Kaiga Atomic Power Station
Indian nuclear power plant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kaiga Generating Station is a nuclear power generating station situated at Kaiga, near the river Kali, in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, India. The plant has been in operation since March 2000 and is operated by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India.
| Kaiga Generating Station | |
|---|---|
| |
 | |
| Country | India |
| Coordinates | 14°51′55.16″N 74°26′22.71″E |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | 1989 |
| Commission date | 16 November 2000 |
| Owner | NPCIL |
| Operator | NPCIL |
| Nuclear power station | |
| Reactors | 6 |
| Reactor type | PHWR |
| Reactor supplier | NPCIL/BARC |
| Cooling source | Kadra Dam, Kali River |
| Thermal capacity | 4 × 754 MWth |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | 4 × 220 MW |
| Make and model | Units 1 to 4: IPHWR-220 Units 5 & 6: IPHWR-700 |
| Units under const. | 2 x 700 MW |
| Nameplate capacity | 880 MW |
| Capacity factor | 92.02% (2020-21)[1] |
| Annual net output | 7094 GW.h (2020-21)[1] |
| External links | |
| Website | www |
It has four units. The fourth unit went critical on 27 November 2010.[2] The two oldest units comprise the west half of the site and the two newer units are adjoining the east side of the site. The older four units are small-sized pressurized heavy water reactors of 220 MW gross.
History
On 27 November 2010 the Kaiga Generating Station unit 4 of 220 MW capacity became operational.[3]
On 19 January 2011, unit 4 with 220 MW capacity was connected to the southern power grid at 01:56 hours. With this, the total capacity rose to 880 MW gross making it the third largest in India after Tarapur (1400 MW) and Rawatbhata (1180 MW). The unit, fueled by indigenous uranium, will supply electricity to Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.[4]
In December 2018, it got the distinction of setting a world record of continuous operation among all nuclear power plants. As on 10 December 2018, KGS-1, which was synchronized to India's Southern grid on 13 May 2016, continues to operate for a record number of 962 days. Previous record of continuous operation was held by Unit 8 of Heysham II, which operated from 18 February 2014 to 15 September 2016 for a record number of 940 days.[5][6]
Two IPHWR units, each with a 700 MW capacity, are planned at this location.[7] As of February 2017[update] pre-project activities have begun for them and was planned that the first of the two would become critical around 2024–25.[8]
The construction for the unit 5 and 6 began on March 1, 2026 with the first concrete pour ceremony.[9]
Units
| Phase | Unit No. |
Reactor | Status | Capacity in MWe | Construction began | First criticality | Grid Connection | Commercial operation | Closure | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Model | Net | Gross | |||||||||
| I | 1 | PHWR | IPHWR-220 | Operation suspended (under maintenance) | 202 | 220 | 1 September 1989 | 26 September 2000 | 12 October 2000 | 16 November 2000 | N/a | [10] |
| 2 | PHWR | IPHWR-220 | Operational | 202 | 220 | 1 December 1989 | 24 September 1999 | 2 December 1999 | 16 March 2000 | N/a | [11] | |
| II | 3 | PHWR | IPHWR-220 | Operational | 202 | 220 | 30 March 2002 | 26 February 2007 | 11 April 2007 | 6 May 2007 | N/a | [12] |
| 4 | PHWR | IPHWR-220 | Operational | 202 | 220 | 10 May 2002 | 27 November 2010 | 19 January 2011 | 20 January 2011 | N/a | [13] | |
| III | 5 | PHWR | IPHWR-700 | Under construction | 630 | 700 | 1 March 2026[9] | N/a | N/a | N/a | [14] | |
| 6 | PHWR | IPHWR-700 | Under construction | 630 | 700 | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | [14] | ||
