Public sector enterprises NTPC Ltd and Bhel have joined hands with the Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd (KPCL) to set up thermal and wind power plants in Karnataka to generate 6,900 mega watt of power. KPCL has singed three separate MoUs with NTPC and Bhel in this connection on Monday.
NTPC will invest Rs 20,000 crore to set up a 4,000 mw thermal power plant in Kudigi in Bijapur district. NTPC will raise funds on 30% equity and 70% debt basis, said NTPC chairman and managing director RS Sharma.
The Karnataka government would offer 3,000 acre of land and 5.2 TMC of water for the project. The NTPC will set up three power stations (TPS) each with a capacity of 800 mw in the first phase and two TPS with 800 mw each in the second phase. The first phase is expected to be commissioned by 2012. In addition, NTPC will also signed an agreement with KPCL to establish wind power farms in six places in the state to generate 500 mw at a combined investment of Rs 2,500 crore.
The Bhel and KPCL has formed a separate joint venture to establish three thermal power stations, one supercritical thermal power plant at Edalpur and two in Eramarus village in Raichur district with a total capacity of 2,400 mw. Bhel and KPCL will have stake of 26% each while the remaining 48% will be held by Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC), said Jairman Ramesh, union minister of state for power and commerce. The entire power produced in the Bhel-KPCL plants would be supplied to the state grid, the minister said on the sidelines of MoU signing function.
Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa said the state currently has a total installed capacity of 8,930 mw. The present demand of 9,000 mw is estimated to increase to 11,000 mw by the end of 11th Plan and 13,092 mw by the end of 12th Plan. He also said the government has planned to add 10,000 mw of power before the end of 12thPlan.
He said the Kudigi project will generate 81 million units of power every day at a plant load factor of 80%. So far the state government has approved power projects with a total capacity of 18,000 mw including 13,000 mw under conventional category and another 5,000 mw capacity under non-conventional category, he added.