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The present study explores the status of nuclear energy developments for generation of electric power. Notably, India's pivotal role in advancing nuclear technology is highlighted, particularly with the development of a cutting-edge nuclear Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) technology-based power plant. India has been developing the latest nuclear Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) technology-based power plant having power generation capacity 10 times higher than the existing nuclear power plants. The review incorporates the most important component of the FBR system i.e. cold trap. Model Sodium Cold Trap (MSCT) is used by India to demonstrate the regeneration of secondary sodium cold trap.The development, advancements and challenges towards the Model Sodium Cold Trap (MSCT) are discussed in detail. It is possible to increase the maximum in-situ regeneration of MSCT up to 82%. This paper also reviews status of energy production using renewable and non-renewable energy sources. Finally, the scope in the advancements of nuclear reactor technology and related future opportunities has also been included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A powerhouse under development, India is slowly breaking free from its traditional methods of operations. It has been chosen for analysis as it offers a plethora of diverse cultures and a variety of indigenous groups of people. The energy sector of the country is transitioning to adopt policies that are in line with its sustainable goals. Focusing on peer-to-peer energy trading and the development of blockchain technologies, unconventional methods are slowly being incorporated with the help of various experimental projects. This is backed up by peer-to-peer trading of energy providing a prosumer with an autonomous environment. The paper looks into the ongoing trends in this sector and major reforms that are required to bring about the necessary shift. Challenges and their recommendations are also been discussed along with the need to implement them. Suitable conclusions have been drawn that aim towards favoring the P2P style of open-source electricity trading as the need for such an analysis is vital to achieve a decentralized energy system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India is endowed with a lot of solar radiation as a result of its location. The Indian government therefore intends to maximize the usage of its solar energy resources through the development of solar power plants across the country. The concentrated solar power plant (CSP) is one of the technologies that rely on solar energy for its electricity generation. The type of condenser model in the CSP technology has the potential to affect its techno-economic viability. In this paper, a 100 MW solar tower power plant (STPP) with two different condenser models, i.e., the dry-cooled STPP and wet-cooled STPP models, are studied using the System Advisor Model (SAM) at six different geographical areas in India. The study employed the optimization of the thermal energy storage and the solar field size to identify the minimum levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for all six locations. Results from the simulation show that the LCOE will range between 13 and 17 cents/kWh under the optimization conditions for the STPP dry-cooled condenser model, while that of the wet-cooled condenser model will range between 12.40 and 12.96 USD cents/kWh for the study locations. It was also observed that the optimized solar multiple (SM) for the dry-cooled STPP model ranges between 1.4 and 1.8, whereas that of the wet-cooled model ranges between 1 and 1.8. The study identified Bhopal as the best location for installing the STPP plant for both condenser models. In addition, this paper also discusses major potential barriers and government policies that are needed to develop CSP technologies in India. The outcome of the study is expected to help both government and other stakeholders in decision making and policy formulation for the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar energy is one of the most important and rapidly developing technologies in India. In recent years, India's attempts to increase the share of solar energy in electricity generation have led to the use of all renewable energy sources in electricity generation. It does not require fuel and has no negative impact on the environment. This research paper compared real-time data for off-grid and floating Photovoltaic (PV) systems. A stand-alone photovoltaic system assumes that a battery is used to store energy. He encountered a problem with the heating on the ground or on the roof, causing the panel's efficiency to drop. A floating solar panel is a novel solution to the problem of scarce land and rising panel temperatures in standalone systems. The efficiency of a floating PV system is higher than that of a stand-alone PV system because the water constantly cools the temperature of the floating solar panel. This paper explored the performance of both standalone and floating PV modules. The systems used the Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) approach and the simulations were performed in MATLAB. Other MPPT algorithms are available, but this is the one uses the Perturb and Observe (P & O) technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the economics of a grid-interactive rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) system and the impact of the temperature on it. The analysis related to energy metrics, lifecycle costing, and environmental economics was performed considering the PV system's life as 30 years. The system economics is also compared at different conditions like theoretical, temperature-corrected, and real electricity generation data. The parameters like energy payback time (EPBT), energy return on energy invested (EROI), and lifecycle conversion efficiency are determined as 5.95 years, 5.04, and 0.078, respectively, based on actual generation. The unit electricity cost of the rooftop PV system was estimated as INR 5.37 at the 5% interest rate. The electricity cost varies with the interest rate variation and operation system life. The results show a reduction in overall economic performance on the increase in module temperature. The effect of temperature on the economics of the system is presented in terms of the per degree rise of module temperature. One degree increase of module temperature 8.5 days in EPBT of the PV system increases, and INR 0.021 increases in the unit cost of electricity considering a reference temperature 25 °C. A PV system has environmental benefits by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which are also affected by the rise of module temperature. The system lost INR 355.93 in carbon credits at an increase of one-degree module temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Productivity is the new buzzword for economic growth in the era of globalization, as countries with higher productivity levels enjoy a comparative advantage over their competitors. Infrastructure is critical in this quest for higher productivity, growth, and development, and energy infrastructure is one of its crucial components. Longterm planning for ensuring that energy demands are met has become an integral part of policy-making, as energy infrastructure requires a huge lump sum investment and has a long gestation period. So, capacity augmentation and installing energy infrastructure in its physical form (refineries, power plants, pipelines, distribution