Visit of CMAX(CNBM International) to Kalima Capital

Officials from CNBM visited Kalima Capital on 21-Feb-2011. Both the Ministry of Power and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) actively putting policies in place for the development of the solar energy sector in India, the sector is attracting different players from across the world. That was   quite visible in the 3^rd  RenewTech fair at Mumbai during 17^th – 19^th Feb. 

Today China produces between one-third and one-half of the world’s total supply of photovoltaic solar cells. With the Chinese manufacturers leading the race in manufacturing of solar panels and modules, most of it is shipped overseas to markets like Germany, Denmark and Spain. CNBM has worked in setting up solar plants across different countries in Europe.

CNBM officials provided an overview of their international operations and their plans about increasing presence in India in Clean Technology sector. With already an office registered in Hyderabad, CNBM is looking for expanding their office network across India. CNBM is actively engaged with different construction and real estate companies in India for selling construction equipments.

Kalima Capital on its part also provided its outlook on the renewable energy sector in India both in wind and solar energy. With the organisation’s core competencies in financing of renewable energy project, the CNBM officials were briefed on policy issues both in the power and renewable energy sector. The CNBM team also discussed about the various prospect of long term financing of renewable energy projects in India.

The meeting ended on a positive note with both the companies identifying common grounds on which a long term sustainable relationship can be developed. With Kalima Capital deeply committed in the development of renewable energy sector in the region, CNBM’s officials showed confidence in working with Kalima Capital for meeting their business objectives.  

Wind turbine manufacturing to exceed demand by 58% in 2012

 If some industry analyst of London are to believed the wind turbine manufacturing capacity is to exceed demand by 58%. The Bloomberg article  provides an interesting overview of companies who are only into manufacturing of Wind Turbines. As the wind turbine cost remains the most important factor for making any power project to be attractive for investors, it needs to be seen if the surplus capacity will lead to increase in production of power from wind energy projects at a time when financial institutions are taking a conservative approach in some countries over extending debt to such projects.

Does size matter ?

Kissa "Open Access" ka

Though the one-day session hosted by IPPAI was named "Consumer Issues in Power" but the whole day had discussions more on the topic of Open Access in Maharashtra. The session was attended by representative from the state electricity regulator, state and private discom and transco, IPPs and EPC contractor.

 Increase in power prices have an impact on companies that are power intensive and who are already grappling with increase in prices of other raw materials. With prices in both the power exchanges falling steeply it becomes all the more salivating for companies to opt for open access. That makes business sense also. But why are the companies not doing so. Even the Electricity Act 2003 enables to do so. The problem lies in the words "but" and "if" that are part of the Act. The Electricity Act allows the SERC(State Electricity Regulatory Commission) to implement open access when the SERC thinks that it will not lead to unhealthy competition and financial(monopolistic) loss to the exchequer.

The Industry Association also provided their view on the subject. The Association also showed how Open Access will benefit the State Electricity Companies,something which NASSCOM does, regularly, to show how America benefited from outsourcing. It was not only the private sector companies(consumers) that had expressed their views. Even there was participation by government companies and one of them was the largest consumer of Electricity, the Indian Railways.

The State Load Despatch Center (SLDC) also has its limitation on implementing open access. Already the SLDC is not able to tackle the congestion management problem that arise due to collective transactions happening through the Power Exchanges. The infrastructure for Load Management is well geared for long term bilateral contracts but yet to  prepare for short term contracts which will increase if Open Access becomes a reality.

Open Access can be smoothly implemented with usage of modern tools available with us. Using forecasting tools and with availability of historical data, many of the uncertainties about supply and demand can be dispelled. What was missing in the discussion was innovation. Power sector in India has complex problems. Difficult problems call for better innovation. With modern day analytical tools solution can be found for the problems. Delaying implementation of Open Access can not be panacea for the Government. The Regulatory Commission can remain flexible till the policy is properly implemented but that should not give rise to sudden jerks which will become nightmare for the customers, IPPs, investors and the society at large. 

Can’t erase state power firms’ losses at one go !!

The article in the business daily, LiveMint, provides the quantum of losses of state distribution companies and its impact on achieving the target for power generation set up in the 11th plan.

Are Wind Turbine manufacturers going the Henry Ford way ?

The article  in New York Times speaks about how established power equipment manufacturing company like Siemens which is into other businesses also think about the wind energy sector.

Investors in the sector worry about government policies more than market volatility

The recent news that appeared in NYTimes article  sends some encouraging signal to the renewable energy sector. The renewable energy sector and more specifically wind power sector is becoming more of a mainstream industry than something that was looked upon as surviving under the aegis of government subsidies. Cases are generally referred to the WTO, when the government remains concerned about any sector that has the potential to generate employment but will be unable to do so due to cheap export of products or services. It is not only the government that remains quite confident about the potential of wind energy sector but also the companies that are into manufacturing of wind turbines.

But another article of Knowledge@Wharton refers about how investment in renewable sector has been affected after the economic crisis in Spain, a country that has been in the forefront of power production from non conventional sources. Excessive subsidies over the past decade has  led to over capacity in solar power production, which now is becoming difficult for the government to purchase at a price above the market rate.  In Spain the government is yet to declare the new policies that will affect the sector; causing uncertainty among investors. The Spanish experience can be a good learning for any government agencies while framing policies for the renewable energy sector.

More than market volatility, uncertainty in government policy acts as a deterrent for long term investors in the sector. In both the above mentioned articles this becomes visibly clear. This has led to outflow in some of the clean energy funds which have investment in the developed countries.

Same may not be said about the developing countries. Among the developing countries, governments of both India and China have taken more initiative in reducing green house gas emission. The Ministry of Power of Government of India has already introduced trading of Renewable Energy Certificate in two of the power exchanges. To measure the performance of a state, the Indian Central Government will also take into account environmental factors before providing any kind of financial assistance to the state.

To reduce the dependence on imported oil, China has set itself a target to become the largest producer of electric vehicle by 2012. The Chinese car market has been growing almost 50% a year.  Similarly, Israel also has set a similar goal to make its transport sector “completely free of petroleum” by 2020. Thanks to the technology and infrastructure developed by the Israeli start-up company Better Place.

Shai Agassi, founder and CEO of Better Place, while delivering the 2009 Alfred Deakin Eco-Innovation Lecture said “Things that brought us to the crisis, will not take us out of it.”