Sweden to scrap taxes on solar energy in 2017 in bid to run entirely on renewables

My View:

It's a great step by Sweden to increase the share of solar energy. Reduction of taxation means less burden for developers. Also,zero tax for those who will use solar energy for there own use will promote solar rooftop in country. 

News:

Sweden is set to ditch taxes on its production of solar energy in 2017 in a bid to run entirely on renewable energy by 2040, the government said on Monday.

Solar energy is currently marginal in the Nordic nation, accounting for less than 0.1 percent of electricity production. Sweden relies mostly on hydropower (39 percent) and nuclear power (36 percent).

The finance ministry said in a statement that the production of solar electricity for own use would be entirely exempt from taxes. Electricity providers would meanwhile only be taxed 500 kronor (51 euros) per megawatt hour, which is a 98-percent reduction from the current level.

"This makes fast investments possible," Social Democratic Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson said.

The proposal is likely to be adopted by parliament, with the centre-right opposition having criticised the minister for her lack of ambition with regards renewable energy investments.

The move must also be approved by the European Commission in Brussels, which aims to boost the EU's share of renewable energy to at least 20 percent of consumption.

In October, the Swedish energy market regulator had estimated that in order to reach the target of 100 percent renewable energy, the share of solar electricity would have to rise to between five and 10 percent.

Adani to start constructing Australia solar plants next year

My View:

Adani decision to develop solar plants in Australia is a welcome step for Australians. Adani's investment in coal mines were facing huge issues in Australia. However with increased investment in Australia will help to build long term relationship. Recently in Tamilandu, Adani constructed world's largest solar plant.








News:

Indian energy giant Adani Group today announced its new venture for construction of two major solar projects in Australia next year as part of its efforts to develop renewable energy projects in the country with a total capacity of 1,500 MW within the next five years.

"Adani today announced that it proposes to commence construction of two major solar projects in Australia next year, each with an output of 100-200 MW," a company statement issued here said.

Land agreements were in place for the projects in South Australia and Queensland and Adani has commenced the design and tendering phases for both projects.

Adani aims to develop renewable energy projects in Australia with a total capacity of 1,500 MW within the next five years, it noted.

The Australian solar projects will be in addition to Adani's 16.5 billion dollar investment in the planned Carmichael coal mine in Queensland's Galilee Basin, which has faced years of legal delays over environmental approvals, as well as rail and port facilities.

The company's head of Australian operations, Jeyakumar Janakaraj, said that these projects will offer a solid foundation to Adani's renewable energy business in Australia and will contribute to meeting the country's renewable energy target commitments.

"Coupled with the company's 3.3 billion dollars of investment to date across its mine, rail and port projects in Queensland, Adani's plans to pursue solar investment opportunities reflect the confidence the company has in the Australian market," Janakaraj said.

"This reflects both Adani's commitment as a diversified energy and infrastructure company in India and a leading solar generator in that market, and the company's plans to build a long-term future with Australia," he said.

Adani has constructed approximately 793 MW of solar plant capacity in India to date, including one of the world's largest solar plants in Tamil Nadu which has a capacity of 648 MW. Adani has a further 1,225 MW in construction or late development phase in India.

The environmental organistaion Mackay Conservation Group has welcomed Adani's decision to announce a 100 to 200 MW solar farm in Central Queensland.

"This is a sensible move that recognises the long term future of electricity production is in renewables," Mackay Conservation Group coordinator, Peter McCallum said.

"We also welcome the jobs that construction of a large scale solar power plant will bring without endangering jobs in Great Barrier Reef tourism. This is a win for everybody. Adani is fundamentally an energy company, not a miner, and their expertise is shifting rapidly towards becoming a clean energy producer in India and now in Australia," he said.

The company has faced a protracted battle to establish Australia's largest thermal coal mine.

Inox bags repeat order for 40 MW project in Gujarat

My View:

Inox Wind is continuously getting projects which are helping the books of company. RDPL is investing huge in renewable energy. The big firms in India should take lessons from such firm. 

As on 30 Sep 2016,the installed capacity of wind power plant is about 28 GW.

News:

Noida based Inox Wind Limited has won a repeat order for 40 MW wind power project in Gujarat.

Inox will execute the project on turnkey basis for Roha Dyechem Private Limited, a manufacturers of natural and synthetic colours, and the project is scheduled to be commissioned by March 2017.

The 40 MW project from Roha is part of the 350 MW of orders announced by lnox Wind on 3rd October 2016, according to an Inox release.

As part of the order Inox will install 20 units of it's 2 MW-113 meter rotor diameter turbine. The wind turbine manufacturer will provide end to end solutions from development and construction to commissioning and providing long term operations and maintenance services, the media release added.

"We are pleased to further build on the success of lnox's 2 MW platform in India." said Kailash Tarachandani, Chief Executive Officer of lnox Wind Limited in his statement.

RDPL has diversified its activities in Renewable Energy, as one of the emerging sectors of its business in the years to come. RDPL has already successfully invested in an aggregate of 52.5 MW of Solar Energy and 13.5 MW in Wind Energy and further plans to reach a combined milestone of 500 MW at various locations.

Around 25,000 Megawatt of thermal power capacity running without long term pacts

My View:

The Discom's are preferring to buy cheaper power from exchanges or with short term bilateral contract. It is really hurting the generators as they are not able to get assurance related to power purchase. It would create problems in generation segment.
















