Electricity Crisis

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Rotaract Club of K.V.Pendharkar College Rotaract Club of M.L.Dahanukar College

Electricity Crisis

It has become a common sight that angry citizens take to the streets in protesting against the abysmal power situation. Some of the areas receive only an hour of electricity every day. Police has to control the law and order situation on account of peoples agitation. State governments blame Centre for not allocating enough electricity to their states. The Governments try to blame its predecessor. The people do not buy this excuse. Who is to blame for the abysmal power situation this summer? Those in Government find it easiest to pass the buck. The states blame the Centre. The Centre blames the states. Power is on the Concurrent List of the Constitution. Both the Centre and states must share the blame. The Centre must take the rap for the shortage in generation of power. The peak power deficitthe gap between demand and supply in the summer of 2010-according to the Government's own calculations was 10.8 per cent. The responsibility for distributing available power inefficiently falls on the states. Losses in distribution average over 30 per cent across India. At the Centre, the power, environment, coal and heavy industries ministries have in various ways acted as obstacles to the addition of capacity. In the states, populist governments and spineless electricity regulators have done little to reform ailing distribution networks. The situation is expected to get worse before it gets better. The Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the main advisory body to the Union power minister, has set a target of 100,000 mw of additional power generation in the period of the 12th fiveyear plan between 2012 and 2017. That is what is needed to meet the power demand of an economy forecast to grow at 9 per cent per annum. The Planning Commission accepts this target but Environment Ministry does not which says that the target is "ecologically unsustainable". Environment Ministry is worried about the impact this additional generation will have on climate change. Seventy per cent of this additional capacity is to be added through By:
Rotaract Club of K.V.Pendharkar College Rotaract Club of M.L.Dahanukar College

Electricity Crisis
coal-based thermal power. Given the dismal record over the past 20 years, Environment Ministry need not worry about the Government meeting its target. According to Planning Commission estimates, only averages of 50.5 per cent of overall targets were met in the eighth, ninth and tenth five-year plans between 1992 and 2007. Every major political formation has governed the country in that period none has much to be proud of in terms of performance in the power sector. The target for the 11th plan (20072012) has already been revised downwards from 78,700 mw to 62,374 mw. With a year and a half to go until the end of 2012, only around 50 per cent of that revised target has been achieved. Realistically speaking, the Government will do well to hit 60 per cent of its original target by the end of 2012. The most serious bottleneck in generation is the shortage of coal. At the end of 2007, the gap between the demand and supply of coal was 35 million tonnes. It is expected to be around 83 million tonnes at the end of 2012. Says the midterm appraisal document of the Planning Commission: "The shortage would have been even more had all the planned coal-based power plants been commissioned on time." By 2017, the shortage is forecast to be 200 million tonnes. As per the government the shortage of domestic/imported coal affected thermal generation. Some of the blame for the shortage can be laid at the door of the environment minister whose controversial 'no-go' policy announced in 2009 imposed a ban on mining in heavily forested areas. It declared 35 per cent of forest area in nine major coal-mining zones as 'nogo' zones. That led to an immediate halt of mining activity in 203 blocks which had a potential capacity of over 600 million tonnes. Coal Ministry argued that this ban could affect power generation to the tune of 1, 30,000 mw. The matter is now before a Group of Ministers (GOM) on mining. The fallout of the nuclear accident in Japan means that thermal power is back at the forefront. Hydro power continues to flounder because of concerns over rehabilitation and resettlement. Another serious bottleneck to generation is the shortage of equipment. According to a 2010 report prepared by consulting firm KPMG on the power sector, equipment shortages have been a significant reason for India missing its capacity addition targets for the 10th fiveBy:
Rotaract Club of K.V.Pendharkar College Rotaract Club of M.L.Dahanukar College