lines, and so on) have to be planned and executed early. In this paper, we first narrate India’s energy demand/consumption trends over the last four decades and then try to forecast future energy demands and related energy infrastructure needs over the medium to long run period of 20 years from 2020 to 2040. Total Primary Energy Consumption is expected to be more than double the current level, and electricity demand to treble. As a result, coal production, oil refining, gas importing and distribution, electricity generation, and transmission & distribution capacities all have to grow substantially. Thus, we are looking at massive infrastructure requirements for the energy production sector. Finally, policy implications are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, India is in the developing stage and the requirement of electrical load demand is increasing day-by-day. In order to meet these load demands, existing available resources have some limitations to fulfill these demands. As, solar energy plays a major role in the generation of electricity, as it is a clean, inexhaustible and environment friendly resource compared to all renewable energy sources, this paper gives an idea about how to select the solar power plant for the electrical load demand and also an analysis of 5 kW grid connected roof top solar plant has been provided. The grid-connected system was synchronized with the commercial grid with the help of net meter for electricity transfer under no load condition. The monthly energy generation by proposed grid connected roof top solar power plant is also calculated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of renewable energy sources for electricity generation is necessary for sustainable development in India. Thus, the present study examines the effects of renewable and non-renewable electricity generation on economic growth in India during 1991–2019. In this regard, the robust time series econometric tools like autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) and non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) models are applied to the formulated economic growth function in the presence of both renewable and non-renewable electricity generation as key determinants. Moreover, the outcome of ARDL and NARDL models confirms the long-run relationship between the sample variables. Further, the long-run result shows that economic growth is positively affected by renewable and non-renewable electricity generation, according to the ARDL model. At the same time, the finding from NARDL indicates that a negative change in non-renewable electricity generation leads to an increase in economic growth in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work intends to perform technical and 2E (economic & environmental) analysis for the proposed hybrid energy generating system for a part load at SRM IST at the Delhi-NCR campus, India. The investigation has been done for electricity generation and hydrogen production through renewable energy sources, mainly solar energy. It is in line with the Indian Government's initiatives. The proposed hybrid system has to meet the electric load demand of 400 kWh/day with a peak load of 74.27 kW and hydrogen load demand of 10 kg/day with a peak demand of 1.86 kg/h. The analysis has been performed for both on-grid and off-grid conditions. As a result, optimum results have been obtained off-grid condition, with $0.408 per kWh cost of energy, $16.6 per kg cost of hydrogen, low O&M cost ($21,955 per year), a high renewable fraction (99.8%), and low greenhouse emissions (247 kg/year). In addition, sensitivity analysis has been performed between—(1) the solar PV array size & the number of battery strings, with NPC, renewable fraction & CO2 emissions as sensitivity variables, and (2) reformer capacity & hydrogen tank capacity, with NPC as sensitivity variable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, hybrid systems have been proved to be revolutionary concepts for meeting the deficit in electrical energy with better overall system reliability. The proposed system includes the combination of solar, wind, MHD (magneto-hydrodynamics) and fuel cell, to exploit the advantage of each, and reduce the dependency on any one source, and explores a new perspective for using renewable sources as a hybrid system. MHD generator is proposed as a substitute for the conventional thermal power plant. In the proposed hybrid system, both MHD and Modified PEMFC (Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell), also known as Proton Battery, are used. Both are static and totally sustainable energy sources. Moreover, the use of a proton battery offers an added advantage that it can work in a reversible mode. In the electrolyzer mode, the hydronium ions will be absorbed in the porous carbon electrode. In the fuel cell mode, the stored hydronium ions combine with free electrons and oxygen to give pure water as a by-product. The fuel cell is an environment-friendly alternative to the traditional energy storage system and also acts as an energy source for the MHD generator. In this manuscript, an attempt has been made to check the feasibility of the proposed system through a case study. The economic assessment and impact on the environment of the system is also investigated using HOMER Pro software. Simulink results are presented to justify the technical viability of the hybrid proposed model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India has set aggressive targets to install more than 400 GW of wind and solar electricity generation by 2030, with more than two-thirds of that capacity coming from solar. This paper examines the electricity and carbon mitigation costs to reliably operate India's grid in 2030 for a variety of wind and solar targets (200 GW to 600 GW) and the most promising options for reducing these costs. We find that systems where solar photovoltaic comprises only 25 to 50% of the total renewable target have the lowest carbon mitigation costs in most scenarios. This result invites a reexamination of India's proposed solar-majority targets. We also find that, compared to other regions and contrary to prevailing assumptions, meeting high renewable targets will avoid building very few new fossil fuel (coal and natural gas) power plants because of India's specific weather patterns and need to meet peak electricity demand. However, building 600 GW of renewable capacity, with the majority being wind plants, reduces how often fossil fuel power plants run, and this amount of capacity can hold India's 2030 emissions below 2018 levels for less than the social cost of carbon. With likely wind and solar cost declines and increases in coal energy costs, balanced or wind-majority high renewable energy systems (600 GW or - 45% share by energy) could result in electricity costs similar to a fossil fuel-dominated system. As an alternative strategy for meeting peak electricity demand, battery storage can avert the need for new fossil fuel capacity but is cost effective only at low capital costs (USD 150 per kWh). