Blackout days to be back, govt can't afford coal

TNN Sep 6, 2011, 06.22am IST

KOLKATA: Brace for regular, or shall we say "rotational", power cuts in the city. West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd (WBPDCL) has drawn up a roster for shutting down its three power stations as coal companies have cut down supply to the state agency. They have threatened to reduce it even further unless the Mamata Banerjee government pays up Rs 590 crore in dues immediately.

This roster will be sent to Writers' Buildings soon. But more importantly, WBPDCL's decision will force state power utility West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (WBSEDCL) to prepare its load-shedding schedule because the shortage of coal supply will directly hit power generation.

The ultimatum sounded by WBPDCL has reached Writers' Buildings already, but no respite has been offered by the Mamata Banerjee government as the state finance department has thrown in the towel, saying it can't shell out anything for the moment.

Coal companies have cut down on supply over the past two months because WBPDCL, which is the major power supplier to the state utility, has been unable to pay for the coal. The supply has come down from 18 rakes a day to 10. Things have come to such a head that WBPDCL will now have to shut down the power stations. All five - Kolaghat, Bakreswar, Bandel, Santaldih and Sagardighi thermal power stations - will be shut down during various parts of the day, thus supplying less power every day.

The 'shutdown' roster will directly impact power supply and, in turn, make WBSEDCL draw up its own load-shedding schedule.

Power utilities have been going through an abject funds crunch from the beginning of the current financial year as the state government refused to revise power tariff in accordance with the coal price hike from April 1. This alone has led to a loss of Rs 500 crore for WBSEDCL.

Moreover, chief minister Mamata Banerjee - who recently gave up the power portfolio to Manish Gupta - refused to allow the power utility to apply to West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission (WBERC) for the standard annual tariff revision. This would entail another Rs 2,500 crore subsidy for the power utility. But the state finance department, to which the power department has applied for the required subsidy, has already thrown in the towel, saying it doesn't even have anything to spare.

So, brace for acute power cuts like in the 1970s and early-'80s. After becoming a power surplus state by the mid-'80s, West Bengal is now walking backwards on the power front.

Water plant lag in arsenic belt

ABHIJEET CHATTERJEE AND INDRANIL SARKAR

The Telegraph, Issue Date: Monday , January 31 , 2011

Purbasthali, Jan. 30: A Rs 40-crore government scheme to provide purified drinking water to an arsenic-prone zone in Burdwan has been held up for the past six months because of delay in getting power connection.

Officials of the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) said a portion of the high-tension power line would have to be laid under a stretch of railway tracks near the water-treatment plant at Purbasthali but the railways was yet to give permission.

WBSEDCL requires to lay the cable under the tracks between two stations on the Bandel-Katwa section to supply power to the plant from a 132KV substation.

The project was started by the public health engineering (PHE) department in 2008. Once completed, the plant will supply arsenic-free water to around 1.75 lakh people in 100 villages in Kalna, where the arsenic level in underground water is high. Purbasthali is under Kalna subdivision.

“Work on the water-treatment plant has been completed. We have also laid the pipeline and built four water reservoirs,” said Arabinda Sahu, the executive engineer (mechanical) of PHE, Burdwan. “But we have not been able to supply water to the people as we are yet to get electricity connection,” he added.

Sahu said WBSEDCL had given a temporary connection earlier this month but it was not enough to run the plant, which has a capacity to purify 10.8 million litres a day. He said the PHE department had applied for power connection in early 2009 and had paid Rs 95 lakh to WBSEDCL.

PHE officials said water would be fetched from the Bhagirathi river, 700 metres from the plant, and supplied to the villages after purification.

Anindya Kishore Manna, the WBSEDCL divisional engineer of Kalna, said the power utility had applied to the Howrah divisional railway manager for clearance but was yet to get the permission. “We had submitted necessary documents and project details to the railways but nothing has been done yet,” Manna said.

Howrah divisional railway manager P.S. Mandal, however, said he had already given the clearance. “As far as I can recall, I had given the clearance. I don’t know why the decision had not been communicated to WBSEDCL. I will look into the matter,” Mandal said.

Around 100 villages in and around Purbasthali’s Kamalnagar, where the plant has come up, are dependent on underground water.

“We use underground water for cooking, washing and bathing. But because of the presence of arsenic in the water, we suffer from skin problems,” said Dwarkanath Thakur, 53, a marginal farmer.

