Solar Power

BENGALURU: Solar energy plants meet about 20 per cent of Karnataka’s daily power requirements as the overall share of renewables continues to climb. At 7,346 megawatts (MW), the state has the largest installed capacity of solar power in the country, and the biggest local plant is in Pavagada (Tumakuru).

Last week, minister of state for power and energy (IC) RK Singh informed the Lok Sabha that Karnataka was far ahead of other states in harnessing sunlight. After Karnataka, Tamil Nadu (4,403 MW) has the largest installed capacity of solar power. Gujarat (4,068 MW) is third.
According to data from Karnataka Power Corporation Limited, solar energy accounts for more than 50 per cent of the state’s installed capacity of green energy (13,544 MW). The government plans to expand it further by setting up a solar park in Firozabad, Kalaburagi. The park will have a capacity of 500 MW.
“The first-mover advantage has given us the edge to expand our infrastructure. We will see such parks become the norm,” said additional chief secretary (energy) Kapil Mohan.
Green energy meets at least 45 per cent of the state’s daily power needs. “Solar and wind power have a large contribution,” he said.
The government has decided to reduce the focus on rooftop solar power generation as the scheme has become more commercial than intended. The original idea of promoting it was to help residential buildings and semicommercial sectors become self-sufficient. “The rooftop scheme was misused and it started draining the exchequer,” said an official of the energy department.
As of February 28, Karnataka had installed rooftop solar capacity of 100 MW. Gujarat had 943 MW and Maharashtra 694 MW.
The rising cost of solar panels has also weighed on the Karnataka government’s mind. The cost has increased by over 30 per cent because of a combination of factors linked to the border standoff between India and China, from where many solar components were earlier imported. “Karnataka is now focusing more on wind energy opportunities,” said an official, adding that the state had identified three locations in north Karnataka for wind energy projects.

WhatsApp
Facebook
Twitter
Email
0Shares

Jammu: As many as 128 solar power plants at police establishments in Jammu and Kashmir remained non-functional since 2014 due to non-settlement of payment of works contract tax, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has said.

The CAG has asked the J&K Home Department to settle works contract tax (WCT) on priority and ensure rectification of defects in the non-functional plants, so that the investment made is utilised.

In its report on the social, general, economic and revenue for the year ended March 31, 2019 which was tabled in Parliament recently, the CAG said that “non-settlement of payment of WCT with the state taxes department rendered 128 solar power plants (SPPs) installed at police establishments non-functional since September 2014 despite incurring an expenditure of Rs 9.70 crore between May 2014 to January 2015 and availability of maintenance free warranty”.

To ensure uninterrupted power supply to police establishments, a proposal of Rs 37.94 crore to provide solar photovoltaic system for 523 locations was submitted by the Jammu and Kashmir Police on August 25, 2011, to the government for approval and onward submission to the Union Ministry of New and Renewal Energy, it said.

After only two days, a reworked proposal with a total financial implication of Rs 43.31 crore was submitted (27 August, 2011) including additional 25 locations (district police offices),” the report said.

“The government of India, under the Central Financial Assistance (CFA) sanctioned (February 2012) Rs 33.54 crore towards installation of 523 SPPs with an aggregate capacity of 1,408.6 KWP at the establishments of the J&K Police at a tentative cost of Rs 37.94 crore, it said.

Meanwhile, in line with a recommendation of state level purchase committee in March 2012, it was decided to float a notice inviting tender (NIT) in April of that year for the project.

The requirement of 523 locations was reworked to include 25 district police offices, four police stations and 10 police posts. The number rose to 562 and was duly projected in the NIT floated on April 25, 2012, the report said.

It said the lowest bidder quoted a price of Rs 36.14 crore, inclusive of taxes, for the project.

The contract for supply, installation, testing, commissioning and maintenance of SPPs of different capacities, aggregating up to 1553.76 KWP, for 562 locations was placed in March 2013 with the firm for Rs 36.14 crore on the grounds that the price quoted by it was well within the approved budget of Rs 37.94 crore, the report said.

As stated in the NIT, the J&K Service Tax and Value Added Tax (VAT) was not to be applicable to this contract and would be paid extra by the police department, if charged by the state taxes department.

The report said the delivery, installation and commissioning of SPPs was to be completed within six months from the date of placement of the supply order.

As per the terms and conditions of the supply order, the supplier was responsible for free warranty of five years for SPPs, 10 years for power output warranty for solar photovoltaic modules and replacement guarantee of 20 years for the modules,” it said.

Under the scheme, the renewable energy ministry was to provide CFA of Rs 243 per watt or 90 per cent of the sanctioned project cost whichever is less,” the report said.

The ministry, therefore, in June 2013 reduced the CFA to Rs 29.43 crore based on the tendered cost of the project, it said.

