Gujarat’s solar park to fight global warming

Charanka solar park with an aggregated operational capacity of 500 MW is Asia’s first and the largest solar park

Even though Gujarat is a power surplus state, it is investing huge amount of money in solar energy. Inaugurating the Charanka solar park which had an aggregated operational capacity of 500 MW last month, the state’s chief minister Narendra Modi dedicated it to the nation calling it Gujarat’s contribution to the war against global warming and climate change.

“For ages we have been worshiping Sun god. It’s time to get his blessings. And, Gujarat will show how,” Narendra Modi told an applauding crowd of 5000 in Charanka in Patan district. The chief minister was not invoking gods to impress upon the audience.

He was talking about the amalgamation of science and technology with business. The context was the inauguration of the 500 MW solar park, Asia’s first and the largest on April 24.

The park has an aggregated operational capacity of 500 MW of solar power projects commissioned on a single location with 21 solar project developers setting up their projects.

While Gujarat’s contribution to the generation of solar energy may look minuscule compared to the target of 20,000 MW set in the national solar mission by 2020, it will appear huge seen in the context of all India figure of 900 MW installation capacity.

“We have set our eyes on achieving the target of 10,000 MW soon,” Modi said to the cheering audience. Although it will take a while before the CM’s ambitious target becomes a reality, Gujarat has certainly raced ahead of other states in getting huge investment in the solar energy generation.

“The solar installations in Gujarat have attracted an investment of Rs 9,000 crore,” said DJ Pandian, principle secretary, energy, Gujarat government. 

Gujarat’s achievement in attracting investment in solar energy sector is significant keeping in mind the energy requirements of the country.

According to ministry of power’s latest estimates India has an installed capacity of 199.87GW, which though is world’s fifth largest, is short by 21000 MW. And, with coal which accounts for 55 percent of India’s installed electricity capacity, being a fast depleting resource, it is important that the country looked for other source of power.

India has a rich solar energy resource. The country receives 200 MW/km square (megawatt per kilometre square) of average intensity of solar radiation. With a geographical area of 3.287 million km square, this amounts to 657.4 million MW.

Although Gujarat is a power surplus state, it announced the solar power Policy in January 2009. Under the policy, the Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) agreed for an attractive feed-in tariff of Rs 15/unit (the GERC will buy power at this rate from the developers) for the first 12 years and Rs 5/unit for the subsequent 13 years.

Also, since huge area of land is required for solar projects (approx. 5 acres/MW), the government introduced the concept of solar parks.

The Charanka solar park
The foundation stone for the solar Park was laid at Charanka on December 30, 2010. Gujarat Power Corporation Limited (GPCL), the nodal agency for implementation of the Solar Park, invested Rs 300 crore into the Solar Park infrastructure, while Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation Limited (GETCO) invested Rs 650 crore into the smart evacuation and transmission network. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) provided a loan of Rs 500 crore for smart transmission network development to GETCO.

In a record one-year time the park was functional by January 2012.

“The park offers the advantage of access to government waste lands, high solar radiations, utilisation of common infrastructure to host multiple solar power projects and extending industry and employment to the remote location of Gujarat,” said Pandian, principle secretary, energy.

The park has helped the local economy too. It has already provided employment to 30,000 skilled and unskilled workers. The operation and maintenance activity for the solar plants promises to provide steady employment to 1,500 personnel for the next 25 years. Further, the solar power plants will generate 30 lakh units of clean energy per day, which can provide electricity to 10 lakh households. Above all, these solar power plants will save CO2 emissions at the rate of 10 lakh tonnes per year.

“India has huge potential in the solar energy sector, and Gujarat government’s effort for encouraging investment is the step in the right direction,” said Sunil Gupta, head, clean energy, Standard Chartered Bank.

“The Gujarat government has exploited the economy of scale by setting up this huge solar park and bringing together 21 solar power developers. The prices of solar energy will certainly fall down,” said V Saibaba, CEO, Lanco Solar.

Rooftop solar installations
While the concept of solar park has taken off and huge investments are pouring in, the Gujarat government is not resting on its laurels. “We will also simultaneously promote solar rooftop installations,” said Pandian.

Gandhinagar, the state capital, is being developed as a model solar city, the first-of-its-kind in the country. Gandhinagar Solar City Project has multiple installations of solar rooftop systems ranging from 1 kilowatt (kW) to 150 kW at more than 150 locations, aggregating to a capacity of 1.39 MW. These systems cover a total area of two hectares on roofs, which amounts to approximately 2% of the total roof space in the capital city. Further, these systems contribute to approximately 1% of the total energy consumption of the city. Now, the government has floated a 5 MW Gandhinagar (Solar) Photovoltaic Rooftop Programme through public-private partnership (PPP). This is the largest solar rooftop programme in India, and is structured with a vision to mainstream the practice of solar rooftop systems in the country.

