Essar Power, a subsidiary of Essar Energy, has announced the commissioning of the 600 MW Unit-1 of its 1,200MW Mahan-I power project.
The unit has been synchronized with the transmission grid, and has commenced generating power.
Mahan-I in Madhya Pradesh is Essar Power’s eighth operational power plant. With the commissioning of this unit, the company’s total generation capacity has gone up to 3,910 MW.
The plant is using a combination of imported coal and coal sourced from Coal India’s e-auction process.
Coal from these sources will be required until Essar Power’s nearby Mahan coal block becomes operational. Essar Power received stage 1 forest clearance for the Mahan coal block at the end of October 2012, the company said in a release.
“The commissioning of the first unit at Mahan means we have now more than tripled our generation capacity over the past couple of years. Our focus now is on the development of the Mahan coal block which will provide a low cost fuel source for the power plant, placing it among the lowest cost power generators in India,” said Naresh Nayyar, CEO, Essar Energy.
Unit-2 at Mahan I, also of 600 MW, is expected to begin commercial operations during the first quarter of the next financial year.