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most significant development activity on the Teesta River in India is the construction of a series of cascade dams for hydropower generation in the state of Sikkim, India. Approximately 30 major hydropower projects have been planned on the Teesta River, with a planned capacity of over 5000 MW of electricity. This paper discusses hydraulic model studies conducted at Central Water and Power Research Station, Pune, India, for Teesta-IV Project in Sikkim which played an important role in enhancing the overall performance of spillway and energy dissipator by incorporating various modifications such as providing curved dam axis, tilting the dam axis anti-clockwise by about 3°, modification of breast wall profile, etc. The details of model studies conducted for improving the overall performance of spillway and energy dissipator are described in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A tool Smart Glazing Simulator (SGLSim), has been developed to perform parametric simulation analysis of different window systems with several window-to-wall ratios and orientations to compute and compare the annual energy performance. The net annual energy performance of the building is based on the electricity consumption in heating, cooling, interior lighting, and appliances, along with the electricity generation by the photovoltaic (PV) glazing, which is used to evaluate the energy performance of smart glazing. Performing parametric energy simulations and calculating the net annual electricity consumption of different combinations requires building modeling and energy simulation expertise. A web-based parametric tool can assist the user in carrying out the desired studies without requiring extensive technical knowledge. A case study is prepared for India's warm and humid climatic zone. This study examines the benefits of double pane semi-transparent photovoltaics (STPV) glazing, STPV glazing with dynamic internal blind, and electrochromic (EC) glazing over other traditional glazing systems. The study shows that the optimal net annual electricity consumption in the case of STPV windows is 10–12% less than the optimal value obtained in a simple glazing case. Additionally, the result suggested that glare-controlled interior blinds in the STPV window further reduce the net annual electricity consumption by up to 15% compared to conventional glazing. Similarly, installing the EC glazing reduces the yearly electricity consumption by up to 5% compared to standard glazing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is increasing urgency towards integration of renewable sources into electricity generation so as to minimize greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Renewable power sources are highly specific in prevalence, both regionally and temporally, and their utilization at utility scale for round-the-clock power supply poses the problem of matching power generation capacity and power demand at every instant of time. In the present work, we propose a model that integrates geographically distributed and diverse power sources with geographically spread-out power consumption centres and distributed and diverse electrical energy storage systems through transmission and storage loss models. For a regional electricity grid, the model computes, over a given day, the minute-by-minute power demand from and power generation in all districts, extracts matching power from a hierarchy of power sources so as to minimize transmission and storage losses, and stores/draws excess power in/from a variety of power storage options. For the specific case of the South Indian Power Grid (catering to about 285 million people in South India), the model shows that about 240 GWh of new electrical storage is required for round-the-clock power supply from non-GHG power sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to high energy consumption in India, modern energy-efficient technologies are desperately needed and to be included in the national energy policy. Such technologies could be investigated in the areas of electrical equipment's, energy integration in buildings, and energy supporting tools. It is believed that a considerable saving in the investments of constructing new power stations could be attained; and consequently the energy conservation policy will be seriously improved in the forthcoming years, and the requirement of energy generating capacity will be reduced accordingly. Here in this paper, both renewable and non-renewable energy sources have been briefly described. Various energy conservation methods (general guidelines) have been presented to save energy. Saving energy by means of wise use of available energy is equivalent to energy generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent events like heatwaves and abnormal rainfall are a glimpse of the devastating effects of human induced climate change. No country is immune to its effects, but a developing country like India is particularly vulnerable. This research, for the individual states of India, explores the technical feasibility and economic viability of a renewable transition pathway for the power sector. Based on the assumptions of this study, we show that a renewables-based power system by 2050 is lower in cost than the current coal dominated system, has zero greenhouse gas emissions and provides reliable electricity to around 1.7 billion people. Electricity generation will be based on solar PV, wind energy, and hydropower, while batteries and multi-fuel reciprocating internal combustion engines based on synthetic fuels provide the required flexibility to the power system. This transition would address multiple imperatives: affordability, accessibility, and sustainability without compromising economic growth. A new study assesses the feasibility of a fully renewable based power system by 2050 across India, finding this option to be cost competitive with the status quo and with zero GHG emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the life cycle assessment (LCA) of an onshore wind farm in India. The study is conducted on 10 Vestas 1.65 MW wind turbines situated in the Karnataka state of India. Following the ISO 14044 standard, SimaPro LCA software is used to model the process. The functional unit is chosen as 1 MWh sent out electricity. The results of the life cycle-based emissions of wind farm are compared with those of the coal power plant. The global warming potential is found to be 11.3 g CO2-eq/MWh for wind power, which is 98.8% lower than that for the coal power plant. A comparison of data available in SimaPro LCA software was carried out with data in GaBi software. There is a small difference between the two databases. This may be due to different boundary and inclusion of input items. Steel, aluminium, and concrete contributed 86%, 84%, 84% and 85% of total CO2, NOx, SO2 and PM2.5 emissions, respectively. Recycling the materials of a wind turbine at the end of its life can reduce the environmental impact. Higher capacity factors can increase the electricity generation with reduced environmental impact. A 22% increase in capacity factor can reduce environmental impact by 19%. In addition, the increase in the life of wind turbines reduces the environmental impact, as a wind turbine only has a few moving parts and requires minimum regular maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind energy is a popular from the non-conventional energy sources in the World. In India states like Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Orissa, and Maharashtra are as regarded as superior areas with respect to this type energy. The installed capacity of wind in India till December 2010 was 13,056.37 MW, principally distributed throughout the Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, etc. In Maharashtra, there are 38 wind farms and the 3655 wind machines are installed with the 3431.86MW capacity of power generation up to September 2013. In Satara district, 17 wind sites and also other some sites are discovered. At present there are 1636 wind turbines are