New Delhi, Feb 17

Fearing power outages during the summer, Rajasthan has floated a tender for purchasing 1000 megawatt (MW) round-the-clock power for the short term through a tariff-based competitive bidding process for the March-August 2022 period. The move is to prepare for the peak summer season demand.

Rajasthan Urja Vikas Nigam (RUVNL) floated a request for proposal (RFP) inviting bids from interested applicants for procurement of power for the short term through the tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) process. RUVNL floated the tender on behalf of the state government discoms of Jaipur, Jodhpur and Ajmer. The last date for submitting bids is February 23, 2022 and the non-financial technical bids will be opened on the same day, a notification said.

The tender assumes importance as the Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has repeatedly raised the issue of coal shortage with Congress President Sonia Gandhi as the mines supplying coal to generation companies in the desert state are located in another Congress-run state, Chhattisgarh. Gehlot warned that non-availability of coal could lead to power outages in the state, a situation similar to September-October 2021 when parts of Rajasthan were hit with power cuts. The latest letter was written to the Congress chief on February 10.

The Chief Minister explained that non-availability of coal could force the state to buy power or coal from outside at higher cost. Rajasthan, which has one of the highest power tariffs, might have to face public anger, which would also have political implications for the state government. In November last year, Rajasthan raised power tariffs by 33 paise for a period of three months.

Rajasthan has a total installed power capacity of 31,047 megawatt (MW), of which 11,599 MW is coal-based, renewable energy (14,546 MW), hydro (1939 MW), lignite (1,580 MW) and gas-based (824 MW).

The state is already struggling with shortage of coal amid rising power tariffs on electricity exchanges ahead of the summer season . The main reason behind the issue is coal shortage.

Delays in getting the requisite approvals for the second phase of coal mining from the Chhattisgarh government for the Parsa East Kente Basan (PEKB) coal block, which supplies 8-9 rakes of coal per day for Rajasthan’s power generation units, is a critical matter. Besides, its two other blocks – Parsa and Kente Extension – are also waiting for clearances from Chhattisgarh. More than 4,000 MW of power generation capacity is dependent on these captive blocks located in Chhattisgarh.

Without assured coal supplies from these captive coal blocks, power consumers in Rajasthan may have to shell out more this summer, when peak demand hovers around 15,000 MW in the state. According to industry experts, Rajasthan may end up procuring electricity at a higher tariff on account of soaring power demand during summer in India at a time when coal is traded at an all-time high price in the international markets.