Monday, September 29, 2008

Energy conservation action plan

Chandigarh, Sept 29 - Haryana Department of Renewable Energy hasprepared an energy conservation action plan under which energy auditof large Government buildings will be conducted to optimize the levelof energy consumption.While stating this today, Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Chander Mohansaid that Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (HAREDA) hasinvited bids from the energy service companies empaneled by the Bureauof Energy Efficiency (BEE) of Government of India to carry out energyaudit of 20 large Government buildings by October 15, 2008.He said that the energy audit of these large Government buildingswould be conducted this year with financial assistance of BEE. Thesebuildings included Haryana Bhawan, New Delhi,General Hospital,Panchkula, B.K. Hospital, Faridabad,Hotel Raj Hans, Faridabad, IndianOil Corporation R & D Center, Faridabad,General Hospital, Bhiwani,National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, Civil HospitalMandikhera,Nuh, Samanya Hospital, Gurgaon, Vidyut Sadan,Hisar,Babakhetanath Government Polytechnic, Narnaul, mini secretariats atAmbala, Jind, Jhajjar, Kurukshetra,Yamunanagar, Haryana Board ofSchool Education, Bhiwani, Moti Lal Nehru Sports School, Rai andPt.BDS Post-graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Rohtak.He said that the broad objective of energy audit of these buildingswas to measure the present energy consumption, monitor and analyse useof energy and suggest ways to optimize power consumption in thefeeders of lighting, air conditioning systems and others withinstallation of Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs), T-5 FTLs,LEDsinduction lights, metal helides lamps, star rated air conditioners,power capacitor bank, automatic voltage regulator, LED solar streetlights and solar water heating systems. Energy audit also aimed atminimizing energy cost. The owners of buildings would have toimplement the energy efficient measures recommended by the energyauditor out of their own resources, he added.He said that energy audit of ten Government buildings includingHaryana Raj Bhawan has been completed and recommendations for use ofCFLs and T-5, 28 watt tube lights made by the energy audit company hasalso been implemented to conserve energy.He said that Energy Conservation Act 2001 has come into force witheffect from March 1, 2007. The State Government has designated theDepartment of Renewable Energy, as the State nodal agency toimplement energy conservation measures in the State to comply with theprovisions of this Act.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

State level conservation award

September 25 – Haryana Renewable Energy Department(HAREDA) has invited nominations for State Level Energy ConservationAwards 2007-08 upto October 15, 2008.While stating this here today, Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. ChanderMohan said that to recognize the efforts of Industrial, Commercial andGovernment building sectors consumers in conserving energy, the StateGovernment had started encouraging such each category consumers by wayof giving them Rs. two lakh to Rs.50,000 cash awards. He said thatfrom this year, two new categories of prizes namely Educational andCommercial building would be added. Hotels, hospitals, shopping mallsand plazas were included in commercial buildings, he said.The Deputy Chief Minister said that applications could be submittedthrough concerned Additional Deputy Commissioner and the awardproforma could be downloaded from website www.hareda.gov.in. He saidthat Haryana was one of the few states in the country where Statelevel Energy Conservation Awards scheme was implemented since 2005-06.Mr. Chander Mohan said that during the last year, Maruti Suzuki IndiaLimited, Gurgoan was awarded with first prize under which cash prizeof Rs.one lakh, a certificate and shield had been provided. Similarly,Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Panipat refinery had got second prizeunder which cash prize of Rs.50,000, a certificate and shield had beengiven. He said that under High Tension (HT) consumer category, ShaktiBhavan Panchkula was awarded with first prize of Rs.one lakh, acertificate and shield. This award had been given the Haryana ChiefMinister Mr. Bhupinder Singh Hooda on December 18, 2007 during a StateLevel Function on Energy Conservation Day, he added.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Sewage projects in the state

