Bengaluru: The second unit of Kudgi Super Thermal Power Station, developed by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), near Kudgi of Vijayapura district, started generating power from midnight on Saturday, December 30, and passed in the technical test.

According to the NTPC senior officials the new unit, with 800-megawatt capacity, produced 600 megawatts till Sunday evening and didn’t face any technical issues.

The financial production of power has been authorized from today (January 1). Around 400 megawatts of power from this unit will be released to the state grid. The remaining will be distributed to other South Indian states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana through the Southern India Grid. The Central Electricity Authority of India (CEA) will publish its decision on the power distribution, sources said.

Officials say that there will not be any scarcity of coal for both the units. There are around 1 lakh metric tonnes of coal for these two units and trains carrying coal are on the way. “NTPC has bought separate coal mines for Kudgi units in Patribanava of Jharkhand and Balamada of Chhattisgarh. For the dual gauge tracks from Hutagi to Kudgi, a 120 km path, Rs 946 crore has been given to the Department of Railways and work is in progress. “The third unit will be able to start power production by next June,” said an official.