Sustainability Outlook Headlines

BHEL, PowerGrid among 5 PSUs setting up mega solar power project

 Five central public sector undertakings (CPSUs) intend to set up a solar power project with a total capacity of 4,000 mega watts. BHEL, PowerGrid Corporation, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, Solar Energy Corporation, and Hindustan Salts will set up the project on land belonging to Hindustan Salt at Sambhar in Rajasthan.

The operation and management contract for this project, to be commissioned in three years, is to be awarded to another CPSU, Rajasthan Electronics and Instruments.

“The effort is to set up 1,000 mw capacity initially with an investment of Rs 7,500 crore. Then... Read more..

India puts $7.9bn into renewables 'corridor'

Water scarcity is the biggest challenge for Delhi: CM

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday identified water scarcity as the biggest challenge facing the national capital and cautioned that the situation may worsen in the next five years if concrete steps to address the issue are not taken. 

Speaking at an event organised by industry chamber CII, Dikshit noted that population of Delhi was increasing significantly and the per capita consumption of water was probably one of the highest in the world so the city may have to face "great trouble" in the next few years if supply of raw water does not go up. 

"We will face great... Read more..

94 hydel plants stuck due to delay in clearances: Scindia

As many as 94 hydro power projects are languishing due to tardy progress at various levels in granting them clearances.

Once approved, these projects that are pending due to want of clearances by various ministries, can generate 37,000 MW, Power Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has said. 

The ministry, he said at a media interaction, is working diligently to get clearances for them. Hydro power contributes 18.6 per cent or 39,416 MW of the total 2,11,766 MW capacity in the country.

The country's largest hydro power producer NHPC, which generates 5,702 MW, plans to add... Read more..

A saline invasion

It needs more than a Gandhian effort to rid Gujarat of its salt scourge. While the pinch of salt made over 70 years ago at an obscure place on the coast had rattled the British Empire, the ongoing salt invasion along the entire coastline of Gujarat has the potential to unsettle the masses without any forewarning.

Along the coast, marine water is creeping underground into freshwater aquifers. Called salinity ingress, it is advancing at an unprecedented rate of half a km a year along the 1,125-km-long coastline of Gujarat. Since the... Read more..

Great green hope of renewable energy appears to be fading

The great green hope that renewable energy will help wean us away from "dirty" fossil fuels appears to be fading. In the last financial, only 1,073 mw of new capacity was added in the country in the absence of clear-cut policy and uncertainty in the fiscal incentive regime. Across the world, renewable energy sector is heavily dependent on subsidies, so the economic downturn, the high current account deficit and the depreciating rupee at home do not augur well. "Wind to an extent is driven by... Read more..

AP Genco plans to invest Rs 1,000 cr in solar PV farms

AP Genco, the power generation corporation, has decided to invest about Rs 1,000 crore to set up 150 MW of solar PV farms in the State.

“A decision on the proposal by AP Genco to set up solar PV units was taken by the board recently. In addition to the 50 MW planned earlier, we have decided to set up another 100 MW,” K. Vijayanand, Managing Director of AP Genco, said. “We have land for 50 MW unit and are in the process of identifying land for another 100 MW solar PV cluster. AP Genco expects to implement the project within 18 months,” he told Business Line.

The corporation... Read more..

India to miss green energy target: Anil Kakodkar

India is lagging behind in achieving the 12th plan green energy targets set out by the Planning Commission in view of big constraints like environment clearance, land acquisition and lack of strong institutional mechanism, Solar Energy Corporation of India has said.

Delivering a Special Address at India Energy Forum (IEF) Sustainable Energy Summit here today, Anil Kakodkar, chairman, Solar Energy Corpn of India, also called for revised Green Energy Policy so that clean energy projects become attractive for investments.

It was also stressed by the experts assembled here that... Read more..

Coastal cities to pay high price for climate change

SCHOTT supplied molten salt receivers for solar power plant in Italy

 The Italian power company Enel will install molten salt receivers with technology from SCHOTT when modernizing certain parts of the world's largest molten salt solar power plant. The international technology group supplied around 450 so-called “High Temperature Molten Salt Receivers” for use in the Archimede solar power plant in Sicily this summer. With a capacity of approximately 5 MW, the Archimede project is currently the largest CSP plant that operates on the basis of molten salt technology. Moreover, ENEL and SCHOTT are working together on the EU project ARCHETYPE aimed at building a... Read more..

Big 5 Construct India 2013 to kick off in less than a fortnight

 Media Release: The International building and construction event, The Big 5 Construct India 2013 to be held from 2nd to 4th September in Mumbai, will showcase new technologies and launches in product sectors like steel, concrete, plastics & composites, ceramics & tiles, stones & marbles, pipes & fittings, paints & coatings, pumps, HVAC, water technology, window & doors and aluminium.  The show would feature 10 international country pavilions and over 220 participating companies from India and abroad.  International exhibitors include Emirates Steel, Duro Dyne,... Read more..

First Solar, Sharp defend turf against China's global PV domination

While First Solar remains the leading PV module supplier in the U.S. and India and Sharp in Japan, Chinese rivals, benefitting from the wave of insolvencies in the West, have dominated the rest of the globe over the past year. 

Chinese photovoltaic manufacturers have become the leading module suppliers to seven of the top ten geographic regions, according to market research firm NPD Solarbuzz. The latest NPD Solarbuzz Module Tracker Quarterly examines shipment rankings for the trailing twelve month period ending June 30.

Only First Solar, which boasts leading market shares in... Read more..