JITPL to commission 600 MW unit by Dec

Jindal India Thermal Power Ltd (JITPL) has set target for commissioning of the first unit (600 MW) of its 1,200 MW plant proposed at Derang village in Angul district by December this year.

The company plans to operationalize its second unit of equivalent capacity by March 2013.

“We had a meeting with top officials of JITPL recently. Their proposed coal-fired power plant is on the fast track and we are closely monitoring the progress of the project. The company has expressed confidence in commissioning the first unit (600 MW) by December 2012,” said a senior official of state energy department.

JITPL initially intended to set up a 1,200 MW power plant at Derang on 1,055 acres of land. Out of this, the government land comprised 262 acres with the remaining 793 acres being private land.

The company has been allotted the Mandakini coal block with a reserve of 96.84 million tonnes.

Later, the company had proposed to expand its capacity to 1,800 MW and the proposal was cleared by the State Level Single Window Clearance Authority.

JITPL has been alloted 40 cusecs of water from the Brahmani river. The company has achieved financial closure for the first unit. Apart from JITPL, four more independent power producers (IPPs) - GMR Kamalanga Energy Ltd (1,400 MW), Monnet Power Company Ltd (1,050 MW) and Maa Durga Thermal Power (60 MW) are scheduled to commission their projects by the end of this year.

Monnet Ispat Power Company Limited is almost through with the land acquisition work for its 1,000 MW power plant coming up at the Malibrahmani-Nisha-Chendipada stretch in Angul district on 993.42 acres of land.

The state government has signed 29 MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) with the IPPs, with a combined capacity of 38,000 MW out of which the state share will be 6,774 MW. Out of the 30 IPPs, two IPPs namely, Sterlite Energy and Aarati Steel have commissioned 600 MW and 50 MW respectively and are supplying the entire power to the state grid.