(ET)
NTPC Ltd is exploring the possibility of installing small modular reactors at its older coal-based power plants.
India’s largest power generator has issued a tender, inviting bids from consultants to undertake a feasibility study for installing these reactors. Interested bidders have until April 18 to submit their offers.
NTPC’s feasibility study for SMRs marks the first such move by a state-run company. It follows the government preparing a framework to reach 100 GW capacity and working on amendments to laws to allow private sector participation in nuclear power generation.
NTPC, which plans to add 30 GW of nuclear power capacity, is currently implementing a 2,800 MW Mahi Banswara project in Rajasthan in a joint venture with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) in line with the existing laws.
NTPC has also formed a wholly-owned subsidiary, NTPC Parmanu Urja Nigam Ltd, to take forward its nuclear ambitions.
In the recent past, the company had invited expressions of interest from global companies for cooperation in indigenising pressurised water reactors (PWR) technology and to establish large-capacity nuclear power plants with a target capacity of around 15 GW. Interested companies can submit their interest till May 10.
SMRs are advanced nuclear reactors with a power capacity of up to 300 MW per unit, about a third of the generating capacity of traditional nuclear power reactors, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
