This special digital edition is aimed to serve as a ready guide for accessing recent news and developments, which have been hosted on www.tndindia.com. While editorial items have been discussed in brief, the “read more” link will take you to the full story.
The broad contents of this edition are: News; Orders & Contracts; Interviews; Guest Articles; Special Reports; and New Product Launches
News
COVID-19 Related News
- The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) on April 3, 2020, ordered reduction in late payment surcharge (LPS) payable by discoms to generation and transmission companies to 1 per cent per month from the earlier 1.5 per cent, for delayed clearance of dues. The move comes in the wake of the Coronavirus lockdown. (read more)
- Tata Power-DDL, supplying electricity to a population of 7 million in North Delhi, has introduced a smart feature of self-meter reading for its consumers during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. (read more)
- Legrand India has initiated supporting the migrant labourers by providing dry ration kits through MagicBus Foundation and local authorities in Chennai, Maharashtra, Haridwar, Jhajjar and Jalgaon. (read more)
- Toshiba group in India is contributing to disaster relief funds of state governments to support these governments towards the fight against the pandemic as well as other CSR activities approved by Government of India, to help Indian society at large during this time of unprecedented crisis, a company release said. (read more)
- Legrand India has initiated supporting the local government in the creation of quarantine centres and isolation wards in Kolkata, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. They are working with various government stakeholders across the nation with electrical products to be used for creating isolation wards and quarantine centres. (read more)
- The ongoing economic disruption across the world, due to Covid-19 has highlighted the dangers of manufacturing activities being concentrated in a single location and thrown up the need for diversification of supply chains and manufacturing. (read more)
- Here is a compilation of measures taken by companies in helping the Indian government combat the ongoing crisis arising from the corona virus outbreak. Information has been sourced from press releases from respect companies. (read more)
- The imposition on lockdown by the Government of India to control the COVID-19 outbreak has adversely impacted the electricity demand and the average thermal PLF since March 24, 2020. (read more)
T&D News
- Tata Power has taken over the management of CESU, after receiving the Letter of Intent (LOI) from the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) for the distribution and retail supply of electricity in Odisha’s five circles. (read more)
- India Grid Trust (IndiGrid) has announced the execution of the SPA (Share Purchase Agreement) for acquisition of 100 per cent stake in Jhajjar KT Transco Private Ltd from Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd and Techno Electric & Engineering Company Ltd. (read more)
- Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd has announced execution of the share purchase agreement (SPA) to sell its entire stake in Jhajjar KT Transco Pvt Ltd to IndiGrid (read more)
- To enhance Asia’s energy transition, Black & Veatch is extending its Breakthrough Overhead Line Design ® (BOLD) consultancy services to India, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. (read more)
- NTPC Ltd, it is widely reported, is keen to buy out the full 51 per cent stake held by Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group) in two power distribution companies serving Delhi. (read more)
- Tata Power Delhi Distribution (Tata Power-DDL) successfully met the peak power demand of 1493 mw on the night of Sunday, May 25, 2020, without any network constraint or power outage, a statement from Tata Power DDL said. (read more)
- Full-scale testing of HVDC circuit breakers and HVDC GIS has been successfully conducted and demonstrated at KEMA Labs, a release from CESI said. (read more)
- Power discoms in Bihar are earning recharge revenue of Rs.5 lakh per day, thanks to smart prepaid meters, a release from EESL has observed. (read more)
- The industry has welcomed the stimulus package announced for power distribution companies. This is part of the Rs.20 trillion special economic package announced by the Prime Minister on May 12, 2020. This package, aimed at alleviating the economic stress caused by the COVID-19 crisis, is a combination of monetary and fiscal measures. (read more)
- Adani Transmission Ltd (ATL), part of the Adani Group, said that it recorded availability of 99.76 per cent of its transmission network during FY20 (2019-20). It also maintained a very high supply reliability of 99.99 per cent. (read more)
- Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) has enabled electricity distribution companies (discoms) to achieve around 95 per cent billing efficiency by using smart meters amid this lockdown, a release from EESL said. smart meters also helped realize a 15-20 per cent average increase in monthly revenue per consumer. (read more)
- ICRA feels that the introduction of an entity like Electricity Contract Enforcement Authority (ECEA) with the authority to adjudicate upon matters regarding performance of obligations under a contract related to sale, purchase or transmission of electricity, is likely to uphold the sanctity of the power supply contracts. (read more)
- The Board of Directors of REC Ltd in its meeting held on March 25, 2020 inter-alia approved the proposal for incorporation of seven project specific special purpose vehicles (read more)
- The Board of the Investment Manager of IndiGrid, India’s first InvIT in the power sector, has approved the acquisition of Gurgaon Palwal Transmission Ltd (“GPTL”) from Sterlite Power, at a value of up to Rs.10.80 billion (US$ 140 million). This acquisition would increase the AUM of IndiGrid by 10 per cent to US$ 1.75 billion. (read more)
- Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $346-million loan to India to help provide efficient and reliable power connection to rural agriculture customers in the state of Maharashtra. (read more)
Renewable Energy News
- Sterling and Wilson Solar Ltd, a global solar EPC solutions provider, has commissioned operations of its maiden solar PV project in Oman. (read more)
