MUMBAI: The BEST’s biomass energy project for 25MW in Maharashtra has ‘failed’ to kick off for over a decade since its launch. Now, the administration is seeking refund of deposit along with interest totalling Rs 103 crore from the private contractor. The issue will come up for discussions at the committee meeting on Tuesday.
As per the project, 25MW of power was to be generated by biomass energy plants set up on 10 acres of land each in Satara and Ahmednagar. The agreement was signed in October 2009 for a period of 13 years, to procure power through these plants for Rs 5 per unit, sources said. “The generation of the two plants should have commenced in 24 months, by November 2011, ... But, just 4-5 MW was provided for some time,” said BEST panel member Sunil Ganacharya.
It may be noted that the agreement was mandatory as per MERC directives as BEST has to meet part of its daily power requirements through renewable purchase obligations, sources said.