No plan B in place, residents bear brunt
Around five years ago, two other alternatives were mooted to act as a back -up. For this, the state government run Delhi Transco Limited (DTL) had to lay a 220 kV circuit line from Maharani Bagh to Sarita Vihar and from Masjid Moth to Okhla. The work on the projects has not even begun.
“These two projects alone could have helped to make BTPS obsolete. The one in Maharani Bagh would take the load off feed Sarita Vihar. Similarly, around 150MW of load would be shifted if the Masjid Moth is ready,” said Prem Prakash, MD at DTL.
When asked why the projects are yet to see the light of day, he attributed it to “lack of funds.”
“Distribution companies are not paying our dues which adds up to around ₹4,000 crore,” Prakash said. BTPS supplies only about 7.9% electricity to the city in the peak months. A study by the Centre for Science and Environment in 2015 rated coal-based thermal power plants. It rated 40% of the plants (around 18 of the 47) as having a score less than 20%.
NTPC’s Badarpur plant was declared the poorest performer of all. It stated that the plant which contributed a relatively meagre share of Delhi’s power contributed around 80-90% of the particulate matter, SOx and NOx from the energy sector in Delhi. “Only two out of the five units of the plant are functioning and their emissions are well within the prescribed norms,” a National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Limited spokesperson said.
The Delhi government says it can run without the Badarpur plant as Delhi is a power surplus state. “The Capital has power arranged to the tune of 7,000 MW and Delhi can run without the plant as it supplies when the demand peaks which accounts for only 3-5 days in summers,” said power minister Satyendar Jain.
He added that in 2015, the government had written to the Union minister of power Piyush Goyal for surrendering power purchase agreement (PPA) with NTPC towards BTPS. “But our proposal was rejected. Financially too the Delhi government stands to benefit from closure of the plant. BTPS’ rates are between ₹4.5 to ₹5.5 per unit, whereas, average cost from other sources is ₹2.5-3.5,” Jain said.
Private power distribution companies said no matter the plant is shut or functioning, they have to pay fixed costs for all the five units of the plant. “Power tariffs are high because of issues like these. Discoms annually have to shell out ₹350 crore only as fixed costs. Even if only two units are functioning, we have to pay for all the five units,” the discoms said.
They reiterated that shutting the plant won’t even impact Delhi’s power supply. “Delhi has never had shortage of electricity, outages occur due to local faults. If Badarpur plant is shut, it is likely to reduce tariffs by 20 paise per unit,” discoms said.
NO END IN SIGHT The Tughlaqabad substation has been delayed by two years and three other projects have failed to take off, making it hard to shut down the plant entirely
According to Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) even if NTPC is utilising the flyash in activities like brick making and construction, it is the transportation of the pollutant that actually needs immediate attention.
“We have asked that flyash at the plant should be transported starting February 1 only in special containers,” said Sunita Narain, member of EPCA.
According to Sunil Dahiya, of Greenpeace India, the Badarpur plant is the single largest air pollutant emission source within the Capital. “Delhi does not need it. The power generated by the plant is not only dirtier in terms of the pollution caused, but also more expensive. The decision to reopen the station is wrong from environmental, economic and sustainability perspective,” he said.
It’s been nearly two years since Badarpur plant has been operating intermittently. With the plant having lived more than its shelf life of 25 years, it’s about time it is closed. While a proposal to convert BTPS into a gas-based plant that would increase its capacity to 1050 MW is pending, NTPC said there has been no progress on it as yet due to lack of gas availability. A 400/220 kV sub-station at Tughlaqabad is to be built that would make BTPS obsolete
The plant has, however, been delayed by over two years
Power Grid Corporation of India Limited has now set a deadline of June 2018 for its commissioning This would take the load off BTPS to supply power to areas like Sarita Vihar, Jamia and Jasola Around 150 MW of load would be shifted from BTPS As on paper, there is already a proposal to convert the 705 MW plant into a 1,050 MW gas-based plant No, Delhi has surplus power up to 7,000 MW Once the four substations at Rajghat, Tughlakabad, Pappankalan and Karampura are ready, the Ministry of Power could bring in 7,400 MW of power to Delhi, which is substantially higher than estimated demand even in the next few years Not necessary
But an immediate plan needs to be worked out between Central and Delhi governments to make gas available for power generation