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12/1/11

Great Lakes IEMR Mail - Energy Sector News (01/12/11)

Vaibha Redd <g edd _pgp13@iem .in>

Ene g Sec o Ne

(01/12/11)

Na een Aga al <na een.aga al@iem .in> Th , Dec 1, 2011 a 8:13 PM To: pgpm2012_all@iemr.in, pgpm2013_all@iemr.in, S K Palhan <sk.palhan@iemr.in>, Vikas Prakash Singh <vikas.prakash@iemr.in>, Prof Ravi Agarw al <ravi.agarw al@iemr.in>, Hari Nair <hari.nair@iemr.in>, Poornima Gupta <poornima.gupta@iemr.in>, Sugatharaj Paleri <sugatharaj.paleri@iemr.in>, Mansha Tejpal <mansha.tejpal@iemr.in> Ne 1. Ne 2. Ne 3. Ne 4. Ne 5. Ne 6. Ne 7. Ne Headline : Ti le - F el Ti le - CIL fo oe of po e co : Ficci fo c apping of impo g o cla gen go ac ion

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Ti le - Eigh co e ec o

0.1% in Oc obe , lo e

Ti le - FE Edi o ial : F eeing cap i e coal Ti le - RIL Ref e o In e a Tiff O e D6 Block E cala e e o Ca h- a on Ene g ed Po e Co

Ti le - AM C Hike E po Ti le - Slippe Fo eca

8. Ne s Title - Weather risk looms over Australia s coal miners 9. Ne 10. Ne Ti le - FINALLY, ORDER COM PELLING OPEN ACCESS IN POWER Ti le - A DEEPENING CRISIS IN PO ER

1. Ne Ne

Ti le - F el oe of po e co : Ficci fo pape - Financial E p e .financiale p e .com /ne

gen go

ac ion

URL - h p://

/f el- oe -of-po e -co -ficci-fo -

gen -go -ac ion/882456/0

Ne Delhi: The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) has sought intervention from the government on an urgent basis to resolve fuel supply crisis facing the pow er sector, w arning that further delay could lead to idling of generation capacity and impact investors sentiments about the sector. Fuel supply risk is the biggest threat faced by pow er sector and unless urgent policy interventions are made, it w ill result in idling of capacity and seriously jeopardize future capacity additions, Rajiv Kumar, secretary general, Ficci has said in a letter sent to deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluw alia. Painting the scenario prevailing in the pow er sector, Kumar has said domestic coal shortage and high prices of the fuel in the international market have made banks cautious about lending to project developers. Banks and financial institutions have already slow ed dow n disbursements, asking for steady supplies of coal. Private developers have become cautious in making investments as all are aw aiting a corrective regulatory/policy response from the government to resolve the crisis-like situation emerging from the shortage of domestic coal and steep rise in the price of imported fuel due to price volatility and resource nationalism. Project developers are unable to meet contractual commitments for reasons beyond their control. The price of imported coal is an issue for prospective and already commissioned projects, Kumar argued. The Ficci SG has also sought government's intervention to divert natural gas being supplied to non-core sectors to help pow er project developers overcome their fuel shortage. The government's Gas Utilization Policy has termed pow er and fertiliser as priority sectors and has priortised natural gas for these sectors. Therefore, it is suggested that over 18 million standard cubic meter per day (mmscmd) of gas w hich is presently being supplied to non-core sectors like steel, petrochemicals and refineries should be diverted to pow er projects both existing and new projects, Kumar said in the letter.

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Ti le - CIL fo

c apping of im po

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coal polic

pape - Financial E p e .financiale p e .com /ne /cil-fo - c apping-of-im po -cla e-in-ne -coal-polic /882457/0
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12/1/11

Great Lakes IEMR Mail - Energy Sector News (01/12/11)

