NTPC plants in India

Himachal ( Koldam Hydel), Haryana ( Faridabad gas, Badarpur ), UP ( Dadri Coal , NCTPP, Unchahar, Tanda, Singruali, Rihand), Rajasthan ( Anta), Gujarat ( Kawas Gas, Gandhar), MP ( Auraiya, Vindhyanchal ), Bihar ( Kahalgaon, Barh ), Chhatisgarh ( Korba, Sipat), WB( Farakka, Durgapur), Odisha ( Talcher, Rourkela, Bhilai), Andhra Pradesh ( Simhadri , Ramagundam) , Kerala ( Kayamkulam).

Some facts about power sector tagets in India

In a five year plant India targets to add about 40,000 MW.
'Power to all ' target is deadlined for 2012.
Intergrid capacity planned by 2012 is 30,000 MW.
Peaking shortage is estimated to be 11 %.
PLF is estimated to be 72 %
From 1700 MW in 1947, power sector has come up to 130,000 MW today.
Still 80 million rural households are in dark.
Till Aug 06, 44% of rural India had electricity. ( out of 14 Crore households, 6 Crore were electrified).
Cogeneration potential of sugar Industry is estimated to be 5000 MW ( tapped at present: 850 MW).

Thoughts on Electricity Tariff

Industrial , Domestic and Agriculture. Which sector to be billed dearest? World over, domestic tariffs have been highest and Industrial tariffs are lowset. Moreover, Tariff is different for Paek, Normal and Off-peak period.
We know that scenario in India is different.

An interesting fact about agriculture load is that therre are about 15 million pumpsets and they consume 30 billion kwh in a year (most of which is unmetered).

About Nuclear Power

It is said that one kilo of uranium = 25000 kg of coal.
There are bout 15 reactors installed in India.( mostly PHWR)
Major NPP are in Trombay, Kaiga, Kota, Narora, Kakrapar and Kalapakkam ( It has FBTR).
NPC is watched by AERB.
AEC governs DAE.
DAE has 4 parts:- R&D ( BARC Trombay, IGCAR Kalapakkam, CAT, Indore, VECC Kolkata,AMD)., Public Sector( NPCIL,ECIL,IRAL,UCil), Industrial Sector ( HWB,MUmbai,NFC Hyderabad,RAPTB Mumbai) and Servicing ( PS Directorate,CS Group, AMDir, GSO).
In addition to above there are many totally funded organisatios:-
TIFR,Tata Memorial Centre, Saha Inst of Nuc Physics Bhuvaneswar, Mehta research Inst of Maths Allahabad, Inst of Math Sciences Chennai, Atomic En Education Society, National Board of Higher Maths, Mumbai)
Kakrapar near Surat) was commissioned in 1992 . Has had some accidents in past.

Rural electrification ( as per 1991 census )

STATE No of Villages (Villages Electrified )

Arunachal 3600 ( 22000 )
Assam 25000 (20000 )
Bihar 70000 (50000 )
J&K 6500 (6400 )
MP 72000 (70000 )
Manipur 2200 (2000 )
Meghalaya 5500 (2500 )
Mizoram 700 (700 )
Odisha 50000 (35000 )
Rajasthan 38000 (35000 )
Tripura 900 (810 )
UP 1,15,000 (90,000 )
WB 38000 (30000 )

This means that out of total about 6 Lakh villages , 95 % are electrified.

A note on Energy Crisis

• Till 1960's coal was major contributor towards power, By 1970, Oil overtook coal. Production of crude oil rose from 1503 mT ( 1965) to 2850 mT ( 1973) . Then Arab embargo in 1973 Western multinatonal oil companies promoted a wasteful energy consumption pattern for sake of higher profits.
  World's known oil reserves of 700 billion barrel wont last more than 2030 . The developing countries pay an import bill of $150 billion.
  Known reserves of coal are 650 billion mT ( =3100 billion barrels of oil ).
  Known reserves of natural gas are 500 billion barrel. ( 72 % of proven oil reserves and 15 % of proven coal reserves ).
  Oil Shale is another energy resource, but not commercially exploited.
  Forests in developing countries are being consumed @ 1.3 % of total forest area of 15 million hectares a year.
  Dung being burnt annually is = 2 million tons of nitrogen and phosphorus.


• 1% saving in T&D loss is = 1000 MW capacity added.


• 80% of the power capacity is with states.


• By the inputs needed to produce 1 MW, it is possible to conserve 3 MW power.

Time Line of Power Sector Reforms in India

1991 Generation privatised.
1992 Electricity Regulatory Commission ( ERC) Act enacted.
1994 Accelerated Power Development Program launched.
1996 National Electricity Policy and National Tariff policy notified.
1998 Electricty Act , 1998 enacted.
1999 NTPC Tripartite Agreement to securitise SEB dues.
2000 Availability based tariff announced , APDRP launched.
2001 Electricity Act 2001 passed.
2003 New Electricity Act 2003, enacted.
2004 Multi year tariff announced.
2005 National Electricity Policy and National Tariff policy announced.
2006 Ultra Mega Power Projects launched.

Some more rapid fire

Q) This $3-billion, 2000 MW power plant , idle since 2001, was given life by NTPC in the name of Ratnagiri Power in 2008 . It fires Qatar LNG from Petronet . Name it.
Ans ) Dabhol.
Q) Who has promoted the 4000 MW Mundhra Power Project ( this is another UMPP, concieved after Sasan in MP) ?
Ans) Tata Power.

Q) What are Mahanadi, Magadh, Gevra, Dipka and Amrapali ?

Ans) Coalfields of Coal India Ltd.

Q) What are Kawas and Gandhar ?

Ans) NTPC projects.

Q) Where are Naying and Ketehr Hydel projects?

Ans) In Arunachal and Himachal respectively.
Q) Who are top 5 countries to use Nuclear Power for Electricity?

Ans) France ( 80%), Lithuania ( 70%), Slovakia ( 55%), Belgium ( 55%), Ukraine (50%).

Q) How much is energy growth rate in India?

Ans) 1.5 % p.a.

Q) Formed in 1975, this Rs 6000 Crore equity organisation earns a profit of 400 Crore produces 35 billion units of electricity employing 2000 people.Name the organisation.

Ans ) NTPC

Was AP able to turnaround in 2008?

AP transco claimed in 1998 that it has drastically reduced its AT&C losses ( from 37% in 1999-2000 to 15.8 % in 2005-06). demand of 12000 MW. Yet to analyse the situation today.

Other than Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal , Karnataka and Orissa have signifacntly reduced their AT&C losses.

Almost all states have unbundled utilities.

Guarantee of returns for power producers

GOI had announced that 16% returns on euity invested would be guaranteed to power producers. And this will need a certain PLF.
Some facts in this regard are :-

• IPPs equity is 30% of total project cost and for PSUs like NTPC it is 50 % .


• Incentives for PSUs like NTPC become about Rs1000 Crore.