NLC to add 15,000 Mw of power by 2022

Navaratna company, Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited (NLC), is planning to add 15,000 Mw of power with an investment of around Rs 90,000 crore, of which 30 per cent will be infused as equity.

AR Ansari, chairman and managing director of NLC, said that the proposed addition will be completed before 2020-22. “For now, we have reserves of Rs 6,000 crore. We will infuse Rs 30,000 crore as equity from own reserves in the next 10 years,” he said.

The lignite-based power major is now betting big on coal and 80 per cent of its upcoming projects will be based on coal. These include 2,000 Mw each in Uttar Pradesh and Orissa, and one in Sirkazhi, Tamil Nadu. “We may go up to 4,000 Mw in these sites,” he said.

“We will require 4.5 million tonne of coal for every 1,000 Mw. We have sent a team to Australia to scout for resources,” Ansari said, adding that the company had also requested the central government to allocate a coal block for it to to mine. Besides, coal and lignite, the company is looking at renewable energy. It is planning to set up a 50-Mw wind farm and a 10-Mw solar farm in Tamil Nadu.

Meanwhile, NLC is in the process of replacing its thermal power station (TPS) at Neyyeli, which is the oldest power plant in the country, While BHEL and Korea-based company Doosan are in race for the turbine and generators, a consortium led by Ansaldo and Czech-based Vitcovice is in fray for the boilers.

The 600-Mw thermal power station is currently using Russian equipment. The 50-year-old plant is operating at 80 per cent plant load factor (PLF).