Employees, contractors panic as Mahagenco shuts 9 units

Nagpur: The hue and cry against MSEDCL buying costly power from Mahagenco coupled with heavy rains in the state has forced the generation company to shut down a large number of its units. While this may be necessary move, it has led to panic among Mahagenco’s contractual employees and contractors who are out of work. This is the first time that more Mahagenco units are offline than operational.At present 11 units are generating while 16 are not. Three units are under overhaul while four units of Parli power plant are closed due to water shortage. The remaining nine units have been shut down due to lack of demand, called backdown, and are causing unrest among employees and contractors. The total capacity of these nine units is 2,180 MW.
Along with Parli, the Bhusawal plant is also entirely shut down. Only one out of four units in Koradi and one out of five in Khaparkheda are working. Power unions are taking out frequent protest rallies in Bhusawal, Koradi and Khaparkheda plants to pressure the management into starting closed units.
A large number of power consumer activists have been demanding MSEDCL stop buying costly power from Mahagenco. The union leaders have turned their ire on such activists saying that nobody had the right to prevent MSEDCL from buying Mahagenco power. They also asked chief minister Devendra Fadnavis not to interfere in working of Mahagenco and force closure of its units.
Energy minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule defended the shut down of Mahagenco units in the state assembly on Wednesday. “We are following merit order dispatch (MOD) principle. The cheapest power will be bought first and the costliest the last. State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC) has been instructed accordingly,” he said.
Units shut down
Backdown: Koradi - 5 and 7, Bhusawal - 2, 3 and 5, Khaparkheda - 1, 2, 3 and 4
Overhaul: Koradi - 6, Bhusawal - 4, Nasik - 4
Water shortage: Parli - 4, 5, 6 and 7
(Figures Unit Nos)