Bihar: Energy Sector-II

Energy Sector-II

Institutional Structure of Power Sector

• The Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) was constituted in April 1958 under Section 5 of the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948 and had the mandate to manage the generation, transmission, distribution and other electricity-related activities in Bihar.
• Under the new Bihar State Electricity Reforms Transfer Scheme 2012, the BSEB was unbundled into five companies in November 2012 —
  • Bihar State Power (Holding) Company Limited (BSPHCL):
    • This Company owns shares of the newly-incorporated four companies — Bihar State Power Generation Company Limited, Bihar State Power Transmission Company Limited, South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited and North Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited.
    • It is vested with the assets, interest in property, rights and liabilities of the erstwhile Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB).
    • BSPHCL is an investment company and it coordinates the activities of other companies, handles disputes and provides all necessary support to them.
  • Bihar State Power Generation Company Limited (BSPGCL):
    • This company is responsible for the coordination with other companies currently engaged in the generation of electricity, and also advises them on various issues.
    • The coordination and advisory roles include all matters concerning the construction, operation and maintenance of generating stations and associated facilities.
    • It is also responsible for procuring fuel and its transportation to various sites and settling pending disputes.
  • Bihar State Power Transmission Company Limited (BSPTCL):
    • BSPTCL is responsible for the transmission of electricity and is vested with the transmission assets, interest in the property, and rights and liabilities of the erstwhile BSEB.
    • Besides planning and coordination activities, this company is expected to develop an efficient system of intra-state transmission lines for electricity, and connecting load centres to the generating stations.
  • North Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited (NBPDCL) and South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited (SBPDCL).
    • These two companies undertake the activities of distribution of electricity to all consumers, trading of electricity, and implementation of rural electrification schemes.
      • At present, rural electrification has been completed through several schemes — Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) (erstwhile Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana), Special plan under Backward Region Grant Fund (BRGF), feeder separation for agriculture under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and electric connection to all willing households under Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (SAUBHAGYA).
    • For strengthening the current systems, the State Government has implemented several other schemes under the Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) and State Plans.
    • The introduction of open access in distribution as per the Electricity Act, 2003 and the directions of the regulator is also the responsibility of these two companies.
    • They also tender, finalise and execute Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) and other agreements for sale or purchase of electricity.
• The fund allocation for BSPHCL and its subsidiary companies — Bihar Renewable Energy Development Agency (BREDA) and Bihar State Hydroelectric Power Corporation (BSHPC) —was Rs. 3663.49 crore in 2015-16, which increased steadily to Rs. 8271.59 crore in 2017-18.
  • From 2018-19 onwards, there was a decrease in the allocation of funds — Rs. 6185.63 crore in 2018-19 and Rs. 4583.13 crore in 2019-20. The allocation of fund for 2020-21 is Rs. 1210.00 crore.

Distribution Companies (DISCOMs):

• The distribution of power is one of the most important components of the whole electricity supply chain, as this is the only arm that generates revenue. This revenue enables the State Government to improve the supply chain by purchasing more electricity from the central sector.
  • Thus, one of the major challenges of the power sector reforms lies in the efficient management of the distribution sector.
  • As mentioned before, the distribution system in Bihar is being served by two distribution companies — North Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited (NBPDCL) and South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited (SBPDCL).
  • As on March 2020, these companies are serving more than 159.3 lakh electricity consumers as against 145.7 lakh in 2018-19. The number of effective domestic consumers has increased from 134.8 lakh in 2018-19 to 146.0 lakh in 2019-20.
• These two distribution companies are already implementing several schemes to expand and strengthen their distribution networks. These ongoing schemes include transformer replacement, procurement of new transformers, replacement of old conductors of existing high tension (HT) and low tension (LT) lines, construction of new HT and LT lines and the construction of Power Sub-Stations (PSS) and bays, etc.

