Renjini Liza varghese

 India is far behind in comparison to other countries in energy efficiency, what role electrical products play in this?
Energy consumption is higher in countries like Russia, China and India. It can be attributed to the fast phased growth rate registering in these countries.  While talking about energy efficiency, it should be off generation, distribution and at the consumption level as well. Transmission losses in India stands at 16-17 per cent which is higher.  Top line technology incorporated in advanced model equipment gives the most efficient output.

Could you please elaborate on the technology side?
IGBT or insulated-gate bipolar transistor is a three-terminal power semiconductor device, noted for high efficiency and fast switching. It switches electric power in many modern appliances: electric cars, variable speed refrigerators, air-conditioners, and even stereo systems with digital amplifiers. It helps to lower the harmonic distortions and hence provides superior power quality.  It also enables higher efficiency of equipments.  To give you an example, Eaton’s 9395 is the best example. These products comes with 0.99 energy saving levels which are very high in efficiency levels.

How has unique product designing helped to improve efficiency of Eaton Products?
Eaton’s product focus on efficiency, reliability and safety – drives innovation in materials, technologies and design principles that helps improve efficiency.  Some key examples of this are evident from Eaton’s industry leading 9395 UPS platform: a) Sustainability is achieved with innovative UPS design and high efficiency rating which significantly lower the total cost of ownership. Small footprint and lightweight reduce costs of transportation and installation. b) Strong power performance with active power factor control (PFC) provides unbeatable 0.99 input power factor and minimises ITHD. This greatly reduces interference with other upstream equipment and enhances 9395 UPS compatibility with generators. c) Highest availability and reliability is achieved with Powerware HotSync paralleling technology that enables 9395 UPS to be paralleled for both redundancy and capacity. Advanced paralleling options also ensure your UPS system can easily adapt to increasing power requirements.

Where do you see India lacking in curtailing the losses in the transmission segment?
India has a matured distribution system, however, requires more intelligent load control system, smart meters and grid technology. For a power hungry country like India, theft remains a major concern. It is a price sensitive one as well.  Adaptation of cutting edge technologies will enhance to bring down the losses.  

Electrical sector has grownhigher in last few years with consolidation? How do you see the market going forward?
Electrical segment continue to grow as more and more geographies are being electrified. In India, there is always a demand supply gap.  So you see the market growing for UPS, generators etc.  Addition of more generation capacity also means the demand for electrical equipments on the rise.

How much did it help the company by setting up manufacturing units in India?
Every product comes with a premium attached to it. Localisation helped the company to rationalise its operations in terms of saving time, reducing logistical hassles and above all brought in a lot of flexibility.

Compare India and China market/ Asia market with special thrust on Japan?
Both in China and India we see the demand on the upper curve. I would say China is rather ahead in generation capacity, and in transmission and distribution. The magnitude of deployment in China is non-comparable. However, India is catching up fast, may be in another two years time it will be on the same level.

Eaton’s India plans?
The company set a sales traget of  US $500 million by 2015 in India.  We are putting inplace different initiatives to achieve the set target, pne of it is by setting up a Greenfield manufacturing unit.  The company is looking at growing both organically and inorganically. We see a lot of opportunity to grow here.  We give a lot of thrust to R&D, the aim is to develop the next generation of break- through technologies in the electrical segment.

Majority of the solar companies present in the sector is giving thrust to its R&D to bring down the cost. In all probability it will be low cost solar plants in the years ahead says James V Abraham, MD and CEO, SunBorne Energy in this column.

Through the 20th century, the industrial revolution left in its wake a damaged environment and fragile climate.  This century, economic growth is spreading ever faster.  However, we cannot let this growth further damage our environment. 

To break this compromise between growth and the environment, we must power our economies with renewable energy, and the sun is the most abundant such source.

National Solar Mission – Launched with deep commitment
To tap the power of the sun, the Indian government launched the National Solar Mission.   The Mission is ambitious in its targets and aggressive in its timelines.  The target is 22GW of solar power by 2022, with the first phase of 1.1GW by 2013.

By the end of 2009, Parliament had accepted the Mission’s recommendations.  By the end of 2010, projects for the first phase were already awarded.  By the beginning of this year, PPA’s have been signed and the projects are moving to implementation.  By any measure, the government has been committed and aggressive in moving the Mission to output and action.

National Solar Mission – Phase 1 challenges ahead
The projects in the first-phase were awarded using a liberal bidding process.  As was expected, the winners were aggressive (some say foolish, others say brave) in their bidding and have set prices that were unheard of anywhere, requiring capex reductions of over 35 per cent over the best in the world.

There are many voices saying these plants will never be built and the Mission’s first step itself will fail.  However, early indications are that these naysayers are wrong.

All the winners are progressing and have met their commitments to date.  We at SunBorne Energy are providing engineering and construction services to several of the winners.  These winners, with their infrastructure experience, armed with falling component prices, believe they can build some of the lowest-cost plants in the world.

State Solar Programs and Manufacturing: becoming a global solar powerhouse
But, the Mission is not the only solar program in the country.  The states have launched independent programs to support solar deployment.  Of all, Gujarat has been the most aggressive with 700MW’s of PPA’s.  SunBorne Energy is building its own and other PV plants in the state.

Rajasthan and other states are soon to launch programs of their own.
As the demand grows, manufacturing is scaling up in India.  In solar PV, hundreds of MW’s of manufacturing capacity is being added.  In solar-thermal, the glass manufacturers are looking at moving to India.   All this points to low-cost solar plants in the years ahead.

