KOHIMA, SEPTEMBER 5: Nagaland Government has planned to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all the citizens of the State by 2030.
This is one of the 17 goals of the Nagaland Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Vision 2030 released by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio recently in the State capital. The goal is “Affordable and Clean Energy”.
The Government’s vision is to provide universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy while substantially increasing the share of renewable energy by 2030.
According to the Union Ministry of Power, Nagaland has one of the country’s lowest per capita consumption of electricity at 356 kWh (Kilowatt hours) of electricity (2018-19), said the vision document.
According to the Department of New & Renewable Energy, Nagaland, the potential for renewable energy in the State stands at 7,513 megawatt (MW) including 7,290 MW (MegaWatt) of Solar Power, 197 MW of Hydro Power, 10 MW of Biomass Power and 16 MW of Wind Power.
On the other hand, the Department of Power, Nagaland, (DoPN) has identified 35 hydro power project sites having a total potential of 572 MW.
The total domestic light power consumption was 380.43 MUs in 2018-19, it said.
Nagaland Government’s target by 2030 is to provide State-wide access to clean energy for all as well as increase renewable energy share in total energy consumption and improve energy efficiency at the State level beside cent percent households using clean cooking fuel.
In 2009, the Department of New & Renewable Energy was formulated to encourage new and renewable energy sources with a mission to harness green and clean renewable energy sources in the State for environmental benefits, mitigate global warming and climate change and provide energy security.
The DoPN’s focus is also on promoting energy efficiency and energy conservation measures in industrial, commercial and Government establishments including domestic buildings.
Aware of the fact that targeted efforts are required in order to bridge the gap between supply and demand for power needs, the Government has planned State-wide demand to be supplemented with renewable energy sources alongside strengthening grid systems in both rural and urban areas.
The vision document has identified 3 major challenges:
Cost Considerations: With solar energy being a focus area for Nagaland, a major challenge still remains as the solar power tariff is higher than the APPC and this creates a disincentive for investing in renewable energy sources like solar. The cost differential on purchase of power would escalate aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) loss of the DoPN as they have to fulfil the Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) compliance.
Poor Infrastructure and Natural Disasters: Poorly constructed and maintained roads lead to transportation bottlenecks. This coupled with prolonged monsoons and landslides sometimes may lead to delay in project completion. Since this is against the Ministry guidelines, many a times, funding for the project is discontinued.
Insufficient Funding: For reaching the projected potential (Refer to Table 1) of 197 MW, the approximate cost is about INR 15 crore per MW. Gap funding from MoDoNER and/or MNRE through capital subsidy, for hydro power projects in specific are required.
Expressing that potential industrialisation and massive commercial activity exists in the Dimapur and Kohima areas, the Government has proposed putting up additional 500 MVA at 132 KV in Dimapur and Kohima load centres to cater the overall 15% Compounded Annual Growth Rate, CAGR load demand of 959.83 MVA by 2030.
To fulfil increasing power demand the strategies to be undertaken for success are:
Assessing Generation – Transmission – Distribution of Power: At the State level, assessing the adequacy of generating, transmitting and distributing power:
In the generation sectors, it said at the current 10% growth rate, the demand by Financial Year 2020/2021 at the State level will increase to 228.4 MW.
By this period the likely additional allocation from the customer grid supply or CGS (hydro + thermal sources) will be 85 MW and added capacity through own generation will only be 12.25 MW. This relates to availability of 239.68 MW resulting in a surplus of 11.28 MW. By 2030, if all the hydropower potentials of the State are developed, the availability will increase to 799.43 MW against a projected demand of 538.55 MW. However, if an aggressive growth of 15% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) (refer to Table III) is considered, a shortfall of 33.16 MW and 160.40 MW by FY 2020/2021 and FY 2029/2030 respectively is expected.
In view of the uncertainty of development of State potential owing to the various challenges to meet the demand by 2030 at 15% CAGR, the state should be prepared to enter into short/medium/long term power purchase planning from UMPP (Ultra Mega Power Projects) belonging to both independent power producers (IPP) and Central sectors as envisaged with the National Power Policy. Private developers should be allowed to invest and develop the State hydro potentials.
As of FY 2014/2015, there are 1,43,077 and 2,93,140 households in urban and rural areas respectively. By 2030 these households are expected to increase to 2,90,538 (at 5.6% CAGR) and 3,21,380 (at 0.71% CAGR) respectively. Hence, to supplement the day time load for industrial and commercial activities, installation of rooftop solar panels of 1 KW with net metering in 50% urban households (1,45,269) is to be explored to contribute (and earn) 145 MW of renewable energy.
