Renewable Energy Options Vijay Gupta Renewed Interest

Renewable Energy Options Vijay Gupta

Renewed Interest World is looking at Renewable Energy with renewed interests. Primary reasons being: • Limited Availability of Fossil Fuels • Pollution • Global Warming • Drain on Economic Wealth

Advantages of RE • • • Indigenous Sustainable Development Energy Security Better Environment Export – Economic Growth Reduced Imports.

Wasted Opportunity • Another important feature of Renewable Energy is that it is wasted opportunity – Fossil fuel We can use today/ Tomorrow. Solar Energy / Wind energy of today can be used only today and not tomorrow. We need to start efforts today itself. • Presently in India – out of total Installed Capacity 6% is from R/E. Govt. is targeting 20% share of RE by year 2030.

Available Options • • Wind Energy Solar Energy Small Hydro Bio Energy Hydrogen Fuel Cell: Fuel Cell converts natural gas, methanol or hydrogen into electricity quietly without combustion. When Hydrogen is the fuel source heat and water vapours are the only byproducts. Tidal Waves: experimental models have been developed to capture wave energy. Geo Thermal:

Wind Energy • India has 4 th Largest Wind Power Generation Capacity. • Choices are again – • Large Windmills: 300 KW, 600 KW, 800 KW, 1. 25 MW, 1. 5 MW etc. • Mini Windmills: 6 KW, 15 KW • Micro Windmills: 600 Watt

Large Windmills • Typical Investment – Rs. 5 Cr. – Rs. 6 Cr. for 1 MW installation • Typical PLF – 25% i. e. actual output is likely to be 25% of installed capacity. • Typical Returns – 15% incl. tax benefits. • Payback Period – 7 years. • Possible Sites – Maharashtra, Gujrat, Karnataka, Tamilnadu etc.

Contd. • Different states have different advantages – Maharashtra Tariff is high 3. 50 Per unit + increase of 15 paisa for 13 years. • Tamilnadu – Coastal belt of Kanyakumari, Madurai • Gujrat – coastal belt of Kutch area has better wind Potential. • Financing Options – Commercial Banks, IREDA- Indian Renewable Energy Development Authority, IFC – International Finance Corporation. • Present Installation – 7200 MW • Potential – 45000 MW.

Mini Windmills • Smaller the windmill – higher the cost of generation. However – it is still relevant in places where Wind is available at suitable speed but Grid is not available. Still in India only 50% population is getting Electricity supplied from State maintained Grid. • Mini mills can also be useful for tax planning at lower income levels and at community levels – Resident Welfare Associations, Panchayats, Villages, High Rise Building etc. • Mini windmills: 6 KW – typical investment – USD 30000. • 15 KW -Typical Investment –USD 60000. • Tower height 15 Meters can be installed on rooftops

Micro Windmills • useful for Domestic application – typical investment 2000 USD. By connecting to Batteries – we can store power generated and use it for longer period – can substitute investments in Inverters / Generators. India has large potential as there are many persons in small towns and cities who buy expensive Watches, LCD TV etc.

Additional Benefits • Sustainable development, • CDM benefits – typically 12 -15% over and above regular revenues, • Energy Security, • Local Development. • Jatropha farming is being planned on land near windmills.

Solar Power • Solar Energy is used in two forms – direct as heat energy or in the form of Electrical energy. • Direct Applications: Thermal Systems such as solar cooker, solar water heater, solar dryer etc. • Solar Photo-Voltaic systems: Solar Lantern, Solar Home light and Solar Street Light etc.

Contd. • It is estimated that if we are able to harness 1% of solar power – it is sufficient to provide 10 KW power to 10 Billion people on earth. The initial cost of setting up is very high but still much cheaper to conventional kerosene based lamps. One study shows that cost of generating 1 kw electricity from kerosene lamps costs Rs. 44 per unit while comparable cost of Generating 1 KW of electricity from solar PV is Rs. 24. Although this amount may appear very high but technological improvements are making the costs to come down rapidly.

Contd. • At personal levels also we can make a beginning by using PV modules to meet our domestic lighting requirements. • In remote parts where it is extremely difficult or expensive to supply electricity thru a national grid – Solar PV is providing a cost effective solution.

Small Hydro • Small Hydro projects also provide a good source of Renewable energy. Hydro projects upto 25 MW are generally classified as small hydro. Total potential in India is 15000 MW out of which 1826 MW is already installed and 1400 MW is under various stages of installation. Typical investments for a small hydro will be Rs. 3. 5 to 4 Cr. per MW.

Types • Run on River • Canal Based • Dam Based.

Setting Up • Starting point would be to contact Non Conventional Energy development agency of various states to get list of already identified sites. After site visit and other wise checking feasibility of site we need to have the site allotted in our favour and then place orders for Civil Work/ Equipments etc. Some of the states which have high potential are – HP, Punjab, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh etc.

Subsidy • Different States have different tariff rates and influence our decision. Uttaranchal has high potential but low tariff making it unviable from commercial venture point of view. • Average PLF of canal based small hydro is 3035% while that of run on river is 60 -65%. • Govt. is also giving subsidy on small hydro projects – it starts at Rs. 1 Cr. MW and can go up to Rs. 15 Cr. for 25 MW project.

Bio Fuels / Bio Energy • Bio fuel whose characteristics can be made more or less to resemble diesel with trans-esterification, is a promising alternate fuel. Large scale plantation of Jatropha Oil seed producing plants is being taken up on barren Land. Although current estimated yeild in only 1 MT / hectare – it has added advantage of additional employment generator.

Bio fuel contd. • Bio fuels are being tried out in modified Primus Stoves, Petromax lamps and diesel engines. Brazil has developed and improved cultivation and processing of Bio fuels and India is currently importing approx USD 110 Million worth of Bio Fuel from Brazil.

Bio Mass to energy • Use of agricultural waste, biomass, waste wood for development of Bio energy is also gaining popularity. • Bio energy will be developed further by technology development and energy crop plantations. • Most of the sugar Mills are already installing Bagasse based cogeneration power plants and also availing Carbon Credits.

New Opportunities • • We can plan additional Wind Mills in state of Gujrat that can take care of current year Income tax liability. We can have solar installations in each of our owned manufacturing locations to take care of our captive lighting requirements. We can undertake projects relating small hydro and recognize Green power as independent line of Business. We can explore collaboration opportunities for entry into cultivation, processing and marketing of Bio Fuels. Some of the states are offering Lands at very cheap rates for this purpose.

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