ALAPPUZHA: When the country is reeling under acute power shortage, the Rs 1,189-crore Rajiv Gandhi Combined Cycle Power Project of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) at Kayamkulam in Alappuzha district has been lying idle. The KSEB stopped purchasing power from the plant in 2017 because of the high cost per unit of power (around Rs 15), which forced NTPC to stop production.
However, when the stares at a power crisis because of the nationwide coal shortage, the NTPC plant could have come to its aid. The KSEB and NTPC signed a new purchase agreement last year to buy solar power from the plant at Rs 3.16 per unit and the work on the floating solar station is progressing. The agreement says if the state needs power using naphtha, a prior notice of 45 days would have to be given to begin production.