Low-cost solar a large part of India’s power mix
Looking ahead, 22GW by 2022 may seem ambitious from a solar perspective.  But, it is almost insignificant when the country needs to add some 300GW of total power.  To have any meaningful impact on climate change, solar energy needs to become a much larger part of the power mix.   The barrier is costs.  Today, solar energy costs some 3-4x of conventional power, and that needs to come down.

That is why we at SunBorne Energy have embarked on an indigenous R&D program to reduce costs.  The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is supporting our efforts.

With low-cost solar plants, we can move away from government subsidies.  Then, we can ask why only 22GW? Why not make solar a major part of India’s power mix? Why not power every village with solar? Why not power India’s economy with solar power? Why build another coal plant?

Environmental ministry has cleared the sub-sea LNG line from Kochi to NTPC Kayamkulam. This will enable the state to realise the dream of a load-shedding free state soon.

Renjini Liza Varghese

Now it is just a pipeline away, the Kochi LNG terminal will be connected to NTPC’s Kayamkulam power plant through a sub-sea pipe line. The ministry of environment has finally given a nod to lay the pipelines through the sea. The proposed line is 93.5 kilo meter in length. Out of the total distance, the gas pipe line will pass through the sea for a distance of 90 kilometer in total and the rest three and a half kilometer will be onshore.

The estimated cost is close to Rs 1,000 crore. LNG, after regasification at the Kochi terminal, will be pumped in the form of gas to this pipe. Fuel once made available, NTPC Kayamkulam will be upgraded to a 1,200 Mw gas-based power plant. In the first phase GAIL will connect the terminal with FACT, BPCL, the industrial area near to the terminal and Kayamkulam. From Kayamkulam, it is agreed in principal to extent the line till Thiruvanthapuram as part of the city gas project. When implemented the state will be covered through a gas network from north to south. 

GAIL, which is spearheading the gas infrastructure in the country, will connect the trunk line from Kochi to Mangalore in the North and via Coimbatore and Salem to Bangalore. Kochi to Mangalore is 422 km in distance and will cost Rs. 3,000 crore. Bangalore line will be close to 600 km in length. Development of these two lines will be part of the second phase. The survey for the entire pipeline route has been completed and GAIL has started laying of the pipe.  

A state which predominantly depends on hydro electric power, reels under severe shortage during the summer season. “If NTPC plant gets upgraded, it will address the power shortage of the state to a greater extent,” said the state electricity minister A K Balan. 

By securing the clearance from the environment ministry for laying the pipelines, the Kochi LNG terminal has technically secured all permissions and gearing for a commissioning early next year.  It also got clearance to upgrade its annual capacity to 5 mmpta. Originally, the Kochi LNG terminal had an annual capacity of 2.5 mmpta. 

“The under construction, Kochi LNG terminal is the dream project and is expected to change the industrial landscape of the state. The first phase of the terminal will be commissioned by 2012,” said the state industry minister Elamaram Kareem. The trunk line will connect the Kochi terminal to three states viz. Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Once the terminal is functional, the expectation is that the steel, the textile and the manufacturing clusters in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka will move to gas as a fuel option for the captive power plants. True that the fuel cost will come down drastically when shifted to gas as majority of the captive power plants run on costlier naphtha or diesel. 

Kochi terminal was originally conceived along the first LNG terminal of the country, Dahej in Gujarat. The country has two functional LNG terminals; the one in Dahej is Petronet LNG and Shell’s Hazira. After Kochi, two more terminals are coming on stream; Dhabol LNG terminal and Mundra which is a joint venture by Adani group and Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation.

Vaclav Bartuska, Ambassador at large for energy security for Czech Republic

Renjini Liza Varghese

Measuring 9 on Richter scale, earthquakes which devastated Japan and triggered a nuclear disaster has raised question about the safety of adopting nuclear energy. However, Vaclav Bartuska, Ambassador at large for energy security for Czech Republic, points out that little has changed post Japan nuclear incident. Excerpts

Q: What, according to you, is the major change that happened post Fukushima nuclear disaster?
A: Nothing has really changed. Countries, which are pro-nuclear are going ahead with their programmes and those who were against nuclear programmes continue with their stands. The real question is how the democratic countries will look at the nuclear plans two years from now.  It depends a great deal on how fast Japan able to contain Fukushima. It will also address what, how and why behind the disaster.

Q:  Many countries are looking at increasing their dependency on nuclear to meet their power requirements. Are the uranium deposits sufficient to meet the increasing demand?�
A: Kazakhstan, Australia, Canada, Czech Republic are the major suppliers now, and it seems that enough supply is available now. China is planning for 200 reactors in next 20 years; India also has in significant number. If the numbers are doubled, then there will be a problem. But I personally don’t believe those many numbers will be built.
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Q:  Post Japan, some countries have announced a slow-down in nuclear programmes. Your comment.
 A: It really depends on how Japan will be controlled. It is not yet under control. Whether it is human error or miscalculation of the safety measures is not known yet. So we need to wait for the Japan research/ enquiry report to find out what and where it went wrong. The problem will be for democratic countries where there should be consultation with people will face a tough time explaining why keen on going nuclear. Then there could be a slowdown.  

