Government
June 21, 2011
India's JNNSM on the other hand has seen the first phase marked by a number of teething problems like debt financing,absurdly low bidding by noname companies,poor electricity infrastructure.The Second Phase is supposed to ally these problems but the first plans do not seem to be too great.The support for large solar farms will be increased from the current 5 MW cap to 20-25 MW cap.This will lead to only large investors,utilities and companies being left in the fray and lead to lesser competition.Also there is no support for rooftop solar which will help to broadbase the reach of solar energy.A Policy which helps distributed solar like Germany will do much more to boost solar in the country than supporting massive solar plants that will only help large companies making the most of the taxpayer subsidies.Note Delhi is the only state in India which is giing primacy to rooftop solar systems and is in the process of announcing a capital subsidy soon.The reason may be that Delhi mostly consists of urban homes and they have little option.
June 21, 2011
Japan's Solar Energy Manufacturing Industry is quite large and second only to China which may surprise a lot of readers. Sharp was the largest solar company by revenues and the other six zaibatsus have been present in the solar power manufacturing for a long time.Mitsubishi the Japanese conglomerate with diversified global interests has a big presence in solar and wind energy as well.It has a low profile solar module and system business.The company is known for its high quality panels and has a decent presence in USA and Japan.However like Kyocera it has not been aggressive enough leading to loss in marketshare.
June 21, 2011
Now India's Largest Company Reliance too has seen its stock fall to a post Lehman low on concerns that it has colluded with the Oil Regulator and Ministry to gold plate its costs in the KG 6 Gas concession.Reliance is India's biggest oil and gas company with interests throughout the supply chain.Note its nothing new as Reliance has always been known to be the most powerful corporate in India .However with the government's own auditing department CAG raising allegations of collusion and corruption,Reliance too may find itself snared in the corruption scandal.Note the infamous Nira Radia tapes had ample proof of how the powerful Reliance group manages the appointment of its favored persons in key federal ministries.The company must now by hoping that the Supreme Court which is already preoccupied with a ton of corruption cases does not take a keen interest and gets the CBI to investigate the allegations.
June 21, 2011
Bangladesh like India is a massive power deficient country with peak power shortage of aroudn 25% and more than 60% of the people in the country lacking access to the power grid.As prices of coal,oil and gas increase it has become harder to provide electricity to some of the poorest people in the world.Solar Energy is an ideal solution as it can provide gridless power,is totally clean in terms of pollution,health hazards and is economical as well since it saves money for building the electricity transmission.The Bangladesh government has itself realized this as the Prime Minister has put up a 21.6 Kw solar power system to power her office.The World Bank had put up $130 million in funding in 2003 which has resulted in more than 1 million homes being powered by solar energy.Note the requirements of power are very small almost 1/10th that of a Western home.Government owned Infrastructure Development Company (IDCOL) has been providing the financing for these small solar panel projects in the country.
June 20, 2011
The Indian Stock Market saw a flash crash on the morning of 20th June at 10 am.The market which started weak at 9 am fell by almost 3% in 10 minutes.The main index Nifty which was trading at around 5350 crashed to around 5200 in around 10 minutes.The market recovery by 1% but is again starting to go down to the low levels fo 5200 .Note the Indian stock market has been hammered due to worries on inflation,massive endemic corruption which is facing protests from the civil society.The FIIs which are the main buyers of Indian equities in the last year or so seem to have abandoned the Indian stocks as QE2 starts ending and global risks like Greece,US slowdown,inflation and interest rates worries in emerging markets come to the fore.Note Indian stock markets are not the easiest to invest in with scams and scandals happening regularly and it at best remains a market in which you have to choose between the bad and the ugly.
June 1, 2011
Wind Power in India has shown sharp growth in 2010 and looks to have a bright future with a number of wind farm developers investing aggressively to expand capacity.Wind Turbine Companies have also been putting up factories in India to catch a slice of the world's fifth largest wind energy market.Even Chinese companies like Dongfang and Shanghai Electric have managed to win contracts from power companies like KSK Energy.Greenko one of the first Green Utilities in India is raising funds to put even more wind turbines in India while Caparo has the biggest expansion plans in place.CLP which is the largest wind energy capacity owner in India too is plowing ahead with plans to add to the wind capacity.The most surprising entry is by Malaysian casino developer Genting which has raised debt from HSBC to put up a 92 MW Wind Farm in India.
