Decision to close down 4 units questioned

Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 8

The decision of Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL) to shut down four units of the Panipat Thermal Power Station without taking any other initiative to increase power generation has raised questions.

Technocrats say dependence on power purchase to meet the growing demand and not adding any generation capacity are not good decisions. Due to rising cost of production, the authorities have started purchasing power from private producers.

Sources said the HPGCL had submitted a proposal to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) to close down four units of the Panipat thermal station some months ago.

Sources said the standing committee on power examined the proposal. Based on the recommendations of the HPGCL, the CEA chairman had approved the removal of 440 MW (Unit 1 to 4 of 110 MW each capacity) last month. The HGPCL authorities had also started the process to dismantle the four units.

“Since these four units are more than 30 years old and per unit cost is very high, the HGPCL has decided to close them.” Managing Director of HPGCL, M K V Rama Rao confirmed The Tribune.

The authorities had stopped using these four units several months ago, while power generation from the units had also gone down since 2010-11.

“The cost of production from these four units was very high, but the authorities should not close down these units on the pretext of higher cost and they should take steps to renovate the running stations and install new power projects,” said Ajay Amber, president of the Haryana Power Generation Engineers’ Association.

As per information, before closing down of the four units, the state had a total 5,300.50 MW generation capacity. It included Panipat Thermal Power Station, Panipat, Deen Bandhu Thermal Power Project, Yamunanagar, Rajiv Gandhi Thermal Power Project, Khedar, Hisar, Indira Gandhi Super Thermal Power Project, Jhajjar, Mahatma Gandhi Super Thermal Power Project, Jhajjar, WYC Hydro Electric Station, Yamunanagar, and Kakroli Micro Hydel Project.

Figures show that the four units generated 2,681.40 Million Units (MUs) in 2009-10, 2,093.69 MUs in 2010-11, 2,506.14 MUs in 2011-12, 1,993.39 MUs in 2012-13, 385.98 MUs in 2013-14 and 477.606 MUs in 2014-15.