Khedar plant gets going
15-day full-load trial from February 21
Raman Mohan
Tribune News Service

Hisar, February 10
Haryana’s efforts for self-sufficiency in power generation received a boost today with the opening of the first 600 MW unit of the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Thermal Power Project at Khedar.

Sanjeev Kaushal,MD, Haryana Power Generation Corporation, said the unit had been synchronised with the grid at 6.50 am. It was running at a load of 75 MW with two coal mills in service. The unit would start full-load operations by February 21.

He said the plant’s coal handling at 2,400 tonnes per hour wa s the highest in the country. The coal plant had been constructed at a cost of Rs 465 crore.To ensure receipt of coal from collieries through the Railways, a marshalling yard and a railway siding had been constructed at a cost of Rs 36 crore.

Kaushal said the Ministry of Coal had granted coal linkage of 5.55 MTPA of Grade ‘F’ coal from Mahanadi Coalfields Limited for the project. The supply would commence from February 12. The MCL coal granted for this project was of poor quality and had about 40-42 per cent ash content. However, in order to comply with the environmental stipulation of 34 per cent ash, HPGCL had obtained approval from the Environment Ministry for blending imported coal(with low ash content of around 10 per cent) with the MCL coal up to 15 per cent to curtail emissions.

The consent of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board for trial operation of the unit had been obtained. The 15-day full-lead trial would commence by February 21. This would be followed by provisional takeover of the unit. The work on Unit 2 was on at a fast pace, Kaushal added.