Kolkata, Jan 30 (Inditop.com) India’s largest power company National Thermal Power Corporation’s power-trading subsidiary NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam will develop 1,000 MW of solar power and supply it at competitive prices by bundling it with cheap thermal power for the next 25 years, an official said Saturday.
Addressing a press conference here, NTPC’s director (commercial) Inderjit Kapoor said NVVN will bundle the power provided by the power ministry from the unallocated quota of NTPC stations.
The NVVN is the government designated nodal agency for reaching power purchase agreements with solar power developers who will be setting up solar projects within the next three years (up to March 2013).
“Now the per unit price of solar thermal power is Rs 13.50 and that of solar photo voltaic power is Rs 18.25. But when this is bundled with cheap thermal power, the rate will come down to Rs 5.50.
“The bundled power will be sold at a rate fixed as per Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) regulations for a period of 25 years,” Kapoor said.
The government will review significant price movements in the market rate. The NVVN will supply the bundled power to state distribution utilities, who will be entitled to use part of the bundled power to meet their Renewable Purchase Obligation.
NTPC, which plans to set up merchant power capacity of about 6,000 MW by 2017, will commission its first 500 MW merchant plant at Korba in Chhattisgarh in September. “The second such 500 MW plant will be commissioned at Farakka in Murhsidabad later in the 2010-11 fiscal,” he said.
The NTPC now has an installed capacity of 30,644 MW, while 17,930 MW is under construction.
Besides, 33,000 MW is under various stages of preparation. This comprises 9,900 MW for which the bidding process will be over by the end of the 2009-10 fiscal, 18,000 MW is under feasibility studies and the remaining 5,100 MW is in the approval stage.
The firm has set up an ambitious target of increasing its total capacity to 75,000 MW by 2017.
The company has decided to tap the capital market with a further public offer (FPO) of 412,273,220 equity shares of Rs 10 face value each, in its bid to divest five percent of the government’s stake.
Of the total equity shares in the FPO, that opens Feb 3 and closes Feb 5, 4,273,220 are reserved for NTPC employees.
The price band is yet to be decided.
