Reactivate captive power plants to tide power crisis: Experts

Mumbai, Feb 16 (UNI) Welcoming the State government's move, asking industries to reactivate their captive power generation units, experts have say that this is the only way to overcome the acute power crisis in the State.

The State is currently facing a shortage of 5,700 MW and hence the State government has decised to go for loadshedding in a big way.

The situation is so worse that the State government was compelled to purchase power at higher tariffs - at Rs 8.30 per unit, from Andhra Pradesh. Hence the experts are of the firm belief that the solution of the problem lies in going for the utilization of the captive power units to the most.

Talking to UNI on the sidelines of a conference on power sector financing here last evening, former Union Power Secretary, R V Shahi, said ''The basic reason behind the power problem in the State was due to the fact that Maharashtra has not gone for any capacity addition in the sector for past one decade'' and it was three years ago when the State government decided to add some capacity in the range of 500-800 MW.

However, he welcomed the recent decision taken by the State government in the direction of adding power capacity in the range of 3000-4000 MW.

Insisting that the present power worries in the State can be attributed to its own actions taken in past. He said ''The best way is to have access to all the captive power plants by taking a cue from the successful Pune Model.'' Pune was faced with the power shortage to the tune of 100 MW until recent past. Hence the authority concerned there approached captive power plant owners in the district and the experiment was a big hit as the place is free from power crisis now.

Favouring State government's move to purchase power at the rate of Rs 8.30 per MW from Andhra Pradesh, he said ''The overall impact on the tariff may be 7-8 per cent, but I don't see any harm in it.'' Another expert, on the condition of anonimity told UNI ''The need of the hour was to find out alternative ways to overcome the crisis.'' While the people need to be educated towards the efficient consumption of power and adopt ways to ensure energy conservation. Giving an example, he said ''Suppose you replace your car fuel from petrol to battery or hybrid one, then it will not only give you bigger mileage but also it will keep your fuel bill slim.'' Once you put a break on your car's wheels then it consume a big quantity of fuel which is not the case with hybrid cars, he said.

On transmission&distribution losses, he said that it can be brought down by investing in efficient and modern equipment. As regards distribution, he said that while more sub-stations can help to an extent, the use of high-voltage distribution lines can reduce the T&D losses to the one-fourth of the present level.

UNI