9 revived gas-based plants to augment power capacity

9 revived gas-based plants to augment power capacity

The Ministry of Power, on Sunday, announced revival of 9 stranded gas based power generation plants with an installed capacity of 5942 MW

The Dollar Business Bureau

Augmenting the country’s existing power capacity, the Ministry of Power, GoI, on Sunday announced that it has revived 9 stranded gas-based power plants. “Government is delighted to announce the revival of 9 stranded gas based power generation plants with an installed capacity of 5942 MW, which were successfully bid through a transparent and competitive reverse e-auction process….” “These plants would generate 6.79 billion units of electricity which will be supplied at or below Rs 4.70 per unit to the purchaser Discoms during the period from 1st April 2016 to 30th September 2016,” the Ministry said in an official release. Plants termed as preferred bidders were allocated 7.62 MMSCMD e-bid Re-gasified LNG(RLNG).  The auction that concluded on Sunday was preceded by a reverse e-bidding process on March 15, to ensure fair competition among bidders, who could participate with a Per Unit Power System Development Fund (PSDF) ceiling price of Rs.0.41/unit, due to lack of options to bid below Rs. 0.00 per unit. In view of this fact, the re-auction conducted on Sunday ended up in negative bidding (lowest bid @ Rs.0.03/ut) but ensured a savings (estimated) of around Rs.18.29 crore to the government’s Power System Development Fund (PSDF). The present auction falls under the third phase of auction, which the government is conducting under the Scheme for Utilization of Stranded Gas Based Generation Capacity. According to the data released by the Ministry, of the country’s total power capacity generated via grid connected gas is (24,150 MW), of which 14,305 MW capacity (that ideally should have been generated from 29 plants) witnessed ‘nil’ domestic gas supply. Even though all these 29 plants hold eligibility to participate in Phase-III of reverse auction, only 11 plants having a cumulative installed capacity of 6626 MW participated in the process. Since the Southern region accommodated most of the successful bidders, the generation of power from the revived plants will in all likelihood improve the southern power grid capacity and also address the constraints and challenges posed to other regions in the country that have been sharing power with the South.

March 21, 2016 | 03:10pm IST

The Dollar Business Bureau - Mar 21, 2016 12:00 IST