NTPC opts for liquid fuel to meet gas shortage

Subsidised natural gas supply to state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has been cut by 2.17 million standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) in 2005-06, Power Minister PM Sayeed informed the Rajya Sabha today.

"Gas supplies to NTPC stations under the administered price mechanism (APM) have been reduced by 2.17 mmscmd against the previous year's (2004-05) supply. The resulting shortfall in gas-based generation has been augmented by the NTPC with liquid fuel (naphtha and high-speed diesel)-based generation," the minister said in a written reply.

"GAIL has intimated that for the Tapti and Panna/Mukta gas, the present price being charged for power and fertiliser units is $ 0.75 per million British thermal unit (mbtu) more than the APM price," he said.

"This results in a hike of around 32 paise per unit in the variable cost for the Kawas thermal power stations of the NTPC," he said.

As of now, GAIL has agreed to supply an additional 4 mmscmd to the power generator. NTPC has offered to pay a higher price for 2 mmscmd, which will come from the Panna-Mukta-Tapti fields.

However, it wants the 2.1 mmscmd allocation, which has been cut, to be resumed at the APM price, arguing that the allocations had been made from Bombay High and not from the Panna-Mukta-Tapti fields.

There has been a reduction in the administered price mechanism gas supply to NTPC's stations along the Hazira-Bijapur-Jagdishpur (HBJ) pipeline.

To a separate question, Sayeed said the NTPC's three power plants faced a shortage of nearly 8 million tonnes of coal or 23.7 per cent of the total requirement in 2004-05.

Against a requirement of 11.74 million tonnes of coal at the Farakka power station, only 8.91 million tonnes of coal were received. Talcher saw a deficit of 3.21 million tonnes against a total demand of 14.75 million tonnes, while Rihand got only 4.61 million tonnes of supplies against a requirement of 6.39 million tonnes.