A comparative analysis of two thermal projects being executed by Reliance: 2x300 MW Rosa Phase-I and 2x600 MW RGTPS Hisar.

ALL INDIA POWER ENGINEERS FEDERATION

(Regd.Under Societies
Act XXI Of 1860), Regd. No.-24085/93

No.
28/AIPEF Dated : 04.06.2010

M/s Reliance is
executing two thermal projects – one project as an IPP belonging to
Reliance which is the 2x300 MW Rosa phase
–I and the second is 2x600 MW Hisar RGTPS station of HPGCL in which
the EPC contract has been awarded to HPGCL. Whereas in the case of Rosa
the owner (Reliance) has a direct stake in the operation of the project
whose power is to be sold to UPPCL at the contracted rate, by contrast
in case of RGTPS Hisar, once the EPC contract is completed and project
handed over to HPGCL then it will be HPGCL (owner) which would have
a direct stake in ensuring the optimum operation of the project. Both
Haryana as well as UP are highly energy deficit with extended power
cuts resulting from power shortage.

2. The comparative data of the two thermal
stations is as under

Particular
Hisar
Rosa-I
Capacity
2x600
2x300

Date of Order
Feb 2007
6.3.2007
Equipment
Shanghai
Shanghai, EPC & BTG

EPC Contract
Reliance
Shanghai
Cost

4337.3 CR
2641.93 CR

Date of First synchronizing
29-12-2009
28-12-2009
Date of Commissioning
1/4/2010
10/2/2010
Generation in 2009-10

76.45 MU
124.35 MU
MU Generation in
April 2010
91.92
172.05

Whereas the order for Rosa was
placed on the Chinese manufacturer in March 2007, in case of Hisar
the order was placed in Feb 2007. Unit 1 of Hisar and Unit 1 of Rosa
were synchronized within one day difference i.e. on 29/12 & 28/12/2009
respectively.

From the date of synchronizing
upto 31/3/2010 the 600 MW unit of Hisar could generate 76.45 MU whereas
the 300 MW unit of Rosa generated 124.35 MU out of which 100.85 MU was
generated in March 2010. In the month of April 2010, the 600 MW
unit at Hisar could generate only 91.92 MU while the Rosa unit generated
172.05 MU.

The Rosa unit achieved commissioning
on 10/2/2010 as against 01/4/2010 for the Hisar unit.

3.3 The commercial operation date is
yet to be declared for either of the units.

From the above it can be seen
that the 300 MW unit at Rosa was commissioned earlier than the Hisar
unit and so far in energy terms the 300 MW unit has given more generation
in MUs than the 600 MW unit at Hisar. The EPC contractor at Rosa is
Shanghai whereas at Hisar the EPC contractor is R/ Infra

Reliance infra the EPC contractor
for Hisar gave a media release on 04/4/2010 stating as under

Mumbai, April,
4 ,2010: Reliance Infrastructure Limited…… today announced that its
engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) division has commissioned
India’s first 600 MW unit at Rajiv Gandhi Khedar Thermal Plant (RGKTPP)
in Hisar, Haryana and achieved more than full load capacity in shortest
possible time”.

The Ministry
of Power issued an office memorandum on 3/9/2009 specifying the conditions
under which a thermal unit could be declared as commissioned as under.

“A thermal unit
may be considered as commissioned when the construction and commission
of all plants and equipment required for operation of the unit at rated
capacity are complete and the unit achieves
full rated load on the designated fuel”.

Data was obtained
from HPGCL under RTI Act which claimed that the 600 MW unit achieved
the full 600 MW between 15:20 to 15:30 hrs of 1/4/2010.

During the 8 minute
period 1521 to 1529 hrs the unit operated at more than 600 MW and a
maximum of 610 MW was claimed to be achieved (HPGCL Data)

By contrast
the tele-metered data of Haryana SLDC displayed the MW readings of RGTPS
unit 1 on 15 minutes basis which are given as under

Time (hrs) on 1/4/2010
MW
1430
480
1445
503

1500
518
1515
518
1530
518
1545

518
1600
518
1615
518
1630
518

1645
518
1700
351
1715
371
1730

371
1745
371
1800
371

Whereas the
MW data tele-metered and displayed on the SLDC website clearly shows
that the unit operated at only 518 MW for the period 1500
to 1615 hrs and then had to reduce load to 351 MW at 1700 hrs, HPGCL
as well as RInfra are claiming that the unit is
“commissioned” at it has achieved 600 MW.

Achievement of
full generation for 10 minutes period is not sufficient ground for declaring
the commissioning.

