The project has been contested as it is nearby Himalayan Range and needs stricter anti-pollution controls.
The 1,320 MW (2 x 660 MW) Barh Stage-2 built by BHEL is operational while 1,980 MW (3 x 660 MW) Barh Stage-1 was being built by Russian firm Technopromexport (TPE).
Russian firm Technopromexport (TPE) was awarded a contract to provide engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services for stage one development in May 2005. However, the contract was terminated in 2014 due to contractual disputes. NTPC awarded a £205m ($294m) contract to Korean firm Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction to design, produce and install three 660MW boilers for stage one in January 2016.[4]
Bihar's share is 1183 MW from NTPC Barh (26% from stage 1 and 50% from stage 2).[5][6][7]
The main power plant and the township is spread over an area of 1,186 acres (480 ha) of land, which includes 12 villages.
The then PM, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had laid the foundation stone of the main plant of stage-1 of NTPC Barh on March 6, 1999. The formal inauguration of its site office and laying of the foundation stone of the training centre at the plant site was done in September 2003.[8]
Project cost
The plant is to produce 3,300 MW of power at a cost of over Rs 26,000 crore.[5][9]
The total approved cost of stage-1 (660 MW x 3) has Rs 8,692.97 crore. The total approved cost of stage-2 (unit 1) plant is Rs 7,688.12 crore.
Capacity
Unit-1 of stage-2 commissioned in November 2013.[10] Unit-2 of stage-2 commissioned in March 2015. The first unit (of stage-I) of NTPC Barh is expected to start generation from December 2019 instead of the scheduled August 2020,[11] while the second and third units of stage-I will be made operational in December 2020 and August 2021, respectively.
The boiler balance work of Stage-I (3 x 660 MW)(BSTPP)
was allotted to Doosan Power Systems India Ltd, (Korea) Company in January 2016.[17] The work is under contract with Power Mech Projects Ltd.[18]
Flue gas desulphurization addition
As per MOEF guidelines of Dec-2015 NTPC decided to add FGD units to all units to limit SOX emissions. BHEL was awarded the contract to supply FGD units.[19]