The Hindu : NLC thermal station unit dedication today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 18, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

NLC thermal station unit dedication today

By S.Dorairaj

CUDDALORE DEC. 17. The Neyveli Lignite Corporation, pioneer among public sector undertakings having complex industries under its fold, will add yet another feather to its cap with the dedication of the first unit of thermal power station (TPS)-I expansion and Mine-IA overburden system to the nation, slated for tomorrow.

According to NLC sources, the unit , synchronised on October 21, has been tested successfully, while the second unit will be ready for synchronisation with lignite firing by next month.

Under a Rs.1420.27-crore project, the two 210 MW units will help the NLC increase its generating capacity to 2490 MW.

The Rs.1658.38-crore Mine-I expansion, with a lignite mining capacity of 4 MTPA, will be the fuel source for running the units. Adequate stock of lignite for feeding the units has been made available so that they get full load.

Their lignite requirement will be around 2.63 million tonnes per annum at 68.49 per cent PLF.

The NLC has registered a remarkable achievement in civil works construction of the cooling tower in a record time of 280 working days, beating the record of 19 months set by South Africa.

Ansaldo Power Services Ltd, an Italian agency, has carried out the installation works. Around 250 personnel are expected to manage the operation and maintenance of the units.

The `pulverised lignite-fired boiler' technology is used in the units. All environmental aspects have been considered and dealt as per the norms laid down by the Government, the sources point out.

The measures include availability of systems to collect 1.2 lakh tonnes of dry ash from the units for allocating to cement factories, maintaining furnace temperature at lower levels, installing high efficiency electrostatic precipitator to control emission of particulate matters below 50 Mu and providing a system to completely burn residue carbon in bottom ash.

Availability of digital control system to monitor operations at every stage, right from lignite handling to load despatch and installation of a modern fire-control system are among the salient features of the units.

Improvement in power position

The sources say that commissioning of the two units will go a long way in improving the power position in the southern regional grid, as they are likely to add 370 MW to the grid.

With Andhra Pradesh opting out, all other southern States and the Union Territory of Pondicherry will share the power as per the formula applicable to stations in central sector.

Accordingly, Tamil Nadu will get a share of 52 per cent, Karnataka 25, Kerala14, Pondicherry 4 and 5 per cent will remain unallocated.

The Union Minister of Coal and Mines, Uma Bharti will dedicate the first unit of TPS-I expansion at 10.30 a.m. on the lawns of TPS-I expansion premises, besides commissioning the fourth overburden system of Mine-IA around noon at the visitors' gallery.

She will meet NLC executives and union leaders.

The CMD, Mr.Jayaraman, the Director (Power), R.Srinivasan, and Director (Mines), K.S.Anandan, will participate.

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