installed with its capacity of power generation is 1122.61MW and the production of wind energy of 2183745.15KWh average per annum in Satara district.The main objectives of the present paper are to assess the scope of non-conventional energy resources especially the power generation from wind and to analyze the trend and distribution of the wind mills and wind farms in Satara district. It is find out the amount of recovered from the power generation comes around 12 years without subsidy and around 8 years with subsidy. The total life span of wind turbines is 25 years. It is very much clean and does not cause any problem to the environment as well as to the survival on the surface of the earth. Therefore, it is inferred that the generation of power from wind is not only cheaper and permanent energy source but also a non-polluting, freely available source. It is helpful for the development of economically and socially in a region especially in rural development. With these consequences the income level will increase and it will further help in minimising the social disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the role of regulatory independence on electricity generation performance in India. Electricity generation in India is exposed to several regulatory jurisdictions with varying levels of regulatory independence. Based on the level of regulatory independence, we classify Indian coal fired power plants into two groups, and evaluate their performance over the period 2005–14 using the non-radial directional distance function model in a meta-frontier framework. We find that plants under relatively less independent state regulators are more inefficient than plants under the largely independent central regulator. Differences in independence between state and central regulators account for nearly half of the inefficiency of plants under the state regulation. Regression analysis reveals that the channels of causation of regulatory independence on plant performance are through its effects on coal consumption and electricity generation. Our results suggest the need for two policy interventions: (1) providing greater independence to state regulators for bridging the performance gaps between plants subject to different regulators, and (2) a more forward-looking norm setting process through the use of benchmarking techniques by identifying best practices and performance among plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the non-linear cointegrating relationship between wholesale electricity prices (WEP) and electricity generation from conventional sources (EGCS), using data for India. The conventional sources considered in the analysis are thermal, nuclear, and hydro. The dataset is a monthly time series covering the period from April 2012 to April 2019. The existence of a non-linear cointegration between the variables and asymmetric effects of EGCS on WEP are examined by employing a non-linear autoregressive distributed lags modelling framework. Empirical results reveal that a non-linear long-run equilibrium relationship is evident in the WEP-EGCS nexus for India. The findings indicate that in the long-run, electricity generation from nuclear and hydro sources have asymmetric effects on WEP, but thermal source has symmetric effects on WEP. However, only hydro source has asymmetric short-run effects on WEP. The findings of this study suggest that such non-linear relationships between WEP and EGCS are crucial to be accounted for identifying the optimal electricity generation fuel mix in emerging economies, including India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Full exploitation of solar photovoltaic electricity generation potential is being pegged back by land availability and the imbalance between demand and generation capacity. In the present work, a land-use-constrained generation model is proposed to identify natural pathways for energy flows within a politically administered region so as to evolve a sustainable nexus between electricity generation and consumption in a decentralized power generation scenario. The model envisages district-level coordination of electricity generation on barren rocky waste land and state-level coordination of distribution. Application of the model to five south Indian states, individually and together, demonstrates how the model is able to account for intra- and interstate disparities in electricity consumption and photovoltaic electricity generation potential. Two of these states can go completely renewable by using all available barren rocky area for electricity generation while the other three will have to rely on as yet untapped off-shore wind power and nuclear power to move towards carbon neutrality in power generation. When considered together, almost all the day time electrical energy demand of all the states can be met by utilizing barren rocky waste land for harnessing solar energy, thus saving considerably on storage losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Accelerated Power Development & Reform Programme (APDRP) was launched in February 2001 by the Union government of India to promote the distribution reforms. But the APDRP could not achieve the desired goals within the stipulated time. Government of India rethought its course of action and came up with another ambitious project, Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Program (RAPDRP) to overcome the shortcomings of APDRP and to reduce the Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses to 15% by implementing projects within 18 to 24 months. Restructured APDRP was approved in July 2008 for implementation in the 11th five year plan. The focus of the programme is on actual, demonstrable performance in terms of sustained loss reduction. This paper analyses the major reasons behind the failure of APDRP and discusses the proposed scheme of R-APDRP and its challenges. The paper also provides a model for R-APDRP scheme for a sample State of India. This paper may be a helpful tool for policy maker and state government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India, uniform price was assigned to renewable energy certificate (REC) irrespective of renewable energy (RE) type, technology, and location. Moreover REC price bands are higher than existing preferential tariff. There are distinct renewable purchase obligations (RPOs) specified for various RE types, whereas there is lack of efficient tools to check RPO compliance. Because of these reasons, REC market stabilisation is getting delayed. This paper proposes a method using plant performance multiplier to convert non-solar and solar REC to single equivalent REC with competitive REC pricing, which can be traded on unified REC market. The method combines solar and non-solar RPOs into a single composite RPO, to make RPO compliance and its checking simple and efficient. A sample illustration of the proposed method is given. The benefits offered by the proposed method in REC pricing, REC trading and RPO compliance are discussed. A comparative economic analysis of present and proposed method is reported. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

