Indian state-controlled utility NTPC has raised its electricity generation capacity to 72.3GW with the addition of a coal-fired plant in Bangladesh.
NTPC, India's largest power producer, recently commissioned the first 660MW unit at the 1.32GW Maitree thermal power project in Bangladesh. Maitree is the utility's first overseas power project.
The project based on imported coal is a 50:50 joint venture between NTPC and Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) to meet the growing power demand of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh India Friendship Power, the joint venture company executing the power project, sought 8mn t of imported coal over a three-year period in a tender last year. The coal could have been supplied from Indonesia, Australia or South Africa, with a combination of these origins also allowed.
Indian private-sector utility Adani Power recently commissioned the first 800MW unit at its 1.6GW thermal power project in the eastern state of Jharkhand and started supplying 748MW of power to BPDB. Adani Power had signed an initial agreement with BPDB in 2015 to develop a cross-border 1.6GW thermal power project in Jharkhand.
NTPC raises coal output
NTPC more than doubled its coal output on the year in April to meet rising power demand during the ongoing summer season. The utility produced 2.75mn t of coal last month, up by 148pc on the year, to feed its power plants.
The utility's coal supplies to its plants reached a new monthly high of 2.95mn t in April, more than doubling from last year, India's power ministry said on 2 May.
NTPC raised its coal output during the April 2022-March 2023 fiscal year by 65pc from a year earlier, to meet increased consumption at its plants.
The firm produced 23.2mn t of coal in 2022-23, rising from 14.1mn t in 2021-22, although it fell short of its output target of 26mn t. The use of high-capacity dumpers at mining sites and increased use of the existing fleet of excavators supported the coal production growth, NTPC said earlier.
NTPC's move to boost output from the coal blocks allocated to it by the government for captive use is in line with its strategy to trim reliance on imports and supplement supplies it gets from state-controlled producer Coal India. The six coal blocks operated by NTPC have estimated reserves of 5bn t and at peak output will produce about 71mn t/yr of coal.