Transmission: There are 3 load centres in the State at 132 KV and 66 KV level – Dimapur, Kohima and Mokokchung from where power demand is transmitted across the State. The existing intra-state transmission capacity at 132 KV and 66 KV level are 226.5 MVA and 230 MVA respectively capable of handling 205 MW of power demand. Through the initiative of the State Plan and the World Bank-funded North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP), the transmission capacity at 132 KV will be increased to 750.5 MVA by FY 2020/2021, which will be adequate to meet the 15% CAGR load demand at Mokokchung load centre. However, the load centres of Dimapur and Kohima will remain deficient.
Distribution: Distribution is the last mile in the power system connectivity that reaches the end users. It has the most extensive network spread across every corner of the State, posing extreme challenges on multiple fronts such as: maintenance, revenue and consumer servicing.
The existing distribution handling capacities at 33/11KV transformers and distribution transformers are at 264.1 MVA and 354.97 MVA respectively. By FY 2020/2021 under the initiative of Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS), DDUGJY, Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) and the World Bank-funded NERPSIP, the handling capacities will rise to 591 MVA and 450.21 MVA respectively, falling short by 368.83 MVA against demand by 2030. The consumers are progressively increasing at 5-6% annually and will be around 5,44,017 by 2030.
To ensure stable, uninterrupted and quality power supply, no distribution system should be loaded beyond 60% of its handling capacity. If the demand exceeds beyond 60%, then power outages due to overloading and burning of power/distribution transformers, snapping of conductors, low voltage problems, unscheduled load shedding, frequent replacement of fuses, technical losses etc., as is currently being experienced in Dimapur, Kohima and Chumukedima will occur. This is also the reason why the demand is restricted to 120 MW despite power availability of 142.43 MW (From CGS and own generation). To effectively handle the demand by 2030, the existing overloaded power transformers, 33 KV and11KV feeders, distribution transformers and LT Lines are to be upgraded in addition to the infrastructure to be added by the various ongoing and upcoming schemes. By 2030, the sub transmission (33 KV and below) installed capacity should be at 850 MVA at 10% CAGR or 1500 MVA at 15% CAGR.
Dimapur, Kohima and Chumukedima are the most load intensive towns in the State, almost amounting to 80% of the State’s overall demand. These 3 towns also attribute the largest commercial losses in terms of billing deficiencies and revenue collection. Reform measures and interventions to be undertaken are:
Install prepaid/smart meters to replace all defective, working and old electromechanical meters; Transformer based metering/revenue management system; Bulk of the potential growth in consumers projected at 5,44,017 by 2030 will be concentrated in these towns. Manpower planning aided by a suitable IT establishment will be critical to handle the growth in consumers.
Feeder automation in order to automatically isolate faulty sections and restore power supply in healthy sections.
The future trend in power system management is graduating towards IT enablement which will heavily depend on sound telecommunication linkages and networks. Therefore, a robust telecom infrastructure with optical fibre utilizing power transmission lines across the State must be created.
Grid-connected – Expand Solar and Hydro Hubs: Providing incentives for large-scale set-up of solar and hydro energy hubs such as mega solar projects in industrial areas would help fuel further state-level industrial growth in industrial growth centres of Dimapur, Peren and Kohima districts.
Off-grid Communitisation: For off-grid projects, particularly in the case of hydro power, a new policy decision would be necessary as to either have a revenue sharing model with the project stakeholders or hand over the entire project asset to the village beneficiaries for their own energy security, management and sustainability. This would entail a new change of policy of the Government towards socio-economic growth thereby strengthening the State’s communitisation policy. The DoPN will provide technical back-up as and when required.
Hybrid Renewable Energy: The State can explore hybrid renewable energy forms (such as solar and biomass) depending upon the availability of land and source of energy. This will help to diversify the energy mix and not be dependent on one form of energy
Government-level Collaborations: Fulfil Energy Demand: Department of New & Renewable Energy and DoPN can collaborate in order to scale up grid-connected solar power plants, grid-connected rooftop solar and small hydro-electric projects.
Strengthen Agriculture Value Chain: Department of New and Renewable Energy, Department of Agriculture and Department of Horticulture have already partnered in order to build solar water pumps, solar dryers (heating system) and solar cold storage plants to ease cultivation and increase access to surplus production. This in turn can empower farmers and contribute to an increase in GSDP. Such partnerships must be scaled in order to fulfil the vision of State-wide access to clean energy for all.
(Page News Service)
