Indian Power Sector Research Articles

Ozone Monitoring Instrument Observations of Interannual Increases in SO2 Emissions from Indian Coal-Fired Power Plants during 2005–2012

Due to the rapid growth of electricity demand and the absence of regulations, sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions from coal-fired power plants in India have increased notably in the past decade. In this study, we present the first interannual comparison of SO2 emissions and the satellite SO2 observations from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) for Indian coal-fired power plants during the OMI era of 2005-2012. A detailed unit-based inventory is developed for the Indian coal-fired power sector, and results show that its SO2 emissions increased dramatically by 71% during 2005-2012. Using the oversampling technique, yearly high-resolution OMI maps for the whole domain of India are created, and they reveal a continuous increase in SO2 columns over India. Power plant regions with annual SO2 emissions greater than 50 Gg year(-1) produce statistically significant OMI signals, and a high correlation (R = 0.93) is found between SO2 emissions and OMI-observed SO2 burdens. Contrary to the decreasing trend of national mean SO2 concentrations reported by the Indian Government, both the total OMI-observed SO2 and annual average SO2 concentrations in coal-fired power plant regions increased by >60% during 2005-2012, implying the air quality monitoring network needs to be optimized to reflect the true SO2 situation in India.

Competitive Mechanisms in Indian Power Sector

With the enactment of Electricity Act 2003, competition in the Indian power sector received a new nomenclature and is considered instrumental in driving the sector in a sustainable trajectory. An exploratory analysis of the development of the electricity market is carried out to understand the finer nuances of emerging competitive paradigm of the sector, its critical aspects, evolving trends and patterns and future outlooks. The analysis reveals that competition, as it has evolved over last decade or so, manifests a growing trend of an efficient, liquid and complete market phenomenon. The article also identifies key anomalies and distortions inhibiting the seamless growth of competition in the Indian power sector. More action is required in certain directions, such as enhancing liquidity of the market, addressing transmission congestion problems and dealing with open access constraints, controlling market power, giving teeth to the electricity regulatory commissions and importantly, addressing political economy concerns. It concludes that in order to carry forward the momentum, a cautious approach needs to be adopted and necessary ancillary measures are to be undertaken.

Derivatives in Power Sector

The paper aims at study of derivatives in power sector in India. Since, power trading involves a lot of risks and fluctuation, the use of derivatives can substantially stabilize the trading of power. The paper discusses the risk associated with power trading and how can derivatives minimize those risks. Also the regulating mechanism of the derivatives in the power sector is discussed in this paper. The paper aslo talks about the market scenario and comparitive anlysis of derivative makets and regulators in different countries. Also, the paper highlights the merits and demerits of the use of derivatives in the power sector, thus creating a whole scenarion of the use of derivatives in trading of power sector.

ENERGY CONSERVATION THROUGH ENERGY EFFICIENT TECHNOLOGIES AT THERMAL POWER PLANT

Energy audit and conservation is the burning issue nowadays due to the tremendous scarcity of electricity across the county. It is specifically quantifies as optimum use of electricity available. Normally it is extended to all the sectors viz, Industrial, commercial, residential as well as agriculture. Energy efficiency is a technique which needs to be adopted seriously and religiously for effective energy conservation. Energy saved by efficient use of energy of any electrically operated device not only leads to monetary saving but is extra energy generated for the use elsewhere. Indian power sector is caught between the pressure of adding new generating capacities to match the rapid growing demand of power to achieve economic and social development and the environmental challenges which is why our per capita power consumption is still 778 KWh only. Therefore by implementing Energy conservation in thermal power plant we try to recover the losses which go waste. By energy management, one can draw a line between the avoidable and un-avoidable losses and plan to minimize the same. So measurement Energy is a must within a plant. This paper describes basic understanding and awareness about energy conservation around the thermal power plant and also explains the energy saving measures at thermal power plant so as to minimize the auxiliary power consumption.

Efficient Generation Portfolio Construction Using Time-Varying Correlations

We constructed a procurement portfolio for the Indian power sector using two variants of the dynamic conditional correlation GARCH model to derive time-varying correlations between major coal indices. We used prices and qualities of observed cargos to adjust indices for quality gaps as well as for freight costs and power plant efficiency factors. Using the relative homogeneity of the energy content of imports from Australia, South Africa, and Indonesia, we found that the regional seaborne market is highly correlated during normal economic conditions, while suffering brief departures in correlation during demand and supply shocks. Our results show that the buying behavior of power producers is aligned with the mean-variance efficient portfolio of delivered prices using time-varying correlation estimates, but not free-on-board coal index prices. This study challenges the notion that thermal coal importers only source material with a freight price advantage and highlights the importance of coal quality gaps in power production.

