Will a Nation Plagued by Power Shortages Develop?

Will citizens get a respite from daily power outages
Look at our visual Power Transmission standards!

I'm sure all of you have seen this in the cities. It makes us think of the thread of the guy who was questioning whether or not we have electrical engineers at all in India. So scary it's almost funny. Note that there are people that actually have to work on this mess and rig up such a cobweb.

Second set of reforms being prepared to unlock power sector
by Sujay Mehdudia
Struggling to meet the 11th Plan revised target of 62,000 MW of capacity addition from 78,000 MW, due to shortage of coal, non-availability of gas, high cost of imported coal and tardy pace of various power projects, the United Progressive Alliance-II government is preparing to unleash a second set of power sector reforms, including open access to consumers to choose their electricity supplier and restructuring of power utilities of seven major States — including Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

The reforms come in the backdrop of a recent report that revealed that the accumulated losses of the power utilities across the country ran into Rs. 1.5 lakh crore and annual losses were around Rs. 55,000 crore putting a severe strain on the financial health of the distribution utilities. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to chair a high-level meeting to discuss the proposals aimed at unlocking the power sector and making it more attractive for private investment.

Report under way
The report on the reforms prepared by Planning Commission member (Energy) B.K. Chaturvedi is being finalised by Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahuwalia, and the Law Ministry. It is expected to be finalised by March 2012.

Under the recommendations on Open Access, the view is that distribution licences should inform all consumers of 1MW and above that they could choose their electricity supplier. Other suggestions are: State power utilities should provide power to open access consumers at negotiated rates and not regulated rates; the State Electricity Regulatory Commissions should specify reasonable tariffs to be charged by distribution companies for providing standby supply; State load despatch centres should be upgraded in a time-bound manner to enable open access and 25 per cent of discretionary allocation of 15 per cent of central public sector undertakings generation must be made available for direct sale to open access consumers.

Expert group set up
An expert group has been constituted under Mr. Chaturvedi to make an assessment of the cumulative losses of distribution utilities of the seven major States. It has been asked to suggest a strategy for capital restructuring of these power discoms, including commitment by other stakeholders like State governments. It would also suggest a roadmap and monitoring mechanism for implementation of above.
Second set of reforms being prepared to unlock power sector

Offshore Wind Farming Gets a Giant Google Boost

A huge offshore wind energy project took a leap forward today with the announcement that Google and the investment firm Good Energies are backing the mammoth underwater transmission lines that would carry clean electricity up and down the East Coast. The $5 billion dollar project would allow for wind farms to spring up all along the mid-Atlantic continental shelf.

Google and Good Energies will both be 37.5 percent equity partners in the clean energy infrastructure project; the Japanese industrial, energy, and investment firm Marubeni will take a 15 percent share. The project, proposed by a Maryland-based company called Trans-Elect, would set up a 350-mile long energy-carrying backbone from Virginia to northern New Jersey, first allowing the transfer of the south’s cheap electricity to the northern states, and later providing critical infrastructure for future offshore wind projects.

The AWC backbone is critical to more rapidly scaling up offshore wind because without it, offshore wind developers would be forced to build individual radial transmission lines from each offshore wind project to the shore, requiring additional time consuming permitting and environmental studies and making balancing the grid more difficult. [Official Google Blog].

The transmission line is planned to have enough capacity to carry the energy of five nuclear power plants (6,000 megawatts, which could power almost 2 million homes)–energy that eventually will come from offshore wind farms. These wind farms will be situated in federal waters more than 10 miles from the shore, where the huge towers would barely be visible.

“Conceptually it looks to me to be one of the most interesting transmission projects that I’ve ever seen walk through the door,” said Jon Wellinghoff, the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees interstate electricity transmission. “It provides a gathering point for offshore wind for multiple projects up and down the coast.” [The New York Times].

Construction is scheduled to start in 2013. The first section of the project, a 150-mile stretch between southern New Jersey and Delaware, could be completed in 2016 at a cost of $1.8 billion. From there, the backbone would be expanded to two more nodes, in northern New Jersey and Virginia, and offshore wind farms can be added, to provide power from the strong and steady winds that blow over the ocean.

The complete project will not finish until at least 2021. Trans-Elect estimated the complete cost of the project to be $5 billion, plus permit and financing charges. But there are a lot of unknowns.

Industry experts called the plan promising, but warned that as a first-of-a-kind effort, it was bound to face bureaucratic delays and could run into unforeseen challenges, from technology problems to cost overruns. [The New York Times].

Google sees the project as a step towards building a “superhighway for clean energy,” enabling the East Coast to connect to the potential 60,000 megawatts of wind energy that could theoretically be harvested from Atlantic Ocean winds. Says Google:

We believe in investing in projects that make good business sense and further the development of renewable energy. We’re willing to take calculated risks on early stage ideas and projects that can have dramatic impacts while offering attractive returns. [Official Google Blog]
Offshore Wind Farming Gets a Giant Google Boost

Engineering Marvels of Electricity Boards

Challenge to all who know how to solve the problems mathematically? Please solve it.
1. Kirchoff's Current Law (KCL):
At every node, the sum of all currents entering a node must equal zero.
2. Kirchoff's Voltage Law (KVL):
The voltage law says that the sum of voltages around every closed loop in the circuit must equal zero.
Exercise:
Please apply Kirchoff's Current and Voltage laws to the following electricity nodes.


Click images for the full pictureKirchoff ka baap bhi solve nahi kar sakta. Wonder how electricity is supplied to our cities and villages. Amazing electricity distribution at Ground Zero!