Q:  A country like India has more renewable energy potential. Do you see a need for this country to move to nuclear for power generation?
A: I don’t advice any country other than mine. But I will add here yes, India has a higher potential in solar. Not sure about bio-fuel because of the water problem. However India cannot ignore nuclear power, may be as a backup for solar and wind power. India still has a 30 per cent population not having access to electricity.

Q:  Do you see a paradigm shift in the security standards while setting up nuclear plants after the Japan incident?
A: The responses will be different from country to country. For countries like Japan, US and Korea, which are highly prone to earthquakes, have a higher safety measures in place. My country Czech, which is not under the quake threat zone, the safety standards are different.

Q:  Has your country revisited the nuclear programmes post Fukushima?
A: Czech is a 75 per cent pro-nuclear before the Japan incident and still continues. Yes there is a 10 per cent slowing but continue to be 65 per cent pro –nuclear. If Japan goes on in the present condition for half a year or one year or rather the bad news keeps coming, then there might be a change. No one can predict what will happens a year from now. 

Q:  What is the role of technology and is there any proven technology available in the world which countries like India can adapt?
A: We are more and more dependent on technologies, unless people understand. Fewer and fewer people understand and that is the biggest dilemma of evolving technologies. Do we understand the technology of mobile or computer? No, still we use it. We adopt technologies with out understanding it fully.

Q:  Where do you see the more demand coming from, India or China?
A: As of now, it is China as China has got more nuclear projects in the implementation stage. India is not far behind. We see it coming closer to China in the current decade.

Threat of a complete shutdown of oil production, as protests in Libya got worse, drove WTI crude oil futures on NYMEX to open the month higher by 2.7 per cent, from the previous month’s close, at US $99.63 a barrel. Intensifying unrest in Libya and protests in the Middle East spread to countries like Bahrain, Yemen and Oman and this led to a rally in oil prices. In addition, a fall in US crude oil inventories and weaker USD helped the prices rise. As a result, WTI crude oil futures prices on NYMEX touched the month as well as more than two-year high of US $106.95 on March 7. Later, oil prices fell as the OPEC stated that it could increase output if supply concerns persisted and the International Energy Agency (IEA) too announced that it could release oil supplies in an event of severe oil supply disruption. Weekly data release that showed US oil inventory increased more than expected dragged down the prices even further. Oil prices remained low also because of weak global cues: while data in the US (jobless claims rose by 397,000 and trade deficit widen to US $46.3B) and China (crude oil production rose by 5.3 per cent in February, from a year earlier) were bearish, there were reports of shutdown of dozens of refineries in the world’s third-largest oil consumer, Japan, following the devastating earthquake and Tsunami. As a result, WTI crude oil futures prices on NYMEX hit the month low of US $96.22 on March 16.

Crude oil prices increased steadily, from the month-low level, almost through the rest of the month. What triggered a reversal in the oil movement was escalation in violence in Bahrain that fuelled concerns that the regional unrest might spread to Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest producer. Later, weakness in USD, coupled with upbeat sentiments in global financial markets, also lent support for the prices to rise. Oil prices increased even further as air strikes by US allied forces threatened to prolong a supply disruption in Libya. By the month’s end, the prices steadied around US $106 levels, as allied forces and the US prepared for a second round of attacks in Libya to control violence with Libyan President Gaddafi declining to surrender in any circumstances. Finally, WTI oil futures on NYMEX closed the month higher by 10.05 percent, over the February close, at US $106.72. Notably, the spread between Brent and US crude futures prices narrowed to about US $10 for the premium on the North Sea benchmark this week after widening to a record level of US $17 a barrel at the start of March. Meanwhile, IEA stated that it expects Brent to remain above US crude into the year 2013, driven by increased interest from a section of participants in the Brent contract and inventories at Cushing in Oklahoma to remain high.

Among other energy commodities, futures of two oil derivates — heating oil and gasoline — too moved up by 5.61 per cent and 13.85 percent, respectively, on NYMEX in the month of March. Falling gasoline inventory levels and expectations of high demand in fast-approaching summer driving season in the US aided the price rise.

Natural gas futures too clocked a monthly rise of 8.72 per cent on NYMEX as US President Barack Obama pushes for finding more ways in which the country can use it. Obama wants to cut oil imports by a third over the next decade, and he says the US could rely more on natural gas and bio-fuels to make that happen. Additionally, end-of-the quarter buying also lent support to the rise in gas prices. In tandem with the general energy commodity uptrend, ICE Rotterdam monthly coal futures contract increased by 6.03 per cent in March 2011 on strong demand from Asian economies. Lastly, futures prices of carbon commodities — CER (carbon credits) and EUA (European Union Allowances) on the ICE-ECX platform also posted a monthly rise of 10.71 and 10.33 percent, respectively, largely in sync with the price increases in German power, coal and oil. Nuclear crisis in Japan and a German government move to shut a third of its nuclear capacity were some of the key factors behind the rise in carbon prices. Also, Green Party’s victory in Germany’s state elections suggested that the country would rely more heavily on coal plants, which pushed up carbon prices even further.

Views are personal.

Brad Gammons, VP sales and solutions, IBM’s Global Energy & Utilities Industry

Renjini Liza Varghese

A country like India, which has higher T&D losses, is looking at implementing smart grid technologies. Could you please explain the smart grid?

