NTPC to have 2,000 MW nuclear power by 2032, and 20,000 MW by 2050

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India’s largest electricity producer, state-run NTPC Limited, will build a clutch of nuclear power plants to help the country’s target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2070.

As per the its initial plan, the power major will start generating 2,000 MW of nuclear energy by 2032, 4,200 MW by 2035 and eventually scale up to 20,000 MW by 2050, senior NTPC officials shared with Moneycontrol.

Apart from capacity addition through pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWR), NTPC is also planning to add nuclear capacity through small modular reactors. It also intends to do fuel tie-ups with Uranium Corporation of India Ltd to ensure requisite feedstock availability.

“Two nuclear power plants with a total capacity of 4,200 MW have been finalised so far. One project of 1,400 MW will come up in Chutka, Madhya Pradesh, having two units of 700 MW each. The second one will be of 2,800 MW (4x700 MW) at Mahi Banswara in Rajasthan. The two plants will have PHWR, which is almost indigenised, and the power tariff from them would translate into Rs 7.36 per unit approximately,” said a senior official, requesting anonymity.

A look at NTPC's plan of harnessing nuclear power.

While the company did not respond to an email query from Moneycontrol, it states NTPC is also working with NITI Aayog on nuclear capacity addition and has signed a Statement of Intent for preparing the "Net Zero" plan for the firm in line with the country's commitment.

NTPC has a total installed power generation capacity of 71,544 MW (including 12,615 MW through joint ventures/subsidiaries. But it does not have a nuclear power plant as of now. As per the Central Electricity Authority data, till March 2022, India had an installed nuclear power capacity of 6,780 MW, which is just 2 percent of the total energy (thermal, hydro, renewables) mix in the country.

Nuclear is a zero-emission clean energy source. It generates power through fission, which is the process of splitting uranium atoms to produce energy. The heat released by fission is used to create steam that spins a turbine to generate electricity without the harmful by-products emitted by fossil fuels.

Globally, the fusion method is not yet utilised to generate electricity because scientifically, it is difficult to sustain a fusion reaction. However, there are a few downsides to nuclear power which the government needs to simultaneously look into. These include disposal and storage of nuclear waste and that uranium decomposes into harmful sub-atomic masses.

Asked if the relatively higher tariff of about Rs 7.36 per unit from such plants would have enough takers in the market, the NTPC official said the cost assessment is based on a plant load factor (PLF) of 68 percent. “If we increase it to 80 percent, the tariff will come down. Another advantage is that it is a single-part tariff (not having fixed and variable costs separately) and a must-run plant, so it ranks high in the merit order.”

These nuclear projects will be implemented through ASHVINI - a joint venture between NTPC and Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL). The approximate cost of the Chutka plant will be Rs 25,000 crore and Rs 50,000 crore for the Mahi Banswara plant.

During NTPC’s third-quarter earnings conference call on January 28, the company stated that it was also looking at nuclear capacity addition through implementation of small modular reactors (SMRs) and pressurised water reactors with government-to-government agreements.

All this is being done as a step towards India achieving the net-zero target by 2070. Net-zero means cutting greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible, with any remaining emissions re-absorbed from the atmosphere, by oceans and forests, for instance.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, nuclear power capacity globally needs to double to 812 gigawatts (GW) by 2050 from 413 GW in 2022. In the 2030s, annual additions of nuclear power capacity needs to reach 27 GW, it added.