External cost or negative externality is a cost that a transaction or activity imposes on a party that is not part of the transaction or activity. In the present work, an attempt is made to calculate the external cost per unit of electricity generation from coal-based power plants in India due to the emissions of SO2, CO2, NOx and Particulate Matter. Purchasing Power Parity and population density correction factor are considered for the estimation of external cost to suit Indian economic and demographic conditions. Total external cost due to release of emissions from nine states having more coal-based power plants in India during the year 2018 is estimated to be INR 19.5 trillion and unit external cost of coal-based electricity generation is estimated to be INR 2.92. The cost of power generation from coal-based power plants in India with and without considering the external cost is estimated till the year 2030. Comparison is also made between the cost of solar power generation and coal-based thermal power generation. It is predicted that the cost of solar power generation without energy storage is cheaper than the power generation from coal-based power plants if the external cost of power generation is included in the cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Common information model (CIM) in vogue represents transmission and distribution components, and market operations in the perspective of electrical system, as unified modeling language (UML) objects. UML is object centric. CIM can offer interoperability and facilitate model exchange for large systems and is being adopted by many utilities. However, dealing effectively with multiple business processes is the backbone of the restructured power systems. Since CIM lacks chronological process sense, this has to be superimposed on CIM models, which is not easy due to inherent limitations of UML. To overcome this, this paper proposes to utilize business process modeling notation (BPMN) standards as a kind of pre-processor. BPMN is used to represent process centric interoperability requirements as business objects. UML object representation in CIM model is derived subsequently from it. The proposal is illustrated with an application use case—deriving CIM model of day-ahead market (DAM) transaction of distribution company, from its business process representation. Semantic model of DAM transaction using CIM IEC 62325 (Markets) and extensions required are presented with a sample Indian system. DAM models in BPMN and CIM can be utilized to build an efficient software application. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the recent years, small-scale grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) plants got attention from institutions and organizations. In this series, a parking integrated grid-connected PV system has been installed in the university situated in the northern region of India. The plant consists of some partially shaded PV modules. In the literature, the shading effect has not been analyzed yet in the performance evaluation of the PV plant. In this study, performance evaluation has been carried out based on the International Electro-technical Commission 61724 standard considering shading effect. An adequate number of software are available for estimation of the plant, but among them PVsyst and PV*SOL software have the feature to observe shading effect on the plant by creating an actual three-dimensional environment of the plant in the software. Hence, the results of the actual plant have been compared with those obtained from these two software. In this study, technical and financial analysis has also been carried out. Through the performance evaluation, it has been found that the specific annual final energy production of the PV plant is 988.9 kWh/kW, the payback period of the plant is almost 17 years, and the annual loss of production due to shading effect has been evaluated as about 16%. From these results, it can be concluded that the plant is demonstrating considerably good performance even while facing shading in parking integrated grid-connected PV system and is technically/economically feasible for electricity generation in northern India without taking extra space. This study would be helpful in designing of small-scale PV plant in an institution or organization in the areas even where partial shading is also present. This study would also be helpful in the development of large-scale parking integrated grid-connected PV systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Availability Based Tariff (ABT) has been implemented in all the regional grids of India for improving grid discipline by frequency dependent pricing. Currently it is limited to short-term energy transactions between the beneficiary States and Central generating stations without the need for negotiations on price or quantum in real time. In the present scenario, Independent Power Producers (IPP), Captive Power Plants (CPP), small Distributed Generation (DG) like mini-turbine, fuel cell, etc., are not considered under ABT. DG units are normally modular in size and they can be placed close to consumers so as to reduce the T&D costs and losses. Hence, they need to be encouraged so as to meet the ever-increasing electricity demands of Indian power sector within the financial constraints. In this paper, impact of IPPs, CPPs and DGs on intra-State ABT is studied. This paper also proposes to study the impact of grid connected DG on network availability and reliability. The improvement in system reliability is studied after evaluating reliability indices like SAIFI, SAIDI, etc., with the inclusion of DG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrification of villages is a vital step for improving the techno-economic conditions of rural areas and crucial for the country's overall development. The villages' welfare is one of the main aims of the rural electrification programs. Rural electrification is relatively costly compared to electrification of urban areas. Now, the research question is to find the best combinations of HRES from the available resources in a given village location that can meet the electricity demand in a sustainable manner and to see whether this is a cost-effective solution or not. This study is an attempt to structure a model of electricity generation based on multiple combinations of HRES with the application of HOMER energy software at an identified off-grid village location in India. The main objectives of this study are to analyze the best-suited configuration of a hybrid RE system out of various combinations to meet the village load requirement reliably, continuously and sustainably. The study also reduces the total system net present cost and least cost of energy (COE) using multi-objective HOMER Pro software. In this study, a resource assessment and demand calculation have been carried out and the COE per unit has been ascertained for different systems and configurations. A combination of PV–Wind–Biomass–Biogas–FC along with battery has been identified as the cheapest and most dependable solution with a COE of $0.214/kWh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India’s government has extremely lofty ambitions for future nuclear energy generation, but the author argues that the poor economics of such generation, among other reasons, will not allow those to be realized. The nuclear establishment’s calculations are flawed, and any expansion is likely to lead to a price hike in a country where so many people already cannot afford electricity. The author writes that the government’s inordinate focus on nuclear energy is therefore misguided. