Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami has laid the foundation stone for the project located in Udangudi village.
Palaniswami said that the Tamil Nadu government has taken measures to set up 9.3GW capacity power projects, with an investment of Rs53,890 crore, The Indian Express reported.
State-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) will execute the project, which is slated to be completed in 2021.
Last month, BHEL had bagged an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract worth INR7,300crore ($1.1bn) for installing two 660MW units of the Udangudi power project.
The power equipment manufacturer got the contract from Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (TANGEDCO) after prevailing in a competitive bidding process.
As part of the contract, BHEL will carry out the design, engineering, manufacturing, supply, installation, commissioning and civil works for the entire power project.
BHEL’s contract also includes work associated with sea water intake and outfall systems.
The company had revealed its plans to manufacture the major equipment of the Udangudi TPP at its Trichy, Haridwar, Bhopal, Ranipet, Hyderabad, Jhansi, Bengaluru and Thirumayam facilities.
BHEL has assigned the task of carrying out the civil works, erection and commissioning of the Udangudi TPP’s equipment to its Power Sector – Southern Region unit.
Originally, the Udangudi power project had taken shape in 2007 with BHEL signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) for developing a 1.6GW coal-fired power plant. However, due to various factors, the power project did not take off until now.
