Dabhol gets natural gas for power generation

The Pioneer, New Delhi, 14 July 2007


GAIL has delivered the first ever gas to the Dabhol power plant in Maharashtra, paving the way for the beleaguered unit to switch from expensive naphtha to the cheaper green fuel. "We delivered first gas to Dabhol plant around midnight on July 10," GAIL chairman and managing director UD Choubey told the news agency. Gas was transported through a 577-km pipeline from Dahej in Gujarat where Petronet LNG is importing 1.25 million tons of natural gas in liquefied form (LNG) from Qatar. This is the first time the Dabhol plant has received gas supplies since beginning operations in May 1999. But it will not be before next weekend that the plant starts generating electricity from gas as the system gradually shifts from liquid fuel to gas.