Lighting up India

NUCLEAR CAPACITY BUILD UP 2007-2018.
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Nuclear explosion
India’s nuclear power sector is continuing to attract the attention of major international players, as it promises to unlock investments worth hundreds of billions of dollars. The Indian government is keen to pursue nuclear as an answer to rapidly growing demand for electricity.

Currently, only 3.7 percent of India’s electricity is generated from nuclear power.

By 2050, India hopes to supply 25 percent of power from nuclear sources. The freeing of India’s nuclear power sector is thought to potentially open up $150 billion of investments, according to India’s Economic Times.

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In late September 2009, India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, announced plans for the largest expansion of nuclear power capacity in the world, predicting that by 2050 India could generate up to 470 gigawatt (GW) of nuclear power if the country executes its strategy effectively.

India currently has a nuclear power capacity of 4.12GW from 17 reactors. This strategy would see an increase in capacity of more than 11,000% by 2050.

Hydropower
Hydropower accounts for a significant proportion of India’s electricity-generating capacity.

In 2009, it accounted for 17.8 percent with a generating capacity of 162TWh. The country is currently ranked around sixth in the world in terms of hydropower production, with more than 3.5 percent of global total capacity.

There is a large amount of hydroelectric capacity in the construction and planning stages, according to the Indian government. The average size of future projects is expected to be 500MW.

Solar rising
In August 2009, India announced it would push forward with an ambitious plan for bringing solar power to the fore in the country's electricity mix.

The Solar Mission envisages increasing India's solar power generating capacity to 20GW by 2020, from the current 14GW. By 2030, this is planned to reach 200GW, and 300GW by 2050.

The draft
plan included the allocation of $20 billion by the government over a 30-year period to assist with manufacturing and installation of solar power plants. However, according to media reports, a new version of the plan
envisages that other countries will help foot the bill.

Private investment enters the energy sector In March, a consortium of global investors acquired a 44
percent stake in Asian Genco Pte Ltd (AGPL), an infrastructure company with a focus on the Indian power generation sector.

The deal is the largest equity transaction to date in the country's power sector and highlighted the profit potential for private companies. APGL is domiciled in Singapore, but its entire power generation portfolio is located in India.

The consortium of global investors is led by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and also includes General Atlantic, Goldman Sachs Investment Management, Norwest Venture Partners, Everstone Capital and PTC India Financial Services.

Together the investors have committed $425mn to AGPL in order to boost its presence and market share in the Indian power sector. The company aims to put 1,350MW of capacity in operation, and wants to develop a project pipeline
exceeding 10,000MW by 2012.

Power plans
In January, the Rajasthan state government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the US-based William J Clinton Foundation for the establishment of solar parks. Each solar park will have a generation capacity of 3,000-5,000MW. The government is hoping to attract investment of $10.85 billion over the next five years.

Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) is looking to raise $3 billion to build four 700MW reactors, which will likely comprise two nuclear plants planned in Rawatbhata and Kakrapar. The company is also looking to raise $3.5bn for the two 1,000MW reactors that it is building in Kundakalum with the help of Russia's Atomstroyexport.

In April, the UAE-based ETA Power Generation announced plans to establish a thermal power plant in Tamil Nadu in India. The development of the 1,320 MW power plant is estimated to cost $1.1 billion. The first unit of the plant is expected to be completed by March 2014 and the second unit is likely to be completed in the following six to nine months.

In November, a joint venture of Indian utility Tata Power and Norwegian utility SN Power announced plans to invest $3.2 billion in the construction of hydropower projects in India and Nepal. The two utilities are expecting to have 2,000MW of hydropower under construction or in operation by 2015 and a further 4,000MW by 2020.