RINL signs power purchase pact with PTC India

Faced with power crisis, state-run Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) has entered into an agreement with trading firm PTC India for purchase of 25 MW electricity to tide over the perennial problem.

"To tide over the power crisis due to restrictions being imposed from time to time by the state grid, RINL has entered into an agreement with PTC India for purchase of power from IEX through open access," RINL has informed the Steel Ministry.

The PSU is under the administrative control of the ministry.

Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) is a power trading platform in which PTC India is among the leading promoters.

The company has started buying 25 MW power from the platform with effect from May 14 this year, RINL said.

However, it added that power from PTC India would be bought as and when power was available below the import cost from the state grid.

Insufficient power supply has been a continuous problem for Vizag-based RINL, which requires up to 280 MW power to run its 2.9 million tonne per annum (mtpa) steel-making facility in Andhra Pradesh at full capacity.

Of the total requirement, RINL generates around 250 MW of power from its captive plants and for the remaining it has to depend on the state grid.

However, the state grid restricted the supply for one day a week since the first week of March. This has been hampering production of the company. In May alone, it had caused 20,000 tonnes of output loss for the state-run steel maker.

"The system of purchase from PTC India would be gradually leveraged to the advantage of the company as and when traded price is lower than the import price," RINL said.

RINL's power requirement will go up significantly with the capacity expanding to 6.3 million tonnes which is likely to be commissioned before the end of the year. Its present capacity is 2.9 million tonnes.