The first installment of 50 per cent of CFA or Rs 14.71 crore was released in June 2013 by the Centre to Jammu and Kashmir out of which an amount of Rs 14.39 crore towards payment of 187 out of 252 SPPs installed was made between May 2014 and January 2015, according to the report.

The CAG said post the installment of the 252 SPPs, 163 SPPs were found to be non-functional which included 128 SPPs for which payment of Rs 9.70 crore had been made.

The home department directed (August 2015) the supplier to rectify the defects in the installed 163 SPPs. The supplier informed the department in August 2015 that instead of repairing old power conditioning units of these SPPs, new power conditioning units were dispatched to J&K,” it said.

The material was, however, detained by the sales tax department on the grounds of non-deposit of WCT. The home department took up (February 2015 to May 2018) the matter with the government to either release Rs 3.80 crore on account of WCT at a rate of 10.50 per cent or for waiver of such tax, the report said.

The audit scrutiny in July 2017 of records of the director general of police, police feadquarters, Jammu, revealed that the matter relating to WCT, however, has not been resolved even after a lapse of more than five years, and 128 SPPs have remained non-functional for which payment of Rs 9.70 crore was made up to January 2015.

The DGP, police headquarters, Jammu, in its reply in June 2020 said the non-functional SPPs could not be repaired as spare parts were impounded by the commercial taxes department for non-payment of WCT.

The home department stated that all the issues shall be resolved as soon as the government releases WCT amount or waives it, the report said.

Thus, failure of the department to effectively coordinate and settle the issue regarding payment of WCT with the sales tax department led to impounding of spare parts dispatched by the firm which resulted in non-functional SPPs,” it stated.

As a result, the benefits of installation and commissioning of 128 SPPs could not be availed, despite an expenditure of Rs 9.70 crore having been incurred for installation of these 128 SPPs. The matter was reported to the government on May 2020, their reply is awaited (September 2020), the CAG said. (PTI)

 

Be Part of Quality Journalism

Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast.

ACT NOW

CLICK FOR DETAILS

---

Related

Nearly one-tenth of the world’s electricity now comes from wind and solar, according to a new analysis by London-based thinktank, Ember.

In the EU, these renewable resources made up almost 20 per cent of all energy generation in 2020, twice the global average. This meant that renewables generated more energy than fossil fuels in the bloc for the first time ever last year.

Among G20 members, only the UK’s use of wind and solar was higher at 29 per cent. But some EU nations are doing better than others. Wind turbines and solar panels make up as much as 63 per cent of Denmark”s and 33 per cent of Germany’s power.

“What’s impressive from our analysis is that the majority of countries across the world are now building wind and solar,” Dave Jones, global programme lead at Ember, told Euronews Living.

“And that adds up – a tenth of the world’s electricity last year came from just wind and solar, and that’s doubled in just five years.”

According to Jones, although Europe is among the world’s leaders, this shows that the continent is not alone in its transition to clean energy.

“Other countries have not just made pledges, but are actively undergoing their own electricity transition.”

Will renewable energy replace fossil fuels?

The global growth of wind and solar energy has also pushed the use of coal to fall by record amounts. In the EU, the use of coal has nearly halved in the last five years reducing the bloc’s total greenhouse gas emissions by around 7 per cent.

China was the only G20 country to see a large uptake in the use of coal in 2020 as increases in energy demand outpaced its transition to clean electricity.

However, the analysis also found that emissions for the global power sector are still higher than in 2015 when the Paris climate agreement was signed. The demand for electricity around the world has grown by 11 per cent in the last five years and, especially in Europe, fossil fuels like natural gas have been brought in to fill the gap.

“It’s one heck of an achievement for the EU to almost halve its coal generation in just a few years,” says Jones. But he explains that the analysis found the drop in coal power in Europe was only so large because some of that energy was now being produced by gas.

The EU has been criticised in the past for its stance on using gas to transition away from coal – but last week Frans Timmermans, the European Commission’s climate chief, said there was “no viable future” in the fuel.

“We already know now that by 2050 our energy system will have to change completely, fundamentally,” he said.

“At the end of that road, there will be no more space for coal, very little room for oil and only a marginal role for fossil gas.”

Jones agrees that renewable energy is the future adding, “to keep coal falling as fast, we need less coal-to-gas and more coal-to-clean.”

But, he emphasises, “that means stepping up wind and solar investment further.”

How have some G20 countries transitioned to clean energy faster than others?

Germany now generates the most electricity from wind and solar of any G20 country. Although it still remains reliant on fossil fuels for 44 per cent of its power, the speed at which it has transitioned to these renewables stands out.

The amount of power produced by wind and solar in the country has almost doubled since 2015. The analysis from Ember found that the nation has continued to pull away from the rest of the world in 2020 with three times the global average.

