The very first unit of National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) which was commissioned 38 years ago at Singrauli in Uttar Pradesh's Sonbhadra district has achieved the highest Plant Load Factor (PLF) of 100.24 per cent among all thermal units in the country between April 2020 to December 2020, data published by Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has revealed.

The 200 MW unit was commissioned in 1982 and the robust PLF signifies the exceptional operational and maintenance efficiency at India’s largest power generation company.

Besides the exceptional feat achieved by this unit, three more NTPC units – Singrauli unit#4 and Korba unit #1 and #2 in Chhattisgarh, have figured among the top five performing units.

As per a statement issued by the NTPC, a PSU under the Ministry of Power, the group achieved the highest gross generation of 222.4 Billion Unit (BU) from April to December 2020, an increase of 3.8 percent compared to the same period last year. Concurrently, NTPC coal power stations have maintained a high availability of 92.21 percent from April 2020 to December 2020 as against 87.64 percent during the same period last year.

Six flagship power plants of NTPC – NTPC Korba (2600 MW) and NTPC Sipat (2980 MW) in Chhattisgarh; NTPC Rihand (3000 MW) in Uttar Pradesh; NTPC Vindhyachal (4760 MW) in Madhya Pradesh; NTPC Talcher Thermal (460 MW) and NTPC Talcher Kaniha (3000 MW) in Odisha have also featured among the top 10 performing thermal plants in the country.

With a total installed capacity of 62.9 GW, NTPC Group has 71 power stations comprising 24 coal, 7 combined cycle gas/liquid fuel, 1 hydro, 14 renewables along with 25 subsidiary and JV power stations. The group has over 20 GW of capacity under construction, including 5 GW of renewable/hydro energy projects..