Green energy and carbon markets

SOLARPOWER

40 SEPTEMBER|OCTOBER12 energetica india

Solar energy policies kicked off with the introduction of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). With time, new policy frameworks and financing schemes gained momentum, pushing investments into solar energy projects. Some of the states weaved in their own policies to promote business investments in solar energy. Let’s take a quick peek at the progress of solar in India.

Sharada BalaSuBramanian, EnErgEtica india

Solar powering India

India’s foray into solar and other re-newable energy looked promising and lucrative with the introduction

of policy framework that made business opportunities viable. In a recent report titled Laying the Foundation for a Bright Future, independent, external analysis was done on how solar energy developed in India and what were the stumbling blocks and positive factors in implementation of these projects.

In the initial phase of the project, In-dia’s installed solar capacity increased from 17.8 MW to over 500 MW. It was dur-ing that period when solar energy prices dropped to as low as Rs. 7.49/kWh, or $0.15 USD/kWh.

JNNSMThe solar energy policy took its first step in India on August 3rd 2009, when the draft of National Solar Mission was approved by the Prime Minister. The plan had an ambi-tious target of generating 20,000 MW of solar power by 2020.

On 14th November 2009, JNNSM re-leased its mission document. In December 2009, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) announced tariff for renewable energy power generation. For solar power, the tariff period was kept at twenty-five years.

On 11 January 2010, JNSSM was launched. The mission targeted at gen-erating 20,000 MW of solar power by the end of the thirteenth Five-Year Plan (2022). The mission also aimed at deploy-ing 20 million solar lighting systems for ru-ral areas, thus reaching 15 million square meters by 2017 and 20 million by 2022. The other aim was also to take manufac-turing into consideration and reaching an

installed capacity of 4-5GW by 2020. With respect to off-grid solar projects, JNNSM set a target of 1000MW by 2017.

Following are some of the incentives that came along with the scheme: • Zero import duty on capital equipment,

raw materials and excise duty exemp-tion

• Low interest rate loans, priority sector lending

• Coal tax• Budgetary Support for MNRE

Under the JNNSM, the proposed tar-get for grid-connected utility-scale projects was 20,000 MW with a fifty–fifty share of solar photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar thermal power (CSP). The JNNSM adopted a three-phase approach, with the remaining period of the Eleventh Plan and first year of the Twelfth (up to 2012–13) as Phase 1, the remaining four years of the Twelfth Plan (2013–17) as Phase 2, and the Thirteenth Plan (2017–22) as Phase 3.

According to the mission, plans were made to increase the capacity of grid con-nected (33 kV and above) solar power generation to 1,000 MW within three years by 2013; and an additional 3,000 to 9,000 MW by 2017. This was to be done by the mandatory use of a renewable pur-chase obligation by utilities. A preferential tariff was also attached to this. Also, with a strong target to reach 20,000 MW in-stalled power by 2022 or more, there was a trigger in international finance and tech-nology transfer.

This was the overall picture of the Na-tional Solar Mission. When we look at in-dividual state solar policies, there are some states like Gujarat, which has made serious progressive attempts to tap solar energy. Let’s take a look at some strategies and

solar policies in some of the Indian states.

Gujarat Gujarat has been a leader in solar power generation. Here, solar power is available at 5.5 kWh/Sq.Mt./day. The Gujarat Solar policy enters a new tariff phase for the pe-riod 2012-2013 for PV and 2012-2015 for Solar Thermal.

The state contributes to two third of the 900 MW of PV in the country with one the largest solar parks in Asia com-missioned at Charanka village. Charanka is among the regions that receives the highest solar radiation per unit area in the country. It houses Asia’s largest solar park, the 214 megawatts (MW) Gujarat Solar Park, beating China’s 200MW Golmud So-lar Park.

Also, to make one of its cities Gandhi-nagar a solar city, the state government launched a roof-top solar power genera-tion scheme. Under this scheme, the state planned to generate five megawatt of so-lar power by putting solar panels on about 50 state government buildings and on 500 private buildings. This project was to be replicated in Rajkot, Surat, Bhavnagar and Vadodara.

Gujarat solar policy, laid down in 2009 ahead of the Centre’s national solar mis-sion that aims to install 1,000MW capacity of solar power-generating capacity in the first phase.

The Gujarat government set a tariff of Rs. 15 per kilowatt hour (kWh) for the first 12 years and Rs. 5 a unit from then to the 25th year for solar photovoltaic pro-jects commissioned before February—less than the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission’s offer of Rs. 17 per unit for 25 years.

SOLARPOWER

41energetica india SEPTEMBER|OCTOBER12

The state drew in more than 5,000 proposals from developers for solar pro-jects in the state, and today solar installa-tions in all other parts of the country put together add up to less than one-third of those in Gujarat. The investments in solar from Gujarat has attracted about Rs. 9,000 crore of investments.

Any company/corporate body/as-sociation/individuals could use this facil-ity. Gujarat Energy Development Agency (GEDA) has signed MOUs with developers for 365 MW of solar PV and 351 MW of solar thermal capacities. The state looked at technology transfer and using the clean development (CDM) mechanism to com-bat climate change through investments in solar energy projects.

In the solar policy 2009, the state government had set a minimum target of 5MW of power generation in both solar photovoltaic and solar thermal projects. Any company or individual would be able to set this up according to the Electricity Act 2003.

Going the eco friendly way, the Guja-rat state government went a step further to install solar panels on the Narmada ca-nal branches. With this scheme, the state has already commissioned a one megawatt solar plant on one branch of the Narmada Canal. This project also helped prevent water evaporation to the extent of 90,000 liter water/year.

Gujarat also boasts of the world’s first canal-based solar power project. This pro-ject has been developed by Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Limited (GSECL), along with Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL). The 750 metre stretch of the canal will generate 1.6 million units of clean electricity per year. Gujarat is expect-

ed to achieve around 10,000 MW of solar power generation capacity if the country is to reach its target of 20,000-MW capacity by 2022.

The levelized tariffs under various cat-egories range from Rs 8.03 per unit to Rs 11.55 per unit.

KarnatakaKarnataka has tremendous potential for solar energy. The solar policy in Karnataka has set a target of 350MW by 2016. Also, the state looked at getting investors who were keen on developing smaller plants for decentralized energy supply.

The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) issued regulations for getting 0.25% of total power from so-lar resources. It was therefore considered necessary to have a separate solar policy, which will extend from 2011-12 to 2015-16 as Indian government had taken a de-cision to increase the total consumption from solar resources to 3 percent by 2022.1. In Karnataka, grid connected solar pho-

tovoltaic and solar thermal power gen-eration of 1 MW and above capacities were considered as priority projects.

2. The northern districts like Gulbarga, Raichur, Bidar, Bijapur, Bellary, Bagalkot, Koppal, Belgaum, Gadag, Chitradurga etc. were well suited to harness solar potential on MW scale.

3. In places where grid connectivity was not available, off grid solutions were to be implemented. This would be taken up by the Gram Panchayats and the lo-cal bodies.

The projects involved solar steam gen-erating systems. Also, domestic, public and institutional buildings would adopt solar technologies. Solar water heaters,

solar lighting systems, solar hoardings etc. would be encouraged to conserve electric-ity in peak hours. Solar cities were planned in Hubli and Mysore.

Also, the state government will facili-tate a single window clearance mechanism which will make things easier for the inves-tors. A committee was set up for the same reason to get the sanctions and approv-als of the project. Looking at the Gujarat government, the Irrigation Department in Karnataka ventured into solar power gen-eration to meet its power needs.

The priority projects were grid con-nected solar projects of 1 MW and above. Roof Top small scale Solar PV Installations were also encouraged with net metering facility to feed surplus power generated to the grid. Under Solar Karnataka Pro-gramme, 25000 Solar Roof Tops of 5 to 10 kwp with net metering were also targeted.

At the recent Solarcon conference in Bangalore, the chief minister announced that the state is looking at a target of 200 MW by 2016. In the year 2011-12, the state has added 441MW of power (including so-lar and wind). The Karnataka Power Cor-poration Limited (KPCL) had commissioned four solar power projects with aggregate capacity of 19 MWs. Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited (KREDL) had identified 1,000 major buildings across the state for implementation of solar PV pro-jects of capacity more than 100 KW.

Madhya Pradesh In 2010, the government of Madhya Pradesh released a draft policy for Solar Energy. The objective of the draft policy had been set to accelerate the harnessing and development of solar energy in the state.

SOLARPOWER


The state is closer to both Rajasthan and Gujarat with its nodal agency being Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam (MPU-VN) Ltd.

The Government of Madhya Pradesh set a target of total capacity of 500MW during the operative period of the policy. A minimum capacity of a large grid connect-ed Solar Power Project was 1MW each.

The state bids for projects greater than 25 MW and devised deadlines to cater to projects of different sizes. For instance, commissioning deadline for projects up to 25 MW is 13 months. It is proportionally more for larger projects — for example, for a 200 MW project; there is a 24 month deadline. This is the longest commission-ing time allowed under any solar policy in India.

Though these deadlines make the project execution feasible, sometimes it also happens that smaller and inexperi-enced players enter the market. This could also lead to people not serious about solar industry entering the market.

The size of solar projects may vary from five MW to 200 MW. Eligibility for availing benefits from the state policies will be based on techno-economical viability and available resources. Captive units will be eligible to get benefits under this policy as an investor/consumer.

The state also planned solar cities un-der the MNRE. The cities included places like Bhopal, Jabalpur and Rewa.

OdishaThe Odisha Renewable Energy Develop-ment Agency (OREDA) has encouraged subsidies for people who are investing in solar power system at home.

Since the state is in sub-tropical geo-graphical location, it receives an abun-dance of solar radiation throughout the year except for some interruption during the monsoon and winter seasons. With a total land area of 155,707 square kilom-eters, Odisha holds a vast potential for harnessing very large quantities of solar power. Moreover, large portions of the western part of the state, far away from the coasts, are in rain shadow areas, which receive solar radiation round the year, vir-tually, without any interruption.

According to OREDA estimates, the potential of solar photovoltaic power of

the state is 14,000 MW. The power produced by solar plants

would be sold at the same price as that from conventional sources like coal by the year 2017. This is due to the fact that Odi-sha won a tender and got a tariff of Rs.7 per kW hour to be constant for the next 25 years.

The first solar power plant in Odisha with a capacity of one MW was commis-sioned by Hyderabad-based Raajratna Energy Holdings Private Limited (REHPL). Also, to give a boost to solar power gen-eration, Gridco had signed PPAs with eight solar developers, each with a capacity of 1 MW. The Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) has fixed RPO of five per cent for 2011-12 of which 0.1 percent would be from solar power.

To raise awareness of power genera-tion from alternative sources, OREDA even conducted a workshop titled Renewable and Cogeneration Purchase Obligations Regulation’.

For the year 2012-2013 the Orissa government has set a target of 50 MW. Presently, 10 MW solar power is being pro-duced in the state.

RajasthanRajasthan is one of the leaders in solar energy production in India. The state gets solar radiation for 6-7 kWh/m2/day. The maximum number of sunny days in the state is about 325 days. In the first phase

of the solar mission project, the state re-ceived an allocation of generating 873 MW, which is 80% of the total alloca-tion of the national mission. The state is expected to reach its grid parity by 2017.

There is tremendous potential for solar power in Rajasthan considering the number of sun days being on the higher side. Also, favorable state solar policies propel investments in this sector. It is ex-pected that Rajasthan will produce more than 20 GW solar PV and solar power by 2022. Also, there is a huge market for manufacturing solar equipments.

The policy in Rajasthan focuses on es-tablishing 500 MW per annum manufac-turing capacity by 2013. The objectives of the policy are as follows:• Develop as Global Solar Power Hub: In

next 10-12 years• Productive use of desert land• Creation of employment opportunities

(Direct & indirect)• Establishing of manufacturing base• Creation of Solar Parks

The facilities provided for setting up solar projects in the state include allotment of government land at 10% of market rate and purchase of private land allowed in excess of ceiling limit.

Some of the incentives include:• Exemption of electricity duty on electric-

ity generated for captive use• Exemption for entry tax on equipments

required for solar project• Reduction in VAT on Solar Products

from 14% to 4%Also, there are plans to develop solar

cities in the state in places including Jodh-pur, Jaisalmer, Bikaner and Barmer.

The State Government has currently put the plans on hold.

References:- http://www.eai.in/club/users/aathmika/blogs/1228- http://www.cstep.in/docs/Chapter%203-%20India’s%20Solar%20Specific%20Policies.pdf

- http://www.avant-gardeglobal.com/Re_Energy/SSPS.html

- http://www.ireda.gov.in/Solar/DATA/Policy/9%20Madhya%20Pradesh-solar.pdf

- http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/orissa-targets-50-mw-solar-power-generation-in-2012-13/469001/

- http://kredl.kar.nic.in/Solar_policy2011-16.pdfhttp://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2012/04/29/how-indias-creating-next-big-solar-market

- h t t p : / / w w w . v i b r a n t g u j a r a t . c o m /DisplayNewsUpdate.htm?NewsUpdateId=5

- http://www.livemint.com/2012/04/24213254/Solar-boom-faces-challenges.html

22 terragreen october 2011

How did the Selco journey begin? It was about 16–17 years ago when we looked at connecting poverty alleviation to sustainable energy. The company started with a for-profit motive. My experience in the Dominican Republic helped me to start off.

You had no work experience when you started Selco. What were the challenges and apprehensions you faced? I was working on solar power as part of my Masters and Phd thesis. I did not have prior experience in the sector.

Apprehensions? No, I did not look at it that way. I was sure that I did not know answers to a lot of questions. I travelled for

months and lived in rural areas and looked at it from a solutions point of view—how do we look at solar, and how do we look at the needs of the poor? We also needed to see that if solar needs to be implemented in rural areas, what are the appropriate ecosystems that need to be created? We needed to look at policies, how we need to plug-in the loopholes in the rural system.

Why did you venture into solar power?It was more due to my academic background. Today, we are known for solar. Solar is our expertise. At the same time, we also inform our clients if solar is not feasible for them.

We need to relate solar and

other alternative

sources to income- generating

activity

Dr Harish Hande, Managing Director, Solar Energy Lighting Company (SELCO)-India, co-founded the company to eradicate poverty by promoting sustainable technologies in rural India. Winner of the Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy in 2005, Selco won the Outstanding Achievement Award from Ashden in 2007. In 2008, Harish Hande was chosen by Business Today as one of the 21 young leaders for India’s 21st century. The same year, India Today named him one of the 50 pioneers of change in India. This year, he was one among the two Indians to receive the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award, also sometimes referred to as Asia’s Nobel Prize. Harish Hande speaks to Sharada Balasubramanian about his company, his organizational philosophies, and his take on energy policies in India.

23terragreen october 2011

What were your initial experiences in the rural areas? I spent time in the Dominican Republic, Sri Lanka, and India. The initial experience was humbling. The challenges, solutions, thought process of the people, it was all completely new. I had to unlearn what I had learnt. After the first 3–4 years, I knew one thing—whatever solutions we were coming up in an urban context was not really correct. No amount of reading textbooks could actually help us.

What were your investments for Selco?I did not have the money, nor do I have it now. I had `1,000 and added another `4,000–5,000 from my scholarship money. I did not look for money in the first three years. I had no knowledge about rural areas and what I could do with the money. I was faced with an ethical question–am I selling something that is needed by the people at all? The answer was not clear to me then. I tell entrepreneurs today that start without any money and you will be at your financial best in the future.

How did you go about doing market research when you started off? I don’t believe in market surveys. How do you conduct a market survey with people who have never seen solar products? I am not introducing a mere product here; I am introducing a lighting solution. Also, are we qualified to do this market survey? We have not even used these products in urban areas properly, how can we design the survey for rural areas? That is a common mistake we make. We do not understand and know the needs of the poor, which is why we come up with technology products and business models that actually don’t meet their needs.

Then, how do you introduce the product?Unless you spend time with them, you can never know what they need. In my opinion, what we need to know is this–what is the kind of lighting people require and what is this lighting required for? Is it for selling tomatoes, for making garlands or for cooking? What should be the position of the light, what should be its colour? These are the things that you need to know. What needs to be looked at is the current expenditure on kerosene and how can that be offset by giving appropriate alternative products. Today, even after being in the business for 21 years, I have less than 1% knowledge of the needs of the rural folk. If you ask me to do a market survey, I will not be able to do it.

