The government on Tuesday announced the revival of 10 stranded gas-based power plants who bid through reverse e-auction for generating over 5 billion units of electricity to be supplied at below Rs.5 per unit during peak summer this year.
"The 10 stranded gas based power generation plants have succesfully bid through a transparent and competitive reverse e-auction process for generating 5.05 billion units of electricity which will be supplied at or below Rs.4.70 per unit to the purchaser discom (distribution company) during the peak summer months from June 1 to September 30, 2015," the power ministry said in a statement late on Tuesday.
"In the auction process, 14 plants with a cumulative installed capacity of 8,109 MW participated in the technical bid round and all were declared as technically qualified," it added.
The reverse e-auction for the gas-based plants stranded due to lack of feedstock was conducted under the newly-approved Scheme for Utilization of Stranded Gas Based Generation Capacity.
An official source told IANS that Lanco Infratech, GMR Energy, Torrent Power, GVK Power and Ratnagiri Thermal Power are among those that have applied for supply of imported gas for their power plants
NTPC-GAIL led Ratnagiri won the bid for gas for 30 percent plant load factor (PLF), or installed capacity, at Rs 1.45 per unit.
Torrent has also won 35 percent PLF gas supply for their 1200 MW plant and Lanco awarded gas supply for 35 percent PLF for its 1108 MW Kondapalli Plant.
As many as 31 power stations with a combined capacity of 14,305 MW were eligible to apply for Power System Development Fund (PSDF) to generate 30 percent of their installed capacity using imported LNG.
While Tuesday saw the reverse e-auction for stranded gas-based power plants, Wednesday will bring the reverse e-auction for plants receiving some domestic gas but running at sub-optimal levels.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in March allowed gas imports by way of e-auctions for 31 gas-based power units, with a capacity of 14,000 MW, lying idle for lack of feed stock.