Ne Delhi: The country s single largest coal producer, Coal India (CIL), has asked the government to do aw ay w ith a provision under New Coal Distribution Policy that allow s it to import the raw material on behalf of domestic customers and sell it to them. According to a company official, this w as because the coal producer could not find any consumer ready to buy it at the price being offered by CIL. Importing coal means higher prices. Once w e import, w e have to sell it at minimum profits. With our discussions w ith officials of some pow er and steel companies, none of them agreed to pay more than the import price, the official said on the condition of anonymity. New Coal Distribution Policy makes it mandatory for CIL to meet up to 50% requirement of coal for domestic consumers. When the policy w as announced in 2007, CIL had agreed to the provision of import thinking that it w ould be easier to meet the production shortfall. How ever, as per current norms, coal has open general licensing system. Which means, any company be it steel, pow er or cement can import the raw material as per their requirement. Since there is a shortage of coal production in the country, most of the private firms and PSUs including Tatas, NTPC, meet their requirements through import. None of the companies w ould w ant to shell out more to buy it from CIL. CIL has already taken up the matter w ith coal ministry, w hich supports its demand. The coal ministry has conveyed planning commission that since the core competency of CIL is production not trading, it should stay aw ay from selling imported coal. The coal can not be imported in bulk and stored. It needs to be fixed w ith individual end users based on the requirement of quality and quantity of coal. Since, CIL has found no buyer, it is better not to have such provision, a ministry official said. The coal requirement in the country is going to go up significantly. The total demand of coal during the 12 th five year plan is estimated to be 980.50 million tonne as against expected production of 683 mt.

3. Ne s Title - Eight core sectors gro Ne spaper - Financial E press URL - http://

0.1% in October, slo est in 6 ears

.financiale press.com /ne s/Eight-core-sectors-gro -0-1-in-October-slo est-in-6- ears/882452/0

Ne Delhi: Reinforcing the view that the economic slow dow n could be steeper than w hat the policymakers have predicted, the grow th of eight infrastructure sectors virtually came to a halt in October, a situation seen only six years ago. These industries grew a mere 0.1% in the month as compared to 7.2% in the same month last year. In September 2011, the core sector industries grew 2.3%. Coal and natural gas proved major blots on infrastructure w ith a negative grow th of 9% and 7.4% during October as compared to a year ago. There have problems in coal supply and pricing, Aggarw al said. Crude oil, petroleum products and fertilisers also w itnessed reduction in output at 0.9%, 2.8% and 2.1% respectively. Surprisingly, electricity generation grew 4.9% despite coal supply issues. Steel also expanded 3.8%. During April-October 2011, infrastructure industries grew 4.3% against 5.9% during the corresponding period in 2010. Eight infrastructure sectorscoal, crude oil, steel, petroleum products, natural gas, fertilisers, electricity and cementhave a combined w eight of nearly 38% in industrial production measured by index of industrial production (IIP). Infrastructure is second to manufacturing in terms of w eightage in IIP and such a drastic reduction in its grow th could lead to a fall in IIP number. IIP figure is already on a slide w ith a grow th of only 1.9% in September compared w ith 6.2% grow th in the corresponding month a year ago. It w as significantly low er than the dow nw ardly revised 3.6% grow th registered in August 2011. Analysts said the slide might have been caused by supply bottlenecks and low investment sentiments after 13 interest rate hikes by Reserve Bank of India since March 2010. Some projects have delayed commissioning due to high interest rates and input costs, Pricew aterhouseCoopers executive director Manish Aggarw al told FE. Angel Broking's research analyst (infrastructure) Shailesh Kanani said the problem may accentuate going forw ard. In the short term, the companies have a good order book but problems are seen in long term, he said.

4. Ne s Title - FE Editorial : Freeing capti e coal Ne spaper - Financial E press URL - http:// .financiale press.com /ne s/FE-Editorial-Freeing-capti e-coal/882514/0

With electricity, gas and w ater supply grow th rising from 7.9% in Q1FY12 to 9.8% in Q2FY12, it is tempting to think India s pow er sector w oes are behind it. You just have to look at the mounting losses in the sector that are driving utilities to banks for restructuring loans (Crisil estimates R56,000 crore of pow er loans could go bad if tariffs are not raised in the next 18 months) and the huge shortage in coal stocks, how ever, to know that the situation is pretty grim. Indeed, the latest GDP data show s that the mining sector actually contracted 2.9% in Q2it grew 1.8% in Q1FY12 and 8% in Q2FY11. As a result of this, 52 thermal plants now have less than a w eek of coal
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12/1/11

