The Grid Controller of India Limited (Grid-India) has flagged the issue of delay in revival of Neyveli New Thermal Power Station (NNTPS) unit-1 (500 MW) and said it was affecting Tamil Nadu.
The NLC India Limited’s (NLCIL’s) NNTPS has two units of 500 MW each. The power from the Central power generating station is allocated among Southern States, with Tamil Nadu having a share of 654.8 MW.
NNTPS unit-1 had shut down, as per an approved schedule, for five days from August 9-13. The expected revival date of the unit was August 14. However, it has not been revived yet, GRID-India said in its letter to NNTPS.
Grid-India is a Government of India enterprise under the Ministry of Power. One of its regional arms, Southern Regional Load Despatch Centre, looks after the grid functions of the southern region.
The NNTPS unit-1 had been on a forced outage due to a condenser tube puncture from August 13, and was expected to be revived on the night of August 20, the letter said.
Since it could not be revived on the said date, the date was extended to August 24. Though the date is being extended by the NNTPS from time to time, the unit is still under outage as on date, Grid-India said.
Since the maximum share of power from the NNTPS is for Tamil Nadu, Grid-India said that the extension of revival date was affecting the State in meeting its demands. It further noted that Tamil Nadu was unable to plan its portfolio effectively due to frequently changing revival dates.
Citing the countrywide shortage of generation resources due to deferred monsoon, among other factors, it sought a tangible date for revival of the unit.
In its reply, the NNTPS said it was taking full efforts to bring back the unit at the earliest.
Tamil Nadu has the highest energy consumption among southern States. It saw an all-time high peak demand of 19,387 MW on April 20. On the same day, an all-time high daily consumption of 423.785 million units was also recorded.
The State has been allocated 7,170 MW as share from Central generating stations. However, as per the policy note of State’s Energy Department for 2023-24, at a time, the peak availability is only 5,900 MW.