June 1, 2011
Top European Wind Companies Vestas,Gamesa and Enercon have gained marketshare in 2010 in the Indian Wind Power Market.Note Indian Wind Energy Companies have been competing with each other as the Indian Wind Power Market starts slowing down.India installed more than 2 GW in Wind Capacity and is the world's fifth largest market.Suzlon the biggest Indian Wind Turbine Company has seen its marketshare go below 50% for the first time to 41% as aggressive initiatives by foreign wind manufacturers pay off.Note GE,Siemens and others have been setting up blade and turbine factories in India to lower costs and improve their position.Gamesa has been the biggest winner by gaining a 10 percent marketshare taking the No.3 position from the world's largest wind turbine company Vestas.Enercon maintaines its 2nd position with 500 MW of installations despite severe legal problems between the domestic unit and the German parent.
June 1, 2011
Indian Telecom Companies are using more than $500 million in fuel subsidies meant for the poor and generating more than 6 million tons of carbon dioxide every year by using diesel gensets at telecom towers not connected to the grid.Note the Telecom Industry in India has not exactly covered itself with glory on other matters with the 2G Telecom Scam already putting top executives in jail and implicating top telecom companies as well.The issues of massive fuel wastage in telecom towers has been raised in the past in greenworldinvestor as telecom tower companies viom,gtl,airtel and others have tried to put lipstick on the pig by making a mockery of green initiatives by committing to convert only a minuscule number of total towers to renewable energy.
June 1, 2011
India's policymaker keep making dumb policies to promote agriculture in the country which leads to huge losses for taxpayers and leads to no gains for poor farmers.One such policy is to give a interest rate subsidy of 3% to farmers who have repaid their loans.This means that if you are getting a loan from the banks at 7.5% normally,you will now get it at 4% if you are a farmer who has repaid his loans.Note the condition "repaid his loan" is meant to sound as it he has great thing like saving someone from a burning building.Last time I though all loans were meant to be repaid.But evidently different rules apply to farmers who were in the election year in 2009 were given a loan waiver.The government effectively allowed the farmers to convert their loans to a grant.It was an indirect gifting of billions of dollars to farmers to get votes and it worked splendidly for the ruling Congress party.A winning idea is seldom abandoned even it leads to perverse economic outcomes.
June 1, 2011
The Government on India is proposing to introduce mandatory blending of ethanol in transport fuels to the extend of 5%.This means that the major transport fuel providers like IOC,BPCL and other will have to ensure that 5% of the petrol they sell will be mixed with 5% ethanol.The US is the biggest user of mandatory blending which has recently come under harsh criticism.The reasons given for supporting blending is that it reduces the requirements of fossil fuels which leads to lower carbon emissions,improves energy security and reduces pollution.However none of these advantages are seen in real life.In fact it has the massively negative consequence of increasing food prices which leads to the starvation of the poor globally.The Corn Industry in the USA has become a major lobbying force which makes the US government persist with the policy resulting in sharp increase in corn prices to the detriment of consumers.
May 31, 2011
India and China are largely dependent on Coal for fueling a majority of their energy needs despite the evident disadvantages of coal.China derives almost 80% of its electricity from coal while India uses Coal for 50% of its Energy Needs.Most of the new power plants being built in India have plans to use thermal power which means that the coal demand is going to skyrocket even as these 2 Asian giants are already suffering from coal shortages.India's Coal Production is falling short as the Environment Ministry makes it tough for the coal miners to dig up virgin forest areas even as private Indian power companies keep on building gargantuan thermal power plants of more than 4,000 MW capacity.Most Indian companies are now racing to acquire coal mines abroad joining the Chinese companies.Seeing the massive potential in coal,international resource giants such as Rio Tinto and others are trying to access coal assets as well.
May 31, 2011
Malaysia is one of the biggest hubs of solar manufacturing in the world through aggressive government support programs and tax holidays.It is home to the biggest manufacturing site for the world's most valued solar company First Solar and has been the preferred choice for solar investment from leading global solar companies .The Reasons behind Malaysia’s Success is government support in the forms of tax breaks,loans,simple regulation and low labor costs.While many of these subsidies have been given by other countries like Singapore,Malaysia has done it with a finesse and dedication that has made it a winner.Many world class companies have started solar manufacturing operations in Malaysia like Flextronics,Q-Cells,Sunpower and First Solar.The country has been planning to implement an ambitious Feed in Tariff program to subsidize Renewable Energy generation.The country has been inspired by Germany whose FIT policy has led it to become the largest solar generating country in the world despite its low solar radiation.
