New Delhi: State-run NTPC Limited has declared 20 MW Auraiya Solar PV Project in Auraiya, Uttar Pradesh (UP), fully commercially operational on Saturday. In a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges, NTPC said, "… we wish to inform that consequent upon successful commissioning, 5 MW last part capacity for 20 MW Auraiya Solar PV Project at Auraiya, UP, has been declared on Commercial Operation w.e.f. 00:00 Hrs. of 20.02.2021." The 20 MW plant is a floating solar power project on the reservoir of NTPC Auraiya Gas Power Plant at Dibiyapur in Uttar Pradesh.
The tender for the floating solar power project in Auraiya was floated by NTPC in 2019. With this, the total installed capacity of NTPC and NTPC group has become 52,115 MW and 64,880 MW respectively and the commercial capacity of NTPC and NTPC group has become 51,315 MW and 64,080 MW, respectively.
Recently, Power Minister RK Singh had said in the Parliament that NTPC will add 16,500 MW of renewable energy (RE) between FY23 and FY27. In a written response to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Singh said that the target includes the capacity addition plan by NTPC RE Ltd, a subsidiary of NTPC Limited which was incorporated in 2020. The Maharatna company, which has been involved in the generation of electricity from coal for decades, is now fast pivoting towards renewable energy.
According to the information shared by Singh in the Upper House of the Parliament, NTPC plans to add 2,500 MW in FY23, 3,000 MW in FY24, 3,500 MW in FY25, 3,500 MW in FY26 and 4,000 MW in FY27. The total adds up to 16,500 MW. In 2020, the company had announced its plans to expand its RE portfolio to 32 GW by 2032, which will be nearly 25 percent of its overall capacity.
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