Great Lakes IEMR Mail - Energy Sector News (01/12/11)

stocks (it w as 36 at the beginning of October) as opposed to the norm of 15-30 days. As a result of this, peak rates for short-term electricity on the largest pow er exchange rose to R9 on Tuesday for southern statesthis w ill, in turn, raise losses in the pow er sector. A ready, if controversial, solution offers itself and it is unfortunate that the PM has repeatedly called off meetings on the pow er sector over the past few monthslet units w ith captive mines produce extra coal and sell this in the open market. The coal ministry has opposed the move on the grounds that it w ill mean w indfall profits for pow er units that have already benefited from having captive mines. But the alternative is to import much more expensive coal. It is also true that allow ing Reliance Pow er to use the extra coal from its Sasan UMPP in another of its pow er plants is the subject of a suit by Tata Pow er in the Supreme CourtThe Indian Express reported on Wednesday that pow er minister Sushil Kumar Shinde is proposing that this permission now be w ithdraw n! But it may be a good idea for the government to consider the proposal seriouslypart of the w indfall profits made by the captives can be sequestered by the government and it can be ensured that the captive production is sold to units that don t have captive coal. In the medium term, how ever, there is no solution other than allow ing the private sector, from India and overseas, to enter into commercial coal mining.

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Ti le - RIL Ref

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a Tiff O e D6 Block E cala e

pape - Econom ic Tim e e&login=defa l &p b=ET

URL - h p://epape . im e ofindia.com /Dail / kin /ETNEW/na iga o .a p?Dail =ETD& ho ST=

The stand-off betw een Reliance Industries and the government is intensifying as the company w ill not make fresh investments needed to revive sagging output from the D6 block until legal issues are resolved, w hile ministry officials are frow ning at the firms unexpected arbitration notice, government and industry sources said. Reliance has initiated arbitration proceedings after the oil ministry did not clarify if it w ould allow the company to recover its costs from the revenue of the field. RIL had sought this clarification after media reports in September suggested that the oil ministry w ould not allow full cost recovery because output had fallen sharply. The gas production from the block has dropped to below 45 million standard cubic meters per day against the approved output of 80 mmscmd. Industry executives close to RIL said the company could not risk w aiting for the oil ministry s formal communique on this matter due to its past experience. In the past, the government unilaterally snatched freedom of the company to fix the gas price and choose its consumers. This could have been repeated even this time, one expert said requesting anonymity. About four years ago, the then oil minister, Murli Deora had re-interpreted the PSC and taken aw ay pricing and marketing freedom of RILled consortium and the matter w as finally settled by the Supreme Court in the RIL vs RNRL case. The apex court ruled that the natural resources belong to the government and it had rights over its pricing and distribution. These executives said RIL w ould not be able to make fresh investment in the D6 block in Krishna-Godavari basin until the arbitration proceedings are over. An Oil ministry official said RIL s arbitration notice w as unw arranted as there w as no cause of action. RIL had issued an arbitration notice on Monday to the ministry apprehending a penal action by the government for falling gas output from D6. RIL is over-reacting. We have not yet taken decision in this matter, an oil ministry official said requesting anonymity. Officials said the company had taken pre-emptive action to prevent the oil ministry from changing its production-sharing contract (PSC) w ith the RIL-led consortium, w hich allow s the consortium to recover 100% investments in the block. On November 22, Oil Secretary GC Chaturvedi had said if need be, the government could change the PSC. He had said that the ministry w ould take a decision in this matter in three-four w eeks. The Oil ministry and RIL did not respond to ET s email queries

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Ti le - AMC Hike E po pape - Econom ic Tim e

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The cash-starved pow er sector has been receiving help from unexpected quarters. Asset management companies have increased their lending to pow er generation and transmission companies this year even as analysts w arn that bleak sectoral outlook has heightened the risk of payment defaults. Higher yields are luring mutual funds to buy debt papers of pow er companies, money managers said. Overall debt exposure of mutual funds to pow er sector shot up 35% to around . 1,613 crore betw een January and October this year. Excluding investments in pow er finance companies and NBFCs, the mutual fund industry has about 1% exposure to core pow er generation, transmission and equipment companies as of end-October. Most fund managers are buying more papers of pow er companies as these papers offer 75-100 bps higher yields than bank CDs, w hich are now quoting over 9.25%. To make a comparative reference, a Tata Steel paper gets traded at 9.75% w hile a Tata Pow er paper quotes 10.25-10.50%. Only about 20% of the money invested by mutual funds are in commercial papers, the remaining chunk being in bonds of pow er companies. Yields have been pretty good in pow er sector issuances. Most pow er companies have good capital adequacy ratios; these companies have a robust receivable model. There is good demand for pow er in this country. These factors make pow er companies attractive to investors, said Sujoy Das, head of fixed income at Religare Mutual Fund. Higher coal prices and poor transmission/distribution infrastructure are the only tw o factors plaguing pow er companies. We don t expect repayment defaults by pow er companies. Most of our investments are in high quality graded papers, Das said.
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12/1/11

