Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Monday, Jan 28, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Monday, Jan 28, 2002 |
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Government
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States Kondapalli power project -- Inadequate gas supply may hit expansion: Lanco chief Our Bureau
VIJAYAWADA, Jan. 27 THE 368-MW Kondapalli power project of the Lanco group near here is now operating at only 80 per cent plant load factor (PLF) for want of adequate natural gas. The proposed expansion of the project (700-MW more) too hinges on gas linkage, Mr Y. Harish Chandra Prasad, Managing Director, has said. At a meet-the-press programme organised by the Bezawada Press Club here, he said Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) was currently supplying the power plant only 1.40 million cubic metres of gas a day (MCMD) against the required 1.75 MCMD and the plant could be operated more efficiently if the Government conceded the demand of Lanco for 1.75 MCMD firm allocation. He said that in the Krishna-Godavari basin only 7.1 million cubic metres of gas a day was being produced by ONGC and the privatised Ravva offshore field now and it may be enhanced to 8.5 MCMD in a year or so, which would not be adequate even for the existing industries and power plants. "Only when Reliance and Cairns Energy, awarded offshore fields under the New Exploration and Licensing Policy, (NELP) produce gas on a large-scale at economical rates, would it be possible to set up new units or enhance the capacities of the existing ones," he said. He said that Lanco had, in fact, cautioned the Andhra Pradesh Government at the time of launching the project that naphtha would be too costly a fuel for power generation, but the latter had insisted on it and as a result, the project cost had gone up by Rs 100 crore. Later, naphtha was found unsuitable and the plant had to be converted to make use of natural gas. "GAIL laid a pipeline from East Godavari to the plant site in a record time of five months and started supply of gas," he said. He said Lanco was into non-conventional power generation too and it sought to create a capacity of 100 MW. It had set up a 6-MW biomass plant at Sri Kalahasti and a 12-MW biomass plant would be set up at Ongole too. The company had submitted bids for mini-hydel plants in Himachal Pradesh and was considering setting up coal-based power plants in Chhattisgarh. Mr Prasad felt that the proposed LNG terminal at Kakinada port was too ambitious a project in the present circumstances. He was critical of the power policies of the Union Government and different States. "Privatisation has not made much headway during the past decade in the power sector because there are too many hurdles. In fact, to set up the plant, Lanco had to seek no less than 150 approvals," he said, making a plea for corporate governance in Aptransco and Genco. "Otherwise, they would again be reduced to the state of the former electricity board. Renaming is not reforming. Reforms should be brought about in letter and spirit."
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