Sept 22 - Haryana Government has approved over Rs 297.93crore out of State plan for implementation of sewerage projects in 38towns of the State and out of it over Rs 102.73 crore have alreadybeen incurred to provide this facility.This was revealed in a meeting presided over by Chief Minister, MrBhupinder Singh Hooda to review the laying of sewerage system invarious towns of the State here today.These 38 towns included Assandh, Barwala in district Hisar,Bahadurgarh, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri,Guhla Cheeka, Dabwali, Ellenabad,Fatehabad, Gurgaon, Hansi, Indri, Jagadhri, Jhajjar,Jind, Kaithal,Kalka, Kalanwali, Karnal, Mohindergarh, Naraingarh, Narnaund, Narwana,Narnaul, Pehowa,Pundri, Rohtak, Rania, Shahbad,Sirsa, Siwani,Sonepat,Tohana,Thanesar, Uchana and Yamunanagar.The Chief Minister directed Commissioner and Secretary HaryanaPublic Works (Water Supply and Sanitation) Department, Mr Roshan Lalto complete the on going works speedily.The Chief Minister also reviewed the progress of sewerage projects ineight towns under National Capital Region for which projects wereapproved in February 2006. These town included Hodal, Sohna, Palwal,Rewari, Rohtak, Gohana,Panipat and Samalkha. A sum of over Rs 98.51crore has been sanctioned for these projects and these would becompleted by February next.While reviewing the progress of sewerage projects being implementedin the towns of Bahadurgarh, Bawal, Beri, Kalanaur, Meham, Sampla,Kosli, Bhakli and Railway station Kosli, Ganaur and Kharkhoda, it wasobserved that a sum of over Rs 86.61 crore had been approved fortheir implementation. It was decided to complete these projects bySeptember end 2009 instead of December end 2009.It was informed that sewerage projects were being prepared for thetowns of Pataudi and Faraukhnagar.The towns where sewerage works were in progress under Yamuna ActionPlan Phase -II included Yamunanagar, Karnal, Panipat, Sonepat,Gurgaonand Faridabad. Their implementation would cost over Rs 32.45 crore.Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, M.L.Tayal and AdditionalPrincipal Secretary to Chief Minister, Mr K.K.Khandelwal and seniorofficers of Public Works (Water Supply and Sanitation) Departmentwere present in the meeting.

MOU for solar energy

23 September - The Haryana Renewable Energy DevelopmentAgency(HAREDA) will sign Memorandums of Understanding with 6Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to generate 12 MW power from SolarEnergy on 24rd September, 2008. These MoUs will be signed in presenceof Haryana Chief Minister Sh. Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Giving this information an official spokesman of HAREDA said thatSmt. Sumita Misra, director, HAREDA will sign these MoUs on behalf ofHAREDA. The spokesman further said that the MOUs will be signed withM/s R.S.India Wind Energy Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi and M/s EstonfieldRenewable Resources Pvt. Ltd., Kolkatta each for setting up solarpower projects of 3 MW capacity, with M/s Epuron Renewable Energy Pvt.Ltd., New Delhi and M/s Azure Power India, New Delhi each for settingup solar power projects of 2 MW capacity. In addition to these, MoUswill also be signed with M/s Omax Auto Ltd., Gurgaon and M/s SelectoSystems Pvt. Ltd., Faridabad each for setting up solar power projectsof 1 MW capacity as a special case as these projects being the rooftopprojects do not require any purchase of land, can be commissioned inshorter span of time and can be showcased for replication in otherindustries. These projects shall be set up by these power developersbefore December, 2009 with a total investment of approximately Rs.240.00 crores. The spokesman informed that Haryana is one of the first few States inthe country to have taken the initiative to set up Solar Energy basedpower projects in Mega Watt scale.. HAREDA had invited proposals fromIPPs for setting up solar power projects in the State under theMinistry of New & Renewable Energy, Govt of India tariff subsidyscheme. HAREDA had received tremendous response from the privatedevelopers to set up solar power projects in the State. The powerproduced from these projects will be fed to the State Grid for whichthe Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission has already issued thetariff order for purchase of power from Solar PV Projects. This powershall be purchased by the State Utilities @ Rs. 15.96 per unit, out ofwhich Rs. 12/- per unit shall be provided by the Ministry of New &Renewable Energy, Govt. of India as generation based incentives underits Grid Interactive Solar PV Generation Programme. The spokesman inforrmed that the solar radiation level in the Stateis in the range of 5.5 KWH to 6.5 KWH per square meter of area and theState has about 320 clear sunny days in a year. This offers a greatpotential for using solar energy for various thermal and electricalenergy applications in the State. But, the potential available fromsolar energy is yet to be harnessed in MW scale in the country.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

