OTPC PLANT/ PALATANA, December 26 (TIWN): Shutdown of Unit-II of OTPCs 726.6mw Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) Thermal Power plant in Palatana continues till today. And now it is not clear how long will it continue. A highly placed sources in OTPC informed TIWN," The situation here seems to be similar like the Unit-I had in 2013 though in a different way. In 2013 the Gas Boosters got damaged soon after the inaugural programme and now the plant has no problem in generating power. Yet the Power Purchase Agreement has not been finalized Thus, BHEL cant take the risk of suffering huge loss." He said. actually the complete trial run was not completed before the Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the Unit-II(363.3MW) to the nation on 1st December.

Before the PM Modi's programme was finalized , it was scheduled that Unit-II would go for shutdown for two times- from 9/11/2014  to 15/11/2014(Seven Days), from 22/11/2014 to 26/11/2014(Seven Days) and the Trial Run was scheduled to be held from  23/11/2014(fifteen days) to 07/12/2014 . But as the PM programme was fixed, these scheduled shutdown was cancelled including the 15 days Trial Run. 
           Meanwhile the generation from Unit-I is going in full swing. According to latest updates generation from Unit-I is 360-365mw on average.  On  December 5 Unit-I created history by generating  375mw, the highest so far from this unit. The base load capacity of unit I is 363.3mw.  
       State Govt especially Manik ,Sarkar was very much interested in the inaugural programme of Unit-II by PM. So many times requests had been sent to the PM Modi to come here and dedicate the Unit-II to the nation. During his Northeast visit PM had initially no programme in Tripura. But Manik Sarkar himself went to Delhi to convince the PM. A highly placed sources in the PMO told TIWN," Actually Modiji had to go to Tripura because of courtesy as Tripura CM was requesting him from time to time. Even a section of ONGC officials too assured the PMO that this time there would be no repetition of Unit-I  like incident. 
        Earlier on 8th October  the Indian government  agreed to export 500 megawatts (MW) of electricity, sourced from the private sector, through the Bheramara-Baharampur grid line to Bangladesh. This decision was taken at the meeting of the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) in New Delhi. The JCC accepted the technical committee’s report and asked the committee to complete the ‘route survey’ on connectivity, to import power from Palatana by December 2015. Over Rs1,000 crore( Bangladesh currency)  are needed to import power from India, as Bangladesh needs to upgrade its existing grid line between Bheramara and Baharampur. First Bangladesh  needs to install a 12-km transmission line its side. India needs to install a separate 400 KV dedicated 70-km-long line from Farakka to Baharampur and set up a 500 MW high-voltage, direct current (HDVC) substation at Baharampur.The meeting, held in New Delhi on October 9 and 10, was co-chaired by the power secretaries of India and Bangladesh .

According to the Power Division, there were eight items on the agenda at the meeting. The three major points are (i) 100 megawatt power import from Palatana, (ii) 500 megawatt power import from India, and (iii) obtaining access to hydroelectric power produced in Arunachal Pradesh. However, India did not make any clear-cut statement on 100 megawatt power import from Palatana, from the quota of Tripura state, within October 2015.
        Meanwhile Bangladesh power secretary's close sources informed TIWN that  the joint technical team has formed a committee to explore grid interconnectivity from India’s Arunachal Pradesh state, to Bangladesh, and, right through, to the state of Bihar. The sources agreed that the power transmission line will be capable of carrying 7,000 megawatts of power through Bangladesh, and that there will be a tapping point for Bangladesh.
       Bangladesh started imports of electricity from India, from 3 December 2013. According to the Power Development Board (PDB), the country is now getting 350 megawatts and 304 megawatts, in the daytime and in the evening, respectively, which is around 200 megawatts less than the amount mentioned in the agreement.
      Now there is no doubt that though the Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar declared that Tripura will supply 100mw power to Bangladesh from its quota of OTPCs share, it is highly unlikely that Bangladesh will get power from OTPC within 2015 . And the obvious reason is that the 400kv transmission line is yet to be installed. Thus, the inauguration programme of OTPC-II might have given Manik Sarkar and his govt a national limelight but practically fruits are yet to be gained from it. 
      It is to be mentioned here that on 29th September 2005 the then Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh laid the Foundation Stone of this mega power plant at Palatana involving an investment of Rs 10000 crore, the largest investment in the entire North-East. On 21st June 2013 President of India Pranab Mukherjee dedicated the Unit-I to the nation inaugurating the Commercial Generation. On 1st December this year Prime Minister of Indian dedicated the Unit-II to the nation.