TNPL to set up 30 MW power plant to support new project

Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Ltd (TNPL) is planning to set up a 30 mega watt (MW) power plant with an investment of around Rs 150 crore.

The proposed project will cater to the upcoming Rs 1,500 crore multilayer paper board manufacturing plant, which is expected to be ready by the end of 2015.

The green field facility will be coal-based, where the raw material (coal) will be imported. The project is expected to go on stream by June 2015, said TNPL sources. The plant will come up at Mannaparai, in Tamil Nadu.

In 2013-14, the company augmented its captive power generation capacity to 103.62 MW from 81.12 MW. Surplus power is exported.

TNPL self-generates 99.2% of its power requirements and draws only 0.8% from the State Grid. "This is an unparalelled performance compared to other mills in the paper industry in India and all industries in Tamil Nadu," said an official.

TNPL installed the first wind farm of 15 MW capacity during 1993-94 at Devarkulam Perungudi, Tirunelveli District. Since then, the company has increased the wind farm capacity to 35.5 MW in stages. The wind farm power is partly exported to the grid and partly consumed in the factory by wheeling.

Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Limited (TNPL) was established by the Tami Nadu government during early 80s to produce newsprint and printing & writing paper using bagasse, a sugarcane residue, as primary raw material