Low Carbon News in India in May 2016
Government Offers Online Facility for Installing Solar Rooftops
Government has put in place a centralised facility which will enable consumers to apply online for installation of solar rooftops on their premises. The consumers, including individuals (residential), commercial, industrial or public institutions, can apply online. After that, service providers will approach (consumers) to provide services. The link is available on the website of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. Anyone interested can use http://solarrooftop.gov.in/interest_form.html for the purpose.
With Solar Power, A Gujarat Village Is Irrigating Its Fields For Free
Ramabhai Sagar, a 46-year-old farmer in Gujarat’s Dhundi village, is experiencing first hand a solar revolution of sorts. Around seven months ago, about a dozen farmers in Ramabhai’s village about 90 km from Ahmedabad came together to form a solar cooperative and set up solar panels in the fields to generate electricity. “We used to spend 500 rupees on diesel for pumping sets for drawing water for irrigation. But now we do it with solar energy,” Rambhai said. “We also make money by selling solar power when we not irrigating our fields. We can sell excess electricity to the power board for Rs. 4.63 per unit,” he added. While the farmers shelled out 10 per cent of the Rs. 60 lakh that it cost for the project, the rest was funded by non-profit organisation International Water Management Institute or IWMI.
Electric vehicle maker Clean Motion plans to invest $10 million in India
Sweden-based electric vehicle maker Clean Motion plans to invest $10 million (about Rs.66 crore) in India over the next three years to expand operations including setting up of an assembly unit for its Zbee three-wheelers in the country. The company, which runs its electric three-wheeler Zbee in Gurgaon’s DLF Cyber City, aims to provide last-mile connectivity in India’s congested urban areas and is talking to mall developers in Bengaluru and Mumbai as well as special economic zone operators in Hyderabad. Besides, it is also targeting tourist spots like the Taj Mahal to operate its fleet of electric three-wheelers, which are positioned as a premium product unlike e-rickshaws. “We plan to invest $10 million over the next three years. At the end of the third year, we expect to have a fleet of around 2,000 vehicles cumulatively,” Clean Motion country head Anil Arora told PTI. As a start-up, the company has already seeded $1 million in the project, he added.
Pollution on mind, UT plans electric buses
To reduce pollution being caused by the ever-increasing number of vehicles, the Chandigarh Administration is contemplating starting electric buses in the city. A company made a presentation on electric buses before senior officers of the Administration on Friday. Parimal Rai, Adviser to the Administrator, KK Jindal, Secretary (Transport), and Amit Talwar, Director (CTU), were among those who witnessed the presentation. The company also gave a presentation on CNG buses. Sources said the Adviser asked the Transport Department to explore the possibility of starting electric buses on a trial basis. The Centre is providing subsidy for introducing zero-emission retrofitted electric buses under its flagship scheme FAME India (faster adoption and manufacturing of hybrid and electric vehicles in India).
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/chandigarh/pollution-on-mind-ut-plans-electric-buses/244116.html
Cabinet gives approval to the MoU between India and Japan for promoting sustainable, stable and low-carbon thermal power development in India
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today granted ex-post facto approval to the MoU between India and Japan for promoting sustainable, stable and low-carbon thermal power development in India. The signing of the MoU will help India to address issues and barriers in promoting sustainable, stable and low-carbon thermal power development that have been identified through the preceding Pre-Primary Study and the on-going cooperation towards Energy Efficient Renovation & Modernization as well as new power development, by means of diagnostic activities to support Renovation and Modernization (R&M) materialization and implementation, knowledge and technology exchange activities to support Clean Coal Technology (CCT) for thermal power plants such as Ultra Super Critical (USC) and other environmental technologies, all of which will be conducive to overall power development for India as well as to facilitate relevant policy implementation.
Solar Power Plants on Waste Land
Government is encouraging use of waste land for installation of solar power plants. Setting up of Solar parks is a step in that direction. This was stated by Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal & New and Renewable Energy. Under the scheme, 32 solar parks of 19,400 MW capacity have been sanctioned in 20 states so far. The Minister further stated that a solar capacity of 20,000 MW has been targeted under the existing solar park scheme, which includes use of waste land also. Total target for gird connected solar power plants is 60,000 MW by 2022. Government is monitoring the scheme in close coordination with States and other stakeholders so as to complete the projects in time for which various fiscal and promotional incentives e.g. capital subsidy, generation based incentive, accelerated depreciation, viability gap funding (VGF), concessional excise and custom duties etc. are provided to project developers, the Minister added.
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/pmreleases.aspx?mincode=28 Dated 2 May, 2016
Suzlon commissions 900 MW wind energy projects in FY16 in India
Wind energy solutions provider Suzlon group today announced that it commissioned 900 MW wind energy projects in the last fiscal. “Suzlon Group has commissioned 900 mw wind energy projects during the financial year 2015-16, of which 520 mw was commissioned in Q4FY16,” the company said in a statement. This amounts to a more than 100 per cent increase in installations, vis-a-vis 442 mw installed during the financial year 2014-15, it said.
Percentage of Renewable Energy in Total Power Generation
As per information received from Central Electricity Authority, the percentage share of renewable energy in the total power generation has consistently increased from 4.97% in 2012-13 to about 5.7%, as on February, 2016. The Government has recently approved amendments in Tariff Policy in January, 2016 which envisages long term trajectory of RPO prescribing purchase of solar energy to promote the renewable energy, from the date of notification of the policy, which shall be such that it reaches up to 8% of the total electricity consumption or as notified excluding Hydro power by March 2022.
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/pmreleases.aspx?mincode=28 Dated 2 May, 2016