Supercritical Thermal Power Plants to Replace the Aging Plants in Punjab

The Punjab government plans to shut state-owned “inefficient” thermal power plants in Bathinda and Rupnagar and have a superior, supercritical replacement of higher capacity at Rupnagar. Unlike a conventional coal-fired thermal plant, a supercritical plant consumes less fuel, produces less carbon gases and is more efficient in power generation.

Top leaders, including deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who is also in charge of the power department, have discussed the plan with Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) and formed a committee of its thermal-division engineers to study the matter. “We’ll have a clear picture in two-to-three months,” said a power department source. The state government wants the PSPCL to build the supercritical plant. For the new supercritical plants in Talwandi Sabo and Rajpura, it went to private players.

The Rupnagar thermal plant has four units each of 420 MW, first of which was commissioned in 1974. The Bathinda plant with six units of 210 MW each had its first unit commissioned in 1984. The power department claims that both plants are past their stipulated life.

Read the full article @ The Hindustan Times