Mint’s annual energy conclave, Energyscape, which was held recently in Delhi, saw policymakers, industry captains and top bureaucrats debating India’s evolving integrated energy reforms. Union minister for power, and new and renewable energy Raj Kumar Singh highlighted the importance of the strategic push to make India’s grid-scale battery storage programme the largest in the world, while incr...

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had in August written to the Prime Minister, citing opposition to the move, calling the Bill “anti-people”. Nearly all states are on board with the government’s intention to open up the power distribution sector to competition through the Electricity Amendment Bill, a move that will ensure that consumers get a choice and service providers have to compete...

The Union coal ministry said on Tuesday that it has amended the Mineral Concession Rules, 1960, to allow open market sale of up to 50About 63% of the country’s coal-based power capacity have fuel stock at ‘critical level’, or enough to last less than 7 days to be precise, causing the government and coal producers, including state-run Coal India (CIL) and captive producers with freedom to s...

With no respite from the severe coal shortage, thermal plants in the state continue to run at minimal capacity, forcing the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) to buy costly electricity from the national grid. Normally holding surplus power in October, the power body would sell the excess to the grid. In the last two years alone, it sold power worth almost ?1,200 crore during the off-peak season, p...

Mint’s annual energy conclave, Energyscape, which was held recently in Delhi, saw policymakers, industry captains and top bureaucrats debating India’s evolving integrated energy reforms. Union minister for power, and new and renewable energy Raj Kumar Singh highlighted the importance of the strategic push to make India’s grid-scale battery storage programme the largest in the world, while increasing...

  Power engineers under the banner of the Haryana Power Engineers Association today held protest meetings at Hissar, Rohtak, Bhiwani, Panipat, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Kaithal, and other circle headquarters in support of the ongoing agitation of Uttrakhand power engineers and employees and against the HVPN decision to depute its engineers and technical staff to Power Transmission  Corporati...

Indian utilities are scrambling to secure coal supplies as inventories hit critical lows after a surge in power demand from industries and sluggish imports due to record global prices push power plants to the brink. Over half of India's 135 coal-fired...  plants have fuel stocks of less than three days, government data shows, far short of federal guidelines recommending supplies of at least two weeks. ...

  All the state governments have agreed to adopt the Rs 3-lakh-crore revival scheme for power distribution entities, Union power minister RK Singh said on Thursday. Though the states were given a deadline of December 31 to apply for the Centre’s assistance under the scheme, Singh said that most states would submit applications by October-end itself. As per the design of the schem...

The lower water level in the reservoirs of the Himachal Pradesh and Punjab may lead to the regulated release of water in canals for irrigation purposes next year during the next rabbi season and may impact crops. The water level in Bhakra reservoir at the end of normal filing season date of September 20 is 1642 feet which are down by 43 feet from the maximum filling level of 1685 feet being followed in BBMB. Punja...

Large battery storages that store and reconvert electricity can help India's electricity grids, given the intermittent nature of power from clean energy sources such as solar and wind. India already has 100 GW of solar and wind capacity, and is adding another 63 GW. A planned renewable capacity of 450 GW by 2030 can threaten the grid's stability in case of generation outages due to cloud cover, rains, or wind...