- ReNew Power has been declared winner of India’s first e-Reverse Auction for 400 MW RE (Renewable Energy) Project with round the clock supply. (read more)
- India’s solar capacity addition in 2019 reported a 12 per cent year-on-year decline according to a study by Mercom. (read more)
General News
- Indian Energy Exchange received an overwhelming response from participants on the first trading day on its newly-launched Real Time Market (read more)
- Power Exchange India Ltd (PXIL), promoted by NSE and NCDEX, would be launching the Real Time Market (RTM) for electricity transactions from June 1, 2020. (read more)
- Tata Power’s Skill Development Institute (TPSDI) has trained over 69,700 individuals with an emphasis on hands-on training sessions, the non-profit organization promoted by Tata Power said in a release. (read more)
- On June 5, World Environment Day, Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) in partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) MAITREE program, launched the “Healthy and Energy Efficient Buildings” initiative that will pioneer ways to make workplaces healthier and greener. (read more)
- GAIL (India) Ltd and Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), on June 3, 2020, signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in development of Trigeneration projects in India. (read more)
- Schneider Electric, the leader in digital transformation of energy management and automation, and AVEVA, the global leader in engineering and industrial software, have announced their expanded partnership to deliver innovative solutions for the data center market. (read more)
- Siemens has seen heightened interest from its customers in digitalization solutions to enable them to reduce their capex requirements, according to Sunil Mathur, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Siemens Ltd. (read more)
- Okaya Power Pvt Ltd has announced to have become a core member of the Charging Interface Initiative (CharIN E.V.), an open coalition of world-class firms within the electric vehicle (EV) industry. (read more)
International News
- Full-scale testing of HVDC circuit breakers and HVDC GIS has been successfully conducted and demonstrated at KEMA Labs, a release from CESI said. (read more)
- After completing substantial testing of several HTLS Conductors and two ACCC trial lines, including an 80kV DC line at Jeju in 2013 and a 154 kV river crossing at Gochang in 2017, KEPCO completed their first commercial ACCC Installation earlier this month, a release from CTC Global, the owner and supplier of ACCC conductor technology, said. (read more)
Orders & Contracts
- GE Renewable Energy has been selected by POWERICA Ltd to supply 38 of its 2.7-132 onshore wind turbines to be installed at the Rajkot and Khambaliya wind farms in Gujarat, India. (read more)
- Global infrastructure EPC company and part of the RPG Group, KEC International has announced the winning of new orders worth Rs.1,203 crore across its various business verticals. (read more)
- Sterling and Wilson Solar Ltd, along with its branch and Australian subsidiary, has announced that it has signed an EPC contract of approx. AUD 525 million (Rs.2,600 crore), which is its largest order in Australia. (read more)
- ABB Power Grids has been awarded a project worth Rs.165 crore by state-owned refiner Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC) to ensure reliable grid connection at its Barauni refinery in Bihar. (read more)
- The Power Transmission & Distribution Business of L&T Construction has bagged orders in India and abroad. (read more)
Interviews
- In this interview with T&D India, we have Manish Agarwal, CEO-Solutions Business, Sterlite Power Transmission Ltd, asserting how cutting-edge technology is the only solution to solving India’s complex power transmission issues, and how Sterlite Power is championing this cause by heralding in pioneering power transmission technologies in India. (read more)
- In this interaction with T&D India, Manoj Kodakkatery, Manager – Business Development, OMRON Electronics & Mechanical Components Business Division, takes us through OMRON’s capabilities in this fascinating world of sensors, and the criticality of sensors in the IoT regime.(read more)
Guest Articles
The number of aged galvanized towers around the world is large and budgets are tight. The utility owners face increasing pressure to substantially upgrade transmission lines using existing infrastructure. In such cases, the use of existing and often older towers makes economic and political sense, notes Russell Hicks. (read more)
Special Reports
- This story, prepared on the basis of a report by ICICI Securities Ltd, provides a gist of the important power sector-related reforms announced by the Central government, over the past few days. (read more)
- India has missed attaining its conventional power generation capacity addition target in FY20, by a rather wide margin, latest CEA statistics suggest. (read more)
- Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has fixed the annual power generation target for FY21 at 1330 BU, implying a 6.2 per cent growth over the actual generation level of FY20. (read more)
- India could add barely 50 per cent of the targeted power transmission line capacity in FY20, according to statistics recently released by Central Electricity Authority. (read more)
New Product Launches
- Hammond Power Solutions (HPS) has launched HPS Sentinel Solar Duty transformers that are designed for the renewable energy industry. (read more)
- Siemens Smart Infrastructure is expanding its portfolio of environmentally friendly, gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) to 24kV with a new fluorine gas-free NXPLUS C24 medium-voltage switchgear.(read more)
- HPL Electric & Power Ltd has diversified its product basket in the consumer lighting segment by adding new range of lighting products with state-of-the-art design and technology. (read more)
- Vertiv has introduced Liebert® cPDU, a reliable and affordable power management solution for critical computer rooms, LANS/WANS, communication facilities and manufacturing divisions. (read more)
- Global power management expert, Socomec, has launched Link-UPS, a 24×7 UPS remote monitoring solution to assure the business and operation continuity of its customers to support during remote working environment. (read more)