Smart grid technology offers both the consumer and the energy utility many benefits. Tens of billions of dollars in operating costs can be saved by improving efficiencies in the transmission and distribution systems which can dramatically reduce the need to build more power plants and transmission lines. A next-gen grid that anticipates, detects, and responds to problems quickly could reduce wide-area outages to near zero. While price increases are likely, they could come more gradually than with the old system. By integrating clean renewable energy sources like solar and wind with the grid, we can shrink our carbon footprint and reduce dependency on foreign energy sources. For consumers, the benefits could be substantial, as well. If their energy providers are more efficient, their energy bills will come at a lower rate.

India is far behind its peers in adapting to newer technologies. Where is India poised on the smart grid transformation journey?
Electric utilities and policy makers worldwide, including India, are accelerating the transformation of electricity networks and in India, pilot implementations are already on the immediate horizon. The fact is smart grid is no longer just a concept; it’s a necessity.  To meet the needs of the millions of India citizens, who experience inadequate and unreliable access to energy services, India must do something to transform its energy services in a mannet that is economically viable, sustainable, affordable and efficient.

What are the technological transformation happening in smart grid in the western countries who lead the smart grid revolution?
Smart grid success stories around the world all have one thing in common – collaboration. Each successful utility has multiple stakeholders across the energy value chain involved in areas such as generation, transmission, distribution, retail, consumption, conservation, standards, regulation, and so on.  In each of the cases where we see successful smart grid work, there is always deep collaboration between multiple parties – industry, academia, and the public sector.

a) In Australia, the “Smart Grid, Smart City” project, Australia’s first commercial scale-smart grid, announced at the end of last year  by the Australian Prime Minister, is a consortium of entities working together to develop a more efficient, robust, and consumer-friendly electricity network – by developing, among other capabilities, distributed generation, smart metering, and demand-management solutions.

b) In the United State, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory project on the Olympic Peninsula in the Northwest, has implemented a virtual market place and automated controls, which adjusts appliances and thermostats based on comfort preferences and price sensitivity settings by homeowners – every five minutes. This allows consumers to choose to automatically curtail energy use in response to higher price signals when electricity delivery is constrained.  This led to 10 per cent  lower electricity bills and to a 15 per cent reduction in peak demand.  The first project was so successful, that it is being expanded in scope to span five different U.S. states and 11 utilities.

c) And in Denmark, the EDISON project is focused on developing an intelligent infrastructure to optimize charging of electric vehicles via renewable energy. This will eventually help the country to move from 20 per cent wind energy – already the highest percentage in the world — to 80 per cent over the course of one generation.

d)In China, Shanghai Power, part of the largest utility in the world, State Grid Corporation of China, has implemented a very innovative solution called the “Integrated Distribution Outage Planner”,  IDOP, to automate their business processes to manage maintenance – which is aimed at minimizing outages and, as a result, saving over US $5 million each month.

In technology front, what is in the offing for smart grids from IBM?
IBM experts are working with utility companies globally to add a layer of digital intelligence to their grids. These smart grids use sensors, smart meters, digital controls and analytic tools to automate, monitor and control the flow of energy across operations – from power plant to plug. A power company can optimise grid performance, prevent outages, restore outages faster and allow consumers to manage energy right down to the individual networked appliance. “Smart” grids can incorporate new sustainable sources such as wind and solar generation, and interact locally with distributed power sources, or plug-in electric vehicles. IBM’s Intelligent Utility Network solutions help leading utility companies fundamentally transform the way power is generated, distributed and used. From network revitalisation, to asset management, to plant operations, IBM offers smarter solutions, practices and technology that help utilities transform into new symbols of power in the 21st century.

Equal stress is given to T&D in India off late. How long will it take for India to be at par in smart grids?
Every country is at a different point in its journey towards building smarter energy services.  As India’s economy and population continue to grow, the government is focusing on increasing the country’s electrical generation capacity and modernizing the power grid. Programs like “Power for all by 2012”, Ultra Mega Power Plants (UMPPs), Restructured Accelerated Power Development & Reforms Program (R-APDRP), Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutkaran Yojana (RGGVY), Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission etc are important initiatives that are accelerating the transformation of the power sector in India. In May 2010 the Ministry of Power launched India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF) – a public private partnership for coordinated development and faster adoption of smart grid technologies in India. The government has decided to make Adviser to the Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovation Dr. Sam Pitroda the head of the “India Smart Grid Task Force.” The task force was set up to evolve a road map for development and deployment of smart and intelligent grid technologies with the aim of making India a world leader in this realm.

Elaborate on IBM’s initiatives and projects in smart grids? Elaborate on the recent collaboration with Indian government and institutes like IIT’s?
IBM offers solutions for the optimization of the entire energy value chain – power generation, transmission, distribution and renewables; and we are actively engaged with forward looking utilities in all these segments of the industry. Right now IBM is involved in more than 150 Smart Grid projects across the globe.  IBM recently signed a unique collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras and IIT Kharagpur with the goal of developing systems that would help power grids become more efficient and resilient. The systems will analyze power grid data for predictive insights and will also help optimize grid utilization to enhance productivity and reduce power waste. The project is part of IBM’s Open Collaborative Research (OCR) program, an initiative to foster innovation through university-industry research collaboration.

Majority of Indian villages still does not have access to grid connected power. Do you see smart grids address this problem?�
Smart grid technologies can help address the challenges India has in ensuring reliable access to all citizens. Smart grid technologies allow energy providers to manage the power distribution more efficiently, to forecast demand and supply, integrate renewable sources into the grid and reduce costs for managing assets as well as giving. Leveraging the technologies now available and the experiences of others can even put India in a position to leap-frog other nations around the world.

