Andhra Pradesh is set to become an energy surplus state as the Union Power and Coal Piyush Goyal on Saturday to inaugurate a 1,600 MW thermal power project that uses super critical technology.

The state power generation-run project, which consists two units of 800 MW each, is located at Krishnapatnam in Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore district. Named after former Chief Minister Damodaram Sanjeevaiah and built at a cost of Rs 12,290 crore, the project will inaugurated in the presence of Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

The plant will supply 39 million units of power to the state every day, making Andhra energy surplus, according to Chairman and Managing director of AP Power Generation Corporation (APGenco) K Vijayanand.

"We are currently supplying 155 million units to the state and by March we can supply another 20 MU. We shall henceforth not have any short-term power purchase agreement. In fact, we can now sell power to others," he told a team of visiting reporters at the project site this afternoon.

An agreement has been signed with Power Trading Corporation for sale of 500 MW for a year from the plant. Foundation stone for the third unit of 800 MW capacity will also be laid on the occasion.

"The third unit will be completed in the next three years while another thermal plant of 800 MW capacity will be built at the Narla Tata Rao Thermal Power Station in Vijayawada. Both will cost Rs 5,600 crore each for which necessary environmental clearance has been given by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests," Vijayanand said.

In a first in the country, the super critical plant at Krishnapatnam gets water for its cooling towers through a specially-laid open channel from the Bay of Bengal, about 5 km away.

"The 175 metres tall cooling tower has been designed by a German professor to withstand heavy winds and cyclones that the region is prone to. A 200-acre green belt has been developed around the plant to protect the environment and it would be expanded," he said.

"Ash that is generated in huge quantities is a matter of concern for the villagers in the region but we have tied up with cement companies for supplying about three tonnes of fly ash daily. The residual ash (bottom ash) will be used for roads and other works," the CMD added.