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State-run power generator NTPC Limited has planned an investment of Rs 17 lakh crore over the next ten years, spanning thermal, gas, nuclear, and storage technologies to address unprecedented domestic power demand, Chairman and Managing Director Gurdeep Singh said on Tuesday.
Addressing the India Energy Summit organized by the Indian Chamber of Commerce, Singh stated that out of the total investment outlay, the company earmarks Rs 7 lakh crore for deployment within the next five years. "As far as energy is concerned, for the next 10 years we have planned for Rs 17 lakh crore of the investment, and in the next 5 years it will be around Rs 7 lakh crore. So this is spanning almost all kinds of energy resources," Singh stated. The state utility also targets developing 30 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear energy capacity out of the national goal of 100 GW planned by 2047, having already submitted three identified sites for clearance to the Department of Atomic Energy and the Atomic Energy Commission. Singh highlighted that the core challenge facing the power sector is not a debate over fuel types, but the availability of reliable and economical supply under high grid loads. "So today also we are getting almost 70% of the energy, power from the coal side," Singh said. "So it is not a question of today is thermal versus renewable. I think the real question is whether we are able to get the power on demand and that will be also affordable." The NTPC Chair noted that generation from coal-based stations has surged, rising by 18 per cent in the current month. He attributed the rising load profiles to multiple factors, including weather dynamics linked to El Nino, baseline economic expansion, cooling requirements, and the proliferation of artificial intelligence systems and data centers. "Today, most of the time it is becoming how to meet the requirement not only for 4 hours; I think now it is 3.7, 3.5 at present and it is becoming more than almost 10 to 12 hours," Singh stated. "So, in this changing scenario, as was pointed out by Dr. Ghanshyam also, the storage has become very, very important." Outlining NTPC's ongoing operational assets, Singh reported that the firm holds an operational capacity of 91 GW, with 37 GW currently under construction. Around 17 GW of that active construction pipeline consists of coal-based projects. Alongside thermal assets, the company is prioritizing non-lithium energy storage alternatives to curb external import reliance, pursuing pumped storage, vanadium flow batteries, and carbon dioxide batteries, with the first CO2 battery installation scheduled for commissioning in November. Touching upon industrial partnerships, Singh pointed to initiatives aimed at backing captive industrial consumers through a 26 per cent equity participation model to enable co-generation efficiencies. "Maybe I think some of the industries can start renewing some of the solar plans; we are now trying to project on that," Singh noted. "So we will be more than happy to go along with the new cost takers rather than going private. This should help both reduce the carbon footprint as well as the cost of power and make the industry more competitive on that side." Singh also mentioned NTPC's ongoing work on a hydrogen hub to produce green methanol and green ammonia, which includes an under-construction 20-kilometre pipeline at Simhadri to connect supply with overseas off-takers. (ANI)
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