OREANDA-NEWS. L&T Power has successfully completed commissioning and testing of the first unit of its 2x700 MW supercritical thermal power plant of Nabha Power on January 31, 2014.

The Plant was constructed on a turnkey basis by L&T Power with more than 90% of the equipment sourced from the group companies of L&T. The supercritical boiler and turbine were manufactured by L&T's joint venture companies with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) located at Hazira, Gujarat. The plant is the largest unit of any indigenously manufactured power plant in the country.

Describing the Rajpura Plant as another important milestone in L&T's history, Mr Shailendra Roy, Member of the Board, L&T, said, “We have demonstrated our capability as the leading Power Plant EPC player in the country with the successful commissioning of the first unit of the Rajpura Plant. The timely completion and stable operations further establishes L&T's ability to build large complex engineering marvels of global standards.”

Final pre-commercialization tests involved continuous operation of the plant for 72 hours at full peak load of 700 MW. Subsequently the plant had to undergo two sets of ramp up and ramp down tests. Conducted by an independent engineer, the tests were monitored by teams of experts from Punjab State Power Corporation, Lahmeyer International and L&T Power. The plant demonstrated near 100% stability during trial operations.

Commercial operations of the plant will significantly augment Punjab's generation capacity making the state power surplus, and will enable it to export power to the national grid. Based on supercritical technology, it will be one of the most eco-friendly and efficient coal-based thermal plants in India.

The foundation stone of the green field project was laid by Chief Minister of Punjab Sardar Parkash Singh Badal in presence of L&T's Group Executive Chairman, Mr A M Naik on March 3, 2010. The plant went through 'Light Up' on December 5, 2013 and was dedicated to the state of Punjab by the Chief Minister in the presence of the Deputy Chief Minister Sardar Sukhbir Singh Badal and Mr Shailendra Roy on December 8, 2013.