Renewable and Non-renewable Energy Resources: Planning and Management

What the official syllabus says

UPPCS Main Examination, General Studies VI.

Planning and management of renewable and non-renewable energy resources of UP.

Topics in detail

Energy in UP is mostly coal-based power, with a growing share of solar and bio-energy. Learn the sources one by one, the institutions that plan and manage them, and the policies that aim to change the mix.

Non-renewable resources

• Coal: the Singrauli coalfield on the border of UP and Madhya Pradesh and the coal-based power plants of Sonbhadra
• Thermal power stations: Anpara, Obra, Rihand, Singrauli (Shaktinagar), Parichha (Jhansi), Harduaganj (Aligarh), Panki (Kanpur), Tanda (Ambedkar Nagar), Unchahar (Rae Bareli), Dadri (Gautam Buddha Nagar), Meja (Prayagraj), Ghatampur (Kanpur Nagar), Lalitpur and others
• Natural gas: the HBJ (Hazira-Bijaipur-Jagdishpur) pipeline, gas-based plants at Auraiya and Dadri, city gas distribution and piped natural gas
• Petroleum: the Mathura refinery and the use of petroleum products in transport and farming
• Nuclear power: Narora Atomic Power Station (Bulandshahr)
• Problems of coal-based power: pollution, fly ash, water use, coal transport

Renewable resources

• Hydropower: Rihand (Pipri, Sonbhadra), Obra, Matatila (Betwa) and small hydro on canals; limited scope in the plains
• Solar energy: high solar potential in Bundelkhand, solar parks, rooftop solar, solar pumps for farmers (PM-KUSUM), the state's solar energy policy
• Ayodhya being developed as a model solar city
• Bio-energy: bagasse cogeneration in sugar mills, compressed biogas, biomass pellets, ethanol from molasses and grain; the state's bio-energy policy
• Waste-to-energy from municipal solid waste
• Wind: low potential in UP
• Green hydrogen and energy storage as new areas of policy

Planning and management

• Institutions: Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL), UP Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam (generation), UP Jal Vidyut Nigam (hydro), UP Power Transmission Corporation, and the distribution companies (Purvanchal, Madhyanchal, Paschimanchal, Dakshinanchal and KESCo)
• Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA)
• Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC): tariffs and regulation
• Unbundling of the old State Electricity Board in 2000 and the reasons for it
• Demand forecasting, capacity addition and purchase of power from central stations
• Renewable purchase obligations and the energy transition
• Energy efficiency: LED lighting (UJALA), energy conservation building codes, efficient pumps
• Losses of distribution companies: aggregate technical and commercial (AT and C) losses, metering, smart meters, theft, subsidies and financial restructuring schemes
• Rural electrification and the supply of power to agriculture

Demand, access and energy security

• Pattern of electricity use: domestic, agricultural, industrial and commercial consumers
• Peak demand in summer and the role of power purchase and the national grid
• Base load and peak load; why solar needs storage (batteries, pumped storage) or other sources at night
• Clean cooking: LPG connections under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, biogas plants
• Energy security: dependence on coal from outside the state, diversifying the energy mix
• Environmental side of energy planning: emissions, ash ponds, water use, land for solar parks

Overlaps

Power plants, transmission and the industrial use of power are also on Power Resources, Infrastructure and Industrial Development. Energy infrastructure for India is in General Studies III.