TN to have 5 merchant power plants by 2012

The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday said it was expecting five merchant power plants to come up in the state with a total installed capacity of 10,000 Mw by 2012.

Speaking at the conference of Electricity Regulatory Commissions of Tamil Nadu, Andra Pradesh, Karanataka, Kerala held in Mumbai today, state electricity minister Arcot N Veerasamy said Tamil Nadu had already achieved the targets set by the Union government for the Eleventh Plan period.

To date, the entire state stands fully electrified and over 98 per cent households already have access to electricity. The per capita consumption of electricity during 2008-09 has already crossed 1,000 units, as against the national average of about 635 units. Billing and collection efficiencies are about 100 per cent and 98 per cent respectively.

Currently, the state has an installed generation capacity of 10,214 Mw through conventional and 4,886 Mw through non-conventional energy sources, the minister said, adding that the current consumer base in Tamil Nadu is 20 million with an average addition of 500,000 consumers every year. As on March 31, 2009, the number of sub-stations and distribution transformers in state stands at 1,259 and 1,85,154 respectively.

Stating that the demand for electricity has been growing at an average rate of eight per cent, which is expected to increase to nine per cent on the back of investments in the industrial and manufacturing sectors with a projected demand of almost 14,000 Mw by the end of 2011-12, Veerasamy said the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) had achieved a capacity addition of 1,698.80 Mw during the Tenth Plan period, as against the target of 1,853.80 Mw.

“Learning from the past deficiencies, we have planned our ongoing capacity addition programme in such a way, so as to ensure that by the end of the Eleventh Plan, Tamil Nadu becomes a truly power surplus state,” he said.