120 MW thermal power plant in Ganjam district of Odisha on the anvil...

 

A 120 mega watt (MW) thermal power plant is on the anvil to be established near Chatrapur in Ganjam district.

This power plant would need an investment worth around Rs. 600 crore. It would be established by Dr. Ramakrishna Prasad Power Private Limited (RKPPL) of Hyderabad. Speaking to The Hindu, Ganjam district Collector, Krishan Kumar said the RKPPPL has already obtained clearance from Government of Odisha for this 120 MW coal-based thermal power project. According to company sources it has applied for clearance of the project from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) of Central government and has obtained Terms of Reference (TOR) from the MoEF.

As per the instructions of the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), a public hearing for environmental impact assessment of the project would be held on January 10 at the proposed site of the project.

According to the authorities this proposed coal-based thermal power plant would be established near Sri Ramchandrapur village of Chattrapur block in Ganjam District. According to a director of the RKPPL, Naveen Venigalla, who was in Ganjam district regarding the project, the land for the project has been earmarked. This thermal power plant would come up on 85.78 acres of land. Out of it 74.2 acres are government land and rest is private land.  

As per the authorities this project would need around three years for its construction. The company claims that this thermal power plant would be a non-polluting one. Its pollution level would be too low as it would use modern technology and imported coal. The imported coal it proposed to be used by this power plant would have six per cent ash in comparison to Indian coal which has 40 per cent ash, the company authorities claimed.

It is envisioned that the Gopalpur port which is at its final stages of completion to become an all weather port would provide scope for import of coal for this thermal power plant. This power plant would need around 200 cubic meters of water every day. It has been decided to use ground water for the purpose.  When this thermal power plant would start its production, it would evacuate the power generated by it through 132 KV power transmission line of Odisha’s GRIDCO. Around 30 MW of its production would be provided to Odisha government while the rest would be marketed by the company. This project is expected to solve power problem in Ganjam district and other parts of south Odisha.

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UPPCL signs power purchase agreement for 110 MW solar power with the solar power developers...

 

The UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) has entered into an agreement with solar power developers for purchasing 110mw of power.

The agreement was entered in the presence of UP chief secretary, Javed Usmani, who said that under the state solar policy the state government will be setting up 500mw of power solar power plants in the state.

The UP New Energy Development Authority (UPNEDA) had invited bids for setting up of power plants compositely to the tune of 200mw. The authority had also put in place a competitive bidding process for power tariff from these power plants. Against this, the authority received bids for 130mw. On Friday, the UPPCL signed the agreement for 110mw power.

The solar power plants with which the agreement was signed included, 10mw by Azure Surya Private Limited, 50mw by M/s Essel Infra Project, 20mw by Moser Baer, 10mw by M/s Refex Energy, 10mw by M/s Jackson Power and 10mw to be set up by DK Infracon. All these power plants are proposed to be set up in Bundelkhand region. Usmani said that NEDA would soon invite bids for the rest 370mw.

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DERC turns down discoms power tariff-hike plan in Delhi...

 

The Delhi power regulator has turned down a request by the distribution companies to hike power tariffs in the Capital, a day before the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal takes oath as chief minister. This is probably the first time that a claim by the distribution companies has been turned down.

Distribution companies BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL), BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) and Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited had sought the hike as power purchase cost adjustment (PPAC) which would have been effective for the quarter of January to March 2014.

This increase was sought to cover the increased expenses incurred by the companies from July 1 to September 30, 2013, and is done every quarter. While BYPL had asked for a steep seven per cent hike, BRPL had sought a 3.5 per cent hike, TPDDL had asked for two per cent hike.

“There is a formula to work out PPAC, which was approved in the tariff order announced in August. After studying their claims and verifying them, we found that there was no need for an increase as they have not incurred additional cost over what has been allowed to them,” said PD Sudhakar, chairman of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Board (DERC).

The power tariffs were last revised for the quarter of May to July when the power regulator had approved a 3 per cent hike for TPDDL, and a 4.5 per cent hike for areas under BRPL and BYPL.

AAP’s election manifesto says that the party will slash power tariff in the Capital by 50%. The party, set to form the government in Delhi, has also promised to conduct audits of the distribution companies.

A possible fallout of the political changes in Delhi was witnessed recently when TPDDL, which supplies electricity to north Delhi, submitted its annual revenue requirement (ARR) to DERC and didn’t seek a hike. “They have left it on us to decide. They submitted their papers giving out financial details and have admitted that there is a shortfall,” said a senior official. BRPL and BYPL are yet to submit the ARR.

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Progress of OPGC, NTPC power & coal mine projects in Odisha...

 

The progress of the power plant and coal mine projects allocated to OPGC is satisfactory.

