When stumbling your way through a power crisis, every unit From the first week of November, Kerala will start getting 17 MW from the coal-based Vallur Thermal Power Project in Tamil Nadu.
The first of the three 500 MW units proposed at the power plant would launch commercial operations by the end of October, Power Ministry sources said.
Kerala’s total share from the 1,500 MW mega power project is 50 MW. For the full complement, the state will have to wait until next year when the remaining two units are ready for operations, according to the office of Minister of State for Power K C Venugopal.
Venugopal had visited the under-construction power project two days ago to assess the progress of work.
The NTPC has tied up with the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Company (TANGEDCO) for the power project which is coming up at Vallur in Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu.
Of the total 1,500 MW, Tamil Nadu has claim to 750 MW and Kerala, Pondicherry and Karnataka will share the rest.
At present, Kerala’s share from the central pool is 1,626 MW. But the reception at the Kerala end will be a little lesser than this due to transmission losses.
The power-starved Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has informed the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) that it cannot afford to increase hydroelectricity generation in the state above 12 million units a day up to May 2013 because of the acute water crisis.