Reliance Power's Rosa Unit- II in UP begins operations

The Anil Ambani-led ADA Group's power-business arm, Reliance Power Limited (RPL),  declared that the second 300 MW unit of its 1,200 MW Rosa thermal power project (TPP) has commenced commercial operations, from June 15, 2010. The 1200 MW coal based project, being executed at Rosa, in the Shahjahanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, has been proposed to be developed in two stages of 600 MW, each. The first 300 MW unit was synchronized on December 28, 2009 and is currently in operation. RPL entered into a power-purchase-agreement (PPA) on November 12, 2006 for sale of the entire 600 MW of power that would be generated by Stage-I of the project to Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL). As per the PPA, the new unit is scheduled to commence power supplies from July 2010. RPL has also entered into a PPA for sale of 300 MW of power from Stage-II of the project. The remaining 300 MW from the stage would be sold on merchant basis.

With the ahead-of-schedule commissioning of the Stage-I units, the company expects commercial operation for the Stage-II extension units by the end of XIth Plan, against the original commissioning schedule of the XII Plan. According to RPL, major milestones in respect of the Stage-II extension, including coal linkage, award of EPC (engineering-procurement-construction) contract and financial closure, have been achieved, and construction is in full swing. On commissioning of all the units, the project would generate around 9,000 million units of electricity, equivalent to around 20% of the existing generating capacity of the state. The project is one of the largest private sector investments in Uttar Pradesh, with an outlay exceeding Rs 6,000 crore.