The additional 1X600 MW fifth unit of the Mettur Thermal Power Station (MTPS) is likely to be synchronised shortly.
Electricity Minister Natham R. Viswanathan will inspect the plant on Sunday.
A highly placed source told The Hindu that the new unit, as announced by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on the floor of Assembly in February, would be commissioned “most probably either in the last week of March or in the first week of April,” since all works had been completed. The unit, which should have been commissioned in September last, is in addition to the existing 4X210 MW units of MTPS.
The source further added that its furnace would be ‘lighted' on Sunday (March 25) on a trial basis using oil to make it run smoothly. “Later, we will feed coal for regular generation of power. Already we are generating maximum power in MPTS.”
The unit commissioned under Stage III works of MTPS has been built at a cost of about Rs. 3,550 crore. BGR Energy Systems Limited, Chennai undertook the project with scheduled date of commissioning on June 23, last year.
