Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP), a non-profit think tank, is building a tool that can help identify most suitable rooftops to install solar rooftop photovoltaic (RTPV) plants in Bengaluru. CSTEP will help Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) as a technology partner by using the aerial Light Detection & Ranging (LiDAR) technology to develop high-resolution three-dimensional maps of the city. “This first-of-its-kind tool can accurately assess the potential of rooftop solar in Bengaluru and the associated business case for all consumer categories,” CSTEP said. BESCOM aims to achieve a target of one gigawatt of solar RTPV capacity by 2021-22. The research organisation said that the tool would be launched in 2019 and will be made freely accessible by all BESCOM consumers to help them make investment decisions. “These efforts are aimed at a larger objective of enabling adoption of an integrated power-sector planning framework,” CSTEP said. The think-tank is also engaging with the Bihar government to understand the scalability of such an approach for strategic RTPV development.   Source： https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/renewable/first-of-its-kind-tool-to-assess-potential-of-rooftop-solar-in-bengaluru/67365211

In light of the general trend towards renewable energies and in response to the vision of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad to produce 15% of the energy consumed in the country from renewable energies, several projects to produce this energy have come to light, perhaps the most important of which is the pilot projects of renewable energy Producing more than 3500 MW by 2030. In addition, there are other projects in other directions that are in the field of environmental sustainability and sustainable development and the search for alternatives to reduce the use of fossil fuels such as the import of machines and mechanisms working on solar energy and other projects, the most prominent of which is the first and only plant in Kuwait, Solarin photovoltaic panels supported by the National Fund for Small Enterprises. Kuwait has the potential and the natural resource is the sun, so the exploitation of this matter properly and with appropriate investments will make it a leading country in the field of renewable energies, whether manufacturing or production. First step is to localize these industries by persuading the market to adopt renewable energies both in supply and demand, pointing out that the factory was able to spread in the local market through a local product of high quality and vigorously and the efforts of Kuwaiti youth. The project to is the first and only in Kuwait to manufacture PV panels in 2017, where the began work immediately to start production in early 2018 that manufactures high quality products for the Kuwaiti market, the annual production volume was 5 MW, Producing 3 times that figure. The plant covers two types of domestic demand: the demand for large projects, government agencies and market demand.  Middle Eastern markets such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iraq could be active markets for the Kuwaiti products in the event of expansion of these projects. There are no specialized industries for renewable energy in Kuwait.   Source: www.alanba.com.kw

The creators of Octa Energy consider that their competitive advantage is that they do not just custom charging stations, but create an ecosystem of their products. At the same time, all production is located in Ukraine, component materials - by 40% Ukrainian.  "This story began for me in the train Kiev-Odessa. It was there that I met the person who told me about the Octa Energy project and introduced it to its founders," one of the three owners, Alexander, wrote about the company creating charging stations for electric vehicles. Lunev. Alexander Omelkin and Andrei Smagalyuk offered to their new acquaintance, a radio engineer, who moved in 2014 from the Donbass to Kiev. This happened in August 2015. A little earlier, the idea of ​​creating charging stations for electric vehicles was born. Why this particular business? "I met a man who was involved in the distribution of electric cars, and he spoke about the problem of lack of charging stations. He asked me to make some kind of building where you could build sockets. I thought it would be nice to add something from electronics there, infected with this idea, Sasha (Alexandra Omelkina. - Ed.), and we began to develop the first charging station, ”Smagalyuk recalls.“ The understanding that it’s worth doing a separate business came at a time when we created a prototype, showed customers and it became clear it's clear that something can come of it. " Entrepreneurs collect charging stations in their small office. Practically all Ukrainian components, in particular, the boards are made at the facilities of Ukroboronprom, the outer case is also assembled in Ukraine. But the electronics have to be imported, since such components are not produced in Ukraine. The company realizes that on a global scale their charging stations are not an innovation, but in Ukraine such products as electric vehicles are still rare.   The creators of Octa Energy consider that their competitive advantage is that they do not just custom charging stations, but create an ecosystem of their products. “In fact, this is a single platform on which you can build charging stations - from the budget series to a complex business line. If we wanted to do something quickly and sell, we would not have the opportunity to produce the products that we have now,” - Alexander Omelkin explains. According to entrepreneurs, if many people buy ready-made products from foreign manufacturers, then integrate them into the Ukrainian market and sell them, then they all develop from scratch. Investment and monetization Initially, startup funding came from the own funds of the founders. “And now, if you need some serious investments, then we invest our money,” notes Alexander Omelkin. Both he and Andrei Smagalyuk continue in parallel with businesses that help them support the project. At the same time, Octa Energy has already received the first external injections - $ 35 thousand from the business incubator. According to the calculations of entrepreneurs, they have already invested about $ 300 thousand in their project. This is not only money, but also equipment, tools, materials, and labor. While the project is at the initial stage: sold several hundred devices. At first, the company focused its sales on the final consumer, but then went to work with dealers and is now building a dealer network throughout Ukraine. Production is 100% in Ukraine, Ukrainian components make up 40%. Patented own development. It is possible to scale up the production and development of a network of own charging stations The project team employs five people. Devices are manufactured in small batches, however, according to entrepreneurs, the product is ready for scaling. "Now we have a product line that we produce in small lots, but if we want, we can produce our products in large quantities. They have working documentation and corresponding licenses," Omelkin notes. Entrepreneurs do not stop at what they have achieved by developing new product lines, sometimes by trial and error. "We have several products that did not go. For example, charging stations in the form of a column. They turned out to be quite beautiful, but the market was not interested. Maybe this is due to the fact that we offered them at the end of 2015, when the market was not yet formed, "- says Alexander Omelkin. The company plans to release a new line of charging stations by the end of the year, which will have minimal functionality, while it can be used both at home and in the office. There are some ideas for expansion in related industries. "For example, a project with solar panels. There is a solar power station that generates electricity, its surplus can be used to charge electric vehicles. This can be done as two separate products, as a single product, as a gas station with solar panels. This is a project where no external sources of electricity ", - share plans in the company. In order to effectively work and scale the business, the company intends to expand its team, attracting employees in the field of software development, as well as marketing and management. Of course, to scale a business, investments are needed. The founders of the business are ready to attract partners to implement their ideas and even share their shares in the company. And their strategic goal is access to foreign markets, primarily American and Western European. These are plans for 2019 already. And this year the team will refine its product and certify it for international markets. There have already been offers of cooperation from India and Canada.   Source：https://delo.ua/business/octa-energy-346435/

