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Per Capita Consumption of Electricity in India [State-wise Chart]

Arun Prabhudesai — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:25:33 +0000

Government of India recently released per capita consumption of Electricity in India and it makes for an an interesting reading.

The State of Goa (2004.77 kWh) & Puducherry (1864.5 kWh) account for maximum per capita consumption of electricity. While states of Bihar (117.48 kWh), Manipur ( 207.15 kWh) & Assam (209.20 kWh) show the lowest per capita consumption. The National Average per capita electricity consumption is 778.63.

15 states in India show lower annual per capita power consumption in comparison of national average!

The above graph does not include 2 Union Territories – Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu – as the consumption of electricity in both these places is ten times that of National average. One of the reasons being that these are ports & Industrial places with very less residential consumption of Electricity. So the figure in those 2 UT’s show unusually high.

It is interesting to note that on national level, India’s energy consumption is already one of the lowest in the world. And if you consider states like Bihar, they live on fraction of electricity as compared to developed world!

Asia’s largest solar park opens in Gujarat today

Kaushambi — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:28:48 +0000

What do you say to a state which is on a dream run? The state’s tourism is promoted by Amitabh Bachchan, its infrastructure for the automobile industry is geared towards making it the Detroit of India and now the state has launched Asia’a largest solar park. Yes, we’re talking about Gujarat.

As a part of the Swarnim Gujarat celebrations, the Solar Park has been launched at Charanka village, Santalpur taluka in Patan district. This patch of desert was hitherto unutilized and completely barren has now been adorned with the solar park which will yield invaluable benefits to the state, the nations and the coming generations.

The park spread over 3000 acres of wasteland, is expected to produce 600 MW of valuable energy is being expected to be generated. The Modi Government sees lots of indirect benefits of this park. In addition to solar energy, the park will also manufacture solar power plant panels and other related equipment. And secondly, local people of Gujarat will be trained to work at solar parks. An area that no one was ready to visit before is now attracting big companies to set up base.

The good news is that the solar park will produce 214 MW of photovoltaic solar capacity, making it larger than Golmud Solar Park in China that has a capacity of 200 MW, ET reported. Narendra Modi, CM of Gujarat proudly announced via his Twitter account "Gujarat dedicates 600 MW of solar power to the nation today. We are celebrating the launch of Agni V & dedication of 600 MW solar power park in Gujarat."

Here are some mind boggling statistics about the Solar Park of Gujarat:

It is expected to generate two thirds of India’s total 900 MW solar power production.
It is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to 8 million tonnes and save 900,000 tonnes of natural gas annually.
By 2013, India aims for solar power to account for 3 percent of total national capacity and the nation wants renewable sources of energy to rise from the current 6 percent capacity to a whopping 15 percent of capacity by 2020.
The Modi Government had signed MoUs for the generation of 968.5 MW of solar power by the end of 2012, under its Solar Power Policy.

The Modi Government has stated that it will be developing other such projects at towns like Anand, Banaskantha, Jamnangar, Junagadh, Kutch, Porbandar, Rajkot, Surat and Surendranagar within Gujarat. The Daily Bhaskar reported way back in 2010 that the Gujarat Government had already given land allotment letters to 15 companies which include Azure Power, GMR Energy and GSPC Pipavav Power Company. These companies will be setting up solar power plants in the park. Similarly, the State Government wants to promote solar installations for which it has allocated developed land to project developers.

Back in 2010, CM Modi had expressed his intentions of developing Charanka as the Swarnim Surya Tirth (Golden Sun Pilgrimage), owing to the abundance of solar energy available there. He had also expressed his wish for a Sun Temple to be built in the area, along with a lake. International media have viewed this step as ‘a serious boost’ to India’s renewable energy ambitions, Washington Post stated.

So while other states bicker amongst themselves for natural resources, is Gujarat on its way to fast track progress?

With Ahmadabad being pegged as the newly booming metro of Gujarat and the state generating highly congenial atmosphere for industry and employment, chances are the Narendra Modi will leave no stone unturned to make Gujarat amongst the most developed states in India.

Other states need to step up… Don’t they?

Clean Energy Economies: India ranks 6th!

Kaushambi — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:02:40 +0000

India Inc is on a roll. After claiming the second spot in the Regus Business Confidentiality Index 2012, the Pew Energy report recently announced that private investment in clean energy in India increased by 54 percent in 2011, which amounts to 10.2 billion dollars.

This places India at the sixth spot amongst the Group of Twenty (G-20) nations. Clean energy is another name for renewable or alternate energy.

What places India amongst the top clean energy economies of the world?

