Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Nov 2: The state government, in all likelihood, is going to face power crunch from November second week.
As no procurement of power from captive power plants (CPPs) has taken place so far, sources in the Energy department said state-run Grid Corporation of Orissa (GRIDCO) which is entrusted with the task of bulk sale and purchase, has written to 24 CPPs in September to procure power in a bid to meet power shortage.
However, there has been a tussle between the state government and the CPPs over the rate of the power units at which the state intends to procure power.
As per existing norms of the Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC), Gridco can procure electricity from CPPs at Rs 2.75 per unit. However, the CPPs are demanding Rs 3.20 per unit, sources said.
If the state procures power at Rs 2.75 per unit it will have to bear an additional expenditure of over Rs 300crore till June 2016. On the other hand, the cost of power per unit at Rs 3.20 would cause a fiscal burden of Rs 400crore on the state.
The Confederation of Captive Power Plants, Orissa (CCPPO), meanwhile, has stated that it will not be able to sell power to state at Rs 2.75 per unit as it would result in losses for large captive generation plants due to rise in coal price.
“It would be difficult to sell power to the state at the existing rate of Rs 2.75,” said CCPPO secretary Sidharth Kumar Panda. Gridco has not procured any power from CPPs for the past eight months and is yet to clear dues to CPPs for power it has procured since 2010, he added.
Meanwhile, GRIDCO is awaiting the OERC nod for power procurement from CPPs. Sources said, Gridco has approached OERC to procure power at Rs 3.20 per unit. However, if the proposal is approved the burden from such purchase will ultimately be passed on to the consumer.
Consequently, a power crunch in the state is inevitable.
Orissa, which was a power surplus state for several years, is currently facing shortage of 450 mw to 550 mw each day due to this year’s deficient rainfall.
While the state’s electricity requirement remains at 3500 mw during peak hours the demand goes up to 4000mw and above resulting in a shortfall of 500mw. The situation could get worse if power is not procured or generated on time.
Energy department sources informed this paper that a review meeting on the power requirement may be held by November 10.
When asked about the power crisis after November 7, Gridco director (Commercial) PK Pradhan said, “We have seven days at our disposal and Gridco is also looking for alternative routes.”
Sources said the state government is also trying to procure power from states like Delhi and West Bengal.