Benson, England’s best loved fish

http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14209766

R-Power plans to invest over Rs 600 billion in renewable and alternative energy

R-Power plans to invest over Rs 600 billion in renewable and alternative energy resources such as hydroelectric, wind, solar and fuel cell-based power

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG)-promoted Reliance Power (R-Power) is planning to invest over Rs 60,000 crore in renewable and alternative energy resources such as hydroelectric, wind, solar and fuel cell-based power. In addition, Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL), the fuel transportation arm of the Group, is planning to invest over Rs 12,000 crore in cement and shipping businesses.

R-Power Chairman Anil Ambani said the company was planning to generate about 5,000 MW from hydroelectric energy and that most of the projects for the same would come up in water-abundant northeastern states. He was addressing the company’s 14th annual general meeting (AGM) in Mumbai.

Economics of renewable energy development

Economics of renewable energy development

http://www.energyblogs.com/energytech/index.cfm/2008/9/22/Economics-of-renewable-energy-development

Posted At : September 22, 2008 2:07 PM | Posted By : Shehu Ibrahim Khaleel
Related Categories: General, Renewables, End-Use Management, Transmission, Emissions, Technology, Energy Efficiency

It is unanimously agreed that Renewable energy (hydro energy, solar, geothermal, biomass and wind) is the answer to the current global energy crises. The developed economies have been reaping the potentials of this modern energy to boost their national energy supply to meet their country energy demand. The world see renewable energy as an alternative to significantly reduce the over dependence on conventional energy sources. Renewable energy has been considered as the most effective way to mitigate the horrible signal the climate change is sending toward the global economy.

Having seen all the benefit derived from this cleaner source of energy, it would be more convincing to see also how economic it is to develop various sources of renewable energy technology for a sustainable energy future.

Biomass, Geothermal, hydro, solar and wind are considered as the most widely deployed renewable energy sources currently. And they are the sources of renewable energy with highest investment world wide.

To get the clear economic benefit of developing renewable energy we will consider the cost of generating 1kWh of power/energy and the potential gain on investing the generated unit of power/energy.

BIOMASS

Today, co-firing system of biomass energy generation offers power plant managers a relatively low cost and low risk route to add biomass capacity. The Co-firing system requires small capital investments per unit of power generation capacity. Co-firing systems range in size from 1 to 30 MW of BioPower capacities. When low cost biomass fuels are used, co-firing systems can result in payback periods as low as 2 years.

In today’s direct-fired biomass power plants, generation costs are about 9 ¢/kWh. In the future, advanced technologies such as gasification-based systems could generate power for as little as 5 ¢/kWh. A typical existing coal fueled power plant produces power for about 2.3 ¢/kWh. Co-firing inexpensive biomass fuels can reduce this cost to 2.1 ¢/kWh.

GEOTHERMAL

The lowest cost of geothermal electricity is now about $0.015 per kWh. A power plant built today would probably require about $0.05 per kWh. The initial cost for the field and power plant is around $2000 per installed kW in the U.S., probably $3000 to $5000/Kw for a small (<1Mw) power plant, and $1500 to $2500/kW for larger plants, depending on the resource temperature and chemistry. Operating and maintenance costs range from $0.015 to $0.045 per kWh, depending on the contract price for the electricity.

HYDRO POWER

Large hydropower projects provide some of the cheapest electricity in many part of the world including the United States, with an average cost of 2.4 cents per kilowatt-hour, not including the costs of environmental impacts.1 Small hydropower systems are somewhat more expensive, ranging somewhere between three and twenty-five cents per kilowatt-hour.

SOLAR

Concentrating solar power technologies currently offer the lowest-cost solar electricity for large-scale power generation (10 megawatt-electric and above). Current technologies cost $2–$3 per watt. This results in a cost of solar power of 9¢–12¢ per kilowatt-hour.

New innovative hybrid systems that combine large concentrating solar power plants with conventional natural gas combined cycle or coal plants can reduce costs to $1.5 per watt and drive the cost of solar power to below 8¢ per kilowatt-hour.

Advancements in the technology and the use of low-cost thermal storage will allow future concentrating solar power plants to operate for more hours during the day and shift solar power generation to evening hours. Future advances are expected to allow solar power to be generated for 4¢–5¢ per kilowatt-hour in the next few decades.

WIND

In the early 1980’s, when the first utility-scale wind turbines were installed, wind generated electricity cost as much as 30 cents per kilowatt-hour. Now, state-of-the-art wind power plants at excellent sites are generating electricity at less than 5 cents/kWh.

Costs are continuing to decline as more and larger plants are built and advanced technology is introduced.

GLOBAL RENEWABLE ENERGY INVESTMENT

It has been estimated $71 billion was invested in new renewable energy capacity worldwide in 2007, up from $55 billion in 2006 and $40 billion in 2005. Almost all of the increase was due to increased investment in solar PV and wind power. Technology shares of the $71billion annual investment were wind power (47 percent), solar PV (30 percent), and solar hot water (9 percent), followed by smaller shares of small hydropower, biomass power and heat, and geothermal power and heat.

The largest country shares of renewable energy annual investment were in Germany, China, the United States, Spain, Japan, and India. Investment in Germany increased to over $14 billion in 2007, mostly for wind and solar PV, and investment in China was $12 billion, mostly in small hydropower, solar hot water, and wind power. The United States was number three, with over $10 billion.

In addition to renewable energy capacity investment, there were substantial capital investments in new manufacturing plants and equipment during 2006/2007 for solar PV and biofuels. Investment in solar PV plant and equipment was expected to reach $10 billion in 2007, up from $8 billion in 2006. Investment in new biofuels production capacity worldwide has also been growing rapidly, and was expected to exceed $4 billion in 2007. The value of biofuels production plants under construction and announced construction plans through 2009 exceeded $4 billion in the United States, $4 billion in Brazil, and $2 billion in France.

Considering investments in renewable energy capacity additions (excluding large hydropower), new manufacturing capacity, and research and development spending (estimated at over $16 billion in 2006 from both public and private sources), there is no doubt that more than $100 billion was invested in renewable energy in 2007—marking a significant global milestone. And it is anticipated that this amount of investment will double in the next 2-years, as the world is increasingly recognizing the potentials of Renewable energy.

GAIL plans foray into wind power sector

Wind Energy is a niche area for renewable power sector player.

India is placed at No 4 in Wind energy only after germany,Spain & USA

Area is getting hotter as Big Boy GAIL is now entering this lucrative market