The Pew report stated that India is the one of the top performing clean energy economies in the 21st century. The report recorded the fifth highest 5 year rate of investment growth and eighth highest installed renewable energy capacity in India amongst G-20 nations.

So, what made India tick? The report stated that India’s National Solar Mission led to a 7 times increase in solar energy investments. The aim of this mission is to generate 20 gigawatts of solar power 2020. This led to an increase worth of 4.2 billion dollars.

India received 4.6 billion dollars as private investment and an additional 2.8 gigawatts worth of capacity was installed through 2011. The report noted that India is now richer with 22.4 gigawatts of installed clean energy generating capacity.

US claimed the top spot, having attracted a whopping 48 billion dollars worth of investment for the clean energy sector. China followed the top league by having the largest amount of wind energy investments and solar manufacturing. Germany ranked third with a total of 30.6 billion dollars of investment.

The report gave an interesting insight on the difference in which both America and China attracted investment. China attracts investment by its green energy policies to reassure investors, by deploying renewables, manufacturing them and exporting them, BBC News reported. On the other, United States offers tax breaks. The report also went on to confirm that Germany officially obtains more energy from renewable sources than it does from nuclear power, coal or natural gas.

The report further stated a few reasons that could be determinants of accelerating installation of clean energy generating capacity worldwide. Falling prices of photovoltaic modules was stated as being the most important of them.

If India continues its competitive spirit of increasing the use of alternative and renewable energy, it could easily join the ranks of nations like Germany who are now replacing their use of traditional energy with alternative sources of energy. But just like every other change takes time to percolate within the Indian economy, the use of renewable and clean energy too, may take a while to reach the common man.

Here’s hoping that more projects like the National Solar Mission are sanctioned and implemented by the Government. And the aim should be to not just enter the top league of a ranking or a report, but to truly make a difference to the environment.

5 Innovations that will change your life in 5 years [ IBM 5 in 5]

Arun Prabhudesai — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 05:56:00 +0000

Its amazing how technology changes our lives – The life we lived 10 years back and the life we live today is completely different, thanks the advent in Technology. Just think how Mobiles have changed our lives, think how internet has made such a great impact on us…

Have you thought about how your life will be 5 or 10 years down the line? IBM gives you a glimpse of what lies ahead of us probably 5 years from now in their recent release of “IBM 5 in 5” study.

5 Innovations that will change your life in 5 years

Power Production in everything

Very Soon, anything that is in motion or produces heat will be able to produce energy that can be captured and utilized. For example: When you are cycling, Jogging or walking, the kinetic energy produced will be be captured and utilized probably to light your house. Even the heat that is generated while using your computer has potential to be captured and used.

Advances in renewable energy technology will allow individuals to collect this kinetic energy, which now goes to waste, and use it to help power our homes, offices and cities!

Passwords will be thing of Past

yes, that’s right – you will never required a password to do anything, because you yourself will be password for anything and everything you want to access either online or offline.

This will be possible using Biometric Technologies – Each person has a unique biological identity and behind all that is data. Biometric data – facial definitions, retinal scans and voice files – will be composited through software to build your DNA unique online password.

Imagine you going to an ATM and just asking for money in your voice and Machine readily dispenses (using your voice signature). We see these things even today, but 5 years down the line, it will be used for anything and everything!

Mind Reading will not be a Science Fiction anymore

You must have already seen videos online where you can give some basic commands just by thinking. Many Scientists across the world have been successful in connecting devices to brains and read the thoughts of Human beings.

IBM scientists for example are researching how to link your brain to your devices, such as a computer or a smartphone. If you just need to think about calling someone, it happens!

It will be very much like what you probably have seen in Avatar – Where the guy rides a horse or flies merely by thinking. Its just not movies, if IBM is to be believed it will be reality in 5 years time!

No Digital Divide

This is sure to happen – With proliferation of Mobile devices in every nook and corner of the world, it is expected that 80% of the current global population would each have a mobile device. Even extremely poor people will be connected with their cheap mobile devices.

This is especially true for country like India, where even Villagers are taking advantage of Mobile phone and using it for checking weather reports for help them decide when to fertilize crops, know when doctors were coming into town, and find the best prices for their crops or merchandise.

The Digital Divide will cease to exist in 5 years time!

All Content Distribution will be Personalized

No more will you be flooded with unwanted and irrelevant mails and advertisements – Everything will be personalized. In 5 years time, even unsolicited ads may feel so personalized and relevant it may seem spam is dead. Everything from your ticketing, to your music, to news, to sports, to politics, you’ll trust the technology to know what you want, so you can decide what to do with it.

