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| Edited By: Neeraj Thakur |Source: DNA |Updated: Mar 18, 2018, 05:14 AM IST
As the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17) kicks off, there’s bad news for the power sector.
Due to declining natural gas production from the Reliance Industries operated D6 block in the Krishna Godavari Basin, the ministry of power has asked NTPC not to plan any gas-based power projects in the next five years.
Ergo, NTPC, which had earlier plans to expand its gas based power capacity to 8000 mw, has stopped thinking in that direction.
“There is no gas for the new power plants in the country. The ministry of power told us not to go for gas based capacity addition, as there is uncertainty about the availability of gas. So we have decided not to invest in our gas based power plants”, said Arup Roy Choudhury, CMD , NTPC.
Currently, NTPC produces 3,995 mw through its gas-based power plants (Anta 413 mw, Auriya 652 mw, Kawas 645 mw, Dadri 817 mw, Jhanor-Gandhar 648 mw, Kayamkulam 350 mw and Faridabad 430 mw).
NTPC’s current installed capacity stands at 36,014 mw, with coal-fired plants alone accounting for 28,195 mw.
For the 12th Five-Year Plan, NTPC would be looking at a capital expenditure of Rs215,000 crore.
NTPC expects to have a total generation capacity of over 128,000 mw by 2032.
The company had plans of adding 2,500 mw per year during the 12th Plan, which included gas based capacity also. With the power ministry saying no to gas-based power plants in future, the company will have to rework its strategy to meet its target for the 12th Plan.
The gas production from the KG basin is likely to come down further from about 35 mmscmd to 27 mmscmd in 2012-13.
Meanwhile, the power ministry on Thursday announced that it will finally add 54,000 mw during the 11th Plan, which ends on March 31.
“We have so far added 53,922 mw capacity in the 11th Plan as on March 29,” said Sushilkumar Shinde, Union minister of power. The capacity addition in the 11th Plan is 12% less than the revised target of 62,000 mw. However, it is a great leap forward compared to the capacity addition of 21,000 mw during the 10th Plan.
Currently, the country’s installed power generation capacity is 192,792 mw.
The capacity addition target for the 12the Five-Year Plan (2012-17) is about 76,000 mw.
