First unit of Hisar thermal project becomes operational
Raman Mohan
Tribune News Service

Khedar (Hisar), December 29
The first 600 MW unit of the Rajiv Gandhi Thermal Power Project (RGTPP) at Khedar near here was synchronised with the grid today by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Complimenting the engineers for erecting the unit in record 35 months, the Chief Minister said Haryana was proud of this feat which would go a long way in making the state self-sufficient in power generation.

He said the synchronisation on oil achieved today marked the commencement of the final steps for full load generation on a sustained basis. The unit would be operated at a load of around 40 to 50 MW for a few hours during which all leakages and problem areas would be identified and corrections made.

He said the unit-1 would start generating at full load by end of January. He added that the work on the unit-2 was progressing as per schedule and it was expected to be commissioned by March.

The Chief Minister said he had promised that Haryana would add 5,000 MW generation capacity during the 11th Five Year Plan period. The commissioning of the second unit of the project would be followed by commissioning of the first 500 MW unit of Indira Gandhi Super Thermal Power Station in Jhajjar in July next. The second and third units were expected to be commissioned in October 2010 and January 2011, respectively.

Hooda said the first 660 MW unit of Mahatma Gandhi Super Thermal Power Project in Jhajjar would also be commissioned in December 2011.

Power Minister Mahender Pratap Singh congratulated the engineers and said the unit would run on full capacity by the end of January 2010.

Madhusudan Prasad, Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Power Department, said since its inception the project had been crossing all major milestones on or ahead of schedule. He said earlier also the RGTPP had created history by completing the hydraulic test of the boiler of unit-1 on February 28. The successful synchronisation on oil achieved today had paved the way for coal firing and commencement of the mandatory 14-day trial operation during January next.

Sanjeev Kaushal, Managing Director of Haryana Power Generation Corporation, said the milestone was significant as it had been achieved without the support of Chinese specialists. He added that the engineers were already working round-the-clock to commission the coal mills so as to achieve the next major target of synchronisation on coal.