National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has commissioned India’s first Air-Cooled Condenser at North Karanpura super critical thermal plant in Jharkhand. A Power Ministry statement highlighted, this project would help in water conservation as it has been envisaged with Air-Cooled Condenser (ACC) which has almost 1/3rd water footprint as compared to a conventional Water Cooled Condenser (WCC). This would result in saving around 30.5 mcm of water annually, thus fulfilling the needs of around 1.5 million people in the region.
The ministry stated that NTPC has started commercial operation of the 1st unit of 660 MW at North Karanpura (3×660 MW), in Jharkhand on march 1, 2023. NTPC will further imbibe the 3Rs for water conservation & management while carrying out its core business activity of power generation, it stated, adding that the company is a signatory to the prestigious UN Global compact’s CEO Water Mandate.
The North Karanpura plant will have a total capacity of 1,980 MW, three units of 660 MW each. This plant is based on one of the most efficient supercritical technologies and will supply economic power to Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, and Odisha.