Ezine Archive
January Issue 2020
January Issue 2020
Month: January 2020
Forum
Increasing Connectivity: Decoding the Common Minimum Grid Code for South Asia
By Pankaj Batra, Project Director, SARI/EI, IRADe The prime minister has, on several occasions, highlighted the need for better connectivity within South Asia, be it in communications, transport or transmission of energy, or trade. Trade […]
Forum
Changing Trends: Highlights of the past decade and outlook for the next
By Ganesh Srinivasan, Chief Executive Officer, Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited At the start of 2020, the Indian power sector is in the middle of a fundamental change. Renewable energy is becoming increasingly competitive vis-à-vis […]
Forum
Budget Hope: Industry looks for measures to spur growth and investments
With the power sector witnessing a series of challenges in the face of changing sector dynamics, the industry is pinning its hopes on the upcoming Union Budget 2020. Industry stakeholders share their expectations from the […]
Forum
Views of Ratish Kumar: “The new hydro policy was a landmark decision for the sector”
The various policy initiatives announced by the Ministry of Power for the hydropower sector in March 2019, including renewable energy status for hydro projects and financial aid for developing supporting infrastructure, are expected to provide […]
Uncategorised
January 2020
The year 2020 has begun on a note of cautious optimism for the power sector with some positive policy signals. There has been news of the government’s intention to launch another bailout scheme for the […]
Hydro Power in India
A Growing Role: Hydro attracts policy and developer attention
After a long period of policy inaction, the hydropower policy was announced in March 2019, providing the much needed impetus to hydropower development in the country. One of the key highlights of the policy has […]
Diesel Engines and Gas Gensets
Backup Options: Continued demand for gensets for reliable supply
Diesel generator (DG) sets are popular power backup options for residential and commercial consumers. They are also an important source of baseload supply in areas without grid power as well as for railways, marine, mining […]
Hydro Power in India
Balancing Power: Pumped storage plants offer a key solution
A pumped storage plant (PSP) stores energy in the form of gravitational potential energy, pumped from a lower elevation reservoir to a higher elevated one. During periods of peak power demand, the stored water is […]
Diesel Engines and Gas Gensets
Power Economy: Case for combining DG sets with solar PV
Reliable and quality power supply is one of the key requirements of commercial and industrial (C&I) consumers. Since poor quality power leads to production loss, damage to equipment and a reduction in operational efficiency, C&I […]
Reforms and Regulations
CERC issues trading licence regulations
The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission has issued the Procedure, Terms and Conditions for Grant of Trading Licence and other Related Matters) Regulations, 2020. The regulations have been notified in the backdrop of changing trends in […]
Reforms and Regulations
Cabinet passes Mineral Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020
The cabinet has approved the promulgation of the Mineral Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020. The move will open up coal mining in the country to non-coal companies as well as remove restrictions on end use of […]
Central Sector
MoP plans power procurement schemes for gas-based projects
The Ministry of Power (MoP) is planning to launch two schemes to procure 4,000 MW from stranded gas-based power plants. One of the schemes entails procuring 2,000 MW from gas-based plants through auction and bundling […]
Central Sector
Central government mulls 2.86 trillion distribution scheme
The central government is reportedly planning to launch a Rs 2.86 trillion scheme reportedly named the Atal Distribution System Improvement Yojana (ADITYA) in the Union Budget 2020. Under the proposed scheme, the MoP would provide […]
Central Sector
MNRE proposes thermal-RE bundling scheme
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has proposed a draft scheme for the supply of round-the-clock (RTC) power from renewable energy projects, complemented with power from coal-based thermal power plants (TPPs). The MNRE […]
Central Sector
MoP planning bill to amend EA 2003
The MoP is planning to introduce a bill to amend the Electricity Act, 2003 to prevent states from renegotiating power purchase agreements (PPAs). The proposal comes following the Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra governments’ refusal to […]
Central Sector
MoPNG begins discussions on priority allocation of domestic gas
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has begun inter-ministerial consultations on its proposal to end the power sector’s priority access to domestic gas. It will send the proposal to the cabinet after the consultation […]
Central Sector
MoP invites competitive bids for setting up transmission infrastructure
The MoP has invited bids from companies for setting up transmission infrastructure to evacuate power from renewable energy projects aggregating 2,500 MW in Tamil Nadu and 2,000 MW projects in the Gujarat. In Tamil Nadu, […]
Central Sector
MoP proposes new deadline to install emission control equipment
The MoP has proposed a new deadline to install emission control equipment for coal-fired power plants in the National Capital Region (NCR). The ministry has proposed deadlines starting July 2020 and ending December 2021 to […]
Central Sector
Central government proposes to waive clean energy cess on coal
The central government has proposed to waive the GST compensation cess, earlier called the clean energy cess, on coal. Currently, a clean energy cess of Rs 400 per tonne is levied on the production and […]