South India may get additional power from Centre

The Union Government is considering Tamil Nadu's request for additional power of 200 Mw from the Central grid to help the state tide over the severe power crisis it faces now, said V Narayanasamy, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office.

The matter has been taken up by Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde. The additional 200 Mw sought by Tamil Nadu is to meet the daytime demand and prevent daytime power cuts, said Narayanasamy during his visit to the Madurai Kamaraj University for participating in an international conference on renewable energy and climate change.

It may be noted, the state government has asked the Centre for more power and the matter had already been taken up by the PMO and some relief was given to meet the night-time demand.

 

This additional 200 Mw will be provided to Tamil Nadu from the national grid till such time the power generation commences at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in the state.

Speaking of the Kundankulam Nuclear Plant, he said preparatory works are going on in full swing on the two reactors with a capacity of 1,000 Mw each that would start producing power in June.

“Before that, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board has to make an inspection and issue the go-ahead certificate. The Atomic Energy Department has already written to them in this regard,” he was quoted in a report.

“Detailed reports had been submitted by expert committees formed by the Central and state governments,” said the minister while reiterating his satisfaction on the safety of the plant.