Unit 1 of NTPC Lara super thermal power plant in Chhattisgarh begins operations

Indian power utility NTPC has put the first unit of the first stage of the 4GW Lara super thermal power plant in Chhattisgarh into operations.

The first stage of the Lara super thermal power plant, located in Lara, Raigarh district, comprises two coal-fired power units, each of 800MW, and is being built with an investment of INR 12,000 crore ($1.85 billion).

A total of five coal-fired power units, each of 800MW will make up the Lara super thermal power station.

NTPC says that the commissioning of the first unit of the Lara power plant has taken place just ahead of summer, which will help address the additional demand for electricity for states in western India, which includes Chhattisgarh, Goa and Maharashtra.

Representative image of a thermal power plant. Image courtesy of Maxim Weise at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The Lara super thermal power plant will be fueled by coal that will be supplied from the Talaipalli Coal Block of Mand in Raigarh Coalfields while the water needed for it will be delivered from the Mahanadi River via the Saradih Barrage.

NTPC revealed that with the unit 1 of the Lara super thermal power plant entering into the power generation stage, the total commissioned capacity of the NTPC and the NTPC group has become 46.1GW and 52.9GW, respectively.

The Indian power utility has 21 coal-based power plants, 7 gas-based power plants, 11 solar power plants (PV), a couple of hydro power plants, one wind power project and 8 subsidiaries/joint venture power stations.

Currently, NTPC is building an additional capacity of more 19GW at different locations.

The commissioning of the Lara super thermal power plant unit 1 follows the 800MW third unit of the 4GW Kudgi super thermal power plant in Karnataka, which was placed into operations, earlier this month.

In another disclosure to the Bombay Stock Exchange, NTPC said that it has started extraction of coal from its Dulanga coal mine in Odisha.

For more news on the Lara super thermal power plant and NTPC, keep following Business-News-Today.com.