Adani Power set to complete 1,000-km transmission line

Adani Power Ltd (APL), which synchronised the second supercritical coal-fired thermal power unit of 660 MW at Mundra last week, is all set to complete the 1,000-km-long transmission line to Mohindergarh in Haryana in the second quarter of 2011-12, and will start power supply next year.APL had contracted with the Haryana Government to supply 1,424 MW. It will evacuate electricity generated at the Mundra power plant via a 400 kV, 430-km-long transmission line from Mundra to Dehgam (Gujarat), which has been completed. A dedicated 500-kV high-voltage direct current (HVDC) double circuit transmission line from Mundra to Mohindergarh is also expected to be completed by September this year.

APL, having a target to generate 20,000 MW by the year 2020, is currently implementing 16,500 MW of power generation projects, out of which financial closure has been achieved for 13,200 MW, a company official said. Currently, APL is implementing power projects at Mundra (4,620 MW), Bhadreshwar (3,300 MW) and Dahej (2,640 MW) – all in Gujarat – Tiroda (3,300 MW) in Maharashtra, Kawai (1,320 MW) in Rajasthan and Chhindwara (1,320 MW) in Madhya Pradesh.

On an average, laying of one-km-long transmission line costs around Rs 5 lakh, Mr Ravi Sharma, CEO, APL, told Business Line. Thus, the company has invested nearly Rs 50 crore on the Mundra-Mohindergarh dedicated HVDC line.

The company had synchronised the first supercritical thermal power unit of 660 MW at Mundra in December 2010.

THERMAL POWER LEADER

On Friday last (June 3), APL, a subsidiary of the flagship Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL), synchronised the second unit of 660 MW also, becoming the largest thermal power producer in the Indian power sector. With this, the total generation capacity of 2,640 MW, out of a total of 4,620 MW at Mundra, has been achieved. APL's Mundra facility comprises five units of 660 MW (total: 3,300 MW) and four units of 330 MW (1,320 MW). All five supercritical units of 660 MW have been designed according to the energy efficient and environment-friendly supercritical technology.At Mundra, the financial closure for the entire 4,620 MW of projects has already been achieved and it is well on schedule for timely commissioning by the end of the financial year. While the first unit of 660 MW had been commissioned within 36 months, the second unit has taken only 90 days from hydro to synchronisation, a record in India, said Mr Gautam Adani, Chairman, Adani Group.

The other three units of 660 MW each at Mundra will also be synchronised in 2011-12. Besides, two units of 660 MW supercritical units will be commissioned at Tiroda in the current financial year. Thus, by the end of this fiscal, APL will have a total of 6,000 MW operational production in 2011-12, out of the 16,500 MW under development.APL had entered into long-term (25 years) power purchase agreements (PPAs) with the various State electricity utilities for supplying a total of 7,144 MW. They included Gujarat (2,000 MW), Haryana (1,424 MW), Maharashtra (2,520 MW) and Rajasthan (1,200 MW).In addition to generating power, the company is also investing in cross-country power transmission lines on licence basis as well as for evacuating power from its own generation facilities.