Technical snag at Korba plant costs NTPC hefty revenue loss

National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is set to account a hefty revenue loss following most of its units in Korba power station closed during to technical snag and natural calamity.

With the installed capacity of 2600 Mw, the power station is now producing just 200 Mw. Besides four units of 500-Mw each, the station has three units of 200-Mw each. For the first time in the history of Korba station, six of the units had stopped production.

The company officials said that of the four units of 500 Mw each, two had been closed down following severe damage to the ash-dyke in recent rains. One of the units was on annual maintenance while another was working before it developed technical snag yesterday.

The latest 500 Mw unit was set up by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL). A major fault was developed in the generator and the company had not provided backup for the same.

The officials said BHEL officials had reached Korba to repair the fault.

Of the three 200 Mw each unit, one was shut down for the annual maintenance while another unit developed some snag. The Korba power station of the NTPC was now running with only one unit of 200 Mw.

The NTPC Korba is one of the stations of NTPC that produces power at the cheapest rate. But still, the company has to incur a heavy loss with most of its units shut down. The company officials admitted that the loss would be heavy.

“As of now, we cannot say how much loss will be there following the recent development,” NTPC Korba’s spokesperson Ashutosh Nayak told Business Standard. But certainly, the loss would be heavy, he said, adding that it would take another few days to restore full production in the station.

The beneficiary states from the NTPC Korba project include Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Daman, Diu and Nagar Haveli.