Telangana: Yadadri Thermal Power Station Unit 2 inauguration on Saturday
Once fully operational, the ultra-mega power project will have a total capacity of 4,000 MW across five units and is expected to play a pivotal role in strengthening Telangana’s energy infrastructure.
Hyderabad: The 800 MW Unit 2 of the 4,000 MW (5×800 MW) Yadadri Thermal Power Station (YTPS) being constructed by the Telangana Power Generation Corporation (TGGENCO) near Damaracherla in Nalgonda will be inaugurated on Saturday.
The project, a brainchild of former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, is being developed in multiple stages. Stages I and II have already been completed and connected to the power grid, while the remaining stages are expected to be completed by May 2025. Once fully operational, the ultra-mega power project will have a total capacity of 4,000 MW across five units and is expected to play a pivotal role in strengthening Telangana’s energy infrastructure.
According to schedule, all the five units should have been commissioned by October last year, but there was a time overrun for all the five units. As per the original commissioning schedule, the first two units were supposed to be completed by October 2021, the third and the fourth units were supposed to be completed by June 2022 and the fifth unit by October 2022.
The power plant is likely to create direct employment to 2000 persons and another 2000 indirectly. The Genco has already signed an agreement with Singareni Collieries Company Limited for 100 percent coal link for 14 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). Apart from this, TGGENCO has built a 400 acre ash pond on the site. About 14 cement plants and two brick-making units within a 50 km radius of the plant have been approached for uptake. Letters of willingness have been received.
Chandrashekhar Rao had proposed to establish the 4,000 MW coal-based supercritical Yadadri Thermal Power Station at Veerlapalem village in Damarcherla on 1,133.14 hectares. The union Ministry for Environment and Forest granted the environmental clearance on June 29, 2017, while the State Pollution Control Board gave consent on July 25, 2017. BHEL launched works on October 17, 2017. However, the clearance was challenged by a Mumbai-based NGO in the National Green Tribunal (Southern Zone), which disposed of the case by giving certain observations and directions. Subsequently, TGGENCO sought additional terms of reference from the union Ministry for Environment and Forest, which were granted on November 8, 2023. Following this, the Expert appraisal committees (EAC) approved the proposal for an amendment to the clearance, aligning with NGT directives and the additional TOR issued by the union Ministry for Environment and Forest.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy will inaugurate Unit 2 on Saturday.
