NTPC's thermal power proj to be commercially operational from Friday

NTPC on Friday said the second 880 MW unit of the Lara thermal power plant Stage-I in Chhattisgarh will be commercially operational from midnight tonight.

With this unit, the 1,600 MW (800 MW X 2) Lara project Stage-I would be fully commercially operational

In September last year, the 800 MW first unit of the project was made commercially operational.

"Unit-2 of 800 MW of Lara Super Thermal Power Station Stage-I (2 x 800 MW) is hereby declared on commercial operation from 00:00 hours of November 7, 2020," a BSE filing said.

With this, the commercial capacity of the NTPC and NTPC group will become 51,155 MW and 62,910 MW, respectively.

India's largest power producer, which commenced its purposeful journey on November 7, 1975, has made a stellar contribution in lighting every nook and corner of the country and is fully geared to steer the next phase of growth and transformation in India's power sector that offers immense opportunities, NTPC said earlier in the day.

The company's Raising Day event will be celebrated through online platforms and by maintaining social distancing amidst the COVID-19 induced uncertainty that has impacted economies across the world.

Electricity is an essential part of our lives and its availability 24x7 during the lockdown proved extremely critical in providing seamless emergency services and facilitating the smooth working of lifesaving equipment. This brought additional responsibility on NTPC and it delivered beyond the demand, it said in a statement.

From its current power producing capacity of 62 GW, NTPC plans to become a 130 GW company by the year 2032.

In line with the global trend towards renewables, which is a cleaner source of energy, NTPC plans to achieve 32,000 MW of capacity through renewables or 25 per cent of its overall power portfolio at the beginning of the next decade.

Currently, NTPC has 2,404 MW of renewable energy projects under implementation. Out of them, 237 MW comes from floating solar projects located in reservoirs at NTPC's existing stations.

In fact, Ramagundam 100 MW Floating Solar, being set up under non-PPA (Power Purchasing Agreement) mode, is the largest in the country.

At the same time, NTPC is currently making huge investments towards deployment of FGD (Flue-Gas Desulfurization) equipment, whereby more than 60 GW capacity has been tendered for FGD for its various coal-based power plants, in order to cut down harmful emissions, as per the statement.