There are Individual captive solar and wind energy producers in India who is looking at connecting to the grid. Explain the role of smart grid in this context?
Wind and solar power are amongst the cleanest and most abundant forms of renewable energy. In fact, wind power is the fastest growing source of electricity in the world. With an annual growth rate of 39 per cent, this is the largest increase in capacity on record — helped significantly by economic stimulus funding for green energy. Now is the time to make both our existing and new wind farms smarter. IBM has created a portfolio of solutions that include software, field technologies, analytics and short-range weather forecasting to help wind farm operators optimize the performance of turbines, better predict and balance power output and commercialize wind output as a trading commodity. While IBM has been working with key industry stakeholders to establish common standards; about 25 percent of manufacturers have done so, IBM solutions work across all 14 operating systems.

What according to you are the other areas, India should look at improving to have more energy efficiency?
Transformation of the energy industry will need strong collaboration across all the stakeholders – both government and private. IBM is promoting the adoption of smart grids around the world by participating in organizations that are defining the future of the industry, and driving standards and emerging technologies. IBM is one of the founding members of GridWise Alliance – a public private partnership promoted by US Department of Energy. Also, in 2007 IBM formed the Global Intelligent Utility Network Coalition. Together, this coalition of utility companies—which includes NDPL from India—collectively serves 115 million energy consumers globally, and not only works to implement smart grid in their respective markets, but also actively promotes smart grid development across the globe.

In an off-grid scenario, what are the smart equipments which will ensure the maximum energy utilization?
While the industry seems to have been moving pretty rapidly over last few years, we are only at the beginning of the modernization of the electric system. Although the industry has made positive strides forward, we need to do better job of evolving the discussion around – what smart grid is and why it’s important. Energy transformation is as important as healthcare, and the world must collaborate to create a smarter, sustainable planet.

Thereafter, a spill-over of the political protest from Egypt to other oil-sensitive countries like Bahrain, Iran and Algeria reignited a spurt in oil prices. What followed was a further aid to the oil uptrend by clashes reported from Yemen and Libya. With momentum gathering in the political protest in Libya, workers at an oilfield also went on strike raising concerns over supply disruptions. Libya being an OPEC member and one that exports to the tune of 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd), the situation there came under great scrutiny. Concerns over Libyan oil supply were further fuelled as European oil and gas companies evacuated staff and suspended drilling preparations on growing violence. As a result, WTI futures contract on NYMEX scaled to its month high of US $103.41 on February 24. That the worries over growing turmoil in Libya could spread to other oil-producing countries lent strong support to the oil price surge. Later, near the month’s end, expectations that increased production from Saudi Arabia could cover up supply disruptions arrested the upside in oil prices. Saudi Aramco CEO Khalid al-Falih came out with a statement that Saudi Arabia was pumping around 9 million bpd and demand caused by the unrest in Libya had been met.

Finally, WTI oil futures prices on NYMEX closed the month higher by 5.2 per cent, over the January level, at US $96.97. Notably, the regional oil glut at Cushing, the delivery point for NYMEX WTI, resulted in widening the spread between ICE Brent and NYMEX WTI up to almost US $20 on February 21. Besides WTI crude oil, its derivates — heating oil and gasoline — too moved up largely on concerns that the political upheaval in Libya could reach Middle Eastern oil producers like Saudi Arabia and, thus, intensify future oil supply crunch. As a result, the prices of heating oil and gasoline futures on NYMEX increased by 6.5 and 9.6 per cent, respectively, on a monthly basis.

Among other energy commodities, CER (carbon credits) futures and EUA (European Union Allowances) futures on the ICE-ECX platform posted a monthly rise of 3.1 and 3.7 per cent , respectively, largely in tandem with the price increases in German power, coal and oil. Price sentiments were also buoyed by a Barclays Plc report that said the EU’s option of setting aside as many as 800 million surplus carbon allowances may add 10 euros a ton to the prices in 2013. Owing to dull physical activity, the movement of coal futures on ICE was largely range-bound with a positive bias, clocking a monthly rise of 1.4 per cent.

Breaking the general uptrend energy prices, natural gas futures on NYMEX slumped by 6.6 per cent, from the January level, in February 2011. Rising output and higher-than-normal seasonal stocks of gas and a forecast for higher-than-normal temperature in the US were some of the factors that drove the prices of natural gas down.

What is your vision for the company?

What measures company is taking to reduce its carbon footprint?
Reduction of carbon footprint in power generation is under progress. We have developed ultra super critical system, which will reduce emission by 6 per cent. We have a target of generating 30 per cent of our production from non thermal sources by the year 2030. The Centre for Power Efficiency & Environmental Protection is engaged in mitigating of green house gas emission. NTPC has avoided 28 million tonnes of Co2 in the last 14 years, while in the year 2009-10 alone 2.72 million tonnes of Co2 has been avoided.  We have also created a greener wealth of 18.80 million trees.

Has company’s plan to tie up with NPCIL for entering in to nuclear power generation been officiated?
Yes we have an understanding with NPCIL. We are setting up a plant In Haryana, the location has been identified by the Haryana government. The proposed JV company will have 51 per cent equity participation of NPCIL and rest 49 per cent will be held by NTPC. We have also requested government for independent permission to set up nuclear power plants. After 123 agreement we can also go for technology transfer permission. 

