Electricity sector in India

The electricity sector in India is predominantly controlled by government sector entities via central public sector corporations, such as: National Hydroelectric Power Corporation, National Thermal Power Corporation and various state level corporations (state electricity boards - SEBs). The transmission and distribution is managed by the State Electricity Boards (SEBs) or private companies.

The current per capita power consumption is about 612 KWH per year while the world average is 2,596 KWH. [Key World Energy Statistics-2007]

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Grand Total Installed Capacity is 144,564.97 MW [http://powermin.gov.in/JSP_SERVLETS/internal.jsp Ministry of Power ] ] .

Thermal Power

Current installed base of Thermal Power is 92,216.45MW which comes to 64.6% of total installed base.

* Current installed base of Coal Based Thermal Power is 76,298.88 MW which comes to 53.3% of total installed base.
* Current installed base of Gas Based Thermal Power is 14,716.01 MW which comes to 10.5% of total installed base.
* Current installed base of Oil Based Thermal Power is 1,201.75 MW which comes to 0.9% of total installed base.

Hydro Power

India was one of the pioneering states in establishing hydro-electric power plants, The power plant at Darjeeling and Shimsa (Shivanasamudra) was established in 1898 and 1902 respectively and is one of the first in Asia. Current installed base of Hydro Power is 36,033.76 MW which comes to 24.7% of total installed base. Today Hydro sector has turbines as large as 250 MW and single stage projects as big as 1500 MW Nathpa Jhakri.

Nuclear Power

Currently, seventeen nuclear power reactors produce 4,120.00 MW (2.9% of total installed base).

Renewable Power

Current installed base of Renewable Power is 12,194.57 MW which comes to 7.7% of total installed base.

Transmission

Transmision 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 form 3,708ckm in 1950 to more than 265,000ckm today. 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 centre 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 integrated 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.

Distribution

The total installed generating capacity in the country is over 135,000MW and the total number of consumers is over 144 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 subtransmission in distribution system has also come up for utilisation of the power by the ultimate consumers.

However, due to lack of adequate investment on T&D works, the T&D losses have been consistently on higher side, and reached to the level of 32.86% in the year 2000-01.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, for the strengthening of Sub – Transmission and Distribution network and reduction in AT&C losses.

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 34.54% in 2005-06. The commercial loss of the State Power Utilities reduced significantly during this period from Rs. 29331 Crore to Rs. 19546 Crore. The loss as percentage of turnover was reduced from 33% in 2000-01 to 16.60% in 2005-06.

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.

Power for ALL by 2012

The Government of India has an ambitious mission of POWER FOR ALL BY 2012. This mission would require that our installed generation capacity should be at least 200,000 MW by 2012 from the present level of 144,564.97 MW. Power requirement will double by 2020 to 400,000MW. [ [http://www.sindhtoday.net/south-asia/10586.htm Gujarat tops in rural electrification; several states falter] ]

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

trategies

* 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 genera; public awareness.

Rural electrification

Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Uttranchal, West Bengal 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 (30 May 2006) - 488,173
* Village level Electrification % - 82.2%

ubsidies

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.

ee also

*Energy policy of India
*Solar power in India
*Wind power in India

Notes