By 2017, the cost of generating solar power in India could be as low as the cost of buying conventional electricity if the National Solar Mission sticks to its target.

Will draw power from the grid to provide start-up power for the first 660 MW unit

Reliance Power today said its 4,000 MW Sasan ultra mega power project in Madhya Pradesh has been connected to the national grid. "The 400 Kv switchyard at the Sasan Ultra Mega Power Plant has been commissioned and with this the Sasan UMPP is now connected to the national grid," Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Power said in a statement.

State power utilities have been penalised for not complying with the provisions of the Electricity Act, 2003, while drawing power under the unscheduled interchange mechanism.

In a path-breaking order, the Central Electricity Regulatory Authority (CERC) has imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh each on utilities in Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Madhya Pradesh, and Rs 90,000 each on utilities in Punjab and Tamil Nadu for not having letters of credit and thereby causing non-compliance.

New Delhi: India’s power systems could be vulnerable to crippling cyber attacks on a scale that can have serious implications for national security and economy, an enquiry into the July 30-31 grid

Biomass energy has caught the fancy of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

Yadav has directed officials to conduct a state-wide survey to ascertain places, where biomass power plants could be established. This would promote green energy and help power-starved UP to tide over the crisis to some extent, said Akhilesh. Stressing on finding cleaner energy sources, he directed officials to speed up the work towards biomass power plants. He observed that such units, if set up across UP, would not only supplement power availability, but conserve environment.

The grid failures that resulted in power outages across 21 states on July 30 and 31 have led to a renewed focus on hydro capacity addition, which can help address demand-supply issues.

The share of hydro power to the country’s overall power generation capacity has fallen from 45 per cent in 1980 to 20 per cent. A report by a committee probing the grid failures, headed by Central Electricity Authority Chairman A S Bakshi, stated over-drawing by states despite repeated warnings, the consequent over-loading of lines taking power from the western to the northern region and voltage relays were some reasons behind the grid failures.

Three power plants shut down

Northern States, including Delhi, could face fresh power cuts as three hydro-power plants that together supply about 3,000 MW of electricity to the region have shut down. The 1,500-MW Nathpa Jhakri, 1,000-MW Karcham-Wangtoo and 300-MW Chamera II hydro-power projects have been shut temporarily due to high silt levels in water, sources said. Electricity from these plants is fed to the Northern Grid that caters to 28% of the country’s population.