A Watery Grave

Since 2001, the market dynamics have changed against TBPC. Naphtha prices, which hovered at Rs 6,000 per tonne then, have shot up to Rs 40,000. "Of course, such high naphtha prices have rendered my power unviable, and also the most expensive, compared to coal, hydel or natural gas-based units. Right now, the plant is not generating power as most of the reservoirs in Karnataka are overflowing due to good monsoons and, thus, KPTCL benefits by buying low-cost power from the state's hydel units," explains Rao.

So, when its PPA with KPTCL ends in 2008, TBPC plans to move the unit to a new location, and use a cheaper fuel. "In the future, it can be towed to any other fuel source. Tanir Bavi's next stop could be Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, where we plan to use the large natural gas finds in the Krishna-Godavari basin. Currently, talks are on with both ONGC and Reliance Industries as we believe that both of them will begin commercialising their gas fields in the next two years," feels Rao. Still, the future of barge-mounted units are bleak. In fact, as naphtha prices are estimated to touch Rs 50,000 per tonne, it may mean a premature end to 12 other such units, which were proposed to be set up across the country by the central government.

Despite such crises in its short history, Rao thinks that the experience has not been a solely bad one. He was enthralled by the sheer adventure involved in transporting a floating barge—106 m long, 52 m wide and 6 m high (of which 2.4 m is below water), and weighing 10,764 tonnes along with the equipment (like turbines and generators)—from Korea, where it was built, to Mangalore. "We hired a rare Russian mother-vessel to get it into the Indian waters, and then got three Singapore-made tugs or ships to pull it to Mangalore. On the second leg of the journey, one of the tugs broke down and we had to make do with two," remembers Rao.

But the most exciting part happened in in the Arabian sea, off the coast of Mangalore, when the mother vessel had to be sunk to allow the barge-mounted power plant to float freely, and pulled home by the tugs to the specially designed bracket at Tanir Bavi. "I was on the barge and saw the mother vessel sink and felt Tanir Bavi float seamlessly on the sea. It was a magnificent sight, and also a satisfying experience when the plant fitted perfectly into the coastal bracket at the site-facility," says Rao. So what if the third-leg of the journey—the act of producing power—was not that good!