The Meghalaya Power Policy 2024 which was notified recently has recommended among others the need to set up thermal power stations in the State to meet the immediate shortage of base power.
“To meet the immediate shortage of base power and to protect the State from probable crisis of power supply due to failure of monsoon, it is of utmost importance to immediately develop thermal power stations in the State,” the policy said.
It has been observed that the State is in surplus in terms of energy during the monsoon season and is in deficit during the winters i.e., from November to March.
This poses a challenge to energy security in the State, in case of a poor monsoon, which can leave the state thriving for power and increased dependency on the open market, the rates of which are uncontrollable.
“Thus, the State intends to exploit the abundant coal resources to meet the base load requirement and avoid adverse impact of poor monsoon,” the policy said.
“In Meghalaya there is no thermal power station yet and hence the prescribed thermal – hydro mix is not available at all. This over-dependence on nature is a critical preposition in view of vagaries of monsoon and in the event of drought in this part of the region. A thermal project of suitable capacity to provide base load is necessary. This will also provide an ideal thermal: hydro mix at 60: 40 ratios which will provide better stability and security in the power system of Meghalaya throughout the year,” the policy added.
According to the power policy, Meghalaya has a coal reserve of about 564 million tonnes, the calorific value of which ranges from 5694 kcal/kg to 9772 kcal/kg. The sulphur content of the coal ranges from 1.8 per cent to 7.1 per cent and the ash content ranges from 1.3 per cent to 62 per cent.
“The major coal reserves are in the southern belt of the State. Very close to these major coal reserves, there are huge quantities of limestone which is estimated to be about 1000 million tonnes. Thus, there is ample scope to develop thermal power stations to meet the base load demand of the State,” the policy said.
The policy also stated that the State-owned Meghalaya Power Generation Corporation Limited (MePGCL), which has abundant experience in developing the hydro power projects, can also form a joint venture with a reputed firm having experience in development of thermal power projects of 250-500 MW on revenue sharing basis.
“The MePGCL shall call for bids for preparation of the project feasibility report from reputed consultants for construction of thermal power plant in the state, which would inter alia include availability of land, water, sourcing of coal and evacuation. The scope of the consultant shall include identification of the area of development of projects, technical feasibility, financial feasibility and socio-economic feasibility,” the policy said.
Stating that development of pit-head thermal power plant would be preferred as it would reduce the hazards involved in transportation of coal, the policy said that Meghalaya Mineral Development Corporation (MMDC) or any other agency authorised by Government of Meghalaya, shall be primarily responsible for making coal available for the thermal power project.
It also said that allotment and execution of the thermal project can be done through various modes. These include State Sector where the State generating entity shall execute and run the thermal power project, Joint Sector through joint venture between the State generating entity and private power generating companies, and Central Sector by involving Government of India undertakings such as NEEPCO, NHPC, NTPC, DVC, ONGC etc.
“The power from the thermal power projects shall be sold to the State Power Distribution Company or through the trading company as per the provisions of the National Tariff Policy 2016 or as decided by the State Government on case to case basis. The tariff of the same shall be determined by the appropriate Regulatory Commission,” the policy said.
For the evacuation of power from the projects under this section, the bidder shall be responsible for the construction of lines from the project switchyard to the nearest sub-station of the Meghalaya Power Transmission Corporation Limited. Further, the evacuation of power can be done through Tariff Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB) route.
