Gas-based power plants in Andhra Pradesh will get additional supply of the fuel from Sunday, paving the way for additional generation of about 250 MW over the next couple of months.
This is a short term arrangement of 1.1 mmscmd (million metric standard cubic meters a day), which will enable the State to supply power to small scale industries, which now face two-day power holiday.
This arrangement follows a gas swap deal entered into by Reliance Industries Ltd and GAIL through a swap deal of Re-liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) with natural gas. This will be fed into the grid pipeline in Andhra Pradesh for supply to the gas-starved plants.
Mr Ajay Jain, Chairman and Managing Director of AP Transco, said that the cost of gas works out to about $22 mmbtu (million metric British thermal units) as against the $5 mmbtu for natural gas that plants are paying for gas from the KG Basin fields. “This move could mean additional burden of about Rs 800 crore but was felt necessary to help industries,” he said.
Of the 2,700 MW installed capacity of gas plants, which require 13 mmscmd to run at full capacity, the allocation is for 7 mmscmd. There are indications that this would go down to 5.5 mmscmd, leading to generation of less than 45 per cent of the installed capacity — 1200 MW as against 1500 MW in operation now.
PIPELINE PROJECT
Nearly 2,000 MW capacity is ready under expansion projects, including that of Reliance Power, GMR and Lanco. In additional, another 2,000 MW is at advanced stage of development. All these projects are faced with bleak prospects. There is no way these projects can get gas in the near future, he said.
“While the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) is looking into this, it is to be seen whether some gas would be diverted for gas plants. However, there is no clarity on this as yet,” he said.