In a situation where the demand for electricity in the State has been increasing with the peak consumption crossing over 350 million units of power per day this summer, the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) plans to add nearly 3,000 MW within the next four years. A senior official of Tangedco said already work had commenced for three thermal power projects.
The Ennore Thermal Power Station (ETPS) expansion project and the North Chennai Thermal Power Station (NCTPS) State 3 in Thiruvallur district can be expected to produce power first. The official said ETPS expansion project costing Rs. 3,921 crore is expected to be completed by January 2018, as construction work has already begun. Similarly the NCTPS Stage 3 project, which is planned to be executed within the same complex as the existing power plants, will also commissioned in the financial year 2019-20. The thermal project that costs Rs. 6,376 crore has been divided into two packages comprising boiler-turbine-generator (BTG) work and Balance of Plant works including coal linkage and ash ponds. While the contract for the BTG has been awarded to BHEL, the tendering process for the Balance of Plan works is yet to be awarded, he added.
The other much-awaited major project is the Uppur Thermal Power Station project which is to come up in Thiruvadanai taluk of Ramanathapuram district. The official said the 1,600-MW project coming up on 900 acres would comprise two power plants of 800 MW each and would be constructed at a cost of Rs. 9,600 crore.
Judgement awaitedThe official, confirming that clearance had been obtained from the Ministry of Environment and Forests in February this year, said the mega thermal project was being executed on the lines of NCTPS Stage 3 project. The 1,320 MW-Ennore SEZ Thermal Power Station would have been the earliest project to come up. But it is getting delayed as the contractor has gone to court. The official said the project with two power plants of 660 MW each was planned to be completed in March 2018 but has been stopped as the judgement in the case is awaited from the Supreme Court.
The senior official of Tangedco said the other power projects in the pipeline were – Udangudi TPS Stage 2 (2x660 MW), Ennore TPS Replacement project of 660 MW capacity, Kadaladi TPS in Ramanathapuram district having 4,000 MW capacity and two hydro projects namely 500 MW-Kundah Hydro Electricity Station and Sillahalla Hydro Electricity Station having plant size of 2,000 MW, both in The Nilgiris district.
