PPN Power Generating Company's 330.5 MW power plant at Pillaiperumalnallur in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu has started getting natural gas the PY-1 offshore field in the Cauvery basin.

The gas supply is expected to meet about 30 per cent of the plant's fuel requirements and is likely to reach 100 per cent by the end-December 2009. Earlier, the plant has been operating on naphtha.

The natural gas from the PY-1 offshore field in the Cauvery basin is being supplied to GAIL by Hindustan Oil Exploration Company, which has 100 per cent interest in the field.

In September 2009, GAIL had signed an agreement with both Hindustan Oil Exploration Company and PPN Power Generating Company for the supply of gas. The agreement provides for a primary term of 15 years, which can be mutually extended. For the first six years, gas supplies are expected to be in the region of 51,000 million British thermal units per day.

Apollo Infrastructure Projects Finance owns more than 65 per cent of PPN Power, with Marubeni, the equipment supplier, holding a 26 per cent stake. The balance is owned by HDFC and HDFC Standard Life.