NTPC ltd has commenced the process for setting up the Geo Thermal Power Plant at Tatapani in Balrampur district of Chhattisgarh.
The company would commence the process for Thermal Exploration cum Production Well, Resource Assessment and preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Geo Thermal Power Plant at Tatapani, officials stated.
It may be recalled that NTPC's efforts during second half of FY 16, as a result of rationalization of coal linkages, reduction in imported coal consumption, enforcement of third party sampling of coal and other measures led to reduction in energy charges of coal stations by nearly 20%.
NTPC shall endeavour to bring down the energy charges further to help the Discoms, officials stated.
With capacity addition of 9550 MW during the current plan, NTPC is all geared up to achieve the target of 11920 MW for the 12th five year plan ending 2016-17.
NTPC commissioned Unit 3 and 4 at Koldam — 400 MW in Himachal , Bongaigaon unit 1-250 MW in Assam, Vindhyachal unit 13 - 500MW in Madhya Pradesh, BRBCl Nabinagar unit 1 - 250 MW in Bihar, Kanti unit 3 - 195 MW in Bihar, Mouda unit 3-660 MW in Maharashtra during the year.
Under its CSR activities, company shall continue to provide safe drinking water and focus on training and skill development of people in the vicinity of its projects and stations. The options of installing water ATMs and opening of generic medicine shops to provide access to low cost medicines for them is also being explored.
NTPC presently has 18 coal based, 7 gas based, 8 solar PV, one Hydro and 8 Subsidiaries / Joint Venture power stations. Company has a capacity of over 24,000 MW under different phases of completion.
It may be recalled that NTPC’s upcoming 1600 MW lara Super Thermal Power Project in Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh has acquired all necessary clearances from the Union Ministry of Forest, Environment and Climate Change for the project, officials stated.
The lara plant of NTPC would be utilising super critical technology for power generation. The power to be generated by upcoming project will be supplied to Chhattisgarh , Goa and Maharashtra states, officials stated.
The project is most likely to go on stream by March 2017 .
The coal requirement for the proposed plant would be met from Talaipalli Coal Block of Mand in Raigarh Coalfields, officials stated.
Significantly, NTPC the largest power utility of the country recorded highest single day generation of 733.12 MUs, the highest from its 18 coal based, 7 gas based, 8 solar and Hydro power stations on August 27, 2015. The Declared Cumulative Capability of the stations was 91.10 % and Plant load factor ( PlF) of 86.34 % on the day.
During financial year 2014-15, NTPC Group contributed 25% of total electricity generated in India with 16% share of Country’s total installed capacity as on 31.03.2015.
NTPC recorded Gross generation of 241.261 BUs (stand-alone) in FY 2014-15 registering a growth of 3.42%. Plant load Factor (PlF) of NTPC’s coal stations was 80.23% against national average of 64.46%. Two stations recorded more than 90% PlF. All NTPC stations achieved Plant Availability of or above 83%. Four coal stations of NTPC featured among the top 10 stations of the Country in terms of PlF in FY 2014-15.
Notably, the Centre has signed a Memorandum of Understanding each with the states of Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh for critical coal connectivity projects to improve transportation of coal, officials informed.
Coal production in Chhattisgarh stood at 115.19 million tonnes (MT) during 2014-15 ( provisional), officials stated.
This was in comparison to 110.14 million tonnes (actual) coal produced in the State during the previous year.
The State had already produced 27.857 million tonnes of coal during the period April to June 2015 (provisional), officials stated.
As per Annual Plan document 2015-16 of Union Ministry of Coal, the annual target for overall coal production for 2015-16 has been fixed at 700 million tonnes. As action plan has also been drawn by Coal India ltd. in this regard to achieve production of 1000 Million tonnes by 2019-20, officials stated.
Agreement for World Bank loan of US $ 1100 million for Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) (Phase-2) have also been signed, officials stated.
Notably, the Chhattisgarh government will allocate 66 acres of land for speedy implementation of two key railway corridor projects in the State.
A decision was taken during a meeting of an inter-departmental committee chaired by State Revenue Minister Prem Prakash Pandey here recently, officials stated.
It move will expedite setting up of the East-West Rail Corridor and East corridor, he said.
The 122 km long East-West Rail Corridor will be built on the Gevra Road-Deepika-Katghora-Sindurgarh-Pasan-Pendra Road section.
The Union Railway Ministry had already submitted a proposal to the Chhattisgarh government for allotment of land for this project.
After considering the proposal, it was decided to allocate 52-acre land for the purpose, of which 25 acres fall in Bilaspur district and the rest in Korba district. For the East Corridor, the State government has decided to allocate 14 acres of land in Raigarh district. The Corridor will be about 180 km long from Bhupdevpur-Gharghoda-Dharamjaygarh up to Korba, the official said.
The committee also sanctioned 20 acres of land for the under-construction the rail route from Talaipalli to lara village where the plant of NTPC is coming up in Raigarh district.