How did you work from concept to implementation?We started small. We established our head office after we had four service centres. These service centres started off because in the village everything revolved around services, right from the pump repair shop and the motor cycle repair shop, to the cycle repair shop. One of the common questions that people confront is–do we have after-sales service? We organically started sales centres and then started working with banks to convince them to finance our efforts.

Tell us about your organizational philosophy.In our organization, we don’t have a cubicle policy. We are very clear about one thing–if the chairman of the bank refuses to meet my technician, then I refuse to deal with the bank. I don’t believe in protocols. My driver is as important as the managing director. The technicians sit with the clients on a daily basis. So, who is more important? In our country hierarchy is prevalent. We need to understand that every person has the potential. We need to give importance to every employee. As long as an employee represents Selco, it doesn’t matter who he is. That for us is critical.

That would have changed the mindset of a lot of people…Yes! We don’t reveal the background of our employees. For example, one of our employees in Bengaluru joined us to clean tables and serve tea and coffee. Today, he can explain to a client about what kind of solar products are available, how do we provide them, and what are the guarantees available. We, the educated class, have unnecessary ego and pride. That is the biggest barrier.

The typical urban thought process is that we know what rural people need. Unless that arrogance is done away with, it’s difficult. That is why we are looking at an alternative path. We wanted to build an organization from the bottom to the top and also empower people in many ways.

It is not only about solar. Solar is just one part of what we do. How do we create a sustainable business? A social enterprise, which gives equal respect to the technician, the middle management, and the end-user.

This is a very different way of looking at business... This is the only way to run a sustainable business. The percentage of money a poor person spends on solar is much higher. We live

on the subsidies of the poor. By not taking the extra `50, the maid servant is subsidizing us. The rich in India live off the livings of the poor in many ways. We get subsidized electricity because a miner works for a mere `20. Actually, he is subsidizing our electricity.

What kind of products did you get into the rural market?Initially, we started with the two light and four light systems. We continued depending on the cash flow. Then we asked people what they needed and told them that we would design the product as per their needs.

How did the pricing work?The cost factor depends on how people are spending on kerosene, candles, and more recently, on mobile charging. The critical part was not what the absolute cost was. It was about working with the bank to create a financial product that matches their existing expenditure.

What alternative energy products need to be introduced in India at this point of time? Also, why is solar not catching up in urban India where there is a potential to install roof-top solar? Why is it not taking off?The reason it is not taking off is because people have not seen its value. It is easy to say we can’t afford it. No one realizes that we

have the wrong products. To give an example, as we go deeper into the economic strata, we need to relate solar and other alternative sources to income generating activity. If a lady tells me she wants solar power for a sewing machine, for say, just a saree and blouse, I would tell her it is not economically viable to design it. Solar then gets the blame for being expensive. Let me go one step further. The minimum power generation from solar is 100 watt. If we have a 40-watt machine with a five-year time period it would be economically viable.

How favourable do you think are the policies for investments in solar products in India? The intentions are good, but implementation is poor. Before implementing the mission, the stakeholders, bankers, and practitioners should have been consulted. Bankers should have asked what the barriers were. Their expertise would have helped. Now, they are trying to rectify with good intentions. Think about this–would the IT policies have worked without Nandan Nilekani giving his expertise? In the case of the solar mission, no one sat with the banks and asked how they could facilitate or overcome the barriers. That is the issue with the mission. How many real practitioners were involved? None! n

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18 terragreen november 2011

Urban India is developing rapidly leading to an increase in the demand for energy. This has made urban centres one of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases (GHGs). The

buildings alone contribute close to 40% of the total GHG emissions. As per a UN report, one million people in the world move into urban areas each week. It is estimated that about two-thirds of the world’s population will be living in cities by 2050.

Fossil fuels are increasingly becoming expensive due to the scarcity of fuel and the rise in demand. In addition to this, the environmental and social impacts of the consumption of fossil fuels are matters of serious concern. The impacts of using these include air pollution, global warming, waste disposal problems, land degradation, and the depletion of natural resources.

As India develops and moves into the comfort zone of being one of the fastest-growing economies of the world, environmental concerns such as pollution and climate change are taking a serious toll. The impetus being given to renewable energy, particularly solar energy, by the Indian government is a step in the right direction, says Sharada Balasubramanian.

Solar energy powering

urban India

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Looking at the current trends in energy consumption patterns, many cities across the world are introducing new policies and setting new targets to promote renewable energy and reducing GHG emissions.

In India, the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission was introduced to promote the use of solar energy. The scheme aims at deploying 20,000 MW of solar power by 2022. This is to clearly usher in changes in the policy framework to attract investments in solar energy applications.

Though solar energy is now making its presence felt in rural India, especially

in areas where there is no grid power supply, it is also imperative to look at how solar energy has transformed lives in the urban milieu. Until now, India has generally promoted solar energy as a low-cost and sustainable solution for rural areas without grid connections, thus, there are currently very few solar projects operating in urban and industrial areas. Though of late, there has been an increase in awareness about the advantages of solar power, India has a long way to go in tapping solar energy for commercial and residential use. The real challenge in India would be to meet the energy demands of the consumers more than climate change mitigation.

Solar cookers and solar heaters are now being adopted in various cities of India. Says Jagadish Kumar, one of the directors of the Coimbatore-based Sunlit Solar Energy Pvt. Ltd, “We create awareness about these products. We also offer customized products according to the needs of the customer.”

The cost becomes a major deterrent when it comes to implementing solar energy. “The cost of installing solar power for basic facilities, such as lights and fans is `3.5 lakhs approximately. This, of course comes with the warranty period of 10 years,” says Jagadish.

The subsidies offered under the National Solar Mission have propelled investments in the solar product segment. “Under the National Solar Mission, it costs us `90 to produce per watt of energy. Therefore, to produce 1,000 watts, it will cost `90,000,” says Jagadish.

For installing 1 KW of power, 160 square feet of space is required on the roof top. “Currently, we get projects for lighting homes. Lot of people also enquire, but when they hear the prices, they back out,” he says.

Further, he adds, “Right now, the use of solar in homes is restricted to only lights and fans. If we need to install solar power for fridge, we need 5 KW of power. The investment cost for this will be `13 lakhs. We will not get any returns on this. Hence, it would not be possible to make homes powered completely by solar.”

Solar home systems have a great potential to provide basic electrical

services. These system costs will reduce as the market continues to grow. The improvements in technology will also bring the costs down. Various pilot projects that have been undertaken to assess how solar power can be used in various sectors. Solar-home systems bring huge benefits to homes in developing countries.

As the demand for electricity is shooting up in urban India, even the local governments are facing rough weather in meeting power demands. As a result, several cities face power cuts. It, thus, becomes important to bring in foolproof policies that address these issues. The main aspect that needs to be looked at is the current consumption patterns.

The Ministry initiated many programmes for urban India, like promoting solar water heating systems in homes, hotels, hostels, hospitals, industries, buildings, and so on.

Further impetus from the government can go a long way in making the National Solar Mission successful in India. Recollecting how wind energy took off in India with strong involvement from the government, Vishal Pandya, Director, RE Connect Energy Solutions says, “In the 1980s and 1990s, there were no windmill projects in India. The government had to carry out demonstration projects and put in their own money, in order to bring in the financial profit element for the investors. They also had to bring in technology and offer subsidies and market-based instruments. That is how investments in wind energy were kick started.”

19terragreen november 2011

Photo: UN Photo/Milton Grant

A similar approach is being taken by the government with the solar mission. In a serious attempt to promote the use of solar energy, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has embarked on a project to make Nagpur city a model solar city by 2012. The plan here is to cover up to 10 % of its energy demand via renewable energy sources and implement other energy efficiency measures. Solar thermal heating systems will play a very important role in fulfilling this target. The government is contemplating tax rebates for users of solar water heaters, especially in the residential sector.

Keeping in mind the long-term vision, the Indian government planned to develop 60 cities during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007–12), to meet the increasing electricity demand of its cities and also promote the growing use of renewable energy. The government is expected to spend `300 million during the Plan period, under “Development of Solar Cities”. The cities included are Agra, Muradabad, Rajkot, Gandhinagar, Nagpur, Kalyan-Dombiwali, Indore, Imphal, Kohima, Dehradun, Chandigarh, Gurgaon, Thane, Vijayawada, and Coimbatore.

According to reports, 50% of the cost of solar cities will be shared by the Ministry. Almost `50 lakh will be provided for the master plan, solar city cell, and promotional

activities. Reports suggest that the support will be on 50% cost-sharing basis with respective Municipal Corporation/City Administration/State Government.

Solar power will be introduced in the form of street lights, hoardings, solar water heaters, garden lights, to name some. Also, green buildings will be promoted on a large scale in the cities. The government is playing a huge role here, giving an impetus to solar power production in India. The ministry has planned to develop two solar cities as model cities. This will further trigger many other cities to go the solar way in future.

Costs are cited as major reason for implementing solar energy projects in India. This leads us to a question—will solar energy achieve grid parity in India? If yes, when will that happen? Currently, the cost of conventional power is estimated at between `5 and `5.50 per unit as compared to the cost of solar power, which is estimated to be between `11–13 per unit. Though the costs are high, with new technologies, the prices are slowly coming down. At the same time, it is important to note that the prices of conventional energy are rising. The cost of conventional power is expected to increase by 4%–5% per year over the next decade, according to the report “Rising sun” by KPMG.

Experts predict that solar photovoltaic (PV) will achieve grid parity latest by 2020 in India. This is a possibility provided the current prices of solar panels fall. Says Pandya, “In the last 2–3 years, the cost of solar power has come down by 35%–40%. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission is also moving at a decent pace. As the coal and the oil prices increase, the cost of solar will come down in future.”

As international players enter the market, the price will plummet further. Experts also opine that investment in solar generation is a natural hedge against inflation. It is a boon for nations, such as India with spiralling rates of inflation. According to the KPMG report, a more aggressive policy could see solar power prices decline at rates between 5%–7% annually over the next decade. This will ensure grid parity as early as 2017–18.These targets are realistic as far as they

are attuned to the National Solar Mission of achieving 20 gigawatts (GW) of solar power by 2022. “The National Solar Mission is instrumental in promoting solar energy and right now, looking at the pace, it will bring grid parity in future,” says Pandya. He further suggests, “Roof top solar can play a huge role in bringing grid parity. Along with it, a scheme on renewable energy certificates (RECs) will be pivotal. In Australia, grid connectivity and roof-top solar have been linked and RECs. There have been talks about grid connectivity to roof-top solar in India, but the draft proposed floated in 2009 has not been finalized yet”, says Pandya. This could be a huge boost to India’s solar mission.

States such as Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu could reach grid parity earlier than others. This is due to favourable policies and sunnier weather. The costs can also go down owing to these aspects. Another thing to be noted here is that coal reserves in these states are located far away and, hence, solar energy can prove to be a great alternative. Switching to solar power could save over 30% of India’s coal imports, according to the KPMG report.

The report recommends adopting decentralized application model where solar roof-top systems, solar-powered agriculture pump sets, solar lighting systems, and solar-powered telecom towers are set up by the consumers.

Solar powered telecom towers are already cost competitive with alternatives like diesel. It is estimated that switching from diesel to solar power would save Indian telecom firms `6,440 crores in operations cost. Going forward, with falling solar power prices and increasing diesel prices, solar installations would make greater economic sense. According to the KPMG report, over the long term, solar power has the potential to replace about 30% of the telecom tower industry’s diesel consumption. Steps, such as creation of the National Clean Energy Fund are steps in the right direction. In the first phase, the banks should also come forward and support the solar sector. n

Sharada Balasubramanian is a freelance

journalist based in Coimbatore.

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REDUCING CARBON FOOTPRINTFebruary 9, 2012 | Filed under: FOCUS | Posted by: webmaster

Sharada Balasubramanian looks at how CSR programmes can impact the world we live in, literally!

‘We care about the environment’ goes many a slogan from the corporate world. Environmentalissues are in the forefront today and many companies are now on the bandwagon o f saving theenvironment through business and social initiatives. In such a scenario , one needs to look at whatthe companies are really do ing to save the environment under the name of CSR. In recent years,under the CSR initiatives, many companies are claiming to save the environment, but is there aserious effort to reduce environmental impact?There are companies that have in their initiative to ‘go green’ started tree planting campaigns, printingless paper, and so on to save the environment in the name of CSR. Is this really contributing to theenvironment in a ho listic sense? Probably not! Beyond this, the corporate world should also bring inefficiency in business practices, which could lead to mitigating environmental concerns that grapplethe world today. Let us take the case o f carbon emissions here and look at the specifics o f whatsome companies have done to actually reduce emissions. These are the ones that really attach abusiness, social and environmental edge to their CSR initiatives.Aviva Insurance – A case studyIn 2006, Aviva Insurance became the first insurance company to bring in carbon neutrality under itsCSR program. The company focused on reducing carbon emissions, thus reducing their carbonfootprint in the environment.The company’s decision to become carbon neutral was driven by many factors. The initiative wasundertaken at their branches across the globe. To mitigate their contribution to climate change and toencourage many o ther companies to do the same, the company did the fo llowing:• They became a market differentiator.• They strengthened their opportunities for socially responsible investments and new products with afocus on environment, such as discounts on hybrid cars.• They looked at employee engagement in improving energy efficiency at both work and home and

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looking at business risks associated with climate change by taking a proactive approach.The company had already made good progress in reducing its carbon dioxide output. This was doneby cutting its building and travel-related CO2 by 54% (2002–2005).This is how the company managed to reduce its carbon footprint:Energy-efficient property management: Aviva’s Irish business, Hibernian, had a new environmentallyefficient building with low-energy lighting. The building uses recyclable furniture and carpets. Also,natural light was used in the o ffice premises.Energy consumption: Almost 55% of the electricity Aviva uses globally comes from zero emissionsources. All the businesses were encouraged to reduce energy consumption.Improving waste management: Aviva recycles 59% of their waste.Carbon o ffsetting: This process began with an audit o f the Group operations’ carbon emissions in25 countries. A third party verified the final figure. The company then approached carbon brokers tobuy the equivalent carbon credits, that is, amounts o f carbon that can be created and purchased. Thecriteria fo r selecting pro jects to source carbon credits was developed internally. The challenge herefor the company was in understanding climate change in different countries they operated.Carbon o ffset has happened in the fo llowing places:• In sub-Saharan Africa, Aviva is supporting the World Food Organisation’s pro ject. This was done byreplacing open fires with energy-efficient stoves, thus stopping deforestation, and saving 20,000tonnes o f CO2.• In the Netherlands and Ireland, Aviva is helping to make ‘green’ cement. This reduces 0 .8 tonnes o fCO2 emissions for every tonne o f cement produced.This also led to business benefits fo r Aviva.The learning from Aviva is this – looking at how CSR initiatives can be seriously looked upon tocombat carbon emission issues and how it can be linked to business to create an overall impact.This helps the company to fight out climate change issues.For companies that have not been able to reduce the emissions directly through their business,there are o ther approaches that have been taken. For example, companies have been purchasingrenewable power and getting renewable energy certificates to reduce emissions. Cisco is one suchcompany that has purchased renewable power from the local power market, thus compensating foremissions.The Indian scenarioLooking at the Indian market, Indian Oil in its mission statement said “…to help enrich the quality o flife o f the community and preserve eco logical balance and heritage through a strong environmentconscience.”

In its initiative to contribute to environment via the CSR route, the company has invested close to Rs.7,000 crore in state-o f-the-art techno logies at its refineries for producing green fuels. To reduce thedependence on fossil fuels, they are now looking at ethano l-blended petro l, biodiesel and hydrogenand hydrogen-CNG mixture.

When companies take that extra step to not just look at environmental issues from the social angle


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Pretty fine post. I just stumbled upon your web site and I have to say thatI have truly enjoyed reading your articles. I’ll be subscribing to your feedanyway and I hope you’ll post again soon. Big thanks for the good info .

Oven February 28, 2012 at4:10 pm

but also from the environment coupled with business angle, they can go a long way in contributing tomaking the country green.

As o f year 2000, CSR gained fast momentum as an important aspect o f business practice in India.That apart, there have been a series o f conferences and networks that have been established so lelyto address CSR issues and how to establish them in a corporate setup. These will help companiesknow and understand what they can do to cut their carbon emissions.

