Sustainability Outlook Headlines

Vestas wins wind deals in India and Germany

 Danish wind power company Vestas has won major orders in India and Germany.

The company has secured two orders in India to provide a total of 51.8 MW of turbines to two wind farms being built by power company Powerica in Gujarat.

Both orders comprise the delivery, installation, and commissioning of 25 V100-2.0 MW and one V100-1.8 MW turbines. The 21.8 MW Jangi wind farm is set for commissioning in July this year while the 30 MW Charbara project is expected in March 2015.

Vestas has also won an order from German wind power plant developer Juwi Wind totalling 36 MW.... Read more..

Can a Hungry World Say No to GM Crops and Still Have Food Security?

Rice provides up to 80 percent of food calories for poor societies, but lacks micronutrients such as Vitamin A. Worldwide, every year, hundreds of thousands of children die due to a lack of Vitamin A and multiples thereof become permanently blind.

In the late ’90s, Golden Rice was developed because the inventors were concerned about food security and food quality. Through genetic engineering scientists were able to generate Golden Rice in which the intensity of colour is an indication for the level of Pro-Vitamin A. Forty gram of golden rice per day can save eyesight and the lives... Read more..

Cloud powered rooftop solar PV power estimation tool from TERI

 The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) has announced that it is presently developing cloud computing based open-source Web-GIS Tool for estimating Rooftop Solar PV power generation potential particularly for Chandigarh area. There is significant scope for installing solar rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems in many Indian cities. This tool is getting designed to help people to investigate their locations of interest and perform pre-processed analysis. 

Tool provides visual reference – a map of the entire city showing the buildings those have solar PV installation potential. This... Read more..

With national grid, South to have access to 1,500MW additional power

 Providing succour for the power starved South, the region is expected to have access to additional electricity flow of about 1,500 MW once the all India national power grid becomes fully operational. 

In a major step, the Southern power grid was synchronised with the rest of the national grid on December 31, 2013, and it is expected to be fully operational in a few months. 

A government official said that once the new grid is fully operational, it would be able to carry an additional of about 1,500 MW electricity to Southern region. 

In the absence of grid... Read more..

Rainwater harvesting can help AAP

Aam Aadmi Party may be yet to achieve its goal of equitable water supply in Delhi but this can be worked out in the long run. It is hoped that AAP will take up rainwater harvesting in a big way to meet the massive demand of consumers, especially those in unauthorized colonies to be eventually added to the supply network. But the trick lies in not just creating rainwater harvesting structures but monitoring them constantly.

Delhi Jal Board is already preparing maps of districts where there are over 2,000 square metres of open space-... Read more..

Smart grid infrastructure investment to hit $274.9 billion in emerging nations

Smart grid infrastructure investment by 45 emerging nations - including India and China - over the next decade will reach $274.9 billion, outpacing developed countries, according to a new study. 

This investment will be aimed at reducing electricity theft, improving reliability and incorporating renewable energy into electricity grids, the study released by Northeast Group has claimed. 

The study - Emerging Markets Smart Grid: Outlook 2014 - found that investments will include smart metering and... Read more..

Delhi govt may go for CAG audit of private power companies

 The Delhi government may be all set to order an audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General into the finances of the capital's three private power distribution companies, an issue on which the ruling AAP had led street protests in the past.

Defying doctor's advice, an unwell chief minister Arvind Kejriwal met CAG Shashi Kant Sharma to discuss the issue before going into a cabinet meeting.

Kejriwal said the Delhi government is of the view that audit of these companies can be done. But under the provisions of law the three companies were being given the opportunity of being... Read more..

India’s $960 Million Drinking Water Project Gets World Bank Aid

 The World Bank is helping offset almost half of the costs of a $960 million drinking-water project to bring piped supplies to rural residents of four low-income states in India, the government said today.

Women and children will benefit in particular from the project in the states of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh “as they currently bear most of the burden of securing daily water supplies,” India’s Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs said in a statement.

The 12th five-year plan for rural water supplies envisions raising piped water coverage to 50 percent of... Read more..

Bhagyanagar India commissions 5 MW solar PV unit

 Bhagyanagar India Ltd has commissioned a 5 MW solar power photovoltaic plant at Munipally in Medak district of Andhra Pradesh, taking its installed solar power generation capacity up to 10 MW.

“This unit has been set up with an investment of Rs 29 crore. We have tied up supply of power to third parties at Rs 6 a unit with Global Energy Power Trade. In addition, we plan to make use of renewable purchase obligation,” Narendra Surana, Managing Director of Bhagyanagar India, told Business Line.

With the commissioning of this 5 MW unit, implemented by Surana Ventures, a group... Read more..

Vestas grabs 52MW in India

 Vestas is to supply Powerica with 51.8MW for two onshore wind projects in India.

The contract covers the delivery, installation and commissioning of 26 turbines to the Jangi and Charbara projects in Gujarat.

The first 21.8MW is expected to go live in July of this year, followed by a further 30MW in March 2015.

The hardware payload is split between 25 2MW V100s and a single V100 1.8MW model.

Powerica chairman Naresh Oberoi said: “We are the best in our business and hence it is natural for us to be associated with the best in the wind industry too.

“Vestas... Read more..

Corp moots biogas plants for local schools

 The Kochi corporation will distribute portable biogas plants to 35 government schools within its limits. In the initial phase, the plant, which costs about Rs 13,000 each, will be installed only in government schools. This will be later extended to aided schools.

Chairman of the education standing committee R Thyagarajan said, "The project will be launched soon. The expenses will be met by the government's annual plan fund. While the government provides a subsidy of 50%, the corporation will give 25% as subsidy. The schools will have to bear the rest of the cost."

The... Read more..

Stricter energy norms to push up AC, fridge prices by between Rs 3500 and Rs 5,500