Having cleared the technical and logistics hurdles, ONGC Tripura Power (OTPC) is all set to declare its first 363.3 MW unit commercially operational. Work is still ongoing on the second unit.
OTPC is waiting for elections in three North-Eastern States to be over before taking the first unit on stream.
Poll focus
The North-East will go to the polls beginning with Tripura on February 14. This will be followed by Nagaland and Meghalaya on February 23. And, the managers of a 2,000 MW grid are averse to taking a risk on integrating the OTPC capacity at this juncture.
The reasons are understandable. In a region where 2000 MW is contributed by 15 odd power generation stations, a 363.3 MW is perceived to be a Gulliver in the land of Lilliput.
The chances are, therefore, high that the State grid may collapse if the new-generation OTPC facility, transmitting power at 400 KV, is connected. No politician will want to risk plunging the State into darkness days before an election.
Extremist forces in the region, with the related security risk, are an added factor.
The combined cycle unit, which turns viable at approximately 90-95 per cent utilisation, has thus been now put on trial mode with a load of 150-200 MW.
Blessing in disguise
The delay has actually come in handy for the project authorities to overcome another bottleneck. A small section of the crucial transmission line, up to Byrnihat in Meghalaya, was incomplete due to a legal dispute on the title holding over a piece of land required to put up one of the towers.
“It was a classic case where one claimed the compensation and another one went court claiming ownership of the land,” a source said.
Fortunately for OTPC, the Guwahati High Court last week allowed laying of the the transmission line. “We will now take another 8-10 days to complete the transmission infrastructure. And if we are not struck by any further hurdles, the first unit of the Rs 3500 crore project will run on full load by the end of this month,” the official added.