Power plants and installed capacity
The company's generation fleet is built around a set of very large coal stations, most of them pithead plants placed close to the coal fields they draw from. The fleet runs across the country, from Singrauli, Rihand, Dadri and Unchahar in the north, through Korba, Vindhyachal, Sipat and Mouda in central India, to Ramagundam, Simhadri and Talcher in the south and east, with gas stations at Kawas, Anta, Dadri, Gandhar, Kayamkulam and other sites.[1]
The capacity numbers need a careful reading because the company reports them in different ways. The lead figure of about 80,150 megawatts covers the installed capacity of the company, and a separate group figure of about 72,300 megawatts has been reported including roughly 13,465 megawatts held through joint ventures and subsidiaries, across 26 coal stations, seven gas stations, one hydro station, one small hydro plant, 11 solar photovoltaic plants and one wind station, plus 25 joint venture stations.[1]
The performance gap between capacity and generation is the point that matters most to a reader. With about 16 per cent of national capacity NTPC produces more than a quarter of national generation, because its plants are available more of the time and burn coal more efficiently than the average Indian station. That gap is what the plant load factor measures, and it is the main reason the company's shares trade at a premium to other state utilities.[1]
The long term plan is to become a company of about 128,000 megawatts by 2032, with the fossil fuel share of capacity cut to about 56 per cent. Meeting that target means adding solar, wind and hydro capacity at a pace far faster than the company built coal, which is why the renewable business has been given its own listed structure.[1]