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Wastivity is a wholesome measure of performance of any system. It considers the waste generated during the working of any system concerning the input provided to the system. This article deliberates on the concept of ‘lifetime wastivity’ of any system incorporating the waste of all types of resources such as material, energy, manpower, capital, and time. It first considers the context of electrical power systems, based on fossil fuels such as coal. The lifetime wastivity in the electricity sector is of very high order incorporating energy wastivity of all the processes in the life cycle, auxiliary energy wastivity, and different types of pollution-related wastivity at all stages. The paper takes another example from services sector such as hospitality industry. There is a need to put in place wastivity accounting and audit systems to portray the pattern of wastivity of different resources overtime to minimize lifetime wastivity. As an editorial, it also gives a brief of all the papers scheduled in this issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an effective method of congestion management in power systems. Congestions or overloads in transmission network are alleviated by generation rescheduling and/or load shedding of participating generators and loads. The two conflicting objectives 1) alleviation of overload and 2) minimization of cost of operation are optimized to provide pareto-optimal solutions. A multiobjective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) method is used to solve this complex nonlinear optimization problem. A realistic frequency and voltage dependent load flow method which considers the voltage and frequency dependence of loads and generator regulation characteristics is used to solve this problem. The proposed algorithm is tested on IEEE 30-bus system, IEEE 118-bus system, and Northern Region Electricity Board, India (NREB) 390-bus system with smooth as well as nonsmooth cost functions due to valve point loading effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India, coal utilization in power generation, constitutes as the single largest source of mercury emissions. This study presents mercury content in Indian sub-bituminous and bituminous coals that are primarily used as fuel in large-scale electricity generation facilities. A total of 165 number of coal samples have been collected from the major coal producing regions of the country. Along with the mercury content, other chemical parameters like moisture, ash, volatile matter, total Sulphur and gross calorific value were also analyzed. Mercury concentrations of these coals were found to be between 3 and 554 µg/kg, with an average of 175 µg/kg. Variation of the mercury content with the rank parameters like volatile matter, carbon content, ash and total Sulphur were also assessed. No significant correlations were observed with the rank parameters but a general trend of increasing mercury with ash content is discernible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing demand for electricity has put pressure on generation of electricity based on fossil fuel, resulting in emission of carbon dioxide. In order to design policy for demand side management, proper knowledge on determinants of electricity demand as well as prediction of future demand is required. However, study on estimation and forecasting of residential demand in developing countries like India has received less attention. This study is the first attempt to estimate and forecast residential electricity demand in the state of Odisha, which is the pioneer of electricity reform in India. It employs ARDL model to estimate residential electricity demand; while ARIMA, VAR and VEC models are employed to forecast future demand. The results show that income and price of electricity are significant determinants of residential electricity demand. The higher price elasticity compared to income elasticity reveals that price could be used as an effective instrument for demand side management. The forecast results show that VAR has the lowest error, which predicts per capita residential electricity demand to be double by 2030–31. This would help the policy makers to plan for demand side management and electricity generation so as to avoid shortage of electricity supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Day by day, the exponential growth in the electricity demand is being seen, while the resources of fossil fuel are decreasing. The limited resources of fossil fuel force the world to use renewable energy. The renewable resources are characterized by a source of clean/green energy, omnipresent, freely available. Even though the renewables have strong potential to meet the future electricity demand; it only contributes approximately 24% to the world electricity generation. India has a strong potential of the possibility of roughly 1001 GW of power generations from renewable energy, but nearly 69 GW of power have been installed presently. This scenario reveals that there is a need for development in renewable technologies. In this direction, India has set the target of 175 GW of power generations from the renewable resources by the year 2022. The addition and expansion of the renewable energies experience some barriers in the present situation. The present article concentrates on the identification and addressing of barriers toward the renewable developments and recommendations proposed to overcome these barriers. The current energy scenario of India and estimated potential and future targets of the renewable energies have also been presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power generation in India is primarily coal-based in the present scenario. About 70% electricity generation produced by combustion of pulverized coal in thermal power plants. The available Indian coal quality is very poor; generate the large quantities of ash produced as by-products of combustion. The objective of the present study was to reduce the ash content and to produce ultra-clean coal. The coal sample was treated with chemical treatment of NaOH followed by HCl. The effect of particle size, temperature, and concentration on ash content was studied and found to be significant. Experimental influence parameters were optimized using Taguchi method. The result indicates that the temperature contributes the most dominant factor followed by acid concentration and particle size. The maximum reduction in ash content was observed at, particle size range of 53–75 µm, temperature 70 °C, and concentration of NaOH 40% (by volume), respectively. After chemical leaching, the ash content was reduced from 35.33% to 0.65% so as to produce ultra-clean coal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India, apart from state owned generators, a central sector power pool has been created consisting of central sector power stations. The Central Transmission Utility (CTU) has built an EHV network to transfer this power to the constituents of the regional network. To recover the costs incurred, the CTU levies the Transmission Service Charges (TSC) over the constituents. The constituents are billed for network usage charges which are proportional to their allocated share in the central sector power generation. An ideal pricing mechanism would have been to find out the usage of the network by the constituents and charge accordingly. In this paper, a real power tracing based method for recovery of Transmission Service Charge (TSC) from the constituents of Western regional grid in India is proposed. The method uses proportionality based real power tracing to find out the network usage by various constituents. Loss allocation on EHV network to the various constituents is also done. Actual data of power flows over the EHV network of Western regional grid for one day is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distributed power generation based on renewable energy sources brings new life and hope to