NTPC to commission second 800-Mw unit at Darlipalli in Q2 of FY21

Odisha to get 470-Mw power; NTPC has signed purchase pacts with Meghalaya, Assam and Tripura, and will also feed some power to Bihar and Chhattisgarh

NTPC Ltd, the country's largest power generator, aims to commission the second 800-Mw unit of its super thermal power station at Darlipalli in Odisha in the second quarter of the next financial year.

The maharatna power producer commercialised the first 800-Mw unit on March 1 this year.

“Odisha is entitled to 470-Mw power from Darlipalli. We have tied up purchase agreements with Meghalaya, Assam and Tripura. Some power will also be fed to Bihar and Chhattisgarh,” said Sanjeev Kishore, Regional Executive Director (Eastern Region II), NTPC Ltd.

NTPC's power plants under the jurisdiction of Eastern Region II have an average Plant Load Factor (PLF) of 75 per cent, bettering the power producer's pan-India average of 67.13 per cent. Average PLF of all power plants across the country stood at 55.84 per cent.

“Load at thermal power plants has dipped owing to sagging power demand and disruption in coal supplies. Besides, there is increasing generation from renewables and hydro power,” kishore told reporters in Bhubaneswar.

NTPC Eastern Region II has an installed capacity of 5,020 Mw. The portfolio of power projects includes Talcher Thermal Power Station TTPS (460 Mw), Talcher Super Thermal Power  Station (3,000 Mw), Kaniha solar power plant (10 Mw), Darlipalli  Super Thermal Power Station (800 Mw) in Odisha and three units at Bongaigaon (750 Mw) in Assam.

NTPC is also pursuing a 1,320-Mw (2x660 Mw) expansion of its Talcher Thermal Power Project.

Across the country, NTPC boasts of a nameplate capacity of 58156 Mw generated by 24 coal-based stations seven gas stations, one hydro power plant and 11 solar plants.