Kudankulam nuclear power plant generates 20 per cent of its capacity

The first unit of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) on Monday fed the southern power grid with 20 per cent of its rated capacity at an average, stated a report on Tuesday.

The 1,000 MW unit, which was re-synchronised with the grid on October 25 night generated 200 MW power at an average on October 28, up from 188 MW generated on October 27, according to a Power System Operation Corporation Ltd report.

Power System Operation Corporation operates the power grids - regional and national - and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd.

On October 22, the 1,000 MW capacity KNPP unit was synchronised for the first time with the power grid at 2.45 am, and generated 75 MW of power.

The power generation was subsequently increased to 160 MW and nearly two hours later, the unit tripped due to reverse power.

On October 25 at 9.43 pm, the unit was reconnected to the grid and generated around 160 MW.

The power (infirm power) generated by KNPP's first unit will be supplied to Tamil Nadu as the unit has not started commercial generation.

Only when the unit is declared as commercially operational then the power generated will be shared with other southern states, officials added.

India's atomic power plant operator Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) has been setting up two 1,000 MW Russian reactors at Kudankulam in Tirunelveli district, around 650 km from Chennai. The total outlay for the project is over Rs.17,000 crore.

KNPP is India's first pressurised water reactor belonging to the light water reactor category.

The first unit attained criticality July 2013, which is the beginning of the fission process.

In August, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board gave its nod to KNPP to raise the reactor power levels to 50 per cent and for synchronisation of the unit with the power grid.

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd earlier said it would connect the first unit to the grid end-August, generating 400 MW power.

But that did not happen due to issues with the equipments the sorting of which and the testing took time.

According to NPCIL officials, the power out at the first unit of KNPP will be increased gradually and by December this year the unit is expected to touch its rated capacity of 1,000 MW.