M'rashtra official paints dark picture of power scenario

Principal secretary (Energy), Maharashtra government, Jayant Kawale's plain speak at a seminar on energy here on Monday had the audience, including the top brass of the state electricity utility, squirming in their seats.

Kawale painted a dark future when he said that electricity would become more expensive in the years to come and that the shortage situation in Maharashtra would continue for over five years.

The all India seminar 'Synergy for Energy - 2006' was organised by the Nagpur local centre of the Institution of Engineers (India) in association with the Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Limited (Mahagenco), Western Coalfields Limited (WCL), Tata Power, and the Central Railways.

Kawale said that power would become expensive as the cumulative effect of various factors would lead to an increase in the generation cost.

"In the age when hydroelectric sources are getting exhausted and the gas options are extremely non-reliable, everybody is planning on coal-fired power generation plants. As per the estimates, of the 16,000 MW power required to be generated over the next five years, around 6,000 MW will be generated from imported coal, which is quite costly, and will finally lead to hike in power tariff," said Kawale.

He said a growth of 15 per cent in generation was needed in the power sector in Maharashtra for the next five years to meet the increasing demand. Growing economic activity also means more power consumption and demand, he maintained.

If this pace continues, Maharashtra will have to add 16,000 Mw to its generation capacity in the next five years.

However, Mahagenco will be adding only 7,200 Mw, which may prove to be inadequate. Kawale said 2,000 Mw was expected from Dabhol power plant, 4,000 Mw from independent power producers (IPPs) and some power from hydel sources.

"The bottlenecks in infrastructure are glaring. The state will have to replace ageing structures, and at the same time will have to add capacity," he noted.

The senior bureaucrat said that the cost of generation of power had gone up to Rs 4 crore per Mw and distribution and transmission required an additional Rs 2 crore each per Mw. Loans also add to increased burden of repayment.

The net effect of all this is that power becomes expensive, he said. In his speech, Kawale also pointed out challenges being faced by the power sector including equipment suppliers with limited resources, increasing plant load factor for beneficiation of coal, limited talent pool, higher transmission and distribution losses, increasing demand side management, ash disposal, environmental concerns etc.

"In such a situation, we have to work and hence there should be a better coordination among power sector, coal sector, and railways," he said.