The Darlipali power plant is a 1.6GW coal-fired, super thermal power generating facility located in Sundargarh, Odisha, India.
India’s state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is the owner and developer of the project which is estimated to cost approximately £1.29bn ($2.06bn).
The construction works were started after the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) of the Government of India granted environmental clearance for the power project in February 2014.
The first unit of the Darlipali power plant started commercial operations in March 2020, while trial operations of the second unit were completed in July 2021.
Location and site details
The Darlipali super thermal power plant (STPP) is located in the Darlipali village, in the Sundargarh district of India’s eastern state Odisha.
The project site covers approximately 675.82ha and lies north of the Raigarh-Jharsuguda National Highway (NH)-200.
Darlipali super thermal power station make-up
The Darlipali power plant comprises of two super-critical coal-fired units of 800MW capacity each. Each unit is equipped with a super-critical boiler, and a steam turbine and generator along with associated auxiliaries.
The power plant has two 275m-high bi-flue stacks and is fitted with flue gas desulphurisation system (FGD) and electrostatic precipitators (ESP) for emissions control.
The other major components of the project include a coal handling plant (CHP), an ash handling plant (AHP) equipped with dust extraction system, a fuel oil system, a demineralisation (DM) plant, and a water pre-treatment plant.
The power plant adopts a high-concentration slurry disposal (HCSD) system for fly ash disposal.
Coal and water supply
The total coal requirement of the power plant is estimated to be approximately eight million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) which is being sourced from NTPC-operated Dulanga mine as well as from Mahanadi Coalfields (MCL).
The plant receives water supply at a rate of 4,750 cubic metre per hour (m3/h) through a 30km pipeline from the Hirakund reservoir on the Mahanadi River.
Power evacuation
The electricity produced by the Darlipali super thermal power station is evacuated into the grid through a 765kV power transmission line.
Power purchase agreement
The power output of the Darlipali STPP is sold to the Grid Corporation of Odisha (GRIDCO) under a power purchase agreement (PPA) signed in December 2010.
Contractors involved
BHEL along with BGR Energy-Hitachi partnership was responsible for the design, manufacturing and supply of the steam generators for the Darlipali power project. It also received an order from NTPC in November 2014 for the supply and installation of electrostatic precipitators (ESP).
Toshiba JSW Power Systems, a Toshiba Group Company, was contracted by NTPC for the supply of two super-critical steam turbine and generator island packages in February 2014.
Larson and Toubro (L&T) received an order for the installation of flue gas desulphurisation system in September 2018.
Kirloskar Brothers supplied cooling water pumps, raw water pumps along with associated accessories for the make-up water system.
Emerson was contracted by NTPC for Ovation distributed control system, and Rosemount® steam and water analysis system and continuous emissions monitoring system for the plant in June 2015
Alstom Transmission and Distribution was engaged for the manufacturing and supply of 765kV switchyard.
Triveni Engineering and Industries Group was engaged for the water treatment plant, while S3M Consultant was engaged for the pipe rack assembly.
Zuberi Engineering Company was subcontracted by BHEL for the installation, testing and commissioning of make-up water pipes.
Ircon International delivered the detailed project report and detail engineering services for the railway siding connecting the Merry-Go-Round (MGR) rail transportation system.
National Institute of Hydrology provided hydrogeological consultancy services for the project.
