The New Indian Express ·
Power generation begins at 660 MW unit 1 of Udangudi thermal plant in TN
THOOTHUKUDI: The Unit 1 of the Udangudi Supercritical Thermal Power Plant (USTPP) in Thoothukudi district has begun the production of electricity for commercial purposes as it achieved connection with the power grid. The installed power capacity of Tamil Nadu has gone up slightly as the new 660 MW unit started production.
The Udangudi plant successfully achieved the required Commercial Operations Declaration (COD) standards on Saturday. The officials of the TNPGCL celebrated the moment as the state included a new thermal power unit of 660 MW capacity.
Speaking to TNIE, Tamil Nadu Power Generation Corporation Limited (TNPGCL) Managing Director Govinda Rao said, “We achieved the Commercial Operations Declaration (COD) by 4.16 pm on Saturday. As per the Grid code and ERC regulations, the power plant should run with full load for 72 hours without any interruption in order to be considered as a reliable source and counted in the national grid,” he said.
According to the officials, the countdown of the 72-hour mandatory trial run of the Unit 1 with full load started by 4.16 pm on September 2, and was successfully completed by 4.16 pm on Saturday. The electricity generation touched 709 MW, marking the reliability of the unit for commercial operations, the official added.
The construction of the `13,077-crore project had started in 2018.
The second unit would be completed by December 2026. The works on the boiler-turbine-generator, ash disposal unit, and natural draft cooling tower are in the final stages, Rao said.
The plant comprises two units of 660 MW each. When the construction of the first unit was completed, the trial run using oil began on September 11, 2025 and the coal-powered trial operation began on February 4, 2026.
The then-Chief Minister MK Stalin had inaugurated Unit 1 on March 13, 2026. The uniqueness of the thermal power complex is that coal is being supplied by a dedicated offshore coal jetty, located eight kilometres off the Kallamozhi coast near Udangudi.
Rao further said the commercial operation of Unit 1 has increased the coal-fired thermal power capacity of the state from 5,120 MW to 5,780 MW. (The total installed power capacity of Tamil Nadu is approximately 42,772.20 MW as of March 2025. It is set to increase to 47,048 MW in the 2026-27 fiscal.)
Project Director Sethuram was present when the power produced at USTPP Unit 1 was connected to the power grid.