Nuclear and Thermal Power Plants in Haryana

Haryana is an up and coming state when it comes to nuclear and thermal power production. Various initiatives have taken place by government and private organisations to establish more nuclear and thermal power plants in Haryana. Nuclear energy plays a significant role in India and is vital because it will help the country meet its net-zero target. It is also crucial to provide the population of India with power at a low cost. Thermal power plants are necessary for India because geothermal power is an inexhaustible energy source and can be used in the long run.  

Haryana is slowly coming up as one of the major contributors to the country’s nuclear and thermal power producers. The initiatives taken up by the Haryana government have led to an increase in the number of facilities that can successfully produce a large amount of thermal power. 

Nuclear power production in Haryana

Gorakhpur Nuclear Power Plant 

The Gorakhpur Nuclear Power Plant has been proposed by the Haryana government. This plant would be a huge facility spread over an area of almost 1,400 acres of land and is proposed to be built in the Gorakhpur village in Haryana. The foundation of this nuclear power plant was laid in 2014. The nuclear power plant will have the capacity to produce more than 2,400 megawatts of nuclear energy. The first phase of this nuclear power plant building is supposed to be finished by the year 2025, and it will have the capacity to generate 1,400 megawatts of energy. The completion of this nuclear power plant would be a big milestone for the country and help solve the lack of power sources across the country.  

Difficulties faced during the construction of Gorakhpur Nuclear Power Plant

The construction of the Gorakhpur Nuclear Power Plant has faced its fair share of difficulties from the environment court situated in Kurukshetra. Due to these difficulties that caused a delay, the government lost around 8 crore rupees per day. Until March 2015, a major chunk of the land proposed for the construction of the nuclear power plant was acquired by the government. However, there was still some portion of the land that the farmers, who lived there, were not agreeing to vacate. Until 2016, only preparatory activities regarding the construction of the power plant were made.

Government organisations such as NPCIL and BHEL have joined hands to speed up the completion of this project. The design of this nuclear power plant is quite similar to that of the power plants situated in Kakrapar and Rajasthan. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India backs up this project, and it has been estimated that the total cost of this endeavour would be somewhere around 3.6 billion US dollars.

Thermal power production in Haryana

Location of thermal power plants in Haryana

The Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited is a government organisation that controls electricity production for the entire state. This corporation has been given the responsibility to install new power production plants in different parts of the state of Haryana. Currently, the HPGCL corporation has established six power generating plants in other parts of Haryana, including Panipat, Yamunanagar and Hisar. The majority of these power plants are coal, thermal or hydro based plants. 

Thermal power plant in Panipat

Panipat Thermal Power Station I is located in the Khukhrana village of Panipat. It is a coal based power generation plant and consists of a total of eight units that are used for the production of electricity. This unit of the power plant has the ability to produce more than 400 megawatts of energy. Panipat Thermal Power Station II is another bifurcation of the main power generating station. As the name suggests, it is also located in Panipat and is a coal based electricity production plant. This station can produce more than 900 megawatts of electricity. 

Thermal power plant in Yamunanagar

Another coal based power plant that the Haryana government has established is the Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram Thermal Power Plant, located in Yamunanagar. This power plant is backed up by Reliance Energy and Shanghai Electric. Despite being visualised in the early eighties, the project remained dormant for decades before the current organisations backed it. The power plant has a capacity of 600 megawatts of energy production. 

Conclusion

Besides being one of the most densely populated states in the country, Haryana is also known for its rich culture, flora and fauna. It is also a key contributor to the country in energy production. Haryana has several thermal power generation plants and a proposed nuclear power generation plant. The establishment of the nuclear power generation plant has been proposed by the government of Haryana and is in process. However, due to land procurement issues, the project has faced several ups and downs. There are six thermal power production plants in Haryana established by the Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL) in various districts such as Hisar, Panipat and Yamunanagar.