NTPC Simhadri to install FGD set-up by year-end

VISAKHAPATNAM: Simhadri Super Thermal Power Station of NTPC at Parawada in Anakapalle district will complete installation of the  system by this year-end. This will enable the plant to control sulphur dioxide emissions to the permitted extent.

NTPC Simhadri head Sanjay Kumar Sinha said their plant is in the process of installing FGDs at all its four units at a cost of ₹871 crore. After their installation, SO2 emission will come down below 200 mg/Nm3 stipulated by the ministry of environment.

Sanjay Kumar said the Simhadri station has generated around 10,300 million units (MUs) of energy during the current fiscal 2023–24. The Plant Load Factor (PLF) during the current fiscal has been 65.58 per cent. The plant achieved 100 per cent utilisation of its fly ash, a by-product of the coal-fired power generation, thanks to the National Highways Authority of India, which is using the fly ash in its road projects.

The Simhadri plant chief said fly ash utilisation has been more than 100 per cent for the past seven years. The highest utilisation had been 176 per cent in 2022–23.

NTPC has supplied more than 130 lakh tonnes of ash for NHAI road projects in Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Anakapalle and Srikakulam districts. The plant has exported tonnes of fly ash to other countries also.

Sanjay Kumar said their plant has commissioned the largest floating solar PV project of 25 MW on the reservoir of the Simhadri thermal station. It plans to increase the power capacity by adding 18.5 MW capacity in the coming days within the facility’s premises at a cost of ₹95 crore, paving the way of self-generated clean energy, he added.