May 31, 2011
Central Energy Regulatory Commission (CERC),India's Electricity Regulator is planning to increase the frequency of compliance of the Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) for states from an annual affair to a bi or quad annual affair.Note Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) Trading in India started in 2011 to facilitate the development of the Renewable Energy Industry in India.According to the RPO,a certain percentage of a state's electricity generation must come from clean energy sources.States and utilities which can't meet their renewable energy requirements can buy REC from Indian Energy Exchanges to meet their needs.Power Exchanges in India have already set the ball rolling in terms of trading in RECs.
May 31, 2011
Solar Lamps in India are one of the most successful solar products in India as they provide economical value without requiring huge subsidies.Note India’s Solar Mission […]
May 31, 2011
Japanese Nuclear Giant Toshiba which is the second largest seller of complex nuclear equipment globally is looking to shift its focus towards Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency.The company is already facing delays in shipping nuclear reactors to customers as the Fukushima Disaster makes governments around the world rethink their nuclear power ambitions.The Nuclear Energy Disadvantages are winning over the Advantages currently in public sentiment.Toshiba which acquired US Westinghouse has a target of selling 39 nuclear reactors which is getting delayed.With advanced nuclear power countries like Germany,Switzerland and Japan killing nuclear energy,the going looks tough for Toshiba.The company was already facing tough competition from the GE-Hitachi and Areva as well as new players from South Korea and China in the nuclear equipment market.
May 31, 2011
Indian equity investing through offshore funds might not be the best idea as these funds have underperformed the benchmarks by putting too much weight on infrastructure and capital goods sector.Note lured by the $500 billion investment target for Indian infrastructure,an Indian infra ETF INXX was also launched at a ludicrous valuation.However the endemic corruption in India with scams related to major infrastructure sectors like Real Estate,Telecom popping up everyday,its not a surprise that the stocks have tanked.Note investing in the Indian stocks markets is hazardous with issues like insider trading,pump and dump schemes quite rampant.The risks of corruption are huge and even top asset managers like Goldman,GMO have become victims of fly by night operators just like a simple retail investor.
May 31, 2011
According to the Financial Express, a top US Thin Film Based module manufacturer is exploring the possibility of setting up a facility in Tamil Nadu with an investment of $500 million (approximately R2,255 crore) in the coming months.Note the sources have not revealed the name of the company but it is evident from the investment amount,solar technology that the company is First Solar.A a top level team from the company is expected to visit sometime early next week to initiate discussions with the state government officials.Note First Solar has been emphasizing the importance of India for its growth aiming to supply 100 MW of solar panels in 2011 itself which would make it a leader in the Indian solar industry.Other top solar panel companies like Suntech and Trina too have been investing heavily in selling their solar panels in India through partnerships with local companies.
May 31, 2011
DuPont Apollo is a wholly-owned subsidiary of DuPont started a 50 MW thin-film photovoltaic module manufacturing facility at Shenzen in 2010. DuPont Apollo is focused on the China domestic market but seems like that they are not getting too much traction in the hyper competitive Chinese market and now trying its hand in the Indian market where solar manufacturing industry is not too competitive.
Indian Solar Energy Market has seen the entry of many foreign companies eager to tap this huge opportunity.This list of foreign solar companies in India keeps growing on a daily basis with both startups like Abound and large companies like First Solar,Suntech making India as an integral part of their global growth strategy.DuPont the global chemicals giant too has entered the solar energy industry in partnership with Wipro EcoEnergy.DuPont Apollo will supply Wipro with its Thin Film Amorphous Silicon Solar Panels which will be used in the grid projects.Note a number of Joint Ventures in Indian solar industry have been recently formed.
