State-sector thermal plants may become victim of surplus power
The state-sector thermal plants are likely to become unintended victims of surplus power in Punjab as these units will be backed down to pave way for private sector power generation as and when the power demand in the state takes a dip.
The state-sector thermal plants are likely to become unintended victims of surplus power in Punjab as these units will be backed down to pave way for private sector power generation as and when the power demand in the state takes a dip.
It may be mentioned that the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), in its annual revenue requirement (ARR) for 2014-15 submitted to the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) has indicated that it intends to surrender 12,994 million units (MU) of surplus power amounting to Rs 1,706 crore, which was to be purchased from all sources as per different agreements.
The PSPCL, in its ARR, has not proposed any surrender of power from the state-run thermal plants at Rupnagar, Lehra Mohabbat and Bathinda. Looking at the track record of the PSPCL for the current financial year, it is the state-sector thermal plant units that were closed on 'no demand' to pave way for power purchases made by the PSPCL. The priority order for closing thermal units is the Bathinda plant followed by those at Rupnagar and Lehra Mohabbat.
Though the PSPCL has not proposed any surrender of surplus power from the state-run thermal plants in ARR, practically it may have to surrender surplus power and resort to back down of its thermal units to pave way for power generation by private sector in the state as and when power demand takes a dip.
As per the ARR, net generation at the Rupnagar thermal plant will be 8,693 MU while for the Lehra Mohabbat and Bathinda thermal plants net generation is likely to be 6,272 MU and 2,823MU, respectively. The private sector thermal plants at Talwandi Sabo, Rajpura and Goindwal Sahib will be generating 13,444 MU and the PSPCL intends to surrender 7,987 MU from the private sector thermal plants.
It may be mentioned that the first unit of the Talwandi Sabo thermal plant was synchronised with the grid on December 31 and the first unit of Rajpura thermal plant is likely to be synchronised on January 17. According to official sources, the actual generation from the private sector thermal plants in the state will be on higher side and so the power to be surrendered will touch 15,000 MU.
The PSPCL, which has been making efforts to sell surplus power to southern states, may not be able to do so as the average rate of power from Punjab would be around Rs 3.50 per unit and with wheeling charges the cost of selling power may be above Rs 4.20 per unit.
It may be mentioned that power in southern states will be available at cheaper rates from power exchanges in the next financial year as southern grid will start functioning in tandem with other grids in next few months.