Fresh power capacity addition has fallen short of target by over a fourth in the current calendar year, owing to delays in supply of critical components for thermal projects, delayed forest clearances and non-availability of fuel for nuclear projects.
Around 6,900 Mw, about 73 per cent of the targeted addition of 9,403 Mw, was achieved in the 11 months ended November, according to the latest data from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).
However, this 73 per cent achievement of targeted capacity addition is the highest in the past four years.
Experts believe capacity addition in power should be around 20 per cent in excess of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, for the latter to be sustainable. India’s installed power generation capacity touched 155,000 Mw at the end of November this year, growing by 6.09 per cent as compared to the same period last year.
India’s GDP growth, which was pulled down to 6.7 per cent during 2008-09, is expected to be over 7 per cent in the current financial year ending March 2010. GDP growth has been placed at 7 per cent in the first half of the current year.
The data shows that while commissioning of thermal plants has slipped, mostly owing to delays in supply of critical components like Balance of Plant (BoP) equipment, nuclear power units have been delayed owing to less availability of fuel.
While over 8,200 Mw of thermal power capacity was planned to be set up between January and November this year, around 6,600 Mw has been added so far.
“Delays in the supply of BoP equipment has been the major reason for delays in commissioning of thermal units,” said a senior official from CEA. BoP refers to components that are not part of the main plan equipment like boilers, turbines and generators, but are critical for safety and operational issues. Of the BoP equipment required for power projects under construction for the current Plan period, orders for about 20 per cent are yet to be placed, shows CEA’s data.
On the nuclear side, while the fifth unit of Rajasthan Atomic Power Plant (RAPP) went critical in November, the installed capacity of nuclear power plants still remains as low as 3 per cent of the overall power capacity.
For hydro projects, the lag in commissioning has been due to delays in obtaining forest clearances. The target of adding 139 Mw of hydro generation capacity in the first half of the current financial year, was missed by over 70 per cent. The capacity which could not be commissioned due to delay in obtaining clearances includes the 100 Mw Kuttiyadi extension project in Kerala. The plant was to be commissioned in 2006-07 as per the original schedule.
This lag in commissioning of projects, coupled with a delayed monsoon which adversely impacted the reservoir storage for hydro generation, lead to a shortage of over 30 billion units (BUs) of power as against a demand of around 700 BUs in the current year.
However, the achievement of the targeted power capacity addition at 73.4 per cent in the current year was the highest in the past four years.