electrify remote villagers. The proposed work suggests the techno-economic feasibility of three different energy-supplying alternatives namely the solar photovoltaic (SPV) system, diesel generator system and extending the grid connection for energy supply to a remote village located around 15 km away from the place where grid supply is available. Design of all the above three systems along with their economic analysis is carried out in this paper. A comparison on the basis of economic indicators like unit cost of electricity, net present value and payback period among the three systems is also discussed. The results show that the SPV system is economically more viable among the three options apart from environment benefits. This study may provide a new direction for energy planners to supply energy in remote non-electrified areas of India through SPV systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contrary to conventional fossil fuel-based electricity generation technologies, renewable energy centered technologies, specifically small hydropower, release a lesser amount of anthropogenic greenhouse gases but are normally more expensive. A major segment of the capital investment in the current small hydropower scenario accounts for equipment and construction process costs. The construction and cost administration process are generally limited to analysis of the capital cost of civil constructions, electro-mechanical equipment works, neglecting the costs related to operating and maintaining the plant, replacement or refurbishment, certified emission reductions, among others. Contemporary studies indicate that these costs form a substantial fraction of the total capital investment. Consequently, for cost management and investment decision making, small hydropower plant developers are drawing increased attention in recent years towards conducting life cycle costing studies that take into account the ignored costs. In addition, small hydropower plants in developing nations can become more competitive by trading the emission reductions achieved under the provision of the Clean Development Mechanism, an outcome of the Kyoto Protocol proposed at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. In this paper, a modest attempt has been made to determine the Levelized cost of electricity generation using life cycle costing methodology, which accounts for all the costs over operating lifetime on a range of small hydropower plants and the results are analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine whether the unbundling of generation from transmission and distribution services at state-owned power plants in India improved operating efficiency at these power plants. Between 1995 and 2009, 85 percent of coal-based generation capacity owned by state governments was unbundled from vertically integrated State Electricity Boards into state generating companies. We find that generating units in states that unbundled before the Electricity Act of 2003 experienced reductions in forced outages of about 25% and improvements in availability of about 10%, with the largest results occurring 3-5 years after unbundling. We find no evidence of improvements in thermal efficiency at state-owned power plants due to unbundling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The techno-economic viability of a combined heat and power system (CHAPS) for urban areas in India is analyzed in this paper. This approach considers the electrical and thermal energy delivery subsystems for which the cost considerations were based on the present market values. A sensitivity study based on capacity utilization factor (CUF) was carried out to evaluate the unit cost of electricity produced. Other financial figures of merit like simple payback and internal rate of return were also calculated. It is observed that when the system utilization was 0.3, the payback of the system is attained within the CHAPS' lifetime of 20 years. Based on the economic evaluation, it is evident that favorable financial benefits for a typical system with a collector area of 4.5 m2 will occur if the system cost is limited in the range of Rs 100,000 to Rs 120,000. A comparison with the actual CHAPS system cost based on the current market price is done and the difference is off set by the carbon credits earned by the CHAPS system during its lifetime due to CO2 mitigation. The carbon credits earned by the CHAPS system caused a reduction of the unit cost of electricity generated from Rs 11.02/kWh to Rs 9.0973/kWh. This study further helps to introduce the CHAPS system in the Indian market at an acceptable price for the consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The clean development mechanism (CDM) could play an important role in the power generation sector of developing countries and emerging economies by providing additional revenue to support the diffusion of renewable energy sources (RES). This paper investigates the contribution of the CDM to deployment of renewable electricity projects in China and India, and highlights the main potentialities and limitations of this mechanism for their support. The outcome of our analysis shows many differences and similarities in the way and scale of CDM projects for renewable electricity generation have been implemented in the two countries. In both cases, the CDM has made a contribution to greening investments in the power generation sector, which is still largely dominated by subcritical coal-fuelled power plants. Nonetheless, some major problems still remain and they are mainly related to the distribution of projects across different technologies and to the environmental integrity of the mechanism. In view of the likely revision of the CDM in the post-Kyoto period, we find that the differentiation of the credit generation rate of different project categories could bring some level of improvement without significantly altering the current system functionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NTPC Ltd. of India is presently constructing the 520 MW (4 x 30 MW) Tapovan-Vishnugad hydroelectric power plant in Uttarakhand in the Himalayas. As part of this project, an approximately 12.1 km head race tunnel (HRT) is to be constructed, of which approximately 8.6 km are being excavated by DS-TBM with an excavation diameter of 6.575 m. Construction of this HRT has been awarded to a Joint Venture (JV) of Larsen, Toubro Ltd., India, and Alpine, Austria. Geoconsult ZT GmbH is acting as a Consultant to NTPC Ltd. for the TBM part of the HRT. The overburden above the tunnel is up to 1, 100 m with the result that knowledge of the geology along the HRT alignment could only be based on projections made from surface exposures available in the area. Basically, the ground consists of jointed quartzite, gneiss and schist. Excavation of the HRT started in October 2008 and excavation rates of over 500 m per month were achieved in November 2009. However, in December 2009 the TBM encountered a fault zone along with high-pressure water inflow and became trapped. This paper outlines the present status of HRT construction and describes in particular the difficulties encountered during TBM excavation in fault zones with large high-pressure water inflows and how these problems are being dealt with. Die indische Firma NTPC Ltd. errichtet derzeit das 520 MW (4 x 130 MW) Tapovan-Vishnugad Wasserkraftwerk in Uttarakhand, Himalaya. Als Teil dieses Projekts wird ein ungefähr 12,1 km langer Triebwasserstollen (TWS) errichtet, wobei rund 8,6 km davon mittels einer DS-TBM mit einem Ausbruchdurchmesser von 6.575 m