Indian companies can explo it numerous business opportunities related to climate change andadaptation. However, the debate engages on who is responsible for carbon emissions and how toengage them in CSR. Although many companies are indulging in CSR activities, today the primefocus is also on the cost savings in business because o f energy efficiency.

When it comes to CSR and adopting green techno logy to reduce emissions, an overall perspectiveneeds to be looked at, keeping in mind public welfare at a macro level and sustainability.

According to a report by Ceres on the climate change performance o f the top 100 companies, thereis an increase in the number o f companies addressing greenhouse gas emissions today.

According to another Assocham Eco Pulse (AEP) study on ‘Corporate Social Responsibility byIndian Inc.’ in Q1 2010–11, the environment stood third with 12.72% share in CSR investments bycompanies. The report also mentioned that the big corporate houses are now go ing for carboncredits, which have been a good attempt to prevent global warming.

Although there is no talk o f moving toward a low carbon economy or committing to vo luntaryreduction o f carbon emission, the report indicates that making money through carbon credits iscatching the attention o f companies. “The big corporate houses are now go ing for the carbon creditsthat have been a good attempt to prevent the global warming,” says the Assocham press release onthe report.

If you can save some money while building an enviable brand image, we think it will no t do us anyharm to save the world in the process, right?

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THE GREEN-WASHERSNovember 16, 2011 | Filed under: FOCUS | Posted by: webmaster

They are green or so they say. Sharada Balasubramanian takes a look at the latest marketinggimmick used by several companies to woo their naive customers – the green bait.

Green is fashion, green is elite and so is anything which symbolises being environmental-friendly. Ithas become especially true in the corporate world, where the number o f ‘go ing green’ companies isburgeoning at a rapid pace. In the true sense o f being green, how many companies actuallycontribute to environmental sustainability is a subject fo r debate.

Many companies which claim to be green are only ‘green washing’ companies. Let’s take a look atthe case o f Fiji Water. There have been many reports which mention about Fiji Water ‘green washing’their customers. When the case against Fiji became stronger, and when environmentalists startedquestioning them, there was an increasing fear in the company. This came with a question on theenvironmental impact o f the bottles and how they accumulate in landfills fo r thousands o f years. Fijithen made plans to reduce the use o f packaging and switch to more efficiently recyclable plastics.Also, to pay for their ‘carbon sins’, they entered into carbon o ffsetting. Fiji’s goal was to be not just‘carbon neutral’ but also to be carbon negative. Many experts claim that the whole premise o f carbonoffsets is based on dubious math. How does one actually measure a carbon footprint? Themarketing claims done by Fiji was thus: now, buy a bottle o f Fiji water and reduce the carbon that isbeing released into the environment. To elucidate further, there is one type o f carbon credit which isgiven out on the basis o f existing carbon reductions (i.e. carbon credits issued for a tree-plantingprogram that is already in place). There is another type o f carbon credit which is fo rward crediting.This allows buyers to purchase o ffsets that have not yet been produced (i.e. credits issued for a tree-planting program that is yet to begin). According to the Stockho lm Environment Institute, this is theriskiest type o f carbon credit transaction because buyers pay for credits upfront without anyguarantee that carbon removal will actually occur. This is what happened in the case o f Fiji Waters.


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They went into forward crediting. This is a classic case o f green washing. In fact, Fiji Waters has beensued for green washing.

Many o f these green ideas suffer mainly from a sensational marketing strategy, which leads toselling more o f their products, and as a result, cheating the customers by selling overpriced bottle,on claims that they are reducing carbon emissions into the environment.

Green-washing can make a company appear to be more environmentally-friendly than it really is. Itis a way o f promoting products to people by telling them that if they buy that product, they would behelping the environment.

Web-eco ist speaks o f ten worst green washers in the world. Fiji Waters does feature in the ten apartfrom other organisations like BP, General Motors, ExxonMobil, Monsanto , Dow Chemical, AmericanElectric Power, Fur Council o f Canada, to name some.

In India, companies talk about climate change and go ing green, but there are very few who makeefforts to become environmentally sustainable.

Abhishek Pratap, Senior Campaigner, Greenpeace India says, “There are some companies in Indiawhich are serious about environment, but most o f them are just into green washing.”

Every company wants to be seen as an ethical company. Though may companies conduct activitiesrelating to environment, there are very few who actually invest in environmental sustainability.Abhishek says, “Most o f these companies do this under the corporate social responsibility (CSR)initiative, but sustainability is not a part o f their core business. The approach here is veryphilanthropic in nature.”

“There are two kinds o f companies,” adds Abhishek. “While 90-95% companies still think o fenvironment as a social responsibility, only 4-5% of companies take it seriously with respect toimplementing environmental po licies within the company.” He cites Wipro as a company which hasadopted some key strategies to invo lve sustainability in the organisation. Companies like TataConsultancy Services (TCS) fo llowed suit. Some of the companies even advise their clients onsustainable environmental strategies.

Yet many companies fail to understand the very concept. “For some companies, go ing green isbringing in a green logo, or having a brochure in green co lour or planting saplings,” says Abhishek.When companies indulge in such activities, they call themselves ‘green’ companies. “There arecertain companies which promote sapling plantation, but to do this, they go in fancy cars. This is notbeing green,” smiles Abhishek.

Greenpeace has been campaigning against Airtel, asking them to stop using diesel and userenewable energy instead. Airtel has not come back to them agreeing to operate on renewableenergy. Abhishek informs, “This is one company which has won many awards, but when it comes toclean energy, there is no commitment coming from their end. They are not saying that they will adopt






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clean energy and adopt sustainable environmental practices.

They started paperless billing but it was to save the cost o f paper. A company like Airtel should take alead and commit to sustainable energy, but they are not do ing so.”

Abhishek cites another example. “Take the case o f Idea Cellular. In their advertisements, they talkabout go ing paperless, however if you look at their po licies as such there is no mention o fenvironment in the agenda.” This is a case o f green wash. There are many o ther Indian companieswhich fall under the bandwagon o f green wash.

Companies have to move beyond philanthropic reasons and CSR initiatives to bring in sustainabilityin their operations. They have to bring in a strong framework and po licy making to adopt sustainablepractices that will benefit the environment in the long run. Mere practices like go ing paperless,planting saplings is not about go ing the green way. If there are companies which call themselvesgreen with such initiatives, then customers should be aware o f the same. If you are planning to buyproducts o f companies which claim to contribute to environment, it is essential to verify such claimsdone by the companies before buying their product or they might just be green washing you.

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LIGHTING RURAL INDIANovember 16, 2011 | Filed under: BEST PRACTICES | Posted by: webmaster

When Kushant Uppal, CEO, Int e lizo n Energy, came up wit h t he idea o f ut ilising so larpo wer f o r light ing so lut io ns, he had just st epped o n a ro ad less t ravelled. Sharada f ro mT he Business Ent erprise t races his challenging jo urney.

Sharada Balasubramanian

‘Let there be light’, goes the adage. In a country like India, where darkness plagues villages, the mostbasic requirement such as electricity is almost non-existent. The majority o f our population still livein villages. Lack o f power has not only affected the business o f many villagers but also stalled manya student from studying.

There was a need to develop and bring in a product that could give so lutions or alternatives topower problems in rural and semi-urban areas. And the Hyderabad-based company Intelizon EnergyPrivate Limited did just that. It designed so lar-based energy-efficient products specifically to cater tothe energy needs o f rural India.

Kushant Uppal, the CEO of Intelizon Energy, remembers the time when he was working in the SiliconValley, US. He reminisces, “Back in December 2005 over Christmas ho lidays, I had a discussionwith some friends in Califo rnia on the potential o f so lar energy. It prompted me to think about waysto commercialise it in India and I started discussing it with Dr Ashok Jhunjhunwala.”

Dr Jhunjhunwala, who spearheads Tenet (Telecommunications and Computer Networks group) atIIT Chennai, has helped incubate many companies in rural areas and has also developed worldclass telecom and banking products for rural markets.

It was also important to develop such products keeping the target users in mind. Uppal says, “DrJhunjhunwala po inted me towards the rural market, and we discussed ways to create so lar productsthat could replace kerosene and diesel with a short return on investment fo r the user.”


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In June 2006, Uppal quit his job in the US. After multiple trips to India for market and technicalresearch, he came up with a so lid business plan to produce and launch these products.

Intelizon Energy got its first financial support from Rajesh Jain, and this was soon fo llowed by acommitment from Venture East Tenet Fund, a Chennai-based Venture capital fund which hadinvested in many social innovation pro jects.

Intelizon Energy’s idea o f developing so lar products for electricity began somewhere in early 2007;however, the real planning and designing o f the product began in May/June 2007. “This was the timewhen we hired our first technical pro fessional after setting up Intelizon Energy in Hyderabad. We setup a full- fledged o ffice then,” he says.

Setting up Intelizon Energy and working on this concept did pose co lossal challenges for Uppal.“The challenge was to come up with a reliable and quality design at low cost. We had to quickly learnthe way things work in India in terms o f commitments and performances, as these were very differentfrom what one observes in the Silicon Valley,” he shares.

Coupled with the challenge o f operating in India came another challenge o f setting up the humanresource for the organisation. With many pro fessionals making a beeline towards hefty paypackages and perks, luring smart people into the start-up, which gave stock options, was astumbling block for the company.

When Intelizon Energy went to conduct market research for the product, there were two kinds o fproducts in so lar that were available. Says Uppal, “Such products were o f low quality and low cost.Also, the Ministry o f New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) approved so lar lanterns that were drivenby subsidy but were too expensive to commercialise.”

Along with the launch o f this product came the apprehensions. Although numerous tests andcustomer surveys were done on the ground about the viability o f this product, Uppal was stillnervous about how the product would do on the field.

When it was finally made, many distributors were appo inted in Maharashtra to promote and educatepeople about this product in villages and small towns. Intelizon Energy’s first product was Zon.Uppal says, “We put our energy behind product design to use the latest electronics, LED and batterytechno logy to create Zonlight – our first innovative multitasking light.”

The challenges o f marketing this product were immense as well. Says Uppal, “When one is dealingwith a non-branded product which has high upfront cost and no visibility, it is tough.”

Having used existing market retail channels, Intelizon Energy quickly expanded to trying out directsales and the micro finance route. Adds Uppal, “We had to experiment a lo t with the marketingstrategy on the basis o f ground knowledge, and it took us almost two years to have the clear-cutplan that is in execution today.”

Considering that the customers are from rural areas, the pricing aspect had to be planned carefully






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as well. “We priced it at Rs. 799, which would be a 6- to 12-month return on investment dependingon the user’s existing expenditure on lighting needs,” he says.

Harsha Langhya Lendi, a farmer from Ranshet village in Maharashtra, uses Zonlight fo r more thaneight hours a day at home and farm and saves Rs. 6 per day on kerosene usage. He expects to payoff fo r his product in four months.

The so lar light has changed the business o f many villagers. S hridhar Rahat e from Velvi village,Dapoli district in Ratnagiri, has been using ZonHome in his shop since September 2009. Prior tothis product, he was using candles and torches. That, however, failed to attract many customers. Hespent Rs. 10 a day on candles, but it was o f no use. Since he started using ZonHome, he savedalmost Rs. 1,000 and earned almost Rs. 3,000–5,000 per month from his shop. There are scoresof villagers across the country who have benefited from this product.

The company is expected to break even this year. It has two partners, Emergic Capital and VentureEast, who are investors in this company.

The company has raised close to $1 million so far.

Intelizon Energy has also stepped into the African market. Uppal explains the reason for venturinginto the African markets, “We have a partner in Africa Comafrique. We had gifted the ManagingDirector Mr Manmohan one o f our products. After six months o f keeping the product unused andidle, he suddenly turned the light on one day and it worked. He was taken by surprise. It was then thathe got in touch with us, and we have been working together fo r the last three years.”

Uppal also feels that there is tremendous potential fo r the product in the market, which is dominatedby poor-quality, low-cost and no-warranty Chinese products.

With its wings spreading to Africa, Intelizon Energy has managed to get 20% of its revenue last yearfrom the African market.

If one looks at the vast spectrum of uses the products have, the potential is immense. There arenumerous examples o f the impact and how this product is used in the daily life o f people living inrural and semi-urban areas. The product is used by farmers and housewives for regular chores.Sometimes, people even use these white lights to identify snakes. Children use the light whilestudying. Also, weavers, blacksmiths, fisherfo lk and shopkeepers use these lights fo r income-generating activities.

Uppal adds, “We have also installed ZonHome (so lar roomlight) in medical centres and schoo lswhich had grid with tube light but no backup.”

With this, people are saving on electricity bills and getting back-up with these reliable lights. Uppaleven mentions cases where people have disconnected their main grid as it proved to be unreliable.This also made sure they saved on the monthly connection bill and they could completely rely on

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Zon lights to support their energy needs.

Intelizon Energy has moved from a business-to-consumer to a business-to-business partnershipmodel to tap into existing channels and scale rapidly. Uppal says, “We are currently focused primarilyin India and plan to expand overseas in a big way in the next 2–3 years. We now have a goodunderstanding o f consumer needs in terms o f products and prices and are modifying our productportfo lio to meet these requirements.”

In the year 2010, Intelizon Energy was one o f the finalists fo r the prestigious Red Herring 100 AsiaAward. Intelizon Energy has surely created a change with respect to providing electricity to thoseareas that really need them. There is a hope that electricity will now be within the reach o f thecommon man in the hinterlands.

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WINDPOWER

Wind energy in India took a big leap as many market players capitalized on the power of green energy. As the wind energy caught up in India, new policies emerged, giving way to investments from Independent Power Producers (IPPs). The wind energy sector took a shift from manufacturing companies to IPPs and a new trend was observed. How did this change happen and what triggered this shift? Read on to find more.


Wind is taking IPP route

The wind energy market has gone through a new revolution and with time, new technologies, policies and

financing mechanisms have pushed invest-ments in this sector in India. Though there has been a visible rise in investments, a trend is witnessed here. The investments are more geared towards independent power produc-ers (IPP) as compared to manufacturing pro-jects. A few key drivers are believed to trigger this change. Changes in the tax incentives for wind power generation shifted the focus of operators and created a change in the way wind power was generated.

India’s wind energy potential is about 80,000 MW. About 15,000 MW was already installed on the ground. However, there was no trace of a single large IPP in the business. With changes in the incentive structure, the IPPs were favored as conventional energy sources were becoming expensive and when wind is at par with coal, there emerged enough opportunities to tap this potential. One of the examples for this is Karnataka, where the listed off-take price for wind was Rs 3.70 compared to Rs 5 for thermal ener-gy from new coal plants. Also, wind can be scaled up very quickly, as compared to other alternative energies.

The next phase of development in the wind energy segment happened with the IPPs, which more proved to be a positive move for the players in the wind energy industry. With this, it was believed that the quality of wind projects will improve and the industry environment will function with efficiency. Between the financial year 2011-2012, almost 3,000 MW wind capacity pro-jects were added and the key investments came from IPPs. With the growth in the wind power segment, the government has also stepped up its reforms to increase efficiency in functioning and get investment into this

sector. A large number of private wind power producers today are expanding their portfolio in India and abroad.

The Entry of IPPsIn December 2009, the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) introduced Gen-eration Based Incentive (GBI) Mechanism for grid interactive wind power projects. This was with an aim to facilitate the entry of large IPPs.

Says, Chintan Shah, President, Strate-gic Business Development, Suzlon Energy Ltd, “The Indian wind energy sector is go-ing through a transformation phase, moving away from tax benefits and towards perfor-mance incentives. The discontinuation of Accelerated Depreciation (AD) by the central government has affected investment, par-ticularly from the SME sector. However, in the long run we see more IPPs and long-term players investing in wind energy, as the new-er investors seek generation-based tools over tax/fiscal incentives. The Government of India introduced generation based incentive (GBI) in December 2009 along with the already ex-isting AD, however the initial stage of these incentives ended at the close of the 11th five-year plan period. Seen in the context of the industrial scenario today with increasing electricity prices, need for capacity addition and lower industrial output, it is essential to continue the GBI model and to revive AD to stimulate specific parts of the industry.”

