Telangana Super thermal power plant is likely to be commissioned before the end of the current fiscal (FY23). The project has been running late by nearly 31 months from deadline.
This information was provided by the Union Minister of State for Power and Renewable Energy, RK Singh, in response to a query raised during the question hour in Lok Sabha.
The coal-based power plant designed on ultra-supercritical technology is located in Telangana and is being constructed by NTPC Ltd. Currently, the first phase, involving two units of 800 megawatts (MW) each, is under development; while the total planned capacity is 4,000 MW (5X800 MW).
The trial run of the project was originally slated for May 2022, but several disruptions including the COVID-19 pandemic, re-engineering needs of the boiler as per latest new environment norms, and other environment-related compliances had stalled progress.
At present, the first unit is under an advanced stage of commissioning post completion of steam blowing and related advance commissioning activities.
Coal capacity
The development of a new plant in Telangana holds significance with regard to the sluggish pace of capacity addition for coal-based plants this year.
As per data provided by Central Electricity Authority, the third unit of the Nabinagar thermal plant in Bihar with capacity of 660 MW was the last coal-based unit to be commissioned back in March this year. Since then, no new capacity has been added.
This comes at a time when the power sector has been witnessing robust demand for electricity. Notably, peak demand surged to a new high of 215,888 MW in April this year driven by intense heatwaves.
Meanwhile, Unit-7 of the Obra Plant in Uttar Pradesh with rated capacity of 94 MW was retired this fiscal in October.
At the end of November, the installed capacity of coal-based plants stood at 203,986 MW as against 204,080 MW recorded in April 2022.
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