Chennai: This summer, Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Ltd (TNPDCL) has another power source to bank upon to meet the surge in demand. The 800-megawatt (MW) Stage III North Chennai Thermal Power Station (NCTPS) has finally been declared fit for commercial operations on Monday.While Chennai’s power demand will cross 4,000MW during the summer months, there can be an assured generation of up to 800MW at the new plant. So far, Chennai had to depend largely upon NCTPS Stage I (630MW) and Stage II (1,200MW) to meet power requirements and the remaining is met by costly power purchases and central share. This summer, the state’s power demand is expected to cross 22,000MW.
The state’s thermal power capacity goes up to 5,120MW with the operation of NCTPS- Stage III supercritical coal power plant, set up on 190acre land at Athipattu in Tiruvallur district. The power station, built at the cost of 10,158 crore. achieved critical milestone nearly two years after its inauguration. The plant faced several setbacks. “The plant should run 72 hours non-stop to be declared fit for operations. There were complications after it ran for about 40 hours and it could not produce power beyond 650MW. There was also a delay in getting clearance from Centre,” said an TNPDCL official.While officials contemplated declaring the plant’s capacity 650MW, BHEL, which was carrying out the balance of plant work, requested another chance. The plant successfully ran for 72 hours from 4.30am on Jan 21 to 4.30am on Jan 24, generating electricity to its full capacity.TNPDCL chairman J Radhakrishnan said the plant achieved full generation after the issues were systematically sorted out, and credited the utility officials and BHEL engineers for the achievement.“Our focus is now on Udangudi thermal plant (1,320MW) in Tuticorin. The coal-firing of the plant is scheduled in the coming weeks and infirm production by March,” the official added.