Krishnendu Haldar, the medical officer of Purbasthali block II, said villagers frequently came to the local health centre with symptoms of arsenic poisoning.

“They suffer from rashes, swellings, headache, drowsiness and discolouration of the skin and nails. We often refer such cases of arsenic poisoning to Calcutta’s SSKM and NRS. About 200 villagers from Purbasthali are now receiving treatment at the two hospitals,” Haldar said.

CESC to set up five thermal power plants

KOLKATA,13th March: CESC plans to set up five thermal power plants with a combined capacity of 5,000 MW over the next few years, with investments in the range of INR 20000 crore.At its 600 MW Haldia plant in West Bengal, CESC is facing land acquisition hurdles. Once the land acquisition is complete, it will take about 33 months for the project to be completed.Dhariwal Infrastructure a subsidiary of CESC is undertaking a 600 MW project at Chandrapur. This project is expected to be completed in another 34 months.The company is mulling to set up one thermal generation unit each in Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa. By 2013, the company is hopeful of operationalising at least two of these three Greenfield projects.

Ramsarup Industries commissions DRI and WHRD power plant at Kharagpur

KOLKATA,10 June, 2009: Ramsarup Industries Ltd announced that it has commenced production of 500 TPD DRI plant in West Bengal and Waste Heat Recovery Boiler in Kharagpur.The plant was set up using German Outokumpu technology. Its WHRB will generate 20 MW of power along with gas generated from the blast furnace.The release added that “Ramsarup is taking necessary action to sell approx 11 MW of power through the exchange which will give them approx INR 4 crores per month of revenue. Moreover, the Company has received approval from UNFCCC for carbon credit to the tune of 114,000 CER per annum for the next 7 years. The Company will now be in a position to sell the carbon credit at current rates, and this will generate extra revenue of INR 1 crore per month for the next 7 years.”Mr Ashish Jhunjhunwal CMD of Ramsarup Industries Ltd said that "Commencing production of 500 tonnes per day DRI plant at Kharagpur is another milestone in our steady towards improving our topline and remaining a forerunner in our field.

Power system collapses after Aila in Sunderbans

Kolkata June 08, 2009: Cyclone Aila which hit West Bengal on May 25, has devastated the entire solar panel set-up in the Sunderbans island, leaving the island completely bereft of electricity.

It is to be noted that the islands of Sunderbans at present do not have any access to grid connectivity and solely depend on solar, biomass and renewable energy sources. Solar power has emerged as the primary source of electrification in most of the inhabited islands in Sunderbans.

“The state government is reviewing the extent of damage.Preliminary estimates suggest that 40 per cent of the household solar power installations have been damaged. As per WBGEDCL's estimate the quantum of damage is likely to be around Rs 50 crore.

Rehabilitation work has started, but it will take some time to repair the damage caused," said S P Gon Chaudhuri, managing director, West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation Limited (WBGEDCL) on the sidelines of an interactive seminar organised by Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

WBGEDCL, the state nodal agency for promoting use of renewable energy sources, in association with the centre and state rural development department had set up one lakh household solar power installations or solar-powered home lighting systems in Sunderbans area. The largest cluster of solar power system in the country is in the Sunderban islands of which 40 per cent have been damaged now, Gon Chaudhuri informed. The cyclone has washed away or destroyed close to 40,000 solar panels. This apart the storm had damaged 21 clusters of solar and biomass power hubs which supplied electricity to around 10,000 households there.

“The power clusters have been repaired, but the individual house solar panels or the home lighting system is yet to be complete. It will need some more time,”said Gon Chaudhuri.

A large number of villages and islands — which are located on the fringes of the core forest area will remain in darkness unless steps are taken on a war-footing to restore electricity there.

“We will suggest to the government to incorporate new low-cost technologies by which these houses in the coastal areas can both get power through renewable sources and at the same time be rigid and resilient to climate changes and disasters. There are lots of technologies. We will help with the technical input,” said Gon Chaudhuri.

RGGVY to cover 244 mouzas this year

Kolkata May 22, 2009:The West Bengal power department, the implementing agency of Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana is planning to cover the 244 mouzas which could not be covered in the first phase of the rural electrification programme this year.

