Here is an ongoing chronological summary of short news stories of April and March 2022. These news items have not been covered independently elsewhere on this portal.
NTPC has signed an MoU with Energy Vault Holdings, Inc., a US-based player in sustainable, grid-scale energy storage solutions. The objective of the MoU is to collaborate and formalize a long-term strategic partnership for deployment of Energy Vault’s EVx™ gravity-based energy storage technology and software solutions based on the outcome of a joint feasibility study. The technology also offers beneficial utilization of coal ash for manufacturing of composite blocks for Energy Vault’s gravity-based energy storage system. (April 27, 2022)
NTPC has come together with Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to utilize the sludge produced in the board’s sewage treatment plants (STP). The torrefied waste sludge was fired from NTPC’s Unit 4 Boiler at Dadri. This green technological solution is an innovative way to convert STP sludge into energy via environmentally friendly means to reduce CO2 emissions. In Delhi NCR alone, STPs produce up to 800 tonnes of sludge per day, the disposal of which is a major challenge as it contributes towards environmental pollution. (April 21, 2022)
SJVN Ltd, in a stock exchange filing, said that the company has achieved financial closure by signing of loan agreement amounting to Rs.494 crore with Himachal Pradesh State Co-Operative Bank for development of the 66-MW Dhaulasidh hydropower project, coming up in the Hamirpur and Kangra districts of Himachal Pradesh. The project has already commenced construction activities since May 2021 and moving fast forward to annually generate 304 million kwh of clean energy in a 90-per cent dependable year from FY26 onwards, with levelized tariff of Rs.4.46 per kwh. The total project cost of Rs.688 crore will be financed through a debt-equity ratio of 80:20. (April 19, 2022)
Chargeup, the company building India’s largest battery-swapping network for electric two and three-wheelers along with Microgrid Labs, has formalized a business engagement with BECIL to be their technology partners. The objective of this MoU is to prepare a framework by Chargeup, Microgrid Labs, and BECIL. The scope of the consultancy would cover transition planning and design for the Indian and overseas fleet electrification and EV charging infrastructure market using Battery Swapping Technology. A Central public sector unit Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Ltd (BECIL) offers advisory and consulting services to the Indian and overseas (Limited to Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, countries in Africa where BECIL is active) customers to support the transition from fossil fuel-powered fleet to electric fleet. (April 18, 2022)
Best Power Equipments (BPE) recently organized two-day Tech Fair 2022 at Holiday Inn, New Delhi. More than 150 channel partners and distributors gathered at the Tech Fair. The two-day event was followed by factory visit at Noida and its R&D facility to Greater Noida. The event was addressed by Amitansu Satpathy, MD of BPE who congratulated each partner in making BPE a growth story. The company displayed newly launched products and gave a demonstration of products like BPE IoT; a new product technology based on IoT which aims to be game changer for the industry. The company also unveiled their plans of introducing cloud and CMS service enablement solutions including mobile app, Energy storage solutions 5kVA-500kVA, Lithium battery based UPS and three-phase modular UPS. Speaking on the launch, Amitansu Satpathy, Managing Director – BPE commented, “This is memorable occasion as we are gathering today, I would like to thank everyone for making BPE a known brand in the industry.” (April 16, 2022)
JSW Renewable Energy Vijayanagar Ltd, a subsidiary of JSW Energy Ltd, has commenced operations at the 225-mw solar plant at Vijayanagar, Karnataka. This project is part of the earlier-announced 958-mw solar and wind projects signed (25 year PPA) with JSW Steel under the Group Captive scheme. This solar project has commenced operations in a record time of less than 12 months despite several headwinds like Covid-19 related disruptions, elevated commodity prices, and global supply chain outages. Apart from this, the company is also constructing 2.25 GW of greenfield renewable energy capacity in pursuit of reaching 10 GW capacity by FY25, and 20 GW capacity by FY30, entirely driven by renewables. (April 7, 2022)
Eaton has announced that Heath Monesmith has been named President & Chief Operating Officer of the Electrical Sector, effective July 5, 2022. In this role, he will also have corporate responsibility for the EMEA region and will report to Eaton’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Craig Arnold. Monesmith most recently served as president and chief operating officer of the Industrial Sector. Monesmith succeeds Uday Yadav who is leaving Eaton to pursue new opportunities. (April 5, 2022)
NTPC announced that it has completed trial operations at Unit-3 of 660 mw capacity of the 3×660-mw Nabinagar coal-fired power plant in Bihar. The power plant is owned by NTPC’s wholly-owned subsidiary Nabinagar Power Generating Company Ltd. With this, the total installed capacity of Nabinagar Power Generating Company Ltd and NTPC Group has become 1,980 mw and 68,567.18 mw, respectively. (March 10, 2022)
NTPC announced that consequent upon successful commissioning, the third part capacity of 74.88 mw out of the 296-mw Fatehgarh solar PV project at Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, will achieve commercial operation on March 5, 2022. With this, the commercial capacity of NTPC and NTPC Group will become 54,452.18 mw and 67,907.18 mw, respectively. The second part of like capacity of the Fatehgarh solar project had turned commercial on February 5, 2022. (March 4, 2022)
SJVN Ltd, in a stock exchange communication, said that it has achieved financial closure for 210-mw Luhri-1 hydropower project in Himachal Pradesh and the 75-mw Parasaran solar power project in Uttar Pradesh. As per the loan agreement, State Bank of India will provide Rs.1,537 crore at an effective interest rate of 6.90 per cent per annum and Punjab National Bank, Dubai, will provide Rs.319.04 crore, for the Luhri and Parasaran projects, respectively. (March 4, 2022)
Adani Renewable Energy Holding Fifteen Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Adani Green Energy Ltd, has received the letter of award from Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd to set up a 150-mw solar power project. AREHFL had participated in a tender issued by the state utility for procurement of 250 mw solar power from ground mounted grid connected solar PV power plants. The fixed tariff for this project capacity is Rs.2.34 per kwh for a period of 25 years. With this, AGEL now has a total renewable energy project portfolio of 20,434 mw capacity, out of which 5,410 mw is operational. (March 1, 2022)
