{"id":48833,"date":"2019-07-01T17:21:14","date_gmt":"2019-07-01T11:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/?p=48833"},"modified":"2019-07-05T18:01:30","modified_gmt":"2019-07-05T12:31:30","slug":"7-pm-power-sector-future-road-map-1st-july-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-power-sector-future-road-map-1st-july-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"7 PM | Power Sector: Future Road Map | 1st July, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=1cUY4PyLr35sGXrVGrya67fM_6To2_-CX\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Read&nbsp;In-depth analysis of all the Editorials here (opens in a new tab)\">Read&nbsp;In-depth analysis of all the Editorials here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Context:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With the National Democratic Alliance government stepping up\nefforts to supply round-the-clock power to all, power minister&nbsp;Raj Kumar Singh&nbsp;has called a\nmeeting of key stakeholders including company executives on Monday to help\nprepare the power sector road map for the country, said a person aware of the\ndevelopment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>More in news: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>State-owned&nbsp;CIL allocated\n27.14 million tonne&nbsp;coal to the&nbsp;power sector&nbsp;under\nspecial forward e-auction mechanism last fiscal(2018-19), registering a decline\nof six per cent from the previous year. According to the latest monthly report\nby the coal ministry prepared for the Cabinet,&nbsp;Coal India&nbsp;(CIL) allocated 28.93 MT of the dry fuel to the\nsector in 2017-18. India is looking at a mammoth $500 billion worth of\ninvestment in creating&nbsp;renewable&nbsp;energy\ngeneration capacity with tendering of 500 Gigawatt (Gw) by 2028 in addition to\n$250 billion investment in grid expansion and modernisation required for uptake\nof green energy capacity, according to the Institute of Energy Economics and\nFinancial Analysis (IEEFA). According to\nWorld Bank Report: Power Sector Distortions Cost India Billions, 178 million people in India still lacked access to grid\nelectricity in 2017, and power cuts harm economic production and consumer\nwellbeing. The 2018 Global Competitiveness Report ranked India 80<sup>th<\/sup>\namong 137 economies in the reliability of electricity supply. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Present\nstatus of power sector:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"191\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/sector.jpg?resize=723%2C191&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-48834\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"725\" height=\"278\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/fuel.jpg?resize=725%2C278&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-48835\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Challenges faced by the power sector: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Generation capacity increasing, but utilisation of generation\ncapacity is still low:<\/strong>\nHistorically, inadequate generation capacity was the key contributor to power\ndeficit.&nbsp; However, generation capacity has improved in the last few years\ndue to high participation by the private sector.&nbsp;Over the years, the\ncapacity to generate electricity has increased, however the actual generation\nof electricity has not been commensurate with this increased capacity.&nbsp;\nKey reasons for the low utilisation of generation capacity are: (i) shortage of\nfuel, especially coal, and (ii) unviable Power Purchase Agreements.&nbsp;The coal sector has failed to match production with\nthe growth in&nbsp;coal-based generation capacity.&nbsp; This has created a gap\nbetween the demand and supply of coal. As a result, India\u2019s coal imports have\nrisen from 59 to 233.56 &nbsp;million tonnes from 2008-19.<\/li><li><strong>Decline in AT&amp;C losses has been slower than the target:<\/strong> &nbsp;Aggregate Technical and\nCommercial (AT&amp;C) loss is the percentage of power procured by the discom\nfor which it did not receive any payment. The national average for AT&amp;C\nlosses for&nbsp;2017-18 is 22.73. &nbsp;In countries such as UK and US,\nAT&amp;C losses are about 6-7%.<\/li><li><strong>Differential tariff, delays in tariff revisions lead to\nfinancial losses:<\/strong> &nbsp;In 2013-14, the average cost of supplying power was Rs\n5.9\/kWh whereas the average tariff was Rs 4.8\/kWh. &nbsp;In the same year,\nacross consumer categories, the average tariff was highest for commercial (Rs\n7.6\/kWh) and industrial (Rs 6.3\/kWh) consumers.&nbsp; Average tariff was the\nlowest for agricultural consumers at 1.8 Rs\/kWh (due to direct subsidies\nreceived from the state government and cross-subsidisation by commercial and\nindustrial consumers). Recently in\nthe state of Andhra Pradesh, state government planned to reopen the power purchase agreements\ninked under the previous government. According to a Andhra Pradesh government\norder dated 26 June, Cabinet Sub Committee has been set up to \u201cidentify the\nperson\/persons\/institutions responsible for prima facie mala fide decisions and\nactions, and recommend appropriate action.