On Firm Ground

Calcutta, Feb. 23: The 700-mw second unit of Dabhol power project will start operations from the end of April or May this year. The 725-mw third unit will also start operations before the end of this calendar year, said Chandan Roy, director (operations) of NTPC Ltd, on the sidelines of a coal ash seminar organised by Coal Ash Institute of India and New Wave Display Services Pvt Ltd.

Roy, also the chief executive of Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private Ltd, a joint venture between NTPC and GAIL that revived Dabhol power project, said 1.2 million tonnes (mt) of gas would be supplied to the company before March 31.

“The supply is enough to run two plants,” he said, adding that the first plant (block 2 unit), which is running on naphtha, would be driven on gas from April. The work on the second plant (block 3 unit), which is nearly complete, will also start power generation from April-end or May, Roy said.

“The third plant, the block 1 unit, will be ready by November and will start generation before the end of this calendar year,” he said.

Petronet LNG will supply 1.2 mt of gas. “The supply was supposed to come by December last year. The project got delayed and our costs went up,” Roy said.

The delay was caused by protests from farmers whose lands the gas pipeline would have crossed.

“However, the government is working out a plan so that the increase in cost due to the delay in gas supply and the rise in gas prices can be accommodated,” Roy said.