NCL firms up plans to increase power generation capacity

KOLKATA (miningweekly.com) – India’s NLC has firmed up plans to increased downstream activity, targeting power generation of 21 011 MW by 2025, of which at least 20% will be from renewable energy sources.

In the current financial year, with the commissioning of the 500 MW first unit of the Neyveli thermal power project, NLC’s aggregate thermal power generating capacity increased to 4 640 MW. With the setting up of a 709 MW solar power project in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, the company’s total power generation capacity from renewables increased to 1 404 MW, company officials said.

The company’s greenfield 1 980 MW coal-based power project through a joint venture was about 50% completed. Units would be progressively commissioned during the current and next financial year. The linked coal mine, the 11-million-tonne-a-year South Pachhwara mine, was also in progress and would start production aligned to the commissioning dates of the thermal power units.

On the mining front, NLC has targeted total coal and lignite production of 123-million tons a year by 2025, of which lignite production would be 62.15-million tons a year, coal 31-million tons a year and coal production for commercial merchant sales of 30-million tons a year.

Production from its newly allocated Talabira II and Talabira III coal blocks in the eastern state of Odisha was expected to start next month and part of this production would be linked to the company’s thermal power plant at Tuticorin and the balance was earmarked for its proposed pit-head thermal power project of 3 200 MW.