Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), one of India’s leading private oil and gas producing companies, has agreed to supply gas to Delhi government’s new gas-based Bawana power plant, located to the North West of the NCR.
Although the power plant has been up and running for many months now, the 1500 MW capacity plant has been reeling under low levels of power production due to the lack of sufficient fuel to run the three turbines at the plant. At present only one of the three turbines has been producing power for supply around the capital. Being a significant contributor of power to Delhi and NCR region, the erratic production has resulted in inconsistent supply of power, causing the populace of national capital to struggle with widespread power cuts and high power costs.
With rise in Delhi’s demand for power, up from 5028 MW last year to hit a record high of 5300 MW this year, power plants including the one in Bawana have been pressured to mend their ways and run in overdrive. While at present the city gets 2400 MW from central quota, with nearly 1,000 MW being produced by Delhi’s own electricity generating stations, the figures are expected to double in the next 5 years, with total demand for power in the capital and surrounding regions likely to hit 8700 MW by 2017.
Bawana power plant requires 2.8 mmscmd(million metric standard cubic metres per day) to generate 750 MW of power, but it is currently receiving no more than 1.564 mmscmd which is just enough to produce 300 MW of power. Delhi government had allocated 0.93 mmscmd gas from Reliance’s KG-D6 fields located off the cost of Andhra Pradesh for Bawana power plant between 2009-10 and 2010-11. However, after failing to sign the gas agreement this year on time, RIL could not supply the gas to the plant any further. This had greatly impacted the gas-fed power plant which had to resort to importing re-gasified LNG from the market at nearly $15 per million British Thermal Units (BTU) as compared to the PSC-directed gas from RIL’s KG-D6 fields, which cost about $4.21 per BTU, in order to test the plant’s two non-functioning turbines of 250 MW capacity. But since the cost of producing each unit of power was turning out to be too high, the government had to revisit its previous benefactor to help the cause.
With RIL now agreeing to step in, the power plant plan is expected to encounter a significant rise in producing each unit of power, which is, by implication, anticipated to cut the power procuring costs for the people from around Rs./-6 per unit to Rs. 4.5/- each.
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