Indian Power Sector

{indianpowersector.com}

The power sector in India is mainly governed by the Ministry of Power. There are three major
pillars of power sector these are Generation, Transmission, and Distribution. As far as generation
is concerned it is mainly divided into three sectors these are Central Sector, State Sector, and
Private Sector.  Central Sector or Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) constitute 31.21%
(54412.63MW) of total installed capacity i.e, 174361.40 MW (as on 31/03/2011) in
India. Major PSUs involved in the generation of electricity include National Hydroelectric
Power Corporation (NHPC)  National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), and Nuclear
Power Corporation of India (NPCIL).

Besides PSUs, several state-level corporations are there which accounts for about 47.49% of

overall generation , such as Jharkhand State Electricity Board (JSEB), Maharashtra State
Electricity Board (MSEB), Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), in Gujarat (MGVCL,
PGVCL, DGVCL, UGVCL four distribution Companies and one controlling body GUVNL, and
one generation company GSEC), are also involved in the generation and intra-state distribution
of electricity.

Other than PSUs and state level corporations, private sector enterprises also play a major role
in generation, transmission and distribution, about 21.17% (36761.19MW) of total installed
capacity is generated by private sector.

The PowerGrid Corporation of India is responsible for the inter-state transmission of

electricity and the development of national grid.

The Ministry of Power is the apex body responsible for the development of electrical energy in
India. This ministry started functioning independently from 2 July 1992; earlier, it was known as
the Ministry of Energy. The Union Minister of Power at present is Sushilkumar Shinde and
Minister of State for Power is K.C Venugopal.
India is world’s 6th largest energy consumer, accounting for 3.4% of global energy
consumption, with Maharashtra as the leading electricity generator among Indian states. Due to
India’s economic rise, the demand for energy has grown at an average of 3.6% per annum over
the past 30 years. At the end of April 2011, the installed power generation capacity of India
stood at  174361.40MW, while the per capita energy consumption stood
at 733.54 KWh(2008-09). The Indian government has set an ambitious target to add
approximately 78,000 MW of installed generation capacity by 2012. Thetotal demand for
electricity in India is expected to cross 950,000 MW by 2030.

India is the sixth largest in terms of power generation. About 65% of the electricity consumed
in India is generated by thermal power plants, 22% by hydroelectric power
plants, 3% by nuclear power plants and rest by 10% from other alternate sources like solar,
wind, biomass etc.53.7% of India’s commercial energy demand is met through the country’s
vast coal reserves. The country has also invested heavily in recent years on renewable sources of
energy such as wind energy. As of March 2011, India’s installed wind power generation
capacity stood at about 12000 MW. Additionally, India has committed massive amount of funds
for the construction of various nuclear reactors which would generate at least 30,000 MW. In
July 2009, India unveiled a $19 billion plan to produce 20,000 MW of solar power by 2020
under National Solar Mission.

The per capita power consumption in India is 733.54KWh/yr, which is very minimal as

compared to global average of 2340KWh/yr.

Electricity losses in India during transmission and distribution are extremely high,

about 28.44% (2008-09). India needs to tide over a peak power shortfall of 13% between 5pm
and 11pm by reducing losses due to theft and pilferage.. Due to shortage of electricity, power
cuts are common throughout India and this has adversely effected the country’s economic
growth. Theft of electricity, common in most parts of urban India, amounts to 1.5% of India’s
GDP. The condition of utilities are not good either, cumulative loss of 110 power utilities are
estimated as Rs 86,136 crore which is expected to to rise to Rs 1,16,089 crore by 2014-
15. Despite an ambitious rural electrification program, some 400 million Indians lose electricity
access during blackouts. While 84.9% of Indian villages have at least an electricity line, just 46
percent of rural households have access to electricity.

Electricity Generation
(Data Source CEA, as on 30/04/2011)
Grand Total Installed Capacity is 174361.40 MW.
The data below are in MW
 
Coal Gas Diesel Nuclea Hydro Res Total (%)
r
State 47257.0 4327.12 602.61 0.00 27257.0 3008.85 82452.58 47.29%
Sector 0 0
Central 34045.0 6702.23 0.00 4780.00 8885.40 0.00 54412.63 31.21%
Sector 0
Private 13351.3 6677.00 597.14 0.00 1425.00 15445.6 37496.19 21.50%
Sector 8 7
Total 94653.3 17706.3 1199.7 4780.00 37567.4 18454.5 174361.4
8 5 5 0 2 0
(%) 54.29% 10.15% 0.69% 2.74% 21.55% 10.58% 100.00
%

