Govt may restart NTPC plants with imported gas as coal shortage looms large

Amidst the fear of a coal supply shortage in the monsoon months, the government is mulling the use of imported gas to restart NTPC plants with a total capacity of more than 5GW to ensure a continuous supply of power, said an Economic Times report.

The electricity produced from imported gas is expected to cost Rs 22-23 per unit, which is four to five times higher than current tariffs. This is seen as a last resort since all available power plants are already running at full capacity to meet the high electricity demands during summer, officials said.

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"The government is examining the possibilities to operate gas-based power plants but there are a lot of challenges, high tariffs being the biggest one," one person told ET. "The tariff in all scenarios is four to five times that of current tariffs, which puts a question mark on acceptability by states." It is learnt that Power Ministry officials conducted meetings with NTPC and GAIL to discuss the matter.

India’s peak electricity demand rose to over 211GW, breaking records for three consecutive days last week. A 4-million-tonne rise in coal stocks at power plants last month is reportedly inadequate when blended with 10 per cent of imported coal for the monsoon as the supplies will reduce due to the rains.

The Union Power Ministry is looking at various options to operationalise gas-based power projects and sell the electricity generated to power companies.

NTPC stations, including Anta, Auraiya, Dadri, Kawas, Gandhar and Ratnagiri Power, need 18 million Standard Cubic Meters of Gas per day to operate between July and September at lower capacity in non-peak hours and full capacity during the morning and evening peak hours, an official said.