NTPC hopes to commission Telangana STTP by fiscal year-end

The Telangana Super Thermal Power Plant (STPP) of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is likely to be commissioned before the end of the current fiscal year (2022-23).

The NTPC plant in Ramagundam, which was delayed by factors including Covid and the re-engineering of the boiler to new environmental standards, is now in an advanced stage of completion.

The issue was raised in the Lok Sabha last week by several Telangana MPs seeking reasons for the delay in conducting the sea trial of the 800 MW Telangana STPP Station-I, which was due to be conducted in May 2020.

Union Minister of Energy and Renewable Energy RK Singh said that the first phase of the Telangana STPP (2 × 800 MW) was delayed by 31 months.

Actual expenses incurred and accrued so far were within the approved project cost of Rs 109.98 billion, he added. Singh went on to say that the first unit of the project was at an advanced stage of commissioning and that after the completion of the steam blowing and related advanced commissioning activities, the process is likely to be approved by the end of this fiscal year. The center had pledged to establish a 4,000 MW (5x800 MW) supercritical thermal power plant at Ramagundam under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act.