 Captive Generating capacity connected to the Grid (MW)  = 19509

 The state of Maharashtra is the largest producer of thermal power in the country.
 India was one of the pioneering countries in establishing hydro-electric power plants.
The power plant at Darjeeling and Shimsha (Shivanasamudra) was established in 1898 and
1902 respectively and is one of the first in Asia.
 R.E.S. INCLUDES :- SHP – 2900 MW , WIND – 12000 MW,B.P. & B.G. –2313.33
MW, U&I & SOLAR – 114.74 MW
(SHP – SMALL HYDRO POWER, B.P. – BIOMASS POWER,  B.G.- BIOMASS
GASIFIER, U&I – URBAN & INDUSTRIAL WASTE)
Electricity Transmission
A power transmission cable operated by BEST in Mumbai, India.
Transmission of electricity is defined as bulk transfer of power over a long distance at high
voltage, generally of 132kV and above. In India bulk transmission has increased from 3,708 ckm
in 1950 to more than 166000ckm, out of which 75556ckm is transmitted byPower Grid
Corporation of India (as on 30 Sep. 2010 ). The entire country has been divided into five
regions for transmission systems, namely, Northern Region, North Eastern Region, Eastern
Region, Southern Region and Western Region. The Interconnected transmission system
within each region is also called the regional grid.
The transmission system planning in the country, in the past, had traditionally been linked to
generation projects as part of the evacuation system. Ability of the power system to safely
withstand a contingency without generation rescheduling or load-shedding was the main criteria
for planning the transmission system. However, due to various reasons such as spatial
development of load in the network, non-commissioning of load center generating units
originally planned and deficit in reactive compensation, certain pockets in the power system
could not safely operate even under normal conditions. This had necessitated backing down of
generation and operating at a lower load generation balance in the past. Transmission planning
has therefore moved away from the earlier generation evacuation system planning to integrate
system planning.
While the predominant technology for electricity transmission and distribution has been
Alternating Current (AC) technology, High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) technology has
also been used for interconnection of all regional grids across the country and for bulk
transmission of power over long distances.
Certain provisions in the Electricity Act 2003 such as open access to the transmission and
distribution network, recognition of power trading as a distinct activity, the liberal definition of a
captive generating plant and provision for supply in rural areas are expected to introduce and
encourage competition in the electricity sector. It is expected that all the above measures on the
generation, transmission and distribution front would result in formation of a robust electricity
grid in the country.
Electricity Distribution
The total installed generating capacity in the country is 171926.40MW,and the total number of
consumers is over 146 million. Apart from an extensive transmission system network at 500kV
HVDC, 400kV, 220kV, 132kV and 66kV which has developed to transmit the power from
generating station to the grid substations, a vast network of sub transmission in distribution
system has also come up for utilization of the power by the ultimate consumers.

However, due to lack of adequate investment on transmission and distribution (T&D) works, the
T&D losses have been consistently on higher side, and reached to the level of 28.44% in the
year 2008-09.The reduction of these losses was essential to bring economic viability to the State
Utilities.

As the T&D loss was not able to capture all the losses in the net work, concept of Aggregate
Technical and Commercial (AT&C) loss was introduced. AT&C loss captures technical as
well as commercial losses in the network and is a true indicator of total losses in the system.
High technical losses in the system are primarily due to inadequate investments over the years
for system improvement works, which has resulted in unplanned extensions of the distribution
lines, overloading of the system elements like transformers and conductors, and lack of adequate
reactive power support.

The commercial losses are mainly due to low metering efficiency, theft & pilferages. This may
be eliminated by improving metering efficiency, proper energy accounting & auditing and
improved billing & collection efficiency. Fixing of accountability of the personnel / feeder
managers may help considerably in reduction of AT&C loss.

With the initiative of the Government of India and of the States, the Accelerated Power
Development & Reform Programme (APDRP) was launched in 2001.APDRP meant to
upgrade the distribution system, minimize transmission and distribution losses, improve metering
and assign responsibility for the realization of user charges —has not been able to bring down
losses to 15% by the end of 2007, as originally targeted in 2000-01.
The APDRP programme is being restructured by the Government of India, so that the desired
level of 15% AT&C loss could be achieved by the end of 11th plan.(estimated plan cost –
Rs50000 crore)

The main objective of the programme was to bring Aggregate Technical & Commercial
(AT&C) losses below 15% in five years in urban and in high-density areas. The programme,
along with other initiatives of the Government of India and of the States, has led to reduction in
the overall AT&C loss from 38.86% in 2001-02 to 28.44% in 2008-09.

RGGVY, which had a target of providing electricity to 125,000 villages and connecting 23

million below-poverty-line households across the country by 31 March, has also been faltering.
Power for ALL by 2012

The Government of India has an ambitious mission of POWER FOR ALL BY 2012. This
mission would require that the installed generation capacity should be at least 200,000 MW by
2012 from the present level of 167278.36MW. Power requirement will double by 2020 to
400,000MW.
The government had earlier planned to add 78,000 MW of power capacity by the end of the
11th Plan, which the Planning Commission had scaled down to 62,000 MW. This may now be
further curtailed to 58,000 MW (as on Dec’ 2010).

Objectives
 Sufficient power to achieve GDP growth rate of 8%
 Reliable power
 Quality power
 Optimum power cost
 Commercial viability of power industry
 Power for all
Strategies
 Power Generation Strategy with focus on low cost generation, optimization of capacity
utilization, controlling the input cost, optimisation of fuel mix, Technology upgradation
and utilization of Non Conventional energy sources
 Transmission Strategy with focus on development of National Grid including Interstate
connections, Technology upgradation & optimization of transmission cost.
 Distribution strategy to achieve Distribution Reforms with focus on System upgradation,
loss reduction, theft control, consumer service orientation, quality power supply
commercialization, Decentralized distributed generation and supply for rural areas.
 Regulation Strategy aimed at protecting Consumer interests and making the sector
commercially viable.
 Financing Strategy to generate resources for required growth of the power sector.
 Conservation Strategy to optimise the utilization of electricity with focus on Demand
Side management, Load management and Technology upgradation to provide energy
efficient equipment / gadgets.
 Communication Strategy for political consensus with media support to enhance the
general public awareness.,

Rural electrification
Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Uttranchal, Madhya Pradesh etc are some of the states
where significant number (more than 10%) of villages are yet to be electrified.
 Number of Villages (1991 Census) – 593,732
 Villages Electrified (31/08/2010) – 503,924
 Village level Electrification % – 84.9%

Subsidies
Several state governments in India provide electricity at subsidised rates or even free to some
sections. This includes for use in agriculture and for consumption by backward classes. The
subsidies are mainly as cross-subsidisation, with the other users such as industries and private
consumers paying the deficit caused by the subsidised charges collected. Such measures have
resulted in many of the state electricity boards becoming financially weak.