rajiv gandhi thermal power project hissar

Sept. 20 – In order to ensure scheduled power generationby 1200 MW Rajiv Gandhi Thermal Power Project, Hisar, the HaryanaPower Generation Corporation Ltd. (HPGCL) has invited competitivebids for setting up of a coal washery at the project site. A spokesman of the HPGCL said here today that the coalhaving less than 34% ash contents would be used in the plant for powergeneration as per the norms of Ministry of Environment & Forest(MOEF). The coal requirement for the plant will be in September, 2009. Referring to the need of setting up of the coal washery,he said, in the first phase for 500 MW capacity, 2.31 metric tonesper annum (MTPA) of 'F' grade coal was sanctioned from MahanadiCoalfields Ltd. (MCL), Sambalpur, Orissa. In the second phase, forbalance 700 (600 +100) MW, 3.24 MTPA of 'F' grade coal had also beensanctioned from MCL for which the Counter Guarantee(CG) in the shapeof Bank Guarantee (BG) for Rs. 1425.60 lacs had been submitted withMCL on June 26, 2008 in terms of New Coal Distribution Policy (NCDP).Thus a total of 5.55 MTPA quantity of coal of 'F' grade had beensanctioned. The project is likely have the coal from the IBCoalfields, Orissa of MCL. The ash contents of the coal are more thanthe recommended norms. MCL is going to set up its own washery of 10Metric Tonnes Per Annum in the IB valley area but the same is notlikely to be operational before 2011 whereas the plant needed the coalin September,09. Though after washing of coal yield shall be 72% but therewill be numerous advantages in addition of ash to the tune of 34% orless. The main advantages include improvement in thermal efficiency,reduction in transportation cost of coal, reduction in CO2 emissionsdue to reduced fuel consumption, less auxiliary consumption, reductionin operation and maintenance cost, less requirement of land and waterfor ash disposal etc. The spokesman further stated that the HPGCL had issued sixtender documents to the bidders so far. The last date of submission ofthe bid documents is September,26 afternoon and the bids will beopened on the same day in the presence of bidders.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Illegal Mining in Aravalis and Polybags

September 19 – Haryana Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Mrs. Kiran Choudhry today directed the Regional Officers of Haryana Pollution Control Board (HPCB) to constitute a committee to keep strict check on illegal mining at Aravalli range and to submit a video graphed report within 30 days to the Board. Mrs. Choudhry while presiding over a meeting asked the officers of the HPCB to take strict actions against those who were involved in illegal mining and regular reports of violations and prosecutions should be submitted to the Board.The Minister said that mining at Aravalli range is a serious threat to the environment and the violations should be dealt with strictness. She said that the Regional Officers of HPCB should properly take up the cases of violations and prosecutions should be launched immediately against the violators. She said that it was learnt that in some districts, farm land were being utilized for purposes other than agriculture which is a violation according to the Aravalli notification. She said that it had been directed to all the Deputy Commissioners in the state to abide by the Performa prepared by the HPCB for any land use. She directed the officers to write the concerned departments to complete the work of Sewerage Treatment Plant at Panipat in a time bound manner. The Minister said that regular samples should be collected from the cess pools and should be sent to district authorities regularly. She said that an inventory should be prepared of the industries which were functional without Treatment Plants in district Panipat. The Minister said that all the information regarding the prosecution and directions should be made available on the website of the HPCB. She said that the crushers functional at Gurgaon should be closed immediately and prompt actions should be launched against them. Mrs. Choudhry directed the officers to regularly visit Eco-Clubs and hold activities in accordance with the calendar issued by the HPCB. She said that Eco-Clubs are the arms of pollution wing and to enhance their working, more financial assistance would be provided to them. She said that a State Level function would be organized in the first week of November wherein all the Eco-Clubs functioning in the state would participate. She directed all the Regional Officers to organise regular competitions and functions at their respective districts for the members of the Eco-Clubs. The Minister said that hoardings carrying warnings, on the ban of usage and manufacturing of plastic products below 30 microns should be put across the districts and on the major road sides. She asked the officers to prepare a list of plastic manufacturers and submit it to the headquarters within a week. She directed the Board officers to start penalising the manufacturers of plastic products and spread awareness regarding the usage of plastic, through weekly advertisements in the newspapers. She said that people should be made aware that the State has put a ban on the usage of plastic which do not adhere to the norms specified by the Board.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

