No buyer in sight, govt to resume ops at lignite power plant
After failing to find a buyer, the Rajasthan government has decided to resume operations at the country’s first lignite-based thermal power plant at Giral in Barmer district, officials said.
The state government had decided about two years ago to disinvest Giral Lignite Thermal Power Plant (GLTPP) considering operational losses -- Rs 786.71 crore in 2014-15 and Rs 985.91 crore in 2015-16. The plant has been running in losses ever since it started commercial production in 2008, and has remained closed for the past four years.
In November 2016, global tenders were floated to invite bids for the plant. Officials involved in the process claimed that the sale would be complete by December and the new owner would run the plant from January 2017. But in absence of a buyer, the government had extended bidding dates. Officials said five companies bid for the plant but instead of opening the bids and finalising a deal, the government has been extending the date. The new date for opening the bids is February first week. During his visit to the plant last week, Rajasthan Vidhyut Utpadan Nigam chairman-cummanaging director NK Kothari directed GLTPP authorities to get ready for the revival of operations.
“The next date for opening the bids is scheduled for February first week and the final decision will be taken at the government level. The government is also exploring the option to resume the operation,” Kothari told plant officials. Rakesh Verma, chief engineer at GLTPP, said “Following the directive, we have swung into action to resume operations.”
The power project initially had two units, designed by Bharat Heavy Electronics Limited (BHEL) to run on lignite containing up to 1% of sulphur. But the lignite supplied to the project from Giral village contained up to 5-6% of sulphur, which led to operational losses, officials said.
According to Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Board norms, a unit is considered running in losses when it fails to achieve 75% of its installed capacity. GLTPP officials said the two units have been unable to run at even 25% of their capacity.
Lignite with low sulphur content was available in nearby Kapuradi and Jalipa mines in Barmer. The mines have been allocated to South-West Mining Limited, a JSW group company, which denied the coal to GLTPP, claiming it did not have enough supply. JSW Rajwest Power Ltd of the group has been successfully operating 10 lignite power units with fuel from the two mines. Asked if the lignite issue due to which plant was facing operational hurdle has been sorted out, Rakesh Verma said they got directions to run the GLTTP with the available fuel which contained 5-6% of sulphur. “We are planning to make some changes in the boiler design and expecting that it will help us to run the plant with available coal.”
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