Patiala, October 7
The Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has served notices of termination of power purchase agreements (PPAs) to four private power plants working under the aegis of Damodar Valley Corporation. The PSPCL “will not buy power from these plants with effect from October 31”.
Shortage of coal
At present, the power demand is around 9,924 MW, among which central sector contributes 5,010 MW and private plants 2,510 MW. According to the PSPCL, private plants have less than two-day stock and if run at a low capacity, it will last for a few more days.
The plants served recent notices are Damodar Valley Corporation’s Durgapur (200 MW share), Raghunathpur (300MW share), Bokaro (200MW share) and Meja Urja Power Project (85 MW share). The scrapping came following the PSERC ruling saying the power was costly from the generating stations of Damodar Valley Corporation, Kolkata; Pragati Power Corporation Limited; and Meja Urja Nigam Power Private Limited, aggregating to 885 MW.
In June, the government begun the process to terminate/re-negotiate five PPAs. The high cost of power supplied by private entities and other trading entities to the now power-starved state had raised a political storm.
The previous government had signed as many as 122 PPAs, of which five are now caught in a political storm, with both the Congress and AAP demanding that these be scrapped.
In August, Punjab had relinquished its allocated share of power from Anta, Auraiya and Dadri power stations under National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).
The PSPCL had agreed to terminate an agreement with the producers working under the aegis of the NTPC. The PSPCL had filed a petition seeking permission to relinquish allocated power from Anta, Auraiya and Dadri generating stations of the NTPC in March 2021, which the power regulator had admitted in June 2021. The orders are likely to benefit Punjab by over Rs 115 crore per annum. The PSERC said the PSPCL should buy power at not more than Rs 3 per unit, including fixed and variable cost. — TNS
PSPCL terminates pacts with 4 more private plants
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