Bihar

• 12 Apr 2023

Bihar will get approx 9000 MW Electricity from Central Quota

Why in News?

According to information received from media sources on 11 April 2023, Bihar will start getting about 9000 MW of power from the central quota by 2024.

Key Points

• It is to be known that at present the state of Bihar is getting an allocation of 6560 MW power from various units of NTPC.
• State power companies have estimated an additional power allocation of about 1998 MW from two units of NTPC Barh, one unit of North Karanpura in Jharkhand and two thermal power units of Buxar in the next one to one and a half years.
• Apart from this, about 760 MW of electricity is also estimated to be available from the renewable energy projects of the Solar Energy Corporation of India and BREDA (Bihar Renewable Energy Development Agency). In such a situation, the availability of electricity to Bihar can cross 9000 MW.
• Now two units of Phase-1 are yet to be commissioned in the Barh Thermal Power Plant of NTPC. There is a possibility that from May 2023, Bihar will start getting an additional 405 MW of power from the second unit of Phase-1 of 660 MW. Also, by April 2024, a quota of 342 MW of power will be available from the third and last unit of Phase One.
• According to the information, the second unit of North Karanpura located in Jharkhand will also be completed by July 2023. Bihar's quota is 229 MW.
• Power production companies have expressed hope of commissioning both the units of the Buxar Thermal Power Plant by 2024. However, given the problem of land acquisition at present, its hope seems less.
• Regarding renewable energy, the power company has signed a 300 MW agreement with Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for wind energy. This power will be available till December 2023. Also, SECI's 230 MW hybrid project is expected to get electricity by December 2023 while BREDA's solar power project is expected to get 250 MW by March 2024.
• Presently Bihar is getting 1603 MW power from only three units of Barh Thermal Power of NTPC. These include 1,198 MW from two units of Stage II and 405 MW from one unit of Stage-I. When commercial production starts from the second, third and last unit of Stage One, it will provide an additional 810 MW of electricity. Due to this, the power received from the Barh plant will increase from 1603 MW to a little more than 2000 MW.