Decks cleared for new Dabhol PPA

NEW DELHI: The power-starved Maharashtra has got a reprieve, with a central panel agreeing to its demand to sell it the entire 2,150 MW electricity produced by the controversial Dabhol power project. Sources said that the empowered group of ministers on Dabhol has put its stamp of approval on the demand of the state and cleared the way for signing a fresh power purchase agreement with Maharashtra.

All the shareholders of the Ratnagiri Gas and Power (RGPPL), the new owner of the Dabhol project, have agreed to share the Rs 1,300-crore maintenance cost of the plant which is in disrepair.

“All the three units of the Dabhol project will run on gas, thereby reducing the cost of power to the state,” sources said.

Maharashtra faces a 5,000-MW shortage in power supply and hopes that it could get 2150-MW power from the Dabhol project by December this year.

“Currently, the state receives 340-MW power from Dabhol and hopes to get an additional 340 MW by next month. A second 700-MW unit is expected to supply electricity by May-end, while the power from the third unit will be available by December,” sources added.

They said the laying of gas pipelines to supply fuel for the power plants was “almost complete” and some difficulties faced in Surat in neighbouring Gujarat were being sorted out through talks with the Narendra Modi-led government.

RGPPL, the new owner of the 2,150-MW project, had restarted one unit of 740 MW in May last year on naphtha after a five-year gap. All the three units were to be switched to gas earlier this year, but the plan had to be postponed due to non-availability of gas.

Besides the existing unit, another unit of equal capacity would be utilised for generating power as Maharashtra is facing acute shortages of up to 5,000 MW in peak hours.