Question : Use of Power Generation Capacity

(a) whether only 48 per cent capacity of the thermal power plants is likely to be used in the country by the year 2022 and if so, the facts in this regard;

(b) whether any assessment has been made of the financial loss likely to be incurred due to under-utilisation of production capacity of power projects and if so, the details thereof; and

(c) the reasons for the under-utilisation of the production capacity of the thermal power plants and the corrective steps taken/ proposed to be taken by the Government thereon?

THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR POWER,
COAL, NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND MINES

( SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL )


(a) to (c) : A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF STARRED QUESTION NO.203 TO BE ANSWERED IN THE LOK SABHA ON 16.03.2017 REGARDING USE OF POWER GENERATION CAPACITY.
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(a) & (b) : No, Madam. Actual Plant Load Factor (PLF) of Thermal Power Plant by the year 2022 will depend on several factors like actual demand vis-à-vis the projection, the extent of addition of generation capacities from the different generation sources, enhanced retirements of units as per revised emission norms issued by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, success of energy efficiency and Demand Side Management (DSM) measures etc.

(c) : The reasons for under-utilization of plants include, inter alia, rapid increase in generation capacity including massive expansion of renewables, conservation of energy because of efficiency measures and low availability of gas for gas based thermal power stations.

The following steps are being taken for full capacity utilization of power generation capacities:

i. To revive and improve utilization of the stranded gas based
power generation capacity in the country, Government of India (GoI) has sanctioned a scheme supported with PSDF (Power System Development Fund) for utilization of gas based power generation capacity for the years 2015-16 and 2016-17. The scheme envisages supply of imported Re-gasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) to the stranded gas based plants as well as plants receiving domestic gas, selected through a reverse e-bidding process.

ii. UDAY (Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana), a scheme for the Financial turnaround and operational improvement of Power Distribution Companies (DISCOMs), has been approved by the GoI, which may enable them to procure more power from the generators, thus increasing their PLF.

iii. Implementation under Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and Integrated Power Development System (IPDS) for strengthening of sub-transmission and distribution networks and for segregation of agriculture feeders to give adequate and reliable supply and reduce line losses.

iv. With "24x7 Power for All" initiative taken jointly with the State Governments, the access to electricity would increase and accordingly the electricity demand would also increase leading to increased utilisation of power generation capacity. Plans for 35 out of 36 States/UTs, have already been prepared and are under implementation.

v. Retirement of old and inefficient units. During 12th Plan period till September, 2016, a total of 3000 MW of inefficient thermal generating capacity has been retired. This will also result in better utilisation of more efficient plants.


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