This is what will happen in 5 years – Think where the technology will take us in next 10 – 15 years time!

Don’t you think we are really lucky to be living in this day and age!

India to develop 48 cities as “Solar Cities”!

Arun Prabhudesai — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 14:02:07 +0000

In line with India’s pledge to promote renewable energy and reduce Green House Gas emissions, Indian Authorities have today given an in-principle nod to develop 48 cities as Solar Cities in India.

According to the Government press release 37 out of these 48 cities have already been sanctioned. These are the cities which have already engaged consultants for preparation of Master Plans to execute these Solar Projects.

The cities were identified based on their population (between 50,000 to 50 lakh) and an amount of Rs.17.23 crore has been sanctioned to develop these Solar Cities!

Following is the list 48 Solar cities to be developed in India

Sr.No.	State	Cities for which in-principle approval given

1	Andhra Pradesh	1. Vijayawada*
2	Assam	2. Guwahati*,
		3. Jorhat*
3	Arunachal Pradesh	4. Itanagar*
4	Chandigarh	5. Chandigarh *
5	Chhattisgarh	6. Bilaspur*
		7. Raipur*
6	Gujarat	8. Rajkot*
		9. Gandhinagar*
		10.Surat*
7	Goa	11. Panji City*
8	Haryana	12. Gurgaon*
		13. Faridabad*
9	Himachal Pradesh	14. Shimla *
		15. Hamirpur*
10	Karnataka	16. Mysore*
		17. Hubli-Dharwad*
11	Kerala	18. Thiruvananthapuram
		19. Kochi
12	Maharashtra	20. Nagpur *
		21. Thane*
		22.Kalyan-Dombiwali*
		23. Aurangabad
		24. Nanded
		25. Shirdi*
13	Madhya Pradesh	26. Indore
		27.Gwalior*
		28. Bhopal
		29. Rewa
14	Manipur	30. Imphal*
15	Mizoram	31. Aizawl*
16	Nagaland	32. Kohima*
		33.Dimapur*
17	Orissa	34. Bhubaneswar*
18	Punjab	35. Amritsar*
		36. Ludhiana*
		37. SAS Nagar (Mohali)
19	Rajasthan	38. Ajmer
		39. Jaipur
		40. Jodhpur*
20	Tamil Nadu	41. Coimbatore *
21	Tripura	42. Agartala*
22	Uttrakhand	43. Dehradun*
		44. Haridwar&Rishikesh*
		45. Chamoli-Gopeshwar*
23	Uttar Pradesh	46. Agra*
		47. Moradabad*
24	West Bengal	48. Howrah

Note: * marked cities are sanctioned cities

What is a Solar City?

The Solar City aims at minimum 10% reduction in projected demand of conventional energy at the end of five years, through a combination of enhancing supply from renewable energy sources in the city and energy efficiency measures. [source]

The basic aim is to motivate the local Governments for adopting renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency measures. In a Solar City all types of renewable energy based projects like solar, wind, biomass, small hydro, waste to energy etc. are installed along with possible energy efficiency measures depending on the need and resource availability in the city.

Kudos to Indian Government for taking this step!

India’s Energy Sector Catches The Fancy Of US

Ankit Agarwal — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 04:51:38 +0000

Energy is the new Gold. There is no surprise how important energy (both renewable and non-renewable) is for sustainability. With energy demand-supply gap widening by the day, there is an impetus to generate ‘Smart’ energy or in other words find ways to generate and use energy efficiently. Green investments are a necessity for a greener and fresher future tomorrow.

Well, the energy sector in India might just get the much need capital boost from none other the US. India’s energy sector seems to gotten the fancy of US and India might see lot of US based investments happening in this sector.

Case in point is the recent funding of 2 feasibility studies provided by US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) estimated at over $1.4 Mn. The first one is USTDA funding for a $7,19,985 feasibility study to Astonfield Renewables Private Limited to prepare the design and deployment of two solar photovoltaic power projects in West Bengal (5 MW) and Karnataka (10 MW).

The other being $6,86,447 grant to North Delhi Power Limited (NDPL) for the implementation of smart grid technology in India. These feasibility studies are expected to pave the way for future large scale investments in the energy sector in India with a specialized focus on green energy and smart energy solutions.

Clean Energy To See Increased Investments

Even as the energy sector on a whole is expected to see renewed interest from the US, maximum focus is on clean energy segment. Renewable energy is fast becoming a necessity as the traditional energy sources become scarce and the demand becomes scarce.

