Power Minister Ratan Lal Nath today informed that Tripura is currently able to supply electricity for 23 hours and 49 minutes a day and is in the fourth position in the country in power distribution.
He said that out of this, electricity is supplied for 23 hours and 43 minutes in villages and 23 hours and 59 minutes in cities.
“Before our government, the state used to get power for around 21 hours, but now it receives 23 hours and 49 minutes a day. This is the report of the National Feeder Monitoring System (NFMS) of the Government of India. For the last seven and a half years, the Power Department has been striving to provide uninterrupted and quality power to the people of Tripura. Several steps have been taken for this,” said the Minister.
The Minister said this after attending the bhumi pujan ceremony of the Rukhiya 120 MW Combined Cycle Gas Turbine Project.
He said that this gas-based thermal power plant at Rukhia in Sepahijala district was set up in a total of six phases from 1990 to 2006. There are a total of nine Open Cycle (OC) Gas Turbine Generator Sets here. The first six of these—units 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6—each have a capacity of 8 MW.
“These units have been declared abandoned as their production period has passed. Due to the expiry of their period, their production was completely stopped at various times between 2002 and 2013. The remaining three units have a capacity of 21 MW each. So at present, the total capacity of the Rukhiya Gas-based Thermal Power Plant is 63 MW. But due to insufficient gas supply, only 19 MW of electricity is being generated,” he said.
The Minister informed the media that with the financial assistance of the Asian Development Bank, this 63 MW open cycle gas turbine will be converted into a 120 MW combined cycle gas turbine.
“As a result, 120 MW of electricity will be generated from the excess gas. The hot gas discharged from the open cycle gas turbine is not used for any work, therefore its efficiency is only 35 to 45 percent. In the case of a combined cycle gas turbine, additional electricity is generated by driving the steam turbine with the hot gas discharged from the turbine; therefore, its efficiency is 60 percent. It will cost a total of Rs 1,320 crore and the work will be completed within the next three years,” he said.
The Minister also informed that 13,435 kilometers of Aerial Bunched Cable (AB Cable) have been installed to prevent power theft through hook lines in rural areas. Earlier, only 198 kilometers had been installed.
“A total of 11,692 PVTG (Reang) households have been electrified under the PM-JANMAN project. A total of 2,285 tribal families have been provided electricity connections under the DA-JGUA project. Of these, 5,392 more tribal families will be provided electricity connections,” said the Power Minister.
He informed that with the help of NHPC, the possibility of building an 800 MW pumped storage project at Chawmanu in Dhalai district is being explored.
“If the pumped storage project is built in the state, it will be the first of its kind in the North-East. As a result, there will be a significant improvement in the economic progress of the state,” he said.
He also added that 46.49 percent of the total consumers are paying their monthly electricity bills. Earlier, it was 42.28 percent. The number is gradually increasing.