R-Infra invites bid for 50 MW power

Reliance Infrastructure (R-Infra), formerly REL, which distributes power in Mumbai suburbs, has invited bids from power generation companies for supplying 50 MW as part of its strategy to reduce dependence on short-term or spot buys to meet the demand-supply gap.

Purchase of power through long-term contracts will also bring substantial savings to the company and its consumers.

R-Infra has a dedicated coal-based generation capacity of 500 MW at Dahanu near Mumbai. Currently, the power utility is facing a shortfall of around 350-400 MW, which is fulfiled through spot purchases or short-term contracts.

However, these short-term and spot buys are costly, ranging Rs 7.50-13 per unit.

Earlier, the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST), which is a power utility in the island city, and Tata Power Co (TPC) had signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for 800 MW, leaving only around 533 MW of TPC’s generation capacity for R-Infra.

R-Infra used to get around 760 MW from Tata Power. This has put R-Infra in a difficult situation. On the one hand, it has to meet a regular shortage of 150-200 MW, but also to source additional power to ensure Mumbai doesn’t have to face power cuts, increasing its dependence on short-term and spot buys.