The NTPC-Simhadri, which generates 2,000 MWs (four units of 500 MWs each), is doing its bit for environment and has taken up a campaign to conserve olive ridley turtles along the Andhra Pradesh coast, according to P.K Bondriya, the group General Manager.

He said in an interview here on Monday, on the occasion of the Raising Day of the NTPC, that the NTPC-Simhadri was ranked twelfth among the generating stations of the company. On all technical parameters, the plant was functioning exceedingly well, he said and added that the PLF (plant load factor) right now was 100 per cent.

He said that as a good corporate citizen the NTPC-Simhadri was contributing to the Green Visakha drive by signing a MoU with the AP Government for planting half a million trees in the State, 3.5 lakh of them in Visakhapatnam alone.

He said the NTPC-Simhadri was contributing Rs 4.6 crore for the campaign to conserve olive ridley turtles along the AP coast, covering nine districts from Nellore to Srikakulam. "We have already disbursed Rs 1 crore and the rest will be released as the campaign progresses. We have signed a MoU with the Forest Department for executing the project," he said.

He said the NTPC was also into the generation of solar power and it had taken up a project to generate 1,000 MW in Anantapur district. "Already, the NTPC has commissioned 250 MW of solar power in the district and the rest will be taken up in a phased manner," he added.

Bondriya said the challenge for all power generating companies including the NTPC was to generate power at the minimal cost and "therefore the consideration now is not only the availability of power, but the price as well."

The emphasis was also on clean energy, he added.

sarma.rs@thehindu.co.in

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