Though tax incentives and policies trig-gered investments, another big push was financing of the wind energy projects. The outlook of international lenders started to change in the year 2010. This was the period when Indian policy-makers decided to favor power generation. This was to be done by first increasing feed-in tariffs and introducing a generation-based incentive (GBI). Secondly,

insisting that distribution licensees and cap-tive power consumers buy wind power to meet the newly introduced renewable port-folio obligations (RPOs). Lastly, classifying wind power projects with a ‘must-run’ tag, giving a priority or rank to the projects.

Due to the above policies, the turbine costs fell in most states in India, and this was believed to bring in grid parity. Also, this led to emergence of IPP players in India who aimed at building larger renewable energy projects. Research reports from ICRA reveal that the IPPs prefer the renewable energy certificates (REC) as against the preferential tariff route. Also, the report suggested that within REC, many IPPs would opt for signing their power purchase agreements (PPAs) with discoms at their average power purchase cost (APPC) instead of selling on merchant/short-term basis. In the financial year 2011, new wind-based capacity installations in do-mestic market stood at 2349 MW which was significantly higher than any other year. It is believed that this increase was due to higher demand from the IPP segment. Also this rise in demand for IPP was related to the revised clarity in the regulatory policies in the sector with the introduction of renewable portfolio obligation (RPO) and renewable energy cer-tificate (REC) regulations. The share of IPP segment in the overall installations was not observed in the past but improved to about 20% in the financial year 2011.

ChallengesOn the other side, though India is already among the top wind power markets glob-ally, there are other things to think about. Though the projects have been on rise, there have been limited instances of international lenders providing limited-recourse project fi-nancing for wind generation projects in India. Media reports reveal that it is because lot of


international lenders largely believed that the credit fundamentals for these projects were challenging. Also, the policy framework fo-cused mainly on capacity addition through tax breaks, resulting in projects being sub-scale with fragmented ownership.

A classic example of a successful IPP pro-ject is Mytrah Energy. Ravi Kailas from Mytrah betted on wind energy to make the company the largest independent power producer (IPP) in the country with a total installed capacity of 5,000 MW by 2017. There was no one at that scale in India despite a rise in the wind energy projects. It was in September 2010 Kailas announced this news. He went ahead and signed agreements of over $2 billion with Suzlon and Gamesa, two of India’s larg-est wind turbine manufacturing companies. For Mytrah, there were investors like Black-Rock, Eaton Park, IDFC and Capital Interna-tional, to name some. It was believed that the company would start getting internal cash flows once they reach the 1500 MW mark. This was something that the industry stood up and noticed.

The other company big on IPP project was China Light & Power (CLP). The com-pany had an installed operational capacity of about 500 MW built over the last five years. Their new wind project, when completed, will take its portfolio to 740 MW, making them one of the biggest IPP players in India. Suzlon Group signed a contract for a 100-MW wind power project with CLP India. This project, which would be set up in Rajasthan, has 48 wind turbines is scheduled to be com-missioned by January 2013.

Recent IntroductionsWith the recent cut in the accelerated depre-ciation (AD), which was an impetus to invest-ments in wind energy sector, it will be inter-esting to know what route IPPs will take now. The beginning of the 2012 financial year has witnessed some major developments in the Indian wind sector. The fiscal incentive sop, AD has been terminated. Also GBI is noticing some modifications. The Indian wind sector which boasts being a fifth largest wind producing country in the world was thriving on these two

major fiscal incentives. The withdrawal of AD has received strong reactions from the industry players. The turbine makers who are going to be impacted by the scheme are in process to oppose the government move. It is imperative that IPP players understand the grid. What is generated needs to be sold at the end of the day. With the cut in AD, how will the industry react and what move will the IPP players take will be interesting to watch out for!

References:- http://www.power-eng.com/news/2012/08/18/winds-of-change-how-favourable-are-they.html

- h ttp : / /www.npt i . in /Download/Renewable /POWERGEN%20PRSTN_Renewable%20April2012/MYTHS%20OF%20WIND%20POWER%20IN%20INDIA.pdf

- http://www.greenkogroup.com/docs/news/2012/REG_TradingUpdate_2012-06-20.pdf

- h ttp : / /www.p r web .com/ re leases /2012 /6 /prweb9643515.htm

- http://windippsummit.renewablemarketsindia.com/index.php/19-sample-data-articles/joomla/24-joomla

- http://forbesindia.com/article/big-bet/mytrahs-big-bet-on-wind-energy/32768/1

- http://www.evwind.es/2012/02/01/suzlon-group-signs-a-100-mw-wind-power-contract-with-clp-india/16346/

- http://www.pfie.com/simran-sets-benchmark-for-indian-wind/21013671.article

- http://www.icra.in/Files/ticker/Wind%20Energy_Note.pdf

WINDPOWER

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50 NOVEMBER|DECEMBER12 energetica india

The 6th solar PV happened in Taiwan in October 2012, with increasing international players displaying their products. Companies such as Motech GCL, Trina Solar, The New Solar, Green Energy, DuPont, Successful Precision, Huaxin Dentsu, Sky Solar and Phoenix Solar spoke about their coping strategies of the future development of the solar photovoltaic industry.


PV Taiwan 2012

In the much awaited PV Taiwan 2012 exhibition, representatives from almost 67 countries came together. This was

the 6th PV solar conference held in Tai-wan. A host of companies including top PV manufacturers from Taiwan and China were present in this event. Almost 560 booths with over 200 exhibitors were pre-sent in the PV Taiwan this year.

Many experts from across the globe in the PV market shared their latest outlook on the markets in Europe, United States, Asia, Japan, Brazil and other economies. With the market territory transferred to the Asia-Pacific region and the United States to break the siege, experts reck-oned that the industry should find more business opportunities in the near future.

The issues in the PV sector were dis-cussed. Manufacturers spoke about the problem of oversupply in the market condi-tions. Domestic manufacturers strongly be-lieved that the opportunities for PV market were high in countries like Japan and India and that in the next five years; the shift will be geared towards the emerging markets.

The talks about European debt crisis and the solar industry being impacted by the global economic recession were much talked about. The manufacturers were concerned over the problem of over capac-ity and downturn in the global photovol-taic market and discussed about how this could be solved. Equipment manufacturers also said that the PV market will have the opportunity to scale new heights and be-come the key source of alternative energy, enabling a greener living among people.

In the CEO forum where there was a panel discussion on the current and future scenario of the photovoltaic market, peo-ple raised concerns on the oversupply issue and if the markets would really improve in the years to come. Companies such as Motech GCL, Trina Solar, The New Solar, Green Energy, DuPont, Successful Preci-sion, Huaxin Dentsu, Sky Solar and Phoe-

nix Solar spoke about their coping strate-gies of the future development of the solar photovoltaic industry. Murray Cameron, Chief Operating Officer of Phoenix Solar said, ”The quality with the price of solar products are very competitive, and the sound and stable economic environment, manufacturers have also invested consid-erable resources to develop more innova-tive technologies and products.”

The current issue with the solar energy industry is also the time with a lower feed in tariff (FIT). Davis Chen, Chairman of Win Win said “Germany’s current FIT award is 18.36 euro for small systems under 10kW and 12.71 euro for 1000kW systems and above. This pricing is indeed very low, but could be both a crisis and a turning point for the solar industry. Why say it is a crisis? Because quick price drops lead to faster market changes; those who can’t keep up with the rhythm of the market might be eliminated. However, we see a turning point for the better because people used to think that the cost of solar power is too high. Now, people see that companies can

EnErgEtica india was thE only indian PowEr MagazinE to bE invitEd to thE EvEnt

solarPOWER

51energetica india NOVEMBER|DECEMBER12

survive without government subsidies.” He further added saying, “Germany’s

current traditional power costs about 20 euro per kWh, yet solar power is only 12.71 euro cents. This means that the market has begun to reverse. In the past, solar power was subsidized with the pric-ing of traditional power; now, we see solar power generation subsidizing traditional power. This implies that solar power is qualified to replace traditional fossil fuels due to the economical benefits. Since the solar share of the global total power sup-ply is low right now, the potential for fu-ture solar power generation is unlimited.”

International research indicated that after nearly two years of turmoil caused by excess capacity, oversupply, and the rising inventory of upstream and downstream suppliers, the main indicators that impact supply and demand of the solar indus-try will balance in future. Wen-Whe Pan, President of Gintech said, “At this stage, we should take advantage of the industry’s adjustment period to improve product ef-ficiency, enhance product quality, and ex-pand our customer base for the industry’s core product, solar cells, so that when the market reaches a balance and stabilizes, we can increase market share with dif-ferentiated products, improve profitability, improve our position in the industry, and demonstrate superior performance in all aspects.”

After China, which takes 50% of the global share in the PV market, Taiwan fol-lows taking the second spot with 12% market share. Leading Taiwanese manu-facturers also emphasized that although China is taking the lead in the PV mar-ket, Taiwan has its own advantages. The country has been doing extensive work in the semi conductor sphere and there is no doubt that they can make better quality products than the Chinese manufacturers.

The Chinese manufacturers discussed about the PV market turmoil in their coun-try after the imposition of anti dumping. This turned out to be a huge cause of worry for the Chinese manufacturers and the expressed their anxiety over this issue.

Says Hua Shu, Executive President if GCL China, “We are facing the most dif-ficult time now. 2012 was not easy. Con-stant protectionism has impacted stable growth in the PV industry. With the rise

in price of fossil fuels, we will be able to reach grid parity by 2016.”

Free trade is going to be the key to de-velopment of PV market. Also most com-panies asserted on the fact that mergers and acquisitions, R&D investments, vertical integration process will be an approach to consolidation in the industry.

Will the anti dumping be an oppor-tunity for Taiwan to cash on the market? The local manufacturers say that though they might find some advantage in this, it is not possible to capture a bigger mar-ket share, definitely not as much as China does. However, the experts also said that India will not be a threat to the Chinese and Taiwanese manufacturers.

The fact also remains that many Tai-wanese manufacturers are already look-ing to enter the Indian market. BenQ, one of the leading makers in PV is optimistic about the Indian market. They are open to having partnerships but India but feel that there are barriers to entry. They are looking at larger scale operations in India. However, project financing seems to be an issue. India is a place where diesel genera-tors are being used largely, and manufac-turers believe that in areas such as these, there is tremendous potential in providing mini grid solutions.

Another company, Top Cell Solar In-ternational Limited (TSI) showed keen in-terests in the Indian market. They are pure-ly into cell making and so far they have installed 60MW in India totally. Though they express keen interest to do business with India, the barrier to entry poses a big question mark. TSI said it is more looking to have partnerships with India and await-ing merger opportunities and are looking at it as the next big market. Also they be-lieved they are better than China in manu-

facturing of these products. The company believed that since electricity is a big issue in India, the potential for solar is also im-mense.

It is not just the PV makers in Taiwan which was taking keen interest in develop-ing the solar industry. Taipower, Taiwan’s power company (TPC), have taken active steps to install solar power in the country. TPC launched its first phase of PV project in 2008. The total amount of investment was USD 119 million with a total capac-ity of 10MW. In 2011, 9 PV systems were completed with a total capacity of 10432 MW installed and implemented. All the PV systems of first phase were synchronized to the power grid.

The government is also taking steps to undertake Taiwan’s “million solar rooftop PV”. They believe that the reduction of the PV cost and the growing installation every year will help to popularize PV installation among people.

The country also takes pride in devel-oping the only stadium in the world pow-ered by solar. Built with 9000 solar panels, the world game stadium is located at Ka-ohsiung. The energy produced here is used for the stadium and the rest is sold. The stadium is also known for its eco-friendli-ness. The solar panels on the stadium roof generate 1.14 million kWh of electricity per year, thus, reducing 660 tons of annual carbon dioxide output. In addition, all the raw materials used in the main stadium are 100% reusable and made in Taiwan.

With proactive measures from the government and their investments in solar panels, the Taiwanese market looks prom-ising though the market situation looks at bad at present. The manufacturers are optimistic that this phase will pass and the light will shine again.

solarPOWER

The Solar Stadium.

WINDENERGY


With rapid research in wind technology, new innovations have come in place. This will revolutionize the way wind energy can be harnessed. Some of these technologies are the ones that are getting functional in the developed nations, while simpler, smart and efficient technologies are slowly gaining momentum in the developing nations.


Winning the Wind

Ever flown a kite and felt the wind pull it away into the sky? The art of kite flying could be simple, but think

about this- what if the same technology can be applied to harness wind energy. This is something which wind technology innova-tors have been seriously working on.

Makani AirborneWhen we look at the high end technology in developed nations, one innovation that has clearly stood out is air borne wind tur-bines. The best example of this innovation is Makani Airborne Wind Turbine (AWT). This modern turbine is consistent at altitudes of 1000 feet. Makani Airborne wind turbine combines the power of the wind with kite surfing. It is designed in such a way. This technology uses carbon fibers and light weight motors, which are much more effi-cient as compared to a normal wind turbine which weighs 100 tonnes and generates one megawatt of power. The makers of the tech-nology emphasize that this airborne wind technology will weigh one tenth of the nor-mal wind turbine and have an installed price half as much as a regular turbine. The tether

which is used here is made of strong fibers and is surrounded by conductors. They carry the traction force of the wind and transmit electricity to the ground. Also, there are wing mounted generators which capture the wind as it rushes across the wing and convert it into electrical power using small, direct drive generators.

This technology received the Break-through Award in Energy from Popular Me-chanics in 2011 and received a $3 million dollar grant from the Department of Energy’s ARPA-E program, and $20 million in venture capital funding from Google. The company is also developing a bigger turbine system to fly at 1,600 feet and produce enough electricity to power 600 homes.

With this, the company plans to scale up to commercial levels with a 600 kW, 28 meter wingspan model, which is said to be capable of producing energy at a cost com-petitive with coal. The company claims their technology will be able to produce electricity at half the cost of current wind power farms. The Makani turbine could also be deployed in deep offshore waters. The company plans to enter commercial production by 2015.

AltaerosAnother technology that has captured the attention comes from the company Altae-ros. Altaeros Air Wind Turbine (AWT) created a device that uses a helium-filled, inflatable shell to ascend to high altitudes. This gives it access to stronger and more consistent winds than tower-mounted turbines. The power which is generated in the process is sent to the ground via tethers. The tethers help in keeping the device steady.

The company says their product could reduce energy costs by up to 65% by har-nessing those high altitude winds. Also with its unique design, installation time can be re-duced from weeks to just a few days. Once this technology is installed, only minimum maintenance is required. This technology is also believed to replace diesel generators at remote sites. This could also reduce costs in the offshore wind market in the long run.

Altaeros Energies was formed out of MIT and won the 2011 Conoco Phillips En-ergy Prize. The company has also received funding from the U.S. Department of Agri-culture, the California Energy Commission, and the Maine Technology Institute. Reports

Makani Airborne.

WINDENERGY


suggest that even if the wind is only 10 or 15 miles an hour, the company’s device can circle at a speed of 100 miles an hour. Also, as the propellers are turned by the wind and with this technology it is viable to even gen-erate power at low wind speeds, which is not possible in other turbines.

Eco Whisper wind turbine One of the major issues that crop up with wind technology is the loudness of the ma-chine. Now, there is a technology to have a virtually silent turbine. Australia Renew-able Energy Solutions has developed the Eco Whisper wind turbine. This may only have a 20 kW generating capacity, but the company reports that that the turbine is “virtually si-lent” and is also more efficient. The blades are 20 ft in diameter, and the entire thing stands 70 ft tall.

The turbine is silent due to its unique design. The technology prevents air ‘spilling’ off the tip of the blades which is the source of the noise that traditional turbines produce. Silent turbines could also be a strong selling point for the companies or home owners.

Recently wind developers have also been looking at deep water and using float-ing turbines than fixed ones. Though this technology is still in a nascent stage, the floating turbines would allow wind farms

to be built far out to sea. This technology is believed to cause less disruption to shipping, fishing, and people living on the coastline and to the seabed.

However, there are challenges galore with the implementation of this technology. Floating turbines have to be transported to long distances using mooring cables. It could be dangerous to work due to the unpredict-ability of the weather conditions and lack of requisite manpower and equipment.

WindFlipTo sort this problem out, a startup compa-ny in Norway has come up with something called WindFlip. This technology will float the turbine horizontally to the site and then erect it by letting in water at one end. This allows the turbine to rise into the air, with the device still attached. Once it is securely tethered, the WindFlip is filled with air, and released into water again, for the next installation. The concept of WindFlip started as a student pro-ject and was later backed by a government research fund and Norway’s oil and Gas Company. The project is likely to be more viable in countries like Spain, Portugal, and Japan, where the ocean is either too deep for bottom-fixed turbines, or where geologi-cal conditions make floating structures more attractive.

