Cuddalore IL&FS power station

From SourceWatch
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Cuddalore IL&FS power station is a 1,200-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power station in Tamil Nadu, India.

Location

The undated satellite photo below shows the plant in Chidambaram taluk.

Loading map...

Background on Plant

The project received environmental clearance in 2010 as a 3,600 MW thermal power project to be developed in phases, with Phase-I comprising 2 x 600 MW units and Phase-II comprising the remaining 2,400 MW (3X800 MW).[1]

On April 13, 2012, Power Construction Corporation of China said it had signed a $2.4 billion contract to build the second phase of the coal-fired power complex. IL&FS said it would import coal from Indonesia, Australia and South Africa to fuel the plant. It said it had acquired a mine in Indonesia to supply the generators. IL&FS plans to sell the power from the project to state-run distribution companies on a long-term basis as well as in the open market.[2]

The project faced delays due to an order by National Green Tribunal in June 2012 for a flue gas desulphurisation unit. Due to this, the two units are proposed to come up by December 2014 and February 2015, respectively, at a cost of Rs 9,500 crore.[1]

In February 2014 the project was amended to be 2X600 MW and 3X660 MW.[3]

On November 10, 2014, the National Green Tribunal cancelled the Environmental Clearance for the project, on the grounds that the project had not conducted a proper cumulative impact assessment of the project.[4] It ordered “a fresh review of the environmental clearance on the basis of a fresh cumulative impact assessment study.”[5]

Unit 1 was commissioned in September 2015 and unit 2 in March 2016.[6]

With no forward progress more than two years after receiving environmental clearance, Phase II appears to be abandoned.

Project Details

  • Sponsor: IL&FS Ltd.
  • Parent company:
  • Location: Kottatai, Ariyagosthi, Villianallur & Silambimangalam villages, Chidambaram taluk, Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu
  • Coordinates: 11.5216092, 79.7518447 (exact)
  • Status: Operating (Phase I, Units 1-2); Cancelled (Phase II)
  • Capacity:
    • Phase I, Unit 1: 600 MW
    • Phase I, Unit 2: 600 MW
    • Phase II, Unit 1: 660 MW
    • Phase II, Unit 2: 660 MW
    • Phase II, Unit 3: 660 MW
  • Type: Supercritical
  • Start date: 2015-2016 (Units 1-2)
  • Coal Type:
  • Coal Source:
  • Source of financing:
  • Permits and applications:

Resources and articles

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "IL&FS Cuddalore power project delayed," Projects Today, Nov 20, 2013.
  2. Charlie Zhu and Sanjeev Choudhary, "China power giant inks $2.4 bln India project," Reuters, April 13, 2012.
  3. Environmental clearance amendment, India MoEF, Feb 4, 2014.
  4. "Appeal no. 50/2012," NGT, November 10, 2014
  5. "NGT quashes eco nod for Cuddalore power plant," The Hindu, 12 November 2014
  6. "Monthly Report on Broad Status of Thermal Power Projects in the Country," Government of India Ministry of Power, March 2016

Related SourceWatch articles

Loading map...

External resources

External articles