Operational and Financial Status

• The financial status of the two distribution companies is mentioned in Table 7.10.
• With the fast economic and population growth, there is an increasing demand for electricity in Bihar.
• The generation and purchase of power (net of central transmission loss) in Bihar increased from 23,027 MU in 2016-17 to 30,630 MU in 2019-20, implying growth of over 33 percent in three years.
  • With the 33 percent increase in energy input in the last three years, the revenue collection has also increased.
  • The cost coverage was around 86.5 percent in 2018-19, which came down slightly to around 84.6 percent in 2019-20. This happened due to the impact of nationwide lockdown and other restrictions which were imposed by the State Government to tackle COVID-19 pandemic.

• There is a substantial improvement in the power situation in the state due to the new measures taken by the State Government to address issues linked to reducing transmission and distribution (T&D) losses and staggering of loads to 24 hours of the day.
• The distribution companies made all-out efforts to address this issue by improving the billing and collection system, along with the metering of all consumer connections.
• These have resulted in the reduction of Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) loss from 43.8 percent in 2014-15 to 30.4 percent in 2018-19.
  • However, there was an increase in AT&C loss in 2019-20 (35.9 percent), mainly due to the adverse impact of lockdown and other restrictions imposed by the State Government.
  • Energy accounting and auditing at feeder level and distribution transformer (DT) level are essential for reducing these losses and the distribution companies have already started this exercise.
  • The discoms are striving hard to bring down the AT&C Loss to 15 percent.
• 

