India-focused OPG Power Ventures, which develops and operates power plants for defined, captive customers, continues to make strong progress after expanding its generating capacity. The 77 megawatt (MW) Chennai I project, the company's first substantial generator, delivered 15 per cent higher power output at comparable average tariffs, and operated throughout the six months to September – which explains the significant increase in revenues.
The company is using Chennai I as a design and construction blueprint for subsequent projects, in particular the 77MW Chennai II plant that the company is accelerating towards expected delivery by the middle of next year. OPG has started constructing the 80MW Chennai IV project and expects to begin the construction of the 160MW Chennai III project shortly, with both IV and III expected to be up and running in 2013.
OPG's target is to have operating capacity of 742MW by 2013 and ultimately 1,250MW by 2015. The final planned contributor to the 2013 target is the 300MW project in Gujarat, where the company has now resolved a number of local issues and received approval from the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Commercially, OPG expects that new pricing, incorporating significantly higher tariffs, will be put in place by April 2012.
