India
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Renewables
EIA International Outlook to 2040 Foresees Decoupling of Power Demand and Economic Growth
The world’s frenzied economic growth through 2040 won’t be matched by electricity demand growth, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) says in the International Energy Outlook 2016 (IEO2016 ) released on May 11. World net electricity generation will jump 69% by 2040, the IEO2016 reference case projects, but that is still well below “what it would […]
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International
POWER Digest
WTO Rules Against India in Solar Power Dispute. A mandate that certain types of solar cells and modules used for India’s ambitious state-backed solar initiative must be domestically manufactured violate
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Press Releases
Wärtsilä Supplies 70 MW Power Plant to State Utility in India
Wärtsilä will supply a 70 MW Smart Power Generation plant to Assam Power Generation Corporation Ltd. (APGCL) in north-eastern India. The order includes seven Wärtsilä 34SG engines running on natural gas. The letter of award was issued in December 2015, and the power plant, delivered on a turn-key basis, is expected to be operational by […]
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Legal & Regulatory
THE BIG PICTURE 2015: The Year in Power Sector Infographics
POWER‘s monthly infographic sheds light on power sector trends globally, and in 2015, it highlighted changes in plant retirements, sector revenues, rule costs, workforce, emissions technologies, and electricity costs, among other subjects. January 2015: Baseload Retirements How coal plant retirements compare with retirements of other baseload generation sources. February 2015: Power Revenues How revenues for fossil power […]
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Coal
Global Demand for Coal Shrinks
A slowing of the Chinese economy and the diversification of its power sector, combined with a worldwide trend toward policies that favor renewable energy and the retirement of older, less-efficient coal-fired facilities, trumped growth in India and the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, resulting in a decline in coal consumption in 2014, which […]
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Nuclear
Russia to Supply Two More Indian Nukes, Reports Say
Russia and India will finalize a deal for Units 5 and 6 of the Kudankulam nuclear plant during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Moscow this week, according to reports in the Indian media. Russia has been on a major drive to sell its nuclear technology abroad, while India has been on a similar campaign […]
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Infographics
THE BIG PICTURE: Nuclear Spins
Editors note: Corrected (Dec. 7). A previous version of this infographic listed Russia’s nuclear total as 1.9 GW. It is 2.9 GW.
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Coal
India Refocuses Coal Future
India, the world’s most coal-dependent nation, has over the last few months very publicly shifted its stance on coal power. In October, the country announced its commitment for the upcoming COP21 global
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Legal & Regulatory
Coal-Dependent India Announces Lofty, Costly Climate Action Goals
India and 73 other countries submitted their carbon emission reduction targets for 2025 and 2030—or Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs)—ahead of the deadline last week, with just two months remaining until talks to confront climate change are due to begin in Paris. The United Nations (UN) has so far received 120 separate pledges covering 147 […]
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Renewables
India Approves National Offshore Wind Energy Policy
A new policy approved by India’s cabinet will simplify its foray into offshore wind power, says a key stakeholder. The National Offshore Wind Energy Policy approved by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Union Cabinet on Sept. 9 designates the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) as the nodal ministry for use of offshore areas […]
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International
POWER Digest (September 2015)
ABB Snags $450M Contract for Norway-UK Undersea Link. ABB on July 14 won a $450 million contract to supply high-voltage direct current (HVDC) converter stations at both ends of the North Sea Network (NSN), a
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Nuclear
A Spring Nuclear Upheaval
From Sweden to China, the world’s nuclear sector saw an eventful spring. Sweden to Shutter Two Ringhals Units Early. On the same day that E.ON—formerly one of Europe’s most formidable power companies—announced it would spin off its nuclear assets owing to Germany’s energy transition, its Swedish partner, Vattenfall, which is 70% co-owner of the 1975-built […]
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Renewables
Reports: Renewables Were Revived in 2014
Despite plunging oil prices, 2014 was a formidable year for renewables, according to two reports released in early 2015. According to the “Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2015”—the annual report prepared by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance—energy investments […]
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Coal
Industry in Turmoil: Coal Plants Shutting Down Around the World
