The oil ministry has asked the power ministry to examine reasons that could be forcing generation companies to consume less than their government-decided share of gas from Mukesh Ambani's Andhra offshore field when demand for electricity is high and there is no shortage in fuel supply.
In a memo to the power ministry, the oil ministry said the government had earmarked the quantity of Andhra offshore gas to the identified power plants so that they could work at 90% capacity. But only 85% of the allocated gas was consumed by such power plants in April when demand is usually high. The Central Electricty Authority said some plants reported loss of generation in April due to supply shortage.
The memo lists 28 plants, including Uran and Trombay in Maharashtra, that have consumed less than their share of gas in April. "If any difficulty is being faced in the supply of gas to these plants leading to generation losses, the same may be informed to this ministry," the memo said adding the power ministry should also "look into" any other reason that may be affecting offtake. Generation industry players said one reason plants are consuming less than their share is the transportation tariff and marketing margin. These add to the gas price decided by the government and renders electricity expensive. So, these plants do not qualify for dispatch as per the "merit order" and report lower plant loads, or operate at lesser capacity, since utilities stay away from costly power.
The government had earmarked over 66 million cubic metres per day of gas on firm and fallback basis of Andhra offshore gas for power generation.
No comments:
Post a Comment