The four-member expert committee constituted to study the problems faced by the 1,650-MW Rayalaseema Thermal Power Plant (RTPP) has submitted its report to the government and it is examining the recommendations thereof, according to official sources in the Energy Department. The committee headed by SPDCL former CMD P. Gopala Reddy is learnt to have made a detailed analysis of the whole gamut of issues faced by the RTPP and also paid due attention to the performance of various thermal plants.
Energy Secretary N. Srikant discussed the issues with the officials of the A.P. Power Coordination Committee, AP-Transco and other stakeholders to work out a strategy for improving the efficiencies of the Thermal Power Plants (TPPs), some of which, including the RTPP, are considered as good buyout opportunities by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).
The expert panel has been informed of the variable costs and a whole lot of factors related to the TPPs.
Employees’ demand
It may be noted that the APSEB Engineers’ Association demanded that the RTPP should be retained with the AP-Genco and suggested that the plant’s small size generators of 210-MW capacity are advantageous for the NTPC, which has made official enquiries about the acquisition.
The situation has come to such a pass that the A.P. Electricity Employees’ JAC insisted that the government should publish a White Paper on the power sector listing out the measures taken to bail out the ailing power utilities, complete the construction of long-pending 800-MW thermal units at Dr. Narla Tatarao Thermal Power Station (NTTPS) and Sri Damodaram Sanjeevaiah Thermal Power Station (SDSTPS) and the Polavaram hydro-electric project and to sort out coal linkage and other issues. It is feared that operation and maintenance services of SDSTPS were contemplated to be handed over to private parties.
