OREANDA-NEWS. November 21, 2012. Essar Power Ltd., a subsidiary of LSE-listed Energy plc, the India-focused integrated energy company, announced that it has now commissioned the second of two 255 megawatt units at its Vadinar Phase 2 (P2) power generation project in Gujarat state.

The coal fired Vadinar P2 plant, with a total 510MW capacity, is now fully commissioned, providing power and process steam to Essar Oil’s nearby Vadinar oil refinery, which has a capacity of 20 million tonnes per annum/405,000 barrels per day. The addition of coal fired generation will significantly lower generation costs and result in improved refinery margins. Power will also be sold to Essar Steel and into the merchant market.

Essar Power’s installed generation capacity now stands at 3,310MW, an increase of 1,710MW over the past 12 months. Of this, 2,110MW is captive capacity supplying power to Essar’s refinery and steel plants, with revenues largely dependent on power plant availability rather than power generated.

Naresh Nayyar, Essar Energy chief executive, said: “The commissioning of the second unit at Vadinar P2 is an important step forward for our power business and also for the refinery given the positive impact this will have on margins.”