Agartala: The 726 MW first commercial power plant of state-owned ONGC at Palatana in southern Tripura will start generating electricity this month-end, company officials said here Monday.
ONGC, the Tripura government and infrastructure and financial service company IL&FS have jointly floated the ONGC-Tripura Power Company Limited (OTPC). The plant will help ONGC to monetise its huge gas reserves and assets in Tripura.
“Last month, we successfully conducted pre-trial runs of the entire plant twice.”
“The first unit (363 mw) of the project would go for production of electricity by September end followed by the second unit (363 mw) by this year end or early next year,” said Mukul Banerjee, general manager, OTPC.
“Already a 400-kv high transmission power line has been drawn up to Silchar in southern Assam from Palatana to connect with the Bongaigaon national grid in western Assam to transmit electricity to various northeastern states,” he added.
Also, the project is a hallmark of cooperation between India and Bangladesh, which ensured smooth passage of the heavy project equipment and turbines to Palatana through its territory by water ways from Haldia port in West Bengal.
The Bangladesh government has sought electricity from the project, a Tripura government official said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had laid the foundation stone of the project in October 2005.
The state-run North East Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) is also commissioning another gas-based power project of 104 MW at Monarchak in western Tripura.
According to NEEPCO chairman-cum-managing director, P. C. Pankaj, who visited Tripura last week, the project would start generating electricity by July next year. (IANS)