Evaluating the potential of concentrating solar power generation in Northwestern India

To accelerate the decarburization in the Indian power sector, concentrating solar power (CSP) needs to play an important role. CSP technologies have found significant space in the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) of the Indian government in which 20,000MW grid connected solar power projects have been targeted by 2022 with 50% capacity for CSP. In this study a preliminary attempt has been made to assess the potential of CSP generation in the Northwestern (NW) regions of India; which seems a high potential area as it has the highest annual solar radiation in India, favorable meteorological conditions for CSP and large amount of waste land. The potential of CSP systems in NW India is estimated on the basis of a detailed solar radiation and land resource assessment. The energy yield exercise has been carried out for the representative locations using System Advisor Model for four commercially available CSP technologies namely Parabolic Trough Collector (PTC), Central receiver system (CRS), Linear Fresnel Reflector (LFR) and Parabolic Dish System (PDS). The financial viability of CSP systems at different locations in NW India is also analyzed in this study.On the basis of a detailed solar radiation and land resource assessment, the maximum theoretical potential of CSP in NW India is estimated over 2000GW taking into accounts the viability of different CSP technologies and land suitability criteria. The technical potential is estimated over 1700GW at an annual direct normal incidence (DNI) over 1800kWh/m2 and finally, the economic potential is estimated over 700GW at an annual DNI over 2000kWh/m2 in NW India. It is expected that in near future locations with lower DNI values could also become financially feasible with the development of new technologies, advancement of materials, economy of scale, manufacturing capability along with the enhanced policy measures etc. With an annual DNI over 1600kWh/m2 it is possible to exploit over 2000GW CSP in the NW India.

Present Scenario of Power Sector in India

Infrastructure is a key requirement for the sustained growth of an economy. Within infrastructure, growth in the power sector is one of the most important requirements for such growth.Though, the installed generation capacity of Indian power sector increased over the years. Yet, the power sector lacked in quality, security and reliability. It was characterized by gross underinvestments, serious under recoveries and had the highest contribution to the India‘s fiscal deficit. Inthe wake of all these difficulties, it was necessary to bring reforms in this sector. The present paper is an attempt to describe the efforts taken by Indian government for the overhauling of this sector since 1991, gaps in its implication and the need for future reforms.

R&D for the Indian Power Sector & Invitation for Research Proposals

R&D for the Indian Power Sector & Invitation for Research Proposals

Point of Connection Transmission Pricing in India

Abstract The National Electricity Policy (NEP) [1], issued by the Government of India, mandates transmission prices to be distance and direction sensitive and capture utilization of the network by each network user. In line with the mandate, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) [2] has issued Sharing of Interstate Transmission Charges and Losses Regulations, 2010 [3], to introduce point of connection (PoC)-based transmission pricing methodology in India. The methodology under the above regulations introduces one of the major reforms of its kind in the Indian power sector and seeks to share the total transmission charges in proportion to respective utilization of the transmission system by different entities. In this paper, the authors have enumerated their experience gained from the implementation of PoC-based transmission pricing regime in India. Authors have also discussed various issues encountered in the process of implementation and the methodology adopted.

A Review of CSR Activities of Four Public Sector Enterprises in Energy and Power Sector in India

India is at crossroads with regards to its economic and social development. Once a cornerstone of Indian economic development, the 249 Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) are still playing a vital role in social and economic development. With a paid up capital of Rs 1,480,000 million as on March 2010 their combined turnover was Rs 12,340,000 million with contributions of Rs 1,390,000 million to the central exchequer by way of excise duty, customs and others in 2009-10. These CPSE’s are “forced” to spend certain percentage of their net profits on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.Using secondary data, this paper analyses various dimensions of CSR activities of four key CPSEs. Critical observations are made and recommended to enhance the effectiveness of CSR programs as mandated by department of public enterprise (DPE) in its policy guidelines in April 2010.

Do Governance Costs Explain the Problem of Private Investment in the Indian Power Generation Sector?

