NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN) has come down heavily upon 14 project developers for failing to meet the commissioning deadline under the first batch of phase-I of the national solar mission.
An NVVN official said that in terms of strict compliance of the guidelines, bank guarantees of these developers have been encashed for not commissioning the projects by January 9, which was the deadline.
Of these 14 projects, Lanco is engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contractor in three.
Tarun Kapoor, Joint Secretary in-charge of National Solar Mission in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, confirmed this. Official sources said the amount encashed would be close to Rs 28 crore.
The penalty for each project averages approximately Rs 2 crore.
This is the first warning. After this, the developers are given two months’ time to finish the project, and if they still don’t, this would entail further loss of bank guarantee — thereafter, three months time is provided with penalties to complete the project, failing which the project would stand removed from the Mission.
The total extension in this manner is up to six months beyond the scheduled date.
These projects are spread across the country — Rajasthan, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Sources said that NVVN has relied on the commissioning reports furnished by the State nodal agencies.
The trading arm of NTPC has been designated the nodal agency for sale and purchase of grid connected solar power under Phase-1 of the Mission.
Under the first batch, 35 new projects were expected to generate 610 MW of solar power (140 MW of photovoltaic and 470 MW thermal) and grid connectivity was expected by January 2012.
Generation from new photovoltaic projects was to commence from this January, and from thermal sources by May 2013. Recently, the Government has ordered a probe into the contravention of one project-one proponent norm in the Mission brought out by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) investigation.
The three-member committee has to submit its report in a month’s time.
Sources said that the first meeting of the committee took place on January 17, when CSE made a presentation. Besides, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, which is represented in the committee, has simultaneously started gathering information on the status of companies accused of flouting the norms.
An investigation by CSE revealed that the guidelines were circumvented by Lanco Infratech, the flagship of the Lanco Group.
According to the investigation, Lanco Infratech floated front companies and grabbed nine projects worth 235 MW sanctioned during the first batch of the first phase of the Solar Mission.
NTPC MAY EXIT ORISSA OVER DELAYS IN GETTING LAND FOR PROJECTS
With land acquisition hurdles delaying its proposed large-sized power projects at Darlipali and Gajmara in Orissa, NTPC is looking at alternative sites outside the state.
India’s largest power generation utility has been unable to place a multi-billion dollar power generation equipment order for the proposed projects as planned because of the delays.
“When will Orissa give land? We might have to look at other options. These bids are time-bound. We are looking at alternatives,” a senior NTPC executive said on condition of anonymity.
While the projects have been delayed for over a year, the hardening of stand by the Union government-owned NTPC comes in the backdrop of Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik leading the opposition of the states to the central government’s proposal to establish a National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC).
NTPC’s stand has nothing to do with NCTC, said the executive cited above.
“We have been trying to impress upon Orissa for a long time. How long can we wait?” he said.
NTPC had sought bids for around Rs 22,000 crore of boilers and turbine generators last year for proposed projects at Kudgi (2,400 megawatts, or MW) in Karnataka, Lara (1,600MW) in Chhattisgarh, and Darlipali (1,600MW) and Gajmara (1,600MW) in Orissa.
The projects will have a total capacity of 4,000MW each after all the development phases are completed. While NTPC has placed orders for the Kudgi project, it has been unable to do so for the remaining ones due to delays in land acquisition. The utility requires an acre of land per megawatt.
“We have to find land for our projects. While leaving Orissa is not a bad idea, we need to find ideal locations in other states,” said another NTPC executive also requesting anonymity.
G Mathivathanan, secretary in Orissa’s department of energy, said NTPC had not sent any such communication to the state in this regard.
“The proposal for land for Darlipali has been recommended by the energy department to the revenue department. It will be notified,” said Mathivathanan. “Land for Gajmara is under consideration. There are some issues about it. The state government will take a call on it.” The delay in awarding equipment orders may not only derail NTPC’s capacity-addition plans, but will also worsen the power shortage in the country.
The utility installed power generation capacity of 186,654MW. It’s targeting an installed capacity of 66,000MW by 2017 and 128,000MW by 2032.
NTPC has projects totalling 14,088MW under construction. Equipment for 16,192MW is still under the tendering process, while it plans to award orders for equipment meant to generate 40,000MW during the 12th Plan (2012-17) for about Rs.2 trillion. The company has 15 coal-based, seven gas-based and six joint venture power stations.
KC VENUGOPAL REVIEWS VALLUR PROJECT
Union Minister of State for Power KC Venugopal visited NTECL’s Vallur Thermal Power Project near Chennai and reviewed the progress of the project activities along with senior officials of NTECL and NTPC.
NTECL is a 50:50 joint venture of NTPC Ltd and TNEB and is executing 3x500 MW thermal power project. While reviewing the progress of the project activities, he desired that Unit#1 of the project should be commissioned by February 2012 and Unit#II by August this year.
He had a detailed review with major agencies including BHEL and directed them to step up mobilisation to advance the milestones. He advised NTECL should ensure early commercial operation of Unit#1 so that power is made available from the project on continuous basis.
