Here is a summary of key developments in the power T&D space during July 2017:
Siemens, Schneider Electric and Eaton Corporation, apart from ABB, have shown interest in acquiring the electrical and automation (E&A) business of Larsen & Tourbo, unconfirmed media reports said. L&T, as widely reported, is seeking to sell its E&A business as it consider it “non-core”. The business has facilities at Navi Mumbai, Ahmednagar, Vadodara, Coimbatore and Mysuru in India. Outside India, L&T-E&A is present in Saudi Arabia, Jebel Ali (UAE), Kuwait, Malaysia, Indonesia and the UK.
Siemens India recently inaugurated its showcase digitalized low-voltage switchgear factory at Kalwa in Maharashtra. The globally-benchmarked factory can produce more than 180 variants at the rate of one product every nine seconds. The plant can manufacture over five million devices annually. Products at the plant communicate with machines and all processes are optimized for IT control, resulting in a minimal failure rate. The production methods deployed at the plant are expected to be a standard for small and medium-sized manufacturing units in India, achieving a visionary model for the future of manufacturing: end-to-end digitalization where the real and virtual worlds merge in “Digital Factory”.
Energy Efficiency Services Ltd has outlined capital expenditure of Rs. 6,000 crore that it plans to fund through a debt equity ratio of 80:20. The equity component of Rs. 1,200 crore would be met through a total equity contribution of about Rs.520 crore from its promoters NTPC, PFC, REC and PGCIL, while a part of it could be raised through an initial public offer (IPO) during the fourth quarter of FY18, according to reports.
West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company has planned to spend Rs.1,000 crore over the next 2-3 years to replace bare 50,000 km of overhead cables with AB (aerial bunched) cables, at locations where electricity pilferage was high. The power utility has a network of around 3.2 lakh km of low-tension overhead cables for last-mile distribution. The utility has also planned to build 125 new substations over the next three years; work has been initiated on around 70. WBSEDCL reportedly losses Rs.1,000 crore each year from power theft.
Tata Power Delhi Distribution has commissioned a 66/11kV grid substation at Rohini Sector -30, Delhi. The substation, expected to benefit over 45,000 customers, has an installed capacity of 50 MVA, with 16 outgoing feeders at 11kV level. It is an unmanned substation and will be remotely operated from Tata Power DDL’s SCADA centre. In an independent development, Tata Power-DDL and Russian Federal Test Center (FCT), signed an MoU for development of smart grid technologies, renewables, energy efficiency and conservation.
The government has sold part of its stake in Larsen & Toubro, thereby raising Rs.4,200 crore for the national exchequer. The government’s stake has now come down to around 4 per cent now, from 6.55 per cent earlier. The divested shares were purchased by State Bank of India (SBI) and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), New India Assurance and General Insurance Corporation, a news report said.
Energy Efficiency Services Ltd along with Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd, has launched the UJALA scheme in Amritsar. Under the scheme, consumers can buy ten high quality 9W LED bulbs at Rs.65 each, five 50W BEE 5-star rated energy efficient fans at Rs.1,150 each and ten 20W LED tube lights at Rs.230 each.
The Union power ministry has launched a portal on weather information that will help discoms manage power distribution accordingly. The weather information on the portal will also help in better planning for infrastructure availability to ensure cost effective and reliable supply. Day to day weather variations have an impact on load demand and energy production, transport and distribution management as well as energy prices. The information available on the portal regarding weather forecast shall help state discoms to take pro-active steps regarding short term and medium term management processes and supply planning requirements and also for better planning for infrastructure availability to ensure cost effective and reliable supply.
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has signed a $160-million contract with India to partly fund the “24X7 Power for All in Andhra Pradesh Project.” “The total cost of the project is $570 million, out of which $240 million is from World Bank (IBRD) and $160 million from AIIB. The rest will be counterpart funding from state government of Andhra Pradesh.
Tata Power has announced completing one of its largest international projects – a 187-mw Shuakhevi Hydro Power Project (HPP) in Georgia, with a project outlay of $420 million. The project is executed through Adjaristsqali Georgia LLC (AGL), a joint venture between Norway’s Clean Energy Invest, Tata Power where both hold 40 per cent each, and IFC InfraVentures (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group holding the remaining 20 per cent. The Shuakhevi HPP is the largest hydropower plant to be built in Georgia over the past 50 years, Tata Power said in a statement.
