Gridco plans to buy 500 MW from CPPs

To ensure uninterrupted supply of power to the consumers and tide over any possible shortage of power in the state over the next four months, Grid Corporation of Orissa Limited (Gridco) plans to purchase about 400-500 MW of surplus power from the captive power plants (CPPs).

Last month, the Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) had directed Gridco, the bulk supplier of power in the state, to refrain from load shedding except for technical reasons. The Commission had asked Gridco to meet the increasing load requirement of the power distribution companies in the state by sourcing power from the CPPs at a negotiated price.

Gridco was aiming to buy 400-500 MW of power from the CPPs to meet any possible deficit in power and it had sought OERC’s permission for the same, said a senior official of OERC.

“OERC has completed the process of hearing on Gridco’s application pertaining to the purchase of power from the CPPs and a decision on fixation of price is expected to be taken by the commission within a few days”, he added.

AC Mallik, director (commercial) said, Gridco is aiming to buy power from the CPPs but as such we haven’t fixed decided on the quantum of power that we are going to purchase.

On February 25, Gridco had entered into a MoU (memorandum of understanding) with Power Trading Corporation (PTC) for supply of 150 MW of power per day from February 26 to March 31. Power would be sourced from New Delhi Power Limited through the power banking system while PTC would act as the executing agency.

Under the power banking system, the Orissa government will give back the power supplied by NDPL in September-October 2009 when hydro power generation in the state is expected to pick up.

The current peak power requirement of power in the state is 2,800-3,000 MW while the non-peak demand stands at around 2,500 MW.

Meanwhile, the Orissa Power Transmission Corporation Limited (OPTCL), the state’s transmission utility is in the process of conducting annual maintenance of feeder lines and checking of the various sub-stations. This process of annual maintenance is expected to be completed by the end of March this year.