India’s 20th nuclear reactor connected to power grid

Mumbai, January 19 (PTI): The fourth unit of 220 MW Kaiga Generating Station (KGS-4) located in Uttar Kanada district of Karnataka was connected to the southern power grid in the early hours today, after the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) granted clearence to it. KGS-4, which achieved first criticality on November 27 last year, was “synchronised with the southern grid at 01:56 hours”, general manager (corporate communication) R R Kakde of Nuclear Power Corporation of India said here in a release.
With the synchronisation of KGS-4 with the grid, India’s nuclear power capacity has gone up to 4780 MW, with 20 reactors in operation. The installed capacity of Kaiga station is now 880 MW, making it the third largest after Tarapur (1400 MW) and Rawatbhata (1180 MW), he said. The unit, fuelled by indigenous uranium, will supply electricity to Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. NPCIL has also achieved new landmarks of generating over 4000 MW and over 95 Million Units of power a day. This is a 100 per cent increase over what was being generated same time last year, Kakde said.