In an attempt to mitigate the power crisis in the national capital, the Centre has asked state-owned gas distributor GAIL to divert some of the gas allocated to power producer NTPC to Delhi’s Bawana plant. The gas will help the plant produce another 400 MW .

Power from Bawana is expected to start flowing from Tuesday night, said Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, addressing reporters after his meeting with Delhi Government officials and electricity distribution utilities.

“Bawana has the capacity to produce 1,500 MW and it is producing 290 MW as of now,” said Goyal. “But since the Delhi grid can handle only 400 MW of additional power, that’s the amount of gas we are providing now,” he said. The Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry has already been asked for the additional gas, which will be provided by 8 pm on Tuesday, he added.

No uninterrupted power Despite this, the nation’s capital will not have 24 hours of uninterrupted power. Goyal said the “weak grid capacity could lead to more power cuts”.

He said that after discussions with the distribution utilities in Delhi, it has been decided that the scheduled time for load shedding would be put up every day at 8 am.

“There has been a spike in demand and Delhi now requires around 5,800 MW. But due to the constraints we are currently working towards getting anywhere between 5,300 MW and 5,600 MW,” Goyal said while blaming the previous Sheila Dixit-led Congress Government in Delhi for the power crisis.

The Minister has also directed BHEL to commission one unit of its Pragati gas-based plant in Delhi, which is under repair. The repair work will take six months, Goyal said.

New power lines In addition to increasing the generation capacity within Delhi, Goyal said some additional power lines are also being planned to provide respite to East Delhi.

Of the new power lines, the Dadri-Loni-Harsh Vihar line requires forest clearance and right of way from the Uttar Pradesh Government. Goyal said if the permissions are given, the lines would be up by July 7.

More transformers The Power Ministry has also approved the setting up of transformers for South Delhi and East Delhi.

“A 100 MVA transformer at Masjid Moth in South Delhi will be set up in the next 48 hours and BSES engineers have already started work,” he said. Another transformer is being set up in Mandola.

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