The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) on Monday launched a three-day conference, Indian Power Stations 2023 on International O&M Conference or IPS 2023, on “Strategies for reliable and sustainable power generation in changing energy scenario”. The conference organised at Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Auditorium at Raipur, Chhattisgarh will conclude on 15 February.

During the inaugural ceremony of the conference, New & Renewable Energy Minister RK Singh said, “India is committed to providing reliable and affordable power supply to people while keeping environmental concerns as the core priority.”He further lauded NTPC Limiteds saying, “NTPC Limited has set global operational benchmarks in terms of its performance, culture, and progress.”

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The inauguration of the conference and technogalaxy exhibition was followed by technical sessions of the O&M Conference and interaction with vendors at the exhibition.

On Day 2, there will be a concluding session for NTPC delegates, while Day 3 will include Technogalaxy and interaction with vendors in exhibition stalls followed by the presentation of vendors.

Commenting on the contribution of the NTPC Limited in the energy sector, Krishna Pal Singh, Minister of State of Power, said, “The efforts of NTPC have been commendable so far. As the need for power increases in the country, the need is to tackle certain challenges that come along with it. I believe that a lot of interesting ideas will come from this conference which will help significantly in the future of sustainable and reliable power.”

Speaking on the occasion, Gurdeep Singh, CMD NTPC Limited, said,” Reliable and sustainable power is more important than PLF or the generation. Going forward, the challenges with renewable energy and thermal power will become more severe as the requirements for the grid will have to be taken into consideration. Safety, reliability, flexibility, efficiency, and affordability is the priority. We should keep the cost of power as low as possible”

The NTPC Vindhyachal achieved the distinction of crossing 600 + BE score and received the coveted Overall Excellence award. Since the IPS conference was withheld in the past two years due to the Covid pandemic, this year, the laurels for the stations recognized for Overall Excellence for Years 20-21 and 21-22 assessment years were bagged by NTPC Singrauli and NTPC Rihand respectively. The Overall Excellence for assessment year 22-23 – Special recognition by jury – was awarded to NTPC Solapur. The awards were received by the BUH of the Respective stations along with the Regional Executive Directors.

The NTPC Korba received the First Runner-Up award, and NTPC Talcher Kaniha received the Second Runner-Up award. Shri Gurdeep Singh, CMD NTPC, Shri Ghanshyam Prasad, Chairperson Central Electrical Authority (CEA), Shri VK Dewangan, CMD, REC Ltd, Shri DK Patel Director (HR) , Shri Ramesh Babu V, Director (Operation), Shri Ujjwal Kanti Bhattacharya, Director (Projects) and Shri Jaikumar Srinivasan, Director (Finance), independent directors of NTPC and senior officials were present during the felicitation ceremony.

Ghanshyam Prasad, Chairperson, CEA said, “The narrative around the world is to move away from coal-based power generation. The fact that every country has its own transition path holds true. But for a country like India, there is no option other than coal for a sustainable and reliable source of energy for consumers at present.”

V Ramesh Babu, (Director, Operations), NTPC also spoke on the occasion. He emphasised the commitment to generating and providing reliable power at competitive prices in a sustainable manner by optimising the use of multiple energy resources with innovative eco-friendly technologies, contributing to the economic development of the nation, social uplift of society, and promoting a healthy environment.