The April 25 deadline for the Dabhol power plant is looking increasingly unlikely as critical components have not yet reached the plant and there is an urgent need of repairs.
A senior official of Ratnagiri Gas and Power said power from the plant on which the state is banking heavily is likely to be delayed by another two weeks or so. Dabhol is expected to provide 740 mw of power to help ease the state's summer peak load deficit of over 3,500 mw.
The official said that among the critical equipment in urgent need of repairs at the plant is the single mooring buoy, which has got tilted from years of disuse. The buoy is used to transport naphtha to the plant.
Ratnagiri Gas currently has a stock of 36,000 tonnes of naphtha at the plant which is enough to run the plant for four hours a day for the three summer months. It is procuring the rest of its requirement from Bharat Petroleum. The official also said that a customs hold-up in Mumbai has delayed the delivery of critical software to the plant.
"Bechtel was supposed to supply the instrumentation software. First, they delayed delivery by a few days and then the customs in Mumbai held up the package as the duty payable was not computed correctly. With an intervening Sunday, we lost a couple of days there," the official said.
Even after the delivery of the software to the plant, it will take another 10 days to get them operational, he said. The official also indicated that RGPPL's plans for the plant after the summer rush is uncertain as the fuel linkages have not been settled.
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