Great Lakes IEMR Mail - Energy Sector News (01/12/11)

Industry exposure to pow er generation companies like NTPC, Tata Pow er, JSW Energy and Reliance Utilities & Pow er has risen 112% to . 1,431 crore since January this year, according to data sourced from ICRA and Bonanza Portfolios. There has been a lot of issuances from pow er companies over the past one year. Better yields may also be prompting fund houses to invest in pow er sector debt. Most funds have their investments in good quality papers, said Hiren Dhakan, fund-of-fund manager at Bonanza Portfolios. Fund managers are selectively buying issuances of smaller companies, bearing shorter maturities (3-4 months), to increase portfolio returns by a few percentage points. Funds are also looking at companies w hich have captive coal linkages and are not dependent on merchant coal. Though most pow er companies enjoy highest credit ratings currently, a reason attributed by fund managers for their aggressive exposure to the sector, analysts are apprehensive about deteriorating finances of pow er companies. In the medium term, there are w orries w ith respect to finances of pow er companies. Even if pow er companies manager to better their financial position by raising pow er tariffs, fuel costs are going to create problems for pow er companies, said Rohit Singh, pow er sector analyst at IDBI Capital. According to IDBI Capital Markets, debt position of all pow er utilities put together has increased 27% to . 3,10,900 crore vis-a-vis . 2,45,000 crore in FY09. Debt schemes, like Reliance FHF (fixed maturity plan), Principal Ultra Short Term, ICICI Pru Interval Fund, ICICI Prudential Income Opportunities Fund, Templeton India Income Fund, Reliance Dynamic Bond Fund and SBI Capital Protection Oriented Fund, among other debt schemes, have 17-29% exposure to pow er generation and transmission companies. Critics are w ary of the heightening interest of mutual funds in debt issuance of pow er companies as they compare the sector s financial position to that of real estate companies in 2008. Then, fund houses had to roll over several loans to real estate companies as they w ere not in a position to repay because of fund crunch. At the height of the crisis, real estate companies w ere restructuring shortterm mutual fund loans at rates as high as 16-18%. Fund managers are not expecting a similar situation in the case of pow er companies. According to equity analysts, the recent restructuring of pow er sector loans by banks w ill buy time for companies to raise pow er tariffs and release their finances. Things have started improving in the pow er sector; raised tariffs w ill help pow er companies stay afloat till the government rationalises coal prices, said the fixed income head of a private fund house. Over the past 18 months, 22 states increased rates in the range of 934%. States that have raised rates include Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Bihar, Karnataka, Chandigarh, MP and Jharkhand. 7. New s Title - Slipper Forecasts on Energ New spaper - Econom ic Tim es URL - http://epaper.tim esofindia.com /Dail /skins/ETNEW/navigator.asp?Dail =ETD&show ST=true&login=default&pub=ET There is grow ing euphoria over America s energy future. Energy experts around the globe have been claiming that the US w ill gain energy independence in the next eight years. Optimists have even gone on to claim that America s energy independence w ill lead to global energy independence. The primary basis for the first of these tw o claims is a series of technological breakthroughs, the most important of w hich is the application of w hat is called shale gas technology to extract oil from rock. Experts and journalists are so impressed by this technological breakthrough that they have credited it for low ering US dependence on imported oil by aquarter from 60% of the country s overall oil consumption a few years ago to 46% in the current year. Has there really been such afantastic rise in domestic production to account for this dramatic fall in US dependence on imported oil? Well, w hen something sounds too good (to be true), it is w ise to revisit facts. There has certainly been a decline in US oil imports, and there is certainly a major technological breakthrough in oil extraction. But the current decline in imports has nothing to do w ith this breakthrough; the recent decline in imports is almost entirely demand-driven. So, if you have to thank someone, alas, it w ould have to be the Great Recession or the housing bubble that caused the recession or the financial meltdow n that preceded the recession. Take your pick. The US consumption of oil has declined by 13% since the start of the Great Recession. There is indeed some increase in production less than half amillion barrels per day but that s like a drop in the bucket of US oil imports of 11.5 million barrels per day. Okay, not a drop, but not more than a few teaspoons. What has been missing from the current energy euphoria is the story from the demand side. The US economy has been staggering under the Great Recession for close to five years now , w ith the unemployment rate being 9% or higher for three consecutive years. More than half the country s w orking-age population has experienced w orkrelated hardships unemployment, cut in w ages and involuntary cutbacks in paid hours and many have been impacted by negative home equity, arrears on their mortgage payments or foreclosure. All this has had the cumulative impact of low ering overall consumption, including energy consumption. Energy conservation has alw ays been a dirty w ord in US politics. But conservationists have made some breakthroughs over the years. The US economy is at least tw ice as efficient in energy use today as it w as tw o decades ago. US Energy Information Administration s forecast for the next quarter century is a steady decline inper-capita energy use driven by more efficient energy use, structural changes and decarbonisation. Forecasts are just forecasts, how ever. Based on a number of scenarios relating to energy prices, technological, economic and demographic changes, and future oil discoveries, forecasts change w ith these scenarios. Oil forecasts have been notoriously slippery, yet such notoriety has not stopped experts and organisations from making them. Indeed, forecasting oil prices and production is a successful business, though not for the accuracy of the estimates. In 1999, The Economist magazine ran a cover story predicting that the price of oilw ill plummet to $5 a barreland that the w orld economy w ill be drow ning in oil . In the 13 years since the infamous forecast, the actual price of oil has been four to 30-times higher. We hope that the current forecasts on US energy independence are based on firmer grounds. Experts claim that w ithin the next eight years, shale reserves in the US w ill produce three million barrels a day and oil sands production in Canada w ill double from 1.5 to 3 million barrels per day. If these projections turn true, US may not have to import oil from outside the w estern hemisphere. Both these sources of oil are, how ever, unconventional and, therefore, expensive. Production is slow and has environmental consequences. For instance, horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing is know n to affect underground w ater. According to energy expert Daniel Yergin, extraction of oil from Canadian oil sands releases 5-15% more carbon dioxide than the average barrel of oil used in the US. Thus, w hile
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12/1/11

