Cement Energy and Environment

,J i In December, the environment ministry issued That means the T&D investment for renewable will norms to curb emissions, such as particulate matter, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, from power plants amid rising concern over air pollution in Indian cities. The norms also capped the use of water by plants . A majority of the old capacity-22 gigawatts– is controlled by provincial governments, while 13,000 megawatts belongs to companies of the central government, such as NTPC Ltd , Dubey said. About 2 gigawatts of capacity belonging to non-state producers is also being considered for shutdown , he said without naming the plant owners. The Central Electricity Authority will hold talks with plant owners and electricity buyers to prepare a roadmap for phasing out the old capacity, he said. Coal fires 62% of India's 298 gigawatts generation capacity, according to the government's data. The aging plants being considered for a shutdown account for about 12% of the country's total capacity. Courtesy: FIMI News Bulletin, Volume XLIX, 01 .06.2016 Renewable Energy T AND D INVESTMENT FOR RENEWABLE WILL BE IN MULTIPLES OF GENERATION By 2022 total capacity is expected to cross 400 GW. What the players like discoms, PGCIL or others in the power sector are expected to gear up for increasing transmission and streamlining? Today we are at 290 GW, and let's say by 2022 we will reach 400 plus, maybe 450 GW in generation. Generation today has slowed down on the coal side, a lot is in the pipeline that will come up, a lot is happening on the solar and wind side as well. However, 100 GW of solar and wind will not produce as much; on an average the PLF is 18 per cent. If you install 100 GW wind or solar on an annual basis, you will get only 18 GW. If the need is for 100 GW then we have to invest in 500 GW of capacity. Not many people follow this carefully. When you do that, solar will be a bigger multiplier, because 100 MW coal and 100 MW solar will require same transmission and distribution (T&D). But 500 MW renewable will need 500 MW T&D. be in multiples. That is point one. The second is, renewable as I have explained is used intermittently, which means the power quality is not up to the mark and has to be purified. This requires compensation, forecasting and software technologies (which we display here at Elecrama 2016) that should be able to forecast the weather to ensure proper, optimal transmission. As for discoms, as I said , they need huge investments, otherwise the whole structure will collapse. How to deal with intermittency of solar and wind? It is a huge challenge, underestimated by planners today. The amount of renewable energy we are planning to put in the grid requires a huge investment in managing power flow and stability of weight to happen. Today, however, renewable is geographical, and only certain states have more renewable than the rest. And what do you do, you collect from each sub-station and come to a pulling sub-station for 50+50+50 becomes 500 or 1000. We take voltage from pulling station because traditionally, for a 50 MW renewable power plant, the generation is at 66 or 132 kV, which is the low end of sub-transmission voltage. However, power cannot be transferred to long distances at such low voltages. Moreover, the capacity is limited. Hence, voltage is taken from the pulling station either at 400 kV or 765 kV, depending on the requirement. A 400 kV transformer is suitable for power transmission of less than 1,000 MW, while 765 kV is preferred for transmissions between 2,000 and 4,000 MW. The choice is made depending on the concentration of renewable power in the respective state. Therefore, the state and national planners need to sit out together and plan it properly, which is being neglected currently. Because of lack of proper planning, many states back out on the renewable generation, despite the power source being available for them. This is very bad for the investors and the developers, who have invested in renewable energy in that state. Since they probably do not have a ,power purchase agreement {PPA) which says that I have made it available but the state discom says it's like a taxi, if I am using it, then I will pay; if it is waiting, I will not pay the waiting charges kind. Therefore, we need huge investments to handle renewable power, in the T&D network today, first at the state level and then at the Central level. 71