May 30, 2011
Coal has become the hottest energy topic in the world’s fastest growing economies India and China which depend on Coal for a majority of their Energy […]
May 30, 2011
German utilities have protested against the move as recently they were buoyed by the decision of the Merkel led government to extend the life of the nuclear reactors by more than 10 years.However the weight of public opinion has made the German government go into the damage control phase ( though too late in my opinion.German power companies too know that going against popular opposition will be quite fruitless.Note Germany faces problems as the replacement of the 7 shutdown nuclear reactors will be difficult to replace.Solar Power has been playing an important role but in winter this problem may become acute.According to some analysts,Germany will have to import power (nuclear as well) from other European countries.This will lead to increase in electricity prices.However its a great win for all forms of Green Energy as Germany has no alternative but to go with Green Energy as Germany does not have abundant reserves of Cheap Gas (like USA).Also Coal has its disadvantages which make it very difficult in an environmentally conscious country like Germany.
May 29, 2011
Having good solar radiation data is essential for building solar power plants anywhere.USA and European Union have a well-developed insolation map so that developers and investors in solar energy have no difficulty in getting good data while planning an investment.However Indian developers are at a distinct disadvantage as there is no good primary data to go on.Solar Radiation data makes a huge difference to the economics of a project and no bank will give a loan based on incomplete data.For the inexperienced developers this has become another problem among a host of other problems.With little understanding of the technology and other factors,many of them jumped in and are now in a deep soup.However the prospects of the Indian solar energy are great even with these initial hiccups.The flushing out of the weak hands should help in strengthening the solar energy industry in India in the best traditions of capitalism.
May 29, 2011
India's new anti monopoly watchdog Competition Commission of India (CCI) has belatedly started operations and its first few orders hardly inspire much confidence.Note most of the developed countries like USA and European Union have highly developed and advanced competition regulators which impose hundreds of millions in fines against domestic and international companies who indulge in anti-market practises.The huge fines serve as a great deterrence where powerful corporates try to undermine the market forces through their sheer size.The landmark anti monopoly legal cases against Microsoft,LCD companies have proved to be very effective in punishing super powerful businesses who have shafted consumers through illegal practises.
May 29, 2011
Switzerland has voted to not build any new nuclear reactors and not to extend the life of the existing nuclear plants once their expected life ends.The […]
May 29, 2011
The dangers of Hydraulic Fracking which is used to extract Shale Gas has become one of the biggest environmental issues for Big Oil and Gas companies.Shale Gas Extraction has seen doubts being raised against its Environmental Safety Record.This new form of Fossil Fuel Extraction has seen a Gold Rush from Global Oil and Gas Majors looking to tap into this major new Energy Form.In the initial helter-skelter,environmental norms have been bypassed.The controversial Fracking Process leads to chemical contamination of water bodies leading to disease and sickness among local animals and humans.Shale Gas Companies and Local Officials have also been accused of conniving to break regulations and laws regarding water usage.The use of new techniques to extract gas from shale formations has gained huge traction in the United State with major companies like Chevron,Exxon spending billions of dollars to acquire companies with shale gas assets and technology.Indian and Chinese companies like Reliance too have spent their billions to gain a slice of the lucrative new Gas pie.However the environmental dangers of using fracking has kept cropping up despite efforts by Big Oil and Gas to suppress.
May 28, 2011
Solar Power in India is going to be one of the biggest opportunities in the 21st century with a number of favorable supply and demand factors converging.The Indian government too has supported Solar Energy in India through the ambitious JNNSM which aims for around 20 GW of Solar Capacity by 2020 (which is too low in my view).A Number of Green Companies both domestic and foreign have already made huge plans to capitalize on this oppurtunity.Here are some of the major happenings in India's solar sector in the last month or so.Juwi which is one of the biggest solar energy developers in Germany ( a market which has become saturated) has joined hands with Lanco Solar ( a subsidiary of one of India's biggest private power companies) to set up a 75 MW Solar Plant in Maharashtra winning a contract from the state power generation company Mahagenco.The contract value is Rs 884 crore which works out to be just under Rs 12 crores/MW or $2.6/watt which is extremely low even with the price of solar panels crashing in the international market.At this price the electricity generated won't be too expensive and Mahagenco has a good deal.On the other hand Juwi and Lanco get bragging rights to being the development team for one of India's biggest solar plants.
May 14, 2011
Electronic Waste is a massive problem in the Developed and Developing world with Thousands of Tons of Hazardous Electronic Waste being generated each year.With Electronics getting more ubiquitous and costs falling rapidly,Electronic Waste Problem is only going to increase.E-Waste is responsible not only for releasing dangerous substances into the environment it also causes deaths and injuries to poor in countries like India,China and Africa who are forced to work in extremely bad conditions.Electronic Waste Recycling is the need of the hour but the governments around the world have not pushed hard enough.Europe has been at the forefront with the WEEE directive passed in 2002 while USA has been a laggard as usual failing to prevent toxic waste from being dumped in landfills and shipped to poor countries with lax environmental regulations.Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003 has been passed in California which again as usual has been leading the federal government on clean technology legislation.
