KKNPP Unit-II’s commercial ops by March end: Minister

To a question in the Rajya Sabha, the Union Minister of State Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply said on Thursday that the Centre has received a request from the Tamil Nadu government to expedite early commissioning of Unit II and make it fully operational. 

The second unit was synchronised with the grid on August 29, 2016 and has since been generating infirm (non-commercial) power so far. Thereafter, the unit power was raised in steps in line with regulatory clearances  and it reached its full power of 1000 MW on January 21. It has generated about 1,325 million units (up to Jan 23, this year) since its connection to the grid.            

The MoS in charge of  Atomic Energy and Space said in the reply that there was no displacement involved at Koodankulam and the persons whose land was taken were paid compensation as finalised by the state government. Preference had been given to those affected by the project in grade C and D posts and in employment with project contractors. 

He stated that the share of nuclear power in the total electricity generation in the country was about 3.4 per cent in the year 2015-2016. It is planned to be progressively increased by the addition of nuclear power capacity, Jitendra Singh added.