State’s power woes may end during XIth plan

MUMBAI: Power-starved Maharashtra, where peak shortage goes up to 5,000 MW during summers, may see an end to its dark days by the end of the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012) if the plans of independent power producers (IPPs) see the light of day.

As many as five major power companies have lined up investments to set up mega power plants in the state, with capacities totalling close to 10,000 MW by 2012 end.

These are apart from other smaller players who are planning to diversify in the power sector or expand their currently installed capacity and are looking at Maharashtra’s power scarcity as a prospective growth area.

Rahul Asthana, secretary-energy, Maharashtra, said by the end of XIth Plan, the state would see capacity additions of up to 13,700 MW.

“At a conservative estimate state-owned power utility MahaGenco would add 4,500 MW against a target of 6,500 MW and the rest would come from IPPs,” he said.

This will be over and above the share that Maharashtra will get from Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs), such as 800 MW from the Mundra UMPP.

Out of the five companies that have announced mega power projects in the state, four are private companies and one is state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) which is expected to come up with a 1,000 MW power plant at Mouda, near Nagpur.

The four private players are Reliance Energy, Tata Power, Adani Power and JSW Energy. Of these, the major capacity addition of close to 3,600 MW will be contributed by Reliance Energy and 2,100 by Tata Power, followed by 2,000 MW by the Adani Group and 1,000 MW by JSW.

Reliance Energy has announced a power plant of 2,400 MW at Shahpur and a capacity addition of 1,200 at its already existing Dahanu power plant - both in Maharashtra.

Tata Power, which is already augmenting its capacity at its Trombay site by another 500 MW, has also announced a thermal power plant at Shahpur with a capacity of 1,600 MW.

The Gujarat-based Adani Group has bought 200 hectares of land in the Tiroda industrial area in eastern Vidarbha’s Gondia district where it will set up a 2,000 MW thermal power project estimated at Rs 8,000 crore.

JSW Energy, the power division of the JSW Group, is in the process of setting up a 1,200 MW power plant at Jaigad in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. This power plant would entail an investment of Rs 4,500 crore.

Irrespective of the ambitious plans, the targets become too far-fetched when the status of the projects is in question. Except JSW Energy, which plans to commission the plant by 2011 end and has all approvals in place, all other projects are stuck in problems like land availability or environmental clearances. 

“Though these capacity addition plans will not totally eliminate the power problem, it would go a long way bringing down the shortage substantially compared to the rise in demand,” said Asthana.

He said against an expected peak demand of close to 23,000 MW by the end of 2011-2012, the state would generate approximately 20,000 MW, keeping in view the dismal history of achieving generation targets. He said most of the plans are being held up because of constraints like land availability and environmental clearances.