Great Lakes IEMR Mail - Energy Sector News (01/12/11)

energy independence is a temping goal and there are more long-term sources of oil available in the w estern hemisphere, w hether it is economic to produce oil from these sources after adjusting for environmental costs w ill be an important factor that w ill determine the exploitation of these sources. Finally, a few w ords on the forecast that US energy independence w ill lead to global energy independence. Americans guzzle more energy than anyone else on our planet. Therefore, a reduction in American oil imports w ill reduce pressure on oil prices and make more energy available for the rest of the w orld. But in recent years, most of the additional demand for oil has come from Asia and the demand from that source w ill continue to rise in future as incomes rise in Asian countries and as Asians increase their per-capita energy consumption to levels now enjoyed in the w estern w orld. Thus, global energy independence, w hatever the term actually means, w ould depend on energy demand in Asia, w here almost tw othirds of the humanity lives, in particular China and India, the tw o largest (population-w ise) and fastest-grow ing economies

8. New s Title - We athe r risk looms ove r Australia s coal mine rs Ne wspape r - Busine ss Standard URL - http://e pape r.busine ss-standard.com/bse pape r/svww_z oomart.php?Artname =20111201a_003101002&ile ft=591&itop=57& z oomRatio=130&AN=20111201a_003101002 AFTER last January s massive floods that w ashed across Australia s resource-rich eastern state of Queensland, severely affecting the region s lucrative coal mining industry, there are now w arnings that more averse w eather could be on its w ay tow ards the end of this year. La Nia a w eather phenomenon characterised by unusually cool sea surface temperatures, leading to heavy rains in the Pacific region such as the Queensland floods has re-emerged but is expected to w eaker than last year, metrological agencies have said, adding that the La Nia could strengthen in intensity moving into 2012. More inclement w eather w ill put further pressure on Queensland s coal industry, w hich is yet to recover completely after mines as w ell as transport infrastructure w ere damaged by flood w aters. Some of w orld s largest mining companies, including Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, AngloAmerican, Peabody, Xstrata and Macarthur Coal have operations in the region, and any impact on production w ill drive up prices, analysts have indicated. A La Nina w eather condition usually brings heavy rains to the Australasian region and could disrupt coal production thereby creating supply shortages. We take note that several Australian mines still have w ater in the pits from last year s La Nina, due to regulatory discharge constraints, UBS analyst Andreas Bokkenheuser said in a recent note.