Electricity Crisis
year plan. The shortage has been primarily in the core components of boilers, turbines and generators. What may also deter private investors in the future is the inability of state electricity boards (SEB) to buy power at commercially viable rates. When India's largest thermal power generator, the Government-owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) recorded a mere 1 per cent growth in net profits in 2010-11, NTPC made the power stations available, but the SEBs did not draw power from those projects. This led to less generation of power and therefore less revenue. The drawdown in generation by NTPC led to a loss of 13 billion units (bu) of electricity in 2010-11. India's annual generation of power is estimated at around 800 billion units. NTPC's drawdown is 1.6 per cent of this total. If selling power to SEBs is a problem for NTPC, it is likely to be a problem for everyone else. The combined losses of SEBs currently stand at Rs 70,000 crore. The 13th Finance Commission has forecast this figure rising to over Rs 1 lakh crore by 2014. We cannot sustain the improvement in the quality of power supply unless tariffs are revised. Delhi's distribution companies lose Rs 1.79-1.93 per unit of power supplied to consumers. Planning Commission calculations of the financial performance of distribution companies in 20 major states (excluding Delhi and Orissa) shows that the average loss per unit supplied to the consumer was 90 paise in 200910. The loss per unit sold has hovered steadily between 80 paise and Re 1 between 2005 and 2010. Contrary to popular perception, Indian consumers on average pay much less for a unit of electricity than countries which are richer, both in terms of income and resources. In India, the average tariff charged is eight US cents per unit compared to 12-15 cents in Canada, South Africa and the US and 19-20 cents in much of Europe and the developing world. India will have to start thinking like a developed country. It is imperative that tariffs are regularized. A committee headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General V.K. Shunglu is working to recommend ways to reduce losses suffered by distribution companies. On top of the list of recommendations is reportedly the need to take action against inactive state electricity regulatory authorities which actually set the tariff. The regulatory authorities have statutory independence but usually act under pressure from state governments. In Tamil Nadu, for example, tariffs have not been revised for seven By:
Rotaract Club of K.V.Pendharkar College Rotaract Club of M.L.Dahanukar College

Electricity Crisis
years. In Delhi, they have not been revised for three years. That needs to change. Politicians, regulators and citizens need to recognize the need for viable tariffs. The transmission network needs to be strengthened to encourage private investors is the principle of "open access" where they are not captive to any one SEB for sales. SEBs are also free to look outside their state to buy electricity. ROLE OF ESCO IN ENERGY CONSERVAION

Seeing the huge scope of energy conservation the GoI with state governments is promoting investments through public-private partnerships in tapping renewable energy resources from mini hydro, solar, biomass, urban/industrial waste, cogeneration, etc. For this purpose the State Governments are notifying nodal agencies for carbon credits under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). All project developers (private as well as Government) can have assistance of these designated agencies in terms of seeking carbon credits under CDM for both supply new and renewable sources of energy as well as demand (energy efficiency) side projects. With a view to intensifying efforts towards Energy Conservation Action Plan to pursue a harmonious growth in energy efficiency different state government has nominated different organization to act as nodal agency the purpose of these is to implement energy efficiency programmes as per guide lines of BEE.
The major objectives of the Energy Conservation Action Plan are to:

Raise the profile of energy conservation movement with the active participation of the stakeholders, in consonance with the national objectives of reducing the energy intensity of the economy. Identify and implement cost-effective energy efficiency programs through a sustainable mechanism; Encourage energy efficiency activities by drawing upon the prevailing best practices relevant to the state and keeping in mind the national programs and activities being By:

Rotaract Club of K.V.Pendharkar College

Rotaract Club of M.L.Dahanukar College

Electricity Crisis
launched by BEE. These include the concerns of state electricity regulator in the domain of energy end-use efficiencies and focused demand-side man agement (DSM) initiatives. Encourage a spurt towards professional activities with adequate emphasis on self regulation and market principles, and monitoring and evaluation of programs through quantitative metrics (performance indicators). Create consumer awareness vis--vis energy conservation and energy efficiency consumer information and provide training opportunities for key professionals such as energy managers and auditors, building designers, government officials, and facility managers. Protect and enhance the local, national and global environment.

Towards the implementation of the Energy Efficiency Program the different states are taking up Governmental Buildings to begin with. The governmental building sector offers substantial energy saving potential in both new and existing building constructions. One of the major drivers for energy efficiency will come from the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) launched by BEE in May 2007. The Governments are announcing the mandatory following measures applicable to the governmental sector:Issuing notifications regarding the mandatory use of solar water heating systems, Use of compact fluorescent lamps, Use of BIS marked pump sets in government and private buildings, including industries and Use of solar water heating systems made mandatory in buildings having an area of more than 500 sq yard. Towards the beginning the state governments are going ahead with replacement of incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) in all government buildings and offices, including government guest houses, offices of board, corporations, cooperative organizations and municipalities. Further the SDAs are adopting strategies related to existing buildings in addition to ECBC to tap the energy saving potential in new construction/ existing buildings

By:
Rotaract Club of K.V.Pendharkar College Rotaract Club of M.L.Dahanukar College

Electricity Crisis
SDAs play an important role in developing better guidance on conducting building energy audits and developing commercial building energy use benchmarks (kWh/sq. m.) that would help in screening potential retrofit projects and help organizations set performance targets against peer benchmarks. There is a vast scope to improve energy efficiency in office buildings, hospitals, schools and universities. Several studies have shown that avenues to curtail energy use to the extent of 30-50% in end uses such as lighting, cooling, ventilation, refrigeration, etc. The potential is largely untapped partly because of lack of an effective delivery mechanism. Performance contracting through ESCOs is an innovative process.