Electric Cars the future answer to the spiralling gas prices

Move over, Tata Nano; Tara's electric Tiny is now the world's cheapest car. With its battery power, the Tiny will have a top speed of 70 km per hour (43 mph) and a range of 100 km (62 miles). The operating costs is 60 paise for every km, about one-fifth to one-tenth the cost of using gas. The Tiny is expected in the next three to five months along with three other electric cars tentatively branded: Tara Titu, Tara Micro and Tara Mini.

Tara International is working with China's Aucma, and has already ordered a 14-seat electric bus that will ship this May. Tara may even release an electric two-wheeler. It's not clear if Tara plans to release the Tiny overseas, but what is clear is that the Nano won't be the only car selling for about 1 lakh this year. Nano has shifted from Singur to Gujarat. The roll out schedule delayed obviously.
Tata Nano; Tara's electric Tiny

Nissan's electric car, the Nuvu, on display at the Paris Auto Show: Remy de la Mauviniere/ APIf Barack Obama and John McCain are as serious as they say they are about ending US dependence on foreign oil, they might want to dispatch a trusted aide or two to the Paris Auto Show, a biennial global industry extravaganza that opened last week.
Electric Cars at the Paris Auto Show

Google Invests in Energy From Hot Rocks Deep Underground

Google.org, the philanthropic wing of Google, has announced a $10 million investment in a renewable energy technology that’s powered by hot rocks several miles beneath the earth’s surface. The technology, called Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS), differs from traditional geothermal energy that relies on finding natural pockets of hot water and steam. Instead, EGS fractures the hot rock, circulates water in its system, and uses the steam created from the process to create electricity in a turbine [Cleantechnica].

The system could augment less reliable renewable energy sources like solar and wind power, which don’t generate steady amounts of energy. Google executive Dan Reicher says EGS would be very dependable, and could be revolutionary. “It’s 24-7, it’s potentially developable all over the country, all over the world, and for all that we really do think it could be the ‘killer app’ of the energy world” [New Scientist].
Google Invests in Energy From Hot Rocks Deep Underground

Energy war: India and China face off in Central Asia

On the streets of Tashkent and Dushanbe, Bollywood numbers incite local people to break into impromptu jigs. And in the war-torn dustbowls of Afghanistan, American workers are building schools and hospitals in the middle of non-stop gunfire. The Indians are doing the same, at the risk of their lives. This is the soft side of the story — efforts to woo the Central Asian Republics.

The hard truths of the world's sudden love for the region are hidden behind the barbed wire fences and camouflaged battle gear. In the past few years, military bases have cropped up across the region. The Americans have several bases in Central Asia, including Afghanistan. The Russians, Nato and Chinese too have established military posts in the region. Even India can claim to have set up an air defence unit in Tajikistan.

Already branded villains of this scary scene, the two Asian countries will continue to guzzle more oil to feed their booming economies, even as demand for oil would fall in the industrialized world. In a report last week, the International Energy Agency (IEA) spoke about two future scenarios — the growth of "long-term demand led by China and India..." and "the supply threats, including increasing conflict...."
Energy war: India and China face off in Central Asia
Amazing Statistics: California Uses More Gas than China

Wind Power will compete with Coal and Nuclear Power

Texan energy companies are investing heavily to build wind turbines following a landmark ruling last week
LONDON, England (CNN) -- From Dallas, Texas to Dabancheng, China, energy companies are staking fortunes on harnessing wind power. US and China lead way in tapping wind power. Texas currently leads the world in wind capacity at about 5,500 MW.

But Junfeng Li of the China Renewable Energy Industries Association has a more optimistic outlook. In a paper last month, he wrote: "China is witnessing the start of a golden age of wind power development and the magnitude of the growth has caught policymakers off guard. It is widely believed that wind power will be able to compete with coal generation by as early as 2015."

"By 2020, wind power capacity is predicted to reach 30 gigawatts," said Wang in a meeting at China's annual parliament. "Around the mid-21st century, wind power is very likely to take the place of hydropower as the second-largest source of electric power generation after coal." He added that wind power could surpass nuclear stations as a source of energy within 20 to 30 years.
US and China lead the way in tapping wind power
Wind turbines to power China

Status in India
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is the nodal Ministry of the Government of India at the Federal level for all matters relating to new and renewable energy. The Ministry has been facilitating the implementation of broad spectrum programmes including harnessing renewable power, renewable energy to rural areas for lighting, cooking and motive power, use of renewable energy in urban, industrial and commercial applications and development of alternate fuels and applications. In addition, it supports research, design and development of new and renewable energy technologies, products and services. Till date only 2000MW of wind Power is the installed capacity. More needs to be done to tap wind power to our advantage and reduce the Power shortages. Is the Nation battling the bureaucratic controls?
Ministry of Renewable Energy

Comment: The Defence Forces need to invest heavily in wind power to make available uninterrupted power supply to all Military Cantonments, Establishments, (like Military Hospitals, Air Fields, Ordnance Depots and so forth), and remote areas in the NE. Surplus power can be sold to the National Power Corporations wherever feasible. The assets can be looked after and entrusted to Veteran Bodies. For financing these projects, wind fall profits made by CSD and under the MOD,(approx Rs 4000 Crore per annum) can be utilised for this venture and thereby creating valuable National Assets, instead of distributing piece meal amounts to Units for Troops welfare, which is grossly misused. This venture will go a long way towards Troops Welfare (Power Supply) and also employing large number of Veterans in the process.