Final stage of testing for North Chennai Thermal Power Project Stage 3 is under way

The long-delayed North Chennai Thermal Power Project Stage 3 is nearing completion and will soon start producing power for the State, with reduced fuel consumption and lower carbon emissions.

The long-delayed North Chennai Thermal Power Project Stage 3 will soon start producing power for the State, as the final stage of testing for the power station is ongoing. The 800-megawatt (MW) super critical thermal power project is being executed at a cost of ₹5,702 crore. 

A senior official of the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco), sharing details of the project, said the synchronisation of the unit was completed with the final steam blowing and turbine operation in January, but the bottleneck in the boiler plant was causing the delay in obtaining the final completion certificate. The flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) work is also underway.

“Once the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change gives its approval along with the completion certificate (CC), Chief Minister M.K. Stalin will inaugurate it for commercial operation. The letter requesting the CC and permission to start commercial operation was sent to the Ministry in July 2023,” the official said.

The plant, which is set to be the first to use supercritical technology in the State, has several high-end operational features, such as reduced fuel consumption and shorter start-up time, compared to older thermal plants. The plant is also supposed to be the most environmentally friendly one, having the lowest coal consumption rate, which will help bring down carbon emissions by 25% to 30%. The thermal plant, which has zero liquid discharge, has been designed with low burners to control fuel and air mixing to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 50% when compared with older thermal plants. 

The super critical plant, upon being commissioned, will help generate 1.92 crore units of power daily and will prevent dependence on power purchases. The work on the thermal project, which started in 2016 and was to have been completed by 2019, was delayed due to various lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic.