Latest news with #NPCIL

Mint
3 days ago
- Business
- Mint
IndianOil preparing new strategy for N-power, not interested in Nayara stake: Chairman Sahney
Indian Oil Corp. Ltd is preparing a new strategy to build small modular reactors (SMR) and large nuclear power plants in the country, chairman Arvinder Singh Sahney said. India's largest oil refiner and marketer is taking fresh look at nuclear diversification, Sahney said in an interview, though the company had earlier tied up with Nuclear Power Corp. of India Ltd (NPCIL) for the venture. He did not reveal plans for the technology partner. India's Bharat SMR (BSR) is being designed with a capacity of 200 MWe, while a smaller 55 MWe variant is also under development. However, Indian Oil did not participate in NPCIL's recent bids to set up such reactors for captive use. Indian Oil's large refineries consume as much power as produced by BSRs, Sahney said, prompting it to consider building them. "We have not participated in NPCIL's request for proposal (RFP) process, but we are looking into it in a renewed manner… It was 10 years back when we tied up with NPCIL. But now there is a renewed energy to it," he said. Indian Oil's focus on nuclear power comes at a time the government plans to set up 22 GW of nuclear power by 2032 and 100 GW by 2047, up from the current 8.7 GW. State-run major NTPC Ltd set up a subsidiary called NTPC Parmanu Urja Nigam Ltd earlier this year. With the government planning to open up the space for private players, several conglomerates and renewable energy majors are keen on this space. Last month, Mint reported that companies including Reliance Industries, Adani Group, Greenko, Vedanta, HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd, JSW Group and Hindalco Industries have responded to NPCIL's RFP to set up two units of 220-Mwe pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR) BSRs. The Union budget for FY26 announced a ₹20,000-crore Nuclear Energy Mission for research and development of SMRs. The full budget for FY25 in July also proposed the government partnering with the private sector to develop SMRs, while the interim budget in February announced funding of ₹1 trillion for R&D in this space. A report by SBICAPS in April had said that although nuclear energy provides high-quality, reliable power at low operational cost, historically, these advantages have been overshadowed by concerns over safety, capital cost, and fuel supply. However, surging demand from AI data centers and crypto, coupled with its unique low-carbon baseload capability apt for thermal plant replacement, has driven a resurgence of interest. "This revival is most pronounced in China, with 30 GW of reactor capacity under development, and growing interest in India and Turkey, while Europe remains cautious," it said, adding that given the current installed base of around 8 GW and only 7 GW of the 36 GW planned capacity currently under construction, significant acceleration is required. Indian Oil is not interested in in acquiring Rosneft's stake in Nayara Energy, Sahney said in response to a query. "Its an open offer, it's in the market... I am totally not interested; so, we have totally not inquired about it," he said. In March, The Economic Times reported that Russia's state-owned energy major Nayara Energy, in which it acquired a 49.13% stake, is looking to exit the Indian venture, as due to sanctions, the Russian company has not been able to repatriate earnings from Nayara Energy in the past few years. He also said that Indian Oil and the domestic oil and gas industry are now confident of navigating any oil supply crisis situation, after smoothly handling the volatility during Israel-Iran conflict last month. He added that as India has significantly diversified its oil imports from nearly 40 countries, state-run refineries including Indian Oil's Panipat refinery are well-equipped to handle diverse crude barrels. The refining capacity of the Indian Oil group stands at 80.75 million metric tonne per annum (mmtpa), including 10.50 million tonne annual refining capacity of its subsidiary Chennai Petroleum Corp. Ltd (CPCL). It is also undertaking the expansion of its Panipat refinery from 15 mmtpa to 25 mmtpa.


The Hindu
4 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Atomic energy board grants operational licence to two home-built 700 MWe reactors in Gujarat
India's nuclear regulator, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), has granted operation licence for two indigenously developed 700 MWe Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors at the Kakrapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS) in Gujarat. The KAPS-3 reactor was commissioned at full power in August 2023, while the KAPS-4 unit followed the same month a year later. "The AERB has concluded the design and commissioning safety reviews and issued the Licence for Operation of Units 3 and 4 of KAPS, the country's first 700 MWe indigenous Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors [PHWRs]," a statement from the regulator said. Since the 700 MWe reactor was the first of its kind, the licensing process involved rigorous multi-tiered safety reviews and assessment of the reactor design, covering the entire life cycle in multiple stages from siting, construction to commissioning at full-power. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) received the Licence for Operation for KAPS 3&4 from the AERB for a period of five years on July 3. The issuance of the licence is a shot in the arm for the NPCIL, which is spearheading building 10 PHWRs of 700 MWe each in fleet mode. India has 15 PHWRs of 220 MWe and two of 540 MWe capacity operational at various sites across the country. The 540 MWe PHWR design was upgraded to 700 MWe and the first pair of such reactors are operational at Kakrapar. A similar 700 MWe reactor at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan began commercial operations in March this year. Besides the AERB, several reactor safety experts from the technical support organisations made significant contributions towards review of the design and commissioning results, which spanned almost 15 years. As a part of Phase-C commissioning, KAPS-3 received permission for full power operation in August 2023, followed by KAPS-4 in August 2024. After further review of plant performance close to rated power, the AERB has now granted the License for Operation to the NPCIL for five years.


Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
AERB grants operational license to two home-built 700 MW PHWRS in Gujarat
New Delhi, India's nuclear regulator AERB has granted operation license for two indigenously developed 700 MW Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors at the Kakrapar Atomic Power Station in Gujarat. AERB grants operational license to two home-built 700 MW PHWRS in Gujarat The KS-3 reactor was commissioned at full power in August 2023, while the KS-4 unit followed the same month a year later. "The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board has concluded the Design and Commissioning Safety Reviews and issued the License for Operation of Units 3 and 4 of KS-3&4, the country's first 700 MWe indigenous Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors ," a statement from the regulator said. Since the 700 MW reactor was the first of its kind, the licensing process involved rigorous multi-tiered safety reviews and assessment of the reactor design, covering the entire life cycle in multiple stages from siting, construction to commissioning at full-power. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited received the License for Operation for KS 3&4 from the AERB for a period of five years on July 3. The issuance of the license is a shot in the arm for NPCIL, which is spearheading building 10 PHWRs of 700 MWe each in fleet mode. India has 15 PHWRs of 220 MWe and two of 540 MWe capacity operational at various sites across the country. The 540 MWe PHWR design was upgraded to 700 MWe and the first pair of such reactors are operational at Kakrapar. A similar 700 MW reactor at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan began commercial operations in March this year. Besides AERB, several reactor safety experts from the Technical Support Organisations made significant contributions towards review of the Design and Commissioning results, which spanned almost 15 years. As a part of Phase-C Commissioning, KS-3 received permission for full power operation in August 2023, followed by KS-4 in August 2024. After further review of plant performance close to rated power, AERB has now granted the License for Operation to NPCIL for a period of five years. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
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Business Standard
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
AERB grants operational license to two home-built 700 MW PHWRS in Gujarat
India's nuclear regulator AERB has granted operation license for two indigenously developed 700 MW Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors at the Kakrapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS) in Gujarat. The KAPS-3 reactor was commissioned at full power in August 2023, while the KAPS-4 unit followed the same month a year later. "The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has concluded the Design and Commissioning Safety Reviews and issued the License for Operation of Units 3 and 4 of KAPS-3&4, the country's first 700 MWe indigenous Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs)," a statement from the regulator said. Since the 700 MW reactor was the first of its kind, the licensing process involved rigorous multi-tiered safety reviews and assessment of the reactor design, covering the entire life cycle in multiple stages from siting, construction to commissioning at full-power. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) received the License for Operation for KAPS 3&4 from the AERB for a period of five years on July 3. The issuance of the license is a shot in the arm for NPCIL, which is spearheading building 10 PHWRs of 700 MWe each in fleet mode. India has 15 PHWRs of 220 MWe and two of 540 MWe capacity operational at various sites across the country. The 540 MWe PHWR design was upgraded to 700 MWe and the first pair of such reactors are operational at Kakrapar. A similar 700 MW reactor at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan began commercial operations in March this year. Besides AERB, several reactor safety experts from the Technical Support Organisations made significant contributions towards review of the Design and Commissioning results, which spanned almost 15 years. As a part of Phase-C Commissioning, KAPS-3 received permission for full power operation in August 2023, followed by KAPS-4 in August 2024. After further review of plant performance close to rated power, AERB has now granted the License for Operation to NPCIL for a period of five years.


Time of India
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
SC to examine if Electricity Act applies to NPCIL Power
Will the Electricity Act , which regulates generation and distribution of power produced using hydel, thermal and solar energy sources, apply to electricity generated by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) governed under the Atomic Energy Act , 1962? A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and R Mahadevan agreed to examine this question and attempt a harmonised interpretation of the two laws governing the generation and distribution of electricity from conventional sources and the nuclear fission process, reports Dhananjay Mahapatra. The conflicting views of Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) and Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) in a dispute between Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam (GUVNL) and NPCIL led to the Nigam approaching the SC for adjudication of the question as to who had jurisdiction over regulating power generated by NPCIL.