Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt Ltd (RGPPL) which operates Dabhol power plant in Maharashtra has shut its gas based plant due to non-availability of natural gas in sufficient quantity. RGPPL requires 8.5 MMSCMD of gas to run the power plant at full capacity and the government had allocated 7.6 MMSCMD from RIL’s KG D-6 basin and 0.9 MMSCMD from ONGC through GAIL. However, with no gas coming from KG basin, only 0.9 MMSCMD is available from ONGC’s marginal fields for the Dabhol power plant. However, Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) has turned down the offer to generate electricity out of this gas, claiming that partial operation of the plant only increases the fixed cost per unit of power.
RGPPL has six gas turbines and needs 1.4 MMSCMD of gas to run at least one gas turbine. In order to cover O&M expenses and ensure debt servicing at least four gas turbines have to run on a continuous basis. MSEDCL with whom RGPPL has signed PPA is not willing to pay more than Rs. 4/kWh and to supply power at that rate the company has to run its plant at full capacity. Running the plant on RLNG is not a viable option as the cost will shoot up to Rs.10/kWh.
RGPPL owns an integrated gas-based power generation plant having a capacity of approximately 1,967 MW and a Re-gasified LNG (R-LNG) terminal with a capacity of approximately 5 MMTPA at Dabhol, Maharashtra. For the year 2012-13 RGPPL recorded a turnover of Rs. 2206 crore, a fall of 53% from previous year. The company incurred Rs.375 crore loss in FY 2013 against a net profit of Rs. 1,089 crore in FY 2012.
