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Mahesh

21/08/24 12:57 PM IST

A change in India’s power export rules

In News
  • Amendment to the India's Export rules allows Indian power exporters to reroute their output to Indian grids if there is a delay in payments from partner countries. 
Godda project
  • The Jharkhand-subsidiary of Adani Power supplies 1,496-megawatt net capacity power to Bangladesh from the ultra super-critical thermal power plant in Godda.
  • This is facilitated under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) entered with the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) in November 2017 for a period of 25 years.
  • The Godda plant is India’s first transnational power project that supplies all the power generated to another nation.
  •  It elaborated that the transition would help reduce the average cost of power purchased. As per the Bangladesh Power Development Board’s (BPDB) annual report for 2022-23, the total installed generation capacity of the country was 24,911 MW in June 2023.
  • Of this, 2,656 MW was imported from India (more than 10% of overall) with the Godda plant contributing 1,496 MW (about 6% of overall).
  • On the policy prerogative for power export, India’s Ministry of Power illustrating the guidelines for power export in 2016 said the exchange of electricity across South Asia would promote “economic growth and improve the quality of life for all the nations”.
Imports needed by Bangladesh
  • The increase in electricity generation, India’s South Asian neighbour continues to experience fuel and gas supply constraints, thus, contributing to the underutilisation of its power plants.
  • In fact, in July 2022, Bangladesh had sought support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to cushion itself against a financial shock originating from volatile energy prices after Russian actions in Ukraine.
  • This was after the country experienced blackouts, sometimes up to 13 hours a day, as utilities struggled to source enough diesel and gas to meet demand.
  • Separately, Hasan Mehedi, Bangladesh-based activist specialising in matters relating to power and climate change, also pointed to “serious levels of overcapacity in Bangladesh”.
  • Quoting official figures, Mr. Mehedi pointed to total power generation capacity as on June 30 this year being 28,098 MW, of which the highest power generation was scaled at 16,477 MW — an unutilised idle capacity of about 11,621 MW. 
Source- The Hindu

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