9. New s Title - FINALLY, ORDER COMPELLING OPEN ACCESS IN POWER New spaper - Business standard URL - http://epaper.business-standard.com /bsepaper/svw w _ oom art.php?Artnam e=20111201a_ 005101001&ileft=0&itop=51& oom Ratio=132&AN=20111201a_005101001 The Union pow er ministry has told all state governments, pow er regulators and distribution utilities to delay no more in implementing the open access provisions of the Electricity Act, 2003. Open access, meaning freedom to choose the supplier, w as being denied for consumers w anting 1 Mw or above, ow ing to a perceived ambiguity in the relevant provisions. The pow er ministry had taken the law ministry s advice before issuing the new instruction today. Pramod Deo, chairman of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, told Business Standard: The utilities w ill negotiate w ith all 1 Mw and above contract demand consumers for the rate at w hich electricity w ill be supplied and terms and conditions of such supply. Regulators w ill determine tariff for all other consumers taking into account discoms annual revenue requirement, minus the revenue being earned from 1 Mw and above consumers. Former Union pow er secretary RV Shahi said this w ould help push reforms in the distribution sector. Denial by many of the states on the implementation of open access has delayed reforms. This is the correct interpretation of the Electricity Act. Competition is the core objective of this legislation and w e should expect that at least now , the state regulators, state governments and distribution utilities w ill sincerely make all efforts to implement this provision, so that the desired benefits to consumers become available. This w ill also facilitate a better payment security mechanism for the generation companies. Of course, this w ill put some stress on the distribution companies, w hose financial health is, as it is, in bad shape. We w ill have to give serious thought on how these discoms come out of the financial mess.

10. New s Title - A DEEPENING CRISIS IN PO WER Ne wspape r - Busine ss standard URL - http://e pape r.busine ss-standard.com/bse pape r/svww_z oomart.php?Artname =20111201a_009101001&ile ft=1&itop=57&z oomRatio=130&AN=20111201a_009101001 If he e i one hing ha he po e ec o epea edl e e each ime planne i do n o i e g o h p o pec fo he ne fi e ea , i i of being in big o ble. While he addi ion in in alled gene a ion capaci ha been he highe d ing he c en Ele en h Plan pe iod, ppl bo leneck , lo e in di ib ion and i ing p ice of coal impo a g a bleak f e fo p i a e po e p od ce . Po e p ofe ional a ha he i a ion i imila o ha i a en ea ago hen di ib ion lo e and lack of pa ing capaci a di ib ion companie
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12/1/11

Great Lakes IEMR Mail - Energy Sector News (01/12/11)

backing out of power purchase agreements (PPAs). Signs of a Meltdown T here may still be some time left before a flashpoint is reached but signs of a meltdown are easily noticeable. Just this month, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) rejected a JSW Energy plea that soughta higher tariff under a PPA it had signed with the state. JSW Energy had earlier argued that since their Indonesian fuel supplier, Sungai Belati Coal, had used the clause of force majeure with them following a fresh Indonesian government diktat on pricing, it could seek an escalation in the power price. No such luck. T he regulator asked JSW Energy to assume the risk of the project itselfan ominous sign for the company, and the industry. If a person enters into a contract on the basis that the raw material available to the person on the date of the contract is `X, such a person cannot rescind the contract on the basis that the raw material on the date of performance of the contract or during the performance of the contract has increased from `X, the MERC order says. Similarly, ultra mega power projects (UMPPs), Mundra and Krishnapatnam, whose business plans are based on importing coal, are finding it difficult to offer the same level of tariffs that they had bid with at the time of bagging the contracts. In some sense, the industry is at the receiving end of a double whammy. On one hand, infrastructure bottlenecks prevent domestic coal from reaching power plants. On the other hand, imported coal is becoming more and more expensive and this trend is not being cushioned through a higher tariff. We have more or less reached the same situation which was there 10 years back. Many of large projects are under construction. We had committed to bring in the private sector but now we cannot abandon them, says Pramod Deo, chairman, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC). Best Regards, Naveen Agarw al Research Fellow Great Lakes Institute of Energ Management and Research, Plot No. 815, Ud og Vihar - V, Gurgaon-122016 Mob: +91 8882303291 w w w .iemr.in

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