LAGATAR24 NETWORK
Ranchi, Oct 23: After 23 years since the laying of the foundation stone, power generation has finally started from the first unit of NTPC’s North Karanpura Power Plant.
According to an official source from NTPC, the current was successfully transferred to the grid by turning on the unit at 7 pm on October 21. The first unit of 660 MW capacity produced 121 MW of electricity on the first day.
Team North Karanpura achieved this success under the leadership of NTPC (East Zone-2) Regional Executive Director AK Goswami and Chief Manager Tajinder Gupta. For the first time in India, an ACC cooling system has been used in this unit, which reduces the water requirement by 80 per cent as compared to conventional power plants.
According to official sources, the commercial distribution of electricity will be started in two months (by December) from the power plant.
NTPC sources said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi can attend the inauguration ceremony of this power plant. In this regard, PMO is being contacted by NTPC Management. The PMO is also continuously monitoring this scheme.
Notably, Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee laid the foundation stone of NTPC’s North Karanpura power plant on March 6, 1999, while NTPC’s Barh power plant’s foundation stone was laid on June 5, 1999.
The production started from one unit of Barh in the year 2020 along with commercial distribution. There are five units of 660 MW out of which three have become operational, while work on two is in progress.
At the time of the stone laying foundation, the North Karanpura project was the country’s first supercritical thermal power plant with a capacity of 1980 MW. It was to be built in four years, but the pace of construction slowed down.
In 2008, the project was closed as there were coal deposits under the ground. In October 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi again started work on the project. Since then, the work is going on three units of 660 MW each.
