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Power Planning: INNOVATION IMPERATIVE, By Dhurjati Mukherjee, 10 Feb, 2015 Print E-mail

Open Forum

New Delhi, 10 February 2015

Power Planning

INNOVATION IMPERATIVE

By Dhurjati Mukherjee

 

The power sector has been the subject of much discussion, being plagued with various problems such as poor implementation, inefficient institutional mechanism, uncertain supply of fuels, rampant populism, transmission loss and corruption. Though there have been efforts to tackle all these, the results haven’t been all that satisfactory. However, the need to increase capacity has also been a serious concern and efforts are being made to boost capacity in spite of the fact that energy demand in the last financial year (2013-14) has been just one per cent.

 

Delving into the past, the Central government made an ambitious plan to electrify all villages by the end of 2007 and then again to all households--‘Power for All’ -- by 2012. Towards  that end, it launched the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyut Yojana (RGGVY) and set up the Remote Village Electrification division under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. However, the goal of universal electrification has been repeatedly missed as only 55.3 per cent of rural households use electricity for lighting, as per the latest Census.

 

The country’s power generation is expected to touch 315 gigawatts (315,000 MW) by 2016-17 the final year of the 12th Plan, according to Government estimates. Another 88 gigawatts i.e. 17 gigawatts per year would be added. In the thermal sector, 67 gigawatts would be added, 10 gigawatts in hydroelectric and 5-6 gigawatts in nuclear power, entailing a total cost of Rs 5 lakh crores

 

The country would need anything around $250 billion over the next five years to provide electricity to all by 2019, recently stated Power Minister Piyush Goyal. This investment would include generation, coal mining and electricity distribution and transmission. Plus, around $100 billion for renewable energy.

 

By 2019, the country’s total power consumption would double to 2 trillion units and the bulk of investment is expected to come from the private sector although the Government would invest more. Presently, there are around 53 to 55 million homes that don’t have access to electricity. Elaborating on the challenge, Goyal pointed out: “The latent demand of these homes and business put together along with growing industrialization will double the requirement of power in the next five years. To meet the demand, we have to increase the utilization of existing assets, sort fuel supply problems and improve electricity mix by adding alternative energy sources”. 

 

The most vital need is to bring about efficiency in the system – both in generation and also in the distribution process. It is a well-known fact that State-owned electricity boards are not viable enough as there is little financial discipline in their functioning. The financial position of most of these companies is in a bad shape and the Centre’s Rs 1.9 crores debt restructuring package for these entities is facing roadblocks due to various reasons.

 

According to one estimate, the Centre has been bailing out State governments, which some years back was Rs 40,000 crores but zoomed to Rs 140,000 crores to meet the accumulated losses in distribution.    

 

Meanwhile, a significant move taken by the Power Ministry has been to gear up stalled power projects to increase generating capacity at the earliest. Rescheduling of loans to power companies as well as making available fuel at affordable prices by pooling cheaper domestic gas price with costly imported LNG are some of the steps being envisaged. This had become necessary in view of the fact that coal mining projects, which feed power plants, have been held up due to delayed environmental clearances while gas pricing issues had held up gas supplies. A report released earlier last year by Fitch Group’s India Ratings & Research had rightly predicted that power project investments worth some Rs 175,000 crores could turn into bad assets unless coal and gas supply glitches were resolved. 

 

In view of problematic coal supply and bad experience of gas plants, there is a need to give a thrust on renewable energy generation in terms of wind and solar power. The present installed capacity of renewable energy is around 32,000 MW out of which wind contributes over 20,000 MW though the potential in this area is over 100,000 MW. 

 

As regards solar power, since the Government adopted the National Action Plan on Solar Power, the cost of such electricity has been rapidly declining. This provides the opportunity to swiftly augment solar power to about 50,000 MW and tap the potential of Eastern and North Eastern States. 

 

The higher penetration of renewable energy to the grid calls for smart initiatives to be taken up like setting up of Renewable Energy Management Systems (REMS), deployment of energy storage devices, framing the policy framework for ancillary services for frequency balancing mechanism, special tariff structure for peaking power plants etc.    

 

To ensure that solar energy capacity is boosted, the problems that need to be seriously looked into are: procedure to avail duty exemption is lengthy, involving multiple bodies – State and the Ministry concerned; nearly 5 to 10 acres of land required per MW and its acquisition has been an area of concern with JNNSM leaving formatives to State-level agencies; fluctuating prices and availability of raw materials; and non-availability of advanced thin film technology in India. 

 

There have been demands for a tax holiday as it could act as a catalyst in attracting the much-needed investment. Against the planned 78,000 MW, India added only 50,000MW power between 2007 and 2012.  Low investment in the power sector has been another aspect of the problem as the demand for electricity is likely to rise by a third from last year’s estimates to 1403 billion units by 2016-17.

 

Power experts have 10 green tips for achieving energy efficiency and environmental compliance, which include: optimizing combustion efficiency with proper air to fuel ratios; optimizing soot blowing, which can be possible by keeping the gas paths clean through the boiler and all air pollution control equipment, thereby influencing boiler heat absorption, unit efficiency and improve gas flow distribution while reducing localized erosion; identifying and reducing air infiltration as it exacerbates problems with combustion systems, influence the oxidation rates etc.; improving air heater performance through an integrated evaluation of fuel variations, operating conditions, combustion systems, air/gas ratios, related auxiliary equipment etc.; reducing system pressure drop by ensuring optimum cleaning cycles, proper evacuation of hoppers and usage of tools and equipment in getting the job done properly; optimizing flow of gas; controlling voltage of ESP by monitoring and controlling the voltage; reducing steam cycle losses through comprehensive turbine cycle evaluation, steam purity and steam path audits; recycling fly ash for use as an additive for manufacture of concrete, building materials, road construction and so forth; and monitoring and preserving/ regulating performance.

 

The challenges in the power sector are varied, have become complicated and there is need for innovation, controlling losses and balancing environmental concerns. Keeping all this in mind and the increasing demand for power both by industry and agriculture, on the one hand, and by domestic consumers – using more and more electrical equipments – on the other, a proper strategy has to be planned for the coming years. One may conclude with the observation of Jeremy Rifkin in his book ‘The Third Industrial Revolution’ in which he forecasts a more self-sufficient society where households will produce their energy requirements.---INFA

 

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

 

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