Energy projects top the government priority for foreign direct investment (FDI) in terms of investment amount, according to the Investment Board Nepal (IBN). Transport and aviation sectors come in the second and third places respectively, according to project lists and costs made public by the board for the upcoming investment summit. Eighteen projects including West Seti and Tamor Reservoir, worth US $11.08 billion or 42 percent of the total targeted FDI inflow, will be showcased in the summit scheduled on March 29 and 30. Sources said energy is given the top priority to prevent energy crisis in future similar to that the country saw for over a decade till 2016. The government has also embraced a policy of building 15,000 MW of electricity in the next ten years for energy security. With the opening of Indian market for Nepal’s energy through recent policy guidelines by the Government of India, Nepal is also more optimistic toward generating more hydropower. Minister for Energy Barshaman Pun has also recently asked independent power producers (IPPs) to build power plants, assuring them of market guarantee. The private sector wants to bring FDI in 11 such projects. Likewise, total 6 transport projects including Kathmandu Ring Road of Bus Rapid Transit worth US $9.7 billion will be tabled at the two-day event. This year, the country is hosting the investment summit with hopes to attract more foreign investments. Nepal is one of those countries where FDI is lowest in proportion to the GDP. Aviation is the third priority for this summit, with a target of US $ 3.25 million, or 12.3 percent, of FDI. The government is laying red carpet for foreign investors in Nepal and showcasing a total of 63 projects worth US $26.38 billion. The other projects in the government list are related to tourism, which includes cable car, hospital tourism products, and hotels at the provincial level. Industrial infrastructure is another important sector in the government’s list, aiming to reduce imports. As part of the country’s efforts to build conducive environment for investment, bills related to project development in PPP model as well as foreign direct investment and technology transfer are in the making in the parliament.  IBN’s CEO Maha Prasad Adhikari said the government was committed to get those bills endorsed before the date of investment summit. The country had also organized a similar summit two years ago and received commitment worth US $13.51 billion, but most of committed projects are yet to start and investments yet to come. Foreign direct investment in Nepal averaged about US $33.74 million from 2001 until 2017, reaching an all-time high of US $13.50 million in 2017, according to Nepal Rastra Bank statistics. Nepal received only 0.01 percent of total FDI in the world, while the South Asia region received 3.1 percent in 2016, according to another study of Nepal Rastra Bank.     Source： https://myrepublica.nagariknetwork.com/news/energy-tops-government-s-fdi-priority-for-investment-summit/

