India

BHEL has come under the scanner yet again for delaying the implementation of two thermal projects in Uttar Pradesh.

With power shortage increasing continuously in the face of rising consumer demand, the government has decided to seek financing from China for the mega $13 billion Diamer Bhasha Dam with power production capacity of 4,500 megawatts and also take loans from domestic commercial banks by offering guarantees.According to sources, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf will place a request before his Chinese counterpart during the visit on September 10 for financing the Diamer Bhasha Dam, for which multilateral donors including the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) had sought no-objection certificate (NOC) from India due to the dam "being situated in a disputed territory". The decision to approach China was taken in a meeting held at the Planning Commission last month as Beijing had wide experience of building large dams, a senior government official said. During the meeting, different options were considered for arranging capital for the dam, which is vital for wiping out most of the gap between electricity demand and supply in the country. In the meeting, the government officials also decided to borrow money from banks with 50% guarantees to be provided by the central government and the remaining by the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda).

Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh want solar power to be included in the national grid to utilize nearly 200 mw capacity solar plants that are underutilised.

Bangladesh will build another nuclear power plant in the Southern region after the Rooppur nuclear power plant.

First Solar will supply thin-film solar modules for a 25MW power project developed by Green Infra in the Indian state of Rajasthan.

Bangladesh's Rural Electrification Board will put up a Tk 54.13 billion mega project to bring 1.8 million more rural people under electricity coverage by 2015.

Malaysia's Tenaga Nasional Bhd has been selected by the Bangladesh Power Division for the installation and operations of a 1,320MW coal-fired plant in that country.

The ADB clarified that it has remained committed with the $12 billion Diamer-Bhasha Dam project.

India was considering exporting 500 megawatts of electricity to Pakistan, according to a twitter message by India’s Ambassador to the United States Nirupama Rao.

Unit 1 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant will be loaded with fuel soon.

A subsidiary of China Three Gorges Corporation signed a revised MoU with IB for the 750-MW West Seti Hydro Power Project and the Transmission Project.

Tata Power Solar Systems Limited, previously known as Tata BP Solar India, has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Power.