United Kingdom a Laggard on Renewable Energy

UK has been the biggest laggard in Renewable Energy amongst the European Union.Despite being a leader in Offshore Wind,it severely lacks in other forms of Green Energy like Solar,Biomass etc.It has been very late in introducing a Feed in Tariff Scheme which has been a huge success in Germany and other countries.While there have been booms and busts caused by poorly designed FIT schemes in Czech and Spain,UK does not suffer from this problem.The Subsidy Scheme adopted by UK favors small distributed installations which is currently the aim of the other EU countries.This review has led to uncertainty in the minds of Green Investors as Government Subsidy is essential for reasonable returns.

Why UK is Reviewing the FIT

The Labour Government which implement this Green Policy has changed and the new PM David Cameron is trying to radically change the Government Policy.He has sharply curtailed the UK Budget and may want to change the Opposition Party set Green Policy as well.This seems to be the only justification behind this move which can only be described as erratic.

Tamil Nadu is one of India’s most prosperous and industrially advanced states located at its southernmost extreme.The state has shown remarkable progress in the field on Wind Energy utilizing almost 80% of its Wind Power Potential with 40% of India’s total Wind Installations.With the right mix of policies,Tamil Nadu has also become the hub of Wind Energy Manufacturing with Global Heavyweights like Suzlon,Gamesa,Vestas all building plants in the State.A number of new players like Sterling Infotech and Lietner have also started manufacturing Wind Turbines in Tamil Nadu due to favorable networking effects.The state is also generates the 3rd largest amount of biomass energy with around 340 MW installed.Here are the reasons why Tamil Nadu has become the Biggest Renewable Energy State in India.

1) Tax Holidays and Subsidies – The government has given attractive subsidies to attract Wind Power Developers to the state.Rs 3.39 ( 8c/Kwh) is the tariff given to Wind Energy besides another 1c/Kwh received from the Federal Government as Generation Based Incentive (GBI).The projects in the state easily make 25-30% returns on their investment attracting a whole host of private industry developers.The Industry also gets a 10 year tax holiday,custom duty exemptions and accelerated depreciation boosting the returns even further.A 20 year PPA at fixed prices helps in building investor confidence .

Bulgaria has also now decided to cap Renewable Energy Growth with around 12.5 GW of Green Energy applications lying in the backlog.Poorly designed and implemented subsidies are the root cause for such booms and busts.Poor Governance mechanisms are behind these Green Disasters.Bulgaria is the poorest European Union Country and can ill afford higher electricity prices.The government is targeting a 16% RE target by 2020 for which it wants to fix targets for different Green Energy Sources.The power grid operator has already warned of blackouts in case even half of the 12 GW Renewable Energy applications are actually constructed.Solar and Wind Energy have been incentivized with high FITs with global heavyweights like Siemens and Suzlon rushing in to build wind farms.

Maharashtra is one of the most industrialized states in India but it lags behind other states in Renewable Energy.The recent mandate by the Central Electricity Regulator to increase the requirement of Renewable Energy to 6% of Electricity Produced found Maharashtra having a severe shortfall.Maharashtra has the largest power capacity in the country with around 21 GW but most of it is thermal based generation.Despite having the second largest Wind Power Capacity with 2 GW which is around 42% of the state’s potential.However Maharashtra is still considerably short of the 6% Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) set by it.With CERC set to increase the Green Energy Target to 10% by 2015,Maharashtra needs not only to meet the shortfall but also to increase the share of Renewable Energy.

Nuclear Energy Insider spoke to Kenneth Hughey, Vice President, Nuclear Business Development at Entergy Nuclear who spoke about the financing problems that lie ahead for the US nuclear industry.“With nuclear construction being a high priority for many US utilities, it is important to stop and consider financing and the costs associated with new build projects. Permitting and licensing are aspects of the construction process where utilities could easily spend $60-100million without having guaranteed financial backing to proceed with the full construction project. Consequently it is extremely important to understand the costs associated with these processes and to learn how to keep your costs down while at the same time reducing future project risk.”There are many aspects of financing that need to be understood in order to proceed with new nuclear projects.

Earthquake Vulnerability – Large Dam Construction has been linked to increased propensity of Earthquakes.Massive Earthquakes in China and Uttarakhand in India were linked to the building of Massive Dams in these countries.Building of Massive Man Made Structures along geologically sensitive areas has not been properly studied and understood till now

Summary

While Hydro Power is a necessity for an energy starved and growing economy like India,its effect have to be properly assessed and understood before going on a hydro binge.NTPC lost almost $300 million after its 600 MW project was canceled 5 years after getting permission.This was done in the face of large scale protest by local groups and NGOs.2 other projects in Uttarkhand have also been rejected leading to more losses.