The Hindu : New Delhi News : Delay in power tie-ups as Delhi faces summer blues

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Delay in power tie-ups as Delhi faces summer blues

Smriti Kak Ramachandran

Discoms yet to ink deals with other States for power purchase

‘Cash-strapped’ BRPL seeks loan from govt.
NDPL, BYPL claim they are ‘still negotiating’

NEW DELHI: If Delhi faces a power crisis this summer, it will not be on account of outages at the city’s power generation stations but because of delay in inking deals by the Capital’s power distribution companies with other States to secure power, say Power Department officials.

Planned outages, as is the case with the Badarpur, Pragati and Singrauli plants at present, and forced outages like the tripping of four units of the Badarpur plant this past Wednesday, can be compensated, but in the absence of concrete tie-ups the city could well be in for a dark and sweltering summer.

“The tie-ups for April to June are yet to be finalised. The discoms have still not been able to tell us exactly how much power is being secured for the summer months,” said an official.

Referring to the reduction in power production at the city’s generation units he said: “This is the time of the year when demand is low and the plants are shut down for maintenance. In any case, all the units will be back in early April. What we need to focus on is bidding for power and firming the tie-ups.”

While BRPL, claiming to be “cash-strapped”, has sought a loan from the Delhi Government to be able to procure power, NDPL and BYPL claim to be “still negotiating”.

“We have tied up for 80 MW from Himachal Pradesh and another 80 MW from Maharashtra State Electricity Board and have bid for some more power. Negotiations are on and we will be in a position to specify the details in a week’s time,” said an NDPL official.The discoms’ plea that the recent tariff order issued by the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission has made it difficult for them to procure power has forced the Power Department to take up the issue.

Even though Power Minister A.K. Walia has asked the discoms to make arrangements for the summer, he has directed the Power Department to write to DERC to re-assess its recent tariff order in which it has put a cap on the quantum of power that the discoms can purchase for the forthcoming months.

Officials point out that the discoms need to be “more pro-active” in bidding and netting deals, considering the high demand for power.

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