Neyveli to add 2,500 Mw in 3 years

Company's FBHE project expects to go on stream in October 2014

Neyveli Lignite is planning to add 2,500 megawatts (Mw) in three years. Chairman and Managing Director B Surender Mohan said the 2x250-Mw TS II expansions were yet to be ready for commissioning. Though the rectification works in the first Unit had been completed in February, it could not stabilise operations due to the recurring of the technical problem of the super heater coil in fluidised bed heat exchangers.

The company expects Unit-I to be commissioned in this month and Unit-II in October, as committed by Bharat Heavy Electricals during the high-level review meeting held by the coal secretary last month. Another 2x500 Mw, joint venture NTPL project at Tuticorin (Tamil Nadu), which entails the lighting up of the Unit-I boiler, was completed in March.

In his Independence Day speech, Mohan said contracts for the three major packages of 2x500-Mw Neyveli New Thermal Power Plant (NNTPP) had been awarded for Rs 4,751 crore and project activites were gaining momentum. "It must be our prime endeavour to commission Unit-I in October 2017 and Unit-II in April 2018."

NLC, which had entered the renewable energy sector last year, said erection activties of the 51-Mw wind project were going well at Tirunelveli (Tamil Nadu) and the commissioning of the first three sets of wind turbo generators were expected by the month-end. The rest will be commissioned by October 2014.

For the maiden 10-Mw solar plant at Neyveli, orders have been placed with BHEL.

The year 2013-14 saw the company exceeding the memorandum of understanding (MoU) target on all fronts. There were 19,989 million units (Mu) of power generated against the target of 18,800 Mu for the period.

The company achieved the highest total income of Rs 6,992 crore in the period compared to Rs 819 crore a year ago, up by 13.27 per cent. The company reported net profit of Rs 1,502 crore in the period.

"However, the profit that we have earned does not commensurate with the increase in the total income, obviously due to higher expenditure," he said.

Speaking about the first quarter performance of the current financial year, he said the results were satisfactory on the power generation front. However, in respect of the overburden removal and lignite production, 92 per cent and 94 per cent of the respective targets had been achieved. Besides production, project implementation was another area to be addressed.