The Tamil Nadu Government has decided to set up a 660 MW supercritical power plant at Ennore at a cost of Rs 3,960 crore, announced the Chief Minister, Ms J. Jayalalithaa in the Assembly today.
She said the 40-year-old Ennore thermal power plant to the North of Chennai was to have been replaced with a new 600 MW thermal plant. But the supercritical plant technology offers the benefits of more power from less coal and better environmental conservation. A pre-feasibility report is being prepared for the project, which is expected to start generating power by the end of 2015, she said.
Tamil Nadu has fully exploited the hydro-power resource; the options for expanding thermal power plants were limited because of the coal shortage. The Centre has not allocated adequate coal for the power plants in operation, she said.
Liquefied Natural Gas is an alternative fuel for power generation. The State Government has entered into an agreement with the Indian Oil Corporation to set up an LNG terminal at Ennore. It will explore the possibility of setting up a 500-MW power project, she said.
Similarly, the Government will consider establishing a 500-MW LNG power plant using the fuel available from the Gas Authority of India's Kochi-Bangalore pipeline that will traverse Coimbatore, Salem and Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu.
Project report
On the status of the power projects announced in the 2011-12 budget, Ms Jayalalithaa said a feasibility report is being prepared for a 800-MW expansion of the Udankudi Thermal Plant set to go on stream in 2015-16.
The 1,600-MW Uppur Thermal Plant will start generating power in 2015. The pre-feasibility and the draft plan have been finalised, Anna University is compiling a Coastal Regulation Zone boundary study, and tenders are being scrutinised to appoint a consultant and for an Environmental Impact Assessment study. The Union Environment Ministry is to give the terms of reference for the study.
The 800-MW Tuticorin Stage IV Thermal plant will start generating power in 2015. The Anna University has submitted the CRZ boundary report and a consultant appointed to do a feasibility study and a detailed project report.
The Chief Minister also gave details of projects with a total capacity of over 3,800 MW on which work had started in 2002 and 2003 when her government had previously been in power. These projects have now been speeded up. The severity of power cuts would also come down from June onwards, she said.
These include the 1,000-MW Vallur Thermal Power Project near North Chennai being set up jointly with NTPC following an agreement in July 2002. The thermal plant will start generating power in stages this year in June and November and in June 2013.
An agreement was signed with Neyveli Lignite Corporation for a 1,000-MW power plant in Tuticorin in June 2003. The first phase of this project will start in June 2013 and the second in September. This plant was to have supplied 750 MW power to Tamil Nadu. But under the previous Government this project was considered a Central power project and Tamil Nadu will now get 387 MW, she said.
Apart from these projects, one unit of the 2x600 MW, North Chennai Stage – II project will generate power in August and the other from December onwards, she said.
rbalaji@thehindu.co.in