Universal Success Announces 10,000-Megawatt Thermal Plant in West Bengal

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Universal Success Energy Limited (USE) (Singapore), a wholly owned subsidiary of Universal Success Enterprises Limited, has announced plans to set up a 10,000-megawatt (MW) thermal power plant in West Bengal at an investment of $12.5 billion. Amid the recent pullout of Tata Motors Limited (BSE:500570) (Jamshedpur, Jharkhand) from Singur over land-acquisition issues, Universal Success has signed a memorandum of understanding with West Bengal's government for the plant under the condition that the project must have residents' support.

The nine 4,000-MW ultra-mega-power projects (UMPP) promoted by India's government as part of its Eleventh Five-Year Plan was so far the largest power projects in terms of capacity. It is estimated that about 5,000 acres of land will be required to house the Universal Success project, which the company intends to procure directly at market prices. Feedstock for the coal-fired plant will be sourced from Indonesia, where the company owns coal blocks. The exact location for the plant has not been decided, although some speculate that it could be along the coastal region of West Bengal. Sea water will be used for the plant after desalination. Construction is proposed to start within two years of land acquisition.

West Bengal's government is facilitating the land-acquisition process and is consulting Development Consultant Private Limited (Kolkata, West Bengal), a leading engineering service provider, to conduct a feasibility study and to identify three to four possible plant locations.

The project is likely to be implemented in phases, beginning with a 2,000-MW plant on 1,000 acres. Phase I, expected to cost $2.3 billion, could be commissioned by 2012. Afterward, $1 billion will go toward developing a port on 300 to 400 acres to handle the imported coal. The port will be designed to have a capacity of managing 30 million tons of coal per year; this will primarily be used for the power plant and the remaining will be traded. Universal Success has announced that financing for the project is not a concern despite the liquidity crunch following the global financial crisis. Funds will be raised for the project through a combination of debt and equity. Further details have not been disclosed.

The company has no prior experience in setting up a power plant. The firm is likely to tie up for technology know-how. It has been noncommittal on the use of clean coal technologies in its upcoming plant to minimize environmental impact by controlling carbon dioxide emissions.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a marketing information service specializing in industrial process, energy and financial related markets with products and services ranging from industry news, analytics, forecasting, plant and project databases, as well as multimedia services.