TN govt to replace Ennore power station

Tamil Nadu govt has given approval to the ETPS (Ennore Thermal Power Station) Replacement Project of 600 megawatt (MW), setting the process formally for the closure of the four-decade-old ETPS. The proposed plant will be established, using state-of-the-art technology.

The new plant, estimated to cost Rs. 3,600 crore, will come up at the site where the ETPS is now located. It will be set up over 90 acres and there will be no land acquisition. It is, according to an official release on Sunday, expected to start functioning by the end of 2015.

The TANGEDCO will approach the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests for environmental clearance, the most crucial approval required before the project's launch.

This plant is in addition to another 600-MW unit that has been proposed in Ennore. The other project - Ennore Annexe - is to take off soon as the TANGEDCO is expected to float bids in a month. As per the present schedule, work on the Ennore Annexe project will begin by June 2012 and will be completed by September 2015. The probable date of commissioning is December 2015.

For both projects, the authorities are planning to draw coal from the Mandakini-B coal block in Orissa. This block, having a tentative reserve capacity of 1,200 million tonnes, was allotted to Tamil Nadu in 2007.