Energy & Power

World Watch

Nepal to Face Major Power Shortage in 5 Years

Nepal risks a major electricity power crisis in the next five years because of a lack of power plants, with consumers to face possible power outages of up to 17 hours a day, officials warned recently.

Nepal Electricity Authority chief Arjun Kumar Karki said it currently produces only half the necessary electricity to satisfy demand. Only one hydroelectric project was due to be completed next year and new projects were more than five years away from completion.

Nepalese consumers at present face eight hours of scheduled daily power cuts and the NEA predicted that by 2013 there could be outages of up to 17 hours a day.

All of Nepal's electricity is produced by hydroelectric plants that harness mountain-rivers and reservoirs during the monsoon season and use the water in the dry months to produce electricity.

However, there has been below average rainfall this monsoon season, and many rivers have been frozen during the winter, resulting in less water to fill the reservoirs used to produce electricity.

"The policy makers have failed to predict the power shortage and plan ahead. It is because of their failure we are now going to suffer for the next few years," Karki said.

Tata Power Completes Maithon Project Funding

Maithon Power Limited, a 74:26 joint venture between Tata Power Company Limited (Tata Power) and Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) announced completion of its financing for the 1050 MW coal based thermal power project, being set up in Dhanbad District of Jharkhand State.

The Project, estimated at a cost of Rs. 4,450 crores is being funded on a debt-equity ratio of 70:30. The promoters namely Tata Power and DVC would bring in equity in a ratio of 74% and 26% respectively. The debt for the project is Rs. 3115 crores and is being financed by various banks led by State Bank of India (SBI).

SBI Capital Markets Ltd. (SBICAP) is the sole financial advisor and arranger of debt for the project. The syndication was over subscribed by nearly Rs. 1050 crores with the State Bank of India Group taking the largest exposure to the tune of Rs 1,000 crores. The consortium of 17 banks, led by State Bank of India include Allahabad Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Central Bank, Dena Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, J&K Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Punjab & Sind Bank, Tamilnadu Mercantile Bank, UCO bank and more.

Total, PDVSA Sign Heavy Oil Agreements

Total SA signed two joint study agreements with Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) to appraise extraheavy oil reserves and assess a production project for Block Junin10 in Venezuela's Orinoco Belt.

The 600 sq km Junin 10 block is located southwest of an area developed by Sincor, the heavy oil venture in which Total, PDVSA and StatoilHydro AS are partners. Sincor is being transformed into a mixed company called PetroCedeno, in which Total will hold a 30.323% stake.

PDVSA earlier agreed to pay its partners with a combination of crude and cash for their reduced stakes in the nationalized Sincor project. However, Total and StatoilHydro must pay some $130 million of their compensation as a "bonus" to fund the PetroCedeno venture.

ONGC Eyes 2,000MW Wind Energy

After successfully starting its pilot wind energy project in Gujarat, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation of India is now planning to invite bids for its second pilot project in Karnataka.

The PSU major plans to generate 1000-2000 mw from wind energy after the successful completion of these projects.

ONGC will invest nearly Rs 600 crore in the first phase of its wind energy foray for generating nearly 1500 mw of power. The total installed capacity for wind energy in India was about 7114 mw, experts said.

Siberian pipeline Commissioning may be Delayed

The Russian government will hold a meeting next week to discuss postponement of the commissioning date for the ESPO pipeline from East Siberia to the Pacific Ocean.

"I will call a meeting on the ESPO project to discuss this issue," said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Naryshkin, who is responsible for the project to build the pipeline.

The announcement follows a public disagreement that took place in late January over the pipeline's commissioning date.
BHEL Bhopal Touches 2,500 MW Capacity
The Bhopal unit of Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd has joined the big league of the hydro-turbine segment by touching a 2,500-MW capacity.

Under its ambitious expansion plan, the Navaratna company started commercial production of its new hydro-block expansion unit.

Ashok K Puri, Chairman & Managing Director, BHEL, inaugurated the commencement of the production in the block christened as ‘Swarna Jayanti Block’.

He also laid the foundation stone of a new transformer block. “With this huge facility, BHEL has become the single largest company in the hydro power segment in India,” said a BHEL spokesperson.

Pak Tariff for Coal Power

Pakistan Federal government is likely to fix 10.5 cents per KWH ‘upfront tariff’ for the electricity rates generated through coal-based power plants.

The Sindh government has rejected tariff of 7.8 cents/KWH recommended by National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA). Sindh government is disturbed at the attitude of Nepra and its calculation based on study conducted in 2004.

“The upfront tariff of 10.5 cents should be fixed for the coal based power plants keeping in view of the cost on water availability, mining and machinery,” an official said adding it was the strong possibility that the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) in its next meeting would put aside the observations of Nepra and would fix 10.5 cents/Kwh upfront tariff for the coal based power plants.

“An attractive upfront tariff is an absolute must if Thar is to be exploited. An indicative for Thar, which has been proposed by Nepra would not attract the investors who are seeking 11 cents/Kwh upfront tariff for coal based power plants, official said.

Sindh claims that assumptions used by Nepra using India as an example could not be compared with Pakistan as the neighboring country had its own manufacturing facilities and its mining was shallow than Pakistan’s deep mining.