Bihar will get 402 MW of additional power, as NTPC Limited has completed the boiler light-up test of its second unit of 660 MW of the Barh super thermal power plant (STPP) stage I.
The test signifies the readiness of the boiler for the power generation process. At present, NTPC’s power allocation to Bihar is 5,361 MW against its peak load demand of around 6,500 MW. The commercial generation of power from this plant would begin anytime in 2022-23. Now it will do steam blowing, which is to check the optimum pressure of steam the boiler can handle to run its turbine. After that, the plant has to be synchronised with the national grid as well as other automated controls of its power generation system. Then it will proceed with the commissioning, which involves a trial run of the plant up to 72 hours at efficiency above the installed capacity of the power plant. The Barh STPP project has an installed capacity of 3,300 MW, of which stage I is of 1,980 MW (3×660 MW unit each) and stage II of 1,320 MW (2×660 MW unit each). The unit 3 of stage I is lined up for commercial operation by end of December 2023.