Essar Power to start operations at Hazira plant soon

Essar Power to start operations at Hazira plant soon

Almost three years after it was shut for want of fuel, private utility Essar Power is planning to start

operations at its 500-MW natural gas-based power plant at Hazira in Gujarat in the next quarter, a top

company official said.

The Bhander Power-Hazira plant was commissioned in 2006 and had commenced full commercial

operations in October 2008. Due to high prices of fuel, the company had kept the operations suspended

for the past three years.

The Bhander Power-Hazira plant is a natural gas-fired combined-cycle captive power plant.

“We had shut operations at two of our gas-based plants with a capacity of 500 MW and 515 MW each at

Hazira due to non-availability of the fuel.

What was available was so expensive, almost at $12-14 per mmbtu, that we could not even dream of

generating power so we had to shut operations,” company’s Executive Vice-Chairman Sushil Maroo told

PTI here.

However, since the prices are now falling, the company will commence operations at least at the

Bhander plant in the next quarter, he said.

“The prices have gone down to almost $4.5-5 per mmbtu. Though we expect it to further come down to

a comfortable level, at this rate also we can at least start instead of keeping the plant idle,” Maroo said.

He said the idea is to operate it at an optimal capacity and the company will sell the power to Essar

Steel, which is responsible for providing the natural gas required for the plant.

Maroo further said the company has also kept the 515-MW Essar Power-Hazira power plant on ready

mode but will operationalise it only if gas prices go down further.

The Essar Power-Hazira is a multi-fuel (naphtha, high-speed diesel, natural gasoline liquid and/or natural

gas) combined-cycle power plant.

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