aufgefahren werden. Der Bau dieses Triebwasserstollens wurde an die Arbeitsgemeinschaft Larsen, Toubro Ltd., Indien, und Alpine, Österreich vergeben. Geoconsult ZT GmbH fungiert als Berater von NTPC Ltd. für den TBM-Teil des TWS. Aufgrund der Überlagerung des Tunnels von bis zu 1,100 m konnte die Geologie entlang des Triebwasserstollens nur durch Projektion von vorhandenen Oberflächenaufschlüssen aus der Umgebung bestimmt werden. Das Gebirge besteht hauptsächlich aus geklüftetem Quarzit, Gneis und Schiefer. Der Ausbruch des TWS begann im Oktober 2008. Im November 2009 wurde eine Vortriebsgeschwindigkeit von über 500 m pro Monat erreicht. Im Dezember 2009 jedoch fuhr die TBM eine Störzone mit einem Hochdruckwassereinbruch an, wodurch die TBM stecken blieb. Dieser Artikel skizziert den derzeitigen Stand des TWS und legt besonderes Augenmerk auf die Schwierigkeiten beim Auffahren der Störzone inklusive Hochdruckwassereinbruch mit einer TBM. Darüber hinaus wird gezeigt, wie sich die auftretenden Probleme lösen lassen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hydrological interdependence of plants in cascaded hydroelectric system means that operation of any plant has an effect on water levels and storage at other plants in the system. Hydro-logically efficient operation of power plants in such cascaded system requires that water resources should be managed efficiently, so that it can dispatched to predicted demand considering all physical and operational constraints. Meta-heuristic optimization techniques particularly Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and its variants have been successfully used to solve such problem. In this paper Time Varying Acceleration coefficients PSO (TVAC_PSO) has been used to determine the optimal generation schedule of real operated cascaded hydroelectric system located at Narmada river in state Madhya Pradesh, India. Results thus obtained from TVAC_PSO are compared with Novel Self Adaptive Inertia Weight PSO (NSAIW_PSO) and found to give better solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to analyse the vulnerabilities of current power-grid systems and to propose alternatives to using fossil fuel power generation and infrastructure solutions in the form of microgrids, particularly those from renewable energy sources. One of the key potential benefits of microgrids, apart from their inherent sustainability and ecological advantages, is increased resilience. The analysis is targeted towards the context of business process outsourcing in India. However, much of the research on vulnerabilities has been derived from the USA and as such many of the examples cite vulnerabilities in the USA and other developed economies. Nevertheless, the vulnerabilities noted are to a degree common to all grid systems, and so the analysis may be more broadly applicable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Indian electricity production mix, technology level, and local production conditions vary across the states and union territories. This variability is obscured in existing national-level life cycle inventories of Indian power producing technologies and power systems, which potentially leads to inaccurate results from LCA studies that include Indian activities. This study aims to create a consistent regionalized inventory model of Indian power system parameters and to evaluate how that influences life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) calculations. Methods: Data collection covers state-specific key parameters of domestic power production and distribution, and inter-exchanges among the regional grids and with other countries in 2012–2013. However, such regionalization work faces some data availability challenges. Power plant parameter data (e.g., efficiency, fuel quality, exact technology used) are mostly unavailable on plant level for India; if at all, relevant data are available on a state level. Moreover, local emission data are also mostly unavailable except emissions of CO2. Quantities of other important emissions (NOx, SOx, CH4, CO, PM) are, therefore, calculated based on emission factors from literature. Results and discussion: Variation in electricity production volumes among the states and regional grids are found notably high. Six states contribute 55% of the national power supply, whereas ten states contribute only 2.1% to the total. Moreover, the five regional electricity grids—Eastern, Western, Southern, Northern, and North-eastern grids—show high variation in production mixes. These differences have a considerable impact on LCIA results. For instance, the contribution to the global warming potential per 1 kWh of electricity supplied to the grid is nearly twice as high in the Eastern grid as in the North-eastern grid. Furthermore, transformation and transmission losses are found to be high in the Indian electricity grids with an average of 17% technical losses along the transmission chain from high voltage to the low voltage. Conclusions: Hence, we conclude that the inventory data produced in this study on Indian electricity production and distribution at grid level, taking local variations in technology mix and key parameters into account, enables higher accuracy in life cycle assessment studies compared to using average national-level data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work seeks to assess the sustainability of different solar photovoltaic (SPV) electricity-generating systems based upon energy, environment and economics. The sustainability indicators evaluated for energy, environment and economics are electrical output, life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and life-cycle cost of electricity generated per kilowatt hour. The selected SPV-based electricity generation technologies for sustainability evaluation are amorphous, monocrystalline and polycrystalline at different locations and tilt angles across India. For SPV systems, most of the emissions are the result of electricity use during manufacturing. In these cases, an average grid mix for the region of manufacture is typically used to calculate energy use and emissions. Based upon these three indicators, a figure of merit (FM) has been proposed. The results proposed that polycrystalline gives the maximum electrical output, minimum GHG emission, minimum cost and maximum FM at a radiation level of 6 kWh/m2/day with latitude and tilt angle of 34° and 35°, respectively. This work will be helpful to users of solar energy, academicians, researchers and other concerned persons, in understanding the importance, severity and benefits obtained by the application and implementation of the SPV electricity-generating systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facing the finiteness of fossil fuels and its associated environmental problems, new prospects to cover energy demand are urgently required. Energy from surplus biomass can support an essential contribution to a sustainable energy generation. This paper deals with a case study of surplus biomass available in the Indian state Rajasthan. About 1275 MW electrical power is possible to generate through biomass gasifier based power generation plant through surplus biomass available in Rajasthan. About 1656 tonnes of CO2 can be saved annually by installation of 1 MW biomass gasifier based power plant. The techno economic parameter like net present worth, cost benefit ratio and pay back period are also carried out for this route of power generation and these are about 1.18 million US$, 1.42 and 8 years and 2 months respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]