Government Announces Rs 20,800 Crore Supercritical Power Project for Tuticorin

CHENNAI — The government on Monday announced a Rs 20,800-crore project to set up a 1,600MW supercritical thermal power station in Tuticorin, alongside a major Rs 33,066-crore initiative to overhaul Tamil Nadu's electricity transmission network.

Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay announced the infrastructure plans under Rule 110 in the Legislative Assembly in Chennai, stating that the state requires world-class power infrastructure to support its expanding economy and meet rising electricity demand.

The proposed Tuticorin power project will feature two 800MW units and will be executed through a public-private partnership (PPP) model. The new supercritical plant is planned to gradually replace the existing facility in Tuticorin, which currently operates five 210MW coal-fired units that were commissioned in phases starting in 1979.

Addressing the Assembly, Vijay emphasised the necessity of sustained funding in power generation to effectively manage the continuously increasing load and satisfy state-wide electricity requirements.

The government highlighted that while Tamil Nadu's renewable energy capacity, including wind and solar installations, is expanding rapidly, power generation from these sources remains intermittent and is not uniformly available throughout the day.

To address fluctuations in green power, battery storage systems are being developed to store surplus renewable energy for deployment during peak periods. However, the government maintained that thermal generation remains essential to guarantee uninterrupted electricity supply during periods of high demand across the state.