Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has ruled out reversal of the government’s decision to close down the Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant (GNDTP), Bathinda, pointing to the non-feasibility of its continued operations.In a statement issued here on Sunday, the Chief Minister explained the circumstances that led to the closure of the Bathinda thermal plant and two units of Ropar Thermal Plant, saying the decision had to be taken mainly due to lack of power demand in the State and availability of cheaper Power from other alternate sources. Reiterating that no employee would lose his job because of the closure and all workers would be accommodated within the region, the Chief Minister said that after closing down plant operations completely, the surplus manpower of the Bathinda plant shall be utilised on other works where there is shortage of staff. This will increase productivity as it will stop increase of power generation cost over the year, besides resulting in savings to PSPCL, since power from GNDTP Bathinda was being generated at a very high cost as compared, with overall cost of electricity in PSPCL making generation from GNDTP units unviable.Captain Amarinder once again made it clear that no retrenchment of the staff (regular/contract basis) shall be done and all of them shall be adjusted suitably in the nearby locations, with full pay protection.Giving details of the power situation in the state, the Chief Minister pointed out that power demand in Punjab varies very widely during paddy and non-paddy season.
This year, the maximum demand had been recorded at 11600 MW in summer months and 5600 MW in winter months. Further, in winters, there is a lot of variation in the day and night time demand, with the latter coming down to around 3,000 MW. Though the State has become power surplus, generation capacity is utilised fully only in paddy periods of 4 months and, for the remaining 8 months, the same remains underutilised. Further, over the last 7 years, i.e., from 2009-10 to 2016-17, installed capacity of Punjab from own generation, long term share in central sector projects, IPPS and NRSE projects has doubled from 6900 MW to 14000 MWm, whereas annual sale of power in the State increased merely 39% from 32,000 MUs to 44,400 MUs. During the same period, domestic and commercial sale increased by 86%, industry just by 27% and AP supply by 16%.Because of old technology, the heat rate i.e., coal consumption in terms of Kcal/Kwh of GNDTP worked out higher than other thermal stations. During 2016-17, heat rate of GNDTP worked out to at 3102 Kcal per unit for generation net of auxiliary against GHTP-2675, GGSSTP-3100, NPL-2268, TSPL-2400 and GVK-2550. In fact, said the Chief Minister, the Plant is of old design and requires more manpower for operation as compared to new power plants, which are fully computerized. At present, new plants are being installed with higher capacity units like 660 MW and 800 MW. The per unit cost of power generated by the new plants is less as compared to sub-critical plants, and the old plants are less efficient, having more heat rate and consuming more auxiliary power.
The old plants also require more maintenance and the performance of equipment comes down with the passage of time.As far as GNDTP was concerned, because of low in merit order, it remained unutilised most of the time and was run at a very low Plant Load Factor (PLF) of 22.73 in 2015-16 and 17.74% in 2016-17. The cost of generation per unit of GNDTP worked out higher at Rs.9.31 for 2016-17 due to this low Plant Load Factor.According to the Chief Minister, work order had already been placed on consultant M/s. Steag Energy India Pvt. Ltd., Noida, for conducting Detailed Feasibility Report for 3 units of 800 MW at GGSSTP Ropar. Further, with approval of BODs of PSPCL, and after getting the acceptance from the firm, Detailed Feasibility Report (DFR) for setting up 5 units of 800 MW Plant with Super Critical technology at GGSSTP Ropar with fuel as natural gas as well as coal shall be prepared by the firm.With change in technology, lot of developments are taking place in the area of wind and solar energy, the Chief Minister pointed out, underlining the importance of shifting to alternative sources of energy in the interest of the state. The cost of solar energy, which used to be as high as Rs.18 per unit, has recently come down to around Rs.3 per unit. Similarly, the cost of wind energy has also come down to around Rs.3 per unit to provide energy at affordable prices, which made it imperative for Punjab also to go for cheaper sources of energy and close down old technology thermal stations.Captain Amarinder further disclosed that PSPCL had recently signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Government of India for purchase of wind power at Rs.2.75/unit for 150 MW, and PPA for another 200 MW was in the pipeline.