No gas for Kerala's power projects
The Centre has no gas to supply to Kerala’s power plants and the state government has to wait, the Lok Sabha was informed.
Kerala has sought allocation of gas for its two new gas-based power plants and for expansion of one of the existing combined cycle gas turbine facilities.
Due to uncertainty in availability of domestic gas in the country, the power ministry and Central Electricity Authority had issued an advisory not to plan any new gas-based plant till 2015-16. Jyotiraditya M Scindia, minister of state (independent charge), informed the Lok Sabha that, therefore, new projects could not be allocated gas so far.
The two projects by the Kerala government are: 1,026-Mw Brahmapuram combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) project in Ernakulam district to be executed by the Kerala State Electricity Board and 1,200-Mw Cheemeni CCGT to be executed by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC). In addition, it has submitted an application for expansion of the 1,050 Mw Kayamkulam CCGT by NTPC Ltd.
The ministry said if the state government decides to set up these plants based on re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG), it had to adopt necessary measures to protect the consumers from volatile and high-cost of electricity. RLNG plants are likely to have a fluctuating fare since it was linked with the crude oil price in the international market.
The Kerala government has also accorded approval for a 1,100-1,200 Mw RLNG power project at Cheemeni in Kasaragod district, to be executed by the private sector. The proposal was put forward during the investor summit, Emerging Kerala 2012, held in September. However, according to reports, the government changed the feedstock to natural gas and approved the project in November.