Renewable energy is a capital intensive sector with long gestation periods in terms of returns. Investment support from the US is expected to come in handy as companies in India working on renewable energy would get to see more funds to carry out R&D.

India and US seem to be working together as far as the development of clean energy sector is concerned in India. A lot of joint initiatives and funding promises have happened in 2011 including the funding of feasibility studies mentioned above. There is a much larger corpus envisaged for Clean energy in India

US government owned Overseas Private Investment Corp (OPIC) recently approved two new private equity funds ($600 Mn investment corpus) with approximately $350 million targeted at Indian hydro, biomass, wind, and solar power projects
There is also a $300 million South Asia Clean Energy Fund by OPIC, nearly all of which will target India
India and US are going to establish a Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center that will mobilize $25 million of Department of Energy funding over five years for research and development focused on efficiency, solar energy and advanced biofuels

Like with all investments, only time will tell how much of the proposed sum actually materializes but the focus and commitment looks very real. Indian energy sector and especially green energy initiatives are expected to benefit from investment and hopefully technical support from the US in coming years.

I am not entirely sure if these funds will target investments in existing projects or they will have a open policy to encourage brilliant folks to be a part of the clean energy sector in India. If that happens, we might see a lot many clean energy entrepreneurs coming up in India!

What are your thoughts on India’s energy sector? US sure seems to be overweight on the sector and is ready to invest sizable amounts to foster innovation in clean energy from Indian soil

Top 5 Companies Using Renewable Power!

Ankit Agarwal — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 04:48:00 +0000

Renewable energy usage has picked up lot of steam in the corporate sector what with carbon credit exchange and Corporate Social Responsibility. However, like a lot of other initiatives, cutting down on energy usage and investing on renewable power is seen as a cost which does not bear any returns.

Well, to a certain extent short-term benefits for switching to renewable power may not be there. For a lot of companies, quarterly earnings are the benchmark and as such investing on renewable power may not seem like a strategic business driver. Be that as it may, a few companies realize the need for sustainable business and have been taking the initiatives to utilize renewable sources for their electricity needs.

A recent report by Wind technology provider Vestas reveals the renewable energy usage trends across some of the largest companies across the globe. As reported by Reuters, top 5 companies in terms of renewable energy usage are:

Kohl’s Corporation
Whole Foods etc.
Toronto-Dominion Bank
Swiss Reinsurance Bank
Nordea Bank AB

Of these Kohl’s Corporation and Whole Foods managed to source all their electricity needs from renewable sources alone. Given the size and scale of operations these companies have, this is a significant achievement and my guess is that these companies would have started implemented a renewable energy strategy atleast 5-6 years back.

The report also highlighted other companies who are increasingly switching to renewable sources for their power consumption requirements. Adobe Systems , News Corp, Deutsche Bank AG, Starbucks, Metlife, Nokia, Allianz and Johnson & Johnson are some of the companies identified as leveraging renewable energy as source of power.

It is interesting to see a lot of companies in the financial services sector being big proponents of renewable energy. One critical area I think these companies consume a lot of power would be in terms of IT infrastructure or data centers.

Data centers are huge energy guzzlers and that could be a reason for high power requirements in financial services companies. Companies in the financial sector have started increasing the procurement of renewable power to a great extent.

Technology companies continue to be at the forefront of using renewable energy to power their operations. Companies like Intel, Motorola, Dell etc. have all been procuring renewable power for a long time and continue to do so.

Recently, Google has upped its focus on renewable energy and is even inviting R&D folks to work with Google in generating electricity from renewable energy. I am also curious to know what kind of strategy IBM has for renewable energy. Sustainable business has been a key part of their Smarter Planet campaigns and it would be great to see if the company does what it preaches.

Using renewable energy for electricity might still not have become a necessity but it is an eventuality. It is going to become a key component of sustainable business practice and the regulatory pressures are already making companies rethink their resource consumption practices.

Switching to renewable power might be tad costly but in the long run, companies and the world at large stand to gain from it. So, the earlier more and more companies tap renewable energy for electricity they will not only turn themselves into cleaner and efficient companies but also contribute towards creating a cleaner world to live in.

What are your thoughts on the usage of renewable resources for power generation in companies? Do you see this happening much more going forward and will majority of companies make the switch to renewable resources for their electricity needs?

Cairn Finds Oil In KG Basin Amidst The Ongoing Vedanta-Cairn Deal!!

