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Nepal and Czech Republic have agreed to form a joint economic council to boost bilateral trade and investment opportunities between the two countries, including electricity. During the meeting with Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun Thurday at his office, the visiting Czech assistant minister for Environment Ivo Hlavac agreed on forming a joint economic council. Formation of joint economic council is a good to start for joint projects, he said, showing interest on investment on electricity, water and sanitation management of big cities like Kathmandu. Pun urged the visiting Czech entrepreneurs to invest in Nepal with out any fear. “Nepal is ready to protect foreign investments,” he said, adding that the country is moving towards stability as yesterday the major parties signed a peace deal. “Nepal is gradually heading towards economic development.”

Rural Electrification Corp posted an increase in net profit at Rs 622.87 crore for the three months to September from Rs 618.21 crore in the same period last year.

GVK Power's profit after tax went down 11 percent to Rs 37.92 crore from Rs 42.81 crore in the three months to September 2011.

Sunborne Energy will build a 50MW solar thermal power project in Andhra Pradesh, India in partnership with Kosla Ventures and General Catalyst Partners, from which it secured $25m in funding.

Adani Power Limited will wrap up all the critical activities of the 660 MW unit-I of the Tiroda Thermal Power Plant by January next year.

Expensive Indonesian coal may cost Tata Power to lose Rs 500 crore in the first year of commissioning of its 4,000-Mw ultra mega project at Mundra, in Gujarat.

They are among the 25 companies chosen by the Japanese government to undergo radiation decontamination tests after the Fukushima disaster.

The Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) has proposed the new feed-in tariff (FiT) rates for PV projects commissioned from January 29, 2012 until March 31, 2015. These new rates range from INR10.27 (US$0.21) to INR13.14 per kWh (US$0.268) and are applicable for ground-mounted, rooftop and concentrating solar power (CSP) systems. Should the proposed rates be confirmed, CSP projects will be eligible to receive levelized tariff payments between INR12.45 (US$0.252) and INR13.14 (US$0.266) per kWh, while systems over 100kW are in line for tariffs from INR10.37 (US$0.21) to INR10.92 (US$0.221) per kWh. Rooftop projects under 100kW will still receive the greatest assistance, with subsidies ranging from INR12.6 (US$0.255) to INR13.24 (US$0.268) per kWh. The deadline for feedback on the new FiT is December 1. Gujarat’s solar industry is booming at present and this is reflected in the GERC’s change of approach in terms of subsidies; previously PV had been eligible for higher tariffs than CSP, but with PV module and inverter prices continuing to fall, the commission is believed to feel project developers are deserving of less generous handouts. Another facet of the new FiT is phased subsidies. This will see large-scale PV and CSP projects receive roughly double the subsidy payment level during the first 12 years of operation than in the next 13 years. Tariff levels will also vary depending on whether or projects utilise an accelerated depreciation benefit. Since 2009, more than 80 companies have signed power purchase agreements worth an estimated 965MW in Gujarat. At first, progress was slow, with red tape and financial difficulties holding up developers. However, the state is finally beginning to deliver on some of its early promise – last month a 30MW system was completed in Banaskantha – and GERC expects many more to be commissioned by the year’s end.  

EMC Ltd bagged a contract of Transmission Line & Substations worth Rs 776 crore from PGCIL.

After fumbling in the darkness for the past few months with no big project in sight, the state-run Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (UJVN) has finally emerged a winner after being granted the techno economic clearance for the 120 MW Vyasi hydro electric project (HEP) from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA). The contract has been awarded to UJVNL for a total of Rs 936.23 crore, which includes a domestic component worth Rs 935.57 crore along with a foreign component of US $ 0.143 million. Having been provided ample funds for the hydel project, the company can now breathe a sigh of relief and resume the works that were left hanging in the middle for the past few years due to severe shortage of funds. Even though the financial situation has turned around for the better, UJVNL must take utmost precaution and utilize its resources judiciously, since Rs 20.88 crore of the total investment has already been accounted for as payment to NHPC, as part of the Rs 73.07 crore liability after UJVNL took over the 420 MW Lakhwar-Vyasi project and went on to implement the Vyasi project independently. Further, an amount worth Rs 60 crore has already been incurred by the Irrigation Department of Uttar Pradesh for the Vyasi HEP. The first course of action for the company includes floating tenders for the remaining percentage of works and paying the liabilities to all contractors. Fully aware that there is no safety net to save them this time around from any possible setbacks, UJVNL officials are getting ready to roll up their sleeves and smoothen out any creases that may prove to be a roadblock in the near future for carrying out the project works.

Softbank Corp. will build three demonstration solar power plants in Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido.

ET Solar is set to receive a $1.27 billion credit facility for general corporate and capital expenditure purposes over the next five years from China-based CITIC Bank.

The US’s Export-Import Bank awarded loans totalling US$103.2 million to two Indian companies to to pay for panels and engineering from US firms for planned projects in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

A bailout package for the 425MW Nandipur Thermal Power Project has been cleared by Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Pakistan's National Electric Power Regulatory Authority approved an increase of Rs1.77 per unit in electricity tariff for distribution companies of Wapda.

Amidst the danger of degradation of the 2,000-Mw Kudankulam project in Tamil Nadu due to complete stoppage of work, state-run Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC) on Sunday received a boost after former President APJ Kalam certified the project had 3G safety aspects. Kalam, who has been quite vocal about the need for nuclear power and especially the Kudankulam project, held separate meetings with NPC officials in the early hours and later visited the plant site and met about 30 villagers. Incidentally, a section of villagers from 20 nearby villages came out in full support of the project and, in their submission to Kalam, expressed the need for early completion of the project and commencement of power generation. Kalam, who was accompanied by Atomic Energy Commission chairman Sri Kumar Banerjee, NPC chairman and managing director S K Jain and Kudankulam power plant officials, said he was fully satisfied with the safety of the plant. His visit to the project comes two days after Banerjee and Jain had met Tamil Nadu chief secretary Debendranath Sarangi and discussed ways to allay the villagers’ fears. The visit is crucial, especially when phase I of the project is 99.5 per cent complete and phase II is 97 per cent over. However, NPC, which has spent more than Rs 13,000 crore so far, is finding it difficult to carry out essential services at the site, thanks to the villagers blocking entry of its scientists and engineers. Moreover, 6,000 contract labourers have already left for their respective states due to the ongoing agitation that began on October 13. Site director M K Balaji told Business Standard: “The former president held talks with us from 12 am to 4.30 am and later visited the plant during 9 am-1 pm. We briefed him on the status of the project. He has expressed full satisfaction over the safety aspects.” Kudankulam panchayat chief P Izhil Aram said, “We have submitted a memorandum to Kalam, saying the work should begin immediately so that the generation can be started soon. The project is essential to meet the area’s and the state’s growing need for power.” He said the project was safe as advanced safety measures had been applied by NPC. “A couple of villagers recently visited the NPC-run nuclear power projects at Tarapur (Maharashtra), Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu) and Rajasthan. We are of the view that there is no need to fear about safety and security. There is no danger to locals,” he opined. The People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), which is spearheading agitation against the project, skipped the meeting with Kalam. Pushpa Rayan, coordinator of the steering committee at PMANE, said “We were prepared to talk to Kalam. We welcomed him on Saturday after his arrival. However, he should have been more open, keeping aside his pro-nuclear power stand.” She added that their agitation to press for scrapping the project would be further stepped up.