Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd (CIL), has invited expression of interests from power plant developers to build a 2X 800 MW super critical thermal power plant in Sundergarh. The project will utilize unsold coal reserves of the company lying in the area.
MCL proposes to build the project through a joint venture (JV), where the coal miner will hold at least 26 per cent stake. The share holding may be revised upward later, sources said.
The total project cost is pegged around Rs 8,000 crore. MCL will supply coal for the power plants from its Basundhara mine at notified rates and will also arrange land for the project.
"The power plant will utilize our coal reserves. We have currently 16 million tonne coal lying at the area. So we thought of building a power plant which will cater to our own need and also boost our bottomline ,” said A N Sahay, chairman and managing director of MCL.
CIL and the Union Coal Ministry have already given their clearances for the project. However, it is waiting for environment clearance, the official said.
To produce 1600MW power, the thermal power plant will require about eight million tonne coal a year. Currently, the Basundhara mine produces 12.5 million tonne (MT) per annum, and this may go up to 34 MT a year in future, the CMD added.
But the JV will not be given any additional coal beyond its requirement from the Basundhara mine, the MCL official clarified.
The Sambalpur-based coal company will issue Request for Qualification (RFQ) and organise bidder conference soon for the project. The bidders can participate in it through tariff based bidding.
MCL expects the power project will be completed by 2017.Though the company will be the sole procurer of the electricity produced by this plant, it will use 500MW for its internal need and sell the balance power.
MCL assured the prospective bidders to facilitate connectivity with a local grid and said it was exploring all possibilities to use the ash generated by the power plant to fill its exhausted coal mines.
It has appointed PFC Consulting Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Power Finance Corporation Ltd, for the selection of the JV partner and for overall consulting.
