NTPC eyes Kazakh energy market-I: Power major to consider 3rd TPP

State-owned power enterprise, NTPC, may set up three coal-based thermal power projects (TPP) in Kazakhstan, instead of two projects identified earlier. NTPC is considering a new site near the Ekibaztuz GRES-2 power plant, located in the northeastern province of Pavlodar, apart from the plants at the Kostanal and Karaganda regions, which have huge reserves of brown and bituminous coal.

"We are exploring the possibility of setting up two plants in Kazakhstan," R S Sharma, Chairman and Managing Director of NTPC, While Kazakhstan is more than willing to utilize India`s support to harness its fuel reserves, NTPC had sought, as a quid pro quo, mineral supplies to fuel its thermal plants in India. The new plant can only improve ties between the two countries further.

Kazakhstan has the most recoverable reserves of anthracite and bituminous coal in the entire Central Asia region, estimated at around 37.5 billion tonnes. It is the second largest coal producer, after Russia, among the countries that constituted the erstwhile Soviet Union. Russia is the largest importer of Kazakh coal, followed by Ukraine.