Haryana blames Adani Power, Gujarat plant for adding to electricity woes
Govt tells power regulator that both players have not been supplying electricity for past six months; they in turn claim price of imported coal has made generation at PPA tariff uneconomical
CHANDIGARH: The Adani Power Ltd (APL) and Coastal Gujarat Power Ltd (CGPL) have not been supplying power to Haryana for the last six months, thus contributing to the ongoing power shortage amid rising temperatures, show documents submitted by the state government to the power regulator.
The APL and the CGPL have a contract with the Haryana government for supplying 1,424MW and 380MW power, respectively. Electricity from Adani Power was contracted at a levelised tariff of Rs 2.94 per unit for 25 years while for CGPL, it was at a levelised tariff of Rs 2.26 per unit for 25 years.
The Haryana Power Purchase Centre (HPPC), in a petition before the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC), a week ago said both Adani Power and CGPL have not been supplying any power to the state on the plea that increase in price of imported coal has made generation at the power purchase agreement (PPA) tariff uneconomical. Both APL and CGPL have been seeking signing of a supplementary PPA for supply of power generated from imported coal on a higher tariff as per the recommendation of a high-powered committee.
‘Outage at multiple generating stations’
The HPCC said that the state was experiencing deficient power supply on account of outage at multiple generating stations, including Faridabad Gas Power Plant (FGPP) and a second unit of the Rajiv Gandhi Thermal Power Plant (RGTPP) at Khedar in Hisar.
The HPPC, in March too, had petitioned the state regulator, stating that Haryana is expected to face electricity shortage due to non-availability of power from Adani Power Ltd., CGPL, Mundra, and FGPP.
It was seeking source approval for procurement of additional 75MW gross power from 450MW Baglihar Stage-1 hydroelectric project (HEP) of the Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation for 10 years to tide over the shortage.
State regulator seeks report on efforts made
The state regulator, in its April 6 interim order, said HPPC has not made any submissions regarding the efforts made by them to resume supply of power from these generating stations, including Adani and CGPL.
The regulator directed the HPPC to submit a status report on the same, including the proposal to purchase additional power at the risk and cost of these generating companies.
The power situation due to early onset of summer has been aggravated as the one 600MW unit of RGTPP, Khedar, is nonfunctional for the past 18 months.
As per the regulator, the HPPC also allowed one 660MW unit of the Mahatma Gandhi Super Thermal Power Project (MGSTPP) developed by China Light and Power at Jhajjar to take planned shutdown, for annual overhauling during the peak demand period. Officials, though, said the MGSTPP unit has become functional.
Additional chief secretary (ACS), power, PK Das said about 1,800MW of contracted power from APL and CGPL is unavailable. “We are trying to get 500MW medium term power for three years and have got 75MW power from Baglihar for 10 years to tide over this deficit,” he said.
On the overall shortage of power, the ACS, however, said there has been a 15-30% increase in terms of power supplied from April 1 to 12 as compared to the same period last year. While representatives of Adani Power Ltd when contacted declined to comment, an email sent to Tata Power, that owns the CGPL, did not elicit a response.