Old Mahagenco unit restarted to please ministers

Nagpur: Energy minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule had been taking all the right steps to bring tariff down. However, under pressure to please his senior colleagues, he has taken a decision that will increase power rates. And MSEDCL has justified the decision by claiming something which is impossible.
The irony couldn’t have been more evident. A few weeks ago, MSEDCL told Mahagenco that it would not buy costly power from it as it was increasing the tariff.The distributor had floated a tender to buy cheap power from private companies. Now, it is again buying costly power.
Mahagenco had closed down 210MW unit 3 of Bhusawal power plant on April 20 as there was no demand from MSEDCL. In the coming months, the demand will reduce sharply due to rains. In spite of this, the unit is being restarted for reasons best known to the revenue minister Eknath Khadse and irrigation minister Girish Mahajan, who demanded it.
In a press note, MSEDCL has stated that due to this decision Chopda and Yaval areas (situated near Bhusawal) will get sufficient electricity at proper voltage. This claim is baffling, as there is no relation between proximity of power plant to load shedding and voltage fluctuation. The first depends on overall generation and demand while the second depends on the state of the distribution network.
Mahagenco closed down four 210MW units on economic grounds in 2013 and 2014. They include unit 3 of Parli plant, unit 1 of Chandrapur, unit 2 of Bhusawal and unit 6 of Koradi. When unit 4 of Parli developed a major problem, unit 3 was started to compensate for its loss.
Other than high cost of generation, Mahagenco does not get adequate coal and hence it decided to close down some old plants. Their quota of coal was used for the new units with better results.
MSEDCL officers are not amused by Bawankule’s decision. “He has been suspending officers for small, claiming that consumer interest is paramount. He did not bother about the consumers while pleasing his political bosses,” a middle level officer said bitterly.