The Hindu Business Line : Kayamkulam plant stays shut for want of buyers

THE Kayamkulam thermal plant of the National Thermal Power Corporation remains shut for two months now as there are no takers for the power generated by it.

The Tamil Nadu and Punjab electricity boards were lifting power from the station till June 30 and following the onset of monsoon, both stopped it, citing availability of power at comparatively lower rates. With the sharp rise in naphtha prices to around Rs 28,000 a tonne, cost of power generation at the 350-MW Kayamkulam plant has risen to around Rs 5.50 a unit, they said.

Ever since Kerala stopped taking its share following availability of cheap hydel power from within the State, it was being supplied to Punjab under a trading arrangement between the two States.

Last year, NTPC had to shut down the plant for eight months for want of buyers. This year "we don't know how long it is going to remain closed. Anyway, we are keeping the plant ready to operate as and when the demand comes," an NTPC official said. The maintenance cost is, however, covered by the fixed cost paid by the KSEB and the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board.

For Kerala, the southwest monsoon has been good this year also. If the trend continued with a normal northeast monsoon, the water storage in the hydel projects would be adequate to generate 6,500 - 7,000 MUs a year. The current annual demand is estimated at 13,000 MUs. By drawing power from the central grid, the entire demand could thus be met without going for power from thermal stations, a KSEB source said.

Last year, the KSEB managed to meet the power requirement without drawing it from the thermal stations of NTPC at Kayamkulam and BSES near here.

Similarly, this year also the Board is optimistic that it could manage with hydel power within the State through effective water management and the share from the central grid, the KSEB official said. The thermal power generated by NTPC at Kayamkulam would be attractive only after it has switched over to using gas as fuel, he added.

The Corporation has included expansion of this plant by 1,950 MW in the Eleventh Plan by changing to gas. It is already in the process of finding suppliers of gas, the NTPC source said. As per the policy of the Government, it might not go for an independent LNG terminal but could source LNG through the GAIL after importing it and re-gasifying at the proposed Petronet LNG terminal, which is likely to be commissioned here by 2009.

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