Gujarat: Natural and Power Resources
- In the year 1999, the state of Gujarat established the Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) under the Companies Act, 1956. The GUVNL was created by the Gujarat Electricity Board (GEB) as its wholly owned subsidiary towards restructuring of the power sector for better management.
- Gujarat has taken numerous measures on Power Sector Reforms and has created separate corporate entities for Generation, Transmission and Distribution activities of the GEB. Gujarat Electricity Board (GEB) was re-organised into 7 companies consisting of : a Power Trading and Co-ordinating and monitoring Company -Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL), one power generating company – Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Ltd. (GSECL), one transmission company – Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation Ltd. (GETCO) and 4 distribution companies i.e. Madhya Gujarat Vij Co. Ltd. (MGVCL), Dakshin Gujarat Vij Co. Ltd. (DGVCL), Uttar Gujarat Vij Co. Ltd. (UGVCL) and Paschim Gujarat Vij Co. Ltd. (PGVCL) with effect from 1st April, 2005.
- All six companies are 100% subsidiaries of GUVNL. The GUVNL is engaged in Supervision, Co-ordination and facilitation of the activities of its six Subsidiary Companies.
- Power supply-demand position in Gujarat
- As a result of growing installed power generation capacity, the peak demand-peak deficit in the state has decreased by Compound Annual Growth Rate of 31%.
- Actual power supply position of the state of Gujarat has improved in the last 10 years considerably. The power requirement and availability deficit in the state has been decreased by CAGR of 38%. Year 2012 shows nearly zero percent deficit made Gujarat power sufficient.
- The total installed capacity of the State as on 31st March, 2016 was 20081 MW of conventional sources comprising of 6372 MW by Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Ltd. (GSECL), 2269 MW by State IPPs, 7507 MW by Private IPPs and 3933 MW by Central Sector Share. While, the total installed capacity of the State as on 31st October, 2016 is 19791 MW of conventional sources comprising of 6132 MW by GSECL, 2519 MW by State IPPs, 7207 MW by Private IPPs and 3933 MW by Central sector share.
- The installed capacity of Wind farm as on 31st March, 2016 was 3933 MW and as on 31st October, 2016 it was 4205 MW.
- Under the Sagarkhedu Sarvangi Vikas Yojana, work of strengthening of the Distribution and Transmission networks and erection of new sub-stations in costal area is being carried out. During the year 2015-16, total expenditure of Rs. 42509.47 lakh was spent on these activities. During the year 2016-17 (upto October, 2016) total expenditure of Rs. 20521.44 lakh have been spent for strengtheing of distribution line with replacing Conductors, poles, insulators, distribution boxes, service lines, etc., strengthening of transmission lines and creation of new 66 KV substations in the coastal area of the State.
- In the state, transmission company, Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation Ltd. (GETCO) had commissioned 100 new substations (21 in the Tribal area) and 2925 Circuit Kilo Metres (CKM) Transmission lines during the year 2015-16.
- UKAI THERMAL POWER STATION
- The Ukai Thermal Power Station is located near Ukai Dam on Tapi River in Tapi District. It is a Coal Based Power Station. There are two units of 120 MW each (Unit no. 1 & 2), two units of 200 MW each (Unit no. 3 & 4) and one unit of 210 MW (Unit no. 5) and one unit of 500 MW(Unit no. 6) with a total installed capacity of 850 MW. All the above units are of BHEL make. Commissioning dates of unit no. 1 to 5 are 19.03.1976, 23.06.1976, 21.01.1979, 11.09.1979 and 30.01.1985 respectively. The major R & M of unit no. 1 & 2 is completed.
- GANDHINAGAR THERMAL POWER STATION
- The Gandhinagar Thermal Power Station is located at Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat near Ahmedabad. It is a Coal Based Power Station. It is on the bank of Sabarmati River. There are two units of 120 MW each (Unit no. 1 & 2), three units of 210 MW each (Unit no. 3, 4 & 5) with a total installed capacity of 870 MW. All the above units are of BHEL make. Commissioning dates of unit no. 1 to 5 are 13.03.1977, 10.04.1977, 20.03.1990, 20.07.1991 and 17.03.1998 respectively.
- WANAKBORI THERMAL POWER STATION
- The Wanakbori Thermal Power Station is located near Wanakbori Dam on the bank of Mahi River in Kheda District. It is a Coal Based Power Station. There are seven units of 210 MW each with a total installed capacity of 1470 MW. All the above units are of BHEL make. Commissioning dates of unit no. 1 to 7 are 23.03.1982, 15.01.1983, 15.03.1984, 09.03.1986, 23.09.1986, 18.11.1987 and 31.12.1998 respectively.
