NTPC bets on rising power demand

Unlike a few years ago, demand for energy has been growing at a healthy 6 per cent per annum. During July, the demand for electricity soared even further. With demand for power increasing, NTPC has ensured that it will continue to grow faster, said its CMD, Gurdeep Singh in Mumbai.

Demand, he said, was growing because of the government’s plans to bring electricity to every house in India, and industrial demand. Singh said, “Our assessment is that the rate of increase of consumption should grow even further. It would be higher than 8 per cent.”

He added that nowadays, the PLF has gone up. “July was excellent. We witnessed a rise of 7.94 per cent compared to last year.”

In order to keep growing in a market that, he believes, will continue to grow at an even faster rate, NTPC has ambitious expansion plans. It has a capex outlay of Rs 23,000 crore. The company is expected to add 4,880 MW to its commercial capacity in FY2018-19. The long-term corporate plan is to become a 130-GW company by 2032.

In addition to building capacity, there is always the possibility of takeovers. For instance, many energy assets which are sought to be sold off by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) could also be considered by NTPC if the quality of the asset is good (availability of coal and water, and an economically viable PPA). Then there is the possibility of the takeover of NHPC which is being discussed, but with no firm commitment by either NTPC or the government, or SJVNL where NTPC has shown willingness provided the Himachal Pradesh government which is an investor in the project also concurs.

NTPC has also been looking at various social aspects.

NTPC has been working on ways to build plants that use

less water and also recycle the water its plants use. It has been working on ways to capture the carbon emissions and re-use them. It has been looking for ways to utilise the millions of tonnes of fly ash it produces each year. It is experimenting with the use of fly ash in roads, and should this be successful, it may urge the government to use this in all road construction projects.