The two plants were initially planned to have a capacity of 1,320MW each, with two 660MW units apiece. (Representative image)
A TNPGCL official said expanding the capacity of the proposed plants would be easier than setting up a new plant. The board has decided to seek state government approval for the revision and appoint a consultant to prepare a detailed feasibility report and a detailed project report before inviting tenders under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.
The minister also defended high-cost power purchases, saying Tamil Nadu does not resort to load shedding by suspending supply, unlike Karnataka and some other states.
“These plants are to come up on 1,500 acres of land adjacent to the Stage I plant and land acquisition is nearly 90% complete.
The work is likely to begin in the next six months,” the official said. “It is a criminal mistake of the previous DMK govt for not focusing on these plants after spending crores for them,” he said. Electricity and law minister CTR Nirmal Kumar confirmed the revision on Wednesday and said plans for the Uppur thermal power plant and the Ennore Thermal Power Station expansion would also be reviewed.