Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant
| Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant | |
|---|---|
| Country | India |
| Coordinates | 8°10′08″N 77°42′45″E / 8.16889°N 77.71250°E |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | Units 1: 31 March 2002 Unit 2: 4 July 2002 Units 3 & 4: 29 June 2017 Units 5: 29 June 2021 Units 6: 20 December 2021 |
| Commission date | Unit 1: 22 October 2013 Unit 2: 15 October 2016 |
| Construction cost | Units 1 & 2: ₹22,462 crore (US$4.76 billion) in 2001 prices Units 3 & 4: ₹39,849 crore (US$6.12 billion) in 2017 prices |
| Owner | Nuclear Power Corporation of India |
| Operator | |
| Nuclear power station | |
| Reactors | 6 |
| Reactor type | PWR |
| Reactor supplier | Rosatom |
| Cooling source | Laccadive Sea |
| Thermal capacity | 2 × 3000 MWth |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | 2 × 1000 MW (gross) |
| Make and model | VVER-1000/412 |
| Units under const. | 4 × 1000 MW (gross) |
| Nameplate capacity | 2000 MW |
| Capacity factor | 68.27% (2020–21) |
| Annual net output |
|
| External links | |
| Website | Nuclear Power Corporation of India |
| Commons | Related media on Commons |
Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (or Kudankulam NPP or KKNPP) is the largest nuclear power station in India, situated in Kudankulam in the Tirunelveli district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Construction on the plant began on 31 March 2002, but faced several delays due to opposition from local fishermen. KKNPP is scheduled to have six VVER-1000 reactors built in collaboration with Atomstroyexport, the Russian state company and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), with an installed capacity of 6,000 MW of electricity.
Unit 1 was synchronized with the southern power grid on 22 October 2013 and since then, has been generating electricity at its warranted limit of 1,000 MW.
The original cost of the two units was ₹ 13,171 crore, but it was later revised to ₹ 17,270 crore. The cost was revised again to ₹22,462 crore ($4.76 billion in USD 2001) in 2014 due to increased expenses related to Interest During Construction (IDC), labor costs, operational expenses, and the deployment of Russian specialists at Kudankulam.
Russia advanced a credit of ₹ 6,416 crore (US$0.97 billion) for both the units. Unit 2 attained criticality on 10 July 2016 and was synchronized with the electricity grid on August 29 of the same year.
In 2015, Nuclear Power Corporation Ltd (NPCIL) announced a price of ₹ 4.29/kW·h (6.4 ¢/kW·h) for energy delivered from Kudankulam nuclear power plant.
The ground-breaking ceremony for construction of units 3 & 4 was performed on 17 February 2016. Due to technology changes, inflation and insistence of the supplier and operator for additional liability insurance the construction cost of units 3 & 4 amounted to twice the cost of units 1 & 2 and was later revised to be ₹39,849 crore (US$6.12 billion). A budget of ₹49,621 crore (US$6.7 billion) has been approved for construction of Units 5 & 6.