Essar Energy plc, the India-focused integrated energy company, on Monday announced that the first of two 255 megawatt (MW) units each at its Vadinar Phase 2 (P2) power generation project in Jamnagar district of Gujarat has been synchronised with the transmission grid.
The coal-fired Vadinar P2 project, with a total 510 MW capacity, is one of three power plants being completed by Essar Energy during 2012. The 1,200 MW Salaya I project has already been fully commissioned and is commercially operational, while the 1,200 MW Mahan I project is expected to be synchronised shortly, the company said in a statement here.
Together,these three projects will take Essar Energy’s total installed capacity to 4,510 MW.
Most of the power generated by Vadinar P2 will be sold to Essar Oil’s refinery at Vadinar, which will help improve margins at the oil refinery, given the relative lower cost of coal-fired generation. Some power will also be sold to Essar Steel and into the merchant market, the CEO, Mr Naresh Nayyar, said.
Work is in progress to prepare Unit 2 at Vadinar P2, which is also 255 MW, for synchronisation with the grid.