NTPC was looking to buy coal mines abroad, has those plans been finalised?
Our board took a decision to foray into acquiring coal mines abroad. We have a consumption requirement of about 12 million tonnes, we have requested Coal India to ensure supply of the same. There are some issues still needs to be ironed out. We are looking at Indonesia and New South Wales, Australia. Have already received two bore samples from Australia, but the problem is high moisture and high iron content. Currently we are importing 4 million tones of coal on our own.

What were the reasons for scaling down the target for NTPC in 11th plan from 17,760 Mw to 13,750 Mw? Does this affect the overall plan of NTPC to become a 75,000 Mw company by the 12th plan?
This figure of 17,760 Mw or 13750 Mw is not true. The target for 11th Plan was 9,200 Mw, set up in consultation with Planning Commission and power ministry. I am not only hopeful but sure that we will definitely achieve the target. I really can’t comment on what happened last year, but my fiscal target of generating 3,000 Mw will be achieved & also the target of 39,140 Mw generation by the end of 11th Plan will be achieved.

Is NTPC having a re look at its strategy of entering in to hydro generation after Utrakhand project setback?
First of all, I would clear, that we haven’t received official communication about Loahariaganj Pala Hydro project (Utrakhand), though it has been under suspension on the advice of the centre government. Ganga River Basin Authority has cleared the project. There is no question of re looking into strategy, because we have got the approval only after the statutory clearance.

There were media reports about NTPC looking for out of court settlement in its gas dispute case with RIL, Your comment.
We are on a very strong wicket; there is no question of out of court settlement for Kawas Gandhar project. Though, we have asked the government for firm gas allocation of 22 mmcmd. We can use the gas for Kawas Gandhar projects also; this won’t weaken our case with RIL. I had a word with Solicitor General in this regard.

Is NTPC looking to import LNG for its gas based power plants?  Has any long term deal for LNG import been finalised?
We are planning to import LNG. No deals have been finalised yet. Had talks with Qatar, they are ready to supply gas in return for equity in the project. We are even ready for this and further talks are on.

Ontario’s energy energy comsumption increased from 17,368 Mw to 24,917 Mw this year. Despite record peak time demand, the Ontario energy system was able to meet the total yearly demand of 25,075 Mw with cleaner and renewable resources. Neither the citizens nor industry faced a single hour of power cut.
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To understand how the Ontario government achieved this, one needs to take stock of the progressive approach adapted in the last few years.  It invested CAD $9 billion to bring more than 8,000 Mw of new supply online, including a Niagara tunnel project which will provide additional 1.6 billion kilowatt-hours per year on completion, which is expected in 2013. Under the feed-in tariff program Ontario has also executed more than 900 contracts for new small and large scale clean energy projects with total capacity of more than 2,100 Mw. There have been a substantial increase in investment in electricity generation post 2003.

Prior to 2003 Ontario’s electricity was relied on coal fired generation facilities which  resulted in doubling of green house emissions. and also smog and acid rains. In response to the concerns of public health, the government decided to coal phase out with a  5 years timeframe. The government addressed the public health concern by moving towards 100 per cent renewable and clean energy system with the interim target to obtain most of its grid-supplied electricity from cleaner renewable sources which is also lowest in terms of cost to meet electricity requirement. It enacted the “Green Energy Act” (2009), as a result the generation from Ontario’s coal plants is already down more than 70 per cent from 2003. Finding clean, affordable and sustainable sources of the electricity was accorded top priority in the Ontario government, this has resulted in bringing 8,000 Mw of clean electricity online since 2003.

As a strategy to increase the electricity supply from renewable and clean sources, Ontario adopted following methods:
• Currently Ontario has more than 1,200 Mw of wind power online generated by more than 700 wind turbines. In 2003 there were only 15 Mw of wind power generated by ten turbines.
•  There are more than 800 solar PV projects online totaling more than 100 Mw.
•  Hydro power accounts of 21 per cent of current electricity in Ontario.
•  Atikokan Generation Station once completed is expected to to generate 150 million kilowatt-hours of  poer from biomass.

Improved and expanded conservation programs have been helping millions of families and businesses of Ontario to reduce their usage, which puts less pressure on the system and helps manage bills. Ontario home energy saving program helped more than 2,00,000 people reduce their electricity bills by more than 20 per cent on average. More than 1,700 Mw have been achieved since 2003. Ontario has jumped to the top class for its energy conservation system and earned” A+”  on the latest report card from the Canadian Energy Efficiency Alliance. The modified and the upgraded Ontario’s energy plan will ensure Ontario continues to be a North American leader for clean energy jobs and technology.

Just like France’s own nuclear programme, the Indian civilian nuclear effort was initiated in the early 1960s, and the country’s first commercial nuclear plant was delivering electricity to the grid at the end of the same decade. Since then, additional plants were built in a continuous effort to supply electricity and about 5 Gw of power are now delivered on the Indian grid. As said by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the International Atomic Conference organized in Delhi last year, the nuclear industry would have huge opportunities in India after the civilian nuclear deal signed with the US. The objectives are clearly to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and to contribute to global efforts to combat climate change.

