The Hindu Business Line : Reliance Power to speed up Sasan project commissioning

Mumbai, July 2 Reliance Power Ltd has claimed that it would expedite the commissioning of the six units of its Sasan ultra mega power project by 16 to 36 months.

In a letter to the Union Power Minister dated June 25, Mr J.P. Chalasani, CEO of the company, said that the first unit of 660 MW, according to the power purchase agreement, should be commissioned by May 2013. However, the commissioning has been advanced by 16 months to December 2011.

The final unit, which was to be commissioned by April 2016, would be online by March 2013.

The company has also written to the Power Grid Corporation requesting grid synchronisation to be advanced by six months from the date of commissioning.

According to a senior company official, the project has been fast-tracked by awarding critical EPC contracts to the group company Reliance Infrastructure Ltd by which Reliance Power will have greater control over the project.

The mine development plan, which usually takes two years to finish, has been completed in seven months.

The company has roped in North American Coal Company as the strategic partner for coal mine development of the project, the official said.

He said that the project time is also being reduced by setting up a team of 500 engineers, which is working on the project round-the-clock. Senior engineers and technocrats from public sector power companies have also been recruited for the project, he said.

In August 2007, Power Finance Corporation Ltd had transferred Sasan Power Ltd, the special projects vehicle for developing the project, to Reliance Power Ltd. It had quoted a levelised tariff of Rs 1.196 per unit of power.

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