Indian power sector saw some significant developments in the first month of the fiscal 2015-16. In April 2015, 24 new power projects having a combined capacity of 2,772 MW were announced and four projects were commissioned. However, the biggest casualty of the month was the decision of Reliance Power not to pursue the Tilaya UMPP.
Among the new projects, the large one was announced by the JBM Group, an automotive engineering company. The company plans to set up a 300 MW solar power plant across India. It has set aside Rs 1,600 crore to set up ground-mounted and solar rooftop projects over the next three years.
The Chenab Valley Power Projects received the go-ahead from the Union Power Ministry for setting up two power projects in Jammu & Kashmir. The projects are Dulhasti-II and Stage-II of Uri-I, with a cumulative capacity of 940 MW.
ACME announced that it had signed a power purchase agreements (PPAs) for a 30 MW solar photovoltaic power project in Uttar Pradesh.
Tamil Nadu Newsprint & Papers (TNPL) has announced plans to set up a 30 MW power plant with an investment of around Rs 150 crore.
While, Sew Mago Chu Power Corporation will be setting up a 96 MW hydel power unit on Mago Chu River, in Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh.
The Coastal Energen, part of the Coal & Oil (C&O) Group, successfully raised working capital cum term loans of Rs 1,950 crore to run its first unit of 600 MW and to complete its second unit of 600 MW at Mutiara Thermal Power Plant in Tuticorin.
Larsen & Toubro has bagged a Rs 5,580 crore contract from NTPC for setting up a 2x660 MW greenfield thermal power project at Khargone in Madhya Pradesh
On the policy front, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission, has granted time till April 1, 2016 for solar developers to put up projects in the state and avail tariff rate of Rs.7.01 a kWhr. The earlier cut-off date was 12 September 2015.
Project completion
April month also saw addition of 1680 MW of power generation capacity. Of this, three were thermal projects and one captive power plant. BHEL commissioned the second unit of 800 MW of Krishnapatnam Power Project. The 1,600 MW project was set up by Andhra Pradesh Power Development Co at a cost of Rs 8,340 crore. The first unit of 800 MW was commissioned last year.
In the mid-April, BHEL commissioned the fourth unit of 4x600 MW OP Jindal Super Thermal Power Project (STPP) Extension in Chhattisgarh. The other three turbines of the Rs 13,410 crore project were also commissioned by BHEL.
BHEL also commissioned a 250 MW Unit-III of the Sikka thermal power station of Gujarat State Electricity Corpn. BHEL is the EPC contractor for setting up the fourth unit of the Rs 2,282 crore project. The last phase is also in advanced stage of commissioning.
Essar Power commissioned a 30 MW Unit-I of its captive power plant at Paradip, in Odisha. The balance 90 MW of the 120 MW (3 x 30 MW) power plant will be commissioned in phases, in the coming months.
Another notable event that happened during the month was the signing of a uranium-supply deal between India and Canada. As per the $ 350 million deal, Canada’s largest uranium producer, Cameco Corp, will supply 3,220 metric tonnes of uranium concentrate for Indian nuclear power reactors over five years, beginning 2015-16.
The deal is significant as India has 21 operational nuclear reactors and six under construction, which use uranium as fuel. By 2032, India expects to have 45,000 MW of nuclear capacity.
As of 31 March 2015, India had 268 GW of installed power capacity (excluding captive generation). This included 189 GW of thermal power, 41 GW of hydro, 32 GW of renewable energy and 6 GW of nuclear power. The Union government has set a power capacity addition target of 885.37 GW for the 12th Five Year Plan (2012–17).
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