CEE Oct-Dec 2012

) J "India needs to substantially close the gap between demand and supply of electricity. While coa l-fired power generation is the main reason behind carbon dioxide emissions, the use of advanced technology is rapidly changing that scenario. The impact of greener technology in coal-fired power generation is also very important," said J P Chalasani, Chief executive officer of Reliance Power Limited . Courtesy: Urban News Digest, July 2012, P9. INDIA'S FIRST CANAL-BASED SOLAR POWER PROJECT INAUGURATED BY NARENDRA MODI India's first canal-based 1 MW solar power project commi ssioned on Sanand branch canal near Chandrasan village of Kadi taluka in Mehsana district was inaugurated by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi recently. Modi said, "When Gujarat Government mooted the idea of cana l-top solar power plant, no developer was ready to take up the project. So ·we were compelled to go on our own i.e. through a state– owned company." Commissioned in February and set over 750 meter-long stretch, the 1 MW plant will generate 16 lakh units of clean electricity and prevent evaporation of 90 lakh litres of water from the canal annually. The length of the Narmada Main Canal, constructed under the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP), is 458 km. The Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL) has so far constructed about 19,000 km long canal network, out of the 75,000 km planned for the entire project. Courtesy: Urban News Digest, July 2012, P9. AV BIRLA GROUP TO INVEST RS 6KCR IN SOLAP POWF 0 B'7 The Aditya Birla Group plans to invest Rs 6,000 crore in solar power busi ness over the next five years as demand for clean energy rises exponentially. The government has set a target of setting up 20 gigawatts of solar energy by 2022. The $40-billion retai l-to-telecom conglomerate has acquired a minority stake in a solar power venture promoted by Electrotherm in Gujarat"s solar park and struck a long-term leasing agreement with Refex Energy in Rajasthan to operate a solar plant at Bithuja in Rajasthan. These units have a capacity to produce 1.55 million units of electricity per mw annually. "We are getting ready for a large-scale rollout as solar energy holds the potential to replace the conventional sources of energy. It offers a great potential to scale up," sad Dev Bhattacharya, head, strategy, Aditya Birla Group. "We have set a target of $1 billion over the Next 5 - 6 years," he added. Essel Mining, the unlisted firm owned by Aditya Birla group Chairman Kumar Manglam Birla, is in the process of setting up an independent company as it seeks to develop a capacity of 100 mw over the next 18 months. The group has so far invested a little more than Rs 200 crore to develop 20 mw capacities in solar power. Ravi Khanna, who joined from global renewable energy major Scandanavian Advanced Technology as CEO of the solar power business, has devised a three-pronged strategy to achieve the target in the first phase. The solar power venture will seek to secure businesses by trading in renewable energy certificates, set up plants which come under renewable power obligations and bid for projects offered under the national solar mission. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 5th Oct. 2012, P5. ODISHA ANNOUNCES 25-MW SOLAR POWER PROJECT Odisha has announced a 25 MW solar power project. Solar power plant developers can bid for the project and the one that will offer to sell the power at the lowest tariff to the State will be awarded the project. The Odisha project tender requires applicants to submit a refundable Rs 3-crore earnest money deposit. Only companies with net worth not less than Rs 3 crore can apply. The successful bidder will need to provide a Rs 30-crore bank guarantee at least seven days before signing the power purchase agreement. The guarantee should be valid for 22 months from the date of submission. Further, the tender requires the successful bidder to complete the project in 13 months from the date of signing of the PP A or 15 months from the date of issue of the letter of intent whichever occurs earlier. The State Government will not offer any facilitation for either land or connectivity to the grid. Typically, a 1 MW solar photovoltaic plant costs around Rs 9 crore to put up and requires 5 acres of land. This is the second solar photovoltaic project from Odisha. The first was another 25 MW, which was won by a company called Alex Green, a subsidiary of Shree Ganesh 39