1)

The government plans to scrap four special purpose vehicles (SPVs) set up for ultra mega power plants
(UMPP) in Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Odisha due to lack of interest from the host states,
a top government official has told ET.
He added that as the government is focusing on UMPPs at Cheyyur in Tamil Nadu, Bedabahal in Odisha
and Banka in Bihar, the other projects could take years to come up. Keeping these running would only
add to the expenditure.
While the four host states have claimed they are power surplus and do not require a plant of such large
scale as of now, land acquisition has also become a hurdle for these UMPPs. We do not have land for
the Karnataka and Maharashtra projects. For the Odisha UMPP, no mine has been allotted so far, the
official said. These SPVs were set up around 2008-09 when the government launched the UMPP
programme.
For the Chhattisgarh UMPP at Surguja, the government initially failed to secure coal supply. Now, the
state has conveyed that it does not want any such project as it has become power surplus.
The Karnataka and Maharashtra projects were to be set up in coastal regions and meant to be fed on
imported coal. However, the government failed to acquire any land for those and the states have also
taken a backseat with the delays.

2)
Taking into account these shutdowns, and assuming the commissioning of the
under-construction power generation capacity, the average PLF of coal-based power
plants in India would fall to 56.7% by 2021/22, given projected energy demand
in particular for the proposed UMPPs for at least the next five years

Energy storage projects for spinning reserve are currently being deployed in various locations
globally, including at a new 500 MW power plant being constructed by AES Gener in Northern
Chile. This is an important but remote mining region, so maintaining the stability of the electric
grid through contingency services like spinning reserve is critical. The advanced storage
solution will continuously monitor the condition of the power system. If a significant frequency
deviation occursfor example, the loss of a generator or transmission linethe energy storage
system is capable of providing up to 20 MW of power within milliseconds. This output is
designed to be maintained for 15 minutes at full power, allowing the system operator to resolve
the event or bring other standby units online.