Cement, Energy and Environment

.. Al so active are select states. Madhya Pradesh leads, with Rs 30,000 crore in the pipeline for renewable power development. It is followed by Gujarat, an early mover that has 850 MW of solar capacity at an investment of-11 ,000 crore up and . runnmg . Solar- Power A .cqu1llr.es a _:Shine 2500:-- · ~- -. -:1510®..,..... – 'lOaD- . .!51IC:MrJ .:....... . .... . 2 '$ ~i-:20: ...... _..:2!0'10_1.: The jump in capacity is coming from the ongoing recalibration in tariffs. The second phase of the National Solar Mission, from 201 3 to 2017 , set the tariff at '{ 5.5 per unit, with some financial support from the government in the form of 'viability gap funding'. According to Tarun Kapoor, joint secretary at the ministry of new and renewable energy, viability gap funding was about Re 1 per unit. He sees this reducing with equipment becoming cheaper, particularly from China, and competing fuels becoming costlier. "Our experiment with viability gap funding turned out to be successful, with foreign investment coming in," he says. "Looking at the current trend, this amount would gradually d " go own . The latest tenders floated by states- which don't offer viability gap funding, but offer subsidised land or tax breaks - give a glimpse. Price bids stood at ~ 6.5 per unit in Madhya Pradesh, '{ 7 in Rajasthan and ~ 8 in Punjab. Increasing consumer adoption Solar is also seeing increasing adoption at the consumer level. Micro grids, of 150 watts (powering 20 households) to 5 kilo watt (40 households and commercial use like water pumps) are being set up to independently power villages. There are solar lanterns and street lights. Inverters, water pumps and other agri machines are increasingly coming in the solar option. Ajay K Goel, CEO of Tata Power Solar, which makes solar equipment, feels adoption of solar– based products has parallels with telecom. "Off grid products have better reach in areas where grid connectivity is an issue," he says. "Just as landline connections could not reach deeper pockets of the country but mobile phones did, decentralised systems would serve the same purpose." For example, Lucknow-based Naturetech Infra has installed micro grids in villages in districts of Uttar Pradesh, including Gonda, Sitapur and Unnao. A micro grid entails installing a small field of solar panels at a central location in a village. The panels generate solar power during the day and store it in batteries. In the night, this power is released for seven hours to houses connected to the grid. Households pay Rs 120 per month to run two bulbs, one fan and a mobilecharging point. Shubhra Mohanka, director of Delhi-based Solid Solar, says her company sold 10,000 solar inverters-a cleaner and cheaper back-up option than diesel, which costs Rs 16-18 a unit - in UP, Bihar, Delhi and Tamil Nadu last year. "Solarbased products have a huge market in remote areas, where they can easily replace costly diesel and kerosene," says Parag Shah, managing partner of Mahindra Partners and head of Mahindra cleantech division. Solar is also diversifying into new spaces. Maharishi Solar, for example, does solar-powered garden lights, swimming pool heating, fridge, AC and cooler, among other things. "As more and more creative minds go into it, new technology development will take place," says Pradeep Khanna, the company's CEO & MD. A solar ecosystem is taking shape. Courtesy: The Economic Times, 17.03.2014, Pg. No.:14 Environment ENVIRONMENT MIN EASES STATE-LEVEL CLEARANCES NORMS In an attempt to ease the procedure for environmental clearances for the industry, particularly at the state level, the environment ministry has revised its guidelines. In some project relating to mining minerals, river sand mining, thermal power plants with less than 5 MW capacity, the ministry has done with the