Karnataka takes lead in renewable energy, says IEEFA
New Delhi, July 24 : Karnataka is the new national leader in renewable energy generation, US-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) said on Tuesday. It has overtaken Tamil Nadu that had long been India's top renewables market.
With a population of more than 60 million, Karnataka has a total of 12.3 gigawatts (GW) of renewable capacity installed till March, after having added five GW in 2017-18 alone, it said.
IEEFA's report "Karnataka's Electricity Sector Transformation", talks about a trend driven by state and national energy policies that have encouraged less reliance on imported energy and how declining costs have helped build momentum around the uptake of renewables, especially solar.
"Tamil Nadu until this year was the frontrunner in the race to renewables and still leads in wind energy capacity," IEEFA's Director of Energy Finance Studies Tim Buckley told IANS.
The report notes that solar tenders in Karnataka have seen near record low bids of Rs 2.82-3.06 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) ($41-44/MWh), materially less than the average Rs 3-5/kWh for domestic thermal power tariffs and the Rs 5-6/kWh tariffs required for imported coal fired power.
And it points out that in June, Karnataka introduced reverse auctions for wind-powered electricity, with an upper cap of Rs 3.45/kWh, following the success of similar auctions in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu in 2017, when tariffs fell by as much as 50 per cent to as low as Rs 2.43/kWh.
In a "likely pathway" for Karnataka, based on IEEFA modelling through 2028, the report says Karnataka is set to move from being a net importer of electricity to having a net balance, and it could become a net exporter, a possibility currently constrained only by insufficient interstate grid capacity.
Renewables will account for 23 GW or 60 per cent of capacity (43 per cent of generation), up from 12.3 GW or 46 per cent in 2017/18.
Hydro, which accounts for 3.6 GW or 13 per cent of current capacity, continues to provide much-needed dispatchable energy to balance the state's growing, but variable wind and solar.
Thermal power's market share, currently at 10 GW (38 per cent of capacity and 49 per cent of generation), will remain steady, but "needs to better incorporate more flexible, peaking capacity".
IEEFA conducts research and analyses on financial and economic issues related to energy and the environment.
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6 held for murder of Congress leader in Ludhiana
Ludhiana (PTI): Six persons have been arrested in connection with the murder of Congress leader Parminder Tiwari, who was hacked to death with an axe on Sunday in Machhiwara here.
Tiwari, the block president of the Congress party from Machhiwara in Ludhiana, was murdered on March 29 while sitting outside his rented quarters near Takhran village
Deputy Commissioner of Police Jaskaranjit Singh Teja stated the case is neither linked to politics nor gang rivalry.
The main accused, Vijay Kumar and Lucky, were apprehended in Jamalpura village in Munger district, Bihar, by a special team dispatched there, police said.
Preliminary investigations suggest that the suspects aimed to illegally occupy a piece of panchayat land in the Machiwara area, but Tiwari opposed their plans. The accused allegedly visited Tiwari at his rented quarters on March 29 and attacked him with an axe, resulting in his immediate death, officials said.
The other four individuals arrested are relatives of the main accused and were aware of the murder plot, the DCP added.
Police have recovered the axe used in the crime, as well as the motorcycle the accused used to flee the scene.
