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Showing posts with label dabhol power plant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dabhol power plant. Show all posts

Thursday, 8 October 2015

05:22

Indian Railway approach CERC for Open Access in Inter-State Transmission and Connectivity

Indian Railway approach CERC for Open Access in Inter-State Transmission and Connectivity

IR Electrification Map 2014New Delhi: The Indian Railways, which will soon enter into a long-term power purchase agreement for 500 Mw power from Dabhol project, has approached the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) with a plea to grant connectivity, long- and medium-term open access in inter-state transmission. The petition comes close on the heels of the board of Ratnagiri Gas & Power (RGPPL)’s approval last week to split the project into two entities — one for gas-based electricity and the other for liquefied natural gas re-gasification terminal. The company expects to restart the power generation from 1st November, 2015. Indian Railways’ plea is also crucial as it is a deemed licencee for transmission and distribution of electricity and Section 14 of the Electricity Act, 2003 provides that the appropriate government will be a deemed licencee to transmit or distribute electricity or undertake trading in electricity. The same provision envisages that deemed licencees need not take licence for the purpose.

Further, Indian Railways has submitted it was comfortable being treated as part of the state entity. It had filed its petition after the power purchase agreement was entered between the Central Railway and Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam for supply of 100 Mw of electricity at Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation (GETCO) periphery (inter-connection point between GETCO, state transmission utility (STU) and central transmission utility system of western region. According to the arrangement, the transmission system of PowerGrid Corporation of India will be available from such point to the periphery of the STU of the state where the electricity purchased is to be conveyed to Indian Railways’ network.
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Monday, 13 July 2015

09:48

Indian Railways may source power from Dabhol Power Plant

Indian Railways may source power from Dabhol Power Plant

The proposal is part of railways’ plan to slash its electricity purchase cost to less than Rs.5 per unit from the present average of around Rs.7 per unit

New Delhi: The Indian Railways plans to buy electricity from the Dabhol plant, offering a lifeline to the 1,967 megawatt (MW) power project now owned by Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt. Ltd. The national transporter will, in turn, benefit from lower tariffs.

The proposal to source 500MW from the Maharashtra-based project atRs.4.70 per unit is part of the railways’ plan to slash its electricity purchase cost to less than Rs.5 per unit from the present average of around Rs.7 per unit. “Railways is a remunerative customer for the utilities. It wants to contain its electricity costs. One of the plans being discussed is to supply 500MW from Dabhol at Rs.4.70 per unit,” said a government official, requesting anonymity.

Ratnagiri Gas has lurched from one crisis to another, including high debt and shortage of gas, since the power plant was commissioned in March 2010 after the government took over the assets of Dabhol Power Co., a unit of the now bankrupt US energy firm Enron Corp.  Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. Ltd’s refusal to buy power generated by Ratnagiri is one of the many setbacks faced by the firm. The railways power purchase proposal, if approved, is likely to help revive the firm, which is teetering on the brink of collapse. “The proposal makes sense. It is a win-win for both,” said Sambitosh Mohapatra, partner (power and utilities) at consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers in India.

This comes at a time when Ratnagiri Gas has been selected for receiving a subsidy as part of the government’s revival package for stranded gas-based power projects and those getting low quantities of gas from domestic fields. Under the plan, the stranded projects and their lenders will be able to import liquefied natural gas and cash-strapped state power distribution companies will be financially supported to buy electricity from them.

The railways is leveraging its position as the largest consumer of power in the country to bring down its electricity costs. The national transporter needs about 12 billion units of electricity a year, with consumption growing an average 5% per year. Its power bill is estimated at Rs.11,000 crore for the current fiscal.

NTPC Ltd and GAIL (India) Ltd own 28.91% each in Ratnagiri Gas, the Maharashtra government has a 15.33% stake and the rest is owned by banks and financial institutions, including IDBI Bank Ltd, State Bank of India,ICICI Bank Ltd and Canara Bank.

An NTPC spokesperson confirmed the development. In an emailed response on Thursday, the spokesperson said, “PPA (power purchase agreement) with Railways is expected to be approved in a weeks’ time… waiver of State Transmission Charges (STU) and cross subsidy are being considered for resolution by Govt. of Maharashtra.”

Lenders are looking to revive the Dabhol project and ensure it doesn’t become a bad loan on their books. NTPC had earlier warned its parent, the power ministry, that its investment in Ratnagiri Gas might have to be written off—a significant loss of money and face.

Queries emailed to spokespersons for the power ministry and the Indian Railways remained unanswered till press time.

The railways plans to reduce electricity bills by nearly a third by seeking competitive bids from power producers, sourcing from electricity exchanges and reaching bilateral arrangements. This plan was articulated in this year’s railway budget.

“Although a bulk consumer, railways pays extremely high charges for traction power,” railway minister Suresh Prabhu said in his budget speech. “It is proposed to procure power through the bidding process at economical tariff from generating companies, power exchanges and bilateral arrangements. This initiative is likely to result in substantial savings of at least Rs.3,000 crore in next few years.”
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