Tamil Nadu Power Generation Corporation (TNPGCL) has brought unit one of the Udangudi Supercritical Thermal Power Plant in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, into commercial operation, following a successful mandatory 72-hour full-load trial run.
The 660MW coal-fired unit achieved its commercial operations declaration (COD) after completing a continuous power generation test.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The launch of commercial operations at Udangudi’s unit one increases Tamil Nadu’s coal-fired thermal power capacity from 5.12GW to 5.78GW.
As of March 2025, the state’s total installed power capacity is around 42.77GW and is projected to rise to 47.04GW in fiscal year 2026–27.
TNPGCL officials said that electricity generation from the new unit reached 709MW during the reliability test, the New Indian Express reported.
TNPGCL managing director Govinda Rao told the publication: “We achieved the commercial operations declaration (COD) by 4:16pm on Saturday. As per the Grid code and ERC [Electricity Regulatory Commission] regulations, the power plant should run with full load for 72 hours without any interruption in order to be considered as a reliable source and counted in the national grid.”
The Udangudi project, comprising two 660MW units, was developed at a cost of $1.38bn (Rs130.77bn).
Work began in 2017, but progress was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The plant was inaugurated in March 2025 by former Chief Minister M K Stalin, followed by trial operations through 2025 and 2026.
A dedicated offshore coal jetty, located 8km off the Kallamozhi coast, supplies fuel for the plant.
With unit one now operational, TNPGCL is focusing on completing the remaining works for unit two, which is scheduled for commissioning by December 2026.
Udangudi becomes the state’s seventh coal-fired power station. The others are the Tuticorin plant (1.05GW), Mettur Thermal Power Station I (840MW) and II (600MW), and North Chennai Thermal Power Station I (660MW), II (1.2GW) and III (800MW).
