changing face of Samalkot – 2400 MW powerplant of Reliance Power

For Saivaites, this is a very important town of pilgrimmage. Sri Chalukya Kumararama Sri Bhimeswaraswamy vari temple  is located very closer to the Railway Station.  The presiding deity at this temple is Lord Shiva known as Kumara Bhimeswara.  The temple was built by Chalukyas- King Chalukya Bhima,  who reigned over this location. Construction of the temple started in 892 and completed around 922. It is similar to the temple in Draksharamam, but is also unique, such as the linga being white. The temple still stands strong and it was made National Heritage Site.  The Linga is a 14 feet high one made of  limestone.  The Kakatiya rulers  also  added and renovated the temple pillars with a very fine sharp finishes.  There are 5 Shiva temples of great significance and they are Amararama at Amaravathi, Draksharama at Draksharamam, Somarama at Bhimavaram, Ksheerarama at Palakol and Kumararama at Samalkot – which are believed to have been installed Indra, Surya, Chandra, Vishnu and Kumaraswamy.

It is just another sleepy small town called Samalkot earlier known as Samarlakota.   If you are to travel by Howrah Express – after Vijayawada, the train would halt at Eluru, Tadepalligudem, Nidadavolu, Rajahmundry and would creechingly halt at Samalkot Junction.   If you are coming from Howrah – Balasore, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Kurda, Berhampur, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Vishakapatnam, Anakapallee, Tuni, Annavaram is Samalkot Junction.  A Junction as the Railway line branches towards Kakinada, the HQ of East Godavari District and an important Port town in the East coast.    Samalkot otherwise a village in its natural sense has had some industries functioning for ages and that includes Navabharath Ferro Alloys, Sri Venkatrama Oil Industries, Sudha Agro, Kirlampudi Sugar Mills and some more. 

Read recently, the Media release of Reliance Power and the speech of JP Chalasani, CEO, Reliance Power which sure would change the landscape of this town to a big industrial place known Internationally.    The media release mentions of India’s largest gas-based 2400 MW power plant with an investment outlay of Rs.10000 crore, international financing from US Exim Bank is ready for commissioning in a record time of 15 months from the placement of order on GE.  The entire capacity is expected to be commissioned in combined cycle by the end of 2012.   This plant at Samalkot alone is expected to add 15% power generation capacity in Andhra Pradesh contributing to making the vast State self-sufficient in power capacity and would add 6% to the Southern region power grid.   This is Gas turbine combined cycle power plant.  

JP Chalasani, CEO, stated that this  is the largest gas based capacity being 2400mw power plant and being built in a very compact layout of 111 acres.  He stated visualizing this as  a scenario  which would support the allocation of gas in the 11^th plan period itself.  Reliance has a 220 MW operating asset and it was strategically decided to have it enhanced as the place  is closer to Krishna Godavari basin.

A power plant  is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. At the centre is a generator, a rotating machine that converts mechanical power into electrical power by creating relative motion between a magnetic field and a conductor. The watt  is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units (SI), named after the Scottish engineer James Watt. The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.  Megawatt is equal to one million  watts. The productive capacity of electrical generators operated by a utility company is often measured in megawatts.  Modern high-powered electric locomotives typically have a peak power output of 5 or 6 MW.  In electric power generation a combined cycle is an assembly of heat engines that work in tandem off the same source of heat, converting it into mechanical energy, which in turn usually drives electrical generators. The principle is that the exhaust of one heat engine is used as the heat source for another, thus extracting more useful energy from the heat, increasing the system's overall efficiency.  A topic which is better explained by Engineers and other professionals !!

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.

16^th Feb 2011.