This has come to light in the State level Steering Committee Meeting held under Chairmanship of Chief Secretary Jugal Kishore Mohapatra in secretariat conference hall today wherein Energy secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena presented the present status of the projects and outlined issues for discussion.

The progress of work NTPC and UMPP projects in Odisha was also reviewed in the meeting.   Discussions in the meeting reveal that Manoharpur and Dip side Manoharpur, a contiguous coal block was allotted to OPGC for fuel connectivity to Unit-3 & Unit-4 2x660 MW supercritical units ( expansion units of OPGC).

The fuel supply to these power plants is totally dependent upon these coal blocks. On 23rd December, 2013 Ministry of Coal, after a review by IMG has asked for explanation to OPGC regarding slow progress in development of coal mines.  Review reveal that Ministry has issued notice to 48 coal mines in various States which includes show cause to 27 and explanation for slow progress to 21 allottees. OPGC has been issued letter of explanation for slow progress. 

Available data shows that in the meanwhile, all permits for setting up power plants have been secured and EPC contract has also been awarded. The work of power plant has commenced in work site. Regarding Manoharpur coal block, Stage-1 forest clearance has been secured. Land acquisition has been expedited with over 80% of Govt. land sanctioned in favour of the coal block and 77% of compensation amount disbursed for private land acquisition. It has been resolved in the meeting that land acquisition will be completed by end of Jnauary, 2014.  Bidding process has been expedited. Request For Proposal ( RFP) has been issued to qualified bidders.

It has been decided in the meeting that contract award will be completed by February, 2014. Directorate of Geology and Steel & Mines department will expedite the process of drilling and work execution in Monaharpur dip side. Similarly, for MGR ( Mary Go Round) Stage-1 forest clearance has been secured. Over 50% of Govt. land has been sanctioned in favour of the project and processes of disbursement of compensation to private land owners have been expedited. Request for Proposal has been issued for EPC contract.   

Replying to queries of media after the meeting Energy Secretary Sri Jena said that the progress of work for OPGC Power Plant expansion units and allotted coal blocks is almost ahead of the schedule. The work will be further expedited. Sri Jena added that we are waiting for mining approval form Government of India. Sri Jena has also said that we will comply with all the queries made by the Ministry within the prescribed time; and, we are confident that Ministry will be satisfied by the progress achieved till today.  

The meeting also reviewed the progress of NTPC projects like Darliplai Super Thermal Power project, Dulanga coal mining project, Gajmara Super Thermal power Project and Talcher Super Thermal Power Station. The issues relating to Resettlement & Rehabilitation, land acquisition, disbursement of compensation, exemption of stamp duty on Govt. land compensation to patta holders under forest rights act, renewal of water allocation etc were discussed and finalized in the meeting.

The progress of 4000 MW Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPP) in Odisha, a wholly owned subsidiary of Power Finance Corporation (PFC) was also figured in the meeting. The bottlenecks relating to private land acquisition, diversion of forest land, acquisition of land for Marry Go Round (MGR), Petroleum, Oil and Lubricant (POL), water corridors were discussed and necessary decisions were taken for removal of those bottlenecks.  

Additional Chief Secretary Revenue & Disaster management Dr. Taradatt, Principal Secretary Forest & environment Sri Raj Kumar Sharma, Secretary Steel and Mines Gudey Srinivas, Secretary Energy Sri P.K.Jena along with senior officers from State Pollution Control Board, Forest Corporation, NTPC, OPGCL and PFC participated in deliberations.

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PowerGrid gets shareholder approval to hike FII limit to 30 per cent...

 

Power Grid Corporation of India has received shareholder approval to increase the limit of holdings by foreign institutional investors to 30 per cent from 24 per cent currently.

FIIs can acquire and hold, on their own account and on behalf of each of their Sebi-approved sub-accounts, shares of the company up to an aggregate limit of 30 per cent of the paid up capital, the state-owned company said in a filing to the BSE on Friday.

Shareholders also approved a proposal to increase the company's borrowing limit to Rs 1,30,000 crore from the current cap of Rs 1,00,000 crore.

Both proposals were cleared through postal ballots. The plans had been approved by Power Grid's board of directors at a meeting on October 23.

Last month, Power Grid had said that increasing the limit would provide more headroom for FII investments in the company. FII holdings have been on the rise since the company's first follow-on public offer in 2010.

Power Grid had hit the capital market with an initial public offering in October 2007.

Shares worth about Rs 7,000 crore were sold in the company's second follow-on offer, which closed earlier this month.

The government got about Rs 1,600 crore from the sale of 18.51 crore shares, while Power Grid raised close to Rs 5,400 crore from its offer of 60.18 crore new shares.

Proceeds from the offer would be utilised by the company for 27 transmission projects.

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