These are some of the high end technol-ogies that have come about in the process of research in the developed nations. When we look at technologies or harnessing wind energy in developing nations, the solutions could be unique and different.

Access Energy In developing nations, much of wind power is not used due to its cost factor. However, a company named Access Energy is finding ways to build the turbines in the communi-ties where they are actually needed. Access Energy wants to bring a different kind of renewable energy, i.e., wind power to the people of Kenya by teaching them to make their own turbines out of scrap metal and car parts.

More than 80% of Kenya’s population do not have access to electricity. Access En-ergy brought out an easy solution, to make the locals create energy. The company is teaching local Kenyan technicians to build the Night Heron wind turbine, a product that the organization calls the first “commercially viable, zero-import wind turbine.”

The turbine generates power at two to three times lower cost than equivalent solar PV panels. The turbine can also generate enough power for 50 rural homes (about 2.5 kWh per day). The important aspect of this technology is that it can be built using locally sourced materials. There are endless possibili-ties of how this simple, yet efficient method can be used. This simple technology people to charge mobile phones from home, give clinics enough power to keep vaccines cool, providing non-polluting light for kids to study and provide refrigeration for fishermen.

This has not just changed the lives of people, but has also created a social and eco-nomic change by creating employment op-portunities for the locals and giving them a sense of independence.

References:- http://www.fastcoexist.com/1679195/a-floating-wind-turbine-for-easy-installation

- http://www.earthtechling.com/2011/11/airborne-wind-turbine-could-revolutionize-wind-power/

- http://www.treehugger.com/wind-technology/future-wind-power-9-cool-innovations.html

- http://www.fastcoexist.com/1679335/truly-local-power-african-wind-turbines-built-from-scrap

- http://ecoble.com/2009/05/11/dont-underestimate-the-power-of-wind-10-innovative-wind-powered-creations/

- http://www.treehugger.com/wind-technology/30-blade-eco-whisper-turbine-virtually-silent.html

- http://www.treehugger.com/wind-technology/inflatable-high-altitude-wind-turbine-may-produce-double-power-half-cost.html

Altaeros.

Green City Index, TerraGreen

How green is your city? This question knocks the minds of many urban dwellers today, as environmental problems are on the rise in cities across the globe. Today, almost 50% of the world population lives in urban areas. If urbanization is intense, almost 72% people live in urban areas. It thus becomes important to understand if the environment we live is safe. What should be really done to save energy, what can be the strategies and policies to make our urban areas better are some of the questions which urban citizens would want to know and act upon. To know and understand ‘green factor’ in the cities, Siemens commissioned a study and came up with Green City Index. This study was done by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). EIU has analysed the aims and achievements of major cities in Asia, Europe and Latin America with respect to environment and climate protection.

Urban areas account for almost 75% of global energy consumption with almost 80% of the greenhouse gas emissions generated by human activity. This shows that cities are responsible for climate change problems in the world today. How do cities deal with this problem today? What are the initiatives taken to conserve resources, reduce carbon dioxide emissions and make cities worth living? What are the environmental projects being conducted to reduce the damage?

To answer these questions, EIU drew a comparison in European countries from Athens to Zagreb, from Ljubljana to Istanbul, and from Oslo to Kiev. For knowing and depicting the environmental and climate change activities, cities were assessed on the basis of 30 indicators and divided into 8 categories. These included carbon dioxide emissions, energy, buildings, transportation, water, air, waste/land use and environmental governance. The methodology of study was done by EIU with urban experts and Siemens. This led to the development of European Green City Index. Comparisons were drawn on environmental compatibility among thirty cities in Europe. On the top of the 30’s list was Denmark’s capital Copenhagen.

This index not just looked at the environmental measures taken by each city, but also looked at what one city could learn from another city with respect to the initiatives taken to become a green city. For example, Europe’s largest biomass power plant in Vienna, the modern offshore wind power facility in Denmark, free rental bikes in Paris, landfills with methane production facilities in Istanbul or even buses which are equipped with systems that cause traffic lights to turn greener faster in Tallinn could be interesting learning models for other cities.

Within Europe, Stockholm came second, followed by Oslo, Vienna and Amsterdam. Scandinavian countries have had the highest ranks in the index in recent years. This comes as no surprise as many environmental initiatives have been taken in these countries. Taking initiatives is one aspect. Coupled with it is the fact that these countries are rich and are able to push investments into the environmental sector. Thus, it becomes obvious that European countries score well in the index. Energy saving buildings, excellent public transport systems and energy production from renewable sources- Europe scores well in the above. Stockholm, for example, has excellent energy efficiency guidelines. The houses in this city have a total energy consumption of less than 2000kwh per year, despite the country’s cold climate conditions. Stockholm also topped the transportation category. Bicycle paths are used extensively by people to commute to work. People walk to their work place. This apart, 25% of the population use public transport system. With state-of-the-art ethanol powered buses, technology in public transport system has really made this city environment friendly.

If we look at Eastern European countries they are rated below average in the index. The highest rank in this area was taken by Vilnius, capital of Lithuania, which finishes 13th place in the index. With respect to local public transport, the eastern European countries score above average. For example, Kiev, which ranked last in the index, topped the list with respect to most people using public transport.

The focus on environmental protection is clear here. The 30 cities with 75 million people have average carbon emissions of 5.2 tonnes, which is much below the average emissions of all European countries (8.5 tonnes). Also, 26 out of these 30 cities have developed their own environmental plan. The rankings are also due to one important factor-the affluence level of the countries in Europe. This correlates with the fact that the GDP of nine cities out of top 10 are above average. To add to that, lot of people have taken the initiative to

protect their environment. People have tremendously contributed to making their city green. For example, in Brussels, people were encouraged to bring in their own green ideas, which got technical and financial support from the city. This is definitely an idea, which can be encouraged in other cities and countries of the world.

Europe seems to be on track when it comes to taking the right steps for environmental conservation in cities. With Copenhagen planning to be completely free from carbon dioxide by 2025, we can expect a lot from this side of the globe.

Latin America

The Latin American Green City Index is the second such comparative study of sustainable urban infrastructure. In terms of environmental sustainability, Curitiba is Latin America's greenest metropolis, with other Brazilian cities scoring above average. This is one of the results of a unique comparative study of 17 major Latin American cities Here, the comparison was drawn among 17 cities on eight parameters including energy and carbon dioxide, land use and buildings, transport, waste, water, sanitation, air quality, and environmental governance. According to the United Nations Population Division, around 81 percent of the population of Latin America lives in cities, making these countries some of the most heavily urbanized emerging economies.

Asia

The future of Asia is in its cities. Although, still Asia is one of the less urbanised continents, the share of the Asian population living in urban areas has grown from 32% in 1990 to 42% in 2010, according to the United Nations Population Division. By 2026, the United Nations forecasts that half of Asians will be city dwellers. The sheer size of the continent’s population makes the task of managing this urbanization especially daunting. The Asia green city index measures the environmental performance of 22 cities. The study observed the environmental commitments of the cities and portrays a picture of what is happening today and what are the cities doing to mitigate environmental problems in future. According to Viswakumar Menon, Head, Corporate Communications, Siemens, “The objective of the study was to identify strengths and weaknesses, and the best practices followed by leading cities so as to enable stakeholders of Asian cities to better address the common environmental challenges they face.”

In this study, Singapore was found to be the greenest city in Asia. Singapore’s environmental targets and efficient approaches to achieve the respective targets is clearly the reason. On the basis of the same eight parameters, a methodology was developed with leading urban experts, the World Bank, OECD and Asia’s network of local authorities. The key observation from the study was that high income does not necessarily mean high resource consumption. According to the research head of the study, as the resource consumption increases up to an annual gross GDP of about €15,000 per capita it drops again when income rises beyond this. The reason for this is attributed to greater environmental awareness and efficient infrastructure. The cities have been able to implement their environmental projects and most importantly enforce regulations.

Among the Asian countries, Hong Kong takes the second spot as it is a major East Asian financial, trading and transport hub. It is also one of the world's busiest ports. The country has a GDP per capita of $30,000. This puts the city in the high-income group of the index. Hong Kong ranks above average overall.

Following Hong Kong is Osaka, which takes the third spot in Asia’s Green City Index. The city performs the best in the transport category with second largest transport network in the index. Osaka ranks above average in the remaining seven categories.

In the study, the following results were positive:

There is growing environmental awareness and many Asian countries have introduced comprehensive environmental awareness programmes

Annual carbon dioxide emissions in Asia are 4.3 tonnes per annum, much lower than the figures compared to Europe (5.2 tonnes)

Though these positives remain, a few core challenges that lie in the hands of these Asian countries are the following:

Air pollution is high in all the cities and exceeds the WHO standards.

Only 11% of the electricity generated in these 22 cities comes from renewable energy. This clearly calls for using more renewable energy in the years to come.

The rise in population among urban areas is one thing that needs to be counted in this study. In the last five years alone, the number of inhabitants in Asian cities has been increasing by about 100,000 a day. And this development will

continue in the years to come. In China alone, experts predict that by 2025 there will be well over 200 cities with a population of over a million.

The infrastructure is getting affected due to increased urbanization. The Asian Development Bank estimates that to cope with the influx of people into the cities, the Asian cities must build for example, 20,000 new homes and 250 kilometres of road and provide transportation infrastructure and an extra six million litres of drinking water, all on a daily basis. In addition, the cities are the main emitters of harmful greenhouse gases. Cities are the growth engines of the future, but they are also responsible for majority of the emissions. This clearly applies to Asia with its rise in urban population more than any other continent. In future, only these green cities will make life with living.

Let us look at the case of India. In this report, four Indian cities have been featured-Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bengaluru. In India though, fast paced economic developments have been happening, the infrastructure needs to keep pace with the cities. There is lack of environmental friendliness in Indian cities. Some small steps though have been taken like CNG, green buildings, to name some, it is a long road to combat environmental issues in the cities.

In the Asia Green City Index, four out of the green cities surveyed, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata fall under the below average category (see table above). Only New Delhi falls in the average category. It has been observed that Mumbai is one of the densest cities in Asia with 27,000 people per sq km. When it comes to Kolkata, there is less water consumption, at 138 litres per person a day which

is the best among all the 22 cities in Asia. However, this could also be attributed to lack of water supply.

When it comes to the country capital New Delhi, there is low per capita waste generation. The city has robust strategies to recycle, reuse and recycle waste and using limited resources. When it comes to Bengaluru, it has one of the lowest carbon dioxide emissions per capita. About 30% of the energy in Bengaluru consumed is from renewable resource. Almost 61% of the electricity is generated from renewable resources, mainly from hydropower.

The positive impacts of the study when it comes to India are listed below:

In Mumbai, Mumbai energy alliance was formed between the local government and International Institute of Energy Conservation and other energy companies to implement energy efficient programmes. A pipeline of proposed projects is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 13 million tonnes.

Delhi set forth to sort out the problem of water leakage by bringing in leak detection and investigation unit. Also more than 1000 eco clubs in school were formed to sensitise and shape the thoughts of students and engage them in green projects like planting trees, conserving water, creating nature trails and so on. “While the environmental department provides the framework for the clubs, along with a small subsidy of about US$200 to each, the enthusiasm of the students and teachers is what really drives the idea. For a very small investment, Delhi has been able to harness existing interest in the environment in a way that greatly encourages sustainability now and will shape attitudes among residents for years to come,” adds Menon.

In Kolkata, green or energy efficient buildings have been on the rise.

Bengaluru, with a population of 7.1 million has developed rapidly in the past three decades. It is still one of the poorest cities in the index with a per capita GDP of US$2066. Therefore, the city has limited ability to balance environmental needs with the pressure of economic expansion. It ranks below average overall in the index. But its shift from manufacturing to IT-based industry has had positive effects on the environment and has also spurred the development of new, energy efficient buildings.

When we look at city wise comparison within Indian cities that have been featured, Bengaluru scores against Mumbai in the following areas-where Mumbai’s air quality is rated well below average, Bengaluru is rated average.

Though the overall the rating of both the cities are same, with respect to waste, water and environmental governances, Bengaluru scores above Mumbai.

Air pollution is a serious problem across Asia, with average levels of the three pollutants evaluated in the index exceeding the safe levels set by World Health Organisation (WHO). This study sure throws light on the problems in the cities and gives solutions on what needs to be done. According to Menon, “By conducting this study, we aim to make city authorities, urban planners, city dwellers and others more aware about the current status of their cities and also share the best practices being followed by other cities.”

Siemens is looking at releasing one index per year and the next continent that will be studied is Africa.

48 NOVEMBER|DECEMBER12 energetica india

Intersolar 2012 India: A Report

Intersolar 2012 took off to a good start in Mumbai this November. This was the fourth Intersolar event in India.

The event is also one of the largest exhi-bitions and conferences on solar industry. Held between 6th and 8th of November this year, Intersolar India drew almost 200 exhibitors from about 17 countries. Out of these 200 exhibitors, almost 54% came from India, about 27% came from Europe and 19% constituted the rest of the world category. The exhibition was held at Bom-bay Exhibition centre in Mumbai.

The top exhibitors were from India, Germany, China, the U.S. and Spain. Al-most 7296 visitors attended the Interso-lar India event this year. About 86% of the exhibitors specialized in photovoltaic, whereas 3% exhibited products and ser-

vices related to solar thermal technologies. About 11% of them brought in solutions from both photovoltaic and solar thermal technologies.

Conference This year, the Intersolar India conference started on 5th November, where almost 650 people were present. Over 100 speak-ers shared their knowledge and expertise on the solar industry. They discussed and spoke about technology, policies, strate-gies, markets and financing. Specifically, there were sessions on India’s PV Market and Off-Grid PV Market with a focus on project development and financing large-scale photovoltaic (PV) plants.

The conference gave the audience an opportunity to shoot their questions to ex-

perts in the industry and know what was happening in the market.

Speakers also spoke about the devel-opment of the Indian PV market. People discussed success stories as well. For in-stance, the political framework for im-plementing solar policy and the support of TamilNadu state government was dis-cussed in greater detail at the conference.

According to Simon Bircham, prod-uct manager for the combiner box range, Cooper Bussman, “Intersolar India provid-ed us with a great platform from which to launch our new combiner box range. Our interactive display with real time moni-toring proved of great interest to many visitors to the stand, especially those from Indian EPCs, who are looking for more effi-cient string monitoring and overall system

EVENTS

In the fourth Intersolar India event that was held in Mumbai, over 200 exhibitors turned up. This year was also special with the introduction of Intersolar awards for the very first time. Read on more to find out what happened at the event.


EVENTS

49energetica india NOVEMBER|DECEMBER12

protection. It was a valuable opportunity to present the product in a face to face environment and really sell the benefits of the technology.”

Experts held a view that with the second phase of the National Solar Mis-sion getting its way in 2013, the Indian PV market will grow even more rapidly in the future. Till date India has an installed photovoltaic capacity of 1,100 megawatts in India. The numbers are expected to in-crease nine fold to 10 gigawatts by 2017.

Intersolar India award 2012The highlight of Intersolar India 2012 was initiation of the Intersolar Award for solar projects in India. It was for the first time that this award was announced. The in-novation award for the category ‘Industrial and Commercial Use’ was presented to SunCarrier Omega Pvt. Ltd., India, for its project “SunCarrier Omega Net-Zero Ener-gy Building” in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The other recipient of the award was Clique Developments Limited, India, for the project entitled “Solar HVAC system with storage at NTPC” in Greater Noida. The award for the category ‘Utility-Scale Projects’ went to the Gujarat Power Cor-poration Limited, India, for its “Gujarat Solar Park” project in Charanka Village, Patan District, in Gujarat.

These companies were felicitated on a special awards event.

Solar market future in IndiaThe Indian solar market is currently un-dergoing sweeping developments. With steadily rising energy demands and popu-lation, India is one of the world’s most at-tractive locations for solar energy.

