BELLARY: Bellary Thermal Power Station (BTPS), the State’s largest singleunit 500 MW capacity plant which is all set for formal inauguration by Opposition Leader in the Lok Sabha, L K Advani on Monday, will have coal supply from exclusive mines developed in the Western Coal Fields by a private company.
According to Muralidhar Rao, Technical Director, KPCL, the exclusive mines would supply coal at Rs 1,800 a tonne as opposed to the prevailing cost of Rs 2,800 a tonne which would translate to a saving of Rs 1,000 a tonne.
The power plant would require about 7,000 tonnes of coal a day to operate the 500 MW unit which would be obtained from two coal mines located in Nagpur. The plant would use a mixture of imported coal and indigenous coal. The station also has a stockyard which can store up to 1 lakh tonnes.
The BTPS, located near Kudatini village at a distance of 22 km from Bellary city is being developed by Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) in three stages of 500 MW each.
FIRST UNIT
According to Muralidhar Rao, this unit would produce approximately 10 million units a day which is one fifth of Bangalore’s daily demand.
The Rs 2,100 crore project, was awarded to BHEL on contract basis with KPCL providing the land, fuel and water as customer input in 2003.
The commercial operation of the first unit began in July 2008 and will be formally inaugurated on November 3. The BTPS will sell power at the cost of Rs 2.15 a unit as opposed to the costs at RTPS ranging from Rs 1.40 to Rs 2.40.
WATER SUPPLY
The annual requirement of water for two units of BTPS will be one TMC which will be drawn from regenerated water from the Maralihalla stream located 37 km from the plant site. The water availability at this source is for nine months in a year. A storage tank of .4 TMC has been built to cater to the water requirements during summer.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS
Dismissing queries on whether the plant would emit excessive heat into the surroundings, thereby increasing the temperature of the locality, Muralidhar Rao said: “The meteorological data around Raichur Thermal Power Station for the last 15 years do not show any increase in temperature. We do not expect that to change in the case of BTPS.” To offset the environmental impact of the coal-fired power plant, the KPCL has earmarked 235 hectares for green belt development.
KPCL has also taken up development works and welfare measures in surrounding vil lages including Kudathin, Thimmalapur and Veniverapura. Flyash, a major environmental concern, will be easier to dispose as many cement companies have come forward to purchase the flyash as raw material for cement.
Almost 2,000 kgs of flyash will be generated a day which the KPCL expects to sell at a minimum cost of Rs 100 a tonne.
SECOND AND THIRD UNITS
Two more units of 500 MW each have been proposed to be added to the station. The work on second unit has already started and the unit will be commissioned by November 2010, said the director. The KPCL is waiting for clearances from the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) for the construction of the third unit.
Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, Power Minister K S Eshwarappa, Minister for Tourism Janardhana Reddy, Health and Family Welfare Minister B Sriramulu and MLA E Tukaram will be present at the inauguration.