Patna, Dec. 16: The first unit of 110MW at Barauni Thermal Power Station (BTPS) is expected to start generation from March 2015 while its second unit of 110MW would do so from June 2015.

Earlier, the units were scheduled to start in January and March 2015, respectively, after completion of renovation and modernisation (R&M) being carried out by Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL).

“BHEL informed us last week that the schedule to restart the two units at Barauni has been revised. Now, the first unit (unit 7) would be started in March, while the second (unit 6) will start generation in June 2015,” said an official of Bihar State Power (Holding) Company Ltd (BSPHCL).

The state government’s eagerness to restart the two units assumes significance in the backdrop of former chief minister Nitish Kumar’s power promise in the 2012 Independence day speech. Assembly polls are scheduled in Oct-Nov 2015 and energy would be a major agenda of the elections. The ruling JDU has promised to bring substantial improvement in the state’s energy sector.

Chief minister Jitan Ram Manji, during the power holding company’s anniversary function on November 1, had reiterated his predecessor Nitish’s promise of ushering in substantial improvement in the power sector by the end of 2015 failing which he would not seek votes in the Assembly elections.

During his Delhi visit on November 3, 2014, Manjhi had taken up the issue with Union power minister Piyush Goyal to start plants at Barh, Muzaffarpur and Barauni.

NTPC’s 660MW Barh plant is a new one, while the two units of 110MW each at Muzaffarpur and Barauni are under renovation. Manjhi’s quest for expediting the work stems from the fact that the deadline to complete work of both the units at Barauni and Kanti in Muzaffarpur have been revised and extended several times since April 2008 when BHEL was handed over the job. Both units — 110MW at Muzaffarpur and 660MW at Barh — have been formally inaugurated.

Now, the government has shifted its focus on BTPS to start generation, as the state would get 220MW (2x110MW) from the plant after the completion of renovation and modernisation work.

Of the two units located at Barauni, one unit was commissioned on December 1, 1984, which stopped generation by March 2012, while the other was made operational on March 30, 1985. It stopped generation in August 2006.

The renovation and modernisation work for two units of 110MW of BTPS, originally scheduled to be completed by end of November 2011 and March 2012, respectively, has been extended to be completed in March 2015 and June 2015, respectively.