“Since we entered the market in 2008, we implemented five projects, in-cluding four large scale projects in MW siz-es as well as a rooftop system with backup system for emergency power supply for the Goethe Institute, Bangalore. Overall, we installed 18 MWp in the Indian market. India is one of the future markets. We are pleased to be represented with a local sub-sidiary now. The Intersolar India 2012 has showed that there is a high demand for PV system solutions. A local subsidiary means that we are closer to the market and have greater flexibility and control in project handling”, said Reinhard Ling, Business

Manager IBC SOLAR Projects Pvt. Ltd.In the future, India holds great po-

tential for off-grid solar systems and mi-crogrids. It is also expected that the diesel generators will be replaced by solar panels for rural electrification.

New Services LaunchedEnergetica India, the leading power sector magazine in India, launched 3 new servic-es at InterSolar India 2012. These services are:• Video Advertising• PR Campaign for Power SMEs• Article Sponsorship

Mr.Bharat Vasandani, Head of Editori-al Department, Energetica India, said “En-ergetica India has always been one of the most innovative media brands in India’s

Power Sector. We launched the LIVE Up-date from Events campaign early this year and now we have 3 new services”.

“The Video Advertising was a natural progression where we believe companies can showcase their products and their plans in more detail to their clients. Also a well planned video advert has the po-tential to make the right connection with clients and partners”.

“We have noticed that SMEs in India use LinkedIn and Facebook to showcase products and update the industry on com-pany’s latest achievements. While social media can be a part of the marketing and brand building plans, it is only a part of the exercise and not the entire plan. A PR agency can be an option, but then the cost of hiring a PR agency deters SMEs from this option. With the “PR Campaign Ser-vice” Energetica India aims to help com-panies create brands at a low cost with the additional advantage that SMEs will be dealing with a team that understands their sector”.

“Article Sponsorship means a brand-ing opportunity for a company (any size) to connect to potential and current clients/partners through an associated piece of writing. It works on the same idea as tel-evision show sponsorship. Article Sponsor-ship works because the piece of writing will always be referred to by a company’s target market”.

The company also announced the ex-pected launch of its new Magazine Brand “Eco-Construction” in India.

Companies & Industry / Power MAGAZINE | JAN 24, 20 0 9

Energy beneath your feetCountries are taking to geothermal power. India could too—provided the government wakes upSHARADA BALASUBRAMANIAN

When the Romans came across hot water springs in Britain, they built elaborate bathing complexes in the area using the springs to feed their swimming poo ls. They were oneof the earliest users o f geothermal energy. Geothermal simply means ‘earth’s heat’. The temperature at the earth’s core is as high as on the surface o f the sun. The massiveamount o f heat energy stored in the bowels o f the planet is increasingly becoming an area o f interest fo r energy-starved nations looking for alternative energy sources.

Countries like the Philippines and Iceland generate 15-20% of their electricity from geothermal sources. With clean and renewable energy becoming a high prio rity, manycountries are now showing a keen interest in geothermal power. According to the Australian Geothermal Energy Association, Australia is investing $7 billion with the aim ofderiving 5% of its energy from geothermal sources.

In spite o f having a tinderbox beneath its surface in many areas, India, however, has not made much progress in tapping its geothermal resources. This abject state o f affairsstems from the apathy o f the government, which doesn’t even have a po licy for geothermal pro jects. This could change in the coming years, as geothermal is finally hittingsecond gear in India. With states like Gujarat and Chhattisgarh o ffering incentives for cleaner power generation, a handful o f companies are showing interest in geothermalpower. These include LNJ Bhilwara, NTPC, Tata Power, and smaller players like Avin Energy and Geosyndicate.

To the centre of the earthGeothermal energy is considered renewable because the heat emanating from the earth’s interio r is essentially limitless and is expected to remain so for billions o f years.Further, unlike so lar and wind, it is available 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. Also, it emits around 80% less greenhouse gases compared to coal, o il and methane.

So, how does it work? Deep inside the earth’s crust, there is a lo t o f heat radiating from a sea o f molten rocks. Sometimes they erupt as vo lcanoes or flow out as hot springs.The idea is tap at least a fraction o f this massive amount o f heat energy, and convert it into electricity. First, scientists locate geothermal hotspots; then, they identify fracturedrock surfaces through which heat can be released. Next, wells are dug to release heat energy in the form of steam and hot water, and are used to drive turbines, which, in turn,produce electricity.

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India was one o f the earliest countries to begin geothermal pro jects, starting as far back as 1973, when the Geological Survey o f India (GSI) started exploring sites rich withgeothermal energy. In the 1980s, a 5 kw (kilo watt) plant was set up in Manikaran in Himachal Pradesh. Another pro ject was planned in Tatapani in Chhattisgarh in the 90s, onlyto be called o ff.

Today, with high o il prices and climate concern, there is renewed interest in geothermal energy. But the challenges are many. The biggest challenge for Indian companies will beto acquire the technical expertise and equipment to drill into geothermal reservo irs. "There is an acute shortage o f drilling equipment," says Ahsan Absar, a geo logist andadvisor at LNJ Bhilwara, a Noida-based diversified group.

LNJ Bhilwara is interested in generating geothermal energy in Puga Valley, in Jammu and Kashmir; the valley was identified as a geothermal hotspot in 2006. LNJ Bhilwara hassought the state government’s approval and is waiting for a decision on land allocation. "If we get permission now, the pro ject should commence by 2012," says Absar.

The group has tied up with Glitnir, an Iceland-based investment bank, to develop geothermal power plants in the country. Bhilwara will have a 60% stake in the $10 million jo intventure. The river in the Puga valley is frozen for eight months. So, geothermal power is more viable than hydroelectric power there, says Absar. A 20-25 mw (mega watt; 1,000kw equals 1 mw) power plant can meet 40% of the energy needs o f the valley. It will take about three years and Rs 250 crore to generate 25 mw of power. Transmission costswill go up to Rs 1 crore per km, but operating costs will be minimal, he says. The state government will buy the power from LNJ Bhilwara. "We may be asked to provide 15-20%as free power, but things will become clear once we sign the power purchase agreement with them," says Absar.

How it works1 Wells are drilled int o t he heat reservo irs t o bringt he ho t wat er and st eam t o t he eart h’s surf ace2 T he heat energy t hus piped o ut is used t o po wert urbines in t he po wer plant3 T he t urbine spins t he generat o r, pro ducingelect ricit y4 T he used wat er is ro ut ed back int o t he eart h’scrust

Ident if ied SitesPuga Valley (J&K)Tat apani (Chhat t isgarh)Go davari BasinManikaran (Himachal

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Pradesh)Bakreshwar (West Bengal)Tuwa (Gujarat )Unai (Maharasht ra)Jalgao n (Maharasht ra)

The PlayersGeo syndicat e and Aust ralia’sPanx Geo t hermalLNJ Bhilwara and IcelandbasedGlit nirTat a Po werNT PCAvin Energy Syst ems

Drilling is expensive—Rs 10 crore for a km. Depending on the region, geothermal pro jects have to dig 1-3 km. Even then, a company can dig all the way down, only to find thatthe heat is not adequate. If they do find a good hotspot, they have to set up a power plant, which requires big upfront costs. According to estimates, it costs $3.45-4.25 millionper mw to build a geothermal power station; by comparison, a wind power plant costs about $2 million per mw.

Abhijit Gokhale, Industry Analyst, South Asia and Middle East, Energy and Power Systems Practice, Frost and Sullivan, makes a case for geothermal over wind. "A geothermalplant works non-stop, unlike wind and so lar. A 30 mw geothermal plant generates 250 gw (1,000 mw equals 1 giga watt) o f power annually, while a wind energy plant producesabout 87 gw, as, on an average, it runs for only one-third o f the day.

Another active pro ject is the Tatapani pro ject in Chhattisgarh, which is being revived. Says S Shukla, Director, Chhattisgarh Renewable Energy Development Agency (CREDA):"We have floated a global tender, and are inviting global players, as they have the technical expertise." The proposed pro ject will be a public-private partnership (PPP). The firstright to purchase the power will be given to the Chhattisgarh State Electricity Board.

Underground and ignoredApart from Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir are also actively

looking at geothermal power. But they are yet to get any support from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy(MNRE), which was formed to handle issues relating to generating power from alternative energy sources. "Solar andwind energy are proven, and involve less investment and have high availability. So, why invest in geothermal?" says asenior government official.

Geothermal energy research has also been a victim o f poor funding. Competing with o il and gas exploration for geo logicalexpertise, and with only minimal backing from the government, very few companies have ventured into the sector. Says Gokhale:"Other than a few sporadic and half-hearted attempts, the government has done practically nothing to explo it this vast reserve o ffree energy."

Only 4.9% of electricity in India comes from non-conventional energy sources, far less in relation to available resources. Thecountry can produce 10,000 mw of geothermal electricity, according to the MNRE. "It can produce three to four times more,"counters M Chandrasekharam, Head, Centre o f Studies in Resources Engineering, IIT, Bombay, and the founder o fGeosyndicate, a geothermal power company.

Geosyndicate has partnered Australia’s Panx Geothermal, and has begun exploring geothermal resources in the Godavari basin. The Andhra Pradesh government is willing tobuy the power generated, says Chandrashekharam. "We will be able to sell power at Rs 3.50-4 per unit, the same as a coal-based plant."

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T he go vernment issilent o n po werpurchase agreement s,t ax so ps and subsidies,all o f which can helpco nvert po t ent ial int operf o rmance

New horizonsThe challenge for Indian companies would be to bring down costs to a level where it is economical to develop small geothermal fieldsin places like the Puga Valley, where even a small 5 kw project can electrify rural areas. "Solar plants require large tracts of land, andit is viable in a country like Saudi Arabia. But how will you get so much land in a country like ours," asks Chandrashekaram.Geosyndicate is planning small geothermal projects with less than 25 mw capacity here. The company has started exploration in theGodavari Basin and is looking at Puga Valley too.

NTPC, India’s largest power producer, is also reportedly looking for sites to set up a geothermal pro ject o f around 30 mw. Possible locationsinclude Puga Valley, Manikaran and some hot-spring sites in Uttaranchal. Tata Power has also expanded its renewable energy portfo lio by pickingup a 10% stake in Geodynamics, an Australian geothermal company.

Gujarat-based Avin Energy Systems is also planning to set up geothermal power pro jects in the state. Says Avinash Brahmbhatt, founder, Avin Energy: "I have compiled dataand identified sites that will give high yields o f geothermal energy." But when he approached the state government, he was appalled by the response. "They did not even knowwhat geothermal energy is," says Brahmbhatt. Government indifference is the biggest hurdle today, as there is complete silence on power purchase agreements, tax breaks,subsidies and o ther incentives, all o f which can make a difference in converting potential to performance.

Abroad, governments are moving fast. According to the Earth Po licy Institute, the number o f countries generating geothermal power could double to about 50 by 2010. High-pro file and successful investors and companies—Warren Buffett, Google, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, to name a few—are also investing in geothermal. Today,geothermal generates only 1% of the world power, or about 10,000 mw. About 80% of this is accounted for by the US, the Philippines, Mexico, Indonesia and Italy. If India is tojo in in, the government needs to start taking geothermal seriously.

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In Denmark,when t he winddo es no tblo w, o r isweak, energyis drawn f ro mhydro -po wer

Interviews / Q&A MAGAZINE | DEC 27, 20 0 8

'India too can integrate wind and hydro power'Hans Jorgen Koch, Deputy State Secretary, Ministry o f Climate and Energy, DenmarkSHARADA BALASUBRAMANIAN

Denmark leads the world in harnessing wind energy. Hans Jorgen Koch tells Sharada Balasubramanian how the country is reducing its dependenceon f ossil f uels and tapping alternatives.

Demand for professionals in renewable energy is rising as the sector gains in importance. Denmark is hiring people for its wind-energysector from India. Why is your country focussing so much on this sector?

Today, about 30,000 people are employed in the wind energy sector in Denmark. Renewable energy, including wind energy, is thef astest growing energy source in the world. The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) world energy outlook projects that in decadesto come, renewable energy will play an important role in the global energy sector. With that, the demand f or skilled manpower likeengineers will also increase. Three-quarters of the wind-turbine industry is concentrated in the US and Europe today, but f uturedevelopment shows a path of global industry. This implies that countries like India and China will have more room f or renewableenergy.

But this alternative source of energy is not always reliable...

Recently, in an international conf erence, some US speakers said that Denmark is one of the most energy-secure countries in the world. The reasonthey said that is because the system is decentralised. In Denmark, when the wind does not work, energy is drawn f rom hydro-power. So, when thewind does not blow, or is weak, we have an alternative. We have co-operation agreements with Norway, and when there’s no wind, we import energyf rom that country. Norway has substantial hydro-power, and our grid connectivity has given us a back-up f or wind energy.

How big is wind energy in Denmark? What are the f uture plans of your government to tap this energy source?

In Denmark, 20% of the total electricity supplied comes f rom wind energy. I don’t

think there is any country where the contribution of wind energy to overall power is so high. Though there are more wind turbines inSpain and Germany, Denmark is f ar ahead of these countries proportionately speaking. By 2012, we will increase the share of windenergy to 25%; and a f ew years down the line, to 50%. We are also looking at alternative f uels like biof uels. Electric cars are also partof our agenda. Denmark aims to have 10% of its f uel needs supplied by biof uels by 2020.

What can India learn f rom a country like Denmark?

We have done well in ensuring that wind energy is absorbed into the general system. Also, having a grid connection with Norway helpswhen wind energy is not available. It is usef ul to have a caref ul procedure, and analyse where you can best f it wind energy into the

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system. Continued research on wind turbines is important. It is important f or the government to give reasonable support f or f urther development.Also, there has to be long-term investment in wind energy, f or which subsidies have to be of f ered to companies. This is what we did in Denmark. Thelevel of subsidy is f ixed at the dif f erence between the market cost of electricity and the production cost of wind turbines. India can also look atintegrating wind energy and hydro power.


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Smo kin!: India’s market sharef e ll f ro m 30% in 2006 t o 6%in 2007

Take One / Carbon Credits MAGAZINE | NOV 29 , 20 0 8

Burnt by sizeIndia once led the carbon credit market. Today, it’s a distant second to ChinaSHARADA BALASUBRAMANIAN

India is the second-largest seller o f carbon credits, but far behind China in the

carbon market. The carbon market, established under the Kyoto Protocol, allows polluting companies in developed countries tobuy ‘credits’ from those with a smaller carbon footprint, in developing nations. In essence, they pay for the right to pollute.

India and China have benefited from the emergence o f this market. However, the Chinese share in terms o f 2007 transacted vo lumes inClean Development Mechanisms (explained below) was much higher than India’s, at 73%. India was a distant second, with 6%. In 2006,India grabbed about 30% or 124 pro jects out o f 409 that were registered.

The Kyoto Pro toco l, which was adopted by more than 150 countries in Kyoto , Japan, in December 1997, binds developed countries,called Annex 1 countries, to commitments on lowering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It also established mechanisms to cut the costo f reducing emissions, and, significantly, established global markets for trade in (GHG) emission permits.

Under the Protoco l, industrialised countries and economies in transition will have to reduce their combined GHG emissions by at least 5percentage po ints below their 1990 levels by the first commitment period, 2008 to 2012.

The Protoco l also created the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) system. Under it, developed countries with a GHG reductioncommitment invest in pro jects that cut emissions in developing countries. This is done to o ffset expensive emission reductions in theirown countries. The CDM reduces GHG emissions by financing emission-reduction pro jects in developing countries, where costs arelower.

There are many factors for the huge gap between China and India. China has economies o f scale and also invests in bigger carbonpro jects. A buyer can get all its credits from one seller in China. To get the same number o f credits in India, the buyer would have to approach 10 different sellers. In addition,Chinese companies also sell credits at lower prices.

India is saddled with small-scale renewable energy pro jects, which generate low carbon credits. Studies have also found Indian CDM pro jects weak and unable to delivercarbon credits.

The country faces a daunting task in attempting to meet its domestic energy requirements and modernise inefficient coal-fired power plants, says Hari Krishnan, SeniorConsulting Analyst, Chemicals, Materials and Food Practice, Frost & Sullivan. "India was an early mover in the carbon market and was the largest supplier in the market usingCDMs. However, it has lost this precious market share to China," he says.

Government support plays an important ro le in expanding carbon markets. But that has been lacking in India. India Inc has also not leveraged the carbon market to its fullpo tential. "Awareness, smoother regulatory processes, government support, right pricing, investments in carbon pro jects across industries and applications are the need o fthe hour," states Krishnan. But given the slow pace at which things move in this country, that will take some time.

