NTPC to look at stressed assets up for bidding

State-run utility NTPC Ltd has not yet bid for any stressed power assets or submitted any Expression of Interest (EoI) so far, Gurdeep Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, told the media here.

“We are very keen on bidding for the right asset but we have not yet put any bid or EoI so far,” Singh said.

‘Good and bad assets’

“There are different types of assets available in the market. There are around 10,000-12,000 MW of assets which are good, and an equal amount of assets that are not at all good,” Singh said.

Some of the assets have problems such as availability of water, or being far from transportable areas. NTPC’s focus, as such, would be on those assets that are in a good shape but are just stuck in bad contracts, Singh said.

“If you are having a good asset and you are having a bad contract, it is a real problem. We have to be careful as to which assets to look for and it should be a very transparent method. It has to be bidding process. If it is coming through NCLT, or bankers are taking over and there is bidding, we will be happy to look at it,” Singh added.

He did not say whether there would be a revision of power purchase agreements (PPAs) of a stressed power project in case NTPC becomes its owner.

Growth in demand

The head of India’s largest integrated utility is optimistic about power demand growing further. “There are good indicators that power demand is growing. If you look at July, the power demand growth was almost 7.5 per cent, which is an optimistic scenario,” Singh said.

According to him, the power demand in the country will continue to grow, not only because of larger consumption by households, but due to a pick-up in industrial activities.

Singh alluded to the government’s efforts to provide power connections to more than 40 million families in rural and urban areas by December 2018 under the Saubhagya scheme that would contribute to power demand growth.

NTPC currently has an installed capacity of 53,651 MW and is planing to add another 5,000 MW of thermal capacity during the current fiscal, although once the projects in the pipeline are completed, it will focus on renewable energy capacity addition.

Coal mining

After debuting in coal mining in 2017 in order to secure local fuel supply for its generation stations, NTPC is likely to produce about 7.5 million tonnes during this financial year as it now has two operational coal blocks, Pakri Barwadih in Jharkhand and Dulanga in Odisha.

The utility is also experimenting with co-firing biomass up to 10 per cent, among other environment friendly initiatives, including installation of captive solar plants at NTPC’s premises.

NTPC has registered its highest ever quarterly electricity generation of 69,2 billion units due to a pick-up in power demand. The utility’s over 20 coal-based plants achieved PLF (plant load factor) of 77.98 per cent in the quarter, higher than the national average of 63.38 per cent.

The utility has reported around one per cent fall in net profit to ₹2,588 crore in the quarter ended June, 2018 as against ₹2,618 crore posted in the corresponding period last fiscal as company’s “other income” such as interest payment was lower. The company posted a 11 per cent increase in total income to ₹22,839 crore for the quarter as compared to ₹20,542 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

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