OREANDA-NEWS. December 25, 2012. Tata Power, India's largest integrated power player has proposed modernisation of its 500 MW Unit # 6 at Trombay Thermal Power Station. Currently, Unit # 6 at Trombay can operate only on oil and gas. The modernisation plan includes addition of the latest state-of-the-art coal firing equipment & installation of pollution control equipments to make Unit work on coal, oil and gas wherein all three fuels can be combined in any percentage.

This is being done in the spirit of 100 years of reliable, affordable and continued power supply to the city of Mumbai and to control spiraling oil cost which is affecting tariffs in Mumbai. The proposed modernisation of Unit #6 will provide multi-fold benefits to Mumbai customers. It will improve utilisation of full capacity of 500 MW at best operating efficiency resulting in competitive, reliable and enhanced power supply availability. It will also reduce fuel cost & thus help lower tariffs for Mumbai customers.

Tata Power will be making an investment of around Rs.1174 Crores for this modernization. This will include installation of pollution control equipments like 100% Electro Static Precipitators (ESPs) and Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) systems to maintain emissions at current controlled level. The use of state of art pollution control equipments will ensure that the current emission levels are maintained and don’t incrementally impact the environment. Thus, this modernization will not result in any additional pollution/emission in Chembur and neighbouring areas. Moreover, no additional water or any other resource is being sought to operate the modernized plant.

Mr. S. Padmanabhan, Executive Director Tata Power said, “At Tata Power, we have always been ahead of times. We see costs of oil and gas rising and thus have proposed modernization which will help reduce costs and ensure higher utilization of capacity. Tata Power as always remains committed to provide clean and affordable power to its customers in Mumbai, like it has done for last 100 years now.”

The dire need for modernization has risen due to unavailability of natural gas which has resulted in Tata Power being dependent on expensive fuel like oil to run its Unit # 6. However, a shortage of low sulphur oil from local refineries and spiraling prices of imported oil and gas, have led to significant escalation in the absolute cost of power generation from Unit 6. Consequently, this 500 MW Unit, which was previously operating at a best operating PLF at 80%, is now operating at around 50% PLF for the past two years. This has necessitated modernization, thus ensuring additional option of coal firing for optimum utilization of the existing power generation infrastructure at best operational efficiency.