BPCL has approved ethylene cracker project, downstream petrochemical plant and Bina refinery expansion with capital expenditure of Rs 49,000 crore. It has also invested in two 50 MW wind power plants as well as POL and LOBS installations to ensure energy security and sustainability. The investment will strengthen BPCL's position and contribute to economic growth.
The European Green Deal will lead to greater energy security and economic prosperity, with wind and solar becoming the main sources of electricity, heat pumps installed, electric passenger cars on European roads, natural gas consumption falling and coal phased out. The European Green Deal protects households and businesses from the high cost of living by offering solutions to reduce energy bills and move away from gas, oil and coal.
The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Ltd will begin a feasibility study for a 130 MW floating solar power plant on Dumbur Lake in the Tripragomati district. TREDA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NTPC to carry out the study, which will cost Rs 450 crore within a few months. TREDA has also initiated a process to provide solar energy to interior tribal settlements where traditional electricity supply is not profitable. The advantage of floating solar plants is that the land requirements for the associated evacuation arrangements are minimal. The PM-KUSUM program has successfully implemented 1,659 solar water pumps at a cost of Rs 1.12 billion to ensure energy security for farmers and increase the share of installed non-fossil fuel power generation capacity by 2030.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has highlighted the government's priority to incentivize and facilitate investment in India through the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. She invited Japanese investors to invest in India and eased restrictions to ensure it was easier to do business. India has achieved 175 GW of installed solar capacity and now aims to expand it to 300 GW by 2030.
The World Health Organization declared an official end to the Covid-19 global emergency earlier this month, but supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic may take longer to subside. That's the prediction of Henrik Andersen, CEO of Vestas Power Systems, one of the world's largest wind turbine manufacturers. While supply chains are stretched, the cost of key items like steel — the main material used in wind turbines — has soared during the pandemic. As a result, profits at Vestas' wind turbine business will roughly halve in 2021 compared to 2020. Getting fully back on track will require continued easing of global supply chains, especially in China, which only eased its Covid-zero policy in December.
The Gujarat government has announced a policy to allocate government wasteland to companies intending to produce green hydrogen using renewable energy (RE). The company must pay an annual rent of Rs 15,000 per hectare, increasing by 15% every three years, complete the lease agreement process within six months of approval, reach 50% of its green hydrogen capacity within five years of plant commissioning, and within eight years Reach 100%. The developer, the expropriated land and GPCL have filed the tripartite agreement for the record, and the qualifications for enterprises to apply for land have been listed. India aims to become a net-zero emission country by 2070 and reduce carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 by sourcing 50% of its energy from renewable sources.