Rs 9,180 crore power project in TN gets nod

The 2X800 Mw supercritical project will come up in Ennore SEZ

The Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) has given its nod to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) for a Rs 9,180 crore super critical power plant in Thiruvallur district, north of Chennai.

The 2X800 Mega watt (Mw) Ennore SEZ Supercritical plant will be established in the existing ash dyke of North Chennai Thermal Power Station. It would come up on around 500 acres, of which 130 acres will be developed under the green belt and about 40 acres will be used for external corridor, including sea water and coal conveyor.

The imported coal requirement will be 4.29 mtpa to be obtained from Indonesia, for which a memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed with MMTC.

The TNEB said the state was facing an increasingly growing demand for electric power as a result of rapid population growth, urbanisation and industrialisation. Currently, Tamil Nadu depends on the central power sector and independent power producers for nearly 50 per cent of its requirement.

Taking these into consideration, it was decided to establish the power plant. The project employs two supercritical coal fired power generation units, each with a gross capacity of 800 Mw.

The ministry has also asked the TNEB to harness solar power within the premises of the plant, particularly at available rooftops. It asked the board to submit a periodic report to it and also said it would not permit transporting the coal by road.