| Power
generation lower than installed capacity
19 November 2007
According to union power
minister Sushilkumar Shinde, reassessment studies completed by Central Electricity
Authority (CEA) in 1987 had estimated the hydroelectric potential of the country,
in terms of installed capacity, at about 148,700 MW, of which a capacity of 30,873
MW (20.76 per cent of the potential) has already been developed and another 13,446
MW is under implementation. The
policy on hydro power development, which was first announced by the centre in
1998, emphasises on basin-wise development, evolving consensus on inter state
issues, mitigation of geological risks, simplified procedure for transfer of clearances,
promoting joint venture arrangements. It also stresses on increasing private investment
in the power sector through independent power producers (IPPs) and joint ventures.
In February 2005, the National Electricity Policy was announced also emphasises
the expeditious development of feasible hydro potential in the country. The
government has also announced a mega power policy to incentivise the development
of mega power projects, under which inter-state power thermal projects of 1000
MW and above and hydro projects of 500 MW and above qualify for such fiscal concessions
and benefits as. - Import
of capital equipment free of customs duty
- Deemed
export benefits as per the provisions of the Foreign Trade Policy to the domestic
suppliers
-
Income Tax holiday regime as per section 80-IA of the Income Tax Act, 1961
Moreover
for the projects located in J&K, the north east states and Sikkim, the corresponding
threshold qualifying limit has been reduced to 700 MW for thermal and 300 MW for
hydel projects. This
information was given by the Union Power Minister Shri Sushilkumar Shinde in a
written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha. Utilisation
of installed power generation capacity
Shinde admitted in a written reply
in the Rajya Sabha that the actual power generation happens to be lower than the
installed capacity of power projects as some of the generating units remain out
of service due to planned maintenance works, forced outage, etc. The actual power
generation from the available generating units also depends on age, design of
generating units, operation and maintenance practices adopted, availability of
the required quality and quantity of fuel, availability of water in the rivers
(for hydro stations) and system conditions. The
plant load factor (PLF) of a generating unit is an important indicator of the
utilisation of generation capacity of thermal and nuclear power stations. On the
other hand, the utilisation of installed capacity of hydro power station depends
on inflow of water in the rivers (which in turn depends on rainfall and snowmelt),
irrigation requirements and availability of generating units at the power stations.
| Targets
and actual plant load factor of thermal and nuclear power stations and the availability
of machines for hydro power plants for the year 2004-05 and 2006-07 |
| Year |
Thermal
| Nuclear
| Hydro
availability (%) | | Target
PLF(%) | Actual
PLF(%) | Target
PLF(%) | Actual
PLF(%) | | 2004-05 | 73.4 | 74.8 | 64.8 | 70.7 | 89.85 |
| 2006-07 | 76.3 | 76.8 | 59.7 | 57.5 | 89.32 |
Assessment of generating
capacity is made for the year ahead, keeping in view factors like the requirement
of planned maintenance, allowance for forced outages, availability of fuel, commissioning
programme and stabilization period for the new generating stations etc. For
2007-08, a generation target of 710 billion unit (BU) has been approved, comprising
572.2 BU from thermal stations (76.8 per cent average PLF), 22.7 BU for nuclear
stations (60.2 per cent PLF), 109.5 BU for hydro stations and 5.6 BU through import
from Bhutan. Financial
incentives for power generation
Shinde also said that during last few
months no financial incentives have been announced by the central government to
specifically boost electricity generation capacity. However, fiscal concessions
/ benefits for generation projects are available to mega power projects, under
the mega power policy, which are aimed at reducing the power tariff from large
capacity power generating plants. In
addition during the 10th Plan, the scheme of accelerated generation and supply
programme was also continued under which a specified level of interest subsidy
was made available.  During
2006-07, interest subsidy of approximately Rs457 crore and Rs30.2 crore respectively
was released to Power Finance Corporation and Rural Electrification Corporation
which were disbursing the interest subsidy, for making it available to power utilities.
Other
reports on Power
| 