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DANGER: A MAIT survey sho ws t hat94% o f IT /IT ES co mpanies do n’t havea po licy o n e-wast e dispo sal

Companies & Industry / E-Waste MAGAZINE | NOV 15, 20 0 8

Digital disasterLittle e-waste is processed, as there are no rules for disposal. Coming from ‘green’ companies, that’s lameSHARADA BALASUBRAMANIAN , ANURAG PRASAD

This one seems to have escaped health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss’ notice. Indeed,

the Environment Ministry doesn’t appear to be too concerned either. India faces a quiet, but growing, threat from therising amount of e-waste in the country. The government—be it as a user, lawmaker or enforcer—doesn’t seem tocare enough. Neither does India Inc, which will flash its growing ‘green’ credentials, but won’t direct the trash to saf ecustody because the law doesn’t require it to do so.

Every day, thousands o f computer parts, TVs, DVDs, mobile phones, music systems and o ther electronic items are junkedaround the country. This ‘electronic waste’ contains toxic metals like lead and mercury, and releases carcinogenic fumes whendisposed o ff improperly. These hazards pose a great risk to the environment, and thereby to human and animal health.

India generated 330,000 tonnes o f e-waste in 2007, says a study conducted by MAIT-GTZ. "Each year, only about 5-10% of thewaste is disposed in a safe manner. The bulk o f it, 90-95%, finds its way to kabadiwallas o r informal recyclers, who pull outuseful bits and simply dump the rest," says Ramapathy Kumar, Toxic Campaigner, Greenpeace.

Making matters worse, about 50,000 tonnes o f electronic waste is illegally imported into the country. Although import o f suchhazardous waste into India is prohibited by a 1997 Supreme Court directive, the trade continues to be rampant. The high costinvo lved in recycling plays a big factor in this. For instance, it costs $20 to recycle a single computer in the United States, whilethe same could be recycled in India for only $2. Moreover, much o f the e-waste entering India is imported as metal and glasswaste.

Collect ive guiltSatish Sinha, Chief Programme Co-ordinator, Toxic Links, a Delhi-based environmental NGO, has written in an article that about "70% of India’s e-waste is generated by state-owned and private companies, while individuals account fo r another 15%".

Interestingly, when we approached private sector companies, all o f them claimed to have a mechanism to handle e-waste in place, or slated to be in place shortly. But the studyby MAIT-GTZ of IT/ITES companies shows that almost 94% do not have any po licy on e-waste disposal. Most goes to the informal sector fo r processing. Clearly, a majority o fthese companies are guilty o f improperly processing e-waste.

HCL, a supplier o f IT and consumer products, is a notable exception. The company is already shipping e-waste co llected in-house, as well as from customers, to recyclers. Ithas also been distributing pamphlets spreading awareness on the harmful effects o f improper e-waste disposal, and encouraging users to send in waste.

As for government institutions, the most common mode o f disposal is either direct sale to a scrap dealer or through an auction conducted once a year fo r different types o fscrap. For instance, in an auction conducted in 2006, a leading bank disposed o ff 500 monitors that it had accumulated over a period o f three years. Some bank o fficersrevealed that it would not be very difficult to comply with existing e-waste regulations, including disposal to an authorised vendor. However, they claim to be unaware o f any

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Indiagenerat esaro und 330,000t o nnes o f e-wast e annually.Only abo ut 5-10% o f it ispro cessedpro perly

such disposal channels, while expressing their willingness to comply with such a pro toco l.

"The entire effort o f recycling has been driven by NGOs. They have acted as barking dogs and, at least, brought the problem to light," says Vinnie Mehta, Executive Director,Manufacturers Association o f Information Technology (MAIT). But that’s not enough. Industry and government have to start behaving like environment-conscious citizens, androute their ewaste disposal through safe channels.

No law, no crimeThere are many reasons for the poor handling o f e-waste, with lack o f awareness being a major one. Another factor fo r the co lossal build-up is the absence o f any legislationregulating its generation and disposal by public and private companies. With no mechanism in place to deal with it, each entity finds its own way to process it. "A strong law willencourage investments and track what is being recycled and what is happening to the hazardous materials," says Ravi Agarwal, Director, Toxic Links.

Currently, manufacturers do not bother to create awareness or take steps for disposal. This ‘extended producer responsibility’ is not being undertaken as it is seen as anadditional burden. If a manufacturer includes the cost o f co llection and dispatch for recycling o f a product into its price, sales are sure to plummet—unless all manufacturershave a similar po licy in place.

And that is where a law will make a huge difference, by compelling manufacturers to build in the cost of collecting and dispatching e-waste.Apart from outlining the penalties for not recycling e-waste properly, a legislation will also clearly define how it has to be carried out. It wouldalso make consumers aware and ensure development of the ecosystem. Moreover, the recyclers’ grouse of having to bear collection costs one-waste will also addressed.

However, no enforcement law is in place, and companies are under no pressure to give e-waste to organised recyclers. Given this, it’s clear that the onlyway to ensure formal disposal o f e-waste is through legislation that is stringently implemented. (Read Recycling: Big Opportunity)

Since they can get far more for their junk from the informal sector, companies and individuals flock to kabadiwallas. For instance, an obsoletecomputer may fetch only Rs 225 if sold to the organised recycler, whereas someone from the informal sector will be willing to pay Rs 1,000-1,500 for it, depending on its quality.

Says Arun Senthil Ram, "Televisions constitute a large part o f e-waste, but there is no co llection happening. Which consumer would want to give away an o ld television to arecycler? These obso lete products never even get out o f the homes."

"A large proportion o f end-of- life products end up being recycled in the unorganised sector fo r a number o f reasons—lack o f awareness, inadequate organised recyclingcapacity in the country, extended life o f techno logy in India, etc, says P Ravindranath, Director, Public Affairs, HP.

He adds: "The principles o f ‘extended producer responsibility’, and ‘individual producer responsibility’ are the foundations on which laws and o ther so lutions are built.Extended producer responsibility works well in the large corporate market where we can directly access the corporate who are large users o f IT products."

The Ministry o f Environment and Forests (MoEF) and the Central Po llution Contro l Board have come up with guidelines for efficient disposal o f e-waste. The guidelines statethat producers o f all electronic and electric equipment should be allowed to levy an appropriate fee on a product at the po int o f sale to facilitate a buyback. A standard rate hasto be fixed and the list should be made available to consumers. However, these guidelines are not mandatory, and do not have any penalty clauses. So they are largelyignored.

Many o f the companies we spoke to claim to have begun vo luntarily adhering to e-waste disposal before the enactment o f a legislation. Nokia has stopped using po ly vinyl chloride (PVC) in all its phones since 2007. Today, 60-80% of Nokia phones arerecyclable. Many mobile-phone makers have made it easier fo r people to safely recycle their phones by providing more information co llection po ints fo r used phones.

Samsung is pilo ting television take-backs and recycling programmes in 14 US states. However, in India, it has take-back programmes only fo r mobile phones.

Companies like HP and Wipro have a take-back programme for their equipment, but their experience thus far has not been very encouraging. Currently, only a few of their largecustomers adhere to the programme. The rest simply prefer to sell the equipment as scrap.

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By the end o f this year, LG plans to set up 50 co llection centres at its retail outlets. LG has tied up with a recycler in Chennai and says it will no t charge customers for disposalo f used products. It also plans to handle in-house e-waste at the plant.

While these vo luntary measures are laudable, the fact remains that more than 90% of Indian companies do not have a clear-cut po licy to recycle waste. Vo luntary measuresare welcome, but far from sufficient. A strong and strict law forcing compliance to eco-friedly disposal o f waste is the need o f the hour. Until it is enacted, e-waste will continueto pose a health and environmental hazard. Are you listening, Mr Ramadoss?


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HIT IT: At last co unt , t here were 13 aut ho rised recyclers in India

Economy & Policy / E-Waste MAGAZINE | NOV 15, 20 0 8

Big opportunityRecycling o f e-waste will take o ff in a big way soonSHARADA BALASUBRAMANIAN , ANURAG PRASAD

The numbers say it all. Currently, only about 5% of 330,000 tonnes o f e-waste

generated in the country is processed by prof essional recyclers. The bulk goes to the inf ormal sector, asthere is no law compelling state-owned and private companies to process it through prof essional recyclers.It ’s not as if there is a lack of such recyclers. At last count, there were 13 authorised recycling companies inIndia. Another 10-12 plan to set up shop in India soon.

At Rs 600 apiece, it costs Rs 1,09,800 to co llect 183 computers, says Toxic Links. However, the value that is recovered from therecycled machines is Rs 2,88,108. The recyclers are then left with Rs 1,78,308, from which processing costs are deducted. Thisstill leaves them with a significant pro fit, says Ravi Agarwal o f Toxic Links.

SIMS-Trishriya, an Australian-based company, took over a scrap business in Chennai and started operations in December 2007.INAA Enterprises is another Chennai-based e-waste recycler.

In Bangalore, recycler E-Parisara started o ff with an investment o f Rs 1 crore in 2005. That figure is slated to increase to Rs 2.5crore shortly. The company has about 70 employees, and recycles about a tonne o f e-waste per day. It aims to use theadditional investment to recycle 10 tonnes per day over the next three years. SIMS-Trishriya has tied up with 10-12 recyclers forregular supply o f e-waste. "When we destroy waste, we give destruction certificates to the company," says Prabhu Srinivasan,Country Head, SIMS-Trishriya.

Tesamm, which is setting up a recycling plant near Chennai, is among those set to come in. Attero , the only one to get VC funding thus far, is setting up a unit near Rorkeee andis expected to commence operations in January 2009.

Still, it’s not all rosy for e-recyclers. Most o f them face hard times because o f the steady flow into the informal sector, which o ffers unbeatable rates.

After working with a recycling plant in Dubai, A Ismail thought he was onto a good thing and moved back to India to set up INAA Enterprises in Chennai. Today, despite beingone o f five recyclers recognised by the Tamil Nadu Po llution Contro l Board, he’s facing hard times. "In Dubai, companies co llected an advanced recycling fee (ARF) o f two tothree do llars, but such a system is not prevalent in India," he laments. Ismail has invested about Rs 55 lakh in the company, but is finding it hard to procure e-waste, as hecannot match the money o ffered by the informal sector.

"What needs to be realised by all and sundry is that recovery in the informal sector is only 40% as compared to 90% in the organised sector. The challenge is that producershave to take responsibility and put a take-back po licy in place," says Ramapathy Kumar, Toxic Campaigner, Greenpeace.

P Parthasarathy, Director o f E-Parisara, says: "Although guidelines have been laid out, there is no legislation or monitoring authority to keep a check on e-waste disposal."

Once a law is in place, there will be a surge in demand for the services o f pro fessional recyclers. And, that law is coming—a draft legislation is ready and waiting. A change o f

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government notwithstanding, it should be passed and in place by 2009. Clearly, there is a huge opportunity in this space.


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42 JANUARY|FEBRUARY13 energetica india

Table 1. Renewable eneRgy poTenTial in MahaRashTRa (Mw)

source wind (Mw)small hydro

(Mw)biomass

(Mw)

bagasse co generation

(Mw)Urban waste

(Mw)industrial

waste (Mw) Total

Potential in Country 45.000,0 10.324,0 16.000,0 5.000,0 1.700,0 1.700,0 79.724,0

Potential in Maharashtra 4.584,0 600,0 781,0 1.250,0 287,0 350,0 7.852,0

Percentage of total potential 10,20% 5,80% 4,90% 25,00% 16,90% 20,60% 9,80%

Potential Vs. Achievement 42,50% 35,20% 12,20% 21,00% 0,00% 1,80% 32,10%

RENEWABLEENERGY

When all the other states were contemplating on how to start including renewable energy in their power portfolio, Maharashtra took steps to implement and make it happen. Let’s take a look at what the state has achieved in terms of meeting its RPO obligations and targets.


Maharashtra Power Sector at a Glance

Mumbai has three power utili-ties – Tata Power Company Ltd., Bombay Suburban Elec-

tric Supply (BSES) Ltd and Bombay Electric Supply & Transport Undertaking (BEST).

In the past, the task of providing elec-tricity to the state of Maharashtra was

done by Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB). MSEB was set up in the year 1960 to generate, transmit and distribute power to people in Maharashtra, except Mumbai.

The Maharashtra State Development Agency, established by the state govern-ment has been taking various initiatives to

increase the power generation through re-newable energy. The Maharashtra Electric-ity Regulatory Commission (MERC) has also been very proactive in promoting energy generation from renewable energy sources. MERC has been in the forefront of deter-mining preferential tariffs for renewable

POWERSECTORUPDATE

43energetica india JANUARY|FEBRUARY13

energy technologies and began its initiative for non-fossil fuel-based projects even be-fore the enactment of Electricity Act, 2003.

The Commission issued tariff orders for various types of renewable energy technology such as wind energy, non-fossil fuel based cogeneration, small hydel power, biomass power, etc. in tune with EA 2003.

When the central government came up with the renewable energy ministry, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) in the early eighties, the state government decided to set up something that would cater to energy development on those lines. Thus Maharashtra Energy Development Agency (MEDA) came into picture. MEDA’s objective was to under-take development of renewable energy and facilitate energy conservation in Ma-harashtra as a state nodal agency under the umbrella of the MNRE.

MEDA did extensive work in the field of renewable energy focusing on rural ar-eas. Though over the last few years, there was focus on Integrated Rural Energy Planning (IREP) programme, in the last few years, new technologies related to grid power generation from renewable have gained prominence.

Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Limited (Mahagenco) came in later in the year 2005, to reorganise MSEB. With a generation capacity of 10737 MW comprising of 7480 MW from thermal, 2585 MW from hydel and 672 MW from gas turbine, this entity was established by government of Maharashtra under the Central Electricity Act 2003. The principal objective of Mahagenco focused on busi-ness of generation of electricity, and pro-duce cheapest power for consumers in the state. For its eco friendly ways, their power stations have also received ISO 14000 and ISO 14001 certification.

As seen from the table 1, only around 32% of the total assessed potential of re-

newable energy has been harnessed till date, indicating that there is good scope

Table 2. pRojecTed Renewable eneRgy capaciTy addiTion in nexT five yeaRs

source 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Wind (MW) 300,0 300,0 300,0 300,0

Biomass (MW) 25,0 25,0 25,0 25,0

Bagasse Cogeneration (MW) 50,0 50,0 50,0 50,0

Municipal Solid Waste (MW) 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0

Industrial Waste (MW) 100,0 100,0 100,0 100,0

Small Hydro (MW) 10,0 10,0 10,0 10,0

Solar Thermal, Solar PV and others (MW) 50,0 50,0 50,0 50,0

Total 535,0 535,0 535,0 535,0

Source: MEDA Business Plan and ABPS workings

Table 3. insTalled capaciTy of Mahagenco as on 30-11-2012

power station Mahagenco Thermal Mahagenco gas Mahagenco hydro

Installed Cap. (MW) 7.480,0 672,0 2.585,0

Derated Cap. (MW) 7.480,0 672,0 2.585,0

POWERSECTORUPDATE


for harnessing power from other alterna-tive energy sources.

The proposed target for minimum RPO for the year 2013-14 is 9% and for the years, 2014-15 and 2015-16 the tar-get is 10%.

Maharashtra has around 10% of the total potential of renewable energy in the country.

Due to the long-term certainty provid-ed by the prevalent regulatory framework and several other policy initiatives by state government, there has been significant development of installed capacity based on renewable energy sources, particularly wind energy.

Also, it remains the only state utility which has a comprehensive, well-balanced portfolio, involving diverse energy means including thermal, hydel and gas stations.

Mahagenco has an installed capacity of 10237 MW, of which nearly 75% com-prises of Thermal capacity (6980 MW), one gas based generating station at Uran with an installed capacity of 672 MW. The Hydro Electric Projects in the state were designed, constructed and commissioned through the Water Resource Department (WRD) of the state government.

In the eleventh five year plan spanning the time between 2007 and 2012, there was a capacity addition of 2500 MW. In the future, projects are planned in the range of 8760 MW.

Also Maharashtra embarked on a new initiative to involve IPOs for MahaGen-co and MahaTransco. This was the first at-tempt for any state to get into IPO.

