Power dept mulling use of floating power tech

Kolkata: The state Power department is exploring the possibility of using floating power technology, that can be made operational through gas.

A leading Norwegian company, which has developed this new technology, met state Power minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay and other senior officials of the department at the office of West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd (WBPDCL) and pushed for embracing this technology.

It may be mentioned that the private company known as Floating Power Solution, has experimented with their technology at some countries but still, it has not been used in a real sense anywhere across the world.

The company proposed to enter into an agreement of 25 years with the department in lieu of a fixed payment, but the amount will vary with the fluctuation of gas price.

"We have asked them to submit a concrete proposal in this regard," Chattopadhyay said.

It may be mentioned that the department officials have made it clear to the three-member Norwegian team, that the cost factor is of prime priority to them. The price for power through this technology per unit will be Rs 5.20.

"Presently, we have to buy power at around Rs 3.25 to Rs 3.50, but a huge amount is spent for production and generation. A 250 megawatt power plant comes in at more than Rs 700 crore. If the adoption of their model is economically profitable then we can go for this. However, for this technology, we need to have a steady supply of CNG," a senior official of the department said.

Elaborating on the technology, the official said that this plant can be set up on board a ship, in similar pattern by which a thermal power plant is set upon a field.

It may be mentioned that in recent times, the Norwegian company had visited China and Phillipines to push for the technology.