Odisha government urges NTPC to recommission closed Talcher Thermal Power Station units 

BHUBANESWAR: Yet to get a firm commitment from the Centre on execution of the Stage-III project of Talcher Thermal Power Station (TTPS), the State government once again requested the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) for recommissioning of the closed units.

Taking up the TTPS issue with NTPC CMD Gurdeep Singh for second time in a week, Chief Secretary SC Mahapatra assured all possible assistance including environmental clearance for resumption of power generation from the old units.

The national thermal power major shut down all the six units of TTPS having installed capacity of 460 MW on March 23, eight days before the scheduled closure of the plant which outlived its life of 50 years. The CMD said he will inform the State government about the future plan of action.

It was decided that NTPC and Gridco will take a final call on the fate of the oldest power plant of the State. However, the fate of proposed 1,320 MW (2×660) super critical plant project to be developed by NTPC is hanging in balance. 

The second high-level meeting between the Chief Secretary and NTPC CMD through virtual mode on Monday decided that the NTPC and Gridco would jointly study the feasibility of setting up of one or two super critical unit of 660 MW taking into consideration the demand in the State and the potential of power trading in the national market. 

The Chief Secretary stressed that the old plant be recommissioned till the new units come up. The government’s high-level clearance authority headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had cleared the Rs 7,698 crore project last year after prolonged negotiation on certain contentious issues including power tariff from the new plant.