Amidst all the talk of coal supply issues, the GMR group is going ahead with the commissioning of its two thermal power projects in Odisha and in Maharashtra from the next month.
“The commissioning of the first 350-Mw unit of GMR Kamalanga Energy Limited in Odisha and the 300-Mw unit of Emco Energy Limited (Warora power project) in Maharashtra will start from October-November and progressive commissioning of the units will be completed before the end of the current financial year,” a GMR spokesperson told Business Standard.
The Odisha project was proposed with an installed capacity of 1,050 Mw. But, the company is scaling it up to 1,400 Mw with a total number of four units of 350-Mw each, the Warora project is of 600-Mw capacity.
In addition to these two, the company is also executing a 1,370-Mw power project in Chhattisgarh through GMR Chhattisgarh Energy Limited. This is scheduled to be completed in 2014.
The Bangalore-based energy-to-airports conglomerate is investing about Rs 17,000crore in the three projects by funding them in a 75:25 debt equity ratio. Most of the equity has already been invested and the balance would be funded through internal accruals. The debt funding of all the three projects has also been fully tied up, according to the official.
On how the company would meet the coal requirement for the upcoming projects, the spokesperson said adequate coal linkages were in place from the subsidiaries of Coal India Ltd. A coal reserve allotted to GMR in Odisha along with other power developers in 2008 for captive use has remained a non-starter.
Sale of power
The Kamalanga project has signed long-term power purchase agreements with Haryana state discoms for 350 Mw, Bihar State Electricity Board (260 Mw), and with Gridco, Odisha, for 262 Mw. Similarly, the Warora project has PPAs with the Maharashtra state distribution company and the distribution company of Dadra & Nagar Haveli for 200 Mw each.
The Chhattisgarh project has tied up 35 per cent of power with the state power utility and will tie up a major part of the capacity in long-term PPAs before the project achieves commissioning, according to the official.
GMR has also proposed to set up a 1,320-Mw thermal project in Madhya Pradesh but is yet to receive coal linkages and other clearances. The company currently operates a 388.5 Mw Vemagiri gas power project in Andhra Pradesh and an expansion project of a similar size is already complete.
Two other projects — a 220-Mw barge mounted gas power plant at Kakinada and a 200-Mw LSHS (low sulphur heavy stock) fuel (processed from the residue of indigenous crude) power plant in Chennai — are also in operation. The company has plans to develop power projects with a total capacity of 8,473 Mw by 2018.
