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Friday, Jan 09, 2009
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Power crisis haunts Delhi

Staff Reporter

Faces deficit of 700 MW due to closure of two gas-based power plants

Strike has affected work at the oil, gas fields
North India reeling under a deficit of 1,500 MW

NEW DELHI: The Capital on Thursday faced a power shortage of about 700 MW with two of its gas-based power plants shutting down on account of gas shortage. With power cuts across the city ranging from a few minutes to a few hours, the residents bore the brunt of the ongoing strike called by officers of the public sector oil companies.

The indefinite strike has affected work at the oil and gas fields and refineries and in turn disrupted generation of power.

“Shortage of gas for the plants has resulted in Pragati, with an installed capacity of 330 MW, not generating any power, while the Gas Turbine plant with an installed capacity of 282 MW is generating about 32 MW only. The combine loss is about 622 MW,” said a State Power Department official.

The situation was worsened by the fact that the entire North India has been reeling under a deficit of 1,500 MW, making it difficult for Delhi to overdraw from the Northern Grid or even ask other States for help.

Delhi is losing out on its share from Dadri and Anta, which is about 9 per cent from each power plant. While Dadri has an installed capacity of 840 MW, Anta has an installed capacity of 400 MW.

“The entire Northern belt is severely affected. Hydro-power generation has dipped because of the cold wave in the higher reaches. Tehri, Salal, Nathpa Jhakri and Chamera are all generating less than their installed capacities. Now this gas strike has added to the woes of the generating companies. Power generation at gas-based plants — Dadrim, Anta and Auriya — has also been disrupted because of gas shortage,” the official said.

Power expert, however, are quick to add that if the generating companies had used naptha and diesel in the gas-based plants to generate power, the city’s situation would have been far better.

“There is a provision for using dual fuel generation at these plants, but since gas was more readily available in the past few years, the practice has been discontinued. The generating companies should keep the option open,” said an expert.

On Friday, the Capital had to meet a peak load demand of 3,078 MW, while it generated only 899 MW and could over-draw only up to 400 MW.

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