- SIKKA THERMAL POWER STATION
- The Sikka Thermal Power Station is located near Jamnagar. It is Coal Based Power Station. There are two units of 120 MW each and two units of 250 MW each with a total installed capacity of 740 MW. All the above units are of BHEL make. Commissioning dates of unit no. 1 and 2 are 26.03.1988 and 31.03.1993 respectively and unit 3 14.09.2015 and unit 4 on 28.12.2015
- KUTCH LIGNITE THERMAL POWER STATION
- The Kutch Lignite Thermal Power Station is located near Panandhro village in Kutch District. It is a Lignite Based Power Station. There are two units of 70 MW each (Unit no. 1 & 2) and two units of 75 MW (Unit no. 3 & 4) with a total installed capacity of 290 MW. 70 MW units are of BHEL make and 75 MW unit no. 3 is of Elecktrim Poland make & unit no. 4 is of BHEL make. Commissioning dates of unit no. 1 to 4 are 29.03.1990, 25.03.1991, 31.03.1997 & 22.10.2008 respectively. The unit no. 4 is taken under commercial operation from 20.12.2009. Major R & M of unit no. 1 & 2 is completed.
· DHUVARAN THERMAL POWER STATION
- The Dhuvaran Thermal Power Station the first Power Station of erstwhile GEB. It is located near Khambhat in Anand District. It is Oil and Gas Based Power Station. There are four units of 63.5 MW each (Unit no. 1 to 4), two units of 140 MW each. (Unit no. 5 & 6) with a total installed capacity of 534 MW. All the above units are of General Electric, USA make. Commissioning dates of unit no. 1 to 6 are 12.07.1965, 29.04.1965, 17.02.1965, 17.12.1964, 27.05.1972 and 10.09.1972 respectively. Unit no. 1 to 4 are retired from service and unit no. 5 & 6 were derated to 110 MW w. e. f. 20.04.2007 and retired from service w.e.f. 01.12.2010.
Gujarat Power Corporation Limited (GPCL)
The main objective of Gujarat Power Corporation Limited (GPCL) is to act as nodal agency for augmenting the power generating capacity in the State of Gujarat through private/joint sector participation and to identify power projects based on different fuels and prepare Techno-Economic feasibility report for such power projects.
500 MW Bhavnagar Lignite Based Power Project: The project is in advance stage of implementation.
700 (350 X 2) MW Gas Based Power Project at Pipavav : The project has been executed by GSPC Pipavav Power Company Ltd.(GPPC). The Project has been commissioned and it has been kept in preservation mode.
3 X 840 MW Pipavav Power Project-JV between TPL & GPCL : The Project execution has been started.
6 X 1000 MW Nuclear based Power Project at Bhavnagar : Government of India has approved for establishment of 6000 MW Nuclear based Power Project at Bhavnagar. Government of Gujarat has appointed GPCL as a nodal agency for development of the project.
Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation Ltd.
Power Project -Nani Chher : During the year 2015-16, the total power generation of Akrimota Thermal Power Station was 1427.42 Million Units (MUs) and generated the revenue of Rs. 257.04 crore. While, during the year 2016-17 (upto September, 2016) the total power generation of Akrimota Thermal Power Station was
687.33 Million Units (MUs) and generated the revenue of Rs. 138.59 crore.
RENEWABLE ENERGY scenario in Gujarat
- Gujarat is rich in Solar Energy, Biomass/”>Biomass and Wind Energy. It is also the leading state in terms of overall solar energy installation in India. As part of its renewable energy promotion policy, Gujarat enacted the country’s first Wind Energy policy in 1993 and become the first state with a Solar Policy in 2009. As per the Gujarat Energy Development Agency (GEDA), the state has tremendous renewable energy potential;
- The installed capacity of Solar Power Plant was 1127 MW as on 31st March, 2016.
- The installed capacity of Biomass and Small Hydro Plant was 41.2 MW and 9.6 MW as on 31st March, 2016.
Gujarat Solar Park, Charanka : Gujarat Solar Park is located in Charanka village, in Santalpur Taluka of Patan District. 345 MW Solar Project have been commissioned by 23 developers. Further another 230 MW is under implementation and will be commissioned by March, 2017, thus putting the capacity to about 575 MW. For the development and upliftment of socio-economy condition of the people residing in the nearby villages, GPCL has initiated various CSR activities in the area. GPCL has carried out mobile Medical facilities in the area and is planning to do more in future. GPCL is working with SEWA, for imparting various training to the Women of the nearby villages for their socio- Economic Development.
Tidal Based Power Project : Government of Gujarat appointed GPCL as nodal agency for implementing the first Tidal Power Project and authorized GPCL to enter into an MoU with Atlantis Resources Corporation (Atlantis) on behalf of the State Government.
-The two sites have been identified as technically feasible for the above project : (a) Gulf of Kutch near Mandvi (62.8 sq.km) and (b) Gulf of Khambhat near Hajira (37.3 sq.km).
