Tamil Nadu: Officials mull power station coal supply via VOC port

CHENNAI: A high-level consultation meeting on coal handling was held with the officials of the VO Chidambaranar (VOC) Port at the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation (TNPDCL) headquarters in view of its upcoming Udangudi Thermal Power Plant and Mettur Thermal Power Plant.

The meeting chaired by TNPDCL chairman J Radhakrishnan with Sushant Kumar Purohit, the chairman of VOC Port Trust, and other senior officials, focused on the handling and transportation of coal through the VO Chidambaranar Port in Thoothukudi, intended for the Mettur Thermal Power Station and the newly established Udangudi Thermal Power Station.

Radhakrishnan said that it is a preliminary meeting with the VOC port officials to discuss the possibilities of using their expertise in the operation of the captive coal jetty set up for the 1320 MW Udangudi Thermal Power Project.

The Udangudi power project is an 8 km-long captive coal jetty, the first of its kind in the State, and is equipped with a pipe conveyor system that enables seamless coal transportation from the sea to the power plant, ensuring efficient and uninterrupted fuel supply. “We could make use of the jetty for other products when it is not used for coal unloading in the future. There are preliminary proposals we discussed in the meeting,” he said.

In the meeting, he said that the port officials also proposed the utility to consider transporting coal to the Mettur Thermal Power Plant through its port. “As of now, the coal for the Mettur plant is transported from Karaikal port through the railway rakes. It is the shortest and cheapest mode,” he said.