“Germany had a vision that it would switch from nuclear and coal energy to wind and solar energy, so much so, they have a dedicated name for it,” says Jones.

This vision, ‘Energiewende’ in German, means that policy focuses on what is needed to transition away from fossil fuels in the long-term, rather than just short term gains.

“The electricity transition isn’t something that can be done in a few years, even in small countries, and can’t just be at the whim of short-term election cycles,” he adds.

“That long term vision is where I think Germany was most different.”

Every weekday at 15.30 CET, Euronews Living brings you a cutting edge, environmental story from somewhere around the world. Download the Euronews app to get an alert for this and other breaking news. It’s available on Apple and Android devices.

The move towards renewable sources from carbon-emitting fuels is gathering serious momentum worldwide, and now the largest coal company on the planet is joining the transition.

Coal India Limited (CIL) has announced that it will join forces with NLC India to invest in a 3000Mw project, and has the ultimate goal of closing down its mines and replacing them with renewable projects in the coming years. This project is worth 125 billion rupees (2.27 billion Australian dollars).

If this wasn’t a big enough show of CIL’s commitment, Chairman Pramod Agarwal said they also plan to attack solar auctions aggressively and win them by offering the lowest prices the nation has ever seen.

He said the reason behind this dramatic change in their business model was that they saw no future in fossil fuels, and wanted to invest in their future and India’s.

“Coal, as you know, we’re going to lose business in the next two, three decades. Solar will take over (from) coal slowly as a major energy provider in the coming years,” Mr Agarwal said.

The company has already begun closing down its mining operations, with 82 sites shut down from 2017-20 and many more to come. Mr Agarwal said that CIL was likely to invest in wafer production and physical sites and farms.

This is a major move, considering that India is one of the world’s largest carbon emitters. But after years of sitting in third place, India did slip to fourth in 2020, behind China, the United States, and the European Union.

Other fossil fuel operations turning to solar 

While CIL is the largest company of its type to switch towards sustainable sources, many other coal, oil, and gas organisations have started to make the transition, too. Some of these companies include:

BP: This oil giant was a pioneer and started investing large amounts of money into wind and solar as early as the 1980s. This led to a name change from British Petroleum Company to Beyond Petroleum in 2001. The Deep Water Horizon oil spill incident in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 had a significant impact and halted green projects for almost a decade. Still, BP has recently begun re-investing in renewables and owns 2200MW of wind capacity in the United States.

BHP: The global mining giant first switched to renewables to power its operations in Chile, then announced a five-year energy take-off agreement to use green sources for half of its Queensland energy needs. BHP has also underpinned a large-scale solar farm in Western Australia that will deliver 400MW of electricity.

Shell: The 2016 New Energies Strategy promised between $4-6 billion USD in green projects until the end of 2020. While COVID-19 and other events have slowed this investment, Shell has made some significant moves, including a 44 per cent stakes in major solar power company Silicon Ranch, which set them back USD 225 million.

MANKATO — A surge in solar arrays just north of Mankato has prompted Lime Township to put a moratorium on the green power developments.

Impact Power Solutions gained approval of a pair of 1-megawatt community solar gardens in Lime Township last month and also purchased land for a third within Mankato city limits on the city’s far north side. The latest proposal is another 1-megawatt community solar garden in the township near the junction of Lime Valley Road and Third Avenue/Blue Earth County Road 5.

Township Supervisor Rick Resch appears to be reaching his solar limit.

“I’m a believer in solar, but I’m not a believer in solar on every single parcel in every single place,” Resch said last week at a meeting of the Mankato Planning Commission, which also serves as the Lime Township Planning Commission. “So I just want to pause for real thinking and consideration of — does this fit the property?”

The latest IPS solar garden was already in line for approval when the Lime Township Board passed the interim ordinance shutting off any new community solar gardens as it decides what sorts of permanent restrictions to put in place. Because of that, the board stated that the pending IPS project would not be bound by the moratorium.

The Planning Commission agreed unanimously, recommending the Township Board approve the project, albeit with a lengthy list of conditions.

Several neighbors are opposed to the solar array, which will be made up of about 3,800 photovoltaic panels placed on a portion of a 7.3-acre parcel owned by Tim Vetter.

The opposition centered on the appearance of the array, partly because the rows of panels will sit just east of the federally designated Minnesota River Valley Scenic Byway, which follows Third Avenue/Blue Earth County Road 5/Le Sueur County Road 21 between Mankato and Kasota.

Cindi Baker, who owns one of the roughly 30 homes within a half-mile of the planned array, described the area as befitting a scenic byway designation.

“It’s unique. It’s beautiful. (A solar array) should not be there,” Baker said. “… Go find a 40-acre parcel in the back where nobody can see it — not a national scenic byway.”

