NTPC proposes pooling entire capacity for supply to power distribution companies
NTPC Ltd has written to the power ministry proposing pooling of its «entire capacity» for sale of power to distribution companies, according to people aware of the development.
If approved, the proposed move could ease supply and operations as the company would be able to sell power to a discom from any station and not restrict it to stage-wise units, people familiar with the matter said.
The power purchase agreements (PPAs) with some discoms are signed in stages of commissioning and each stage is a separate entity for tariff and scheduling purposes.
As per the company the current arrangement limits operational flexibility and often impacts power availability for discoms in case of forced outages and breakdowns of a station.
«Discoms/states will get a steady supply of power even in the case of shutdown of units......,» the company said in a letter to the ministry, people familiar with the matter said.
It also becomes difficult to operate when a discom schedules a power station below the technical minimum during off-peak hours. «The request is for all stations to be pooled. It is a proposal the Central Electricity Authority is examining,» one of the persons said. An email sent to NTPC did not elicit any response till the time of filing this report.
In a central generation company like NTPC, power is allocated to distribution companies by the government after which a power purchase agreement is signed between them. The Central Electricity Authority, the planning and advisory body under the power ministry, has
