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Capacity at 3 Power Plants to Be Raised

  • Realising that land acquisition is becoming a major problem which is coming in the way of new power plants, the state government has decided to utilise the vacant space at the three existing thermal power plants to generate an additional 2,400 MW of power at a cost of over Rs 12,000 crore. According to sources, the new technology requires less area compared to the older versions of thermal plants and that, it was learnt, has prompted the government to increase the capacity at the Vijayawada, Krishnapatnam and Kothagudem thermal power stations. "The Krishnapatnam power plant has, at present, two units generating 1600 MW. To this we will add a third unit of 800 MW capacity," AP Genco MD K Vijayanand told TOI.

  • The second thermal station is to come up at Vijayawada which at present has a generating capacity of 1760 MW. Apart from the vacant space at the plant, Genco has asked the Vijayawada municipal corporation to provide another 50 acres of wasteland adjacent to the present site so that an 800 MW unit can come up. The third unit, again of 800 MW capacity, will come up at the existing power plant at Kothagudem. "At the Vijayawada thermal station, there is a problem of augmentation of transmission lines to cater to a higher load. AP Transco has already agreed to lay new transmission line to draw power from this site," said Vijayanand. At present, Kothagudem thermal station produces 1720 MW of power. Now that the space available at the site has been surveyed, it has been confirmed that another unit of 800 MW capacity can come up there.

  • "Apart from the availability of land, the new plant at Kothagudem will also have a water facility. The new unit will have two water sources, one from Kinnerasani river and another from Bhurgumpahad canal," Vijayanand explained. The idea of adding capacity to the existing units was mulled after planned new thermal stations, including East Coast, Sompet and Alfa Power, hit a road block due to land acquisition problems. These projects were to have been commissioned by 2012 and 2013 but that is unlikely to happen.At present, the state is struggling with a power shortage of more than 2000 MW daily. Were the three new thermal projects to be expedited and completed in a short time, it would come as a great boon to power consumers. The three new units are expected to be commissioned by next year.

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