In Focus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

China expects between 15 million and 17 million kilowatts of newly-added installed wind power capacity in 2010.

A US$2.46 billion project to connect the power grid in Tibet to China will be completed by 2012. This project includes 900 kilometers of power lines in an area at an average elevation of 4,000 meters above sea level, according to chinaview.com.

The CNEA has recommended a government 2020 target of 70 gigawatts of nuclear power capacity.

India is now sixth in the world in terms of number of power reactors after its unit-4 of Kaiga Generating Station achdeived criticality.  Criticality signifies the start of self-sustaining nuclear fission chain reaction in the reactor core, which leads to the production of power. The unit will be synchronized to the southern grid after carrying out certain mandatory tests early next month. The electricity generated from this unit will be supplied to the beneficiary states – Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Pudducherry. Kaiga-4 is the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited’s or NPCIL’s third nuclear power reactor after RAPS unit-5 & unit-6, to have started operation during the current year, raising the nuclear installed capacity in the country from the current 4560 MW to 4780 MW. With Kaiga-4 unit becoming operational, India is now elevated to the sixth rank in an elite club of nations, after USA, France, Japan, Russian Federation and Republic of Korea, to have twenty or more nuclear power reactors currently in operation.

ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda urged Asian-Pacific governments to invest in solar energy to help ensure environmentally sustainable growth. He also took the opportunity during the opening the second meeting of the Asia Solar Energy Forum in Tokyo to announce that ASEI will increase the amount of solar power generated in the Asia and Pacific region six-fold to 3,000 megawatts by mid-2013.The forum, a major component of the Asia Solar Energy Initiative or ASEI, is the premier platform for sharing solar energy knowledge, tracking solar development projects, and discussing new solar power proposals and incentive mechanisms.The Asia Solar Energy Initiative or ASEI is a major program launched by the Asian Development Bank in May this year to identify and develop large capacity solar projects Mr. Kuroda noted that Asia and the Pacific's high economic growth rates, continuing population growth, and current and projected energy demand gap provide a huge market opportunity and potential for solar energy development."Asian countries will need to aim to maintain economic progress and improve energy security, while simultaneously charting a new low-carbon development path," he said.Mr. Kuroda hailed Asia and the Pacific's embrace of renewable technologies, such as solar energy, which he said should benefit from finance and technology transfers from developed countries irrespective of the formal outcome of the COP-16 negotiations.

The 285-kilometre India-Sri Lanka power link has been commissioned. Power Grid Corporation of India will likely to sign an MOU for developing the Rs 2,500-crore project with Sri Lanka by next month.

Chinese engineers have developed large reactor systems based on the French model and may be able to export by 2013.

A joint venture involving ADB will develop and operate 500 megawatts of renewable energy projects in India in the next three years. The joint venture agreement was signed by the Asian Development Bank with India’s National Thermal Power Corporation and Japan’s Kyushu Electric Power Company. "The new joint venture company will help India achieve its goal of reducing the country's dependence on fossil fuels, will cut greenhouse gas emissions and improve its energy security," said Michael Barrow, Director in ADB's Private Sector Operations Department,  who signed the agreement in New Delhi. "We hope this company will also provide an example to other foreign investors looking at India's renewable energy sector." Under its National Action Plan on Climate Change, the Indian government has set a target of generating 15 per cent of its total power from renewable sources by 2020. Currently, renewable energy accounts for 10 per cent of total power capacity in India while 65 per cent comes from thermal power plants—mostly coal-fired—which generate the majority of the country's carbon emissions. The remainder of India's power comes from hydropower and nuclear power. "India now has the capacity to generate just over 11,000 megawatts of wind power, but, with the right investment, that could increase to almost 48,000 megawatts. At the same time, small hydropower has the potential to generate about 15,000 megawatts of power and, what's more, is often the best way of providing electricity to low-income households in remote areas," said Don Purka, Senior Investment Specialist with ADB's PSOD. NTPC, the largest power generating company in India with a 33 per cent market share, is majority owned by the Government of India but operates on a commercial basis as an independent company. It currently has a generating capacity of 32,694 megawatts but is working to increase that to 75,000 megawatts by 2017. Under the joint venture agreement, ADB will invest up to US$40 million for a 25 per cent stake in the company. The move is part of ADB's goal of investing $2 billion a year in renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in Asia and the Pacific to help put the region on a sustainable deve opment path. NTPC will have a 50 per cent holding in the company with Kyushu Electric Power owning the remaining 25 per cent.