After two decades of attempts to deregulate the Indian power sector and bring in more competition, the question we are asking is: why has private investment not flooded in as expected? We analyze the problem using an economics of governance framework which suggests that various organizational arrangements: markets, hierarchies and hybrids align themselves to minimize transaction costs. We subject our observations to the privately owned gas based power plants in two Indian states - Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. The Andhra Pradesh Independent Power Producers (IPPs) suffered because the government reneged on its soft commitments to provide gas, leading to a situation of incomplete contracting whereas the IPPs in the state of Gujarat performed better because they had insulated themselves against the risks of such contractual hazards by securing private gas supply contracts. Our analysis shows that the problem of private investment will persist as long as the costs of governance (adaptation to ex-post contractual hazards) are high. Under such a scenario, rather than moving towards a market based system, the sector will move towards organizational arrangements which are closer to vertical integration. To substantiate this, we also give some indicative evidence.

Optimization of India's power sector strategies using weight-restricted stochastic data envelopment analysis

India's power sector has a significant impact on the country's development and climate change mitigation efforts. Optimization of energy planning is therefore, key to achieving the overall planning goals. The hierarchical multi-objective policy optimization is a policy-centric multi-level bottom-up iterative approach, designed from a developing country perspective, utilizing the optimality principle of dynamic programming. It is applied to the Indian power sector by grouping the strategies into three portfolios, namely, power generation mix, demand side efficiency group and supply side efficiency group. Each portfolio is optimized taking into account the objectives of cost minimization and comprehensive risk and barrier reduction. The portfolios are further combined and optimized at a higher level with respect to higher level objectives, namely, economic growth, energy equity, energy security and climate sustainability. This paper focuses on the second level optimization utilizing data envelopment analysis (DEA). Both the deterministic and stochastic variations have been analysed and the results compared in respect of unrestricted as well as restricted weight models. The analysis shows that weight-restricted stochastic DEA model is most appropriate for efficiency optimization of power sector strategies. The methodology can be effectively used for energy planning in developing countries.

Indian power sector during the plan period: Strategy and gaps

This paper divides strategy of developing of Indian power sector into three distinct phases: General phase 1951–1969, Intensive phase 1969–1991, Reform phase 1992–2005. We observe that in the total energy mix, share of thermal power has expanded from 55.18 to 71.26 percent from (General phase, 1951–1969) to (Reform phase, 1992–2005). Further, we calculate the trends in the installed capacity built during these phases using simple econometric Semi-Log Model. Results show that during the General phase, total power generation capacity increased at 10.09 percent CAGR in spite of concentration on non- conventional energy generation sources, further, it rose only at 7.00 percent CAGR during the Intensive phase. The slippage in the power generation capacity occurred during the Intensive phase can be attributed to several impediments. However, during the Reform phase, installed capacity of electricity generation increased at 15.34 percent CAGR over the earlier phases. This is because of the implementation of economic and power sector reforms since1991 in India.

Indian Power Sector- A Review

Indian economy has been growing at a rate of 6-8 % annually during the last eight years which requires growth of basic infrastructural facilities at a still higher rate. Power sector being a major component of infrastructure development requires a growth rate of 9-10% during the next decade. This requires huge amount of investments and restructuring of power sector, for which Government cannot fund the entire amount independently. Hence, private participation is necessary either as an independent venture or through public-private partnership (PPP). This paper attempts to review the Indian power sector with respect to generation, transmission and distribution of electricity and identify and highlight the key initiatives and reforms undertaken for private participation in the electricity sector and some issues that are being grappled with in effort to make the sector efficient and attractive for investments.

Assessment of Wind Energy Technology Potential in Indian Context

Wind energy is highly preferred alternative as compared to conventional sources of power. India plays a leading role in the global wind energy market, but it is still not use its full wind potential, which is far from the exhausted condition. Moreover, these resources can lead to growth in Indian power sector. In this paper, the assessment of wind technology is explored for Indian context vis-a-vis indices related to wind technology. The state wise status, challenges, development of wind power; and market for small wind turbine system are discussed in detail. Moreover, the issues related to wind turbine capacity and installation are elaborated for wind technology in India.

Emission constrained power system planning: a pinch analysis based study of Indian electricity sector

In the light of rising electricity demands and a need to curb carbon dioxide emissions, this article investigates the problem of power system planning with emission targeting. A pinch analysis based approach is utilised here. The key aspect of this study is investigating the parameters that decide the priority of one type of power plant over another. For this, a quantity called prioritised cost, a trade off between cost incurred and emission from a new power plant is identified. In addition to cost and emission factor of a power plant, a third parameter, the present state of the system, also plays a significant role in deciding a power plant’s prioritised cost. The analysis done proves that new power plants can be added to the system in the order of their prioritised cost. This methodology is applied to Indian power sector as a case study. Two different problems, involving minimisation of investment and annualised cost, are considered. It is observed that renewables are slightly more favoured when the objective is to minimise overall cost and not just the capital investment. In both cases, the energy mix is still dominated by coal-based power generation. The share of renewables was seen to increase with more stringent emission targets when the objective was to minimise overall cost.