Programmes of Power Sector

• Central Government Programmes for Power Sector: For expanding the coverage of electricity supply in rural and urban areas, the Government of India is currently implementing four programmes —
  • Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) (Erstwhile Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana – RGGVY):
    • Presently, 88.7 percent of the total population is living in rural areas in Bihar (2011 census), the most ruralized state of the country, the national average being 68.9 percent.
    • Thus, improving the connectivity of rural areas to the grid power is of great importance. Under the DDUGJY scheme, the rural electrification work has been completed in all 38 districts of the state, with all villages and habitations fully electrified.
    • The Central Government had launched DDUGJY with the following objectives:
      • Separation of agriculture and non-agriculture feeders, facilitating judicious restoring of supply to agricultural and non-agricultural consumers in the rural areas.
      • Strengthening the sub-transmission and distribution infrastructure in rural areas, including metering of transformers/ feeders/ consumers.
      • Rural electrification for completion of the targets laid down under RGGVY by carrying forward the approved outlay of RGGVY to DDUGJY. The scheme of RGGVY, as approved by the Central Government during Twelfth and Thirteenth Plans, has now been subsumed in the new scheme of the Central Government, called DDUGJY.
    • The total sanctioned cost of the project is Rs. 6500.71 crore, out of which Rs. 5350.97 crore have already been utilised by September 2020.
      • Under this new scheme, 60 percent of the project cost has been provided by the Central Government as grant, and the remaining 40 percent is being arranged by the State Government.
      • The work is under progress and the target for completion of the scheme is March 2021.
  • Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) (Erstwhile Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme – R-APDRP),
    • The earlier scheme, Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (R-APDRP), has now been subsumed in the newly launched Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS).
    • The current scheme has several components, which together aim to provide real-time monitoring, minimising losses, load balancing, and improving voltage profiles. The major components of the scheme are:
      • (a) strengthening the sub-transmission and distribution network to address the distribution constraints, and
      • (b) provision of solar panels in government buildings to meet the power demands.
    • The scheme also includes net-metering and metering of distribution transformers/ feeders/ consumers in urban areas.
    • Under Part-A of the erstwhile R-APDRP scheme, the work has been completed in 67 towns.
    • Under Part-B of the scheme, the strengthening of the distribution system has been completed in 60 towns and, under the ADB fund, the work has been completed in 7 towns.
    • The newly launched scheme of IPDS is being implemented in 133 towns of Bihar for
      • (a) strengthening of sub-transmission and distribution network,
      • (b) installation of solar panels on government buildings,
      • (c) metering of feeders/ distribution transformers/ consumers and
      • (d) IT implementation in the distribution system in urban areas.
    • The project will ensure 24 x 7 power supply and reduce the AT&C loss in urban areas of Bihar. The work is under progress and the target month for completion of the scheme is March 2021.
    • The Central Government has further sanctioned a scheme under IPDS for 3 towns in Bihar Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur and Gaya for system strengthening with a total cost of Rs. 454.77 crore. A sum of Rs. 71.20 crore has also been sanctioned for Bodhgaya and Ara towns for underground (UG) cabling work and system strengthening.
  • Har Ghar Bijli under SAUBHAGYA :
    • ‘Har Ghar Bijli’ is one of the Seven Resolves (Saat Nishchay) of the State Government, intending to provide electricity to each willing household.
    • Electric connection to all rural BPL households was covered under the DDUGJY scheme; but there was no scheme to provide service connection to rural APL households.
      • To address the issue, a scheme was sanctioned by the State Government for releasing new electric connection to rural APL households under Mukhyamantri Vidyut Sambandh Nishchay Yojana (MMVSNY).
    • Meanwhile, in October 2017, the Union Ministry of Power had issued a memorandum conveying approval of SAUBHAGYA (Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana) to provide electric connection to each willing household across the country.
      • Under this scheme, the Central Government has sanctioned Rs 3000 per household to have an electric connection and Rs 1500 per household for last-mile connectivity.
      • The State Government has adopted SAUBHAGYA and the Mukhyamantri Vidyut Sambandh Nishchay Yojana (MMVSNY) was subsumed in SAUBHAGYA.
      • The scheme got completed in October 2018, by providing 32,59,041 electricity connections to all willing households in rural areas of Bihar.
  • Special Plan (Backward Regions Grant Fund):
    • The Special Plan, funded under the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) of the Central Government, has been designed to address regional imbalances in development.
    • The fund provides financial resources for supplementing and converging existing development inflows into the state. It aims to bridge critical gaps in local infrastructure and other development requirements for addressing the existing inflows.
    • The fund facilitates participatory planning, decision making, implementation and monitoring. It also helps to improve the performance of critical functions of the State Government.
    • The scheme is divided into four different parts — Phase-I, Phase-II, Phase-II (Part-C) and Rural Electrification (RE).
      • Phase-I addresses the immediate distribution constraints and Phase-II is for meeting the load growth for the next 5 years.
      • The Phase-II (Part-C) is focusing on the issues of reliability and safety of the distribution system by converting overhead LT and 11 KV lines with bare conductor by Aerial Bunched Cable (AB Cable) at vulnerable locations.
      • The Rural Electrification (RE) is bridging the gap in rural electrification work in 11 districts (under 11th Plan Phase-II).
      • The cost of the above schemes is Rs. 6431.86 crore and, till September 2020, the expenditure incurred is Rs. 3202.07 crore under NBPDCL and Rs. 2567.77 crore under SBPDCL, totaling to Rs. 5769.84 crore (89.7 percent of allocation).
  • Ujjwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY):
    • For operational and financial turnaround of power distribution companies (DISCOMs), the Union Ministry of Power has introduced the UDAY scheme.
    • The scheme includes various activities to improve the operational and financial efficiencies of discoms which ultimately aim to —
      • (a) Reduce AT&C Loss to 15 percent and
      • (b) Reduce the gap between Average Cost of Supply (ACS) and Average Revenue Realized (ARR) to zero, both by 2019-20.
    • A tripartite agreement between Government of Bihar, Union Ministry of Power, and DISCOMs (NBPDCL and SBPDCL) was signed in February 2016.
    • Presently, information on all the parameters aiming to reduce AT&C Loss and ACS-ARR gap has been made available online through UDAY website portal (www.uday.gov.in), where every participating DISCOM has to upload the progress on monthly/quarterly basis.
    • For each assigned activity, there is a mark. Based on the monthly/ quarterly achievements, each DISCOM gets cumulative marks, which are used to decide the ranking of DISCOMs.
    • Both the DISCOMs of Bihar together have reduced AT&C loss from 43.5 percent (2015-16) to 35.9 percent (2019-20) and also reduced ACS-ARR gap from 89 paise per unit (2015-16) to 66 paise (provisional) per unit (2019-20).
• State Government Programmes for Power Sector:
  • A scheme of R&M (Renovation and Modernization) for replacement of existing old and dilapidated conductors, poles, brackets, insulators, etc. of 33 KV, 11 KV and LT Lines was sanctioned by the State Government to strengthen the power infrastructure.
    • A sum of Rs. 3070.23 crore was sanctioned to replace 1062 CKM of 33 KV Line, 25,272 CKM of 11 KV Line and 45,339 CKM of LT Line.
    • The shares of two distribution companies in this amount are — Rs. 1652.15 crore (NBPDCL) and Rs. 1418.08 crore (SBPDCL). The agencies were selected circle-wise through e-Tendering in March 2018. The scheme was planned to be completed within three years but, considering the threats due to snapping of old conductors, target was fixed for both DISCOMs to complete the work by December, 2019.
      • After the completion of the SAUBHAGYA Scheme, both distribution companies (NBPDCL & SBPDCL) started the work in mission mode from November 2018. The project gained momentum after the formulation of a new strategy to achieve the target. With this strategy, two DISCOMs together have been able to complete the work by December 2019.
    • The State Govemment has given further approval to complete the remaining work with additional fiunding. The target to complete the remaining work is March 2021.

