New Delhi: On a visit to Chhattisgarh to address the ‘Viksit Bharat, Viksit Chhattisgarh’ programme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated and laid foundation stones on Saturday of key energy projects belonging to NTPC Limited, Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and South-Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL). These projects cater to important sectors like coal, power and solar energy. Here is a list of the projects that have been inaugurated.
The Prime Minister dedicated NTPC’s Lara Super Thermal Power Project, Stage-I (2x800 MW), to the nation and laid the foundation stone of NTPC’s Lara Super Thermal Power Project, Stage-II (2x800 MW), in Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh. While Stage-I of the station is built with an investment of around Rs 15,800 crore, Stage-II of the project shall be constructed on the available land of Stage-I premises, thus requiring no additional land for the expansion, and will entail an investment of Rs 15,530 crore.
Equipped with highly efficient Super Critical technology (for Stage-I) and Ultra Super Critical technology (for Stage-II), the project will ensure lesser specific coal consumption and Carbon Dioxide emission. While 50 percent power from both Stage-I & II is allocated to the state of Chhattisgarh, the project will also play a crucial role in improving power scenario in several other states and UTs, such as Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, Daman & Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, among others.
The Prime Minister also inaugurated three key First Mile Connectivity (FMC) projects of South-Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) built at a total cost of more than Rs 600 crore. They will help in faster, eco-friendly, and efficient mechanised evacuation of coal. These projects include Dipka OCP Coal Handling Plant in SECL’s Dipka Area and Chhal, and Baroud OCP Coal handling plant in SECL’s Raigarh Area. FMC projects ensure the mechanised movement of coal from pithead to coal handling plants equipped with silos, bunkers, and rapid loading systems through conveyor belts.
By reducing the transportation of coal via road, these projects will help ease the living conditions of people residing around coal mines by reducing traffic congestion, road accidents, and adverse impacts on the environment and health around coal mines. It is also leading to savings in transportation costs by reducing diesel consumption by trucks carrying coal from the pit head to railway sidings.
In a step to boost production of renewable energy in the region, the Prime Minister inaugurated SECI's Solar PV Project at Rajnandgaon built at a cost of around Rs 900 crore. The project is India's largest Battery Energy Storage System (BESS). It has an installed capacity of 152.325 megawatt per hour (MWh) and dispatchable capacity of 100 MW AC (155.02 MWp DC) Solar Photovoltaic (PV) plant with 40 megawatts (MW) / 120MWh BESS.
The project will generate an estimated 243.53 million units of energy annually and will mitigate around 4.87 million tons of CO2 emissions over 25 years, equivalent to the carbon sequestered by about 8.86 million trees over the same period. The offtaker of the power is the state of Chhattisgarh which will contribute towards meeting its peak energy demand using green electrons and to contribute towards its renewable purchase obligations.
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