As work on their 108 MW gas-based power plant at Rithala here nears completion, power distribution company North Delhi Power Limited is already chalking out plans for setting up similar plants in their area of distribution.
Anticipating a huge increase in demand for power in the future and a correlating price rise in the cost of power, the company wants to set up more plants within the city to produce affordable power to meet the consumption.
The company has already initiated discussions with the Delhi Development Authority for allotment of land for the projects. “We had submitted a proposal to build power plants of about 100 MW each at a couple of place in the city way back in 2003-04. While the first one at Rithala would be ready by May 2010, we are looking at setting up about three to four such plants in the city over the next three to four years,” said a company official.
He said the DDA had accepted the proposal and sent it forward for approvals. “The DDA will now move the proposal for approvals and the required formalities will be taken care of. Once the paper work is in order, DDA will then allot land for construction of the plants,” the official said. The discom is hopeful of arranging gas for the plants from the KG Basin and the Qatar Basin. “We will make tie-ups for the gas from the KG Basin and the Qatar Basin, like we have made arrangements for the Rithala plant. Gas-based power has many advantages, it is cleaner and cheaper and we hope the plants will solve all issues related to the demand-supply mismatch,” the official said.
The company says the expansion will allow it a chance to become self-reliant and also serve the consumers better. “The demand for energy is only going to increase. And as the demand grows the cost of power rises too, the cost of peak power has already become prohibitively high. If we have the mechanism to generate more power within the city, we will not only have the means of generating power that is cheaper to offer to our consumers, but we will also be in a position to bank the surplus with other states for future use.”
The company is also stepping up work on installation of solar power stations in the city. The company has initiated a pilot project wherein solar energy can be generated on smaller scale on roof tops of residential as well as commercial buildings.
The project allows consumers to generate the required or desired quantum of energy by setting up photovoltaic panels on the roof tops, which can be fed into the grid and also used for personal consumption.
The discom has already set up two solar plants, a 15 kW plant in its office premises and a 5 kW plant at a training centre in Rohini and plans to install 1,000 kW of solar energy in its distribution area. “The company is planning to set up a 54 kW grid connected solar plant at Pooth Khurd, Bawana, in its distribution network, for which the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has given a grant to NDPL of 50 per cent of the capital cost. The plant is expected to be commissioned by March 2010,” the official said.
