Sagardighi power plant: Sobhandeb to steer work

Kolkata: State Power minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay is expected to visit Sagardighi in Murshidabad next month to supervise the work progress of the super critical power

plant that is coming up in the district.

"We are coming up with a super critical power plant of 660 MW at Sagardighi. The construction work has began already. This plant will be equipped with the latest technology so that the poisonous gases emitted by the plant can be arrested to a minimum level," said Chattopadhyay on the sidelines of the valedictory function of 32nd Industrial India Trade Fair organised by Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The plant will consume less fuel and will limit emissions aimed at meeting revised emission norms, notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Chattopadhayay maintained that the supply of coal at the proposed power plant in Sagardighi will not be a problem with a number of captive power plants already getting clearances for operation.

Three such plants, including Barjora North coal block and Panchwara North block, has started operation and Trans Damodar will also start within two-three days.

"We had to depend on supply from Coal India for running the thermal power plants at Sagardighi and transportation of coal through railways was a delayed affair. Now with the captive power plants getting operational coal supply will not be a problem," the minister added.

There are at present four units having a total capacity of 1600 MW at Sagardighi and supply of coal to make all the units operational round the clock have been a major problem with irregular coal supply.

The West Bengal Pollution Control Board has set the emission limit for thermal power plants and so from now on every thermal power plant that will come up in the state will be strictly in adherence to it , so all power plants need to be super critical like the one that is coming up at Sagardighi.

The power department is also using technology for checking emissions from all thermal power plants.

"We have already started work in this regard at our Kolaghat plant. But engineers are of the opinion that such old power plants' emission level could not match the standard of the new one even with the use of technology," a senior official of West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd. WBPDCL said.

The thermal power plants in the state are at Kolaghat in East Midnapore, Bakreswar in Birbhum, Sagardighi in Murshidabad, Santaldih in Purulia and Bandel in Hooghly.

WBPDCL is a state government-owned company that handles the business of thermal power generation in the state.