Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Power today said it has commissioned another 300-MW unit under its Rosa project in Uttar Pradesh, taking the company’s total capacity to 900 MW.
Reliance Power expects to have a total installed capacity of 5,000 MW by December, 2012, including thermal, gas and renewable energy. This would include the first 660-MW unit of the Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project, which would be commissioned by December next year, company CEO J P Chalasani said.
At present, 900 MW of the 1,200-MW Rosa project has been commissioned.
“The remaining 300 MW of the Rosa project is expected to be commissioned in March, 2012, which would be ahead of schedule,” Chalasani told reporters here.
With an investment outlay of over Rs 6,000 crore, the Rosa project is the largest private sector investment in Uttar Pradesh, Reliance Power said.
Once fully commissioned, electricity generated from the Rosa plant would meet about 15 per cent of Uttar Pradesh’s power requirement.
The company would have 5,000 MW of capacity installed by December, 2012, said Chalasani.
Among this would be the first unit of the 2x300 MW Butibori project in Maharashtra, which would come up in March, 012. In the next quarter, the turbines for the 2,400-MW Samalkot project in Andhra Pradesh would be ready, he noted.
“The 1,200-MW Rosa project will also add to the central government’s 11th Plan (2007-12) target for capacity addition and will set the foundation for the next phase of growth for Reliance Power,” the company said in a statement.
When asked whether more units would be added at the Rosa plant, Chalasani said, “There is a possibility of extending this (the project)…”
The main plant equipment has been supplied by China’s Shanghai Electric.
He pointed out that the company has the necessary security mechanism, including a Letter of Credit (LC), with the Uttar Pradesh electricity utility in case there are payment issues.
“At this stage, there is no cause of concern (in terms of getting payment for power sold to Utttar Pradesh,” Chalasani said in response to a query on whether there has been any delay in payment by the state.
Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation is among the distribution companies that are in a difficult financial position.
On hydro power initiatives, Chalasani said the first project — the 700-MW Tato II project in Arunachal Pradesh — is expected to come up by 2017. Reliance Power plans to have a hydro power capacity of about 5,000 MW in the coming years.
