Proposal to transport LNG to NTPC’s Kayamkulam plant via rail dropped
A proposal to transport LNG by rail from Vallarpadam to Kayamkulam has been shelved by authorities for unknown reasons. It has never received due official patronage despite being feasible and capable of ending the current phase of uncertainty over LNG connectivity to NTPC, Kayamkulam, according to expert opinion.
The rail connectivity project had been discussed with the railway authorities a year ago, but it did not get due support from the government machinery, a top official associated with the project told The Hindu on Monday. Materialisation of the project would have solved the present crisis faced by NTPC, Kayamkulam.
The 359-MW power generation unit at Kayamkulam has been remaining idle for most part of the year. The capacity utilisation has reached as low as seven per cent annually.
Absence of LNG connectivity is one of the major reasons behind the present predicament. The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), the main consumer of the NTPC project, has not renewed power purchase agreement with the NTPC as the cost of power generated there using naphtha as fuel has remained high. LNG connectivity would have made things easier for the NTPC unit as well as the KSEB as the power generation cost would have come down. Lack of gas connectivity has apparently forced the State government to demand shifting of the power generation plant from Kayamkulam to Brahmapuram in Kochi where natural gas pipeline connectivity is available from the Petronet LNG terminal at Puthuvype. The government pays about Rs.20 crore per month to the NTPC unit at Kayamkulam as per the original agreement with the public sector major.
DP World which operates the Vallarpadam port is understood to have agreed to facilitate shipping of natural gas from Puthuvype to Vallarpadam. Barges could be engaged to carry gas from the LNG terminal to Vallarpadam.
Alternatively, LNG storage facility could be set up at Vallarpadam, which had also been agreed by the port operators. Once the gas reaches Kayamkulam, it would require a 7-km pipeline from the railway terminal to the NTPC plant at Choolatheruvu. The project remains feasible and could be taken up with official and political will, the expert who had pioneered several gas-based projects in the country said. He said shifting of the plant from Kayamkulam would not be the ideal solution to the present crisis.