Transmission

• Power is supplied to various categories of consumers through a transmission network, which involves the transformation of high voltage power to lower voltage. The transmission network serves as an important link between the generation and distribution of electricity.
• There are challenges in the transmission process, which are mostly linked to the growing needs of the other two segments — Generation and Distribution. To meet the growing demand of power, there is a requirement for a robust and reliable transmission network for inter-state and intra-state transmission. The existing transmission system, therefore, needed to be strengthened with proper planning to cater to the demand for 24 hours availability of power by all consumers.
• Presently, about 16,857 circuit KM EHV (Extra High Voltage) transmission line, 152 Grid Sub- Stations with total transformation capacity of 9620 MVA at 220/132 KV level, and 15,250 MVA (12,200 MW) at 132/33 KV level comprise the transmission system in Bihar.
  • The projection for 2020-21 is 17,893 circuit KM transmission line, 157 Grid Sub-Stations with 2000 MVA transformation capacity at 400 KV level, 10,310 MVA transformation capacity at 220/132 KV level and 15,880 MVA at 132/33 KV level.
• The peak demand met was 3459 MW in 2015-16, which increased to 5932 MW in July 2020, implying an increase of 71.5 percent in five years.
• Projected required capacity for power (2020-21 to 2022-23):
  • 

Generation

• Several schemes are being currently implemented in the state to meet the present and future demand. The availability of power in the state has shown a steady increase over the years.
• The total generation capacity of power, as of March 2019 was 4767 MW; with a growth rate of around 27.4 percent, it has reached 6073 MW during March 2020.
  • From March 2019 to March 2020, the growth rate in coal-based thermal power is 21.7 percent, 50.6 percent in hydropower, and 58.0 percent is in renewable energy sources.
• In terms of ownership, in March 2020, the central sector has the largest share of 87 percent, followed by the private sector/IPPs (12 percent) and state sector (1 percent).
• Existing Generation capacity (March 2020):
  • 
• Presently, there are generating units in Bihar, most of which are being managed by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).
• The present status of these generating units are as follows:
  • Barauni Thermal Power Station (BTPS):
    • BTPS had 7 different units, 5 of them (Unit No. I to 5) have already run through their working life and are not in service anymore. Unit No. 7 (110 MW) had started generation after the renovation. The renovation of Unit No. 6 (110 MW) is currently in progress. Further, two more units of 250 MW each are being added to it.
    • The State Government has transferred the ownership of Barauni Thermal Power Station (BTPS) to NTPC to reduce the cost of generating power from these units by utilizing the expertise of NTPC.
  • Kanti Bijlee Utpadan Nigam Limited (KBUNL):
    • The KBUNL was a joint venture of NTPC and BSPGCL, having an equity partnership ratio of 65:35.
    • It has two units of 110 MW each. The power production has started in both the units only after the renovation and modernization.
    • The construction work of two additional units (Unit Nos. 3 and 4) of 195 MW each, has been completed and, they have started generating power.
    • Adding to this, the State Government has transferred 100 percent equity share to NTPC.
  • Nabinagar Plant (Stage 1):
    • This project is located in Aurangabad district.
    • The Nabinagar Power Generating Company Limited (NPGCL) was initially a joint venture of NTPC and BSPGCL, having an equity partnership ratio of 50:50. Later, the State Government has transferred its entire ownership to NTPC.
    • One unit (660 MW) is already commissioned in September 2019. The construction work of other two units of 660 MW each (total 1320 MW) is in progress and expected to be completed by February 2021 and June 2021, respectively.
  • Power Project in Buxar:
    • M/s Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) is the executing agency for construction of greenfield power project at Chausa (Buxar), having 2 units of 660 MW each.
    • The foundation stone was laid by Hon’ble Prime Minister in March, 2019. The consultancy service for the main plant and railway infrastructure has been awarded to M/s NTPC and M/s RITES Ltd., respectively.
    • The project is expected to be commissioned by 2023-24.
  • Ultra-Mega Power Project (Banka):
    • A proposal has been prepared to establish Ultra Mega Power Project in Banka (approximately 4000 MW), for which 2500 acre of land has already been identified.
    • The Central Water Commission has given consent for 120 cusecs of water from the Ganga river.
    • The Power Finance Corporation (PFC) has incorporated two Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) for carrying out the pre-award project activities.
    • The Union Ministry of Power has allocated Pirpainti/ Barhat Coal Blocks for the project. Bihar will get 2000 MW of power from this project.