indire gandhi super thermal power project jhajjar

Sept. 18 – Aravali Power Company Pvt. Ltd. (APCPL), ajoint venture of Haryana Power Generation Corporation Ltd. (HPGCL),Govt. of Delhi and NTPC has initiated various developmental andwelfare activities in the area surrounding Indira Gandhi Super ThermalPower Project Jhajjar, as a part of its corporate socialresponsibility.A spokesman of HPGCL said here today that Community DevelopmentProgramme (CDP) for the larger community interest and for addressingthe critical needs of the villages has been formulated. A VillageDevelopment Advisory Committee (VDAC) comprising representatives fromdistrict administration, neighborhood villages and APCPL has beensetup for the development of four villages namely Jharli, KhanpurKhurd, Goriya and Mohanbari in the first phase. These villages wouldbe developed as model villages and shall have all the facilities asper the State policy.In its first meeting the Committee discussed the requirements of thevillagers and various modalities for implementation and asked thevarious village representatives and Panchayat officers to give theirconsent on the matter. The spokesman added that a sum of Rs. 4.60crore has been sanctioned for strengthening the local power supplydistribution system of 22 villages and estimate for the same is beingprepared by the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam. The Nigam hasstarted implementation of high voltage distribution system to ensureuninterrupted power supply with better voltage in the villages ofdistrict Jhajjar.APCPL would also be promoting various income generating schemes forland contributors such as award of petty contracts, allotment of shopsin township, vehicle hiring, allotment of PCOs/Internet kiosks,allotment of canteen, newspaper vending, courier and thickeningservices, water carriers and local transportation, etc.It has also proposed to provide financial assistance in the form ofscholarship/ reimbursement of tuition fees of the children of thesevillages and supplying of books for weaker sections. It is alsoplanning to adopt two Industrial Training Institute at villagesMatanhail and Jhajjar which are under construction. The company isalso arranging medical checkup camps for the people.He also said that such activities are also being initiated for allpower Generation Stations in Haryana.

Mega Thermal Power plant in jhajjar

Sept. 17- The expert committee of Ministry of Environment & Forests (MOE&F) has accorded environmental clearance for the proposed 1320 MW Mega Thermal Power Project at Jhajjar on the basis of super critical technology. This has paved the way for the establishment of such projects in the State with supercritical technology.The supercritical technology projects involve the generation of steam at higher temperature and higher pressure leading to higher efficiency levels in the generation of electricity also. Because of higher efficiency the cost of generation also comes down in the long run.A spokesman for the Haryana Power Generation Corporation Ltd. said here today that the senior officers of MOE&F in a meeting with the HPGCL discussed the issue in detail and agreed with the proposal. Earlier, environmental clearance for setting up the project with sub critical technology was conveyed by the MOE&F. He said that the detail project report and the presentation was prepared by the team of officers headed by Chief of Operations, HPGCL, Mr J.C. Kinra, Technical Consultant, R.S. Bhatti and S.E. Technical, H.R. Satija. He said that the proposed project to be set up by CLP Power would be the first project of its kind in northern region. Recently, Union Power Secretary, Mr Anil Razdan has also emphasized the need for setting up of the projects with super critical technology in the country. Supercritical design boilers are environment friendly and use less coal to generate the same amount of electricity.The 1320 MW Jhajjar project would have two units of 660 MW each. The first unit of the project is expected to be commissioned by December,2011 and the second unit by April, 2012. The State would get more than 300 lac units of electricity daily after commissioning of these units, he added.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Agriculture and water saving techniques

September 16 - In order to encourage the farmers to adopt different water saving techniques suited to their field conditions, Haryana Agriculture Department has decided to give assistance to the farmers to lay underground pipeline system, installation of sprinkle irrigation system and construction of tanks.
While stating this here today, a spokesman of the Agriculture Department said that the groundwater in most part of the state was brackish which was unfit for irrigating the field crops. The brackish water could be used effectively by mixing fresh water available in tanks. Sprinkle and drip irrigation could also be used for this purpose.
He said that the State Government has implemented a scheme "Water Saving Technologies" and had earmarked a sum of Rs. 2.25 crore to help the farmers to adopt such advanced practices for the effective use of brackish water mixed with fresh water to irrigate their crops. Assistance was being provided to the farmers to effectively use the brackish water by mixing fresh water through canals in the tank. He said that similarly farmers were also provided assistance to lay underground pipeline system and sprinkle irrigation system.
He said that recognizing the need to promote sustainable agriculture in the State that replenishes soil health, environmentally sound and water conserving as well as economically attractive to the farmers a new scheme for promotion of sustainable Agriculture-Strategic initiatives was being implemented by the State Government. The four components of the scheme included promotion of green manuring and organic farming, extension through mass media and modernization, integration and computerization of soil, water and seed testing facilities. A sum of Rs. 8 crore has been earmarked for the implementation of this scheme during the current financial year.
He said another scheme for the promotion of crop diversification was also being implemented to promote pulse crop particularly summer moong in paddy-wheat areas to provide an alternate crop to summer paddy growers. An area of 40,000 hectares was proposed to be covered under summer moong which would require 12000 quintals of seed. Subsidy at the rate of 50 per cent on the cost of seed with a maximum limit of Rs.15000 per quintal was provided to the farmers. The crop of cultivation of sunflower would also be promoted under diversification programme.