Similar solar rooftop programmes will be extended to more cities like Mehsana, Bhavnagar, Rajkot, Surat and Vadodara in the near future.

Eventually, the solar rooftop programme will open up to one and all in Gujarat through a sustainable policy that will be launched in the near future. “Everyone in Gujarat will be generating power on his rooftop in the near future,” Pandian said.

“Mainstreaming the solar rooftop practice will open up floodgates to a whole new industry in the state with a tremendous potential for employment. It is a vision of the state that each citizen becomes self-sufficient in terms of energy that is also clean,” he added.

Canal Solar Power
Gujarat has also pioneered canal-based solar power project. A 1 MW pilot project is already commissioned on Narmada branch canal near Chandrasan village of Mehsana district’s Kadi taluka.

This project was inaugurated on April 24. It is developed by Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Limited (GSECL) with support from Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL). This 1 MW pilot is installed on a 750-metre stretch of the canal and will generate 1.6 million units of clean electricity per year, as well as prevent evaporation of 90 lakh litres of water per year from the canal. Hence, the canal solar concept tackles two of our modern day challenges: energy security and water security.

Today, Gujarat has about 458 kilometres of open main canal, while the total canal length, including sub-branches is about 19,000 kilometres; the final aim of SSNNL is to construct a total of 85,000 kilometres of canal network.

Assuming a utilisation of only 10% of the existing canal network of 19,000 kilometres, it is estimated that 2,200 MW of solar power generating capacity can be installed.

This implies that 11,000 acres of land, about 2,000 crore litres of water per year can be potentially conserved.

"Gujarat is the first state not only in India but also in Asia to set up a dedicated department for climate change,” Modi said.

Apart from setting up a dedicated department for climate change, the government of Gujarat is spending a huge amount on renewable energy (more than Rs 2,000 crore per year), which the chief minister said was its contribution in the “war against global warming and climate change.”

India is taking the first step in curbing down pollution !!! hurrah!!!

Govt plans Rs 1 lakh/day fine for missing energy saving target

On Wednesday 30 March 2011, 2:28 PM
New Delhi, Mar 30 (PTI) The Power Ministry plans to impose huge penalties of over Rs 1 lakh per day on industries that fail to achieve energy efficiency targets under the three-year Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) programme starting April 1.
PAT, which aims to increase industrial energy efficiency, is expected to bring down energy consumption by 5 per cent, amounting to an avoided capacity of over 5,600 MW over the three-year period.
There would be strict penalties, as well as an incentives, for industries participating in PAT, starting April 1. The penalties would be more than Rs 1 lakh per day, apart from some other charges based on tonnes of oil equivalent consumption, a senior Power Ministry official told PTI.
"Those entities that fail to achieve the targets will have to pay huge penalties. Other (entities) that perform better will be awarded Energy Savings Certificates (ESCerts), which can be traded," the official said.
Entities that are short of targets can also buy these certificates to make up for the shortfall.
Eight industries, which account for over 50 per cent of energy consumption, would be a part of PAT. These are: cement, thermal power plants, pulp & paper, textile, fertiliser, iron & steel, aluminium and chlor-alkali industries.
PAT is expected to result in electricity savings corresponding to about 9.78 million metric tonnes of oil equivalent. This would be more than 5,600 MW of avoided capacity (which otherwise need to be added).
The programme will end on March 31, 2014.
The basic aim of PAT is to bring down energy consumption and the programme has been finalised after many rounds of meetings and consultation with the stakeholders.
An initiative of the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE), the programme will be implemented by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE).
As per BEE, ESCerts would be traded on special trading platforms to be created on the two power exchanges. Data on traded prices, traded volumes and trends would also be maintained on the bourses.

Impact of climate change on India

Impact of climate change on India
Here are the main potential effects of climate change on a country, which is the world's seventh largest in area and is home to 1.1 billion people, a sixth of humanity.

Monsoon
Various studies show that surface air temperatures in India are going up at the rate of 0.4 degrees Celsius every 100 years, particularly during the post-monsoon and winter seasons. While mean winter temperatures could increase by as much as 3.2 degrees Celsius in the 2050s, summer temperatures could go up by 2.2 degrees Celsius in the 2050s, spurring climate variability.
Extreme temperatures and heat spells could alter patterns of monsoon rains, vital for India's agriculture and water needs. Scientists warn that India will experience a decline in summer rainfall by 2050. The monsoon accounts for almost 70 percent of the country's total annual rainfall. Winter rains are also predicted to fall by 10-20 percent. Higher temperatures also mean faster melting of Himalayan glaciers and as the melting season coincides with the monsoon season, any intensification of the monsoon is likely to contribute to flood disasters in the Himalayan catchment.


Agriculture
Agriculture will be adversely affected not only by an increase or decrease in the overall amounts of rainfall, but also by shifts in the timing of the rainfall. Higher temperatures reduce the total duration of a crop cycle, leading to a lower yield per unit area, especially for India's wheat and paddy crops.
Soil erosion, increased numbers of pests and weeds brought by climate change will also affect agriculture in India. For instance, the amount of moisture in the soil will be affected by changes in factors such as rainfall, runoff and evaporation.