A draft law covering Spain’s approach to climate change and the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy is expected to reach Congress before the year is out. But the Ministry for Environmental Transition has already informed the country’s political parties of some of the key elements of this legislation. And among the proposals is a 2040 ban on the sale of all vehicles that use fossil fuels, whether they be powered by gasoline, diesel or natural gas. What’s more, in 2050 the government hopes to be working with local councils to prohibit the circulation of such vehicles, and is also proposing the obligatory installation of electric charging points in gas stations. Transportation in Spain – and in most of the European Union – is the straggler when it comes to the fight against climate change. While the use of renewable energy continues to grow in the power sector – with a realistic target of 100% of electricity coming from clean sources in the future – road transportation is not progressing at the same speed in the fight against climate change. Just over a quarter of all greenhouse gases emitted in Spain are from the transportation sector, and most of those come from the roads. Forecasts from the government suggest that if measures are not taken, these emissions will grow 15% from here to 2030. In the draft text presented on Tuesday, the 2040 ban on “passenger and light commercial vehicles with direct emissions of carbon dioxide” would also mean an end to the sale of hybrids, which also burn gasoline or diesel. This kind of veto has already been announced in other EU countries, such as the United Kingdom and France, which have also set a target date of 2040, and Denmark, Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands, which have set a date of 2030. The ministry’s proposal also includes measures that would see municipalities with more than 50,000 people have low-emission zones installed “no later than 2023.” The law, which also sets a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 (compared to 1990 levels) will have to be negotiated in Congress, and given that the Socialist Party (PSOE) is governing in a minority, the process may take a long time as the government seeks cross-party support. The PSOE and the left-wing anti-austerity party Podemos have already created a work group in Congress, and the rest of the political parties received the draft document several days ago. The ministry claims that its objectives are very ambitious and go further than what has been demanded by the European Commission (EC). Among the measures in the draft is a plan to ban hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a controversial process used to extract oil and gas from the ground by fracturing rock using pressurized liquid. What’s more, once the law comes into force the government will no longer issue new permissions for the prospecting and exploitation of hydrocarbons, neither on land nor at sea. Current licenses will not be valid from 2040 onward. The climate change law will be completed with the so-called Energy and Climate Plan, which Spain will have to present to Brussels in December. This plan will set out the energy sources that the country will count on over the next decade. For example, whether it will count on coal, nuclear or natural gas for its energy needs. This document is still being drawn up, but in the draft climate change law there are measures to encourage the use of renewables. Between 2020 and 2030, a total of 3,000 megawatts will have to be installed every year. Currently, the country counts on 48,000 megawatts, and in 2017 this clean technology generated 32% of all the electricity in Spain.     Source: El Pais https://elpais.com/elpais/2018/11/13/inenglish/1542118484_563478.html

Bangladesh, with its deficiency in energy and infrastructure, has offered huge opportunities to Singapore to invest in the country's power and logistics sectors, officials said on Monday. "Earlier our target was to increase the power generation capacity to 23,000 megawatts by the year 2021. Recently we have revised the target to 28,000 megawatts to meet the increasing demand", Executive Chairman of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority Kazi M Aminul Islam said at a function in the capital. "Such a scenario offers a lot of opportunities to the Singaporean investors to invest in the country's power sector", Mr Islam said while speaking to a high-level delegation of the Singapore Business Federation currently visiting the city.   Noting that the Singaporean companies are mostly looking to invest in small and medium- sized power plants in Bangladesh, he also said these companies can think of investing in big power projects as well. The Singaporean investors, present on the occasion, also complained about prevailing gas shortage in the country. They said many of them face difficulties in getting gas connections from the relevant authority. Replying to this observation, the BIDA Chairman said the prevailing energy crunch will eased by the year 2019 with the establishment of three Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals. "Once the energy shortage is solved, our next focus will be on strengthening of our trade logistics facilities", Mr Islam said. "And this is another area where Singapore can invest a lot given its rich experience and strength in this particular field", he added. Business people present at the event also pointed out that the facilities at the Chittagong port are not up to the mark.    "Quality infrastructure is essential for trade facilitation. The efficiency of Chittagong Port has to be raised", Mr Islam, who is also a former Secretary to the government, said. "However, a lot of improvements will take place in this regard when the Payra port becomes operational", he added. Earlier, a detailed presentation on the present investment scenario and further investment scopes in Bangladesh was delivered by BIDA officials. The keynote presentation found that although most of the investment in Bangladesh is coming to telecommunication, textiles, banking and power sector, there are scopes for more foreign investment in energy, ICT and pharmaceuticals.      The presentation found that apart from the country's young, dynamic workforce, Bangladesh's strategic location can give the foreign investors access to a market of 3 billion people living in the surrounding region. "Gas and petroleum are the two best sectors to invest in Bangladesh due to the incentives given by the government in these areas", said Asif Ibrahim, Vice Chairman of Newage Group. "Meanwhile, there is also a scope for joint collaboration in energy efficiency and information technology between Bangladesh and Singapore", Mr Ibrahim, who is a former President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said.  