New Schemes / Projects

• New Service Connection including Agriculture Connection through SUVIDHA App:
  • A scheme was implemented in Bihar, named Mukhyamantri Vidyut Sambandh Nishchay Yojana (MVSNY), to provide service connection to all Rural APL Houscholds.
    • Apart from this, the Central Government has launched Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (SAUBHAGYA) in October 2017 to achieve the universal household electrification. Thereafter, MVSNY has been merged in SAUBHAGYA and, the electric connection has been provided to all willing households.
    • The scheme has already proved to be a successful one, as applicants have received a hassle-free electric connection through a mobile application, without having any paperwork.
    • The DISCOMs were able to provide electrical connections to all willing households before the stipulated timeline.
• Mukhyamantri Krishi Vidyut Sambandh Yojana (MKVSY):
  • To strengthen the sub- transmission & distribution (ST&D) infrastructure in rural areas and to create infrastructure for agricultural and non-agricultural operations, the Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) scheme has been implemented in the state.
    • Because of the successful implementation of the programme, the State Government has already sorted out the problems of inadequate and unreliable power supply in rural areas.
    • The successful implementation of DDUGJY has increased the demand for having electric connections to agriculture pump sets. Consequently, it has increased load in rural areas.
    • The State Government has organised panchayat-wise camps to collect the application forms for new service connection for agricultural purpose.
    • During the release of service connections, it was found that there is large-scale requirement for infrastructure creation including dedicated feeders for agricultural pump sets. However, due to the limited scope of work in feeder segregation, the distribution companies faced some difficultics.
    • To address the issue, the State Government has formulated a new scheme named, Mukhyamantri Krishi Vidyut Sambandh Yojana (MKVSY) and sanctioned Rs. 1329.61 crore to cover nearly 70,000 applicants. After sanctioning the scheme, projects have been awarded through e-tendering in 18 circles of NBPDCL and SBPDCL in September, 2020.
    • The scheduled completion period of the work is 18 months.
  • Residential Solar Rooftop Project:
    • As per the recent guidelines issued by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) for Phase-II Grid Connected Rooftop Solar Programme, DISCOMs are now designated as the nodal agency for implementing solar rooftop projects in the state.
    • MNRE has allocated 5 MW Rooftop Solar capacity for Bihar (3 MW for SBPDCL and 2 MW for NBPDCL) for 2019-20.
    • For installation of Grid Connected Roof Top Solar Plant, subsidy is available both from Central and State Governments. Online applications were invited from interested consumers through a portal.
    • The State Government has already appointed agencies for design, apply, installation, testing and commissioning and to provide integrated comprehensive maintenance for 5 years.
    • The MNRE has allocated an additional 20 MW capacity for 2020-21 for which the tendering process is progress.