SOLAR ENERGY, WIND

ENERGY AND WATER

ENEGY

Case Study on REWA Ultra Mega Project Solar Power project

 DISADVANTAGES

• Cost: The initial cost of purchasing a solar system is fairly high. This includes paying for solar panels,
inverter, batteries, wiring, and for the installation.
• Weather Dependent: Solar panels are dependent on sunlight to effectively gather solar energy. Therefore, a
few cloudy, rainy days can have a noticeable effect on the energy system.
• Uses a Lot of Space: The more electricity you want to produce, the more solar panels you will need, as you
want to collect as much sunlight as possible. Solar PV panels require a lot of space
• Associated with Pollution: The environmental impacts associated with solar power are land and water use
and pollution, habitat loss, and use of highly hazardous materials in the manufacturing process.
Transportation and installation of solar systems have also been associated with the emission of greenhouse
gases.
 TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS

There are two main types of solar technology: photovoltaics (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP). Solar PV
technology captures sunlight to generate electric power, and CSP harnesses the sun’s heat and uses it to generate
thermal energy that powers heaters or turbines.  With these two forms of solar energy comes a wide range of
opportunities for technical innovation. Here are some of the latest emerging/further developing solar panel
technologies :
• Solar skin design
• Solar powered roads
•  Wearable solar
• Solar tracking mounts
• Advances in solar panel efficiency
• Solar skin design: One major barrier for the solar industry is the fact that a high percentage of homeowners consider solar panels to be an
unsightly home addition. There are major strides with the concept of aesthetic enhancement that allow solar panels to have a customized
look.

• Solar powered roads: The sidewalks along Route 66, America’s historic interstate highway, were chosen as the testing location for solar-
powered pavement tech. These roadways are heralded for their ability to generate clean energy, but they also include LED bulbs that can
light roads at night and have the thermal heating capacity to melt snow during winter weather.

• Wearable Solar: the past few years saw an innovation in solar textiles: tiny solar panels can now be stitched into the fabric of clothing.
The wearable solar products of the past, like solar-powered watches, have typically been made with hard plastic material. This new textile
concept makes it possible for solar to expand into home products like window curtains and dynamic consumer clean tech like heated car
seats.

• Solar tracking mounts:  Ground mounted solar is now becoming a viable clean energy option, thanks in part to tracking mount
technology. Trackers allow solar panels to maximize electricity production by following the sun as it moves across the sky. PV tracking
systems tilt and shift the angle of a solar array as the day goes by to best match the location of the sun. Though this panel add-on has been
available for some time, solar manufacturers are truly embracing the technology. 

• Advances in solar panel efficiency: A number of achievements by various panel manufacturers have brought us to higher and higher
maximum efficiencies each year. The solar cell types used in mainstream markets could also see major improvements in cost per watt – a
metric that compares relative affordability of solar panels. The result will be a solar panel that can generate 20+ percent efficiency
while still being one of the lowest cost options on the market.
 FUTURE OF SOLAR ENERGY

• A new design would need to be able to capture more light, transform light energy to electricity
more efficiently, and/or be less expensive to build than current designs.
• Electronics can be installed with the solar cell that let the cell track the sun as it moves through
the daytime sky. If the solar cell is always pointing at the sun, it will be hit by many more
photons than if it was only pointing towards the sun around midday.
• The alternative to improving the efficiency of solar cells is simply decreasing their cost. Even
though processing silicon has become cheaper over the past few decades, it still contributes
significantly to the cost of solar cell installation. By using thinner solar cells, material costs
decrease. 
 HYDRO ENERGY

