The Hinduja National Power Corporation Limited (HNPCL), a part of the Hinduja Group, on Monday commissioned its 1,040 MW power project at Palavalasa near here helping Andhra Pradesh to emerge as the first Southern State to become power surplus. The company commissioned the 2x520 MW coal-fired power plant to meet the increasing demand for electricity due to growth of industrialisation in the State. The commissioning of the plant got affected due to the havoc caused by Cyclone Hudhud in October, 2014.
A company communiqué quoted its Managing Director Ashok Puri as saying “we are pleased to announce that we have commissioned both the units of the project. Unit-1 started supplying power to the grid since January 2016. Currently both the units are in operation.”
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He said the entire power generated by the project was being given to State-owned Southern and Eastern Power Distribution Companies of Andhra Pradesh. It will primarily cater to the growing power needs of the rising industrial demand in and around the city of Visakhapatnam and the Southern Region, which includes some of the fastest growing economies in the country.
“We would like to thank Government of India and the Government of AP for supporting the development of the power plant,’’ he said, adding A.P. was the first State to implement 24X7 power for all schemes and pioneer the country in initiating power sector reforms as early as 1998 before the division of the State.
The State’s total installed capacity is 15,311.17 MW and it aims to achieve 29,000 MW of installed capacity by 2019, Mr. Puri said.
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The Hinduja Group has identified power generation as one of its focus areas of business.