BHEL, TNEB in JV pact for Rs 8,500cr project

Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) has signed a memorandum of understanding with power equipment major Bharat Heavy Electricals  (BHEL) to set up a 1600 MW (2 x 800 MW) supercritical thermal power project at Tuticorin district on an estimated cost of Rs 8,500 crore.

While it will be the first supercritical power project to be set up in Tamil Nadu, it also marks BHEL's foray into executing thermal projects with supercritical technology.

The MoU was signed by Ashok K Puri, chairman and managing director, BHEL and Hans Raj Verma, chairman, TNEB in the presence of Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi and union minister of heavy industry Santosh Mohan Dev, here today.

The proposed project, which will come up on a 938 acre wasteland area at Udangudi in Tiruchendur talk of Tuticorin district in southern Tamil Nadu, will be set up through a joint venture company, in which BHEL and TNEB will hold 26% each and the rest is expected to be contributed by financial institutions.

The joint venture company is expected to be in place in about three months and work on the project is expected to commence thereafter. The land for the project has already been identified and the project is expected to be operational by 2011.

The project is to come up near the coastal area and a jetty would be set up to handle coal for the power plant, which will use saline water as coolant. A desalination plant will also be set to meet water requirements, a state government release said.

BHEL has fully equipped itself to produce thermal power equipment for 800 MW sets with supercritical parameters, suited to Indian conditions, using Indian as well as imported coal. The boilers and their auxiliaries will be manufactured by BHEL at its Tiruchirapalli and Ranipet works in Tamil Nadu. The boilers and the turbine Generators will be manufactured in technical collaboration with Alstom, France and Siemens, Germany respectively, who are both pioneers in the field of supercritical technology, a statement of BHEL said.

These 800 MW coal-fired units will be able to harness the multiple benefits of higher plant efficiencies, economies of scale and to generate electricity in an environment friendly manner, it added.

The present installed power generating capacity in Tamil Nadu is 10,122 MW which includes 2,970 MW of thermal generating sets.

To meet the growin demand, TNEB has planned to augment its power generating capacity over the next 3-5 years. While it proposed to add a capacity of 2500 MW by augmenting the installed capacity in its existing power stations over the next five years on an investment of Rs 10,000 crore, a 1000 MW (2 x 500 MW) coal-based power project near Chennai is to come up through a joint venture between National Thermal Power Corporation and Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) on an estimated cost of Rs 5,400 crore. This plant is expected to be operational by 2010 and will supply 750 MW to TNEB.

Tamil Nadu would also get 706 MW from the 2000 MW Koodankulam power project, which is expected to be operational next year.