TALCHER: National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Chairman-cum-Managing Director Arup Roy Choudhury said the power major was ready to surpass its energy generation target in the current 12th Five-Year plan.
He told this paper that the management was confident of generating 13,000 MW of additional power in the current plan as against the target of 11,500 MW despite several formidable challenges.
“These challenges are coal shortage, land constraints and lack of timely environmental clearance for new projects across the country,” he said.
Choudhury said NTPC was optimistic of achieving the target because several projects in the execution stage at nine locations in the country would be operationalised during the current plan.
“Gone are the days when we had to solely depend upon Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) for equipment.
Now we are getting state-of-the-art equipment and machineries from reputed global firms to expedite our project execution,” he added.
Describing coal as the major constraint for achieving the desired outcome, Choudhury said the Government should explore options to allow government and private companies other than CIL to produce coal to meet its rising demand.
He said NTPC needs around 140 to 150 million tonne (MT) of coal per annum to feed its power plants while CIL provides just about 120 MT.
The shortfall is met by importing coal and other means like procuring coal through e-auction.
“However, we cannot afford to import coal beyond certain percentage to balance our cost of production,” he said, adding that NTPC is also trying hard to mine coal from its allotment to meet the demand.
He said there would be an investment ` 20,000 crore in Odisha for the two mega power projects in Darlipalli and Gajmara besides expansion of projects at Talcher Thermal Power Station.