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Time of India
08-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Renewable Energy: Should we go steady on renewable generation?, ET EnergyWorld
Advt Advt By , ETEnergyWorld Join the community of 2M+ industry professionals Subscribe to our newsletter to get latest insights & analysis. Download ETEnergyworld App Get Realtime updates Save your favourite articles Scan to download App On the 28th of April, 2025, around mid-day, there was a massive power outage in Spain, Portugal and the south-west part of France. The outage was so severe that all of a sudden homes lost their power, offices became dark, the metro stopped in its tracks, buses got stranded on the roads, there was no cellular service, automatic teller machines (ATMs) became dysfunctional short, there was complete mayhem and such was the panic created that shops soon ran out of supplies due to abnormal buying. It took about 18 hours to restore some semblance of order but to get back to normal, it is said that it might take a few governments of Portugal and Spain are trying to figure out the reason(s) for this blackout but no concrete results have been arrived at so far. Portugal was quick to put the blame on Spain, saying that the trouble originated there and this allegation has not really been refuted by the Spanish government says that it is still analysing the situation, power experts have their own theories. Cyberattack, it seems, has been ruled out since no evidence to that effect has surfaced. Same is the case with any possible sabotage. Purely on facts, what is known is that there was a sudden plunge in the power supply to the tune of 15 gigawatts (GW) and this happened within a span of 5 seconds. A 15 GW drop actually is about 60 per cent of the demand for power in the Spanish masses are complaining that the Spanish government is deliberately hiding the facts though a commission of enquiry has been constituted. There is a demand for a Parliamentary probe instead of an executive enquiry which conveys an element of trust deficit as far as the government is concerned. So far some complex reasons are being cited by the government like an 'induced atmospheric vibration' which, of course, is Greek and Latin to the common said that it may be added that blackouts can be caused by weather related events and there are several instances in the past which are documented. One particular report says that 83 per cent of all blackouts which occurred in USA between 2000 and 2021 were weather related. One specific instance is of a case in the UK where a lightning strike on a transmission circuit in 2021 near London led to a frequency drop which affected about one million consumers by way of a experts, however, feel that the main reason for the blackout in Spain could possibly due to overdependence on renewable energy , especially solar, and that the grid could not contain the domino effect of a sudden drop in supply. Spain has a very ambitious target when it comes to renewable generation and it aspires to have 81 per cent of its electricity supply from renewable sources by 2030. It would be interesting to note that just about 12 days prior to the blackout, Spain had boasted that its grid was running solely on renewable is said that just before the blackout, 60 per cent of the power in the grid was being supplied by solar. The problem is that when such a huge quantum of power is being supplied by solar, there is no inertia available in the grid. Inertia is available from conventional turbines like coal, hydro and nuclear stations and this acts as a cushion for any disturbance in the grid and smoothens out the fluctuations. When it come to solar power, you have inverters which cannot absorb these feel that the lack of any backup generation created this mess and the decision of the Spanish government to add more and more of renewable generation added to their woes. Spain, incidentally, has limited connectivity with the European grid. Had it been better connected, perhaps, this catastrophe could have been averted as power could have flown in from other countries. Of course, the reverse could have also been true, that is the blackout could have spread to other countries instead of being limited to a small portion in the way, France disconnected its grid from Spain once the problem erupted thereby, limiting its own damage. In the process, however, this squeezed the Spanish grid further as there was no power flow from neighbouring countries. France reconnected their grid after some normalcy was restored in Spain and no final assessment has been made as to what caused this blackout, it is certainly a wake-up call to other countries who are pursuing an aggressive policy of installing renewable capacity. What is a safe proportion of renewable energy in the total electricity mix (in terms of generation and not capacity) will vary from country to country depending upon its ground some experts feel that there should be no problem till one reaches 40 per cent, much depends on other aspects like availability of spare hydro or gas-based generation which can be started immediately if there is a fall in renewable generation, the availability of grid scale batteries which can provide storage etc. In the case of India, renewable power (leaving aside large hydro) accounts for about 14 per cent of the electricity mix and hence, there is a lot of margin even this small proportion of renewable generation is being managed by ramping up or down our coal-based generation which is not really the most efficient way. Finally, the decision taken during the Conference of Parties (CoP 28) to triple renewable capacity by 2030 should be viewed with circumspect. Increase in renewable capacity has to be a well-planned exercise with proper power flow studies under different scenarios. In the absence of such due diligence, catastrophe may follow.(Somit Dasgupta is Ph.D. Senior Visiting Fellow, ICRIER and former, Member (Economic & Commercial), CEA. Views are personal.)
