AES may invest Rs 800 cr in OPGC expansion

The state government hopes to get capital infusion of around Rs 800 crore from the US-based AES Ltd, which holds 49 per cent stake in Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC), for the second phase expansion of the state-owned generator envisaging 1,320 MW capacity addition.

OPGC is a 51:49 joint venture between the Odisha government and AES. OPGC currently runs a 420 MW capacity coal-fired station at Banharpalli near Jharsuguda and plans to add two supercritical units of 660 MW each in its Phase-II expansion.

The state government’s optimism on capital infusion by AES stems from the recent visit of P K Jena, secretary (energy) and chairman of OPGC to Arlington (US), AES headquarters.

“We discussed the matter relating to additional capital infusion with the AES management. Now, we are looking forward to their investment committee meet on March 7 where they are likely to take a call,” Jena told Business Standard.

The expansion plan involved addition of two supercritical units, each of 660 MW, being taken up at a cost of Rs 11,547 crore which also includes cost of other components like coal block development and dedicated rail corridor.

OPGC had recently tied up funding of Rs 8,660 crore from Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification (REC), by executing a loan agreement with the two Central PSUs.

The additional capital infusion by AES and the Odisha government is set to begin after 2015 as OPGC has cash to go ahead with initial phase of expansion.

Construction work on the project is expected to take off in April 2013 with the commissioning scheduled during the 12th Plan period (2012-17).

The Ministry of Coal has allocated Manoharpur and dip side of Manoharpur coal blocks need the fuel needs of additional capacity.

It is projected that the coal mine would be in a position to achieve full capacity production two years after the commissioning of the new units.

The development of the coal blocks were affected due to the classification by Union ministry of environment & forests (MoEF) as ‘No-Go’ category which were reclassified into ‘Go’ category only in June 2011. This had prompted the state government to seek tapering coal linkage to support the OPGC expansion plan.