The coal ministry’s standing committee on linkage has approved fresh fuel supply to upcoming power generation units in Tamil Nadu having capacity of 2,400 MW. The two under-construction power plants — North Chennai Thermal Power Station Stage-III (800 MW) and Uppur Super Critical Thermal Power Project (1,600 MW) — had sought domestic coal linkages under the Centre’s Shakti scheme.
The panel has recommended two million tonne of domestic coal supply from the Singareni Collieries, and the rest would be procured from Coal India (CIL). The two power plants would blend imported and domestic coal on a 50:50 ratio. The Shakti scheme was designed to save power plants who were without adequate fuel supply agreements.
Although the North Chennai unit was originally scheduled to be commissioned in December 2019, it is now expected to be ready only by March 2020. Similarly, the expected commissioning of the Uppur project has been delayed to March 2022 from the initial timeline of April 2020.