Time of India
08-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Wind's doldrums are a clue to energy's trade-war future, Energy News, ET EnergyWorld
Advt Advt Join the community of 2M+ industry professionals Subscribe to our newsletter to get latest insights & analysis. Download ETEnergyworld App Get Realtime updates Save your favourite articles Scan to download App If you want a vision of where attempts to clean up the world's power grids would be without the transformative effects of trade, look to the wind the areas of clean energy where international commerce is most viable, there has been breakneck growth in recent years. Solar electricity generation and the number of electric vehicles on the roads will both be about 60% higher in 2025 than the International Energy Agency, or IEA , expected as recently as 2020. That's enough to put the world well on the way to net no coincidence, however, that these same sectors are also the most vulnerable to fears about geopolitical competition and tariff barriers. Dependence on supply chains centered in China has dismayed those who see that country's growing wealth as a global threat greater than climate change cars and solar panels, wind turbines are challenging to transport over long distances. The biggest models now feature blades as long as a football field, and stand as tall as the Eiffel Tower from the ground to their highest point. They are also highly dependent on local engineers to build foundations and grid connections. If you want an image of the clean-power industry in a deglobalized world, wind is a good place to this year will still probably end up about 14% above the IEA's 2020 prediction — but the picture is darkening. The Global Wind Energy Council, an industry group, last month cut its forecast for new installations for the first time since at least 2028, the total will be about 55 gigawatts lower than expected 12 months earlier, an 8.3% reduction. That's equivalent to the drop in clean energy from switching off all of Germany's nuclear reactors, a policy widely recognized as a self-defeating explains part of the problem. Inflation has driven the price of parts and labor well above the levels at which projects were first proposed, causing cancellations and renegotiations. Interest rate rises worsen the picture, since project finance is a cost every bit as significant. Permitting and grid bottlenecks, as well as disinformation campaigns to stoke local opposition to wind, are perennial dwindling supply chains might be the most decisive factor of all. In a rising market, local manufacturers invest aggressively in fresh capacity, driving down costs and fueling fresh demand. When it stagnates or falls, that virtuous circle is what we're seeing in the US, where installations last year fell to their lowest level in a decade. Delays in connecting to the grid and uncertainty about Biden-era tax and subsidy policies were part of the problem. Quite as important, though, was a general slump that is making suppliers reluctant to invest, increasing costs for project developers who can no longer count on getting the parts they need. This in turn raises break-even prices, and deals a further blow to China, the biggest market for wind energy, costs have fallen by half since the start of 2020, thanks to increasing deployments. In the US, they have risen by more than a and policymakers around the world should learn from what's happening. President Donald Trump's attempts to block the wind industry have been egregious, and attention-grabbing. Equinor ASA hinted on April 30 that it might take legal action after the administration blocked an 810-megawatt offshore wind farm near Long so, significantly more wind was installed in the US in Trump's first term than under Joe Biden. Deteriorating macroeconomics, a morass of red tape, and a disappearing supply chain under a pro-renewables Democratic president did more harm than all the threats and bluster of his pro-fossil fuel Republican risk now is that other nations may go the same way. Many of the most promising regions are now in emerging nations such as Brazil, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan. Those countries will struggle, however, if they use local content requirements and trade barriers to treat wind only as a boondoggle for the local construction and manufacturing the global market for solar panels, electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries that has allowed them to become breakthrough renewable technologies. If wind remains resolutely local, it's consigning itself to a small-scale future.
