Bihar to get additional 383 MW power as Barh plant completes trial run

With this, the total generation capacity of the Barh plant would go up from the present 1980 MW to 2640 MW, against its targeted installed capacity of (5 x 660MW) 3,300 MW

Bihar will get 383 MW additional power soon as the 72-hour full load trial run of the 660 MW second unit of stage I of the NTPC Barh Super Thermal Power Plant (STPP) was completed as per Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) norms on Friday, said a company spokesperson.

660 MW second unit of stage I of the NTPC Barh Super Thermal Power Plant (STPP) was completed as per Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) (Twitter/@IndexBihar)

Bihar’s power share from NTPC plants would also go up to 6,943 MW from the present allocation of 6560 MW.

“We will now talk to the beneficiary states and declare commercial operation of the unit anytime in July,” said NTPC spokesperson Vishwanath Chandan.

The successful completion of full load trial run operation signifies that the second unit of stage-I of Barh plant is officially ready for commercial generation and would add electricity up to 660MW to the beneficiary states such as Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Sikkim, he added.

With this, the total generation capacity of the Barh plant would go up from the present 1980 MW to 2640 MW, against its targeted installed capacity of (5 x 660MW) 3,300 MW.

Bihar will get 58% electricity (383 MW) share generated from the unit, while the remaining would be allocated to Jharkhand, Odisha and Sikkim.

The Barh STPP in Barh sub-division of Patna district, has present commercial installed capacity of 1980 MW from its 3 units of 660 MW each. Bihar presently gets 1526 MW power from this plant.

“This is the fourth 660 MW environment-friendly super critical technology-based unit of the Barh plant, which has entered the commissioning stage after successful full load trial operation today. The two 660 MW units (IV and V) of stage II of the Barh STPP have been generating power from November 15, 2014 and February 18, 2016, respectively. The first 660 MW unit of stage I is already under commercial generation from November 2021. The Barh plant presently supplies 1526 MW electricity to Bihar that will now go up to 1909 MW,” said Chandan.

Congratulating his team, NTPC regional executive director (east-1), DSGSS Babji said his personnel showcased professional and calibrated efforts, which lead to the successful completion of full load trial operation of the second unit.

“With a total investment of around ₹80,000 crore in Bihar, NTPC has an installed power generation capacity of 9070 MW across six projects in the state, while 660 MW is under construction,” Babji added.

Asit Dutta, executive director, NTPC Barh, said, “Work on the third and final unit of stage I is under progress and is likely to be completed by the next year.”

The NTPC supplies around 90% of the state’s average daily power requirement, which ranges between 6,000 MW and 6,500 MW. The peak load demand had, however, gone up to 7,000 MW during peak summer this month.