Reliance Power to increase capacity of its mega projects by 50%

Reliance Power, the flagship company of the Anil Ambani group , plans to expand four large coal-fired power projects by 50% to generate an additional 8,000 MW of power, which may be sold at more attractive merchant rates, company sources said.

The company will scale up three ultra mega power projects of 4,000 MW each at Sasan, Krishnapatnam, and Tilaiya. Similarly, it will expand the Chitrangi plant in Madhya Pradesh, for which Reliance Power plans to use coal from mines dedicated to the Sasan project.

The company has already applied for environment clearance for additional 1980 MW in Sasan and plans to seek approvals for the rest.

A company spokesman said Reliance Power would seize opportunities to maximise value from its existing resources, but he declined comment of specific expansion plans. "It is our constant endeavour to optimise the utilisation of our existing resources like land, water and fuel linkages across all our projects to create and enhance the value for our stakeholders," the spokesman said.

In the Chitrangi project, Reliance Power has tied up power purchase agreements (PPAs) for 1,241 MW out of its 4,000 MW capacity. The balance as well as the planned additional capacity of 2,000 MW each at Chitrangi and the three UMPPs would be available for sale at market-driven price, which analysts say are more than double the rates agreed in the PPAs.

Another official of Reliance Power said that since these projects have all approval and basic infrastructure, such as land, is already in place, it would be much easier to increase generation in the shortest period. "Had we started for a fresh projects with similar size, it would have taken much longer time," he said.

The company aims to commission the first unit of 660 MW in Sasan in November 2012 and one new unit every subsequent quarter. The entire project of 6,000 MW in Sasan will be fully commissioned by December 2014. Similarly, the first unit of 660 MW in Krishnapatnam will be commissioned in September 2013 and it will be fully commissioned by December 2015.

As per the new plan, each of these four power projects (three UMPPs and Chitrangi) will have nine turbines of 660 MW each, the official said.

In November 2010, the company placed orders worth $8.2 billion with Shanghai Electric Corporation for buying 42 super critical turbine of 660 MW each, each turbine costing around $200 million. Of this, 36 turbine will be installed in these four projects.