Ankit Agarwal — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 06:51:00 +0000

It is now common knowledge that Vedanta has shown keen interest in acquiring Cairn at a hefty price of upto $9.6 billion. There has been lot of commentary on whether this is a right acquisition for Vedanta and the issue has been discussed in detail here highlighting critical reasons as to why the deal may not be a strategic buy after all

However, deal being a strategically beneficial or not, the Vedanta-Cairn has quickly run into troubled waters due to various reasons, the primary being the stake of ONGC in Cairn’s assets.

Cairn came to the center stage when it started pumping crude from its block in Rajasthan which was touted as the first major crude oil discovery since few decades. However, Cairn only holds 70% stake in the Rajasthan Oil block (RJ-ON-90/1) with the other 30% controlled by ONGC. So, Cairn needs approval from ONGC alongside the government before even thinking about selling off.

What is more interesting is the news that Cairn has discovered Oil & Gas in the KG Basin. A flow of 75 barrels per day of oil and .27 million cubic feet per day of gas was achieved at the well. Overall it is a good news since we as a nation could do with as much Oil & Gas we can extract. Given the current situation, I wonder how this news will play out in influencing the Vedanta-Cairn deal

Increasing complexity with ONGC as a Stakeholder

The KG basin block where Cairn has discovered Oil & Gas has ONGC as the major partner with 51% share whereas Cairn has a 49% interest. Now, I have not come across ONGC’s reaction towards the Vedanta-Cairn deal but apparently they would not be interested in having Vedanta take over. With this oil discovery, I only expect things to get murkier as far as ONGC approval is considered
A possible increase in valuations

While the oil discovery may not be a breakthrough in terms of the volume or the possible revenue generation capabilities, it is expected to add some value to the assets of Cairn. Since, the discovery was only announced on Monday there could be a possibility where in the initial price quoted by Vedanta might need an upwards revision. Would Cairn push for an increased price and would Vedanta agree?

The deal value is already pretty high and things have not panned out too well from Vedanta’s perspective. For now, Cairn seems to be having a good ride as far as the stock markets are concerned. On a day when the Sensex shed almost 100 points, Cairn seemed to have held it own closing with a gain of 3% at 354.20

What do you think? Would the recent discovery make things more complicated in the Vedanta-Cairn deal

Can Power sector become the next Telecom sector?

Rishabh — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 07:37:36 +0000

Telecom sector in India evolved in India after the regulations made competition enter this industry. The National Telecom Policy (NTP) Act 99’ which deregulated the Group of Telecom (GoT) , raising Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) limit to 74% was followed by successive policies by Telecom regulatory authority of India(TRAI). The result was declining calling rates, additional Value added services (VAS) and net benefit to the end users. Competition made the sector better.

Today we see Power sector in India growing at the fastest speed compared to other infrastructure sectors. For example in Financial Year 2009-10, of all the infrastructure companies raising funds through IPO, 90% of them were power sector companies. With twelfth year plan target of 1,00,000 MW and recent Nuclear deal, one must be wondering if can Power sector become as competitive as Telecom sectors?

So what is the game changer for Power sector?

The Electricity Act 2003, which enabled non-discriminatory open access for transmission lines. (Open Access: the transmission lines now behave as “Roads”, anybody can access the roads to go to their destination). So even a captive power plant (private power generation units) can use the transmission lines.

Competitive bidding was introduced so that price discovery could be unregulated and the entrant can enhance his performance by improving efficiency.

The National Tariff Policy 2006, promoted retail competition, supported competitive acquisition of generation capacity and enabling end user for choosing the power supplier. The enforcement of Universal Obligation Fund (USO) will also lead to enhance power infrastructure at rural level.

In general, potential competition increased by reducing the need for micro-management by regulatory Authority.

Why so much time?

Unlike wireless technologies used by telecom operators, Power infrastructure requires physical layout of wires which takes time.

Losses amount to 30%-40% of total power produced. 10% of this is due to transmission and distribution problems (T&D) the remaining is due to power thefts. Power thefts is one the major concerns for growth of this sector

Power generation is currently very sensitive to fuel availability. For example, prices of coal, natural gas affects the cost for power production.

Renewable energy is still not cost efficient. Consider Indian coal based power generation costs Rs. 2.1 to Rs. 2.4 per KWh while the same for Wind energy is Rs. 3.2 to Rs. 3.4 per KWh and Renewable sources of energy still requires high capital investments.

Although Power sector currently with Industry P/E (Price Earnings Ration) at 24.48 is ahead of Telecom sector with and industry P/E at 16.55, it has still a long way to go. One thing is clear, Regulator in any sector has the potential to change the market structure, enhance competition and make a difference.

Your take? Do you think India’s Power Sector can emulate Telecom growth we have witnessed?