Calcutta, Oct. 4: India Power Corporation Ltd (IPCL) is looking to start commercial operation of its 450-megawatt (MW) thermal power project in Haldia in phases early next year.
Company officials said IPCL was in advanced stages of completion of two of its three units of 150MW each. The first unit may take off by January and the second by April-May. The project, set up at an estimated investment of around Rs 3,200 crore, is spread over 200 acres.
The power plant will have access to imported coal and water.
"Being close to the port, we have the advantage of importing coal. We are also looking at domestic sources. We have water linkage facilitated by the Haldia Development Authority," a senior company official said.
Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd is executing the boiler-turbine generator package, while Simplex is doing the civil work. IPCL plans to provide power through the West Bengal State Electricity Transmission Company's 220KV substation in Haldia.
"We do have plans to provide power through the state grid and have Dishergarh's own coverage area in Asansol," the official said, adding that power purchase agreements could be finetuned once the company was close to generation next year.
IPCL is also in talks with the state government over additional land required for the coal handling plant, but high land prices in Haldia are a concern. "We are in dialogue with the government on this," the official said.
IPCL's thermal power roots can be traced to the Srei group's acquisition of DPSC (Dishergarh Power Supply Company). DPSC, with 12MW capacity, has the licence to distribute power in the Asansol-Ranigung region. In addition to thermal power generation, IPCL has a distribution franchisee in Gaya and is also into solar and wind energy.
The company has expanded its wind energy capacity to 105.2MW by acquiring two 5MW wind farms of ERA Infrastructure in Maharashtra and Gujarat.
IPCL said the existing power purchase agreements of both the wind farms were signed with the state power distribution companies and were valid for 20 years.