May 13, 2011
WEEE refers to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive issued by the European Community on Electronic and Electrical Waste alongwith the ROHS Directive in 2003 which regulates the collection,recycling and disposal of electronic and electrical equipment.The Directive are 2002/96/EC and 2002/95/EC.WEEE makes it mandatory for the producers of to dispose of the Electronic Waste.Unlike the USA which does not have such a strict policy,the companies must do so in an environment friendly way and can't just export all the electronic junk ot Africa,India and China which has been the way of the industry till then.
The legislation provides for the creation of collection schemes where consumers return their used e-waste free of charge. The objective of these schemes is to increase the recycling and/or re-use of such products. It also requires heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, and hexavalent chromium and flame retardants such as polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) or polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) to be substituted by safer alternatives.The EU’s WEEE and RoHS laws simply serve as a template for national laws. They are transposed into national law at national level.Member States are required to draw up a register of producers and collect information on an annual basis on the quantities and categories of electrical and electronic equipment placed on their market, collected, re-used, recycled and recovered within that Member State and on collected waste exported.
May 13, 2011
Electronic waste is defined as loosely discarded, surplus, obsolete, or broken electrical and electronic devices.It consists of secondary computers, electronics,LCDs,computers,mobile phones etc which have been discarded or thrown by the owners.The rapid decline in the cost of semiconductors due to Moore's law has led to a rapid increase in the size of the electronics industry which is more than $1 trillion dollar globally.Millions of electronics items are thrown out each year leading to mountains of Electronic Waste.If not treated and Recycled,E-Waste can be hazardous to the environment and lead to wastage of precious materials which can be reused.Lost electronic devices contain a variety of materials, including metals that can be recovered for future uses. By dismantling and providing reuse possibilities, intact natural resources are conserved and air and water pollution caused by hazardous disposal is avoided.Electronic Waste Recycling companies are quite disorganized without major global e-recycling companies.The E-Waste Manageress industry still consists mainly of thousands of workers in developing countries like India where they continue to work in dangerous conditions.1,200 small companies generated revenue of around $5 billion last year.This is expected to treble by 2015 as more countries make electronic waste management compulsory and the sheer volume of electronics grows (think iPads)
May 12, 2011
Poland is one of the largest countries in Europe to have such a high dependence on Coal Energy to meet its Electricity Needs.Note European Union has a target to meet 20% of its Energy by 2020 from Renewable Energy sources which has mad the fossil fuel dependent Eastern European countries looks towards Wind,Solar and Biomass Energy.Note Eastern European countries like Romania have seen a boom in wind energy driven by incorrect Green Energy subsidy policies while the Solar Boom in Czech led to a drastic increase in electricity prices forcing the government to Bust it with a combination of FIT cuts,tax increases and strict regulation.Poland which is the largest Eastern European country in the EU has traditionally depended on Coal to meet most of its Energy Needs.Despite the major disadvantages of Coal,Poland has resisted reducing the support given to the Thermal Power Industry.The cheapness and abudance of Coal has made it hard for Poland to shift its Energy Policy like other Coal dependent nations like South Africa,China and India.
May 12, 2011
Offshore Wind Energy is supposed to increase from around 3 GW today to 75 GW by 2020 as countries in Europe,Asia and North America heavily support this industry.Onshore wind energy growth on the other hand is expected to slow down as 38 GW of Wind Capacity were installed in 2010 with Western Markets showing a sharp slowdown.Note every industry sees costs declining with large capacity except the mature industries.For example Wind Energy has seen a 10% decline in costs for every 100% increase in installed capacity.Note offshore wind projects offer even more Wind Energy Advantages than normal Land Based Wind Farms.The only problem facing offshore wind power is high costs as the industry still is on the learning curve.PWC has come up with a survey where most of the participants say that it will take 10-15 years for offshore wind energy to reach grid parity.What this means is that Offshore Wind Energy Companies will continue to depend on government subsidies like higher electricity prices,tax breaks,low interest loans to survive.