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Bidadi Power
tsubba - 6 September, 2007 | Bangalore | Infrastructure
One of the most potent solutions to Bangalore's problems also poses great challenges - moving the center to respond, fighting global markets. Yet if KA can somehow pull this one off, Bangalore can begin to address some of its problems in true impactful ways. The Rs. 4,000 crore Bidadi Combined Cycle Power Plant (BCCPP) is a 1,400 MW combined gas cycle plant with four units of 350 MW each. The KPCL The physical infrastructure for the project in terms of land and pipelines for water supply are already in place and KPCL has so far spent Rs. 120 crore towards it. All other statutory clearances have been obtained. It will be a dedicated power generator and assured supply of power to Bangalore and provide greater grid stability. If this comes through, the city will no longer face any power shortage. If this plant gets LNG source, then autos, buses and taxis of South Karnataka will also have a dedicated source of LNG. The only catch is that KPCL has not been able to find any supplier of LNG, despite the proposal being online for a while now. Though KPCL had floated tenders for gas supply, no agency had quoted a rate. The suppliers do not want to get into a forward commitment with regard to supply of gas. There is a lot of demand for LNG in the international market, and the prices are volatile. KPCL is moving the center, and agencies like Gas Authority of India Ltd., Cochin LNG, Reliance Petrochemicals Ltd., Petronet LNG and the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation for sources. Given these it becomes significant that KPCL, is trying yet again and issued Request For Qualification for suppliers in the last week of August ’07. To meet the fuel requirement for Bidadi Combined cycle Power Plant (BCCP) and also for its plans to use gas for other plants and utilities, KPCL wishes to source Fuel (Natural Gas / Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas) on International Competitive Bidding basis (ICB). The quantity of fuel required and the time schedule is given below: Quantity of Fuel Approx. 7.0 to 8.0 MMSCMD (For power project and other utilities) Indicative date of commencement of supply 2010-2011 September 29th is then a key date. We can begin to address a lot of issues not just power if this thing materializes. Sources: KPCL Yet To Find Suppliers KPCL
COMMENTS
we cannot "progress" without consuming "resources", question is what do we consume to what. kaiga is a piddly squat to what raichur produces. TN consumes a lot more than KA does(they have completely messed up kaveri tributaries, but they are also more industrialized). The question which of the resources we compromise, health of people in the region, already depleted water tables or global phenomena?
I think this is not a good project
bangalorean - 6 September, 2007 - 16:10
I think this is not a very good thinking on the part of Karnataka government. We have to come out of our old fashion and start thinking new. Burning natural gas, is not such a good idea. If the same money is invested in building another nuclear power plant, then it would fetch more. I am not sure what is the logic behind this project, as we have to think futuristic, some 20 to 30 yrs in future. Nuclear energy is the only energy which can last for long ... --Cheers
Shankar Sharma's observations on viability of gas powered plants. "Can we get the natural gas as fuel for the project on a sustainable basis (even for 25 years)? The suggestion of gas replacing the coal as a fuel may have kept only the market economy and business in focus; but probably not all other related aspects." "Most of NTPC’s gas power stations in the North and West are suffering from the reliable supply of gas, as witnessed in the low Plant Load Factor figures for these stations in recent years. NTPC’s Director (Operations) is reported to have said few months ago that natural gas as fuel for power generation in the country cannot be a viable solution on a sustainable basis, atleast in the near future. KPCL’s proposed gas based power plant near Bidadi has been a non-starter because of the non-availability of linkage of gas since 1995. Recently Andhra Pradesh govt. is reported to have changed the fuel base for a new power plant from gas to coal for this reason. The gas is no doubt less polluting than coal, but it still is a major contributor for Global Warming. We should not forget that our state has no known reserve of fossil fuels. As far as bringing gas from distant places and even overseas is concerned, there is any number of politico-economical issues. So gas cannot be an easy option either. ’YES’ to Chamalapura, and ‘NO’ to coal can only be used as a slogan to delay the decision, as seem to be the case at Nandikur, Udupi." Read More
"we cannot "progress" without consuming "resources"" - this is what you call the take,make,waste model. I think there is a dire and an urgent need to revise this guiding principle. What we really need is to innovate and be able to reuse, repair, recondition and recycle and zero to waste all resources. The only by-products are "technical nutrients". So that we live off the resource income and not eat into resource principal. You may call this the 124 agreement that becomes our new guiding principle or an unbiased view of the law of the jungle. As an infrastructure or as a factory, does a forest have a landfill, water stream turned into sewers or polluted air? To do this, one, we need lots of humility, two, we need design thinking, and three, we need to apply IT and communication technologies to good effect - to manage demand, to create context-specific solutions and more. Apply this to our energy needs, much before 123, we need to prioritise how to create thousands of "negawatts" at a much lower cost - for example by restoring Bangalore's natural air-conditioning infrastructure of trees, greenery and waterbodies, so that offices or households do not need air-conditioning. For instance, Greenpeace estimates that India can opt for a combination of energy efficiency to generate 30000 MW of power, with the balance coming from a combination of wind- and solar-photovoltaic systems and bio-mass for rural electrification. Ref: Business Standard Regards, Vikash
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