Dabhol plant shut for want of fuel

Hit severely by the decline in production of gas at Reliance Industries' KG-D6 Blocks, the 1,967-MW power plant at Dabhol has completely shut operations since February 21 due to non-availability of gas.

Ratnagiri Gas and Power, firm that now runs the Dabhol plant, was allocated 7.6 mmscmd of KG-D6 gas.

However, since the last two weeks there has been no supply.

"We have shut down all our units since February 21 as the supply has gone to zero and we are uncertain when we will get the fuel," an RGPPL spokesperson told PTI.

Because of gas shortage, the company was generating only about 50 per cent of its 1,967 MW capacity for the last few years.

"But since January, production has not only dropped but we had to shut operations several times due to want of gas," he said.

After shutting operations on January 26 and 27, the plant was resumed from January 28 till February 6, the official said.

"But again it had to be shut during February 7-13. then it ran for two days on February 14-15,

following which it remained shut for the next three days again.

"We operated the plant on February 19 and 20, but since February 21, the plant has been totally shut down," he said, adding, "we do not know when we will get the fuel."

To run the project at full capacity, the company needs 8.5 mmscmd gas of which 7.6 mmscmd should come from Reliance while the remaining from ONGC through GAIL.

Since the last two years, the company is facing gas shortage, he said, adding, "in FY12, we received only 6.6 mmscmd of gas and in FY13 till January, we received only 3.2 mmscmd.

"This has resulted in a generation loss of around 7,500 million units."

Currently, the plant supplies 95 per cent of the power generated to Maharashtra. Of the remaining 5 per cent, the company supplies 2 per cent of the power generated to Dadra & Nagar Haveli, 2 per cent to Daman & Diu and 1 per cent to Goa.

This will definitely have an impact on the power supply to these regions, especially Maharashtra, the official said.