210-MW unit synchronised in MP

Bhopal, Jun 16 (UNI) A 210-MW unit at the Madhya Pradesh Power Generating Company's Amarkantak Thermal Power Station in Anuppur district was synchronised today in the presence of Minister of State for Power Jairam Ramesh.

The Station already has two 30 MW units and two 120 MW units operating. State Power Minister Gauri Shankar Shejwar was among those present. It would be another four months before the unit is scheduled to be in full commercial operation, an official statement said here.

Mr Ramesh expressed anguish that the single 500-MW unit at Birsinghpur in Umaria district -- as part of the Sanjay Gandhi Thermal Power Station that already has four 210 MW units operating -- which was declared ''commissioned'' in June 2007 was yet to come into full commercial operation.

''This makes it all the more urgent and important to change the present definition of 'commissioning','' he said, adding that he had been assured by the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) that the 500-MW unit would reach commercial operation by mid-August.

The Minister underlined an urgent need for reinvigorating the renovation and modernisation (R&M) programme of power plants with a view not only to enhance plant load factors but also to increase efficiency measured in terms of heat rates. There is substantial deviation in observed and design heat rates (kcal/kwh).

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