Dikhyaa Mohanty 
The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) will start commercial operation of its second unit of Darlipali Super Thermal Power Station in Sundargarh district from September 1. While Odisha is entitled to receive 50 per cent of the power generated by the Darlipali power project of 1600 MW (2 X 800 MW), the remaining 50 per cent will be sold to Bihar, Jharkhand, Sikkim, and West Bengal.
SK Satya, NTPC Regional Executive Director (eastern region) stated that the second unit of the power plant with 800 MW capacities that completed its trial operation in July will be synchronised to the power grid soon. NTPC has already made an expenditure of over Rs13,500 crore in the project that is estimated at Rs 13,700 crore.
According to the power purchase agreement with the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), the cost of power from the Darlipali plant will be Rs 2.90 per unit. While the fixed cost of power is set at Rs 1.90 per unit, the variable cost has been determined at Rs1 per unit.
He further added that some of the works like construction of railway line for transportation of coal and construction of merry go round (MGR) linking to railway sidings at Laikera and Kechobahal stations at Jharsuguda district for coal despatch to the plant is under progress. It is expected that these works will be completed by June 2022.
He then added that the installation of Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) system to curb emissions of suspended particulate matter is under progress and this will be completed by next year. The pit head-based thermal power plant is currently sourcing its requirement of fossil fuel from its Dulanga coal mines at Sundargarh. With a daily requirement of about 25,000 tonnes, the Dulanga mine has the capacity to meet 20,000 tonnes and the balance requirement will be met by Mahanadi Coalfields Limited.
