Jammu, Mar 22 (PTI) The Jammu and Kashmir government said on Saturday that the gas turbine at Pampore is going through the process of decommissioning and its over-56-acre land is being utilised to set up the largest utility-scale power plant in the Union Territory.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is also the minister in-charge for power, shared the information in a written reply to an unstarred question from National Conference (NC) legislator Hasnain Masoodi in the Legislative Assembly.

"The total land area under Gas Turbine Phase-I (3x25 = 75 MW) and Phase-II (4x25 = 100 MW) is 56.287 acre. The facility has been lying idle without any generation since 2010, with a brief operational period for one unit in 2012," Abdullah said.

He said after a comprehensive evaluation of the plant's condition, coupled with economic and environmental considerations, it was decided to decommission the gas turbine.

"The process for its decommissioning as per the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) Guidelines for the retirement, up-rating/de-rating of conventional generating units has already been initiated and shall culminate soon," the chief minister said, adding that after fulfilling all the conditions, a formal request to the CEA shall be made for dropping GT-Pampore from the list of conventional generating units.

Highlighting the reasons for its decommissioning, Abdullah said the plant has been defunct since 2012 and its machinery is in a non-operational state for a prolonged period, thus deteriorating beyond useful repairs.

"It cannot be operated in the present condition and the revival of the gas turbine will have huge financial implications. Gas turbines have a very high cost of generation of the order of Rs 30 per unit, which renders the power generated unsaleable," he said.

Abdullah pointed out that there is a countrywide push towards renewable energy.

"The vacant land of the project has been found suitable and proposed for the development of a solar power plant of 10 MW capacity," he said, adding that there is a plan to utilise the area under the gas turbine for the development of the solar power plant (not a solar park, which is usually for larger-scale developments) by the Jammu and Kashmir Power Development Corporation Limited (JKSPDC).

He said the project would involve setting up a 10-MW grid-connected agro-solar power plant (SPP) in a phased manner, with 5 MW to be developed in the first phase on approximately 200 kanal (25 acres) of vacant land at GT-Pampore.

The JKSPDC has appointed the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) as the project-implementing agency for the turnkey implementation of the project, which, when completed, will be the largest utility-scale solar power plant in Jammu and Kashmir, he said.

Abdullah said the tendering process initiated by the SECI is at an advanced stage and the construction of the project is likely to start by the year-end.

He said the plant being developed is a grid-tied power plant, meaning it is designed to connect to the main electric grid and cannot operate in isolation.

"As such, there is no specific provision to allocate a percentage of the power generated to the inhabitants of Pampore town. However, the power generated by this plant will contribute to enhancing the overall generation capacity of Jammu and Kashmir," he said.

Responding to a separate starred question from NC legislator Mubarak Gul, Abdullah said Jammu and Kashmir had an estimated solar potential of 111 GW, most of which was in the Ladakh region that was carved out as a separate Union Territory after the bifurcation of the erstwhile state in August 2019.

"Mega-size solar power projects being land intensive in nature have not been developed in Jammu and Kashmir till date as identification of feasible land banks (500 acres for a 100-MW solar park) at single locations for their development is difficult because of the topography of the Union Territory," he said.

However, he said a cumulative capacity of 75 MW of rooftop solar power plants has been installed across all sectors in Jammu and Kashmir under various schemes and projects, mostly sponsored by the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

The individual capacities of these rooftop plants range from 2 kWp to 200 kWp, he said, adding that presently, these plants are being installed on residential households by DISCOMs of the Union Territory under the Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana. PTI TAS RC