Sustainability Outlook Headlines

DEG, Proparco And Others Invest In NSL Renewable Power

Clean energy company, NSL Renewable Power Pvt. Ltd. has raised $60 Mn from a group of investors which include development finance institutions, DEG – Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft from Germany and Proparco from France, Asia Clean Energy Ltd., a South Korean PE fund and GS Power Co. Ltd,. also from South Korea.

Existing investors, IFC and FE Clean Energy also participated in this round.

Money will be used for growth in wind and hydro power sectors.

Last October, CEO Sanjay Chaturvedi had announced the fund raising plan of $100 Mn by end of... Read more..

Sharp claims solar cell with highest conversion efficiency

Sharp Corp. has announced its development of what it claims as the world's highest solar cell conversion efficiency of 37.9 per cent. The company devised a triple-junction compound solar cell in which three photo-absorption layers are stacked together.

The breakthrough was a result of Sharp's research and development initiative promoted by Japan's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation (NEDO) on the theme of "R&D on Innovative Solar Cells."

The measurement of the conversion efficiency value of 37.9 per cent was confirmed at the National... Read more..

L&T set to bag Rs 2,100-cr order for TN solar plant

Engineering major L&T is set to bag a Rs 2,100-crore engineering, procurement, construction order for a 300 MW solar power plant coming up in Tamil Nadu.

The solar park is coming up in a joint venture of the INDarya Green Power Pvt Ltd and the Tamil Nadu Government’s industrial development arm, TIDCO. The INDarya group owns the President Hotel in Chennai. The park is coming up near Manamadurai, where INDarya already has over 2,130 acres of land in its possession.

A 300 MW solar park would typically call for an investment of about Rs 3,000 crore.

The project... Read more..

India Power Energy conclave held in city

Smart grid is mandatory for the solution of country's energy problems and solar energy will play a major role in solving the energy issues was the inference drawn after a two day - India power energy conclave-2013 - organized under Energy Expo 2013, jointly by South Gujarat chamber of commerce and industry (SGCCI) and Gujarat productivity council in the city .

 The experts gathered at the conclave felt that smart grid could control the loss of electricity occurring during distribution and transmission because smart grid is an arrangement by which the final user gets quality... Read more..

Terrestrial climate change linked to shift in atmospheric CO2

New test results have provided further evidence that the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide and Earth's surface temperature are inextricably linked. Nearly thirty-four million years ago, the Earth underwent a transformation from a warm and high-carbon dioxide greenhouse state to a lower-CO2, variable climate of the modern icehouse world.

Massive ice sheets grew across the Antarctic continent, major animal groups shifted, and ocean temperatures decreased by up to 5 degrees.

But studies of how this drastic change affected temperatures on land have had mixed results.... Read more..

India to help make world's largest super machine

India is developing the heaviest and the largest parts of the Tokamak, the machine behind the biggest scientific collaboration on the planet, to produce unlimited supplies of cheap, clean, safe and commercial energy from atomic fusion.
 
The international nuclear fusion project known as ITER, meaning "the way" in Latin, is based on the 'tokamak' concept of magnetic confinement, in which the plasma is contained in a doughnut-shaped vacuum vessel.
 
The fuel-a mixture of deuterium and tritium, two isotopes of hydrogen-is heated to temperatures in excess of 150 million... Read more..

SmartTrak installs 5HP solar water pump with tracking system

SmartTrak Solar Systems has installed a 5 HP solar water pump along with its dual axis solar tracking system at a agriculture farm in Shamshabad near Hyderabad.

The dual axis solar tracking system changes axis and helps generate up to 40 per cent more energy compared to fixed systems, according to the Hyderabad-based company.

The company had supplied similar dual axis tracking systems to BPCL refinery stations situated in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and few other solar water pumps installed in Andhra Pradesh.

This tracking system helps produce more energy from... Read more..

Greenko to Install Bigger Wind Turbines in India to Rival Coal

Greenko Group Plc (GKO), an Indian wind- farm developer, plans to install bigger turbines as the cost of the nation’s projects fall below the price of coal-fired energy.

Greenko is in “advanced” discussions with a supplier of machines with diameters and towers of 100 meters (328 feet), Mark Thompson, corporate finance director, said in an interview, declining to name the company. The company previously ordered 80-meter diameter General Electric Co. (GE) turbines, he said.

Larger turbines are more efficient at India’s lower wind speeds, moving the cost of generation... Read more..

Shan Solar launches new concept of 'build your own system'

Solar Photo Voltaic module maker, Shan Solar Pvt Ltd, has come out with a new concept of 'Build your Own system', a top official said today.

The Bangalore-headquartered company, instead of pre- designed models, is introducing customised solar solution, which would be 'a game changer' in promoting distributed generation and empower masses to produce personal power, Sury Singapur, company CMD told reporters here.

"This radically new idea stems from Shan's belief that solar offerings should never have product orientation. More importantly customised solar solution is... Read more..

MC to hand over job of water bills to pvt player

Residents of Ludhiana would soon be required to pay Rs. 6 for every 1,000 litres of water once meters are installed and handed over to a private company.

The work on finalising the tenders for water meters is on and would be completed within two months. The residents will get round-the-clock water supply after the private firm takes over.

The proposal for installation of water meters through a private company was included in the municipal corporation (MC) budget this year. The total cost of the project would be Rs. 1,500 crore, of which Rs. 200 crore would be spent on... Read more..

Andhra Pradesh to purchase solar power at Rs 6.49 per unit

Andhra Pradesh government today fixed the benchmark price for purchase of solar power at Rs 6.49 per unit.

The Cabinet Sub-Committee on Power fixed the benchmark price at its meeting today.

The state government has invited bids from interested parties for generating solar power in view of the unprecedented electricity crisis.

"We hope to finalise the bids within a month now that the price has been fixed," Finance Minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy said after the meeting.

The state government plans to generate 2000 MW of solar power to tide over the crisis,... Read more..

Indus Towers says 20% of its sites are diesel free

Telecom mast operator Indus Towers on Wednesday said 20,000 of its sites across 15 circles or 20 percent of its network is diesel free and it aims to make another 10,000 sites diesel free in the current fiscal.

Indus Towers is a joint venture between telecom majors Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular and the company has a portfolio of around 1.12 lakh towers in 16 circles.

"On 20,000 sites across 15 circles, there is no diesel use. Battery power is used as a back up on these sites," Indus Towers Chief Executive B S Shantharaju told reporters here.

He added... Read more..