Time of India
08-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
GK Energy's costs surge sharply ahead of IPO, shows DRHP, Energy News, ET EnergyWorld
Advt Advt Join the community of 2M+ industry professionals Subscribe to our newsletter to get latest insights & analysis. Download ETEnergyworld App Get Realtime updates Save your favourite articles Scan to download App New Delhi: GK Energy Limited, which specialises in solar-powered agricultural water pump systems , is prepared to launch its initial public offering IPO ) after receiving final approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) last company had filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI on December 17, 2024. However, it submitted an addendum to the DRHP on May to the addendum, GK Energy's financials indicated that while its revenues had grown significantly in recent years, its expenses had also risen expenses (consolidated) in FY25 amounted to ₹918.91 crore. In the prior years, expenses had gone up 33.84 per cent from ₹271.98 crore in FY23 to ₹364.04 crore (standalone) in cost of goods sold in FY25 stood at ₹702.69 crore. It had earlier risen over 23 per cent to ₹297.81 crore in FY24 from ₹241.65 crore in benefit expenses in FY25 reached ₹18 crore. In the previous years, it had increased 940.2 per cent to ₹8.01 crore in FY24 from ₹0.77 crore in costs were ₹22.35 crore in FY25. Earlier, they had gone up over 67 per cent from ₹3.65 crore in FY23 to ₹6.10 crore in and amortisation stood at ₹1.42 crore in FY25. Before that, it had risen from ₹0.48 crore in FY23 to ₹0.67 crore in expenses in FY25 were ₹173.74 crore. They had earlier increased 220.1 per cent from ₹11.93 crore in FY23 to ₹38.19 crore in the rising costs, the company's revenue from operations in FY25 stood at ₹1,094.83 crore. However, it had jumped over 44 per cent from ₹285.03 crore in FY23 to ₹411.09 crore in income in FY25 was ₹1,099.18 crore. In comparison, it had risen 44.4 per cent from ₹285.45 crore in FY23 to ₹412.31 crore in company had posted a net profit of ₹133.21 crore in FY25. Earlier, it had increased 258 per cent from ₹10.08 crore in FY23 to ₹36.09 crore in IPO included a fresh issue of shares worth ₹500 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of 84 lakh equity shares by promoters Gopal Rajaram Kabra and Mehul Ajit the ₹500 crore raised through the fresh issue, ₹422.45 crore was to be used to meet long-term working capital requirements, while the remainder was to go toward general corporate company had also planned to reserve a portion of the IPO for eligible IPO was managed by IIFL Capital Services Limited and HDFC Bank Limited, with Link Intime India Private Limited acting as the registrar.
Time of India
08-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Compressed Biogas: A game changer in India's energy transition, ET EnergyWorld
Advt Advt By , ETEnergyWorld Join the community of 2M+ industry professionals Subscribe to our newsletter to get latest insights & analysis. Download ETEnergyworld App Get Realtime updates Save your favourite articles Scan to download App India's successful energy transition hinges on the ability to diversify the energy mix. More importantly progressive energy transition depends on the indigenous economically viable clean energy solutions available to large sections of the promising and emerging domestic clean energy solutions struggle to make meaningful impact due to other competing clean energy options. Some of the extremely promising clean energy solutions get policy backing but fail to convert intentions into groundbreaking actions. Occasionally such options remain at the epicentre of media coverage and policy instance, the National Biofuel Policy highlighted the increasing role of compressed biogas (CBG) to strengthen indigenous bioenergy generation, distribution, and consumption. Considering the critical role of CBG in reducing India's energy import dependency, especially imported Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), the government launched Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT).As per SATAT website, SATAT scheme received 2227 active letters of intent (LOI). Under SATAT, 94 CBG plants sold 31422 tons of CBG in 2024-25, with an average sales of 334.26 tons per annum per plant, which means average sales of 0.91 ton per day (tpd).Government continues to enhance adoption of CBG by creating the enabling ecosystem for CBG production, transmission, and consumption. To facilitate CBG business, the government introduced a scheme for procurement of biomass aggregation machinery , with a financial outlay of ₹564.75 crore (FY 2023-24 to FY 2026-27). Under this scheme, the government can grant financial assistance of ₹1.8-9.0 crore to a project with plant capacity of the government allocated ₹994.50 crore (FY 2024-25 to FY 2025-26) to create pipeline infrastructure to inject biogas produced from CBG plants into the City Gas Distribution (CGD) networks. The scheme aims to provide financial assistance to 100 CBG plants, 50 each in FY 2024-25 to FY per this scheme, the minimum plant capacity should be 2 ptd. To encourage installation of large scale CBG plants, the scheme gives preference to plant capacity above 5 tpd. This scheme offers a maximum financial assistance of ₹28.75 crore per project for constructing pipelines (Steel/MDPE) up to 75 addition, the CBG-CGD synchronisation scheme facilitates