“We will be covering the remaining 244 mouzas that could not be covered under mouza electrification programme in the first phase due to disputes and litigation in the second phase of the RGGVY programme. By May 2009, having 6394 mouzas electified, a total of 37,666 mouzas or 99.36 per cent of the state’s 37, 910 mouzas will be electrified,” informed Sunil Mitra, additional chief secretary, department of power and non-conventional energy, West Bengal at an interactive seminar organised by the Merchants' Chamber of Commerce.

In the second phase starting this year state power department plans to intensify the electricity distribution networks in 81,967 rural habitations in 33,000 mouzas in all the 18 districts in the state, to provide access to electricity to a further 52,89,607 rural households.

By March 2009, because of the RGGVY project, around 45 lakh rural households become metered consumers of WBSEDCL.The total provisioned fund of Rs 3000 crore has been mobilised, work orders have also been issued. “We expect to complete the task by next two three years,” said Mitra.

Power utilities in WB to register a net revenue collection of Rs 8,289.19 cr

KOLKATA, 20 March: State-owned power utilities in West Bengal are slated to register a net revenue collection of Rs 8,289.19 crore during 2008-09 with an estimated net profit of Rs 289.47 crore. Accordingly, enthused by the decent revenue collection projections, the West Bengal government on Friday increased plan allocation for the power sector from Rs 2,061.73 crore during 2008-09 to Rs 2,376.4 crore for 2009-10.

This, however, is inclusive of internal resources of the power utilities. The state-owned power utilities include West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Co, West Bengal State Electricity Transmission Co, West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd and Durgapur Projects Ltd.

In his budget speech for 2009-10, West Bengal's finance minister Asim Dasgupta said: "Special emphasis has been given to improve the internal efficiency of power utilities in the state. As a result, the plant load factor of these power utilities has increased from 53.2% in 2001-02 to an estimated 63% in the current year.

In addition, the transmission and distribution loss has also been reduced from 31.1% from 2001-02 to 22% in the current year." Mr Dasgupta also claimed that rural electrification has reached 99.2%. "Out of 37,910 villages in the state, electricity has reached as many as 37,606 villages till February 28, 2009. The state government has now set a deadline for completing the task of providing power to each household of every villages within 11th Plan Period."

NHPC to construct mini tidal power project in Sundarbans

DELHI: Project monitor reported that NHPC Ltd has invited global tenders for the implementation of the 3x1.25 MW Durgaduani mini tidal power project in the Sundarbans in 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.The scope of work for this turnkey project includes planning, design, engineering and execution of civil structures such as dyke, inlet sluice, powerhouse and switchyard, 3x1.25 MW bulb turbine generator units and associated auxiliaries, ancillary equipment and hydro mechanical works such as vertical lift gates and stoplogs, hoists and gantry cranes.As per report, the 3 units of the project are to be commissioned within 27 months from the date of issue of letter of acceptance. The RFP document is priced at INR 5,000 and will be available till February 12th. The last of submission of bids is February 13th 2009.

WBSEDCL aims Rs 7,500 cr busines in 2008-09

Press Trust of India / Kolkata

November 5, 2008, 20:39 IST

The West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company (WBSEDCL) today said it was aiming at a total revenue of Rs 7,500 crore and a surplus of between Rs 500 and Rs 600 crore during the current fiscal.

"We had achieved a revenue of about Rs 6,500 crore and earned a surplus of Rs 131 crore during 2007-08. In 2008-09, the total revenue is expected to be Rs 7,500 crore with a surplus of Rs 500 to Rs 600 crore, if coal supply to power plants remains smooth," WBSEDCL Chairman M K De said here. Interacting with the members of the Merchant Chamber of Commerce, De said the projected power export could have been possible then the profit would have been another Rs 400 crore more.

The West Bengal State Transmission Company posted a profit of Rs 78 crore from a revenue of Rs 436 crore. The company was projecting a turnover of Rs 446 crore during 2008-09 financial year. "We have been able to export only 895 million units as against projection of over 5,000 million units during 2007-08. This is due to failure of the new power plants commissioned during the year," De said.

During the year, the West Bengal government had projected to add 1,570 MW. However, during the current year so far, only 1,000 MW capacity has been added to the system. Owing to failure to meet the targeted export due to commissioning of new plants and shortage of coal, WBSEDCL has slashed power export projection to 2,600 million units."Given the coal supply situation, we do not hope to meet even this target," De said.