News:

Thermal power projects of more than 25,000 Megawatt (MW) capacity are operating without long term power purchase agreements (LTPPA's) with state owned discoms, according to ICRA.

State owned discoms have created a trend over the past two to three years, of buying power from trading markets for a cheaper price when compared to signing fixed rate PPA's with thermal power plants, the reaserch agency added in its recent report.

This decision by state owned distributors has given them the freedom to buy power at cheaper rates from exchanges and also create a highly competitive bidding environment to lower tariffs even further.

Discoms are expected to sign LTPPA's in the future, with the implementation of UDAY across the country and improvement of discoms financial health.

Only four states namely Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh have invited bids to sign long term PPAs for an aggregate bid capacity of 7.5 GW.

Out of these, PPAs have been signed with utilities in Kerala (865 MW) and Telangana (500 MW) while discoms in Andhra Pradesh (2,400 MW) and Uttar Pradesh (3,800 MW) are yet to sign the PPAs, ICRA added in its report.

The 25 GW in the private IPP segment remains exposed to price and volume risks in the short term trading market, given the absence of LT PPA bids. This, in turn, has also impacted the ability of such IPPs to secure cheaper source of domestic coal under the fuel supply agreements with Coal India Limited (CIL) and its subsidiaries, given that the availability of such coal to IPPs is subject to tie-up of their capacity under long-term PPAs.

Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) in its recent tender for supply of 3,800 MW under design, build, finance, own and operate (DBFOO – case I) route over a period 15 years, has received bids in range of Rs 3.9 - 5.5 per nit from IPPs, according to industry sources. UPPCL has received bids totaling 6,652 MW from 18 power companies against requirement of 3,800 MW for supply starting from October 2016.

The power requirement was divided into three parts, based on fuel source, with 2,800 MW based on domestic coal linkage, 500 MW based on imported coal and 500 MW based on captive coal mine.

The lowest tariff quoted for supply using domestic linkage coal is at Rs 3.94 per unit, using coal from captive mines stood at Rs. 3.95 per unit and using imported coal stood at Rs. 4.06 per unit.

These tariffs are lower than the L1 tariff discovered through case-I bidding by the discoms of Andhra Pradesh at Rs 4.27 per unit and Kerala at Rs 4.29 per unit in the recent past, signifying increasing competition amongst thermal IPPs to secure long-term PPAs.

The heightened competition can be partly attributed to the high off-take risks for the power generation segment, wherein recently commissioned and under-construction capacity of about 24-25 GW in the private IPP segment does not have long term PPAs.

This is on account of the weak financial profile of the state owned discoms, which has constrained signing of long-term PPAs by the discoms. Also, the upward trend in quoted tariffs by IPPs since 2012 also led to slow progress in signing of long term PPAs by discoms.

Discoms have been reluctant to sign long-term PPAs at the higher tariffs offered by developers, despite the continuing power shortages in some states. Instead, discoms in a few states are more inclined to procure power on a short / medium term basis.

 

Spot power price at Indian energy exchange hits 6-month high in Oct at Rs 2.46

My View:

The price is quite competitive in IEX. The MCP of 2.46 and ACP of about 2.75 is quite cheaper. If I will compare with renewable energy pricing, still there is quite huge gap. The open access regulation must also be strengthen in few state to develop power market in full fledged way. IEX being India's no. 1 Power Exchange is facilitating and bringing competitiveness in Power Sector. 










 


News:

The average spot power price at the Indian Energy Exchange touched a six-month high of Rs 2.46 in October due to higher demand, particularly from industrial units and southern states.

"The spot price of electricity has been on a slightly higher side in October also due to high demand, particularly from industrial units and southern states," an IEX official told .

The average power price was recorded at Rs 2.91 per unit in April this year. It was on the lower side thereafter at Rs 2.32, Rs 2.31, Rs 2.16 and Rs 2.17 in May, June, July and August, respectively.

It picked up again to Rs 2.43 per unit in September this year. The spot power price was the highest in six months at Rs 2.46 per unit in October.

"October saw attractive and competitive price in IEX Spot Power Market with average Market Clearing Price (MCP) at Rs 2.46 per unit, 19 per cent less than MCP of Rs 3.03 per unit in the same month last year. The average Area Clearing Prices (ACP) ranged from Rs 2.40 to Rs 2.75 per unit across regions," IEX said in statement.

The market remained liquid with average daily sell bids of 235 MUs (million units) and purchase bids of 139 MUs. During October this year, 3,609 MUs were traded which on a daily average basis is 116 MUs, about 10 per cent increase over 105 MUs traded in the same month last year, it said.

The open access consumers (industrial units) accounted for almost 60 per cent of the cleared volume, mainly due to competitive price.

However, the congestion on the inter-state transmission network increased, affecting import of power in the Southern and Northern regions.

About 3.6 MUs were lost on a daily average basis. The Southern corridor was congested about 42 per cent of the time and the congestion was mainly due to increase in demand for power in South.

Congestion in the Northern corridor was experienced for about 16 per cent of the time during the month, it said, adding that the Term-Ahead Market remained vibrant and over 93 MUs were traded -- about 220 per cent increase over 29 MUs traded last month -- owing to increase in demand due to the festive season.

Uniform rate prevailed for three days October 7, 8 and 9 -- in line with the One Nation, One Grid and One Price motto of the Government.