Towards a Cleaner Environment with IRP—An Indian Case Study

In India`s technical evolution, as with many other nations, the power sector is faced with the twin challenges of increasing generating capacity to combat growing power shortages, and at the same time reducing the environmental degradation caused by electricity generation. This article examines the alternatives to traditional fossil-fuel-fired or large hydropower stations. The conclusion presents two scenarios, the first being the business as usual case where traditional coal-fired generation remains the mainstay of the Indian power sector; the other being an integrated resource planning (IRP) scenario. The installed capacity required and the consequent emissions of acid and greenhouse gases are compared between the two scenarios for different years.

Increase in NOx Emissions from Indian Thermal Power Plants during 1996–2010: Unit-Based Inventories and Multisatellite Observations

Driven by rapid economic development and growing electricity demand, NO(x) emissions (E) from the power sector in India have increased dramatically since the mid-1990s. In this study, we present the NO(x) emissions from Indian public thermal power plants for the period 1996-2010 using a unit-based methodology and compare the emission estimates with the satellite observations of NO(2) tropospheric vertical column densities (TVCDs) from four spaceborne instruments: GOME, SCIAMACHY, OMI, and GOME-2. Results show that NO(x) emissions from Indian power plants increased by at least 70% during 1996-2010. Coal-fired power plants, NO(x) emissions from which are not regulated in India, contribute ∼96% to the total power sector emissions, followed by gas-fired (∼4%) and oil-fired (<1%) ones. A number of isolated NO(2) hot spots are observed over the power plant areas, and good agreement between NO(2) TVCDs and NO(x) emissions is found for areas dominated by power plant emissions. Average NO(2) TVCDs over power plant areas were continuously increasing during the study period. We find that the ratio of ΔE/E to ΔTVCD/TVCD changed from greater than one to less than one around 2005-2008, implying that a transition of the overall NO(x) chemistry occurred over the power plant areas, which may cause significant impact on the atmospheric environment.

(Re) Evolution in HR Strategies - Power Sector

Evolution or a revolution in HR Strategies is required in the vibrant and expanding Powerful Sector. The power Sector in India has gone in for reforms unbundling the sector into separate accountable entities. The Power Sector conventionally revolves around Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution. The Manufacturing (or Sourcing from Manufacturers) and Project Development is as much important from the developers’ perspective. Each of these activities requires specialized skill sets. In this paper, emphasis has been placed on Supercritical Thermal Power Plants. The HR Managers, if are passive are just to pass on the job description to HR Consultant, but the active ones will get involved with the process of Placement and or pre-placement training for having a human resource added to the organization. Some of the organizations in any of the above activities of the Power Sector are even considering HR department as a profit center. As a business transformation of the Power Sector organization, the HR Skill center goes on developing number of personnel, the best ones are picked up by their own organization, and the others are made available to the sub-contractors or other organizations. In both cases HR Skill center acts as a placement company specializing in Power Sector. While Power sector needs skilled manpower at home, there is an acute shortage to run the Power Plants abroad. Power Sector personnel are getting re-employed to meet the partial shortage. The Skills mismatch and skill gaps are being now heard in every sector and Power Sector is not different. This is more acute in Europe where the work force is becoming grey. Even China is on the edge to suffer because of One Child Policy. New business models like Cross Culture Joint Ventures (JVs), Public Private Partnership (PPP) involve a lot of vibrations in complete HR Chain.

Carbon tax and energy resource in Indian power sector

Global warming is a universal problem nowadays. The recent United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen was partially successful because all participating countries realised the damages caused by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and promise to mitigate in the future course of time. India has also promised to reduce 20% to 25% of these emissions up to the year 2020. To implement this, there is a need of solid policy formulation and alternative methodologies. This paper presents the introduction of carbon tax in Indian power sector to mitigate the GHG emissions. Three scenarios with different carbon taxes and various energy saving cases have been developed using MARKAL energy system model. The simulation results show that full exploitation of energy conservation potential with 30% carbon tax lead to a sustainable development. About 72% CO2 emission will be reduced in the year 2045 as compared to the base case scenario. Other scenarios also show significant reduction in atmospheric emission.