Gas supply shortage hits RGPPL power output

Lack of adequate gas supply to the 1,940 MW Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private Limited (RGPPL) plant has begun hitting its power generation capacity — news that does not augur well for a state that utilises nearly 90 of its produced power.

According to a member of the RGPPL board, this lack of proper gas was causing the plant to run with stranded capacity. For one, last Wednesday, the project generated just around 970 MW.

While the RGPPL needs 9 million metric standard cubic metres (MSCMD) a day for its plant, it has got linkages for 7.6 MSCMD from the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin, of which it receives 4.5 MSCMD and 0.9 MSCMD from Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), which provides it 0.3 MSCMD gas, said an energy department official.

Stating that it would be unfeasible to generate power using imported gas, as this would lead to an increase in tariffs, the RGPPL board member added it would push the current cost of around Rs3.81 per unit to around Rs7 per unit, in case the imported gas costs around $ 15 per million British thermal units (MMBTU).

To augment the lack of supply, however, GAIL, which supplies gas sourced from the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation fields at Bombay High, has decided to ramp up supply to produce an additional 300 MW in a fortnight.

Originally rated at a 2,150 MW installed capacity, the RGPPL project was revived in 2005 to take over the assets of the erstwhile Dabhol Power Company, promoted by the controversial Enron Corporation with stakeholders like the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), GAIL, Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) and financial lenders.

Located in Ratnagiri on the Konkan coastline, the RGPPL is spread over around 1,700 acres and sells around five per cent of its power to states like Goa, Daman and Diu while supplying the rest of it to Maharashtra.