Six companies including Tata Power, Reliance Energy, L&T and Torrent will slug it out in the second round of bidding war for the 4,000 mw, coal-fired Krishnapatnam ultra mega power project (UMPP) to be set up in the Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh. Coastal Andhra Power Ltd, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) floated by Power Finance Corporation (PFC), the nodal agency implementing the UMPP, will call for the request for proposal (RFP) later this month. PFC had completed the the request for qualification process for potential developers in September last year.
?PFC is expected to call for the RFP later this month. All the companies short-listed are expected to submit their proposal as the project is viewed as a major one in the region,? sources said, adding ?it is going to be a close race among the contenders as all of them had requisite financial and technical strengths.?
The Krishnapatnam UMPP is being developed as a coastal power project with an initial capacity of 4,000 mw which would use imported coal as feedstock. The project includes construction, operation and maintenance of the 4,000 mw power plant which would run on super critical technology with flexibility in units size, provided energy efficiency is comparable to such super critical technologies, according to PFC.
The electricity boards of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra have already agreed to buy power from Krishnapatnam UMPP. Power Grid is expected to lay a dedicated transmission line to evacuate power from the project. The 12 to 15 million tonne per annum coal needed for the project will be imported through the Venkatachalam Port being developed by Krishnapatnam Port Co Ltd which is expected to be operational by the first quarter of 2008. The state government has already earmarked 2,600 acre of land to set up the project and its accompanying township.