An NVVN official said that in terms of strict compliance of the guidelines, bank guarantees of these developers have been encashed for not commissioning the projects by January 9, which was the deadline.
Of these 14 projects, Lanco is engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contractor in three.
Tarun Kapoor, Joint Secretary in-charge of National Solar Mission in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, confirmed this. Official sources said the amount encashed would be close to Rs 28 crore.
The penalty for each project averages approximately Rs 2 crore.
This is the first warning. After this, the developers are given two months’ time to finish the project, and if they still don’t, this would entail further loss of bank guarantee — thereafter, three months time is provided with penalties to complete the project, failing which the project would stand removed from the Mission.
The total extension in this manner is up to six months beyond the scheduled date.
These projects are spread across the country — Rajasthan, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Sources said that NVVN has relied on the commissioning reports furnished by the State nodal agencies.
The trading arm of NTPC has been designated the nodal agency for sale and purchase of grid connected solar power under Phase-1 of the Mission.
Under the first batch, 35 new projects were expected to generate 610 MW of solar power (140 MW of photovoltaic and 470 MW thermal) and grid connectivity was expected by January 2012.
Generation from new photovoltaic projects was to commence from this January, and from thermal sources by May 2013. Recently, the Government has ordered a probe into the contravention of one project-one proponent norm in the Mission brought out by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) investigation.
The three-member committee has to submit its report in a month’s time.
Sources said that the first meeting of the committee took place on January 17, when CSE made a presentation. Besides, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, which is represented in the committee, has simultaneously started gathering information on the status of companies accused of flouting the norms.
An investigation by CSE revealed that the guidelines were circumvented by Lanco Infratech, the flagship of the Lanco Group.
According to the investigation, Lanco Infratech floated front companies and grabbed nine projects worth 235 MW sanctioned during the first batch of the first phase of the Solar Mission.
NTPC MAY EXIT ORISSA OVER DELAYS IN GETTING LAND FOR PROJECTS
With land acquisition hurdles delaying its proposed large-sized power projects at Darlipali and Gajmara in Orissa, NTPC is looking at alternative sites outside the state.
India’s largest power generation utility has been unable to place a multi-billion dollar power generation equipment order for the proposed projects as planned because of the delays.
“When will Orissa give land? We might have to look at other options. These bids are time-bound. We are looking at alternatives,” a senior NTPC executive said on condition of anonymity.
While the projects have been delayed for over a year, the hardening of stand by the Union government-owned NTPC comes in the backdrop of Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik leading the opposition of the states to the central government’s proposal to establish a National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC).
NTPC’s stand has nothing to do with NCTC, said the executive cited above.
“We have been trying to impress upon Orissa for a long time. How long can we wait?” he said.
NTPC had sought bids for around Rs 22,000 crore of boilers and turbine generators last year for proposed projects at Kudgi (2,400 megawatts, or MW) in Karnataka, Lara (1,600MW) in Chhattisgarh, and Darlipali (1,600MW) and Gajmara (1,600MW) in Orissa.
The projects will have a total capacity of 4,000MW each after all the development phases are completed. While NTPC has placed orders for the Kudgi project, it has been unable to do so for the remaining ones due to delays in land acquisition. The utility requires an acre of land per megawatt.
“We have to find land for our projects. While leaving Orissa is not a bad idea, we need to find ideal locations in other states,” said another NTPC executive also requesting anonymity.
G Mathivathanan, secretary in Orissa’s department of energy, said NTPC had not sent any such communication to the state in this regard.
“The proposal for land for Darlipali has been recommended by the energy department to the revenue department. It will be notified,” said Mathivathanan. “Land for Gajmara is under consideration. There are some issues about it. The state government will take a call on it.” The delay in awarding equipment orders may not only derail NTPC’s capacity-addition plans, but will also worsen the power shortage in the country.
The utility installed power generation capacity of 186,654MW. It’s targeting an installed capacity of 66,000MW by 2017 and 128,000MW by 2032.
NTPC has projects totalling 14,088MW under construction. Equipment for 16,192MW is still under the tendering process, while it plans to award orders for equipment meant to generate 40,000MW during the 12th Plan (2012-17) for about Rs.2 trillion. The company has 15 coal-based, seven gas-based and six joint venture power stations.
KC VENUGOPAL REVIEWS VALLUR PROJECT
Union Minister of State for Power KC Venugopal visited NTECL’s Vallur Thermal Power Project near Chennai and reviewed the progress of the project activities along with senior officials of NTECL and NTPC.
NTECL is a 50:50 joint venture of NTPC Ltd and TNEB and is executing 3x500 MW thermal power project. While reviewing the progress of the project activities, he desired that Unit#1 of the project should be commissioned by February 2012 and Unit#II by August this year.
He had a detailed review with major agencies including BHEL and directed them to step up mobilisation to advance the milestones. He advised NTECL should ensure early commercial operation of Unit#1 so that power is made available from the project on continuous basis.
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