Interview Prep. - For People Working in Power Sector

W2W

@W2W wow you have so many questions for grilling others.. thanks for that....

but some questions are very tough..if you can give few lines for tougher questions, it will be helpful for us too...TIA

I will do that buddy.. What I am planning to do is to make a "condensed" list of all possible questions under three major heads : Technical, General (like legal ones, social, etc.), Current Affairs related.

All the questions that we have above (and the ones which will be following till we get exhausted of all questions) will be listed together under these three heads. And then we will answer all these.

W2W

@ISIS_mujahid this is a very tough question. Do they ask such type?

@asg Probably it is tough, but it is indeed a probable question. It may not be the first question they will throw, but a likely question in case the interview takes following turn:

Power Plants -> Environmental Impact -> Need to construct them away from cities -> Most greenfield ones coming up in remote areas -> Oppositions from locals/tribals who have their own apprehensions when such a mega project comes to their doorsteps -> maoist angle.

Ziel

A 2011 interview transcript.

1. You are an electrical engineer. Are we self sufficient in power generation? Give figures.

Our present power generation capacity is 1.7 lakhs. As of 2010-11 we have a deficit of 11% Sir (Oops! I immediately apologized with a childlike smile. She didn't seem to have heard the word or didn't mind me having said it. She asked, 1.7 lakh what? I replied "MegaWatts" affirmatively).

2. What are the percentage of different types of power generated to the overall power profile of India?

Ma'am, (confidently) the thermal power generation contribution is 65%. The hydel power contributes 25%. The nuclear power contributes roughly 3 %. Biomass 2-3 %. Wind energy has an installed capacity around 10,000 MW amounting to about 5 % and we have a minute contributions from solar energy. We have targeted an installed capacity of 1000 MW in solar power recently. (I hope I gave the correct figures. I kept smiling nonetheless).

3. Has India met the targets it had set for power generation earlier? If not, then why did it set such targets in the first place?

Ma'am, India has not met the targets it had set in terms of power generation. But (confidently with optimism) that is because we set targets optimistically so that even if we are not able to achieve them, we can continue to strive for betterment. The targets have not been met because of many reasons like losses, pilferage, theft, leakage etc.

4. What are the losses in power sector at the instant they reach the consumer?

Ma'am, India's transmission & distribution losses by the time power reaches the customer, consumer are of the tune of 30%. They are the highest in the world. I am not sure of the exact breakup between transmission losses & distribution losses. There are other problems of illegal tapping & theft too.

5. What are the projections for the power sector in India by 2020?

Ma'am, India's power demand is growing rapidly. In view of this, the Prime Minister in 2008 launched NAPCC which has 8 Missions ranging from Solar Energy, Energy Efficiency to many other areas. The targets for Nuclear Energy by 2020 are 20,000 MW. I know the targets for other power generation avenues for 2030, which can be retracted for 2020. For Solar Energy we have targeted 20,000 MW. For Renewable Energy especially Biomass we have targeted 62,000 MW. For Coal, Gas and Oil we have targeted 80,000 MW (I wasn't sure of this figure but didn't let it show). For Hydel Power we have targeted 84,000 MW. We are also targeting an increase in energy efficiency by 20% in the NAPCC. (I stopped. She nodded affirmatively. I may have given 1 or 2 figures a touch incorrect)

6. What are the provisions of the recent Act regarding to SEBs (she didn't mention its complete form ie State Electricity Boards) operations?

Ma'am, these provisions were a part of the Electricity Act 2003. It states to deconstruct the SEBs into Coordination joints and use the private sector capacity for resource mobilization & efficiency. It also mentions to setup State Electricity Regulation Commissions with appropriate Appellate Authorities.(I tried to recall further. The "thinking look" on my face prompted her to look at the Chairperson while I was still think about further clauses. He took over.)

TheFifthHorseman

@khajoor Bhai, I am also an electrical engineer too but have never worked in power sector. Thanks for the questions . Can you please provide the link for this interview transcript?
@aamengineer bhai, what type of questions can they ask in interview? like do they go too deep into technical aspects for eg. how motor works? etc etc or is the focus on the practical and application sides. Other than power what are the other fields pertaining to electrical engg on which questions can be asked?

W2W

^^ Please do not discuss motors and electrical engineering here. Please stick to the purpose of this thread.

TheFifthHorseman

@W2W sorry W2W ji. is there any electrical thread on the forum you are aware of? And are you an electrical engineer, if I may ask? I mean you must then also be revising some other concepts too of electrical? Just a query.

W2W

^^ I guess @khajoor ji and @aamengineer ji will be able to help here brother.. Sorry for being a lil curt, but I don't want this thread to discuss star-delta connections..

