NTPC's Simhadri-II Units to Commence Commercial Generation by July 2011

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Two new, 500-megawatt (MW) thermal units at NTPC Limited's (BSE:532555) Simhadri thermal power station are set to begin commercial power generation in July 2011. These units are being implemented as an expansion to the existing 1,000-MW, coal-fired power plant at the Simhadri site.

According to NTPC sources, the first 500-MW unit of the ongoing expansion project is anticipated to be commissioned in March 2011, as opposed to the previously scheduled date of February 2011, while the second unit would be brought on-stream by June 2011.

The Simhadri thermal power station, which is in the Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh, has an installed generation capacity of 1,000 megawatts and was commissioned in 2002. Phase II of the project expansion involves setting up two 500-MW, pulverized, coal-fired units. Apart from the two new generation units, the expansion project also involves construction of two additional cooling towers and coal-handling plants.

Notably, the expansion project, has been facing frequent deferral in the completion of various vital milestones ever since its inception in September 2007, primarily due to the delay in the supply of equipments and civil work. For more information, view January, 20, 2011, article - NTPC to Commission Simhadri Unit 4 by End of February.

The coal requirement for the expansion units has been pegged at 5.9 million tonnes per year, compared to the consumption of 5.04 million tonnes per year for the Phase I units.

NTPC has entered into a fuel supply agreement with Mahanadi Coalfields Limited, a subsidiary of Coal India Limited (CIL) (Kolkata, West Bengal), to source the feedstock from the Talcher coal field area in Odisha (formerly called Orissa). Seawater would be used to cool the condensers, while the freshwater requirement would be met from the Yeleru canal.

India's transmission major, Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (BSE:532898) (PGCIL) (Gurgaon, Haryana), is constructing a 400-kilovolt, double-circuit line from Simhadri to Visakhapatnam to transmit power from the project.

With an installed capacity of 33,194 MW, NTPC is the largest power-generating firm in the country. Presently, NTPC generates power primarily from coal and gas. The company is diversifying in to hydropower, coal mining, power equipment manufacturing, oil and gas exploration, and power trading and distribution.

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