The Hindu : Front Page : Supercritical thermal power plant by 2011

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Saturday, Oct 27, 2007
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Supercritical thermal power plant by 2011

Special Correspondent

— Photo: S.R. Raghunathan

NEW PROJECT: Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and Union Minister for Heavy Industries Sontosh Mohan Dev (right) after the signing of an MoU between the BHEL and the TNEB in Chennai on Friday. BHEL Chairman and Managing Director A.K.Puri and TNEB chairman Hans Raj Verma (left), are in the picture.

CHENNAI: A thermal power project with supercritical technology is to come up on a 900-acre ‘government poromboke’ site at Udangudi in Tuticorin district.

The 2x800 MW project with a total capital outlay of about Rs. 8,500 crore will start functioning from 2011, increasing power availability in the State.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed here on Friday by the public sector Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) to form a joint venture company (JVC) to execute the project.

Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Sontosh Mohan Dev and State Electricity Minister N. Veeraswami were among those present when the MoU was signed by BHEL Chairman and Managing Director Ashok K. Puri and TNEB Chairman Hans Raj Verma. The JVC is expected to be in place in about three months. The project work would commence shortly thereafter.

The public sector undertaking has fully equipped itself to produce thermal power equipment for 800 MW sets with supercritical parameters, suited to Indian conditions.

Boilers and turbine generators would be manufactured using state-of-the art technology in collaboration with Alstom, France, and Siemens, Germany, respectively. The boilers and auxiliaries would be manufactured by the BHEL at its Tiruchi and Ranipet works.

Coal-fired units would be able to harness the multiple benefits of higher plant efficiencies, economies of scale and to generate electricity in an environment-friendly manner. Since the project would be abutting the seashore, a jetty to handle coal has been planned near it.

Addressing a press conference later, Mr. Sontosh Mohan Dev said Tamil Nadu was an ideal place for power production.

Eight to 10 super critical power projects of 2x800 MW were proposed in other States, which would be disclosed later as the projects were under discussion.

Union Heavy Industries Secretary R.C. Panda said the supercritical thermal power project was an epoch-making one.

Mr. Puri said the project to come up in Tamil Nadu would be the first of its kind in the country. The heavy electricals company had one of its largest presence in Tamil Nadu. About 40 per cent of its production came from the State.

Mr. Dev said he proposed to take up with the Prime Minister the matter of granting relaxation for Jammu and Kashmir and North-Eastern states in recruitment of engineers in the public sector.

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