Three of the five planned 800MW units of the 4,000MW Kudgi supercritical thermal power plant are currently operational. Credit: NTPC Ltd.

Kudgi is a 4,000MW supercritical thermal power plant that is being developed by NTPC at Kudgi village in Bijapur District of Karnataka, India.

It is NTPC’s first 800MW supercritical project and is being developed in two stages. The first stage has a capacity of 2,400MW (3 x 800MW) and the second stage will have a capacity of 1,600MW (2 x 800MW).

Electricity generated from the regional power plant is supplied to the South Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

The total investment required for the project was estimated to be Rs132.05bn ($2.91bn) as of January 2012. Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) provided a $350m term loan for the first stage of the project in January 2014.

The construction work for the first stage of the plant commenced in 2012 and Unit-1 and Unit-2 of stage-1 began operations in July 2017 and December 2017 respectively. Unit-3 was commissioned in March 2018, marking the completion of stage-1. Stage-2 of the project is yet to be approved.

Kudgi super thermal power plant details

NTPC, Power Company of Karnataka Limited (PCKL) and Energy Department of Karnataka signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in January 2009 to construct the super thermal power plant at Kudgi.

“Kudgi Transmission, a special purpose vehicle (SPV), was deployed to construct the power transmission infrastructure.”

The project is being developed in an area of approximately 4,100 acres, which comprises mostly barren and rocky land and is partly agricultural with single or commercial crops. The project received forest clearance in September 2010.

The first stage of the plant features three supercritical once-through coal-fired boilers and three 800MW steam turbines. Two of the three boilers, supplied by Doosan, produce 2,550t of high-pressure steam per hour with pressure levels and the temperature reaching 271kg/cm² and 569°C respectively.

The project is estimated to require 7,380m³ of water per hour, supplied through a pipeline from Almatti Dam on Krishna River, located at a distance of 18km from the project site. The water is stored in a reservoir within the project site.

Approximately 8,000tpd of fly ash and 2,000tpd of bottom ash is expected to be generated at the plant. High-concentration slurry disposal (HCSD) system is employed to dispose of the ash.

Fuel supply to the Kudgi power plant

The plant uses domestic coal for power generation. The project is estimated to have a coal requirement of 12 million tonnes per year, which is procured from NTPC’s Pakri Barwadih Coal Block in Jharkhand.

Supply and transfer of power generated at the Kudgi STPP

Power required during the construction of the project was sourced from KPTCL’s Basavana Bagevadi Substation, located approximately 20km from the site.

Kudgi Transmission, a special purpose vehicle (SPV), was deployed to construct the power transmission infrastructure.

The power generated by the plant is transferred to Narendra Substation via two 400kV D/C transmission lines, further to Madhugiri pooling station via a 765kV D/C transmission line, and finally to Bidadi sub-station via a 400kV D/C transmission line.

Contractors involved

A contract, worth $470m, for supplying three 800MW supercritical steam turbines and generators for stage-I of Kudgi Super Thermal Power Project was awarded to Toshiba JSW in February 2012.

Doosan Chennai Works, a subsidiary of Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction, was awarded the contract for supplying two supercritical coal-fired boilers. The work was subcontracted to Doosan Heavy Industries Vietnam in October 2012.

Sunil Hitech was awarded a contract worth $15m by Doosan Chennai Works in September 2012 for conducting the erection, testing and commissioning works of one of the boilers.

Edac Engineering is engaged by Doosan for the erection of the boiler unit-2 and auxiliaries for the stage- I of the thermal power project.

IDPL was awarded a contract by Kudgi Transmission for the detailed engineering, survey, civil works, installation, testing and commissioning of the four interconnected power transmission lines to transfer power from the Kudgi STPP.

Petron Engineering Construction is the supplier of the electrical equipment for the Kudgi STPP. The contract also includes installation, testing and commissioning of the electrical equipment.

In February 2014, NTPC awarded a contract worth INR 2.48bn ($39m) for the construction of the township at the Kudgi project site to Unity Infraprojects.

The steam generator (SG) area and other offsite civil works package were assigned to IVRCL.

NTPC engaged Mantec Consultants to conduct the environmental impact assessment study for the Kudgi power plant.

Torishima Pump was engaged by Doosan Power Systems for providing three boiler circulation pump units with a capacity of 1,111m³ per hour for the first stage.

JSW Severfield Structures (JSSL) provided steel procurement, fabrication and supply, and painting and delivery of structural steelwork to the site.