Friday, September 12, 2008

CFL's

Chandigarh, Sept 12 - In Haryana 702 villages have been converted to Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) by getting installed 6.71 Lakh CFLs by Power Utilities and Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (HAREDA) so far.This was revealed by Mrs. Sumita Mishra, Director, HAREDA while addressing delegates from all over India on second day of the Third Annual Conference organized by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry at “India Electricity – 2008” at New Delhi today.She said that Haryana was the first State in the country which had decided to replace conventional lighting fixtures with energy efficient CFLs and T-5 (28 watt) tube lights in all government buildings by January 1, 2008. She said that 97,000 CFLs and 1.05 lakh T-5 Tube lights had been replaced in government offices so far with an investment of Rs. 4.52 crores which resulted in annual saving of Rs. 8.36 crores in the electricity bills translating into an equivalent annual saving of 3.4 MW.She said that Power Utilities would provide two 20 watt CFLs free of cost to each Below Poverty Line (BPL) consumer at the time of release of new connections. She said that the State Government had made the use of CFLs and T-5 (28 watt) energy efficient tube lights and Light Emitting Diode (LED) lamps mandatory for all electricity consumers in Industrial, Commercial and institutional sectors having load of 30 Kilo watt or above. Similarly, in all the Central Government Offices and Central Public Sector Undertaking Institutions and Establishments in State, the use of Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) and T-5 (28 watts) energy efficient tube lights and Light emitting Diode (LED) Lamps would be made mandatory. She said that these orders would become effective from August 15, 2008.She said that State Government had made mandatory to use energy efficient street lighting in all existing and new colonies and urban areas notified by the Urban Local Bodies Department, Haryana Urban Development Authority Sectors, HSIDC, Industrial Estates, Housing Complexes, Colonies and Townships developed by private, semi government, autonomous institutions using T-5 tube lights, LED lamps, Low Pressure Sodium Vapour, High Pressure Sodium Vapour lamps. She said that these measures had a potential of saving 224 MW electricity annually. This order would be applicable from March 31, 2009.She said that in case of non-compliance of these orders the Power Utilities could disconnect the electricity connections after serving due notice to the consumer after the expiry of deadline.

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

2 day training program on energy auditing in buildings.

Chandigarh, 9 September: Haryana has the credit of being one of the front runner State in the field of energy conservation and renewable energy. Haryana has a potential of saving about 500 MW electricity through energy conservation and the State Government is taking necessary measures to tap this potential. This was stated by Principal Secretary, Power and Renewable Energy Departments, Mr Ashok Lavasa, while inaugurating a two day Training Programme on Energy Auditing in Buildings at Panchkula near here today. He said that there is a need to sensitize all public about the judicious use of energy so that it can be utilised for gainful applications and also conserved for future generation.He said that urbanisation is inevitable in a developing country. However, we should find ways for sustainable urbanisation and energy conservation should be developed as a habit in every citizen. The workshop was organised by the Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (HAREDA) in collaboration with European Union and National Productivity Council under the European Union-India Sustainable Energy Efficiency Initiative (EISEEI).Director, Renewable Energy and HAREDA, Mrs Sumita Misra briefly presented the achievements of the department. She said that buildings are a major consumer of electricity and with growing urbanisation, there is a great potential for energy conservation in the building sector. Energy audit in buildings is the first step towards saving energy in buildings. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Gerhard Weihs, Head, Centric Austria International Vienna, Austria said that about 27 per cent energy in buildings could be saved through sustainable building design and operational features. He said that we should adopt best practices for replication in our buildings to make them more comfortable and energy efficient. Director (Energy Management), National Productivity Council(NPC), New Delhi, Mr D. Pawan Kumarmade a presentation on Energy Audit techniques. In this training programme Regional Director, NPC, Kolkatta, Mr A.K. Sinha, was also a key speaker.