PHWR and PWR
Domestically-designed reactors in India are pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR) as they use heavy water to moderate neutrons. Slowing down neutrons is necessary to sustain the nuclear reaction. Using heavy water reduces the absorption of neutrons and allows using natural uranium as fuel. In pressurized water reactors, (PWR) such as the EPR reactor, the same ordinary water is utilized for both use which requires using enriched uranium to counterbalance additional neutron absorption.
In both designs, the heat produced inside the reactor core is transferred to the turbine through steam generators. Only heat is exchanged between the reactor cooling circuit (primary circuit) and the steam circuit used to feed the turbine (secondary circuit). No mixing of primary and secondary cooling water takes place. In the case of the EPR reactor, the primary cooling water is pumped through the reactor core and the tubes inside the steam generators, in four parallel closed loops, by coolant pumps driven by electric motors. Each loop is equipped with a steam generator and a coolant pump. The reactor operating pressure and temperature are such that the cooling water does not boil in the primary circuit but remains in the liquid state. A pressurizer, connected to one of the coolant loops, is used to control the pressure in the primary circuit.
Feedwater entering the secondary side of the steam generators absorbs the heat transferred from the primary side and evaporates to produce saturated steam. The steam is mechanically dried inside the steam generators then delivered to the turbine. After exiting the turbine, the steam is condensed and returned as feedwater to the steam generators.

What is the EPR reactor?
The EPR reactor is a 1740 Mw/e gross PWR. Its evolutionary design is based on experience from several thousand reactor-years of operation of Light Water Reactors worldwide, primarily those incorporating the most recent technologies: the N4 (Chooz B1-B2 and Civaux 1-2) and Konvoi (Neckarwestheim-2, Isar-2 and Emsland) reactors currently in operation in France and Germany, respectively. This enabled the designers not only to use experience from the most recently constructed plants but also to eliminate the risk arising from the adoption of unproven technologies.
The EPR safety approach involves a reinforced application, at the design stage, of the defence in-depth concept by improving preventive measures to reduce the probability of core melt and, second by incorporating features for limiting the consequences of very low probability postulated core melt accidents.
In order to reduce the probability of core melt accidents advances were made in three areas: an extended range of operating conditions was taken into account at the design stage, equipment and systems were designed to reduce the likelihood of an abnormal situation deteriorating into a severe accident and improvements were made in the reliability of operator actions. The EPR safety approach also makes it possible to identify accident sequences that could cause core melt or result in large radioactivity releases, to evaluate their probability, then to identify their potential causes and to define countermeasures.
When including all types of initiating failure and hazard, core damage frequency is below 1/100,000 (10–5) per reactor/year, which meets the objective set for new nuclear power plants established by the International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group (INSAG) with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – INSAG 3 report. If only events occurring inside the plant are taken into consideration, the frequency is below 1/1,000,000 (10–6) per reactor/year, which is a factor 10 reduction compared with the most modern reactors currently in operation and below 1/10,000,000 (10–7) per reactor/year for the accident sequences associated with early loss of the radioactive containment function. It must be noted that shutdown states were systematically taken into account in the design, both in risk analysis and in the design of the protection and safety systems.
As a break in the reactor coolant system could lead to core melt, the design of the reactor coolant system, the use of forged pipework and components, construction with high mechanical performance materials, combined with measures to allow early leak detection and to facilitate in-service inspections, allow excluding rupture of the major reactor coolant piping.
In the same way, special attention was given to managing steam generator tube breaks as this could potentially result in large releases of water from primary system to secondary system and atmosphere. By setting driving pressure of the medium head injection lower than set pressure of the secondary system safety valves, there is no risk to overfill steam generators with water and so to release radioactivity into the environment.
The layout of the safety systems and the design of the civil works structures minimize the effect from hazards such as earthquake, flood, fire or airplane crash.
The safety systems are designed on the basis of a quadruple redundancy, at the same time for their mechanical and electrical parts and for of the supporting I&C. This means that each system consists of four subsystems, or “trains”, each one capable by itself of fulfilling the entire safety function. The four redundant trains are physically separated from each other and located in four independent divisions (buildings). The building housing the reactor, the building in which the spent fuel is stored on an interim basis, and the four buildings corresponding to the four divisions of the safety system are provided with special protection against externally-generated hazards such as earthquakes and explosions. To withstand major earthquakes, the entire Nuclear Island stands on a single thick reinforced concrete basemat. The building height has been minimised and heavy components and water tanks are located at the lowest possible level. To withstand the impact of a large aircraft, the Reactor Building, Spent Fuel Building and two of the four Safeguard Buildings are protected by an outer shell made of reinforced concrete. The other two Safeguard Buildings are geographically separated. Similarly, the Diesel generators are located in two geographically separate building.
The safety-related systems are simple, redundant and diverse to ensure high reliability and effectiveness.
To further improve reliability of operator action and safety, the short term protection and safety actions needed in the event of an incident or accident are automated. Design criteria have been established to set minimum timeframes before operator action is required. In any case, operator action is not required before at least thirty minutes for actions taken in the Control Room, or one hour for actions performed locally in the plant.
Experience feedback from the design and operation of the N4 reactors, which were among the first plants to be equipped with a fully computerized Control Room, and use of the last generation, yet well proven Teleperm XS safety I&C give the EPR reactor a high performance and reliable human-machine interface. Operator actions are based on real time plant data made available by state-of-the-art AREVA I&C.

