Private power utility Wartsila India Ltd is now focusing on the public power generation sector, mainly gas based, apart from captive power plants it currently majors.
The company is targeting to bid in about four projects in the next three months in states like Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh under public-private partnership (PPP) model.
“We are presently managing captive power generation to the tune of almost 3,300 Mw at 250 locations in India, while globally we have over 40,000 Mw generation capacity,” Wartsila India Managing Director Rakesh Sarin told Business Standard.
“Now, we want to bring our expertise and long experience in public domain in India as we have done in 120 countries around the world,” he added.
Asked if there would be enough gas to run such power plants, he claimed that the country’s gas production levels would soon be adequate to meet its future demand.
Wartsila excels in gas and furnace oil based power plants.
“We are also engaged in talks with power major Torrent Power for a possible collaboration in future projects,” Wartsila Corporation Director, Development & Financial Services, Debashish Mazumdar said.
Meanwhile, the company also released its report titled ‘The Real Cost of Power’, a pan-India study commissioned by the company through Universal Consulting India.
The key findings of the study included the fact that Rs 1,00,000 crore had been invested in power back-up equipment so far in the country by power consumers, while an additional Rs 30,000 crore was spent every year on operational expenses.
The study covered 1,500 respondents across 21 Indian cities during a five-week period in May-June 2009.
“Apart from the Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPP), which generate more than 4,000 Mw of power, India needs smaller power plants in big urban centres generating between 100-200 Mw power for variable consumption in the vicinity to cut on distribution cost and environment pollution,” Sarin added.
