The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has accorded techno-economic clearence (TEC) for the 600-MW super-critical thermal power station under stage-iv of the Vijayawada Thermal Power Station (VTPS). This is for the first time in the country that this kind of technology is being attempted and with a single unit of 660 MW capacity. At present, 500 MW is the biggest capacity for a single unit in the country.
With super-critical technology, the overall efficiency is expected to increase by about 2.5 per cent as compared to the existing sub-critical technology. The Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation (APGenco) contemplated the project in 1998-99, and with the proposed addition, the total capacity of VTPS would increase from 1260 MW to 1920 MW.
CEA sanctioned the project cost at Rs 2,706 crore including interest during construction (IDC) and financing charges, which works out to be a capital cost of Rs 4.1 crore per MW, according to J Parthasarathy, the chairman managing director (CMD) of APGenco. In view of the good performance of APGenco in general and VTPS in particular, KfW, Germany, had expressed keen interest to finance the project under Indo-German Co-operation Fund.
A detailed project report (DPR) was prepared in December 2000 with assistance from Lahmeyer International, Germany, with a grant from the federal government of Germany. While, KfW will provide a loan of Rs 1,000 crore for the project, the balance amount will be arranged through loans from Rural Electrification Corporation and financial institutions, apart from APGenco's equity contribution, Parthasarathy said.
While Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) issued