Associate Director of Planning Mark Konz said the scenic byway designation doesn’t carry any enforcement powers prohibiting what develops along it, although one of the conditions placed on IPS is that it submit “a viewshed analysis and provide a plan to minimize visual impacts” to the byway. Konz also noted that it might be difficult for the township to suddenly reject a proposed development because of the scenic byway designation after previously approving numerous residential, commercial and industrial projects along the route.

Patrick Wier of IPS said the Roseville-based company already has made significant changes to its plans that “go above and beyond” the two similar-size projects approved by the township in February near Highway 22 north of Mankato.

Black Hills spruce and Austrian spruce will be planted between public roads and the array — 26 on the eastern side near Lime Valley Road, 40 on the north side near the junction of Lime Valley and Third Avenue, and about 50 on the western side along Third Avenue. The trees were doubled on the latter side to address the concerns related to the scenic byway and homeowner views.

“On that side, you’ll have a tree every 8 feet,” Wier said. “So as they grow, you’d just have a continuous block.”

Wier said Vetter, the landowner, also persuaded IPS to supply prairie grass seed for the area between the trees and Third Avenue, which Vetter has committed to plant and care for.

Vetter, who said the tall prairie grass also should help block the view of the solar panels, portrayed the income from the solar project as important to his transition into retirement. But he pledged to continue to be a good neighbor.

“It’s a little different view than what the people might be used to,” Vetter said. “We’ve all been in the neighborhood long enough, they’ll know I’ll do everything I can to mitigate this project and the view as they drive by.”

Baker wasn’t placated by the promised plantings, which also will include pollinator-friendly wildflowers within the solar array itself.

“Plant the trees, plant the grass, but there’s still a solar garden there,” she said.

The Lime Township Board is expected to make a final decision on the project at its April 13 meeting. IPS hopes to start construction that same month with completion by December.

Along with the three rural solar arrays in Lime Township, a spate of arrays are popping up within city limits after the city sold nearly 80 acres of land on its north side in the past five years for a series of community solar gardens.

Community solar gardens, which were created by a 2013 Minnesota law, allow individuals and organizations to support solar energy even if they don’t have the property or financing to install photovoltaic panels on their own. Under the law, solar developers are required to sell subscriptions to their solar gardens to individuals, local governments and organizations, and Xcel Energy is required to purchase the electricity produced by the arrays and reimburse subscribers via discounted utility bills.

The World Bank has offered a new assistance package for the development of rooftop solar power projects in India.

According to media reports, the World Bank will offer $648 million in funding assistance for the installation of rooftop solar power projects in the small and medium scale company segment. This package includes a credit guarantee scheme worth $100 million. The assistance will be delivered through the State Bank of India, the country’s largest commercial bank.

The programme will target small and medium-sized companies that usually do not meet lending criteria for funding institutions. This is the second collaboration between the World Bank and the State Bank of India. The World Bank launched a $648 million loan assistance programme for the rooftop solar market in 2016.

India’s minister for micro, small, and medium enterprises urged companies to utilise this loan assistance programme and adopt rooftop solar power. He claimed that around 16 gigawatts of rooftop solar power capacity can be installed in small and medium-sized companies.

The announcement by World Bank comes just days after the Indian prime minister announced that the country will meet its target to achieve 40 gigawatts of rooftop solar power capacity by 2022. Earlier this year a parliamentary panel had noted that the 40-gigawatt rooftop solar power target by 2022 was unrealistic.

 

 

---

 

---

New Podcast: Forecasting EV Sales And EV Battery & Metal Prices — Interview with BloombergNEF’s Head of Clean Power Research

Green energy producers like solar panels and wind turbines aren’t a great solution on their own. Sometimes it’s cloudy or not windy. So they don’t make a steady flow of electricity.

“If you have a cloud cover that crosses a solar panel you get a big change in the amount of power that’s coming out of that solar panel. The electric grid isn’t used to that. The electric grid is used to supply from really large fossil fuel plants that put out a very even, very steady amount of power,” said Paul Mutolo, CEO of Standard Hydrogen.

Paul’s company is creating a first of its kind building in the nation to solve that problem. The hydrogen storage system would have a reserve of power to create a steady supply to the grid.

“We’ll have some of our facility serving national grid’s needs, while part of the facility can also serve transportation needs at the same time,” said Mutolo.

Having that reserve of power paves the way for more wind and solar usage. What really makes it unique is it will also have a fueling area for cars.

“You can think of it a little bit like a refueling station for electric and hydrogen cars that also provides grid electricity needs,” said Mutolo.

This project is in line with New York’s climate action plan, where one of the goals is having 70% renewable energy by 2030.

This station will have zero emissions, while also taking pollution out of the environment.

“If the average American was driving for 100 years, our system can eliminate that same amount of pollution by operating for one month,” said Mutolo.

You may see it built in the Capital Region in downtown Albany, but they’re still getting approval on location.