CollaborationThe state has gone into various phases of

development by means of collaborations and partnerships. For instance with NTPC, the state government has initiated power capacity expansion programme of 3140 mw for Maharashtra. This is in addition to 2,440 mw already operational through Ratnagiri Gas plant (1940 mw) and Mouda 500 mw.

The Mouda Project is the first power station of NTPC in Maharashtra. The pro-ject has two 500 mw units in stage I out of which one is already operational, and the second unit is expected to function soon.

Maharashtra is second state in the country where power generation is hap-pening from renewable energy. In terms of capacity generation, Maharashtra is sec-ond only to Tamil Nadu.

In order to ensure proper implementa-tion of the provisions of new RPO regime,

it is required that role of various entities involved in monitoring and implementa-tion be clearly defined. Further, a monitor-ing committee can be set up, which has representation from various stakeholders for supervising the effective monitoring and implementing of the RPO provisions. This would ensure smooth functioning of the state power sector and increase in the inclusion of renewable in their portfolio.

References:• www.spartastrategy.com/.../top-5-locations-in-

india-for-wind-energy/• http://www.mahaurja.com/• www.mahagenco.in/• http : / /a r t ic les.economict imes. ind iat imes.

com/2013-01-05/news/36161765_1_ntpc-plans-mw-units-mw-capacity

• http://www.mercindia.org.in/pdf/Order%2058%2042/Discussion%20paper_MERC_RE%20Framework_modified_final4upload_03.03.2010.pdf

• http://www.idfc.com/pdf/publications/Maharashtra-Distribution-Reforms-Draft-Report.pdf

Table 4. Rpo obligaTions

financial year 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

% RPO Target 0,25% 0,25% 0,25% 0,50% 0,50% 0,50%

MW capacity required to meet target 118 129 142 313 344 379

Fulfillment of RPO by Mahagenco 1MW Chandrapur

4MW Chandrapur

150MW Sakri – Work is in

Progress

100MW Kudgoan + 25 Gangakhed-

Planned

Can be planned as per land availability

Can be planned as per land availability

Source: Mahagenco

Table 5

commissioning year 2015-16 2016-17 2016-17 2016-19 2017-18 2017-18

Project Latur Project JV with M/s BHEL

Bhusawal Unit 8 Under replacement

Dhopawe Project Through

PPP

Dondaicha Project through

PPP

Paras Unit 5 Commissioning

Nashik Unit 6 under

Replacement

Capacity 1500 MW 1x660 MW 3x 660 MW 5x660 MW 1x250 MW 1x660 MW

Source: Mahagenco

SOLARCSP

49energetica india JANUARY|FEBRUARY13

In the year 1866, Auguste Mouchout, the first inventor of solar-powered engine, developed the first parabolic

trough solar collector, which was present-ed to the emperor Napoleon III in Paris. On return to metropolitan France in 1878, Mouchot and his assistant Abel Pifre dis-played Mouchot’s engine at the Universal Exhibition in Paris. This won him a Gold Medal, more specifically for production of ice using concentrated solar heat.

That was the earliest innovation on Concentrated Solar Power (CSP). Today, globally, CSP is being much talked about.

Why CSP? CSP can displace the use of fossil fuel plants, which release green-house gases, adding to the existing climate change menace.

CSP, GloballyGlobally, Spain is believed to have imple-mented CSP projects since a decade. More than 1000 MW of CSP projects have be-gun construction since Spain’s feed‐in tar-iff was introduced in 2002.

Israel has a demonstration power tower plant and larger trough projects in the works. Large‐scale CSP plans have been announced in Jordan, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, among other coun-tries. Egypt, Morocco, and Mexico have received financial support from the Global Environment Facility of the World Bank to build parabolic trough hybrid systems, although the implementation process has been slow.

In one of the most ambitious CSP pro-ject planned ever, Desertec Foundation is gathering the support of companies from Germany to potentially build a 100,000 MW CSP project in the Sahara Desert and power lines across the Mediterranean Sea to connect it to Europe.

A more recent entrant to the CSP field is China, which is fast expanding its CSP installations. China is projected to install 1,000 MW of CSP capacity by 2015, and 3 GW by 2020. Additionally, the country is planning to construct at least two mega-CSP plants—a 1,000 MW project in Qing-

hai by Lion International Investment Ltd., and a 2,000 MW project in Shaanxi by Shandong Penglai Dianli and eSolar.

Today, the most important markets for solar CSP are Australia and India among other regions including the US, Mid-dle East & Northern Africa, South Africa and China.

What’s happening in India?The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mis-sion (JNNSM) recognises CSP as a key source of renewable power. Of the more than 60 CSP bids received during the Mis-sion’s inaugural auction, MNRE selected seven projects, totalling 470 MW.

According to ministry officials, CSP could be an attractive option for India, giv-en the fact that large areas of northwest India fall in the high radiation zone. The costs can be brought down if concentrat-ing mirrors and receiving tubes are manu-factured locally.

In the bidding for concentrated solar power projects in Phase 1 of the Mission,

With the world rising to the development of CSP technologies, there are not just technological innovations that are being triggered, but financial incentivising is happening too! In India, with the focus of CSP increasing and with the onset of these projects, let’s look at what are the issues and how these could be turned around to booth the growth of the industry. Read on to find more.


CSP on-ground Update

SOLARCSP


there were more than 60 bidders. Seven companies, including Abhijeet, Lanco, and Reliance, were allocated projects at a weighted average price of 11.48 ($0.21/kWh) per kilowatt hour (kWh).

By August 2012, all seven Phase 1 CSP projects had broken ground. However, there were and are challenges galore.

In a poll conducted during the CSP To-day webinar, participants were asked what is now most important to guarantee the growth of CSP in India. Over 40% voted the successful construction and execution of projects as their top answer, with pro-ject financing the second choice. With the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) announcing that Phase II CSP allo-cation will be delayed until 2014, the we-binar focused on a variety of opportunities beyond the National Solar Mission.

CSP Cost Benefit FactorsExperts reveal that it takes about two years and tonnes of steel, copper, plastic, and concrete for construction of CSPs. Almost 80% of the cost of CSP is due to construc-tion, as compared to 20% of the total cost of fossil fuel plants.

However, unlike coal or natural gas, the fuel cost for CSP is zero, and opera-tions cost up to 30 percent less than natu-ral gas plants.

Also, CSP plants last for decades. The first CSP plant built in 1984 is still working efficiently.

The report titled “Concentrated Solar Power: Heating up India’s Solar Thermal Market under the National Solar Mission” states that India has jump started its so-lar energy industry in just over two years, thanks to Phase-I of the National Solar Mis-sion. A major contributor to this growth is solar thermal power, including seven large-scale concentrated solar power (CSP) projects now underway in India.

According to the report, despite the anticipated acceleration of CSP, several barriers exist that challenge the long-term sustainability of India’s CSP industry. These include the length of time required to de-velop CSP projects, high initial capital costs and a lack of confidence in the CSP market as a whole. The report has recommenda-tions for the Indian government, for the private sector and other stakeholders to en-sure a robust CSP ecosystem is developed.

It is estimated that the cost of a para-bolic trough CSP plant in India ranges from `10.5 crore to `13 crore per MW (approxi-mately $1.9 million to $2.3 million per MW) in capital cost, according to reports. Storage increases the capital cost further but also increases electricity generation.

The problems related to CSP though remains. Some developers struggled to find a sufficient number of adequately trained technicians with fabrication and welding skills for CSP projects. This led to worker slowing down of some projects. Some also reckoned that with the sizeable Indian workforce and their transferable skills as a key strength, there is more po-tential. For instance, engineers with power project development experience are being retrained to work on CSP projects.

With respect to finance, project devel-opers have struggled to achieve financial closure, which is a key milestone under the JNNSM guidelines. Reports reveal that though familiarity with CSP is increasing, the involvement of banks and other finan-cial institutions is hindered by structural issues (like power sector lending limits, financially-stressed distribution companies and their inability to pay for purchased power) and practical challenges (market awareness and technological understand-ing).

Several developers also experienced delays for CSP-specific turbines. While India has a turbine manufacturing base, Indian-made turbines are not designed for CSP specifications, which require turbines to be able to operate intermittently.

Also, like it happens in most emerging energy technologies, risk-averse financiers have expressed low levels of familiarity and a discomfort with CSP technology that can only be resolved when a consistent perfor-mance record develops. Despite a record of CSP performance globally, investors want to see a track record of CSP projects in India.

There is another problem that needs to be tackled. With developing CSP tech-nology, we need to find out water-efficient technology options and these need to be encouraged. If the NSM meets its target of 20 GW of solar by 2022, with 30 percent of the total solar capacity drawn from CSP, the water requirement from CSP plants using water cooled systems will be 36.2

million cubic meters per year, equivalent to the water requirement for 736,000 Indians per day.

Lack of water supply has already re-sulted in occasional shutdowns for coal-based plants, and CSP plants under the JNNSM will be susceptible to this water issue.

Regions rich in Direct Normal Irradia-tion (DNI) resource, the most suitable loca-tions for CSP generation, are places which are frequently arid with limited water sup-ply. The best example of this is Rajasthan, where five of the seven NSM CSP projects are located.

Water-cooled CSP systems are more efficient in converting solar energy to elec-tricity. However, they have significantly higher water consumption compared to plants that use other cooling technologies, such as dry cooling.

In areas where water is in short supply, less efficient air-cooled systems or hybrid systems that reduce water consumption significantly could be employed. Some stakeholders emphasised that government policies should address water-efficiency in Phase 2 of the Solar Mission, particu-larly since industrialization, urbanization, agriculture needs, and food security will lead to increased competition for water resources.

Stakeholders suggested that there needs to be one, developing focused plans to increase workforce training as the solar market develops, so that we have more people who are able to work on this tech-nology and we are not short of labour sup-ply. Two, in order to encourage CSP project growth in the midst of falling PV module prices, both Central and State govern-ments must continue to strongly support CSP technologies.

This focus has raised the wider ques-tion of CSP viability in India, which is a key topic of the CSP Today India 2013 confer-ence, taking place 12-13 March 2013 in New Delhi.

References:• http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-

environment/sun-to-the-rescue/article4009655.ece• http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/india-plans-

fo r-550-mw-of -concent ra ted -so la r-power-by-2013/1/143258.html

• http://www.nrdc.org/international/india/files/india-concentrated-solar-power.pdf

• http://www.eesi.org/files/csp_factsheet_083109.pdf

SOLARPOWER

2 JULY|AUGUST12 energetica india

Solar PV installations across the world saw a brighter year in 2011. Asian markets are ruling the roost with China boosting their production and expected to be the world’s leading markets by 2016.

Sharada.B, EnErgEtica india

A Look at Solar PV Market’s Global Performance and Trends

Year 2010 Globally, Solar Photovoltaic (PV) market installations reached a record high of 18.2 gigawatts (GW) in the year 2010. This marked a huge success in the PV market as many countries emerged as key players in the market. Some of the top countries that made it big in the PV market in 2010 in-cluded Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Ja-pan, and the United States with over 80% of global demand. European countries represented 14.7 GW, or 81% of world demand in 2010.

The Japanese and US markets also grew by 101% and 96%, respectively. In all, over 100 countries contributed to the rising global PV demand in 2010.

The worldwide solar cell production also reached 20.5 GW in 2010 with thin film production accounting for 13.5% of total production. China and Taiwan ac-

counted for 59% of global cell production.

Year 2011The top five PV markets in 2011 were Ger-many, Italy, China, the United States, and France. These countries together account-ed for 74% of global demand.

The fastest growing market was China, which had installation growth of 470%. European countries were said to have accounted for 18.7 GW or 68% of world demand in 2011, down from 82% in 2010. Growth in France and Italy has been strong, while a year-end rise in Ger-man demand collectively accounted for 82% of the European market.

2011 was also witnessed the expan-sion of new markets in the Americas, Afri-ca and the Middle East. In these places, the pace of investment in solar is up to three times ahead the average in other parts of

the world, particularly in countries such as UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Qatar.

MarketBuzz, in its annual PV Market Report released in 2011 stated that by 2015, the European market share will fall to between 45-54%, though the North America and several Asian markets are expected to grow rapidly. US will be the fastest growing major country market over this period.

Craig Stevens, President of Solarbuzz had said, “Cuts in unit tariffs will be far more rapid than the industry’s pace of cost reduction. While some key markets will decline in size as a result over the next two years, the US, Canada, China, and Japan will still offer growth potential.”

Major PV markets by country, in Gigawatts (GW); (Source: NPD Solarbuzz 2012 Marketbuzz)

Year 2012The outlook for 2012 called for rest of world markets to make up to one third (32 percent) of global demand, up from just 20 percent of demand in 2010. Europe’s market share is expected to slip, to 53 per-cent in 2012.

By 2016, European market share is projected to decline to 42% as against North America and several Asian markets which will gain. China is forecast to reach 17% of the world market by 2016.

SOLARPOWER

3energetica india JULY|AUGUST12

TrendsThough emerging markets are expected to grow strongly in 2012 and thereafter, the reduction in European demand could cause the first market decline in over a decade. There are aggressive cuts in in-centives in Germany and other European countries, leading to a potential global market decline.

Cuts in tariffs are also forcing compa-nies to take up self-sustaining marketing models earlier than they expected.

Meanwhile, Chinese policy makers will face a decision whether to stimulate their domestic market even more than planned to support their strong manufac-turing base.

PV manufacturers operate in a dy-namic and highly competitive global mar-ket; currently dominated by Chinese and Taiwanese companies. All major PV solar manufacturers maintain their global sourc-ing strategies; where some PV manufactur-ers have even expanded their operations beyond China to places like the Philippines and Mexico.

Major trends shaping the domestic photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing sector also include technological advancements, better production methods, and a global surplus of manufacturing capacity.

On the one hand though this is hap-pening, PV manufacturers are grappling with falling module prices. This has ad-versely affected the operations of many solar companies. Some of the companies are forced to reassess their business mod-els and others to close factories or declare bankruptcy. Lower prices may be good for PV consumers, but they are squeezing manufacturers, especially in the US and Europe.

Global PV PoliciesGovernment support has been instrumen-tal in sustaining the solar industry world-wide. Over the years, governments have implemented solar-promoting policies, in-cluding tax and electricity rate-payer sub-sidies, like feed-in tariffs (FITs) to spur their domestic markets.

In the United States, tax incentives and funding led to double-digit growth rates in new PV installations. Nevertheless, even with direct government involvement, solar energy still accounts for less than 0.1% of overall U.S. electricity generation.

The recent economic crisis deterred the European markets as their govern-ments are beginning to eliminate, reduce, or change their incentive programs for so-lar power.

The Japanese government has also sustained its domestic solar PV market by offering various inducements for solar PV.

Elsewhere in Asia, countries such as China, Malaysia, and the Philippines pro-vide various types of support to develop

their domestic solar manufacturing sec-tors. Low labour cost has also made them a hub for solar PV production.

China has begun to implement poli-cies to expand domestic solar PV demand, including direct grants for solar PV installa-tions (close to $3 per watt for systems over 50 kW capacity).

More recently, it implemented a na-tionwide feed-in tariff. These policies will push China’s solar market quickly. Accord-ing to Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) by 2016 China will be one of the world’s leading markets with respect to PV installations.

References:http://solarpanels-china.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/outlook_2012.pdfhttp://www.greentechmedia.com/research/report/pv-supply-2012/http://www.airtet.in/2011/07/solarbuzz-presents-annual-pv-market.htmlhttp://www.solarbuzz.com/reports/marketbuzzhttp://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42509.pdf

Evolution of Global Annual Installations 2000-2011 (MW)

Year 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Europe 53 94 142 201 708 1.002 987 1.972 5.297 5.803 13.367 21.939

America 23 31 46 65 92 117 149 212 349 539 983 2.234

APAC 114 136 186 225 276 296 322 283 563 766 1.618 2.653

China - 11 15 10 9 4 12 20 45 228 520 2.200

MEA - - - - - - - - - 21 45 131

ROW 88 56 79 77 29 10 105 42 76 80 284 508

Total 277 328 468 578 1.114 1.429 1.575 2.529 6.330 7.437 16.817 29.665

ROW: Rest of the World

MEA: Middle East and Africa

APAC: Asia Pacific Region

Source: European Photovoltaic Industry Association

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

2010 2011 2012 (E) 2016 (E)

Europe’s Global Share of PV Installations. Source: European Photovoltaic Industry Association.

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