Numerous announcements of plant closures during the past week are painting a grim picture for the future of the coal industry. On March 20, several news outlets reported that American Electric Power (AEP) had sent Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN, notices to workers at half a dozen coal-fired plants. Employees at the […]
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Solar
U.S. Slaps New Steep Tariffs on Chinese, Taiwanese Solar Firms
The U.S. on Tuesday issued a new final determination affirming that some crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) products from China and Taiwan have been sold at dumping margins of between 11% and 165%. The final determination from the Department of Commerce stems from anti-dumping duty and countervailing duty investigations covering a category of cells, modules, laminates, […]
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Coal
Reforms on the Horizon for India’s Beleaguered Coal Sector
Recent months have seen a violent shakeup of India’s coal supply sector and may result in the end of a 40-year-old government monopoly on mining and selling coal. The development could be a boon for
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Renewables
IEA: 40% of World’s Power Fleet Will Need to Be Replaced by 2040
Events over the past year—turmoil in the oil-rich Middle East and the Russian-Ukraine gas crisis—along with uncertainty for nuclear power and pervading energy poverty worldwide show that the energy system is “under stress,” the International Energy Agency (IEA) says in its freshly released World Energy Outlook 2014 (WEO-2014). Despite technology and efficiency improvements, without actions […]
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Nuclear
Top Plant: Kudankulam Atomic Power Project, Unit 1, Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu, India
Think your nuclear plant faced delays and obstacles? India’s Kudankulam project, Unit 1 of which begins commercial operation this month, spent 26 years in development and construction and faced down obstacles that included a seven-month blockade by protesters to become the nation’s largest nuclear plant. There are power plant projects that seem to drag on […]
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News
POWER Digest (November 2014)
Finland Rejects Permit Extension for Olkiluoto Reactor. Finland’s government on Sept. 25 rejected an application from utility Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) to extend a permit for its proposed Olkiluoto 4 reactor for five years. TVO requested the extension in light of delays from its Olkiluoto 3 EPR project, which is being built by an AREVA-Siemens […]
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Renewables
India Proposes Massive Solar Build-Out
India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) in September issued a proposal to vastly increase the county’s reliance on solar photovoltaic (PV) generation, taking installed capacity from its current 2.6 GW to more than 20 GW over the next five years. Following on the nation’s ambitious-but-troubled ultra-mega coal plant build-out—only one has come online, […]
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Coal
Mundra Thermal Power Plant, Mundra, Gujarat, India
In the October 2013 issue of POWER, Tata Power’s 4-GW Mundra ultra-mega power plant was recognized with a Top Plant award in the coal category. This year POWER recognizes another behemoth in the region—and
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Coal
Sesa Sterlite Captive Power Plant, Jharsuguda, Odisha, India
This is a tough time to be running a business as power-intensive as aluminum smelting in India. The economic boom that has lifted many of the nation’s 1.2 billion citizens out of persistent poverty has
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Power
POWER Digest (October 2014)
Kemper County Combined Cycle Unit Begins Commercial Operation. Mississippi Power on Aug. 14 marked a significant milestone and started commercial operation (on natural gas) of the combined cycle unit at the
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Business
POWER Digest (August 2014)
S. Korea Extends Renewables Target Deadline. South Korea’s government on June 9 said it would push back the target for mandatory use of renewable energy by two years to ease requirements for the
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Renewables
India Plans Large-Scale Floating Solar PV Plant
National Hydro Power Corp. (NHPC) and the Renewable Energy College (REC) of Kolkata have partnered to develop a 50-MW floating solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in the Indian state of Kerala, according to a report in the Economic Times. The project would represent the largest floating solar PV plant in the world, dwarfing a 1.2-MW plant […]
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Water
Power Sector Link to Water Is Deep, Complex
The interlinkages between water and energy are complex and run deep, warns a United Nations (UN) World Water Development water and energy–themed report released this March. As global water demand (in terms
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Coal
India Withdraws Tender for Chhattisgarh UMPP
The Power Finance Corp. (PFC), India’s nodal agency that conducts bidding for 16 proposed Ultra-Mega Power Plants (UMPPs)—coal projects of a 4,000-MW scale to make power available at a minimum cost—in