6. Energy management

Lead Papers 

Dr. Grigori Abramia,Khalid Aziz, Louise Dunne and Frank Convery, Jose Ferrer, Dr. Karl Froschauer,Ian G. Gilchrist, Xiaohui Hao, Dr. A. Jagadeesh, Dr. Gennady N. Karopa, Mr. Aubrey Meyer, Dr. Khatam Murtazaev, Larisa Khomik, Alexander Khomik and Valentine Cherednichenko, Irina Proshkina, Alfredo Quarto, Akim Rahman, E. Mohan Reddy, Dr. Vyacheslav Sharov, KYRYL TOMLYAK

 Xiaohui Hao described Chinese power industry since China implemented the policy of reform and opening to the outside world two decades ago. The total installed generating capacity reached 270 GW with an annual electricity generation over 1167Twh by the end of 1998. The rapid development has greatly supported national economic growth and improved people’s living standards. However, we are clearly aware that the per capita installed generating capacity and the annual per capita electricity consumption are only 0.2KW and 900Kwh respectively, ranking behind the 80th in the world. There are around 60 million people living in remote areas, who still have no access to electricity today. In addition, in some areas where people are alleviated from power shortage, they still suffer from power curtailments during peak hours due to lack of peaking capacity. As about 75% of installed generating capacity in China is based on coal, environmental problems resulted from coal combustion are becoming more serious along with the expansion of thermal power plants. The sulfur dioxide emission from Chinese industries, for instance, has increased from 15.71 million tons in 1990 to 19.46 million tons in 1996, causing acid rain covering one third of territory. Power sector is also a major contributor of carbon dioxide emission which is increasingly conceded as a global environment issue. The basic situation of Chinese power industry is as follows: rapid growth, large in total amount while low in terms of per capita consumption, heavy dependence on coal, relatively low energy efficiency(33% in average for thermal power), serious environmental problems( both local and global) to be dealt with.

Dr. A. Jagadeesh explained that Tamil Nadu state,India, has the distinction of 719 MW capacity windfarms at the end of September 1998 out of the country’s total figure of 992 MW. Andhra Pradesh has 59 MW installed windfarms in the state. 1995-96 saw a boom when 282 MW windfarms were set up in Tamil Nadu and 39 MW capacity in Andhra Pradesh. Subsequently there was a steady decline in the windfarm development in both the states. This case study attempted in detail to trace the reasons for the boom and the factors that contributed to the slump in windfarm activity in the states. The role of institutions in determining the effectiveness of National and Regional public-sector initiatives to promote and disseminate wind energy in the two states is discussed in the paper. The study has also looked into the financial, technical, transaction and institutional barriers which inhibit the diffusion of wind energy in the states. Creation of Wind Fund, establishment of co-operative windfarms, setting up of wind estates, linking generation to incentives for optimum production, promotion of reliable water pumping windmills and wind battery chargers for small scale applications suggested in the paper for rapid growth of wind energy in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The results of the case study may be used to improve public policy intervention in disseminating wind energy in the country. It may also be relevant to multilateral and bilateral aid agencies in their projects and / or programmes to promote cost-effective wind energy technology dissemination in developing countries.