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| NTPC to take over Jharkhand PTPS plant |
The power ministry has laced with sweeteners its offer to let Central generation utility NTPC take over Jharkhand State Electricity Board's coal-fired power station at Patratu for turning it around. Power secretary Anil Razdan has informed the state chief secretary that the Central utility will also set up state-of-the-art generators and provide power to villages in the plant's vicinity besides taking up distribution in Ranchi.
According to the proposal, NTPC will use the land available at the power plant to set up units of 660-800 mw capacity, while at the same time renovate the existing 110 mw generators to improve efficiency and ensure they are good for the next 10 years or so. The new generators will be less-polluting than the existing machinery and will run longer before needing maintenance shut-downs. NTPC is also willing to take over the distribution licence for Ranchi. Not just that, it also promises to supply electricity in villages within a radius of 10 km of the Patratu plant through the Centre's Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana.
All these will come with the added benefit of community development programmes and relief and rehab to be carried out by the Central utility. The biggest gain for the state is the power that will be available once the plant's generation improves and the additional electricity from the expanded capacity. The Patratu plant's performance during the last 7-8 years has been dismal.
Central records show that the plant's efficiency has declined from 20.7% in 2000-2001 to a meagre 9.12% in 2006-2007. This means the plant has been producing power at just 9% of its rated capacity of 840 mw.
This becomes negative generation if one considers the fact that all this while the plant's auxiliary power consumption has varied between 13% and 22%. In net term then, the plant has been consuming more power than it has been producing.
NTPC has a remarkable track record of turning around old power plants doddering on the brink of blowing their fuse permanently. It has turned around and expanded units such as Unchahar and Tanda in UP, Talcher in Orissa and Badarpur in Delhi. It is also working on the Kanti plant in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NTPC_to_take_over_Jharkhand_plant/articleshow/2896404.cms |
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