Rising seas
A 10-year study in and around the Bay of Bengal points to the sea rising 3.14 mm a year in the mangrove swamps of the Sunderbans delta against a global average of 2 mm, threatening the low-lying area which is home to about 4 million people.
A trend of sea level rise of 1 cm per decade has been recorded along the Indian coast. The major delta area of the Ganga, Brahmaputra and Indus rivers, which have large populations reliant on riverine resources, will be affected by changes in water regimes, salt water intrusions and land loss.


Health
Rise in temperature and change in humidity will adversely affect human health in India. Heat stress could result in heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heat stroke and weaken immune systems. Increased temperatures can increase the range of vector-borne diseases such as malaria, particularly in regions where minimum temperatures currently limited the spread of such diseases.


(Sources: Greenpeace, UNDP, Centre for Science and Environment)

China releases first national pollution census

BEIJING: China has revealed its most ambitious measure of what explosive development has done to its environment, saying Tuesday its first
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national pollution census has mapped nearly 6 million sources of industrial, residential and agricultural waste.

The world's largest polluter also said its pollution levels might peak sooner than expected as China tries to balance economic and green concerns.

The central government now has a year to use the census results to shape its next five-year environmental protection plan. Ministries are also studying the possibility of an environmental tax, China's vice minister of environmental protection, Zhang Lijun, told a news conference.

In the meantime, detailed census results remain out of the view of an increasingly vocal Chinese public. Only the government and officials at relevant ministries have access to it.

``This is an incredibly ambitious source survey of pollutants,'' said Deborah Seligsohn, principal adviser for the World Resources Institute on China's climate and energy issues. ``In terms of giving them an excellent basis for being able to manage and track what they're doing, it's a huge step forward.''

The survey, which took two years and 570,000 staff to complete, puts China ahead of other developing countries in having a detailed map of who is polluting and where.

For the first time, China has factored agricultural sources into its pollution studies.

``That's huge,'' Seligsohn said. ``Many challenges China faces in terms of water quality come from organic pollution rather than from chemicals.''

Until now, the foundation of China's policymaking and environmental planning wasn't firm because agricultural pollution wasn't included, said Ma Jun, perhaps China's best-known environmentalist. He led efforts to create the country's first public database on water pollution, now posted online.

China's new government database of 5.9 million pollution sources included in the national census is not yet publicly available, which Ma and environmental groups picked up on right away.

``We urge the government to immediately establish a strong platform through which the public could easily access a wide range of pollution data,'' Sze Pang Cheung, campaign director for Greenpeace China, said in a statement.

Opening up the survey results would let the Chinese public monitor the country's biggest polluters and the worst polluted areas, said Yu Jie, head of policy and research programs for The Climate Group China.

``In this regard, it would be big progress. But if those data are only open to governments, then this civil society function doesn't work,'' she said.

Chinese citizens are more and more outspoken about environmental issues, with a number of recent protests of proposed incinerator projects in the south.

The central government, pressured by years of scandals over lax pollution controls, has been pushing for stronger regulation.

On Tuesday, the vice minister of environmental protection said China's pollution levels might peak sooner than the world expects.

``Because China's path to economic development has been different from that taken by developed nations, China may well pass the peak polluting levels and see marked improvement by the time our per capita income reaches the $3,000 level,'' Zhang said.

Despite the wealth of new information found by the census, Zhang said ``basically, there was nothing that surprised us.''

It was not clear whether China would conduct the survey regularly.

Karnataka working on air quality atlas to locate pollution hotspots

BANGALORE: Karnataka is working on preparing an air quality atlas for the state to generate information on pollution status and locate pollution
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hotspots, a senior government official said.

The initiative is being driven jointly by Karnataka's Ecology and Environment Department and Karnataka State Pollution Control Board.

The department Secretary Kanwerpal said the idea was to identify pollution hotspots in the state so that various departments, under State Implementation Plan, could "act upon" and initiate "interventions" to reduce pollution levels.

"We are working with KSPCB", he said at an All-India workshop on "Urban Air Pollution Forecasting, Monitoring and Implementation", here.

An index would be created based on 12 pollutants and "people should know the quality of the air", Kanwerpal said.

He said the Union Government has declared 88 industrial sites in the country, including five in Karnataka -- Mangalore, Bhadrawati, Peenya (Bangalore), Raichur and Bidar -- as being polluted above accepted levels in terms of air, water and land degradation.

Of the five, Mangalore and Bhadrawati industrial hubs had been termed as "critically polluted".

"No more industrialisation of any kind" -- no environmental clearance -- as a moratorium has been declared for eight months in the five hubs, Kanwerpal said, adding, the state had initiated an action plan to reduce pollution levels.