OPGC wants forest nod for a merry-go-round system to carry coal

With its coal blocks- Manoharpur and dip side of Manoharpur standing de-allocated after the recent Supreme Court order, the state owned Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC) has sought forest nod for a Merry Go Round (MGR) system to carry coal.

OPGC has urged the state government to push the Union ministry of environment & forests (MoEF) for obtaining Stage-II forest clearance for the MGR system.OPGC has cited that the MGR system is invariably needed even if the corporation seeks linked coal supplies from Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), a Coal India Ltd (CIL) subsidiary.

The state run thermal power producer operates 420 Mw capacity power station at Banharpalli near Jharsuguda. It is going for 1320 Mw (2x660) expansion at the same site on which it has already started work. Despite achieving a major breakthrough in its expansion programme in the form of securing loan assistance of Rs  8660 crore and awarding BTG (bolier turbine generator) contract valued at Rs 4051 crore to Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Bhel), the expansion continues to be mired in uncertainty with no immediate coal supplies in sight.Earlier, the state government had written to MCL to provide interim coal requirement to the tune of 16 million tonne to OPGC. But the Ministry of Coal was yet to take any decision on the linkage.

OPGC's coal requirement for expansion has been projected at four million tonne (mnt), eight mnt and four mnt in 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 respectively. The expansion plan of OPGC, a 51:49 joint venture between the Odisha government and US-based AES Corporation Ltd is being taken up at a cost of Rs 11,547 crore which also includes the cost of other components like coal block development and dedicated rail corridor.

The state utility in November 2012, tied up funding of Rs 8660 crore from Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification (REC), by executing a loan agreement with the two central PSUs. The balance funding is to be borne proportionately by the Odisha government and AES.Power equipment major Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has bagged Rs 4051 crore contract from OPGC for supply and erection of the main plant for 1320 Mw capacity expansion pursued by the thermal power producer.

The contract is for supply of the main plant consisting of boiler, turbine and generator (BTG) at an all inclusive firm price of Rs 3748.94 crore and erection of the main plant at Rs  302.06 crore.The Balance of Plant (BoP) contract valued at Rs 1573 crore was bagged by BGR Energy Systems. The contract includes supply, erection and commissioning of the BoP for OPGC's two units to be added at its Banharpalli plant near Jharsuguda.