WCA May 2013

India

‘Major switch’ with solar plant in Lucknow Telecom operator Bharti Airtel has installed a 100kW solar power plant in Lucknow, powering its major routing centre and saving around 26,000 litres of diesel per year. “Bharti Airtel has installed a solar power plant at Gangaganj, Lucknow. This location is [a] major switching and routing centre, which processes the voice and data traffic for the telecom operator,” the company said in a statement. “The 100kW photovoltaic rooftop solar power plant will save close to 26,000 litres of diesel per year,” the statement said. The company would have otherwise consumed diesel to generate electricity at the office. The statement added that the company is planning similar power plants in six other locations, generating close to 300kW of solar energy. Bharti Airtel – India Website : www.airtel.in Delhi gets its own grid sub-station Power minister for Delhi, Haroon Yusuf, has inaugurated BSES Rajdhani Power Limited’s (BRPL) 66/11kV–50mVA grid sub-station in West Delhi. The sub-station will increase the distribution capacity in the area by 34 per cent to around 195mVA, meeting the present and future power needs of the area. Dedicating the grid station, Yusuf said: “Delhi’s power demand is increasing by 8 to 10 per cent year-on-year. This year, it is expected to cross 6,000MW. Electricity distribution infrastructure has to keep pace with this ever-increasing power demand.” BRPL CEO Gopal Saxena added: “The commissioning of this grid sub-station has fulfilled a long-standing demand [from] the residents and commercial establishments of this area, and I am confident that this grid will further improve the power situation in the area.” BSES Rajdhani Power Limited – India Website : www.bsesdelhi.com Finolex goes solar A captive 5MW solar power plant is under installation at the Finolex Cables manufacturing facility at Urse near Pune. The plant, to be commissioned within six months, will provide electricity for consumption at the Urse facility, but will be pooled with additional state electricity board

(MSEDCL) supply for night time operations. “[Using] this in-house experience (setting up of captive solar power plant) we can...set up larger projects in future,” the company’s MD Deepak Chhabria said, after a recent Finolex Cables board meeting. Referring to the company’s future plans, Chhabria said there was good scope for growth in the fibre optic business as new government initiated projects spur demand in the sector. “There are bright prospects for the segment growth in view of the government projects which envisage laying down of total underground network to be installed and handed over to the defence services,” he said. “Tenders are already floated for these projects,” Chhabria added. While noting that the fibre optic sector was poised for significant growth, he said that as a country “we need to spend more on infrastructure to expand industry.” Finolex Cables – India Website : www.finolex.com The Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers’ Association website reports that increased availability of coal helped power producers across the country generate over target during the year ended January 2013, compared with a shortfall of 8,000MW in the previous year. Power plants are also, apparently, sufficiently stocked for eight days of generation on full capacity, compared with only five days in November 2012, when coal production was affected by a cyclone. “With a dry winter and the chill gradually dying away, coal production has improved, leading to greater supply,” said a senior Coal India Ltd (CIL) official, explaining that this helped power producers exceed their target for April 2012 to January 2013 by 124MW. Increased generation is reflected in data from the Indian Energy Exchange, which handles about 90 per cent of the national trade in power. Spot prices of power have declined over the past month due to the increased availability of coal. Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers’ Association – India Website : www.ieema.org Second wind plant in Jaisalmer district National Aluminum Company (Nalco) is developing its second wind power plant at Ludarva, in the Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan, with a capacity of 47.6MW. The project will be executed through Gamesa Wind Turbines Coal supply boosts power production

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Wire & Cable ASIA – May/June 2013