Patna, June 18: Bihar is likely to draw power supply of 330MW from Barh Super Thermal Power Station (BSTPS) by the end of June.

Another 110MW unit of Muzaffarpur Thermal Power Station (MTPS), which is being modernised by BHEL, is likely to generate power from August 1. This would not only increase its power availability but would also reduce Bihar’s dependence on central sector allocation for power supply.

To take a first-hand account of the preparedness of the ongoing construction work of power plants, a high-level team of officials comprising energy department secretary and Bihar State Power (Holding) Company Ltd chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) Pratyaya Amrit, NTPC CMD Arup Roy Choudhury, BHEL CMD B. Prasad Rao and other senior officials made on the spot visit of plants at Barh and Muzaffarpur and took stock of the situation about the bottlenecks and problems being faced in commissioning the plants.

“NTPC CMD Arup Roy Choudhury, BHEL CMD B. Prasad Rao, other senior officials and I, visited Barh and Muzaffarpur plants. Our endeavour is to make one unit of 660MW at Barh commercially operational by the end of June and the second unit of 110MW of MTPS would be made commercially operational on August 1,” Amrit told The Telegraph after visiting the plant sites.

Muzaffarpur district magistrate Anupam Kumar, who was present at Kanti during the visit of the team, said the other two units of 195MW each would be made operational by the end of June 2015. The DM added that the first unit would be made operational by March 2015, while the second unit would be dedicated by the end of June 2015.

Amrit made it clear that all type of problems such as tube leakage have been sorted out for commissioning of Barh plant, located 60km east of Patna, and problems pertaining to land acquisition in Muzaffarpur, located 80km north of Patna.

Sources in the NTPC, however, said BHEL has not formally handed over the Barh plant to NTPC for taking steps to make the plant commercially operational.

“Before declaring the plant as commercially operational, the plant has to be run for 72 hours without any interruption at full load (660MW in case of Barh’s one plant). We are, at present, running the plant around 300MW but when the plant is run at 450 to 500MW or above, only then the problem is detected for tube leakage,” sources said.

Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd (BHEL), one of the largest engineering and manufacturing companies that manufactures power plant equipment, has been entrusted with the job of carrying out renovation and modernisation (R&M) of both the units of 110MW at Muzaffarpur and Barauni. BHEL is also contractor for supplying equipment like boiler, turbine and erecting the machinery for Barh plant.

On June 12, a BJP delegation, led by former deputy chief minister and senior party leader had said Union power minister Piyush Goyal would dedicate the Barh plant on June 26. The state would get 50 per cent allocation from units of NTPC’s Barh plant as “home state share”.

The Centre allocates 50 per cent of power as home state share from the projects of NTPC plants located in the state. Former Union power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde during his Patna visit on March 20, 2012, had announced that Bihar would get 50 per cent power allocation from Barh phase-II plant.

An NTPC official said: “We are hopeful and looking forward for declaring one unit of Barh plant commercially operational. We would like that Union power minister dedicates the plant during his maiden visit to the state.”

Complaint cell

South Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd (SBPDCL) on Wednesday said it has set up a cell where power consumers can lodge complaints with regard to delay in repairing or replacing the defective/burnt transformers within 24 hours and 72 hours in urban and rural areas respectively, power company sources said. Consumers can lodge complaints on 0612-2504999 and 2504900 between 10am and 6pm.

24-hour supply

Chief secretary Ashok Kumar Sinha on Wednesday directed South Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd officials and district magistrates to remove all the bottlenecks in providing close to 24 hours supply in district headquarters.