Oil strike impact: Six NTPC power plants run out of gas

Hit by the oil sector officers' strike, six out seven state-run NTPC plants which use two fuels (gas and naphtha) have run out of gas and are running on naphtha, with less than three days' stock.

NTPC's Gandhar power plant in Gujarat is the only one running on gas (LNG), among the seven.

Six plants burning naphtha are running on partial load so that those could be run longer.

"NTPC's six dual-fuel power plants are running on naphtha as gas is not available. However, one of these plants at Gandhar is running on gas due to LNG supply," NTPC CMD R S Sharma told PTI.

Sharma said, "Since gas is not available, we are left with no option but to run these plants on Naphtha. The available stock of naphtha can last two to three days."

An NTPC official said, "We are running dual fuel power plants on partial load so that those can be run for longer period."

NTPC has seven dual-fuel power stations at Anta (413 MW), Auraiya (652 MW), Dadri (817 MW), Faridabad (430 MW), Kawas (645 MW), Gandhar (648 MW) and Kayamkulam (350 MW), having a total installed capacity of 3,955 MW.

The estimated gas requirement to operate these plants at a 90% plant load factor is around 17.35 MMSCMD.

NTPC has a long-term agreement with Gas Authority of India for 12.93 MMSCMD of gas under the administered price mechanism category.

The oil strike has already forced stopping of natural gas supply to industries on the country's main trunk pipeline.

Officers of Oil and Natural Gas Corp stopped natural gas supply from the country's largest oil field in Mumbai offshore, forcing a shutdown of the Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur pipeline.