MW Gandhinagar Grid Connected Solar Rooftop Project : 2.5 MW capacity project of Azure Sun Energy Private Limited of which 2 MW installed on 30 government buildings with total capacity of 2001.62 KW and 0.5 MW has been set up on 157 private residential buildings with total capacity of 500 KW.
2.5 MW capacity project of Ananth Solar Power Maharashtra Private Limited of which 2 MW installed on 17 government buildings with total capacity of 1681.94 KW and 0.5 MW has been set up on 113 private residential buildings with total capacity of 500 KW.
In addition to above, GPCL it self has installed 1 MW Grid Connected Rooftop Solar Project at Government buildings of Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad.
5 MW Vadodara Grid Connected Rooftop Solar Project : M/s Madhav Solar Private Limited has installed 4.6 MW on Commercial and Institutional building in Vadodara city.
1 MW Grid Connected Distributed Solar Power Pilot Project on agriculture/ Waste/ Gauchar Land : Government of Gujarat has given “in principle” approval to GPCL to setup 1 MW grid connected solar power project on agriculture land with distributed generation Consent. The purpose of the project is to examine the impact of shadow effect beneath the solar panels and try to use the agriculture land to take the crop as well as solar energy generation. Further, the agriculture work is already started in existing 10 MW Solar power project at Charanka. GPCL has already identified land for 1 MW distributed project at Gujarat Solar Park, Village Charanka, Taluka Santalpur, District Patan. It is planned to have long term experiment for agriculture activity in solar area.
700+ Ultra Mega Solar Park : Government of Gujarat and Central Government has given “In Principle” approval to set up 700+ Ultra Mega Solar Power Project (UMSPP) on waste land having area of about 1407 hectares at Village Radhaneshda, Taluka Vav, District Banaskantha. The detail project report is completed and submitted to Government of India. The application for connecting of Long Term Access (LTA) is made.
- Gujarat Energy Development Agency (GEDA)
- Self-sufficiency in energy and its availability at affordable price is the basic requirement to determine the economic and social development of a country. India with 16% Population in the world has only 1% of Energy Resources. With an import of almost 70% of petroleum products, the country faces continues challenge to match the demand -supply gap.
Gujarat State has made rapid development and hence its energy demand is very high. So the State Government has adopted a two-pronged strategy to ensure Energy Security: to generate renewable power and practicing in Energy Efficiency in all the sectors of the economy.
Wind energy is clean and safe energy that emerged as a potential source of renewable energy. As per the National Institute of Wind Energy, the estimated installable potential at 80M height is found to be over 35000 MW in Gujarat State. At the end of the March, 2016 installed capacity of wind farms in Gujarat State is of 3930.48 MW. During the year 2016-17 (till November -2016), an additional capacity of more 376.05 MW has been added. And at the end November 2016, the total wind farms installed capacity is 4306.53 MW in the state.
The State Government has announced Solar Power Policy in August-2015 allowing investors to set up Solar Power Projects in the state, and as a result installed capacity of 1139.72 MW Solar Power Projects have been commissioned as of November, 2016.
Wind Farm : During the year 2015-16, the total power generation of Wind Farm was
310.41 MUs and it earned revenue of Rs. 117.34 crore. While, during the year 201617 (upto September, 2016) the total power generation of Wind Farm was 246.82 MUs and it earned revenue of Rs. 92.90 crore.
Solar Power : Recycling the mined out land areas, GMDC has set up a very innovative and unique 5 MW Solar power project at Panandhro Lignite Mines. The total power generation of Solar power was 8.05 MUs and generated the revenue of Rs. 11.86 crore in the year 2015-16. While, during the year 2016-17 (upto September, 2016), the total power generation of Solar project was 3.61 MUs. and the revenue generated for this period is of Rs. 5.31 crore.
,
Natural Resources are materials or substances that occur naturally in the Environment and can be used for economic gain. They are essential for human survival and economic development.
There are two main types of natural resources: renewable and non-renewable. Renewable resources are those that can be replenished naturally over time, such as water, forests, and wildlife. Non-renewable resources are those that cannot be replenished naturally, such as fossil fuels and Minerals.
Natural resources are important for a number of reasons. They provide us with the materials we need to build our homes, clothes, and other products. They also provide us with energy, such as electricity and heat. And they play a vital role in the environment, helping to regulate the Climate and provide habitat for wildlife.
However, natural resources are also finite and can be depleted if we are not careful. It is important to use them wisely and to develop sustainable practices that will ensure their long-term availability.
Minerals are naturally occurring inorganic substances that have a definite chemical composition and crystal structure. They are essential for human life and are used in a wide variety of products, including construction materials, electronics, and pharmaceuticals.