Benefits for India
Thanks to the large capacity of the EPR, the Jaitapur project will allow India’s electricity network to receive a larger quantity of power sooner than it would with other options. In addition, the EPR plot plan will lead to an optimized use of available land as it would permit to reach as much as 10 Gw/e of production on this site. Because those 10 Gw/e are produced by six reactors only, this also means that the site will require less highly specialized staff needed to run reactors, thus facilitating the staffing of the general nuclear generation park expansion.
The EPR reactor is indisputably at the forefront of nuclear power plant design. It offers truly advanced technology and presents significant economies of scale. Indeed, it can generate significant amounts of electricity on a limited number of acres of land.

Like all other EPR™ systems, the I&C systems act in accordance with the “defense in depth” concept. Three lines of defense are implemented. At the first level, the control system maintains plant parameters within their normal operating ranges. In case a parameter leaves its normal range, the limitation system performs appropriate actions to avoid the need for the initiation of protective actions. Ultimately, if a parameter exceeds a protection threshold, the reactor protection system generates the appropriate safety actions (reactor trip and safety system actuation).

A computerized plant I&C system, supported by modern digital technologies
Normally, to operate and monitor the plant, the operators use workstations and a plant overview panel in the Main Control Room. In case of unavailability of the Main Control Room, the plant is monitored and controlled from the Remote Shutdown Station which allows the operator to bring the unit to a safe state.
EPR I&C systems and circuits comply with the principles of redundancy, diversity and separation applied in the design of safety-related systems. For example the Safety Injection System and the Emergency Feedwater System, which each consist of four redundant and independent trains, also have four redundant and independent I&C channels.
Each safety-related I&C system is designed to be able to satisfactorily fulfil its function, even if one of its channels is not available due to a failure and a second one is unavailable for maintenance reasons.
The level of availability of the I&C systems performing safety functions is specified so as to comply with the probabilistic safety targets adopted in the EPR™ design.

Limiting consequences
Even if plant design was done such as reducing probability of a core-melt accident, specific features are incorporated to ensure that such highly unlikely event would only require very limited offsite countermeasures in time and space.
In the event of a core melt leading to vessel failure, there would remain the third containment barrier, the containment building; provisions are therefore made to ensure that it remains undamaged and leak-tight. The design chosen for the EPR™ reactor consists in internally covering the pre-stressed concrete inner shell with a metallic liner; the inter-space between the inner and outer shells of the containment is maintained at a slightly negative pressure to enable collecting any leak from the inner containment. The above provisions are supplemented by a containment ventilation system and a filter system upstream of the stack. In addition the internal containment penetrations are equipped with redundant isolation valves and leak recovery devices to prevent containment bypass.
The policy of mitigation of the consequences of a severe accident, which guided the design of the EPR™ reactor, therefore aimed to “practically eliminate” situations which could lead to early radiological releases due to a breach in the containment and to ensure the long term integrity of the reactor containment, even in the event of a low-pressure core melt followed by ex-vessel migration.
In addition to the reactor coolant depressurisation systems provided on the other reactors, the EPR™ reactor is equipped with valves dedicated to preventing ejection of molten core at high-pressure in the event of a severe accident. These valves ensure fast depressurization and redundancy in the event of failure of pressurizer relief lines. Their high relief capacity enables fast primary depressurisation of the reactor coolant system to a pressure of a few bars, precluding any risk of over-pressurization of the containment through dispersion of corium debris as it would occur in the case of vessel failure at high pressure.

The high mechanical strength of the reactor vessel prevents it from being significantly damaged by any conceivable reaction that could occur between corium (product resulting from the melting of the core components) and coolant inside the vessel. The areas of the containment where the corium could come into contact with water after being ejected from the pressure vessel, e.g. the reactor pit and the core spreading area, are kept free of water in most circumstances. Only when the corium is spread inside the dedicated spreading area, then partially cooled and solidified (and therefore less reactive), is it brought in contact with cooling water.

In the unlikely event of a severe accident, hydrogen could be released inside the containment in significant quantities. Further devices called catalytic hydrogen recombiners are installed inside the containment to keep the average concentration below the detonation limit. Assuming hydrogen combustion by deflagration only, the pressure in the containment will not exceed 5.5 bar, lower than the pressure criterion used for containment design.

The dedicated corium spreading and cooling area (core-catcher) consists of a channelled metal structure covered with “sacrificial” concrete. Its purpose is to protect the nuclear island basemat from damage. Its lower section contains cooling channels in which water is circulated. The large spreading surface area (170 m2) promotes cooling of the corium. The transfer of the corium from the reactor pit to the spreading area is initiated by a passive device: a steel “plug” that melts due to the heat from the corium. After spreading, flooding of the corium is triggered by opening of a passively activated valve. It is then cooled, also passively, by gravity injection of water from the refuelling water storage tank located inside the containment and evaporation. The cooling stabilises the corium in a few hours and ensures its complete solidification within a few days.

Allowance for operating constraints and for the human factor, with the aim of improving worker radiation protection and limiting radioactive releases, together with radwaste quantity and activity, was a set objective as soon as EPR™ design got underway. For this purpose, the designers drew heavily upon the experience feedback from the operation of the French and German nuclear power plant fleets. Accordingly, major progress has been made, particularly in the choice of materials, for example the optimization of the quantity and location of the Cobalt-containing materials. In the same way optimization of the radiation shielding thicknesses in response to forecast reactor maintenance during outages or in service was included in the design and layout of the components and systems liable to convey radioactivity. Thanks to these significant advances and to shorter outages, collective doses would be reduced by a factor 2 compared to best-in-class existing plants.