higher penetration of CBG through obligatory blending in compressed natural gas (CNG) and piped natural gas (PNG). To ensure greater integration of CBG into the gas grid, the government targets to achieve CBG blending obligation (CBO) of 1 per cent by financial year 2025-26. Gradually CBO to reach 5 per cent by FY 2028-29 and subsequently upto 10 per cent .The CBO mandates obligations on the part of CGD entities to ensure adequate off-take of CBG. GAIL (India) Limited - the nodal organization for the CBG-CGD synchronisation will continue to play a major role in improving CBG penetration in the the CBG due to its green origin is eligible for green certification for trading purposes. These provisions create a supporting environment for greater integration of CBG into the government support for promoting CBG, the CBG industry continues to face financial bottlenecks. To improve better access to funds from the scheduled commercial banks, Reserve Bank of India places CBG under priority lending sector. Government has directed banks to facilitate loans for the SATAT and other CBG linked SATAT targeted 5000 CBG plants across the country. Considering the market scenario, setting up 1000-1200 large size CBG plants by 2030 could be more realistic. Assuming ₹65 crore average investment per plant, the CBG industry will require deploy ₹58,500-₹71,500 crore for setting up additional 900-1100 large size CBG plants by CBG industry can offer 15000-17000 direct jobs for plant operations & maintenance and 45,000-50,000 indirect jobs in the CBG value chain. For the CBG market development the PSUs like Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, Oil India Limited, ONGC, and GAIL (India) Limited are stepping up investment. Increasing investment from the private sector will complement the public investment and boost market the CBG value chain farmers play an important role in supplying the raw material for CBG plants. Educating the farmers about the potential benefits of waste-to-energy can help better implementation of government schemes. The CBG industry can help the income enhancement of millions of farmers through valorization of agri-waste CBG plant commissioning requires improved market dynamics which include better affordable technologies, easy financing, efficient supply chain, support of states and access to trained manpower. Technology development for feedstock optimization and efficient utilisation of CO2 from the CBG plants is very important for higher effective and indigenous technology can improve the efficiency of CBG plants. Further, for waste based CBG plants, affordable technology for waste segregation and processing can help setting up more plants in urban areas.(The author is Professor, Department of of Management Studies Rajiv Gandhi of Petroleum Technology, Jais)
Time of India
08-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Centre launches portal to boost non-ferrous metal recycling ecosystem, ET EnergyWorld
Advt Advt Join the community of 2M+ industry professionals Subscribe to our newsletter to get latest insights & analysis. Download ETEnergyworld App Get Realtime updates Save your favourite articles Scan to download App New Delhi: Union Minister of Coal and Mines, G Kishan Reddy, on Wednesday launched a dedicated non-ferrous metal recycling website and stakeholders' portal, to promote a structured, transparent and sustainable recycling ecosystem in was launched in the presence of Minister of State for Coal and Mines, Satish Chandra Dubey and senior officials from the Ministry of Mines and features include National registry for dismantlers, recyclers, traders, and collection centres; tools to track raw material flows, product types, technology adoption, and workforce data; performance benchmarking mechanisms; identification of regional and sectoral infrastructure and skill gaps; and support for development of standards, certification systems, and awareness under the implementation guidelines of the National Non-Ferrous Metal Scrap Recycling Framework, the platform is designed to bring together key stakeholders, improve data visibility, and support evidence-based policymaking in the recycling of aluminium, copper, lead, zinc, and critical said, "India is committed to building a circular economy that optimally utilises its resources. This portal will not only provide real-time visibility into the recycling landscape but also empower all stakeholders to make informed decisions, bridge gaps, and unlock the full potential of our non-ferrous metal sector."Minister of State Satish Chandra Dubey lauded the initiative, stating that "this portal is a much-needed step in strengthening the recycling value chain and enhancing industry participation through transparency and data-driven policy support."The website will act as a national hub for information dissemination, awareness generation, and engagement with recyclers, dismantlers, aggregators, industry associations, and research highlights government initiatives, provides updates on stakeholder meetings and policy developments, and offers access to national statistics, standards, and infrastructure-related integrated portal also enables registration of industry participants and collection of crucial data on raw material consumption, recycling capacity, technology usage, and workforce trends - supporting future interventions in R&D, infrastructure development, and skill enhancement.