The most common minerals are:
- Bauxite is the Ore of aluminum. It is used to make aluminum Metal, which is used in a variety of products, including cars, airplanes, and cans.
- Coal is a fossil fuel that is used to generate electricity and produce steel.
- Limestone is a sedimentary rock that is used in construction and to make cement.
- Manganese is a metal that is used in steelmaking and batteries.
- Gypsum is a mineral that is used to make plaster and drywall.
- Dolomite is a mineral that is used in construction and to make cement.
- Fireclay is a clay that is used to make bricks and Pottery.
- Chromite is a mineral that is used to make stainless steel.
- Iron ore is a mineral that is used to make steel.
Petroleum is a fossil fuel that is formed from the remains of ancient Plants and animals. It is used to make gasoline, diesel fuel, and other products.
Natural gas is a fossil fuel that is formed from the remains of ancient plants and animals. It is used to generate electricity and heat homes and businesses.
Water is a natural resource that is essential for life. It is used for drinking, bathing, cooking, and Irrigation.
Power resources are resources that can be used to generate electricity. The most common power resources are:
- Coal is a fossil fuel that is burned to generate electricity.
- Natural gas is a fossil fuel that is burned to generate electricity.
- Hydropower is electricity that is generated by the flow of water.
- Nuclear power is electricity that is generated by the splitting of atoms.
- Solar power is electricity that is generated by the sun.
- Wind power is electricity that is generated by the wind.
It is important to use power resources wisely and to develop sustainable practices that will ensure their long-term availability.
Q: What are the natural resources of Gujarat?
A: Gujarat is a state in western India. It is the third-largest state in India by population and the ninth-largest by area. Gujarat is a major producer of agriculture, textiles, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. The state has a number of natural resources, including coal, oil, natural gas, and minerals.
Q: What are the power resources of Gujarat?
A: Gujarat is a major producer of electricity in India. The state has a number of power plants, including coal-fired power plants, gas-fired power plants, and renewable energy power plants. Gujarat is also a major importer of electricity from other states in India.
Q: What are the challenges facing the natural resources of Gujarat?
A: The main challenges facing the natural resources of Gujarat are overexploitation, pollution, and Climate Change. Overexploitation is the use of natural resources at a rate that is faster than they can be replenished. Pollution is the contamination of the environment with harmful substances. Climate change is the long-term change in the Earth’s climate. These challenges can have a negative impact on the environment and the economy of Gujarat.
Q: What are the initiatives being taken to address the challenges facing the natural resources of Gujarat?
A: The government of Gujarat is taking a number of initiatives to address the challenges facing the natural resources of the state. These initiatives include:
- Promoting Sustainable Development
- Investing in renewable energy
- Reducing pollution
- Raising awareness about climate change
These initiatives are aimed at protecting the environment and ensuring the sustainable development of Gujarat.
Q: What are the benefits of the natural resources of Gujarat?
A: The natural resources of Gujarat provide a number of benefits to the state. These benefits include:
- EMPLOYMENT opportunities
- Economic growth
- Energy security
- Food Security
The natural resources of Gujarat are a valuable asset to the state. They provide a number of benefits that contribute to the economic and social development of Gujarat.
-
Gujarat is the largest producer of which of the following?
(A) Cotton
(B) Groundnut
(C) Sugarcane
(D) Rice -
The Narmada Dam is located in which of the following states?
(A) Gujarat
(B) Madhya Pradesh
(C) Maharashtra
(D) Rajasthan -
The Gulf of Kutch is located in which of the following states?
(A) Gujarat
(B) Maharashtra
(C) Goa
(D) Karnataka -
The Rann of Kutch is a salt marsh located in which of the following states?
(A) Gujarat
(B) Maharashtra
(C) Rajasthan
(D) Madhya Pradesh -
The Gir Forest National Park is home to which of the following animals?
(A) Asiatic lion
(B) Indian tiger
(C) Indian elephant
(D) Indian rhinoceros -
The Sabarmati River is a major river that flows through which of the following states?
(A) Gujarat
(B) Rajasthan
(C) Madhya Pradesh
(D) Maharashtra -
The Tapi River is a major river that flows through which of the following states?
(A) Gujarat
(B) Maharashtra
(C) Madhya Pradesh
(D) Chhattisgarh -
The Narmada River is a major river that flows through which of the following states?
(A) Gujarat
(B) Madhya Pradesh
(C) Maharashtra
(D) Chhattisgarh -
The Mahi River is a major river that flows through which of the following states?
(A) Gujarat
(B) Rajasthan
(C) Madhya Pradesh
(D) Maharashtra -
The Sabarmati Ashram is a historic place located in which of the following cities?
(A) Ahmedabad
(B) Vadodara
(C) Surat
(D) Rajkot