Dabhol power generation restored

The Ratnagiri Gas & Power Pvt Ltd (RGPPL) was forced to shut down generation at the erstwhile Dabhol power project on Saturday noon due to non availability of gas. However, generation was resumed on Monday morning after it received about 1.9 million metric standard cubic metre per day (mmscmd) of gas from KG D6 and 0.2 mmscmd from ONGC. The project is currently generating 240 MW against its total capacity of 1,967 MW.

“RGPPL requires about 8.5 mmscmd gas for full operation and has been allocated 8.5 mmscmd of gas by the government of India. Of this, 7.6 mmscmd of gas was from KG D-6 Basin and 0.9 from Marginal Gasfields of ONGC (through GAIL). Against this, RGPPL is getting about 0.84 mmscmd from Reliance Industries (RIL) and 0.2 mmscmd from GAIL,” said an RGPPL spokesperson.

He added that RGPPL’s generation loss was 3,095 million units following an average gas supply of 6.3 mmscmd during 2011-12. Further, the generation loss during 2012-13 (till date) surged to a record 7,578 million units as the average gas supply dipped to 3.3 mmscmd. Currently, RGPPL supplies almost the entire power to MahaVitaran at the per unit tariff of Rs 4.80.

The company spokesman admitted that the spot R-LNG is abundantly available in open market (including RGPPL’s own LNG Terminal). “However, the cost of power generated is overpriced compared to alternative sources available in the market at current prices of spot R-LNG ($17-20 per million British thermal unit)," he said.

The RGPPL official added that during 2012-13, the company expects a plant load factor (PLF) of 30 per cent with 40 per cent annual fixed cost recovery. PLF during 2013-14 would be around 14 per cent with 19 per cent annual fixed cost recovery, according to current Central Electricity Regulatory Commission norms. “RGPPL is unlikely to meet its equity and debt servicing obligations after meeting its operating expenses from its annual revenue,” the official noted.