By IANS,
Ahmedabad : The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has asked the Gujarat government to identify probable sites for the proposed second Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) in the state.
“We have written to the government of Gujarat to indicate its choice of locations for the project. Once we receive the communication, we will study the feasibility of these sites,” CEA member-thermal R. Dahiya told IANS.
The second UMPP, like the first one at Mundra, will have an installed capacity of 4,000 megawatt, split into five units of 800 megawatt each.
Tata Power is implementing the Mundra project through a special purpose vehicle called Coastal Gujarat Power Ltd.
With Gujarat, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu also have been sanctioned UMPPs.
But officials said the state was yet to receive any formal communication from the centre on the matter, though it is now nearly a month since Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde announced at a function here that Gujarat would get a second UMPP.
When asked about the possible location for the project, Gujarat’s Minister of State for Energy Saurabh Patel told IANS: “Nothing has been decided. We are discussing the matter.”
As a UMPP is based on imported coal, the project site has to be close to a port. In that case, it will likely be located in the coastal region in Saurashtra or South Gujarat.