India Intelligence Report

 

 

   NHPC to Start Inter-State Power Trading

 

With plans to become a 10,000 megawatt (MW) company by 2010 from current 3750 MW, the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) plans to start coal-fired units, inter-state trading of electricity, and revive proposals for units in Nepal and Bhutan.

 

 

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With plans to become a 10,000 megawatt (MW) company by 2010 from current 3750 MW, the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) plans to start coal-fired units, inter-state trading of electricity, and revive proposals for units in Nepal and Bhutan . As part of its international expansion plan, the NHPC had planned to set up a 500 MW project in the Upper Karnali , Nepal and another 2 projects at Mangdechu and Punatsangchhu in Bhutan to produce 1600 MW.

In addition to a new coal-based power plant, NHPC has already started preliminary discussions with the Narmada Hydroelectric Development Corporation to buy its captive power from its 2 hydro-electricity projects in Madhya Pradesh (MP) for trading on its national grid. NHPC hopes to contract coal through a coal mine in MP as a captive supplier for its new coal-based power plant.

Apparently, this diversification of NHPC into thermal was prompted by the expansion of NTPC Ltd (formerly called National Thermal Power Corporation) into hydroelectricity. As the largest power generator with an installed capacity of 25,000MW, NTPC has already started hydro-electricity projects in Himachal Pradesh (HP) and Uttaranchal. It is not clear what prompted the NTPC to diversify but some say the NHPC’s lack-luster performance over the years and unwillingness to create new power projects prompted the more aggressive and forward-thinking NTPC to grab that space.

The expansion plans are set to cost Rs. 60,000 crore (USD 13 billion) in the next 6-7 years of which 1/3rd will come from budgetary allocations and the rest will be raised through debt instruments and tapping into reserves. The NHPC’s foray into thermal seems tentative and even speculative.

Instead of grabbing the challenge to create more hydro-electricity plants, its plans to start thermal units where it has no domain knowledge or operational skills is wasteful