Meanwhile @khajoor , thanks a lot dear for posting these transcripts here.. As @the_retarded_human ji asked, please share the links for interview transcripts (which I guess may be available under Interview prep section).. But it will be helpful to us if you could tell from where to find these yearwise transcripts.. Are we having some good transcripts on websites other than ForumIAS too ?

aamengineer

Kshitij tyagi rank 148/2011:
It was PK Mishra Sir's Board.
My background - B.Tech, Mechanical Engineering, M.Tech - Thermal Energy and Environmental Engineering
PKM - Ok tell me, What is Bernoulli's Theorem?
I fumbled a bit but in the end the words started coming out smoothly – Sir, Bernoulli’s theorem uses conservation of kinetic, potential and pressure heads of energy across an airfoil/object placed in a fluid flow. Using this equation we can calculate the lift and drag experienced by the airfoil. This is one of the applications of BT.
PKM - Ok, so you mean it has to do with conservation of energy (duh!)
Yes Sir
PKM - Ok Kshitij, so what is "new" in new and renewable energy?
Sir, the word new is used to differentiate it from traditional renewable energy which also has hydropower plants above 25 MW in its ambit. We on the other hand deal with hydropower projects below 25 MW and other sources of renewable energy such as solar, wind, etc.
M2 - Why has solar energy not picked up in India and Africa in all these years?
This was my territory – talked about the challenges we faced before National solar mission was initiated and how these challenges are universal when it comes to solar power (PKM nodded and repeated what I was saying), and how we’re now progressing exceedingly well after having overcome them. I concluded by saying that the future for solar is very bright (M2 smiled. I am sure he got the pun J)
M2 - What is the money required for setting up solar plants?
Answered
M2 - What is the area requirement for setting up solar plants?
Answered
M4 - Which states have a high wind power potential?
My territory again
M4 - What are the problems faced while connecting wind power to grid?
Answered
M4 - Why are solar pumps not being used for pumping underground water in rural areas?
I had quite a discussion with him on this. He wanted to prove a point about solar pumps having not made sufficient inroads in rural areas. I sensed this and yielded, more so because I wasn’t too sure. Both of us smiled.
M4 - What are the efficiencies of solar plants and how do you envisage the future scenario to be?
My territory again

aamengineer

Tripti Bhatt/ work ex in NTPC :

so you are from NTPC. You must have heard about the project at lahori nagpala. (it was a hydro project near
uttarkashi which had to be scraped off. I was relaxed and releived as he asked question on my comfortable
and strong territory)
why did you abandon the project? It is not a good thing to do. Ntpc should not have abandoned it. What do
you think?
Sir NTPC never wanted to scrape off the project in fact we had a loss of 400 crore rupees in that venture but
there were objections from environmental activists. All infrastructural projects, especially hydro power, have
long gestation periods and if there are delays it increases the project cost exponentially. We have to face
various delays due to clearances then protests and political pressures came into play so it would not have
been economically viable in the long run.
But why do you need to go to hydro? Along with NTPC there are projects of NHPC and THDC already going on in uttarakhand. They are dedicatedly in hydro. Whats the need of NTPC then?
Sir its not a one time measure but a business philosophy. We are undergoing diversification not only to hydro but to wind, to solar, to geothermal, there is recently a site identified in jharkhand for that. As an integrated power major we are going into power trading as well. We are taking technological enhancements, like supercritical technology, to reduce greenhouse gases and our carbon footprint. There are stricter norm now,carbon credit and all.. so we are expanding to renewables. And our coal reserves are limited so one annot remain in perpetual existence with a limited resource as the backbone.
How do you ensure that coal theft doesnt occur on way
sir we have MGR trains that transport coal.. so an engineer is seated at the front coach and one engineer at
the end. (at this they started smiling/laughing. I could not understand why. I continued speaking) and they
are accompanied by CISF people also. ( later i realised probably they were smiling coz my answer sounded
as if engineers are the protector and cisf formality )
Another member intervenes
do you import coal?
Yes sir but its only for blending purpose since indian coal is....
Blending is ok. From where do you import?
Sir we import from indonesia and australia. Our annual requirement is of 160 million metric tonne coal out of
which we import about 16-17 mmt which roughly translates into 10% of our requirement.
(answering this question i was just looking at the member who asked it and probably it appeared that i can
talk for another one hour on coal import. He gave me a hint to look at the member whos turn it was :P i
sensed it, stopped the answer and started looking at the person who was asking originally)
we have very limited reserves of coal. so what is the situation of your coal stocks?
Sir i will give you a very practical example. We have a plant at dadri. There are supposed to be eight trains
of coal everyday and if two of them are reduced our plant plf drops. GM starts running here and there. (yes i
said exactly this.. after displaying good choice of words throughout the interview this was the phrase i used
for our gm :P ) This is the scene at NCR plant. Earlier we used to have stockpiles of 20 to 25 days in huge
stackyards but now there are lot of supply constraints.

aamengineer

@khajoor Bhai, I am also an electrical engineer too but have never worked in power sector. Thanks for the questions . Can you please provide the link for this interview transcript?
@aamengineer bhai, what type of questions can they ask in interview? like do they go too deep into technical aspects for eg. how motor works? etc etc or is the focus on the practical and application sides. Other than power what are the other fields pertaining to electrical engg on which questions can be asked?

pls post here... http://forumias.com/discussion/1189/csm-electrical-engineering-as-optional#Item_1222