An energy service company (acronym: ESCO or ESCo) is a commercial business providing a broad range of comprehensive energy solutions including designs and implementation of energy savings projects, energy conservation, energy infrastructure outsourcing, power generation and energy supply, and risk management.

The ESCO performs an in-depth analysis of the property, designs an energy efficient solution, installs the required elements, and maintains the system to ensure energy savings during the payback period. The savings in energy costs is often used to pay back the capital investment of the project over a five- to twenty-year period, or reinvested into the building to allow for capital upgrades that may otherwise be unfeasible. If the project does not provide returns on the investment, the ESCO is often responsible to pay the difference.

There is a draw back in this concept particularly to energy sector in India as in most of the cases the base line data of energy consumption is not available, for example if the ESCO is appointed say for replacement of all agriculture pumps with energy efficient pump sets (EEPS), investment is to be made by ESCO, it has to replace all inefficient pumps and then also it has to take care of their replacement within specified payback period, the saving thus achieved is to be distributed between ESCO and the employing agency. But here comes the main problem who will tell the saving? How the saving can be calculated as the base line data is not available. Most of the supply in agriculture sector is un-metered at consumer end even the substation meters of secondary substation are not having proper metering. Even if the meter is working properly then there is no maintenance of records. Further most of the feeders have a mixed load so there is no method to calculate the net saving in energy after energy efficient device is installed by the By:
Rotaract Club of K.V.Pendharkar College Rotaract Club of M.L.Dahanukar College

Electricity Crisis
ESCO. Same is the case with street lights where lies a huge potential by replacing sodium vapor lamps with LED, here again no base line data is not available for the purpose of evaluation.

Power crisis looms over Mumbai:

The prospects of power cuts loom large over Mumbai as the Maharashtra Electricity Transmission Company Ltd in its affidavit filed before the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission on Tuesday has stated that congestion in the Chandrapur-Padgha corridor can be removed only by April 24 and work on doubling the Bhadrawati-Chandrapur transmission line will be completed only by the last week of April. That means Mumbaikars have to sweat it out in March and April. On Monday, during the public hearing called by the power regulator to decide upon load shedding in Mumbai, representative of Mahatransco's sister concern Maharashtra Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (Mahadiscom) claimed that since BhadrawatiChandrapur line is going to be ready very soon, it is possible to bring additional power in Mumbai. He further said, "Mahadiscom and Tata Power had joint agreement with Jindal Power to buy 200 Mega watt (Mw) power but due to corridor constraints it was not possible to bring that power in Maharashtra, now that power can be brought in to the state and out of which 100 Mw can be supplied to Mumbai. After which Tata Power shown willingness bring additional 50 mw from its generation facility at Jameshdpur in Zarkhand. That left the issue of plugging in deficit of 100 mw as against earlier figure of 250 mw. The Tata Power even shown willingness to buy power from any other source and bring in Mumbai if power is available. However as per the directions given by MERC, Mahatransco filed its affidavit on Tuesday. The affidavit filed by Mahatransco says that, Chandrapur-Padgha transmission line is facing severe constraints due to failure of one of the transformers and the work of replacing the transformer will be completed only by April 24. The affidavit also states that, work of doubling the ChandrapurBhadrawati transmission line is likely to be completed only by the end of April. This means it will not be possible to wheel in additional power in Mumbai till the beginning of May and now all eyes are set to the order of MERC which is likely to be delivered on Thursday. By:
Rotaract Club of K.V.Pendharkar College Rotaract Club of M.L.Dahanukar College

Electricity Crisis

Special Thanks
The Web Communication Team & Editor Team
Rotaract club of K.V.Pendharkar College (Rotaract Zone 3b) & Rotaract Club of M.L.Dahanukar College (Rotaract Zone 1A)

For their day & night hard work..

Web Communication Team:

Rtr. Akshay Nawale - RC K.V.Pendharkar College Rtr. Aakash Damle RC M.L.Dahanukar College

Editor Team:
Rtr. Neil Lasrado RC K.V.Pendharkar College Rtr. Amruta Talwadekar RC M.L.Dahanukar College
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Rotaract Club of K.V.Pendharkar College Rotaract Club of M.L.Dahanukar College

Electricity Crisis

Thank You
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Rtr Gaurav Hatkar

President RC. K.V.PENDHARKAR COLLEGE (3B)
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Rotaract Club of K.V.Pendharkar College

Rtr. Siddhi Sawant

President RC. M.L.DAHANUKAR COLLEGE (1A)
Rotaract Club of M.L.Dahanukar College