NTPC has planned to have a total renewable energy (RE) capacity of 35 gigawatts (GW) by 2027 and is expected to generate 10 billion units (BU) of green energy in 2022-23, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.
“The expected green energy generation by NTPC in the next fiscal year (2022-23) is 10 billion units (BU). NTPC intends to achieve up to 35 GW of renewable energy (RE) capacity by 2027,” Union Power Minister RK Singh said in a written reply to a query in the Rajya Sabha.
According to the reply, NTPC has entered into the arena of green energy generation apart from managing 70 power stations.
NTPC has 2,095.5 megawatts (MW) of RE capacity, including solar, wind, and hydro energy. Its RE generation in April-November this year stands at 4,089.64 million units, Singh stated.
The minister also told the House that NTPC has an under-construction green energy capacity of 3,880.5 MW, which includes solar, wind and hydro energy.
However, he told the House that the construction activities stopped at the Lata Tapovan hydropower project (171 MW) since May 8, 2014, in line with the Supreme Court order issued on May 7, 2014.
In another reply to the House, the minister also told that the energy deficit in the country was 0.4% or 4,059 MU during April-November this year – a total of 9,16,575 million units (MU) of electricity was supplied against the demand of 9,20,634 MU.
The energy deficit was 0.4% in 2020-21 and 0.5% in 2019-20, according to the reply.
In another reply to the House, he stated that the FDI (foreign direct investment) equity inflows in the power sector stood at $469.31 million in April-September during 2021-22.
FDI equity inflows in the power sector stood at $373.63 million in 2020-21, $672.16 million in 2019-20 and $1,105.64 million in 2018-19.
In the past decade since 2011-12, the power sector recorded an FDI inflow of $10,184.7 million. In another reply, the minister explained about the purchase of power at a high price and stated, “As reported by power exchanges, some buyers have purchased power at ₹20 per kWh in the day-ahead market on power exchanges during the months of August 2021 and October 2021.”
He added that this was only around 430 million units (MU), which is only 0.04% of the total power generated (i.e. 9,94,233 MU) in the country during the current year 2021-22 (up to November 2021).
“The average price of electricity in the day-ahead market on power exchanges during the period April to November 2021 was ₹4.14 per unit,” the minister said.
