai

Powai
Hiranandani Gardens, Powai
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Maharashtra
I ndia
19.1183
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32

4.05 m / hr 235.50
2 35.5
235.5
235
235.509
55.509
5.5
5.50
.5
.50
.509
5509
50
09
0 9 ddegrees
egree
e
egrees
eg
egre
egr
ggrre
rees
r ee
eeess
40%
65
4
05: 54
4
18: 34

dani Gardens, Powai

82

Contact US

Tel : 011 - 47086512

PowerWatch INDIA

October 2016

http://rogresstechno.com
Fax: 011-47049109

ROGRESS TECHNO PVT LTD. INDIA GROUP OF ROGRESS BOEKI CO.,LTD. KYOTO, JAPAN
619, Krishna Apra Business Square,D-4,5,6 Netaji Subhash Place, Pitam Pura
New Delhi-110034, India

RNI NO. MAHENG/2010/33690