&#8221; This decision led to confusion\nand instability among power suppliers and power purchasers.<\/li><li>The\nfinancial condition of power distribution companies has only worsened after the\nlaunch of the Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY). Their dues to power\ngenerators, at over&nbsp;\u20b941,000 crore, have been rising after the\nlaunch of UDAY in 2015. The aims of UDAY \u2014 reduction in aggregate technical and\ncommercial losses, reduction of the gap between costs and revenue and tariff\nrevisions \u2014 have not been met.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>Challenges to Renewable energy:<\/strong> The cap on tariffs, imposition of duties\non solar panels, infrastructure constraints, execution and operating challenges\nhave made investors worried about the viability of projects.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"634\" height=\"417\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/losing.jpg?resize=634%2C417&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-48836\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Solutions:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>As of September 2018, a draft amendment\nto Electricity Act, 2003 has been introduced. It discusses separation of\ncontent &amp; carriage, direct benefit transfer of subsidy, 24*7 Power supply\nis an obligation, penalisation on violation of PPA, setting up Smart Meter and\nPrepaid Meters along with regulations related to the same.<\/li><li>As of August 2018, the Ministry of New\nand Renewable Energy set solar power tariff caps at Rs 2.50 (US$ 0.04) and Rs\n2.68 (US$ 0.04) unit for developers using domestic and imported solar cells and\nmodules, respectively. If the\ngovernment can allow capacity additions at the pre-set tariff of up to&nbsp;\u20b9&nbsp;3 per kilowatt for a fixed tenure, then it could\nrekindle investor sentiments and accelerate capacity additions.<\/li><li>The Government of India approved\nNational Policy on Biofuels \u2013 2018, the expected benefits of this policy are\nhealth benefits, cleaner environment, employment generation, reduced import\ndependency, boost to infrastructural investment in rural areas and additional\nincome to farmers<\/li><li>The\ngovernment has set a target of 1 billion tonne of coal production by\n2019-20.government should support to achieve the target by creating proper\necosystem.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Future\nof power sector in India: <\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"632\" height=\"327\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/power.jpg?resize=632%2C327&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-48837\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Way\nForward: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>60% of power\ngeneration comes from thermal sector. The renewable energy sector is growing\nand India is heading towards its target of achieving 175 GW by March 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>India wants to\ndouble the share of renewable power in its total installed capacity to 40% by\n2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Government\nshould make an effort to make coal-fired plants more efficient by bringing down\nthe amount of coal required to generate 1 MW and to make old coal-fired plants\ncompliant with environment norms. If the Indian economy is to continue to grow\nat 7%, the rise in electricity demand from industry and household will be\nfulfilled by the efficient coal-fired power plants and reliable and affordable\nenergy mix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.livemint.com\/industry\/energy\/govt-moves-to-chart-five-year-road-map-for-power-sector-1561919359086.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">https:\/\/www.livemint.com\/industry\/energy\/govt-moves-to-chart-five-year-road-map-for-power-sector-1561919359086.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Read&nbsp;In-depth analysis of all the Editorials here Context: With the National Democratic Alliance government stepping up efforts to supply round-the-clock power to all, power minister&nbsp;Raj Kumar Singh&nbsp;has called a meeting of key stakeholders including company executives on Monday to help prepare the power sector road map for the country, said a person aware of the&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-power-sector-future-road-map-1st-july-2019\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">7 PM | Power Sector: Future Road Map | 1st July, 2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":3567,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[130],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-7-pm","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/brief-image.jpg?fit=1000%2C500&ssl=1","views":{"total":95,"cached_at":""},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}