4.5 As per HPGCL information,
the generation data of Hisar unit 1 for April 2010 is as under
a) Gross
generation = 90.999 Mu
b) Secondary
Oil consumption = 5734 kl
c) Specific
Oil consumption = 63.01 mili litre per kWH

Whereas Reliance
had claimed that this unit was commissioned and HPGCL has confirmed
the commissioning date as 1/4/2010 the fact is that in the very first
month of commissioning i.e. April 2010 the unit could achieved an average
MW generation of only 126 MW and the specific oil consumption
of 63.01 ml/kWH indicates that for the month of April about 25% of the
heat energy to run this unit was obtained from oil.

Immediately in
period after the declared commissioning of the unit on 01 April
the maximum MW achieved date wise was as under as per HPGCL

01 April 610 MW

02 April 469 MW

03 April 390 MW

04 April
392 MW

In
energy terms the generation date wise is as under (HPGCL)

Date, April 2010
MU
Average MW
1

6.056
252
2
8.96
373
3
7.492

312
4
6.996
292
5
6.072
253

6
10.152
423
7
10.164
424
8

2.296
96
9
0
0

R/ Infra in its
press released had claimed that the commissioning of the RGTPS unit
1 would “benefit Haryana by adding 288 lakh units of energy per day”,
practically this unit has not yet achieved more than 10.164 MU per day
as against the claim of 28.8 MU per day.

The operational
track record of 600 MW unit 1 of RGTPS Hisar is not inspiring confidence.
The generation summary of this unit is as under (after the commissioning
of this unit)

Period
Generation Pattern
01-08 April

Upto 10.164 MU/day
09-24 April
NIL
25 April -02 May
Upto 5.5 MU per day
03 May
– 17 May
NIL

18 May-23 May
Upto 6.7 MU per day
24 May to 01 June
NIL

5. The unit has not
come anywhere near 28.8 MU per day and its PLF load of the order of
only 7% for the month of May 2010.

The
statement (Media release of Reliance of 4/4/2010 gives the following
impression)

The 600 MW unit 1 of Hisar
is capable of operating at 600 MW
That the unit is able to
generate 28.8 MU per day
That this unit stands
“commissioned”

The actual performance
of this unit for the period 1/4/2010 upto 31/5/2010 does not bear out
the above claims.

The
CM Haryana visited Hisar on 20/4/2010 and gave the statement that the
first unit of RGTPS Hisar would be put on commercial operation by the
middle of May. In actual practice the unit was put on trial run on 18/5/2010
but could not achieve anywhere near full load and had to be shutdown
on 23/5/2010, and remained shutdown thereafter.

Whereas
this unit was first synchronized on 29-12-2009 and was commissioned
in April 2010 the unit could generate only 91 MU in April (equivalent
to an average load of 126 MW), and in the month of May the generation
reduced to 31 MU (equivalent to 42 MW average).

The comparative
data of 300 MW Rosa 1 and 600 MW Hisar 1 for the first and second month
after the date of commissioning of the unit is summariesd below

Particulars
600 MW Hisar 1
300 MW Rosa 1

Commissioning Date
1/4/2010
10/2/2010
First Month after
Commissioning
April, 2010
March, 2010
MU Generated

90.99
100.85
Average MW
126
136
2nd
Month after commissioning

May, 2010
April, 2010
MU generated
31
172.05
Average MW
42

239
COD
NOT ACHIEVED
NOT ACHIEVED

Whereas equipment
for both plants is from China / Shanghai, in case of Hisar the EPC contractor
is Reliance whereas for Rosa the EPC contractor is the manufacturer
itself i.e. Shanghai.

In the 80

AGM of Reliance infrastructure held on 21

July 2009, the Chairman R/Infra had stated regarding Rosa plant
(600 MW Phase 1)

“Moving from
plant to implementation. Work on the Rosa power plant in Uttar Pradesh
is running ahead of schedule. The plant is expected to be operational
before the end of financial year 2009-10”.

However, in
the 15

AGM of Reliance Power held on 28/7/2009
(i.e. a week later) Chairman Reliance Power stated.

“Our first power
project under implementation is the 600 MW Rosa phase 1 located in Uttar
Pradesh. I am proud to inform you that work on the project is running
ahead of schedule and we expect to finish it before the end of this
year. This means we will commission the project from start to finish
in less than 3 years time , a significant execution benchmark for India’s
power sector”.

As per this statement
both the 300 MW units of Rosa should have been commissioned by 31-12-2009

While unit 1 has
not yet achieved COD, the unit 2 at Rosa has not yet been synchronized
for the first time. (upto 01/6/2010)

CONCLUSION At
Hisar as well as Rosa most of the claims made by Reliance regarding
commissioning have not been substantiated by actual events. Performance
of EPC contract works at Hisar appears inferior as compared to Rosa
which will adversely impact the state of Haryana. For its own IPP plant
at Rosa, Reliance did not take the EPC assignment itself and assigned
it to the Chinese manufacturer.

Shailendra
Dubey Padamjit Singh
Secretary General Chairman