NTPC's vintage plant posts 90% PLF

The Korba power station of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) in Chhattisgarh had recorded above 90 per cent Plant Load Factor (PLF) in the financial year 2012-13.

What added significance to the feat is that the station is 30-year-old and has been categorized as the vintage plant of the country's largest power producer. More so, the plant operated in adverse technical conditions in the last fiscal following the collapse of its ash-dyke.

Though the ash-dyke collapsed following heavy rains in September 2011, its impact on operating the plant continued to haunt even in the financial year 2012-13. The units had to be run meticulous as there was no option for the disposal of ash.

"Despite all odds, the Korba power station of the NTPC had achieved a cumulative PLF (a measure of average capacity utilization) of 90.11 per cent in the financial year 2012-13," NTPC Korba spokesperson Ashutosh Nayak told Business Standard. The station has achieved all MoU targets in operation area during the fiscal, he added.

It (the power unit) is the vintage plant of the NTPC and achieving above 90 per cent PLF is indeed a great achievement, Nayak said.

The 2600-MW power station had generated 20522.925 Million Units of electricity during the period with an availability of 95.11 per cent. The station had produced 18030.297 million units (MUs) of power last fiscal despite most of its units remaining shut down for a significant portion of the year due to damage caused to the ash dyke.

The station achieved 78.95 per cent Plant Load Factor (PLF) with an availability of 83.71 per cent during the period.