Mumbai power outage: Maharashtra keen Tata Power extends life of Trombay unit as blame game continues

Tata Power said MSETCL’s line tripped and caused a disturbance in the system linked to the 930 MW Trombay power plant.

MSETCL was quick to blame Tata Power and said that after the Mulund-Trombay line tripped because of a technical snag, the state load transmission centre had asked the Tatas to increase electricity generation at about 9 am but the power generation centre wanted a mail to do so.

“Had Tata Power increased the power generation with immediate effect, this situation would have been averted,” MSETCL said in the statement.

Tata Power said MSETCL's statements were factually incorrect and their allegations are completely unfounded, citing that the first call from them came at 9:30 am.

Tata Power also said that under the new Deviation Settlement Mechanism regime, the state's electricity dispatch centre has the provision to enter into the system the additional generation required at any time through the Virtual State Entity mechanism, which takes only 15 seconds to activate.

"We acted quickly to address the situation that had arisen as a result of MSETCL's Grid tripping. It was clear cut the fault of MSETCL and MSLDC as they have not taken any preventive action," said a Tata Power spokesperson.

The incident has turned the focus of the authorities on Tata Power’s Trombay plant, which supplies electricity to a majority of the bulk and retail consumers in Mumbai.

“I am concerned about the fact that their power plant has become quite old, almost 40 years plus old,” Waghmare said. “They need to take a life extension immediately. If they wind up this plant, then it will be very difficult to manage as there would hardly be any embedded generation available for Mumbai.”

Mumbai’s generation capacity stands at 1,877 megawatts (MW), of which Tata Power supplies 1,377 MW and Adani Electricity Mumbai supplies 500 MW. The city’s peak demand is 3,800 MW. In January 2021, a Central Electricity Authority team investigating the October 2020 power outage had said that the city needs to add electricity generation capacity that’s dedicated for its own consumption, also known as embedded capacity. This would reduce dependence on buying power from outside.

“Getting power from outside is a big challenge because of transmission line constraints as land acquisition, approvals and environment permissions are difficult. So, what we have suggested is that they should go for a life extension, extend their power purchase agreement with BEST and Tata Power distribution. And they in-principle agree with it,” Waghmare said.

The Trombay project has been under the scanner as it is one of the few coal-based thermal power projects operating within city limits. Citizen groups have in the past protested against the unit.

“There is no other location available – every area is packed. The only option is life extension of this plant,” Waghmare said.

Given the criticality of this project to the city and the challenges in procuring electricity from outside, Waghmare said expanding production at the existing plant can be considered because there is land available at the site. The proposal will have to be approved by the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission. 

“Tata Power had plans of setting up gas-based power plants at Trombay. But after the Russia-Ukraine conflict, gas prices will increase and a gas-based power plant will not be economical,” Waghmare said.

Waghmare said Mumbai’s load, a broad indicator of demand, has remained low, at about 2,500 MW, due to changes in activity and the disruption caused by the pandemic. He expects it to go up to 4,000 MW by 2025.