GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF POWER
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 2307
ANSWERED ON:24.07.2014
CLOSURE OF POWER GENERATION PROJECTS
ANANT KUMAR DATTATREYA HEGDE
(a) whether a number of power generation projects, both already commissioned and newly built are lying closed due to lack of fuel supply and purchasers for generated power;
(b) if so, the details thereof including the power generation capacity of these projects and the expenditure incurred on construction of the said projects;
(c) the measures being taken to provide adequate fuel to these plants so as to make them operational;
(d) whether a number of power plants coal-fired as well as gas-fired are not working at their capacity due to fuel crunch; and
(e) if so, the details thereof and the total installed capacity of these plants both in public and private sector and the present rate of capacity utilization of each plant along with the steps being taken by the Government to ensure supply of fuel to these plants for the utilization of the capacity in full, State/UT-wise?
Will the Minister of POWERbe pleased to state:-
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR POWER, COAL AND NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY ( SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL )
(a) & (e) :As far as Coal based thermal power plants are concerned, a capacity of 7230 MW is already commissioned but having no coal supply. Considering an indicative cost of Rs. 5 crore per MW, an investment of about Rs 36150 crore has been made in the execution of these projects. Details of these projects are given at Annex. Further, a capacity of 42480 MW commissioned after 2009 is presently entitled to only 65% of their letter of Assurance (LoA) commitment.
In addition, out of a total gas based capacity of 26560 MW, a capacity of 5349 MW is ready for commissioning and awaiting gas allocation. Further, an installed and commissioned capacity of 24149 MW is running at a very low average of 23% of PLF.
In order to ensure adequate availability of fuel, the following steps have been taken by the Government:
Coal:
(i)Coal India Ltd. has been asked to enhance the production of domestic coal in the country.
(ii)Adequate allocation of coal to the power sector.
(ii)An advisory has been issued by Ministry of Power to import coal which will be made a passthrough on case to case basis by regulators to the extent of shortfall in the quantity indicated in the LoA/FSA.
Gas:
Some of the steps taken by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoP&NG) to increase the gas availability are given below:
MoP&NG has issued guidelines on clubbing / diversion of gas between power plants of same owner with the intent to serve the larger public interest so that the available gas can be used more efficiently in order to improve the Plant Load Factor (PLF) with corresponding increase in electricity generation. MoP&NG has also issued guidelines on swapping of natural gas on 14.3.2012 between two parties on energy parity basis.
Further, the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) in its meeting held on 23.08.2013 had decided that supplies to Fertilizer sector be maintained at the level of 31.5 Million Metric Standard Cubic Meter Per Day (MMSCMD) and all the additional New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) gas, if any, after meeting the supply level of 31.5 MMSCMD to Fertilizer sector be supplied to Power sector during the years 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16.