Petcoke power plant to come up in Kochi

Kochi: Kerala's first Petcoke (petroleum coke) based power plant using fuel from Kochi Refinery's Integrated Refinery Expansion Project (IREP) will come up near here, it was announced on Friday.

The IREP, when operational in May next year, will yield approximately 1.4 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) of petcoke, and the power plant, to come up on a 150 acre plot of Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT) Ltd., will use this to produce around 500-600 MW power, which will solve to a good extent the state's power shortage.

State-owned INKEL, a PPP model infrastructure development company, was authorized by the state government to study the feasibility of the project and cleared its viability and also the merits of petcoke as a primary fuel for power generation.

The project will have a few advantages including assured fuel supply from the BPCL refinery with negligible transportation cost, adequate water source, being pollution-free and eco-friendly, advanced technology and excellent connectivity.

"As such, this can be one of the best infrastructure projects initiated by the state government," INKEL managing director T. Balakrishnan, adding that it can be a key contributor to state's economic development.