In a first, Tangedco set to develop coal block in Odisha

Tangedco has invited bids to appoint mine developer and operator (MDO) for development and operation of the Chandrabila coal block to mine and supply 10 million tonnes of per annum of coal to its thermal power plants. The coal block was allotted to Tamil Nadu in March 2015.

“The coal mined from this block shall be put to captive use in Tangedco’s end use power projects of 1X660MW Ennore Expansion Thermal Power Station, 2X660 MW Ennore SEZ Thermal Power Station and 2X660 MW Udangudi Stage-I Thermal Power Project in Tuticorin,” the tender document said.

As per the coal linkage approved by the Ministry of Coal, the Ennore Expansion project would get 1.885 MTPA, while Ennore SEZ and Udangudi projects would be supplied 3.682 MTPA and 3.647 MTPA respectively. The domestic coal would be supplied for the 50 per cent of plant load factor of the three thermal power projects which was designed for utilising indigenous coal for 50 per cent of PLF. The rest would be met through imported coal.

The Chandrabila coal block is spread across 9.32 square kilometre, with a total geographical reserves of 896.16 million tonnes. Tamil Nadu has been allowed to mine 10 million tonnes per annum of coal for 35 years including development period of 42 months. A senior Tangedco official said that the MDO would have to assist the utility to obtain approvals and clearances necessary for the coal mining. “We have urged the Coal Ministry to help get various clearances including environment clearance and forest clearance that were necessary to implementing the coal mining,” the official said.