Power Division has issued an official order to all the six power distribution utilities of the country, asking each of them to purchase rooftop solar power from at least 20 consumers within next three months under net metering system, reports UNB. The six distribution utilities are power Development Board (PDB), Rural Electrification Board (REB), Dhaka Power Distribution Company Ltd (DPDC), Dhaka Electric Supply Company (Desco), West Zone Power Distribution Company Ltd. (WZPDC) and North West Zone Power Distribution Company Limited (Nesco). According to official sources, the Power Division's renewable energy desk issued the order last week. "We have already received the Power Division order and started planning to implement it," WZPDC managing director Md Shafique Uddin told the news agency. He noted that now NWPDC will find out 20 potential consumers from within its command area in the next three months. On July 28, the Power Division unveiled "Net Metering Guideline 2018" in order to buy rooftop solar power from consumers. Under the proposed system, any consumer can set up rooftop solar system covering up to 70 per cent capacity of the sanctioned load and sell the additional or unconsumed solar power after meeting his/her demand through an exchange arrangement by a special meter. The idea is that the consumers will use their own solar power alongside the grid. But on holidays when solar power is not used, the consumers can sell it to the national grid. Even, on the working days, they can preserve their solar power to grid and sell it to his power supplying company or take it back for its own consumptions. After end of the month, bills will be adjusted on the basis of consumption and sale of solar power to the utilities and the consumer will get payment from the distribution company at bulk rate if his sale overruns the consumption. Unveiling this guideline, Power Secretary Dr Ahmed Kaikaus announced that each of the distribution companies must buy solar power from at least 20 consumers. It will be treated as a key target under their annual performance agreement (APA) signed with the ministry. Power Cell Director Md Abdur Rouf, who was involved in framing the guideline, said there is no lower limit of a consumer's solar capacity. But the upper limit of the capacity is three megawatt. He said the order on rooftop solar came as a follow-up of the Power Division's decision to buy rooftop solar power as part of its move to promote renewable energy across the country. Power Cell officials believe the government will be able to buy about 10-12 MW power from rooftop consumers as many large consumers like industries, apartment complex, shopping malls and hotels have already set up rooftop solar power plants for their own consumptions as part of the government policy.

A consortium of five Chinese banks offered to invest US$1.8 billion in developing a 1320mw coal-fired power plant in seaside Banskhali Upazila in Bangladesh's southeastern Chittagong district.   Senior officials of the Chinese banks expressed their willingness to put their funds in the joint venture (JV) power project at a meeting held at the Bangladesh Bank headquarters in Dhaka Monday with BB Governor Fazle Kabir in the chair. The officials sought policy supports from the country's central bank in this connection, meeting sources said. At the meeting, the delegates of the Chinese banks showed interest in transfer of their funds directly to the borrower without opening any account with bank/banks operating in Bangladesh. The officials were also interested to know about effective interest rates and the opening of offshore account, they added. "We'll convey our decisions on the issues after examining the Chinese bankers' proposals," SK Sur Chowdhury, deputy governor of BB, told the FE after the parley. Terming China a tested friend, the deputy governor said the central bank may extend all kinds of support in line with the existing rules and regulations to encourage foreign direct investment (FDI). "We need huge investments from both domestic and overseas sources for achieving maximum economic growth," Mr. Sur Chowdhury said, without elaborating. Present at the meeting among others were senior officials of China Export & Credit Insurance and high-ups of SS Power Limited. A joint-venture company (JVC) comprising Bangladesh's S Alam Group and Chinese SEPCO-3 Electric Power Constitution Corporation and HTG Group is now working to develop the power plant that costs $2.5 billion. Earlier on February 16 last year, a signing ceremony on project agreements between the Power Division, Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) and SS Power-1 Ltd and SS Power-2 Ltd took place at Bidyut Bhaban in Dhaka. The government had picked SS Power-1 Ltd for the construction of first unit through a tender process while SS Power-2 Ltd was given an unsolicited deal to construct the second unit under the Power and Energy Quick Supply Act 2015. Under the deals, the government will buy electricity from these plants at 8.259 US cents/kWh (levellized tariff). The power project is scheduled to go into commercial production by November 2019. "We've already started development works of the project," a company official told the FE. He also said around 150 people are now working on the project. About 7,000 people will be employed in the project in the first five years, the official added. "Some 1,000 people will be directly employed permanently after completion of the project while another 6,000 will get indirect employment," he said to explain the benefits to be accrued from the major power project.