NTPC shuts three units in Dadri on coal shortage

Shortage of coal has forced the country’s largest power producing company, NTPC Ltd, to shut down three of the four 210 mw units at its Dadri plant.

The shutdown has impacted power supply in the national capital as 750 mw of its total capacity of 840 mw is scheduled for the region.

“Power supply to Delhi has been affected since the wee hours of Wednesday,” said a BSES statement.

An NTPC official said the shortage has been caused by derailment of a coal wagon near Luckhnow. “We are trying our best to resume operations at the earliest.”

Electricity distribution companies in Delhi are withdrawing heavily from the Northern Grid to make up for the power shortage from the plant.

Meanwhile, NTPC’s Ramagundam super thermal power project, located in Andhra Pradesh, has been operating at half its capacity for quite some time due to shortage of coal supply from Singareni Collieries Co Ltd (SCCL). Shutting down of units at the Ramagundam plant has interrupted power supply to the southern states.

SCCL miners are agitating in support of separate statehood of Telangana.

The Ramagundam power plant has a capacity of 2,600 mw, of which it was generating about 1,520 mw with six units.

NTPC’s total installed capacity stands at around 34,000 mw. The company is currently constructing power projects with a capacity of 17,000 mw and it plans to become a 75,000 MW company by 2017.