Karnataka is set to get additional power just ahead of summer as the second unit of the National Thermal Power Corporation’s thermal power station at Kudgi in Vijayapura has commenced commercial generation of power.
The unit has a capacity of 800 MW, and as the host State Karnataka will get over 400 MW. The remaining power will be shared among the other southern States like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The first unit commenced commercial power generation on July 31 last year. It has already generated around 1,900 million units of power, according to a release from the NTPC.
This is the first NTPC project in Karnataka with a state-of-the-art plant, having super-critical technology and high efficiency which minimises emission. Work on a third unit is in an advanced stage of readiness, and operations are likely to begin in June, sources say.
While the State’s thermal power stations are facing severe coal shortage, the NTPC authorities have made it clear that the Kudgi unit has enough coal supply. According to them, the station has already stored around 1 lakh tonnes of coal and more would come regularly in trains.
The plant has got dedicated coal mines located in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. However, owing to non-completion of railway line-doubling work from Hotagi near Solapur to Kudgi, the plant is not getting coal at faster pace, an NTPC official said.
The official, however, was confident that the line-doubling work, which is being expedited, would be completed soon. The NPTC has paid ₹956 crore to the Railway Ministry towards line-doubling work, he said.
The power plant is also getting 5.2 tmcft of water from Almatti reservoir for operations. It has also started selling ash that is produced after generating power. According to officials, about 1.5 lakh tonnes of ash is being provided to various entities.
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