NTPC to construct 2,640 MW power plant in Bundelkhand; invites EoI for power plant acquisition

NTPC CMD AR Chowdhury

Giving a further boost to its aim to emerge as global power generator, state-owned NTPC will construct a 2,640 MW power plant in Barethi in Chattarpur district of Madhya Pradesh at a cost of about Rs 18,000 crore. The Maharatna company has also invited expressions of interest (EoIs) for buying coal-based thermal power plants, from state electricity boards, independent power producers (IPP), power plant developers and captive power producers. The plants could be either in operational or synchronised or even under planning or construction stage. They could be based on domestic...

or imported coal or a mix of the two, the power major said.
The foundation stone for the Super Thermal Power Project, located in Bundelkhand, was laid by power minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. "The estimated cost of the project is approx Rs. 18,000 crore and is envisaged to be commissioned in the 13th Plan linked to development of coal mine," an official statement said. The project will comprise four unit of 660 MW each.

"The Barethi power project is an important milestone for the state as well as the entire country. The power project will help to make Bundelkhand one of the most prosperous regions of the state (Madhya Pradesh)," Scindia said.

Half of the power generated from the project will be supplied to Madhya Pradesh. The total land requirement for the project is 2,841 acres and the coal requirement for the project will be met from Banai coal block and water from proposed Majhgaon Dam and Shyamari project for which land acquisition is in progress, the statement said.

NTPC presently meets about 24 percent of the total power requirement of Madhya Pradesh allocated from its various stations and has its largest power station in the country Vindhyachal Super Thermal Power Station of 4,260 MW installed capacity, situated in Singrauli district.

With this project in Bundelkhand, NTPC has over 4500 MW capacity under construction in the state which includes largest solar power project of 50 MW at Rajgarh and 1600 MW Gadarwara Super Thermal Power Project in Narsinghpur district.

At present NTPC has an installed capacity of 42,464 MW through 22 coal-based and eight gas-based projects with capacity addition plans of 20,000 MW under implementation.

Power plant acquisition is not new for NTPC, which has turned around acquired properties such as Badarpur near Delhi which it bought in 2006, Unchahar (bought from the UPSEB in 1992), Talcher (from erstwhile OSEB) in 1995 and Tanda. NTPC said that from the viewpoint of capital requirements, turning around old units was a low cost, high return option.

NTPC being the largest power utility in the country has been playing a major role in meeting the power needs of the country and contributing to the economic and social development of the country. NTPC has been ranked No.1 Independent Power Producer globally in Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company ranking for the year 2013. NTPC`s operational performance in terms of plant load factor (PLF), availability factor, planned outage and forced outage has been better than most large power stations in the world.