Energy produced by the movement of the water is known as water energy or Hydro Power. Hydro power is
derived from the energy of falling or fast-running water, which may be harnessed for useful purposes. Since
ancient times, hydropower from many kinds of watermills has been used as a renewable energy source for 
irrigation and the operation of various mechanical devices, such as gristmills, sawmills, textile mills, 
trip hammers, dock cranes, domestic lifts, and ore mills. Sources from which the hydropower is gained are
rivers, lakes, tides, seas, Turbines and dams etc. This hydropower is used for various purposes the most
important being the production of the hydroelectricity that is the electricity generated from hydropower.
 GENERATION OF HYDRO ENERGY
Hydroelectric power is produced with moving water because the source of hydroelectric power is water, hydroelectric power plants are usually
located on or near a water source. The volume of the water flow and the change in elevation—or fall, and often referred to as head—from one
point to another determine the amount of available energy in moving water. In general, the greater the water flow and the higher the head, the
more electricity a hydropower plant can produce.
At hydropower plants water flows through a pipe, or penstock, then pushes against and turns blades in a turbine to spin a generator to produce
electricity. Conventional hydroelectric facilities include:
• Run-of-the-river systems, where the force of the river's current applies pressure on a turbine. The facilities may have a weir in the water course
to divert water flow to hydro turbines.
• Storage systems, where water accumulates in reservoirs created by dams on streams and rivers and is released through hydro turbines as needed
to generate electricity. Most U.S. hydropower facilities have dams and storage reservoirs.
• Pumped-storage hydropower facilities are a type of hydroelectric storage system where water is pumped from a water source up to a storage
reservoir at a higher elevation and is released from the upper reservoir to power hydro turbines located below the upper reservoir. The electricity
for pumping may be supplied by hydro turbines or by other types of power plants including fossil fuel or nuclear power plants. They usually
pump water to storage when electricity demand and generation costs, and/or when wholesale electricity prices are relatively low and release the
stored water to generate electricity during peak electricity demand periods when wholesale electricity prices are relatively high.
Most hydroelectric power plants have a reservoir of water, a gate or valve to control how much water flows out of the reservoir, and an outlet or
place where the water ends up after flowing downward. Water gains potential energy just before it spills over the top of a dam or flows down a
hill. The potential energy is converted into kinetic energy as water flows downhill.
 ADVANTAGES

• Fuel is not burned so there is minimal pollution

• Water to run the power plant is provided free by nature

• Hydropower plays a major role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions

• Relatively low operations and maintenance costs

• The technology is reliable and proven over time

• It's renewable - rainfall renews the water in the reservoir, so the fuel is almost always there
 DISADVANTAGES
Hydroelectric power is not perfect, however, and does have some significant disadvantages:

1. Hydropower is non-polluting, but does have environmental impacts. Hydropower facilities can affect land use, homes, and
natural habitats in the dam area. Reservoirs may cover people’s homes, important natural areas, agricultural land, and
archaeological sites.

2. Reservoir construction is “drying up” in the U.S. The construction of surface reservoirs has slowed considerably in recent years.
Building a dam and reservoir to support hydroelectric power takes a lot of money, time, and construction, and most of the
suitable sports to locate hydro plants have already been taken.

3. Hydroelectricity is hydrology dependent. The system depends on precipitation levels, which can fluctuate from year to year,
causing instability.

4. In some cases, hydroelectricity can disrupt wildlife habitat. Hydroelectric power plants can cause a loss or modification of fish
habitat, and lead to the entrapment of fish and the restriction of their passages.

5. In some cases, hydroelectricity can cause changes in reservoir and stream water quality. Operating a hydroelectric power plant
may alter the water temperature and the river’s flow. These changes may harm native plants and animals in the river and on land.
 USAGE OF HYDRO ELECTRICITY:
A BRIEF HISTORY
• The earliest evidence of water wheels and watermills date back to the ancient Near East in the 4th century BC, specifically
in the Persian Empire before 350 BCE, in the regions of Iraq, Iran, and Egypt.

• In the Roman Empire water-powered mills were described by famous author, Vitruvius by the first century BC.

• In China, it was theorized that its water-powered trip hammers and bellows from as early as the Han dynasty (202 BC -
220 AD) were powered by water scoops, but later historians believed that they were powered by waterwheels on the basis
that water scoops would not have had the motive force to operate their blast furnace bellows. It was also during this time
that the famous engineer Du Shi (c. AD 31) applied the power of waterwheels to piston-bellows in forging cast iron.

• In the Muslim world during the Islamic Golden Age and Arab Agricultural Revolution (8th–13th centuries), engineers
made wide use of hydropower as well as early uses of tidal power, and large hydraulic factory complexes. Muslim
engineers also used water turbines, employed gears in watermills and water-raising machines, and pioneered the use of
dams as a source of water power, used to provide additional power to watermills and water-raising machines.
 THE FUTURE?

• Due to its multiple services and benefits, hydropower is expected to remain the world’s largest source of renewable electricity
for years to come and with significant untapped hydropower potential; much of the sector’s future growth is expected to come
from Africa and Asia. In 2018, IHA, in its annual Hydropower Status Report, reported worldwide hydropower installed
capacity to have risen to 1,267 GW, with a record 4,185 TWh estimated to have been generated in 2017.
• According to the International Energy Agency, in order to meet the main energy-related components of the Sustainable
Development Goals, including the below two degrees Celsius commitment of the Paris Agreement, an estimated 800 GW of
additional hydropower will need to be brought online over the next two decades.
• Along with highlighting the pros and cons of hydropower, the study also reveals that the positive and negative effects are not
being adequately examined in the hydropower relicensing process. The study outlines opportunities to reduce the negative
environmental impacts of hydropower without significant economic drawbacks. To do this, scientists recommend strategic
planning and mitigation practices to temper dams’ impacts on surrounding communities. In the future, hydroelectric trends
will lead to the building of small-scale hydro plants that can generate electricity for a single community.
REWA ULTRA SOLAR POWER PROJECT
 WHERE AND HOW IT ALL STARTED?

