Source - Business Standard

After making an initial investment in a 655 mw gas fired power station in Gujarat in 2002 and then moving on to the wind energy space, CLP Power India, the Indian arm of Hong Kong based CLP Holdings, recently synchronised its first thermal power unit at Jhajjar in Haryana. Coming at a time, when most of the new players are stuck with investment giving rise to concerns among financial institutions, CLP Power India managing director Rajiv Mishra tells Jyoti Mukul that they are not financially constrained but opportunity constrained. Edited Excerpts:

Q - With your first coal fired unit at Jhajjar getting synchronised, how do assess the company’s journey in India?

A - The parent company has an overall market capitalisation of USD 20 billion and is among the largest Asia Pacific power company. We have been in India for 12 years now and are India’s largest foreign investor in power and renewable energy sector. We have 2,700 MW of gas, coal and wind power generation plants of which 655 MW gas fired plant in Gujarat has been operating for 12 years now. We have recently synchronised first of the two coal fired (1,320 MW) units at Jhajjar. We expect to commission the second unit in a couple of months. We also have 740 mw wind out of which approximately 500 MW are already commissioned. The balance will be commissioned until March next year.

Q - How do you perceive the current fuel supply situation both for coal and gas fired stations?

A - I would say that our entire fuel is tied up and yet we are facing problem. Gas is available as in regassified LNG but it is expensively priced. In case of gas, there is availability but the problem is of affordability. In the case of coal, it is both. There is clearly a shortage in the domestic market but we have just commissioned our first coal unit. For the entire 1,320 mw, we have 5.2 million tonne linkage with Coal India. At the moment, we got coal just for commissioning. The period of steady supply has not started. But it is clear that the solution will be a combination of supply from CIL as well as imports. For instance, we have been recently informed by the Central Electricity Authority that our plant will have to import 1 million tonne in 2012-13. That tells you the expected import quantity.

(Sourced from Business Standard)