Construction of units 5, 6 at Kaiga to begin in Dec 2016

The construction of Units 5 and 6 at atomic power Station in Kaiga will commence by December 2016, said Kaiga Generating Station (KGS), director H N Bhat.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, he said the two units, each with a capacity of 700 MW, would produce an additional 1,400 MW of power.

The Union Cabinet has already approved the project while Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd has filed an application before the Environment Ministry for clearance. The KGS has required land for the construction of two units and no land will be acquired, he said. Karnataka will get 50 per cent of the power generated at the new units.

At present, four units, each with a capacity of 220 MW, are functioning at the KGS.
However, Karnataka gets only 28 per cent of the entire power generated by these units.
The rest is supplied to Goa, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, Bhat said. A study is being conducted to ascertain whether the current power transmission lines are sufficient or there is need to construct new grids, Bhat said.

There are 20 nuclear power stations in the country and a total of 4,780 MW of power is generated from them. Seven nuclear reactors are under construction and once completed, they will add another 5,300 MW of power, he added.