• When and Where it started?

Rewa Ultra Mega Solar is the first solar project in the country to break the grid parity barrier. It is one of the largest solar power plant in India
and Asia's Largest Single site solar plant.

• Why in News
Recently, the Prime Minister has inaugurated the 750 MW (Mega Watt) solar project set up in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh.

It is in line with India's commitment to attain the target of 175 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2022 including 100 GW of
solar installed capacity.
• Some major Key points

It is one of the Asia's largest solar power project.

It comprises three solar generating units of 250 MW each located on a 500 hectare of land situated inside a solar park (total area 1500 hectare).

Solar Park: It was developed by the Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited (RUMSL), a Joint Venture Company of Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam Limited
(MPUVN), and Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a Central Public Sector Undertaking.

Central Financial Assistance of Rs. 138 crore was provided to the RUMSL for development of the Park.

• Significance:
Grid Parity Barrier: It is the first solar project in the country to break the grid parity BARRIER. • Grid parity occurs when an alternative energy source can
generate power at a cost of electricity that is less than or equal to the price of power from the electricity grid.
• Further, compared to prevailing solar project tariffs of approx. Rs. 4.50/unit in early 2017, it achieved a first year tariff of Rs. 2.97/unit with a tariff
escalation of Rs. 0.05/unit over 15 YEARS.
• Risk Reduction: Its payment security mechanism for reducing risks to power developers has been recommended as a model to other states by the Ministry
of New and Renewable Energy.
• Renewable Energy Project: It is the first renewable energy project to supply an institutional customer outside the state, i.e. Delhi Metro, which will get
24% of energy from the project with the remaining 76% being supplied to the state DISCOMs of Madhya Pradesh. o It is also India’s first solar project to
get funding from Clean Technology Fund (CTF), which is available at a rate of 0.25% for a 40-year period from the World Bank.
• The CTF promotes scaled-up financing for demonstration, deployment and transfer of low carbon technologies with a significant potential for long-term
greenhouse gas emissions savings.
 EFFECT ON ENVIRONMENT….

• Carbon Emission Reduction: It will help in reducing the carbon emission equivalent to 15 lakh ton of CO2
per year.
• Global Appreciation: It has also received the World Bank Group President’s Award for innovation and
excellence and was included in the book ‘A Book of Innovation: New Beginnings’.
 BENEFITS

• ▪ Cheap power to the Discom in Madhya Pradesh

• ▪ Fulfilment of Discoms RPOs
• ▪ PGCIL developed ISTS network under green corridor will be beneficial for the state to evacuate green
power generated
• ▪ Overall employment generation during construction phase of solar plant as well as after commissioning
 IMPORTANT DETAILS ABOUT THE PROJECT

 It is expected to reduce the country’s emission equivalent to 15 lakh tonne of carbon dioxide annually and has three
units of 250 MW.
 The plant has three solar power generating units, located on a 500-hectare plot of land in a 1,500-hectare solar park.
Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited (RUMSL) is a joint venture between Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam Limited and
the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).
 Financial assistance of Rs 138 crore for the project was granted by the Central Government. In addition to this,
International Finance Corporation, World Bank, has invested around $440 million in the project. It is also India's first
solar project to get funding from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) at a rate of 0.25% for 40 years.
 : The Rewa Solar Power Plant is the first solar project in India. Madhya Pradesh Power Management Company
Limited and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation have contracted the Central Government to buy the power from the
project. The project was listed in the book of innovations-- New Beginnings-- released by Prime Minister Modi.
 TITLES AND ACHIEVEMENTS

• ▪ First project in India supplying power to an inter-state open access customer.

• ▪ World bank loan, as also from Clean Technology Fund (CTF), for the development of 33/220 KV Pooling
substations to evacuate power from the Rewa Solar power project.
• ▪ PGCIL developed the 220/400 kV Inter-state transmission system for Rewa Solar Power Plant to different
power purchasers.
• ▪ Clean energy PROJECTS now account for more than a fifth of India’s installed power generation capacity.
India has 34.6 gigawatt of solar power and aims to have 100 GW of such capacity by 2022